Minimalist News

Norway $2.3 Trillion Wealth Fund Posts Record-High Profit in H1 By Michael Kern of OilPrice.com The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s $2.3-trillion Government Pension Fund Global, posted a record-high profit of $185 billion for the first half of 2026, as Asian technology stocks boosted its returns and profit on the portfolio. Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), which is commonly referred to as 'Norway's oil fund' because it was created with oil and gas revenues, is a shareholder in many large companies in the world, with more than half of the value of its equity investments in the U.S.

Danube Water Levels Sink To Historic Lows The Danube and other rivers in Europe are experiencing historic drought conditions which have thrown shipping, tourism and energy supply into disarray. Additionally, as Statista's Katharina Buchholz details below, the sinking water levels that have set new all-time records in some locations have revealed historic finds from World War II to Roman times and even the Ice Age . You will find more infographics at Statista At the end of last month, 200 cruise passengers had to be evacuated when a Viking line river cruise ship ran aground near Vidin, Bulgaria. As of

The Ceuta Crisis And The Emerging European Divide Submitted by Thomas Kolbe Eleven years have passed since Angela Merkel opened the floodgates of migration to chaos. The European Union, already firmly in the grip of statists and numerous left-wing currents, has since become almost unrecognizable. The advance of Islamization and the dissolution of established urban milieus, traditions and cultures are progressing and contributing to the disintegration of European societies. What is particularly striking is the emergence of a kind of Islamo-Marxist movement, a fusion of radical socialist social ideals with a Sharia-based reinterpretation of society – as long as it

US Embassies Across Mideast Are Permanently Reassigning Personnel It is not just America's military bases in the Middle East which have been greatly reduced in terms of personnel or in some cases completely abandoned altogether due to the Iran war, but US Embassies in the region have also suffered forced downgrades of staff. Iran's retaliation on US locations and assets across the region was much bigger and more effective than US planners apparently expected, and this could have lasting impact on how US military and diplomatic deployments operate in the region . In some cases, such as the US Embassy

Left-Wing German Parties Pour Record Sums Into Stopping The AfD In The East Via Remix News, Germany’s Green Party is campaigning with record sums of money in the eastern German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to keep the Alternative for Germany (AfD) out of power. Remarkably, the Greens are campaigning with an intensity usually reserved for a national election, despite the party’s own election chances appearing rather dismal. In fact, in both states, the Greens are under threat of not even making it into parliament. Saxony-Anhalt is by far the most important election, as there is a realistic chance that

GOA Members Make History With First Suppressor Transfers Without NFA Registration Since 1934 via Gun Owners of America , Gun Owners of America (GOA), along with lead plaintiff Silencer Shop, made history tonight as GOA members Brandon Herrera and Wes Virdell lawfully acquired suppressors without complying with the currently enjoined registration requirements of the National Firearms Act of 1934. The transfers took place at Silencer Shop's new storefront in Leander, Texas immediately after midnight on August 13th. Representative Andrew Clyde (GA-09) and GOA Senior Vice President Erich Pratt were also in attendance. Remember: GOA and our allies are proceeding with

The Cultural Revolution Is In Full Swing Authored by Larry Sand via American Greatness, It’s no secret that socialism is advancing in the U.S. The latest development in this ominous trend occurred on August 4, when Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive backed by democratic socialists, defeated the establishment-backed congresswoman Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary. At the same time, our culture is under constant attack by radicals seeking to transform our national ethos. Despite some claims to the contrary, the cultural upheaval known as “Wokism” is very much alive and well. As John Murawski writes in RealClearInvestigations , the movement

China Dominates The Humanoid Robot Race. Can Trump Close The Gap? It should surprise no one that new data from Smart Analytics Global, cited by Bloomberg , shows that Chinese humanoid robot makers accounted for a staggering 97% of global shipments in the first half of 2026. The figures come as the Trump administration increasingly recognizes that humanoids will be critical to the emerging physical AI era, creating an urgent need to build out America's robot supply chain, including motors, actuators, sensors, batteries, and AI models. via Barclays. Smart Analytics Global said global humanoid shipments tripled to 19,100 units in

Trump: US Controls Hormuz Strait, 'I Think We Will Keep It' - Confirms Economic Siege Strategy Summary Trump claims "total control" of Hormuz , signals strategy of continued economic pressure. Iran declares "victory" & says it can sustain the conflict & outlast. Iran shifts to a "survival economy" to withstand sanctions, Washington's economic warfare, naval blockade. Peace talks basically not happening , with Pakistan reporting "absolutely no progress." Tehran: Hormuz remains closed until Washington accepts all conditions. US-Iran 60 day negotiation period extended? Yes 23% · No 78% View full market & trade on Polymarket * * * Trump Claims

Libya Reels From Assassination, Oil Strikes & Central Bank Turmoil Via Middle East Eye Libya was plunged into fresh turmoil this week after a car bomb killed eastern military intelligence chief Fawzi al-Mansouri in Benghazi , drone attacks struck the country’s largest operational oil refinery and the central bank governor resigned from his post. Mansouri, the military intelligence chief for forces controlling eastern Libya, was leaving a mosque on Monday night when an explosive device attached to his vehicle detonated, the Libyan National Army (LNA) said on Tuesday. AFP: a fire at the Zawiya refinery, Libya’s second-largest oil refinery, after

Ann Arbor Is The 'Most Educated' City In America This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti, ranks the most educated U.S. cities in 2026, highlighting metropolitan areas with high levels of educational attainment and strong local education systems. The data for this visualization comes from WalletHub . Cities were ranked using a weighted composite score based on educational attainment (80%) and education quality and equality (20%). College Towns Continue to Lead Ann Arbor, Michigan, ranks first with an overall score of 94.48, driven by exceptionally high educational attainment. Rank Most Educated Cities State Total Score (0-100) 1 Ann Arbor MI

Common Blood Pressure Drug Recalled Nationwide, FDA Says Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times , Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation recalled some heart failure and high blood pressure medication due to potency issues , according to the Food and Drug Administration's website. Hottie pharmacist at a Florida pharmacy, in this file photo. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images. Would. The recall affects one lot of Diovan, Novartis' valsartan brand, according to a report issued last week. The lot includes 160-milligram tablets in 90-count bottles, with the lot number AV5913C, and an expiration date of June 2027. The drug is prescription-only and manufactured

Experts Question Why Polls Were So Wrong In The Wisconsin Primary Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong entered primary day as the prohibitive favorite to become the Democratic Party’s nominee for Wisconsin governor. Yet, she wound up narrowly losing to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley instead. Crowley beat Hong by 0.4 percentage points, a margin of about 3,000 votes, in a race that polling had shown Hong leading by about 20 points for weeks. Despite the slim margin, Hong ultimately conceded the race, and now Crowley will face Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany in November. The gap between expectation and outcome sent pollsters,

Shocked! ICE To Equip Officers With Gloves That Can Deliver Electric Zaps Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times , Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to spend up to $20 million on gloves that can deliver electric shocks for its agents, according to a notice published by the Department of Homeland Security on Aug. 10. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents walk outside the Ventura County Government Center in Ventura, Calif., on July 27, 2026. Blake Fagan/AFP via Getty Images The devices, known as CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E, or Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, are expected to be delivered by

Mamdani's Socialist Utopia Collides With Reality As Manhattan Rents Hit Record Socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani built his political campaign by relentlessly attacking America and, most importantly, portraying capitalism as the root cause of nearly every social problem, from affordability pressures to soaring rents. Voters were sold the idea that his administration could deliver an instant utopian transformation built on free bus rides, government-run grocery stores, and cheap housing. However, like every Marxist before him , Mamdani's vision of utopia is not grounded in economic reality. The dream pitched to millions across the metropolitan area is now colliding with market

The Return Of Economic Gaslighting Authored by Connor O'Keefe via The Mises Institute, Around two and a half years ago, as the Biden administration was entering what we now know was its final year, the then-president’s re-election campaign was growing frustrated. According to nearly all the big economic indicators and aggregates, the economy was doing quite well, especially considering the historic shutdown governments had forced on the global economy a few years before. However, at the same time, the American public as a whole felt very negatively about that same economy. And that negativity was persistent. That diversion appeared to

Nearly Half Of NYC Homeless Deaths Due To Drugs Or Alcohol: Study Nearly half of all deaths among New York City's homeless population in the most recent fiscal year were connected to drug use or alcohol abuse , according to a new city report. A homeless man sits in the cold in Manhattan on Dec. 27. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images Of the 634 people experiencing homelessness who died between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, 285 lost their lives to drug addiction, overdoses, or alcoholism. The figures come from the annual mortality report jointly issued by the city's

White House Ends TikTok Ban On Government Devices Authored by Jackson Richman via The Epoch Times, The White House has allowed Executive Branch employees to use TikTok on their government devices. The Office of Management and Budget on Aug. 10 issued a memorandum to heads of executive departments and agencies, stating that “TikTok may be used on government devices.” The Epoch Times has reached out to TikTok for comment. This comes after the Department of Justice issued a memorandum on July 17 that said federal employees can again use TikTok on their government devices. The app was banned in 2022

New Orleans Becomes First Major U.S. City To Let AI Answer 911 New Orleans is testing just how much Americans are willing to trust artificial intelligence when the stakes are considerably higher than writing an email or ordering dinner, according to the New York Post . The city has begun allowing an AI system to field certain 911 calls, apparently making it the first major U.S. municipality to put a bot directly between emergency callers and human operators. The idea is largely about volume. New Orleans' emergency communications center receives more than 1,000 calls on a typical day, and officials

Illegal Immigrant Pleads Guilty To Purchasing 91 Firearms Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times , An illegal immigrant from Mexico has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to purchasing 91 firearms and 40,000 rounds of ammunition. A sign displaying "No firearms in Mexico" its outside a border entry point in Naco, Ariz., on March 5, 2025. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon announced on Aug. 10 that Samuel Rodrigo Melo Santos pleaded guilty to being an alien in possession of a firearm and making false statements in the acquisition

Ángel Aguirre indicted in case that rocked Mexico and became symbol of its brutal cartel violence The former governor of Guerrero state in Mexico has been formally charged over his alleged involvement in the disappearance of 43 students in 2014, a case that has become a symbol of the country’s brutal cartel violence and government impunity. Ángel Aguirre, who was arrested last week , is accused of forced disappearance and obstruction of justice for ordering the destruction of surveillance tapes that may have shed light on what happened to the students from the Ayotzinapa teacher training college on the night

Female staff alleged company failed to maintain safe workplace, after allegations of sexual assault against pilot The Canadian airline WestJet has agreed to pay C$4.5m (£2.4m) to settle a decade-long sexual harassment class action lawsuit levelled by its female flight attendants, who alleged the company failed to maintain a safe workplace. The suit followed allegations by Mandalena Lewis, a former flight attendant, that a pilot had sexually assaulted her and a colleague, but that WestJet kept the pilot flying, thereby putting other employees at risk. Continue reading...

Flight from Victoria to Toronto forced to return to terminal after repeated attempts to secure child in seat failed A Canadian airline cancelled a flight from Victoria to Toronto after a child refused to wear a seatbelt. The child was standing in their chair as the 6 August Porter Airlines flight taxied towards the runway, the airline said. Repeated attempts by an accompanying parent and crew to secure the child in their seat failed, so the crew elected to return to the terminal and have the two passengers disembark as “the aircraft could not take off in this unsafe condition”,

Quake of 7.4 magnitude collapses and severely damages buildings in several major cities, including Cali and Pereira More than 100 people died after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia, collapsing and severely damaging scores of buildings in major cities including Cali and Pereira. The US and Colombian geological surveys reported that a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck at 7.34am local time on Monday, with its epicentre in the western department of Chocó. It was felt in neighbouring Venezuela, still reeling from a deadly double earthquake on 24 June. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed – a full report is here People remain trapped in Cali, one of Colombia’s largest cities, ​after more than two dozen structures ‌collapsed, mayor Alejandro Eder said. ‌ He added that the city had asked authorities in Bogota and Medellin to send disaster teams ‌to support rescue efforts. Continue reading...

Incheon airport had 38.39m international passengers in first half of 2026, as traffic diverted from Middle East hubs South Korea’s Incheon airport has become the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, in part owing to disruption in the Middle East caused by the Iran war. The airport, South Korea’s main gateway, about 30 miles (48km) west of Seoul, handled 38.39 million international passengers in the first half of 2026, according to preliminary figures compiled by the Airports Council International (ACI), the global trade body for airports. Continue reading...

Prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul calls for tighter gun controls and ‘decisive penalties’ after nine dead in school shooting Thailand has suspended firearms licences after the deadly Nonthaburi school shooting , as the bodies of the teenage attacker and the grandparents he killed were cremated. The prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, said he had ordered the interior ministry and police to stop issuing licences to possess, purchase and carry firearms, and called for “tighter controls and decisive penalties”. The measures are temporary until a new gun control law is in place, according to government operated news-channel NBT World. Continue reading...

Forecasters warned the Chinese capital could receive more than one-third of its average annual rainfall over 24 hours Thousands of people have been evacuated from areas at risk of flooding and landslides in Beijing, as the remnants of Typhoon Dolphin continue to bring torrential rain to northern and central China. Forecasters warned on Tuesday that the Chinese capital could receive more than 150mm of rain over the following 24 hours, with some districts forecast to exceed 200mm – more than one-third of Beijing’s average annual rainfall of 528mm. Continue reading...

The Comac C919 will fly from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, although experts say it could take generations for it to challenge the west’s dominance of the industry China hopes to break into the world of commercial aviation with the first international flight of a Chinese-made passenger jet scheduled for Wednesday. The Comac C919 will take off from Beijing capital international airport at 3pm, landing in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, just over two hours later. Continue reading...

The prime minister tells the Guardian that last year’s diplomatic rift with ally New Zealand could be on voters’ minds as they head to the polls As voters in the Cook Islands prepare to head to the polls in a high-stakes general election, they will have much to reflect on. Over recent years, politics in this small island nation has been defined by fierce debates about deep-sea mining , diplomatic rifts with ally New Zealand and a major reshaping of the country’s foreign partnerships. In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, days before Wednesday’s poll, Cook Islands prime minister Mark

Foreign affairs minister and first Asian-Australian to serve in federal cabinet to use Lowy Institute address to criticise politicians stoking racial divisions Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Labor has escalated its pushback on One Nation’s surging political support, with the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, labelling Pauline Hanson’s push for a monoculture a “melancholic fantasy” that would harm national security. Wong, the first Asian-Australian to serve in federal cabinet, will use a major address at The Lowy Institute on Friday to criticise politicians stoking racial divisions, insisting the country’s multicultural success remains a

Dineth Fernando – who moved to Australia with his family in February – says he just needed to ‘find the word and play – that’s all’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Dineth Fernando’s first language isn’t English and he only arrived in Melbourne six months ago – but already he’s claimed an international Scrabble title with an Australian flag draped around his shoulders. The 13-year-old won the 2026 world youth Scrabble championships in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi over the weekend, becoming the third Australian representative in the competition’s history to take out

Christopher Alan Saunders found guilty of 13 sex offences in West Australian district court on Thursday. He was acquitted of six other charges Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A former high-ranking Catholic known for hosting boozy shirts-off parties has been convicted of sexually abusing two young Aboriginal men. Former bishop of Broome Christopher Alan Saunders, 76, was found guilty of 13 sex offences on Thursday following a jury trial in the West Australian district court. Continue reading...

Elbridge Colby, a US under secretary of war, says he is ‘very pleased’ with the nuclear submarine program’s progress Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Elbridge Colby, the third-highest-ranking official at the Pentagon and formerly an avowed Aukus sceptic , has mirrored his president’s language on the nuclear submarine deal, saying it is “full steam ahead”. Colby, a US under secretary of war, was the author of the Trump administration’s review of the Aukus deal, which would see the US sell three in-service Virginia-class submarines to Australia, before the development of Australia’s domestically built

Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney denies ever asking federal opposition leader for money for Liberal power brokers Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A factional ally of Angus Taylor has denied ever asking the federal opposition leader for money for a group of Liberal party Christian power brokers who allegedly solicited illegal donations, suggesting a Reformers associate may have “lied” about a $15,000 commitment. The Catholic Schools NSW chief executive, Dallas McInerney, gave evidence at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on

In France, 80 departments have been placed on an orange heat warning Met Office has just offered an update on temperatures across the UK, with several stations already reporting temperatures above 30C – and it’s not even 11am. It’s 30.4C in Wych Cross, 30.3C in Charlwood, 30.2C at Kenly Airfield. Continue reading...

Biological factors mean a child’s core temperature rises faster than an adult’s – and that can result in a medical emergency Children and babies are more vulnerable in heatwaves than healthy adults. As temperatures rise again , how do we keep children safe? Continue reading...

Eclipse witnessed by tens of millions across western Europe as enthusiasts gather along path of totality Solar eclipse 2026 across Europe: in pictures Cruise ships, quiet towns and an all-day festival: millions flock to eclipse viewing spots across Europe in Land’s End, Cornwall The roads and car parks of west and north Cornwall are clogged as people gather to watch the solar eclipse. Continue reading...

Beginning in Russia’s remote Arctic north, the eclipse traced an arc over much of western Europe – with the best views in Spain, Iceland and Greenland It was a moment of awe shared by millions across Europe: an eclipse that blocked out the sun, plunging parts of the continent into a daytime darkness in which temperatures dropped and birds suddenly went quiet. Wednesday’s eclipse began in Russia’s remote Arctic north, going on to trace an arc over much of western Europe. From the UK to northern Italy, tens of millions of people turned to the sky as the light of

Organisers says new rule will ensure contest provides ‘safe and welcoming environment’ for participants Broadcasters will no longer be eligible to host the Eurovision song contest if their state is involved in an “armed conflict” or “sensitive geopolitical situation”. Eurovision is traditionally hosted by the previous year’s winner’s broadcaster, with next year’s show due to take place in Bulgaria after the singer Dara’s victory for the country in May. Continue reading...

Settlers and soldiers cut off water and electricity to homes, and block medical care in campaign of terror Israeli militants have besieged two Palestinian families in their homes since the weekend, aiming to take over their properties in the West Bank village of Qusra through a campaign of terror. A group of settlers and soldiers set up a tent outside the home of Yousef Hassan’s family on Sunday afternoon, trapping him inside with his wife and two young daughters. Continue reading...

Emergency services, residents and environmental groups say military dropping flares to destroy forests and crops Firefighters and residents of south Lebanon have accused the Israeli military of lighting wildfires in the region, as forested areas burned down in blazes sparked by Israeli bombing. Environmental groups said the fires in recent weeks were part of a longstanding Israeli practice of targeting Lebanon’s natural environment. Continue reading...

Lawsuit challenges executive order targeting international criminal court for investigating Israeli crimes in Palestine Four prominent US human rights organizations have accused the Trump administration of using its “crippling” sanctions regime against the international criminal court (ICC) to undermine global efforts to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity. In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Tuesday, the groups – the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Institute – argued that the administration’s targeting of the ICC, as well as of groups and individuals affiliated with it or assisting

Verdict relates to atrocities committed during the country’s 14-year civil war in which about 500,000 people died A Syrian court has sentenced the country’s former president Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes during the 14-year civil war, in which about half a million people died. The two men fled to Moscow after being ousted by a lightning rebel offensive in December 2024 which toppled the dictatorial regime in just 11 days . Continue reading...

An Amnesty International report reveals that the country is now a key part of Israel’s weapons supply chain. Plus, Assam floods, student anger spreads and a song to put in rotation • Don’t get This is India delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Hello, and welcome back to This Is India. For this week’s newsletter, I’m looking at India’s evolving relationship with Israel, and how it has deepened as conflict swept across the Middle East. Why is it that India has formed an even closer bond with a country that has faced mounting international isolation and backlash over a

Kyaw Zwar Minn was ousted for declaring loyalty to Aung San Suu Kyi after 2021 coup but refused to leave his home Myanmar’s ousted ambassador to the UK has gone on trial on trespassing charges for refusing to leave a diplomatic residence after being unceremoniously locked out of the embassy in 2021. Shortly after Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021, triggering mass protests that spiralled into a civil war, Kyaw Zwar Minn was locked out of the embassy for declaring his loyalty to the deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Continue reading...

The wild capture and release of a female big cat into a nature reserve is the first step towards reintroducing a population that hasn’t been seen for 70 years On 31 July, “Umit” – which means hope in Kazakh – was released into a nature reserve on the edge of Lake Balkhash after more than a decade of careful planning to return the caspian tiger to the region. With this release, Kazakhstan became the first country to restore its tiger range after they had been thought extinct, with the last reliable sighting in the country recorded more than 70 years

Demonstrators accuse authorities of failing to tackle irregularities in exams for sought-after civil service jobs Thousands of angry young job-seekers clashed with police in Jharkhand, one of India’s poorest states, on Monday as a weeks-long protest over alleged irregularities in recruitment drives for coveted government jobs escalated into a march on the state legislature. Police fired water cannon and teargas and swung batons as they tried to stop flag-waving demonstrators from clambering over barricades and surging towards the assembly in Ranchi, the state capital. Some of the protesters responded by dancing and cheering as jets of water drenched the crowd.

Mohammad Akhtar, 50, from Peterborough killed during clashes between authorities and protesters A British national was shot dead in Pakistan-administered Kashmir during clashes between security forces and protesters, the Guardian can reveal. Another Briton has been held in a regional prison for more than two months despite his family’s efforts to secure his release through the Foreign Office. Continue reading...

Dhaka accuses India of giving platform to a ‘convicted genocider’ by allowing Sheikh Hasina to address journalists Bangladesh has lashed out at India for allowing the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to address journalists in New Delhi, plunging already strained bilateral relations to a fresh low. Dhaka accused India of giving a platform to a fugitive it labelled a “convicted genocider” and of undermining efforts to repair ties, after Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh in December despite facing a death sentence on charges of “crimes against humanity”. Continue reading...

The Reform UK leader resigned as the MP for Clacton at the start of July and forced a byelection Yesterday Michael Shanks , a UK energy minister, criticised John Swinney , the SNP Scottish first miniser, for trying to get Andy Burnham to lift a ban on the Chinese firm Ming Yang building a wind turbine factory in the Highlands. Today Stephen Gethins , energy minister in the Scottish government, defended his boss. In an interview on BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme, Gethins said: The first minister is right to ask about this. This is 1,500 jobs in the north

Weaker growth, rising energy costs and persistent inflation mean Britain could face tougher times in the autumn UK economic growth slows down Business live – latest updates In the spring the International Monetary Fund warned Britain faced the heaviest economic blow from the Iran war among the world’s most advanced nations. Almost six months into the conflict, on the surface, the UK appears to be proving the forecasters wrong. The latest official figures show the UK maintained its pole position as the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of 2026. Despite the gloomy international backdrop and

Mina Smallman, whose daughters were killed in north London park in 2020, says force ‘decides who matters’ The Metropolitan police does not take all cases of violence against women seriously and instead “decides who matters”, the mother of two murdered women has said. Mina Smallman, whose daughters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman were killed in a north London park in 2020, also said Britain’s biggest police force was incapable of change. Two police officers were jailed in 2021 after taking photographs of the dead bodies of her daughters and sharing the images in WhatsApp groups, referring to them as “dead

Firms in England and Wales seek to fund measures including supporting new homes and datacentres Business live – latest updates Millions of households in England and Wales face higher bills after water companies were given the green light to spend £3.4bn more than planned, including to support new homes and datacentres. The new spending will come on top of the £104bn programme of investment approved by the regulator that had already meant water bills will rise by 36% over the second half of the decade. Continue reading...

GDP expanded by 0.4% in three months to June, but analysts warn growth is ‘likely to fade’ UK economy shows surprising resilience Business live – latest updates Economic growth slowed in the second quarter of the year, as the disruption unleashed by the Iran war began to take its toll, official figures show. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said GDP expanded by 0.4% in the three months to June, down from 0.6% in the first quarter , in line with City economists’ expectations. Continue reading...

Move blocking funds through Medicaid and Chip to make it harder for vulnerable children to get healthcare, experts say The Trump administration finalized a rule on Tuesday to end gender-affirming care through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (Chip), a move that will make it harder for vulnerable children to access healthcare and that eschews evidence to advance an anti-transgender ideology, opponents say. The rule is set to take effect on 13 October – but legal challenges could delay or block it entirely. Continue reading...

The order cannot affect change, and is only ‘undermining trust in vaccines’ as CDC guidance remains the same Donald Trump’s executive order on vaccines does not change the US recommendations for the shots – but experts say it does create confusion and doubt about vaccines, which will lead to more illness and possibly deaths among children and will make it harder for families and pediatricians to protect them. The executive order was an attempt to reinstate sweeping changes to the vaccine schedule made earlier this year by Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human

Youngest White House press secretary in history says she wants more time to ‘be the best mom’. Plus, are we losing the battle against AI slop in the music charts? Good morning. A familiar face in Donald Trump’s administration is departing, as the US president announced that Karoline Leavitt was stepping down to spend more time with her family. The president said Leavitt, who became the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary on his return to office in January 2025, “will now be one of my top outside advisers”. Trump’s most prominent spokesperson is departing while his

McKenna West initially agreed to an abortion after diagnosis, but then fled to state where abortion is illegal and broke contact with biological parents, attorney alleges A surrogate mother who traveled to Texas, where abortion is illegal, claiming she was pressured to end the pregnancy after the discovery of a severe heart defect, gave birth on Wednesday to a baby boy. The child’s biological parents, Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed of California, confirmed the birth through their lawyer, while denying they forced McKenna West, who is from Alaska, to undergo an abortion, the Texas Tribune reported . Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Karoline Leavitt will step down as White House press secretary Sign up for the Breaking News US email Core inflation, which measures price changes without volatile goods like food and gas, rose by 0.2% in July , after not really changing in June compared to the month prior. While the latest data shows there has been a 2.9% drop in gas prices from June to July, there has been a 25% hike compared to this time last year . Continue reading...

Nurses are collapsing at work as they endure extreme heat in buildings that are proving unfit for the record temperatures gripping Britain. Conditions are “inhumane”, the Royal College of Nursing said on Thursday. Members have reported temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in UK hospital wards and care homes, often without access to air conditioning, fans or even to windows that open, the RCN said. As Britain sweats through its fifth heatwave of the year, record...

Three of Russia’s largest grain terminals in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk have halted operations after being damaged in a massive overnight drone attack by Ukraine. Grain shipments from Novorossiysk are currently impossible because of serious damage to terminal infrastructure, people familiar with the matter said. A loading gallery at United Grain’s Novorossiysk Grain Plant collapsed after the strikes and several silos were damaged, the people said, while a gallery and truck unloading...

Tonnes of aid from regional partners began to roll into Colombia on Wednesday, as the search for survivors in the rubble of a powerful earthquake grew more desperate after the temblor razed buildings, buckled roads and crushed cars. The devastation has tested Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, and his government as it scrambles to respond to the disaster and civil society as it pushes to provide aid to the most affected communities. De la Espriella said on Wednesday evening that...

China said on Wednesday it would help Colombia recover from the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck the country’s west on Monday, killing more than 200 people. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing would do what it could in suitable ways, in line with what Colombia requested, in response to questions from Xinhua and Telesur at a briefing in Beijing. Guo said no Chinese nationals had been reported killed or injured in the disaster, and that the embassy in Bogota was “working to...

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to hold the role, will leave at month’s end, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday. Leavitt, 28, just recently returned to the White House after taking a brief leave for the birth of her second child in May. Leavitt has been one of the most visible advocates of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. The Republican president described her as one of his “most trusted aides” in a social media post announcing her...

Day briefly turned to night in Spain on Wednesday, as the country witnessed its first total solar eclipse in more than a century, plunging it into eerie darkness in one of nature’s greatest spectacles. The spectral glow of the sun’s outer corona, shimmering out of the edges of the shadowy moon, drew gasps and cheers from huge crowds, just 90 minutes after it first appeared in the remote Arctic region of northern Russia. “It’s a sight I never would have imagined seeing,” said Isabel Troyano, a...

Eurovision Song Contest organisers announced rule changes on Wednesday excluding any country in an armed conflict from hosting the competition and increasing the minimum age of competitors. While they did not mention any country by name, Israel, which has been at war in Gaza since 2023, came close to winning the competition in both 2025 and 2026, ultimately finishing second on each occasion. Under the old rules, the winning country normally hosts the following year’s competition. Under the new...

Israel on Wednesday carried out its first air strike in more than a week in Gaza, both sides said, breaking a relative lull as the US pressed a peace plan. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas commander, charging that he had been planning attacks against Israeli forces operating in the war-battered territory. “The terrorist was struck in an aerial strike in order to remove the threat to IDF troops,” a military statement said, adding that it tried to mitigate civilian harm. Gaza’s civil...

Spectacular images of lava flowing down the slopes of an erupting Mount Etna have drawn flocks of tourists to the Italian volcano – to the worry of local guides. The tallest active volcano in Europe, Etna has been spewing ash and lava for days, forcing the closure of the nearby Catania airport, a key gateway for tourists visiting the island of Sicily. Companies that organise nighttime hikes allowing participants to watch the eruption up close say they have been flooded with calls. “They all want...

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he hoped more countries would join a defence agreement signed last week between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan aimed at stabilising a region wracked by conflict. The so-called Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed on Friday as the Middle East grapples with fallout from the US-Iran war, which has dragged in regional players and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. “Our vision for it is not limited to the three...

US soybean growers are “adapting” to a steep decline in China-bound exports by selling to third countries and the American biofuel sector, compensating enough to cause only a small drop in production, according to a top trade association’s chief economist. In November, Beijing committed to buy at least 25 million tonnes of American soybeans annually through 2028, as part of an agreement reached after China stopped the purchases during US President Donald Trump’s trade war in early 2025. But just...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday threatened retaliation for Western seizures of its commercial vessels, describing them as “piracy.” Speaking on a visit to a Russian warship that was taking part in a naval exercise in the Pacific, Putin described the Western moves to detain vessels linked to Russia as a breach of international maritime law. “It’s nothing but piracy and robbery,” Putin said. “If this is done, we will be forced to respond in kind.” He added that the Russian response...

While rising trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels continue to dominate headlines, Chinese exporters face a far more immediate and concrete threat: the boxes, wraps, and plastic bags protecting their goods. On Wednesday, the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) became applicable across the bloc. Replacing a 1994 directive, the regulation sets requirements for every piece of packaging placed on the EU market, covering chemical restrictions, recyclability,...

When Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told state television last week that he found it “very difficult” to reach the country’s supreme leader, it sparked fresh speculation about the whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei who has not been seen in public since taking over as the country’s ultimate authority in March. By Monday, Pezeshkian told the official broadcaster that the two had in fact recently held a meeting lasting “seven or eight hours”. “It was a very good meeting,” Pezeshkian told a...

Colombian rescuers pulled a 32-year-old woman alive from the rubble of a collapsed building on Tuesday, sparking cheers and applause as exhausted crews raced to find more survivors from the country’s strongest earthquake in a century. Daniela Largo was carried from the wreckage wrapped in a blue blanket as rescuers embraced and relatives shouted out with joy. Soldiers, firefighters and volunteers continued to scour collapsed buildings across western Colombia after Monday’s 7.4-magnitude...

US President Donald Trump deflected criticisms about a decision to secretly fly him out of Turkey on a different aircraft while the White House indicated he was aboard Air Force One, saying the Secret Service and military demanded it in response to unspecified safety threats. “They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday after deplaning Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews...

Diego Maradona showed “warning signs” that went unheeded during the home hospitalisation leading up to his death in 2020, a witness on Tuesday told the trial examining the Argentine football legend’s demise. Seven healthcare professionals have been on trial since mid-April in Argentina for potential negligence that may have contributed to his death. The World Cup winner died of heart failure and acute pulmonary oedema – a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs – two weeks after...

A US helicopter on Tuesday fired missiles into the engine room of a Panama-flagged cargo ship that attempted to break the American blockade of Iran’s ports, the United States military said. The US Navy MH-60 helicopter fired on and disabled the M/V Vela Nova “after the ship’s civilian crew ignored repeated warnings from American forces”, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media, adding that the vessel “is no longer transiting to Iran in violation of the US blockade”. It was initially...

Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least 10 people overnight and wounded dozens, Kyiv said on Tuesday, accusing Moscow of launching North Korean missiles in the raid. The allegation comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned – without providing evidence – that Moscow was receiving more ballistic projectiles and troops from its ally Pyongyang. Russia has turned to North Korea for support throughout its four-and-a-half-year invasion. Earlier in the war, Pyongyang dispatched...

Israel and Venezuela announced on Tuesday that they had renewed consular relations 17 years after diplomatic ties were severed between the two countries. The move comes after Israel sent an aid and disaster response delegation to Venezuela in June following devastating twin earthquakes that left thousands dead. It also follows the United States’ toppling of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolas Maduro in a January military raid, with interim President Delcy Rodriguez now running the country under...

Canadian police on Tuesday charged a man with making a bomb threat against the US consulate in Halifax, the latest security incident involving an American diplomatic post in Canada after two shootings at the US consulate in Toronto this year. Several streets downtown were evacuated after Halifax Regional Police found a car linked to the suspect, Ali Assakereh, parked near the consulate on Monday morning. The vehicle contained a propane tank and containers believed to hold flammable liquids,...

Human Rights Watch and three other advocacy groups sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to challenge its campaign against the International Criminal Court, arguing that sanctions against ICC judges and prosecutors are undermining the ability to prosecute people responsible for humanity’s worst crimes. The complaint – filed in the Southern District of New York – says that US President Donald Trump’s executive order last year targeting The Hague-based criminal court and the US sanctions issued...

Moscow on ⁠Tuesday freed a former US marine jailed in Russia ⁠since 2022 after Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a pardon for the ailing American based on humanitarian reasons, US officials said. The White House and the State Department had urged Moscow to release Robert Gilman, 32, so he could receive medical treatment in the United States. “After my discussions with President Vladimir Putin, Russia has agreed to release him, very much on a Humanitarian Basis,” US President Donald Trump...

At least 14 suspected illegal miners were killed and eight injured when a mine dump collapsed in South ‌Africa’s North West province on Monday night, police said. Search and rescue operations are under way for an unknown number of people who may still be trapped at the site ⁠near Rustenburg, provincial police commissioner Arthur Peter Adams said. The collapse ‌occurred as the miners were digging for platinum group metals at a ‌disused dump on a private company’s site, Adams ⁠said. The ⁠injured...

Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday approved former supreme court chief Andras Baka, a critic of Viktor Orban who was fired during the ex-premier’s time in power, as the country’s next head of state. The post became vacant following the contested removal last month of the previous president, an Orban ally, as pro-EU conservative Prime Minister Peter Magyar pushes to loosen his predecessor’s lingering hold over state institutions. Parliament, where the ruling Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority,...

In a landmark change to Lebanon’s penal system, the country’s parliament on Tuesday approved legislation abolishing the death penalty, replacing it with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labour, the state-run National News Agency reported. The vote makes Lebanon the first Arab country to formally abolish the death penalty. Justice Minister Adel Nassar, who attended the parliamentary session, described the vote as a “historic step” for Lebanon. The measure was approved by a majority of the...

A nuclear plant in northern France shut down three reactors after a swarm of jellyfish clogged pumps used to cool the units, energy group EDF said on Tuesday. Three reactors were taken offline on Monday and output at a fourth was cut by half, EDF said in a statement, leaving just one operating at full capacity. A sixth reactor was already offline for scheduled maintenance. “This situation has no impact on the safety of the facilities, the safety of personnel, or the environment,” EDF...

A Syrian court sentenced ousted leader ⁠Bashar al-Assad ⁠to death on Tuesday ⁠after a trial in absentia, convicting him of crimes including killings, torture, and arbitrary arrest during the country’s nearly 14-year war. It was the first conviction against ‌Assad, who was ousted in a rebel offensive in December 2024 that ended decades of his family’s iron-fisted rule over Syria and the brutal war that killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians. Assad fled the capital Damascus as rebel fighters...

US President Donald Trump secretly flew out of Turkey last month on a smaller plane than previously known due to an assassination threat from Iran, The Washington Post reported on Monday. According to an anonymous US official who spoke to the Post, Trump boarded an Air Force One jet in Ankara on July 8, but then moved into a catering container attached to the plane. The container then ferried him to a smaller C-32A aircraft that flew him to Britain, while media and some officials were led to...

Despite representing nearly half the world’s population, accounting for about a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product and covering more than 60 per cent of the Eurasian land mass, the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the international arena remains relatively limited. While the SCO has long been a priority in China’s neighbourhood diplomacy, the grouping also serves as a platform through which all member states pursue their own foreign policy goals. What would it take for...

US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations that promote his long-held but discredited theory that childhood vaccines should be spaced out into separate medical visits. The order advocates separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different single-disease shots and administering all childhood immunisations at separate appointments whenever possible. It also directs the nation’s health department to...

US President Donald Trump has extended for 90 days a waiver allowing foreign-flagged ships to transport oil and other commodities between US ports but imposed new limits after shipbuilders and their allies in ‌Congress argued the policy was undermining the domestic maritime industry, the White House said. The extension, finalised on Monday, comes as the war with Iran disrupts global crude flows and pushes up fuel costs, increasing pressure on the administration to find ways to ease transport...

China has asked to join World Trade Organization consultations that Brazil opened against US tariffs of up to 37.5 per cent. Beijing filed the request in Geneva on Monday, telling the trade body it held a substantial commercial interest in the case. The move was first reported by the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo and independently confirmed to the South China Morning Post by a Brazilian government source. In the request, China said Washington could apply comparable measures to Chinese...

US President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, was sworn in on Monday as attorney general after a bruising confirmation fight that exposed bipartisan concerns about the Justice Department’s direction under the Republican president. Another former Trump lawyer – Emil Bove, now a federal appeal court judge – administered the oath of office to Blanche at the White House following early Saturday’s Senate confirmation vote by the narrowest of margins. Soon after, the newly sworn-in...

A US judge on Monday dismissed criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, after the Justice Department said it had decided to abandon the fraud and bribery case. Brooklyn-based US District Judge Nicholas ‌Garaufis’ decision to grant federal prosecutors’ rare bid to toss the case came after he inquired into their reasons for doing so, including by asking Adani whether anything was promised in exchange for the dropping of the case. In November 2024, before the charges were unsealed,...

Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer questioned her psychiatrist’s expertise, prescribing decisions and overall treatment as the defence sought on Monday to suggest that the mental healthcare system overlooked and even accelerated the Massachusetts mother’s decline in the months before she killed her three young children. In questioning Dr Jennifer Tufts, defence lawyer Kevin Reddington highlighted her use of 25-minute video appointments with limited time for talk therapy, the computerised forms that...

A US appeal court on Monday allowed thousands of lawsuits to move forward against Meta ⁠Platforms, Alphabet’s Google, ByteDance’s TikTok, and other ⁠social media companies over claims they designed their products to ⁠be addictive to young users. The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the companies’ bid to reverse a lower court’s ruling forcing them to face some 2,400 lawsuits over the claims filed in federal court. The companies, which also include Snap Inc’s Snapchat,...

A group of US investment giants are partnering with Nvidia on US$500 billion in funding for AI infrastructure projects, the Financial Times reported. Apollo Global Management, Blackstone, BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, Brookfield Asset Management, Goldman Sachs and KKR are among the firms in talks with Nvidia on a deal to invest in the AI buildout, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified sources. The deal may be announced as soon as Monday, the Times said. The named firms...

Russia’s Supreme Court barred the liberal Yabloko party on Monday from contesting September’s parliamentary elections, sidelining the only officially registered party that opposes Moscow’s ‌war in Ukraine. More than four years after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the decision highlights the authorities’ intolerance of anti-war views and further narrows the already limited space for dissent in Russian politics. “The decision will ⁠be appealed. Friends, let’s not despair,” the party said in ‌a...

Some 71.3 per cent of England is in drought, the UK government said on Monday, after the nation experienced its driest July on record, with a fifth heatwave and scant rain forecast for the week ahead. Parks and fields that are usually green at this point in the year were parched and yellow, according to Agence France-Presse photos, as river levels dwindled and farmers battling low crop yields warned of possible food shortages. “Almost three-quarters of England is now in drought as conditions...

The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record started in February, months before it was officially declared in mid-May, the World Health Organization said on Monday, as responders in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) struggle to catch up. The WHO regional director for Africa, Mohamed Yakub Janabi, told a press conference that sequencing indicated the outbreak’s start. He said some cases early in the outbreak were wrongly attributed to malaria and typhoid. “So we are chasing the virus,...

Colombian volunteers and rescuers sifted through rubble with bare hands and buckets on Monday, hunting for survivors following a massive 7.4 magnitude quake that has claimed the lives of at least 181 people and levelled more than a hundred homes and office buildings. The quake struck several cities across Colombia’s picturesque coffee region and Pacific shortly after 7.30am (local time), sending panicked residents onto the streets and damaging at least 1,500 buildings. “People ran out naked,...

Thames Water has handed a delayed £1 million (US$1.35 million) “golden handshake” payment to its chief financial officer and agreed controversial retention payouts to top bosses despite its battle to secure its financial future. The stricken supplier, which is sinking under a debt pile of more than £20 billion, disclosed in a letter to the Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs Committee that it had made the so-called signing-on payment to Steve Buck at the end of July from an emergency lending...

At least 13 people were killed, including a child, and 39 injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on industrial and ‌civilian targets in the Russian city of Nizhnekamsk, authorities said on Monday, one of the heaviest civilian tolls in the country in months. The city is a major oil-refining and petrochemical centre in the Tatarstan republic, according to local officials. Its refining and petrochemical sites have been attacked multiple times in the past. The city is home to two major oil refineries,...

Beijing has issued a preliminary ruling that the United States and Mexico are dumping pecans into the Chinese market and harming domestic producers, according to the Ministry of Commerce. “Over the injury investigation period, the volume of dumped imports rose by a cumulative 104.56 per cent and their share of the domestic market increased by 9.69 percentage points,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday. “The import price of the dumped products fell by a cumulative 9.15 per cent and...

The deadly strikes are part of a long-running maritime battle with Ukraine and echo battles over other key shipping routes around the world.

President Trump’s Air Force One subterfuge pales in comparison to the secrecy surrounding Russia’s president, whose fixation on security has reached new heights in recent years.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan has been a public critic of Mr. Putin, who has denounced her country’s sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine war.

Democratic Socialists are capturing more votes than ever before — even as they run up against the limits of their appeal.

One of the most conservative states has a legislature divided between a hard-right House and a merely right Senate. Ultraconservatives want a complete takeover in the Aug. 18 primaries.

Some Democrats said the outcome showed that the moderate wing of the party carried more electoral weight, while Ms. Hong’s strong showing gave some progressives hope.

Tributes to the former premier recalled his spirited style and his efforts to integrate China into global commerce, in contrast with the rigidity of the Xi era.

Designers at a new crop of creative studios create fake personas they hope real people will love. Are they distorting culture or mirroring it?

China already manufactures humanoid robots by the thousands. A new generation of U.S. start-ups is betting that there is still time to compete.

Pangram excels at distinguishing chatbot-generated words from human writing. But it’s not reliable for spotting artificial images.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s sharing of her decision to freeze her eggs, the news that her longtime relationship had ended and talk of a presidential run have intensified the debates that swirl around her.

With forecasters issuing a warning for very high temperatures, this summer is on track to be one of the hottest yet.

Beset by historically dry weather, much of the nation is losing its signature hue.

The recurring climate phenomenon is expected to peak later this year, but it is already causing dry spells and crop failures on three continents.

The baby, who was born Wednesday with a severe heart defect, drew the attention of anti-abortion activists and the Texas attorney general after the intended parents wanted the surrogate mother to have an abortion.

Two families have been trapped by settlers for days, casting a spotlight on the army’s struggle to curtail settler violence and protect Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank.

People gathered across the continent to watch the total solar eclipse on Wednesday.

On Aug. 2, Southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East will witness a solar blockbuster with extra-long totality. If you want to see it, book soon.

Is Kansas just the beginning?

The tech mogul Bryan Johnson is trying to design the blueprint for defying death.

We’re sharing photos from yesterday’s total solar eclipse.

Anthony Anderson, the guest host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” called the ruse in which President Trump exited the plane in a catering container “Operation Pig in a Blanket.”

The City Council is poised to approve a package of bills loosening some restrictions on roadway dining structures, which became ubiquitous during the pandemic.