Minimalist News

She Took Two Key Items: New Details Raise Doubts Over Los Alamos Lab Assistant's Death Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , Fresh reporting reveals that Melissa Casias, administrative assistant at the Los Alamos nuclear lab, left home with everyday possessions that suggest she intended to survive - not end her life - raising new questions in the widening pattern of mysterious deaths among nuclear and UFO-linked personnel. Some have suggested that Casias committed suicide, yet new details about her final moments show that before walking out the door of her Ranchos de Taos home on June 26, 2025,

"We Must Act": TotalEnergies CEO Joins Calls To Rewire Gulf Energy Flows Around Hormuz The Strait of Hormuz was disrupted or nearly closed for roughly three and a half to four months, offering Gulf states aligned with the U.S. one clear message: energy flows - or tanker transits - must be rewired through pipeline networks that bypass the maritime chokepoint. By creating alternative pipeline export routes through the UAE, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, Oman, or Turkey, regional producers can reduce the risk that Tehran can once again use Hormuz as a leverage tool to disrupt tanker traffic through one

DHS Proposes To Increase Citizenship Application Fees By 80% Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times, The Trump administration on June 23 proposed increasing the cost of becoming an American citizen in a move that would nearly double the price of naturalization. The proposal would raise the government’s fee for filing an online naturalization application form, the N-400, from $710 to $1,280, an 80-percent increase, according to the proposal from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), published in the Federal Register on Tuesday. For paper filings of the N-400, DHS said that it wants to raise the fee from

From Bartenders To Builders: Data Centers Drive America's Blue-Collar Comeback A seismic shift is underway in the U.S. labor market after a quarter-century of America's industrial base being hollowed out following China's entry into the WTO, a period marked by the decline of goods-producing jobs while leisure and hospitality employment surged. The driver of the current job shift is the data center buildout phase, which is expected to require millions of new jobs across construction, manufacturing, electrical trades, power infrastructure, and the broader industrial supply chain. Additionally, reshoring critical supply chains will require even more goods-producing jobs, which are high-paying

How Can We Restore Trusted Elections? Authored by Christian Milord via The Epoch Times , It's mind-boggling that elections and election results take so long to complete, especially in a developed nation such as the United States. A person votes in the Virginia redistricting referendum at Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Alexandria, Va. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson It's inexcusable that our modern society can't establish firm timelines and expedite tabulation when many nations, both developed and developing, announce results on the same day as the election or within a day or two. Many of those countries lack

Movie "Citizen Vigilante" Exposes Migrant Crime Issue And Triggers Outrage The current political climate across the west is tumultuous and chaotic, largely due to one volatile issue causing deep divisions: Mass immigration. Not just mass immigration, but mass invasion from third-world countries and facilitated by liberal governments. Leftists, driven by an obsession with multiculturalism and Marxism, desperately want mass immigration to continue unabated. Conservatives and centrists want immigration stopped and, ideally, reversed. Both sides refuse to budge which has created an explosive impasse. The debate is on the verge of becoming a civil war. In this debate, only one side

The Myth Of Price Controls Authored by Daniel Lacalle, The Cuban dictator Miguel Díaz-Canel’s recent admission that Cuba’s generalized price caps failed to contain inflation , generated shortages, encouraged illegal markets, and reduced tax revenues is another confirmation of a much older economic lesson: price controls do not solve inflationary pressures, and they intensify the distortions they are meant to prevent . The Cuban case is especially revealing because the criticism comes not from ideological opponents but from the regime that imposed the controls and later conceded their failure. Cuban dictator admits that price controls never work. Mamdani, Elizabeth Warren,

Trump Admin Kicks Off American Nuclear Renaissance With $17.5 Billion Loan Program For Reactor Projects With hyperscalers set to spend roughly $800 billion on data-center capex this year alone, alongside reshoring and broader grid electrification, baseload power demand is poised to surge. We have made the case that intermittent solar and wind are no match for the scale and reliability requirements of the modern economy, and that nuclear power is emerging as the clean, always-on power source needed to power the AI era. The Wall Street Journal reports Tuesday morning that the Trump administration plans to supercharge the deployment of

The Next Commodity Supercycle Has Already Started Authored by Chris Macintosh via InternationalMan.com, The world rotates between two sectors: technology and energy. You have to turn the lights on or nothing happens. You need both the lights and the energy to power them. No lights, only energy? Nothing. Lights with no energy? Nothing. Essentially you have to innovate or you never progress. Markets tend to rotate between those two broad sectors accordingly. Go back to the height of the energy boom in 2013 and 2014. You couldn’t give Microsoft away. Energy, on the other hand, could do no wrong. That

Automakers Race Into Humanoid Robots As Timeline For Blue-Collar Job Disruption Emerges Bernstein analyst Eunice Lee is out with a fascinating note explaining why automakers are making a mad dash into the world of humanoid robotics, arguing that their manufacturing scale, supply-chain depth, and years of investment in autonomous driving give them a structural lead in the emerging physical-AI market. Lee writes that automakers are also seeking new revenue streams beyond the core vehicle business, with humanoids poised to move from factory floors into the physical world across retail, security, public service, and eventually homes. From Tesla and Hyundai to

California Residents Sue Gas Stations Alleging AI Price Fixing Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times , Three California residents are suing a fuel pricing company and several gas station operators, alleging that they use artificial intelligence-based pricing systems to raise gasoline prices in an uncompetitive manner. Gas prices above $6 a gallon are displayed at a Shell station in Los Angeles on on May 4, 2026. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images " Californians are being forced to pay surcharges that cannot be explained by crude oil costs, refining costs, environmental regulation, or taxes, " said the June 22 class action

SpaceX Builds A Regulatory Moat Around Its Starlink Empire Scotiabank analysts write that SpaceX is using the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) process to transform spectrum rights, service approvals, and satellite rulemaking into a regulatory moat around Starlink. This reinforces its position as the rocket and AI company moves to secure years of dominance as the leading space-based communications provider. Scotiabank's Maher Yaghi and Joey Chan wrote in a note titled "SpaceX at the FCC: Building a Wider Regulatory Moat" that, after reviewing SpaceX's filings from October 2025 through June, there are three major takeaways regarding how the company is "reinforcing

Obama-Appointed Judge Dismisses Federal Government's Lawsuit Challenging Los Angeles Sanctuary City Policy Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times , A California judge has dismissed the federal government's legal challenge to Los Angeles's sanctuary city ordinance that restricts the use of city resources to assist federal immigration enforcement. People in the audience hold up signs as the Los Angeles City Council considers a "sanctuary city" ordinance during a meeting at City Hall in Los Angeles on Nov. 19, 2024. Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin of the Central District of California said the federal government

Cyberattack Hits Iran's Banking System, Disrupting Card Networks At Three Major Lenders It seems that the United States and Israel have not completely given up on covert efforts toward regime change in Iran, or at least on sabotage efforts to weaken the government's hold over the population. The precursor to Trump's Operation Epic Fury was of course the January economic protests, which saw serious clashes with police and security forces, and left thousands dead. Trump subsequently claimed over 30,000 were killed - a very high, dubious number - according to many independent analysts. At the same time US Treasury Secretary

Randi Whinegarten Authored by Larry Sand via American Greatness , Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, wrote a hyperbolic piece titled " America's Teachers Can't Afford to Teach, " which appeared in Time magazine on June 11. The excessively whiny article is filled with half-truths meant to make readers feel sorry for impoverished, underpaid teachers. Among other things, she asserts that the vast majority of American educators are living paycheck to paycheck, taking on debt to buy groceries, and facing other financial hardships. She maintains that the pay gap between "teachers and other college-educated professionals - known

UN Maritime Agency Initiates Plan To Clear Hormuz Traffic: Hundreds Of Vessels, 11K Sailors The Strait of Hormuz is supposed to be 'open' now, based on the MoU framework, though things are expected to be extremely slow moving, despite signs of life in terms of an increased transit flow becoming evident only this week. The saga of just how hundreds of ships will traverse is developing and tenuous: "The UN's International Maritime Organization says it will begin evacuating more than 11,000 sailors stranded in the Gulf due to the Middle East war ," per AFP. via Bloomberg " This large-scale

The Decline Of Mainstream Media: From COVID To Capital Markets Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance Many of my subscribers first found me before the COVID narrative became mainstream, when I was ringing the alarm bells about the stock market in late 2019 and early 2020 and warning people that the virus was going to be a much bigger deal than people thought. At the time, almost nobody cared about COVID. The consensus view was that it was a localized problem in China and that markets would continue marching higher as they always had. By January and February 2020, I was

Supreme Court Sides With Trump Admin On Removing Green Card Holders Accused Of Crimes Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness, In a 6-3 decision Tuesday morning, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Trump administration, holding that green card holders can be stripped of their status if they traveled abroad while facing criminal charges involving moral turpitude, finding that pending allegations are sufficient to subject them to removal proceedings. The Court said immigration officials do not need clear and convincing evidence of a crime at the moment a green card holder reenters the U.S. to treat them as

Meta Developing Prediction Market App Called "Arena" To Compete With Polymarket, Kalshi The company formerly known as Facebook which has yet to change its name from the terribly outdated Meta to something more AI-related, even if Meta has so far lost any hope of being a leading frontier model, is developing a new app called “Arena” that mirrors a prediction market platform to compete with the runaway success of Polymarket and Kalshi, according the New York Times . The product - which would operate independently from Facebook and Instagram - would allow users to make forecasts about future events, ranging

Judge Blocks SNAP Restrictions On Sugary Drinks, Candy Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times , A federal judge on Monday blocked the USDA from restricting the use of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance ​Program (SNAP) to buy sugary foods or drinks in five states. Bags of candy on shelves at a Target store in Austin, Texas, on June 4, 2025. Brandon Bell/Getty Images U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued the ruling in response to a lawsuit by five SNAP recipients challenging the Agriculture Department's (USDA's) issuance of waivers for Colorado, Iowa, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Nebraska that allow

Assailant behind shooting that left three people dead wrote ‘incel’-like manifesto that was posted by a far-right outlet Police in Canada are warning of possible copycat attacks after three people died in a shootout in Montreal and the assailant’s lengthy manifesto, which called for “a new bloodletting”, was posted online by a far-right outlet. The document contains many of the hallmark grievances of the “involuntary celibacy” – or “incel” – movement in addition racist and misogynistic conspiracy theories. Continue reading...

Attack targeted former Chile ambassador Orlando Letelier and his US colleague Ronni Karpen Moffitt Fifty years after Gen Augusto Pinochet ’s secret police detonated a car bomb in the heart of Washington DC , killing Orlando Letelier, a former Chilean minister and ambassador to the US, and his American colleague Ronni Karpen Moffitt, a Santiago court has convicted three former agents of Moffitt’s murder. Judge Paola Plaza, a special minister for human rights in Chile, sentenced Pedro Espinoza, José Zara, and Raúl Iturriaga to 15 years in prison for their roles in the killing of Moffitt, 25. Continue reading...

Monika Silva Koniuszek died from a blow to the head and strangulation, a postmortem found, despite government claim of suicide Campaigners in Ecuador say a Polish anti-corruption activist who investigated allegations against the family business of the country’s rightwing president was murdered to silence her. Monika Silva Koniuszek, 41, was found dead in her home in Montañita, a coastal town in Ecuador’s Santa Elena province. The single mother of daughters aged four and nine, was found on the floor with a noose around her neck on 8 June. Continue reading...

City’s police force faces investigation of 16 officers accused of disproportionately targeting Black and Arab residents Montreal’s mayor has called for a halt to random police checks as the city’s police force grapples with an internal investigation into racism and racial profiling by 16 officers. Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada told reporters last week that her husband, who is Black, had been repeatedly stopped by police while driving. Continue reading...

Unions condemn ‘insensitive’ internal cybersecurity test sent to healthcare workers in Newfoundland and Labrador For years, healthcare staff in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador have felt overworked and underappreciated. Turnover, burnout and thinning resources were pushing workers in the sector to a breaking point. So when the email titled “June Holiday” arrived in thousands of inboxes, they felt a moment of overdue joy. Continue reading...

British disinfectant brand withdraws advert about a man’s efforts to find a ‘clean and untouched’ woman The British hygiene brand Dettol has apologised after an advertisement released in China, which it said was intended to criticise “toxic men”, was widely condemned on social media as offensive to women. The five-minute advert for a multipurpose disinfectant, released across many online platforms at the end of May, features a man comparing his girlfriend with his former partner. Learning that his former girlfriend had previously lived with someone else, the man likens their relationship to a “secondhand service”. He then tells his friends

Investigators said one of the teenagers who allegedly opened fire on students at a high school had regularly used the GoreBox gaming app Philippine authorities have temporarily blocked the online gaming app GoreBox days after a rare school shooting in the south-east Asian nation killed three students and injured 20 others. Investigators said that of the two teenagers accused of opening fire on students at San Jose National high school in Tacloban city, one had regularly played the game, which allows players to use various weapons and depicts graphic violence. Continue reading...

Written in 1947, Kiyoshi Tanimoto’s account of the horrors of the atomic bomb attack will be published in August and is being made into a film The memoir of a man who survived the horrors of Hiroshima is to be published for the first time this summer after its discovery in a US archive. The 230-page memoir was written almost 80 years ago by Kiyoshi Tanimoto, who witnessed the city’s destruction after the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. He will now be portrayed in a feature film by Takehiro Hira, whose acclaimed roles include the detective in the Netflix

Rob Jetten acknowledges grief and pain of Moluccan families as crowdfunded monument unveiled in Rotterdam The Dutch prime minister, Rob Jetten, has formally apologised for the “heartless” mistreatment of thousands of Moluccan soldiers who fought for the Dutch colonial army during Indonesia’s struggle for independence. About 12,500 people – men who had served in the Royal Dutch East Indies and their families – came from a group of Indonesian islands to the Netherlands in 1951, many having been given no choice. They thought it would be a temporary evacuation after Indonesia had won independence. Continue reading...

Strong winds and heavy rain batter Slovenia, while France experiences atypical heatwave Severe thunderstorms swept across the Balkans last week, bringing widespread destruction to parts of the region. The storms developed as unstable hot air lingered over the Adriatic Sea while a cold front plunged south-eastward. The front began its journey on 10 June in Slovenia, where the Slovenian Environment Agency recorded 65mph gusts at Ljubljana airport. Heavy rain also fell widely across the region with 23mm reported in Kranj. Continue reading...

Opponents seize on Farrer MP David Farley’s decision to vote alongside teals and Greens to wind back fuel tax credits for miners, farmers and others Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast One Nation is under pressure to clarify its position on fuel tax credits after its rookie MP voted to wind back the rebates, a position opposed by mining and farming groups. The Farrer MP, David Farley , sided with the Greens and teal independents in a lower-house vote to cap the scheme, which refunds

Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Ruston pushes for overhaul to controversial aged care tool Over to her portfolio, the shadow health and aged care minister, Anne Ruston , will introduce a private member’s bill to change the government’s controversial integrated assessment tool. The three things it seeks to do is to restore the discretion of a human assessor to make sure that the algorithm in their professional judgment doesn’t make an error. It also requires greater transparency so that every decision that’s made, the person can know how the

LGBTQ+ support service says men from countries where homosexuality is illegal are targeted for attacks via dating apps Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast International students from countries where homosexuality is illegal are being lured into meetings via gay dating apps before being assaulted and extorted with threats of being outed, a Victorian inquiry into hate crimes has heard. Since June 2024, police identified 95 attacks targeting gay and bisexual men across Victoria, resulting in 42 arrests, Thorne Harbour Health’s chief executive, Chad Hughes, told

An additional case is suspected in Western Australia, which would bring the total number of bird flu infections to four Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Deadly H5 bird flu has been confirmed in two Australian states after a migratory seabird tested positive for the disease in South Australia. Western Australia also has another suspected positive case, in a southern giant petrel, found in the Quindalup region in the state’s south west. Continue reading...

Despite plunging fuel prices, trimmed mean inflation increased from an annual pace of 3.4% to 3.6% Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia’s inflation challenge is far from over and more Reserve Bank rate hikes remain on the cards , economists warn, even after a plunging petrol costs drove an unexpected fall in consumer price growth in the year to May. Annual inflation dropped to 4%, from 4.2% in the year to April, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, dragged down in large part

Temperatures expected to hit 40C in parts of the UK, as extreme heatwave spreads slowly eastwards, sparking warnings in Italy and the Netherlands France records hottest day ever as 40 people drown across country Tell us: how is the heatwave in the UK and across Europe affecting you? Grahame Madge, a Met Office spokesperson, said the agency is forecasting 39C as a headline maximum temperature on Thursday in the UK, most likely for somewhere in London or the south-east. “It is possible we could see temperatures higher than the 39C if the final values are at the upper end of

Great Britain has paid at least six times the normal price for imported power as millions turn on air conditioning and windfarm output sags The heatwave has prompted a sharp rise in electricity prices across European markets as millions turn to air conditioners and electric fans to battle record high temperatures, which have also caused a string of power plant outages across the continent. Great Britain imported electricity from Europe at more than six times the normal price on Tuesday as the high-pressure heat dome has slowed wind speeds, hitting renewable energy generation, and led to outages at multiple gas

Temperature on Tuesday hits high of 34.6C in Surrey, England, with heatwave forecast to get more intense on Wednesday and Thursday Europe heatwave live – latest updates Searing heat has swept the UK with schools, hospitals, transport networks and water companies struggling to cope with the extreme temperatures caused by climate breakdown. Temperatures hit highs of 34.6C in Wisley in Surrey, the Met Office said, with the UN chief warning that London was “cooking”. Reduced rail speeds and services. Hospital patient appointments cancelled. School closures across southern England and Wales. Hosepipe bans in south-east England. Continue reading...

France records hottest ever day as much of Europe endures extreme heat; ‘London is cooking,’ says UN secretary general Tell us: how is the heatwave in the UK and across Europe affecting you? Forty drown across France in heatwave and parts of Spain above 30C at night Italy’s health ministry has declared a red heatwave alert in 15 cities including Milan and Rome on Tuesday and said the number would go up to 16 on Wednesday. During a red alert – the highest level – the ministry advises people to eat light, stay indoors in the hottest parts of the

Ukraine’s president will not attend after sparking Polish ‘outrage’ over naming of military unit Volodymyr Zelenskyy will skip a high-level conference on the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine amid a deepening rift with Poland over his naming of a military unit after one that killed tens of thousands of Poles during the second world war. Ukraine’s president had been expected to co-host the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which begins in the Polish coastal city of Gdańsk on Thursday, but the Ukrainian delegation will instead be led by the prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko. Continue reading...

Independent report says by aiming at children Israel is undermining capacity of Palestinian people to exist Israel continues to commit genocide by deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza, an ⁠independent UN inquiry has found. The report by the UN independent international commission of inquiry examined violations against Palestinian children since the start of the war in Gaza, and said about 30% of the people killed by Israeli forces have been children. Continue reading...

US secretary of state seeks to reassure UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain over security and US-Iran ceasefire deal The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said no country, including Iran, would be allowed to charge tolls for shipping in the strait of Hormuz as he sought to reassure US allies in the Gulf that Washington would take a firm line in peace negotiations with Tehran. Rubio is to meet Gulf allies on Tuesday and Wednesday in an attempt to reassure them that the US remains committed to their security and the 60-day ceasefire deal struck with Iran last week will

Iran will be allowed into US 48 hours before crucial game Team Melli have complained about travel conditions The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says it will grant Iran extra time to prepare for their World Cup match against Egypt on Friday. The team had planned to lodge an official complaint with Fifa about the “restrictions imposed by the organisers” at the World Cup . Iran have been training in Mexico and were only allowed to enter the United States 24 hours before their first two matches. Continue reading...

US secretary of state and vice-president said to have discussed ceasefire monitoring body; Trump says Tehran has committed to ‘nuclear honesty’ Oman and Iran said in a statement that the two countries will ⁠form ⁠a ​team to reach an ⁠agreement on “administration of navigation ⁠in ​the Strait ‌of Hormuz ” ‌and associated ‌costs and services, Reuters reports. The two states will hold ⁠talks with ​coastal countries ​and other ​concerned parties, ​the ‌statement ​said. Continue reading...

The vice president said the move represented a ‘major milestone’ in ending Iran’s nuclear programme According to Palestinian news agency Wafa , a high school student was killed and several other civilians were injured earlier today in an Israeli attack on a civilian vehicle in Gaza City. The Gaza health ministry says at least 1,021 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ‘ceasefire’ between Israel and Hamas came into effect in October 2025. In a post on X, Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said US-Iran talks have concluded “successfully” ⁠in Switzerland, adding that discussions produced agreement on the

Rights campaigners and MEPs say meeting would normalise regime that erases women from public life Rights campaigners and MEPs have warned that a meeting between EU officials and a Taliban delegation in Brussels risks normalising a regime that has banned girls from school beyond the sixth grade and sought to erase women from public life, while its ranks include two leaders accused of crimes against humanity. A spokesperson for the Afghan foreign ministry confirmed that a delegation representing the ⁠Taliban had travelled to Brussels after the Belgian foreign ministry issued five single-day visas. Continue reading...

Directive aimed at government workers, but reports of wider implementation spark warnings of future Afghanistan-wide prohibition The Taliban have ordered a sweeping ban on the use of smartphones by government officials – in what some analysts say could foreshadow broader, population-level restrictions. In a directive issued by the Taliban’s military courts and reviewed by the Guardian, the ban was to take effect this week and prohibits “high rank, low rank, general mujahideen, or service staff” from using mobile phones. Continue reading...

Campaigners welcome announcement cutting levies on menstrual health items, but say their work to end period poverty is ‘far from over’ Pakistan plans to abolish “period tax”, in a victory for young campaigners who had taken the government to court over the charges. Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced that sanitary towels and related items were “daily necessities that are indispensable for women’s health, dignity and full participation in social activities”, and said he intended to remove the sales tax. Continue reading...

Experts say criminal networks favour Sri Lanka due to ease of getting tourist visas and limited regulation on sim cards and internet connections Experts have warned that Sri Lanka is emerging as a hub for transnational cybercrime, after a crackdown in south-east Asia pushed Chinese-run criminal networks to relocate their vast scam operations. Sri Lankan police spokesperson Fredrick Wootler said the country was witnessing an “alarming increase of cybercrimes” perpetrated by people entering the country as tourists, and then illegally setting up scam operations targeting people across the world. Continue reading...

Relations at lowest ebb in years after Washington refuses to apologise for deaths in strait of Hormuz Fury has continued to mount in India over the US’s refusal to apologise for the deaths of Indian sailors killed in strikes in the strait of Hormuz, further straining relations between the two countries as their leaders meet at the G7 summit in France this week. Last week, three Indian seafarers, who were working on board commercial oil tankers, were killed when the US launched missile strikes on the vessel as it sailed through the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Chief secretary to PM says he had been ‘reassured’ about Burnham’s economic plans after conversation with him Andy Burnham has moved a step closer to becoming prime minister after Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, said he would not stand in a Labour leadership contest. Jones, who had been mooted as a candidate who could put Burnham’s ideas to a test in a race, told Sky News that he had a “reassuring conversation” with the newly elected MP for Makerfield about his economic policy plans. Continue reading...

If TG Jones’s aggressive restructuring is voted through, the charity Help for Heroes and other creditors will be out of pocket Small suppliers including the charity Help for Heroes are to lose at least half the money owed to them by the former WH Smith high street chain if a planned restructure is voted through this week. The books to paperclips retailer, which has 450 stores, was bought by the private equity firm Modella Capital last year and rebranded TG Jones. It has said it is likely that it will have to call in administrators if creditors, including shop landlords,

In today’s newsletter: As heatwaves intensify, Britain’s ecosystems are being pushed beyond their evolutionary limits Our green and pleasant land is sizzling. This week, millions of us across the UK are baking in unprecedented heat. The Met Office has issued a rare red weather warning from 9am today in parts of southern Wales, and central and southern England. The temperature record for June of 35.6C is almost certain to be broken; Bristol is forecast to hit an alarming 39C tomorrow. In the heat, the country’s infrastructure is straining: millions of homes are overheating, rail operators have warned against all but

Sharon Graham is urged to withdraw her claim that the energy secretary would cost jobs if he became chancellor More than 40 progressive economists have written to Sharon Graham, the leader of Unite, rejecting her claim that Ed Miliband would destroy jobs if he becomes the next chancellor. With Andy Burnham almost certain to be prime minister within weeks, there is a fierce debate within Labour about who should succeed Rachel Reeves at the Treasury, with Miliband considered a frontrunner. Continue reading...

Row over ‘landmark’ development in Stirchley has left people homeless and put businesses at risk, say locals A housing development in Birmingham, touted as a model for community-owned housing in the UK, is at “serious risk of collapse” due to a dispute over construction costs. The Stirchley Cooperative Development (SCD), which was founded by local residents and businesses in Birmingham in 2016, was meant to provide 39 affordable and landlord-free homes owned and run by the people who live and work there by 2024. Continue reading...

JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg fails to advance in election to replace Jerry Nadler in Manhattan district Zohran Mamdani ’s growing influence over the Democratic party was on show in New York City on Tuesday as three congressional candidates endorsed by New York’s democratic socialist mayor won closely watched primaries, while voters in Maryland, Utah and South Carolina cast ballots in primaries and runoffs. Brad Lander, the former New York City comptroller who also ran for mayor last year before endorsing Mamdani, won his race comfortably, defeating the Democratic representative Dan Goldman. Continue reading...

Nancy Lacore will spearhead effort to flip Republican House seat in November’s midterm elections A three-star navy rear-admiral fired by Pete Hegseth last year in the defense secretary’s purge of senior US military officials has won the Democratic primary in a closely watched congressional race. Nancy Lacore secured the party’s nomination for the US House of Representatives in South Carolina’s first congressional district on Tuesday after defeating Mac Deford, a US Coast Guard veteran, in a runoff. Continue reading...

China’s LineShine debuts at number one in Top500 – a list sometimes viewed as a national measure of global tech prowess A supercomputer in China now outranks its US counterparts as the world’s most powerful. It is the first time since 2017 that a Chinese computer has topped a list sometimes viewed as a measure of a nation’s technological prowess. The LineShine computer in Shenzhen displaced top-ranked US computer El Capitan in the Top500 rankings released on Tuesday. It was LineShine’s debut on the list. Continue reading...

Judge vacates administrations policies, finding actions of ICE and another government arm ‘arbitrary and capricious’ A federal ⁠judge in California vacated the ⁠Trump administration’s ​nationwide policies expanding arrests at immigration courthouses and the duration for detaining noncitizens in short-term facilities, finding the actions of US Immigration ⁠and Customs Enforcement and another government arm “arbitrary and capricious”. US district judge P Casey Pitts of the northern district of California on Tuesday vacated ICE’s ⁠policies that had rescinded previous strictures on arrests at immigration courthouses and allowed detainees to ​be held in short-term cells for up ‌to 72 hours. He ‌did the

Donald Trump has indicated he will sign rare bipartisan initiative to tackle affordability after 358-32 vote in House The House gave final approval on Tuesday to a broad bipartisan bill aimed at lowering the cost of housing, with lawmakers in both parties eager to show progress on affordability issues ahead of this year’s midterm elections. The 358-32 vote sends the bill to Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law on Wednesday at the Capitol. The Senate passed the legislation 85-5 on Monday. Continue reading...

Airbus on Tuesday said it would inspect 16 A380 planes, five of them immediately, after cracks were found in a key wing component on aircraft used by the Emirates and Qantas airlines. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has ordered urgent inspections requiring airlines to examine the wing-spar structure on the affected jets after inspectors found cracks during routine maintenance checks. The cracks appeared in a structural beam that runs along the wing and carries much of the...

A problem with a communications system forced Germany’s railway network to halt all trains late Tuesday, leaving passengers stranded across the country. Trains were held at stations and would-be travellers stood in long queues at information desks as they tried to figure out how to get to their destinations. The main national railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, said shortly before 1am – nearly 2½ hours after it first reported the outage – that the problem had been resolved and service was resuming...

Bankers working for JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong must have been miffed when they were shut off from using artificial intelligence (AI) models from Anthropic, a pioneering American firm in the field. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase pulled the plug in April and last week respectively, based on a strict interpretation of Anthropic’s terms of use, which reflect Washington’s stringent restrictions on China’s access to frontier American AI models. The banks’ decisions are seen as a...

Wall Street got a reality check as a bruising sell-off in several technology giants fuelled concern the artificial intelligence frenzy that has powered the equity bull market might be overblown. The tech rout engulfed global stocks as worries about frothy valuations ignited a fresh bout of volatility after a nearly three-month surge in riskier assets. The S&P fell 1.4 per cent. The benchmark index is coming off 11 weekly gains out of the last 12, led largely by technology stocks. The Dow Jones...

The US Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to let a Rastafarian man sue state prison officials in Louisiana after guards held him down and shaved him bald in violation of his religious beliefs in a case brought under a federal law protecting incarcerated people from religious discrimination. The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling powered by its conservative majority, upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss Damon Landor’s lawsuit, agreeing that he could not sue the individual prison officials and...

Today show host Savannah Guthrie made an emotional appeal to viewers on Tuesday to come forward with any information about her missing mother, a day after news organisations said a ransom note received months ago had indicated that she was dead. “We are in agony, and we cannot be at peace … We love our mum. We’ll never stop looking for her,” Guthrie said at the Today desk in New York, holding a tissue in her left hand. Nancy Guthrie, 84, who lived alone, was reported missing from her Tucson-area...

Russia has accused the ⁠US of failing to deliver on “understandings” reached between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at a summit in Alaska last August, a shift that suggests growing frustration in Moscow. In the space of three days, three senior Russian officials have said, without providing specifics, that Washington has not followed through. Their comments follow an intensification of Ukraine’s drone strikes deep inside Russia – including two attacks last week on a Moscow oil...

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted that Iran has agreed to “highest level” nuclear inspections even as Iranian officials disputed his claim, exposing how much remains contested even with a tentative agreement in place. “Despite their protestations and false statements to the contrary … Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!),” Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday morning. “This will insure ‘Nuclear Honesty.’ If...

Russia is considering fuel imports ‌and corresponding subsidies to cap prices as ways to mitigate supply disruptions of petrol and diesel caused by Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries, Vedomosti daily reported on Tuesday, citing two unnamed sources. Numerous regions across Russia, the world’s third-largest crude oil producer, have reported restrictions on fuel sales, rising prices of oil products ⁠and long queues at filling stations due to supply shortages. Apart from supplying crude oil...

At the recent Brussels summit, the leaders of all 27 European Union states called on the European Commission to expand the bloc’s trade defence toolbox against “global macroeconomic imbalances”, widely understood to refer to China’s so-called overcapacity. Measures under discussion include mechanisms for sector-wide tariffs and other restrictions in industries such as chemicals and green technology. Europe, long a critic of Washington’s Section 301 tariffs, is now considering instruments that...

Former Scottish National Party chief executive Peter Murrell was jailed for just over five years on Tuesday after admitting embezzling more than £400,000 (US$540,000) of party funds to buy items such as ‌cars, a motorhome and luxury goods. Murrell, 61, is the estranged husband of ex-SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, who suddenly resigned in 2023, shortly before she was arrested as part of the probe into the party’s finances. She was cleared of wrongdoing in March last year. He pleaded guilty last...

Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, and war crimes in the occupied West Bank, an independent UN inquiry said on Tuesday. The report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel examined violations against Palestinian children since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October ‌7,...

On Monday morning, ⁠Keir Starmer emerged into the sunshine in Downing Street flanked by his staff and ⁠wife, his voice thick with emotion as he said he was no longer the right person to lead Britain. Starmer, who won one of the biggest landslides in British political history, is out after less than two years. The sixth leader to quit in 10 years. The highest rate of political turnover in almost two centuries. Like his predecessors, Starmer failed to stem popular anger over living standards,...

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Washington’s National Mall is set to be drained again for repairs after algae and peeling paint appeared just weeks after a US$14.7 million renovation, while President Donald Trump threatened prison time for anyone caught ‌damaging the pool. The DC Water authority issued a permit to drain the 609-metre rectangular pool, it said on Monday, while the repair company said it would fix the pool as part of its warranty. Peeling paint and algae growth have been...

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) appears sudden and revolutionary, yet its origins stretch deep into history, revealing a profound and forgotten intellectual exchange between China and the West. Long before Alan Turing, Claude Shannon, or even Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace, there was Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz – the German polymath born exactly 380 years ago next week. Among his monumental contributions to science is the binary numeral system, which serves as the bedrock of modern...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer conceded on Monday that he had lost the support of his rank-and-file Labour Party members in Parliament and that he will step down once his successor as party leader is chosen, possibly as soon as the middle of July. Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester whose resounding victory in a special UK election last week set in motion Starmer’s resignation, has confirmed he will put himself forward to be his successor. Burnham is seen as the...

A notorious mob hitman who once testified against John “Junior” Gotti before cleaning up his life and becoming a councilman in New Jersey has been arrested on extortion and loan sharking charges that, if proven, reflect a return to the lifestyle of his youth. John Alite, 63, was arrested on Friday in New Jersey, where he was sworn in early last year as a councillor in the borough of Englishtown. Released after a court appearance on Saturday, Alite is scheduled to return to court for a detention...

US President Donald Trump criticised outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday after the Labour leader announced he would resign, saying he had “really hurt himself” over energy, immigration and his handling of relations with Washington. “I think he’s a lovely man,” Trump told reporters at an Oval Office event, before accusing Starmer of mishandling Britain’s energy policy by failing to exploit North Sea oil and allowing “windmills all over the place”. “The UK buys much of its...

US President Donald Trump said on Monday “I will do what I have to do” if Iran does not stick to its agreement with ‌Washington. “If Iran doesn’t live up to their agreement, or if they’re not behaving, I will do what I have to do,” Trump told reporters. Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed an interim US-Iran deal last week, more than three months after the US and ⁠Israel attacked Iran and Iran responded with its own attacks on Israel and ‌Gulf states with US bases. Trump said on...

A suspect armed with a long gun opened fire on Monday at a Montreal hotel, killing a police officer before officers returned fire, killing him, police said. A civilian also died but it was not immediately clear who fired that shot. Police Chief Fady Dagher said a second officer was seriously injured in the shooting in the city’s Cote-des-Neiges neighbourhood but was in stable condition. The chief said it was the first time in 24 years that a Montreal police officer had been killed in the line of...

China, which now conducts more clinical drug trials than the US, still lags in the quality and commercial reach of its biomedical science, according to a recent survey of senior US leaders in industry and academia. The ‌poll, conducted by Cure Innovation Index, found that China is seen as the clear leader in two out of six sectors: clinical development and supply chain. It found that the US leads in moving experimental products through to large-scale production, capital, and commercialisation...

Forty people have drowned in France over the past few days as they sought to cool down to escape record heat, the government said on Tuesday, as a heatwave swept across much of Europe. Britain, Italy and Spain were also sweltering in extreme heat, with record temperatures in some regions disrupting schools and transport networks. Europe is warming at more than twice the global average, according to the World Meteorological Organization, making such prolonged heat episodes increasingly...

Beijing congratulated Colombia on its presidential run-off and said it would work with the incoming government of Abelardo de la Espriella, the far-right lawyer who has promised to pull the country back towards the United States. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun made the remarks on Monday, a day after a preliminary count put de la Espriella narrowly ahead of his leftist rival, Senator Ivan Cepeda. “China … congratulates Colombia on the smooth second round of presidential elections,” he...

European Central ⁠Bank President Christine Lagarde ⁠on Monday urged global leaders to discuss undervaluation of the Chinese currency as a facet of the imbalances endangering the global economy. China has ‌consistently denied that it manipulates its currency for trade advantage but its surging trade surpluses are one of several macroeconomic mismatches worrying leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations who met last week in ⁠France, along with chronic US deficits and Europe’s...

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that her country seeks to restart oil shipments to Cuba soon, a move that could provide much-needed relief as the island’s crises deepen given a lack of petroleum. Sheinbaum said her administration would seek to send the oil via commercial and privately owned firms instead of state-owned companies as it has done in the past. Mexico became a key fuel supplier to Cuba after the US attacked Venezuela in early January and halted critical oil...

Clive Davis, a former corporate lawyer who became one of the most influential figures in American rock and pop music as he fostered the careers of Bob Dylan, Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen and other stars, died ⁠on Monday at the age of 94. Davis, who was known as “the man with the golden ear” for his ability to identify potential hit ⁠songs, died at his home in Manhattan, The New York Times reported, having recently been hospitalised with respiratory...

Russian-held Crimea, a popular tourism destination, suspended children’s summer camps and tourist activities until September 1, its governor said on Monday, as the peninsula reels from a fuel crisis due to Ukrainian attacks on its supply routes. Supplies ‌of fuel and other products to Crimea have become strained as Ukraine has targeted both sea routes and supply roads from the north. The availability of petrol and diesel in Russia, the world’s third-largest oil producer, has also been undermined...

Tehran has agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country, US Vice-President J.D. Vance said on Monday, after a first round of US-Iran talks towards ending the Middle East war. “The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country,” Vance told reporters at Switzerland’s isolated Burgenstock resort, where his talks with Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf opened on Sunday. “That is a major milestone for the American people...

China’s exports of green-energy and battery products to the United States have accelerated amid demand in America’s fast-expanding AI sector, as cooling trade tensions and energy-security fears linked to the Iran war boost global appetite for renewable-energy equipment. Energy-related products posted some of the strongest gains among Chinese exports to the US last month, according to the latest customs data. Exports of unassembled photovoltaic cells surged 346 per cent year on year to US$39.96...

Alan Greenspan, hailed as the greatest Federal Reserve chairman when he retired in 2006 but derided for a severe financial crisis that followed barely two years later, died on Monday aged ⁠100, NBC News reported. Greenspan, who exerted a powerful influence on the US economy ⁠during his tenure at the helm of the Fed from August 1987 to January 2006, died at his home ⁠from complications of Parkinson’s disease, NBC reported, citing his wife Andrea Mitchell, who is the outlet’s chief Washington...

Keir Starmer announced his intention to step down as Britain’s prime minister on Monday, succumbing to intense party pressure as his popularity plummeted and rivals manoeuvred to challenge him. “Every decision I have taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party,” an emotional Starmer said in a short speech outside 10 Downing Street in London. Starmer, who up until Monday had resisted calls to stand aside, said he would remain...

China’s proactive role in stabilising global energy and fertiliser markets amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis shows the country is a defender of global supply chains, rather than a disruptive force as “hyped” by the West, Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang said on Monday. “The fact that Chinese manufacturing never falters or fails at critical moments fully proves that China is a participant, a builder and a defender of the global supply chain,” Ding said during the opening ceremony of the fourth China...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. How ‘lying flat’ went from a niche subculture to mainstream phenomenon 2. The hidden cost of China’s electric car boom: a spiralling roadworks bill 3. Sin to salvation: how Singapore’s most notorious mall found God 4. Hong Kong TV host Lillian Sze loses battle with ovarian cancer 5. 100kg dad...

A huge blast at a Qatar gas hub killed 13 people and injured 66 others, the Gulf state’s energy minister said on Monday, one of the deadliest accidents at a Gulf energy facility. Authorities are investigating the cause of the incident, which energy minister Saad al-Kaabi said was “an accident and not sabotage or hostile in nature”, after Iranian attacks targeted energy facilities in the Gulf during the war in the Middle East. He announced “the tragic loss of 13 lives of our people who hold...

Canada is deploying two frigates and a submarine to the world’s largest multinational naval exercise this week, in what analysts describe as both a display of Indo-Pacific seriousness and a pointed rebuttal to Washington’s “freeriding” charge. HMCS Ottawa, HMCS Regina and submarine HMCS Corner Brook are slated to join the biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise (Rimpac) from Wednesday to July 31, which is expected to draw more than 25,000 military personnel from 31 countries, including Australia,...

A flamboyant US-backed lawyer who has never held public office narrowly won Colombia’s polarising presidential run-off on Sunday, swinging the country hard right and sparking violent protests. With almost all the votes counted, Abelardo de la Espriella held 49.66 per cent of the vote versus left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda’s 48.70 per cent. The 47-year-old’s slender win triggered demonstrations, but will ease ties with Washington and extend a regional right-wing wave centred on “iron fist” security...

People ⁠caught vandalising the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting ⁠Pool on Washington’s National Mall will be fully prosecuted, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Sunday. President Donald Trump has blamed vandalism for recent problems with the newly renovated pool, including its new ‌blue paint peeling off. Citations for vandalism have been issued, Pirro said on Sunday, adding that even minor crimes must be prosecuted to keep the US capital safe. The peeling paint was visible in the 610-metre-long...

US claims that an individual with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) tried to join the Iran team’s flight to the United States on Saturday are “fabricated and entirely baseless allegations”, the country’s football federation (FFIRI) has said. Markwayne Mullin, the US Homeland Security Secretary, told Fox News on Sunday that someone under the guise of being the Iranian federation (FFIRI) president tried to board the team’s flight to Los Angeles from Mexico for Sunday’s World Cup...

Ramiro Valdes, one of Fidel Castro’s earliest collaborators who was lauded at ⁠home as a hero of ⁠the Cuban revolution, has died at the age of ⁠94, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on social media on Sunday. The president did not provide a cause of death. A top government official for decades after Castro’s rebels came to power in 1959, Valdes held the honorary titles “Hero of the Republic” and “Commander of the Revolution” and formed part of the powerful Political Bureau of the ruling Cuban...

Thousands of Czechs rallied in the capital on Sunday to condemn a plan by the government led by populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis to overhaul funding for public broadcasters that is considered dangerous for their independence. The protesters gathered in front of the Czech public television offices in Prague, Czech Republic, to voice their support for the media a day before their staff plan to go on a warning strike, and after recent protest marches in the regional capitals and...

The United States expects talks with Iran to continue through the night in Switzerland, a US diplomat told reporters early Monday, as they work to permanently end the Middle East war. The current round of negotiations got off to a rocky start, with the Islamic Republic’s delegation walking out in response to US President Donald Trump’s threats to strike Iran over its support for Hezbollah Sunday. A US diplomat at the Swiss venue told reporters the Iranian delegation was involved in “robust...

Pope Leo on Saturday exalted the first American saint, Mother Frances Cabrini, as a model for Christians today to care for migrants in need, as he visited her birthplace during a day trip to northern Italy. Leo, who has clashed with the Trump administration over its migrant crackdown, urged young people in particular to learn about Cabrini’s life and service, once again confirming history’s first US pope as the heir to Pope Francis in prioritising the plight of migrants. Leo prayed before...

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party (PP) won a landslide victory in legislative polls held June 1, the election commission said on Sunday, giving it almost 90 per cent of the seats. Abiy has led Ethiopia since 2018, and is increasingly criticised for growing authoritarianism, in contrast to his early years when he won the Nobel Peace Prize for mending relations with neighbouring Eritrea. The PP was considered the overwhelming favourite in the country of 130 million, facing a...

Much of Europe was preparing Monday for an already fierce heatwave to intensify even further in the coming days, with some countries taking special measures to mitigate its effects. France recorded heat-related deaths over the weekend. A leading researcher reiterated that human-driven climate change had contributed to the recent record-breaking heatwave. In France, 49 of the country’s 96 mainland departments were on a red alert weather warning, up from 35 over the weekend. Officials announced...

Bolivia began showing signs of returning to normalcy on Sunday, a day after President Rodrigo Paz declared a state of emergency to resolve a 50-day social crisis that ‌had blocked the nation’s main highways. Early on Sunday, the Legislative Assembly overwhelmingly approved Paz’s decree, which aimed to restore transit and supply essential goods after protesting groups cut off key roads for weeks, stranding trucks and choking supplies of food, fuel and medicines to many areas. Sunday’s vote in...

The documents do not indicate that the peeling blue coating and algae blooms were caused intentionally.

A recent episode underscored the Trump administration’s increasing reliance on advanced A.I. systems for cybersecurity even as it battles a leading U.S. developer.

Images circulated by an activist group reveal bare marble where President Trump’s name once resided. The Kennedy Center previously told a federal judge it had been removed.

President Trump appears to be describing his preferences as fully negotiated deals, in hopes of locking the Iranians in. The question is whether a succession of such disputes will sink the whole venture.

A few Republicans joined Democrats in favor of a measure instructing President Trump to halt military operations against Iran or seek congressional authorization.

Overshadowed by conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Lebanon, the fighting in Myanmar’s isolated heartland has reached new depths.

The Southeast Asian nation recently experienced its highest monthly civilian death toll since the war began in 2021.

Damon Landor, a Rastafarian, tried to sue Louisiana prison officials for violating his religious rights.

The court’s decision could have broader implications for whether companies can be held liable for aiding in international human rights abuses.

Ten years after a slim majority voted to leave the European Union, the economic and political effects of that decision continue to disrupt the United Kingdom.

A sound engineer has emerged as an unexpected heartthrob amid Britain’s political tumult.

President Trump has created an exception to his refugee ban for white South Africans, reshaping a program intended for people fleeing persecution and disaster.

The United States is putting together bags with a children’s book on so-called reverse racism, and with a document that defends the country’s founding on the basis of slavery.

The ruling in a class-action lawsuit filed in California applies to immigration courts nationwide.

The experimental app, internally called “Arena,” would be independent of Facebook and Instagram. It could compete for attention with Polymarket and Kalshi, the biggest prediction markets.

Federal officials are urging the lone major tech company holdout to allow government safety evaluations, weeks after ordering Anthropic to pull its latest model.

In the past 50 years, the way we tell the story of the Revolution has become dramatically more complex. Can it still inspire us all?

Israel’s dependence on the United States has allowed it to ignore the need for diplomacy.

Let’s remember who we once were, because it’s what we may yet be again.

“Hey, kids, remember you wanted to go to Disneyland? Instead, we’re going to go see the world’s largest kombucha!” Johnson said of the pool renovation as a tourist stop.

The turbulence in Asia’s chip-dominated stock markets highlighted how heavily global equities have come to depend on enthusiasm for artificial intelligence.