Minimalist News

OpenAI Misses Revenue, User Targets As CFO Fears $1.5 Trillion In Commitments Can't Be Paid Earlier today, when previewing this week's earnings by the Mag 7 which account for over $10 trillion in market cap set to report Q1 results after the close on Wednesday, Goldman's Delta-One head Rich Privorotsky said that "Equities are being driven by one thing…AI spend", and warned that "it's hard not to respect the strength of the AI bid, but the velocity has been extreme. The upside surprise vs expectations has almost entirely come from AI spend…it’s the whole game."  Not only is the whole game, it is

US Home Prices Dipped In February For First Time Since June 2025 For the first time since June 2025, US home prices (in the largest 20 cities) fell in February (by 0.05% MoM) according to the latest (admittedly lagging and smoothed) Case-Shiller data. The decline comes after prices surged into the turn of year and has now dragged the YoY gain in prices down to just +0.9% - the weakest since July 2023.  The trend is clear across almost every city... Given the lag in Case-Shiller data, one could argue that prices should be starting to rise here... But the oddly tight coupling with Fed

Trump, First Lady Demand Jimmy Kimmel Be Fired Over 'Widow' Joke Days Before Assassination Attempt President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump sharply escalated their long-running feud with late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel on Monday, publicly demanding that the ABC host be immediately fired by Disney and the network over a joke he made days before a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The controversy centers on a comedic monologue Kimmel delivered on his April 23 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, in which he staged an "alternative" version of the annual dinner roast.  "Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you

First Of Many? UAE Exits OPEC As Iran Chaos Triggers Nationalistic Realignment Among Producers Just days after the UAE publicly signaled liquidity concerns by requesting swap lines from the Federal Reserve to ease pressures on the country's banks, major Gulf oil producer, the UAE, has decided to exit the oil cartel - an unexpected development that crossed Bloomberg headlines on Tuesday morning around 0822 ET. > OPEC finished https://t.co/RtxJdZQeQh > > — zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 28, 2026 The official website of the Emirates News Agency (WAM) broke the story, stating that the UAE has decided to exit OPEC and OPEC+ as of May 1, in

Futures Tumble On AI Spending Fears As Brent Hits 2 Week High US equity futures are lower, dragged by tech, following a report that OpenAI missed revenue and user targets and there growing internal pushback against Sam Altman's notorious aggressive spending (the company has $1.5 trillion in commitment it won't be able to meet), which is hitting semiconductors and the broader supply chain. AS of 8:15am ET, S&P futures are down 0.7% and Nasdaq futures dropped 1.2% as concerns resurfaced over whether the vast amounts of investment in artificial intelligence will pay off. In pre market trading, Semis and Mag7 are under

The Dollar's Funeral Keeps Getting Rescheduled Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, 💰 THE DOLLAR’S FUNERAL NOBODY ATTENDED Open any finance corner of social media this week, and you will be hit with some version of the same obituary. ZeroHedge declared in December that the dollar’s death in 2026 is now a mainstream talking point, citing a WIRED piece arguing that this is the year “dollar dilution” truly accelerates. A widely circulated Dollar Collapse post this month warned that foreign demand for Treasuries is fading and that the greenback is losing its safe-haven status “in a generation.” WatcherGuru ran a headline last fall declaring rapid de-dollarization is happening right now, while YouTube personalities brandish century-long purchasing-power charts preaching

First Loaded LNG Tanker Clears Hormuz; First Crude Supertanker Attempts Exit While all the attention has been focused on President Trump's national security team reviewing an Iranian peace deal that would end the two-month war and reopen the Hormuz chokepoint, while deferring nuclear negotiations to a later date, new vessel-tracking data show that the first loaded LNG tanker has exited the critical waterway since the conflict began, while the first loaded crude supertanker is also attempting to exit. "The first LNG shipment since the war in Iran began two months ago appears to have slipped through Hormuz," Bloomberg's Stephen Stapczynski wrote in

Israel Just Became Germany's Largest Arms Partner Authored by Andrew Korybko, The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which is regarded as the top authority on the international arms trade, released its latest report about related trends from 2021-2025 last month. The top takeaway is that “Europe was the region with the largest share of total global arms imports (33 per cent) for the first time since the 1960s”, but there are three other relatively more minor details therein that most observers missed but which are also important to be aware of. They are as follows: > 1. South Korea Edged Out The US As Poland’s

40,000 U.S. Retail Stores Could Close By 2030 UBS consumer analyst Michael Lasser told clients that a further rise in e-commerce penetration, from about 22% today to as high as 27%, could force the closure of 40,000 U.S. retail stores by 2030. The warning comes as more than 10,000 stores have closed since late 2023, and shows how the shift to e-commerce is pressuring brick-and-mortar retail footprints nationwide. Lasser's forecast is that e-commerce penetration rates in the U.S. will top 27% by the end of the decade, up from the current 22%. Many of the projected closures will be across clothing, consumer electronics, home

Bessent: IRGC Leaders 'Trapped' Like 'Drowning Rats' By US Blockade, Will Soon Face Uprising Over Coming 'Gasoline Shortages Next' Summary * Bessent describes IRGC leaders as now "trapped like drowning rats" amid the enduring US naval blockade of Iranian ports, which will soon result in gasoline shortages, anger & uprising * Putin tells FM Araghchi that he's been in contact with the new Supreme Leader, and says Iran fighting for 'sovereignty' * After a weekend of stalemate malaise, Iran reportedly offers new proposal for opening ship traffic, while postponing the thorny nuclear issue; Rubio says 'will not tolerate' Iran control of strait

Iran Already Scrambling For Oil Storage After Two Weeks Of US Blockade Trump's blockade is having a predictable effect on Iran's economy and oil industry, with reports that the regime is scrambling to repurpose old and rusty tankers as floating storage.  Kharg Island is hitting capacity and the results could lead to disaster for Iran's oil wells.  The regime is reportedly moving to expand crude storage at the island, where around 90% of their energy exports are processed, by reactivating a 30-year-old crude carrier called M/T Nasha.  It's a bad sign for Iran, indicating that the country’s main oil hub is nearing

12-Year-Old French Girl Collapses After Judge Releases Men Arrested For Gang Raping Her In Airbnb Via Remix News, Two young men, both adults, suspected of gang rape in an Airbnb in the France’s Décines-Charpieu (Rhône), have been released from custody, shocking the family of one of the victims. The victim’s lawyer, David Metaxas, spoke on behalf of the victim’s relatives, who told LyonMag that the judge’s decision was “incomprehensible.” Not only have both men been released to roam freely in the streets, but the judge did not even issue a restriction on contact with the victim, which means the two men could approach

Pentagon Investigates Mystery Fire At UK Base Used For Bombing Iran The US Air Force has reportedly opened an investigation into a fire that broke out over the weekend at RAF Fairford in the UK. Crucially, it is a key US-allied base hosting a US bomber unit carrying out strikes on Iran as part of Trump's Operation Epic Fury. The fire started early Sunday inside an "old or disused building" at the airbase, a UK defense ministry spokesperson has said. The Pentagon is investigating alongside local partners: "An investigation has been initiated and is ongoing. More information will be released as it becomes

NATO Minus US: European Militaries Won't Add Up To Deter Russia Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s European nations would need to bolster standing militaries by at least 300,000 troops and significantly boost defense spending beyond 3.5 percent of gross domestic product - at least 250 billion euros - while reviving and integrating their industrial base to defend themselves against Russia without the United States. And they’d need to do that fast, according to a 2025 joint analysis by European think tanks Bruegel and the Kiel Institute for World Economy. They warn that even with

Zelensky Charges Russia With 'Nuclear Terrorism' On 40th Chernobyl Anniversary President Volodymyr Zelensky led Ukraine in a Sunday ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and used the occasion to call on the international community to take decisive action against what he called ongoing Russian "nuclear terrorism". There were various candlelight remembrance ceremonies in cities across Ukraine, and in the capital. Later echoing the statement on Telegram, Zelensky alleged the the Chernobyl site's the New Safe Confinement structure - built with support from more than 40 countries - is under direct threat from Moscow’s aggression. IAEA/X The 1986 explosion and Chernobyl

Orbán Vs Magyar: Did The EU Get Played? Authored by Arthur Schaper via American Greatness, Viktor Orbán, the valiant populist, the restorer of the Christian faith in Hungary, the welcome thorn in the side of the EU establishment, and the strong ally of President Trump since his first bid for office, has lost his own re-election bid. I had a feeling it would come to this. Sixteen years of uninterrupted administration as a strong force for conservative, right-wing nationalist populism have come to an end, at least with Orbán as the head of it. Sometimes, voters have a strange fatigue when it comes to

America: Land Of The (Not Really) Free Authored by Ron Paul via the Ron Paul Institute, Two weeks ago, President Donald Trump commemorated income tax payments being due by having DoorDash deliver food from McDonald’s to the White House. The delivery was intended to highlight the first year of tax-free tips. Removing tax on tips was part of the 2025 Big Beautiful Bill (BBB). As the sponsor of the first No Tax on Tips legislation introduced in Congress, I was obviously pleased to see this change in tax laws included in the BBB. The bill also included other good tax changes such as

"Racial-Profiling" Or Race-Baiting? Tom Steyer's Illiterate Take On English Proficiency Authored by Jonathan Turley, If you go to NASCAR to watch the cars crash, the Democratic gubernatorial race in California has been a thrilling pile-up. The recent debate saw all the Democratic candidates play the race card over a curious issue. When asked if they supported the move to rescind at least 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, every single Democrat declared the policy racist. The candidates also pledged to support truckers who cannot speak or read English. When Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican candidate, said that being able to read English (and particularly English signs)

Kim Jong Un Opens Museum Commemorating Troops Killed Fighting For Russia, Blasts US 'Hegemony' North Korea has continued its surprising level of public acknowledgement of troop deaths in the Russia-Ukraine war, where it has maintained some 10,000 or more troops in support of Moscow. Starting last summer North Korea began issuing footage of coffins of slain DPRK troops being flown into Pyongyang, with Kim Jong Un in attendance. Now the 'pariah' nation long hated by Washington is taking publicizing its Russia operation a big step further, having newly opened a memorial museum in Pyongyang for its soldiers killed in the conflict.  KCNA via AFP What

SEC Issues Warning For US Investors On Phishing, Smishing, & Vishing Scams Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned investors recently that fraudsters use phishing, smishing, and vishing scams to attempt to compromise their financial, investment, or personal accounts. “Phishing, smishing, and vishing are types of scams where a fraudster tries to trick you into providing sensitive personal or financial information by posing as an entity you know or trust, such as an investment firm, bank, or some other personal service that you use,” the SEC said in an April 23 alert. Once a malicious

US embassy warns employees to avoid Reynosa area after arrests of Audias Flores and César Alejandro ‘N’ The Mexican authorities have arrested two top criminals, one of them a close ally of the slain founder of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), prompting gunmen to block roads near the border city of Reynosa. Audias Flores, known as “El Jardinero”, is a regional commander in control of swathes of CJNG territory along Mexico’s Pacific coast. He was considered a potential successor to Nemesio Oseguera, alias “El Mencho”, who ran the cartel and was killed in a security operation in February. Continue reading...

Claudia Sheinbaum says Mexico was not aware of US participation until four officials were killed in car crash Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said on Monday that her government told the United States, in a diplomatic note, that the unauthorized presence of US officials at an anti-narcotics operation in the northern state of Chihuahua should not be repeated. The incident came to light after two US officials, along with two Mexican officials, were killed in a car crash on 19 April after the operation. Sheinbaum has said the federal government was not aware of the participation of the US officials, who were widely

Cocaine-trafficking rebels blamed for worst attack on civilians in decades, which also left 56 people injured The death toll in a Colombian highway bombing blamed on cocaine-trafficking rebels has risen to 21, the government said on Monday, in the country’s worst attack on civilians in decades and just ahead of elections. The attack on Saturday left 56 injured and buses and vans mangled on the Pan-American Highway, in the restive south-western Cauca department. Continue reading...

Military video shows boat moving swiftly in water before explosion leaves it in flames The US military said on Sunday three men were killed when it struck a boat it claimed was “engaged in narco-trafficking operations” in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. This latest strike – which follows dozens of similar attacks on alleged drug boats in recent months – brings the US campaign’s death toll to at least 185, according to a tally compiled by Agence France-Presse. Continue reading...

The court sided with a Canadian hiker who deliberately challenged the order imposed to curb spread of wildfires As wildfires raged across Nova Scotia last summer, the Canadian province made a simple plea to residents: stay away from the woods. As the situation deteriorated, authorities turned the request into a prohibition: anyone caught hiking under the shade of the forest canopy faced a C$25,000 fine – a figure more than half the average worker’s yearly salary. Continue reading...

Japan Airlines will introduce the robots for trial run at a Tokyo airport amid country’s surge in inbound tourism and worsening labour shortages Japan’s famously conscientious but overburdened baggage handlers will soon be joined by extra staff at Tokyo’s Haneda airport – although their new colleagues will need to take regular recharging breaks. Japan Airlines will introduce humanoid robots on a trial basis from the beginning of May, with a view to deploying them permanently as a solution to the country’s chronic labour shortage. Continue reading...

Efforts continue to free two trapped passengers in wreckage after long-distance train collides with commuter train outside Jakarta, injuring 81 The death toll from a train collision near the Indonesian capital Jakarta has risen to 14 with another 84 injured, the train operator said on Tuesday, as rescuers worked to extract survivors still trapped in the wreckage. The collision between a commuter train and a long-distance train happened late on Monday in Bekasi, just outside Jakarta. Continue reading...

Regime used its isolation after closing borders to escalate killings when global scrutiny disappeared, NGO claims North Korea dramatically increased its use of the death penalty after closing its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic, using its isolation to escalate killings when international scrutiny disappeared, according to a report mapping 13 years of executions under the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un. The number of documented cases of executions and death sentences increased by 117% in the nearly five years after North Korea sealed its borders in January 2020 compared with an equal period before the closure, according to a report by the Transitional Justice

Hundreds of senior staff in territory benefit from nearly £30,000-a-year grant per child not available to staff in group’s other hubs HSBC is reportedly reviewing a perk that covers school fees for bankers in Hong Kong as part of a big overhaul of the bank under its chief executive, Georges Elhedery. Europe’s largest bank is considering whether to scrap the perk for new employees or make changes to total compensation, Bloomberg News reported. No decisions have been made yet. Continue reading...

Woman’s body found in Iwate prefecture last week, soon after a police officer was injured in bear attack nearby Rested but famished bears emerging from hibernation in Japan are already coming into contact with humans, with the pace of sightings outstripping that seen in 2025, a record year for bear attacks. According to media reports, the animals have been spotted with surprising frequency in urban areas in the country’s north-east, with authorities urging caution among people planning to spend the coming Golden Week public holidays in the countryside. Continue reading...

Transition and legal handover of hospital from private operator Healthscope to NSW Health occurs at 7am on Wednesday * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Sydney’s Northern Beaches hospital is officially entering the public system, ending a troubled eight-year public-private partnership, although uncertainty about the future of private services remains. The transition and legal handover of the hospital from private operator Healthscope to New South Wales Health will occur at 7am on Wednesday. The New South Wales health minister, Ryan Park, said it was a “historic day”. Continue

Teacher at Marist College Ashgrove claims she suffered ‘serious psychiatric injury’ after the schoolyard incident * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A teacher at one of Brisbane’s top private boys’ schools has claimed she was subject to a “culture of misogyny” after being surrounded by hundreds of Catholic school students and pelted with food in an incident that left her with a “serious psychiatric injury”. A barrister acting for Victoria Sparrow, a teacher at Marist College Ashgrove, told the Brisbane supreme court that the school allowed a culture of misogyny to “develop and exist”. Continue reading...

Briefings obtained by freedom of information warned a ‘cascade of withdrawals’ could lead to collapse of 2026 South Australian festival * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Adelaide writers’ week was sacrificed to save the 2026 Adelaide festival, an event that ploughs more than $60m into South Australia’s economy each year, documents show. After the 8 January announcement by the Adelaide festival board that controversial Palestinian Australian academic Randa Abdel-Fattah had been dumped from the AWW program, it wasn’t just fellow Australian and international guest writers and academics who began pulling out in droves. Continue reading...

Australia is dependent upon UK’s ability to deliver new submarines but report says ‘cracks are already beginning to show’ “Cracks are already beginning to show” in the UK’s funding for the Aukus agreement that could derail the ambitious nuclear submarine plan, a British parliamentary inquiry has found, highlighting a threat to Australia’s security. UK shipbuilding has been under-funded for decades and the country’s submarine availability is “critically low”, the House of Commons defence committee’s report found. Continue reading...

Lauren Ashley Mastrosa given 18-month community corrections order after book was read by handful of advance readers The author behind an offensive novel depicting toddler role-play has been convicted but spared jail for penning child abuse material. Lauren Ashley Mastrosa, a 34-year-old former marketing executive for a Christian charity, wrote Daddy’s Little Toy under the pen name Tori Woods and published it through an online pre-release in March 2025. Continue reading...

Sakharov prize winner was sentenced to eight years in a penal colony in Belarus in 2021 Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut, the 2025 Sakharov prize winner, has been freed from Belarusian prison. His release has been confirmed by Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk, who posted a picture of him on social media saying: “Andrzej Poczobut is free! Welcome to your Polish home, my friend.” “Both have paid a heavy price for speaking truth to power, becoming symbols of the struggle for freedom and democracy.” Continue reading...

Sakharov prize winner was given eight-year sentence after process widely condemned as politically motivated The Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut, the 2025 Sakharov prize winner, has been freed after five years in a Belarusian penal colony as part of a US-brokered multi-country swap deal. His release has been confirmed by Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, who posted a picture of him on social media, saying: “Andrzej Poczobut is free! Welcome to your Polish home, my friend.” Continue reading...

Though solar was initially incorrectly blamed for crisis, renewables have helped insulate Spain from gas price rises caused by war in Middle East One year ago today, all of Spain, and much of Portugal, suffered through a blackout of unprecedented scale and duration. In mere seconds, a cascading sequence of events burst through the grid and created Europe’s first “system black” event in recent memory. Traffic signals failed, mobile networks stopped working entirely, petrol stations could not pump fuel and supermarkets could not process payments. Madrid’s metro came to a halt and people had to be pulled out of carriages. “People were

High fuel prices and passenger delays caused by EU’s EES entry-exit system causing problems, says trade body * Business live – latest updates Europe’s smaller airports may not survive if jet fuel shortages triggered by the Middle East crisis lead to widespread route cancellations, the industry’s trade body has warned. Although airlines insist there are currently no supply problems within the normal four- to six-week horizon, the US-Israel war on Iran and the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz have doubled the price of jet fuel, prompting some carriers to cancel flights. Continue reading...

Defendant, 21, in court with second man over alleged scheme to kill music fans outside Vienna stadium A 21-year-old man has pleaded guilty in an Austrian court over a jihadist plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna nearly two years ago, which led to shows by the US megastar in the country being scrapped. The plan to kill onlookers massing outside the venue was thwarted at the 11th hour but Austrian authorities still cancelled Swift’s three scheduled performances in August 2024. Continue reading...

US president makes unverified claims in Truth Social post, saying Tehran had told Washington it was ‘in a state of collapse’ US is being ‘humiliated’ by Iran’s leadership, says Friedrich Merz Saudi Arabia is to host a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah later today, in what will be first in-person meeting of Gulf leaders since their states became dragged into the war. A Gulf official told the Reuters news agency that the meeting aimed to craft a response to the thousands of Iranian missile and drone attacks Gulf states have faced since the US and Israel launched the war on

US president has accused organisation of ‘ripping off the rest of the world’ by inflating oil prices * Business live – latest updates The United Arab Emirates has quit the Opec oil cartel in a heavy blow to the group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, amid the global energy shock caused by the Iran war. The stunning loss of the UAE, a longstanding Opec member, could create disarray and weaken the group, which has usually sought to show a united front despite internal disagreements over a range of issues from geopolitics to production quotas. Continue reading...

Climate group calls for urgent windfall tax on excess fossil fuel profits, as delegates tell Colombia conference their nations are suffering The Middle East oil and gas crunch will impose as much as a trillion dollars of additional costs on the global economy while petroleum companies rake in spectacular profits from elevated fuel prices, analysis has revealed. The uneven distribution of risk and reward comes amid rising concern that the US-Israeli attack on Iran is worsening inequality, poverty and hunger across a world that has become dangerously dependent on fossil fuels. Continue reading...

Claim by environment minister opens new report into profound ecological damage allegedly done by IDF forces Lebanon’s minister for the environment has accused Israel’s military of committing “an act of ecocide” in the foreword to a report detailing the harm done to the country’s natural resources during the invasion of 2023 to 2024. Israeli military aggression “reshaped both the physical and ecological landscape” of southern Lebanon, according to the report, which does not consider the impacts of Israel’s latest barrage of attacks this spring. Damaged 5,000 hectares (12,350 acres) of forest cover, including broadleaf, pine and stone pine stands, destroying habitats, disregulating local

Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy say criticising Israeli government is not disloyalty but a Jewish obligation The UK’s most senior progressive rabbis have warned that Israel’s current political direction risks becoming “incompatible with Jewish values”, while insisting that criticism of the country’s government is “a Jewish obligation” rather than an act of disloyalty. Rabbi Charley Baginsky and Rabbi Josh Levy, co-leads of Progressive Judaism – the newly formed movement representing around a third of synagogues in the UK – said Israel’s trajectory could pose an “existential threat” not just to the country itself but to Judaism. Continue reading...

Customs officials say group allegedly hid 5kg of ‘kush’ in false walls of bags on return from Bangkok holiday Twenty-two Buddhist monks are in Sri Lankan police custody after customs officials found 110kg of high-grade cannabis concealed in their luggage, the largest ever drug bust at Colombo’s main international airport. The group, mostly junior monks in training from temples across Sri Lanka, were alleged to have “carried about five kilos of the narcotic concealed within false walls in their luggage”, according to a Sri Lanka customs spokesperson. Continue reading...

Pakistan officials dismiss Afghan media reports and official statements about strikes on university in Kunar province as ‘blatant lie’ Mortars and missiles fired from Pakistan on Monday struck a university and civilian homes in north-eastern Afghanistan, killing seven people and wounding at least 85, Afghan officials said. Pakistan denied the accusation of targeting a university. Continue reading...

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were to travel to Islamabad to attempt to revive ceasefire negotiations Donald Trump said he has told US envoys not to go to Pakistan for more talks with Iran, shortly after Tehran’s top diplomat left Islamabad late on Saturday. Trump added to Fox News: “They can call us anytime they want.” The White House on Friday said Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would travel to Pakistan’s capital to attempt to revive ceasefire negotiations. Continue reading...

Officials assessing route after serac between base camp and camp one deemed unstable and too risky for climbers A large ice block on the route just above the Mount Everest base camp has forced hundreds of climbers and local guides to delay their attempt to scale the world’s highest peak. The serac between base camp and camp one was unstable and risky for climbers, said Himal Gautam of Nepal’s department of mountaineering on Friday. Continue reading...

Foreign ministry calls remarks of rightwing podcast host shared by Trump ‘uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste’ The Indian government has denounced a social media post shared by Donald Trump that described India as a “hellhole”, calling the comments inappropriate and “in poor taste”. On Wednesday, Trump posted a four-page transcription of remarks made by the conservative podcast host Michael Savage that denounced the US constitutional right to citizenship of everyone born in the country. Continue reading...

Commons debate underway after Morgan McSweeney tells foreign affairs committee that advising PM to appoint Mandelson was a ‘serious error of judgment’ Q: Was there pressure on you to approve Mandelson’s vetting? This is a reference to the claim that Keir Starmer misled MPs last week when he talked about no pressure being placed on the Foreign Office. One is during my tenure. I was not aware of any pressure on the substance of the Mandelson DV case. Question two was there pressure? Absolutely. And I’ve described it. And I also have seen what the Foreign Office said to you last night. [See 8.50am.] I

Starmer’s former chief of staff says he asked people to act quickly but not to skip steps in vetting process • UK politics live – latest updates Morgan McSweeney has admitted that Foreign Office officials came under intense pressure to expedite Peter Mandelson’s posting as UK ambassador to Washington, but denied they were forced to “skip steps” in security vetting to do so. Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff, who resigned earlier this year over the scandal, acknowledged that he had asked the then top official at the department, Philip Barton, to conduct the process “at pace” but not to do anything “improper”. Continue

Ittai Gradel died of renal cancer days after museum awarded him medal for ‘very significant contribution’ The academic turned antiquities dealer who exposed the theft of hundreds of artefacts from the British Museum has died aged 61. Dr Ittai Gradel, from Denmark, alerted the British Museum and the police after he was able to buy dozens of museum artefacts on eBay over the course of several years. Continue reading...

Protester says he migrated from Malaysia as a child and describes home secretary’s immigration policies as cruel * UK politics live – latest updates A protester who heckled Shabana Mahmood said he came to the UK as a child from Malaysia, describing the home secretary’s claim that he was a “white liberal” as “laughable”. Joe, 32, who did not wish to give his last name, migrated from Malaysia at the age of four with his family. He said the home secretary’s proposed immigration rule changes would have left him, and thousands of children like him, in limbo. Continue reading...

Scotland Yard says incident in area that is home to large Jewish community is not being treated as terrorism Police are investigating a suspected arson attack at a memorial wall in an area of north London that is home to a large Jewish community. Scotland Yard said the investigation was being led by counter-terrorism policing, but it was not being treated as a terrorist incident. No arrests have yet been made and the memorial wall was not damaged. Continue reading...

State visit of UK royals continues as monarch to tell US lawmakers that ‘our countries have always found ways to come together’ * Sign up for the Breaking News US email Donald Trump has reportedly signaled to his top advisers that he is dissatisfied with and unlikely to accept Iran’s latest proposal to end the war, which would reopen the strait of Hormuz and leave discussion of Iran’s nuclear program for a later date. Two people familiar with the matter told CNN that Trump conveyed his views during yesterday’s meeting with top national security aides where the Iranian proposal was discussed. One

In theory, Musk and Altman’s court fight could pose key questions about AI safety – in reality, it’s motivated by money and personal grievance * Sign up for the TechScape newsletter: our free technology email Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian, writing to you from beneath a cherry blossom tree in Prospect Park in New York City. Spring has arrived! Facing AI and a tough job market, gen Z turns to entrepreneurship: ‘I have to prove myself’ Continue reading...

US generated more power from renewables like solar and wind than gas last month in a first Donald Trump has wielded the full might of his administration to crush the progress of clean energy, which he has called a “scam” and “stupid”. But there are signs this assault is not going to plan. In March, the US generated more of its electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind than it did via gas, the first time clean energy has surpassed the planet-heating fossil fuel for a full month nationally, according to data from the Ember thinktank. Continue reading...

Alleged shooter, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, faces potential life sentence. Plus, the Americans renouncing their citizenship * Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here Good morning. The suspect accused of trying to storm the White House correspondents’ dinner was charged on Monday with three federal crimes, including attempting to assassinate the president – a charge that carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison. What was his motive? Investigators have yet to release one. However, to establish the charge of attempted assassination, the affidavit quotes from a part of a manifesto Allen allegedly sent to family

Neither political party is immune to conspiracies in a time of intense distrust in government and media, experts say After an armed man attempted to breach the ballroom where Donald Trump was set to speak to White House journalists on Saturday, conspiracies immediately spread about whether the event was staged. The rhetoric has become a common refrain from both sides of the aisle in an era of deeply fractured politics and intense distrust in political institutions and media, and in the president himself. Continue reading...

Police in Greece’s capital Athens on Tuesday were searching for an 89-year-old man suspected of injuring four people in shootings reportedly sparked by problems with his pension payments. One man and three women were lightly injured as a result of the attack on a social security office and a courthouse, with a fourth woman in shock, news reports said. Armed with a shotgun, the man initially opened fire at the social security office, wounding a male employee, police said. Police officers who...

A Ukrainian drone attack has caused a “large-scale fire” at ‌Russia’s Tuapse oil refinery on the Black Sea, forcing the evacuation of nearby buildings, local officials said on Tuesday. The Rosneft-owned refinery delivers oil products mainly for exports but operations have been halted since April 16 following an earlier drone attack, industry sources said. Ukraine did not immediately comment ⁠on the reports. Kyiv has stepped up strikes on Russia since March, with ‌US-brokered talks on the war in...

A man accused of pledging allegiance to Islamic State group and plotting to attack one of superstar singer Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna nearly two years ago pleaded guilty as his trial began on Tuesday, Austrian media reported. The plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still cancelled Swift’s three performances in August 2024. The singer’s fans, known as Swifties, who had flown to Austria from across the globe to attend a performance of her record-setting Eras Tour were devastated,...

China has vowed to take a holistic approach in responding to external shocks and safeguarding the country’s energy security, as the economic fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran continues to spread around the world. At a meeting on Tuesday, the country’s Politburo – a major decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party led by President Xi Jinping – also stressed the need to boost the nation’s tech self-reliance and control over its industrial supply chains. The country will push forward...

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Mexico’s most powerful criminal enterprise, suffered another blow on Monday when the Mexican military captured one of its top leaders in the northwest of the country, two months after the cartel’s leader was killed. Audias Flores Silva, also known as “El Jardinero”, or The Gardener, was seen as a possible successor to the killed leader and the United States had a US$5 million reward out for information leading to his arrest. The CJNG regional commander was...

Signatories of the landmark nuclear non-proliferation treaty began a meeting on Monday at the United Nations in New York as fears of a renewed arms race escalate, with atomic powers again at loggerheads over safeguards. In 2022, during the last review of the treaty considered the cornerstone of non-proliferation, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned humanity was “one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation”. On Monday he warned “the drivers” of nuclear weapons...

“Balikatan 2026” is meant to reassure allies and deter adversaries. But the military exercise hosted by the Philippines also reveals a harsher truth: the Indo-Pacific is drifting into a security logic in which deterrence no longer contains risk but multiplies it. Every move taken in the name of stability now invites a countermove. Every display of resolve is answered by another. The result is not equilibrium, but a trap. That is why diplomacy has to return to the centre of regional strategy...

The man accused of opening fire at a Washington dinner attended by Donald Trump was charged on Monday with attempting to assassinate the US president and could face life in prison if convicted. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, wore a blue jail-issue V-neck shirt and pants at his first appearance in Washington federal court, two days after authorities said he launched an unsuccessful attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, an annual black-tie gathering of journalists and...

A New York man on Monday pleaded guilty to ⁠taking part in ⁠the 2002 murder of ⁠pioneering hip-hop star Jam Master Jay of famed group Run-DMC as part of a dispute over a drug deal, according to federal prosecutors. Appearing in court in Brooklyn, Jay Bryant, 52, admitted to playing ‌a role in the fatal shooting of Jason Mizell, better known by his stage name Jam Master Jay, and faces up to 20 years in prison, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said in a...

Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in the United States on Monday for a four-day trip, welcomed by self-proclaimed royal fan Donald Trump even as the US president has differed with the British government over the Iran war. The state visit, by far the most high-profile and consequential of Charles’ reign, marks the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence from British rule, and is the first to the country by a British ‌monarch in two decades. After landing at Joint...

Lebanon’s social affairs minister has backed calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, but cautioned the process would take time before a “political settlement” could be reached, noting that the group is also a “community”. Haneen Sayed told a discussion in Washington on Monday that disarming Hezbollah – an Iran-backed militant group – was a demand of her government and its people, and that it “must happen”. “Of course, we understand that implementation is not easy. It’s not instant coffee. It...

US President ⁠Donald Trump said on Monday that Jimmy Kimmel should immediately be fired by ABC and parent company Walt Disney, joining his wife Melania Trump in calling out the late-night talk show host for a monologue he delivered prior to a shooting near a gathering of journalists and politicians over the weekend. Kimmel said last Thursday, in a parody segment on the upcoming White House correspondents’ dinner, that Melania Trump “had a glow like an expectant widow”. Trump and the first lady...

Pope Leo and new Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally met for the first time on Monday, in a symbolic encounter at the Vatican in which the leaders of the long-separated Catholic Church and Church of England exchanged gifts and prayed together. Mullally, the first woman to serve as spiritual leader of the world’s 85 million Anglicans, was ‌welcomed by Leo, the first US leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, into his formal office at the Vatican’s ornate apostolic palace. The two, who...

Following high-level mediation efforts in Islamabad over the weekend, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Monday. The diplomatic surge comes as US President Donald Trump convened his senior national security team to evaluate a fresh Iranian peace proposal, delivered via Pakistan, aimed at ending the months-long Middle East crisis and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The White House confirmed the proposal called...

Archaeologists and researchers at the ancient Roman site of Pompeii have used artificial intelligence for the first time to digitally reconstruct the face of a man killed in the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius that smothered the city, offering a new way to understand one of history’s most famous natural disasters. The digital portrait represents a man whose remains, along with those of another person, were discovered as they attempted to flee the city towards the coast of what is now Italy...

Nato is considering ending its recent practice of holding annual summits, six sources told Reuters, a move that could avoid a potentially tense encounter with US President Donald Trump in his final year in office. Trump’s administration has engaged repeatedly in scathing criticism of many of the US-led defence alliance’s 31 other members, most recently berating some for not providing more help to US military operations against Iran. The frequency of Nato ‌summits has varied over the alliance’s...

A small plane crashed on Monday in South Sudan near the capital Juba, killing all 13 passengers and the pilot, local officials said. On top of instability, conflict and poverty, South Sudan also lacks reliable transport infrastructure with frequent plane crashes attributed to overloading and bad weather. The plane was a Cessna that departed Juba International Airport at 9.15am local time and crashed about 20km (12 miles) from the capital with no survivors, the South Sudanese Civil Aviation...

Britain’s parliament will vote on Tuesday on a possible inquiry into Prime Minister Keir Starmer, looking at whether he misled the House of Commons ‌over the appointment of former US ambassador Peter Mandelson. Any such inquiry could have serious implications for Starmer’s future. He has so far resisted pressure to quit over his decision to hire Mandelson, but if found to have knowingly misled parliament his position would likely become untenable. House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said he...

The bitter legal fight between Elon Musk ⁠and the leadingAIe firm, OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, may come down ⁠to a few pages in one executive’s personal diary. “This is the only chance we have to get out from Elon,” wrote Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president and a co-founder, in the autumn of 2017. “Is he the ‘glorious leader’ that I would pick?” Brockman’s diary entry is part of the thousands of pages of internal documents revealed in court since Musk, one of the original co-founders of OpenAI,...

The Strait of Hormuz is usually described as a chokepoint. Today, it is more than that. It is the hinge point between war and peace in the Gulf. Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas trade passes through this narrow waterway. When it was secure, the global economy barely noticed it. As soon as it was threatened, prices jumped, shipping costs rose and military tensions spread beyond the region. Today, the issue is even larger than economics. If the status of the strait is left unresolved,...

US law enforcement officials are reassessing security arrangements after ⁠a gunman opened fire near the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, raising questions about ⁠how he was able to get so close to an event attended by President Donald Trump, cabinet members and lawmakers. Two former Secret Service agents and three senior US officials told Reuters on Sunday that federal agents appeared to carry out their plan to protect the president effectively on Saturday night, stopping the...

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. As DJI duels Insta360, China sharpens global hardware edge amid US scrutiny 2. Did China just hint that its next aircraft carrier will be nuclear-powered? 3. Reverend Derek Li, father of injured Hong Kong Mirror dancer Mo Li, dies 4. 3 killed in Japanese Type 10 tank blast that has military...

Two of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most formidable political rivals said on Sunday they were joining forces in a bid to oust his coalition government in the coming election expected later this year. The former prime ministers - right-wing Naftali Bennett and centrist Yair Lapid - issued statements announcing the merger of their parties, Bennett 2026 and There is a Future. “We are standing here together for the sake of our ‌children. The State of Israel must change direction,”...

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country’s south on Sunday killed 14 people, the deadliest day since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war came into force over a week ago. It came as Israel and the Iran-backed group traded fresh accusations of breaching the fragile truce, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the military was “vigorously” targeting Hezbollah and the group vowing to keep responding to “violations”. Israel’s military has carried out repeated strikes...

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country would continue to support Russia’s policies and he discussed the international political situation with Russia’s defence minister, state media KCNA reported on Monday. A Russian delegation including Defence Minister Andrei Belousov attended a completion ceremony for a ‌‌memorial honouring North Korean soldiers killed while fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces staged an incursion in 2024, KCNA said. Russia launched a full-scale...

US President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is using the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday to try to pressure preservationists to drop their lawsuit over his planned US$400 million ballroom on the site of the former East Wing of the White House. “It’s time to build the ballroom,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said plainly on Sunday on social media, posting a letter in which Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate gave the National Trust for Historic...

Geopolitics, at its core, examines how geography shapes international politics, power distribution and security dynamics. One enduring idea is geographer Halford Mackinder’s “heartland” theory, which situates Eurasia as the central arena of global power competition. In 1904, Mackinder argued that the vast land mass of Europe and Asia – what he called the “world island” – contained a pivotal core, the “heartland”, rich in resources, population and strategic depth. His dictum – “Who rules Eastern...

The ⁠Italian government has extradited to ⁠the United States a Chinese man wanted by authorities there on hacking charges that include stealing Covid-19 medical research, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The source ‌declined to say when Xu Zewei was flown out of Italy, saying only that he was already in the United States. The move follows a ruling by a top Italian court earlier this month allowing the extradition. Xu was arrested in Milan on July 3 at ⁠the request of US...

The state visit by Britain’s King Charles to the US would take place as planned, Buckingham Palace said on Sunday, following a shooting at a Washington media gala. The incident late on Saturday at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association came less than 48 hours before Charles and Queen Camilla begin a four-day state visit to the United States. The palace said Charles was “greatly relieved” that Trump, the first lady Melania and other guests were unharmed and later on...

Mali’s military rulers faced a security crisis on Sunday after coordinated nationwide attacks by jihadist fighters and separatist rebels this weekend killed the defence minister and reportedly left a key northern town in rebel hands. There was no word from the junta leader General Assimi Goita, who has not been seen since the attacks began at dawn on Saturday. The offensive, synchronised by Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) coalition and the jihadist Group for the Support of...

Strikes across Ukraine, Russian-occupied territory and Russia over the past day killed at least 16 people, authorities said on Sunday as the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster prompted new warnings about risks posed by attacks near the plant during Russia’s more than four-year invasion of its neighbour. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky marked the anniversary with a warning that Russian attacks risk repeating history. “Russia is once again bringing the world to the brink of...

The China-Europe railway network has evolved in the past decade from a nascent logistical experiment into a growing commercial alternative to maritime and air freight. In the wake of the US-Israel war on Iran, it might now be assuming an unanticipated role as a key security provider for transcontinental supply chains. What began as sporadic trial runs has matured into a sprawling web of rail connections that currently links 235 cities across 26 European countries with more than 120 Chinese...

The first public trial in Syria of officials linked to the rule of former President Bashar al-Assad opened in Damascus on Sunday. Atef Najib, a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province under Assad, and who is also a cousin of the former president, appeared in the courtroom to face charges related to “crimes against the Syrian people,” the state-run news agency SANA reported. Najib was in that position in 2011 when...

People streamed into the central square of Slavutych in the early hours of Sunday, placing candles on a large radiation hazard symbol laid out on the ground as a midnight commemoration began for those killed in the Chernobyl disaster 40 years ago and the thousands who risked deadly radiation exposure to contain its aftermath. Residents show up for the vigil each year despite wartime curfews and official warnings against large gatherings during Russia’s war on Ukraine. The April 26, 1986 disaster...

In the span of a few days earlier this month, developments that usually sit in separate policy compartments began to converge. Abu Dhabi’s crown prince arrived in Beijing as President Xi Jinping used the visit to set out China’s four-point position on the Iran war. Pakistan, now central to keeping US-Iran diplomacy alive, said no date was fixed for the next round of talks. Washington escalated pressure on buyers of Iranian oil and the banks handling related funds. Reports circulated of yuan use...

The shooting on Saturday night of a Secret Service agent at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner raises questions yet again about the protection afforded to America’s political leaders at a time of increased political violence. Hundreds of agents from several law enforcement agencies were tasked with protecting the annual bash, which US President Donald Trump headlined this year. Yet a suspect with a shotgun and other weapons ‌managed to get just a floor above the Washington...

The California man arrested in the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer opposed to the policies of President Donald Trump. Authorities say Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, was taken into custody at the dinner Saturday night in Washington that was attended by Trump and top members of his administration. A social media profile for a man with the same name and a photo that appears to match that of the...

Watch a cheap commercial drone destroy a battle tank on the frontlines in Ukraine, or a cut-price Iranian Shahed menace Tel Aviv, then ask yourself why Southeast Asia’s defence ministries are suddenly very interested in unmanned aerial vehicles. The answer was on full display last week at the Defence Services Asia (DSA) exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, where vendors from Abu Dhabi to Pretoria were chasing deals in one of the global arms trade’s hottest emerging markets. “There is huge demand from the...

It was meant to be a glitzy Saturday night at a Washington ballroom featuring President Donald Trump, but the glamour was shattered by gunshots that left guests diving to the floor and the US leader bundled out by security personnel. Trump was seated on the dais at the White House Correspondents’ Association’s annual dinner – the first time he is attending as president – when loud bangs disrupted the revelry and caused him and others on stage to look up in alarm. Video captured by news outlets...

Student mental health is a matter of great concern. According to the latest data from the Education Bureau, the number of secondary students with mental health issues has doubled over the past five years, from 660 in 2020-21 to 1,330 in 2024-25. In recent years, the government and various stakeholders in society have worked to halt the continued rise in student suicides. However, the number of suspected suicide cases still rose by 10 per cent between 2024 and 2025, from 28 to 31. To help...

US President Donald Trump and other top administration officials were likely targets of a gunman who tried to storm a White House correspondents’ dinner, the acting US attorney general said on Sunday, after a major security breach in the heart of Washington. Chaos erupted at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night as shots were fired near a security checkpoint outside the subterranean ballroom where the glitzy, high-profile event was being held. Secret Service agents, weapons drawn, rushed to...

The death toll ⁠from an explosives ⁠attack on a highway ⁠in southwestern Colombia rose to 20 on Sunday, authorities said, as the government blamed a dissident faction of the former FARC guerrilla ‌group for the bombing. The attack happened on Saturday when an explosive device was detonated on a bus traveling along the Pan-American Highway in the municipality of Cajibio. So far, 15 women and five men are among the victims, according to Octavio Guzman, governor of the region of Cauca. He wrote on...

Lebanese state media reported a series of new Israeli strikes in the country’s south on Saturday night, after attacks earlier in the day killed six people despite a recently extended ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah. The new attacks followed orders from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the military to “forcefully attack Hezbollah targets” after the army accused it of breaching the truce. Lebanon’s health ministry had said earlier that “Israeli enemy strikes on a...

Hungary’s outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he would not take up his seat in parliament following his party’s landslide defeat in this month’s election but wants to stay on as Fidesz’s leader to lead a process of “renewal”. The most dominant figure in Hungarian politics since the fall of communism in 1989, Orban has sat in Hungary’s legislature for 36 years without interruption, serving as prime minister for the past sixteen years. “I’m not needed in parliament now but in the...

A former University of South Florida student has been charged with killing his roommate and the roommate’s girlfriend – two doctoral students from Bangladesh who disappeared earlier this month, authorities said Saturday. Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, is facing two counts of premeditated murder in the first degree with a weapon in the deaths of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, students at USF, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. He made an initial court appearance Saturday in Tampa,...

On a state visit designed in part to repair U.S.-British relations, King Charles’s schedule does not include plans to see his younger son, who lives in the United States with his family.

The king is not planning to meet with victims of Jeffrey Epstein during his state visit because of “ongoing police inquiries” in Britain. The king’s brother was close to Mr. Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

Mr. Musk’s lawsuit against Mr. Altman and OpenAI makes the case that all-encompassing greed is Silicon Valley’s defining feature.

The artificial intelligence giant has reportedly fallen behind on its own user and revenue targets, raising questions about its data center and I.P.O. plans

Young people aiming to build careers are entering fields they had not considered to find their footing.

The Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady this week as Jerome H. Powell presides over what is likely to be his last meeting as chair.

The ability to stay calm and lead through any kind of shock is the new normal for corporate executives.

As Americans face soaring child care costs, Alex Adams wants to loosen rules and tighten spending. Critics say that will harm children and shutter day cares.

The effort to dismantle Temporary Protected Status, or T.P.S., is part of a shift away from providing humanitarian assistance to people from troubled countries.

Ms. Comey, a former federal prosecutor who handled cases against Jeffery Epstein and Sean Combs, claimed in her suit that she was fired for political reasons.

Data obtained by The New York Times shows that the Education Department resolved 30 percent fewer discrimination complaints in 2025 compared with the previous year.

The authorities say the California man stormed a black-tie gala on Saturday seeking to kill the president.

Federal authorities are looking into whether Cole Tomas Allen posted on Bluesky as “coldforce,” who wrote and promoted liberal views that did not stand out on the left-leaning platform.

The joke was recorded two days before the White House correspondents’ dinner, where a gunman tried to storm the press gala.

And he’s basically fine with it.

As prices for the precious metal soar, the industry’s guardrails have broken down.

Three reporters followed supply chains to reveal that the U.S. Mint buys gold that comes from foreign pawn shops and drug dealers, then claims it is from the United States.

His late-night show ends next month after 11 seasons. He has lots of feelings.

Fatimah Shepherd’s kidneys were compromised, and pregnancy could send her into kidney failure.

Investigators told lawmakers that the camp, where 28 people died in a flood last July, did not prepare for an emergency as required by the state.

With Cuba in dire economic crisis, people whose properties were seized by its government decades ago say it’s time to resolve thorny compensation claims.

What began in Japan as a quick, exciting working-class meal has morphed in American cities into an elaborate pampering of the well-heeled diner.

The far right is conflating Israel with Jewishness.

We look at the list crafted by Times music writers.

The event “was supposed to be an evening of fun and merriment,” Jon Stewart said, “until, like most things in America, it was interrupted by gunfire.”

From beauty influencers to the token political opposition, Russians are openly questioning President Vladimir V. Putin’s moves to hamstring access.

The United Parcel Service will not deliver inside two buildings on Staten Island where its drivers were assaulted decades ago. Residents are suing.

Rising fuel prices in the Philippines have disrupted daily commutes, forcing people to ditch their cars for overcrowded trains and minibuses.

In the world’s fastest aging society, artificial intelligence is being used to make care calls to older adults who live alone and to fight dementia.

A new statewide policy detailing when utilities can stop service for unpaid bills during heat waves has resulted in weaker rules for New York City.