Minimalist News

Debt Remembered And Debt Ignored Authored by Greg Marasca via AmericanThinker.com, Memorial Day compels Americans to confront a word we avoid: debt. Not the financial kind that Congress pretends will magically resolve itself, but the older, heavier meaning — the kind carved into headstones at Arlington and cemeteries across the country. It is the debt paid in full by those who gave their lives, so the rest of us could live free. No interest rate can measure it. No budget line can contain it. It is final, irrevocable, and sacred. Every year, we pause, as we should, to acknowledge that

In Rare Phone Call, Macron Warns Belarus' Lukashenko Against Directly Joining Ukraine War In their first direct contact since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron telephoned Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to warn him against increasing his country's engagement in the war, according to sources who spoke to AFP . "[Macron] highlighted the risks Belarus will face if dragged into the war in Ukraine. He also called on Lukashenko to take necessary measures to improve relations between Belarus and Europe," a source told AFP . Lukashenko let Russia use Belarus as a staging area for the 2022 invasion,

Iran's Top Negotiating Team In Qatar 'For Talks To End War' - But Cautions Deal Signing 'Not Imminent' Summary Al Arabiya claims Tehran ready to transfer highly enriched uranium to China . Trump urges all countries join post-deal Abraham accords, including Iran : Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are proceeding nicely! It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting (TS). Iran FM Araghchi, parliament speaker Ghalibaf, and central bank governor are in Doha for 'Talks to End War' . Foreign Ministry cautions: "It is true

Dr. Oz Fires Back After Joy Behar's TrumpRx Meltdown Authored by David Manney via PJMedia.com, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the 17th administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services , answered Joy Behar after the longtime co-host of The View warned viewers about President Donald Trump's prescription drug initiative. Behar said once Trump puts his name on prescriptions, “We're all going to die.” Joy Behar claims "we're all going to die" because Trump wants to lower drug prices with TrumpRX. pic.twitter.com/uG458SU1AD — MRC NewsBusters (@newsbusters) May 19, 2026 She also reached for Trump's past business failures, as if cheaper medicine

At Last Minute, SEC Suddenly Delays Plan To Allow Crypto Versions Of US Stocks Authored by Micah Zimmerman via Bitcoin Magazine, The Securities and Exchange Commission has pumped the brakes on its highly anticipated “innovation exemption” for tokenized stocks, pushing back the release of the framework as it weighs input from traditional stock exchanges and other market participants wary of the plan’s sweeping implications, according to Bloomberg reporting . The SEC, under Chair Paul Atkins, was preparing to release the so-called innovation exemption as soon as this week. The framework would create a new regulatory pathway allowing digital tokens linked

The Race To Build The World's Tallest Skyscraper In 1909, New York’s Metropolitan Life Tower became the tallest building in the world at 700 feet. Just over a century later, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa reached 2,717 feet, nearly four times taller. This timeline, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen, shows every building to hold the title of world’s tallest since 1909, using the most recent data available from the Council on Vertical Urbanism (CVU). Per CVU methodology, buildings must include floors, excluding structures such as Toronto’s CN Tower and the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. Heights are measured to the architectural top, including

A Collapsing Europe Shows Where Democrat Policies Will Take America Authored by Andrew Widburg via AmericanThinker.com, Immediately before WWII, the biggest threat to Europe was Soviet socialism. During WWII, the biggest threat was the open socialism (in the form of fascism) in Germany and Italy. After WWII, during the Cold War, the biggest threat, once again, was Soviet socialism. Nevertheless, the post-war Europeans embraced socialism and touted its success, never realizing that it worked only because the U.S. paid their defense costs and absorbed the costs of wars around the world. When the Soviet Union collapsed, and America’s defense spending

70% Of All Crypto 'Wrench Attacks' Happen In France: Report About 70% of all wrench attacks, physical attacks against crypto holders and their families, carried out in an attempt to steal digital assets, occur in France, according to Bitcoin journalist Joe Nakamoto. There have been 41 crypto-related kidnappings in France so far in 2026, Nakamoto said , or about one attack every two and a half days, he added. As CoinTelegraph's Vince Quill reports , Nakamoto attributed the rise in wrench attacks to know-your-customer data collection, which is stored in centralized servers that were compromised in several high-profile data leaks

"The World Is Losing Trust": Foreign Investment In Germany Plunges To Lowest Level Since 2009 Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News, Foreign companies are continuing to shy away from investing in Germany, with the number of new projects falling last year to its lowest level since 2009, representing an eighth consecutive annual decline. An analysis by the auditing and consulting firm EY, reported by the German Press Agency , found that foreign investors announced 548 new projects in Germany in 2025. That was 10 percent fewer than the year before. Henrik Ahlers, the head of EY in Germany, said

Shurk: Prominent Democrats Must Go To Prison Authored by J.B. Shurk via American Thinker , Until then, it’s open season on all of us... Reports last week confirmed that former special counsel Jack Smith “secretly arranged” to preserve evidence in his criminal cases against President Trump in order to maintain the threat of future prosecution once the president leaves office. This is not a big surprise. Democrats have thrown every civic norm out the window in their ruthless efforts to target Trump’s businesses and send him to prison for life. In his quest to imprison an American president, Jack Smith

Which US States Gained The Most Residents In 2025 Nearly 15 million Americans moved in 2025, with many relocating across state lines in search of lower costs, job opportunities, and warmer climates. This map, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen, shows net migration per 10,000 residents across all 50 states in 2025, revealing where population inflows were strongest and which states saw the biggest outflows. The data comes from HireAHelper . Southern and Mountain West states dominated the rankings for inbound migration, while several high-cost coastal states continued to lose residents. The data reflects large-scale shifts happening in the country’s population

The Inherited IRA 10-Year Rule Is Fully Enforced In 2026 - What Beneficiaries Need To Do Now Authored by Adam H. Douglas via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), If you inherited a traditional IRA from someone who was already taking required minimum distributions (RMDs), you may have to take annual withdrawals for the next decade, and the account must be empty by the end of the tenth year. Many inherited IRA beneficiaries must now take annual RMDs. Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Shutterstock The Internal Revenue Service waived penalties for missed withdrawals from 2021 through 2024 while the rules were being finalized. That grace

$150 Humanoid Robot House Cleaning Service Threatens To Undercut Maid Services It's no secret that some humanoid robotics companies are training their machines for work on factory floors, while others are positioning their bots to enter homes in the coming years. One of the first real signs of humanoids entering homes today is a new cleaning service in San Francisco that uses what appear to be Unitree humanoid robots trained to clean everything from floors and countertops to stovetops, mirrors, and nearly any surface in the house. Called "Gatsby," the new service deploys humanoid robots to homes for a flat

Trump Indicates He'll Sign Bill Making Daylight Saving Time Permanent Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), President Donald Trump has indicated he would sign a bill to make daylight saving time permanent as a House of Representatives committee advanced a measure that would codify the change. U.S. President Donald Trump returns to the White House in Washington on May 15, 2026. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images "Big Vote today (48-1!) in the Energy and Commerce Committee on a Bill including The Sunshine Protection Act, which will be making Daylight Saving Time Permanent! This is so important in that

Colbert Blames Trump, But Massive Profit Losses Killed His Show Progressive ideologues in entertainment are well known for avoiding responsibility for their failures at any cost, which is what makes them incredibly dangerous. Scapegoats are targeted for destruction while activists elude scrutiny so that they can bungle another project or institution, and another, and another. On and on it goes; like a bacteria they travel from one organ to the next, breaking it down from the inside. This is what people like Stephen Colbert represent. From 2019 to 2025 The Late Show lost approximately 25% of its peak viewership. Much

Child Safety Groups Urge FTC To Investigate Roblox Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Two child safety groups filed a complaint against online interactive gaming platform Roblox with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on May 20, alleging that children face sexual and financial harm on the platform. A boy poses for a photo while holding a game pad in front of a screen displaying the logo of the children's gaming platform Roblox, in this illustration taken on Dec. 8, 2025. Ramil Sitdikov/Illustration/Reuters Filed by nonprofits National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and Fairplay, the complaint claims

My Retirement Accounts Fail In The World I Actually Live In Authored by Patrick Brenner via RealClearMarkets , I remember the first time I logged into my retirement account as a young professional . It felt like a milestone: proof that I had entered the world of adulthood, of long-term thinking, of ownership. I work in the nonprofit sector, so technically it's a 403(b), not a 401(k). The distinction is academic; the promise is the same: contribute consistently, invest wisely, and over time, build financial independence. The longer I've contributed, the more I've realized something uncomfortable: my retirement plan isn't

Newsom Declares Emergency In Orange County; EPA Head Says Chemical Tank Will "Likely Fail" The head of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said Sunday that a chemical storage tank in Southern California that has forced officials to declare an emergency and prompted evacuation orders for tens of thousands residents is likely to fail. Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the EPA, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday that the “most likely scenario” is a “low-volume release” of the tank, where officials will be able to “monitor, neutralize, and contain the threat.” “The Orange County Fire Authority is working

Bubble-Wrapped World: How Safety Culture Has Destroyed Our Sense Of Adventure Authored by Murray Lytle via The Epoch Times, Are Canadians less adventurous than they once were? It’s hard to argue otherwise. Alexander Mackenzie was only 24 when the North West Company named him chief fur trader at Fort Chipewyan, in what is now Alberta. A few years later, in 1789 he travelled north along what is now known as the Mackenzie River to become the first European to reach the Arctic Ocean overland. Four years later he crossed the Rocky Mountains and was the first European to reach the

Two Billboards In New York Capture The Conflict Of Our Time Authored by Kay Rubacek via The Epoch Times, Two billboards went up in New York City recently. This is a city of advertising, where images appear when someone wants the whole world to see them. One billboard is selling artificial intelligence, and the other is warning about it. The juxtaposition between these two advertisers, who most likely wouldn’t have seen the other’s message in advance, captures the conflict of our times and cements the uncertainty about the future within an artificial intelligence world. The selling billboard is dark, purple,

Inmates at Barinas prison allege they were peacefully protesting when prison staff opened fire, leaving some wounded Inmates at Venezuela’s western Barinas prison staged a protest on its roof on Sunday, piling flaming mattresses and calling for the removal of the facility’s director, whom they accused of overseeing guards as they shot unarmed prisoners. “We want justice. They are shooting us, the guards and the wardens,” a prisoner said in a video shared by the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons, a local NGO, on X, in which a man is seen with a bullet wound in his chest. Continue reading...

As Canada tightens asylum rules, refugees reuniting with family say they were turned over to ICE and jailed for months after failed border claims As each day in US detention passes, Markens Appolon can feel the life he had dreamed of slipping away. The 25-year-old fled Haiti to escape the rampant gang violence that upended his university studies in economics, and planned to join family in Montreal. Continue reading...

Judge said Trump administration would not have prosecuted Ábrego had he not challenged his high-profile deportation Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email A US judge dismissed a criminal indictment against Kilmar Ábrego García on Friday, finding that the Trump administration would not have prosecuted him had he not challenged his high-profile deportation. Ábrego, who had entered the United States without authorization in the past, became a symbol of the Trump administration’s drive for mass deportations when he was sent to the notorious anti-terrorism mega-prison in El Salvador known as Cecot in March 2025. Continue reading...

Alberta premier calls for referendum on secession after judge ruled initiative to force binding vote invalid The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney , has said that Alberta is “essential” to the country’s future, hours after the province’s leader moved the oil-rich region closer toward a referendum on independence. Separatists in the western province spent months collecting signatures seeking to trigger a binding October vote on seceding from the nation. Continue reading...

Andry José Hernández Romero was deported from the US to El Salvador’s notorious Cecot prison before he was allowed to return to Venezuela One of the Venezuelan men sent from the US to El Salvador’s most notorious prison by Donald Trump has moved to Spain to request asylum after concluding that he did not feel safe back home and did not trust US authorities sufficiently to return to fight his legal case. Andry José Hernández Romero left Venezuela for Spain in early February and is due for his first asylum hearing in court there in a few days, hoping that

Group have been stuck in flooded cave in central Laos for five days after heavy rain caused landslides Divers who helped in the dramatic rescue of a young Thai football team in 2018 have joined efforts to free seven people who have been trapped for five days inside a remote, flooded cave in central Laos. The group entered the cave in Xaysomboun province on Wednesday to hunt for wildlife and search for gold, reports suggest. Heavy rain led to landslides, which blocked the cave entrance. Continue reading...

Xi Jinping urges authorities to ‘spare no effort’ in rescue operation after explosion in northern Shanxi province At least 82 people have been killed in a gas explosion at a coalmine in northern China’s Shanxi province, in the country’s worst mining disaster in 17 years. The explosion happened on Friday at 7.29pm (12.29 BST) while 247 workers were underground at the Liushenyu coalmine in Qinyuan county, the state media agency Xinhua reported. Continue reading...

Resolution backed by 141 states hailed as ‘new chapter’ that could improve climate diplomacy and litigation efforts When the UN general assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of a landmark climate crisis ruling on Wednesday, the Pacific island of Vanuatu’s prime minister hailed the result as the start of “a new chapter” in climate action. “The task before all of us now is to translate legal clarity into meaningful action, stronger cooperation, and greater protection for present and future generations,” said Jotham Napat. Continue reading...

Hung Cao’s comments are latest blow to Taipei after Donald Trump recently cast doubt over US’s enduring support US arms sales to Taiwan have been “paused” to ensure the US military has enough munitions for its Iran operations, according to Washington’s acting navy secretary, in the latest blow to Taipei after a series of comments by Donald Trump. When asked at a congressional hearing on Thursday about a $14bn (£10.4bn) weapons package awaiting Trump’s signoff for months, Hung Cao said: “Right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury

Twelve dead as southern and central areas also suffer travel disruption, electricity outages and evacuations Heavy, prolonged rainfall in southern and central China has resulted in weather warnings for flash flooding, landslides and waterlogging. The slow-moving band of rainfall spanned 620 miles (1,000km) and travelled eastwards across the regions on Tuesday. It was formed from the convergence of multiple bands of rain originating from the Bay of Bengal, South China Sea and Pacific Ocean. Given the accompanying low wind speeds, high daily and hourly rainfall totals have been recorded, with as much as 75mm locally in Hunan, 85mm in Anhui

Changes to political funding and the need for crossbenchers to remain relevant are driving discussions but some independents are opposed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast It is a tag that has been unfairly – and incorrectly – attached to the band of teal MPs since their arrival en-masse in federal parliament in 2022, a slur deployed by their political opponents in an attempt to undermine their independence. The “teal party”. Continue reading...

The now 88-year-old is urging Australian governments to throw their support behind a new national plan for Stolen Generations survivors as they enter their final years Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Aunty Lorraine Peeters only remembers the metal gates opening as she was driven away from her home, at Brewarrina mission in north-west New South Wales. She was taken, along with her brothers and sisters, at just four years old. Her home for the next six years would be the Cootamundra Aboriginal Girls Home, where she was separated from her siblings, trained as

Exclusive: Cache of internal documents leaked to the Guardian and the ABC’s Four Corners show multinational has war-gamed ways to massively delay decarbonisation Revealed: the internal BHP memo that slammed the brakes on world’s biggest miner’s climate push Read more from the BHP files investigation here Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The world’s biggest miner has halted or delayed projects to cut vast amounts of emissions and has quietly war-gamed options to push major climate investments in its Western Australian iron ore operations into the next two decades, internal documents show. An exclusive

Exclusive: Mining giant says technology is not yet advanced enough to run a fully electrified fleet but experts say it is hooked on federal fuel tax credits Revealed: the internal BHP memo that slammed the brakes on world’s biggest miner’s climate push Read more from the BHP files investigation here Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast BHP has continued to spend hundreds of millions of dollars buying diesel trucks in the Pilbara despite internal documents suggesting it would increase emissions and be “misaligned” with its decarbonisation goals. The mining giant is Australia’s biggest consumer

Exclusive: Jimblebar processing facility would have produced higher quality iron ore sought by steelmakers around the world – themselves under pressure to curb pollution World’s biggest miner BHP backtracks on climate action with key projects put on ice, leaked documents reveal Read more from the BHP files investigation here Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast BHP quietly dumped plans for an iron ore processing facility that would have cut emissions drastically, despite internally rating it as having “excellent social value” and being “well-aligned” to its shareholder-endorsed climate plan and decarbonisation targets. In 2025 the

Brent crude futures down 6% to lowest level in two weeks and stock markets rise Oil prices fell below $100 a barrel on Monday and stock markets rose on hopes that the US and Iran are inching closer to a peace deal . Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were down 6% to $97.43 a barrel, the lowest level in two weeks, with hopes that an agreement to end the near three-month US-Israeli war on Iran can be struck. Continue reading...

Vociferously anti-Turkish party doubles its number of seats although mainstream parties didn’t see vote crumble as predicted An anti-immigrant far-right party, inspired by Greece’s defunct neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, made the biggest gains in Sunday’s parliamentary election in Cyprus. Elam, the Greek National People’s Front, which has pushed for the closure of checkpoints on the ethnically split island and is vociferously anti-Turkish, doubled its seats in the 56-member legislature after securing 10.9 % of the vote. Continue reading...

Links between Trump Organization and Ivanishvili family for Tbilisi skyscraper raise new conflict of interest concerns A Trump Tower planned for the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, is to be built on land currently part-owned by the son of the US-sanctioned leader of the country, according to official records. The proposed skyscraper, a joint venture between a local consortium and the Trump Organization, which is managed by the US president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, will be on a plot whose current registered owner is the International Charity Fund Cartu. Continue reading...

Double-sided page featuring a sketch and text sheds new light on the baroque master and his time living in Rome More than 400 years ago, the up and coming Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens toured the streets of Rome, notebook in hand, sketching images from Renaissance works adorning the city’s churches and palazzos. Now a rare sheet, thought to be from his Roman sketchbook, has gone on display in his home city of Antwerp, shedding new light on the baroque master. Continue reading...

Rain overwhelms sewer system in parts of US city, while temperatures in France break May record New York City saw flash flooding on Wednesday, as large parts of Brooklyn and Queens received about 2in (50mm) of rainfall in as little as 20 minutes. Officials said the deluge caused water to flow into the sewer system at a rate of up to 6in an hour, quickly overwhelming an aged network that was designed to accommodate just 1.75in an hour. Residents and commuters found themselves wading knee-deep through flood water that flowed with dangerous speed in places. One video showed a woman

Writing on social media, US president says countries should make settlement with Iran ‘a far more Historic Event’ Iran denies deal with US is imminent, despite some progress Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, has said that time is working against the US and warned that Iran does not respond well to threats. In a post on X , he wrote: During the military war, our tactic was an eye for an eye; in the diplomatic war, it is action against action. Do not believe the bluff of the failed president; time

Tehran says ‘contradictory statements’ from US and Israeli interference hindering negotiations Middle East crisis – live updates Iran has poured cold water on suggestions that a deal with the US is imminent, pointing to the confusion in US positions and Israeli interference as key factors in why a complete agreement is proving difficult to secure. Speaking at the weekly foreign ministry press briefing, Esmail Baghaei, the spokesperson for Iran’s negotiating team, also said future management of the strait of Hormuz was a matter for Oman and Iran to reach agreement on, and that it was not tolls that were being

Region adapting to diminished US power after Washington fails to land knockout blow on Tehran or safeguard allies Middle East crisis – live updates The shock of the Iran war and its fallout has driven rivals in the Middle East to get behind a peace deal, pushing the Trump administration to accept a tentative agreement in the face of furious opposition from Israel and its supporters in Washington. The diplomatic efforts come as the region is reshaping to adapt to diminished US power after Washington’s inability to land a knockout blow on Iran, force the opening of the strait of

Supporters of Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of the late shah, are clashing with those who oppose a return of monarchy Wearing a bucket hat, a blue Adidas hoodie and khaki shorts, Tony Mohraz, also known as 021kid, chest-bumps a friend in front of a memorial wall in Golders Green, in north London. Photographs can be seen behind him of those who were killed protesting against the Iranian regime. As a large lion and sun flag used in Iran before the Islamic revolution is waved overhead, Mohraz starts to rap. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. See our latest full report here In Lebanon, the civil defence agency said early on Sunday its regional facility in the southern city of Nabatieh had been destroyed by an Israeli strike . The Directorate General of Civil Defence said the building had collapsed and a large number of vehicles and equipment had been damaged by a “direct hit in a hostile Israeli strike”. Continue reading...

Explosives-laden vehicle detonated as passenger train travelled through south-western city of Quetta A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a railway track as a passenger train travelled through the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 70 others, officials have said. The force of the explosion on Sunday caused two of the train cars to overturn and catch fire, sending thick black smoke into the air, according to footage shared online. Continue reading...

US president says it’s a ‘solid 50/50’ on either making a ‘good’ deal with Iran or striking the country anew Donald Trump said he would meet today with American negotiators to review Iran’s latest proposal and decide by Sunday whether he will strike Iran “to kingdom come”. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, also told reporters in India on Saturday that “there may be news later today” about Iran. He did not specify what that news would be. Continue reading...

Move comes against backdrop of challenge by prime minister, Narendra Modi, to country’s traditional elites The Indian government has ordered one of the country’s most exclusive private clubs to vacate its premises in two weeks, underscoring the long-running push of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, against entrenched elite institutions. The ministry of housing and urban affairs directed the Delhi Gymkhana Club to hand over its sprawling site in the heart of New Delhi by 5 June, citing urgent public interest requirements, including defence and security infrastructure. Continue reading...

Iran has threatened to impose tolls on shipping, while US demands that Iran hand over its highly enriched uranium may be deferred. Is there an end in sight? Qatar has rushed a team of mediators to Tehran in a sign that talks to open the strait of Hormuz, in return for the lifting of US sanctions and asset freezes, are reaching a climax. The aim would be to sign a memorandum of understanding on the strait that would lead to 30 days of talks on Iran’s nuclear programme – so deferring discussion of the US demand that Iran hand over

Up to 70% of girls may be in early or forced marriages but law now makes divorce impossible if husbands disagree Child marriage appears to have been legally recognised for the first time by the Taliban in Afghanistan, as activists say “shameful” new laws make it almost impossible for girls and young women to seek divorce against their husbands’ will. There are no official statistics on forced and underage marriages in Afghanistan, but activists say it has risen at an alarming rate in recent years, driven by the ban on girls being in education after the age of 11 .

Ciaran Martin says Reform UK leader’s allegation over Guardian report on £5m gift ‘entirely unsubstantiated’ Nigel Farage’s claim that a Russian hack was behind a Guardian report on the £5m gift he received from a crypto billionaire has been described as “without any merit” by a former head of the National Cyber Security Centre. Ciaran Martin, founding chief executive of the agency, which is part of GCHQ, said Farage’s allegation, if true, would have major implications for UK policy towards Russia but that the Reform UK leader had yet to provide “a shred of evidence”. Continue reading...

Mercury in Spain also climbs to well above normal with weather event set to continue for several more days More than 20 towns in France have recorded their highest ever May temperatures and the UK set a national heat record amid an extreme early-summer heat event that could see the mercury climb to 40C in parts of Spain by the end of the week. The UK’s Met Office said the country’s all-time record for May was broken when a temperature of 33.5C was recorded at Heathrow near London, with highs of up to 35C expected later on Monday and on

Two other small British children who stayed at same hotel fell critically ill from same condition months earlier The travel company Tui is under scrutiny over its safety protocols after a British baby girl died from a gastric illness following a stay at an Egyptian hotel – the same resort where two other children were left critically ill from the same condition months earlier. Ariella Mann, one, died in January from a kidney condition linked to E coli after falling ill at the five‑star Jaz Makadi Aquaviva hotel in Hurghada on an all‑inclusive two‑week package holiday booked through Tui. Continue

Restore Britain, set up by the former Reform MP Rupert Lowe, appears to be taking some support from Nigel Farage Andy Burnham is unlikely to be Elon Musk’s first pick to be prime minister of the UK. But an intervention by the US tech billionaire on behalf of a far-right offshoot of Reform UK is one of several signs that a divided right wing could deliver the Makerfield seat to the Manchester mayor. On 18 June, Burnham will fight a byelection in Greater Manchester, and polls have him only slightly ahead of Reform’s candidate, Robert Kenyon, a plumber. But a

Charing, Challock and Molash worst affected, as South East Water says ‘technical failure at pumping station’ to blame Hundreds of homes in Kent and Sussex have been left without water by a company that MPs recently accused of incompetence. South East Water said the hot weather and extra demand for water meant it was having to pump more drinking water than usual to higher ground. Continue reading...

Fifa approached Mexico after US declined to host Iran squad despite it playing group games in the United States Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum , said on Monday her government agreed to allow the Iranian national football team to stay in Mexico during the World Cup , adding that the United States did not want to host the team. Sheinbaum said football’s governing body Fifa approached her government after the US said it did not want Iran’s squad to stay in the country throughout the tournament, despite Iran playing all three of its group matches there. Continue reading...

John A Walko was identified through DNA and brought home to Pennsylvania 80 years after his WWII death The remains of a US soldier killed during the second world war were returned to his Pennsylvania hometown more than 80 years after he died after DNA analysis identified him. John A Walko, a US army Pfc who died on 20 October 1944 during the Battle of Aachen in Germany, was escorted from the Pittsburgh airport to Commodore, Pennsylvania by a veteran’s motorcycle group earlier this month, according to Cleveland.com . Continue reading...

US officials credit overnight cooling and monitoring for stabilising tank after leak fears triggered mass evacuation Firefighters contending with an overheating tank of hazardous chemicals in southern California said they had eliminated the threat of the tank exploding in an overnight operation, Orange County fire officials said on Monday. The damaged chemical tank in southern California had cracked over the weekend, which authorities were hopeful would relieve pressure and reduce the risk of an explosion. Continue reading...

Ever-growing influence of social media and AI means such ideas spreading at faster rates than before, experts say Hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks carry with them familiar attendants in the US: extreme conspiracy theories about a planned pandemic, or “plandemic”, designed to upend midterm elections or push new vaccines or any one of a myriad of wild ideas. Ebola, which the World Health Organization warned on Friday is spreading rapidly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, poses a “very high” risk at the national level. In the upside-down world of conspiracy theories it could be a bioweapon, a financial plot,

US president says he is not rushing into a deal after proposed plan to end war prompts Republican backlash. Plus, mood in Russia turns against Putin Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up here Good morning. Donald Trump defended himself against criticism from fellow Republicans yesterday as he appeared on the verge of agreeing a deal with Iran to end the war. What has Iran said? Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei has been speaking at a news briefing about the contours of a potential deal with the US to end the war: “It is correct to say

The annual haj pilgrimage, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, officially began on Monday. More than 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia from outside the country, Saleh bin Saad Al-Murabba, commander of the haj passport forces, said on Friday. The faithful have been pouring into the country for the haj against the backdrop of a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war and related regional tensions and uncertainty. Egyptian pilgrim Samya Abdul Moneim said she was grateful to God that she...

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. 82 killed in China’s worst coal mine accident for more than a decade 2. Why Bangladesh could raise Indian red flags by buying a China-Pakistan fighter jet 3. Screams as 10 hurt in ‘drop tower’ turbulence on Cathay flight from Brisbane 4. 2 notable women in ancient China broke barriers in fields...

For decades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has preached a mantra of peace and stability in the Middle East through the destruction of Iran’s Islamic Republic. The obliteration of the ayatollahs, he prophesied, would lead to the normalisation of relations between Israel and the wider Arab-Islamic world – with Israel emerging as the Middle East’s dominant power and indispensable security provider. But on Saturday, Netanyahu’s dreams looked set to be dashed, after US President Donald...

Oil fell as senior US officials gave further, positive signals on progress towards a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Brent lost as much as 6.2 per cent to US$97.10 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was near US$91. Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a cautiously upbeat tone, saying the US was going to give diplomacy every chance. “We thought we might have some news last night,” he said in New Delhi. “Maybe today.” At the weekend, US President Donald Trump said...

Geopolitical tensions and a funding crisis are jeopardising peacekeeping missions, particularly those under the auspices of the United Nations, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) warned on Monday. Just under 79,000 international staff were deployed in international peacekeeping operations at the end of 2025, the lowest number in at least 25 years, the institute said in a report. “If things continue in this way, we could see a dramatic weakening of multilateral conflict...

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China last week saw the signing of some 40 documents and a joint statement on strengthening the Beijing-Moscow partnership. The visit, just days after US President Donald Trump’s Beijing trip, is more than a diplomatic coincidence. It is a vivid reminder that the global order is now being shaped less by alliances than by a fluid triangle of China, the United States and Russia, with Beijing increasingly sitting at the centre. Timing is diplomacy. When...

Experts trying to prevent a tank holding a highly toxic and flammable chemical from exploding in Southern California found a “potential crack” in the container that might be reducing the pressure, a fire official said on Sunday. Since Friday, officials have warned that the tank, which contains methyl methacrylate, a chemical used in plastics and manufacturing, could rupture and spill up ‌to 26,500 litres (7,000 gallons) of toxic material or explode and endanger other tanks on the GKN Aerospace...

The US Department of Justice is acknowledging it has removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the January 6, 2021, riot, calling the information about the prosecutions “partisan propaganda”. The purge of news releases documenting criminal charges, convictions and sentencings is the latest step by the Trump administration to dramatically rewrite the history of the assault on the Capitol, when hundreds of supporters of Republican Donald Trump stormed the building in...

A shipment of nearly 15,000 tonnes of rice donated by the Chinese government to Cuba has arrived at the port of Havana, the island’s president said on Sunday. The shipment is the first batch of a promised 60,000 tonnes that China says it will donate to Cuba, which is grappling with dire shortages. “That noble gesture of solidarity will reach millions of consumers throughout all the provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, in addition to our health and education...

Turkish riot police fired tear gas and forced their way into the main opposition party’s headquarters to evict its ousted leadership on Sunday, fuelling a crisis at the heart of Turkey’s democracy. Clouds of tear gas billowed within the Republican People’s Party (CHP) building while those inside shouted and threw objects at the entrance as police ‌broke through a makeshift barricade. There were no reports of injuries during the intervention. A Turkish court ousted CHP leader Ozgur Ozel on...

Security was tightened in South Africa’s Kruger National Park nature reserve after two tourists were found killed there, authorities said on Sunday. The two South African victims, a 71-year-old man and a woman whose age was not disclosed, failed to return to their lodge on Wednesday evening, prompting a search operation. Other tourists eventually found them in a river on Friday afternoon. Police said the man had stab wounds and the woman’s body was bruised. Their car was missing. The...

Ukraine is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and a gathering of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) following massive Russian air strikes, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sunday. In a statement published on social media, Sybiha also called for an “appropriate and strong response to the aggressor” following the overnight attacks, which mainly targeted the Kyiv region and saw the deployment of a medium-range Oreshnik ballistic...

An Israeli air strike on a flat in ⁠a refugee camp in central Gaza on Sunday left three people dead, including a six-month-old child, health officials said. Medical workers named the three who died in the Nuseirat refugee camp as Mohammad Abu Mallouh, the infant’s father, Alaa Zaqlan, the mother, and their child, Osama. Later on ‌Sunday, Israeli gunfire killed a Palestinian man in the north of the enclave, near a UN-run medical clinic in Jabalia refugee camp, medical workers said. The Israeli...

With no food aid, 65-year-old Saeedah Mohammed heads out with a plastic bag to pick tree leaves near her displacement camp in southern Yemen, before serving them to her grandchildren to stave off hunger. Behind the camp wooded hills stretch under a clear sky, while on the ground, yellowed and stony earth is strewn with rubbish. Amid the trash and destitution, daily life manages to organise itself, however imperfectly. Worn-out clothes dry on lines strung between spindly trees, and two old...

US President Donald Trump’s next medical examination is intensifying health-related scrutiny that has surrounded him ever since his first campaign for the nation’s highest office more than a decade ago. Trump on Tuesday is heading to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre for his fourth publicly disclosed doctor’s appointment since the start of his second term. The White House has offered few details about the visit, saying it would involve “routine annual dental and medical...

Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) updated the death toll from the Ebola outbreak to 204 late on Saturday, hours after the Red Cross said three volunteers had died there and Uganda confirmed three new Ebola cases. A health ministry statement said 204 deaths had been recorded in three provinces of the vast Central African country, from 867 suspected cases. The last World Health Organization (WHO) toll on Friday put the number of deaths at 177 from 750 suspected cases. The WHO has...

Firefighters warned on Saturday that a tank of toxic chemicals in California is heating up, adding to fears of a catastrophic explosion that has already forced tens of thousands of Californians to evacuate. About 40,000 residents were ordered to leave their homes in the Garden Grove area of Orange county, southeast of Los Angeles, on Friday after the tank began to leak, sending fumes over a heavily populated area. The tank contains 26,000 litres (7,000 gallons) of methyl methacrylate, a volatile...

As the US-Israel war on Iran stretches past its 80th day and continues to upend global naval shipping, a growing number of Chinese investors in Iran are turning to railway and overland transport routes to keep their businesses afloat. While disruptions to ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz show little sign of abating, many are hoping that transcontinental freight links across Eurasia could become a more reliable option. Chinese trader Han Yun has spent recent weeks travelling long distances...

Russia pounded Kyiv with a massive missile and drone attack that killed four people early on Sunday, authorities said, after President Vladimir Putin threatened retaliation for strikes in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. Multiple rounds of explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital throughout the early hours of the morning, journalists reported, in a barrage the air force said involved 600 drones and 90 missiles. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russians fired a...

As I return to China, I do so with an abiding sense of respect for a nation that has become one of Serbia’s most indispensable partners and a defining force of our century. In Europe, discussions about China are too often clouded by suspicion and strategic anxiety. I understand that every major political community must guard its future, but I believe Europe should approach China not with fear and suspicion but with confidence and a serious, open-eyed willingness to cooperate. Serbia has chosen...

A gunman opened fire near the White House on Saturday evening, with US Secret Service agents killing the assailant in a shoot-out during which a bystander was also struck, authorities said. US President Donald Trump was at the White House at the time as he worked to negotiate a deal with Iran, but was not affected by the incident, Secret Service communications chief Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. The confrontation took place just after 6pm (local time) when a man near the White House...

Cristian Mungiu’s Norway-set drama about political polarisation Fjord has won the Palme d’Or, handing the Cannes Film Festival’s top honour for the second time to Mungiu, the Romanian director of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. At a 79th Cannes Film Festival that saw few films break out, Fjord found wide admiration for its engrossing tale of what Mungiu called “left-wing fundamentalism”. It stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as Romanian evangelicals who move to Norway, but soon after have...

⁠US ⁠President Donald Trump ⁠said on Sunday that he has told his diplomatic representatives not ‌to rush into a deal with Iran on the war because “time is on our side”, less than a day ⁠after announcing that an agreement with ‌Tehran had been largely negotiated. “The Blockade ‌will remain in full force ⁠and ⁠effect until an agreement is ‌reached, certified, and signed. Both sides ‌must take their ‌time and get ‌it right,” Trump wrote ⁠on Truth Social. “There can be ⁠no mistakes! Our relationship...

France has ⁠decided to ban Israel’s far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from French territory, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Saturday, adding that this reflected ‌growing anger among governments around the world over the treatment of an activist flotilla heading to Gaza. “As from today, Itamar Ben-Gvir is banned from entering French territory,” Barrot wrote on X. “Along with ⁠my Italian counterpart, I am asking the European Union to ‌also take sanctions against Itamar...

Ebola is spreading faster than responders can track it in eastern Congo, where health workers managed to follow up with barely one in five identified contacts in a single day. Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported 83 confirmed infections, 746 suspected cases and 1,603 identified contacts as of May 21, according to the health ministry. Yet health workers were able to follow up with only 342 contacts that day – about 21 per cent of the total under monitoring – according to...

Pope Leo on Saturday called out companies who seek “dizzying” profits at the cost of environmental pollution, on a visit to an area in Italy known as a hotbed for illegal dumping of toxic waste. On a visit to Acerra, ‌about 220 km (137 miles) south of Rome, the first US pope urged the world to “reject temptations of power and enrichment linked to practices that pollute the land, water, air, and social coexistence”. Leo said he wanted to come to the area near Naples known as the “Land of Fires” –...

War is now a possibility in Norway, by the prime minister’s own admission. The country, which borders Russia, has gone into “total defence” mode, preparing its population for the worst in light of the fighting in Ukraine. Dug beneath a peaceful park, the St. Hanshaugen air raid shelter, one of Oslo’s largest, can take in 1,100 people behind its heavy metal doors if ever the worst comes to pass. The air is chilly, the lights dim, and the toilets basic: it is far from cosy, but it is designed to...

For months, the United Arab Emirates had denied Iran’s accusations that it was in league with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or hosting his country’s military personnel. Then, US ambassador to Israel Mick Huckabee handed Tehran a propaganda gift and Abu Dhabi a diplomatic headache all in a single sentence. Israel sent Iron Dome air defence batteries to the UAE amid the ongoing war on Iran to help protect it from Iranian attacks, Huckabee confirmed at a conference in Tel Aviv on May...

A four-week United Nations conference reviewing the treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons ended on Friday without agreement as the United States and Iran sparred over Iran’s nuclear programme. Vietnam’s UN Ambassador Do Hung Viet, who chaired the conference, announced that there was no consensus among the 191 parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty on even a watered-down final document. He did not say which country or countries blocked a consensus. It was the third failure in a...

Twenty-seven countries have moved since the Iran war started to put in place crisis instruments that could quickly access funding from existing World Bank programmes, according to an internal document viewed by Reuters. The World Bank document did not name the ‌countries or the total amount of funds potentially being sought. The World Bank declined to comment. The document showed that three countries had approved new instruments since the Middle East conflict began on February 28, while the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing in a much weaker position than he did more than four years ago, when he launched his invasion of Ukraine shortly after his last visit. US President Donald Trump left Beijing after much fanfare. However, he was criticised back at home for failing to deliver on any key aspect of American interests, such as committing China to pressuring Iran to end the war on US terms. His popular support is at a historic low. Putin, Trump and Chinese President...

In 1957, the Soviet Union kicked off the Cold War’s space race, shocking the world by sending Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, into orbit. Four years later, it did the same to cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, making him the first human in space. In 1969, the US provided another image that defined the era: Neil Armstrong leaving the Eagle lunar lander and planting the American flag on the moon, declaring it “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” For the two superpowers, the...

SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that Nasa is counting on to land astronauts on the moon. The redesigned mega rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he was taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world. It is the 12th test flight of the rocket that Musk is building to get people to Mars one day. But...

A US federal judge dismissed a criminal case on Friday filed against a Salvadorean man at the centre of a row over US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on migrants. US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled that the indictment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia by the Trump administration’s Justice Department was “an abuse of prosecuting power”. Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident married to an American woman, was among more than 200 people sent to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison in March of last year. The...

In an era when technology seems to defy all limits, one age-old barrier has managed to endure: geography. As geopolitical turbulence continues to disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz – a vital shipping artery, especially for energy – the search for other fuel sources, and other means of transport, has shifted from a strategic luxury to an existential necessity. This need has become particularly acute for China, a major consumer of fossil fuels. Middle Eastern imports remain a significant...

US ⁠President Donald Trump said on ⁠Friday he would not attend the ⁠wedding of his eldest son, Donald Trump Jnr, to Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson, because he has to stay in Washington for government business. “While I very much wanted to be with my son, Don Jr., and the newest member of the ‌Trump Family, his soon to be wife, Bettina, circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “I...

Foreigners applying for permanent residency in the US will now have to go back to their home countries to seek green cards. “From now on, an alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a green card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances,” Zach Kahler, a spokesman for US Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a statement on Friday. “This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivising loopholes,”...

Kevin Warsh, whose broad criticism of current US ⁠Federal Reserve officials, playbook for rate cuts and ties to President Donald Trump elevated him past ⁠other contenders to lead the central bank, was sworn in as Fed leader on Friday at a pivotal moment for monetary policy and the American economy. Warsh, wearing a dark suit and tie and accompanied by his wife, Jane Lauder, heiress to the Estee Lauder fortune, was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas after a lengthy introduction by...

Tulsi Gabbard said on Friday she was resigning ⁠from her job as US President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, saying her husband had been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and that she was stepping away from her role to help him. Gabbard advised Trump of her intention to step down during an Oval Office meeting on Friday, Fox News Digital reported earlier. The resignation is effective June 30, it said. A source familiar with the matter said ‌that Gabbard had been forced...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered his military to prepare options to retaliate against Ukraine for what he described as a drone attack on a student dorm that killed six people and wounded dozens, with 15 still unaccounted for. Putin said the attack had struck the dorm in Starobilsk in Luhansk, a Russian-controlled region in eastern Ukraine. He said Kyiv’s military must have ‌known what it was targeting. Ukraine’s military denied the Russian accusations and said it had struck an...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday that Alberta was “essential” to the country’s future, hours after the province’s leader moved the oil-rich region closer towards a referendum on independence. Separatists in the western province spent months collecting signatures seeking to trigger a binding October vote on seceding from the nation. On May 4, they delivered their petition to provincial officials, insisting they had collected more than enough names to force a vote under Alberta...

Everlane, the retailer that bucked the fast-fashion industry by promising affordable ethically sourced and sustainable clothing, is being acquired by the king of fast-fashion, China’s Shein. A letter to Everlane employees from CEO Alfred Chang confirming the deal was obtained by Associated Press on Friday. Everlane did not disclose a purchase price. Shein declined to comment. Everlane was founded in 2011 by Michael Preysman and Jesse Farmer with a mission to produce eco-friendly and affordable...

France’s former prime minister Gabriel Attal said on Friday he would run for president next year when Emmanuel Macron steps down, becoming the second prominent centrist to challenge the far-right. “I can’t take this kind of French politics anymore, where it’s just 50 shades of managing decline,” said the 37-year-old, who was France’s youngest prime minister when he served in 2024. He announced his bid under a blazing sun in the southern village of Mur-de-Barrez – the kind of rural area where...

The head of the World Health Organization said on Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is “spreading rapidly” and now poses a “very high” risk at the national level. WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN health agency was revising upwards to “very high” its assessment of the risk within Congo, which had previously been deemed as high. The risk remains high for regional spread and low at global levels, he told reporters. The WHO chief noted that 82 cases have been...

French ⁠President Emmanuel Macron said on ⁠Friday that the government will invest an additional €1 billion (US$1.16 billion) in its quantum strategy and €550 million to support the microelectronics sector, as global powers race to be first to leverage ‌emerging technology. “I’ll say it out loud. We have the means to be the winners of this race,” Macron said while announcing the funding. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled plans to take US$2 billion in equity stakes...

An agreement to reopen the waterway would be followed by a complicated process of navigating a backlog of vessels stranded for nearly three months.

“The stupid stuff is killing our chances,” said a retiring Republican senator.

Republican officials said they have talked to the congressman, who has been absent from Congress for weeks. His office said Mr. Kean will eventually explain his absence.

Saikat Chakrabarti, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s former chief of staff, is running in San Francisco to succeed Representative Nancy Pelosi, whom Mr. Chakrabarti irked with an incendiary tweet seven years ago.

Democratic leaders accused Maureen Galindo of antisemitism and are trying to stop her from winning the party’s primary in a contested U.S. House district.

The nation’s founding document has a blind spot. Trump is making it visible.

We’re all going to die. But first — just one more trick.

For years, courts have welcomed cases brought by self-represented litigants. Now those plaintiffs have A.I., and their filings are consuming more and more bandwidth.

Little is left of Kostiantynivka, a city on the front lines. Rescuers risk their lives to ferry out the few who remain.

A single infusion of an experimental gene-editing drug seemed to reduce LDL long-term in a small trial. The results may point to something “curative,” one expert said.

The group of friends had used the same corner on the Upper West Side to unwind for years. By the end of the night, two people would be dead after a speeding S.U.V. drove into a crowd.

The U.S. oil blockade has left millions without cooking gas. In Santiago de Cuba, the cradle of the Cuban revolution, apartment tower residents resort to charcoal and firewood.

Waymo has been an object of frustration to some in California. For visually impaired people, it can also bring a rare feeling of independence.

The deadly virus has spread alarmingly in Congo for months. Only now is the response taking shape.

Mr. Gore is still giving the slide show that “An Inconvenient Truth” was built around, but with changes that reflect a shift in the discussion of climate change.

In a devastated section of the Coral Triangle in the Pacific Ocean, a conservation group is trying to build an artificial reef.

If you happen to be near a body of water (salt, fresh, chlorinated or otherwise), here are the books you’ll need.

A calendar quirk brings more days of lemonade, glamping and difficult-to-open beach umbrellas to 2026.

From the Hamptons to Majorca, here are six getaways that invite you to eat, drink, lounge and enjoy idyllic surroundings.

This is a novel form of propaganda.

My advice for how to keep living.

We remember those who gave their lives in service to the United States.

In the Desert and Mountain West, towns like Kearny, Ariz., are already warning residents they could soon run out of water, but rationing so far has been patchy.

He spent four decades building the convenience store chain into a cornerstone of daily life.

The Park Slope Food Co-op, a socially conscious grocery store in a liberal neighborhood, has devolved into dysfunction ahead of a Tuesday vote on the proposed boycott.

The tank in Southern California has been building in temperature and pressure for days, which could lead to an explosive release. The crack may reduce some of that pressure, officials said.