Minimalist News

How Economic Power Has Shifted Over The Past 200 Years Over the last 200 years, economic leadership has shifted from China to the British Empire, then to the United States, and increasingly back toward Asia. This streamgraph, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen, tracks how the share of global gross domestic product (GDP) held by major economies changed from 1820 to 2025. The visualization incorporates the latest available data from the Maddison Project Database , the COLDAT Colonial Dates Dataset , and the IMF’s World Economic Outlook . All GDP figures are adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), accounting for differences

US Expands Strategic Foothold On Somalia's Coast As Yemen Conflict Simmers Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com, A US military delegation visited the local government in Somalia's northeastern Puntland region on Sunday and signed a deal to expand the US military presence in Bosaso , a port city on the Gulf of Aden , according to the Puntland government. Saeed Abdullahi Deni, the president of Puntland State, held talks with a delegation led by Maj. Gen. Claude Tudor, the commander of US Special Operations Command Africa . Maj. Gen. Tudor and President Deni. Source: Puntland government image "Puntland and the

Which Countries Think They're On The Right Track? Public confidence in national direction varies dramatically around the world. Respondents in several Asian countries are broadly optimistic, while majorities across much of Europe and the Americas believe their countries are on the wrong track. This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen, ranks 30 countries by the percentage of adults ages 16 to 74 who believe their country is moving in the right or wrong direction. The visualization uses 2026 survey data from Ipsos Global Opinion Polls and covers 25,709 respondents. Asian Optimism in 2026 Asian countries dominate the top of the

Half Of Foreign Welfare Recipients In Spain Are Moroccan Via Remix News, Nearly half of all foreign nationals receiving Spain’s Minimum Living Income (IMV) are Moroccan, according to previously unpublished figures obtained by The Objective through a transparency request. The National Social Security Institute recorded 139,446 foreign recipients of the benefit, including 69,517 Moroccan nationals. Foreigners therefore account for approximately half of the nearly 280,000 registered recipients, while Moroccans represent almost 50 percent of the foreign total. The figures provide the first official nationality-by-nationality breakdown of foreign IMV recipients. Public statistics had previously distinguished only between Spanish and foreign claimants

The Last Places Standing When The Sky Turns To Ash Authored by Madge Waggy , “ We are standing at the precipice of something we cannot comprehend, and the silence from those who know is deafening. The mechanisms are already in motion, the chess pieces positioned with mathematical precision while the world sleeps. I have seen the projections. I have read the classified briefings that never reached your evening news. What comes next will not be war as your grandparents understood it - it will be something that rewrites the very definition of survival. The question is no longer if,

Oil Markets Price In An Iran Deal That Does Not Exist Yet Oil prices tumbled Tuesday as traders once again priced in a U.S.-Iran agreement before anyone had actually signed one. West Texas Intermediate was trading at $75.64 per barrel shortly before 2 p.m. ET, down $4.70, or 5.85%, while Brent had fallen $4.61 to $79.16. Both benchmarks touched three-week lows as hopes rose that an agreement could reopen the Strait of Hormuz. As reported earlier, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal could come Tuesday or Wednesday, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said talks involving Iran and Oman

Abbott Orders Pause On Texas Data Center Approvals Pending Audit Texas Governor Greg Abbott just ordered a pause on approving new data center projects via the state's grid interconnection process over concerns that a surge in electricity demand could threaten reliability amid growing opposition to the projects . The timing couldn't be worse - as Texas is on the cusp of becoming one of the world's largest hubs for data-centers, with Reuters citing industry forecasts that it could surpass Virginia by 2030 thanks to abundant land, energy, and a business-friendly environment. In a letter to the Public Utility Commission of

Socialist Wisconsin Gov Candidate Won't Back Down After Calling To "Cancel Thanksgiving" Far-left Wisconsin gubernatorial contender Francesca Hong appeared to double down on resurfaced comments demanding that Thanksgiving be abolished , declining to walk back the post when confronted about it on national television. "Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621," Hong wrote on X in a post she later deleted , according to Fox News . "If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed indigenous folx [sic] and women, so be it," she added.

Florida's Ban On Children Attending Drag Shows Is Constitutional, Appeals Court Says Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times, A federal appeals court says Florida’s ban on children attending sexualized drag shows is constitutional. On Tuesday, the court overturned a lower court’s decision that had blocked the state’s law. Hamburger Mary’s, a bar and restaurant chain that holds drag shows and previously held what it called “family friendly” performances for children on Sundays, sued the state over the ban. The chain claimed its law was unconstitutional, but judges on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed in an 8–5

Physical AI Faces One Critical Chokepoint, And Here's How To Profit The rise of physical AI is already underway , with humanoid robots entering factories, warehouses, and other industrial environments, and soon the modern battlefield . Global shipments of humanoid robots are expected to accelerate in 2027 , but the broader robotics revolution faces one critical chokepoint : access to the rare-earth magnets that power high-performance motors and actuators. China controls most of that supply chain. Bernstein analyst Dien Wang told clients Monday that humanoid robots require an estimated 3.5 to 4 kilograms of rare-earth magnets per unit, compared with

Is 'Communist' No Longer A Slur? Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness, It is not difficult, these days, to see the neo-communist flipside of “Democratic Socialists”—once they find power. Indeed, the more the ossified Democratic Party claims that its growing cadre of socialist renegades are not really socialists, the more they act like—and even appear comfortable being called—communists. With every new policy they propose, the socialists have been dropping the pretense that they are not Marxists. How about declaring capitalism a failure? All the socialists now do that—and even Democratic California governor Gavin Newsom has also started agreeing

The Byproduct Ate The Product: Inside America's Proteinmaxxing Cheese Glut For most of the history of dairy, whey was the stuff you got rid of - the watery byproduct left after milk becomes cheese, fed to hogs or poured out while the actual product went to market. In 2026, with an entire nation proteinmaxxing its way through GLP-1 prescriptions and 40-gram breakfast bars, the 'cheddar' isn't in the cheese itself : America is now producing record amounts of cheese because that's how you get whey . According to NBC , this has resulted in record-high US cheese production , with

Oil Tumbles On Iran Deal Buzz As Rubio Still Insists 'Denuclearization' Is The 'Ultimate' Goal Summary Rubio: The "ultimate deal" is the denuclearization of Iran , while Omani talks focus on reopening Hormuz. Stalemate persists: Iran refuses nuclear negotiations until the conflict ends, leaving both sides far apart. Deal optimism sees oil slide: Brent fell below $80 on reports of progress in Oman-mediated Hormuz talks. Bessent claims a Hormuz agreement could come "today or tomorrow". Major doubts remain given Iran denies formal talks , security risks persist and the reported Oman plan could leave Tehran with broad control over Hormuz

The New McCarthys: 40% Of Professors Against Hiring A Trump-Voter Authored by Jonathan Turley, According to a new survey , roughly 40 percent of college faculty would “oppose hiring a Trump supporter.” The results of the study are not surprising to many in the field of teaching. Indeed, it may be low given faculty reluctance to admit political bias or the delusion of others that they are without it. Yet, the virtual purging of Republicans from most departments reveals a long-standing ideological exclusion in higher education. While far-left hires are common, even a moderate Republican is a rarity on faculties

"It Could Be Tomorrow": California's Top Earthquake Expert Sounds Alarm On "The Big One" A new peer-reviewed study found that the fault system running beneath Los Angeles and the Inland Empire is carrying more stress today than at any point in the last millennium , and that a single rupture could tear across both the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults at once. The research, led by Dr. Liliane Burkhard of the University of Bern and published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth , simulated 1,000 years of earthquake cycles on the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto

New York Cannot Ban Federal Agents From Wearing Masks, Judge Rules Authored by Chris Summers via The Epoch Times , A judge ruled on Aug. 3 that New York cannot ban federal agents from wearing masks or balaclavas, or require them to wear visible identification. Masked federal agents wait outside an immigration courtroom in New York on July 8, 2025. Olga Fedorova/AP U.S. District Judge Mae D'Agostino, for the Northern District of New York, wrote that New York state's perspective "is grounded in unavoidable observations of recent troubling events which loom darkly over the public perception of the manner in

This Is The Income Needed To Be Happy In 50 US Cities How much money does it take before earning more no longer makes people happier? Researchers call this threshold the satiation point, and it varies considerably across the United States. This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte , ranks 50 of the most populous U.S. cities by the annual income at which self-reported life evaluation stops improving, using data from Remitly . Remitly adapted Purdue University ‘s income satiation research by adjusting it for purchasing power and inflation, then scaling the U.S. figure to each metro using Numbeo’s cost-of-living

From Forward Guidance To Market Guidance: Warsh's Reflexive Wrecking Ball? Authored by Nohshad Shah, Citadel Securities EMEA Head of Fixed Income, The Fed sounds hawkish... but markets are testing the reaction function Chair Warsh was unequivocal that there is “no soft inflation target” , that five-plus years of above-target inflation cannot be cured by nine weeks of better data, and that this Fed “will not waver” . Yet despite that language…and three members preferring an immediate hike…the FOMC again declined to move. Warsh instead repeatedly highlighted the large rise in nominal and real Treasury yields since June, arguing that reduced

Darline Graham Stumbles Out Of Gate In Bid For Lindsey's Senate Seat In recent years, few forces in electoral politics have been as potent as an endorsement from Donald Trump. However, the first polls in the special South Carolina primary race for the Senate seat that was held by the late Lindsey Graham shows his sister Darline is in second place , with half of GOP voters saying her Trump endorsement is irrelevant to them. Graham's campaign faces other headwinds, as many South Carolina Republicans aren't enthusiastic about turning one of their Senate seats into an inheritance for someone with

Nick Shirley's New Video Dismantles The Left's Narrative On Ceuta's Migrant Crisis Authored by Aaron Hanscom via PJ Media , Intrepid investigative journalist Nick Shirley isn't one to shrink from danger. He had to escape from Cuba when spies followed him during his trip to the communist island and was forced to hire 24/7 security after exposing Somali fraud in Minneapolis. In his latest video, Shirley once again finds himself in serious peril when a Muslim man chases him through the streets while wielding a knife and threatening to stab him. AP Photo/Antonio Sempere The scene of the pursuit was

Cardinal Pedro Barreto received death threats and harassment during his almost 20-year campaign against a US mining company’s operations in the Andes A Peruvian cardinal who received a barrage of death threats when he challenged the firm behind a toxic smelter has called a $150m (£111m) out-of-court settlement to more than 1,000 people who were allegedly poisoned by the plant as children “a historic milestone”. Cardinal Pedro Barreto, 82, was in Rome meeting Pope Leo XIV and other cardinals in June when he received news that the firm that ran the smelter, the Doe Run Company, a subsidiary of Renco

National Autonomous University of Mexico says applicants must take test in person after online debacle Mexico’s largest and most prestigious university has announced that about 58,000 students will have to resit their entrance exam after abnormally high test results raised suspicions of widespread cheating. The National Autonomous University of Mexico (Unam) said the exam would take place in person after its first attempt at a fully remote online version led to a debacle and thousands of annulled results. Continue reading...

Move is retaliation for Lula’s government refusal to approve Trump’s nominee for ambassador in Brasília Donald Trump’s administration has revoked the visa of Brazil’s ambassador to the US in a sharp escalation of a diplomatic feud with the country’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The US state department said Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti ’s visa had been cancelled in retaliation for Brazil’s refusal to approve Trump’s nominee for ambassador in Brasília and its decision last month to deny visas to two US diplomats seeking to visit ahead of an October election. Continue reading...

Eruption of the Fuego volcano sends lava and ash nearly four miles into the sky as country declares second-highest alert Hundreds of people living on the slopes of Guatemala ’s Fuego volcano have evacuated their homes after a huge eruption spewed lava and plumes of ash. Central America’s most active volcano erupted on Monday morning, with conditions intensifying by nightfall and prompting authorities to issue the country’s second-most severe alert warning. Continue reading...

Luis Carlos Rúa revealed himself to be Elefante blanco just three days before election for ‘his own safety’. Now he is tackling graft from senate floor When 102 senators were sworn in for Colombia’s latest parliamentary session, they included 32 women, 69 men – and one cartoon elephant. He had some difficulty making his way down the narrow central aisle of Congress’s ceremonial chamber, weaving past fellow senators in sharply tailored suits and dresses, before taking the oath in his pot-bellied white plush costume. Continue reading...

Snow falls in Wellington for the first time in 15 years while snow blanketed Dunedin and Christchurch on the country’s south island Temperatures have plummeted across New Zealand as an Antarctic cold snap hovers over the country, delighting the capital, Wellington, which experienced snow for the first time in 15 years, while giving a southern city’s residents a chance to ski through the streets. The front moved in on Tuesday, with much of the country waking to freezing conditions, frosts, snowfall, hail and bitingly cold wind. Continue reading...

WTA event win earns 21-year-old a presidential reception in the Philippines as interest in tennis surges in home country The Philippines has been swept up in tennis fever after 21-year-old rising star Alex Eala delivered a historic win, drawing praise from the president who hosted a reception in her honour. On Monday, Eala became the first player from the Philippines to win a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour-level singles title. Continue reading...

Most of the zoo’s 16 lions have struggled to cope with high humidity this summer Three lions from a Tokyo zoo have died from suspected heatstroke and others are undergoing treatment, a spokesperson said on Tuesday, as the big cats struggle in Japan’s high levels of humidity. Japan sweltered through its hottest summer on record last year and parts of the country have hit 40C in recent weeks, qualifying for the new “cruelly hot day” designation . Continue reading...

Large tabby cat that wiped out dozens of rare pāteke, or brown teal, has been killed after eluding trappers with its ‘very erratic’ behaviour A notorious feral cat given the name “Nine Lives” because it eluded trappers for three years has been caught and killed in New Zealand, ending its devastating rampage against one of the country’s rare duck populations. The cat, a large grey tabby, is estimated to have killed dozens of New Zealand’s rarest mainland duck – or 1% of its population – plus a host of kiwi chicks, native geckos and other native wildlife during the three

Prime minister Sanae Takaichi visited Kumamoto prefecture almost a week after a magnitude 7.1 quake hit, killing 38 people Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has visited the south-western prefecture of Kumamoto, where recovery efforts are being hampered by heat and a lack of water supplies, almost a week after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake killed dozens and caused widespread damage. Thirty-eight people died during the quake , including one person who died of apparent heatstroke while taking shelter in a car in hot weather, officials said on Monday. Continue reading...

Energy minister says Australian households and energy reliability will be protected by new federal legislation Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The energy minister, Chris Bowen, says the federal government will override state governments that oppose new national rules on datacentres, with commonwealth legislation forcing new AI datacentres to be powered by renewable energy and banning those fuelled by gas. Bowen said he expected his counterparts in Queensland and the Northern Territory – who had protested against the new federal rules at a meeting last week – to be unhappy with the move, but

Sarah Henderson says bill ignores gambling inducements, uniting parties and independents against controversial legislation Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Labor will be forced to make major changes to its planned crackdown on online gambling advertising, as the Coalition, Greens and independents demand tougher rules to stop betting companies offering generous inducements as well as further limits on broadcast ads. After a two-day inquiry including sensational evidence that gambling companies allegedly provided illegal drugs and access to sex workers to keep problem gamblers betting, the

In a Choice test of 48 products, the Aldi powder also came out on top for top loaders Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Consumer advocacy group Choice has put more than 40 supermarket laundry detergent products through the wringer, naming two Omo and one Aldi product as its best performers – while some other brands perform barely better than water. In a lab test of 48 laundry powders, liquids and capsules, Aldi Trimat Advanced Laundry Powder Concentrate, Omo Active Clean Powder and Omo Ultimate Powder shared equal-first billing for front loader washing machines,

This blog has now closed Alan Jones trial: live updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Almost every house sold in first six months of the year made a profit The vast majority of homeowners are selling their properties for more than they bought them for, even as house prices enter a tailspin, AAP reports. Continue reading...

Victorian corruption watchdog finds ‘serious and concerning’ conduct by senior Andrews government members in dealings with union boss Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has defended the actions of senior members of his government, whom the state’s anti-corruption watchdog found engaged in “serious and concerning” conduct in their dealings with the leader of the firefighters’ union. A long-awaited report by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, stopped stopped short of making any findings of corrupt conduct.

German police had earlier said they were investigating ‘unidentified flying object’ disrupting flights in Leipzig For what it’s worth, DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer said the German logistics firm was studying ​the overnight incident which also involved an object clashing with one of its planes near Leipzig. “We’ve ‌got plans for cases ​like this, and ​we’ll try to make sure that the influence on our customers will be as low as possible,” Meyer said during a quarterly results call earlier this morning, Reuters reported. Continue reading...

Ukraine shoots down most drones but no ballistic missiles in overnight attack that mainly targeted warehouses Europe live – latest updates Volodymyr Zelenskyy has blamed allies for not delivering air defences fast enough after Ukraine failed to down a single Russian missile in a deadly overnight attack that killed at least 17 people and ⁠injured dozens more. Preliminary data from the Ukrainian air force showed its defences shot down 98 of the 115 drones fired by Russia overnight but no ballistic missiles. Continue reading...

Company acquired in deal involving Affinity Partners, a firm run by Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner Electronic Arts, the maker of video games such as The Sims, Madden NFL and Battlefield, has been bought by Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund and a group of investors for $55bn (£41bn). The company announced the completion of the deal on Tuesday evening, only days after the EU gave its approval, the final regulatory green light needed. Continue reading...

Spin Time provides homes, food banks and after-school clubs but the authorities have locked out residents Hundreds of people have spent a week sleeping in tents in the Rome heat amid a standoff between Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government and local politicians over the future of Italy’s most high-profile centre for housing and social assistance. A minor fire last week forced the evacuation of the building, occupied by grassroots groups since 2013, and it has remained closed as the Meloni government attempts to crack down on such squatted properties. Continue reading...

UK’s Secret Intelligence Service praised for playing long game and having ‘a taste for dirty tricks’ MI6 has been ranked as the most powerful foreign intelligence service in Europe ahead of France and the Netherlands, according to a peer review. The British intelligence agency scored 251 points in the research and was commended for its expertise in recruiting high-level informants and penetrating the ruling elites in Russia, China, Iran and Turkey, according to the review by 60 professionals from 25 countries. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. US and Qatar report progress on Iran ceasefire and reopening Hormuz strait Iran and Oman have made progress toward a deal to reopen the strait of Hormuz, a potential breakthrough that could help end the war in the Middle East, regional officials have said. Under the emerging agreement, ships would enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman, with service fees charged for providing security and preserving the maritime environment, two regional officials told the Associated Press. Continue reading...

Masoud Pezeshkian dismisses talk of internal rift as hardline Assembly of Experts call US negotiations ‘futile’ Middle East crisis live – latest updates Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s president, has been forced to deny claims that he has repeatedly threatened to resign as he battles hardline factions opposed to reaching a settlement with the US over the strait of Hormuz. The US and Europe hope a deal is imminent to reopen the strait and they are putting pressure on Oman to accept a temporary agreement that officials in Muscat fear will leave Iran retaining near permanent dominance of the vital oil shipping

Remains of 112 victims, including 40 children, recovered from rubble more than two years after residential block was destroyed Mourners gathered in central Gaza on Tuesday for a mass funeral for 112 people, including 40 children, who were killed in 2023 in one of the deadliest Israeli strikes of the Gaza war. Their bodies could not be recovered until now because of Israel’s continuing strikes, which have slowed, though not halted, since the ceasefire in October. Continue reading...

Optimism echoes Trump’s claims on Monday that deal is close as mediators say they are exchanging proposals Middle East crisis live – latest updates US and Qatari officials have said progress is being made in restoring a ceasefire in the US-Iran war and reopening the strait of Hormuz. The optimistic speculation on Tuesday brought oil prices down 2%, but the strait remained closed to shipping and a cargo vessel was reportedly struck by an unidentified projectile off Oman’s coast close to the strait. Continue reading...

Exclusive: More than 60 accounts on X have been made unavailable in Saudi Arabia, after similar action on Snapchat and Facebook Elon Musk’s X has become the latest major US social media company to block the accounts of Saudi Arabian dissidents so they are no longer visible inside the kingdom, following orders from Saudi authorities. Earlier this year, the Guardian reported that platforms including Snapchat and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram had blocked dissidents’ accounts over allegations by Saudi authorities that they were violating local law. Continue reading...

Increasingly erratic weather patterns due to climate change mean people are losing homes, crops and livestock As rain lashed the Pir Panjal mountains before dawn on 19 July, Haji Mohammad Latief stepped outside his home in Murrah, a remote mountain village in Indian-administered Kashmir. His daughter had asked him to move the family’s car to a safer place as the rain got heavier. “I had only just parked it,” Latief recalled. “When I turned around, I saw the water coming.” Minutes later, a cloudburst sent mud, boulders and water crashing down the hillside. Continue reading...

Opposition parties say nationwide protests that forced resignation of education secretary are beginning to dent BJP support India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party has lost a byelection in a seat it had held for three decades, after the Cockroach movement student protests that have shaken Narendra Modi’s government. Prashant Kishor, a high-profile electoral strategist turned politician, scored a breakthrough win for his fledgling Jan Suraaj (Good Governance) party in the Bankipur constituency in Patna, the capital of the eastern state of Bihar. Continue reading...

Special rapporteurs say ‘transnational repression by Indian authorities’ has put Moninder Singh in danger UN rights experts have urged Canada to take all feasible measures to protect the Sikh activist Moninder Singh , who has been repeatedly warned by the Canadian authorities of credible threats to his life. In a letter to the Canadian government, the five UN experts raised “concerning allegations of foreign intimidation and reprisals” against Singh, a Canadian national. Continue reading...

Meeting follows years of questions over wellbeing of detained former leader, who was ousted by coup in 2021 Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has met a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the aid organisation has confirmed. The meeting on Monday ⁠followed years of questions over the wellbeing of the 81-year-old , whose whereabouts and health condition have been largely unknown since the elected civilian government she led was ousted by a military coup in February 2021. Continue reading...

Other members of expedition led by world-renowned climber on Broad Peak also died, climbing company says A world-renowned Nepali mountaineer and former UK Special Forces member has died after being among 11 climbers caught in a deadly avalanche on Pakistan’s Broad Peak. Nirmal Purja was killed leading an expedition of 10 other people on the world’s 12th-highest mountain when an avalanche struck at around noon on Thursday. Continue reading...

Police say man, 35, was known to nine-year-old girl, who was found seriously injured in industrial estate in Arbroath A man has been charged in connection with the death of a nine-year-old girl who died while on a family camping trip in Scotland. The girl, from West Yorkshire, was found seriously injured just after midnight on Monday morning at the Elliot industrial estate in Arbroath, Angus. Continue reading...

Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council to meet with Tory party but decline meeting with Joshua Bonehill-Paine Badenoch defends decision to allow man jailed for antisemitism to stand as councillor Ministers will scrap the requirement for companies to prove their green and progressive values before they are awarded government contracts, and instead ask firms to prove they will help young people back into work. As part of a government push to reduce the number of people not in education, employment or training (Neets) in the UK and boost regional growth, public sector buyers will double

Burnham said his wife, Marie-France van Heel, took some persuading after he ran and lost in contests in 2010 and 2015 Andy Burnham has revealed his wife’s dismayed reaction when he told her he wanted to make another attempt at becoming Labour leader. Burnham said that his wife, Marie-France van Heel, had been surprised by his decision to run, having lost contests in 2010 and 2015 to Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn respectively. Continue reading...

Victims’ minister said earlier that PM was ‘looking into’ inquiry into Epstein and another into Mohamed Al Fayed UK politics live – latest updates Andy Burnham is not actively considering a public inquiry into the actions of Jeffrey Epstein in the UK, despite claims to the contrary, it is understood. The victims’ minister, Alex Davies-Jones, said on Tuesday had the prime minister had agreed to meet the sex offender’s victims, was “looking into” an inquiry and was “taking this very seriously”. A separate inquiry into the alleged actions of the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed is also being considered.

AI Security Institute says tools engaged in potentially harmful activity and incident reveals new type of risk Advanced AI models developed by OpenAI and Anthropic went rogue during a cybersecurity test and showed a new type of risk posed by the technology, according to the UK’s AI Security Institute. AISI described the actions carried out by the agents – the term for AI systems that can perform tasks without human help – as a “serious incident”. In one example, an agent powered by Anthropic’s Mythos model sent targeted emails to people. Continue reading...

Union exploring options to oppose program that would put US airport screening into hands of private contractors The labor union representing workers at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is raising alarms over a new program that will expand privatizing security checkpoints at three airports. The agency informed the union last month of plans to enact the TSA Gold+ program, which would shift security and control of the screening technology into the hands of private contractors at airports in Tampa, Charleston and Des Moines. Union workers are expected to lose their union contract and benefits once a contractor takes over. Continue

The former public health official has slight lead over congresswoman Haley Stevens, but vote count could continue well into the day El-Sayed holds narrow lead in Michigan Senate primary but race too close to call In more election news: Missouri’s top election official on Tuesday rejected a citizens’ petition seeking a statewide referendum on a redistricting plan backed by Donald Trump , the Associated Press reports. Republican secretary of state, Denny Hoskins , said that the petition was void because congressional redistricting plans cannot be subject to voter referendums and “challenging a congressional map is unconstitutional under Missouri law”. Continue

More than half of tariff income refunded after supreme court ruled Trump’s levies were illegal Business live – latest updates The Trump administration has refunded about $100bn from the tariffs it collected before the US supreme court ruled them illegal, according to reports. The $100bn (£74bn) figure, which represents 60% of the total $165bn collected from Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs, was reported by customs officials to the US court of international trade (CIT) on Tuesday, according to the Financial Times. Continue reading...

Exclusive: cases of Afghan man, Ukrainian man and Saudi woman show repeated nasogastric tube insertions and lack of legal representation One hunger striker in an immigration detention center was force-fed for almost six months. One detained immigrant with mental health problems was about to be force-fed, until his attorney intervened and stopped the process. Read part one and part two of our Ice force-feeding series Continue reading...

Toast the cat escaped his namesake fate when blaze ripped through building and displaced more than 40 families A pet cat quite fittingly named Toast survived a devastating fire that recently gutted an apartment complex in Utah by hiding in a closet – and then safely endured a days-long wait before being rescued, according to officials. Beside prompting comments across the news and social media landscapes about cats having nine lives, Toast’s death-defying story provided a slight measure of glad tidings surrounding a blaze that ultimately displaced hundreds of residents. Continue reading...

A SpaceX rocket piece floating in space since last year is on track to smash into the moon at high speed early on Wednesday morning. The school bus-sized object is the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that had launched a lunar lander from Firefly Aerospace towards the moon ‌in January 2025. Weighing four tonnes (4,000kg), the rocket body is due to hit the moon around 2.35am ET (0635 GMT), hitting its surface at 8,690km/h (5,400 mph). The space junk will kick up a plume of lunar dust that...

A viral clip renews the headlined question for me. Jameela Jamil, a British actress of Pakistani and Indian descent, caused a public row in the UK for her interview last month on Yestergays, a pop culture podcast. She said: “Americans think British people are so sweet, which is crazy because British people are truly the most evil people in history. Like, they are Thanos. They owe 43 trillion to India … We colonised the world.” A similar figure came from Indian economist Utsa Patnaik. Based on...

A €1 million (US$1.15 million) lottery ticket was recovered from the trash in Italy after the frantic winner called on binmen to help her retrieve it, the waste management company said. The instant win ticket was “miraculously still in one piece” after rubbish workers combed through mounds of trash on their truck, said Roberto Nicola Toscano, the administrator of the SANB company in Italy’s southern Puglia region. Toscano explained how when the winner went on Sunday to check her ticket at her...

Latin American countries should resist pressure to choose between the United States and China and use their vast reserves of lithium, copper and other strategic resources to strengthen their negotiating power, according to a high-level commission co-chaired by former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and former Colombian president Ivan Duque. But the commission acknowledges that the region’s room for manoeuvre is sharply constrained in security, technology and critical infrastructure, areas in...

Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russia of committing a war crime after a video was released showing a drone chasing down and wounding a vegetable seller in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. Footage released by Ukrainian police shows the drone pursuing a man around a van being used as a street stand before exploding ‌as he dives for cover behind the vehicle. Police said the man in his 50s survived but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries. Ukrainian officials later identified him only as a...

It started with Instagram posts that suggested Spain’s border with Morocco was opening up. Then came Facebook users tracking coastguard patrols and TikTok videos showing where to swim. After many shares and comments, thousands of Moroccans became convinced that Europe was suddenly within reach. Within hours, young people began heading towards the border with the Spanish territory of Ceuta in North Africa. Packed buses rolled into the neighbouring Moroccan city of Fnideq. Regional trains filled...

The World Bank on Tuesday called on developing countries to embrace artificial intelligence technology tools to deliver better governance outcomes, warning that they risked being left behind if they failed to do so. “AI has thrown developing economies a lifeline, and they should seize it,” Indermit Gill, chief economist of the World Bank Group, said as the organisation launched its annual World Development Report. “They do not need large models or big data centres to reap its benefits,” he...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chile’s Kast courts China day after US hits exports with forced labour tariff Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast received China’s ambassador to Santiago, Niu Qingbao, at the La Moneda Palace, in an encounter that lasted more than an hour and marked the first meeting between the two...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering global relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Nato launches defence projects to counter Russia and China Nato member states unveiled a series of defence initiatives in June aimed at strengthening weapons development, production and supply chains in response to security challenges posed by Russia and China. Read the full story here. 2....

French and British vessels saved 157 migrants after their boat caught fire while trying to cross the Channel on Tuesday, authorities in both countries said. It is one of the largest such rescue operations reported since records began in 2018. “A small boat caught fire on the boundary between French and British waters, forcing its occupants to jump overboard” on Tuesday morning, the prefect’s office in France’s Pas-de-Calais region said, adding no casualties had been reported. They had left the...

The global AI race is becoming a contest over the international order. In June, the US convened the second summit under the 24-economy Pax Silica around secure supply chains, AI infrastructure and trusted technology partnerships. In July, all 193 UN member states met in Geneva for the inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance. Days later, 29 countries signed the agreement establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) in Shanghai. Together, these developments...

US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” on Monday assured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel’s withdrawal in Gaza would only begin after Hamas’ complete disarmament, following his objections. Two members of Netanyahu’s security cabinet had urged a vote to tear up the deal championed by Trump after the board released a text that called for Israel to begin a phased withdrawal. Netanyahu’s office said it had raised concerns to the United States, after Trump on Friday hailed as a...

Russia said on Monday that seven people, including three children, had been killed and 40 injured at its Black Sea holiday resort of Gelendzhik in what it said was a deliberate Ukrainian drone attack on civilians. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which like Russia, ‌says it does not deliberately target civilians in the full-scale war which Moscow launched in 2022. Social media videos, verified by Reuters, showed what appears to be a drone slamming into a busy beach area near the town...

In countries like France and Norway, the government census strictly avoids asking about race and ethnicity. Governed by a desire for national unity, these states operate on a firm premise: categorising citizens by skin colour risks creating divisions and reinforcing prejudice. Across the Atlantic and in the Commonwealth, you find a different philosophy. The United States, United Kingdom and Canada measure race and ethnicity. In these societies, data collection isn’t seen as a wedge to divide...

US President Donald Trump sharply criticised ⁠US Attorney Jeanine Pirro ⁠on Monday for dropping ⁠a case of alleged vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, saying she had “choked” under pressure from a judge and “folded like an umbrella”. “Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went ‌after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened,” Trump told reporters. Pirro’s office said in a court filing on Friday...

The US State Department has notified Congress that it plans to close five foreign missions in a rare downsizing of America’s global diplomatic footprint, according to people familiar with the notice. In the notice sent to some congressional committees late last week, the State Department said it ‌planned to close its posts in St George’s, Grenada; Nagoya, Japan; Medan, Indonesia; Douala, Cameroon; and Winnipeg, Canada. The people familiar with the notice spoke on condition of anonymity because...

Bank accounts held by US President Donald Trump were closed by Capital One in 2021 after it flagged financial activity that had characteristics of money laundering, the bank disclosed in a court filing over the weekend. The court filing is tied to a lawsuit filed against Capital One by one of Trump’s financial holding companies soon after he was sworn into office a second time. Trump alleges that Capital One illegally closed his accounts for political reasons, following the January 6 attacks on...

United Nations rights experts have urged Canada to take all feasible measures to protect the Sikh activist Moninder Singh, who has been repeatedly warned by the Canadian authorities of credible threats to his life. In a letter to the Canadian government dated June 3, and made public two months later, as per regular procedure, the five UN experts raised “concerning allegations of foreign intimidation and reprisals” against Singh, a Canadian national. It recalled that since 2022, Singh has...

A group of 25 Democratic-led US states sued US President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday, arguing that the president’s latest round of tariffs on goods from 60 trading partners, like most of his earlier sweeping tariffs, exceeds his legal authority to tax imports. The states’ lawsuit filed in the US ‌Court of International Trade in New York follows previous challenges by small US businesses, which sued to block the tariffs on the day they went into effect last month. States and small...

President Volodymyr ⁠Zelensky dismissed Ukraine’s ⁠ambassador to the ⁠United States, Olha Stefanishyna, in a presidential decree published on Monday. Stefanishyna had been in her job for nearly a year. Her departure had ‌been expected for several weeks. Her departure coincides with a shake-up in recent weeks of top officials, including the replacement of the prime minister and defence minister. A reshuffle of Ukraine’s diplomatic and ambassadorial appointments is also expected. Stefanishyna,...

Colombian prosecutors are investigating allegations that executives of a Chinese state-owned contractor building the Bogota metro demanded cash from a local subcontractor in exchange for releasing payments owed for work on the project, according to an investigation published over the weekend by Semana, the country’s leading news magazine. The consortium building the line has denied any wrongdoing, saying the money seen changing hands was a retention payment agreed upon between the two firms in a...

Two people have died in the cyclospora outbreak in Michigan, state health officials announced Monday, the first deaths confirmed in the US related to the microscopic parasite. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said both people had underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by the intestinal illness and dehydration. The department said it would not provide additional information about the deaths. Cyclospora is a microscopic, spherical parasite that commonly causes...

The government in Madrid has rejected allegations that it ignored warnings from the CNI intelligence service about a mass arrival of tens of thousands of migrants in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa. It said on Monday that no intelligence reports had been received warning of a migration crisis on this scale. Meanwhile, efforts to accommodate and repatriate the remaining migrants, as well as the search for further fatalities, are continuing in Ceuta. According to the Ministry of the...

France on Monday condemned a proposal by hard-right Reform UK party to launch, if it wins power, “the largest military operation” in the Channel “since World War II” to stop migrants crossing on small boats. The party’s leader, Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, at a press conference unveiled a policy to deploy Britain’s Royal Navy to return small boats to France. But the French interior ministry said that the plan “would be a violation of French sovereignty as well as a violation of maritime law...

Jay ⁠Clayton was sworn in on Monday as ⁠the US director of national intelligence after a contentious Senate confirmation hearing in which he refused to directly acknowledge that President Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. He takes on ‌a role that was vacated in June when Tulsi Gabbard stepped down after a tenure marked by clashes with congressional Democrats, who accused her of advancing Trump’s political agenda and promoting debunked election claims. “The safety and security of...

The US has signed a more than US$3 billion deal with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to ramp up production of Patriot and ‌THAAD interceptor missile parts, as conflicts in Iran and Ukraine strain stockpiles. The deal, announced by the Pentagon and Northrop on Monday, follows last week’s announcement of a contract for Lockheed worth up to US$58.6 billion to produce Patriot interceptor missiles. The United States has supplied large amounts of arms to ⁠allies while also using munitions in the...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Liberation Day 2.0? US slaps fresh wave of tariffs on China, 50-plus economies On June 24, the United States imposed a fresh wave of tariffs against 60 economies, including China, Japan, South Korea, India and European Union member states, hours before a temporary 10 per cent blanket levy...

A British man who kept his mother’s ⁠body in ⁠a freezer for nearly ⁠three years while he received almost £80,000 (US$108,000) of her welfare benefits was jailed on Monday. Christopher Phillips, 60, had admitted preventing the lawful and decent burial of his 89-year-old mother Sylvia Phillips after ‌she died in March 2023 until his arrest at their home in Porthcawl, south Wales, in February this year. Phillips also pleaded guilty to fraud after he received about £78,000 in benefits and pension...

With the US-Israel war on Iran entering its sixth month, Chinese policymakers have a multitude of questions weighing on their minds, with two proving particularly thorny according to a prominent economist: how much longer the conflict might last, and whether it will necessitate adjustments to previous plans. While the continuing impact on China might remain “small”, said Mao Zhenhua – co-director of Renmin University’s Institute of Economic Research and a professor at the University of Hong...

Artificial intelligence is transforming the world at extraordinary speed. It is reshaping manufacturing, finance, healthcare, education, scientific research and even the way governments make decisions. While AI advances at an unprecedented pace, one fundamental question has come to the fore: how to govern intelligence in an interconnected yet increasingly fragmented world? The question came into sharper focus after Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered the opening address at the World AI...

Only days ago, the Japanese yen’s descent showed no signs of stopping, having already dropped to a 40-year low. But by Monday morning – after a rare intervention on the currency’s behalf by Tokyo and Washington – it surged as high as 155.23 per US dollar, its strongest level since early May, according to Chinese financial data provider Wind. The joint action took on an extra layer of intrigue after a Reuters photograph revealed that a “to-do” list from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during...

Cuba’s power grid failed on Sunday, causing another nationwide blackout, a state utility said in a social media post. As the lights suddenly turned off across Havana, residents who were sat outside to get some respite from the summer heat audibly groaned en masse. Cuba has been suffering rolling power cuts due to ageing equipment and a US energy embargo that halted regular deliveries of fuel for power stations. State-run UNE said there was a “total disconnection” of the national electricity...

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. From property to portfolios: why Chinese families are walking away from homes While Chinese families grow cautious, South Korean retail investors use record leverage to chase tech ETFs despite mounting risks. 2. Chinese pilot who landed safely after cabin leak given first-class merit award Chinese...

Chinese officials tend to report only good news and bury bad news for propaganda purposes and career advancement. That is why it came as a genuine surprise when, on July 22, Zhang Enhui, the party chief of Changchun, an industrial powerhouse known for its automobile sector and technological research, publicly broke with that tradition. He warned of “unprecedented difficulties and challenges” facing the city’s economy. The remark was apparently swiftly scrubbed from the city government’s website,...

Firefighters worked to contain huge blazes in the northwestern US city of Spokane early Monday after officials reported hundreds of structures had been reduced to cinders. Around 60,000 people have been ordered to evacuate as wildfires threaten the city in Washington state, local officials said, adding the fires had destroyed 600 buildings, including homes and businesses. Three separate fires broke out in and around the city. The National Weather Service (NWS) had warned of “extremely critical...

US President Donald Trump said that new negotiations with Iran would begin on Monday after he decided to hold off on striking the Islamic republic to pursue a deal to end the war entering its sixth month. Trump told reporters on Sunday that the talks would cover the Strait of Hormuz – a route for global energy supplies that has become a key sticking point in the conflict – and ultimately, the denuclearisation of Iran. For its part, Iran said it was nearing a deal with Oman over a new route...

Venezuela’s imprisoned former leader Nicolas Maduro on Sunday welcomed “any path to dialogue”, ahead of a US-backed meeting in the coming week between representatives of the Latin American country’s interim government and opposition leaders. The leftist Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured in a US military raid in January and are being held in a New York detention centre awaiting trial on charges related to drug and firearms trafficking. They have pleaded not guilty. “We welcome any...

Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham has signalled his support for a written constitution for the UK, which unlike most countries, does not have one authoritative document. Since entering office just two weeks ago, the former mayor of Greater Manchester has made devolution of power to regional authorities a focus of his administration. “In the end, I think it does start to point towards a new constitutional settlement,” Burnham said of his devolution plans. Calling for a “new clear set of...

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 80, said on Sunday he was “in great shape” as he launched his candidacy for October elections, with pressure from US President Donald Trump’s administration looming over the campaign. A titan of the Latin American left, Lula is seeking a fourth and final term in office in a campaign casting him as a safe pair of hands in turbulent times and a bulwark against the global rise of the far-right. While no one mentioned Trump by name at the Workers’ Party...

Greek police on Sunday said they had arrested a suspect in their investigation into the death of a British woman whose body was found in a suitcase in Athens last month. The police in a statement said they had arrested a 26-year-old man, identified in media reports as an Afghan national, adding that he had “confessed his actions”. “Officers of the Directorate for Combating Organised Crime have solved the homicide of a 38-year-old UK national, whose body was found inside a suitcase in an...

The death toll from a mass rush of migrants from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last week reached at least 72 on Sunday, as five more bodies were found along the North African coast, officials said. The number of fatalities was considerably higher than what was announced by Moroccan authorities on Sunday. More than 50,000 ‌people crossed into Ceuta by land and sea in an unprecedented surge that began on Thursday at one of the European Union’s only two land borders with Africa,...

Greece’s fire department says the collision of two firefighting helicopters battling a major wildfire burning out of control west of Athens on Sunday left two crew members dead, while another two were recovered alive. The fire department said the dead crew members were one Greek and one Danish national, while the two who were recovered alive were one Greek and one British national. Foreign firefighting and helicopter crews are often deployed in Greece to help tackle wildfires during the...

Israeli air strikes hit Gaza for a second straight day on Sunday, killing at least 18 Palestinians, medics said, despite US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a breakthrough in efforts to implement last year’s ceasefire agreement. From dawn, Israeli warplanes hit Gaza City in the north, the central city of Deir al-Balah and the southern area of Khan Younis, causing the biggest daily death toll in weeks, according to Palestinian health officials. Trump’s assertion on Thursday that...

Hungary is fully shutting down its sole nuclear power plant for the first time due to the record low levels of the Danube River, straining energy supplies and posing a major test for the economy and new Prime Minister Péter Magyar. One of the two reactors still operating at the Paks plant was shut down early on Sunday, with the final one powering down later in the day, according to Magyar. He cited the progressively lower water levels, which are causing a shortage of water for cooling at the...

Ukraine attacked multiple regions of Russia on Sunday, killing at least nine people, while Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least five, according to officials in both countries. Some of the strikes hit hundreds of kilometres from the front line, according to authorities. Both Moscow and Kyiv have upped attacks on each other in recent months, as US-led talks aimed at ending the conflict remain largely frozen. Kyiv, which denies targeting civilians, says the strikes are fair retaliation for...

At least 17 people were killed, officials said, as the country runs desperately low on interceptor missiles that could fend off Russian bombardments.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told President Trump that his interior secretary, Doug Burgum, had misled him with a self-serving cover story for his own mistakes.

The State Department has canceled the visa of the Brazilian ambassador in Washington, deepening a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

The voluntary review process will cover closed-source artificial intelligence models, but exclude those that publish the underlying code.

The modern health care system requires the work of caregiving to fall to whoever else lives in a household — even if they’re kids.

President Trump announced a proposal aimed at achieving the disarmament of Hamas and an Israeli withdrawal. Israel ramped up attacks on the Palestinian enclave.

Ceuta, Spain, and Fnideq, Morocco, are physically separated by only a mile, but they are intertwined by family and trade. A recent border crisis is the latest chapter in their story.

Finland, wary of misinformation from Moscow and beyond, has a leg up on other nations in spotting fake news. But A.I. is a whole new challenge.

The professor, a longtime critic of the university, was among 19 educators who lost their positions as the institution navigated financial woes.

Looking for respite from European heat waves, summer tourists are flocking to the diplomatic hub. But city leaders are wary of overcrowding.

Fans of the warmhearted Apple TV show flock to Richmond-upon-Thames, which has long been a destination for visitors and film location scouts.

Hannah Waddingham is a rare British actor to beat a path from musical theater to the screen.

It’s bad for your brain and worse for democracy.

We’re watching the Democratic Senate primary.

A resident of Spokane County, Wash., said he noticed a man acting suspiciously and called 911 after seeing smoke. The police later arrested a suspect tied to one of the wildfires in the area.