Minimalist News

Biden-Appointed Judge Tosses DOJ Lawsuit Challenging Minnesota's In-State Tuition For Illegal Immigrants Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times, A district court judge tossed out the Trump administration’s lawsuit on March 27 against Minnesota laws that allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates, or in some cases waive tuition, for college and university classes, ruling that the state law doesn’t violate federal law. United States District Judge Katherine Menendez, appointed in 2021 by President Biden, granted the state’s motion to dismiss the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit, filed on June 25, 2025, finding Minnesota’s in-state tuition rules didn’t discriminate against citizens. “As Defendants

China's EV Giant BYD Misses Earnings, Enters Brutal New Phase Of Competition BYD is entering a tougher phase after releasing weaker-than-expected financial results and signaling growing pressure in China’s electric vehicle market, according to Bloomberg. Chairman Wang Chuanfu described the current environment as having “reached a fever pitch, and is undergoing a brutal ‘knockout stage.’” The company’s stock fell at the opening of trading in Hong Kong, reflecting investor concerns. Its latest quarterly results showed a sharp drop in profitability, with earnings and revenue both missing forecasts. This downturn followed a challenging year overall, marked by declining annual profits despite BYD maintaining

Oil Slides As Trump Reportedly Told Aides He's Willing To End War Without Reopening Hormuz SUMMARY * Trump reportedly told his aides he's willing to end the war without reopening the Strait of Hormuz * Iran struck a fully-laden Kuwaiti oil tanker in a Dubai port * Iran rejects 'excessive, illogical' US demands while Trump mentions 'progress' with a 'more reasonable regime'. Trump again threatens to destroy Iran energy sites and Kharg Island. Hundreds of US Special Forces arrive in region. * White House seriously considering ground operation to seize Iran's enriched uranium stockpile but also wants Tehran to negotiate handing it over willingly.

An Aspirational Tech Right–Populist Right Alliance Authored by Nate Fischer via American Intelligence, The relationship between the tech right and the populist right is a central question of our day. After an initial alliance in the lead-up to the 2024 campaign, fissures quickly appeared. The first prominent one was the Christmas H-1B fight. Others followed, both in and out of the administration. In many ways, the divide has been growing -- with Bannon leading tech critiques, and Republican politicians like DeSantis staking out tech-skeptical stances. Trump has managed to keep things together, but the future is unclear. I believe an alliance is necessary both

"Surprise" X1.5 Solar Flare Detected Ahead Of NASA's Rocket Launch To Moon Space weather website SolarHam reported Monday morning that a "surprise X1.5 solar flare" was detected on the sun and may impact Earth within the next 48 hours. This comes ahead of NASA's Artemis II launch on Wednesday and could affect the launch if the solar storm is severe. "AR 4405 erupted this morning at 03:18 UTC (Mar. 30) with a surprise X1.5 solar flare. This event launched a halo coronal mass ejection (CME) into space, which also appears to have an Earth-directed component," SolarHam wrote in a space weather update

The Assisted Suicide Of Lofty State And Local Taxes Authored by Rob Arnott via RealClearPolitics, We get the government we choose to elect, hence the government we deserve. Voting for ever-higher punitive taxes on the rich is arguably a form of civic suicide. Consider that a wealthy New Yorker can get a raise of almost 40% just by moving. That’s right. If moving eliminates a 14.8% top state and local tax rate, our top-tier taxpayer gets a 36% raise, not a 14.8% raise, by leaving. It’s doubtful if any of our city and state leaders have done this math, but it’s shocking. Mamdani wants

Gulf LNG Crisis Set To 'Make Coal Great Again' Our weekend wrap on the global energy crisis focused on Asia as ground zero and how the shock will ripple across the world, eventually hitting the US. This is now the second major energy crunch of the decade: first Russia's invasion of Ukraine, now the U.S.-Iran conflict. However, this one looks a lot more catastrophic. The immediate impact of this energy crunch will be a resurgence of coal, especially across Asia, as power grid operators will be forced to switch to the dirtiest fuel to keep electricity affordable during the crisis. "We are now

US Fighter Jets Intercept Civilian Aircraft Flying Near Trump's Mar-a-Lago Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said F-16 fighter jets intercepted a plane that entered restricted airspace near President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate ‌in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 29. The civilian aircraft entered a temporary flight restriction zone near the estate at about 1:15 p.m. ET, prompting fighter jets to dispense flares in response, which were visible to the public, NORAD said in a press release. NORAD said the flares were intended to get the pilot’s attention and are designed “with the highest regard

Two Chinese Container Ships That Were Previously Turned Back By Iran, Now Allowed To Transit Hormuz Strait On Friday we reported that there was a moment of surprise among vessel trackers, when Iran unexpectedly blocked two container ships owned by China's Cosco from transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Two days later, this misunderstanding appears to have been resolved, and on Monday Bloomberg reported that the same two container ships linked to China’s state-owned Cosco Shipping exited the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, the first such vessels operated by a major Beijing-backed company to navigate the waterway since the Middle East

Springtime For RINOs Authored by James Howard Kunstler, > “This sort of derangment is a novel psychopathology in the human species. . . a synthesis of low-IQ feminized brain scramble & neurotic lunacy." > > - JD Haltigan on X Went to the No Kings assemblies in my town and the next nearby town on Saturday. Mental illness as far as the eye could see. Old folks, too, as far as the eye could see, predominately of the female persuasion: the devouring grandmothers. The Democratic Party has marshalled mental illness as its premier campaign strategy, and lately it is winning bigly around the country

Off-Ramp In Progress? Israeli Media Signals 'Completion Phase' Of Iran War It's no secret that Washington is looking for an off-ramp amid what has been a steady pattern of escalation with Iran over the past month since Operation Epic Fury began. The White House's anticipated timeline and even list of objectives has seriously shifted since the war's start, as has the scope, given Tehran's 'unexpected' big retaliatory strikes on the Gulf and Israel - including on energy and infrastructure targets. It seems Trump was thinking Iran could be parallel to the Venezuela situation - where a 'decapitation' operation swiftly removed Maduro and

Cory Booker Blasts Party, Says Democrats 'Failed This Moment', And Calls For New Leaders Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) appeared on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday morning and delivered a scathing rebuke of his own party, saying it has “failed this moment.”  Booker was on the show to promote his new book, and host Kristen Welker read a passage from it in which he argues that political coalitions can’t succeed if they exclude people based on “purity tests” or demand total agreement on every issue.  In his book, he wrote, “We cannot cancel everyone who fails a purity test. We cannot exile those who

Turkey Reports Another Iranian Missile Near-Miss Over NATO Skies Another near-miss has unfolded over NATO skies, with Turkey on Monday announcing that air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Iran. It's another dangerous indication that the Iran war could easily expand into a broader conflict at any moment.  The intercept was carried out by air and missile defense assets positioned in the Eastern Mediterranean, according to the Turkish defense ministry, which offered no further initial details concerning trajectory, type, or what the intended target ultimately was. US Navy image, illustrative This marks the fourth fourth such interception since March of the war and Operation

TSA Agents Finally Get Paid After Trump Signs Order Summary: * AP reported that, by early afternoon, TSA agents began receiving pay. * Reuters reported that as many as 50,000 TSA agents would receive paychecks as early as Monday. * Trump officially issued a presidential memorandum on Friday instructing DHS to pay TSA agents. TSA AGENTS GET PAID  AP News reports that most Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents received paychecks on Monday after missing two paychecks during the ongoing government shutdown. Here's the headline from AP: * TSA says most of its workers got paid Monday for at least two paychecks missed as ongoing

Denver Imposes Water Restrictions, Orders Restaurants To Serve Only On Request Authored by Jacki Thrapp via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Restaurants in Colorado’s capital are only allowed to serve water to guests if they ask, according to new restrictions by the Denver Board of Water Commissioners. A scenic view of the Denver skyline at sunset, with the Rocky Mountains in the background and a forest in the foreground. Bill Ross/Getty Images “Restaurants and catering businesses shall serve water only upon request,” the mandatory irrigation restrictions read. The rules were issued in the Mile High City after the commissioners declared a Stage 1 Drought and

Dutch Treasury Banking Portal Goes Dark For 1,600 Public Institutions After Cyberattack The Dutch Finance Ministry informed members of Parliament in a letter on Monday about "unauthorized access" to several of its banking systems, including the digital portal for treasury banking. "Because of the ongoing forensic investigation and for security reasons, several systems have been temporarily taken offline, including the digital portal for treasury banking," Finance Minister Eelco Heinen wrote in the letter. Heinen warned that the cyberattack has resulted in "around 1,600 public institutions that hold their funds with the Ministry of Finance" being "currently unable to view the balance of their

UAE Will Be Pounded If US Invades, Iranian Officials Warn Via Middle East Eye Tehran believes the United Arab Emirates is playing an active role in the US-Israeli war on Iran and any ground invasion could lead to widespread attacks on Emirati state assets, two senior Iranian sources told Middle East Eye. A month into the conflict, which has battered global markets, Donald Trump is weighing whether to use ground troops to seize strategic islands in the Strait of Hormuz in an attempt to stop Iran from disrupting energy supplies. Attention has particularly focused on Kharg Island, the hub through which roughly 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports flow,

Trump Signals Potential Military Action Coming Against Cuba Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), President Donald Trump again suggested that U.S. military action could be coming against Cuba as his administration has placed economic pressure on the communist-ruled island nation. U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Pope Army Airfield at Fort Bragg, N.C., on Feb. 13, 2026, on his way to Palm Beach, Fla., to spend the weekend. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images “I built this great military. I said, ‘You’ll never have to use it.' But sometimes you have to use it. And

Iran Arrests Dozens In Starlink Black Market Network Bloomberg cites Iran's ISNA news agency, which says local authorities have arrested dozens of people for selling SpaceX Starlink terminals across 19 provinces.  These satellite internet terminals have become popular among opposition and activist networks operating in the country amid an ongoing nationwide internet blackout during the U.S.-Iran conflict. Sardar Ahmad-Reza Radan, commander-in-chief of the Iranian police, was quoted by the outlet as saying, "From the beginning of the Ramadan War, 48 key members of networks, cells, anti-revolutionary groups, and espionage rings were arrested, and 139 Starlink devices were also discovered." > سردار رادان: از ابتدای جنگ رمضان ۴۸

A 10% Dip Is Not A Green Light To Go All In Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance This is the kind of environment where how you deploy capital matters far more than just being “in the market.” One lesson I’d repeat to myself here: don’t go throwing all your cash into the market just because we’re down 10% from the highs. That kind of thinking assumes the decline is basically over, when there’s no rule that says it is. In fact, a 10% decline is just considered a correction, not a bottom, and according to historical market data by firms Fidelity, a meaningful share

Clowns in Bolivia are upset by mandate that stops schools hosting events from which they earn a living Dozens of clowns have marched through the streets of Bolivia’s capital to protest against a government decree that limits extracurricular activities in schools, threatening their livelihoods. Wearing full face paint and their signature red noses, the clowns gathered on Monday in front of the ministry of education in La Paz to oppose a decree published in February. The new mandate says schools must comply with 200 days of lessons each year – in effect banning them from hosting the special events where the entertainers

Nearly 6,000 people forced to flee, human rights group says, as it criticises ‘abandonment’ from authorities At least 70 people have been killed and 30 injured during an attack in Haiti’s breadbasket Artibonite region, significantly more than official estimates, a human rights group has said. Police initially reported 16 dead and 10 injured, while a preliminary report from civil protection authorities suggested 17 had died and 19 were wounded. Continue reading...

Ex-TV host pledged to centre party around equity, with higher wealth taxes, green energy and tuition-free education * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Canada’s embattled New Democratic party (NDP) has elected the former broadcaster and self-proclaimed socialist Avi Lewis as its new leader, as it looks to rebuild following a devastating federal election last year that saw it lose official party status. A record number of members voted in the three-day NDP leadership convention, giving Lewis a first-ballot win that underscored widespread support. Lewis pledged to convert the “tremendous momentum” of the

Resumption of diplomatic operations come three months after former president Maduro was abducted * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox The US government is resuming operations at its embassy in Venezuela, the state department announced on Monday, nearly three months since former president Nicolás Maduro was abducted from the country and locked up in the US. The resumption of US diplomatic operations in Venezuela marks a significant step in the US-Venezuela relationship, as the Trump administration begins to work closely with the government of Delcy Rodríguez, the acting president who replaced Maduro after

Michael Rousseau faced mockery for speaking English and not French while addressing fatal LaGuardia airport crash * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox The head of Canada’s largest airline is stepping down after his video tribute to pilots killed in a fatal collision became a public relations nightmare for Air Canada, prompting a wave of mockery and indignation at him from both the public and politicians for not speaking French. Air Canada’s CEO, Michael Rousseau, will retire by the end of the third quarter of 2026, the company said on Monday. He will

Exclusive: Environmental impact assessments are ‘incomplete’, say leaders, and private beach club could harm fragile ecosystems Indigenous community leaders in Vanuatu have raised concerns over plans by the cruise operator Royal Caribbean to build a private beach club on the island of Lelepa, arguing environmental impact assessments by the company are “incomplete” and “misleading”. The community leaders outlined the issues in a letter sent to Royal Caribbean on 26 February, which has been seen by the Guardian. The leaders also said the development could harm fragile ecosystems and a nearby Unesco world heritage site. Continue reading...

Investors nervous over escalation of Middle East conflict as US president says he wants to ‘take the oil in Iran’ * Business live – latest news The price of oil hit nearly $117 (£89) a barrel on Monday as Donald Trump threatened to “blow up” and “completely obliterate” Iranian electricity plants, oilwells and its export hub Kharg Island if it did not agree to a deal. Brent crude rose after the US president wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that if a deal was not agreed and the strait of Hormuz was not reopened, the US would take further action. Continue

The factories, which buy cheap crude and turn it into fuel, are struggling as higher oil prices threaten their razor-sharp margins The towns that are the bulwark of China’s energy security can, at a moment of global crisis, appear deceptively quiet. Trucks carrying oil trundle along wide-open highways that have little traffic, while a few boarded-up shops in crumbling low-rise buildings hint at a long-forgotten local buzz. A ramshackle noodle shop serving hand-pulled ribbons of dough was empty at lunchtime, save for a few construction workers and a teacher watching videos on Douyin, the social media platform, with his meal. Continue reading...

Malcolm Turnbull asks defence department official what Australia would do if the promised Virginia-class and Aukus-class submarines don’t arrive * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia will be left with no submarines if it abandons the Aukus deal with the US and UK, a senior defence official has warned, declining to publicly countenance an alternative plan if Australia’s promised nuclear-powered fleet does not arrive under Australian command. “Defence has been directed to pursue Aukus and we are pursuing Aukus and that’s our plan. I would not

US president says he will host Chinese leader in a reciprocal visit later this year * Middle East crisis – live updates Donald Trump will meet Xi Jinping in May during the US president’s first visit to China in eight years, a closely watched trip that had been postponed due to the Iran war. Trump was initially slated to travel next week, but will now visit Beijing on 14 and 15 May, he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. Trump said he would host the Chinese leader in a reciprocal visit in Washington later this year. Continue reading...

Meanwhile PM explains his reaction to news of Dezi Freeman death. Follow today’s news live * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast What’s the trigger for stage three under the national plan? The energy minister, Chris Bowen, says we’re still on stage two of the national plan agreed to at yesterday’s national cabinet, reiterating that so far any cancelled fuel shipments have been replaced (he’s referring to the six tankers that he announced were cancelled on 22 March). The trigger … says ongoing supply disruptions mean we will focus on getting fuel where it’s needed most. Now, ongoing

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says changes will help with cost of living and ‘Australians hate paying’ the surcharges * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Debit and credit card surcharges will be gone by October under Reserve Bank reforms, with big banks likely to foot the bill for the cost-of-living measures. The new rules, announced on Tuesday, will enable businesses to remove added fees on Mastercard, visa and eftpos card payments. Continue reading...

Former co-host of Kyle Sandilands filed proceedings in the federal court against Kiis licence holder * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Jackie “O” Henderson has filed a legal action in the federal court claiming compensation of “at least $82,250,000” for the wrongful termination of her 10-year contract after she told ARN Media she had allegedly been bullied by her co-host Kyle Sandilands. The fresh legal action came four weeks after Henderson’s contract was terminated by Kiis owner ARN Media, and days after Sandilands’ first hearing in

‘There is no doubt that the cells and tissues of the oral cavity, the mouth and the lungs are altered by inhalation from e-cigarettes,’ academic says * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Vaping is likely to cause lung and oral cancer, researchers have found, as they urged regulators to act now rather than wait decades for a definitive level of risk. Cancer researchers led by the University of New South Wales in Sydney analysed reviews of evidence from animal studies, human case reports and laboratory research

The US president thumbs his nose at concerns about the most serious energy crisis in global history. But Australia, like other countries, is paying a high price * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Gently, about 10 days ago, Anthony Albanese tried to send Donald Trump a message about the escalating war in Iran. In a Hobart radio interview, the prime minister said the US had achieved its original justifications and should bring hostilities in the Middle East to an end. Continue reading...

President says he is open to scaling back strikes on oil and wider energy industry if Moscow reciprocates. What we know on day 1,496 Continue reading...

Negotiations deadlocked as No 10 wants more action on beach patrols but France has concerns over safety The UK’s agreement with France to pay for beach patrols is on the verge of collapse amid wrangling over the number of small boat interceptions and the safety of asylum seekers in French waters. Negotiations over plans to revamp the three-year, £480m deal remain deadlocked, despite the involvement of ministers including Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary. The deal expires at midnight on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Collien Fernandes accuses ex-husband Christian Ulmen of sharing sexually explicit deepfake images of her online A high-profile German TV star’s allegations that her ex-husband spread AI-generated pornographic images of her have triggered a national debate and put pressure on the government to tighten laws around digital violence against women. In an interview with the news magazine Der Spiegel last week, Collien Fernandes accused her former husband Christian Ulmen, a prominent TV presenter and producer, of impersonating her online for years and sharing sexually explicit deepfake images. Continue reading...

Apple Distribution International, based in Ireland, made payments worth £635,000 to a Russian streaming service The UK government has fined a subsidiary of Apple £390,000 for breaching sanctions against Moscow over payments it made to a Russian streaming platform. Apple Distribution International (ADI), based in the Republic of Ireland, instructed an unnamed UK-based bank to make two payments to a company owned by a sanctioned Russian entity. Continue reading...

Spain’s defence minister confirms move and describes US-Israel war on Iran as ‘profoundly illegal and unjust’ * US-Israel war on Iran – live updates Spain has ramped up its opposition to the US-Israel war on Iran by closing its airspace to US aircraft involved in attacks, underlining its position as Europe’s leading critic of the conflict. The move, first reported by El País newspaper and confirmed by the defence minister on Monday, comes after Madrid said the US could not use jointly operated military bases in the country for operations related to the war. Continue reading...

Kuwait says fire broke out after Iranian attack on giant tanker and warns of possible oil spill in surrounding waters * Trump threatens to ‘obliterate’ Iran’s energy grid if ceasefire not reached ‘shortly’ Donald Trump is weighing a military operation to extract nearly 1,000 pounds (454kg) of uranium from Iran, the Wall Street Journal is reporting, citing unnamed US officials. The mission would likely put American forces inside the country for days or longer, the report says. But the president remains generally open to the idea, according to the officials, because it could help accomplish his central goal of preventing Iran from ever

Knesset approves measure that has been criticised by European countries and rights groups Israel’s parliament has passed a law imposing the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks, a measure sharply criticised as discriminatory by European countries and rights groups. The legislation makes the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank found guilty of intentionally carrying out deadly attacks deemed acts of terrorism by a military court. Continue reading...

Oil prices on course for record monthly rise amid risk of further escalation and mixed messaging from US Donald Trump has threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power stations and fresh water plants if Tehran does not agree to peace terms “shortly”, even as he claimed diplomatic progress in ending the war that was instigated by the US and Israel. Tehran has remained defiant during the month-long conflict, describing US peace proposals as “excessive, unrealistic and irrational” and firing waves of missiles at Israel. Continue reading...

Washington-based fund says rising energy and food costs will hit economies worldwide and could leave lasting scars The International Monetary Fund has warned that “all roads lead to higher prices and slower growth worldwide” should the conflict in the Middle East continue to throttle the amount of oil, gas and fertiliser making its way out of the Gulf. In a stark message that countries on all continents will be affected, the Washington-based organisation said a rise in energy and food costs would harm economic growth this year and could leave lasting scars on the global economy. Continue reading...

Critics say films lauding country’s attitude to women and green credentials could damage corporation’s reputation The BBC has been accused of making “glossy propaganda films” for Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and taking money from a “repressive regime”. BBC Storyworks, the corporation’s commercial arm, has entered into a partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The broadcaster has made a series of films and written articles lauding the country’s supposedly progressive attitude to women and eco-friendly credentials. These are hosted on a mini-site that carried BBC branding. Continue reading...

At least 77 people killed in anti-corruption youth uprising in September, which began over a brief social media ban Nepal’s former prime minister KP Sharma Oli was arrested early on Saturday morning over his alleged role in the deaths of dozens of people who took part in the gen Z protest that toppled his government last year. Police detained the three-time former prime minister at his residence in the capital Kathmandu, and also arrested his former home affairs minister Ramesh Lekhak. Continue reading...

Balendra Shah, 35, is a symbol of change in country whose government was toppled last year in youth-led uprising Nepal’s rapper turned politician Balendra Shah, who is about to be sworn in as prime minister, has issued his first post-election message in the form of a rap urging unity. Hours before the release he swore an oath as a newly elected lawmaker, and he is due to become the Himalayan republic’s new prime minister on Friday. Continue reading...

Marco Rubio welcomes release of Dennis Coyle, who was detained in January last year for violating unspecified laws Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have released the American academic Dennis Coyle after holding him for over a year, with the foreign ministry saying the release came on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. A statement from the ministry said the academic researcher had been released in Kabul on Tuesday, following an appeal from his family and after Afghanistan’s supreme court “considered his previous imprisonment sufficient”. Continue reading...

From a shop owner in India to a community worker in New South Wales, rising fuel prices are forcing people to ration oil usage * Middle East crisis – live updates Alagesan, 35, needs liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to run his roadside drink and snack shop in Coimbatore, India, but with the fuel shortage since the US-Israel attacks on Iran, he worries his business could fold. “I am far away from the Middle East, but my life is affected,” he said. “The gas cylinder is not available because of the war. I don’t know what to do.” Continue reading...

At least 400 killed in Pakistan’s strike on drug rehab centre, Taliban say, with families searching unmarked mass graves Sohrab Faqiri spent Eid, the Muslim festival to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, looking for the grave of his brother, killed in a massive Pakistan airstrike on Kabul this week. Pakistan’s bombardment campaign, on what it says is terrorist and military infrastructure in neighbouring Afghanistan, appeared to have gone catastrophically wrong. A rehabilitation centre for drug addicts was hit on Monday night, according to the United Nations and the Afghan authorities. The UN’s preliminary death toll is 143 people,

City regulator reduces number of loan agreements in line for compensation from 14m to 12m * Explainer: how will the payout scheme work? Victims of the car finance scandal will be in line for payouts worth £830 on average, as the City regulator tightened the rules of its compensation scheme to cover fewer contracts. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released the final details of its planned redress programme, saying it had narrowed the number of loan agreements eligible for payouts from 14m to 12.1m contracts. Continue reading...

Leader understood to have spoken to 10 trade unions after party claimed working class voters are turning to them Zack Polanski has kicked off a charm offensive designed to convince trade unions to stop funding Labour and throw their weight behind the Green party, as he delivered the first in a series of speeches to union conferences. The Green leader has had “good conversations” with 10 trade unions, including some affiliated to Labour, according to party sources, and is due to address the University and College Union and the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, not affiliated with Labour, in the coming

Scheme for accusers of store’s former owner Mohamed Al Fayed to close before end of retailer’s internal investigation Harrods has been accused of being “neither fair nor just” over its decision to close a compensation scheme for survivors of alleged sexual abuse by the luxury department store’s former owner Mohamed Al Fayed. Kingsley Hayes, partner at KP Law, which is representing nearly 280 survivors, questioned why the scheme was being closed on Tuesday 31 March, before Harrods had completed an internal investigation into what happened and who knew about it. Continue reading...

Radio 2 breakfast show presenter departs over claims said to relate to a ‘historic relationship’ in latest crisis for BBC * Analysis: BBC has acted with shocking speed The BBC has been plunged into a new crisis after sacking the Radio 2 presenter Scott Mills over allegations about his personal conduct. Mills, who hosted Britain’s most popular radio breakfast show, was blindsided by the decision to take him off the air last Tuesday. The corporation has opted to terminate his contact after claims made against him. Continue reading...

The Green party leader said Ofsted is a ‘failed institution’ and that teaching should move ‘toward a genuinely collaborative model’ Starmer complained about other parties whipping up division, and he specifically criticised Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, for “complaining about Muslims praying in public”. Labour, by contrast, values bringing people together, he said. Continue reading...

Chad Bianco, the Riverside county sheriff also running for governor, had seized 650,000 ballots Chad Bianco, the Riverside county sheriff, has halted a contentious investigation into a alleged voter fraud that has drawn opposition from the state’s attorney general. The move marks a major reversal for Bianco, a prominent Donald Trump supporter who is one of the top two Republican candidates running for the governorship of California. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. * Trump news at a glance: US promotes Elon Musk’s X to fight foreign propaganda * Sign up for the Breaking News US email alerts The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the US is about to hit $4, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). This is up 33% from a month ago, when the average price was $2.98 per gallon. It is the highest national average since 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

If approved, move is latest in series of buildings, warships, institutions, programs and currency named after president He has buildings, institutions, government programs, warships, currency, and now Donald Trump is getting an airport that bears his name even as he looks forward to a towering Trump presidential library in Miami. Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, signed a bill on Monday saying the Palm Beach international airport was being renamed to the President Donald J Trump international airport. Continue reading...

Gavin Newsom signs order to prioritize public safety and rights as president seeks to prevent ‘cumbersome’ rules California will impose new standards on artificial intelligence companies seeking to do business with the state, defying Donald Trump’s demands to keep the controversial industry as deregulated as possible. Democratic governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Monday that gives the state four months to develop AI policies that prioritize public safety. Continue reading...

Prosecutors investigate whether Farah Louis and Debbie Louis accepted bribes to help migrant shelter provider Federal prosecutors are investigating whether a New York City councilmember and her sister, an aide to governor Kathy Hochul, accepted bribes or kickbacks in connection with the appropriation of city funds to a migrant shelter provider, according to a copy of a search warrant obtained by the Associated Press. The warrant, signed on 19 March, seeks evidence of possible criminal violations involving councilmember Farah Louis, a Brooklyn Democrat, and Debbie Louis, who serves as Hochul’s assistant secretary of New York City intergovernmental affairs. Continue reading...

The US ⁠military is upgrading White House facilities for the new East Wing, the administration said on Monday, after US President Donald Trump said the ballroom would be built atop a “massive” fortified complex. “The military is making some upgrades ‌to their facilities here at the White House and I’m not privy to provide any more details on that,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing. Leavitt’s comments followed Trump’s own update on the US$400 million White House...

The United States has formally reopened its embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, after the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country following the Trump administration’s removal of then-president Nicolas Maduro in early January. The State Department announced on Monday that it had resumed normal operations at the embassy in Caracas – which had been in need of significant repair, including remediation from mould – after a seven-year closure that began during US President...

Two Chinese container ships sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday on their second attempt to leave the Gulf after turning back on Friday, ship-tracking data showed. The critical waterway has effectively been shut since the US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28. The vessels ‌sailed in close formation out of the strait and into open waters, data on the MarineTraffic platform showed. “Both vessels successfully crossed on a second attempt today, marking the first container vessels to...

Israel’s Parliament on Monday passed a law approving the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis. The bill’s passage marked a major victory for Israel’s far-right, which has pushed hard for the measure. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the chamber to vote yes in person. The law makes the death penalty – by hanging – the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted for nationalistic killings. The law also gives Israeli courts the authority to impose...

The Pentagon has flouted a court order blocking it from enforcing a policy limiting news reporters’ access to the Defence Department’s headquarters, a lawyer for The New York Times asserted on Monday in urging a federal judge to compel the government’s compliance with the 10-day-old order. US District Judge Paul Friedman did not immediately rule from the bench after hearing a second round of arguments from lawyers for the newspaper and the Trump administration. The New York Times claims Pentagon...

A French court on Monday issued an arrest warrant and a one-year prison sentence against the Chinese captain of a suspected Russian “shadow fleet” tanker over failing to comply with orders to stop his ship. Chen Zhangjie, 39, was sentenced in absentia after the French navy boarded the Boracay tanker in September before releasing the vessel and its crew days later, in what Russian leader Vladimir Putin condemned as “piracy”. The court in the western city of Brest also ordered Chen to pay a...

French authorities are investigating a suspected link to Iran after thwarting a bomb attack outside a Bank of America building in Paris at the weekend, the interior minister said on Monday. The authorities suspect a link to Iran due to similarities to other recent attempted attacks in Europe which a pro-Iran group claimed responsibility for, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said. On Saturday morning, Paris police officers spotted two suspects carrying a shopping bag near the Bank of...

The world is bracing for an aluminium supply shock after two major Middle Eastern smelters were damaged in Iranian attacks over the weekend, a disruption likely to push more production to China in the near term and potentially for years to come, analysts said. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), a leading regional producer, reported “significant damage” at its Abu Dhabi site following strikes by Iranian missiles and drones, while Aluminium Bahrain said it was assessing the extent of damage at its...

The Israeli military has suspended a battalion whose soldiers assaulted a CNN crew in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in a rare case of punishment for soldier misconduct. The army announced on Monday it was suspending the Netzah Yehuda battalion after soldiers were filmed assaulting the CNN crew last week. Netzah Yehuda is a unit of ultra-Orthodox soldiers that has been linked to abuses of Palestinian civilians in the past, including the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian American man after his...

A Swedish prosecutor on Monday charged a man, suspected of selling his wife’s sexual services to over 120 men, with aggravated pimping, several rapes and assault. The man, 62, was arrested in late October after his wife reported him to police in northern Sweden. He has been held in custody since then. According to the charge sheet, the man had for years benefited financially from pressuring his wife “to perform and submit to sexual acts”. The man was accused of creating ads online, setting up...

Russia said on Monday that an oil tanker carrying ‌100,000 tonnes of crude oil had arrived in Cuba and that Moscow would stand by its friends by working on further supplies despite a US blockade of the Communist-run island. The US cut off Venezuela’s oil exports to Cuba after toppling Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, and US President Donald Trump threatened to slap punishing ⁠tariffs on any other country that sent crude to Cuba. But Trump on Sunday signalled he ‌was reversing...

Gunmen killed at least a dozen people in Jos, the capital of Nigeria’s restive Plateau state, sparking retaliation from a mob that killed 10 more, locals said on Monday. Plateau state, in central Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, experiences recurring violence in the countryside, mostly linked to land disputes between farmers and herders. Jos has seen bouts of sectarian violence in the past, but deadly, mass casualty attacks in the crowded city have been rare in recent years. At least 12 people were...

Israel said on Monday it was striking military targets across Tehran, a day after US President Donald Trump insisted a deal could “soon” be reached, while not ruling out ground operations. Iran also launched fresh strikes on Israel, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia after its electrical facilities came under attack at the weekend, cutting power to parts of Tehran and surrounding areas. Trump also threatened on Monday to destroy Kharg Island, Iran’s oil wells and power plants if it does not agree soon to a...

Wars, including a widening conflict in the Middle East, are heightening risks for aviation as flight corridors are squeezed and drones become more widespread, Europe’s top aviation safety regulator has said. The month-old Iran war is reshaping airspace across the Middle East and increasing disruption to flights, including clogging routes between Asia and Europe that previously transited or ‌flew over the region. On top of the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict and fighting between Pakistan and...

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. Why are smugglers swarming East Africa for ants to send to China and Europe? 2. How a Tang dynasty tablet became a test for China-Japan restitution 3. Hong Kong passengers caught off guard by new airport limit of 2 power banks 4. Jiang Xueqin, the viral ‘prophet’ predicting the world’s fate from...

Three United Nations peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed in two separate incidents in ⁠southern Lebanon after a bloody weekend in which Lebanese journalists and medical staff were killed in Israeli strikes. Two peacekeepers were killed on Monday after an explosion from an unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan in south Lebanon, the United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL said in a statement. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast. Earlier, another Indonesian soldier...

Heavy users of artificial intelligence have reported being overwhelmed by trying to keep up with and on top of the technology designed to make their lives easier. Too many lines of code to analyse, armies of AI assistants to wrangle and lengthy prompts to draft are among the laments by hard-core AI adopters. Consultants at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have dubbed the phenomenon “AI brain fry”, a state of mental exhaustion stemming “from the excessive use or supervision of artificial...

Every violation of international law invites the next. From Afghanistan to Iran, and across Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Gaza and Venezuela, the line between what is permitted and what is prohibited has been steadily blurred by the complicit inaction of the United Nations Security Council. Wielding the veto as both a shield and a weapon, its permanent members act without grounding in the UN Charter. They play with the fate of millions, leaving a trail of death and destruction. Until recently,...

Israel’s parliament approved the country’s 2026 budget early on Monday, providing for a significant increase in military spending as the country remains engaged in wars on multiple fronts. Lawmakers passed the budget with 62 votes in favour and 55 against. The vote averted an automatic government collapse and snap election that would have followed failure to pass the budget by March’s end, under Israeli law. The proposed total expenditure budget for 2026 amounts to around 850 billion Israeli...

Last week, a friend and I chatted about our children’s favourite art pieces after happening upon an auction house’s exhibition in a building in the heart of Hong Kong’s business district. We both recalled stopping to look at Yayoi Kusama’s Mount Fuji prints. “I pass by the space twice every day,” my friend said. She told me that my son’s pick – a piece by Sam Francis – was a new installation, replacing what had been a display of handbags. How often do we pause to notice art, or enjoy life in...

Planning to update your wardrobe this summer? Industry insiders have some advice: do it soon. By the time autumn collections hit the racks, the aftershocks of war on Iran may have quietly picked your pocket. Clothing manufacturers and industry analysts are warning consumers to budget for price increases of 10 to 15 per cent as South Asia’s US$50 billion garment export industry reels from a cascade of war-driven shocks. Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has choked natural gas supplies to...

US President Donald ⁠Trump signalled he was reversing course on blocking oil shipments to Cuba on Sunday, saying he had “no problem” with any country sending in crude as a Russian tanker neared a Cuban port with a badly needed shipment. A sanctioned Russian vessel, part of the country’s “shadow fleet”, was just off the coast of eastern Cuba on Sunday, according to ship tracking data, and was expected to reach port on Monday, ‌a lifeline for the country’s economy that has nearly ground to a halt...

Four European countries have called on Israel to abandon a bill seeking to revive the death penalty for people convicted of acts of terrorism, a measure opponents say would target only Palestinians. In a joint statement on Sunday ahead of an anticipated final vote in the Knesset on Monday, foreign ministers from France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom expressed their “deep concern” about the bill. “The death penalty is an inhumane and degrading form of punishment without any deterring...

Professor Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University has repeatedly warned that the US dollar is approaching a crisis of legitimacy. Having written extensively on the global recession in the late 2000s, Rogoff has turned his focus to the US currency’s increasingly unstable place at the top of the world’s financial hierarchy. A former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund and a chess grandmaster, he published Our Dollar, Your Problem in May last year. In this interview, Rogoff elaborates...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will on Monday convene senior government and military officials alongside energy, shipping, finance and insurance sector leaders to discuss the Middle East war, his office said late on Sunday. The round table meeting in Downing Street will examine the impact of Iran’s effective closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz, which has driven up oil prices and costs in various sectors around the world. Participants will include representatives from energy giants Shell,...

A man has been charged with stabbing his wife, daughter and son in the western German city of Witten, resulting in the death of the 13-year-old boy, prosecutors said on Sunday. A judge at the district court in the nearby city of Bochum issued an arrest warrant on suspicion of murder and the man has been remanded in custody. The suspect has made no statement, a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office said. The 40-year-old German national was detained on Saturday. Police said an argument...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel will widen its invasion of southern Lebanon. Netanyahu said Israel would expand what he called the “existing security strip” in Lebanon as Israeli forces continue to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. “We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” he said on a visit to northern Israel, adding that “Hezbollah still has residual capability to fire rockets at us”. There were no immediate...

Hundreds of people were evacuated from a nightclub in southwest Germany after a fire broke out, police said on Sunday, with images from the scene showing the blaze raging on the building’s roof. Police said the fire began at around 3.45am in the nightclub in Kehl, which is on the border with France. The blaze went on to “spread over the whole building”, a police statement said. All of the roughly 750 people inside at the time were able to escape, with three people treated by emergency...

The Israeli police prevented Catholic leaders from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate mass on the Christian holiday of Palm Sunday for the first time in centuries, the Latin Patriarchate said on Sunday. Jerusalem’s major holy sites, including the church, are closed because of the continuing war in Iran, as the city has come under frequent fire from Iranian missiles. The Catholic Church called the police decision “a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate...

A drone strike claimed by Ukraine triggered a fire at Russia’s Baltic port of Ust-Luga as the regional governor on Sunday reported new damage at the major exporting hub hit for a second time in days. Ukraine has intensified retaliatory attacks on Russian infrastructure – including refineries, oil depots and ports – saying they are justified as part of the effort to cut revenues funding Russia’s offensive. “There is damage to the port of Ust-Luga. There were no casualties,” Russian regional...

The European Union (EU) is a bystander in the Iran war, but it might end up sustaining significant collateral damage. On one hand, public opinion across Europe is opposed to a conflict that circumvents the core principles of international law. On the other, the continent remains deeply reliant on the United States for its energy and security needs. A definitive anti-war stance risks alienating President Donald Trump, leaving Europe strategically exposed. Talk about being caught between a rock...

Aluminium Bahrain, which runs one of the world’s largest smelters, said on Sunday it was assessing the damage following Iranian strikes on the facility and another major aluminium producer in the United Arab Emirates. Two employees at Aluminium Bahrain were hurt in Saturday’s attack, the state-controlled company said, while regional peer Emirates Global Aluminium’s site sustained ‌significant damage from missile and drone strikes the same day. Most Gulf aluminium producers, which account for...

French anti-terrorism prosecutors have opened an investigation into a suspected attack targeting Bank of America’s Paris headquarters after the reported overnight arrest of a man who allegedly tried to ignite an improvised explosive ‌device outside the US bank’s premises. In an emailed statement to reporters, the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said the investigation involves the suspected attempted destruction by fire or other dangerous means in connection with a terrorist plot, as...

In January, a top Chinese AI researcher told an industry summit in Beijing there was less than a 20 per cent chance of any Chinese company surpassing a leading US artificial intelligence firm in the next three to five years. The remark by Lin Junyang, until recently a technical leader working on Qwen, one of China’s most capable open-source AI models under Alibaba (which owns the South China Morning Post), made headlines. But much of the commentary missed a more important question Lin posed:...

As they fled an Iranian missile strike, some Israelis with Android phones received a text offering a link to real-time information about bomb shelters. But instead of a helpful app, the link downloaded spyware giving hackers access to the device’s camera, location and all its data. The operation, attributed to Iran, showed sophisticated coordination and is just the latest tactic in a cyber conflict that pits the US and Israel against Iran and its digital proxies. As Iran and its supporters seek...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that his country had “undoubtedly changed the geopolitical situation” in the Middle East with a series of decade-long defence agreements with Gulf states being hit with Iranian drones and missiles. Has he? And how important are the agreements for Ukraine, more than four years into the Russian invasion and facing its own maelstrom of military, economic and diplomatic challenges? The Ukrainian leader has been on a whirlwind tour of the Gulf...

On March 1, after Israel and the United States initiated attacks against Iran, Amazon Web Services reported drone strikes against data centre facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The strikes caused structural damage to the company’s infrastructure, impairing cloud services for those countries. Iran warned that US tech companies with Israeli links, including Google, Microsoft, Palantir, Nvidia and Oracle, were on Tehran’s list of “legitimate targets” for countermeasures. Strikes on...

The amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli has arrived in the Middle East, US Central Command said on Saturday, as speculation soared about the possible deployment of US ground troops in Iran. The ship arrived in the region on Friday, CENTCOM said in a social media post, noting that the vessel is the flagship for a contingent of “about 3,500” Marines and sailors. The group also includes “transport and strike fighter aircraft, as well as amphibious assault and tactical assets”, it said. The post...

A huge shipment of KitKat chocolate bars has been stolen in Europe, the brand said, warning that the heist risked causing shortages in stores right before Easter. KitKat, owned by Swiss food giant Nestlé, confirmed in a statement on Saturday that “a truck transporting 413,793 units of its new chocolate range has been stolen during transit in Europe”. The shipment, weighing around 12 tonnes (13.2 tons), disappeared last week while heading between production and distribution locations, it...

French police stopped an apparent bomb attack outside a US bank in Paris early on Saturday when they arrested a man about to set off a homemade explosive device, officials and sources close to the case said. The incident occurred around 3.30am in front of a Bank of America building in the chic 8th arrondissement, a couple of streets from the Champs-Elysees. Police grabbed the man just after he placed a device, made of five litres of liquid (1.3 gallons), believed to be fuel, and an ignition...

Huge crowds rallied on Saturday against US President Donald Trump from coast to coast, venting their fury over what they see as his authoritarian style of governing, his hardline immigration policies and the war with Iran. It is the third time in less than a year that Americans have taken to the streets as part of a grass-roots movement called “No Kings”, the most vocal and visual conduit for opposition to Trump since he began his second term in January 2025. Organisers say they expect millions...

The threat to employment posed by artificial intelligence was not a “robot apocalypse” that would steal jobs, but “algorithmic collusion” that could quietly erode wages and workplace safety, Ekkehard Ernst, the International Labour Organization’s chief macroeconomist, warned in Beijing on Tuesday. While public anxiety frequently centred on the potential for AI to trigger a mass wave of unemployment, Ernst said its disruptive potential had been overestimated. “I don’t think that we are anywhere...

The law of unintended consequences, a theory popularised by American sociologist Robert K Merton, has rarely been more applicable to any situation than to US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran. Those consequences will be far greater than generally imagined. Their impact will fall heavily on Asia, the world’s most energy-import-dependent region and will almost certainly hurt US ally Japan more than it will the US’ main rival, China. Indeed, China may even emerge from the crisis with an...

A month after the US and Israel launched the war with Iran, nothing seems to be going according to President Donald Trump’s plan for a conflict lasting four to six weeks. Despite the assassinations of most of the Islamic Republic’s political and military leaders, the regime shows no signs of collapse. Similarly, wave after wave of US and Israeli air strikes may have degraded Iran’s ballistic missile and drone capabilities, but they still look set to remain a potent threat to the region for the...

Pope Leo on Saturday denounced the widening gap between the haves and have-nots as he visited Monaco, a millionaires’ playground that is the surprise pick for the first Western European trip of his papacy. Arriving by helicopter from Rome, the Pope was greeted by Monaco’s ruler Prince Albert II and his wife Princess Charlene at Monte Carlo’s heliport under radiant sunshine. Just after his arrival at the tiny principality on the French Riviera, Leo condemned what he termed the widening “chasms...

The White House press secretary said the United States would evaluate oil shipments to Cuba on a “case-by-case basis,” after a Russian tanker full of crude reached the island.

The airport near West Palm Beach will be rebranded the President Donald J. Trump International Airport on July 1, if approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Architects and preservation organizations have warned that little scrutiny has been given to the project’s design plans.

From Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s food pyramid to online influencers, beef has become more than just a source of protein.

Gov. Janet Mills argues that her rival for Senate, Graham Platner, could be doomed by his history of offensive online remarks. But at a time of anti-establishment anger, Mr. Platner says he is the safer choice.

At a sparsely attended Conservative Political Action Conference, young Republicans were eager to start the post-Trump era.

The former South Carolina governor and congressman filed papers to run for his old seat, six years after running for president and nearly two decades after a high-profile affair.

With Brian Nathan’s victory certified, Democrats won two of three state legislative races in this month’s special elections, all in Republican-leaning districts.

Doctors believed that Woody Brown would never be able to speak or process language. He went to graduate school and is publishing his debut novel.

Polling has consistently found that most people would prefer NASA spend money on things like monitoring climate change and averting asteroid collisions rather than human spaceflight.

Experts say the law was written in such a way as to ensure that it was unlikely to ever apply to Jewish extremists who commit similar crimes.

While detaining a CNN crew, a soldier said that Israeli troops were motivated by “revenge” against Palestinians and that all of the West Bank was “for the Jews.”

States ranging from California to Utah are taking steps to place guardrails on the technology even after the president ordered them to stop.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, issued an order requiring safety and privacy guardrails for artificial intelligence companies contracting with the state.

The police chief in Fargo, N.D., acknowledged “missteps” but stopped short of apologizing to Angela Lipps, a Tennessee resident who said she had never been to North Dakota before she was arrested.

Thieves broke into the Magnani-Rocca Foundation outside Parma, Italy, officials said, and made off with paintings worth millions.

A spate of popular social media accounts offer advice on how to achieve an “old-money” look.

Almost every ideology can be wielded to make women feel that they’re failing.

The bombing campaign Mr. Trump is threatening in Iran could affect millions of Iranian civilians’ access to water, electricity and food.

Also, T.S.A. workers start getting back pay. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.

No one has claimed responsibility for the killings in the mostly Christian city of Jos, and the police have yet to arrest the gunmen.

The man who rammed his vehicle into the synagogue was purposely targeting the Jewish community, officials said on Monday, detailing his days of planning.

Fans had high hopes for the event, a Mattel-sanctioned gathering in a Florida convention center. Now, it’s drawing comparisons to Fyre Festival.