Minimalist News

Chinese Cargo Ship Converted Into Concealable Missile Destroyer Concealing missile and rocket artillery launchers, as well as loitering munition swarms, within civilian-style transport platforms such as container ships and commercial trucks is a long-established and well-documented tactic in asymmetric warfare. Over the years, we have observed a wide range of these concealable missile systems: * Watch: Hellfire Missile Launcher Hidden Inside Civilian Box Truck * Ukraine Receives Missile System Disguised As "Ordinary" Shipping Container * There Are Growing Fears That China Could Be Hiding Missiles In Containerships Worldwide * Ukrainian Drone Swarm Attack Marks Grim "Inflection Point In History Of Warfare" The latest

Washington's National Security Strategy Sends Mixed Signals To India Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack, The worsening of Indo-US ties under Trump 2.0 has been one of the most unexpected foreign policy outcomes of his second presidency thus far, which this analysis here argues is due to him wanting to punish India for refusing to subordinate itself to the US. Pakistani-US ties have inversely strengthened despite being very troubled under Trump 1.0, so much so that there’s been talk about Pakistan giving the US a commercial port for re-establishing its regional presence, which could have dual military purposes. This background explains why Trump 2.0’s new National Security Strategy (NSS) was

Federal Judge Rules California Can't Hide Child Gender Swaps From Parents A federal judge on Monday issued a permanent injunction - ruling that California can't prevent parents from learning when their children switch genders.  The U.S. flag and a judge's gavel, in this illustration taken on Aug. 6, 2024. Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration US District Court Roger T. Benitez (Bush) entered the injunction barring officials from enforcing state policies, writing in in a 52-page decision "The State’s desire to protect vulnerable children from harassment and discrimination is laudable," but that "the parental exclusion policies create a trifecta of harm: they harm the child who needs parental guidance

The New Battle For The Americas: Why The Western Hemisphere Is Becoming A Global Flashpoint Authored by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com, Below is a geopolitical map of the Western Hemisphere as I see it today. The principal geopolitical foes of the US in the Western Hemisphere—Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua—are firmly in the China and Russia camp. Other countries can shift depending on the outcome of recent elections. Here’s an overview of some of the most geopolitically important countries in the Western Hemisphere to help frame the broader picture. VENEZUELA A military confrontation over Venezuela appears increasingly likely. Since Hugo Chávez’s rise to power in 1999, Caracas has aligned

Ultraprocessed Food Makers Respond To MAHA Amid Record Lobbying Effort For much of the past year, America’s largest food manufacturers haven't been able to rebut Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s repeated claims that ultraprocessed foods are making Americans sick - something most Americans believe.  So instead of even trying to pretend their products are even the slightest bit healthy, the industry appears to have settled on a narrower counterargument; Yes, the food may be bad for you, but it's CHEAP! And in an era when grocery bills have become a political liability (and who cares about the long-term drag on the healthcare system), that may be

"This Is The Finale Of The Great Financial Reset"; 'Dr.Gold' Warns They're Gobbling Up All The Physical Supply Via Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com, Financial writer and precious metals expert Bill Holter (aka Mr. Gold) has been sounding the alarm of the profound risk in the financial system.   At the beginning of December, Mr. Gold warned about the record setting silver prices and said, “It’s pretty clear and pretty obvious that something behind the scenes is breaking.” What is “breaking” is the extremely leveraged futures markets with not enough physical silver to deliver.   Fast forward to the end of the month, and new record highs in gold and silver are

The Apocalyptic Shortage That Never Happened: Democrats' Tariff Doomsday Narrative Imploded   Remember earlier this year when President Trump was locked in a tit-for-tat trade war with China? Then, a broad coalition of Democrats, corporate media outlets, mainstream economists, and left-leaning think tanks warned that higher tariffs would spark pandemic-era supply-chain chaos and trigger price spikes for consumers. Two quarters later, those dire predictions have yet to materialize. MSM propagandists sounded the apocalypse alarm: * March: KOMO News: 'It's worse than COVID': Point Roberts seeks state aid amid US-Canada tariff crisis * April: NBC News: Product shortages and empty store shelves loom with

No Fat Ladies Heard Singing... Yet! Authored by James Howard Kunstler, > "We were so busy saving democracy that we forgot to tally. . . " > > - Joe Rogan on the 2020 election While you were busy decking the halls with boughs of holly, chomping spiced nuts and cheese straws, and quaffing the eggnog this Christmas, 2025, the USA was still suffering indigestion from the Nov 3, 2020 election, repeatedly throwing up in its mouth as reports dribbled in about voting irregularities around the country that long-ago dreary night when “Joe Biden” was so thumpingly voted-in as the 46th president. Newly-minted multi-millionaires Ruby Freeman

Blackstone's LivCor Settles DOJ's Alleged Rental Price-Fixing Claims Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, LivCor, one of the largest landlords in the United States, has entered into a proposed consent decree with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve price manipulation claims made by the department, the DOJ said in a Dec. 23 statement. On Jan. 7, the DOJ announced it was suing tech company RealPage and six landlords, including LivCor, which operates under asset management company Blackstone. The department accused the landlords of using RealPage’s software to participate in algorithmic pricing schemes that harmed renters. In its latest statement, the DOJ

"New Phase Of An Old Conflict": Nigeria Open To More Joint U.S. Strikes On Terrorists Update (1518ET): Hours after the U.S. Christmas Day strikes on ISIS-linked targets in Nigeria, Nigerian officials signaled openness to continued American military involvement to counter what President Trump called "terrorist scum." The new campaign follows attacks in which radical Islamists had killed Christians. "I believe this is an ongoing thing and we're working with the US," Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar told Channels Television on Friday. "It's a new phase of an old conflict." Tuggar said Nigeria provided intelligence to the U.S. for the strikes. He noted that he was

"You Know Who I Am, Right?" Viral Video Shows Entitled Democrat Taunt Cops, Play Victim During DUI Stop Authored by Jonathan Turley, What is the next worst thing to being arrested for DUI just before Christmas with a viral video of you berating an officer? Being confused with that person by irate citizens because you share the same name, Maria Bucci. It is particularly unwelcome when you are a substance abuse counselor. On December 18, Maria Bucci, a 51-year-old Rhode Island political figure, was pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving by an officer in East Greenwich. The Chairwoman of the Democratic Committee in Cranston is shown

Comer: The 'Walls Are Caving In' On Tim Walz House Oversight Chairman James Comer declared this week, “The walls are caving in on Tim Walz,” as a federal probe into Minnesota's sprawling fraud scandal intensifies. Whistleblowers, mayors, and lawmakers now enter the fray, spotlighting waste in social programs that hammer everyday residents.  The fraud Comer described reaches far beyond accounting errors. Minnesota taxpayers now must endure cuts to basic services because billions of dollars earmarked for social programs vanished due to fraudulent schemes, most of which are tied to the state's Somali community. The scale of the fraud has forced state officials

Mortgage Rates Dip To 3-Year-Lows As Home-Sellers Outnumber Buyers Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, The weekly mortgage rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.18 percent for the week ending Dec. 24 as the housing market continues to lean in favor of buyers. The 6.18 percent rate is the lowest level since 2022 and a slight decline from 6.21 percent the previous week, according to Freddie Mac data. The current rate is 0.86 percentage points below the yearly peak of 7.04 percent reached in mid-January. The recent rate decline comes as the U.S. housing market registered 37.2 percent more sellers than

NATO Countries Scare Their Populations On Christmas With Hyped 'Russian Nuclear Bombers' Flight On Western Christmas, December 25, Russian nuclear-capable bombers conducted a "scheduled" flight over waters in the Arctic region, specifically in neutral waters of the Norwegian and Barents Seas. This prompted "fighter jets of foreign countries" to escort them and mirror them from afar, Russia's defense ministry has confirmed. While the country origins of the Western aircraft which responded remain unclear, the Kremlin had notified NATO in advance of the somewhat routine flight path. The bodies of water in question lie north of Scandinavia and northwest of Russia, which is quite far from

Georgia Secretary Says 2020 Election Blunder 'Does Not Erase Votes' Authored by Kim Jarrett via The Center Square, Five years after the 2020 election, challenges in Georgia continue despite multiple audits. The latest questions surround the December meeting of the Georgia State Election Board. Nearly two weeks after the meeting, some continue to claim Fulton County was fraudulent because tabulation tapes were not signed that included 315,000 votes. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger addressed the accusations in a social media post. “Georgia has the most secure elections in the country and all voters were verified with photo ID and lawfully cast their ballots. A clerical error at the

Amid Nike's Worst Drawdown Since late 70s, UBS Flags Emerging Bullish Signals Nike was thrust into the news flow earlier this week after Apple CEO Tim Cook placed a buy order for 50,000 Class B shares at a weighted average price of $58.97. The stock has been locked in a four-year bear market, as recent earnings data point to softer demand in China and mixed channel trends in North America. Looking past all the gloom, UBS analyst Jay Sole told clients Friday about UBS Evidence Lab's latest global sportswear survey, which points to "bullish" trends for Nike. Sole said the survey suggests "the

Why Christmas Is The Most Stressful Week For The Diesel Market Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com, * Holiday logistics lock in diesel demand regardless of price, draining already thin inventories. * Europe’s post-Russia diesel dependence makes year-end disruptions especially risky. * Christmas reveals structural fragility in distillate markets before crude prices reflect it. Santa runs on diesel. Every year, the global holiday economy depends on a short, unforgiving surge in distillate consumption that powers trucks, ports, warehouses, refrigeration, and backup generation, all under winter operating conditions. That commercially driven holiday cheer strains logistics and exposes how thin the margin has become

Poland Intercepts Russian Recon Plane Near Its Airspace On Christmas Poland said it scrambled fighter jets on Thursday to intercept a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near its airspace over the Baltic Sea, and reported that dozens of objects crossed into the country from Belarus overnight, with some officials saying these are intentional provocations timed during a holiday period. The Polish military said that jets intercepted, visually identified and escorted the Russian surveillance plane away from their area of responsibility while it was flying over international waters close to Poland's airspace. Image: AFP It said in reference to both the aircraft activity and large balloon

Judge Blocks Trump Admin From Deporting 'Anti-Disinformation' Activist Under Visa Ban Authored by Catherine Yang via The Epoch Times, A federal judge granted a temporary injunction on Dec. 25 to block the Trump administration from detaining and deporting Imran Ahmed, an activist among those recently subjected to visa restrictions by the State Department for alleged censorship. Ahmed, CEO of U.S.-based Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), is a British citizen and a legal permanent resident of the United States. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the visa bans on Dec. 23 while condemning the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), naming several former EU officials,

The $16 Billion Question Haunting Mark Zuckerberg A new study finds Facebook hosts the vast majority of social media scams, and critics argue it is because Meta prioritizes profit over protecting users, according to the New York Post. Internal documents obtained by Reuters show Meta projected $16 billion — about 10% of revenue — from scam ads last year. Experts say the company only bans advertisers when its systems detect a 95% probability of fraud, while charging higher ad fees to suspicious buyers, a system critics describe as “pay to play.” Former California prosecutor Erin West says the documents prove fraud is a

Government said the move was due to its ‘unrestricted respect for human rights’ in the face of US aggression Venezuela has said it has carried out its largest release of political prisoners this year, claiming to have freed 99 people detained for taking part in protests after the 2024 election, widely believed to have been stolen by the dictator Nicolás Maduro, as it comes under increasing military pressure from the US. Civil society organisations have treated the news with caution and stressed that the releases were insufficient, noting that at least 900 political prisoners remain in the country. Continue reading...

Temperatures plunge below -50C in the Yukon, while swaths of US experience springlike weather Northern Canada has been gripped by an intense and prolonged cold spell, with temperatures hovering between -20C and -40C for weeks. On Tuesday, Braeburn in the Yukon recorded -55.7C, its coldest December temperature since 1975. Meanwhile, Mayo and Dawson endured 16 consecutive nights below -40C, with Mayo plunging to -50.4C on Monday. Whitehorse also recorded 10 nights when temperatures dropped below -30C. Continue reading...

Low-cost tech and joined-up funding have reduced illegal logging, mining and poaching in the Darién Gap – it’s a success story that could stop deforestation worldwide There are no roads through the Darién Gap. This vast impenetrable forest spans the width of the land bridge between South and Central America, but there is almost no way through it: hundreds have lost their lives trying to cross it on foot. Its size and hostility have shielded it from development for millennia, protecting hundreds of species – from harpy eagles and giant anteaters to jaguars and red-crested tamarins – in one of the most

Government poised to officially protect 200,000 hectares of remote Patagonian coastline and forest Chile’s government is poised to create the country’s 47th national park, protecting nearly 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of pristine wilderness and completing a wildlife corridor stretching 1,700 miles (2,800km) to the southernmost tip of the Americas. The Cape Froward national park is a wild expanse of wind-torn coastline and forested valleys that harbours unrivalled biodiversity and has played host to millennia of human history. Continue reading...

Winning margin of 28,000 votes announced a month late but before review of all ‘inconsistent’ ballots was completed Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura has been declared the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that dragged on for almost a month and was marred by fraud allegations and criticism of interference by the US president. The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and former mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the centre-right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 votes. Continue reading...

New conviction over plunder of state fund substantially increases six-year term in separate case The jailed former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has been sentenced to an additional 15 years after he was found guilty of abuse of power, in the biggest trial yet in the multibillion-dollar fraud scandal related to the state fund 1MDB. Najib’s conviction substantially increases the six-year prison term he is already serving for a separate case related to the 1MDB graft scandal, one of the world’s biggest financial frauds in which billions were plundered from the now defunct sovereign wealth fund. Continue reading...

$10bn Trump-approved sale to Taipei triggers Beijing sanctions against firms such as Boeing and Northrop Grumman China’s foreign ministry has hit US defence companies including Boeing with sanctions after Donald Trump approved a large package of arms sales to Taiwan. The ministry said on Friday that the measures – against 10 individuals and 20 US firms including Boeing’s production hub at St Louis in Missouri – would freeze any assets the companies and individuals hold in China and bar domestic organisations and individuals from doing business with them. Continue reading...

Thai reports claim Cambodia carried out overnight attacks ahead of officials from both countries meeting for a third day of negotiations on Friday Cambodia has accused Thailand of intensifying its bombardment of disputed border areas, even as officials from the two countries attend a multi-day meeting aimed at negotiating an end to deadly clashes. The neighbours’ longstanding border conflict reignited this month, shattering an earlier truce and killing more than 40 people, according to official counts. About a million people have also been displaced. Continue reading...

Japanese strike-back capabilities and coastal defences to be boosted while Beijing accuses Tokyo of fuelling a ‘space arms race’ Japan’s cabinet has approved a record high defence budget as tensions with China continue to spiral, with Beijing this week accusing Tokyo of “fuelling a space arms race”. The draft defence budget for the next fiscal year – approved on Friday – is more than ¥9tn ($58bn) and 9.4% bigger than the previous budget, which will end in April. The increase comes in the fourth year of Japan’s five-year program to double its annual arms spending to 2% of GDP. Continue reading...

Elections will be first since military seized power in 2021, but analysts say vote is far from a step toward democracy Myanmar is preparing to go to the polls for the first time since its military seized power in a coup in 2021, but with its former leader behind bars, its most successful political party disbanded and roughly a third of the country either disputed or in rebel hands, few believe claims by its military rulers that its 28 December election will be “free and fair”. “This is not for the people, this is for themselves,” says Pai, 25, who fled Myanmar

Conditions ease south-west of Perth as residents evacuated from Boddington fire on Christmas Day allowed to return * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia is bracing for two extremes over the next week, with parts of the west facing days of extreme fire danger and a cyclone and flood watch issued for parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory. Residents who evacuated their homes ahead of an out-of-control bushfire near Boddington, 130km south-east of Perth, were able to return home on Saturday, Western Australian fire authorities said. Continue reading...

Beachgoers from the Tweed to Batemans Bay have been asked to be on the lookout – and every nest reported to TurtleWatch NSW will be protected * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The first sea turtle nest discovery of the breeding season has led to a rescue mission and kicked off a campaign to protect an endangered species. The nest, found recently on the New South Wales north coast, was too close to the water’s edge and the eggs needed to be moved to save them from being inundated by waves and the tides. Continue reading...

Pair say they were ‘exhausted, very shaken and feel so lucky’ after being spotted by air wing officers late on Christmas Day * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Two paddle boarders who were rescued after being swept more than 10km across Victoria’s Port Phillip Bay on Christmas Day say they are exhausted and shaken but grateful to have survived. Victoria police said the pair set out from Portarlington on the Bellarine peninsula about 3pm on Thursday but drifted out into the bay when conditions deteriorated and were swept all the way to Wyndham harbour in Melbourne’s

Police say there is no indication John Argento, 47, poses specific risk to the Jewish community, but believe he may be able to help with investigation * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Victoria police have named a man they want to interview in relation to a suspected arson attack on a car sporting a “Happy Chanukah” sign in Melbourne on Christmas Day. Police said emergency services were called to a vehicle displaying a mobile billboard that had been set alight in the driveway of a property in St Kilda East about 2.50am on Thursday. Continue reading...

Bushfire that is believed to have started at Boddington goldmine still uncontained, while monsoon trough soaks north-eastern Australia * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australians on both sides of the country have been warned to remain vigilant as floods and fires threatened their homes on Boxing Day. A bushfire continued to rage about 200km south-east of Perth on Friday morning, although nearby residents were no longer being urged to leave their homes. Continue reading...

Meeting on Sunday will follow flurry of US, Russian and Ukrainian talks, but Putin has shown little sign of softening Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to travel to the US for a planned meeting with Donald Trump on Sunday, as Washington continues to push for a possible peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow. The Ukrainian president said the visit would take place at a location in Florida – widely expected to be Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort – in what would be the latest development in a diplomatic push that began in November with the circulation of a 28-point US plan shaped with input from Russian

Russian state has tolerated parallel probiv market for its convenience but now Ukrainian spies are exploiting it Russia is scrambling to rein in the country’s sprawling illicit market for leaked personal data, a shadowy ecosystem long exploited by investigative journalists, police and criminal groups. For more than a decade, Russia’s so-called probiv market – a term derived from the verb “to pierce” or “to punch into a search bar” – has operated as a parallel information economy built on a network of corrupt officials, traffic police, bank employees and low-level security staff willing to sell access to restricted government or corporate databases. Continue

Cláudio Valente and one of victims, Nuno FG Loureiro, both studied at notoriously challenging Técnico in Lisbon As investigators in Massachusetts work to piece together a motive for the murders of two Brown University students and an MIT physics professor, former classmates of the suspected gunman and one of the victims have been asking if the roots of the tragedy lie in their shared experience at a top university in Portugal. The suspected gunman, Cláudio Valente, and one of those killed, Nuno FG Loureiro, studied at the prestigious and notoriously challenging University of Lisbon engineering and technology school, known locally as Técnico,

Retirees with ‘fantastic hunger for education’ taking part in university organised events in record numbers Record numbers of Swedish retirees are enrolling in a university run “by pensioners for pensioners” amid increased loneliness and a growing appetite for learning and in-person interactions. Senioruniversitet, a national university that collaborates with Sweden’s adult education institution Folkuniversitetet, has about 30 independent branches around the country which run study circles, lecture series and university courses in subjects including languages, politics, medicine and architecture. Continue reading...

Sergei Udaltsov, Putin critic affiliated with the Communist party, convicted of justifying terrorism A court in Russia on Thursday convicted a pro-war activist and critic of Vladimir Putin of justifying terrorism and sentenced him to six years in prison. Sergei Udaltsov, the leader of the Left Front movement that opposes Putin and is affiliated with the Communist party, was arrested last year. Continue reading...

Defence minister instructs military to respond with force in West Bank, where he said attacker was from A Palestinian motorist ran over a man and stabbed a woman in northern Israel, killing both, Israeli emergency services say. The assailant, from the occupied West Bank, was shot and wounded by a civilian at the scene on Friday and taken to hospital, Israeli police said. Continue reading...

Alleged strikes close to UAE-backed forces follow Riyadh’s call for STC to withdraw from newly seized provinces A separatist group in southern Yemen that this month seized two oil-rich provinces has claimed that Saudi Arabia has fired warning airstrikes directed at its forces. Videos issued on Friday by media linked to the United Arab Emirates-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) showed airstrikes that it said were close to its positions in Wadi Nahab, Hadramaut province. Continue reading...

Fourteen countries, also including France, Italy, Ireland and Spain, say actions ‘violate international law and risk fuelling instability’ Fourteen countries, including Britain, Canada and Germany, have condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying they violate international law and risk fuelling instability. Israel approved a proposal last Sunday for the new Jewish settlements, which brings the recent total to 69, according to the far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich. Continue reading...

Strikes were latest violation of year-long ceasefire and targeted what Israel said were Hezbollah sites Israel has carried out several airstrikes in southern Lebanon on what it said was Hezbollah infrastructure, as a new year’s deadline for the Lebanese state to disarm the group in the south of the country loomed. Israeli warplanes bombed the valleys of Houmin, Wadi Azza and Nimeiriya in the southern Nabatieh area on Wednesday morning. Residents reported that Israeli drones continued to hover over the area and other areas of south Lebanon and its eastern Bekaa valley after the strikes. Continue reading...

Justice secretary urged to ‘show a bit of humanity’ with protesters severely ill after refusing food for weeks * Who are the Palestine Action hunger strikers and what are the health risks? Families and supporters of Palestine Action-affiliated hunger strikers have pleaded with David Lammy to meet them in an attempt to end the impasse over the protest that has left some of them severely unwell. On Monday, as the protest reached a dangerous stage, lawyers for the hunger strikers sent a legal letter claiming that by refusing a meeting the justice secretary had failed to comply with the Ministry of Justice’s

Group of 120 experts including Joseph Stiglitz urge fresh debt restructuring plan given scale of destruction A group of the world’s top economists – including the Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz – have called for Sri Lanka’s debt payments to be suspended as it tackles the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah. More than 600 people were killed and hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed across the island, in what Sri Lanka’s president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, called the “largest and most challenging natural disaster in our history”. Continue reading...

UN body to study possibility of integrating centuries-old practices into mainstream healthcare From herbalists in Africa gathering plants to use as poultices to acupuncturists in China using needles to cure migraines, or Indian yogis practising meditation, traditional remedies have increasingly being shown to work, and deserve more attention and research, according to a World Health Organization official. A historical lack of evidence, which has seen traditional practices dismissed by many, could change with more investment and the use of modern technology, according to Dr Shyama Kuruvilla, who leads the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre. Continue reading...

Researcher in Kerala rainforest sounds alarm after being told frogs had died after being handled by humans A group of endangered “galaxy frogs” are missing, presumed dead, after trespassing photographers reportedly destroyed their microhabitats for photos. Melanobatrachus indicus, each the size of a fingertip, is the only species in its family, and lives under logs in the lush rainforest in Kerala, India. Their miraculous spots do not indicate poison, as people sometimes assume, but are thought to be used as a mode of communication, according to Rajkumar K P, a Zoological Society of London fellow and researcher. Continue reading...

British Indian Ocean Territory commissioner’s appeal against decision last year rejected by judges in London Appeal court judges have backed a decision that dozens of asylum seekers were unlawfully detained on one of the world’s most remote islands, rejecting an appeal on Tuesday by the commissioner for the territory. Exactly a year ago, on 16 December 2024, a judge ruled that Tamils who arrived on the island of Diego Garcia, a UK and US military base, after a shipwreck while they were trying to reach Canada to seek asylum, were unlawfully detained there for three years in conditions described as “hell on

Opposition claims SIR process being used to disenfranchise minority groups to benefit Narendra Modi’s government India’s political opposition has warned that democracy is under threat amid a controversial exercise to revise the voter register across the country, which critics say will disenfranchise minority voters and entrench the power of the ruling Narendra Modi government. An debate erupted in India’s parliament last week over the special intensive revision (SIR) process, which is taking place in nine states and three union territories, in one of the biggest revisions of the country’s electoral roll in decades. Continue reading...

Royals are expected to make separate trips after Donald Trump paused implementation of agreement King Charles III and the Prince of Wales are expected to make separate trips to the US in 2026 as part of a campaign to revitalise a trade deal with Donald Trump, it has been reported. Advanced talks on a visit by the king are said to be under way, the Times reported. The paper suggested that Charles’s visit to the US was likely to take place in April. Continue reading...

Starting as a roadie and guitar tech, Bamonte joined the band in 1990 after its breakthrough album Disintegration Perry Bamonte, longtime guitarist and keyboard player for the Cure, has died aged 65. The musician, known affectionately as Teddy, passed away after a short illness over Christmas, the band announced on their website. Continue reading...

Exclusive: UK an ‘unwelcoming, racist’ country for overseas health workers, according to medical colleges leader * ‘The NHS would collapse within hours’: BME staff say Britain fails to appreciate their roles Foreign doctors and nurses are increasingly shunning the NHS because anti-migrant rhetoric and rising racism have created “a hostile environment”, the leader of Britain’s medics has warned. The health service is being put at risk because overseas health professionals increasingly see the UK as an “unwelcoming, racist” country, in part because of the government’s tough approach to immigration, Jeanette Dickson said. Continue reading...

Emergency services were called to property in Brimscombe Hill in Gloucestershire at about 3am Three people are missing after a house fire in the early hours of the morning on Boxing Day, police have said. Emergency services were called to a report of a fire at a property on Brimscombe Hill, near Stroud, Gloucestershire at about 3am on 26 December. Continue reading...

Coastguard calls off search for Matthew Upham and second man who went missing off Budleigh Salterton in Devon Tributes have been paid to one of two men who went missing during a Christmas Day swim. The family of Matthew Upham issued a tribute to him on the Instagram account of his antiques business, saying he was “deeply loved and forever missed”. Continue reading...

At least three people killed across state since atmospheric river storms began earlier this week Mudslides buried cars and homes up to their windows in a California mountain town as a powerful storm system brought the wettest Christmas in decades to the southern part of the state. As much as 12in of rain fell across the area on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service, triggering flooding and washing out roads. Continue reading...

Stevenson Charles, Yusuf Minor and Naod Yohannes, all incarcerated for murder, recaptured on Tuesday Three men who escaped from a Georgia jail for three days hijacked a Lyft rideshare as part of a brazen attempt to flee to south Florida, according to newly released federal court documents. Stevenson Charles, 24; Yusuf Minor, 31; and Naod Yohannes, 25, are accused of escaping from the DeKalb county jail, located 15 miles (24km) outside Atlanta, on Sunday before being recaptured in Florida on Tuesday. Continue reading...

CBS News editor-in-chief argues in memo that network’s priority was ‘comprehensive and fair’ coverage * Who is Bari Weiss, the new editor-in-chief of CBS News? CBS News’ editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, defended her decision to pull a 60 Minutes episode on allegations investigating a notorious prison in El Salvador, arguing that the network’s priority was to ensure its coverage was “comprehensive and fair”. In the memo sent to staff on Christmas Eve, Weiss said news organizations needed to do more to win back the trust of the American public and vowed that “no amount of outrage” would “derail us”. Continue reading...

Alain Rodriguez Colina was working at a scrapyard that the UPS cargo plane crashed into on 4 November The death toll from the UPS cargo plane crash in Kentucky in early November has risen to 15 after a man injured on the ground died on Christmas from his wounds, according to officials. Alain Rodriguez Colina was working at a scrapyard that was one of the businesses into which UPS Flight 2976 crashed as it took off from Louisville’s airport on 4 November. Kentucky’s governor, Andy Beshear, and Louisville’s mayor, Craig Greenberg, each confirmed that Rodriguez died on Thursday. Continue reading...

Texas governor among those to call for expanded access to ibogaine, said to help with treating veterans with PTSD For half a century, psychedelics largely belonged to the cultural left: anti-war, anti-capitalist, suspicious of the church and state. Now, one of the most politically consequential psychedelic drugs in the US – ibogaine – is being championed by evangelical Christians, Republican governors, military veterans, and big tech billionaires. Many of them see ibogaine, an intense psychedelic derived from a central African rootbark, as a divine technology. In fact, some pointedly do not refer to it as a psychedelic, given the apparent baggage of

Airlines in the United States have cancelled or ‌delayed thousands of flights on Friday, according to flight tracking website ‍FlightAware, due to winter storm Devin during peak holiday travel. A total of 1,382 flights were cancelled and 4,685 delayed on Friday afternoon, the website said. The National Weather Service (NWS) predicted snowfall across the upper Great Lakes region through the day, with the storm’s focus moving towards the northeast. “Road conditions will be treacherous for those...

Two sisters testified at Harvey Weinstein’s most recent criminal trial. Kaja Sokola accused the disgraced movie mogul of sexual assault. Ewa Sokola was called as a witness to boost her claims but ultimately ended up helping the defence. Now, Ewa Sokola is suing Kaja for defamation, alleging in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court that the psychotherapist and ex-model’s public remarks amount to libel and are damaging Ewa’s reputation and business as a cardiologist in Poland. Ewa...

Venezuela released 99 prisoners on Christmas Day, officials said, with the government calling it a goodwill gesture as it assesses arrests made after President Nicolas Maduro’s re-election. “The national government and the justice system have decided to evaluate each case individually and, in accordance with the law”, released 99 citizens “as a concrete expression of the State’s commitment to peace, dialogue and justice”, the Ministry of Penitentiary Services said. “They were deprived of liberty...

Somalia and the African Union reacted angrily on Friday after Israel formally recognised its northern region of Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” – the first country to do so. Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has for decades pushed for international recognition, which has been the main priority for President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi since he took office last year. But a Somali foreign ministry statement warned the decision was a “deliberate...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday he will meet US President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend. Zelensky told journalists the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks, and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90 per cent ready”. An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelensky said, but he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalised by the end”. The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial...

An Islamist militant group has claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed at least eight worshippers at a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of Homs, Syria, on Friday. In a statement on Telegram, Saraya Ansar al-Sunna announced that its fighters “detonated a number of explosive devices” inside the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque. The group – which was formed after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad – previously claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed 20 people at a Damascus church...

The fascination with cryptocurrencies shows no sign of fading. With the passage of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (Genius) Act in July, US lawmakers added to the sense that crypto is here to stay. But an uncomfortable issue remains unresolved: are cryptocurrencies a genuine innovation capable of serving the common good, or a speculative threat to financial and social stability? Not all cryptocurrencies are alike. Unbacked ones, such as bitcoin or Ethereum,...

Forcibly recruited into a rebel militia affiliated with Islamic State, two boys have revealed the “torment” of living in its camps as members committed massacres in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeast. The two minors freed from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) gave Agence France-Presse an unprecedented account of the shadowy group, notorious for its extreme brutality. Paluku, a frail 12-year-old, spent two months with the ADF after rebels killed his mother during an attack on his...

Israel is cashing in on soaring international demand for combat-proven air defence systems, as analysts say the billions of dollars' worth of weapon sales will significantly expand the country’s influence beyond the Middle East. The weapon exports to Europe, Asia and Africa are helping Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration overcome its diplomatic isolation over the Gaza war by making the Jewish-majority state a key long-term security partner for its customers. “Exporting air defence...

Inside an abandoned control room at Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a worker in an orange hard hat gazed at a grey wall of seemingly endless dials, screens and gauges that were supposed to prevent disaster. The 1986 meltdown at the site was the world’s worst ever nuclear incident. Since Russia invaded in 2022, Kyiv fears another disaster could be just a matter of time. In February, a Russian drone hit and left a large hole in the New Safe Confinement (NSC), the outer of two radiation...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Pentagon says Chinese aircraft carriers, 6th-gen fighters make US ‘vulnerable’ A Pentagon report contends that China’s development of its aircraft carriers, sixth-generation fighters and nuclear arsenal illustrates Beijing’s...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US launched a “powerful and deadly” strike against Islamic State forces in Nigeria, after spending weeks accusing the West African country’s government of failing to rein in the persecution of Christians. In a Christmas evening post on his social media site, Trump did not provide details or mention the extent of the damage caused by the strikes. But a video posted by ‍the Pentagon showed at least one projectile launching from a warship. A US...

Britain’s King Charles called for “compassion and reconciliation” at a time of “division” across the world in his Christmas Day message on Thursday. The 77-year-old monarch said he found it “enormously encouraging” how people of different faiths had a “shared longing for peace”. Charles praised individuals who risked their lives to save others in situations of violence, including those caught up in the killings at a Jewish event at Bondi Beach in Australia this month. “Individuals and...

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel took aim at US President Donald Trump as he warned on Thursday about the rise of fascism in an address to UK viewers dubbed “The Alternative Christmas Message”. The message, aired on Channel 4 on Christmas Day, reflected on the impact from the second term in office for Trump, who Kimmel said acts like he is a king. “From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year,” he said. “Tyranny is booming over here.” The channel began a tradition of airing an...

As 2025 draws to a close, Wall Street’s love affair with Chinese equities is in full swing. While the relationship between global investors and China has been a rocky one, market sentiment is now about varying degrees of bullishness. In a panel discussion moderated by JPMorgan at the annual meeting of the Emerging Markets Trading Association earlier this month, some of the speakers said China’s stock market had undergone a shift from “uninvestable” to “irresistible”, especially in the...

Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro endorsed his son ‌Flavio’s 2026 presidential bid on Thursday in a statement from a hospital where he ‍underwent a scheduled hernia operation that doctors said went smoothly. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes authorised Bolsonaro to leave prison, where he is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup, for the surgery. Police were ordered to stay outside ⁠his room where computers and mobile phones were prohibited. Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, 44,...

Moscow has made an offer to Paris regarding jailed French researcher Laurent Vinatier, who is facing espionage charges that could see him sentenced to 20 years in a Russian prison, the Kremlin said on Thursday. The surprise public overture comes as both Russia and France have expressed interest in possible talks between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron. Vinatier, who works for a Swiss conflict mediation NGO and was jailed in June 2024, is serving a three-year sentence for failing to...

Britain’s Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie attended the royal family’s traditional Christmas Day church service ‌on Thursday, while their father Andrew, recently stripped of his titles ‍over ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was absent. King Charles and Queen Camilla led senior royals to a church in Sandringham in eastern England, about 175km (110 miles) northeast of ⁠London, greeting well-wishers in crisp winter weather. Charles and Camilla walked ahead while the Prince and...

Russian air attacks caused death and destruction across Ukraine, authorities in different regions reported on Thursday, with Russian authorities reporting similar Ukrainian attacks on their territory. A Russian drone attack in the southwestern Odesa region on the Black Sea left one person dead and two injured. Damage was caused to port and energy infrastructure, the regional authorities said. In the Kharkiv region bordering Russia in Ukraine’s northeast, one person died and 15 were injured. And...

Mercedes-Benz on Thursday said it completed the acquisition of a 3 per cent stake, worth 1.34 billion yuan (US$191 million), in motorcycle maker-turned-autonomous driving systems developer Chongqing Qianli Technology, three months after the deal was first announced. The transaction involved Mercedes-Benz Digital Technology, the German carmaker’s tech unit, and Shanghai-listed Lifan Holdings, which transferred 135.6 million shares of Qianli at 9.87 yuan per share. Before the transaction, Lifan...

The first physical store of Chinese-owned fast-fashion giant Shein – which opened in central Paris in November amid heated protests – has become a new retail destination for many denizens of the French capital as they rush to finish their Christmas shopping. Hundreds of customers wandered among the racks of clothing, rifling through items carrying tags with rock-bottom prices, including a €66.99 (US$79) leather jacket and a €78.99 puffer coat. Those wishing to use the fitting rooms at the Shein...

A powerful winter storm is lashing Southern California, prompting California Governor Gavin Newsom to proclaim a state of emergency in Los Angeles and neighbouring counties. Coastal communities are bracing for multiple months’ worth of rain in just a few days, while areas charred by wildfires face the risk of mudslides. A third person has died, according to the Los Angeles Times. Meanwhile, a flood watch was extended for most of Southern California. The state has pre-positioned emergency...

In an appeal on Thursday during a message and blessing given at Christmas and Easter, Pope Leo called for an end to all global wars. Speaking from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below, he lamented conflicts, political, ‌social or military, in Ukraine, Sudan, Mali, Myanmar, ‌and Thailand and Cambodia, among others. Leo said people in Ukraine, where Russian troops are threatening cities critical to the country’s eastern defences, have been...

Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry Asfura won Honduras’ presidential election, electoral authorities said on Wednesday, ending a weeks-long count that has whittled away at the credibility of the Central American nation’s fragile electoral system. The election is continuing Latin America’s swing to the right, coming just a week after Chile chose the far-right politician Jose Antonio Kast as its next president. Asfura, of the conservative National Party, received 40.27 per cent of the vote in the...

The US Justice Department said Wednesday that it may need a “few more weeks” to release all of its records on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after suddenly discovering more than a million potentially relevant documents, further delaying compliance with last Friday’s congressionally mandated deadline. The Christmas Eve announcement came hours after a dozen US senators called on the Justice Department’s watchdog to examine its failure to meet the deadline. The group, 11 Democrats and a...

Just before Christmas, US President Donald Trump has unleashed a fresh blast of vitriol at late-night comedy talk shows, saying comedian Stephen Colbert is a “pathetic train wreck” who should be “put to sleep”. Colbert’s The Late Show is scheduled to end in May 2026, a decision his fans say smacks of censorship. In a late-night social media post, Trump said that Colbert “has actually gotten worse” since being “terminated by CBS, but left out to dry”. “Stephen is running on hatred and fumes – A...

Hundreds of worshippers gathered for mass at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Wednesday night as the Palestinian city ushered in its first festive Christmas in more than two years, emerging from the shadow of the war in Gaza. Throughout the conflict that began with Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023, a sombre tone had marked Christmases in the biblical birthplace of Jesus Christ. But celebrations returned in full swing Wednesday with crowded parades and music in the occupied West...

Brazil is preparing to waive visa requirements for Chinese citizens travelling for tourism and business, local media reported on Wednesday citing government sources, in a move that would mark a significant shift in policy and deepen ties with its largest trading partner. The planned measure, expected to be announced in early 2026, would put Brazil on a reciprocal footing after China unilaterally granted visa-free entry to Brazilians for short stays. According to local newspaper Valor Economico,...

The European Union is back in the crosshairs of the Trump administration over its tech rules, which Washington denounced as an attempt to “coerce” American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose. The US State Department said on Tuesday it would deny visas to a former EU commissioner and four others, saying they “have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states – in each case targeting American speakers and American companies”. Trump has vowed to punish countries that...

Algeria’s parliament unanimously approved on Wednesday a law declaring France’s colonisation of the country a crime, demanding an apology and reparations in a move Paris condemned as “hostile”. Standing in the chamber, lawmakers wearing scarves in the colours of the national flag chanted “long live Algeria” as they applauded the passage of the bill, which states that France holds “legal responsibility for its colonial past in Algeria and the tragedies it caused”. The vote comes as the two...

A US federal judge on Tuesday upheld President Donald Trump’s US$100,000 fee to process H-1B visa applications, while also acknowledging it could “inflict significant harm on American businesses and institutions of higher education”. In a 56-page opinion, US District Judge Beryl Howell wrote that the president has “broad statutory authority” to address “a problem he perceives to be a matter of economic and national security”. The US$100,000 application fee announced in September gave companies...

South Korea and the US have agreed to pursue a separate agreement to formalise Seoul’s right to build nuclear-powered submarines, and working-level talks will begin early next year, the Asian country’s national security adviser said on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters after visiting Washington, Wi Sung-lac said he discussed the issue and other security arrangements with senior US officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. His trip was aimed at...

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the latest version of a plan to end the Russian invasion would freeze the front line, but still pave the way for Ukrainian withdrawals and the creation of demilitarised zones. “We now have draft documents that largely reflect the joint Ukrainian-American position, in some respects the American position,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv on Tuesday. “Some issues are still to be resolved.” Still, Zelensky offered an upbeat assessment, saying the...

Following the burglary of a warehouse belonging to Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com on Monday, a judicial source has confirmed an investigation has begun on charges of theft by an organised gang. The incident came in the middle of the Christmas shopping season and took place in the town of Dugny, a northern suburb of Paris that serves as a midpoint between the French capital and its main freight hub, Charles de Gaulle Airport. Suspects neutralised the warehouse’s video surveillance system, with...

Three people were killed by a bomb in Moscow on Wednesday after two police officers approached a man acting suspiciously near the site where a senior general was killed two days ago ⁠by a car bomb that Russia said was planted by Ukrainian intelligence. A string of Russian military figures and high-profile supporters of the war in Ukraine have been assassinated during the nearly four-year-old conflict. Ukrainian military intelligence has said it was responsible for a number of ‍the...

US President Donald Trump’s newly appointed envoy to Greenland said on Tuesday that the Republican administration is looking to begin a conversation with residents of the semi-autonomous Danish territory about the best way forward for the strategically important island. In his first extended comments since being appointed to the role this week, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said the Trump administration isn’t going to “go in there trying to conquer anybody” or try to “to take over anybody’s...

UK police said two new charges, of rape and sexual assault, had been issued on Tuesday against British comedian and actor Russell Brand. The media personality turned anti-establishment influencer already pleaded not guilty in May to five charges - one count of rape, one of oral rape, two of sexual assault and one of indecent assault between 1999 and 2005. “These new charges are in relation to two further women and are in addition to the charges issued to Brand in April 2025 which involved four...

The US State Department announced on Tuesday it was barring five Europeans it accused of leading efforts to pressure US tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints. The Europeans, characterised by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “radical” activists and “weaponised” non-governmental organisations, fell afoul of a new visa policy announced in May to restrict the entry of foreigners deemed responsible for censorship of protected speech in the United States. “For far too long,...

China accused the United States at the United Nations on Tuesday of violating international law and destabilising the Caribbean region, as Washington defended its seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers and vowed to intensify pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government. Speaking at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council requested by Venezuela and backed by China and Russia, Beijing said US actions carried out under the banner of counter-narcotics enforcement amounted to unilateral...

The US Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to let Donald Trump send National Guard troops to the Chicago area ‌as the Republican president expands the use of the military for domestic purposes in a growing number of Democratic-led jurisdictions, a policy critics call an effort to punish adversaries and stifle dissent. The justices let stand for ‍now a judge’s order blocking the deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops in a legal challenge brought by Illinois officials and local leaders. The...

A news segment about the Trump administration’s immigration policy that was abruptly pulled from 60 Minutes was mistakenly aired on a television app after the last-minute decision not to air it touched off a public debate about journalistic independence. The segment featured interviews with migrants who were sent to a notorious El Salvador prison called the Terrorism Confinement Centre, or CECOT, under US President Donald Trump’s aggressive crackdown on immigration. The story was pulled from...

In November 2024, US president Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping made their first substantive joint statement about the national security risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI). Specifically, they noted that both the United States and China believe in “the need to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons”. That may sound like diplomatic low-hanging fruit, since it would be hard to find a reasonable person willing to argue that we should hand control over...

A private jet carrying Libya’s military chief, four other officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday after take-off from Turkey’s capital, Ankara, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane. The Libyan delegation was in Ankara for high-level defence talks aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries, Turkish officials said. Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah confirmed the death of General...

US President Donald Trump flew on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet “many more ‌times than previously has been reported,” according to an email from a New York prosecutor that forms part of a new batch of documents about Epstein released Tuesday by the US Justice Department. In an ‍email dated January 7, 2020, the unidentified prosecutor wrote that flight records showed Trump had flown on Epstein’s private jet eight times during the 1990s. Among those were at least four...

Two men were found guilty on Tuesday of plotting to kill hundreds in an Islamic State-inspired gun rampage against the Jewish community in England, a planned attack investigators say shows the resurgent risk posed by the militant group. Police and prosecutors said Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, who went on trial a week after an unrelated deadly attack on a synagogue in the nearby northwest city of Manchester in October, were Islamic extremists who wanted to use automatic firearms to...

She went on testosterone to help with her menopausal symptoms. The effects had unexpected consequences for their marriage.

There is no F.D.A.-approved testosterone product for women. Insurance won’t cover it. Many doctors won’t prescribe it. It’s become a cultural phenomenon.

She was the first to crawl, the first to cut a tooth, the first to recognize her name, and the last to die. And, like her sisters, she resented being exploited as part of a global sensation.

It’s uncertain whether the proposal will reach the statewide ballot in November, but some billionaires like Peter Thiel and Larry Page may be unwilling to take the risk.

An Afrikaner flew to the United States expecting protection. Instead, he has spent months locked up in Georgia alongside hundreds of other immigrants.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has sought the meeting since the latest U.S.-led push for peace got underway.

The president is planning to meet with the leader of Ukraine in Florida just as the lawmakers are applying some pressure.

Ryan Wedding rose to fame as a Canadian Olympic athlete, but the authorities say he became one of the world’s biggest drug lords, who ordered an informant executed.

The passage of Proposition 50, which redrew California’s congressional map, means that all of the state’s conservative north is likely to be represented by Democrats.

A former roadie, Mr. Bamonte joined the band in 1990. He played on five albums and in hundreds of shows and was “a vital part of the Cure story,” the band said.

The Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly is critically endangered, with the last known larva living in a lab in New Mexico.

Here are the best nonfiction essays of the year, according to me.

It’s become easier to imagine the moment when Trump’s mystique finally evaporates.

The development carries potential benefits for both sides but still faces stiff international opposition, 34 years after the region broke away from Somalia.

The grand jury received testimony that the man had acted to defend his son, who had faced bullying before the shooting, a local prosecutor said.

Shoes. A phone. Receipts. A comb. Traces of wild nights and hurried days are all around us.