Minimalist News

Flesh-Eating Screwworm Cases Rise To 15 After New Detections In Texas: USDA Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on June 21 that three more cases of the flesh-eating New World screwworm have been detected in Texas, bringing the total in the United States to 15. The latest cases involved a lamb in Crockett County and two calves in Edwards County, Texas. The USDA said in a post on X that it would immediately begin releasing sterile flies outside the affected areas in Crockett County following the new detection there. According to

Iran Oil Exports Through Hormuz Hit Wartime High While other countries line up on either side of Hormuz, hoping for clarity whether they actually can cross this time, Iran isn’t wasting any time moving its oil out of the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz after the US lifted the naval blockade outside the chokepoint and the U.S. and Iran discuss a framework on a lasting peace deal. Even as Western shippers and insurers remain wary of the conflicting signals about how open the Strait of Hormuz really is - after all it was opened once before just to close

Chinese Grid Operators Resist Plans To Boost Renewables To Power AI Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com, Grid operators are concerned that the Chinese drive to hike the share of renewable electricity powering AI would raise the risks for power firms as peak demand at data centers is difficult to forecast. Industry analysts and officials have told Reuters that the Chinese strategic priority of having renewables power the majority of electricity demand at data centers by 2030 may not be feasible. “From what we understand, they (data centers) cannot really adjust power consumption load much,” Reuters quoted Pei Shanpeng, a

"Optimism Has Picked Up": Retail Operators See Consumer Relief After Gas Prices Tumble As soon as the national average for 87-octane gasoline at the pump dipped below the politically sensitive $4-a-gallon level early last week, we observed multiple institutional desks begin to forecast that the light at the end of the tunnel was beginning to materialize for consumers, especially working-class households that have been financially battered by surging fuel prices over the past several months. UBS analyst Mark Paski told clients about " early signs of a turn in U.S. consumer discretionary ." Then, Piper Sandler Chief Global Economist Nancy

No New Laws Required... Private Biometrics Are Building The Digital ID Prison Authored by Patti Johnson via The Burning Platform blog, That “black pill moment” is arriving faster than many realize. Not primarily through sweeping new government mandates, but through private companies quietly normalizing biometric data collection under the banners of “security,” “fraud prevention,” and “child protection.” They are erecting the infrastructure for a world where you cannot easily participate in daily life, commerce, or even basic online access without surrendering your face, your license scan, or other biometrics. Once the systems exist and the data flows, laws can simply

Biden Judge Sparkle Sooknanan Blocks Trump Admin SAVE Act Database A Biden-appointed federal judge - who quit her previous job as partner at the Jones Day law firm because they did work for the 1st Trump administration - just ruled against the administration's plan to create a database to verify citizenship to be able to vote in US elections. Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ruled on Monday that officials across several government agencies " haphazardly combined and repurposed the private information of millions of Americans, including citizenship data that they knew to be unreliable ," in order to comply with the Trump

Waymo Recalls Robotaxis After Cars Drive Into Construction Zones Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times, Waymo has recalled its entire fleet of vehicles after some of its driverless cars were caught speeding into freeway construction zones. The voluntary recall on June 13 of the California-based tech company’s 3,871 vehicles is to fix its 5th-generation Automated Driving System (ADS) software so that it will recognize and avoid construction zones. “Waymo’s mission is to be the world’s most trusted driver, and the data shows that we’re making roads safer in the communities in which we operate,” a Waymo spokesperson told

China Gold Imports Soar To Two Year High, As Hong Kong Gold Bar Imports Surge Ahead Of Clearing System Launch China’s monthly gold imports reached their highest in more than two years in May, showing the world’s biggest buyer’s appetite for bullion remained resilient as prices remained under pressure; the number prompted some to scratch their heads as to where all this gold is going in light of tepid official central bank purchases, coupled with the lowest gold withdrawals from the Shanghai Gold Exchange since the covid outbreak. As Bloomberg reports, imports were around 163 tons last month, the highest

Ron Paul: Trump's Attempt To End The Iran War Infuriates The Uniparty Authored by Ron Paul Against the odds, the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the US and Iran appears to be holding, after threats and counter-threats. It may collapse, but it has survived a first round of talks between the two sides in Switzerland over the weekend. President Trump started a war on Iran against all sober guidance and in violation of the US Constitution's requirement that only Congress can declare war. There must be a reckoning for our elected leaders who violate their oath of office, the Constitution,

JD CEO Warns 700,000 Delivery Workers Will Be Replaced By Robots "Sooner Or Later" The founder of China's largest e-commerce and logistics companies fired off a warning shot to hundreds of thousands of delivery workers that the rise of automation and AI adoption in the last-mile will result in hundreds of thousands of job losses "sooner or later." Richard Liu, founder and chair of JD.com, told the audience at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Forum in Beijing on Sunday, according to the Financial Times , that 700,000 delivery workers will be replaced by robots "sooner or later." "In the future,

"F**k Around And Find Out": Philly DA's Campaign Slogan Comes Back To Bite Him Authored by Jonathan Turley, District Attorney Larry Krasner is something of a bargain for Philadelphia. According to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, he has not only been serving as the city’s prosecutor but effectively as its top public defender. Krasner’s record is the subject of a scathing new opinion, which accuses him of leading a dishonest effort to undermine major criminal cases to engineer new trials for defendants. Krasner has long cultivated a reputation as the champion of the left. We were both liberal students in the

"I Want Guns": Bill Maher Blasts California's "Ridiculous" Self-Defense Laws Bill Maher just cornered California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna when he admitted he 'wants a gun,' - but that it makes "no sense" to own one in California because "you might be the one to go to jail" for using it. Khanna's answer was some grade-A bullshit. As The Vigilant Fox notes: Bill Maher confronts Ro Khanna over California's "ridiculous" gun laws. Maher caught Khanna off guard when he revealed he wanted a gun — but complained it makes "no sense" to own one in California, because "you might be

When Will Gasoline Prices Return To Pre-War Levels? Authored by Robert Rapier via OilPrice.com, Oil futures have quickly priced in a favorable outcome from U.S.-Iran diplomacy, but physical oil flows, shipping networks, and refinery supply chains take much longer to normalize. Low global inventories and the need to replenish strategic and commercial stockpiles could create significant demand for crude even after supply disruptions ease. Gasoline prices are influenced by refining capacity, inventories, distribution costs, and seasonal demand, meaning pump prices may remain elevated even if crude oil continues to fall. Gasoline prices have started to fall, and that is welcome

Judge Quashes "Blatantly Unlawful" DOJ Subpoenas Targeting Walz And Ellison In ICE-Obstruction Case A federal judge has quashed six DOJ grand jury subpoenas issued to Minnesota officials, including Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties. US District Judge Patrick J. Schlitz ruled that the subpoenas amounted to harassment, and said that the Justice Department inquiry into whether Minnesota officials obstructed or impeded law enforcement is illegitimate. "Initiating a criminal investigation in order to harass political opponents or to coerce them into taking official action,

Slouching Toward Peace With Washington In Good-Cop/Bad-Cop Mode Authored by James Howard Kunstler, ". . .They are running the Accords logic to its conclusion: every adversary becomes a counterparty, every conflict becomes a deal, every closed economy becomes an investable market." - Patrick Wood That squawking you hear is Iran getting dragged kicking and screaming out of its jihad delirium into something that might look like reality-based relations with the rest of the world. They have to loudly declare that it’s not happening, even as it’s happening, to gaslight their own home folks, who might be getting a little sick

Definium Soars As Much As 50% After LSD-Based Depression Drug Meets Late-Stage Clinical Trial Goal Definium Therapeutics shares surged as much as 54% on Monday, reaching $37.90 in morning trading as investors reacted positively to developments in the biotech company's research pipeline and potential strategic opportunities. Definium Therapeutics said its LSD-based depression drug, DT120, met the main goal of a mid-stage trial, reducing depression scores by 8.1 points more than placebo after six weeks, according to Reuters . Patients showed improvement within one week after a single dose, with benefits remaining at 12 weeks. Analysts had said a 4–5 point

Nadella's Hedge: Microsoft Wants To Make AI Models Cheap - Then Own The Rails They Run On The entire AI capital cycle - roughly $700 billion in hyperscaler capex this year, an estimated $2 trillion-plus through 2028 - is collateralized by one belief: that intelligence is scarce, and therefore priceable . That belief is already under strain. Per-token inference prices have fallen on the order of 200× in a year, and the only thing holding revenue up is volume; the cost of intelligence is dropping even as the cost of deploying it climbs. Hyperscaler free cash flow is rolling over.

The Technical Backdrop: When Flows Meet A Hawkish Fed Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, Here’s the setup most investors are underrating right now . Over the next two weeks, the tape will trade on plumbing rather than fundamentals . We just cleared the largest options expiration in history. Quarter-end pension selling comes next, and then July 1 reopens the passive-money firehose into a market that already routes forty cents of every S&P 500 dollar into ten stocks. The whole market technical backdrop points higher into July. But Kevin Warsh’s first meeting as Fed chair just put a rate HIKE

Another Ukrainian Drone Wave On Moscow Temporarily Shuts Down All Four Capital Airports Yet another major Ukrainian drone attack wave on Moscow has shut down all regional airports, and sent parts of the capital city into temporary panic, and involved dozens of drones shot down overnight. Over 80 drones were intercepted in the past 24 hours, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Monday on Telegram. He didn't offer numbers in terms of casualties or damage, but emergency services were dispatched to several areas , given there was debris fallout and key neighborhoods impacted. Image source: Astra Across Russia more broadly, hundreds

Nursing School Owner Pleads Guilty After Issuing Nearly 3,000 Fake Diplomas Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times , Carleen Noreus, who owned two nursing schools in South Florida, has pleaded guilty to her role in a scheme that sold nearly 3,000 fraudulent nursing diplomas , the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a June 18 statement. A person receives a vaccine in Los Angeles, in this file photograph. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images The defendant, 52, from Plantation, Florida, was president of the Carleen Home Health School Inc. in Plantation and vice president of Carleen Home Health School

City’s police force faces investigation of 16 officers accused of disproportionately targeting Black and Arab residents Montreal’s mayor has called for a halt to random police checks as the city’s police force grapples with an internal investigation into racism and racial profiling by 16 officers. Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada told reporters last week that her husband, who is Black, had been repeatedly stopped by police while driving. Continue reading...

Unions condemn ‘insensitive’ internal cybersecurity test sent to healthcare workers in Newfoundland and Labrador For years, healthcare staff in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador have felt overworked and underappreciated. Turnover, burnout and thinning resources were pushing workers in the sector to a breaking point. So when the email titled “June Holiday” arrived in thousands of inboxes, they felt a moment of overdue joy. Continue reading...

Trump-admiring Abelardo de la Espriella has vowed to ‘disembowel’ the left and kill criminals like ‘rats and cockroaches’ When more than 20 women accused a Colombian evangelical pastor in 2012 of sexually abusing them, the defendant’s lawyer sought to discredit the allegations by telling the court that they were “ trepadoras ” – a pejorative term meaning social climbers. He ultimately secured his client’s acquittal – although the case remains under review by the supreme court – but footage of the remark resurfaced during Colombia’s presidential campaign, sparking outrage among many progressive voters. Continue reading...

Leftwing opponent alleges vote count irregularities after Trump-endorsed lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella secures narrow majority A Trump-admiring far-right millionaire lawyer and self-styled “outsider” has defeated a leftwing senator by a razor-thin margin to win Colombia’s presidential runoff, in an election that promises to mark a dramatic shift in the country’s decades-long armed conflict. With 99.99% of ballots counted in the preliminary vote tally, the far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella had secured 12.96m votes, or 49.66%, just 250,830 more than the leftist senator Iván Cepeda, who received 12.7m votes, or 48.7%. A further 1.6% of ballots were cast blank.

Frontrunner Abelardo de la Espriella has vowed to return to full-scale military confrontation with armed groups Ghost of far-right paramilitaries hovers over Colombia’s presidential runoff vote Colombians are going to the polls in a presidential runoff expected to trigger a dramatic shift in the country’s decades-long armed conflict, now at its most violent point since the landmark 2016 peace agreement between the government and most of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). Polls show the frontrunner is the Trump-admiring far-right lawyer and millionaire businessman Abelardo de la Espriella, who has vowed to abandon President Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” plan

Written in 1947, Kiyoshi Tanimoto’s account of the horrors of the atomic bomb attack will be published in August and is being made into a film The memoir of a man who survived the horrors of Hiroshima is to be published for the first time this summer after its discovery in a US archive. The 230-page memoir was written almost 80 years ago by Kiyoshi Tanimoto, who witnessed the city’s destruction after the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. He will now be portrayed in a major feature film by Takehiro Hira, whose acclaimed roles include the detective in the

Rob Jetten acknowledges grief and pain of Moluccan families as crowdfunded monument unveiled in Rotterdam The Dutch prime minister, Rob Jetten, has formally apologised for the “heartless” mistreatment of thousands of Moluccan soldiers who fought for the Dutch colonial army during Indonesia’s struggle for independence. About 12,500 people – men who had served in the Royal Dutch East Indies and their families – came from a group of Indonesian islands to the Netherlands in 1951, many having been given no choice. They thought it would be a temporary evacuation after Indonesia had won independence. Continue reading...

Strong winds and heavy rain batter Slovenia, while France experiences atypical heatwave Severe thunderstorms swept across the Balkans last week, bringing widespread destruction to parts of the region. The storms developed as unstable hot air lingered over the Adriatic Sea while a cold front plunged south-eastward. The front began its journey on 10 June in Slovenia, where the Slovenian Environment Agency recorded 65mph gusts at Ljubljana airport. Heavy rain also fell widely across the region with 23mm reported in Kranj. Continue reading...

Online uproar follows Canadian brand’s use of taiko drum at sponsored festival held to celebrate Chinese culture The activewear brand Lululemon has apologised after a promotional event held on the Great Wall of China appeared to mistakenly feature a Japanese drum, prompting an uproar. The Canadian-headquartered company, known for its upmarket leggings, has been growing rapidly in China and arranged for a yoga festival to take place in late May on a section of the wall near Beijing. Continue reading...

Major operation launched after spate of pet thefts in Ho Chi Minh City, according to local media Police in Vietnam have rescued more than 400 cats in a bust of a cat meat crime ring in Ho Chi Minh City, according to animal welfare groups and local media reports. More than 40 cats were reunited with their owners after the multiday operation last week, but several dozen of those rescued have died due to the harsh conditions in which they were found, the groups said. Continue reading...

Minor party says it will support Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes this fortnight in the Senate. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Ben Roberts-Smith invitation to war memorial event ‘appropriate’, says Marles Richard Marles says it’s appropriate that the accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will attend the official opening for the centrepiece of the revamped Australian War Memorial. It’s appropriate that Ben Roberts-Smith be given an invite to this, as a Victoria Cross recipient. The Victoria Cross recipients have been invited to this, which is appropriate, I’m

Minor party says it has also negotiated an extension to the inquiry into controversial changes to the NDIS Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Greens will support the Albanese government’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes under a deal that will delay and tweak Labor’s planned overhaul of the national disability insurance scheme. The minor party announced its position on Tuesday morning, clearing the path for Labor to pass its contentious budget centrepiece before federal parliament rises for the winter break. Continue reading...

Experts thought H5N1 bird flu would more likely reach Australia’s north. But an arrival from Antarctica had always been possible Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Brown skuas and giant petrels are a common sight offshore in southern Australian waters in the winter months, but they will rarely risk venturing on to land. So when two of these birds were discovered sick – on beaches a few kilometres apart on Western Australia’s southern coastline – it was a sign something might be wrong. Continue reading...

Signal agencies in Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada sound alarm after Trump blocks foreign nationals from Anthropic’s Fable AI model Powerful AI models capable of devastating new cyber attacks on governments and businesses are mere months away, intelligence agencies for the Five Eyes have warned in a rare joint statement, urging leaders to “act now”. The surprising public intervention by signals agencies for Australia, the US, the UK, New Zealand and Canada comes after the Trump administration earlier this month decided to block “foreign nationals” from using a much-hyped AI model built by tech company Anthropic,

Share of people who say cultural diversity has been good for the nation plunges from 90% in 2024 to 73% in 2026, Lowy Institute survey finds Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia is undergoing a historic decline in support for multiculturalism, according to the Lowy Institute’s annual poll, amid a groundswell of fear rooted in mounting economic pessimism and an increasingly illiberal and chaotic world order. The Lowy poll is the latest edition of the country’s longest-running survey of Australians’ opinions of the world

José Luis Ábalos found to have taken bribes on Covid-era public contracts in damaging blow to Pedro Sánchez Spain’s supreme court has jailed the former transport minister José Luis Ábalos for 24 years for taking bribes on public contracts for sanitary equipment such as ‌face masks during the Covid pandemic. Ábalos’s aide, Koldo García, was jailed for 19 years in a trial that is one of several scandals to have enveloped the government of Pedro Sánchez over recent months. Continue reading...

Russia intercepted 300 Ukrainian drones across the country and temporarily suspended operations from Moscow airport Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy also responded to Starmer setting out his plans to resign as Britain’s PM , telling him he would always be “a welcome guest” in Ukraine for his support to the wartorn country. In a statement on his social media, he said: “ Keir, thank you for all our cooperation, your support, and the joint decisions that have helped make our Europe and our protection of life stronger. The United Kingdom has been, is, and will remain among the world’s leaders. Here in

Number of countries issue alerts with sustained and rising temperatures expected to present danger to health Two children aged four and two have been found dead in their family’s car in south-eastern France, the local prosecutor said, as a large swathe of western Europe suffers a ferocious heatwave forecast to shatter absolute temperature records. “The causes of death are yet to be determined, but the heat is the leading line of inquiry,” said Hélène Mourges, the prosecutor in the town of Carpentras, where the temperature was expected to exceed 39C (102.2F) on Monday afternoon. Continue reading...

Ursula von der Leyen, Friedrich Merz and Volodymyr Zelenskyy say British PM helped increase security European leaders have paid tribute to Keir Starmer after he announced his resignation as the British prime minister, triggering the postponement of an EU-UK summit. The European Council president, António Costa, said: “For sure we need to postpone it, but we are reassessing the opportunity to hold this new summit … Continue reading...

Norway is supposedly one of world’s most gender-equal countries, yet sexual violence remains prevalent across society In many ways, the case of Marius Borg Høiby, who was sentenced to four years in prison last week after being found guilty of offences including domestic violence and two counts of rape, was exceptional. The king’s 29-year-old step-grandson grew up in the public eye alongside the royal family, mixing in Oslo’s wealthiest circles, partying at exclusive nightclubs and having afterparties at his family’s official royal residence. Continue reading...

The vice president said the move represented a ‘major milestone’ in ending Iran’s nuclear programme According to Palestinian news agency Wafa , a high school student was killed and several other civilians were injured earlier today in an Israeli attack on a civilian vehicle in Gaza City. The Gaza health ministry says at least 1,021 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ‘ceasefire’ between Israel and Hamas came into effect in October 2025. In a post on X, Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said US-Iran talks have concluded “successfully” ⁠in Switzerland, adding that discussions produced agreement on the

Other measures include Washington lifting sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports and reopening the strait of Hormuz Iran has agreed to allow UN nuclear inspectors back into the country as part of an agreement under which Washington will lift sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports and the strait of Hormuz will reopen, the US vice-president, JD Vance, has said. Long-term independent monitoring of Iran’s nuclear programme, which it says is for energy purposes only, was in effect halted last summer after Israel and the US attacked the country. Tehran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in response to strikes

Talks expected to continue for rest of the week despite disruption caused by US president’s threat to bomb Iran and kidnap negotiating team High-stakes talks between the US and Iran are expected to continue for the rest of the week in Switzerland, after a tense start that saw Iranian negotiators walk out in protest at a stream of threats issued by Donald Trump on social media. The US president had threatened to bomb Iran and even to kidnap the Iranian negotiating team unless the strait of Hormuz was reopened, forcing mediators Qatar and Pakistan to continue negotiations in the background.

Objections come as Trump threatens to renew attacks on Iran if it doesn’t rein in its proxy in Lebanon US political figures from left and right voiced fresh objections on Sunday to Donald Trump’s provisional deal with Iran – even as the US president made new threats while Vice-President JD Vance hailed progress during the first round of direct peace talks in Switzerland. Negotiations in Lucerne between the US and Iran have already run into difficulties, after Trump wrote on Truth Social that “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. “If they don’t, we’ll

This live blog is now closed. Trump threatens fresh attacks on Iran as peace talks take place in Switzerland There ⁠was and is ‘no restriction’ on ⁠Israeli ⁠soldiers ​to act to eliminate ⁠threats in Lebanon, and that troops would not withdraw from the security zone, ‌Israeli defence minister ‌Israel Katz said in a statement on Sunday, according to Reuters. Israeli strikes killed at ‌least 20 people in Lebanon ​on Saturday, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported, ⁠a day after a ​ceasefire with ​Iran-backed Hezbollah ​took effect ​after ‌months of ​escalating ​violence. Continue reading...

Directive aimed at government workers, but reports of wider implementation spark warnings of future Afghanistan-wide prohibition The Taliban have ordered a sweeping ban on the use of smartphones by government officials – in what some analysts say could foreshadow broader, population-level restrictions. In a directive issued by the Taliban’s military courts and reviewed by the Guardian, the ban was to take effect this week and prohibits “high rank, low rank, general mujahideen, or service staff” from using mobile phones. Continue reading...

Campaigners welcome announcement cutting levies on menstrual health items, but say their work to end period poverty is ‘far from over’ Pakistan plans to abolish “period tax”, in a victory for young campaigners who had taken the government to court over the charges. Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced that sanitary towels and related items were “daily necessities that are indispensable for women’s health, dignity and full participation in social activities”, and said he intended to remove the sales tax. Continue reading...

Experts say criminal networks favour Sri Lanka due to ease of getting tourist visas and limited regulation on sim cards and internet connections Experts have warned that Sri Lanka is emerging as a hub for transnational cybercrime, after a crackdown in south-east Asia pushed Chinese-run criminal networks to relocate their vast scam operations. Sri Lankan police spokesperson Fredrick Wootler said the country was witnessing an “alarming increase of cybercrimes” perpetrated by people entering the country as tourists, and then illegally setting up scam operations targeting people across the world. Continue reading...

Relations at lowest ebb in years after Washington refuses to apologise for deaths in strait of Hormuz Fury has continued to mount in India over the US’s refusal to apologise for the deaths of Indian sailors killed in strikes in the strait of Hormuz, further straining relations between the two countries as their leaders meet at the G7 summit in France this week. Last week, three Indian seafarers, who were working on board commercial oil tankers, were killed when the US launched missile strikes on the vessel as it sailed through the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Arrest of Min Zin, who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy, comes just month after Trump visit to Beijing China has arrested a US scholar who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy on suspicion of spying. Min Zin was suspected of “engaging in espionage activities that endanger China’s national security,” China’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Lin Jian, said on Friday. Continue reading...

The UK has lost its sixth prime minister in a decade. How did Keir Starmer go from landslide victory to resigning in two years? When the former human rights lawyer, full of ambition, won a landslide in the 2024 general election, hope was in the air. Keir Starmer had arrived on a promise to repair 14 years of Conservative damage. Just two years later, with anger and disappointment swelling across the country, he has been forcibly ejected from the job. He’s a decent man, we’re told repeatedly, but he’s the most disliked prime minister since modern polling began. As Starmer

Technology to be used in six more areas next year as critics say tens of thousands of people will be forced into ‘digital police lineup’ The Metropolitan police is to expand its use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology, first into London’s West End by Christmas and then into a further six areas next year. The new cameras will be fixed, and could be attached to street furniture such as lamp-posts. Critics said the new plans mean tens of thousands of people will be forced into a “digital police lineup”. Continue reading...

Company wants to sell objects despite agreements to only display them at museums and traveling exhibitions A plan to auction more than 100 artifacts salvaged from the wreckage of the Titanic – including personal belongings, currency, kitchen items and decor – is facing pushback from the US government, according to newly unsealed court documents. RMS Titanic Inc, the company that owns exclusive salvage rights to the famous wreck deep in the North Atlantic, wants to sell the artifacts for the first time despite previous agreements to only display them at museums and traveling exhibitions. Continue reading...

UK Health Security Agency also issues red heat alert for six English regions, indicating risk to life even for the healthy Met Office forecasters have issued a rare red weather warning for Wednesday and Thursday in the face of extreme heat and humidity, while a red heat health alert has been issued in England indicating “a risk to life for even the healthy population”. The weather warning covers southern Wales as far west as Swansea, and an area of England that includes London and runs from the inland areas of Kent across to Somerset, as far north-west as Birmingham, and

Move for greater prominence on social media comes as ministers warn online misinformation risk becoming ‘existential for our democracy’ Plans to hand established broadcasters and media companies greater prominence on digital platforms such as YouTube and TikTok have been unveiled, as ministers warned online misinformation risked becoming “existential for our democracy”. In proposals that set up a new clash with global tech companies, content from the likes of the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 would have to be awarded more promotion by their algorithms – with special rules considered for times of social unrest or crisis. Continue reading...

City hails victory after US officials sued over ordinance that limits LA’s cooperation with immigration authorities A California court has dismissed a lawsuit filed ⁠by Donald Trump’s administration against Los Angeles over a city ordinance limiting ⁠its cooperation with federal ⁠immigration ​authorities. Fernando Olguin, a judge in the central California US district court rejected the administration’s argument that the city’s policy was unconstitutional. ⁠He gave the administration permission to file an amended complaint. Continue reading...

While warehouse fires are often extinguished in a day, the Boyle Heights blaze is on its sixth day. Here’s what to know Los Angeles firefighters are on their sixth day of battling a fire at a massive warehouse near downtown that stores frozen food. Smoke has billowed from the warehouse, which was covered in solar panels and insulated like a freezer, filling the air surrounding the roughly 500,000-sq-ft (46,450-sq-meter) facility. Continue reading...

21st Century Road to Housing Act, which aims to boost supply and stop investors buying up homes, heads to House Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox The Senate on Monday passed a bipartisan measure aimed at lowering housing costs by streamlining construction and permitting, ending months of fraught negotiations on a priority for both parties ahead of November’s midterm elections. The 21st Century Road to Housing Act would limit investors’ ability to buy homes, waive some federal permitting rules in a bid to ease new construction, and authorize pilot programs to

President says ‘vandals’ to blame for algae blooms and peeling paint as $14m renovation to undergo further repairs The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool is set to be drained again after Donald Trump said on Monday – without providing proof – that five people were arrested for vandalism and five more are under investigation in connection to the algae blooms and peeling paint that appeared weeks after his ill-fated $14m renovation attempt . “It’s not a lot of damage, but we’ll probably have to let the water out and refix it. They went in there with a knife,” Trump told reporters,

Firms including BP and 7-Eleven accused of coordinating prices to ‘wring more money from pockets of consumers’ Gas ⁠station ​operators including BP, Circle K, Marathon, 7-Eleven, Walmart and Albertsons were sued on Monday by California drivers ⁠who accused them of using artificial intelligence to boost prices at the pump. According to a proposed class action, the defendants ⁠violated California’s main antitrust law, the Cartwright Act, by using an AI-based tool that ​uses data from competing gas ‌stations to “coordinate high prices ‌and wring more money from the pockets of consumers”. Continue reading...

A midday shooting in Montreal killed three people on Monday, including a police officer, a civilian and the alleged gunman, triggering rare levels of shock across the Canadian city. The bloodshed took place in a partly Jewish neighbourhood that includes kosher markets and restaurants but police declined to comment on what the motive might have been and whether the incident amounted to a hate crime or act of terror. French language public broadcaster Radio Canada said the shooter was connected to...

China, which now conducts more clinical drug trials than the US, still lags in the quality and commercial reach of its biomedical science, according to a recent survey of senior US leaders in industry and academia. The ‌poll, conducted by Cure Innovation Index, found that China is seen as the clear leader in two out of six sectors: clinical development and supply chain. It found that the US leads in moving experimental products through to large-scale production, capital, and commercialisation...

At ⁠least 18 people died in France, including two children left in a hot car, as a heatwave hung over Europe, smashing temperature records in several cities on Monday. As schools in France closed or modified timetables, forecasters in Britain predicted temperatures could break records for June this week. The temperature in Bordeaux in France’s western wine country rose to 41.9 degrees Celsius (107.4 Fahrenheit), breaking a record set last August. In Poitiers in central France it reached 41.2...

Beijing congratulated Colombia on its presidential run-off and said it would work with the incoming government of Abelardo de la Espriella, the far-right lawyer who has promised to pull the country back towards the United States. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun made the remarks on Monday, a day after a preliminary count put de la Espriella narrowly ahead of his leftist rival, Senator Ivan Cepeda. “China … congratulates Colombia on the smooth second round of presidential elections,” he...

European Central ⁠Bank President Christine Lagarde ⁠on Monday urged global leaders to discuss undervaluation of the Chinese currency as a facet of the imbalances endangering the global economy. China has ‌consistently denied that it manipulates its currency for trade advantage but its surging trade surpluses are one of several macroeconomic mismatches worrying leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations who met last week in ⁠France, along with chronic US deficits and Europe’s...

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that her country seeks to restart oil shipments to Cuba soon, a move that could provide much-needed relief as the island’s crises deepen given a lack of petroleum. Sheinbaum said her administration would seek to send the oil via commercial and privately owned firms instead of state-owned companies as it has done in the past. Mexico became a key fuel supplier to Cuba after the US attacked Venezuela in early January and halted critical oil...

Clive Davis, a former corporate lawyer who became one of the most influential figures in American rock and pop music as he fostered the careers of Bob Dylan, Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen and other stars, died ⁠on Monday at the age of 94. Davis, who was known as “the man with the golden ear” for his ability to identify potential hit ⁠songs, died at his home in Manhattan, The New York Times reported, having recently been hospitalised with respiratory...

Russian-held Crimea, a popular tourism destination, suspended children’s summer camps and tourist activities until September 1, its governor said on Monday, as the peninsula reels from a fuel crisis due to Ukrainian attacks on its supply routes. Supplies ‌of fuel and other products to Crimea have become strained as Ukraine has targeted both sea routes and supply roads from the north. The availability of petrol and diesel in Russia, the world’s third-largest oil producer, has also been undermined...

Tehran has agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country, US Vice-President J.D. Vance said on Monday, after a first round of US-Iran talks towards ending the Middle East war. “The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country,” Vance told reporters at Switzerland’s isolated Burgenstock resort, where his talks with Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf opened on Sunday. “That is a major milestone for the American people...

China’s exports of green-energy and battery products to the United States have accelerated amid demand in America’s fast-expanding AI sector, as cooling trade tensions and energy-security fears linked to the Iran war boost global appetite for renewable-energy equipment. Energy-related products posted some of the strongest gains among Chinese exports to the US last month, according to the latest customs data. Exports of unassembled photovoltaic cells surged 346 per cent year on year to US$39.96...

Alan Greenspan, hailed as the greatest Federal Reserve chairman when he retired in 2006 but derided for a severe financial crisis that followed barely two years later, died on Monday aged ⁠100, NBC News reported. Greenspan, who exerted a powerful influence on the US economy ⁠during his tenure at the helm of the Fed from August 1987 to January 2006, died at his home ⁠from complications of Parkinson’s disease, NBC reported, citing his wife Andrea Mitchell, who is the outlet’s chief Washington...

Keir Starmer announced his intention to step down as Britain’s prime minister on Monday, succumbing to intense party pressure as his popularity plummeted and rivals manoeuvred to challenge him. “Every decision I have taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party,” an emotional Starmer said in a short speech outside 10 Downing Street in London. Starmer, who up until Monday had resisted calls to stand aside, said he would remain...

China’s proactive role in stabilising global energy and fertiliser markets amid the Strait of Hormuz crisis shows the country is a defender of global supply chains, rather than a disruptive force as “hyped” by the West, Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang said on Monday. “The fact that Chinese manufacturing never falters or fails at critical moments fully proves that China is a participant, a builder and a defender of the global supply chain,” Ding said during the opening ceremony of the fourth China...

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. How ‘lying flat’ went from a niche subculture to mainstream phenomenon 2. The hidden cost of China’s electric car boom: a spiralling roadworks bill 3. Sin to salvation: how Singapore’s most notorious mall found God 4. Hong Kong TV host Lillian Sze loses battle with ovarian cancer 5. 100kg dad...

A huge blast at a Qatar gas hub killed 13 people and injured 66 others, the Gulf state’s energy minister said on Monday, one of the deadliest accidents at a Gulf energy facility. Authorities are investigating the cause of the incident, which energy minister Saad al-Kaabi said was “an accident and not sabotage or hostile in nature”, after Iranian attacks targeted energy facilities in the Gulf during the war in the Middle East. He announced “the tragic loss of 13 lives of our people who hold...

Canada is deploying two frigates and a submarine to the world’s largest multinational naval exercise this week, in what analysts describe as both a display of Indo-Pacific seriousness and a pointed rebuttal to Washington’s “freeriding” charge. HMCS Ottawa, HMCS Regina and submarine HMCS Corner Brook are slated to join the biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise (Rimpac) from Wednesday to July 31, which is expected to draw more than 25,000 military personnel from 31 countries, including Australia,...

A flamboyant US-backed lawyer who has never held public office narrowly won Colombia’s polarising presidential run-off on Sunday, swinging the country hard right and sparking violent protests. With almost all the votes counted, Abelardo de la Espriella held 49.66 per cent of the vote versus left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda’s 48.70 per cent. The 47-year-old’s slender win triggered demonstrations, but will ease ties with Washington and extend a regional right-wing wave centred on “iron fist” security...

People ⁠caught vandalising the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting ⁠Pool on Washington’s National Mall will be fully prosecuted, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Sunday. President Donald Trump has blamed vandalism for recent problems with the newly renovated pool, including its new ‌blue paint peeling off. Citations for vandalism have been issued, Pirro said on Sunday, adding that even minor crimes must be prosecuted to keep the US capital safe. The peeling paint was visible in the 610-metre-long...

US claims that an individual with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) tried to join the Iran team’s flight to the United States on Saturday are “fabricated and entirely baseless allegations”, the country’s football federation (FFIRI) has said. Markwayne Mullin, the US Homeland Security Secretary, told Fox News on Sunday that someone under the guise of being the Iranian federation (FFIRI) president tried to board the team’s flight to Los Angeles from Mexico for Sunday’s World Cup...

Ramiro Valdes, one of Fidel Castro’s earliest collaborators who was lauded at ⁠home as a hero of ⁠the Cuban revolution, has died at the age of ⁠94, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on social media on Sunday. The president did not provide a cause of death. A top government official for decades after Castro’s rebels came to power in 1959, Valdes held the honorary titles “Hero of the Republic” and “Commander of the Revolution” and formed part of the powerful Political Bureau of the ruling Cuban...

Thousands of Czechs rallied in the capital on Sunday to condemn a plan by the government led by populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis to overhaul funding for public broadcasters that is considered dangerous for their independence. The protesters gathered in front of the Czech public television offices in Prague, Czech Republic, to voice their support for the media a day before their staff plan to go on a warning strike, and after recent protest marches in the regional capitals and...

The United States expects talks with Iran to continue through the night in Switzerland, a US diplomat told reporters early Monday, as they work to permanently end the Middle East war. The current round of negotiations got off to a rocky start, with the Islamic Republic’s delegation walking out in response to US President Donald Trump’s threats to strike Iran over its support for Hezbollah Sunday. A US diplomat at the Swiss venue told reporters the Iranian delegation was involved in “robust...

Pope Leo on Saturday exalted the first American saint, Mother Frances Cabrini, as a model for Christians today to care for migrants in need, as he visited her birthplace during a day trip to northern Italy. Leo, who has clashed with the Trump administration over its migrant crackdown, urged young people in particular to learn about Cabrini’s life and service, once again confirming history’s first US pope as the heir to Pope Francis in prioritising the plight of migrants. Leo prayed before...

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party (PP) won a landslide victory in legislative polls held June 1, the election commission said on Sunday, giving it almost 90 per cent of the seats. Abiy has led Ethiopia since 2018, and is increasingly criticised for growing authoritarianism, in contrast to his early years when he won the Nobel Peace Prize for mending relations with neighbouring Eritrea. The PP was considered the overwhelming favourite in the country of 130 million, facing a...

Much of Europe was preparing Monday for an already fierce heatwave to intensify even further in the coming days, with some countries taking special measures to mitigate its effects. France recorded heat-related deaths over the weekend. A leading researcher reiterated that human-driven climate change had contributed to the recent record-breaking heatwave. In France, 49 of the country’s 96 mainland departments were on a red alert weather warning, up from 35 over the weekend. Officials announced...

Bolivia began showing signs of returning to normalcy on Sunday, a day after President Rodrigo Paz declared a state of emergency to resolve a 50-day social crisis that ‌had blocked the nation’s main highways. Early on Sunday, the Legislative Assembly overwhelmingly approved Paz’s decree, which aimed to restore transit and supply essential goods after protesting groups cut off key roads for weeks, stranding trucks and choking supplies of food, fuel and medicines to many areas. Sunday’s vote in...

The spectacle of US President Donald Trump thanking China for staying “neutral” with regard to the US-Israeli war against Iran would have been unthinkable a year ago. Yet at the Group of Seven summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on June 17, he credited Beijing – alongside Moscow – with preventing a full-blown catastrophe. His observation that China “could have sent in an oil ship with six destroyers alongside of it, on each side” but chose restraint, captured the essence of Beijing’s strategic...

Al Jazeera on Sunday rejected Israeli accusations that one of its journalists, killed in Gaza a day earlier, was a Hamas operative, as family and colleagues mourned the cameraman in the Palestinian territory. The Qatar-based network said in a statement that it “condemns the Israeli occupation army’s baseless accusations, which seek to justify its crimes against Al Jazeera journalists and cameramen in Gaza, most recently the killing of cameraman Ahmed Wishah”. The Israeli military said in a...

A deeply divided electorate will choose Colombia’s next president in a run-off on Sunday that pits a progressive against a conservative outsider, with both candidates tapping into fears of renewed internal conflict in the country. Voters will choose between businessman and lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella and Iván Cepeda, a lawmaker and heir to the political movement of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, the nation’s first leftist leader. The two defeated nine other contenders in a May 31...

Three fully laden India-linked supertankers have re-emerged in the Gulf of Oman, adding to increased reports of traffic moving both ways across the northern and southern routes of the Strait of Hormuz, while conflicting narratives over the status of transits persist. The Desh Vibhor, Desh Vaibhav and Sanmar Herald were observed in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea on Sunday, after having been last seen signalling their attempt to cross the Strait of Hormuz late on Friday, according to...

A new round of negotiations over the Middle East war was set to kick off on Sunday as Iranian negotiators and US Vice-President J.D. Vance arrived in the Swiss host city, even as Tehran said it was closing the Strait of Hormuz again over Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Before boarding his flight to Europe, Vance told reporters he hoped to “make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue. Those are the two big things that I think we’re going to be focused...

US Donald Trump has sparred with most of his fellow Group of Seven leaders at some point. But Italy’s Giorgia Meloni this week did something none of them dared: she escalated. Unlike Spanish Socialist Pedro Sanchez, one of the few leaders in Europe who has made political capital of being berated by Trump, the Italian prime minister had stood out as one of the few Europeans he actually liked: an outspoken conservative at ease talking Maga. But Meloni has also transitioned from a populist...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was considering his political future on Sunday, after rival Andy Burnham’s decisive election victory to parliament prompted more ministers in the governing Labour Party to call for him to go. Struggling with some of the lowest popularity ratings for any British leader in modern political history, Starmer could decide as soon as Monday whether to step aside ‌or fight a leadership contest against Burnham, one source said. The scale of victory Burnham won for a...

⁠Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said ⁠on Saturday that Ukrainian drones had struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Tyumen Region in western Siberia, more than 2,000km (1,200 miles) from Ukraine. He also said Ukraine had ‌developed new long-range drones capable of operating over more than 3,000 km. Speaking in his nightly video address, Zelensky offered thanks to the Ukrainian military’s special operations which “have reached Tyumen Region in Russia, including an oil refining facility. More...

US President ⁠Donald Trump said on Saturday that much of the water at the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington “probably” has to be drained for repairs following what he called “vandalism” of the site. “We met with ‌contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs, but will have them done as quickly as possible,” Trump wrote in a post on social media. Several alleged vandals have been arrested,...

Claude Guillemot, who ⁠co-founded French video-game ⁠publisher Ubisoft with ⁠his brothers in 1986, has died, the company said on Saturday. “Ubisoft was deeply saddened to learn of the death of ‌Claude Guillemot, co-founder of the group and chairman of Guillemot Corp, in an accident,” the statement said. “Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time. No further statements ⁠will be made at this time,” it added. Guillemot, 69, died ‌on Friday in a plane crash in La...

One of Iceland’s two remaining whaling ships set out this week to hunt the giant mammals after a two-year hiatus, local media and campaigners reported on Saturday. Iceland is one of only three countries that still openly permit whaling, alongside Norway and Japan – despite international opprobrium from the public and animal welfare organisations. A protester chained himself to the mast of the vessel before it left the port of Reykjavik on Friday. He climbed down in the evening and was escorted...

Iran on Saturday said that it closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and warned that while negotiators were going to Switzerland for talks with the US on their interim agreement, not much likely will happen if the fighting does not stop. US President Donald Trump, in response, threatened to impose US tolls in the crucial waterway if a final deal with Iran is not reached in 60 days, saying the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries...

US President Donald Trump escalated a diplomatic row with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday, accusing her of repeatedly seeking a photograph with him and linking the dispute to tensions over Iran and Nato. The clash has opened an unusually personal rift between Trump and one of Europe’s most prominent right-wing leaders, who had sought to cast herself as a bridge between Washington and the continent during Trump’s return to power. Trump had initially told Italian broadcaster La7...

A Spanish court has ordered the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Begona Gomez, to stand trial by jury for corruption and banned her from leaving the country, according to a court order released on Saturday. The case is one of several corruption affairs that have embroiled the Socialist leader’s family and former allies, threatening to topple his minority coalition government. Judge Juan Carlos Peinado ordered Gomez to hand in her passport and to appear before the court twice a month until a...

At least 30 people have died since the start of May in one camp for displaced civilians in northeastern Congo, a death rate that camp officials said was unprecedented, with some confirmed to have died from Ebola in a sign the disease could be spreading fast there. It was not possible to confirm the causes of all the deaths because patients or their relatives in Kigonze camp in Bunia – the epicentre of the Ebola ‌outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo – had until Thursday refused testing, a...

One person died after two freight trains collided on a bridge in Munich overnight, causing loaded cars to plunge to the road below, police said on Saturday. Two cars of one train fell about 5 metres (16 ft) from a bridge and came to rest at round 1.40am, according to a spokeswoman. It was unclear what caused the collision on the bridge, which caused one of the trains to derail. The nature of the cargo was initially unclear, however police stated it was not hazardous material and that there was...

Led by Japan, East Asia seems to be setting off along a road to nowhere – beyond tension and maybe eventual conflict. This may seem a harsh indictment yet consecutive Japanese leaders have shown a lack of vision on the constructive role their country could play in achieving regional peace and economic integration. The latest manifestation of this is Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s proposal this past week to G7 leaders in France to coordinate the stockpiling of critical minerals,...

Bolivia’s crisis intensified on Saturday as President Rodrigo Paz declared a state of emergency, enabling wider military ‌deployment to clear blockades and restore order after protests brought the economy to a halt over the past 50 days. The emergency declaration gives Paz broader constitutional tools to restore order, such as sending armed forces to clear blockades. While the order goes into effect immediately, the president must notify Congress of the state of emergency within 24 hours of...

US ⁠envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi were both headed to Switzerland for ⁠talks, Axios said on Friday, as a ceasefire in Lebanon appeared to revive efforts to turn an interim Iran war pact into a lasting regional deal. Switzerland ⁠continues ⁠to provide a “discreet and reliable setting” ‌at Burgenstock to facilitate discussions on implementing a memorandum of ⁠understanding between the US ‌and Iran, the Swiss ‌foreign ministry said ⁠on Saturday. It ⁠added in ‌a...

A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s providing federal data to states to check and purge their voter rolls violated several laws prohibiting the disclosure.

The city’s high-drama, high-spending primaries will offer clues of progressive momentum and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s influence.

Rates of gray divorce have risen sharply over the past few decades — and experts have a few theories as to why.

President Trump said the blooms of green algae and the peeling polyurethane had nothing to do with the rushed $16.4 million makeover he had ordered.

A federal judge ruled that the Agriculture Department lacked the authority to approve state waivers that restrict what SNAP participants can buy with their benefits.

He rose from a midlevel position at Columbia Records to become one of music’s most powerful executives, shepherding stars like Barry Manilow and Whitney Houston.

The label boss, who died on Monday, had a passion for hits — especially ones he masterminded — during his formidable tenures at Columbia, Arista and J Records.

Davis “treated me with the same respect and kindness as a 22-year-old nobody as he did after all my success,” Springsteen said after the music executive’s death on Monday.

Lt. Ricardo Santos of the New Jersey State Police had faced questions about his judgment and conduct before he became the primary suspect in a double murder-suicide.

Post-pandemic, a new openness to accommodating family needs has made it possible for more mothers and fathers to balance work and parenting — particularly mothers of young children.

The plume from the stubborn blaze in a cold-storage facility has dissipated, but people in the Boyle Heights neighborhood say they are in a toxic miasma.

Artificial intelligence programs can spot patterns in electrocardiograms that humans miss. Now, one program is going to be widely available — for free — to doctors.

Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are routinely asked about performing their musical satires again. They always said no, until this year. What changed?

Brexit was supposed to let Britain return to a time when it still counted as a global power. A decade later, the costs are blindingly apparent.

The economic impact of A.I. is less concerning than consumers’ fear-based reactions to it.

For women who are newly interested in traditional gender roles and lifestyles: What’s making you feel this way?

Considered the country’s most powerful leader after the Castro brothers, he was the first director of the Interior Ministry, keeping a close eye on dissent.