Minimalist News

Communist Mamdani's Latest Redistribution Scheme: Tax On All New York Homes Over $1 Million Bought With Cash Two days ago crestfallen commie mayor Zohran Mamdani abandoned his desperate plan to aggressively hike property taxes (even more) on New Yorkers following unprecedented pushback (but not before earning the former capitalist mecca a credit rating downgrade warning from most rating agencies). However, since communists who are not redistributing wealth (eventually under the barrel of a gun) are useless communists, it only took Mamdani administration 48 hours before pitching his latest idea how to take: according to Bloomberg, New York lawmakers are planning

Murders Down Roughly 20% In 2025, FBI Preliminary Data Show Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The FBI on Sunday published an early glimpse at annual crime data, releasing preliminary 2025 data alongside first-quarter 2026 numbers that together show that violent crime has dropped sharply. FBI personnel enter a building in Portsmouth, Va., on May 6, 2026. Peter Casey/The Virginian-Pilot via AP The figures , typically released at the end of summer, marked the first time the bureau furnished a preview of annual crime tallies before the end of the following spring. The first-quarter 2026 numbers,

Bad Signs: Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" Looks Like A Woke Disaster The signs are not looking good. Christopher Nolan's version of Homer's classic Greek epic "The Odyssey" was, at first, greatly anticipated. The director's filmography is largely celebrated with blockbusters like Interstellar, The Dark Night, Dunkirk and Inception. However, woke ideology is like a virus infecting everything in Hollywood, and rumors were spreading from very early in the production that wokeness has invaded the brain of Christopher Nolan. Even though the vast majority of "woke coded" films fail miserably at the box office, the Tinsel Town cult continues to lose

Minnesota 'Culture Of Fraud' Enabled More Than $9 Billion In Misused Taxpayer Funds, Panel Says Authored by Janice Hisle via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A “culture of fraud” infected Minnesota state agencies, resulting in more than $9 billion in taxpayers’ money squandered, a new legislative report says. State Rep. Pam Altendorf listens as fellow Republican Rep. Isaac Schultz discusses a report released at a meeting of a fraud prevention committee in the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., on May 13, 2026. Livestream from the Minnesota House of Representatives/Screenshot via The Epoch Times “We finally pulled the curtain back—and the

India Panics, Further Tightens Gold Flows As Rupee Collapses Well, that escalated quickly... With the Rupee accelerating its declines to ever lower record lows against the dollar, Indian authorities have stepped up capital controls, focusing on curbing demand in the gold 'exit' route . 4 days ago, there were no signs of import duty hikes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a rare weekend appeal urging citizens to forgo gold purchases as well as unnecessary foreign travel in order to help hold up the currency.. 2 days ago, tariffs were more than doubled on gold and silver imports to 15%

DOJ Sues DC Bar Over Its Prosecution Of Former Trump Lawyer, Calls It "Partisan Arm Of Leftist Causes" Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint on May 13 against the D.C. Bar, alleging it has acted as a “partisan arm of leftist causes.” The U.S. Department of Justice in Washington on April 27, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times According to the DOJ, the agency seeks to advance President Donald Trump’s directives to end the weaponization of the federal government while nullifying the D.C. Bar’s prosecution of former Assistant Attorney

Zelenskyy's Former Right-Hand Man Yermak Arrested In $10.5 Million Money Laundering Scheme Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ordered the pre-trial detention of Andriy Yermak, the powerful former head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Office and once the country’s second-most influential figure, on money-laundering charges tied to a high-profile corruption scheme. The ruling marks a dramatic fall for Yermak, who served as Zelenskyy’s closest aide from 2020 until his resignation in late 2025 amid earlier raids. He was taken into custody directly from the courtroom following the decision. Charges and Allegations Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) named

Biden FBI Quietly Hid Trump Prosecution Files For Potential Post-2028 Case Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA , Another trove of newly unearthed Biden-era files suggest that the FBI attempted to retain purported evidence related to its prosecution of President Donald Trump until 2030 — when he would presumably be out of office. The documents , reported Tuesday by Just the News , add to a growing body of records that have detailed the breadth of the aggressive actions targeting Trump, Republican lawmakers and conservative organizations connected to the 2020 election. According to the report, the retention effort came

With GOP Help, House Dems Force Vote To Give Another $1.3 Billion To Ukraine In a rebellion defying the priorities of Speaker Mike Johnson, House Democrats have teamed up with two Republicans and an independent in a parliamentary maneuver that will force a vote on a bill that would give another $1.3 billion in military aid and other assistance to Ukraine , as that country continues to lose territory in its war with Russia. "We look forward to seeing the House pass this bill quickly and encourage the Senate to take it up without delay. The ​brave men and women

Cable Crashes As Burnham Signals Challenge To UK PM Starmer Update (1345ET): Following Wes Streeting's earlier resignation "having lost confidence" in Starmer's leadership, the UK PM is now under further pressure as Andy Burnham opened a possible path to challenge Keir Starmer for the prime minister’s job, after a Labour member of Parliament resigned and urged the Greater Manchester mayor to run for his seat. Andy Burnham Bloomberg reports that the MP, Josh Simons, announced plans to step down from his Manchester area seat, freeing up a House of Commons constituency that Burnham would need to mount a bid to

Separate Peace? Saudi Arabia Floats Regional Non-Aggression Pact With Iran Are regional Gulf countries seeking to forge there own separate peace deals with Iran, apart from the United States? That's what fresh Thursday reporting in the Financial Times suggests. The report says Saudi Arabia is supposedly considering a non-aggression pact between the Middle East states and Iran after the military conflict between the United States and Iran ends, the FT indicates. via Express Tribune Citing diplomatic sources, it describes that Riyadh is assessing a model of the Helsinki Process , which helped reduce tensions in Europe during the Cold War,

After "Fantastic Day" With Xi, Trump Touts 200-Jet Boeing Deal As China Offers Hormuz Help Summary: Trump says Boeing Secured a 200 'Big' jet order from China Trump says President Xi wants Hormuz reopened, won't give Tehran weapons Trump, Xi Put Hormuz, Iran, Trade, Taiwan At Center Of Historic Beijing Summit Boeing-China Jet Deal A highly anticipated Boeing jet deal appears to have materialized after the first day of President Trump's summit with President Xi Jinping. Fox News reports that Trump said Boeing secured an order for 200 "big" jets from China. He said the order was initially for 150,

Did You See Hakeem Jeffries' Press Conference Tantrum? Authored by Matt Margolis via PJMedia.com, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is having a rough time right now. For months, the Speaker’s gavel looked to be easily within his reach come November, but recent developments have made it look like it could slip away. He’s a little touchy about it. During a press conference on Wednesday, Jeffries had a bit of a tantrum, not only invoking the Confederacy but snapping at a CNN reporter who dared to ask him a question. Last month, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling in Louisiana

Trucking Stocks Tumble As Supreme Court Ruling Risks "Extinction Event" For Freight Brokers The US Supreme Court ruled late Thursday morning that freight brokers can face state-law negligent hiring claims when they hire unsafe trucking firms that later cause crashes. FreightWaves founder Craig Fuller responded to the ruling on X, saying, OMG, this is the most pivotal moment in trucking history since Deregulation. It could be an extinction event for 30-50% of all freight brokers. OMG, this is the most pivotal moment in trucking history since Deregulation. It could be an extinction event for 30-50% of all freight brokers. Matt

Are Markets F***ed? Collum And Pomboy To Address Everything Bubble LIVE NOW: https://t.co/VzsW6va0Px — zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 14, 2026 ************* As the S&P continues to reach new highs in the mid 7000s, leaving the COVID era 3000s as a forgotten fevered dream… and AI euphoria fueling increasingly speculative bets across Wall Street and Main Street, the sane among us need to ask the question: when will reality hit? In tonight’s ZeroHedge debate, hosted by the legendary Dave Collum , Macro Mavens founder Stephanie Pomboy and Michael Lebowitz will break down the most dangerously overvalued sectors of today’s market. From AI

Bessent Says US, China To Launch AI Safety Talks After Trump-Xi Meeting In Beijing Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on May 14 that Washington and Beijing would begin formal discussions on artificial intelligence (AI) safety protocols following meetings between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. Bessent’s comments come as the rival powers sought to stabilize ties strained by trade disputes, the Iran conflict, and AI competition. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrives at Incheon International Airport ahead of a scheduled meeting with South Korean President

Bombshell CIA Testimony: Fauci Accused Of Intentionally Burying COVID Lab-Leak Evidence Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, A CIA operations officer provided explosive sworn testimony Wednesday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, accusing Dr. Anthony Fauci of directly intervening in the intelligence community’s review of COVID-19’s origins. James Erdman III, a veteran CIA special operations officer, told senators that in August 2021 the intelligence community was on the verge of concluding the virus most likely leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China. Days later, that position reversed with no clear explanation. Erdman stated under oath: “Dr. Fauci’s

Russia Sends Over 1500 Missiles, Drones On Ukraine In 48 Hours After V-Day Ceasefire Soon on the heels of the successful 3-day and US-backed 'V-Day' ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Russian forces have unleashed several days of drone and missile barrages on Ukrainian cities, especially the capital. It seems the Kremlin is bent on 'payback' for several weeks of effective Ukrainian long-range drone attacks which have badly damaged several Russian oil refineries and energy sites. BBC reports Thursday that " At least seven people have been killed , including a 12-year-old girl, in Kyiv after Russia launched a massive wave

Iran Proclaims Safe, Toll-Free Passage For 30 Chinese Tankers Amid Xi-Trump Summit During President Trump's ongoing state visit to China, he and President Xi Jinping agreed that the ‌Strait of ‌Hormuz must be open for ‌the ⁠free flow of energy. They along with their senior officials have expressed agreement that no country can ​be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. Following this, Thursday saw Iranian state media proclaim that some 30 Chinese vessels are being allowed safe passage by Iran . Bloomberg also freshly reports, "The vessels were allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz with

Indian Ship Sunk Near Oman; Iranian Commandos Seize Vessel Off UAE Summary: Indian Cargo Ship Sinks in Suspected Drone Attack off Oman Iranian Commandos Board & Seize Honduras-Flagged Ship Off UAE Indian Cargo Ship Sinks Near Oman Maritime data company Windward revealed on X: Indian cargo vessel sunk by suspected drone attack off Oman The MSV HAJI ALI (MMSI: 419908021) has gone down in the Strait of Hormuz region. The 57m vessel was running dark (AIS disabled) at the time of the incident. The ship had recently transited from Somalia. All crew members have been successfully rescued. No fatalities reported.

Visit comes after US-Cuba relations deteriorated significantly, with Washington imposing a fuel blockade on the island in January CIA director John Ratcliffe met Cuban officials in Havana on Thursday as a way to improve dialogue between the US and the communist-run island, the Cuban government said. The meeting took place “in a context marked by the complexity of bilateral relations, with the aim of contributing to the political dialogue between both nations”, a statement said. Continue reading...

Revelation seen as serious blow to candidacy of Flávio Bolsonaro, Brazil’s leading rightwing presidential hopeful Flávio Bolsonaro, Brazil’s leading rightwing presidential hopeful, has been caught on tape asking a banker accused of corruption for $26.8m (£20m) to fund a film about his father, the former president Jair Bolsonaro. The leaked voice memos and text messages were published on Wednesday by the Intercept Brasil, and later acknowledged by Flávio Bolsonaro, a far-right senator who is tied in polls with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ahead of October’s election. Continue reading...

All 11 onboard survived after the plane made an emergency landing near the Bahamas Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email A military rescue crew in Florida has spoken of the “pretty miraculous” survival of all 11 people it saved from a plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean, and its own scramble to safety with five minutes of fuel left. Members of the 920th rescue wing, based at Patrick Space Force base, not far from Cape Canaveral, raced on Tuesday to reach the passengers and crew in choppy seas. They had emerged from a small Beechcraft twin-propeller aircraft

William Majcher was accused of helping Chinese police coerce a Vancouver-area real estate investor, accused of fraud, to return to China A retired police officer Canada accused of being an agent for China has been acquitted of national security charges after prosecutors failed to prove he acted illegally. William Majcher, who served in the RCMP’s financial crime unit, was charged in 2023 over allegations he had breached Canada’s Security of Information Act by helping Chinese police coerce a Vancouver-area real estate investor, accused of fraud, to return to China. Continue reading...

Environmentalists hail decline but warn weakened laws could reverse gains Brazil’s Atlantic forest, the country’s most threatened biome, last year recorded its lowest level of deforestation since monitoring began 40 years ago, a new report shows. The forest is Brazil’s most populous biome, and home to 80% of the population and major cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In 2025 it recorded 8,658 hectares of deforestation, marking the first time it has fallen below 10,000 hectares since 1985. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Sign up for the Breaking News US email Donald Trump will drive through a Chinese capital that is smoggier than it was on his last visit in 2017 , when the authorities launched emergency measures to clear the skies of pollution days before his first state visit to Beijing. Factories were ordered to halt production and heavily polluting cars were banned from the roads in the days ahead of the US president’s trip nearly a decade ago, an era in which China had declared war on air pollution and made special efforts to clear

‘Backward’ photo panned for display of patriarchy, signaling that ‘women’s voices don’t matter in shaping global order’ By the time Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Thursday, the bilateral had featured all the expected pomp and pageantry: a meticulously choreographed display of Chinese soldiers, children waving American and Chinese flags, and rows of senior officials and the US’s top business executives. Conspicuously absent at the table, however, were women from either delegation – a stark visual that quickly drew criticism from observers who saw it as an unmistakable display of patriarchal power.

Trump says China’s president also pledged ‘strongly’ not to send weapons to Iran, after two-hour meeting between the leaders Trump in Beijing – latest updates Five key issues for Xi-Trump summit China’s president, Xi Jinping, has warned of “clashes and even conflicts” with the US over Taiwan after meeting Donald Trump in Beijing. Xi’s remarks, published by China’s foreign ministry after his two-hour meeting with Trump on Thursday morning, said Taiwan was “the most important issue in China-US relations”. Continue reading...

Island breathes sigh of relief as fears recede that US could jettison longstanding support Before this week’s summit between the Chinese and US presidents, Taiwan had been cast as the anxious bystander. Observers suggested that Taipei feared the unpredictable and transactional Donald Trump might overturn Washington’s longstanding support for the island democracy , which Beijing claims as a breakaway province, during Thursday and Friday’s talks. Continue reading...

Ronald dela Rosa, wanted over involvement in Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’, reportedly left heavily guarded building before dawn A Philippine lawmaker wanted by the international criminal court for his alleged role enforcing Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody anti-drugs crackdown has secretly fled the senate after spending days holed up in the building to avoid arrest. The senate president, Alan Peter Cayetano, confirmed to the media that senator Ronald dela Rosa was “no longer in the building” after reports that he had slipped out of the heavily guarded building before dawn. Continue reading...

Taylor claimed that migrants were coming to Australia and claiming benefits before they were becoming citizens, a situation he said Australians did not accept. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Good morning, it’s Nick Visser here to take over the blog. Let’s get to it and see what Friday holds. Big news to start the morning: Australia’s Delta Goodrem has qualified for the Eurovision final. Continue reading...

There was wind, there was fire, there was Goodrem’s remarkable upper-range – resulting in a refreshingly self-assured offering from Australia ‘Sung by a silver robot from 1984!’ The 11 biggest bangers in Eurovision 2026 Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Standing before a glistening crescent moon and adorned in more than 7,000 Swarovski crystals, Australia’s 2026 Eurovision hopeful Delta Goodrem delivered a powerful performance on the 70th anniversary of the global song contest – and become the first Australian act to qualify for the grand

Prof Abbas Rajabifard of the University of Melbourne says he was listed as a co-author of research with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator in recent peace talks, without his knowledge Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A University of Melbourne academic has denied collaborating on research with the speaker of Iran’s parliament – who has been leading Tehran’s peace negotiations with the US – saying he was named as an author on a journal article without his knowledge. On Monday Guardian Australia revealed that

Jim Chalmers’ budget tips the scales in favour of younger and less well-off households – but it’s middle-class gen X that are turning to the rightwing party Explore all of our 2026 Australia federal budget coverage Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Labor’s fifth budget will do what it says on the tin: it will benefit the young and the poor at the expense of the older and the rich. This is the most obvious takeaway from distributional analysis conducted by Ben Phillips, an associate

Proposals also grant the health minister power to change disability support rules without state or territory approval. Here’s what you need to know Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Funding for some services within the national disability insurance scheme will be slashed – even in cases where participants could be left with a funding gap – as part of a sweeping proposal to drastically curb the scheme’s annual growth. The proposed changes, revealed on Thursday, will also grant the health minister, Mark Butler, godlike powers

Export’s performances scandalised Austria in the 1960s, but are now recognised for exposing the objectification of the female body Valie Export, the Austrian performance artist and film-maker who inverted the male gaze in ways that were provocative, shocking and often outrageously fun, has died aged 85. The artist’s own foundation announced on Thursday evening that Export died in Vienna earlier the same day, three days before her 86th birthday. Continue reading...

Council of Europe members plan to change interpretation of ECHR to make it easier to deport refused asylum seekers Keir Starmer’s government has been accused of trying to water down legal protections for torture victims as ministers from 46 countries including the UK prepare to make it easier to deport refused asylum seekers and foreign criminals. Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, is expected to agree a “political declaration” on Friday with other members of the Council of Europe, which oversees the European convention on human rights (ECHR). Continue reading...

Widespread nature of attacks prompts warnings that Moscow is trying to overwhelm air defence systems Russian missiles and drones are pounding Ukraine for a second day, as almost continuous heavy attacks hit the country, with Kyiv bearing the brunt of an assault that has killed at least eight people, including a 13-year-old, and injured 44 in the capital. The overnight attacks followed heavy daylight raids with missiles and drones across the country on Wednesday, one of the longest single attacks of the war. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here German chancellor Friedrich Merz has strongly condemned the Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight, and rejected Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that one of his predecessors could play a role negotiating a peace settlement. In a speech in Aachen, Merz said that while Ukraine and Europe “want to help end this terrible war as quickly as possible,” the Russian attacks “speak a different language” to that of Putin’s suggestions the war could be nearing an end. “Last but not least, we Europeans decide for ourselves who speaks for us. No

Doctor in Brandenburg state allegedly committed the crimes, including child rape, between 2013 and 2025 German prosecutors have charged a paediatrician with 130 counts of sexual abuse, including the rape of children, most of them in his care, in a case that has caused shock and prompted clinics to step up safeguards. The 46-year-old doctor, whose name has not been released, has been in custody since November after a mother suspected her child had been assaulted and notified authorities. The doctor worked in clinics in Brandenburg state, surrounding Berlin. Continue reading...

Far-right Jewish marchers call for Palestinian villages to ‘burn’ as they storm through Muslim quarter of Old City Israeli nationalists chanted “death to the Arabs”, “may your villages burn” and “Gaza is a graveyard” in a state-sponsored march through Jerusalem to mark the anniversary of the city’s capture and annexation. The annual assertion of Jewish control over Palestinian East Jerusalem has grown more extreme in recent years, and Thursday’s event culminated with the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, unfurling an Israeli flag in front of the al-Aqsa mosque, the holiest Islamic site in the city. Continue reading...

West Bank home described as ‘ideal for outdoor gatherings’ is among 41 listed rentals in illegal Israeli settlements Some of Mohammad al-Sbeih’s fondest childhood memories are of his small farm in the hills south of Bethlehem, where three generations of his family grew wheat and barley. “It was a hard plot to farm as it was on a hillside with terraces, but it was so beautiful,” Sbeih remembers. Continue reading...

Docked ship reportedly seized outside UAE port by “unauthorised personnel” The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said ships entering the strait of Hormuz must cooperate with the Iranian navy as reports emerged of a ship being seized outside a United Arab Emirate port and taken towards Iranian waters. The UK Maritime Trading Organisation said the docked ship was seized by “unauthorised personnel” while it was anchored off the coast of the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah near the southern entry to the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Emirates’ foreign ministry rejects claims that Netanyahu visited country, describing them as ‘baseless’ Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed he made a secret trip to the United Arab Emirates at the height of the Iran war to meet the president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. “This visit has led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the UAE,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said on Wednesday night. Continue reading...

Impact of disruption from Iran war may be felt into 2027 even if strait of Hormuz reopens, says aviation body boss Increases in air fares for travellers in Europe are “inevitable” over the peak summer period because of the high cost of jet fuel , according to the head of the international aviation body. While some airlines faced with weak demand have reduced their European fares recently, Willie Walsh, the former British Airways boss who leads the International Air Transport Association, said there was no way carriers could absorb the extra costs in the long run. Continue reading...

Gautam Adani, richest man in Asia, was accused of conspiring to pay $250m in bribes to Indian government officials The US Department of Justice is dropping its fraud charges against the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, the richest man in Asia, after he hired a new legal team led by Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, according to new reports. In an undisclosed April meeting at the justice department, Trump’s personal lawyer, Robert J Giuffra Jr, said that Adani would invest $10bn in the US economy and create 15,000 jobs if prosecutors dropped the charges against him, according to the New York Times

Stone being paid $50,000 a month to ‘rebuild’ relations between Washington and Myanmar’s military-backed government The US lobbyist Roger Stone, a longtime friend and ally of Donald Trump, has been condemned for accepting $50,000 a month to “rebuild” relations between Washington and Myanmar’s military-backed government. Myanmar’s leaders have been internationally isolated since seizing power in a coup in 2021 , and have repeatedly been accused of atrocities that may amount to war crimes . Activists say the military rulers, which recently held widely condemned “sham” elections , are now trying to reassert themselves abroad. Continue reading...

Turmoil and violence rocks state after prime minister Narendra Modi’s party claimed victory in legislative election Tensions have been high in the Indian state of West Bengal after a top political aide from Narendra Modi’s party was shot dead in the street and hundreds were arrested as violence broke out following elections this week. The prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) claimed victory in the West Bengal elections on Monday , defeating Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had ruled over the state legislature for 15 years. Continue reading...

Mamata Banerjee says Narendra Modi’s party ‘forcefully captured’ election that ended her party’s 15 years in power A political showdown is taking place in the Indian state of West Bengal as the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, India’s most powerful female politician, has refused to resign after she lost elections to the prime minister’s party this week. Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) won an overwhelming victory on Monday in state elections in West Bengal, where Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress party (TMC) have been in power for 15 years. Continue reading...

Result in key Indian state is set to have significant implications for the country’s political landscape Narendra Modi’s party has won a resounding election victory in West Bengal, a state which had been a rare opposition stronghold, expanding his unrivalled consolidation of power across the country. It is the first time that the Indian prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has won assembly elections in West Bengal, a large and politically significant state in eastern India. Continue reading...

Charity says calls to its Childline service about online sexual abuse and exploitation have risen 36% in a year Children reported a rise in online blackmail attempts involving sexual images in the UK last year, according to a leading charity. The NSPCC said contacts with its Childline service relating to online sexual abuse and exploitation rose by 36% last year, driven by an increase in cases related to online blackmail. Continue reading...

Health officials say close contacts being offered antibiotics as a precaution after cases discovered in Reading A young person has died and two others are being treated after an outbreak of meningitis in Berkshire, health officials have said. It follows a major outbreak in Kent , linked to a Canterbury nightclub, that killed two people and left more than a dozen needing hospital treatment in March. Continue reading...

Thames at Ham designated as one of 13 new swimming areas across England to be monitored for water quality The first designated bathing water area on the River Thames in London will welcome swimmers for the official start of the bathing season on Friday as one of 13 new monitored swimming areas across England. The Thames at Ham, in south-west London, has been designated as a new river bathing water area after campaigners gathered evidence to show thousands of people use the river for swimming throughout the year. Canvey Island foreshore, Essex East Beach at West Bay, Bridport, Dorset Falcon

Greater Manchester mayor would need to win Makerfield seat before launching campaign for Labour leadership Andy Burnham now has a potential route back to parliament and a chance to become Labour’s next leader after an MP said he would trigger a byelection by standing down from his seat. The move ended days of speculation about whether Burnham could secure a possible path back into Westminster, and underlined the increasingly precarious nature of Keir Starmer’s premiership. Continue reading...

Andy Burnham has announced he will attempt to return to Westminster after the Labour MP Josh Simons said he will vacate his Makerfield seat in order for Burnham to run in a byelection. It follows a day of breaking news in which the health secretary, Wes Streeting, resigned, saying he has lost confidence in the prime minister, and Angela Rayner announced she had been cleared by the HMRC. Where does this leave Keir Starmer, the leadership of the Labour party, and the country? Continue reading...

A 2023 supreme court decision banned the use of affirmative action in college admissions The US Department of Justice on Thursday accused Yale University of illegally considering race in admissions to its medical school – the second institution to face discrimination allegations by the federal agency this month. In a letter to a lawyer for Yale, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said a justice department investigation found that Black and Hispanic students have a much higher chance of admission to the medical school than white or Asian students, despite having lower grade-point averages and lower test scores.

Nine-person jury to consider whether AI firm bilked world’s richest person and unjustly enriched themselves Closing arguments began on Thursday in Elon Musk ’s lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI , bringing the weeks-long courtroom battle between the two tech moguls nearer to a decision. A nine-person jury is set to deliberate and return a verdict on whether they believe the AI firm and Altman are liable in the case. The trial, which began last month in an Oakland, California, federal courthouse, has gripped Silicon Valley and featured some of the tech industry’s biggest names as witnesses. Attorneys for both

Media law experts cast doubt on viability of a defamation lawsuit promised by Netanyahu over Nicholas Kristof essay Israel ’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , and foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, have threatened to sue the New York Times for defamation over the publication of an essay by Nicholas Kristof detailing allegations that Palestinian women, men and children have been raped and sexually abused in Israeli military detention. “Following the publication by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times of one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press, which also

Louisiana had sued the FDA in a bid to curtail the regulatory agency’s rules on prescribing mifepristone remotely Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The US supreme court upheld nationwide access to mail-order mifepristone, an abortion medication, in a shadow-docket decision on Thursday. Louisiana sued the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October in a bid to curtail the regulatory agency’s rules on prescribing mifepristone remotely, arguing that it interfered with the state’s ban on abortion. Continue reading...

If state’s house passes bill, redrawn map could could give state Republicans a 5-1 congressional majority Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email On Thursday, the Louisiana state senate voted 27-10 to pass a new congressional map that would eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black House districts. The resulting map could give Louisiana Republicans a 5-1 congressional majority. The supreme court’s recent decision in Louisiana v Callais, a case that centered on the state’s congressional maps, severely weakened the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The fallout from the decision was swift, with several other southern states calling special

US President Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping offered to help broker an end to the Iran conflict and ensure freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring how Middle East tensions have become intertwined with a broader effort by Washington and Beijing to steady relations. In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity set to air on Thursday evening in the US, Trump said Xi had personally expressed willingness to assist amid mounting concerns over disruptions in...

Labour’s Wes Streeting announced his resignation ⁠as health minister on Thursday, calling for a leadership contest to oust British Prime Minister Keir ⁠Starmer, who has shown no sign he is ready to step down. Disastrous results for the governing Labour Party in last week’s local elections have plunged Britain into its latest crisis, just under two years after Starmer won a large majority on a vow to bring stability and end a decade of political chaos. After days of calls by a growing number of...

France’s health minister said on Thursday that 26 people in France identified as close contacts of hantavirus cases linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship had tested negative for the illness. Dutch authorities said that all people who arrived in the Netherlands on evacuation flights from the ship this week have also tested negative. Twenty-six people are in hospital isolation in France, including 22 identified as close contacts of a Dutch woman on the MV Hondius that was at the centre of an...

Ukrainian ⁠President Volodymyr Zelensky’s former right-hand man was taken into custody on Thursday on money-laundering charges, part of a fight against corruption that is fuelling wartime political tensions. Investigators on Monday had named Andriy Yermak as an official suspect in a sprawling, multi-episode case that has gripped Ukraine for months and stoked anger among a war-battered population at high-level corruption. His arrest represents the deepest authorities have dug into the president’s...

Russia unleashed the largest aerial attack on Ukraine over a two-day period since the war began, pounding the capital Kyiv and other cities across the country with hundreds of drones, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had launched more than 1,560 drones since the start of Wednesday. Overnight on ‌Thursday, Moscow fired more than 670 attack drones and 56 missiles against Ukraine, he said. Air defence units shot down 41 missiles and 652 drones...

All 11 people aboard a private plane that crashed at sea off central Florida survived the wreck and were rescued from their lifeboat hours later by a US Air Force Reserve team, US Coast Guard and US Air Force officials said on Wednesday. “For all those people to ‌survive is pretty miraculous,” US Air Force Major Elizabeth Piowaty, commander of one of the aircraft involved in the rescue, told reporters at a news briefing a day after Tuesday’s crash. The ill-fated plane, a twin-engined turboprop...

The business executives accompanying US President Donald Trump on his state visit to Beijing this week are the wealthiest such delegation to visit China – holding a combined personal net worth of over US$1 trillion – an indication of continued interest in the country’s lucrative market despite strained bilateral ties. With Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s last-minute addition to the delegation, 17 executives from the technology, finance, aerospace and semiconductor sectors have joined Trump, who landed...

Statues erected by South Korean civic groups on the other side of the world honouring the tens of thousands of women forced into sexual slavery by imperial Japanese forces during World War II have once again succeeded in making Tokyo’s elites deeply uncomfortable. The decisions by local governments in Germany’s capital and New Zealand’s largest city to rescind or decline to renew permits for “comfort women” memorials have been pounced on by conservatives within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic...

A Utah mother who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband will serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole for his murder, a judge ruled on Wednesday. Kouri Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing her husband Eric Richins’ cocktail with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022. A jury also found her guilty of four other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder for trying...

The Trump administration on Wednesday publicly renewed an offer of US$100 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba, stepping up pressure on Havana despite Beijing’s continued political and economic backing for the island. The announcement came as US President Donald Trump travelled to China this week for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with Trump saying before departure that Cuba would be among the issues discussed during the visit. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the State Department...

The US Senate on Wednesday confirmed Kevin Warsh as the new Federal Reserve chairman to lead a central bank whose independence is under attack and with inflation at a three-year high. The Senate voted 54 to 45 to in favour of Warsh, with Republicans holding a slim majority and ensuring US President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace Jerome Powell was confirmed. Once known as a monetary “hawk” against inflation, Warsh has shifted in line with Trump’s push for lower interest rates that has posed an...

The United Arab Emirates’ foreign ministry denied on Wednesday a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office that he visited the country and held a secret meeting with its president. The Israeli Prime Minister’s ‌Office said earlier he travelled to the UAE during the war with Iran and met Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. A statement by the Emirati foreign ministry said that Emirati relations with Israel “are public” and “not based on non-transparent or unofficial...

A paediatrician at a hospital near Berlin has been charged with sex offences in 130 cases, many of which are said to have taken place at the hospital, prosecutors said on Wednesday. The extent of the offences, which include serious sexual abuse of children and rape, had previously been unknown. The paediatrician has been in pre-trial custody since November, with prosecutors citing a risk of reoffending as a reason for the man’s continued detention. In January, it became known that the doctor was...

French prosecutors on Wednesday requested a seven-year prison sentence for former president Nicolas Sarkozy in an appeal trial on charges that he sought Libyan financing for his 2007 election. Sarkozy, France’s right-wing leader from 2007 to 2012, has always denied any wrongdoing but last year became modern France’s first former president to have gone to jail over the case, before he was released after 20 days pending his appeal trial. Prosecutors had also requested seven years in the first...

The bodies of three women have been recovered from the sea off Brighton. Sussex Police said emergency services were called after concerns were raised for the women’s welfare at around 5.45am on Wednesday, and their bodies were pulled from the water near Madeira Drive. Chief Superintendent Adam Hays said the coastguard is completing an “extensive search of the water”, but the force is not searching for anyone else. The officer said CCTV inquiries are being carried out. Following the incident,...

The European Union will not ban “conversion therapy” targeting LGBTQ people, but will push member states to take action against such practices, it said on Wednesday. So-called conversion “therapies” involve methods that seek to change the sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of members of gay, lesbian, queer and trans people. The EU stopped short of heeding a call by over a million people, who signed a petition last May calling on the 27-country bloc to prohibit such...

French authorities on Wednesday allowed asymptomatic passengers to leave a British cruise ship, saying a gastrointestinal virus was behind an outbreak of sickness that came after an elderly man died of a heart attack. Earlier, authorities had ordered a lockdown for the more than 1,700 passengers and crew on the vessel, but insisted there was no connection with the hantavirus outbreak suspected of killing three people on the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship, which has sparked international...

Keir Starmer faced his biggest challenge yet on Wednesday when his health minister was reported to be readying his resignation to try to trigger a contest to replace a British prime minister who had sought some respite to set out his government’s agenda. As Starmer and his ministers stood in silence to hear King Charles read out their government’s agenda, the ceremony was overshadowed by what could be the most dangerous threat to the prime minister since lawmakers began urging him to resign over...

This live article is freely available to our registered users. Please log in or create an account below. Unrivalled Xi-Trump summit analysis: get real-time updates and exclusive boots-on-the-ground reporting from our Beijing and Washington bureaus. Subscribe now with great savings to stay ahead. US President Donald Trump has arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The state visit is the first by an American president in almost nine years. It...

Some European companies operating in China are shifting more production to the country as part of broader supply chain adjustments in response to the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to a new survey by the EU Chamber of Commerce in China. The flash survey of European companies found that more than a quarter of firms had adjusted their supply chain strategies in China following the Middle East conflict, as higher energy and logistics costs weigh on operations. Six in 10 chemicals and petroleum...

Senior officials from China and the United States concluded their latest round of trade talks in Seoul after less than four hours on Wednesday, the briefest session since the two countries began holding talks last year. The seventh round of negotiations – led by Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent – wrapped up just hours ahead of US President Donald Trump’s scheduled arrival in Beijing. The officials ended the session without speaking to the media, a departure...

The G7 economists’ memo from March and the IMF’s April report on global imbalances arrived at the same prescription: China’s current account surplus is excessive and should be cut by boosting consumption. The diagnosis is wrong. The world economy, especially emerging markets and developing economies, benefits from China’s high saving. A current account surplus is the excess of national saving over domestic investment. The saving is not lost; it is exported abroad in the form of net capital...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is under pressure to resign after more than 80 lawmakers in his Labour Party said he was not the right person to lead the country and win the ⁠next national election. He has vowed to stay on as no formal ⁠leadership challenge has yet been triggered. If Labour were to choose a new leader, here is ⁠a list of those in the frame to replace Starmer: Wes Streeting, 43 Streeting has served as health and social care minister since Labour came to power in July 2024 – a...

French President Emmanuel Macron is facing backlash after he interrupted a panel at the Africa Forward Summit in Kenya to demand silence from the audience. Macron stormed the stage to rebuke audience members for what he called a “total lack of respect”, accusing them of disrupting speakers during a presentation by artists and young entrepreneurs. He had earlier described himself as a “Pan-Africanist” during a news conference. The summit is meant to showcase France’s new policy for the continent...

Argentina’s city “at the end of the world” Ushuaia, the jump-off point for expeditions to the Antarctic, has been labouring under suspicion of being the source of the deadly hantavirus outbreak that killed three cruise ship passengers. The MV Hondius set sail from this spectacular Patagonian port, sandwiched between snow-capped mountains and the South Atlantic, on April 1. Five days later, a Dutch man who had travelled through South America on a birdwatching trip with his wife, developed...

Israel hammered south Lebanon with strikes on Tuesday ahead of talks between the two countries in Washington, as Beirut reported 380 people killed in Israeli attacks since an April 17 ceasefire took effect. Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem vowed to turn the battlefield into “hell” for Israeli forces, and insisted his Iran-backed group’s weapons would not be up for discussion at the talks on Thursday and Friday, after the US had called for its disarmament. Israel has intensified its attacks on south...

Senior officials from China and the United States have started a new round of trade talks in Seoul, South Korea, hours ahead of US President Donald Trump’s scheduled arrival in Beijing. The delegations – led by Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent – arrived at Terminal 1 of Incheon Airport around noon on Wednesday Seoul time. The two officials had both paid courtesy calls to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the morning. This is the seventh round of...

Vietnam’s state oil company urged the US to let a supertanker pass through an American naval blockade outside the Persian Gulf, saying the shipment is critical to the Asian country’s economy. The very large crude carrier Agios Fanourios I, managed by Athens-based Eastern Mediterranean Maritime, performed a mid-ocean U-turn on Monday at around the point where the US blockade begins. It had only just cleared the Strait of Hormuz, holding 1.99 million barrels of Iraq’s Basrah Medium crude, when it...

After the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803, which almost doubled the size of the United States’ territory, US president Thomas Jefferson commissioned the legendary Lewis and Clark expedition, which surveyed new routes from the Missouri river to the Pacific coast. It also carried out work in agriculture, ethnography (with indigenous peoples) and geography. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, that was the kind of science the US government was willing to pay for – practical,...

FBI Director Kash Patel angrily lashed out at a Democratic lawmaker at a budget hearing Tuesday, calling allegations that he drinks excessively on the job and has been unreachable to his staff at times “unequivocally, categorically false”. “I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations and fraudulent statements from the media,” Patel told Senator Chris Van Hollen during a testy exchange that began when the Maryland Democrat confronted him about a recent article in The Atlantic magazine that...

US President Donald Trump’s landmark visit to China comes as the US-Iran war disrupts global energy supplies, fuels economic uncertainty and adds fresh strain to Washington-Beijing ties. In this story, part of a series examining how rivalry, interdependence and geopolitical crises are reshaping the relationship between the two powers, we explore how the countries’ standing in the world has changed – mostly to China’s benefit – since Trump’s previous trip. When US President Donald Trump unleashed...

Against the backdrop of a shifting diplomatic landscape, US President Donald Trump is set to arrive in Beijing this week for a high-stakes summit. While Washington frames the visit, delayed by the war in Iran, as a pivotal effort to rebalance ties, the bravado of maximum pressure masks a deepening domestic vulnerability. Trump’s arrival comes at a critical juncture; his administration faces multiple crises. The looming 2026 midterms have intensified pressure from a restless agricultural...

A French woman infected in the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is critically ill and being treated with an artificial lung, a doctor at the Paris hospital caring for the sickened passenger said on Tuesday. The outbreak has now reached 11 total reported cases, nine of which have been confirmed. Three people on the cruise died, including a Dutch couple that health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America. The French passenger hospitalised in...

Beijing lashed out at Paraguay on Monday after President Santiago Pena wrapped up a four-day visit to Taiwan, branding Paraguayan leaders as willing “chess pieces” for independence forces on the self-ruled island that China claims as its own territory. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said China “firmly opposes and condemns” the trip and urged Asuncion to “change course at an early date” and recognise the one-China principle. “The wheels of history wait for no one. Rejecting the one-China...

US President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defence shield will cost as much as US$1.2 trillion to deploy and operate, six times above current forecasts, according to a new estimate – and would still probably fail to stop an all-out attack. The new forecast from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office relies on capabilities spelled out in Trump’s January 2025 executive order unveiling the idea rather than any government plan because the administration has given no details about what the...

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi on Tuesday urged Pakistan to ramp up mediation efforts in the Iran crisis, as the war threatens to overshadow US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing. In a call with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, Wang lauded Pakistan’s efforts in facilitating negotiations between Washington and Tehran and helping to extend the ceasefire. But he also called for Pakistan to “step up its mediation efforts to contribute to … the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the...

⁠US Food and Drug Commissioner Marty Makary resigned on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said, the latest leadership change at the federal health department which comes after weeks of public speculation and a mounting pressure campaign. FDA Deputy Commissioner for Food Kyle Diamantas will lead the agency in an acting capacity, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Politico first reported the development. “Marty is a terrific guy, but he’s ‌going to go on and he’s going to lead a...

Russia on Tuesday test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile as part of efforts to modernise the country’s nuclear forces, a launch hailed by President Vladimir Putin just days after his claim that the fighting in Ukraine was nearing an end. Putin said that the nuclear-armed Sarmat missile would enter combat service at the end of the year. It was built to replace the ageing Soviet-built Voyevoda. “This is the most powerful missile in the world,” Putin declared, adding that the combined...

The US customs agency has ⁠processed refunds including interest ⁠worth US$35.46 billion as of ⁠May 11 for tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump last year that were deemed illegal, according to a Tuesday court filing. As of 7am on May 11, ‌the US Customs and Border Protection had received 126,237 applications for refunds covering an undisclosed number of shipments or entries, according to the court filing. The agency said it had validated 86,874 of those applications covering 15.1 million...

The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed Kevin Warsh as a governor on the board of the Federal Reserve, clearing the way for him to take the reins of the central bank later this week as the world’s largest economy faces inflation at a three-year-high. The Senate voted 51-45 to confirm Warsh’s appointment to the board for a 14-year term, with the results largely along party lines. The Senate will hold a separate vote to confirm Warsh as the central bank’s chair, taking over from incumbent Jerome...

US consumer prices climbed sharply again last month as the 10-week war with Iran pushed energy prices higher. The Labor Department’s consumer price index rose 3.8 per cent from April 2025, according to data released on Tuesday. On a month-to-month basis, April prices rose 0.6 per cent from March as petrol prices rose 5.4 per cent during the month; the month-over-month gain was down from 0.9 per cent increase from February to March. Labor Department figures showed that petrol prices are up more...

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Cuba was asking for help and “we are going to talk”, without providing any more detail. “No Republican ‌has ever spoken to me about Cuba, which is a failed country and only heading in one direction – down! Cuba is asking for help, and we are going to talk!!! In the ⁠meantime, I’m off to China!” Trump wrote on social media. Representatives for the White House and the State Department could not be immediately reached ‌for comment. Representatives for...

A Spanish passenger evacuated from the cruise ship at the centre of a hantavirus outbreak has tested positive for the virus, Spain’s health ministry announced on Tuesday as the World Health Organization said it has now confirmed 11 cases, including three people from the cruise who died. The passenger with the new confirmed case of hantavirus was in quarantine in a military hospital in Madrid, where 13 other Spanish nationals evacuated on Sunday – who all tested negative for the virus – also are...

German companies in China have grown more optimistic about the country’s economic outlook, even as the Iran war and persistent trade tensions continue to weigh on their operations, according to the German Chamber of Commerce in China. In a survey released on Tuesday, the chamber found that 37 per cent of respondents expected China’s economy to improve over the next six months. That was up 22 percentage points from last year, with only 17 per cent anticipating a deterioration – a sharp reversal...

British Prime ⁠Minister Keir Starmer defied calls to resign on Tuesday, telling ministers he would “get on with governing” despite a “destabilising” 48 hours of growing calls to set out a timetable for his departure after a drubbing in local elections. At a meeting of his cabinet, Starmer, in the top job for less than two years, repeated that, while he took responsibility for one of his Labour Party’s worst election defeats, there had been no official move to trigger a leadership contest....

In contrast to his rhetoric about China at home, President Trump spoke in conciliatory terms with Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader.

Although at odds over issues like trade and Taiwan, the U.S. and Chinese leaders met in Beijing with a show of friendly gestures.

After months of avoiding confrontation, the Trump administration has taken recent steps to call out China on Iran, artificial intelligence and spying.

A long-running energy crisis in the island nation reached a breaking point this week, when government officials said they had run out of reserves.

John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, is the highest-ranking official in the Trump administration to visit the country.

Starting at the birthplace of Buddhism, a writer traces how its teachings spread across Asia, transforming the continent forever.

Representative Thomas Kean Jr. last voted in Washington on March 5, citing a medical issue. An appearance planned for late May has been canceled.

What started as a taco stop with former President Barack Obama quickly turned into a very Texas debate over the proper breakfast taco order.

But he stopped short of ordering lawmakers to redo the map so that Republicans could sweep the state’s congressional delegation, which President Trump has pressured them to do.

The Department of Homeland Security recently formed a unit tasked with revetting thousands of immigrants with permanent residency.

Vice President JD Vance traveled to Maine for a speech, making a midterm election pitch that only Republicans could root out fraud in public benefits.

Federal records show that the no-bid contract to repair the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and paint it blue now costs $13.1 million. That’s about seven times the amount President Trump initially said it would cost.

Michael Banks is the latest high-profile official to leave the Department of Homeland Security amid President Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The finding was the second time in eight days that the Trump administration had targeted a major medical school over admissions policies.

From satellite phone check-ins to a borrowed royal plane, new details show how Taiwan’s leader’s team outwitted China and pulled off an audacious journey to southern Africa.

Cerebras, a Silicon Valley maker of artificial intelligence chips, began trading on the stock market on Thursday, as SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic also take steps to go public.

In a court filing, the administration signaled support for Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company in a lawsuit challenging xAI’s generators at a huge Mississippi data center.

The virus is clearly far less contagious than the coronavirus, scientists agree, but they have found cases where it spread among people without direct contact.

They were passengers on a plane to Johannesburg with an infected Dutch woman who later died.

It’s a nightmare faced by families all around Los Angeles: After wildfire smoke blanketed homes, schools and offices with toxic chemicals, when is it OK to go back?

Erratic behavior and staff turnover have colored Mr. Schlossberg’s bid for a House seat in New York, raising questions about his readiness for office.

Stardust Solutions says its tiny spheres can reflect the sun’s rays without harming people or the environment. Critics say private companies have no business altering Earth’s atmosphere.

Bumble is losing the feature that reshaped how we look for love. Daters may be ready for something more intentional.

The secrets of one of the architects of the religious right are being revealed. One of the secrets is that they weren’t really secrets.

M. Gessen and Rachel Louise Snyder on the parallels between authoritarianism and domestic violence.

Do you meditate? Play Wordle? Wear soft pajamas and sip chamomile tea? We’d like to hear about the little routines that help you wind down.

The flag appeared on a university building in the heart of Greenwich Village during a graduation week event, and resembled the purple N.Y.U. banners flying on campus.

No one on the ground was hurt when a small plane crashed into a house on a residential street south of downtown Akron, the authorities said.

A scene inspired by the winter at Valley Forge has become more prominent in the Trump era, along with claims that the United States was founded as a Christian nation.

Dalton Eatherly, who goes by Chud the Builder, was arrested after an altercation that ended in gunfire outside a courthouse near Nashville.