Minimalist News

Meet America’s Largest Doomsday Bunker Community Vivos xPoint, a survivalist bunker community built on a former military munitions depot in South Dakota, was created as a refuge for people preparing for disasters such as nuclear war, pandemics, or societal collapse, according to a new report by the Wall Street Journal . Marketed as “The Largest Survival Community on Earth,” the development offers long-term leases on converted concrete bunkers and promises a secure, self-sufficient lifestyle far from major population centers. While some residents use their bunkers as vacation homes or emergency shelters, the project has attracted significant controversy. The Journal writes

Maryland's Glock Ban Aims At The Gun, Not The Criminal Authored by David Manney via PJ Media , Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed SB 334 into law Tuesday , putting the state on a collision course with gun owners , firearm dealers, and 2nd Amendment groups. The law targets " machine gun convertible pistols ," mainly Glock-style semiauto handguns that use a cruciform trigger bar. Maryland lawmakers argue criminals can convert those firearms into fully auto with illegal devices called Glock switches. The question remains: Why is Maryland banning future sales of common handguns because criminals already break the law

'We Outright Grabbed The Wallets': Bessent Boasts $1BN In Iran State Crypto Seized To Date Washington's economic war on Iran and its 'shadow' banking network continues, as on Friday Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the US has seized $1 billion in Iranian cryptocurrency assets as part of the economic component of President Trump's Operation Epic Fury. The billion dollar figure represents the running total seized to date , building on prior milestones in the conflict, particularly a recent major April 2026 freeze of $344 million in USDT on the Tron blockchain. By close of April, $500 million total had been

Why Stable Systems Fail: The Illusion Of Institutional Control Authored by Luc Lelièvre via The Mises Institute, There is a persistent belief in modern political life that systems fail because they become fragile. Institutions, it is assumed, weaken under pressure and eventually break down. This intuition is not just incomplete—it is backward. Systems do not fail when they become fragile; they become fragile because they have already lost contact with the realities they claim to govern. What appears as stability is not strength, but the final illusion of a structure that can no longer correct itself. This is not a

US Service Members Targeted Via Commercial Location Data, Pentagon Tells Senators Adversaries have used commercially-available location data to attack individual US service members in war zones, according to a report furnished by the Department of Defense to Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, and first reported by Reuters . Wyden is a Democratic member of the Senate intelligence committee. Responding to four questions Wyden had posed about this potential avenue of vulnerability for service members deployed to the Middle East, the Pentagon said that US Central Command "has received multiple threat reports concerning adversary exploitation of commercial location data to target or

The Loophole That Put Drunk Truckers Back On The Road Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times , A federal database built to flag and remove drunk and drugged truckers from U.S. highways used the equivalent of an "honor system" as its last line of defense between a family in a minivan and a substance addict steering an 80,000-pound mass of steel. Trucks fuel up at the Love's Truck Stop in Springville, Utah, on Dec. 1, 2021. George Frey/AFP via Getty Images The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) launched its Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse in early 2020 to

662 Billion Reasons To Worry: Moody's Raises AI Data-Center Funding Fears As Apollo Shops Huge Anthropic Debt Deal Unless you have lived under a rock for the last year (or month), you will know that the explosive growth of artificial intelligence is fueling a massive infrastructure buildout . In a chart book published nearly simultaneously with Moody’s report, Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Slok worked to put the enormity of data center spending into perspective. With total capital expenditure on data centers estimated at roughly $646 billion, or about 2% of U.S. GDP, Slok noted that is roughly equivalent

Japan Crude Imports Fall 66% To Record Low By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com Amid the supply disruption in the Middle East, Japan’s crude oil imports crashed by 66% in April from the same month last year, dropping to an all time low, official Japanese data showed on Friday. Japan imported 4.07 million kilolitres, or about 850,000 barrels per day (bpd), of crude oil last month, down by 65.7% from the April 2025 levels, the monthly petroleum statistics of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) showed. Crude imports from the Middle East region, which delivered more than 90% of

Anti-Trump Entertainers Bolt From Freedom 250 Celebration Several entertainers abruptly backed out of President Donald Trump-linked Freedom 250 concerts this week after learning more details about the patriotic celebration planned for the National Mall. As American Greatness reports , the cancellations add to the long-running tensions between Americans and the politically progressive entertainment industry . Young MC, Morris Day, the Commodores, Bret Michaels, and country singer Martina McBride were among the performers who announced they would no longer appear at “The Great American State Fair,” a series of concerts and events scheduled for June 25 through July 10 in Washington,

Obama-Nominated Judge Orders Trump's Name Removed From Kennedy Center Building Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times, A federal district judge on May 29 ordered that President Donald Trump’s name be removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and blocked officials from shuttering the venue for two years for renovations. Obama-nominated, Washington-based Judge Christopher R. Cooper issued an order temporarily halting the closure and preventing the name change. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” the judge said. The new ruling came in response to litigation initiated in December

Japan Prepares To End Quantitative Tightening Amid Bond Market Turmoil With Japanese bond yields recently hitting record highs and bond market volatility soaring, overnight Reuters floated a trial balloon that Japan's central bank may pause the unwinding of its massive debt holdings next fiscal ​year, which would give Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi some relief amid growing investor concerns about her growing spending plans. A pause would mark a turning point in the Bank ‌of Japan's quantitative tightening plan - started in 2024 as part of Governor Kazuo Ueda's efforts to unwind a decade-long, massive stimulus which everyone said would result

This Is The Deep State On Parade Like A Naked Emperor Authored by James Howard Kunstler, In the annals of Deep State WTF-ery, is there a stranger case than CIA officer David Rush turning up with $40-million in 303 one-kilogram gold bars, plus $2-million in cash, plus a stash of 30 mostly Rolex watches? Well, yeah, the stranger story is how the guy got hired by the CIA in the first place. Rush was arrested on Monday, May 18, by an FBI SWAT team at his home in Loudoun County, VA. Agents searched the house all day long and found

Bessent Signals Crackdown On Dark-Money Funded NGOs In "Weeks, Months Ahead" Last year, readers were briefed on what was then the investigative phase into dark-money-funded NGOs and alleged foreign influence operations routed through far-left activist networks. These NGOs and activist networks advance anti-capitalist agendas, mobilize protests and riots to fuel unrest under the banner of toxic social justice, and have also served as a permanent protest-industrial complex designed to delay, deny, and destroy President Trump's pro-America agenda. Fast forward to late spring, and there now appears to be a clear transition inside parts of the Trump administration from the investigative

One In Three American Men No Longer Working Via American Greatness, The number of American men participating in the workforce has fallen to one of its lowest levels in nearly two decades, according to new federal labor statistics. Just 66 percent of men age 20 and older were employed or actively seeking work as of April, according to data released earlier this month by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. That figure has dropped sharply from 73 percent in 2006 and now sits near levels last seen during the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis. The numbers mean roughly one

Trump Refiles Lawsuit Over Wall Street Journal Article Linking Him To Epstein Letter Authored by Jackson Richman via The Epoch Times, President Donald Trump has refiled his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, over an article that alleged he signed a birthday letter sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump’s legal team submitted the revised complaint exactly on the May 27 deadline set by U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles. In April, Gayles dismissed the original lawsuit, ruling that Trump had failed to show that The Wall Street Journal acted with

"Closing The Nuclear Fuel Cycle" - Newcleo's $780M War Chest And Oklo Partnership Fuel $2.4B SPAC Debut It's open season in the nuclear industry for going public, and this week's episode features newcleo, a European lead-cooled reactor developer. The Paris-based developer of lead-cooled fast reactors (LFRs) and closed-cycle MOX fuel announced it will merge with NewHold Investment Corp III (ticker NHIC) in a deal valuing the company at roughly $2.4 billion . A $220 million oversubscribed PIPE at $10 per share plus up to $209 million from the SPAC trust should deliver as much as $429 million in gross proceeds

Bitcoin ETFs Bleed $2.8B In Record 9-Day Outflow Streak Authored by Helen Partz via CoinTelegraph.com, US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posted their longest outflow streak since launch, extending withdrawals as institutional demand for Bitcoin exposure weakened. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded another $223 million in net outflows on Thursday, marking the record nine-day outflow streak since the funds launched in 2024, according to data from Farside Investors. The latest streak surpassed the previous record eight-session outflow run recorded in February 2025, though its roughly $2.84 billion in cumulative withdrawals remains below the $3.2 billion lost during the earlier selloff. US

Both Sides Agree Iran Deal 'Close' But Not Finalized, As Trump Promises 'Final Determination' Soon Summary NYT: President Trump’s meeting in the Situation Room lasted about two hours, but the president did not reach a decision on any new deal with Iran . Trump repeats conditions on Iran for lifting US naval blockade , oil pushed lower. Fars responds: "Mix of truth & lies." Trump vows to 'unearth' and gain control of nuclear dust in 'cooperation' with Iran and/or China , says no money will be exchanged with Iran, and that it 'must agree' to never have a nuclear weapon

The Two Ugly Paths Now Facing The US Economy Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance I was watching Andrew Ross Sorkin on 60 Minutes last Sunday. Sorkin was on the show to promote his new book, 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History — and How It Shattered a Nation . When Leslie Stahl asked him during his interview whether we would have another crash, Sorkin answered: “The answer is, we will have a crash. I just can’t tell you when, and I can’t tell you how deep. But I can assure you, unfortunately, I wish I wasn’t saying

Was Amazon's Tokenmaxxing Fiasco Behind Claude's $500M Mystery Bill? Axios reported this week that an unnamed Anthropic enterprise client managed to run up roughly $500 million in Claude charges in a single month after failing to put usage limits on employee licenses. The company was not named, but we suspect Blue Origin might not be the only thing that blew up for Jeff Bezos this month. Just as the Axios report landed with the $500M tidbit , Amazon was shutting down an internal AI-usage leaderboard after employees reportedly began “tokenmaxxing” - routing unnecessary work through AI tools to inflate their

Opposition says constitutional amendment would give bill ruling party carte blanche to overturn will of voters Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Amid fierce criticism from opposition groups, Mexico ’s senate has passed ‌a constitutional amendment to include “foreign interference” as grounds to annul election results in the country. The bill, which was presented by the country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, defines foreign interference as “illicit financing, propaganda, the systematic ⁠dissemination of misinformation, digital manipulation, and ⁠the intervention of foreign governments ⁠or agencies”. Continue reading...

Marco Rubio made announcement after meeting president’s far-right challenger Flávio Bolsonaro Brazil will not be treated as a “tinpot country,” the country’s president, Luiz Inácio da Silva, said on Friday after the United States designated Brazil’s two largest criminal gangs, the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command, as foreign terrorist organisations. The announcement, made by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, on Thursday, is being widely seen in Brazil as a setback for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president who had strongly opposed the designation – and a boost for Lula’s main challenger in October’s presidential election,

Kenneth Law, who sold lethal chemicals online with instructions on how to use them, admits counselling or aiding suicide ‘It was too easy’: families ask how Kenneth Law enabled so many suicides A Canadian man who mailed “suicide packets” of poison to more than 100 people in dozens of countries – including Canada, the UK, the US, Italy, Australia and New Zealand – has pleaded guilty to 14 counts of assisting suicide. Kenneth Law appeared in a packed courtroom in Newmarket, Ontario, on Friday to enter the plea after prosecutors agreed to withdraw 14 murder charges. Sentencing is expected to

Kenneth Law pleaded guilty in Canada to sending products internationally, knowing they would probably be used to end lives Bereaved families whose loved ones were the victims of an online supplier of suicide kits say they feel insulted by a decision not to prosecute him in the UK. Kenneth Law pleaded guilty in a court in Ontario, Canada, to 14 charges of aiding suicide and sending products internationally in the knowledge that they were likely to be used to end lives. He is due to be sentenced at a later date. Continue reading...

Central American country says its president spoke with Pete Hegseth to confirm terms of cooperation Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Guatemala has requested US military cooperation spanning access to equipment, training and experts to assist Guatemalan operations against drug trafficking, the country’s president, Bernardo Arévalo, said on Thursday. The joint plans stopped short of US military operations on Guatemalan soil and fall within existing bilateral agreements, the government noted. Continue reading...

Pentagon chief also tells Singapore defence summit of ‘alarm’ at China’s military buildup but says US does not seek ‘needless confrontation’ The US has more than sufficient stockpiles of weapons and is “more than capable” of resuming the war with Iran, Pete Hegseth told a defence summit hours after a meeting in Washington failed to produce a deal to end the conflict. “Our ability to recommence if necessary is we are more than capable,” the US defence secretary told the Shangri-La Dialogue, a defence summit held in Singapore on Saturday. “Our stockpiles are more than suited for that, both there

Josh Richards joins international mission to help five found alive and search for missing divers, with one person extracted successfully Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast An Australian cave diver is part of an international team that has brought one man out alive from a remote flooded cave in Laos, with the rescue operation continuing for six more men still trapped underground. One man was brought alive from the labyrinthine cave complex late on Friday. Four remain stranded on a rocky ledge about 300m from the cave entrance, while two men are still unaccounted

Man is ‘safe and sound’ after perilous operation, leaving four inside a small chamber and two still to be located The first of seven men who have been trapped in a flooded cave in Laos for more than a week has been brought to safety by divers, in a perilous rescue mission that has required teams to crawl through narrow, deluged tunnels, navigating sharp rocks and collapse hazards. Four men remain inside a chamber about 300 metres (980ft) from the cave entrance, where they were found crouched and huddled together on a rocky ledge by rescuers on Wednesday . Two

Concerns among commissioners in bloc that surge in imports could lead to decline similar to that of US rust belt towns EU commissioners will meet on Friday for crunch talks aimed at imposing new restrictions on imports from China amid growing concern that Beijing is fuelling conditions for US-style rust belt towns in Europe. The surge in imports of everything from electric cars to key components in machines, medical devices and foodstuffs has been dubbed China Shock 2.0, potentially mirroring the experience in the US 25 years ago when Beijing joined the World Trade Organization. Continue reading...

Picture was created by administrator in charge of station’s Facebook account who wanted to create ‘friendlier image’ It was an arresting image and an irresistible story. A group of tough Thai police officers – five men and one woman – all wearing elaborate festival-style dresses, surrounding a drug dealer they had caught while undercover. The image, released by local police, was so compelling that it found its way on to the front page of the UK’s Daily Star, as well as in picture stories in the Telegraph, the Sun and the New York Post. Continue reading...

Bureau of Meteorology says WA residents should brace for wind gusts higher than 125km/h – the strength of category two cyclones Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A major storm system bearing down on millions of Western Australians on Saturday is bringing cyclone-strength winds, and is set to deliver a “wintry blast” to the east of the country early next week. Residents across WA’s populated south-west were warned to tie down loose items and prepare for destructive wind gusts that could exceed 125km/h from Saturday evening. Continue reading...

Fireworks displays will replace all drone shows at the iconic festival after a technical issue saw dozens fall from the sky on Monday night Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Vivid Sydney has cancelled all remaining drone shows after 83 fell from the sky into Darling Harbour this week, prompting a “full assessment” of the aerial light show. On Monday, audiences looked on as a performance called Star-Bound suddenly went awry, with “unforeseen technical difficulties” causing 83 drones to plunge into the waters of Cockle Bay and six to land on a boardwalk. No

Angus Taylor believes the former PM is uniquely placed to help the party as its new president, but some fear he will render it even more unelectable Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Immediately after ousting Sussan Ley, Angus Taylor used his first press conference as opposition leader to debut a slogan he hoped would define a new era of Liberal conservatism. “The door must be shut,” Taylor said of his approach to prospective migrants who didn’t subscribe to Australia’s “core beliefs”. Continue reading...

Temperatures across parts of continent around 10-15C above average for this time of year, while thunderstorms strike eastern Australia Europe has experienced an exceptional heatwave this week, with temperature records broken across multiple countries under a persistent area of high pressure, commonly referred to as a “heat dome.” The UK surpassed its May maximum temperature record on Tuesday, with 35.1C recorded at Kew Gardens, London. This broke the record set only the day before , with 34.8C recorded in London on Monday. Previously, the maximum May temperature record was 32.8C, recorded in 1922 and then matched in 1944. Ireland also

Zeppelin Witheridge charged with public nuisance over ‘Scientology speedrun’ social media trend Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A social media stunt that treats churches like video games has gone from TikTok to the dock, landing an alleged teenage “speedrunner” in court. Zeppelin Witheridge, 18, has been accused of using a police car as a BMX ramp after a viral challenge went awry at the Church of Scientology in Brisbane’s CBD. Continue reading...

Suggestion the Luce EV should be stripped of prancing horse logo shows strength of feeling from Ferrari fans For passionate enthusiasts, Ferraris are not merely cars but works of art. The emotion stirred by their classic red curves is, they say, akin to standing before a Michelangelo sculpture, while the sound of the engine revving evokes a sensation comparable to listening to the music of Giuseppe Verdi or Giacomo Puccini. Which is why the sight of the Italian carmaker’s first fully electric car, the Luce EV, unveiled this week , left many fans aghast. Continue reading...

Organisation cites abuse, including rape of male detainees, by security forces of governments which have blocked UN investigators The UN has added Israel and Russia to a blacklist for sexual violence in conflict, citing abuse by security forces, including the rape of male detainees. The UN verified sexual abuse of 31 Palestinian men, women and children from the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank between 2023 and 2025. Israeli attacks included repeated gang-rapes and the use of sexual violence as a form of torture, the report said. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here The incident comes just days after the Czech president, Petr Pavel, has urged Nato to “show its teeth” in response to Russia’s repeated testing of the alliance’s resolve on its eastern flank, suggesting a range of options including switching off its internet, cutting off its banks from global financial systems and shooting down jets that violate allied airspace. Speaking to the Guardian in Prague last week, Pavel called for “decisive enough, potentially even asymmetric” responses to counter Moscow’s provocative behaviour against the alliance or risk the Kremlin

Refugee charities say the numbers revealed in freedom of information data are ‘shocking’ Lone children were held at UK-run detention centres in France on nearly 300 occasions last year, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act. Data obtained by the Guardian shows they are part of about 900 instances when unaccompanied minors have been detained at British short-term facilities near Calais and Dunkirk over the last four years. Continue reading...

Mark Rutte says Moscow’s ‘reckless behaviour is danger to us all’ after drone hits apartment building, while Russia denies involvement The Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, has said the alliance is “ready to defend every inch” of its territory after a Russian drone hit an apartment building in Romania, a member state, during an overnight attack on neighbouring Ukraine. “Russia’s reckless behaviour is a danger to us all,” Rutte wrote on social media after a call with the Romanian president, Nicuşor Dan. “I affirmed that Nato stands ready to defend every inch of allied territory.” Continue reading...

Some Iranians hoped foreign intervention would unseat the regime but instead the US-Israel war has damaged livelihoods and strengthened those in power As Donald Trump swung this week between threats of new military action against Iran and predictions that a lasting ceasefire deal was imminent, many Iranians were left exhausted and gripped by uncertainty. Despite the partial lifting of an internet shutdown that began when the war started on 28 February, fears of worsening repression at home have also fuelled pessimism about the future among some of those to whom the Guardian spoke. Continue reading...

US president did not announce decision on deal that could open strait of Hormuz after two-hour situation room meet Donald Trump has claimed he could approve an Iran peace deal on Friday that contains major concessions from Tehran, including the opening of the strait of Hormuz and the elimination of the country’s nuclear programme. However, top Iranian officials signalled a final agreement had not been reached. The two versions indicate Trump may once again be practising his “art of the deal” as he seeks to talk his way out of a war that has disrupted global energy supplies and rocked

Bushra Shaikh, from Surrey, who appeared in The Apprentice, ‘ highly active’ in spreading regime message A UK television personality went on two state-sponsored tours of Iran this spring where she met senior officials and was “active” in spreading the regime’s message, according to an investigation by a Iranian factchecking organisation. Bushra Shaikh, from Surrey, owned a luxury clothing brand and finished ninth on series 13 of The Apprentice in 2017, where she described herself as “inspired by Coco Chanel”. Continue reading...

On Saturday, Donald Trump said talks with Tehran were going well and an agreement to end the war was ‘largely negotiated’. On Sunday, the US launched strikes on Southern Iran. By Thursday, Donald Trump had circulated a draft peace agreement for the war with Iran among allies. This week, as the US-Iran deal remains in a precarious state, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group about why Trump keeps changing his mind on what to do to end the war Archive: AP, Reuters Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can read our latest report from the Middle East here Donald Trump shares draft Iran peace agreement with Israel and other allies Hezbollah has claimed dozens of drone and rocket attacks that it said targeted Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The group said it launched several attacks on Israeli soldiers and tanks that crossed the Litani river into the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah near Nabatieh, as close-range fighting continues. Continue reading...

New digital marking system is aimed at reducing human errors but many students say it has resulted in wrong grades National outcry has erupted in India after more than 400,000 students have requested copies of their exam papers and answer sheets amid an outcry over marking errors in the country’s most important school-leaving exams. Within days of the grade 12 exam results being issued, students began reporting marking discrepancies they linked to a new digital marking system. Continue reading...

Rare albino buffalo spared due to security concerns over unusual level of public interest in 700kg animal A rare albino buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its distinctive blond tuft has been spared from Eid al-Adha sacrifice after a last-minute government intervention, according to a home ministry official. The nearly 700kg (1,543lb) animal had already been sold for ritual slaughter when authorities stepped in, citing security concerns after a surge of public interest before Thursday’s festival. Continue reading...

Lack of Pfas regulations raised in parliament after Guardian revealed former Miteni plant bought by Indian company Protests over the production of cancer-linked Pfas chemicals have spread across India, after an investigation revealed that an Italian factory shut down due to an environmental scandal was bought by an Indian company and partly rebuilt. At the end of last year, the Guardian revealed that the former Miteni plant in Vicenza had been acquired by the Indian company Laxmi Organic Industries. The factory produced Pfas and was shut down in 2018 after being linked to one of Italy’s worst environmental contamination scandals.

Senior lawyers call on prime minister to request Indian prosecutors drop charges that would breach double jeopardy rule Four senior lawyers, including the former attorney general Dominic Grieve, have written to Keir Starmer urging him to request that Indian prosecutors drop charges against the British national Jagtar Singh Johal on the basis that continued prosecution would be in manifest breach of the double jeopardy rule which prevents someone being tried twice for the same offence. Johal has been held in an Indian jail for eight years, and in March last year was acquitted of the terrorist charges laid against him

Explosives-laden vehicle detonated as passenger train travelled through south-western city of Quetta A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a railway track as a passenger train travelled through the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 70 others, officials have said. The force of the explosion on Sunday caused two of the train cars to overturn and catch fire, sending thick black smoke into the air, according to footage shared online. Continue reading...

Findings add to growing efforts to explain why cancer rates are increasing among younger adults worldwide Poor sleep may be fuelling the global rise in under-50s being diagnosed with cancer, two large studies suggest. The number of younger people diagnosed with the disease has risen by almost 80% in three decades. Worldwide cases of early-onset cancer increased from 1.82m in 1990 to 3.26m in 2019, while cancer deaths among people in their 40s, 30s or younger rose by 27%. Continue reading...

Investigation launched in former mining village of Coalsnaughton after residents forced to leave properties Nearly 100 homes have been evacuated following reports of ground movement in a former mining village in Clackmannanshire. Properties began being evacuated on 18 May and an investigation has since been launched into the cause in Coalsnaughton. Continue reading...

Ex-SNP leader says she appeared on more front pages than her husband this week, adding: ‘I don’t think that’s right’ Nicola Sturgeon said she “should not be held responsible for the wrongdoing of men” after Peter Murrell, her estranged husband, admitted to embezzling hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP this week. The former Scottish first minister told an audience at the Hay festival in Wales on Friday: “My picture has been on more front pages in Scotland this week than my former husband’s has, and I don’t think that’s right.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Some fear raising rate for people aged 18-20 will exacerbate unemployment while others point to lack of evidence Rising rates of youth unemployment have created a split at the top of government over how fast it should meet its promise to give young people the full minimum wage. Peter Kyle, the business secretary, is understood to believe now is not the time to give 18- to 20-year-olds the full minimum wage, which Labour promised to do in its manifesto. Continue reading...

Survey shows 44% increase on RSPB reserves of bird that almost became extinct in England in the 60s More than half a century after the Dartford warbler almost vanished from the English countryside, the charismatic heathland bird appears to be staging a comeback. A survey has revealed the highest number of Dartford warblers ever recorded on reserves run by the bird conservation charity RSPB, with 264 pairs counted in 2025, a 44% increase in five years. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Sign up for the Breaking News US email Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s mayor, said he won’t be marching in this year’s Israel Day Parade, during a news conference Thursday. “I said on the campaign trail that I wouldn’t be attending, and I’ve made my views on the Israeli government clear,” Mamdani said, adding that ample security measures will be in place. He said: As the mayor of our city, I take seriously the responsibility to protect the safety and well-being of every New Yorker at every event, regardless of my attendance. Continue reading...

Three men killed in third attack this week amid Trump administration’s campaign against alleged drug boats The US military said it had carried out another strike Friday on a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing three men in the third attack this week and pushing the overall death toll above 200 people. US Southern Command announced the latest strike in the months-long campaign against alleged drug boats traversing the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific with its usual language that the vessel was “engaged in narco-trafficking operations” and operated by a designated terrorist organization. It provided

Discovery brings death toll from chemical tank rupture in Longview to nine, with two workers still unaccounted for Crews on Friday recovered the remains of one more victim of a massive chemical tank rupture at a paper mill in Washington state, bringing the death toll to nine people and leaving two workers still unaccounted for. Among the 11 workers presumed killed in the disaster were two brothers who worked there together, a trivia champ and an electrician who would help his farmer neighbors cut hay. Continue reading...

Executive order recognizes health department assessment as guide for federal government for childhood vaccines An executive order signed by Donald Trump with little fanfare on Friday could have a huge impact on the health of US children, as it instructs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to cut the number of recommended childhood vaccines almost in half. The vague language of the order, which refers to “a scientific assessment that compared United States childhood immunization recommendations with those of peer nations” published in January by anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy’s health and human services department, does not explicitly

Announcement coincides with reports of influx of federal agents to Delaney Hall, site of protests and hunger strike Top New Jersey officials announced on Friday that the state police will be taking over policing functions from federal immigration officers outside the contentious Delaney Hall facility , as reports surface of an influx of federal agents making their way to the area. As part of the state police’s takeover of “public safety operations” at the site, they will establish a “peaceful protected zone” for demonstrators and will have protesters “move there today”, according to New Jersey’s governor, Mikie Sherrill, and attorney

China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi said ‌on Friday that Canada could surpass its goal of increasing exports to China by 50 per cent by 2030 during a meeting with Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand. Wang said he thought Canada’s exports to China could increase by 100 per cent, building on momentum between the countries. “Canada is focused on growing our economy and diversifying our trading relationships,” Anand said during the meeting. “The Canada-China economic relationship is...

Former US attorney general Pam Bondi rebuffed questions about President Donald Trump’s involvement in handling records of the Justice Department’s investigation of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, Democratic lawmakers said. “She refused to answer any questions about President Trump,” congressman Robert Garcia, the top-ranking Democrat on the House panel investigating Epstein, told reporters during a break in the committee’s closed-door questioning of Bondi. Bondi also pushed any blame for...

The Canadian man who helped scores of people worldwide kill themselves by selling them poison pleaded guilty on Friday to 14 counts of aiding suicide, as prosecutors said they will withdraw murder charges. Since Kenneth Law’s arrest in 2023, details of the online forums where he advised distressed people on how to end their lives have caused public outrage and triggered investigations in several countries. In Canada, Law faced 14 murder charges and an additional 14 charges for aiding suicide. At...

The European Commission agreed on a tough new approach to trade relations with China, at a rare Beijing-focused debate among Brussels’ leadership on Friday. In a presentation, trade chief Maros Sefcovic laid out why the bloc needed to take stronger steps to defend itself from what is described as a new “China shock” to its industries, according to people briefed on the event. This may require developing a new instrument to compel companies in critical sectors to expand both the number and the...

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving ahead with a US$1.8 billion compensation package that critics have denounced as a “slush fund” for President Donald Trump’s political allies. US District Judge Leonie Brinkema barred the administration from taking any further action to create or operate the fund while she considers whether to impose a longer-lasting pause. Her order blocks the transfer of money into the fund, the consideration of claims and the...

Finance ministers ⁠from the EU’s six ⁠biggest economies (E6) have agreed a ⁠common position on a European Commission proposal for joint capital markets supervision, Germany’s finance ministry said on Friday. The push for financial market players to be supervised at a European Union rather than national level is part ‌of a bid to boost the bloc’s competitiveness as it struggles with weak growth and fierce competition from the United States and China. Supervision of significant market...

A Kenyan court temporarily halted the opening of an Ebola quarantine centre for US nationals on Friday following a petition filed by a rights group. The facility was due to open in the east Africa nation on Friday according to US officials, to quarantine Americans arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is battling a major Ebola outbreak. Washington has defended its criticised decision not to repatriate Americans infected with the virus. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has...

The European Union and China are entering a new, more turbulent era in trade relations, as China has evolved from Europe’s favoured customer into a sophisticated competitor, a Brussels lobbyist has said. Chinese businesses are likely to face tougher scrutiny in the EU market as a result, with Brussels already taking steps to diversify its trade and mulling more robust measures to shield local industry from Chinese competition, according to Michael Koplovsky, a senior adviser at the strategic...

Kenyan authorities have arrested eight students on suspicion of arson over a fire at a girls’ boarding school that killed 16 students, ‌police said on Friday. The fire at the Utumishi Girls’ Academy Senior School in Gilgil in west-central Kenya broke out in the early hours of Thursday and also injured 79 students. Fires are common at Kenyan schools, with many set by students protesting harsh discipline and poor conditions, researchers ⁠have found. “Preliminary investigations have identified...

US authorities have found six more bodies following a chemical leak at a paper plant in Washington state, an official said on Thursday, with three of a total 11 victims still missing. A huge tank holding tens of thousands of gallons of a highly caustic substance imploded on Tuesday at the plant in Longview, Washington state, sparking a major search operation. Rescuers had initially confirmed two people were dead, and ruled out finding survivors as the search turned to recovering victims’...

There seems to be no end to the harm arising from US President Donald Trump’s madcap war on Iran. Go beyond the direct tragic impact across Iran itself, the collateral damage from Tehran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and its ad hoc assaults on US allies in the region: beyond the burgeoning impact of shortages of oil, gas, hydrogen, helium and sulphur, and the prospect of food shortages arising from the collapse in fertiliser supplies; beyond the hardships of tens of thousands of...

Nato member Romania said on Friday that a drone injured two people in a southeastern city during an overnight Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, the first time in the war that a drone had hit a densely populated area in Romania and caused injuries. The incident in Romania, also a member of the European Union, ‌was likely to increase tensions on Nato’s eastern flank at a time when Ukraine’s allies were worried about Russia’s war on its neighbour spilling over its borders. Nato accused Moscow...

An annual United Nations report documenting sexual violence in conflicts worldwide has included Israeli forces for the first time since the review began more than 15 years ago for their treatment of Palestinian detainees. Israel denies the accusations. The 35-page report – shared by the Israeli mission to the UN late Thursday ahead of its expected release on Friday – blacklists 77 government and non-government parties in a dozen countries suspected of committing or being responsible for sexual...

The United States on Thursday designated two well-known Brazilian crime groups, the so-called Red Command (CV) and First Capital Command (PCC), as terrorist organisations, despite opposition from Brasilia. “CV and PCC are two of the most violent criminal organisations in Brazil,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “Their influence and illicit networks extend far beyond Brazil’s borders, across our region and into our country.” “Together, they command thousands of members and...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Concerns mount in China’s space sector that Musk’s Starship will be a failure There are growing doubts within China’s space sector that Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket being developed by SpaceX in the United States, will...

An uncrewed Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on a Florida launch pad during a test on Thursday, in a major setback for Jeff Bezos’ space venture as it seeks to narrow the gap with Elon Musk’s IPO-bound SpaceX. Video posted by NASASpaceflight, which live-streams launches from Florida, showed the towering New Glenn rocket igniting on the pad before erupting into a massive fireball that billowed skyward, sending a towering plume of flames and smoke into the air. Blue Origin was preparing the...

US President Donald Trump could soon appear on a new US$250 bill, in the Republican’s latest move to shatter US traditions by putting his personal stamp on national institutions. A proposal for the new bill, featuring a glaring Trump, was first reported on Thursday by The Washington Post. If carried out, it would be the first time the image of a living person - let alone a president - had appeared on US currency in a century and a half. “Right now there is proposed legislation - front of the...

Nothing about the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Beijing suggested high drama. The language was restrained, the optics disciplined. The impression it left was simple: escalation of tensions for its own sake is a losing strategy. The announcement that China would buy 200 Boeing aircraft served mainly as a political gesture of goodwill, with the commercial details to be filled in later by negotiators. More important was the pattern across readouts from...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had directed Israel’s military to take more of Gaza, initially by seizing 70 per cent of the Palestinian territory, where the population is already penned into a tiny strip of land along the coast. Israel effectively controls an estimated 64 per cent of the tiny coastal strip, bombarded to ruins by Israel’s two-year military assault that followed the 2023 Hamas ‌attack on southern Israel. Under an October US-brokered truce that has...

An explosion and massive fire at a Dallas residential building Thursday killed a child and at least two other people following a blast that shook nearby homes and happened while firefighters were rushing to a reported gas leak, officials said. At least five people also went to hospitals with injuries, Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesperson Jason Evans said. It was unclear how many residents lived in the two-storey complex in the Oak Cliff neighbourhood south of downtown Dallas, where a towering plume...

Recent articles in an Asia-focused international policy forum suggest that states such as Australia, Canada and South Korea can join up with other middle powers to secure the maritime order and restore the liberal international order. While well meaning and encouraging, the unfortunate truth is that these tasks are beyond the capacity of middle powers. The smartest ones won’t even try. Maritime security has transformed from a permissive environment dominated by uncontested naval supremacy into a...

An Austrian court on Thursday convicted a man of planning to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna nearly two years ago. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The state court in Wiener Neustadt, south of the capital, found the 21-year-old defendant, an Austrian citizen known only as Beran A in line with Austrian privacy rules, guilty on multiple charges including those related to the concert. The concert plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still cancelled Swift’s three performances...

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday rejected suggestions that US pressure had shaped his government’s handling of a dispute over ports near the Panama Canal, as Panama seeks to stabilise relations with Beijing and renew a key maritime agreement. “The decision we made regarding those two ports was genuinely Panamanian,” Mulino said during his weekly press conference, after China accused unnamed “third parties” of interfering in bilateral ties. Mulino also expressed hope that...

There was no one in the courtroom on Thursday to speak on behalf of the four men Randy Santos bludgeoned to death with a metal bar as they slept on the New York City streets. No anguished friends or relatives to tell the judge about Florencio Moran, Nazario Vasquez Villegas, Anthony Manson and Chuen Kok’s abruptly shortened lives. No one to confront Santos face-to-face about his psychosis-fuelled rampage through Manhattan’s Chinatown neighbourhood nearly seven years ago, or to hear him...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called for a “new partnership” with the United States to “help make America great again”, in a speech delivered in New York on Thursday. Carney said that while the world is ‌undergoing a “rupture” as the US transforms its commercial relationships, working closely with Canada in specific sectors, including aluminium, cars and critical minerals, would strengthen both countries. Asked about his January trip to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, Carney...

Worn down by thousands of passers-by honouring an unusual tradition, a floor mosaic of an anatomically detailed bull in one of Milan’s grand arcades is getting a sensitive makeover. Legend has it that grinding one’s heel on the mosaic bull’s testicles at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II guarantees a return one day to the city. “Because of constant pirouettes on the heel made by tourists visiting Milan, the pink tesserae that make up its testicles have been worn down, forming a small crater,”...

Israel pounded south Lebanon with deadly strikes and widened its offensive with the first raid near Beirut in weeks where authorities said a woman and two children were killed despite a ceasefire. The attack near the capital came after heavy strikes on south Lebanon that authorities said had killed at least 14 people, including three children. The escalation comes as Lebanon and Israel prepare for talks between military delegations at the Pentagon on Friday, and for US-brokered talks early next...

Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews, Brittany Howard and Joan Baez will headline a star-studded protest festival set for the Washington area a month before the US midterm elections. Springsteen and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello announced the festival on Wednesday while performing together at Nationals Park in Washington as Springsteen winds down his Land of Hope and Dreams American tour. At the concert on Wednesday, Springsteen played many of his most political songs,...

A tentative agreement has been reached in the ongoing negotiations with Iran, US sources confirmed, though they stressed that the deal has not yet been finalised and remains subject to formal approval by US President Donald Trump. Trump has asked for a couple of days to consider the proposal before making a decision. “The teams have been going back and forth,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday at a White House press conference. He added that Trump has been “very clear” about...

A key inflation gauge accelerated in April to the highest level in three years, the latest sign that spiking gas prices and higher food costs are squeezing Americans’ finances. Inflation jumped to 3.8 per cent in April compared with a year ago, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, up from 3.5 per cent in March and the highest since May 2023. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.4 per cent, down from the 0.7 per cent jump in March. The report showed that prices have risen for many items in...

The reshaping of the global economic system we are witnessing has entered an acute phase. This raises several questions. When will the world return to a more stable condition? No less importantly, what places will key countries occupy in the new configuration? To answer these questions, it is useful to view current events through the prism of systemic interstate conflicts, which are among the main markers of such transformations. By systemic conflicts, however, one should understand not only...

A knife attack by a man reportedly shouting “Allahu akbar” that wounded three people at a Swiss railway station on Thursday was a “terrorist act”, a regional security official said. “I am exceptionally calling this a terrorist attack,” Mario Fehr, in charge of security in the Swiss canton of Zurich, told reporters, adding that it was clear that the motive for this “evil act of terror” must be sought “in the realm of radicalisation and extremism”. Witnesses described scenes of panic and confusion...

Germany and the Netherlands will set up a joint tactical headquarters in the Baltics this year to command forces on Nato’s eastern flank and help deter Russia, Berlin said on Thursday. The joint German-Dutch command centre known as 1GNC will “assume a command role on Nato’s eastern flank, specifically in the region of Estonia and Latvia” in coming months, the German defence ministry said in a statement. “The deployment of an additional tactical headquarters to the region strengthens the cohesion...

France ⁠will reimburse the cost of weight-loss drugs prescribed to severely obese patients from mid-June in a first for a European Union country, Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on Thursday. Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro medications have led a boom ‌in anti-obesity treatment, attracting interest from governments keen to address rising overweight levels worldwide. Rist estimated the annual cost to the state at around €100 million (US$116 million) at full roll-out. Patients in...

A US judge on Thursday declined ⁠to block President Donald ⁠Trump’s executive tightening rules on mail-in ⁠voting in a loss for the Democratic Party, whose lawyers argued that it could disenfranchise millions of voters. The decision comes as Trump’s Republicans are locked in a tight battle to keep control ‌of both houses of the US Congress in the November midterm elections. Trump has for years pushed the false claim that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud and has...

A fire ripped through a dormitory in a girls’ boarding school in central Kenya on Thursday, killing at least 16 pupils, a government official said, in the latest such incident to afflict the East African nation. Education Minister Julius Ogamba said 79 others were injured at the Utumishi Girls School, which has more than 800 pupils in the Gilgil area of central Kenya. Ogamba said authorities would investigate whether the school’s fire safety manual had been adhered to. Police said they were...

The European Union’s executive arm is set to back a tougher line against Chinese imports at a key meeting on Friday as a flood of low-cost competition undermines local industries. Potential measures include requiring companies in key sectors to have at least three suppliers from two or more countries in a bid to pare reliance on China, the South China Morning Post reported. Industry commissioner Stephane Sejourne will back broader use of regulations designed to prevent foreign companies...

In the next five years, the Earth is overwhelmingly likely to surge again and again past the international climate threshold set as safe and shatter its hottest-year record along the way, according to new United Nations climate projections. The World Meteorological Organization also forecasts an overheating Arctic that warms nearly 1.66 degrees Celsius (3 Fahrenheit) between now and 2030 and a dangerous drought with potential wildfires for the Amazon, a crucial part of Earth’s natural defences...

Israel’s military on Wednesday declared a new swathe of southern Lebanon as a combat zone and said residents in the area should move north, warning it would act “with great force” against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in the zone. The military’s statement, posted on X, ‌appeared to signal further escalation after more than 120 strikes on Tuesday hit Lebanon’s south and east, despite a ceasefire announced on April 16. “We advise residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate to the north of the...

The US Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the writer who accused US President Donald Trump of ‌raping her in the mid-1990s, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The probe was focused on whether Carroll committed perjury in testimony tied to two civil lawsuits that she won against Trump – one tied to her allegations that he sexually abused her in a New York department store and another over defamation in 2019, said the ⁠source, who...

The United ⁠States and Iran have reached an outline ⁠agreement to extend their ceasefire pending the approval of President Donald Trump, according to an Axios report, after Iran targeted a US air base in Kuwait on Thursday in the wake of US strikes on what Washington described as an Iranian drone operation. According to ‌the report by Axios, the two sides agreed on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the truce and launch negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program but the plan still needed...

Jill Biden feared her husband was having a stroke as she watched then US President Joe Biden stumble through a disastrous debate performance that led to the end of his 2024 re-election campaign, the former first lady said in a recent interview. “I was frightened, because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never,” Jill Biden told CBS News in an interview scheduled to air on Sunday. Joe Biden’s shaky, mumbling and sometimes confused delivery against Donald Trump in June 2024 gave...

Norway will open talks with ⁠France on joining its nuclear ⁠umbrella, French President Emmanuel Macron and Norwegian ⁠Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Wednesday, reflecting growing European concerns about relying on the US for security. The move signals a shift by Norway, long a staunch Atlanticist that has relied heavily on Nato and the US nuclear umbrella, towards closer defence cooperation ‌within Europe. Macron and Stoere announced the plan at a meeting in Paris, where they also...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to threaten to attack ally Oman if it sides with Iran over reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said Oman must “behave” or he would “blow them up”, when he was asked if he would accept a short-term deal to allow Iran and the Gulf state to control the waterway. “No, the strait is going to be open to everybody,” Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting at the White House. “It’s international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else...

The personal assistant who ⁠injected Friends star Matthew Perry ⁠with a fatal dose of the hallucinogenic ⁠drug ketamine was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison on Wednesday, bringing to a close the prosecution of five people who admitted to playing roles in the actor’s death. Judge Sherilyn Garnett delivered the sentence for Kenneth Iwamasa, the person who ‌found Perry floating face down and lifeless in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home in October 2023. Federal prosecutors said Iwamasa...

The report by President Trump’s physician said he was in “excellent health.” It showed that he had gained weight and that neurological and heart tests had come back “normal.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has not filled the vacant role of president of the Economic Development Corporation, deepening concern over his attention to the New York City economy.

A political fight is playing out in Iran, where the small but loud faction of hard-liners has used rallies, state media and private and public statements to try to undermine negotiations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli ground forces had crossed Lebanon’s Litani River, as military officials from the two countries were set to meet for U.S.-brokered talks.

The Tony-nominated stars of “Fallen Angels” demonstrate how to act drunk onstage and have a hilarious hangover.

Andrew S. Boutros, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, is said to be overseeing the criminal investigation.

Prosecutors would face substantial hurdles in potentially pursuing charges against Ms. Carroll, who twice won cases against Donald Trump, or the billionaire who helped pay her lawyers.

Clinical trials in China are getting attention at an international oncology gathering in Chicago. China’s surging biotechnology industry is fueling alarm that U.S. dominance in the field is waning.

Jeff Bezos was gaining ground on Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Starlink. Thursday’s rocket explosion on a launchpad creates a major setback.

Under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, new visa rules are forcing some foreign business owners, who have put down roots in Japan, to leave.

The former reality star’s dark visions of Los Angeles are resonating in a heated mayoral race, even if they’re far from the truth.

Pamela Evette had been among the most vocal proponents of redrawing the state’s congressional map to help Republicans in the midterms.

Eleven lessons America must learn

The president doesn’t seem that concerned that his party could lose control of Congress. Ezra Klein and the Republican strategist Liam Donovan discuss Trump’s midterm strategy and Democratic paths to victory.

The modest drop marked the first decrease in homelessness in nearly a decade. The Housing and Urban Development report was published months later than usual.

Classrooms can be particularly vulnerable amid climate change, as the hottest times of the year increasingly overlap with the academic calendar.

The prices of diesel and gasoline soared after the Iran war started, piling more hardship on people in Ruatahuna, one of New Zealand’s most remote villages.

Her case was, of course, dismissed.