Minimalist News

Your Tax Dollars At Work: NJ Cops Dress Up As Bushes To Hand Out Cell Phone Violations If you thought speed traps were getting creative, New Jersey police have officially entered the landscaping business. Officers in Dunellen spent part of the week hiding in full ghillie suits, essentially dressing up as oversized shrubs, to catch drivers using their phones behind the wheel, according to Newser . While unsuspecting motorists scrolled through texts and notifications, a camouflaged officer watched from the roadside with binoculars, radioing violations to waiting patrol units. The six-hour operation ended with 74 distracted driving tickets , proving

What Else Are They Hiding? Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times, This past couples of weeks was a wild ride. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) released many thousands of pages of documentation concerning the strange world of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) while Dr. Anthony Fauci was at the height of his power as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci’s wife headed the ethics department for the entire agency. His tenure there came to an end in December 2022, following three years in which he was celebrated by mass media as the nation’s

Iran Launches Battlefield Trophy Propaganda Campaign With Captured US Reaper Drone The off-ramp narrative is growing louder. With the US midterm elections quickly approaching, the Trump administration may have reached its "declare victory and leave" moment, shifting from military operations toward a negotiated peace deal, one that must last more than one month. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reinforced that possibility earlier, saying the Strait of Hormuz could reopen " today or tomorrow ." As US negotiations with Tehran appear to be ongoing, the Iranian semi-official news agency Tasnim has released battlefield trophy propaganda that appears to show largely intact U.S.

Texas Energy Giant Oncor Supports Governor's Data Center Freeze By Emma Penrod of UtilityDive.com About 44 GW of large load projects slated for Oncor’s service territory qualified for ERCOT’s new “Batch Zero” interconnection process for large loads, company executives told analysts during a Thursday earnings call. But the timeline for that process is uncertain following an order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that paused new data center interconnection approvals pending a state-wide audit. ERCOT’s criteria for Batch Zero, which include new financial and technical requirements for loads with a peak demand of 75 MW or greater, narrowed immediate load growth

Both Iranian & Israeli Officials Call Out 'Paper Tiger' Saudi Arabia Regional rivals and enemies are calling out Saudi Arabia as a "paper tiger" which must rely on others for protection and defense needs. Criticisms of Riyadh are being issued on the same day the kingdom signed a major security pact with the other major Muslim-dominant nations of Pakistan and Turkey. Formally called the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, it is essentially a NATO-style agreement for the 'Muslim world' - given that it stipulates and formalizes that an armed attack on any of the countries will be treated as an attack

The WNBA Is At War With Its Biggest Stars Via The Daily Signal , This is a lightly edited transcript of an Aug. 6 segment of the Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words podcast... Jack Fowler: And the whole trans issue is coming up in the WNBA, and various coaches are like, “I don’t know. Should a she - I can’t say who should be playing.” They will not say that a biological woman should be playing in the WNBA. It’s this absurdity. Victor Davis Hanson: But they know. I think Clay Travis said he was going to buy

Visualizing 75 Years Of America's Electricity Transition Over the past 75 years, the U.S. electricity system has shifted from one dominated by coal to one in which natural gas and renewables supply nearly two-thirds of generation. This visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte, shows annual U.S. electricity generation by source from 1950 to 2025 using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration . It tracks output in billions of kilowatt-hours and each source’s share of the electricity mix over time. Natural Gas and Renewables Lead U.S. Electricity Generation Coal supplied 46.4% of U.S. electricity in 1950 and remained the country’s

Hawaii's 'Blood Quantum' Rule Deepens The State's Housing Crisis Authored by Rachel Chiu via the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) Hawaiian residents are challenging ancestry-based housing restrictions in federal court. A pair of lawsuits filed in June and July takes aim at the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, a state agency that reserves long-term homestead leases to individuals who meet the state’s “blood quantum” requirement. To be eligible for a homestead lease —long-term, affordable leases for residential, agricultural, and pastoral purposes—an applicant must prove that he or she has 50 percent Native Hawaiian ancestry. In any other context, this type

US Official: Hormuz Deal Is Imminent, Upon Which US Will Lift Blockade Of Iranian Ports Summary US official tells Reuters that US will lift blockade upon Omani deal announcement . Bessent: Hormuz could reopen under a 30-60 day ceasefire as soon as "today or tomorrow." Iran asserts that US & Israeli vessels remain barred until sanctions are lifted and compensation is paid . Trump says the conflict could "end pretty soon," signaling a possible final US exit . Iran remains defiant , pointing out it still has the leverage & can threaten Hormuz. However, the deal could reopen oil flows

Bessent's 'Yentervention' Does Not Fix Japan's Underlying Structural Issues Authored by Ed Dowd via 'Beyond The Narrative' substack, ...a delicate meal to cook before Midterms... My conclusions on the Bessent yen intervention: The move is a temporary Band-Aid at best and sharp yen strength can historically trigger carry-trade unwinds and risk-asset volatility, but it does not fix Japan’s structural debt or rate differentials. The Fed, BOJ and Treasury are walking a tightrope. Consensus is correct that the primary driver is preventing forced sales of Japan’s $1T+ UST holdings that would spike US yields. Expanding the FIMA repo facility is a

Reality Bites: Socialist NYC Mayor Mamdani Turns To Capitalist Bankers For Help After socialist New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani went after Citadel's Ken Griffin , created a property database of wealthy homeowners that makes the list easily accessible to " Luigi-worshipping leftist thugs ," and endlessly bashed America and capitalism, all while his friend, Democratic Socialists of America's unofficial spokesperson Hasan Piker, called on his followers to " kill capitalists in the streets " and other DSA members called for the destruction of America from within, the far-left NYC mayor, who is running into roadblocks, has called on capitalist bankers

Meet The Lab-Leak Proponent Set To Take Fauci's Old Job Authored by Paul D. Thacker via The DisInformation Chronicle , Politico reported that physician-scientist Steven Quay is going through final vetting to take over Tony Fauci's job at the NIH , reporting that aligns with rumors I've been hearing from sources inside the administration for several months. Quay sat for an interview with me on the DisInformation Chronicle podcast last June to talk about changes NIH should make to ensure we don't have another pandemic caused by dangerous virus research, and I ran an excerpt of his book "The Code

Cambridge's Black Time-Travelling Professor (And His Many Superhuman Feats) Authored by Mark Collett, Running a single marathon is a great achievement. Running 30 marathons is a spectacular feat. Running 30 marathons in 35 days is something only a world-class athlete could achieve. But running 30 marathons in 35 days, and running the final nine of those marathons with a broken leg – that’s an impossible feat that would require superhuman powers. But that is exactly what Jason Arday has claimed to achieve. But that’s not all, Jason Arday’s incredible feats aren’t just limited to running nearly 240 miles on a

"Fire Is... Beautiful": Suspect In Spokane Wildfire Confesses He Planned Arson For Weeks The suspect charged on Aug. 3 with starting the Old Trails fire in Spokane, Washington, that forced more than 60,000 people to evacuate told police he had planned the attack for weeks. The suspect, Aaron Farinacci, told police in an interview that “fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth,” according to Spokane County Detective Michael Drapeau in a court filing Wednesday. Farinacci, 37, was scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday, but is now being held on $2 million

The Democratic Party's Four-Way Squeeze Authored by James Howard Kunstler, “. . . it’s subversion and nothing about it is accidental. it’s a well worn playbook to use the democratic institutions of a high trust state to destroy a civilization.” - El Gato Malo on Substack The days might still be long, but this is a dark season in our country’s politics. Everybody’s nervous and many are furious, and yet all that emotion goes nowhere, just eats you up while you watch and wait for signs that help is on the way. What would that help even look like? Maybe

Vance: Federal Government Has Identified $230 Billion In Fraud Since March Authored by Emel Akan via The Epoch Times, Vice President JD Vance said on Aug. 5 that the Trump administration has identified $230 billion in fraud and prevented $56 billion in fraudulent payments since the president’s Fraud Task Force was established in March. Vance discussed the task force’s initiatives at a roundtable in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building attended by more than a dozen Republican lawmakers. He said the work by the task force so far is starting to show results. “We have been able to identify $230 billion

Consumer Credit Jumps More Than Expected In June As Credit Card Debt Spikes One month after the May consumer credit posting a shocking decline - the first since late 2024 - driven by a plunge in revolving credit, things are mostly back to normal, with the Fed reporting in its latest G.19 report that in June, US consumer credit posted a healthy $14.17BN bounce - a full reversal of the May drop of $1.1 billion - and above the $11.9 billion median estimate. The rebound was driven by a sizable reversal in last month's drop in revolving credit (i.e., credit

Senate Passes The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia & Iran Act Of 2026 On Friday the Senate finally passed a bill imposing major new sanctions on Russia due to the grinding war which has been going since February 2022. The bill had bipartisan support, with a vote of 86 to 11, and now it will go to the House - where it is expected to be passed there too. After a year of negotiations and holdups based largely on prior White House pushback, the 'breakthrough' is largely the result of the death of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina

Uncertainty Rules! By Elwin de Groot, head of macro strategy at Rabobank US Treasury yields drifted higher yesterday after the Financial Times reported , citing people close to Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, that he would be prepared to raise rates as early as September if incoming inflation data surprise to the upside and markets themselves begin pricing a more hawkish path. Yet the market reaction was not confined to the front end suggesting investors were not interpreting the story in a straightforwardly hawkish manner. That ambiguity is understandable. If markets push yields higher on expectations of tighter policy, the Fed

Trump Threatens To Jail Arms Shortage 'Leakers' Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com, President Trump on Thursday threatened "leakers" with jail time over reports about dwindling US military stockpiles as a result of the Iran war , and claimed the US had plenty of munitions available. "The US has massive amounts of ‘munitions,’ especially of certain types. Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the US as needed," Trump wrote on Truth Social. Official White House Photo "Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country’s history. The 'leakers' of these treasonous statements

Scientists race to untangle complex links between exposure and mortality as fire weather grows more prevalent A thousand kilometres from the infernos gorging on northern Ontario’s boreal forests, Erin O’Connor watched the sky above Canada’s biggest city turn an “almost post-apocalyptic” orange as it filled with light-scattering particles of soot and ash. Stepping outside the halls of Toronto General hospital, where air filters were keeping patients safe from the worst of the fumes, she was struck by a smell so strong it felt like standing by a campfire. “It really hit you in the face as soon as you walked

Trump ally Abelardo De La ‌Espriella vows to start ‘profound transformation’ of country’s destiny as he is sworn in The ​Trump administration plans to provide $1bn in security assistance to the ⁠government of Colombia’s new ​rightwing ‌president, the US state department announced, soon after Abelardo De La ‌Espriella was sworn in and used his inaugural speech to pledge a vigorous fight against drug trafficking, as well as austerity measures to restore confidence in the economy. De La Espriella, 48, won June’s runoff election with ⁠promises to crack down on armed groups, shrink ⁠the state by as much as 40% and

Chad Eberle of Texas charged over deadly shooting in Saltillo that officials say stemmed from custody dispute A Texas police officer has been arrested in Mexico after authorities there accused him of killing three people and critically injuring the mother of his child in what investigators say stemmed from a dispute over the custody of the minor. The Coahuila attorney general’s office said 35-year-old Chad Eberle was arrested on Wednesday at the border on a warrant accusing him of femicide and qualified homicide, according to La Razon de Mexico, a newspaper based in Mexico City. Under Mexican law, femicide refers

As Abelardo de la Espriella takes office as president vowing a new military offensive, the country’s last leftwing rebels are getting ready to fight back As the boat approached the riverbank, camouflaged figures watched from the tree line. Behind them, in the dim understory of the jungle, a commander of the National Liberation Army (ELN) sat with his rifle on his lap, amid the buzz and whine of insects and the thwacks of machetes on bamboo as his troops set up camp, hidden from enemy drones. Continue reading...

DHS secretary Markwayne Mullin says ‘We’re going after them right now’ despite threat of violence in home country Hundreds of thousands of Haitians are faced with the prospect of imminent risk of arrest and deportation – to a home country racked with crime, violence and political unrest – after the Trump administration officially stripped them of humanitarian protections that had allowed them to live and work legally in the United States for years. US district judge Ana Reyes confirmed on Wednesday that her order blocking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from ending temporary protected status (TPS) for Haiti was

Teenager killed his grandparents ⁠before opening fire at school near Bangkok, where more than 30 were wounded A Thai teenager killed his grandparents before opening fire at his school, where he shot five people dead and took his own life, police have said, in an attack that has shaken a country struggling to deal with gun violence. The 14-year-old wounded more than 30 people in the ⁠shooting at the prestigious Debsirin Nonthaburi school northwest of Bangkok. Nine people were in a critical condition, the Thai health department said. Continue reading...

Profit jump fuelled largely by unknown US refund amount as Japanese video game firm records quarterly sales drop Nintendo has reported a jump in profits, as the Japanese game maker’s earnings were buoyed up by a long-awaited refund on Donald Trump’s tariffs. The company said profits surged 53.5% to ¥147.4bn (£694m) over the three months to June, substantially beating expert forecasts for ¥77.8bn. Continue reading...

Coffee chain has faced backlash over marketing promotion tied to anniversary of Gwangju massacre South Korean police have raided the headquarters of Starbucks Korea as part of an investigation into a marketing campaign accused of trivialising the country’s 1980s pro-democracy movement. Investigators searched the building in southern Seoul on Tuesday, police said on Wednesday. No further details were released, although South Korean media reported that officers also searched the homes of the Starbucks Korea executives. Continue reading...

Snow falls in Wellington for the first time in 15 years while snow blanketed Dunedin and Christchurch on the country’s south island Temperatures have plummeted across New Zealand as an Antarctic cold snap hovers over the country, delighting the capital, Wellington, which experienced snow for the first time in 15 years, while giving a southern city’s residents a chance to ski through the streets. The front moved in on Tuesday, with much of the country waking to freezing conditions, frosts, snowfall, hail and bitingly cold wind. Continue reading...

WTA event win earns 21-year-old a presidential reception in the Philippines as interest in tennis surges in home country The Philippines has been swept up in tennis fever after 21-year-old rising star Alex Eala delivered a historic win, drawing praise from the president who hosted a reception in her honour. On Monday, Eala became the first player from the Philippines to win a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour-level singles title. Continue reading...

Konstantin Kontis and Vicky Kos were compelled to testify at a coronial inquest resuming on the sixth anniversary of the tragedy Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Quiet sobs could be heard in Melbourne’s coroner’s court, as several families attended to finally hear from the pair who were the most senior managers when, throughout July and August 2020, almost a quarter of the 188 residents at St Basil’s aged care home died from Covid-19 or neglect . Following multiple failed legal bids to avoid giving evidence after 50 residents died in the Victorian aged

Former Republican state congressman, who once argued Christianity and capitalism should merge, confirmed by US Senate to fill long-vacant role Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Former Virginia congressman David Brat has been confirmed by the US Senate to be the next US ambassador to Australia, after the role had been left vacant for 18 months. Brat’s confirmation was among more than 70 votes pushed through the Senate by Republicans on Friday, Washington time, before the summer recess. Continue reading...

Police say body of 23-year-old found at Eschol Park property with significant injuries, indicating he may have been attacked before death Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A group of dogs has been taken to a shelter to be euthanised after a young man died following a suspected dog attack at a rural Sydney property. Authorities were alerted to the discovery of the 23-year-old’s body at a rural property in Sydney’s south-west on Wednesday. Police found the body with what they described as significant injuries

Barrister alleges ‘account of penis wiggling is an attempt to humiliate’ broadcaster who has pleaded not guilty to 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Alan Jones’s defence barrister has told a Sydney court one of the broadcaster’s alleged victims invented details of alleged indecent assaults at a Fitzroy Falls farm to “humiliate” and “smear” the former media titan. Complainant J told the court during evidence-in-chief earlier this week that during one alleged incident in the property’s bedroom, Jones’s penis was not fully erect and “not very

This blog is now closed Federal parliament is returning from winter break next week. Do you have a question you’d like to ask Guardian Australia’s team of political reporters in Canberra? Our political editor, Tom McIlroy , and the team will be answering readers’ questions on the Australian Politics podcast. Continue reading...

Somosierra will be prime spot to view celestial alignment on 12 August, an event that poses logistical challenges Little stirs in the mountains above Somosierra beyond the wind that lashes the flat peaks, the cows that graze on parched grass and the sun that beats down on the abandoned aerodrome where generations of glider pilots learned to ride air currents alongside squadrons of vultures and red kites. But all this stillness will disappear, albeit temporarily, on the evening of 12 August, when swathes of northern and eastern Spain and the Balearic islands experience a total solar eclipse , the likes

British and Germans themselves share stereotype but other nationalities are likelier to put out towels – or umbrellas Germans are sunlounger hoggers, or so the longstanding stereotype goes. But not only is that cultural trope mostly confined to British – and, even more so, German – perceptions, surprising new data reveals that in fact Italian and French holidaymakers are the ones most likely to use their towel to stake their claim to a sunlounger. A poll by YouGov of Europeans holidaymakers found that while many Germans (51%) and Britons (46%) associate Germans with the ritual of waking up at the

Taxi driver says he acted as middleman between Yorgen Fenech and three men already convicted of €150,000 contract killing The businessman accused of paying for hitmen to murder the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was impatient for the killing to take place, and once texted from his boat to say he was “preparing champagne” to celebrate, a jury in Malta has heard. Yorgen Fenech , the 44-year-old heir to a property empire that includes several Hilton hotels, is on trial in Malta for complicity in the murder of Caruana Galizia. She died in a car bombing in October 2017 after publishing

Counter-disinformation group says social media channels connected to Pravda network helped amplify message Accounts with links to the Russian military promoting far-right messages reached more than 500,000 people in the days following the mass influx of people into Ceuta , according to an analysis by 411, a counter-disinformation group. Russia-linked social media accounts frequently spread destabilising narratives in Europe, often promoting far-right talking points about immigration. Continue reading...

Officials try to find homes for residents as talks to save social assistance hub collapse amid government crackdown Rome authorities are scrambling to find homes for hundreds of people sleeping in tents in extreme heat after talks aimed at saving Italy’s most high-profile centre for housing and social assistance collapsed amid a crackdown by Giorgia Meloni’s government on squatted buildings. The approximately 400 evicted residents of Spin Time Labs, located in a 10-floor building in Rome’s Esquilino district occupied by grassroots groups since 2013, will not be allowed to move back in after its private owner refused Rome council’s offer

Yinon Levy charged with manslaughter in first exception this decade to culture of impunity for Israelis who kill Palestinians in the occupied West Bank Prosecutors in Israel have indicted an extremist settler for shooting a Palestinian activist last July, the first attempt this decade to hold an Israeli responsible for killing a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank. Yinon Levy, who was under western sanctions, is charged with manslaughter over the death of Awdeh Hathaleen, an English teacher and peace activist. In his last moments, Hathaleen filmed the settler drawing his weapon and opening fire towards him. Continue reading...

By dragging out talks, Tehran aims to damage the US president politically – but some fear a bruised and weakened Trump could lash back Tehran has set out a protracted negotiating timetable designed to keep Donald Trump embroiled in the Iran conflict until the midterm elections, in the hope of inflicting the same ruinous blow on his presidency as Jimmy Carter suffered over the 1979-81 US embassy hostage crisis. For many inside Iran, inflicting meaningful revenge on Trump is a legitimate and self-standing war aim, reflected in the mood of those attending the funeral of the supreme leader Ali Khamenei

This live blog is now closed. Understanding reached on coordinates for shipping route through Hormuz, Iran says Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which was set up in January to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza , has finally issued its first construction contract in the devastated territory: a project to build a rudimentary 150-person military outpost to house Moroccan troops, a source familiar with the matter told the Guardian. The contract, which has not yet been finalised, was awarded to Arkel International, a Louisiana-based firm that has previously carried out work with the US government in countries such as Iraq. Continue

Exclusive: Louisiana firm awarded tender to build rudimentary outpost to house Moroccan troops Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which was set up in January to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza , has finally issued its first construction contract in the devastated territory: a project to build a rudimentary 150-person military outpost to house Moroccan troops, a source familiar with the matter told the Guardian. The contract, which has not yet been finalised, was awarded to Arkel International, a Louisiana-based firm that has previously carried out work with the US government in countries such as Iraq. Continue reading...

Letter says lifting of sanctions sent ‘clear message’ settlers can use deadly force in West Bank without consequences Senior Democrats have accused Donald Trump’s administration of giving a green light to violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, warning that its policies created “a climate of impunity and unbridled violence” that endangers both Palestinians and US citizens. In a letter seen by the Guardian, a group of 19 Democratic senators and representatives call for the restoration of sanctions against extremist settlers and demand independent US investigations into the deaths of nine US citizens killed in the West Bank since

Dhaka accuses India of giving platform to a ‘convicted genocider’ by allowing Sheikh Hasina to address journalists Bangladesh has lashed out at India for allowing the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to address journalists in New Delhi, plunging already strained bilateral relations to a fresh low. Dhaka accused India of giving a platform to a fugitive it labelled a “convicted genocider” and of undermining efforts to repair ties, after Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh in December despite facing a death sentence on charges of “crimes against humanity”. Continue reading...

Tarun Tejpal, ex-editor of Tehelka magazine, was initially acquitted in 2021 in case that drew nationwide attention An Indian court has sentenced a high-profile former editor of an investigative news magazine to 10 years in prison after convicting him of raping a junior colleague, overturning his acquittal in a case that drew nationwide attention. Tarun Tejpal, 63, the founder and former editor of Tehelka magazine, was accused of raping a journalist in the lift of a five-star hotel in the western coastal state of Goa during an event in November 2013. He was arrested and spent seven months in jail

Sheikh Hasina plans a December comeback two years after being ousted in a bloody uprising led by students Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return home by the end of the year, even though she faces a death sentence. “They may put me in a cell. They may kill me. Anything may happen, but still I have to go,” said Hasina, two years after a student-led uprising toppled her government. Continue reading...

Rules brought in soon after killing of dozens of protesters, news of which was reported only by overseas outlets Pakistani authorities have imposed severe new restrictions on international media, including barring them from reporting in most of the country, in a move that has provoked a significant backlash from journalist organisations. According to the new rules anyone, including Pakistani nationals, should seek permission first if they want to report from anywhere in Pakistan except three cities – Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. Continue reading...

Lahore police official says all personnel were responsible for preventing and reporting any wrongdoing at station The alleged rape of a 20-year-old woman with learning disabilities in a police station in Lahore, Pakistan, has prompted authorities to suspend all 78 police officers and staff at the precinct, in one of the country’s biggest ever disciplinary actions against its police force. The woman alleges that an assistant sub-inspector apprehended her, took her to Ghaziabad police station and raped her in a room on the second floor. The woman’s family said she disappeared on the street, before returning home in tears and

London mayor points to ‘terrifying scenes’ this summer amid speculation Burnham may back Jackdaw and Rosebank projects Sadiq Khan: This burning summer is the proof: the voices of climate denial aren’t just delusional, they’re deadly Sadiq Khan has called on the government to commit to revamped climate action and to reduce the UK’s reliance on oil and gas, as the UK endures a summer of drought, wildfires and heatwaves. Writing in the Guardian , the mayor of London said that Andy Burnham’s administration must reaffirm its commitment to net zero and make clear it will continue to reduce the UK’s

UK hosts decades-old event for first time where many participants are from opposite sides of global disputes from Israel and Palestine, to India and Pakistan On the surface it looks like a normal summer school in the Devon countryside, with teenagers playing volleyball in the sun, doing arts and crafts in the hall, and preparing for the night’s talent show. But behind the scenes, intensive discussions are taking place. Many of these teenagers come from opposite sides of historical national conflicts – from Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan. Continue reading...

Documents published on US embassy’s website prompt claims of attempt to export Maga propaganda to UK The US embassy in London is offering grants of up to half a million dollars for new “public education” programmes in what has been criticised as interference in British domestic politics. Using language that the pro-Trump Maga movement has sought to appropriate, a funding notice identifies a goal of fostering a “national conversation” about “shared civilizational values” underpinning US-UK ties. Priority will go to applicants aiming to celebrate “freedom of speech” and “limited government”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: anonymous flagging service says cases have surged, as watchdog says AI is making sexualised or ‘nudified’ content easier to produce Children in the UK have reported a surge in explicit deepfake images featuring their likenesses, as a safety watchdog warned AI is making such content easier to produce. The Report Remove service, which blocks intimate images from appearing online, said there had been a rapid increase in imagery that had been digitally manipulated or “faked” in some way, including with AI and nudification tools. Continue reading...

A horrific knife attack on a street in June sparked another summer’s night of racial violence, stoked by loyalist groups. How did the unrest erupt – and why do many fear it will happen again? Shortly after 10.30pm on Monday 8 June, as a summer twilight lingered over Belfast, a horrific scene unfolded on Kinnaird Avenue: a man straddled and repeatedly stabbed a figure lying on the ground in a bloody assault that ended only after onlookers intervened. Others captured the drama on cameraphones and uploaded the footage to social media. Once seen, the grainy images were hard to forget,

This live blog is now closed. Appeals court halts construction of Trump’s $400m White House ballroom Sign up for the Breaking News US email Following Lisa Murkowski’s announcement that she plans to vote “no” on Todd Blanche’s nomination to lead the Department of Justice, the acting attorney general can’t afford another defection in order to secure the permanent position. So far the only other holdout is Senator Bill Cassidy – a GOP lawmaker from Louisiana. Cassidy, a former physician, said this week he’s concerned about Blanche’s ability to lead the justice department independently, considering he once served as Donald Trump’s

Rescuers not yet able to reach scene of crash near Richfield in central Utah, prompting fears for two missing people A firefighting Sikorsky S64 helicopter with two individuals onboard crashed on Friday morning in a remote area of central Utah, according to federal aviation authorities. The US Forest Service initially declined to comment on the condition of the helicopter’s passengers, asking the public for “patience while we focus on response efforts” in a statement . Continue reading...

Officials describe ‘deplorable conditions’ at home run by pair linked to crematory closed due to mishandled remains The remains of 56 people were found improperly stored and decomposing on Thursday at a Chicago funeral home run by a couple who previously operated a crematory that was similarly shut down because of mishandled remains, authorities said. Illinois state officials, meanwhile, suspended the license of one of the funeral home’s directors, alleging bodies were being kept in an unrefrigerated area in “deplorable conditions”. Continue reading...

Officials praise unarmed employee from nearby store for engaging 24-year-old gunman who later killed himself Police released video on Friday of a mass shooting that killed three people at an Idaho In-N-Out Burger restaurant last weekend, and praised an unarmed employee from a nearby store who engaged the gunman outdoors, slowing him down and possibly preventing more deaths as authorities were catching up. The video released by the police also showed at least three people confronted the gunman with their own weapons during the incident. Continue reading...

Will Rosenzweig’s defunct blog was publicized online by conservative pundit who tagged senior DoJ officials A federal prosecutor fired last year over critical comments he had written as a private citizen about Donald Trump sued the justice department on Friday, saying his termination violated his first amendment rights. Will Rosenzweig was two weeks away from trying a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud case when a blog he had written years earlier covering a broad range of topics was publicized online by a conservative political commentator who also included a screenshot of Rosenzweig’s LinkedIn account and tagged senior justice department officials for their

Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella took office Friday, vowing to wage war on drug-running guerrillas and usher in a new era of close ties with the United States. The flamboyant former lawyer brings a lurch to the right for the Andean nation, vowing to bomb jungle cocaine labs, build “mega prisons” and slash the size of the state. De la Espriella and his Vice-President Jose Manuel Restrepo cheered, embraced and performed their campaign’s characteristic military salute after taking their...

US President ⁠Donald Trump is renewing his effort to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, keeping alive his assault on the central bank’s independence even after the US Supreme Court in June dealt him a significant setback in his bid to remove her earlier this year, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The White House told Cook in a letter this week that the president was “considering” removing her from her role and demanded she respond to unproven mortgage fraud allegations within three...

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said on Friday he would back Todd Blanche for attorney general, clearing a path for Donald Trump’s nominee after weeks of scrutiny over the Justice Department’s independence from the White House. Cassidy emerged as the probable deciding vote after Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of ‌Alaska said she would oppose Blanche for the top US law enforcement job, leaving the nomination on the brink. Cassidy’s support for Blanche capped one of the most contentious cabinet...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived on Friday for his first official visit to Serbia, one of the few European countries that have maintained friendly relations with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine. Zelensky confirmed the arrival on Friday on his official Telegram channel. The office of Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic had previously announced the visit late on Thursday. “Important talks are scheduled for today and tomorrow,” Zelensky said. He added that he will meet...

China’s UnionPay International plans to connect Chinese payment apps to Pix, the Brazilian payment system at the centre of Washington’s trade case against Brasilia, allowing Chinese tourists to pay by scanning a code. Under the pilot, users of the UnionPay app and of Chinese bank apps linked to its platform would scan a merchant’s code and pay from the account they use at home. Chinese state media reported that access would later extend to other digital wallets in UnionPay’s global network. Pix...

A US federal appeal court ordered Donald Trump’s administration on Friday to stop construction on a US$400 million ballroom on the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing, dealing the Republican leader a major setback in a case testing his presidential authority. “Each president is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House” and cannot fundamentally reshape it without congressional approval, the Washington-based US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in a...

The US economy unexpectedly lost 23,000 jobs in July, government data showed, a blow to US President Donald Trump’s claims of leading an economic revival as his Republican Party gears up for crucial midterm elections.. The unemployment rate in the world’s largest economy ticked down to 4.1 per cent, according to data published on Friday by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since taking office for his second term, Trump has unleashed a spate of policies aimed at reviving domestic manufacturing...

“Philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” This famous 11th thesis from Karl Marx’s Theses on Feuerbach is engraved on his tombstone in Highgate Cemetery in London. It was meant to be a refutation of another famous saying, by G.W.F. Hegel: “The owl of Minerva takes flight only when darkness falls.” This poetic but enigmatic remark is from the Philosophy of Right. It means understanding always arrives too late; philosophy can only teach...

A bus driver knocked an explosive-laden drone out of the air, potentially preventing an attack this week at a German airport that serves as a major Nato and cargo logistics hub, a senior lawmaker said ‌on Friday. The man spotted the drone flying low while he was working at Leipzig/Halle airport late on Tuesday, then kicked out at it in what Detlef Seif described as a courageous but dangerous act. The drone, which prosecutors said was equipped with professional explosives and a detonator, then...

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey signed a joint defence agreement in Mecca on Friday, wedding Sunni Muslim US allies alarmed at a regional conflagration that has rained missile fire onto Gulf oil exporters. Iran and its allies have been firing on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, and blockading their energy shipments, since the US and Israel attacked it on February 28 in a major escalation of years of regional tumult. The “Mecca Joint Defence Agreement” is intended to strengthen collective...

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. China hits back at US with barrage of sanctions, drone industry curbs China has hit back against a round of US sanctions with a barrage of counter-sanctions targeting a group of American entities and a tightening of export...

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis killed at least 58 government troops in missile and drone attacks on Thursday, a military source said, in one of the deadliest days of the country’s civil war in four years. The attacks come as Yemen is increasingly drawn into the US-Israeli war with Iran, with the rebels stepping up attacks against both government forces and neighbouring Saudi Arabia, a key US ally and supporter of the internationally recognised Yemeni government. The evolving regional situation has...

A New Mexico judge on Thursday ordered Meta to pay more than half a billion dollars over the state’s claims that the social media giant created a “public nuisance” and harmed children. Meta was previously ordered to pay US$375 million in damages to New Mexico in March when a jury found the company liable for endangering children by making them vulnerable to predators on its platforms, among other harms. “We disagree with the ruling and will appeal,” Meta said in a statement Thursday. “We work...

Iran will seek to bar US and Israeli ships from the Strait of Hormuz and require compensation from hostile countries before they’re allowed to sail through it, according to local media reports on a proposed Iran-Oman deal to manage the crucial waterway. The agreement has become key to expectations for a reopening of Hormuz and a resumption of energy flows that have been throttled since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February. “That’s clearly not going to go down well in Washington,” said...

A US woman from the Atlanta area is alleging that she was wrongly diagnosed with cancer and underwent an unneeded hysterectomy because of a labelling error. Cassandra Barksdale and her lawyers filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Kaiser Permanente alleging the mix-up led to the surgery and months of physical and emotional pain. According to the lawsuit, another patient’s tissue sample was mistakenly labelled as belonging to Barksdale, who at age 43 then underwent a full hysterectomy on May 15,...

Republican US Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on Thursday that he had been discharged from a rehabilitation centre and would continue his recovery from home. The former Senate leader was first admitted to hospital on June 14. He disclosed weeks later that his hospitalisation was the result of a fall and said he was undergoing physiotherapy. McConnell, 84, gave no specific date for his return to the Capitol, but senators are expected to soon leave Washington for the traditional August...

A British sociologist who became famous as the youngest black professor ever at the University of Cambridge has resigned after the university opened an investigation into “new information” about his academic qualifications. Professor Jason Arday, who was 37 when he became a Cambridge professor in 2023, announced his decision late on Wednesday following weeks of allegations about plagiarism in his academic work and questions surrounding claims about his athletic and fundraising...

Argentina has renewed its currency swap with China for five years, preserving a US$19 billion lifeline that Washington spent more than a year pressing it to give up. The Argentine central bank and the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) signed the extension of the 130 billion yuan line on Wednesday, a day before the existing deal was due to expire. The new term runs to 2031, two years longer than any previous renewal since the two countries first signed it in 2009. The decision ends months of...

China has ⁠bought at least another ⁠10 cargoes of US soybeans, three ⁠Asian traders said on Thursday, the latest in a flurry of purchases ahead of President Xi Jinping’s expected US visit next month. State-run buyer Sinograin bought 10 to 15 cargoes on Wednesday, the traders said. At least 10 cargoes were ‌for October-November shipment, one trader said. The deals follow trade talks between Washington and Beijing that, according to the White House, included Chinese commitments to buy 25 million...

Congolese health authorities were screening more than 300 people ⁠travelling on a ⁠river boat intercepted near Kinshasa on ⁠Thursday after the death of a passenger suspected of having Ebola raised concerns the virus may have spread on board, officials said. Authorities deployed a mobile laboratory to the vessel after it was stopped in Maluku, around 65km (40 miles) upstream from the capital on Wednesday. The secretary general of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s health ministry, Body Ilonga...

The United States sanctioned Cuba’s senior military representative in Beijing on Thursday, accusing him of helping procure military-related equipment from China for the island’s armed forces. Waldo Perez Cortes, Cuba’s military, naval and air attache in Beijing, was among six Cuban nationals and five entities added to the US Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list. The US State Department said Perez Cortes was an official of Cuba’s Ministry of the...

A US Senate committee voted on Thursday to ⁠hold Dr. Anthony Fauci ⁠in contempt of Congress after the former ⁠top US infectious disease official refused to answer questions about his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved a referral pushed by its Republican Chair Rand Paul of Kentucky, a long-time Fauci antagonist, on a party-line vote of 8-7. The vote followed a hearing ‌last week where Fauci, who is 85 and retired in 2022, invoked...

Britain on Thursday gave the green light to Paramount Skydance’s US$110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, as the entertainment and media mega-deal still faces a key hurdle in the United States. The UK government and the antitrust watchdog both cleared the deal after initially raising concerns over media plurality and competition, respectively. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that the takeover would not weaken competition in film distribution, children’s TV and...

A German court on Thursday handed an Afghan man a life sentence for a car-ramming attack in Munich last year which killed a two-year-old girl and her mother and left dozens injured. The court in Munich found the man, named only as Farhad N., guilty of two counts of murder, 23 of attempted murder, and 22 counts of bodily harm, 19 of them serious. The court found that the offences carried a “particular gravity of guilt” – a designation that makes it much less likely that 25-year-old Farhad N. will...

A gunman killed a social media influencer during a live stream in Mexico’s volatile northwestern state of Sinaloa, authorities said on Wednesday, a public killing that underscored ongoing violence targeting social media personalities in the Latin American nation. The influencer, Cesar Gastelum, was killed on Tuesday night in the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacan, officials said. Mexican authorities implied the killing of the young man was linked to cartel violence but did not blame any...

Britain’s new Labour government is trying to reassure Southeast Asia that its push to rebuild ties with Europe will not come at the region’s expense, analysts have said, after Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband made an Asean meeting in Manila his first overseas stop. Appointed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham on July 20, Miliband attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers’ Meeting about 48 hours after taking office – a choice observers said pointed less to a policy reset than...

The United States is staring a historic “strategic defeat” in the face five months after launching the Iran war at Israel’s behest, according to Middle East observers. The Islamic Republic is unlikely to fully relinquish its new-found hegemony over the Strait of Hormuz, despite US President Donald Trump’s rhetorical mix of daily ultimatums and optimism about a deal, they say. Doing so would be giving up its leverage over the global economy – by far its greatest weapon in a war it cannot win...

When Russia fires a ballistic missile at Ukraine, air-defence systems have only minutes – sometimes seconds – to detect and intercept the deadly threat. The lack of time has left Kyiv and other cities increasingly exposed to devastating attacks by the missiles that come down so fast and so steeply that Ukraine says only the US-made Patriot defence system can stop them. But Ukraine says it has too few batteries and interceptors to protect itself. Unlike cruise missiles, which behave like...

The UK’s new foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, was confronted with his past criticism of “racist” Donald Trump as he held talks in Washington with his US counterpart Marco Rubio. Miliband ignored questions about whether he still thought the president was an “idiot, a racist and a misogynist” as he met with the US top diplomat. Miliband was invited to the US capital by Rubio after their recent first meeting on the sidelines of a foreign ministers’ summit in the Philippines last month. The pair were...

The director of a factory supplying drones to the Russian military was badly wounded and his driver was killed when the car they were in exploded, news reports said on Wednesday. The state Tass and RIA Novosti agencies said that Vladimir Tkachuk was hospitalised in grave condition following the explosion late Tuesday in Bolshoy Istok just outside Yekaterinburg, 1,400km (about 870 miles) east of Moscow. There was no immediate comment from the authorities. Tkachuk headed the Uraldronzavod factory...

The Federal Aviation Administration said a military helicopter carrying President Donald Trump on Tuesday was briefly too close to a passenger jet departing Reagan Washington National Airport, ‌but the US leader was not in danger. The incident raised serious questions about why the passenger plane was allowed to depart while Marine One was nearby, a time when commercial traffic is typically halted. Following a January 2025 crash between a military helicopter and a commercial jet that killed 67...

The Democratic Party’s progressive ⁠wing scored a high-profile victory on Wednesday when Abdul El-Sayed won the party’s US Senate nomination ⁠in Michigan, giving its anti-establishment message a boost ahead of November’s midterm elections. El-Sayed, a doctor whose campaign focused on healthcare, the economy and an end to unconditional military aid to Israel, was the first progressive to win a statewide primary in a state that US President Donald Trump carried in 2024. He will face Republican...

Iran and Oman have agreed a route for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and were finalising arrangements for jointly managing the strategic waterway, Tehran said on Wednesday, even as fresh security incidents highlighted continued risks for regional shipping. The agreement would be a step towards reopening the key energy route, but official sources briefing Iranian media stressed that any easing still hinged on Washington ending its own naval blockade of Iran’s ports. Iran has exercised de...

Scientists have captured images of the sun’s surface in the finest detail yet, revealing a strange and dynamic facade. It is dangerous to look directly at the sun without proper eye protection. But researchers were able to peek at its scorching surface with the help of the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, located on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Scientists originally took the images for a different reason: to fine-tune and test the limits of the telescope. But when...

A woman has been arrested after four men were stabbed in Covent Garden in central London on Wednesday afternoon. The Metropolitan Police said the four men, aged 34, 39, 42 and 52, were found with stab wounds. No further update has been given on the extent of their injuries. The 47-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and assault, the force added. She was taken into custody, where she remains. The stabbing is believed to have been a mental health-related...

The leader of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party defended the selection of a former neo-Nazi who had been jailed for hate crimes as a local election candidate, saying on Wednesday that he was rehabilitated and could help fight ‌antisemitism. Joshua Bonehill-Paine was convicted in 2015 of racially aggravated harassment of Luciana Berger, then a Labour member of parliament, and had also been imprisoned for stirring up hatred against a north London Jewish community. His selection as a...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel did not agree to the US-backed plan for Gaza, even after receiving assurances that an Israeli pull-out would only happen after Hamas disarms. In a video posted to his social media accounts on Tuesday night, Netanyahu said the team of US President Donald Trump “believes that they can bring about the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarisation of Gaza”. “We are checking this. They sent us a draft – we did not agree to it, it is not our draft. We...

German police raised the alarm at an airport overnight after an explosive-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane and another aircraft collided with an unknown flying object nearby before landing safely. All flights to Leipzig-Halle airport were diverted for several hours from around midnight as police deployed a bomb-disposal robot to remove the detonator from the explosive in the drone The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had been found on the tarmac. The airport in eastern Germany...

Russian missile and drone strikes killed at least 17 people and wounded dozens more in Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight, authorities said Wednesday. Kyiv was unable to shoot down any of the missiles launched by Russia, whose intensifying attacks have prompted Kyiv to plead for more US-made Patriot interceptors. Russia has significantly upped its attacks on the Ukrainian capital in recent months, typically firing salvoes of hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles in short blitzes that rock...

Guatemala remained on alert Tuesday after evacuating villages during an eruption of the Fuego volcano, one of Central America’s most active. About 1,700 people remained in shelters with the evacuations to stay in place until conditions improve, according to the country’s disaster agency CONRED. Officials raised the alert level to red in Sacatepequez, Escuintla and Chimaltenango, where about 29,000 people are affected by ashfall and schools remain closed. Authorities on Tuesday warned the next 72...

The United States has revoked the visa of Brazil’s ambassador, a State Department official said Tuesday, in a mounting diplomatic row just months before elections in Latin America’s largest nation. The move would be reversed, the official said on customary condition of anonymity, if Brazil granted its approval of US President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Brasilia. Trump nominated Daniel Perez, a prominent Florida Republican, as the new ambassador to Brazil in early June. While the...

A man carrying ammunition and with a gun in his vehicle was arrested Sunday at President Donald Trump’s Los Angeles-area golf course after appearing to monitor security preparations ahead of Trump’s fundraiser there on Tuesday, authorities said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Jeanine John Taele, 38, took photos and video and had a 16-round magazine with ammunition in his pocket. A search of his pickup truck in the golf course car park turned up a loaded 9mm pistol, binoculars...

A SpaceX rocket piece floating in space since last ⁠year smashed into the moon at high speed early on Wednesday morning, joining the ranks of meteoroids, wayward spacecraft and other pieces of space junk that have bombarded the lunar surface for ages, astronomers confirmed. The school-bus-size object is the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that had launched a lunar lander from Firefly Aerospace towards the moon in January 2025. Its predicted collision with the moon became a spectacle for...

A viral clip renews the headlined question for me. Jameela Jamil, a British actress of Pakistani and Indian descent, caused a public row in the UK for her interview last month on Yestergays, a pop culture podcast. She said: “Americans think British people are so sweet, which is crazy because British people are truly the most evil people in history. Like, they are Thanos. They owe 43 trillion to India … We colonised the world.” A similar figure came from Indian economist Utsa Patnaik. Based on...

A €1 million (US$1.15 million) lottery ticket was recovered from the trash in Italy after the frantic winner called on binmen to help her retrieve it, the waste management company said. The instant win ticket was “miraculously still in one piece” after rubbish workers combed through mounds of trash on their truck, said Roberto Nicola Toscano, the administrator of the SANB company in Italy’s southern Puglia region. Toscano explained how when the winner went on Sunday to check her ticket at her...

The Republican House member from Ohio was accused of holding a gun to his ex-wife’s head and fracturing the collarbone of their young daughter. He has denied the accusations.

Haley Stevens and Angie Craig were celebrated by Democrats in 2018. This year, they’ve faced tough primaries.

As President Trump struggles to extricate the United States from the war in Iran, his promises to protesters in the country have fallen by the wayside.

The inhabitants of the Chagos Islands were expelled by the British 60 years ago. Refugees were anxious to return this year, but their hopes have been caught in a morass of geopolitics.

Recent escalating tensions between the Iran-backed group and the Yemeni government have prompted fears that a truce in place since 2022 is nearing collapse.

As Ukraine repeatedly strikes warehouses of the e-commerce site Wildberries, Tatyana Kim, its billionaire co-founder, faces her biggest test yet.

Ukrainian drones have increasingly targeted warehouses belonging to Wildberries, which many Russians rely on as the country’s largest e-commerce business.

A New York Times analysis details the July 20 crackdown on unarmed protesters in New Delhi that has provoked public outrage and accusations of excessive force.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is attempting to prevent 50 percent tariffs against many Canadian goods scheduled for this month.

What the former prime minister’s boyfriend rebrand says about the intersection of politics and entertainment.

The worst heat is expected out West, where most of the wildfire smoke may be trapped, while the East also swelters and faces a chance of thunderstorms.

Beset by historically dry weather, much of the nation is losing its signature hue.

Officials said that dozens of Haitian workers for the city would lose their jobs, but warned that the number could easily reach the hundreds.

After Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office invited the Democratic Socialists of America to a city-sponsored event, watchdog groups raised concerns about mixing politics with government work.

Some New York City homeowners are arguing that they have been improperly targeted by the tax on high-end second homes, also known as pieds-à-terre.

The declines nearly wiped out gains made in the state exams last year. New York City school leaders promised a review of the results.

This Ohio congressman should not still be running for Congress.

Many people feel that antidepressants block their true emotions, but they don’t have guidance about how to get off these drugs.

The streaming giant, still looking for this year’s blockbuster, paid an actor to spend three days inside a billboard in Los Angeles to promote an upcoming film.