Minimalist News

ZeroHedge Black Friday Sale Is Almost Over! After launching ZeroHedge store a year ago, we've been humbled by the overwhelming response. Between die-hard fans of IQ Biologix supplements, ZeroHedge gear, Rancher-Direct clean meats, hand-made knives, and more - your support is greatly appreciated.  So since everyone else on the planet is doing a Black Friday / Cyber Monday promotion, we did one too. Until Monday at midnight:  IQ Biologix supplements are 50% off - if you've been on the fence, go for it. If you're a regular, time to stock up.  Multitools are also 50% off - the perfect stocking stuffers.  ZeroHedge hats and other gear is 40% off. Anza

Escape Velocity: Why America's 1963 Poverty Math Is Broken Authored by Peter Earle via the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), In a recent analysis gone viral, financial blogger Michael W. Green traced how modern American families can earn anywhere from $40,000 to $100,000 and still fall further behind. The argument is devastatingly simple: the mathematical parameters defining “poverty” are built upon a benchmark drawn in 1963, multiplied by three, and only lightly adjusted for inflation. Everything else—childcare, healthcare, housing, transportation, and the structural design of the welfare state—has transformed beyond recognition. The result is a system in which the official poverty line tells us

China Factory Activity Contracts In Longest Stretch On Record As Economy Sinks China’s factory activity staged a slight improvement in November, but once again printed below the median estimate and extended its streak of declines to a record as the country’s economic slowdown deepens.  The official manufacturing PMI rose to 49.2 from 49.0 in October but remained below the 50 mark that separates growth and contraction for an eighth month. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 49.4. Adding insult to injury, the official non-manufacturing PMI fell to 49.5 from 50.1, below the 50.0 consensus forecast, and dropping into contraction for the

OPEC+ Confirms Plan To Pause Output Hikes In Q1 OPEC+ agreed to pause production hikes and leave oil output levels unchanged for the first quarter of 2026 at its meetings on Sunday as the group slows down its push to regain market share amid fears of a looming supply glut. Eight OPEC+ members have paused oil output hikes for the first quarter of 2026 after releasing some 2.9 million barrels per day into the market since April 2025, and Sunday's meeting reaffirmed that decision, OPEC said in a statement. OPEC+ still has about 3.24 million bpd of output cuts in place, representing around

USPS Built Mail System On Foreign Truck Drivers, Now Expects Special Treatment From Law Submitted by American Truckers United, When the Department of Transportation's September 29, 2025 emergency rule exposed 200,000 fraudulently issued non-domiciled CDLs—many held by individuals with no legal work authorization—most of the trucking industry braced for a painful but necessary correction. The U.S. Postal Service did something far worse: it threw a tantrum and refused to comply. > Our ongoing audit identified licenses issued illegally in states across the country. > > This is just the beginning. @SecDuffy and @FMCSA will continue to look into ANY state who is allowing dangerous

Tariff Revenue Surges To Record High Of $31.4 Billion In October Tariff revenues surged to $31.4 billion in October, setting a new monthly record as the Trump administration’s trade policies continue to remake U.S. trade flows and reshape the federal government’s balance sheet, according to newly released Treasury Department data. The Monthly Treasury Statement for October, published on Nov. 25, shows net customs duties totaling $31.4 billion, surpassing all prior monthly readings and marking the strongest single-month tariff haul since the modern reporting era began. Treasury records show gross customs receipts of roughly $33.1 billion, offset by about $1.7 billion in refunds,

The Illusion Of Progress & The Pursuit Of 'More' Authored by Anthony Deden via Forum Geopolitica, THE ILLUSION OF PROGRESS This essay was born out of revulsion to an accidental summer reading that paraded progress as virtue and private equity as its high priest. Every paragraph spoke the same pious language of “sustainable improvement,” “societal benefit,” and “longterm value creation,” as though leverage, asset-stripping, and balance-sheet cosmetics had become moral acts. I found myself revolted not merely by the hypocrisy, but by the vacuousness of it. In our hyper-financialized society, we have come to mistake valuation for value, and activity for achievement. The word

FDA's "Profound Revelation": COVID Shots Killed At Least 10 Children, Stronger Vax Rules Coming The Food and Drug Administration's top overseer of vaccine policy on Friday told employees that at least 10 American children died "after and because of receiving" a Covid-19 vaccine. In a 3,000-word memorandum first reported by PBS, Dr. Vinay Prasad, director of the FDA's vaccine division, also committed to implementing changes to the FDA's evaluation of vaccine efficacy and safety, and encouraged dissenting employees to find a new job.  “This is a profound revelation,” Prasad wrote. “For the first time, the US FDA will acknowledge that COVID-19 vaccines have

South Park Roasts Americans Taking Saudi Money In Thanksgiving Special Via Middle East Eye The makers of the popular satirical cartoon show South Park turned their sights on Saudi Arabia in their latest episode, attacking American media personalities, politicians and sporting events for taking money from the state. Titled Turkey Trot, the episode starts with Mayor McDaniels convening a meeting with local businesses trying to secure sponsorship for its annual Thanksgiving Turkey Trot race. Struggling to find funds due to the economic crisis in the US, one character suggests there is someone "who'd be willing to give South Park a bunch of money", adding "they're giving money to everyone

"The Whole Model Is Broken": 'Tech Mafia Wife' Admits 'We Were Klaus Schwab's Useful Idiots' When someone who used to be the queen of elite progressive philanthropy says the entire system failed - and may have been hijacked for something much darker - the world needs to hear it. As 'Camus' writes in a post on X, Nicole Shanahan - ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, former running mate of RFK Jr., and someone who personally signed nine-figure philanthropy checks - just went full whistleblower on the entire Silicon Valley “tech wife mafia” and how they were used. "...the whole model is broken...

Trump Pushes To Reopen California Coast To Offshore Drilling Authored by Felicity Bradstock via OilPrice.com, * A draft federal plan proposes six offshore lease sales along the California coast, reversing decades of restrictions introduced after the 1969 Santa Barbara spill. * California Governor Gavin Newsom, coastal states, and environmental groups vow legal and political resistance, calling the plan dangerous and “dead on arrival.” * The proposal also includes new leasing in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, likely sparking pushback from Florida Republicans and adding to nationwide opposition. New oil and gas drilling could commence in California if President Donald Trump gets his

Is Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Investigation Turning Into A Rolling Coup? Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack, Zelensky might be next after Yermak was just taken down unless he complies with Trump’s demands for peace, in which case it’s not unforeseeable that he too could be formally implicated in this scandal as the catalyst for a US-backed regime change carried out in collusion with his domestic allies. Zelensky’s warmongering grey cardinal Andrey Yermak, who formally serves as his Chief of Staff, submitted his resignation after his apartment was raided as part of the investigation into Ukraine’s $100 million energy graft scandal. Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik believes that he was fired, however,

Trump Rejects Maduro Request For Amnesty In Newly Disclosed Phone Call President Donald Trump has reportedly rejected Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's request for broad amnesty during a newly disclosed phone conversation last week, telling Maduro and his top advisers to drop their demands and swiftly exit Venezuela as US military pressure intensifies, which has lately included an order to halt all flights in the country's sovereign airspace. According to people familiar with the exchange who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, Trump and Maduro discussed a sweeping amnesty plan, during which time Maduro is said to have sought blanket legal protection for

The Santa Rally Recipe: Fed Put In Full Force By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities The market figured out a holiday recipe that works well: * A Healthy Dose of Fed Puts. * A Dash of Trade Hopes. * A Smidge more Fed Puts because you can never have enough Fed Puts. In the past 5 trading days (including Friday November 21st): * The Nasdaq 100 is up 5.7% (outpacing the “rotation” trade of the S&P 500 Equal Weight which is up 3% in those same trading days). * The probability of a Fed cut at the December meeting spiked to 83% from

NYT Torches Tim Walz After Somalians Scam Woke Minnesota For $1 Billion 'On His Watch' The NY Times has thrown Minnesota governor Tim Walz under the bus over a massive and sprawling fraud scandal that federal prosecutors say siphoned over $1 billion from the state's social safety net programs - more than the entire state spends annually to run its Department of Corrections. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) The fraud involved a series of schemes that federal authorities say took root over the past five years, many centered within Minnesota’s Somali diaspora, where individuals established companies that billed state agencies for services that were never performed.

Watch: Chevy Proves Woke Is Dead With New Ad Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Chevrolet’s new Christmas commercial “Memory Lane” has taken the internet by storm, racking up millions of views and an avalanche of praise for its simple, heartfelt storytelling that celebrates a traditional American family. There are no lectures, no forced diversity, just a mom and dad driving their 1987 Suburban to a snowy cabin reunion with their grown kids and grandkids. The three-minute spot shows the empty-nester couple retracing decades of family memories as “Merry Christmas Baby” plays, ending with the whole clan gathered around the tree in a tear-jerking

Kazakhstan Angrily Calls On Ukraine To Stop Black Sea Oil Terminal Attacks Kazakhstan is angrily denouncing and protesting the "deliberate attack" on critical energy transport infrastructure of the international Caspian Pipeline Consortium in the waters of Russia's port city of Novorossiysk, after on Saturday a naval drone sent by Ukraine severely damaged one of its three loading points. Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, "We emphasize that the Caspian Pipeline Consortium plays an important role in supporting the stability of the global energy system." It added: "We view what has occurred as an action harming the bilateral relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan

Watch: TikToker Hands Out Vodka, Machetes To Mentally Ill And Homeless TikTok influencers push boundaries to stay visible and relevant in feeds. Some of the stunts have become so outrageous that these clout-chasing fools will do anything for views - even if it means jeopardizing public safety. The latest absurdity comes from TikToker PovWolfy, who in recent weeks has been handing out machetes and vodka bottles to the homeless population. The metros where PovWolfy handed out machetes and vodka to the homeless and mentally unstable were not mentioned, but X user Unlimited L’s claimed the 18-inch blades and alcohol were distributed to people

Rubio, Witkoff Meet With Ukraine Negotiators In Miami To Discuss Plans To End War Three key Trump administration officials are meeting with Ukrainian negotiators in Miami, Florida this weekend in a push to broker an end to the war Russia began with its 2022 invasion, while setting the stage for talks between Washington and Moscow planned later this week. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner plan to meet with the Ukrainian delegation to discuss portions of a proposed peace deal. During talks in Geneva last Sunday, the sides reached agreements in principle

DC Terror Ambush Forces U.S. To Reckon With $14 Billion Afghan Evacuation Program That Imported Chaos The ex-CIA-linked Afghan national who gunned down one National Guard soldier and critically injured another (an ambush terror attack) blocks from the White House has finally forced a long-overdue reckoning over reckless immigration policies.  Afghans arrived in the U.S. through Operation Allies Welcome (OAW) and related evacuation efforts. Migration-policy analysis estimates that approximately 90,000 people from the collapsed, war-torn country were flown into the U.S. in the aftermath of the Biden-Harris regime's disastrous fall of Kabul. Afghan nationals were rounded up like cattle and put onto massive

Trump remained tight-lipped on details of call with Venezuelan president as tensions rise between countries Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that he had spoken with Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, but he did not provide details on what the two leaders discussed. “I don’t want to comment on it. The answer is yes,” the US president said when asked if he had spoken with Maduro. He was speaking to reporters onboard Air Force One. Continue reading...

US president favours Nasry ‘Tito’ Asfura of rightwing National party, as polls show three candidates are neck-and-neck Hondurans have begun voting in an election held amid threats by Donald Trump to cut aid to the country if his preferred candidate loses. Honduras could be the next country in Latin America, after Argentina and Bolivia, to swing right after years of leftwing rule. Continue reading...

President made declaration in a social media post, after FAA last week warned airlines of ‘worsening security situation’ The Venezuelan government has responded defiantly to the heightened pressure by the US government, including Donald Trump’s recent statements on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed in its entirety. In a statement, the Venezuelan government said Trump’s comments are a “colonialist threat” against their sovereignty and violate international law. The government also said it demanded respect for its airspace and would not accept foreign orders or threats. Continue reading...

Defense secretary called reports about his role in strike as ‘fake news’ intended to discredit US military The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has declared recent reporting that he may have illegally ordered all people to be killed in a military strike in the Caribbean as “fake news” on Friday evening, adding that the series of strikes of people on boats had been “lawful under both US and international law”. Hegseth lambasted reports about his role in the strike as “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland”. Continue reading...

Dawn Butler leads calls for humanitarian visas and fee waivers for vulnerable relatives of UK nationals affected by storm British MPs have joined campaigners calling for more aid and humanitarian visas for Jamaicans to enter the UK after Hurricane Melissa demolished parts of the country, plunging hundreds of thousands of people into a humanitarian crisis. The UK has pledged £7.5m emergency funds to Jamaica and other islands affected by the hurricane, but many argue that the country has a moral obligation to do more for former Caribbean colonies. Continue reading...

Separate weather systems brought torrential rainfall to Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia * How cyclones and monsoon rains combined to devastate parts of Asia – visual guide Sri Lanka and Indonesia have deployed military personnel to help victims of devastating flooding that has killed nearly 1,000 people across four countries in Asia in recent days. Separate weather systems brought torrential, extended rainfall to the entire island of Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week. Continue reading...

Officials in Indonesia say more than 442 people have died, while Sri Lanka suffers worst natural disaster since 2004 tsunami Authorities in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand are racing to clear debris and find hundreds of missing people after more than 900 died in devastating floods and landslides across the south of Asia. In the latest example of the impact of the climate crisis on storm patterns and extreme weather, heavy monsoon rains, exacerbated by a tropical storm, have overwhelmed parts of south-east Asia in recent days, leaving thousands of people stranded without shelter or critical supplies. Continue reading...

Rescue teams find more bodies in burnt-out buildings of Wang Fuk Court complex after Wednesday’s fire The death toll in Hong Kong’s apartment complex fire has risen to 146 after investigators discovered more bodies in the burnt-out buildings. A steady stream of people placed bouquets of flowers at an ever-growing makeshift memorial at the scene of the disaster, among the worst in the city’s history. The Hong Kong police’s disaster victim identification unit has been going through the buildings of the Wang Fuk Court complex meticulously and has found bodies both in apartment units and on the roofs, the officer in charge,

Axing of Maki Otsuki performance in Shanghai the latest in spate of cancelled cultural events involving Asia’s two biggest economies Japanese “One Piece” singer Maki Otsuki was forced to halt her performance on stage in Shanghai, her management said, one of the latest events hit by a diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing. Otsuki, known for the theme song of the popular anime, had been slated to perform for two days from Friday at the Bandai Namco Festival 2025 in the Chinese city. Continue reading...

From Vietnam to the Balkans, Donald Trump’s family has launched a global dealmaking blitz since his re-election A crusading prosecutor in the Balkans comes under pressure to drop a big case. Vietnamese villagers learn they are to be evicted. A convicted crypto kingpin in the Gulf receives a pardon. All have one thing in common: they appear to be connected to the Trump family’s campaign to amass riches around the world. Since Donald Trump’s re-election a year ago, warnings that his use of presidential power to advance personal interests is corroding American democracy have grown ever louder. What is less understood –

TGA issues a separate warning for Mounjaro about risk of reduced effectiveness of contraception * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The medicines regulator has added two new safety warnings about mental health and contraception for people taking high-profile diabetes and weight loss drugs. While there is no proof of a causal association, experts say the risks are significant enough that awareness is important as part of a precautionary approach. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed * Australia tracking Chinese navy flotilla in Philippine Sea as Marles announces major defence overhaul * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Is McLaren costing Oscar Piastri the F1 title, department asked at Senate estimates It’s a strong start to Senate estimates this morning, with Nationals senator Matt Canavan asking the department of infrastructure secretary, Jim Betts, about the F1 results from Qatar overnight. It’s been a bit of a frustrating night for some Australians … you deal with transport and cars, so do you think McLaren is biased against Oscar Piastri and

Blue Wiggle Anthony Field and ‘Tree of Wisdom’ appeared in now-deleted video from singer Keli Holiday * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Wiggles want to make one thing very clear: they do not condone the use of MDMA. After two of its members appeared in a controversial TikTok video, the group – which has entertained children around the world for decades – issued a statement on the weekend denying any suggestion it supports the use of drugs. Continue reading...

Detectives claim to have uncovered Sydney-based network involving online distribution of child sexual abuse material involving ritualistic or satanic themes * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Four Australians remain locked up after being charged for alleged involvement in a satanic child sexual abuse material ring. Detectives busted an apparent Sydney-based pedophile network they claimed was actively involved in possessing, distributing and facilitating child sexual abuse involving ritualistic or satanic themes. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Government to end exemptions to mandated closing times for pubs and clubs, including those that allow 24/7 gambling * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast More than 670 poker machine venues across New South Wales will lose their “outdated exemptions” to operate after 4am as the state government responds to pressure to address “a public health catastrophe”. The decision, announced by the state’s gaming minister David Harris, will ensure gaming rooms are closed at the mandated 4am deadline. Some venues are allowing them to be played

Ukraine will top agenda, but meeting comes as positive sentiment towards Germany in Poland hits near record lows When the Polish and German governments meet on Monday for annual political talks in Berlin – the first since Friedrich Merz became chancellor – the headlines are likely to be dominated by Ukraine. Amid growing US pressure for a peace deal with Russia, Warsaw and Berlin will want to send a signal of support for Kyiv and of unity between central Europe’s largest – and militarily strongest – countries. Continue reading...

Country seen as champion of equal rights faces reckoning after senior politician says she felt compelled to quit Increasing hate, threats and harassment against female politicians are scaring women away from public life and forcing them to censor themselves, the Swedish government’s equality agency has said, warning that this poses a “big threat to democracy.” Women’s safety in politics has come under heightened scrutiny in the Scandinavian country since October, when Anna-Karin Hatt resigned as leader of the Centre party after only five months in office, citing hate and threats. Continue reading...

Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner meet Kyiv delegation amid more deadly Russian attacks in Ukraine Ukrainian negotiators have met US officials in Florida to thrash out details of Washington’s proposed framework to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, as Kyiv faces pressure on military and political fronts. The secretary of state, Marco Rubio; the special envoy, Steve Witkoff; and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law; sat down with a Ukrainian delegation on Sunday before planned US talks this week in Moscow with Vladimir Putin. Continue reading...

Ludwig Minelli, whose work had lasting influence on Swiss law, dies just days before his 93rd birthday The head of the Swiss right-to-die organisation Dignitas has ended his life through an assisted death, the group has said. Ludwig Minelli, who founded the group in 1998, died on Saturday, days before his 93rd birthday, Dignitas said. It added: “Right up to the end of his life, he continued to search for further ways to help people to exercise their right to freedom of choice and self-determination in their ‘final matters’ – and he often found them.” Continue reading...

Pressure grows on Pedro Sánchez amid series of claims involving his family, party and administration Tens of thousands of people have attended an anti-government demonstration in Madrid to demand a snap general election as the country’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, tries to weather a series of corruption allegations involving his family, his party and his administration. Sunday’s protest, called by Spain’s conservative People’s party (PP) under the slogan, “This is it: mafia or democracy?”, was held three days after one of Sánchez’s closest erstwhile allies, the former transport minister José Luis Ábalos, was remanded in custody by a judge investigating an

Residents in Batn al-Hawa have all but given up hope and blame the Gaza war which, they say, has created ‘an atmosphere of hate’ towards them The dome of the al-Aqsa mosque gleamed in the late afternoon autumnal sun as Zohair Rajabi looked out from his balcony towards the skyline of Jerusalem’s Old City. Christian pilgrims spilled out of buses, while observant Jewish worshippers gathered outside the gate to the Western Wall. New flags now fly a few metres from Rajabi’s home. Blue and white and bearing the Star of David, they mark where residents were evicted recently from their homes by

Pontiff tells politicians and religious heads they must persevere with peace efforts despite facing ‘highly complex, conflictual’ situation Pope Leo has urged political leaders in Lebanon to make peace their highest priority in a forceful appeal as he is visiting the country, which remains a target of Israeli airstrikes, on the second leg of his first overseas trip as Catholic leader. Leo, the first US pope, arrived in Beirut on Sunday from a four-day visit to Turkey where he said that humanity’s future was at risk because of the world’s unusual number of bloody conflicts, and condemned violence in the name of

Request is submitted weeks after Donald Trump called on Isaac Herzog to pardon Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Israel’s president for a pardon for bribery and fraud charges and an end to a five-year corruption trial, arguing that it would be in the “national interest”. Isaac Herzog’s office acknowledged receipt of the 111-page submission from the prime minister’s lawyer, and said it had been passed on to the pardons department in the ministry of justice. The president’s legal adviser would also formulate an opinion before Herzog made a decision, it added. Continue reading...

Two Palestinian children reportedly killed on Saturday as Israel continues its strikes after latest ceasefire The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Gaza war began, Gaza’s health ministry said on Saturday, while a hospital reported Israeli fire killed two Palestinian children in the territory’s south. The toll has continued to rise after the latest ceasefire took effect on 10 October. Israel still carries out strikes in response to what it has called violations of the truce, and bodies from earlier in the war are being recovered from the rubble. Continue reading...

Committee highlights allegations including dog attacks and sexual violence, raising concern about impunity for war crimes Israel has “a de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture”, according to a UN report covering the past two years, which also raised concerns about the impunity of Israeli security forces for war crimes. The UN committee on torture expressed “deep concern over allegations of repeated severe beatings, dog attacks, electrocution, waterboarding, use of prolonged stress positions [and] sexual violence”. Continue reading...

MP for Hampstead and Highgate in London denies allegations and condemns ‘flawed and farcical’ trial * What led to Bangladesh trial of Tulip Siddiq in her absence? A court in Bangladesh has sentenced the British MP Tulip Siddiq to two years in jail after a judge ruled she was complicit in corrupt land deals with her aunt, the country’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina. In a ruling on Monday, a judge found Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, guilty of misusing her “special influence” as a British politician to coerce Hasina into giving valuable pieces of land to her mother,

Hundreds of people still missing after heavy rain and mudslides in country’s deadliest natural disaster for years Entire areas of Sri Lanka’s capital are flooded after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, with authorities reporting nearly 200 dead and dozens more missing. Officials said the extent of the damage in the country’s worst-affected central region was slowly becoming clear on Sunday as relief workers cleared roads blocked by fallen trees and mudslides. Continue reading...

Another 191 missing after heavy rains from Cyclone Ditwah while almost 78,000 evacuated to temporary shelters amid rescue operations Torrential rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah have killed 153 people across Sri Lanka so far, with another 191 still missing, the country’s Disaster Management Centre (DCM) said on Saturday. The DMC director general, Sampath Kotuwegoda, said relief operations were under way with 78,000 people moved to nearly 800 state-run welfare centres after their homes were destroyed by the week-long heavy rains. Continue reading...

Temperatures dip to -8.5C in Poland and 250mm of rain falls in 24-hour period across Sri Lanka Temperatures plummeted this week across the eastern half of Europe, with the Alps dipping as low as -20C and to -8.5°C in the Polish town of Zakopane in the Tatras Mountains. Heavy snow also affected other parts of Poland with 15-20cm (about 6-8in) of snow falling in much of the central swathe of the country and more than 40cm in the south towards the mountains. Continue reading...

Human rights monitors say it is not safe to return, citing reports of ‘serious crimes in the run-up to elections’ Myanmar’s junta applauded the Trump administration on Wednesday for halting a scheme that protected its citizens from deportation from the US back to their war-racked homeland. About 4,000 Myanmar citizens are living in the US with temporary protected status (TPS), which shields foreign nationals from deportation to disaster zones and allows them the right to work. Continue reading...

Exclusive: PM hits back at critics as he insists Rachel Reeves right to impose £26bn worth of tax rises at budget • Keir Starmer: Labour is getting on with the job of economic renewal Labour’s economic plan will take years to deliver in full, Keir Starmer has said as he tries to regain the narrative after a turbulent response to last week’s budget. In an article for the Guardian, the prime minister hit back at his political opponents, insisting the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, was right to impose £26bn worth of tax rises. Continue reading...

Data comes as KPMG highlights soft consumer spending as one factor likely to hold back growth in 2026 Shoppers held back from visiting high streets over Black Friday, data shows, amid fears weak consumer spending will put the brakes on economic growth in 2026. Visitors to all UK shopping destinations were down 2% on Friday and 7.2% compared with the equivalent days last year, according to the monitoring company MRI Software, with locations near central London offices among the few to experience a lift in visits. Continue reading...

Refugee Council says Home Office figures show safe and legal pathways are ‘disappearing when most needed’ The number of refugees allowed to settle in the UK under UN-facilitated schemes has dropped by more than a quarter in a year, according to figures released by the Home Office. Just 7,271 people were granted protection through refugee resettlement programmes in the year ending September 2025, about half of whom were Afghans whose lives were at risk after an accidental data breach by a UK defence official. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Pollution targets set out alongside nature recovery projects to allay concerns over housebuilding Wood-burning stoves are likely to face tighter restrictions in England under new pollution targets set as part of an updated environmental plan released by ministers on Monday. Speaking to the Guardian before the publication of the updated environmental improvement plan (EIP), the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, said it would boost nature recovery in a number of areas, replacing an EIP under the last government she said was “not credible”. Continue reading...

Advocacy group tells education secretary ‘working smarter’ can protect staff wellbeing and help students Campaigners have urged the government to pilot four-day working weeks in schools in England and Wales saying it would boost teacher wellbeing, retention and recruitment rates. The 4 Day Week Foundation has written to the education secretary calling for greater autonomy for schools to pilot shorter working weeks, saying the government will not be able to meet its manifesto pledge of recruiting 6,500 new teachers without change. Continue reading...

President plans to honor Sarah Beckstrom, who was fatally shot, as well as Andrew Wolfe, who is in critical condition Donald Trump said on Sunday that he invited the family of a national guard member fatally shot last week to the White House, adding that he spoke to her parents and they were “devastated”. US army specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was killed in a shooting on Wednesday in Washington DC. Her fellow service member, US air force staff Sgt Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains hospitalized in critical condition. Vigils across West Virginia have taken place in their memory. Continue reading...

Victims who died in Stockton attack reportedly between ages eight and 21, while 11 others were wounded Police are searching for the suspect who killed four people, including three children, and injured 11 in a shooting at a family gathering in Stockton, California, on Saturday night – and they are appealing to the public for any tips people may have. “If you have surveillance footage, if you’re a local business here, if you’re in the area, live in the area, or maybe you’ve heard rumors – please contact the sheriff’s office,” said Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin county sheriff’s

Plane skidded off runway and 45 cars were piled up as 53 million were under winter weather alerts over Thanksgiving A Thanksgiving weekend storm system brought over a foot of snow and strong winds across the US midwest and thunderstorms across the south, as 53 million people from South Dakota to New York were under winter weather alerts. Over the weekend, ahead of one of the busiest travel days of the year on Sunday, a 45-car pile-up occurred on interstate 78 in Indiana and a Delta Air Lines plane skidded off the runway in Des Moines, Iowa, during landing. Continue reading...

Homeland security secretary also blamed ‘activist’ judges for defying court order to halt deportation flights Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, claimed on Sunday that the suspect in the national guard shooting in Washington DC was “radicalized” in the US and blamed the Biden administration, though the suspect’s asylum was approved under Donald Trump. The shooting suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was granted asylum under the Trump administration in April 2025. He worked with CIA backed units in Afghanistan, coming to the US in September 2021 under an Operation Allies Welcome program. Continue reading...

David Gentile had just begun to serve a seven-year sentence for role in $1.6bn scheme that defrauded thousands Donald Trump granted clemency to private equity executive David Gentile, who had just begun a seven-year prison sentence for what prosecutors described as a $1.6bn fraud scheme, reported the New York Times. The founder and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GPB Capital, 59 year old Gentile was convicted and sentenced in May to seven years in prison for his role in defrauding thousands of individual investors. Continue reading...

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa dismissed on Sunday US President Donald Trump’s threat to exclude Pretoria from next year’s Group of 20 summit, reaffirming South Africa’s status as a founding member of the group. Washington boycotted the G20 meeting held under South Africa’s presidency in Johannesburg on November 22 and 23, with Trump repeating allegations, widely discredited, that the host country’s black-majority government persecutes its white minority. Trump said last Wednesday that...

US President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday he had recently spoken with Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro amid soaring tensions between the two countries, while Caracas condemned what it called US preparations for an attack. The United States has been piling the pressure on Venezuela, with a major military build-up in the Caribbean, the designation of an alleged drug cartel run by Maduro as a terrorist group, and an ominous warning from Trump that Venezuelan airspace was “closed”. Washington...

Eight more wild boar with suspected cases of African swine fever were discovered near Barcelona, La Vanguardia newspaper reported on Sunday, as Spain struggles to limit the damage to a pork export industry worth billions of euros a year. The newspaper cited sources close to the Catalan agriculture ministry. Two cases have been confirmed, and 12 others have shown signs they may also have the disease but are undergoing tests to confirm this. If confirmed, it would bring the number of infected...

Diplomats faced an uphill battle to reconcile Russian and Ukrainian positions as a renewed US-led push to end the more than three-year war gathered steam, with Ukrainian officials attending talks in the US over the weekend and a Washington official expected in Moscow this week. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with a Ukrainian delegation led by a new chief negotiator in Florida, his home state, for talks that he said were meant to create a pathway for Ukraine to remain sovereign and...

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Madrid on Sunday to protest against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, accusing his left-wing government of corruption and demanding his resignation and early elections. The demonstration was organised by the conservative People’s Party (PP) under opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo. The rally in central Madrid carried the slogan “Mafia or democracy?” Participants waved Spanish flags and carried signs reading “Resign now!” and “Sanchez, go...

British finance minister Rachel Reeves on Sunday denied she misled the public over official forecasts ahead last week’s budget, saying she had been honest about the need to build up a bigger financial buffer. In a speech on November 4, Reeves appeared to lay the groundwork to break the Labour Party’s promise to voters before the 2024 election and raise income tax rates, citing a “weaker than previously thought” productivity performance. In a letter published on Friday, the head of Britain’s...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the country’s president on Sunday for a pardon in his long-running corruption trial, arguing that criminal proceedings were hindering his ability to govern and a pardon would be good for Israel. Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, denies the bribery, fraud, and breach of trust charges. His lawyers said in a letter to the president’s office that the prime minister still believes the legal proceedings would result in a complete...

Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, a growing chorus of Chinese officials and analysts have talked of an unprecedented window of opportunity for Beijing to recalibrate its domestic and international strategies. At its heart lies the Taiwan question, a perennial flashpoint in relations between Washington and Beijing. As the Trump administration ramps up its “America first” policies abroad, the US – the self-appointed world’s policeman for seven decades – has embarked on an...

The day before Honduras elects a new president, the main topics of conversation shifted from domestic matters to US President Donald Trump and the former Honduran president he said he will pardon. Trump cannonballed into the deep end of Honduran politics this week, first endorsing presidential candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura from the conservative National Party and then announcing the pardon of ex-President Juan Orlando Hernandez – of the same party – sentenced to 45 years in a US prison for...

Pope Leo challenged Lebanon’s political leaders on Sunday to be true peacemakers and put their differences aside, as he sought to give Lebanon’s long-suffering people a message of hope and bolster a crucial Christian community in the Middle East. At Beirut airport, where his plane landed with a Lebanese military jet escort, Pope Leo XIV was greeted first by President Joseph Aoun, then by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. Leo arrived in Beirut from Istanbul on the...

Kazakhstan told Ukraine on Sunday to stop attacking the Black Sea terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which handles more than 1 per cent of global oil, after a major drone attack halted exports and seriously damaged loading infrastructure. The CPC, which includes Russian, Kazakh and US shareholders, said it had halted operations after a mooring at its Russian terminal on the Black Sea was significantly damaged by a Ukrainian naval drone attack. Ukraine this year mounted wave after...

Hong Kong’s financial identity is entering a new chapter, shaped as much by strategic alignment as capital flows. By co-launching a US$1 billion investment fund with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the city is taking one of its most assertive steps yet to redefine Hong Kong’s financial identity in a rapidly changing global economy. The message is clear: Hong Kong intends to be a serious player in the next phase of global capital realignment. This comes as Hong Kong companies are...

MTV kick-started a new era of music and pop culture in 1981, when it went on air for the first time, emblematically playing “Video Killed the Radio Star” as its debut music video. More than four decades later, the channel, now owned by US media giant Paramount Skydance, will wind down its international music broadcasting by the end of the year as it struggles to compete with online streaming and social media. MTV Music, MTV Hits and its 80s and 90s music shows will be shut down in the UK and...

Authorities in California asked the public for tips on Sunday in finding the person responsible for a shooting that left four people dead at a family gathering at a banquet hall in Stockton and wounded many more. Faith leaders in the Stockton area were planning an afternoon vigil to honour the dead and pray for the 15 people who were wounded. The victims who died were aged eight, nine, 14 and 21, said Heather Brent, a spokeswoman for the San Joaquin County sheriff’s office. Early indications...

Egypt is training hundreds of Palestinian police officers with an eye towards integrating them into a post-war security force in Gaza, according to a Palestinian official. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty announced the plan to train 5,000 officers for Gaza during talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in August. A first group of more than 500 officers was trained in Cairo in March and since September, the two-month courses have resumed to welcome hundreds more people, the...

A Russian drone attack has killed one person and wounded 11 on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, the regional governor said on Sunday. Mykola Kalashnyk, the Kyiv regional governor, reported “another enemy drone attack” and said rescuers were evacuating residents of a high-rise building and firefighting was ongoing. “Unfortunately, as a result of the enemy attack on Vyshgorod, one person was killed and 11 were wounded. Among them is one child,” Kalashnyk wrote on social media. The latest...

Despite years of policy interventions, air pollution in India is rapidly getting worse. By the middle of this month, cities including the capital New Delhi were seeing air quality readings at hazardous levels. A 2024 IQ Air report found India’s particulate matter (PM2.5) levels to be more than 10 times the World Health Organization’s safe limit. In the north, pollution mainly comes from traffic, construction dust, industry and seasonal stubble burning. What began as an environmental issue is now...

British playwright Tom Stoppard, who won an Oscar for the screenplay for the 1998 film Shakespeare In Love, has died at the age of 88, United Agents said on Saturday. “We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved client and friend, Tom Stoppard, has died peacefully at home in Dorset, surrounded by his family,” the talent agency said. “He will be remembered for his works, for their brilliance and humanity, and for his wit, his irreverence, his generosity of spirit and his profound love of...

Ukraine used domestically produced Sea Baby naval drones to strike two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea, an official from Ukraine’s security services said on Saturday. The two oil tankers, Kairos and Virat – said to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that evade sanctions – were struck in quick succession off Turkey’s Black Sea coast late Friday afternoon. The strikes prompted rescue operations by the Turkish coastguard and other teams. Crew members on board both vessels were reported to be...

An Israeli attack killed two children in Gaza on Saturday, medics and relatives said, in violence that has persisted in the Palestinian enclave despite a fragile ceasefire. The children’s uncle said an Israeli drone fired on Fadi and Goma Abu Assi, brothers aged 10 and 12, while they were gathering firewood to help their wheelchair-bound father east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. “They are children...what did they do? They do not have missiles or bombs, they went to gather wood for their...

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered “closed in its entirety”, but gave no further details as Washington ramps up pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government. “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” Trump said in a social media post. US officials contacted were surprised by Trump’s announcement and...

Spain’s Agriculture Ministry said it has halted all pork exports to China after two wild boar found dead near Barcelona tested positive for African swine flu, the first cases in three decades. The outbreak, the first since 1994, coincides with Spanish efforts to court Beijing and gain market share in the pork sector and after China imposed tariffs on EU pork during an anti-dumping investigation. Spain is the European Union’s leading pork producer, accounting for roughly a quarter of the bloc’s...

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the western German town of Giessen on Saturday as the far-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD’s) new youth organisation was set to kick off its founding convention. Groups of protesters blocked or tried to block roads in and around the university town of some 93,000 in the early morning. Police said they used pepper spray after stones were thrown at officers at one location. At a rally at the railway station, protesters chanted “All together. Against...

Russian drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the surrounding area killed at least three people in the early hours of Saturday, local officials said. The attacks came just before a second round of peace negotiations was set to begin, as a renewed US-led push to end the war gathers steam this week. A team on Saturday was headed to the United States for talks on Washington’s plan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. On its official Telegram channel, the Kyiv City...

Peru’s government declared a state of emergency at its southern border with Chile on Friday, expecting an influx of people trying to flee far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast’s potential presidency. Under the decree, Peru’s military will reinforce border control in the southern Tacna region for 60 days, past Chile’s December 14 run-off election, in which immigration hardliner Kast is facing off against left-wing candidate Jeannette Jara. The state of emergency will also serve “to address crime...

Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi will travel to the US next week to sign a final agreement with his Rwandan counterpart aimed at securing peace in eastern Congo, the Congolese government said on Friday, capping months-long diplomatic efforts spearheaded by US President Donald Trump. Congo’s government has often said its signing of the deal will be conditioned on Rwanda’s withdrawal of support for the M23 rebels in the conflict-battered east. Tshisekedi’s confirmation of the December 4 signing...

Europe’s Airbus said on Friday it was ordering immediate repairs to 6,000 of its widely used A320 family of jets in a sweeping recall affecting more than half the global fleet, threatening upheaval during the busiest travel weekend of the year in the United States and disruption worldwide. The setback appears to be among the largest recalls affecting Airbus in its 55-year history and comes weeks after the A320 overtook the Boeing 737 as the most delivered model. At the time Airbus issued its...

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will be pardoning former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who in 2024 was convicted for drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison. The president explained his decision on social media by posting that “according to many people that I greatly respect”, Hernandez was “treated very harshly and unfairly”. In March of last year, Hernandez was convicted in an American court of conspiring to import cocaine into the...

US President Donald Trump spoke by phone last week with leftist Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, with the two rivals discussing a possible meeting in the United States, The New York Times reported on Friday. The reported call comes as Trump’s administration piles pressure on Venezuela with a major military deployment in the Caribbean that includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier. Washington says the aim is curbing drug trafficking but Caracas insists regime change is the ultimate goal. The...

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he was nullifying all documents signed by autopen during the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden. “Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect,” Trump said on social media. He added that he was “hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who...

The head of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said on Friday it retained the right to respond to Israel’s killing days ago of its top military commander and left open the possibility of a new conflict with Israel. Naim Qassem spoke in a televised address as fears grew in Lebanon that Israel could escalate its bombardment of the country to compel Hezbollah to relinquish its arsenal across the country, which the group has repeatedly rejected. Israel’s killing of Hezbollah’s top military commander...

China has halted imports of soybeans from five Brazilian exporters after inspectors found pesticide-treated wheat mixed into a cargo bound for Beijing, officials from both countries said on Thursday. The suspension by China’s General Administration of Customs was communicated to Brazil’s agriculture ministry on Wednesday and made public on Thursday. The ban covers two Cargill facilities and one plant each run by Louis Dreyfus Co., CHS Agronegocios and 3Tentos Agroindustrial. Four of the plants...

France on Friday charged the fourth alleged member of a four-person gang arrested over last month’s spectacular jewel heist at the Louvre, prosecutors said. On October 19, the gang raided the world’s most visited art museum in broad daylight, taking just seven minutes to steal jewellery worth an estimated US$102 million before fleeing on scooters. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau described the fourth suspect as a 39-year-old man born in the working-class Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis. “Already...

Charges against the man accused of shooting two National Guard members have been upgraded to first-degree murder after one of the soldiers died, the US attorney for the District of Columbia announced on Friday, while investigators continue to seek a motive. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24 were hospitalised in critical condition after the Wednesday afternoon shooting near the White House. Trump announced on Thursday evening that Beckstrom had died. US Attorney...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday removed his powerful chief of staff and top negotiator, Andriy Yermak, after detectives raided his house as part of a sweeping corruption probe. Yermak’s removal deals a serious blow to Zelensky, who is facing a mounting Russian offensive in the east just as the United States, a crucial ally, proposed a surprise plan to end the war that heavily favoured Moscow. Just last week, Zelensky had named Yermak, 54, as Ukraine’s top negotiator in...

The Cop30 UN climate change conference in Belem, Brazil, concluded with a package of decisions that champions implementation and finance, yet its success is nuanced, marked by both institutional progress and political compromises over the core issue of fossil fuels. The conference, framed as the “implementation Cop” by the Brazilian presidency, turned attention away from purely text negotiations to implementing action. The world is grappling with the complex realities of executing a systemic...

A daughter of South Africa’s ex-president Jacob Zuma has resigned from parliament after claims she was involved in recruiting men to join Russian mercenaries in the Ukraine war, her party said on Friday. Police last week said they were investigating allegations that Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, an MP in her father’s Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, had lured 17 South African men to Russia “to fight in the Ukrainian war without their knowledge or consent”. The presidency said in early November it had...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would suspend migration from what he called “third world countries”, a day after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard soldiers in Washington, killing one. His social media post, which also threatened to reverse “millions” of admissions granted under his predecessor Joe Biden, marked a new escalation in the anti-migration stance of a second term that has been dominated by Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Trump said earlier that Sarah...

The bird flu virus that has been spreading among wild birds, poultry and mammals could lead to a pandemic worse than Covid-19 if it mutates to transmit between humans, the head of France’s Institut Pasteur respiratory infections centre has said. The highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has led to the culling of hundreds of millions of birds in the past few years, disrupting food supplies and driving up prices, though human infections remain rare. “What we fear is the...

Peru’s Supreme Court on Thursday sentenced leftist ex-president Pedro Castillo to more than 11 years in jail for trying to dissolve Congress and rule by decree to avoid impeachment. Dubbed Peru’s first poor president, the former rural teacher, who had never held elected office before winning the presidency, was impeached by Congress and jailed following his attempted power grab in December 2022. He had repeatedly clashed with an opposition-dominated Congress during his 16 months in power,...

Take a walk through some of Hong Kong’s most iconic streets and you might notice a puzzling sight: prime retail spaces in Causeway Bay, Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui and other areas are papered over with all types of rental advertisements where there used to be a buzz. Out-of-reach rental prices are often a result of a simple human instinct: the desire to hold out for yesterday’s peak prices. For many property owners, accepting a lower rent can feel like a step back, potentially affecting bank...

Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo has left the country for Senegal after being detained during a military coup, the government in Dakar said on Thursday, as a lead opponent accused him of arranging the uprising. The military in volatile Guinea-Bissau earlier appointed a general as the country’s new leader, a day after seizing power and derailing the announcement of election results. Opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa told Agence France-Presse he believed he had won Sunday’s...

The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it would review the immigration status of every permanent resident or “green card” holder from Afghanistan and 18 other countries following the attack on National Guard troops in Washington. The announcement came as US President Donald Trump said that one of the National Guard members, 20-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, had died of her wounds, while the other, Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, was ‘fighting for his life’. US officials have...

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney signed an agreement with Alberta’s premier on Thursday that rolls back certain climate rules to spur investment in energy production, while encouraging construction of a new oil pipeline to the West Coast. Under the agreement, the federal government will scrap a planned emissions cap on the oil and gas sector and drop rules on clean electricity, in exchange for a commitment by Canada’s top oil-producing province to strengthen industrial carbon pricing and...

Israeli forces on Thursday killed a pair of Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank after they appeared to surrender to troops, drawing Palestinian accusations that the men were executed “in cold blood”. The Israeli military said it was investigating. The killings, captured in videos shown on two Arab TV stations, came as Israel pressed ahead with its latest offensive in the West Bank, where the army has stepped up its activities over the past two years. Israel has said it was cracking down on...

Japanese Americans are seeing parallels between the government’s incarceration of their families during World War II and the current detention of Latinos.

David Sacks, the Trump administration’s A.I. and crypto czar, has helped formulate policies that aid his Silicon Valley friends and many of his own tech investments.

The leaders of Nordstrom and Selfridges are dealing with tariffs, a tough economy and a fight for relevance.

Democrats zeroed in on utilities and affordability to win Republican support in upset elections in Georgia and Virginia. Can the same playbook work in 2026?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the contentious appeal weeks after President Trump had made the same request to the Israeli president.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Israel’s president to pardon him preemptively, before any verdicts were reached in his corruption cases. Here’s what to know about his trial.

The pope, arriving in Lebanon, also encouraged that country’s Christians to stay where they are, despite economic, political and security concerns.

The president called the nationwide flooding the largest and most challenging natural disaster in the island’s history, as emergency rescue efforts continue.

Hundreds of people have been killed and millions displaced as extreme weather has ravaged Southeast Asia this month. Indonesia’s heavy rain was linked to two tropical cyclones.

Researchers found higher rates of depression, poor sleep and obesity among tweens who had early access to a cellphone.

In works like “Travesties” and “Arcadia,” the playwright embraced the really big questions and wrestled words into coherent, exhilarating shape.

Spinning off Shakespeare, waltzing through Imperial Russia, bantering about literature or diving deeply into history, Stoppard shared his gifts on the screen.

The playwright won an Academy Award for “Shakespeare in Love.” But he was also a prolific script doctor who worked with filmmakers like Steven Spielberg.

Latin Americans have proved surprisingly acquiescent to U.S. aggression — but that won’t last forever.

Instead of going to therapy for $100 a week, I began to invest in an astrological session every few months.

Forecasters expected the storm to track up the Eastern Seaboard Monday night into Tuesday, leaving as much as a foot of snow in parts of the Northeast.

At least eight workers died, and many of those who survived, after saving children and others in their care, are worried about losing their jobs and being forced to leave.

The shooting in Stockton, a city in California’s Central Valley, left 11 others wounded. The authorities said they were looking for a suspect.

His tales of violence and squalor in his native Ozarks had the timeless quality of fables and inspired several movies.