Minimalist News

Bibi Makes Crystal Clear That Toppling Iran Is Israel's 'Central Mission, Within Reach' The Trump White House is reportedly looking to try and keep things 'quiet' related to the Iran war and Strait of Hormuz leading into the November midterms, after an intense flare-up in fighting this week. "Top aides to President Donald Trump are pushing to keep the Iran war from escalating before November's midterm elections to staunch Republican electoral losses , four people familiar with the discussions said, a strategy already under strain as the U.S. and Iran exchanged back-and-forth attacks overnight," Reuters reports. However, over in Israel

China-Linked Hackers Hid In Cisco Routers, Stole Administrator Credentials: Report Authored by Arthur Zhang via The Epoch Times , A China-linked cyberespionage group compromised Cisco routers and hid its activity from the network administrators who managed them, cybersecurity firm Sygnia said in an Aug. 27 report. The Cisco logo is displayed in front of Cisco headquarters in San Jose, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2024. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images The group also recorded traffic moving through the devices and used them to probe other high-value networks, according to the report. The hackers compromised systems that verify whether network administrators are authorized to

Democrats Cry Foul As DHS Launches Voter Fraud Probe In 9 States The Department of Homeland Security opened a coordinated voter fraud investigation across nine states this week, and Democratic election officials are not taking the news well... CNN reported that internal federal guidance directs Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to build criminal cases against people suspected of illegally registering or voting. The effort is described as a "coordinated criminal voter fraud surge initiative" and will run from early September through mid-October. Agents began work Tuesday in Washington, Wisconsin, Missouri, Georgia, California, Pennsylvania, Nevada,

Asian LNG Prices Surge To Highest Since 2022 As Iran War Escalates Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com , Spot LNG prices for Asian buyers went up to almost $26 per million British thermal units yesterday for a 5% weekly gain following the resumption of strikes between the United States and Iran. Spot LNG for Asia traded at $25.908 per mmBtu late on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed traders, after President Donald Trump said "We took out all of the new equipment that they tried to build along the Strait of Hormuz - some defensive, some offensive ... It was

Mamdani Has A Nearly 200 Person "Influencer Network" Sometimes Paid Using Taxpayer Money A new investigation is putting Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s social media operation under scrutiny after revealing that City Hall has cultivated a network of nearly 200 online creators to help distribute information about the administration , according to the New York Post . The Columbia Journalism Review reports that members of the network receive regular material from the mayor’s communications staff, including announcements, suggested messaging, videos and other content they can incorporate into their own posts. Much of that communication reportedly takes place in a private Signal group

1,000 Days Of Milei Authored by Michael Talbot via BondVigilantes.com, One thousand days is a long time in politics... When I wrote about Javier Milei’s first 100 days in office, Argentina was embarking on yet another attempt to break free from a cycle that had become painfully familiar: fiscal excess, monetary financing, inflation, capital controls and, eventually, crisis. Markets were optimistic, but they had been optimistic before. Argentina has a habit of disappointing even its most enthusiastic supporters. At the time, Milei inherited an economy in severe distress alongside a reform agenda that many viewed as politically impossible to implement.

Biden Judge Blocks Trump's Latest Birthright Citizenship Order Two months after the Supreme Court gutted President Trump's first-day order ending automatic citizenship for children of illegal aliens and temporary visitors, a Maryland federal judge has now blocked the narrower follow-up that targeted the actual business model: birth tourism. Migrants, including a pregnant Haitian woman seeking to give birth in the United States, are apprehended by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Yuma, Ariz., on Dec. 7, 2021. John Moore/Getty Images U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman (Biden), who already enjoined the 2025 order, issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday against the August

DOJ Adds Walmart, Costco, Amazon To Beef Price Probe Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times , The Justice Department has added eight major grocery chains to its beef affordability investigation. Ground beef for sale at a supermarket. Nata.dobrovolskaya/Shutterstock The announcement came Tuesday in a post from the department's official X account. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward sent the retailers the letters concerning recent increases in the retail price of beef. The list includes Kroger, Publix, Walmart, Albertsons, Aldi, Ahold Delhaize USA, Costco, and Amazon. The DOJ's Antitrust Division "has expanded its investigation to include 8 of the largest

Putin Floats 'Chance' At Peace, While Ukraine Cites 'New Dynamic' To Get To Table Russian President Putin is this week attending the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, where he has issued key statements and at times fielded questions from the press. Among the most important questions asked from the press pool were on the matter of whether peace in the Ukraine conflict is still possible , given that this very week things have drastically escalated . Handout/Reuters Among the major escalations include Zelensky's threat to 'close Russian skies' through ramped-up drone and missile attacks, or in effect threatening even civilian

OpenAI President Declares The "AGI Era" Has Officially Begun OpenAI President Greg Brockman said Thursday that he believes the company has reached artificial general intelligence, and that its latest model, GPT-6 Astra, marks the beginning of the so-called "AGI era," according to Axios . Greg Brockman Photographer: Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg Speaking to reporters, Brockman called Astra a "generational leap" and said it could eventually be viewed as the moment AGI arrived. "I think it might be about this model," he said when asked whether Astra meets that definition. While there is no agreed-upon test for AGI, and Brockman said that he

Leon Black Sues Congress To Avoid Epstein Testimony Between 2012 and 2017 - after Jeffrey Epstein got out of prison - billionaire Leon Black paid him roughly $170 million. Black has not provided a credible explanation as to why he paid Epstein amounts vastly exceeding those paid to other professional advisors - and instead of sitting down to explain it to Congress on Thursday, he sued the House Oversight Committee . Recall, Black: Paid Epstein $158 million per Dechert, the law firm Apollo hired, or $170 million per Sen. Ron Wyden's investigation . Stepped down as Apollo CEO in 2021

FBI Investigating Report Of Millions Of Driver's Licenses Sold On Dark Web Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times , The FBI said Wednesday it is investigating a site on the dark web after reports it was selling more than 150 million U.S. and Canadian driver's license s. Among them was the license information of the assistant director of the FBI. Driving licenses from different USA states. Shutterstock "The FBI can confirm that it is looking into the incident," a spokesperson for the FBI told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. "Due to the ongoing nature of the

Dave Smith: "Israel Is On The Ballot And Israel Is About To Deliver Us Socialism" Last night’s debate on the Iran war brought together Alan Dershowitz and libertarian Dave Smith for a wide-ranging clash over Iran, Israel, and … you guessed it: Antisemitism! Dershowitz defended the case for confronting Iran while calling Smith a racist, bigot, and an important part of the “2000 year history” of antisemitism. Smith made a few jabs back while arguing the Iran war is the worst decision in modern U.S. history. Dersh maintained that he is pro-regime change by “almost any means,” justifying this position

The Elephant In The Canadian Room Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness , At first glance, the current American-Canadian trade "war" is absurd. We are neighbors with a long history of close friendship, speak the same language (for the most part), and spring from the same British civilization. Nearly one million Canadians reside in the United States. Given the two countries' natural affinities, Canadians are nearly indistinguishable from Americans. Both sides have reasonable grievances over trade policy. Americans don't like Canada's perennial trade surpluses of more than $50 billion in a supposedly free-trade zone. They resent the fact

Is Uber Weaponizing Labor Unions To Slow Robotaxi Rivals Ride-hailing giant Uber is reportedly aligning with drivers' unions in several cities to slow robotaxi deployments and promote regulations requiring " hybrid networks " that combine autonomous vehicles with human drivers, according to the Financial Times . The unholy alliance is taking shape in states and cities including New Jersey and Washington, DC, where Uber and organized labor are pushing back against the rapid expansion of autonomous taxi services . In New Jersey, Uber lobbyists proposed requiring any platform offering robotaxi services to ensure that human drivers provide at least 85%

Is Geothermal Energy The Next Hidden AI Power Trade Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance Before I get into today’s idea, let me remind readers that I believe there is a very real chance that the AI boom could be coming to an end later this year and into early next year. I detailed my thoughts on why the AI boom could end in an article called “ The Real AI Crash Will Start This Year ” that I published two weeks ago. I supplemented this piece with another article last week called “ 8 Sharp Bear Cases You Must Read

Trump Rages Against 'Treasonous Scum' In Media For Iran War Coverage President Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday to rage against US media coverage of the Iran war (not for the first time), following Treasury Scott Bessent giving similar scathing remarks earlier this week. Trump particularly singled out recent and ongoing reports of US missile and interceptor shortages, which he has slammed as false. He called out the "treasonous SCUM" in the media for issuing supposedly inaccurate reports on "our Military Operation in Iran" - claiming that the US has " virtually unlimited amounts of Mid to High Grade

All Bubbles End In Deflation Authored by Bill Bonner via DailyReckoning.com, We begin this week’s perambulations with a stroll into the future. So far…the Bubble in the US is broader than any in history. It has been inflating everything it touched for the last 30 years. All bubbles pop, of course. How they pop is the confusing whirlwind we enter today. But don’t worry. Even in the worst crash, real wealth doesn’t disappear, it just changes hands. When the stock market goes down, those with stocks have less paper wealth…and less of a claim on real wealth. They are ‘poorer.’

'Crisis Preparedness': Dutch Move Billions In Gold Out Of US As Goldman Warns Of 'Geographic Concentration Risk' The Netherlands' central bank transferred nearly 90 metric tons of gold bars from the United States and Canada to Britain amid growing concerns of "increasing geopolitical unrest," according to CNBC . "With this relocation, we have improved the tradability of our gold reserves. We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness," DNB Governor Olaf Sleijpen said of the development. Roughly 25% of the gold reserves stored in New York and Ottawa

'Non-Market': The One Word That Blew Up The G20 Communiqué On Tuesday we reported that China had derailed the G20's joint communiqué in Asheville, with a senior US official telling the FT the impasse "came down to a few words." It turns out one word did most of the damage . According to Bloomberg - operating out of Hong Kong because they were banned from the event by Treasury - the decisive sticking point was the term "non-market" in a sentence on trade imbalances. Chinese officials read it as a coded attack on state-owned enterprises that sit at the foundation

President cites Donald Trump’s suggestion that he might reconsider US support for British sovereignty, and threatens swifter sanctions on British oil interests President Javier Milei has said “winds of change favourable” to Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands were “blowing around the world” in a televised address, citing signs that Donald Trump might reconsider the US position on the islands’ sovereignty. “Recently, President Trump declared that the US is re-evaluating its historic position in relation to the Malvinas,” he said, using the Argentinian name for the islands. Continue reading...

Opposition leader says interim government lacking democratic mandate to negotiate on natural resources • The US and Venezuela: a century-old relationship drenched in oil The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has questioned Donald Trump’s oil deal with Venezuela’s interim government, saying the country’s natural resources do not belong to “an illegitimate regime”. In her first public comments since Trump announced what he called “the biggest oil deal in world history” with Venezuela last Friday, Machado walked a diplomatic tightrope between challenging the agreement and trying not to rile the White House. Continue reading...

Relocation coincides with proposed laws that opponents say would entrench power of US tech billionaires in country Dozens of protesters converged on Peter Thiel’s mansion in Buenos Aires this week after a congressional session raised questions about the billionaire’s presence in the country. In white masks, they held signs saying “Peter Thief” and “No to the Peter Thiel law” in front of the wrought-iron gates of the $12m (£8.9m) residence, which Thiel bought in April as he moved his family to Argentina. Continue reading...

A visual look at how Washington’s relationship with Caracas has gone from cordial to ‘predatory’ Trump ally defends Venezuela oil deal amid ‘gunpoint diplomacy’ criticism Nobel laureate Machado: ‘Illegitimate’ Venezuela regime has no right to strike US oil deal Written in the middle of the last century, the US Department of State memo conveys its message in a curt and undiplomatically honest tone: the glue that binds Washington to Caracas is, and is always likely to be, oil. “All US policies toward Venezuela are affected in greater or less degree by the objective of assuring an adequate supply of petroleum

Tech company submits to controversial Trump order to rename body of water amid US trade spat with Canada Apple has renamed Lake Ontario as “Lake America” for US users of its Maps app, after an executive order from Donald Trump to change the name of the Great Lake amid his trade spat with Canada. The Apple Maps app now displays the controversial new name for the lake, which sits between New York state and the Canadian province of Ontario, for users in the US. Apple users outside the country will still see the Lake Ontario name. Continue reading...

Jump lifts currency to highest level against dollar in a month, while global markets remain jittery Business live – latest updates The Japanese yen has soared by more than 2% against the dollar amid speculation the Bank of Japan is set to raise interest rates. The latest jump on Thursday lifted the yen to its highest level against the dollar in a month, at 155.57, and followed a 0.9% move the previous day. Continue reading...

Oil consumption plummets and EV sales soar as analysts say demand may not fully return even if crude price falls China’s carbon dioxide emissions fell by 1% after the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, thanks to a sharp reduction in oil consumption and a steady rise in the use of electric vehicles and public transport, analysis shows. The report reveals the role of clean energy in cushioning the price shocks caused by the strait of Hormuz crisis to the world’s biggest oil importer. It also reinforces hopes that China, which is the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, may

Speed limit dropped from 60km/h for around 70% of general roads in the hope of making narrow streets of crowded cities safer Drivers on residential roads in Japan have been forced to take their foot off the accelerator, after the speed limit was slashed from 60km/h (37mph) to 30km/h in an attempt to reduce deaths and injuries among pedestrians on narrow urban streets. The new limit, which went into effect on Tuesday, applies to residential roads with no centre line or maximum speed signs, media reports said. Continue reading...

Wong, 29, is accused of urging foreign powers to impose sanctions, blockades and other hostile measures against China Joshua Wong , one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy activists, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to seek foreign sanctions against Hong Kong and China, a national security charge that carries a maximum life sentence. Prosecutors have accused Wong, 29, of working with the exiled Hong Kong activist Nathan Law to urge foreign powers to impose sanctions, blockades or other hostile measures against China. Continue reading...

Ship has been plagued by reports of deteriorating living conditions and poor mental health because of lengthy deployment The USS Abraham Lincoln, a US aircraft carrier at the centre of a row over conditions on board after months at sea as part of Donald Trump’s war against Iran, has arrived off a Thai port. Reports of deteriorating living conditions and poor mental health on the vessel, including attempted suicides , have made headlines around the world, provoking criticism of the president’s actions in the Middle East. Continue reading...

Follow the day’s news live. Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast ‘Gut-wrenching’: Bowen to meet with Nepali community today Chris Bowen said he would meet members of the Nepali Australian community later today. Every person who’s been rescued or found is a relief to their family and to the broader Australian community. But of course, we still have 36 Australians who are missing and unaccounted for, which is just gut-wrenching for all Australians and for the Nepalese Australian community in particular, whom I’m spending time with later today. But all I can say is

New record for Australia as more than 27,000 EVs sold in August, driven by the rising cost of fuel and new government policy Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Electric vehicle sales in Australia exceeded petrol cars for the first time last month as a transformation driven by high fuel prices and government policy encouraging clean car uptake accelerated. More than 27,000 EVs were sold in August, a new record for a single month and representing 24.9% of new cars sold. The climate-friendly technology surpassed

Daniel Billings said ‘I did what I did’ in call from friend’s house after 2024 domestic violence murder Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Two hours after Daniel Billings murdered his ex-girlfriend Molly Ticehurst in a frenzied stabbing, he spoke to a woman he had met on Tinder. “I’m sorry I murdered her,” Billings told the woman during a phone call at 2.02am on 22 April 2024. Continue reading...

Bureau of Meteorology suggests El Niño has already broken records, with Pacific Ocean temperature change exceeding 2C in six months Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here The growing El Niño weather phenomenon to Australia’s east is already breaking heat records, with forecasts showing it may easily surpass previous events, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology. Separate research suggests climate change has greatly shortened the odds of the event hitting record extremes. Continue reading...

Helen Paterson’s work on advancing how police and courts understand memory is recognised in prestigious Eureka prizes Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Memory is an imperfect thing: research shows that recollections of single events – a purse being snatched, say – differ from those about repeated or ongoing events, such as incidents of domestic and family violence. “What our research shows is that compared to a single-event witness, a repeated-event witness tends to report more gist-like details, the overall details of what typically would

Governments now moving faster to impose costs on Moscow for its increasing attacks over support for Ukraine Russia’s suspected sabotage campaign across Europe appears to be gathering pace again, confronting governments with a problem they have struggled to solve since the start of the war in Ukraine: how to impose a meaningful cost on Moscow for attacks that remain deliberately below the threshold of conventional war. Over the past month alone, an explosives-laden drone was discovered next to a Ukrainian cargo plane at Germany’s Leipzig airport, Poland has faced suspected acts of sabotage, and a string of unexplained explosions and

As polls point to victory in Saxony-Anhalt for AfD party promising deportations, people face agonising choice: stay or go As the Bible study session wrapped up, leaving worshippers to mingle over cake and coffee, Fatemeh, 44, fought back tears as the conversation turned to Sunday’s state election in Saxony-Anhalt. “I worry about it every day,” she said. “I can’t stop thinking about my son and what might happen to us.” Fatemeh worries about what might happen after the elections. Photograph: Christian Jungeblodt/The Guardian Continue reading...

Under-pressure carmaker will shed 15% of workforce and halve its product line in sector’s biggest ever restructure The car company Volkswagen has announced it will shed 100,000 jobs by the end of the decade after being hit by US tariffs and fierce competition from Chinese rivals. The German manufacturer said management and unions had agreed as part of a sweeping cost-cutting plan to cut a further 50,000 positions by 2030, bringing total job losses in the pipeline to 100,000. Continue reading...

Student protesters among those hacked, says digital rights group, though Aleksandar Vučić’s government denies spying At least 14 people from across Serbian civil society were targeted with advanced spyware earlier this year in what the digital rights group Share Foundation said was the largest documented ​wave of such infection in Serbia to date. The wave of spyware infections was discovered in August after Apple notified people in 110 ⁠countries that they had probably been victims ⁠of mercenary spyware. Continue reading...

A Maltese businessman has been cleared of involvement in the journalist’s death, but his trial revealed the challenges faced by those leading the search for her killers The conclusion of the longest-running murder trial in Maltese history has left a country in turmoil, and a grieving family still searching for answers. At 7.30pm on Wednesday, gasps and cheers echoed around hall 22 of the courts of justice in Valletta, as a jury pronounced a businessman accused of ordering the murder of the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia not guilty . Continue reading...

Troops escort settlers into al-Mughayyir and raze village outside Hebron as ethnic cleansing of West Bank continues Israelis have shot dead two teenagers in a Palestinian village encircled by settlers, and Israeli troops have razed an entire village outside Hebron, in the latest attacks in a surge of Israeli terror and ethnic cleansing across the occupied West Bank. The shootings targeted Khalil Abu Alia, 16, who was about to start 11th grade at the al-Mughayyir boys school, and 19-year-old Omar al-Nassan, who graduated from the same institution with top marks this summer. Continue reading...

Itamar Ben-Gvir claims proposal for illegal forced displacement of 2 million people is ‘realistic’ and ‘concrete’ Israel’s far-right national security minister has set out a plan for the illegal forced expulsion of all Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, with the intention of sending them abroad. Speaking in the run-up to close-fought Israeli elections, Itamar Ben-Gvir said the plan aimed to remove 250,000 Palestinians from Gaza in the first year, followed by the rest of its population of roughly 2 million over the next six years. Continue reading...

President said Howard Lutnick had Venezuela operation on his mind when he was discussing Iran war on CNBC Donald Trump has claimed his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, erroneously stated that no Americans had been killed in the war with Iran because he was thinking about a previous US operation, in Venezuela. The claim, at odds with the Pentagon’s count of 18 US service members dead in the US-Israel war on Iran, sparked a swift backlash as Trump struggles to end the conflict after six months. Continue reading...

Air bases used by US in UAE and Kuwait hit as Israeli defence chief says Iran’s regime fears collapse due to economic pressures Iran has continued to demonstrate an ability to target bases in the Gulf used by the US despite six months of war and a new sanctions regime described by the Trump administration as an “economic D-day”. As Iran’s military targeted US bases in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, despite threats of further strikes by the US president, Israel’s defence chief warned that economic pressures from the sanctions could lead Tehran to escalate to more “extreme measures”.

Defence minister says he believes US backing could tip regional balance in favour of forced resettlement Israel’s defence minister has said his country is seeking Donald Trump’s support to approve plans to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in what has widely been condemned as a potential war crime. Israel Katz said there was “no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration” during a conference hosted by the Israeli news site Ynet and the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. He said the Israeli government was “organised and prepared to get them out by sea, by air, by every way

About 46 people believed to be trapped in ‘room-like’ structure inside hydro plant tunnel on Nepal-Tibet border After the flood: human suffering on an unfathomable scale in Nepal’s worst-hit districts Nepal authorities have said they are “confident” that dozens of workers in Nepal’s Rasuwagadhi hydropower plant are still alive, more than a week after deadly flash floods left them trapped in an underground chamber. Authorities said that at least 639 workers were still missing from hydropower plants built along Nepal’s Bhote Koshi and Triushuli rivers. Continue reading...

Bangladeshi complainants allege Rampal power station’s pollution and climate risks threaten the Sunderbans, a world heritage site Barclays Bank is facing a formal complaint over its financial links to a coal-fired power station near the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and home to millions of people in Bangladesh and India. Three complainants from the region have submitted a case to the UK government’s Office for Responsible Business Conduct, alleging that the British bank breached international guidelines by underwriting companies involved in the emission-heavy Maitree super thermal power project, also known as the Rampal power plant. Continue reading...

Several missing Australians have been found since Tuesday morning, bringing the total citizens unaccounted for to 38 Australians missing in the Nepal floods: what we know so far A total of five Australians missing after devastating floods ravaged the Nepal-Tibet border last week have been found. Of the five Australians confirmed safe, one was found in Nepal, one in Tibet, and three outside the crisis-hit area. The total number still missing is 38. Continue reading...

More than 1,000 people confirmed dead and more than 4,000, including 36 British nationals, remain missing A British aid worker was mistakenly identified by Nepalese authorities as a rescued survivor after returning to Kathmandu on a humanitarian aid flight. Alastair Chambers, a 45-year-old former Gloucester councillor, said he flew to Nepal last week to distribute sleeping bags, food and essentials to communities cut off by collapsed bridges. Continue reading...

Relatives of missing tourists asked for blood samples and photos, as efforts continue to rescue trapped hydropower workers Nepal-Tibet floods – latest updates Visual guide: How the Nepal-Tibet flash flood unfolded Nepali rescuers have built temporary bridges to reach remote areas and dug through the ruins of hydropower projects in the Himalayas to rescue hundreds of trapped workers, as the death toll passed 1,000 nearly ⁠a week after devastating ​floods left a trail of destruction across the country’s towns and valleys. About 600 people remain stuck in several devastated hydropower stations that have become the focus of rescue efforts. The

US tech company has sued London mayor after he prevented it from working with Metropolitan police Sadiq Khan has agreed for his text messages and emails to be searched as part of a legal battle with Palantir, the high court has been told, after he prevented the US technology company from working with the Metropolitan police. The London mayor stepped in to block a £50m deal between Palantir and the Met in May, with the artificial intelligence developer suing Khan’s office over the decision. Continue reading...

Investigation broadcast by Channel 4 News shows man posing as ‘impermissible donor’ paying for polling that helped Reform Nigel Farage is facing fresh criticism on the eve of the Reform UK party conference after some of his team were filmed appearing to plot to avoid electoral laws on foreign donations in an undercover investigation broadcast by Channel 4 News. A group of investigative journalists called Verbatim, founded by the Centre for Climate Reporting , posed as a potential Reform supporter and his wealthy American father, an impermissible donor, who paid for £30,000 of polling commissioned by Reform and which benefited

Exclusive: New environment secretary insists ‘nothing is off the table’ in dealing with ailing Thames Water Britain’s insolvency laws cannot deal with the aggressive behaviour shown by the companies that control Thames Water, the environment secretary has said, as she confirmed ministers were prepared to take it into public ownership. Angela Eagle told the Guardian she was determined to reform the water industry after being told by Andy Burnham to make it her top priority. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Angela Eagle urges UK citizens to be ‘a bit more resilient’ as they plan for national emergencies British people have been urged to have enough food and water on hand to survive a few days without power or water, as the UN said the El Niño climate phenomenon was “supersizing before our eyes”, exacerbating extreme weather events worldwide. Forecasters say they are braced for the biggest El Niño in 1,000 years, bringing wildfires and floods to parts of the world, and the threat of a wet, stormy winter for the UK. As the British government plans a campaign urging

Office for Students made decision to punish University of Sussex with fine last year after claiming it breached free speech regulations England’s higher education regulator has apologised for a string of mistakes in its decision to punish the University of Sussex with a record fine that was later overturned by the high court. The Office for Students (OfS) tried to impose a £585,000 fine against Sussex last year after claiming the university breached free speech regulations involving its former professor Kathleen Stock. It was forced to back down in April after a judicial review initiated by Sussex found the OfS

This live blog is now closed. Sign up for US Breaking News emails Republican oversight chair James Comer has also weighed in on Leon Black not sitting for a deposition about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The billionaire financier, who has denied wrongdoing, filed suit against the oversight committee Thursday alleging the subpoenas were improper. “It’s a shame Leon Black is hiding behind litigation rather than provide answers to the American people. Our investigation is examining how the federal government for decades failed survivors of Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes and how Mr. Epstein sought to curry favor with

Republican candidate Thomas Ross and former campaign manager allegedly devised plan to stash drugs in rival Louise Secker’s purse or vehicle A Missouri House race has been rocked by the Wednesday arrest of Republican candidate Thomas Ross, whom prosecutors accuse of attempting to frame his primary opponent Louise Secker for cocaine possession. In June, Ross allegedly gave his former campaign manager, identified by the initials “CS” in court documents, a bag of cocaine and Adderall. The two allegedly devised a plan for the former manager to stash the drugs in Secker’s purse or vehicle. Continue reading...

Telle has previously worked for Trump during his first term as a special assistant to the president for legislative affairs Donald Trump on Thursday named Adam Telle as the acting army secretary after the departure of Daniel Driscoll amid widespread reports of tensions with defense secretary Pete Hegseth. Telle is currently the assistant secretary of the army for civil works. Continue reading...

Sean Alfortish and Leon Parker convicted on some counts but not murder charges linked to insurance fraud plot A federal jury in New Orleans on Thursday returned a split verdict after more than 30 hours of deliberations in a three-week-long blockbuster fraud and murder trial that garnered headlines far beyond Louisiana. Jurors deadlocked on murder charges Sean Alfortish and Leon “Chunky” Parker faced, leading US district judge Wendy Vitter to declare a mistrial as prosecutors vowed to try the case on those counts again. Continue reading...

Cull of animals that eat native shrubs, causing spread of fast-igniting grasses, to go ahead despite fierce opposition Locals and tourists have long fawned over Catalina Island’s mule deer population. For nearly a century, the ungulates have roamed the land’s waterfronts and woodlands, so comfortable around humans that it is not uncommon to spot deer roaming downtown Avalon. But that sight will soon disappear, after a judge this week paved the way for the island’s conservancy to kill nearly all the island’s 2,000 deer. Continue reading...

President Donald Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to let it enforce a new US Postal Service rule tightening the use of mail-in ballots, moving swiftly after a judge temporarily blocked the regulation ahead of November’s midterm elections. In an emergency request, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to lift Boston-based US District ‌Judge Indira Talwani’s order temporarily preventing the USPS from enforcing the new rule, which it adopted following an executive...

Former Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno and a former Chinese ambassador to Quito asked the country’s highest court on Thursday to spare them the five-year sentences handed down last week over a US$76 million bribery scheme. Moreno was convicted of bribery by a three-judge panel of the National Court of Justice over contracts for Ecuador’s largest hydroelectric project secured by a Chinese state contractor. The judges found unanimously that he had used his position as vice-president, held from...

A single juror in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial is preventing the jury from reaching a unanimous verdict, her lawyer said in court on Thursday, after deliberations stretched into a sixth day over whether to convict the Massachusetts woman of killing her three young children. Defence lawyer Kevin ‌Reddington made that statement shortly after the jury sent Judge William Sullivan in Plymouth, Massachusetts, a note that prompted him to reinstruct jurors on what would constitute “reasonable...

Ten research teams were honoured on Thursday at a satirical science awards ceremony that was hosted outside the US for the first time due to travel concerns. Researchers who studied milk from cockroaches and analysed soil health using underwear received Ig Nobel prizes celebrating unusual and imaginative contributions to science. The awards organised by a digital magazine called the Annals of Improbable Research shifted to Europe after 35 years in the US over concerns about attendees being able...

Federal prosecutors have charged a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with lying to investigators about the events leading up to the shooting of a Venezuelan man during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown earlier this year, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person was not authorised to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. The person said Christian Castro, the officer who authorities say shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg in...

Two Mercury-bound spacecraft left their mother ship behind on Thursday and headed down the home stretch of their nearly decade-long voyage to the solar system’s smallest and closest-to-the-sun planet. The linked European and Japanese spacecraft separated as planned from their cruiser, but controllers had to wait two anxious hours to receive confirmation via radio signals. The crucial operation was broadcast from the European Space Agency’s control centre in Germany, more than 200 million km (124...

A cabinet secretary fretting about his daughter’s university choice might once have been considered a private family matter. In Donald Trump’s America, it has become official content. US transport secretary Sean Duffy recently appeared with his family in a road trip series carried on the department’s YouTube page. In one episode, his daughter, Paloma, said if she were admitted to Harvard University, she would probably urge her parents to let her attend. Duffy, however, warned the university had...

Norway had seized a Russian ship in the Arctic to enforce a US$4.22 billion compensation claim won by Ukrainian energy firm Naftogaz over Moscow’s seizure of its assets when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, officials said late on Wednesday. The vessel, the Professor Molchanov, was seized off the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, according to Covington, the US law firm representing Naftogaz. The Russian state news agency TASS quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesperson as saying the Norwegian...

Iran attacked US military bases in Kuwait on Thursday, despite US President Donald Trump threatening further strikes in a fresh flare-up six months into the war. Trump said his military was prepared to attack Iran “any time we want” after extensive US bombardment of sites across the country left at least 19 Iranians dead. Tehran retaliated by hitting US military targets across the Middle East, including in Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan...

A Maltese court on Wednesday acquitted tycoon Yorgen Fenech of orchestrating the car-bomb killing of investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia, sparking outrage from her family and media freedom advocates. The wealthy businessman had stood accused of masterminding the 2017 assassination of 53-year-old Caruana Galizia, which sparked unprecedented protests and brought down a government. Caruana Galizia’s family said in a statement that Fenech’s acquittal was “denying her the justice she...

Ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro urged a US judge on Wednesday to dismiss criminal drug trafficking charges against him, arguing he should be immune from prosecution as the head of a sovereign country. The charges, filed in Manhattan federal court, formed the basis for the US military’s raid on Caracas and capture of Maduro on January 3. The Venezuelan leader, who has been held ‌in a Brooklyn federal jail since his seizure, has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go on trial on June...

A low-altitude flyover by two Airlink passenger jets before a rugby match at Cape Town’s DHL Stadium is being reviewed by South African aviation authorities after it drew safety concerns, officials said on Wednesday. The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) said it had obtained flight data recordings and requested additional information from regional carrier Airlink as part of its assessment. A full report with recommendations would be issued once the review was complete. “It is...

A US missile hit a home in southern Iran where dozens were gathered to celebrate the wedding of a fisherman’s daughter, according to a rights group and Iranian media. Iranian state media said four people – two women and two children – were killed and more than 60 were wounded. The rights group said one of the children, a teenager, was killed by another strike on a nearby communications tower. Heavy explosions shook the coastal town of Kuhestak on the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, and security...

US President Donald Trump will now speak on both nights of the Republican Party’s unusual midterm convention next week, a party official said on Wednesday, an expanded role that will compete for ‌viewers with the start of the NFL season. Trump had originally been scheduled to deliver an address on Thursday to close out the September 9-10 convention in Dallas, but now will deliver the keynote speech on Wednesday and speak after US Vice-President J.D. Vance on Thursday evening as well, the party...

US President ⁠Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he was “happy” Prince Harry and his family left the US and relocated back to Britain. “I am happy about it. I was not a fan,” Trump said in the Oval Office when asked about the recent decision ‌by Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, to leave California after six years. The family arrived back in Britain at the end of August. The couple stepped down from official royal duties in 2020 when they moved to the US. “I thought they treated...

The Dutch central bank said Wednesday it had moved 86 tonnes of its gold reserves out of the US and Canada to London, citing “increasing geopolitical unrest”. The DNB bank said gold reserves held in London could be traded more easily than those held in New York and Ottawa. “This makes it the quickest for DNB to deploy in a crisis situation,” the bank said in a statement. “With this step, we have improved the deployability of the gold reserves. We assume that we will never need to deploy the...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz as “Trump Strait” despite ongoing clashes with Iran – then hours later implied he wasn’t serious. Trump has made a series of geographical name changes to international bodies of water in his second term, at least partly with the aim of trolling other countries. The latest suggestion came as Trump insisted the US had full control of the crucial waterway, even as fresh clashes raged there with Iran. “Now that we have it...

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, said on Wednesday that an Iranian ‌attack on an oil tanker owned by its national shipping company had killed two Filipino seafarers. Sidr, owned by Bahri, was one of two supertankers carrying Saudi oil reported to have been hit late on Monday while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has threatened tankers attempting ⁠to sail through the narrow waterway without authorisation, impeding energy exports from neighbouring ‌oil-rich Gulf...

Israel has plans ready to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip but is waiting for the United States to figure out where to take them, the defence minister has said. “There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration,” Defence Minister Israel Katz told a conference hosted by Israeli news site Ynet and newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday. The Israeli government “is organised and prepared to get them out – by sea, by air, by every way possible”, he said. The US embassy...

Oil giant Chevron confirmed that it would expand operations in Venezuela after US President Donald Trump announced an ambitious deal to develop the nation’s oil reserves and give the Pentagon a stake in the profits. Chevron, the only US oil company with a major presence in Venezuela, said on Wednesday that it had been assigned additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt, where it has active operations. The company plans to invest more than US$7 billion over the next five years, with the goal of more...

China is beginning to match its economic presence abroad with the military reach required to operate across it. The clearest evidence came from Egypt. Chinese J-16 fighters flew there recently, supported by YU-20 tankers that refuelled them in the air. The Chinese jets are taking part in Egypt’s “Eagles of Civilisation” alongside Egyptian Rafales and MiG-29s. This is the first time China has sent the jets to Africa, providing experience in moving a combat force across continents and operating...

Ireland needs to be prepared for a vote on whether to reunify with the UK’s Northern Ireland region, Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee has said. “I do believe that there will be a border poll at some stage,” McEntee told reporters in Wicklow, Ireland, ahead of a European Union foreign ministers meeting on Wednesday. “It is for the people of Northern Ireland to decide this and it is only where there’s a view that there may be a majority that we should move forward on this.” Her comments came...

For the first time in recent history, Danish ⁠conscripts have been deployed to ⁠Greenland, as Denmark moves to ⁠bolster its presence in the Arctic after US demands to acquire the territory. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish island, citing national security concerns and accusing Copenhagen of neglecting Arctic defence. Denmark and ‌Greenland have firmly rejected the idea. The conscripts are part of the first cohort under Denmark’s new extended...

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was born 25 years ago as a modest mechanism for managing borders between China, Russia and four Central Asian states. At its anniversary summit in Bishkek this week, it looks more consequential – and harder for the United States to dismiss. The timing is important. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remains unresolved, while the war between Iran and the US has turned the Persian Gulf into another theatre of strategic competition, with energy markets again...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused security officials on Tuesday of intentionally failing to wake him on the morning of Hamas’ October 7 attacks, a day after his wife claimed an opposition figure knew of the onslaught in advance. Netanyahu is heading into close-fought elections later this year, and has come in for sustained criticism in the national debate over who is responsible for the failures that led to the October 7, 2023 security fiasco. The prime minister has alleged in...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Tuesday that his country’s drones would make Russia’s airspace “completely unsafe” for the duration of the war, drawing accusations of “state terrorism” from Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Both sides have intensified long-range attacks in recent months and diplomatic efforts led by the United States remain stalled more than four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion. “Today, we want to warn every airline that uses Russian airspace, every insurer...

The murder case against the Utah man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk last year is headed for trial, and the defendant could face the death penalty if he is convicted. Utah District Judge Tony Graf on Tuesday sided with prosecutors who said they had “overwhelming” evidence that suspect Tyler Robinson shot Kirk once in the neck as the ally of US President Donald Trump spoke to a crowd of thousands last September in Orem, Utah. One of Robinson’s lawyers entered a...

China has spent years articulating its preferred principles for the world order. In June, it went a step further, bringing many of them together in a white paper on global governance and setting out how its Global Governance Initiative should translate principles into practice. Two ambitions sat side by side: an “equal and orderly multipolar world” and a “universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation”. The timing is telling. World leaders will gather in New York this month for the...

President Donald Trump pressed US oil refiners to boost domestic production of petrol and diesel during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, as he contends with high prices and mounting cost-of-living concerns before November’s midterm elections. Trump made clear he wanted lower prices at the pump for Americans and asked executives how to increase refining capacity, according to a White House official who provided details on condition of anonymity. The official said industry representatives were...

Prime Minister Andy Burnham faced lawmakers in the House of Commons on Tuesday for the first time since becoming UK leader six weeks ago, with wars in Europe and the Middle East weighing on his promise to kick-start the economy, ease the cost of living and oversee a radical redistribution of power from London to Britain’s regions. On the day parliament returned from its summer break, Burnham said he would “unlock a feeling of positivity and possibility in every postcode in Britain”. “We can make...

Syria was constructing a nuclear reactor in Deir el-Zour under the leadership of ousted former president Bashar al-Assad, according to a UN report seen Tuesday by Associated Press. Inspectors with the UN nuclear watchdog visited several sites in Syria in August and carried out verification work that confirmed the existence of a long-suspected nuclear site, according to the confidential report circulated to member states. Based on this visit, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told the Trump administration on Tuesday to “stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough”, as he pushed back against a fresh wave of attacks from Washington. Carney said US-Canada trade talks could resume if Washington became serious about negotiations, but he also accused the US of pursuing terms that he said could leave Canadian industries “gradually wound down in Canada and wiped out”. “When the Americans stop doing memes, stop...

The German government on Tuesday blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month using a drone laden with explosives, and announced that it would shut down a Russian consulate among other measures. The drone was found near a Ukrainian plane on August 4 and the device was defused. German officials said at the time that the incident posed a new level of danger. Moscow has been widely accused by Western officials of running a campaign of sabotage and disruption with the...

A ⁠Bank of America ⁠vice-president, Erin Piacenti, was ⁠killed in a stabbing at Times Square on Monday. Piacenti, 32, was a vice-president in BofA’s business selection and conflicts unit, according to her LinkedIn profile. “We are shocked ‌and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague. She was a valued teammate who will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to her family and all of her loved ones,” the US banking giant said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. New York Mayor Zohran...

The latest trade war between the United States and Canada marks a turning point with key lessons for China and other major US trading partners as well as risks, say analysts and former trade officials, as US President Donald Trump continues to put his blunt stamp on global institutions. The breakdown in ties between Washington and Ottawa, one of the largest trade relationships in the world, opens one more front in the president’s disruptive path that could fuel a backlash and further distrust to...

Apple’s new CEO John Ternus takes the helm of the iconic tech giant on Tuesday, ending Tim Cook’s 15-year tenure during which the company’s value skyrocketed to US$4.6 trillion thanks to the iPhone’s enormous popularity. The transition to a new CEO comes at a pivotal time for Apple. Artificial intelligence has unleashed the greatest upheaval within the industry since Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007. Apple has got off to a rough start in AI after stumbling in its efforts to deliver...

Improvised explosive devices were used on Tuesday in a sabotage attack near a coal-fired power plant in Germany, with several electricity lines damaged and supply briefly interrupted, officials said. Several makeshift bombs were found around 8am local time at the Preilack substation, which distributes power from the nearby Jaenschwalde plant that runs on lignite and also burns rubbish, a police spokeswoman said. At least one of the devices detonated but others failed to go off, she said, adding...

Britain’s former prime minister Keir Starmer, who stepped down as leader this summer after a tumultuous two years in power, announced on Tuesday he would quit parliament to focus on “international affairs”. In a statement on social media, Starmer said it was the “right time” to resign as the MP for the Holborn and St Pancras seat in London after 11 years, triggering a by-election. “It is now time to step aside and focus on other issues: international affairs including defence, security, trade...

Norway’s King Haakon VIII took an oath before parliament on Tuesday, the first major institutional step of his reign, though his wife, still convalescing after a lung transplant, was unable to attend. Dressed in a ceremonial uniform, the 53-year-old Haakon, who became king when his father King Harald V died on Friday morning aged 89, swore to abide by the Scandinavian country’s constitution, under which the royals have a primarily symbolic function. “I promise and swear that I will govern the...

The US threat of sanctions on China because of Beijing’s relationship with Iran isn’t credible. The artificial intelligence bubble and its own precarious bond market make the US more vulnerable to a shock than China. Even if the US risks massive self-harm and kicks major Chinese institutions off SWIFT, the global messaging system enabling dollar-based cross-border payments, it will merely accelerate the yuan’s rise. China’s trading partners can easily switch to the perfectly functional yuan...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s party swept to victory in special elections on Monday, boosting the leader’s parliamentary majority as a trade war with the United States escalates. Carney’s Liberal Party secured three seats, taking the district of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord in French-speaking Quebec from the opposition Conservatives, and two other districts in Ontario and British Columbia that were previously held by the Liberals. Carney congratulated the winning candidates in a post on X, saying...

Twelve people were killed and several more injured in Russian air attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region on Tuesday, authorities said, in the sixth consecutive day of ‌strikes on the Ukrainian capital. Attacks both in Ukraine and Russia continue as efforts are ongoing to find a solution to end the deadliest conflict on the European continent since World War II, which started with Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Eight people were killed and another five wounded in Kyiv, three...

Chinese President Xi Jinping ended August in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, kick-starting a potential run of overseas trips after what has so far been a quiet year for foreign travel. Xi met the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia and Uzbekistan in Bishkek on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. He may hold talks with other attendees, possibly including Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian. After the summit, the Chinese president will fly to Egypt, where he will meet...

A woman randomly stabbed two people in New York City’s Times Square on Monday, killing one woman, and then was fatally shot by police, according to officials. The shooting happened just before 4.30pm next to a New York Police Department substation, just outside One Times Square, the building that hosts the city’s annual New Year’s Eve ball drop celebration. It is one of the most heavily touristed and policed spots in all of New York. The 49-year-old woman from Queens pulled out two knives from a...

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down after 18 months on the job, the White House said Monday, in the latest departure of a top military leader during the Trump administration. No reason was given for the departure of Driscoll, who is a friend of US Vice-President J.D. Vance, but tensions with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have been widely reported. It marks the latest in a series of shake-ups of the military leadership, with the US Army especially seeing major upheaval. “Secretary...

In the first White House press briefing since Karoline Leavitt left as press secretary, the vice president suggested that when the conflict would end was up to Tehran.

The move came days after the resignation of Daniel P. Driscoll, who had clashed with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the purge of top generals in the Army.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer spent Labor Department funds on personal travel and tolerated harassment in the agency, its inspector general found.

Facing growing competition from China and rapidly advancing technology, the German auto giant said its board had approved a “comprehensive” overhaul.

She challenged sexist assumptions, helping women develop a sense of self-worth and gain a measure of equality at work, at home and in society at large.

Following Ms. Steinem’s death on Wednesday, her foundation said her Upper East Side home would become a permanent space for organizing and activism.

After Ms. Steinem’s death at 92, celebrities and politicians reflected on her decades of activism for women’s rights and equality.

Tim Andrews was the first patient to receive a genetically modified pig kidney as a “bridge” to a human organ transplant.

The court said a map redrawn to benefit Republicans could not be used in November and said voters should decide on the new boundaries. The state attorney general vowed to appeal the decision.

The justices have been asked to weigh in again on the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict mail voting — this time on whether the plans violate the Constitution.

Hundreds of thousands were killed and tortured. But prosecuting everyone involved in atrocities could be impractical and risk renewed civil strife.

The dismissal came after Ms. Bartiromo shared internal Fox Business communications with the White House, a person familiar with the details confirmed.

The government is seemingly incapable of stopping the far right.

Gloria Steinem got to be who she was because of a pre-Roe abortion.

This year, the Indian capital’s subway system passed New York’s in length.