Minimalist News

Futures Drop, Yields And Oil Rise On Latest Middle East Hostilities US equity futures are mixed as oil prices, bond yields, and USD move higher in response to the latest overnight attacks in the Middle East with no public progress on a deal. As reported previously, the US struck Iran’s Qeshm Island, which was then met with retaliatory Iranian strikes on US bases in Kuwait; explosions were also reported in Saudi Arabia, and air sirens were set off in the UAE. US Centcom said that the Iranian drone attacks were “successfully defeated.” As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures were down

ADP Reports US Economy Added The Most Jobs In 16 Months In May Following a shockingly strong JOLTS report , ADP just reported a stronger than expected rise in jobs added in May. ADP says 122k jobs were added in May - better than the 120k expected - and the biggest monthly addition since January 2025 Source: Bloomberg "Hiring was more broad-based in May than we've seen in the last few years," said Dr. Nela Richardson, Chief Economist, ADP. "The labor market continues to show sustained momentum going into the summer hiring season." Small businesses added the most jobs... The

These Two Things Are Not The Same... Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity , Viral images of a grand classical arch and a twisted modernist one reveal the unbridgeable divide between leaders who celebrate America's heritage and those who seem determined to replace it with something cold, crooked, and alien. The contrast could not be clearer or more deliberate. On one side stands towering marble, golden eagles, and inscriptions evoking "One Nation Under God." On the other, a bent, leaning metal structure that looks like a giant wire hanger or a failed piece of iron work. One lifts the spirit.

Trump Team Proposes New Tariff Round On 60 Countries Over Forced Labor Practices The U.S. Trade Representative has issued an overnight statement and proposed a new round of tariffs of at least 10% on imports from 60 trading partners , marking the administration's largest attempt yet to rebuild its tariff empire after the Supreme Court struck down earlier levies. The new duties stem from Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which investigates whether trading partners are failing to block products made with forced labor - or slave labor. Those tariffs would apply to Canada, Mexico, the EU, Taiwan,

Bass Advances To Runoff In LA Mayor's Race; Pratt Leads Contenders Authored by Jackson Richman and Beige Luciano-Adams via The Epoch Times, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass advanced to the November runoff election for Los Angeles mayor. The Associated Press called Bass’s advancement after 1:30 a.m. ET on June 3. Reality TV star Spencer Pratt and Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman lead 11 other candidates in the race for runner-up. The runner-up will face Bass in the runoff election on Nov. 3. Bass campaigned on issues including affordability, public safety, and homelessness. Pratt focused his campaign on crisis management,

"Dramatically Less Accessible To The Average Fan": Knicks Finals Tickets At MSG Sell From $3K To $280K For the first time since 1999, the New York Knicks are heading to the NBA Finals. For fans, it's a dream decades in the making. For anyone hoping to attend a game at Madison Square Garden, however, that dream comes with a staggering price tag in the thousands of dollars. The 2026 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs have produced some of the most expensive basketball tickets ever recorded. Secondary-market prices have surged to levels that rival

Commodity Markets Are Living On Borrowed Time Authored by Helen Thomas via City AM , Governments and industry have softened the impact of energy and commodity supply disruptions by releasing reserves, reducing inventories, and increasing operational flexibility. These measures are temporary, and continued inventory drawdowns are pushing oil and metal markets toward historically tight conditions. Once inventories become critically low, higher prices may become the primary mechanism for balancing supply and demand, leading to weaker economic growth and lower consumption. Commodity markets have spent the past three months performing an extraordinary balancing act. Despite one of the most significant disruptions

Iran Sends Missiles, Drones Targeting Airbases Across Gulf After US Nighttime Attack On Qeshm Island Summary: Two bases come under fresh missile attack in Kuwait , Fars and Reuters report. Iran state media says retaliation for night US attack on Qeshm Island . Explosions & air raid sirens also being reported in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain . It seems that war is popping off once again. rump insists reports that Iran & US have not been talking for days is 'fake news' ; Rubio also tells Congress talks are ongoing, despite fresh Iranian denials, and even claims the nuclear

Reactor Developers Advance Sweden's Nuclear Ambitions While State Puts Up $3.7 Billion Sweden advanced its nuclear revival with two major filings for new capacity and a government proposal to commit up to $3.7 billion in state capital for SMR projects. On May 18th, Blykalla submitted the first application for an advanced reactor park under Sweden’s new siting process. The Norrsundet site would host six 55-MWe SEALER lead-cooled reactors, for 330 MWe total. CEO Jacob Stedman called it a historic first for Sweden, and linked the technology to meeting AI and electrification demand with reliable baseload power. Blykalla has a prototype

Welsh Police Officers Ordered To Log Anti-Islam Comments In Chilling Free Speech Crackdown Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Britain's free speech traditions face fresh erosion as South Wales Police directs officers to record conversations and comments about Islam that stray beyond what the force deems "legitimate" discussion. The policy, exposed in recent social media posts, risks logging lawful criticism as hostility incidents that could surface in future employment checks. This move builds directly on the Labour government's March definition of "anti-Muslim hostility" and exposes how public bodies are "gold-plating" safeguards meant to protect open debate. Police force orders officers

Opposite Of Drawdown: US Mulls Expanding Nuclear Weapons Deployments In Europe The White House has been talking about reducing America's military presence across the European continent, amid long-running Trump complaints over lack of NATO burden-sharing. There are even plans to draw down 5,000 US troops from Germany on a permanent basis (though for now it appears thousands are just being moved to Poland). Such a military 'reduction' would be welcomed by Moscow, however, as is usual when Washington signals de-escalation in force posture, the result ends up being the opposite . Washington is reportedly preparing to scatter more nuclear tripwires

White Girls Raped By Dogs, Whisky Bottles, & 100s Of Men: Britain's Migrant Grooming-Gang Scandal Exposed Via Remix News, Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe used a Westminster Hall debate on Monday to confront MPs with harrowing testimony from White girls and women who were raped, tortured, trafficked, and degraded by migrant grooming gangs, and abandoned by the very authorities that should have protected them. The debate was secured after 260,974 Brits signed a petition calling for Parliament to address the rape gang scandal. Lowe opened by thanking the signatories and welcoming survivors who were sitting in the hall, saying the

US Warns Ally Oman That It Better Pick The 'Right' Side In Hormuz Standoff The saga of rare Washington pressure on its longtime regional ally Oman continues, with on Tuesday The Wall Street Journal reporting that US officials are growing "increasingly frustrated" with Muscat's neutral stance, which they now view as hostile to US interests. Oman has stood accused of cooperating with Iran on a proposed toll collection scheme which would benefit Tehran and circumvent America's aims for the region . Via container-news "In recent days, the Trump administration has threatened to sanction and even bomb Oman , after a

Russia Weighs $50 Million Plan To Influence Armenia's Election Via Eurasianet, Reuters reported that Russian officials discussed influence operations aimed at weakening Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ahead of Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary election. One alleged proposal involved temporarily bringing Armenian passport holders living in Russia back to Armenia to vote for opposition candidates. Despite the reported efforts, polling suggests Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party remains the clear frontrunner as Armenia debates its future relationship with Russia and the West. Russia has mulled an extraordinary measure of exporting humans to Armenia in an effort to undermine Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan ’s chances

Early Returns Show Surprises In California As Other States Wrap Up Update (0030ET): Voters in six states went to the polls today for key primaries. While many races followed expectations, California delivered notable early drama with slow-counting mail ballots still to come. California Governor (Top-Two Primary) The race to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom remains the biggest story. In a crowded nonpartisan jungle primary, early returns (approx. 45-50% counted) show: Steve Hilton (R) leading at ~26.7% Xavier Becerra (D) close behind at ~25.8% Tom Steyer (D) trailing at ~19.6% Chad Bianco (R) is further back. If trends hold, Hilton and

Barbarian Mindset: How Leftists And Third-World Invaders Think Alike Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us The fall of the Roman Empire is often presented as symbolic of the slow but steady decline of the western world today, and it’s true, this comparison might be more accurate than many people realize. The disastrous collapse which escalated over the course of the 5 th century was driven by economic crisis, a split of the empire into eastern and western halves, government reliance on foreign mercenaries for security, uncontrolled mass immigration, and ultimately, barbarian invasion. When the western empire failed, Rome was plundered

How China Is Remaking Its Vast Western Frontier China is undertaking a vast effort to reshape its western frontier, transforming Xinjiang and Tibet from remote borderlands into strategic hubs for industry, energy, tourism and trade, according to a new lengthy report from Financial Times . Under President Xi Jinping, Beijing is pouring investment into highways, railways, renewable energy projects, manufacturing bases and tourism infrastructure across a region that covers nearly a third of China’s territory. Officials see the west not as a distant hinterland but as a frontline for economic growth, national security and connectivity with Eurasia. Xinjiang The strategy

Cliffwater Private Credit Fund Gates Investors For Second Straight Quarter After Redemption Requests Soar To 17% The market may be in full-blown face-ripping bubble mode, and software stocks are now gripped in by a category 5 gamma squeeze hurricane, but not even that is helping the ongoing debacle that is private credit. The flagship private credit fund of Cliffwater, a fund which has was slammed by redemption requests in the past quarter as the private credit crisis came to a fore, has again gated investors by capping redemptions at 5% in the second quarter after investors looked to pull more

Feds Seize Over A Ton Of Cocaine At Massive US-Mexico Drug-Smuggling Tunnel Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times, Authorities charged four suspects on June 1 with felony drug distribution violations after finding a hidden tunnel used by drug runners inside a retail store in San Diego County that led into Tijuana, Mexico. Investigators also seized more than a ton of cocaine worth about $45 million in connection with the subterranean tunnel, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Homeland Security’s Tunnel Task Force in charge of the operation. “For these defendants, it wasn’t a light at

Whistleblower Leaks Stanford's Private Foreign-Funding Records, Exposing CCP-Linked Donors Some of America's top universities have become soft targets for foreign espionage and influence operations, creating potential gateways for adversarial powers to access sensitive research, elite policy networks, and federally funded innovation pipelines. The latest report from The Stanford Review should be viewed as yet another warning about the urgent need to protect academic institutions from foreign funding channels, obscure overseas donor networks, and national security risks within the higher education bubble. The independent, student-run newspaper at Stanford University reports that a whistleblower has come forward with "non-public foreign funding disclosures

With corrupt police on the streets and shopkeepers forced to pay gangs, president has vowed to tackle crime that now affects all parts of society It was about 11pm and Luis* was about to get into an Uber to go home when the police car pulled up. One of the officers produced two plastic bags with what looked like drugs: one contained some sort of powder, the other little crystals. Luis had never seen them before. Luis, who asked not to use his real name for fear of reprisals, insisted that the drugs weren’t his, but the officers didn’t seem

US claims world’s 10th-biggest economy engages in ‘unreasonable’ trade practices that ‘restrict US commerce’ Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil , charging that the world’s 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are “unreasonable’’ and that “burden or restrict US commerce”. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he received the decision “with indignation”. The Brazil president also blamed the decision by the US administration on his rival in October’s elections, Flávio Bolsonaro , the senator who visited Washington last week. The senator is the son of former

ICC’s decision comes amid growing concerns the team is being influenced by members of a notorious gang in India Cricket’s international governing body has suspended Canada over what it described as “serious breaches of its membership obligations”, dealing the latest blow to an organization that critics say has become a “laughing stock” within the sport. The suspension also comes amid growing concerns that one of Canada’s fastest-growing sports is being influenced by members of a notorious gang that operates with impunity from an Indian prison cell . Continue reading...

Exclusive: First shipwrecks found in Nassau harbour on New Providence, once the hideout of Blackbeard and Calico Jack The first shipwrecks linked to the real pirates of the Caribbean in the Bahamas have been discovered by an international team co-directed by a British marine archaeologist. Blackbeard and Calico Jack Rackham were among pirates who, between the 1690s and 1720s, turned Nassau on the island of New Providence into a hideout where they plotted their next heists on the high seas and divided up their plunder. Continue reading...

Teachers associated with CNTE union were marching toward Zócalo for salary raises and reversal of pension laws Riot police fired teargas at teachers who were marching toward Mexico City’s historic Zócalo plaza, just days before the square is expected to host the 2026 World Cup “Fan Fest”. The incident is the second time police have clashed with teachers in the past week, and more conflict is likely as Mexico City prepares to hold the opening game of the Fifa World Cup on 11 June. “This event will have to be suspended,” Filiberto Frausto, a union leader, told AFP, which witnessed

Powerful winds and rain expected in parts of Japan and Australia, while temperatures in Spain could hit 40C A powerful tropical storm is forecast to track near Okinawa, Japan, on Monday before moving towards the south-east of the country. Typhoon Jangmi (also known as Typhoon No 6) has formed within the monsoonal gyre over the Philippine Sea. A monsoonal gyre is a large, slow-rotating weather system that spawns typhoons through smaller vortices formed within it. This flow can intensify storms. Such typhoons are typically characterised by broad areas of low pressure and extensive wind fields, often without a distinct eye.

Shinjiro Koizumi says Japan valued as a ‘peace-loving’ nation while China expands military capabilities ‘without sufficient transparency’ Japan’s defence minister took a veiled swipe at China on Sunday, pledging to keep strengthening the military despite Beijing’s criticism of Tokyo’s increasingly muscular security stance. Under the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi , Japan has quickened its pivot to a more proactive defence policy, further shaking off – with US encouragement – its pacifist outlook in place since the end of the second world war. Continue reading...

Minister at Singapore defence summit also reveals Australia to buy only secondhand Aukus submarines from US Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The defence minister, Richard Marles, has said the “seabed is a battlefield” in a combative speech urging Beijing to be more transparent about its maritime operations, and taking aim at weak international controls over so-called “shadow-fleet” vessels. The warning came as the US, UK and Australia announced a new Aukus project to develop new underwater drone technology to protect undersea cables. Continue reading...

Two still missing as divers make their way deeper into cave through muddy water and sharp rocks to find them Four more miners who were trapped in a flooded cave in Laos for 10 days have been freed by divers, but two people are still missing as rescuers continue to crawl through narrow, deluged tunnels and sharp rocks to find them. The first of the party of seven men was rescued on Friday in a perilous rescue mission which has required teams to drain water from the cave and navigate collapse hazards. Continue reading...

Hong Qi, who orchestrated protest against Communist government, claims interpreter on 101 call launched political tirade A Chinese dissident who orchestrated an anti-government protest in China after fleeing to the UK has claimed that a “pro-regime” interpreter used by a British police force berated him when he sought help. Hong Qi, who made headlines last year after using a mobile phone while in the UK to remotely project anti-regime slogans on to a building in his home city, Chongqing, contacted police after discovering that his bank accounts had been frozen. Continue reading...

Proposal for 10-12.5% levies, to also include EU, Taiwan and Australia, would allow US president to skirt court-imposed limits Donald Trump has threatened tariffs of between 10% and 12.5% on 60 trading partners including the UK, the EU and Australia over alleged forced labour failures, in the latest attempt to revive his signature trade policy. The EU immediately hit back, saying it expected the US to respect the tariff deal it entered into last July and arguing that stealth tariffs breached the spirit of that agreement. Continue reading...

Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates nicotine consumption rose 40%, with illicit sources accounting for 80% of all tobacco Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australians are consuming more nicotine than they were eight years ago but are spending less, new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows, as 80% of the cigarettes smoked by the nation last year were cheaper illegal products. The analysis released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday showed the amount of nicotine consumed around the country soared

Trade minister says Australia has ‘robust, comprehensive and world-leading legislation addressing forced labour and modern slavery’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia is among dozens of countries facing a 12.5% trade tariff from the Trump administration for allegedly failing to prevent imports of goods made by slave labour. The US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, listed Australia among 54 economies that “failed to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor” following an investigation into their practices. Continue reading...

This blog is closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Chaney said: AI companies should be able to unlock the majority of global content with a handful of individual deals – in the same way that every other industry licenses copyrighted content. Government could further work to facilitate this process for the remainder of the copyrighted content, either directly or through a centralised mechanism. Continue reading...

The economy was slowing even before the Middle East conflict and interest rate hikes started to bite, while the boom in datacentres was a rare bright spot Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The economy slowed sharply in early 2026 and Australians’ living standards are once again going backwards. At the risk of upsetting the treasurer by “talking down the economy”, as he put it, there wasn’t all that much to love in the latest national accounts. Continue reading...

Petrol station attack in Calabria throws spotlight on widespread exploitation of foreign farm labourers The exploitation of farm workers in Italy has come under the spotlight again after four men – three Afghans and one from Pakistan – were allegedly burned alive in a car at a petrol station in Calabria. The attack was captured by a surveillance camera at the garage in Amendolara, close to Cosenza. Two Pakistani nationals have been arrested on charges of aggravated murder, according to public prosecutor Alessandro D’Alessio. Continue reading...

Energy and military sites targeted as guests gather for economic forum where Putin is due to speak on Friday Ukrainian drones hit energy and military sites in St Petersburg early on Wednesday hours before international guests gathered for the city’s flagship economic forum, in a blow to Vladimir Putin. Several long-range drones crashed into oil storage facilities after Russian air defences tried unsuccessfully to shoot them down. There were loud explosions and black smoke rose high above the city from the blazing oil terminal. Continue reading...

Officials say law will improve migration management by allowing more deportations of undocumented people EU politicians have promised to increase deportations of undocumented migrants, under a new law that critics say mimics elements of the Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdown. Finalising a key element of an overhauled EU asylum and migration system, politicians have agreed a regulation that will enable national authorities to raid people’s homes to enforce deportation orders. Continue reading...

Qayyum Balogun chased and attacked after gig ended in Grafton Street area following clash between rival groups, police say A brawl in the heart of Dublin’s tourism district led to a nightclub promoter being chased and stabbed to death. It happened at about 3am on Monday after a gig ended in the Grafton Street area of the city centre that is popular with tourists. Continue reading...

At least 18 killed, dozens injured and others trapped under collapsed buildings after attacks on five Ukrainian cities Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked Donald Trump to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine after a devastating Russian attack killed at least 18 people and injured dozens more. Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones at Ukraine overnight, according to the air force, including eight hypersonic Tsirkon missiles. The main targets were Kyiv, the central cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, and the eastern cities of Poltava and Kharkiv. Continue reading...

US and Iran exchange more strikes across Gulf region, jeopardising efforts to secure a new ceasefire Middle East crisis – live updates Kuwait’s military said Iranian strikes that hit a terminal at its international airport caused significant damage, killed at least one person and wounded several others. The attack came as the US and Iran exchanged fresh missile and drone strikes, further jeopardising efforts to secure a new ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran. Continue reading...

Son of deposed shah forced to distance himself from once-dreaded Savak as some of his ‘fascistic’ supporters glorify it For decades, the Savak was seen as the most hated symbol of repression that kept Iran’s last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in power – and a main driving force behind the revolutionary fervor that toppled him in 1979. Now the deposed monarch’s son, Reza Pahlavi, has been forced to distance himself from the once-dreaded security agency after some of his most vociferous supporters glorified it as the defining emblem in their drive to install him on the throne in a royal

Politicians’ statements reflect difficulty facing pro-Israel Democrats as voter support for country falls Several prominent New York Democrats who participated in the city’s annual Israel Day parade on Sunday have condemned the participation of Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right Israeli finance minister and a leading figure in the Israeli settler movement, in the event. Smotrich was among several Israeli lawmakers and cabinet officials who marched in the parade on Sunday. His appearance marked his first trip to the US in more than a year , and came less than month after he said the international criminal court (ICC) was seeking an

Prime minister under pressure to show his campaigns against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran have brought results as he faces elections with his political survival at risk If there is to be a peace deal between the United States and Iran, it will have to go through a familiar obstacle: Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have become a sticking point in the talks for a potential opening of the strait of Hormuz – once again testing the volatile alliance between Donald Trump and Netanyahu . This time, the Israeli prime minister is under exceptional pressure to show that his

Warplanes carry out dozens of airstrikes and Israeli army issues evacuation warning for city of Nabatiyeh Israeli warplanes have launched dozens of strikes across southern Lebanon despite a new agreement supposedly brokered by Donald Trump aiming to bolster the tattered ceasefire in Lebanon. The US president said on Monday that he had stopped an imminent Israeli strike on Beirut and that he had spoken to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and representatives of Hezbollah and both agreed that “all shooting will stop”. Continue reading...

Truck was carrying Afghan families returning Pakistan when it overturned, official says A truck overturned in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing 18 people on board including 10 children, a provincial official told Agence France-Presse. Deadly traffic crashes are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving and a lack of regulation. Continue reading...

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

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

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

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

Reform leader jeered in parliament as he is urged to condemn violence Zia Yusuf, the Reform UK home affairs spokesperson, told Sky News this morning that he thought the treatment of Henry Nowak did justify his party’s claim that two-tier policing operates in the country. He said: Having watched that footage [of Nowak’s arrest] … it’s hard to escape the conclusion that it is a demonstrable example of structural two-tier policing that is embedded in Hampshire police force and forces across the country. People can go to Hampshire police’s website and read their race action plan that was brought about

Ministry of Defence confirms deaths of three crew members after crash near Okehampton during training exercise Three members of the Royal Navy have died in a helicopter crash in Devon during a training exercise, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said. Emergency services were called to the scene of the incident at Sourton Down, near Okehampton, around 4am on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Chancellor hails deal saying it will create tens of thousands of jobs in the construction, hospitality, creative and technology sectors Business live – latest update British taxpayers will provide £1.3bn in funding to help Hollywood studio giant Universal build its first theme park in Europe . Comcast, the US media company that owns NBC Universal and Sky, had been considering a number of countries in which to build its first European theme park. Continue reading...

Chief of Hampshire police says those claiming to protest over murder of Henry Nowak were ‘determined to spark fear and division’ UK politics live: latest news updates Eleven officers and a police dog were injured during disorder by those claiming to protest over Henry Nowak’s murder , the chief of Hampshire police said, accusing those involved of being “determined to spark fear and division”. A trail of destruction was left on the streets of Southampton after Tuesday night’s riot with car windows smashed and bricks strewn across roads. Continue reading...

Stephen McCullagh planned ‘cold-blooded and calculated’ killing of Natalie McNally in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, in great detail A YouTuber who set up a false alibi by livestreaming a video-gaming session online has been sentenced to 31 years in prison for the “cold-blooded and calculated” murder of his pregnant partner. Stephen McCullagh, 36, of Lisburn, County Antrim, showed no emotion on Wednesday as he was sentenced at Belfast crown court for the murder of Natalie McNally , a crime that chilled Northern Ireland. Continue reading...

President says he would ‘like to meet’ Mojtaba Khamenei and appears to confirm reports he had heated call with Benjamin Netanyahu The Kuwaiti defence ministry said it intercepted 13 ballistic missiles and 17 drones launched by Iran today. A drone and missile attack on Kuwait’s international airport killed one person, which Kuwaiti authorities identified as an Indian national. It is the first reported death in a Gulf state since the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire in April. Continue reading...

Early results show Steve Hilton, Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer emerging in front, with many ballots to be counted US politics live: latest news updates The high-stakes gubernatorial race in California remained too close to call on Wednesday morning, with early results showing a tight contest in the crowded race. With many ballots still left to be counted, three candidates emerged at the top: the Republican Steve Hilton and the Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer. Hilton was leading the field, with 28%, trailed closely by Becerra. Continue reading...

Two-time Grammy winner was best known for songs from Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin Peabo Bryson, the R&B singer best known as the voice behind the Oscar-winning Disney film duets Beauty and the Beast with Celine Dion, and A Whole New World with Regina Belle from Aladdin, has died. He was 75. His family said in a statement that Bryson, who won two Grammy awards, died on Tuesday, days after having a stroke. Continue reading...

President tells podcast that vice-president and secretary of state ‘would be very hard to beat’ if they ran together in 2028 The Democrats to watch after Tuesday’s primaries Sign up for the Breaking News US email Iowa voters cast their ballots in yesterday’s heated primaries, setting up for months of fervent campaigning ahead of the November midterms in contests that could determine the balance of power in Congress. A red state that the GOP has dominated for the past decade, Democrats believe they can be competitive in three of its four House races, its Senate election, and the contest to

Incumbent comes out on top in primary election – but with less than 50% of votes – and will take on challenger in November Karen Bass has come out ahead in Tuesday’s heated primary for Los Angeles mayor, but with less than 50% of the vote will have to defend her seat in November’s general election. Bass will face either Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star, or city council member Nithya Raman, in November. As of Wednesday morning, with more than 60% of votes counted, Pratt had secured 30% of the vote, Raman had won 22%. Continue reading...

For years, Hong Kong’s obituary has been repeatedly written by international commentators. Geopolitical tensions, pandemic isolation, concerns over capital flight and questions surrounding the city’s future contributed to a narrative of irreversible decline. In many Western analyses, the assumption that Hong Kong’s best days as an international financial centre were behind it became almost automatic. Yet the latest global wealth management data tells a very different story. According to...

Gulf hostilities flared again on Wednesday as Iranian attacks on Kuwait damaged its airport and injured dozens while the US military carried out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, with diplomacy to halt the war showing little sign of progress. The attacks are the latest to test a shaky ceasefire, sending oil prices up more than 2 per cent, as the strait remains largely closed more than three months after initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Flights at Kuwait International Airport were...

The Trump administration on Tuesday formally appealed against a judge’s order for refunds of the US president’s global tariffs after they were struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year. At stake is some US$166 billion in revenue. A refunds system handled by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has already begun to process repayments. Last month, the CBP said in a court filing that it was on track to process about US$85 billion in repayments, with US$20.6 billion approved for...

Canada and Mexico on Tuesday called for a 16-year renewal of the North American free trade agreement with the United States, in hopes of binding the three countries to a pact that US President Donald Trump has openly questioned. The agreement is vital for Canada and Mexico, as the US is their main trading partner and the destination for 75 and 80 per cent of their exports, respectively. In a letter Monday, Ottawa’s minister in charge of Canada-US trade Dominic LeBlanc said: “Canada recommends...

The US Justice Department on Tuesday dropped a contentious plan to create a US$1.8 billion compensation programme that critics had denounced as a “slush fund” for President Donald Trump’s political allies. “We are not moving forward with the fund,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said during testimony before a House committee. The about-face is a setback for one of Trump’s most divisive second term initiatives, which had drawn criticism from Democrats, legal experts and numerous Republicans...

They went to war together against Iran, but Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s relationship is under strain after the US president reportedly called the Israeli premier “crazy”. Trump unleashed a profane tirade over the phone at Netanyahu over Israel’s threats to bomb the Lebanese capital Beirut, fearing it would undermine talks with Tehran, the Axios news outlet and ABC News reported. It underscored the increasingly shaky ties between two right-wing allies with lots to lose politically from...

In a move that could rattle global grain markets, China and neighbouring Kazakhstan – Central Asia’s largest grain producer and a key Belt and Road Initiative partner – agreed last week to establish a joint grain-trading platform during talks in Astana. The two sides also discussed long-term supply contracts, logistics hubs, dry ports and technology cooperation in storage and processing. Although full details remain limited, reports indicate the platform will be modelled on China’s state-managed...

Brazil has won wider access to the world’s biggest beef market after China recognised the entire country as free of foot-and-mouth disease, though a new quota will still cap prices. The decision was announced on Tuesday by China’s General Administration of Customs and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and was communicated during Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira’s visit to Beijing. After a risk analysis, Beijing lifted the restriction on northern Brazil and recognised the...

US President Donald Trump will attend ⁠the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on July 24, he said in a social media post on Tuesday, after the annual event was postponed following a shooting. The black-tie gathering of journalists and politicians in Washington was postponed after a ‌suspect stormed a security checkpoint and fired a shotgun outside the event on April 25, with Trump present. Trump and first lady Melania Trump were safely rushed out of the dinner. In a...

There is an 80 per cent chance of the warming El Nino phenomenon developing between June and August, increasing the risk of extreme weather events, the World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday. “Fuelled by unusually warm ocean waters in the tropical Pacific, El Nino conditions are developing and are set to influence global temperature and rainfall patterns,” the United Nations’ WMO weather and climate agency said. Forecasts from the WMO global network “indicate a pronounced shift...

The Trump administration has proposed a new punitive tariff of 25 per cent on many imports from Brazil, after deciding its practices were unfair on a range of issues from digital trade to illegal deforestation, top trade official Jamieson Greer said late on Monday. The measures, under the Section 301 trade statute, cover areas such as electronic payment services, preferential tariffs, intellectual property protection and ethanol market access as well, the Office of the United States Trade...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering global relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Brussels agrees on tougher China trade policy, as Beijing vows retaliation The European Commission agreed on a tough new approach to trade relations with China in May, at a rare Beijing-focused debate among Brussels’ leadership. The trade-focused orientation debate is seen internally as the...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. US casts Cuba as China-linked security threat while still pushing for talks One day after the United States brought criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raul Castro over the 1996 shooting down of two civilian aircraft, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio...

A surge in gang-related shootings and bombings over the last decade, dozens of which were carried out by minors, has set Sweden apart from its European peers and left authorities an urgent problem: what to do with children who kill. The government, in power since 2022 and heading into a tight election in September where crime is a key issue, says the softly-softly approach of the past has failed and it is time to get ‌tough by sending children aged under 15 to prison rather than into social...

Places well-endowed with natural resources don’t usually become great powers or world-conquering empires. If anything, many suffer from the “resource curse”, which corrupts the domestic elite and invites foreign intervention, exploitation or outright colonisation. Like people, communities or nations that have fought to overcome adversity and disadvantages often become the most successful. Challenges – whether natural, geographical, social or military – make them fighters and winners. New...

The wide-ranging geopolitical rivalry between Beijing and Washington could soon expand into biotechnology, raising the prospect of fresh tensions even as American pharmaceutical firms have turned to China’s fast-growing industry for new drug candidates. Biotech in the world’s second-largest economy has long been viewed as a predominantly low-cost manufacturing base with opportunities arising from its vast domestic market. But years of sustained investment, cost advantages and faster development...

A Kenyan court blocked on Tuesday for another three weeks a proposed US Ebola quarantine facility that has triggered protests killing two people and ordered the government to disclose its agreement with Washington. The proposed 50-bed unit on an air force base in central Kenya for Americans exposed to the virus in Democratic Republic of Congo or Uganda ‌has angered many Kenyans. They accuse the US of offloading the health risk of caring for patients. A Kenyan court last week temporarily...

The head of the World Health Organization on Monday concluded his visit to Democratic Republic of Congo by briefing the president on the response to the Ebola outbreak, which an aid agency warned was likely much larger than official figures show. The outbreak, already the third-largest on record, persisted for weeks undetected, say health officials, who were behind the curve and ‌struggling to bring it under control. Arriving in DR Congo last week, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus...

Russia pounded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles early on Tuesday, killing 23 people and wounding 130, and President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow could launch a new assault for the second night in a row. The strikes on cities including Kyiv and Dnipro followed Russian warnings of “systematic” attacks on the capital after a drone attack on a dormitory in Ukraine’s Russian-held region of Luhansk last month. Kyiv denies targeting the dormitory. It was the third heavy assault...

Denmark’s Social Democratic leader ⁠Mette Frederiksen said on Monday ⁠she has agreed to form a centre-left coalition government, maintaining her grip on power amid a crisis in ties with US President Donald Trump over the future of Greenland. The deal to form a minority cabinet gives Frederiksen a third ‌consecutive term as prime minister, ending months of uncertainty after a March election in which 12 parties won seats in the Danish parliament. “I have been to see His Majesty the King and...

Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Andy Kim on Monday slammed the Trump administration for potentially allowing advanced American AI chips to ‌be sent to overseas units of Chinese firms, and called on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify to Congress on the issue, according to a statement. In a surprise move, the Department of ⁠Commerce, which oversees US exports, on Sunday issued guidance to ‌close a potential loophole that may have led companies to export the world’s most advanced...

China’s top diplomat said on Monday that Beijing and Brasilia should “jointly repel external challenges”, as the two countries opened a high-level strategic dialogue in Beijing. Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remark during a visit by his Brazilian counterpart, Mauro Vieira, who arrived in the Chinese capital this weekend for the fifth Global Strategic Dialogue between the two governments. “Practical cooperation in all areas has been steadily enhanced, and the two peoples have never been so...

“You have absolutely no idea of what you’re talking about. The whole point of Pax Silica is to partner with countries who are good at doing different things because everyone wins from a secure supply chain,” wrote US Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg on a social media website in response to an online critic of the US strategic initiative with the Philippines. The spirited exchange came after Manila’s reported rejection of a request to extend diplomatic immunity to US...

US President Donald Trump’s nearly US$1.8 billion fund to compensate victims of alleged government “weaponisation” has been put on hold after the White House faced fierce opposition from Republicans in Congress, three sources familiar with the plan said on Monday. The rare rebuke of Trump demonstrated some Republicans’ increased willingness to flex their political power against the president, particularly after his endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over incumbent Senator John...

China’s SAIC Motor plans to set ⁠up a car ⁠factory in Spain’s ⁠northwestern region of Galicia that would be its first production facility in the European Union, the regional government said on Monday. Galicia’s leader Alfonso Rueda said his administration ‌had given strategic priority to the project, with an initial investment envisaged at around €200 million (US$232 million). The project, which includes a logistics hub, still requires the central government’s approval for foreign direct...

The US decision to classify two Brazilian gangs as terrorist organisations is a political one aimed at boosting an ally of US President Donald Trump, the son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, politicians and analysts say. The gangs join eight other Latin American organised crime groups designated by the US as foreign terrorist organisations. But unlike the rest, they do not operate in the United States. The listing of First Capital Command, known as PCC, and Red Command, or CV,...

US President Donald Trump has suffered a partial legal setback in his push to exclude transgender people from the military. The Trump administration may not remove the plaintiffs who brought the case from active military service, a federal appeals court in Washington said on Monday. The wider ban remains in place for now, however, giving the administration time to appeal. The ruling partly upheld a lower court decision that found the exclusion of transgender people from military service violated...

The US State Department plans to drastically slash the number of US embassies and consulates in Africa that can process visas for foreigners seeking to go to the United States. The almost 50 US embassies and consulates that are processing visa applications will be reduced to 20 in the coming weeks, according to three US officials and an internal memo obtained by Associated Press. There is not yet a set date for the change, but it is expected in June, according to the officials, who were not...

Efforts to negotiate an end to war in the Middle East appeared in limbo on Tuesday, after Iran-linked media reported that Tehran had suspended contact with Washington over Israel’s expanding offensive in Lebanon, even as US President Donald Trump insisted talks were continuing “at a rapid pace” and claimed to have helped broker a halt to fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The conflicting accounts highlighted the fragile state of negotiations aimed at ending more than three months of...

US rapper Travis Scott angered fans in Istanbul after a performance that barely lasted 20 minutes, with the audience booing as he left the stage early on Monday, footage on social media showed. On his first tour of Turkey, the 35-year-old hip-hop star made his Istanbul debut late on Sunday and was to hold another event in the western Izmir resort on Monday. The Istanbul event was billed as “a performance that goes beyond a classic concert” with a limited audience of just 2,500 fans, according to...

A UK court on Monday jailed a British Sikh man for life for killing a university student in a case that sparked anger after police handcuffed the dying victim following a false claim of racial abuse. A judge at Southampton Crown Court sentenced Vickrum Digwa, a 23-year-old local resident, to life in prison with an obligation to spend at least 21 years in jail for the killing of 18-year-old student Henry Nowak on December 3. A jury on Friday found Digwa guilty of murdering the accountancy and...

Reporters and the public will be allowed to attend a key coming hearing for the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, after a Utah judge on Monday denied a defence request to restrict access. Tyler Robinson’s defence team had asked Judge Tony Graf to close portions of the preliminary hearing on July 6–10, when prosecutors must show they have enough evidence to warrant a trial. It will mark the most significant presentation of evidence to date in a case that has so far focused on matters of media...

Six people were stabbed in the hours after the Arsenal victory parade, the Metropolitan Police have confirmed, with a total of 24 arrests during the event. Thousands of Arsenal fans lined the streets around the Emirates Stadium in London on Sunday as the team embarked on their Premier League trophy parade. The Met deployed more than 500 officers to police the event, which saw 10 suspects arrested on suspicion of assaulting the police, one of whom allegedly threw racist abuse. One officer...

Peter Mandelson assured the British government it would “never regret” appointing him as ambassador to the United States, according to documents released on Monday, a pledge that was dramatically proven wrong within months. More than 1,500 pages of files relating to the appointment of Mandelson, a friend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as envoy to Washington at the start of US President Donald Trump’s second term, were released by the government to comply with a demand by...

China’s contribution to global growth is underestimated while the yuan is positioned to emerge as a fundamentally strong global currency, according to a new study from a prominent Beijing-based think tank. Researchers from the China Finance 40 Forum (CF40) – comprising senior regulators and financial experts – said the country’s investment scale could be as much as 3.4 times that of the United States when measured by the volume of physical investment. The analysis, published in a note on Sunday,...

Hundreds of youths in Kenya’s central town of Nanyuki on Monday showed against the establishment at the Laikipia Air Base of an Ebola quarantine centre for American citizens exposed to the virus. The protests come two days after Kenya’s High Court suspended the establishment of the facility and the arrival of any foreign patients pending the hearing of a case filed by the Law Society of Kenya and a constitutional watchdog. The two organisations cited Kenya’s fragile health system as the reason...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ⁠ordered attacks on the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut on Monday, signalling further escalation of a war that has complicated mediation towards resolving the US-Iran conflict. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said on Monday that Israeli attacks in Lebanon were among factors causing a delay to the diplomatic process to end the US-Iran war, reiterating that a Lebanon ceasefire was an integral part of any...

The US said it struck Iranian military sites at the weekend and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Monday it had targeted a US base in response, the latest exchange of attacks amid negotiations to end the three-month-old war. The US and Iran have sporadically exchanged strikes ‌since their ceasefire took effect in early April as diplomacy aimed at a more durable agreement drags on. A similar exchange occurred last Thursday and was described in near-identical terms by both sides. The weekend US...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chinese archaeologist who discovered 5,000-year-old city pleads guilty to corruption 2. Hong Kong body took action after teacher carried female student like bride 3. ‘Clear-eyed’ on China: the takeaways from Pete Hegseth’s Shangri-La speech 4. Rising costs in Singapore spur business migration as...

Former US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell used one of his first major public appearances since leaving office to defend independent institutions while accepting an award Sunday honouring his efforts to preserve the central bank’s independence. Speaking at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Powell called universities, courts, Congress and the central bank “the foundation and the embodiment of our democracy” and argued that the Fed’s independence was a “priceless asset” that must be...

It’s that time of the year again – tax season, so don’t forget to fill out your return. It’s also the time of the year when the Hong Kong government decides on pay rises for its civil service staff of over 170,000. There’s a well-established system for deciding on pay rises. It includes the pay trend survey submitted to the government last week. Its preliminary results indicate that civil servants are in line for wage increases of 4.12 per cent for senior civil servants, 2.64 per cent for...

The US Department of Commerce on Sunday moved to close a year-old potential loophole it had created that may have led companies to export ‌the world’s most advanced chips – such as Nvidia’s most sophisticated Rubin and Blackwell processors, as well as AMD’s MI350x – to Chinese entities located outside China. The unexpected guidance suggests the United States’ best artificial intelligence chips may have been making their way to the subsidiaries of Chinese AI firms based in places such as Malaysia...

Syrian President ⁠Ahmed al-Sharaa held a phone ⁠call with US President Donald Trump in which they discussed supporting the Syrian economy and the latest regional developments, the Syrian presidency said ‌on Sunday. During the call, Sharaa said lifting the remaining US sanctions on Syria was essential to reviving the economy and attracting investments, according to the statement. The United States says some sanctions remain in ⁠place despite dismantling most of its Syria sanctions regime and...

A family of four from Massachusetts were killed when a bus crashed into multiple vehicles in Virginia as they were travelling to a wedding. The family wedding will go forward on Sunday in South Carolina but it also will be a time to mourn the loss of Dmitri and Ecaterina Doncev and their two children, Emily and Mark, a relative said Saturday. “A son, a father – the whole family – everyone that has been dear to us,” Carolina Bublik said. The Doncevs were killed when a coach caused a...

Iran’s chief negotiator warned on Sunday the United States was not to be trusted, saying Tehran would not agree to any deal with Washington unless it fully secured Iranian rights. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s remarks came as reports emerged that US President Donald Trump had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Iran, and underlined the rift that the parties still need to close. Any tweaks to the draft could further delay an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of...

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in a report, said the Middle East war’s consequences “are likely to be felt for some time.”

The acting attorney general said the administration was preserving a broad order protecting the president and his family from audits of already filed returns, despite dropping a $1.8 billion payout fund.

The acting attorney general told lawmakers that he would leave in place an order forcing the I.R.S. to drop investigations into President Trump, his family and his businesses.

Republicans hoped the acting attorney general’s vow that the administration was “not moving forward” with a fund for people claiming to be victimized by the government would unlock the votes.

Mr. Pulte has had difficulty boosting the housing market as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Now he will also serve as acting intelligence director.

Trump administration officials said they planned to impose levies of up to 12.5 percent on countries that failed to crack down on goods made with forced labor.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated in pointed testimony to senators that he was reclaiming control of the U.S. relationship with Gavi, an international vaccine alliance.

Prime tickets on the floor for the N.B.A. Finals are coveted and very hard to get. The No. 1 requirement: You must love the Knicks.

The league is rolling out music by the composer Nicholas Britell and the rapper Nas that, if successful, could become the sport’s sonic shorthand.

Mr. Pelley, a former “CBS Evening News” anchor, was ousted after months of tensions between staff and Bari Weiss, the network’s editor in chief.

The former congressman was referred to federal authorities after he bet on his own attendance at the State of the Union address, a person familiar with the matter said.

The arts school and camp is still contending with the fallout from its former ties to Mr. Epstein, an alumnus and donor accused of preying on two girls he met there.

Here is what we know about the sexual predator whose secrets spurred an international reckoning over money, power and complicity. Check back for updates.

In the first major case since the justices narrowed the Voting Rights Act, the court cleared the way for Alabama to use a map preferred by Republicans that leaves the state with only one majority-Black district.

Mr. Platner, the likely Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, met in Washington with several senators. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, dodged questions about his confidence in Mr. Platner.

Black-crowned night herons could go the way of the passenger pigeon, vanishing from the city. Why remains a mystery.

The artist shares stories behind some of her biggest hits, her love of a “rant bridge” and how life in the public eye informs the stories she tells in her songs.

The Knicks are New York’s soul, and they are bringing us together again in the championship series against San Antonio.

A case for mourning the American dream.

We look at the state of the Iran war three months on.

“Oh, I’m sorry, is wrapping up the war you started not interesting enough?” Michael Kosta said on Tuesday, after the president called negotiations with Iran “boring.”

Eleven police officers were wounded as demonstrators pelted them with rocks and garbage cans, scenes a British cabinet minister called “unacceptable.”