Minimalist News

"Turn Off Bluetooth, Use Signal": ACLU Advises Anti-Trump Protesters On Evading Gov't Surveillance If you want a sign of how the left-wing, permanent protest-industrial complex is gearing up for the next wave of street mobilization, look no further than Chad Marlow, a senior policy counsel at the ACLU. Marlow, whose work focuses on privacy, surveillance, and technology, has circulated guidance for protesters on social media about how to limit digital exposure, avoid government surveillance, and communicate via encrypted messaging platforms while protesting. "If you're protesting and not actively using your phone, the best thing you can do to prevent it

Israel Hands US Curiously-Timed Intelligence Saying Iran Plotting To Assassinate Trump Update(21:00ET) : Here's what President Trump said from Ankara on Wednesday which left many wondering just what he was referring to: "They want to take out the U.S. leader—me," he said in reference to the Iranians. " I’m on every list. I saw this morning , I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long." The Wall Street Journal in a Thursday evening report says that Israel has provided fresh intelligence to

Justice Department Agrees To End Biden-Era Oil & Gas Leasing Restrictions In Alaska Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times, The U.S. Department of Justice said July 7 the Biden administration’s oil and gas leasing restrictions in northern Alaska’s Arctic region violated federal law and asked the court to dismiss lawsuits by the state and its industrial development and export authority challenging the regulations. The lawsuits were filed in 2025 over the Biden administration’s 2024 restrictions on oil and gas lease auctions in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Alaska argued that the administration essentially sabotaged

New Hampshire Kills Historic $100M Bitcoin Bond Proposal New Hampshire's Executive Council narrowly rejected a proposal Wednesday that would have authorized a $100 million Bitcoin-backed bond, ending what supporters hoped would make the state a pioneer in digital asset finance, according to Bitcoin Magazine. The measure failed in a 3-2 vote after reaching its final approval stage, despite receiving a favorable rating review from Moody's and backing from Governor Kelly Ayotte and the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority. Had it moved forward, officials said it would have been the first municipal bond in the world secured by Bitcoin. The report

SoCal Education Leaders Stole Nearly $20M From Schools; Report Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness, A new report has revealed that a pair of Southern California school leaders separately stole nearly $20 million from their schools in order to fund lavish personal lifestyles. According to The New York Post, the report was co-authored by the State Financial Officers Foundation, a watchdog made up of state treasurers and auditors, and OpenTheBooks, a nonprofit focused on transparency in government spending. The cases of the two Southern California educators were among the most expensive examples of K-12 education fraud documented nationwide .

Russia Warns NATO Leaders To 'Stop & Think' Before Leading World To Catastrophic Confrontation Another night has passed, and the usual major Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil and facilities and tankers have occurred, this time impacting at least three Russian regions, authorities said Thursday. Strikes hit oil depots in the Stavropol and Tver regions , as well as an oil pumping station in the republic of Bashkortostan and a marine loading terminal in the Rostov region - along with other reported impacts, Amsterdam-based Moscow Times reports . During this week's NATO summit, Ukraine's President Zelensky was touting his country's

AI Price War Breaks Out: Meta Unveils Paid AI Model For First Time, Will Be "Among Most Affordable Options" Shortly after a leaked Meta memo revealed the company was planning on putting an AI chip into production in September as it looks to double computing capacity to 14Gigawatts, the company also unveiled a version of its most advanced artificial intelligence model, Muse Spark 1.1, that includes a new paid tier for developers , marking the first time Meta has charged businesses for access to its models and providing a new revenue stream. It’ll be " among the most affordable options

New Atlas Aircraft Targets Long-Range Strikes Without Runways Or Large Flight Decks Authored by Neetika Walter via Interesting Engineering , Mach Industries has won a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) contract to develop a long-range unmanned aircraft designed to launch from austere locations and ships without large flight decks. Atlas drone Mach Industries The aircraft, called Atlas, is being developed for the DIU's Runway Independent Maritime Expeditionary Strike (RIMES) program . Mach Industries will serve as the aircraft integrator, working with propulsion company Whisper Aero. According to the solicitation, the Department of the Navy is seeking an unmanned aerial system capable

Strongest El Nino In 75 Years Sets Off Food Supply-Chain Alarm Bells The US Climate Prediction Center has warned that the weather phenomenon El Niño, which only recently emerged across the Pacific, could become the most powerful in more than 75 years . This raises the risk of adverse weather conditions across the US, Asia, Australia, and South America. The stronger the weather event becomes, the greater the threat to critical food supply chains, which are already vulnerable to drought, flooding, export restrictions, and rising protectionism . The CPC, a NOAA/National Weather Service unit that issues official US government climate

Kentucky Governor Beshear Presses Senator Mitch McConnell To Release Health Update Via American Greatness, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is calling on Senator Mitch McConnell to publicly disclose more about his health after the longtime Republican lawmaker remained out of public view for nearly three weeks following his hospitalization in Washington. In a letter released Wednesday , Beshear said Kentuckians deserve more information about McConnell’s condition and his ability to continue serving in office. “Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and well-being, and ability to hold office,” Beshear wrote. McConnell, 84, was hospitalized June 14

This State Is Ground Zero For The "Explosive" Diarrhea Parasite As Cases Explode 400% Michigan is getting hit hardest in a fast-spreading nationwide outbreak of a stomach parasite, with cases exploding more than fourfold in a matter of days. The state saw infections skyrocket from 170 to 681 by Monday, the biggest single jump reported anywhere in the country, according to health officials. New York has logged 120 cases since May 1, a state official told The Post, while Texas has confirmed 48 cases as of Monday. Illinois has also seen a sharp rise, with reports ranging from 11 to

Feared Free-Market Activist Warns Texas Stock Exchange Against Going Woke Authored by Will Hild via The Center Square , As the Texas Stock Exchange begins its launch, Texans have every reason to celebrate. Soon, the TXSE will join Nasdaq Texas as a fully functioning venue , and the NYSE has signaled a strong commitment to Texas as well. It is clear that Texas is emerging as a serious challenger to New York as the nation's financial capital. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott rings the Closing Bell of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in celebration of the launch of NYSE Texas

Trans-Ex Lover Says Robinson Confessed To Charlie Kirk Shooting; Widow Presses Court To Release Evidence Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, asked a Utah judge Thursday to make all evidence in the preliminary hearing for her husband's accused killer available to the public - the same day prosecutors played a recorded statement in which the suspect's former roommate said he confessed to the shooting. Tyler Robinson speaks with his attorney Kathryn Nester during a hearing for Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, in 4th District Court in Provo, Utah, on April 17,

Trump Admin Targets Medicare Fraud After 7,100% Surge In Transplant Claims Via American Greatness, The Trump administration says it has uncovered a dramatic increase in Medicare claims for tissue and organ transplants, resulting in a broad crackdown on suspected fraud that officials say has already blocked hundreds of millions of dollars in questionable payments. Administration officials said Medicare claims for tissue and organ transplants, known as allografts, climbed from $200 million in 2019 to $14.4 billion in 2025—a 7,100 percent increase. The surge led the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force, headed by Vice President JD Vance, and the Centers for

US, Japan, And South Korea Push SMR Exports For "Energy Security Needs" The American nuclear buildout is not just about the climate or powering data centers. It's a geopolitical war against the export of nuclear technology from Russia and China, mixed with a new demand for national energy security. On the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Ankara, the United States, Japan, and South Korea signed a trilateral Memorandum of Cooperation aimed at accelerating small modular reactor (SMR) deployments in other countries , with an initial focus on the Indo-Pacific. The agreement is designed to bring together the complementary strengths

Why Have Central Bankers Gone Radio Silent On The Digital Currency Agenda? Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us During the 2020 pandemic hysteria there was a mad rush by globalist institutions like the WEF, IMF, BIS and numerous national central banks to speed-run the concept of “CBDCs” (Central Bank Digital Currencies) into the mainstream consciousness. The idea of digital currencies rooted to a blockchain ledger was presented as a solution to the pandemic. A number of globalists asserted that digital exchange would be necessary because “paper money carries the covid virus.” This was, of course, complete nonsense. There was zero

Jack Smith's Team Exposed Classified Materials, Senator Finds Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times, Prosecutors with the office of former special counsel Jack Smith left classified materials unsecured and provided materials to at least one person without confirming that person needed to see them, a senator said on July 8. A set of messages from Smith’s team showed that in 2024, the team left a facility designated for the review of sensitive information open overnight, and potentially longer. “Who opened the [facility] yesterday?” one member of the team asked in a message. “No one opened it yesterday because

Starbucks Using AI To Build Software Replacing Applications It Buys From Microsoft, IBM Corporate America has been desperate to see a burst of productivity (i.e., cost cutting) emerging from the latest flood of agentic AI euphoria, and it is slowly starting to get it. Not everyone will be pleased. Starbucks is developing in-house tools with the help of artificial intelligence that could replace some software applications it now buys from companies such as Microsoft and IBM. According to Bloomberg, the coffee chain, whose stock price has gone nowhere in the past 3 years, is building alternatives to a Microsoft system

Judge Hannah Dugan Gets The 'Good Person' Discount In Federal Court Authored by David Manney via PJMedia.com, Former Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan just discovered a remarkable sentencing principle: Commit a felony, lose at trial, watch the conviction survive post-trial motions, face a guideline range of 15 to 21 months, and still walk out without prison, probation, and a $5,000 fine. Regular defendants may want to write down the magic words before the courts patch up the loophole: Otherwise good person . I hope you were sitting down for that. BREAKING: Former Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan has

French Security Services On High Alert For Morocco-France World Cup Semi-Final: 'Get Ready For Riots & Violence' France is warning football fans to behave and conduct themselves responsibly ahead of a major Thursday World Cup quarter-final match which pits France against African champions Morocco. Security services are on high alert , the government has said. The match kicks off at 4:00 PM ET. "I appeal to everyone’s sense of responsibility. It has to remain a celebration," Sports Minister Marina Ferrari told the France Info broadcaster, after in previous years various high profile matches have sparked unrest and riots. France's Interior

Reporting suggests FBI involved in seizure of Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada García from Mexican territory in 2024 Mexico has launched an investigation into whether the US lied about its involvement in the capture and secretive transfer of a top Sinaloa cartel member in 2024, in what would be a potential violation of the country’s sovereignty. The US has long denied it played any role in the operation to detain the drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, a founder of the Sinaloa cartel, inside Mexico. Recent reporting by the local media outlet Pie de Nota , however, suggested that the

Activist is challenging ruling last year that restored colonial-era homophobic law against same-sex intimacy Some of the UK’s top judges are hearing arguments over whether a Trinidad and Tobago court had the legal right to overturn a 2018 ruling to remove colonial-era homophobic laws that criminalise anal sex between consenting men. The country’s “ buggery law ”, often referred to as its “sodomy” law, was created in 1925 and was written into Trinidad and Tobago’s 1986 Sexual Offences Act . In 2017 a Trinidadian LGBTQ+ rights activist, Jason Jones , challenged the law, and in 2018 a high court ruled

Celeste Amarilla could face charges after French Football Federation complains about social media posts over World Cup match Prosecutors in France have opened an investigation into the racist attack on Kylian Mbappé by a Paraguayan senator, with officials weighing whether to demand that the senator be charged with aggravated public insult or incitement to hatred or violence. The Paris prosecutor’s office told the Guardian on Tuesday it had launched the inquiry after the French Football Federation (FFF) filed a complaint with the national unit for combating online hate. Continue reading...

Impoverished island was already struggling to keep the lights on before the US imposed a blockade in January Cuba on Monday suffered its third nationwide power outage since the start of the year, the state electricity company said. The impoverished island was already struggling to keep the lights on before the US president, Donald Trump, imposed an oil blockade in January, which has depleted the already dwindling supply of fuel for Cuba’s power plants. Continue reading...

TKMS beats South Korean rival to multibillion-dollar contract that will deepen Canada’s Nato ties Canada has selected a German consortium to build a dozen cutting-edge submarines in one of the country’s largest-ever defence contracts that will further deepen its Nato ties before a crucial summit this week. On Monday the prime minister, Mark Carney, announced the winner of a tightly contested battle for the lucrative government contract to replace its fleet of ageing, secondhand subs, most of which are undergoing maintenance. Continue reading...

Plans to build a NZ$3.5bn datacentre in Makarewa in the country’s south has drawn concern about electricity and water use, and potential noise pollution People living near the site of New Zealand’s first planned AI datacentre are calling for more transparency about the project, especially about how the centre’s huge electricity and water use and potential noise pollution could affect them. Singapore-based company Datagrid has secured approval to build a NZ$3.5bn (US$2bn) AI datacentre on a 49-hectare site in Makarewa, just north of New Zealand’s southern-most city, Invercargill. Construction is due to begin this year, with the centre becoming operational

Local media in Hengzhou report king ratsnakes and cobras among hundreds in flood waters caused by typhoon Maysak Hundreds of snakes, including cobras, have escaped from flooded breeding farms in southern China as severe storms continue to batter parts of the country. State media reported that a snake farm in Hengzhou, in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was hit by flood waters after days of heavy rainfall caused by typhoon Maysak , prompting warnings for nearby residents. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed Telstra outage: Telco apologises for major time-keeping issue that hit mobiles, trains and triple-zero calls Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Telstra outage reported to be cause of Victoria train stoppage There is a long list of cancelled trains on the official V/line site, but the TL/DR is that Victoria’s regional train network has ground to a halt. Due to a radio network fault affecting the network, services are currently unable to operate … Passengers are advised to defer travel where possible. Continue reading...

Chinese leader Xi Jinping calls for ‘all out’ rescue effort as death toll rises and 16 people ⁠remain buried after a ⁠landslide in the country’s west The death toll from devastating storms in parts of China rose to 15 on Tuesday, with hundreds more injured and tens of thousands evacuated, state media reported, as the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, urged “all out” efforts to rescue people affected by the weather. Thunderstorms and gale-force winds killed at least 11 people and injured 331 in the central province of Hubei, where “severe convective weather” hit cities, while tornadoes were reported elsewhere late

Solomon Islands prime minister says he doesn’t want to see more countries testing ICBMs in Pacific, adding ‘be our friend but don’t threaten us’ Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has said China’s weapons test in the Pacific risks fuelling dangerous nuclear proliferation, with the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fired on Monday capable of causing “considerable damage” if weaponised. International condemnation has grown overnight after China’s state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday that a “strategic missile carrying a dummy warhead” had been launched from a “strategic nuclear submarine of the navy”. Continue reading...

Broadcaster’s death was confirmed on-air on his former radio station, 3AW. Follow updates live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Telstra aware of investigation into death in South Australia during triple zero issues Telstra said it is aware South Australia police are investigating the death of a person during the company’s network issues. SA police said yesterday they were investigating the death, which occurred at a regional hospital on Wednesday. Our thoughts are with the person’s family and loved ones at this difficult time. We are working closely with South Australia Police to support

Native greater crested tern – a common coastal bird – tests positive for disease after being discovered at Robe on SA’s Limestone Coast Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The first case of deadly H5 bird flu in local wildlife has been recorded in a bird found on the South Australian coast. The federal agriculture minister, Julie Collins, said on Friday that a greater crested tern – a common coastal bird – had tested positive for the disease. The dead bird was found at Robe

Media figure and former senator died overnight at home, with radio station 3AW leading tributes Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Derryn Hinch, the former journalist and senator, has died aged 82. Hinch had reportedly been in poor health since a recent fall. Continue reading...

Albanese has attended the Indigenous cultural festival every year since 2019 and committed to ‘be here and engaged with you’ each yeah he remains in office Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Anthony Albanese won’t attend this month’s Garma festival, breaking a commitment made just 12 months ago to travel to north-east Arnhem Land each year for Australia’s largest Indigenous cultural gathering. The prime minister last year vowed to keep attending the annual celebration of Yolŋu culture so long as he was in the role.

Vicki Brady grilled at first public appearance since returning from overseas as SA police say call to triple zero failed before death Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Telstra has admitted it knew of the dangers of a failure of its time systems and is now investigating why backup measures failed to stop this weeks outage, as its chief executive says she’s “deeply sorry” about its impacts. It came as South Australian police said an investigation was under way into whether a death during the

Military intelligence officer admits witnessing killing of woman believed to have left explosive device outside oligarch’s home The case of a suspected bomber accused of targeting a Ukrainian oligarch has taken another murky turn, after details of her subsequent murder were revealed in court with evidence suggesting the involvement of Kyiv’s intelligence agencies. French police last week named Anastasia Berezovska as the person captured on CCTV leaving a rucksack outside a Monaco apartment block. It blew up, injuring the Ukrainian businessman Vadym Iermolaiev as he emerged from the building with his partner and their 13-year-old child. Continue reading...

Wildfire comes as Spain suffers a heatwave, with scorching temperatures triggering orange weather warnings Twelve people were reported killed in a wildfire in Almeria in southern Spain , as about 150 firefighters battled the blaze which broke out amid soaring temperatures. “The number of people who died in the fire in Los Gallardos has risen to 12 after the confirmation of six more deaths,” the regional government of Andalusia said in a statement. Continue reading...

Businessman stands trial over death of Maltese journalist killed by bomb in her car after she reported on corruption Moments before the explosion that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia , the journalist screamed in panic, a witness has told the trial of the man accused of ordering her murder . Caruana Galizia was killed in 2017 by a remotely detonated bomb placed under the driver’s seat of her car, after writing a series of reports on political and financial corruption in Malta. The government’s handling of the investigation led to mass protests and ultimately to the resignation of the Maltese prime

Britain expands heat alerts while estimates suggest June’s death toll could surpass 20,000 across continent The UK is sweltering through the peak of its third heatwave of the year as countries around Europe struggle to recover from an early onslaught of baking summer heat. Punishing temperatures pushed higher by fossil fuel pollution have broken records across the continent in recent weeks. Western Europe experienced its hottest June on record , scientists confirmed on Thursday, accompanied by high global ocean temperatures that could cause “mass-mortality events” for some species. Continue reading...

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented engraved revolvers – with bullets – to his guests in Ankara, causing security concerns What does a world leader do with a gun and six bullets? That was the conundrum Nato leaders faced after the Turkish president offered them each a revolver after the Ankara summit. Keir Starmer was the first to mention the highly unusual gift presented by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to his guests. On the flight back from Ankara, where Nato leaders had gathered for two days, the British prime minister said he and others had received a revolver engraved with their names. Continue

Renewed attacks the largest since an interim memorandum was signed this June, with Trump saying fragile truce is ‘over’ The US and Iran traded retaliatory strikes on Thursday as US president Donald Trump threatened to escalate the conflict unless Iran stopped attacking ships in the strait of Hormuz. Iran responded to the latest round of attacks by targeting US-allied Kuwait and Qatar and accused the US of striking near its sole nuclear power plant. Continue reading...

Local truckers’ association says it may suspend operations, after several eyewitnesses decried Ahmad Esleem’s murder A Palestinian driver bringing food aid from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) into Gaza has been killed by an Israeli soldier “in a field execution”, according to witnesses and the local truckers’ association, which said it may suspend operations in protest. Ahmad Esleem was shot in the head on Wednesday when an aid convoy stopped because of a breakdown to one truck soon after entering Gaza, according to three accounts. Israeli soldiers ordered the drivers to dismount and one of them shot Esleem in the

This live blog is now closed. US and Iran trade most intense strikes since ceasefire extended Kuwait’s foreign ministry has issued a statement condemning the Iranian attacks against the country. It reads almost identical to the statement issued yesterday, although emphasises Kuwait’s sovereignty is “a red line” . “The state of Kuwait reserves its full rights to take all necessary measures to protect its security and preserve its sovereignty,” it said. Continue reading...

Exclusive: PM-in-waiting says party must ‘do better’ in approach to Middle East and he will put more pressure on Israel Andy Burnham has apologised for Labour’s initial response to Israel’s military action in Gaza, saying the party “didn’t get it right” and needs to “do better” under his leadership signalling a significant shift in the UK’s approach to the Middle East. The prime minister-in-waiting told the Guardian he would put more pressure on the Israeli government, including through further sanctions on individuals and entities, as well as a potential ban on the trade of goods with illegal settlements. Continue reading...

Residents in Bandar Abbas and Sirik regions describe communities in fear and ‘feeling abandoned’ after US strikes Middle East crisis live – latest updates Residents in southern Iran have described two nights of fear this week after explosions shook coastal communities as the US launched fresh strikes on targets including the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Sirik. US Central Command confirmed the attacks, saying they were carried out to “further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz”. Continue reading...

Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in prison in India, is accused of orchestrating assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023 US and Canadian authorities say they have “dismantled” the leadership of a notorious Indian criminal group, charging dozens of operatives who have “inflicted pain and cruelty on people, victims around the globe”, including a high-profile murder in Canada that strained diplomatic relations between Canada and India. At a press conference on Tuesday, members of the FBI and Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said as part of Operation Hard Ball – a multiyear federal investigation into murder-for-hire plots, shootings, extortion and

Early flight data shows K2 Airways plane crashed into sea with five crew on board south-west of Karachi Pakistan has located the wreckage of a Boeing cargo plane, the country’s airports authority said, adding that rescuers were searching for the five crew members on board when the aircraft went missing. The plane was approaching Karachi from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates when radar showed it “rapidly descending” on Tuesday evening after reporting a “navigational system issue”, according to the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA). Continue reading...

Amnesty International says Albanese has opportunity to ‘reaffirm mutual commitment’ to rule of law as thousands in diaspora expected at stadium event Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Australia in three years has sparked calls for the federal government to raise human rights concerns, as excitement builds within the nation’s Indian diaspora. Modi’s visit begins on Wednesday evening and marks his third since becoming prime minister. It will see him return to Melbourne after more than

Thousands of women are killed in dowry disputes each year, despite the practice being banned in 1961 Dowry deaths in India no longer provoke the public anger they once did, despite thousands of women’s lives still being lost every year, according to new research. The killings – women who are murdered or driven to suicide following dowry disputes between families – have also faded from political debate, despite an increase in cases. Continue reading...

Victims with cuts and gunshot injuries rushed to hospital after fighting between prisoners from two drug gangs Clashes at a Sri Lankan jail have killed 26 people, including seven guards, and wounded more than 100 in the country’s deadliest prison riot in years, officials said. Victims with cuts and gunshot injuries were rushed to Negombo hospital, north of the capital Colombo after overnight fighting between prisoners from two drug gangs, police said on Monday. Continue reading...

National Audit Office says system needs to be upgraded before it is extended to ease strain on overcrowded prisons The rapid expansion of electronic tagging to reduce pressure on prisons will put public safety at risk without robust improvements to a system already under significant strain, the UK’s public spending watchdog has warned. The number of people in England and Wales being electronically monitored has doubled to 28,700 over five years, and is estimated to rise to 22,000 tagged each year from 2027 under government plans to combat the prison capacity crisis by managing more offenders in the community. Continue

Presenter, 77, says ‘for now life goes on as normal and I continue to broadcast’ as he shares diagnosis received in 2025 The longtime radio and TV broadcaster Paul Gambaccini has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The 77-year-old presenter, who has been a regular on the BBC since the 1970s and has one of the most recognisable voices on British radio, shared a statement revealing the diagnosis he received in 2025. Continue reading...

Ministers consider bringing e-cigarette laws in line with tobacco as data shows 20% of teenagers have tried vaping Vapes could be sold in plain packaging as part of a range of proposals to stop them being marketed to children. The UK-wide plans also include limiting device colours to white, black or grey, and keeping vapes out of sight in shops, according to the Department of Health and Social Care. Continue reading...

Hollywood actor signs recording deal with Decca after decades of composing pieces inspired by his Welsh childhood Anthony Hopkins says he has achieved his “first desire” of signing a record deal, with his debut single being released on Friday. The 88-year-old Hollywood actor’s first album, Life Is a Dream, will be released next month by Decca Classics . It is a collection of pieces he has composed over six decades. Life Is a Dream will be released on 21 August Continue reading...

Outgoing PM has not ruled out drawing up honours list when he stands down, despite previously opposing it Keir Starmer has signalled he could hand out resignation honours when he leaves Downing Street, despite pledging three years ago he would not do so when he eventually stood down. The prime minister twice declined to rule out drawing up a list of honours when he stands down in just over 10 days’ time, to be succeeded by Andy Burnham. Continue reading...

Agents seeking different person when they killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Mexican who had lived in US for 35 years Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a man killed by federal immigration agents during a traffic stop in Houston this week, was not the intended target of the “enforcement operation”, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were reportedly seeking two people from Guatemala when they attempted to stop Salgado Araujo, a Mexican immigrant who had lived in the United States for 35 years, the New York Times reported . Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Sign up for the Breaking News US email Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn has pleaded not guilty to vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. Hearn, 67, from Maryland, was arrested last month after stopping by the pool on a bike ride. He told several outlets that he was detained for almost five hours after he reached into the water to inspect what he described a piece of the blue liner that was partially detached from the bottom of the pool as he was curious what it felt like. Continue reading...

Bipartisan Election Assistance Commission maintains mail-voter registration form, among other duties Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday. The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission ⁠were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ⁠two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from ​the White House presidential personnel office. Continue reading...

Testimony from Lance Twiggs heard in court on fourth day of hearing to determine whether case can proceed to trial Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old charged with murdering the far-right pundit Charlie Kirk, told his roommate a day after the fatal shooting that he wished “he hadn’t done it”, according to testimony heard on Thursday in court. On the fourth day of a hearing to determine whether the case against Robinson has probable cause to proceed to trial, the state presented video of a prosecutor interviewing Lance Twiggs, Robinson’s then roommate, with whom he was romantically involved. Continue reading...

NCPC gives preliminary approval to plan for skyline-altering arch despite overwhelming public opposition Donald Trump’s plans to build a skyline-altering arch in the nation’s capital won initial approval Thursday from a key federal commission, but its members put off a decision on whether a federal law that limits building heights should be applied to this project. Despite overwhelming public opposition, the National Capital Planning Commission voted to approve preliminary site and building plans for the 250ft (76m) arch the Republican president wants to build on a traffic circle at the Virginia end of the Memorial Bridge from Washington. Continue reading...

The US Department of Agriculture dramatically lowered its reported beef export sales for late June on Thursday, sparking fresh concerns about the quality of the agency’s data after staffing losses as part of the Trump administration’s reshaping of the federal government. USDA said exporters in late June sold a net 12,064 tonnes of US beef to foreign buyers, 90 per cent lower than the volume it originally reported ‌a week ago. Traders had largely dismissed USDA’s initial report as inaccurate....

The Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo is the “fastest growing” ever, African health authorities said on Thursday, as the World Health Organization said the disease had killed 600 people. Updated numbers issued by the UN health agency showed there have been 1,759 confirmed cases in DR Congo since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, including 600 confirmed deaths. “This is the fastest growing Ebola outbreak ever, not only among the previous Bundibugyo outbreaks, but all the...

What does a world leader do with a gun and six bullets? That was the conundrum Nato leaders faced after the Turkish president offered them each a revolver after the Ankara summit. Several leaders said they had only discovered the contents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s gift package much later, or had not even seen it before it was seized by their security services. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney joked that his gift of maple syrup “kind of undermatched” Erdogan’s offering. British Prime...

A Florida airport was renamed after Donald Trump on Thursday, accelerating a push by the US president and supporters to plaster his name and image on everything from national landmarks to banknotes. “This will soon be one of the Greatest and Most Spectacular Airports anywhere in the World!” Trump said in a Truth Social post late Thursday reacting to the change. The Republican leader’s son Eric celebrated by landing in the private family Boeing 757 – so-called “Trump Force One” – at what had been...

A court in Hungary on Thursday sentenced an Irish citizen to 14 years in prison for strangling an American tourist to death in the country’s capital in 2024. The victim, 31-year-old Mackenzie Michalski from Portland, Oregon, was in Hungary on holiday and reported missing on November 5, 2024, after she was last seen at a nightclub in central Budapest. Police launched a missing person investigation and reviewed security footage from local nightclubs where they observed Michalski, who went by...

The proliferation of artificial intelligence models and the increasing parity in their performance suggest they are becoming a commodity. Soon, AI services will be priced by cost rather than the uniqueness of their model. With electricity the main cost of the services, the AI war between China and the United States is turning into a straightforward contest over electricity output and price. Open-source AI models are sprouting up like bamboo shoots in China. The American AI community has argued...

A German court on Thursday handed down a 10-year prison sentence to a 26-year-old man who fatally assaulted a train conductor during a ticket inspection in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate five months ago. The court sitting in Zweibrücken found that the man had attacked the conductor after being found without a ticket, hitting the conductor so hard that he later died of a brain haemorrhage. The assailant was found guilty of causing bodily harm resulting in death. The sentence is open to...

A four-year-old girl has died after being bitten by her family’s pet dog while playing, police and prosecutors in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt reported on Thursday. The dog was described as an American Stafford, a breed commonly known as the Pit Bull Terrier or American Staffordshire terrier. The report said people at the scene had attempted to pull the dog off the girl, but failed to prevent her suffering serious injury. A doctor called to the scene could only record her death. The...

Bonnie Tyler, the gravelly voiced, Grammy-nominated Welsh pop star best known for singing the chart-topping power ballad “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in 1983 and seeing new generations succumb to its bombastic charms during solar and lunar eclipses, has died. She was 75. Tyler died “unexpectedly” in a hospital in Portugal where she was being treated for an illness, her family said on Thursday in a statement on her website. She was hospitalised in May in Faro, where she had a home, for emergency...

China called on the United States and Iran to stick with peace plans after a resumption of missile strikes in the Middle East spurred a jump in oil prices. “Reigniting the conflict does not serve any party’s interests,” a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday. “We call on the US and Iran to follow through on their memorandum of understanding, resolve disputes through dialogue and negotiation, and avoid resorting to force.” Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose...

Graham Platner, a scandal-plagued Democratic Senate nominee whose insurgent rise had drawn comparisons to Donald Trump, ended his campaign on Wednesday after a rape allegation threatened to derail one of his party’s best chances of flipping a Republican-held seat. Platner, a Marine veteran, oysterman and political newcomer, won last month’s Democratic primary in the northeastern state of Maine to face Republican Senator Susan Collins in November’s midterm elections. His withdrawal gives Maine...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to rehear a case challenging his executive order curtailing birthright citizenship, a long-shot ‌bid to reverse the court’s rejection of one of his signature policies. The court last month rejected Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship in the US, ruling that his directive violated language in the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment that confers ⁠citizenship to those born in the United States who are...

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte defended US President Donald Trump’s criticism of the transatlantic security alliance, while saying this year’s summit showed “a huge sense of unity” and produced procurement plans worth tens of billions of dollars. During a press conference after the North Atlantic Council meeting of leaders at the Nato summit hosted by Turkey in Ankara on Wednesday, Rutte said this year’s gathering had resulted in more than US$50 billion in procurement deals as part of efforts...

The United States launched new air strikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar in crossfire that again threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Persian Gulf. Back-and-forth attacks, including a day earlier, have repeatedly threatened the ceasefire, but Thursday’s appeared bigger all around, with sirens sounding at least three times in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters, and missiles targeting Kuwait and...

A California man who swapped a library’s 17th century Chinese manuscript for a fake was sentenced on Wednesday after admitting to stealing a major artwork. Jeffrey Ying used a number of aliases to get access to classic works, some over 600 years old, at the library of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Department of Justice said. Ying, 39, would check the works out and return days later with dummy manuscripts. He would frequently travel to China shortly thereafter, officials...

A judge on Wednesday authorised the payment of a multimillion-dollar award to magazine writer E. Jean Carroll to satisfy a 2023 civil verdict in which a jury found US President ‌Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan ordered the disbursement of nearly US$5.8 million to the former Elle magazine advice columnist, representing the original US$5 million verdict plus interest. The funds had been held in escrow while Trump appealed the...

British anti-immigrant politician Nigel Farage faces the embarrassing prospect of going head-to-head with perennial joke candidate Count Binface in a by-election after he decided to quit Parliament. His surprise move threatened to backfire Wednesday after other heavyweight parties confirmed they would not contest the vote for Farage’s seat in southeast England. Count Binface, a self-described “intergalactic space warrior”, is the only other person to have said so far that they would run. In a...

US President Donald Trump unexpectedly left Turkey on Wednesday aboard an older Air Force One rather than the newly renovated Qatari-donated jet that brought him there, but later boarded the new plane in Britain for the flight to Washington. The trip to Turkey for the Nato summit, the first international travel for the new ‌plane, took place as hostilities escalated with Iran, a country that borders Turkey. The unexpected plane switch followed months of scrutiny over the luxury gift intended to...

The Pitt led all nominees with 25 in a dominant second season, while Hacks led all comedies with 24 for its final season as the Emmy nominations were announced on Wednesday. HBO Max’s emergency room series The Pitt was a rookie upstart last year with big wins including best drama series, best actor for Noah Wyle and best supporting actress for Katherine LaNasa. Already a beloved veteran show, it owned this year’s acting categories. Wyle was nominated again, as was LaNasa. Taylor Dearden, Fiona...

Spain remained calm in the face of US President Donald Trump’s latest attack on Wednesday – which saw him order a halt to all trade with the country – as Madrid stressed its relationship with Washington remained “positive”. Trump called Spain a “wasted cause” and “hopeless, bad people” during comments to reporters ahead of a Nato leaders’ meeting in Ankara, and ordered officials to cut off trade with the country – the second time Trump has made such a threat since March. The US leader has...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday modestly downgraded its outlook for the world economy this year, citing the energy shock caused by the Iran war. But the fallout from the conflict is being partially offset by booming investment in artificial intelligence and other technologies. The IMF now expects the global economy to expand by a sluggish 3 per cent in 2026, down from 3.5 per cent last year and from the 3.1 per cent it had forecast for this year back in April. The fund expects...

At least two girls have been seriously wounded and a 16-year-old suspect arrested after an attack at a secondary school in the southern German state of Bavaria on Wednesday. The perpetrator appeared to have deliberately targeted the Welfen grammar school in the town of Schongau in a suspected “rampage”, a police spokeswoman said. She was unable to confirm press reports according to which the assailant used a knife in the attack. Local police said on their social media account that “a suspected...

A German palliative care doctor was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for murdering 15 people with lethal doses of sedatives, and he remains under investigation for dozens more killings. The court in Berlin convicted the 41-year-old of killing 12 women and three men during home visits between September 2021 and July 2024. But presiding judge Sylvia Busch said the conviction for 15 murders may well be only a glimpse of his many crimes. Prosecutors said during the proceedings that he was...

In the animated Soviet film The Golden Antelope, inspired by Indian folklore, a magical antelope tries to save a boy from a greedy raja by promising him as much gold as he wants. When she asks whether there can be too much, the raja laughs: “You can never give me too much gold.” But when the gold begins to bury him, he cries “enough” – and loses everything. Today’s financial system risks repeating the raja’s mistake. For too long, rising nominal wealth, asset prices and the fortunes of the ultra...

Norwegian police said on Wednesday that 28 men across seven countries had been arrested in an operation targeting buyers of material depicting sexual abuse of children. Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos), said the men had used the cryptocurrency Monero to pay for access to several forums on the dark web. “We have worked closely with six countries to coordinate the arrests of the identified users who paid with cryptocurrency to gain access to the forums,” police prosecutor...

Russian forces are trying to counter Ukrainian “mid-strike” drone attacks by camouflaging cargoes ⁠and installing powerful jamming systems to disrupt Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system, Ukrainian drone commanders and pilots have said. Kyiv’s development of “mid-strike” drones that can hit targets dozens of kilometres behind front lines accurately and cheaply, and are often flown via Starlink, has transformed the war in Ukraine. In a concerted mid-strike campaign this year, Ukraine...

Apple lost its challenge on Wednesday against landmark EU rules that designate its app stores and operating system iOS as gatekeepers subject to obligations aimed at giving rivals more room to compete. The EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), which sets out a list of dos and don’ts ‌for Big Tech with the threat of fines of as much as 10 per cent of a company’s global annual turnover, has triggered legal challenges by Apple, Meta and ByteDance since it took effect in May 2023. The ruling by the...

As another heatwave rolled across Europe, the warehouses emptied before the politics could catch up. Air conditioners and fans sold out across Spain, Italy and Germany, most of them Chinese. Fan sales in Spain alone on the retail platform of Alibaba Group Holding (which owns the South China Morning Post) nearly doubled last month while Midea Group’s air-conditioner sales in western Europe surged by over 70 per cent in the first six months of the year. A decade from now, such heatwaves may become...

British Columbia said on Tuesday it was preparing a lawsuit against OpenAI over the company’s failure to report violent ChatGPT activity by the person who committed a mass school shooting in the western Canadian province. OpenAI had banned an account linked to Jesse Van Rootselaar in June 2025, months before the 18-year-old transgender woman killed eight people at her home and a school in the tiny mining town of Tumbler Ridge. Canadian families impacted by the February shooting have already...

Workers have started making emergency repairs to stabilise a Manhattan high-rise after buckled columns and sagging floors forced evacuations in and around the midtown construction site. The scene unfolded throughout Tuesday after the precarious conditions were spotted in the morning at the 1970s-era building, which is being converted into luxury flats. Construction workers at the site and people in nearby buildings – including a school, diplomatic offices and several hotels – in the busy...

All charges against a radiologist accused of trying to kill his family in 2023 by driving his car off a cliff along the Northern California coast have been dismissed by a judge following his completion of a mental health programme. Prosecutors charged Dharmesh Patel, 45, with attempted murder after he drove his Tesla off a 276-metre cliff along the Pacific Coast Highway known as “Devil’s Slide”, injuring his wife and two young children. All four survived the January 2, 2023, crash in what one...

Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least seven people as Kyiv’s army said it had hit several Russian tankers, in fresh attacks just hours ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky at a Nato summit. A first large blast in Kyiv was heard shortly after midnight even before the city’s air alert sirens sounded - a rare failure in the system that has spooked residents of the capital. That was followed by a barrage of several more explosions. One...

The US Federal Communications Commission ⁠said on Tuesday it is adding California-based Digitalsystem Technology to a list of companies posing risks to US national security, citing links to Chinese telecoms firms and its ownership by a Chinese national. The FCC also said ‌it was denying the Los Angeles-based IT company permission to provide international telecommunications services, saying it could be exploited by Chinese threat actors. “There is significant risk that the government of China and...

The Iran battlefield might be quieter and diplomacy might have resumed, but the main contest has shifted to the architecture of the Middle East. The question is no longer whether Iran can be contained, the Strait of Hormuz can remain open or another round of escalation can be avoided. The larger issue is who will write the rules after the shock. Three tracks are taking shape. The first is led by the United States and built around the expansion of the Abraham Accords, the integration of Israel...

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez denounced the “ruthless” US embargo against the communist island during a UN General Assembly debate on Tuesday that took place despite diplomatic pressure by Washington to prevent it. “The government of the United States is carrying out against Cuba a multi-dimensional, non-conventional warfare that has already lasted for almost seven decades now and has become ever more cruel and more ruthless during the last seven months,” Rodriguez told the body,...

Colombia’s president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella on Tuesday suspended the transition process with President Gustavo Petro and accused him of planning a coup to stay in power, after the incumbent leader refused to recognise results of the country’s election. Petro said Monday that he refused to recognise de la Espriella’s victory in the June 21 presidential run-off election over the Petro coalition’s candidate Senator Ivan Cepeda, alleging fraud without providing evidence. The conservative,...

At least five women have accused the archbishop of Rabat of sexual assault, according to an Agence France-Presse investigation, prompting the Spanish-born cleric to announce he was “stepping back” on Tuesday while the Vatican holds an inquiry. Agence France-Presse interviewed a retired woman involved in the Church and reviewed the written testimony of another woman who said Cristobal Lopez Romero had sexually assaulted them. The 74-year-old archbishop denied all wrongdoing when contacted by...

The US state of Utah has revoked the licence of a boarding school where socialite Paris Hilton said she was abused as a teenager, saying the school has “failed to provide applicable health and safety services for clients”. The state’s action, which took effect on Monday, cites multiple non-compliance issues against Provo Canyon School’s campus in Springville. The school has 15 days to request a hearing before the Department of Health & Human Services. The wide-ranging citations, which go back to...

A lawsuit claims the Trump administration is unlawfully giving confidential personal information to Iran about Iranians who applied for asylum to avoid “grave danger” in their native country. The US is sharing private data with the Iranian government about asylum applicants including pro-democracy protesters as well as members of religious minorities and the LGBTQ community, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in Washington. Asylum seekers allegedly face deportation back to Iran, where the...

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says he will quit as a lawmaker and seek re-election to clear his name over financial allegations linked to millions of dollars’ worth of donations. “I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money,” Farage, a prominent ally of US President Donald Trump, said in a broadcast statement that did not take questions. Farage faces a probe by parliament’s standards watchdog over a £5 million (US$6.7 million) gift from...

Prince Harry’s final lawsuit aimed at taming the British tabloids ended in defeat on Tuesday as a judge found he failed to prove his privacy invasion claims against the publisher of the Daily Mail. Justice Matthew Nicklin rejected the broad inferences the Duke of Sussex had relied on to try to show that Associated Newspapers had engaged in unlawful activities. The judge said there was a realistic possibility the news came from legitimate sources. The ruling scuttles the lawsuits filed by Harry...

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen ⁠announced on Tuesday that she ⁠will run for president in 2027 after an appeal ⁠court shortened her ban on holding public office. Le Pen’s presidential hopes had been in limbo since March 2025, when she received a five-year electoral ban for using money from the European Parliament to pay wages for staff at her anti-immigrant National Rally (RN) party in France. On Tuesday, the Paris appeal court upheld Le Pen’s conviction for misusing European ‌Parliament...

The European Commission has been clearly signalling its intention to wage a trade war against China. Brussels’ intent to counter the so-called China shock 2.0 – the wave of subsidised Chinese exports such as electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels and batteries – is no longer merely a verbal threat but appears to be an imminent decision. Comparing current trade tensions between the European Union and China with the trade conflict between Europe and Japan in the 1970s and 1980s reveals striking...

Ukraine’s Security Service on Tuesday said it found the body of Ukrainian national Anastasiia Berezovska, who had been wanted by authorities in Monaco in connection with the bombing targeting Ukrainian business tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev. The security service, also known by its local abbreviation SBU, said an officer serving in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency confessed to killing Berezovska with the help of a former law enforcement officer. He claimed he acted on his own initiative and...

Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi led a business delegation to New Delhi for the 16th India-Japan annual summit. During last year’s summit in Tokyo, Takaichi’s predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined the Japan-India Joint Vision for the next decade – during which period India may see up to 10 trillion yen (US$62 billion) in investment from Japan. Some of Japan’s most notable investments in India have been in the financial sector. Japanese...

American officials said they were trying to safeguard maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said it had responded by firing at U.S. bases in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Tyler Robinson came home on the day of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and anxiously paced the floor, Lance Twiggs told investigators in an interview that was played in court.

Also, China and Russia seek to inflame the data center debate. Here’s the latest at the end of Thursday.

The German automaker has struggled to compete with fast-growing Chinese companies that offer more affordable and sophisticated electric vehicles.

State actors in China, Russia and Iran have sought to exploit the U.S. public debate over the effects of the technology.

This year’s boom includes the most spent on global deal-making in a six-month period in a decade. But questions persist about whether it can continue.

Crews installed “temporary shoring” on more floors in the building, and the developer of the project has reassured investors that the project will be completed on time.

A New York Times review of city records shows that the firm, Domani Inspection Services, was repeatedly accused of breaking New York City rules.

The state Democratic Party has said it will pick a replacement through a nominating convention before a July 27 deadline. Candidates are already lining up.

Graham Platner is one of just a handful of candidates in recent decades who have withdrawn from a Senate race after securing a major party nomination.

While shoppers may get better deals on some items, it’s unlikely their overall grocery bill will fall.

Midtown, with its high-rise office buildings and tourist hotels, isn’t hip, but it has become the site of a series of dramatic spectacles this year.

Is the right giving up on America?

How much have the rules of politics changed?

The firings and a resignation render the Election Assistance Commission useless. The moves come as President Trump seeks to impose control over how ballots will be counted in the midterms.