Minimalist News

Diesel Crack Spread Explodes To Record As Wall Street Warns Of Refined-Products "Perfect Storm" Wall Street Warns About "Perfect Storm" Diesel Crunch: Goldman's Daan Struyven Shows Global Diesel Exports Crashing Citi's Anthony Yuen Warns: Global Diesel Inventories " Below 5YR Minimum " BofA's Francisco Blanch Warns: "Diesel's Perfect Summer Storm" Unfolding Jefferies' Sam Burwell Warns: Hormuz Shock " Manifesting Itself In Cracks, Not Crude " Brent crude remains hostage to daily geopolitical developments in the Gulf region more than five months into the conflict, with muted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz ( read the latest US-Iran wrap ) constraining

Treasury Department Ends Ownership Reporting For US Small Businesses Authored by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times , The Treasury Department on Tuesday finalized a rule permanently exempting U.S. companies and individuals from reporting beneficial ownership information to authorities, rolling back Biden-era Corporate Transparency Act requirements. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before the Senate Committee on Appropriations in Washington on June 3, 2026. Madalina Kilroy /The Epoch Times "Today's action is a victory for common sense and American small businesses," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement on Aug. 11. "President [Donald] Trump promised to cut red tape, and

LIS Technologies' New $6.2M Oak Ridge Building Is The Missing Link In Nano's Fuel-To-Reactor Stack LIS Technologies just bought the building that makes the Nano Nuclear vertical-integration story look more like a fuel cycle, instead of a slide deck. The check for $6.2 million purchased K-1580, a 37,803-square-foot, three-story, newly renovated facility at 150 Americus Way on the historic K-25 Enrichment Site of East Tennessee's Technology Park Heritage Center in Oak Ridge, best known as the birth place of the Manhattan Project. It sits next to LIST’s leased K-1330 test-demonstration hall and complements the 206-acre “LIST Island” parcel where the

Paramount Mulling California Exodus Amid Antitrust Scrutiny Authored by Andrew Moran via The Epoch Times, Paramount Skydance could be the next major company to leave California as the media giant faces intensifying antitrust scrutiny over its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery. Makan Delrahim, Paramount’s top legal officer, said the Los Angeles-based company is “committed” to staying in California. But he also noted that the company has “a fiduciary duty to shareholders.” “You have to take a look at the business environment and look to see what’s best for not only the community and the business,” he said at Politico’s The

Tehran's Houthi Proxies Attack Saudi Aramco Again, Crude Spikes, As Iran's Military Command To Be 'More Aggressive' Summary Saudi Aramco attacked again: Houthi drone strikes on a Saudi refinery sent oil prices higher. Hormuz stalemate & standoff: US says it can sustain the Iranian port blockade indefinitely. Iran digs in: Tehran appears prepared for a prolonged war of attrition. Hard-liners rise: Iran reshuffled senior security leadership toward a more aggressive posture. Diplomacy dead-end: Iran says the U.S. has miscalculated, while talks remain deadlocked. * * * Attack on Saudi Aramco Facility Sees Crude Spike Oil prices have spiked Thursday on

​​​​​​​"Abolish NYSE Stock Exchange," Says China-Based Hasan Piker Producer, Mamdani Campaign Alum Far-left influencer Hasan Piker's China-based producer, Eric Hovagim, who also worked on socialist Zohran Mamdani's campaign, has said on recent podcasts and streams that he wants to "ban the American stock market" and has boasted about his relationship with a known Beijing-based propagandist waging an informational war on the US. Hovagim discussed his close friendship with China-based Marxist billionaire Roy Singham , whose network of revolutionary NGOs has been accused of promoting pro-Beijing and communist propaganda through what some describe as a possible foreign subversion network . Via

Private Credit's Problems Just Got Real Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance For most of this year, the private credit story I’ve written about (and warned about) has been about investors trying to get their money out. Now the loans themselves appear to be cracking. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that defaults across several of the largest publicly traded private credit funds have climbed to their highest levels in at least five years , while watchlists of troubled borrowers are simultaneously expanding and investor returns are deteriorating. In other words, the private credit mess I’ve been documenting since last year

Massive Blast Rocks Italian Munitions Plant At Heart Of Europe's Ammo Supply Chain A massive explosion has been reported at a major Italian manufacturer of medium- and large-caliber ammunition , formerly known as Simmel Difesa. The plant operates in Colleferro and Anagni, near Rome. Local Italian outlet Sky TG24 reports: Fire and explosion at Colleferro, in the facility of the former Simmel Difesa, currently owned by KNDS Ammo Italy . The company, located in the Quarto Chilometro area, along via Latina, between Colleferro and Artena, produces medium- and large-caliber ammunition for land and naval defense, as well as solid fuels

All Of Iran's Weapons Today Are Domestic, Missile Production Exceeds Usage: IRGC Official At a moment US officials as well as media headlines have been voicing alarm over depleted US missile stockpiles - something which President Trump sought to bat down as false - Iranian leaders have been busy boasting that their domestic defense production has not only kept pace but even expanded on the local production front. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, Senior Advisor to the IRGC Commander-in-Chief, has been featured in state media as claiming that the production rate of ballistic missiles exceeds their operational launch rate , which comes

The Beautiful Great Game: Extra Time & Penalties By Michael Every of Rabobank Yesterday’s in-line US CPI report was the non-event its relative insignificance vs tumultuous domestic and global backdrops suggested it should be. Meanwhile, in the ‘Beautiful Great Game’, it’s extra time and penalties, medals and champagne for some, and tears for others . Iran remains defiant. Trump says he has “total control” of and “will keep” Hormuz . He’s hoping the UAE can shuttle vastly more refined product through Hormuz under the radar than it already is, as Axios flags, ‘ Diesel desperation is mounting globally .’ Trump

Palantir, Flock, & Data Centers: The Battle Dividing The Right The political right spent much of the last decade united against Big Tech, government surveillance, and the unprecedented expansion of state power during COVID. But the rise of artificial intelligence has brought with it an urgent need for data centers, and firms like Palantir and Flock are providing government with increasingly sophisticated tools for mass-surveillance… severing the coalition that once simultaneously maintained the slogans “back the blue” and “don’t tread on me” . 7pm ET on the ZH home/X feed. Tonight, ZeroHedge Debates takes on the emerging fault line: Is

Dowd: US Disabilities Hit An All-Time High Of 37 Million In July: UP 23% Since Feb 2021 Authored by Ed Dowd via Beyond The Narrative , The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data is out, and the number of Americans ages 16 and over reporting a disability has hit a new all-time high of roughly 37 million. As of July 2026, the Current Population Survey series sits at 37,029,000. That's not a rounding error or a seasonal blip. It's the continuation of a trend that broke higher more than five years ago and has refused to mean-revert. I've been tracking

StubHub Shares Plunge As Weak Outlook Fuels Fears World Cup Pulled Spending Forward StubHub shares plunged 20% in premarket trading as uncertainty surrounding its second-half outlook fueled concerns that World Cup demand temporarily pulled forward discretionary spending on entertainment and events. ..back near four month lows... StubHub's second-quarter results were mixed. Revenue climbed 33% to $573.1 million, beating the $513.3 million Bloomberg consensus estimate, while adjusted EBITDA of $105.7 million also topped expectations. Earnings per share were flat, missing the 9-cent consensus estimate. 2Q26 Earnings Snapshot: Adjusted EBITDA: $105.7 million; estimate: $101.7 million EPS: $0; estimate: $0.09 Revenue: $573.1 million;

Watch: UK PM Wants Every Area In Britain To House Migrants Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , Prime Minister Andy Burnham has decided that "all parts of the country need to play their part." That means middle-class families and leafy villages must now accept large numbers of asylum seekers so the poorest areas are no longer the only ones carrying the load. This approach obviously does nothing to stop the root of the problem, the sheer number of migrants washing up in boats. It simply advertises better accommodation to the next wave of illegal arrivals. 'All parts of

2026 Rate-Hike Expectations Plummet After Cooler-Than-Expected PPI Following yesterday's cooling (in-line) consumer price inflation data (driven in large part by energy deflation), US producer prices were expected to rebound modestly in July from a 0.3% MoM decline (headline) in June. Instead, headline Producer Prices were unchanged MoM (cooler than expected), pushing the annual change down from +5.5% to +4.7% YoY... Source: Bloomberg Core PPI (Ex Food and Energy) also printed cooler than expected (+0.2% MoM vs +0.3% MoM), dragging Core PPI YoY down to +4.2%... Final demand services: Prices for final demand services advanced 0.2 percent in July after rising

Michigan And New York Drive Jump In Initial Jobless Claims, Continuing Claims Near 2-Year-Lows The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time rose to 209k last week, rebounding off the lowest levels since 1969... Michigan and New York saw the largest surge in initial jobless claims last week, while Puerto Rico and Ohio saw the biggest weekly declines... Continuing jobless claims, however, dipped back below 1.8 million Americans, clearly trending lower again... Combined with Friday's disappointing payrolls print, the labor market appears to remain in the 'no hire, no fire' regime. Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2026 -

Former SPLC Exec Arrested: Accused Of Funneling Donor Money To KKK, Neo-Nazi Informants Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) executive Heidi Beirich was arrested in California on Wednesday under a superseding indictment in the Justice Department's ongoing case against the organization, according to a CNN report confirmed by federal officials. Heidi Beirich. What even... Beirich, who directed the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project until 2019, faces three counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to conceal money laundering. She was expected to make an initial appearance in Riverside later

SpaceX Surges Following First Lockup Expiry After Musk Taunts Shorts SpaceX shares have jumped 35% over five sessions and 22% since Elon Musk responded to our X post on the "massive SPCX shorting," which cited S3 data. He said, " I try to warn them, but they just double down .. ." The post-earnings squeeze has pushed SPCX well above its $135 initial public offering price, easing concerns that future lockup expirations could overwhelm demand, which was certainly the talk of the town across institutional desks and on CNBC. About 911.5 million shares became eligible for sale on Aug. 6,

Futures Rise, Just Under Record High Ahead Of PPI Report Futures are higher again, although trading in a narrow range for the past week just below all time highs, with Tech flat following disappointing earnings from CSCO. As of 8:00am ET, S&P 500 futures add 0.2% while Nasdaq futures are unchanged as Cisco shares dropped 6.4% in premarket trading after earnings failed to impress. Elsewhere, Semis are flat, Memory is lower, with Mag7 / Software trading up. Cyclicals and Defensives are trading higher with weakness in Energy / Materials; AI theme remains bid. Price action in Asia was upbeat and

Treasury Proposes Tax-Free Employer Contributions To Trump Accounts Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times , The Department of the Treasury on Aug. 11 issued guidance on employer contributions to Trump Accounts , proposing rules for how companies can run a valid contribution program for their employees. President Donald Trump speaks during the Trump Accounts summit at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington on Jan. 28, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times A Trump Account is a savings and investing account designed to help children get a kickstart to reaching financial wellness and can be opened in the name

Ángel Aguirre indicted in case that rocked Mexico and became symbol of its brutal cartel violence The former governor of Guerrero state in Mexico has been formally charged over his alleged involvement in the disappearance of 43 students in 2014, a case that has become a symbol of the country’s brutal cartel violence and government impunity. Ángel Aguirre, who was arrested last week , is accused of forced disappearance and obstruction of justice for ordering the destruction of surveillance tapes that may have shed light on what happened to the students from the Ayotzinapa teacher training college on the night

Female staff alleged company failed to maintain safe workplace, after allegations of sexual assault against pilot The Canadian airline WestJet has agreed to pay C$4.5m (£2.4m) to settle a decade-long sexual harassment class action lawsuit levelled by its female flight attendants, who alleged the company failed to maintain a safe workplace. The suit followed allegations by Mandalena Lewis, a former flight attendant, that a pilot had sexually assaulted her and a colleague, but that WestJet kept the pilot flying, thereby putting other employees at risk. Continue reading...

Flight from Victoria to Toronto forced to return to terminal after repeated attempts to secure child in seat failed A Canadian airline cancelled a flight from Victoria to Toronto after a child refused to wear a seatbelt. The child was standing in their chair as the 6 August Porter Airlines flight taxied towards the runway, the airline said. Repeated attempts by an accompanying parent and crew to secure the child in their seat failed, so the crew elected to return to the terminal and have the two passengers disembark as “the aircraft could not take off in this unsafe condition”,

Quake of 7.4 magnitude collapses and severely damages buildings in several major cities, including Cali and Pereira More than 100 people died after a powerful earthquake struck western Colombia, collapsing and severely damaging scores of buildings in major cities including Cali and Pereira. The US and Colombian geological surveys reported that a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck at 7.34am local time on Monday, with its epicentre in the western department of Chocó. It was felt in neighbouring Venezuela, still reeling from a deadly double earthquake on 24 June. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed – a full report is here People remain trapped in Cali, one of Colombia’s largest cities, ​after more than two dozen structures ‌collapsed, mayor Alejandro Eder said. ‌ He added that the city had asked authorities in Bogota and Medellin to send disaster teams ‌to support rescue efforts. Continue reading...

Japanese PM says islands seized by Soviets late in second world war are part of her country under international law The Japanese government has reacted angrily to Vladimir Putin’s first visit to the disputed Kuril Islands, which are claimed by both Tokyo and Moscow. Japan’s foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, summoned the Russian ambassador Nikolay Nozdrev, while the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, called Putin’s actions “absolutely unacceptable”. Continue reading...

Incheon airport had 38.39m international passengers in first half of 2026, as traffic diverted from Middle East hubs South Korea’s Incheon airport has become the world’s busiest airport for international passengers, in part owing to disruption in the Middle East caused by the Iran war. The airport, South Korea’s main gateway, about 30 miles (48km) west of Seoul, handled 38.39 million international passengers in the first half of 2026, according to preliminary figures compiled by the Airports Council International (ACI), the global trade body for airports. Continue reading...

Prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul calls for tighter gun controls and ‘decisive penalties’ after nine dead in school shooting Thailand has suspended firearms licences after the deadly Nonthaburi school shooting , as the bodies of the teenage attacker and the grandparents he killed were cremated. The prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, said he had ordered the interior ministry and police to stop issuing licences to possess, purchase and carry firearms, and called for “tighter controls and decisive penalties”. The measures are temporary until a new gun control law is in place, according to government operated news-channel NBT World. Continue reading...

Forecasters warned the Chinese capital could receive more than one-third of its average annual rainfall over 24 hours Thousands of people have been evacuated from areas at risk of flooding and landslides in Beijing, as the remnants of Typhoon Dolphin continue to bring torrential rain to northern and central China. Forecasters warned on Tuesday that the Chinese capital could receive more than 150mm of rain over the following 24 hours, with some districts forecast to exceed 200mm – more than one-third of Beijing’s average annual rainfall of 528mm. Continue reading...

The Comac C919 will fly from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, although experts say it could take generations for it to challenge the west’s dominance of the industry China hopes to break into the world of commercial aviation with the first international flight of a Chinese-made passenger jet scheduled for Wednesday. The Comac C919 will take off from Beijing capital international airport at 3pm, landing in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, just over two hours later. Continue reading...

Exclusive: The videos, filmed at anti-One Nation rallies, were posted to party’s social pages and appear to be endorsed by Pauline Hanson Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The owners of a progressive social media page have accused One Nation of impersonating them at anti-Pauline Hanson rallies while shooting a series of “undercover” videos. Hanson’s party has recently published a string of videos with a young male host attending leftwing protests. In the clips – published on pages owned by One Nation and Hanson on Instagram, TikTok and X – a party staffer seeks

Several firms promised to disrupt the consumer credit market by offering consumers their purchases instantly and the bill later. Did it work? Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Afterpay has never turned a profit in Australia. Last month, it spent millions to take over a Sydney Olympic Park arena. The company says Afterpay Arena will be the first venue where Australians can “buy now, pay later” for their event tickets, merchandise, dinner and even alcohol. Continue reading...

Two planes came close to collision on the runway on Sunday – hours after another near miss – making a total of three in recent weeks Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The transport safety watchdog is investigating a a third near-collision between two planes at Sydney airport – the latest incident occurring hours after one that made national news and raised concerns about air traffic control. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said on Thursday night that it was investigating a second “runway incursion” on Sunday 9 August . Continue reading...

Foreign affairs minister and first Asian-Australian to serve in federal cabinet to use Lowy Institute address to criticise politicians stoking racial divisions Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Labor has escalated its pushback on One Nation’s surging political support, with the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, labelling Pauline Hanson’s push for a monoculture a “melancholic fantasy” that would harm national security. Wong, the first Asian-Australian to serve in federal cabinet, will use a major address at The Lowy Institute on Friday to criticise politicians stoking racial divisions, insisting the country’s multicultural success remains a

Dineth Fernando – who moved to Australia with his family in February – says he just needed to ‘find the word and play – that’s all’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Dineth Fernando’s first language isn’t English and he only arrived in Melbourne six months ago – but already he’s claimed an international Scrabble title with an Australian flag draped around his shoulders. The 13-year-old won the 2026 world youth Scrabble championships in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi over the weekend, becoming the third Australian representative in the competition’s history to take out

Figures emerge in critical letter to Home Office from organisation appointed to scrutinise detention facilities Nearly 100 children have been wrongly identified and detained as adults under Shabana Mahmood’s “one in, one out” deal with France, the Guardian can disclose. Home Office staff said that of 304 age-disputed cases arising from the scheme over nine months, 94 (31%) – were ultimately found to be minors. Children are supposed to be excluded from the scheme, while government policy limits immigration detention of unaccompanied children to 24 hours. Had been awaiting deportation for more than six months, despite being supposed be held

A former UK government scientific adviser warned amid the ‘shattering’ heat that worse is still to come Met Office has just offered an update on temperatures across the UK, with several stations already reporting temperatures above 30C – and it’s not even 11am. It’s 30.4C in Wych Cross, 30.3C in Charlwood, 30.2C at Kenly Airfield. Continue reading...

Kyiv reportedly suggested mutual agreement in attempt to reopen crucial grain corridor Ukraine has proposed a deal with Russia for both sides to halt their attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea in an apparent attempt to reopen a crucial grain corridor, Reuters reports. Kyiv is said to have made the offer through a third party. Moscow has yet to respond, the news agency added. The busy waterway is a key export route for both Russia and Ukraine, used to transport grain and other vital foodstuffs worldwide. Continue reading...

Kew Gardens in London hits 38.1C and 40C-plus recorded in parts of Europe with continent trapped under heat dome Europe heatwave – latest updates The UK has recorded its hottest day of the year so far with a provisional temperature of 38.1C in southern England as Europe sweltered under a major heat dome. As temperatures on the continent surpassed 40C at the peak of the summer’s fifth heatwave, the thermometer at Kew Gardens in west London on Thursday surpassed the previous high of 38C on 28 June, the Met Office said. Continue reading...

Readers recall the breathtaking sight and community spirit of the rare celestial treat – and the handmade contraptions they saw it through On Wednesday evening, millions of people in Europe watched a rare solar eclipse . We asked some of them to share their photographs and experiences of this celestial treat. Here are some of their responses. Continue reading...

Settlers and soldiers cut off water and electricity to homes, and block medical care in campaign of terror Israeli militants have besieged two Palestinian families in their homes since the weekend, aiming to take over their properties in the West Bank village of Qusra through a campaign of terror. A group of settlers and soldiers set up a tent outside the home of Yousef Hassan’s family on Sunday afternoon, trapping him inside with his wife and two young daughters. Continue reading...

Emergency services, residents and environmental groups say military dropping flares to destroy forests and crops Firefighters and residents of south Lebanon have accused the Israeli military of lighting wildfires in the region, as forested areas burned down in blazes sparked by Israeli bombing. Environmental groups said the fires in recent weeks were part of a longstanding Israeli practice of targeting Lebanon’s natural environment. Continue reading...

Lawsuit challenges executive order targeting international criminal court for investigating Israeli crimes in Palestine Four prominent US human rights organizations have accused the Trump administration of using its “crippling” sanctions regime against the international criminal court (ICC) to undermine global efforts to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity. In a lawsuit filed in federal court on Tuesday, the groups – the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Institute – argued that the administration’s targeting of the ICC, as well as of groups and individuals affiliated with it or assisting

Verdict relates to atrocities committed during the country’s 14-year civil war in which about 500,000 people died A Syrian court has sentenced the country’s former president Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes during the 14-year civil war, in which about half a million people died. The two men fled to Moscow after being ousted by a lightning rebel offensive in December 2024 which toppled the dictatorial regime in just 11 days . Continue reading...

An Amnesty International report reveals that the country is now a key part of Israel’s weapons supply chain. Plus, Assam floods, student anger spreads and a song to put in rotation • Don’t get This is India delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Hello, and welcome back to This Is India. For this week’s newsletter, I’m looking at India’s evolving relationship with Israel, and how it has deepened as conflict swept across the Middle East. Why is it that India has formed an even closer bond with a country that has faced mounting international isolation and backlash over a

Kyaw Zwar Minn was ousted for declaring loyalty to Aung San Suu Kyi after 2021 coup but refused to leave his home Myanmar’s ousted ambassador to the UK has gone on trial on trespassing charges for refusing to leave a diplomatic residence after being unceremoniously locked out of the embassy in 2021. Shortly after Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021, triggering mass protests that spiralled into a civil war, Kyaw Zwar Minn was locked out of the embassy for declaring his loyalty to the deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Continue reading...

The wild capture and release of a female big cat into a nature reserve is the first step towards reintroducing a population that hasn’t been seen for 70 years On 31 July, “Umit” – which means hope in Kazakh – was released into a nature reserve on the edge of Lake Balkhash after more than a decade of careful planning to return the caspian tiger to the region. With this release, Kazakhstan became the first country to restore its tiger range after they had been thought extinct, with the last reliable sighting in the country recorded more than 70 years

Demonstrators accuse authorities of failing to tackle irregularities in exams for sought-after civil service jobs Thousands of angry young job-seekers clashed with police in Jharkhand, one of India’s poorest states, on Monday as a weeks-long protest over alleged irregularities in recruitment drives for coveted government jobs escalated into a march on the state legislature. Police fired water cannon and teargas and swung batons as they tried to stop flag-waving demonstrators from clambering over barricades and surging towards the assembly in Ranchi, the state capital. Some of the protesters responded by dancing and cheering as jets of water drenched the crowd.

Mohammad Akhtar, 50, from Peterborough killed during clashes between authorities and protesters A British national was shot dead in Pakistan-administered Kashmir during clashes between security forces and protesters, the Guardian can reveal. Another Briton has been held in a regional prison for more than two months despite his family’s efforts to secure his release through the Foreign Office. Continue reading...

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

Major disruption to services in the area but no deaths or serious injuries reported after train comes off tracks A passenger train has derailed between Haywards Heath and Lewes in East Sussex, prompting a rapid emergency response in the area. Images of the aftermath appeared to show passengers standing on top of the toppled carriages while others could be seen in an area of heathland alongside emergency workers. Continue reading...

Greater use of private rental properties would form part of PM’s plan to spread accommodation more evenly across UK Ministers are considering paying higher prices for housing asylum seekers in private rental properties as part of Andy Burnham’s plan to spread accommodation more evenly across the country. The shift towards more private rental accommodation, known as “dispersal”, and the use of former military barracks, are cheaper than expensive hotels for asylum seekers. Continue reading...

Murderer and serial sex offender sexually assaulted female staff member in HMP Brixton but was still released Mark Rowley, the Met commissioner, has sparked disquiet within the Prison Service after questioning why the murderer and serial sex offender Simon Levy was released from jail after sexually assaulting a female prison officer. The UK’s most senior police officer said he “did not understand” why Levy, who went on to kill two women, was let out of HMP Brixton in south London. Continue reading...

Companies in England and Wales get green light for extra spending that will add billions to bills Andy Burnham has said he is angry with water companies for treating their customers as a “bottomless source of funding” after more than a dozen firms were given the green light to raise bills even higher. The prime minister said the companies must not be allowed to treat bill payers like a “blank cheque”, after Ofwat, the regulator, approved proposals for billions of pounds of spending on repairs and infrastructure. Continue reading...

This year’s festival is superpowered by a strong year for Scottish cinema, showing it can thrive under the ‘four dimensional perpetual catch-22’ of global ambitions • Borges, ballet and BDSM: Peter Bradshaw’s 10 must-see movies at Edinburgh international film festival Now that its disastrous collapse and speedy rebirth is a trauma slowly receding in the rear-view mirror, the Edinburgh international film festival can set its sights on bigger things. Apart from its traditional role providing a showcase for the best of current world cinema, the festival has an ace up its sleeve for 2026: the undeniable confidence and conspicuous achievement

In May, a judge issued a temporary block on Trump’s demand to close the arts institution for renovations after the board – mostly handpicked by the president – voted unanimously in favor Sign up for the Breaking News US email Donald Trump’s executive order on vaccines does not change the US recommendations for the shots – but experts say it does create confusion and doubt about vaccines, which will lead to more illness and possibly deaths among children and will make it harder for families and pediatricians to protect them. The executive order was an attempt to reinstate sweeping changes

Study of 56m-year-old leaves counters claims from Trump administration members of ‘benefits’ of fossil fuel pollution Adding huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is set to cause the Earth’s forests to wither and die rather than flourish, according to a new study that counters erroneous claims that fossil fuel pollution will green the planet. An analysis of fossilized leaf cells from a period known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (or PETM), which occurred about 56 million years ago, has helped reconstruct how the world’s forests responded when planet-heating gases were previously being released at a rapid rate. Continue

State department says it has reached administrative settlement with company’s US arm to resolve breaches The UK defence company BAE Systems is to pay a $36m (£26.7m) civil penalty after breaching US arms exports regulations more than 100 times. The US Department of State announced on Thursday that it had reached an administrative settlement with the US arm of BAE to resolve 104 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Continue reading...

Federal court rules administration failed to plausibly show ongoing violation of civil rights law A US federal ⁠judge ⁠has dismissed ​the Trump administration’s lawsuit that ⁠claimed ​Harvard ‌University failed ‌to protect Jewish ‌and Israeli students from harassment in the aftermath of the war in Gaza. In a ruling on Thursday morning, US district ‌judge Richard Stearns in ​Boston said the administration’s lawsuit – ⁠ filed in March – failed to plausibly ​show ​an ongoing ​violation ‌of ​federal ​civil rights law on Harvard’s campus. Continue reading...

Defense secretary said conditions on aircraft carrier deployed in support of Iran war have been ‘completely misrepresented’ The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, insisted a wave of reports describing deteriorating conditions and mental health struggles onboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln “completely misrepresented” the situation, pushing back against growing congressional pressure over the ship’s record-breaking, nearly nine-month deployment. “We make sure every ship, every crew, every captain has everything we can provide them at every single moment,” Hegseth told reporters during a visit to Panama, adding that “some deployments are longer than others” and praising sailors enduring “high seas”

The US military campaign against Iran has so far failed to force Tehran to capitulate. The Trump administration is betting once again that suffocating economic pressure will do the job. Facing a shortfall of necessary munitions and wary of continuing an unpopular war, Trump and his top officials are returning to a familiar playbook with Iran: relying on a steady increase in economic sanctions and a naval blockade to stifle oil exports. The renewed emphasis on economic pain – it was dubbed...

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited on Thursday Russia’s far eastern Kuril Islands for the first time, prompting a “strong” protest by Japan which also claims the territory. Russian-Japanese relations have long been dogged by tensions over the contested islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and seized by the Soviet Union in 1945. The Kremlin posted a video of Putin in the Kuril Islands, with Russian media saying he visited a fish-processing plant where he was given...

Nurses are collapsing at work as they endure extreme heat in buildings that are proving unfit for the record temperatures gripping Britain. Conditions are “inhumane”, the Royal College of Nursing said on Thursday. Members have reported temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in UK hospital wards and care homes, often without access to air conditioning, fans or even to windows that open, the RCN said. As Britain sweats through its fifth heatwave of the year, record...

Three of Russia’s largest grain terminals in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk have halted operations after being damaged in a massive overnight drone attack by Ukraine. Grain shipments from Novorossiysk are currently impossible because of serious damage to terminal infrastructure, people familiar with the matter said. A loading gallery at United Grain’s Novorossiysk Grain Plant collapsed after the strikes and several silos were damaged, the people said, while a gallery and truck unloading...

Tonnes of aid from regional partners began to roll into Colombia on Wednesday, as the search for survivors in the rubble of a powerful earthquake grew more desperate after the temblor razed buildings, buckled roads and crushed cars. The devastation has tested Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, and his government as it scrambles to respond to the disaster and civil society as it pushes to provide aid to the most affected communities. De la Espriella said on Wednesday evening that...

China said on Wednesday it would help Colombia recover from the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck the country’s west on Monday, killing more than 200 people. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing would do what it could in suitable ways, in line with what Colombia requested, in response to questions from Xinhua and Telesur at a briefing in Beijing. Guo said no Chinese nationals had been reported killed or injured in the disaster, and that the embassy in Bogota was “working to...

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to hold the role, will leave at month’s end, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday. Leavitt, 28, just recently returned to the White House after taking a brief leave for the birth of her second child in May. Leavitt has been one of the most visible advocates of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. The Republican president described her as one of his “most trusted aides” in a social media post announcing her...

Day briefly turned to night in Spain on Wednesday, as the country witnessed its first total solar eclipse in more than a century, plunging it into eerie darkness in one of nature’s greatest spectacles. The spectral glow of the sun’s outer corona, shimmering out of the edges of the shadowy moon, drew gasps and cheers from huge crowds, just 90 minutes after it first appeared in the remote Arctic region of northern Russia. “It’s a sight I never would have imagined seeing,” said Isabel Troyano, a...

Eurovision Song Contest organisers announced rule changes on Wednesday excluding any country in an armed conflict from hosting the competition and increasing the minimum age of competitors. While they did not mention any country by name, Israel, which has been at war in Gaza since 2023, came close to winning the competition in both 2025 and 2026, ultimately finishing second on each occasion. Under the old rules, the winning country normally hosts the following year’s competition. Under the new...

Israel on Wednesday carried out its first air strike in more than a week in Gaza, both sides said, breaking a relative lull as the US pressed a peace plan. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas commander, charging that he had been planning attacks against Israeli forces operating in the war-battered territory. “The terrorist was struck in an aerial strike in order to remove the threat to IDF troops,” a military statement said, adding that it tried to mitigate civilian harm. Gaza’s civil...

Spectacular images of lava flowing down the slopes of an erupting Mount Etna have drawn flocks of tourists to the Italian volcano – to the worry of local guides. The tallest active volcano in Europe, Etna has been spewing ash and lava for days, forcing the closure of the nearby Catania airport, a key gateway for tourists visiting the island of Sicily. Companies that organise nighttime hikes allowing participants to watch the eruption up close say they have been flooded with calls. “They all want...

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he hoped more countries would join a defence agreement signed last week between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan aimed at stabilising a region wracked by conflict. The so-called Mecca Joint Defence Agreement was signed on Friday as the Middle East grapples with fallout from the US-Iran war, which has dragged in regional players and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. “Our vision for it is not limited to the three...

US soybean growers are “adapting” to a steep decline in China-bound exports by selling to third countries and the American biofuel sector, compensating enough to cause only a small drop in production, according to a top trade association’s chief economist. In November, Beijing committed to buy at least 25 million tonnes of American soybeans annually through 2028, as part of an agreement reached after China stopped the purchases during US President Donald Trump’s trade war in early 2025. But just...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday threatened retaliation for Western seizures of its commercial vessels, describing them as “piracy.” Speaking on a visit to a Russian warship that was taking part in a naval exercise in the Pacific, Putin described the Western moves to detain vessels linked to Russia as a breach of international maritime law. “It’s nothing but piracy and robbery,” Putin said. “If this is done, we will be forced to respond in kind.” He added that the Russian response...

While rising trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels continue to dominate headlines, Chinese exporters face a far more immediate and concrete threat: the boxes, wraps, and plastic bags protecting their goods. On Wednesday, the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) became applicable across the bloc. Replacing a 1994 directive, the regulation sets requirements for every piece of packaging placed on the EU market, covering chemical restrictions, recyclability,...

When Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian told state television last week that he found it “very difficult” to reach the country’s supreme leader, it sparked fresh speculation about the whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei who has not been seen in public since taking over as the country’s ultimate authority in March. By Monday, Pezeshkian told the official broadcaster that the two had in fact recently held a meeting lasting “seven or eight hours”. “It was a very good meeting,” Pezeshkian told a...

Colombian rescuers pulled a 32-year-old woman alive from the rubble of a collapsed building on Tuesday, sparking cheers and applause as exhausted crews raced to find more survivors from the country’s strongest earthquake in a century. Daniela Largo was carried from the wreckage wrapped in a blue blanket as rescuers embraced and relatives shouted out with joy. Soldiers, firefighters and volunteers continued to scour collapsed buildings across western Colombia after Monday’s 7.4-magnitude...

US President Donald Trump deflected criticisms about a decision to secretly fly him out of Turkey on a different aircraft while the White House indicated he was aboard Air Force One, saying the Secret Service and military demanded it in response to unspecified safety threats. “They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday after deplaning Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews...

Diego Maradona showed “warning signs” that went unheeded during the home hospitalisation leading up to his death in 2020, a witness on Tuesday told the trial examining the Argentine football legend’s demise. Seven healthcare professionals have been on trial since mid-April in Argentina for potential negligence that may have contributed to his death. The World Cup winner died of heart failure and acute pulmonary oedema – a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs – two weeks after...

A US helicopter on Tuesday fired missiles into the engine room of a Panama-flagged cargo ship that attempted to break the American blockade of Iran’s ports, the United States military said. The US Navy MH-60 helicopter fired on and disabled the M/V Vela Nova “after the ship’s civilian crew ignored repeated warnings from American forces”, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media, adding that the vessel “is no longer transiting to Iran in violation of the US blockade”. It was initially...

Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least 10 people overnight and wounded dozens, Kyiv said on Tuesday, accusing Moscow of launching North Korean missiles in the raid. The allegation comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned – without providing evidence – that Moscow was receiving more ballistic projectiles and troops from its ally Pyongyang. Russia has turned to North Korea for support throughout its four-and-a-half-year invasion. Earlier in the war, Pyongyang dispatched...

Israel and Venezuela announced on Tuesday that they had renewed consular relations 17 years after diplomatic ties were severed between the two countries. The move comes after Israel sent an aid and disaster response delegation to Venezuela in June following devastating twin earthquakes that left thousands dead. It also follows the United States’ toppling of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolas Maduro in a January military raid, with interim President Delcy Rodriguez now running the country under...

Canadian police on Tuesday charged a man with making a bomb threat against the US consulate in Halifax, the latest security incident involving an American diplomatic post in Canada after two shootings at the US consulate in Toronto this year. Several streets downtown were evacuated after Halifax Regional Police found a car linked to the suspect, Ali Assakereh, parked near the consulate on Monday morning. The vehicle contained a propane tank and containers believed to hold flammable liquids,...

Human Rights Watch and three other advocacy groups sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to challenge its campaign against the International Criminal Court, arguing that sanctions against ICC judges and prosecutors are undermining the ability to prosecute people responsible for humanity’s worst crimes. The complaint – filed in the Southern District of New York – says that US President Donald Trump’s executive order last year targeting The Hague-based criminal court and the US sanctions issued...

Moscow on ⁠Tuesday freed a former US marine jailed in Russia ⁠since 2022 after Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a pardon for the ailing American based on humanitarian reasons, US officials said. The White House and the State Department had urged Moscow to release Robert Gilman, 32, so he could receive medical treatment in the United States. “After my discussions with President Vladimir Putin, Russia has agreed to release him, very much on a Humanitarian Basis,” US President Donald Trump...

At least 14 suspected illegal miners were killed and eight injured when a mine dump collapsed in South ‌Africa’s North West province on Monday night, police said. Search and rescue operations are under way for an unknown number of people who may still be trapped at the site ⁠near Rustenburg, provincial police commissioner Arthur Peter Adams said. The collapse ‌occurred as the miners were digging for platinum group metals at a ‌disused dump on a private company’s site, Adams ⁠said. The ⁠injured...

Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday approved former supreme court chief Andras Baka, a critic of Viktor Orban who was fired during the ex-premier’s time in power, as the country’s next head of state. The post became vacant following the contested removal last month of the previous president, an Orban ally, as pro-EU conservative Prime Minister Peter Magyar pushes to loosen his predecessor’s lingering hold over state institutions. Parliament, where the ruling Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority,...

In a landmark change to Lebanon’s penal system, the country’s parliament on Tuesday approved legislation abolishing the death penalty, replacing it with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labour, the state-run National News Agency reported. The vote makes Lebanon the first Arab country to formally abolish the death penalty. Justice Minister Adel Nassar, who attended the parliamentary session, described the vote as a “historic step” for Lebanon. The measure was approved by a majority of the...

A nuclear plant in northern France shut down three reactors after a swarm of jellyfish clogged pumps used to cool the units, energy group EDF said on Tuesday. Three reactors were taken offline on Monday and output at a fourth was cut by half, EDF said in a statement, leaving just one operating at full capacity. A sixth reactor was already offline for scheduled maintenance. “This situation has no impact on the safety of the facilities, the safety of personnel, or the environment,” EDF...

A Syrian court sentenced ousted leader ⁠Bashar al-Assad ⁠to death on Tuesday ⁠after a trial in absentia, convicting him of crimes including killings, torture, and arbitrary arrest during the country’s nearly 14-year war. It was the first conviction against ‌Assad, who was ousted in a rebel offensive in December 2024 that ended decades of his family’s iron-fisted rule over Syria and the brutal war that killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians. Assad fled the capital Damascus as rebel fighters...

US President Donald Trump secretly flew out of Turkey last month on a smaller plane than previously known due to an assassination threat from Iran, The Washington Post reported on Monday. According to an anonymous US official who spoke to the Post, Trump boarded an Air Force One jet in Ankara on July 8, but then moved into a catering container attached to the plane. The container then ferried him to a smaller C-32A aircraft that flew him to Britain, while media and some officials were led to...

Despite representing nearly half the world’s population, accounting for about a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product and covering more than 60 per cent of the Eurasian land mass, the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the international arena remains relatively limited. While the SCO has long been a priority in China’s neighbourhood diplomacy, the grouping also serves as a platform through which all member states pursue their own foreign policy goals. What would it take for...

US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations that promote his long-held but discredited theory that childhood vaccines should be spaced out into separate medical visits. The order advocates separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different single-disease shots and administering all childhood immunisations at separate appointments whenever possible. It also directs the nation’s health department to...

US President Donald Trump has extended for 90 days a waiver allowing foreign-flagged ships to transport oil and other commodities between US ports but imposed new limits after shipbuilders and their allies in ‌Congress argued the policy was undermining the domestic maritime industry, the White House said. The extension, finalised on Monday, comes as the war with Iran disrupts global crude flows and pushes up fuel costs, increasing pressure on the administration to find ways to ease transport...

China has asked to join World Trade Organization consultations that Brazil opened against US tariffs of up to 37.5 per cent. Beijing filed the request in Geneva on Monday, telling the trade body it held a substantial commercial interest in the case. The move was first reported by the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo and independently confirmed to the South China Morning Post by a Brazilian government source. In the request, China said Washington could apply comparable measures to Chinese...

US President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, was sworn in on Monday as attorney general after a bruising confirmation fight that exposed bipartisan concerns about the Justice Department’s direction under the Republican president. Another former Trump lawyer – Emil Bove, now a federal appeal court judge – administered the oath of office to Blanche at the White House following early Saturday’s Senate confirmation vote by the narrowest of margins. Soon after, the newly sworn-in...

A US judge on Monday dismissed criminal charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, after the Justice Department said it had decided to abandon the fraud and bribery case. Brooklyn-based US District Judge Nicholas ‌Garaufis’ decision to grant federal prosecutors’ rare bid to toss the case came after he inquired into their reasons for doing so, including by asking Adani whether anything was promised in exchange for the dropping of the case. In November 2024, before the charges were unsealed,...

Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer questioned her psychiatrist’s expertise, prescribing decisions and overall treatment as the defence sought on Monday to suggest that the mental healthcare system overlooked and even accelerated the Massachusetts mother’s decline in the months before she killed her three young children. In questioning Dr Jennifer Tufts, defence lawyer Kevin Reddington highlighted her use of 25-minute video appointments with limited time for talk therapy, the computerised forms that...

A US appeal court on Monday allowed thousands of lawsuits to move forward against Meta ⁠Platforms, Alphabet’s Google, ByteDance’s TikTok, and other ⁠social media companies over claims they designed their products to ⁠be addictive to young users. The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the companies’ bid to reverse a lower court’s ruling forcing them to face some 2,400 lawsuits over the claims filed in federal court. The companies, which also include Snap Inc’s Snapchat,...

A group of US investment giants are partnering with Nvidia on US$500 billion in funding for AI infrastructure projects, the Financial Times reported. Apollo Global Management, Blackstone, BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, Brookfield Asset Management, Goldman Sachs and KKR are among the firms in talks with Nvidia on a deal to invest in the AI buildout, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified sources. The deal may be announced as soon as Monday, the Times said. The named firms...

Russia’s Supreme Court barred the liberal Yabloko party on Monday from contesting September’s parliamentary elections, sidelining the only officially registered party that opposes Moscow’s ‌war in Ukraine. More than four years after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the decision highlights the authorities’ intolerance of anti-war views and further narrows the already limited space for dissent in Russian politics. “The decision will ⁠be appealed. Friends, let’s not despair,” the party said in ‌a...

Some 71.3 per cent of England is in drought, the UK government said on Monday, after the nation experienced its driest July on record, with a fifth heatwave and scant rain forecast for the week ahead. Parks and fields that are usually green at this point in the year were parched and yellow, according to Agence France-Presse photos, as river levels dwindled and farmers battling low crop yields warned of possible food shortages. “Almost three-quarters of England is now in drought as conditions...

The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record started in February, months before it was officially declared in mid-May, the World Health Organization said on Monday, as responders in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) struggle to catch up. The WHO regional director for Africa, Mohamed Yakub Janabi, told a press conference that sequencing indicated the outbreak’s start. He said some cases early in the outbreak were wrongly attributed to malaria and typhoid. “So we are chasing the virus,...

Colombian volunteers and rescuers sifted through rubble with bare hands and buckets on Monday, hunting for survivors following a massive 7.4 magnitude quake that has claimed the lives of at least 181 people and levelled more than a hundred homes and office buildings. The quake struck several cities across Colombia’s picturesque coffee region and Pacific shortly after 7.30am (local time), sending panicked residents onto the streets and damaging at least 1,500 buildings. “People ran out naked,...

Thames Water has handed a delayed £1 million (US$1.35 million) “golden handshake” payment to its chief financial officer and agreed controversial retention payouts to top bosses despite its battle to secure its financial future. The stricken supplier, which is sinking under a debt pile of more than £20 billion, disclosed in a letter to the Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs Committee that it had made the so-called signing-on payment to Steve Buck at the end of July from an emergency lending...

Ahead of Wisconsin’s Democratic primary for governor, a past tweet by the assemblywoman that called for the holiday to be canceled was resurfaced.

He is charged with stalking resulting in the death of an executive, but the specifics of his plea were unclear. A murder trial in state court is set for next month.

A bill would allow Jews to identify themselves as an ethnic group on state forms. Supporters argue it’s a step toward acknowledging the complex nature of Jewish identity.

Bob Iger, the former chief executive of Disney, and Josh Kushner, the venture capitalist, are buying the Los Angeles Lakers. Their wives set them up.

As convents are closing all over, the sisters are facing the end of their lives together — and they have brought the party to an assisted living center in the suburbs.

Live audio, a new format and new voices have transformed and unsettled the court’s signature public ceremony.

Is the administration defying the court or pursuing lawful alternatives?

A U.S. oil company says it could be on the verge of a major discovery in Greenland. The proposal comes at a tricky time for the Arctic island, and locals are lining up against it.

Tributes for former Premier Zhu Rongji reflect nostalgia for an era when China was opening to the world and the future seemed more prosperous and hopeful.

Tributes to the former premier recalled his spirited style and his efforts to integrate China into global commerce, in contrast with the rigidity of the Xi era.

Even at a time of anti-immigration politics, there has never been a richer variety of Mexican restaurants in the United States.

Our favorite choices for seafood from Sonora, carnitas from Michoacán, chalupas from Pueblo and so much more.

Is Kansas just the beginning?

The signs point to Hamas being serious about disarming. The recent Board of Peace plan for it to surrender its weapons should be carried out.

We’re sharing photos from yesterday’s total solar eclipse.