Minimalist News

What Happened To The So-Called AI Job Apocalypse? Authored by Joe Bertolami via RealClearMarkets , A recent report from Stanford reviewed the latest employment data and found that, so far, AI has not resulted in large scale job destruction. Meanwhile, new hiring data from the Economic Times reveals that AI is actively fueling unprecedented job creation, with AI skills now powering nearly two-thirds of new Global Capability Center hiring. Together, these recent dispatches from the front lines of the labor market point to a calming reality: the much-dreaded AI job apocalypse hasn't materialized as a sudden extinction event. The (sometimes

CDC Reports COVID-19 Activity Is Increasing Across US The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday said COVID-19 activity is "increasing" across the United States although its levels are still considered "very low" overall. "As of August 26, 2026, we estimate that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 48 states , declining or likely declining in zero states, and not changing in two states," the CDC said on Friday. Overall community viral activity levels, or a measurement of the virus in wastewater levels, for COVID-19 is considered by the CDC to be "very low." Emergency department visits

The Monumental Mistake Of Raising Rates In September Authored by Daniel Lacalle, Three members of the Federal Open Market Committee voted to raise rates in July. However, the Committee held the federal funds target at 3.5%-3.75% by a 9-3 vote. Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and J.P. Morgan all expect a September hike. Across the Atlantic, the European Central Bank raised rates by 25 basis points in June and is expected to raise them again in September. It would be a monumental mistake. The diagnosis is wrong on both sides of the Atlantic. There is no overheating, no private credit

Barclays Warns Next Commodity Shock Is Taking Shape: What You Need To Know Wall Street coverage of a record-breaking Super El Niño is only growing as agricultural commodities break out. Yet the rally extends well beyond the agricultural complex , with industrial metals and other critical materials showing signs of tightness in physical markets. Whether it is veteran commodities strategist Jeff Currie turning bullish or UBS urging clients this week to " position for a commodity upcycle ," the message is becoming louder: Commodity markets are tightening as adverse weather, years of underinvestment, declining inventories, and China's restrictions on critical-material

Who Is Legally Liable When An AI Agent Goes Rogue? Authored by Andrew Fenton via CoinTelegraph.com, If your personal AI agent goes rogue and causes harm or financial damage in the real world, can you be held liable? Autonomous AI agents can behave in highly unpredictable ways. Give an AI Agent a goal such as passing a test of its capabilities, and it might just decide the best way to score highly is to break containment and hack into a competing company in search of the answer sheet. That’s what happened when Open AI’s GPT-5.6 Sol hacked into Hugging Face

X Busts Suspected Chinese Bot Farm That Could 'Manipulate Legitimate Debate' Over America's AI Boom Social media giant X said on Thursday that it identified a bot farm of roughly 200,000 suspected Chinese accounts – 200 of which were "posting in a manner that could manipulate a legitimate debate about American AI and energy policy." In short: the bots were amplifying pitchfork grievances Americans already hold against data centers. Dec. 1, 2025: Rural Michigan residents rally against the $7 billion Stargate data center planned on southeast Michigan farm land. (Photo by: Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) X's Global

You Should Feel Good About The Flock Debate Authored by Connor O'Keeffe In a year as chaotic, violent, and economically destructive as this one has been, it is interesting that, to many Americans, the great villain of 2026 is turning out to be a traffic camera. But, indeed, we are seeing visceral, cross-partisan opposition to so-called Flock cameras—named after the leading manufacturer of these automated license plate readers—take hold in communities across the country. And that opposition is, to be sure, entirely legitimate. Flock’s camera networks are based on the idea that, while it would obviously be illegal and unconstitutional

Have We Really Learnt The Lessons Of The GFC? Authored by Richard Ryan via BondVigilantes.com, It is 20 years ago this month that I sat in a pitch and listened to an investment bank describe their latest stroke of genius. In 2006, the Constant Proportion Debt Obligation (CPDO) was hailed as a financial innovation that appeared to offer something for nothing: a AAA-rated security paying a meaningful premium over cash. It was a structure that increased leverage as credit markets weakened . Investors embraced it because the future seemed visible. Credit spreads had been stable for years, liquidity was abundant,

Watch: Russian Military Conducts Test Of Huge Mobile ICBM Russia on Friday unveiled that it conducted a successful combat training launch of a mobile, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the northwestern Arkhangelsk region - host to a key missile defense and aeronautical testing base in the Arctic region. "A training-combat launch of a mobile-based solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile was carried out at the Plesetsk State Testing Cosmodrome," a defense ministry statement said, citing the work of the Strategic Missile Forces. "The training warheads arrived in the designated area at the Kura test range (Kamchatka Peninsula)." The

Mamdani Begs Capitalists At The Adult Table For Help Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance There is something genuinely entertaining about watching a socialist discover the private sector. For years, Zohran Mamdani has treated capitalism less like the engine that keeps New York City alive and more like an unfortunate infestation to be taxed, regulated and occasionally yelled at from the sidewalk outside a billionaire’s apartment. Now, eight months into running the city, Mamdani appears to have made an ironic discovery: He needs people who know how an economy actually works to help him. On Thursday, the mayor announced a 15

Russia Hits Kiev Ammo Dump Next To Homes; Ukraine Admits 90% Of Retail Food Logistics Wrecked A Russian drone struck a Ukrainian Defense Forces ammunition storage site in the village of Myla Friday evening, just west of Kiev. The resulting fire and hours of secondary detonations killed at least 37 people , injured dozens more , damaged around 50 residential buildings and a care home for the elderly and disabled, and forced the evacuation of hundreds. Among the dead was the local community head who had gone to help. Here are some close-up shots from yesterday's explosion at an ammunition

Trump Establishes Space Academy, Awards Medals Of Honor To Artemis II Astronauts Authored by Travis Gillmore via The Epoch Times , President Donald Trump signed an executive order launching the U.S. Space Academy on Friday during a ceremony at NASA's Johnson Space Center, where he awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to four astronauts who crewed the Artemis II mission. Administration officials are directed to submit a proposal within 120 days to establish the Space Academy, under NASA's leadership, to provide technical education and degree programs needed to train the next generation of leaders to help guide NASA, Space

Falklands Emerge As US Leverage Tool Against Britain To Ramp Defense Spending A new report from The Telegraph says the Trump administration is using Britain's sovereignty over the Falkland Islands as leverage to pressure the country into meeting NATO's new defense-spending target. What sounds like an "Art of the Deal" tactic by Trump has been described by a senior US official as a plan to push the UK toward NATO's pledge to spend 5% of GDP on defense. Here's more from the outlet: A senior US official told The Telegraph that Britain was likely to receive "special attention" in Washington's

DC Jury Nullification Even Protects International Gang Lords Authored by Julie Kelly via Declassified with Julie Kelly , "I've done this a long time and haven't seen one quite like this one, I have to say." So said U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth, who has sat on the D.C. federal court bench since Ronald Reagan appointed him in 1987, last April. What exactly stumped the senior judge that day? Another pending mistrial in the government's prosecution of two of MS-13's most notorious gang leaders. For the second time in five months, a D.C. jury refused to convict Moises Rivera-Luna

Pezeshkian Says Iran To Increase Gasoline Prices, Coupled With Rare Admission About US Sanctions Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday issued a rare admission , describing that after six months of war initiated by the United States and Israel, the country's economy is feeling significant pain . The statement came days after on Monday US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled Trump's "Economic D-Day" plan against Iran, noting that while military operations have ceased, a far-reaching and sustained economic warfare campaign is in full effect. via Reuters "Some say sanctions have no effect at all; to those people, I really don’t

They Know It Would Trigger Mass Unrest... Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , The sister of a young British mother butchered by a small-boat arrival has torn into the Labour government for going to court to keep the public from seeing who is committing what crime in this country. Alex Whyte told GB News she feels "sick, disgusted and completely let down." Anger, she said, "doesn't even cover what I feel, and it never will." Labour, she added, is "too afraid to admit" what open borders have done to Britain. Rhiannon Whyte was a 27-year-old mother. Her son

90 Americans Among Thousands Missing After Himalayan Glacier Collapse Kills 600 The latest figures from the catastrophic flash flood along the Nepal-Tibet border show that at least 2,000 people remain missing, including 90 Americans, while the death toll has topped 600 and continues to climb. A before & after satellite comparison (false color) shows the scale of the glacier collapse in Nepal. You can see not only the massive piece of glacier that broke, but the scar left behind as it slid down the valley. More Nepal Flood maps: 👉 https://t.co/F4R6MwPzfs pic.twitter.com/6sjfGQ6SBq — Soar (@SoarAtlas) August 29, 2026 The "Day

Iran's Ghalibaf Declares Persian Gulf Oil Flows For 'All Or None' Via The Cradle Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared on 28 August that either all Persian Gulf countries will be allowed to export oil freely or none will, adding that the security of West Asia depends on the withdrawal of US forces. "The equation of this war is clear: either all or none!" Ghalibaf said, adding, "In a region where we don’t sell oil, no one else will sell oil either." The speaker emphasized further, "If our security is not ensured, no infrastructure will be safe." via Associated

How Much Gas Prices Have Risen Since The Iran War Gas prices have climbed sharply across the U.S. following the outbreak of the Iran War, but the size of the increase varies significantly by state. Using AAA price data from February 18, 2026, as a pre-war baseline and prices as of August 20, 2026, this visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Sofie Gilbert, maps the percentage increase across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Which States Saw the Biggest Gas Price Increases Iowa has seen the largest percentage increase in the country, with gas prices jumping 69.1% from $2.45 to $4.14 per

US-Backed SDF Leader Joins Sharaa Regime As Presidential Advisor After Kurdish Force Dissolved Via The Cradle Self-proclaimed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has appointed Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi as a presidential advisor , following the dissolution of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in an integration deal with Damascus earlier this week. "President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued Decree No. 164 of 2026 on Thursday, appointing Mustafa Khalil Abdi, known as Mazloum Abdi, as an advisor to the Presidency of the Republic," state media SANA reported on 27 August. Abdi headed the SDF, an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that was

Fighters in legal limbo after accepting ‘total peace’ plan of Petro government just days before hardliner Abelardo De la Espriella took over In mid-June, 99 guerrilla fighters were flown by helicopter to a small settlement in a rural area of southern Colombia where they lined up and, one by one, handed their weapons to government officials: rifles, pistols, machine guns and grenade launchers. They also stripped off their heavy tactical vests, field packs and camouflage uniforms, which were each piled into a bonfire to mark the beginning of a new life away from an armed conflict that has claimed nearly

US president says US will have ‘majority’ control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves Donald Trump announced Friday a new US oil agreement with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez, saying the US will have “majority” control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves. The terms of the agreement remain to be seen, but the US president said on his social-media platform that it had been brokered “through a partnership with ⁠private business” by his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth. Continue reading...

Critics call move to gain long-term access to country’s massive energy reserves ‘predatory’ and ‘unconstitutional’ Reports that the US is preparing to claim a big stake in Venezuela’s massive energy reserves have sparked an outcry, with critics describing the move as “predatory” and a “rapacious” land grab. Several media outlets this week reported that the Trump administration – which abducted Venezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, in January and has steered the South American country ever since – hopes to secure long-term access to its oil and gasfields. Continue reading...

Remnants from tropical storm could cause heavy rainfall on Leeward Islands and affect Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola Remnants of Tropical Storm Dolly, which has been downgraded to an “open tropical wave”, were moving still across the Atlantic Ocean toward the Leeward Islands, and could bring heavy rainfall to parts of the Caribbean this weekend, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Friday.. Dolly, which formed on Thursday, had maximum sustained winds of near 40mph (65km/h) with higher gusts on Friday morning. Later on Friday, forecasters said that Dolly was no longer a Tropical Storm, and had “become

Unpopular new policy comes as midterms loom and control of Congress could be decided by several Michigan races Every day $1bn worth of goods crosses the river dividing Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, two largely blue-collar US and Canadian cities that have come to act as one in the creation of North America’s auto industry. News this week of Donald Trump’s escalating trade spat with Canada has everyone worried. Political and economic leaders and observers labeled the move an act of “hubris” , blamed Trump’s “ego”, and called the escalation “insanity”. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed ‘The flood took everything I have’: survivors grieve for relatives and homes swept away in Nepal Visual guide: how the deadly flooding unfolded Tell us: have you been affected by the flash floods? More now on the Nepali army’s rescue operation to save about 100 people trapped in a tunnel at a hydropower project swamped by Wednesday’s flooding . “Two helicopters have been dispatched but it is challenging because it is tough to even locate the entry points of the tunnel,” army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet told AFP. Relief efforts are also under way

Federation says it fears death toll of nearly 600 will continue to rise as rescuers reach cut-off areas Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates Visual guide: how the deadly flooding unfolded Tell us: have you been affected by the flash floods? The Red Cross has said at least 93,000 people may have been affected by Wednesday’s flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border, which have killed nearly 600 people, left another 1,900 missing, and triggered a huge rescue operation that is being hampered by fears of new flooding. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the world’s

Desperate relatives trying to reach loved ones last seen in area where entire villages have been swept away Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates Visual guide: how the deadly flooding unfolded Tell us: have you been affected by the flash floods? Families are rushing to Nepal to search for the 33 British nationals who are still missing, as fears mount over the risk of a second wave of flooding in the region. The catastrophic flash floods that hit Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday , thundering down valleys and sweeping away entire villages, have killed at least 538 people, while more

Thai navy says ‘routine’ visit’ will allow personnel to rest and recuperate amid reports of poor conditions onboard The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is set to make a temporary stop in Thailand next week as it heads back to the United States, Thai navy officials said, after spending more than 250 consecutive days at sea supporting US operations against Iran amid recent reports of poor living conditions and low morale onboard the vessel. The Lincoln left the Middle East several days ago after being relieved by the USS George Washington , and is now heading home to San Diego.

Risk of fresh flooding had forced rescue teams to withdraw as residents rushed up hills to escape possible river surge Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates Visual guide: how the deadly flooding unfolded Tell us: have you been affected by the flash floods? Rescuers searching for survivors of deadly flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border have resumed their efforts after suspending operations when a debris dam burst its bank on Friday, increasing the risk of fresh flooding. Residents in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, on the border with Tibet, were seen rushing up hillsides ⁠on Friday to escape a possible surge in

Solomon Islands prime minister cancels his appearance, along with leaders from Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa Several leaders have pulled out of a the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting in Palau at the eleventh hour. Solomon Islands prime minister, Matthew Wale, has cancelled his appearance after a no-confidence motion was lodged against him at home by the Solomon Islands home affairs minister, Manasseh Maelanga. Continue reading...

Missing woman’s partner and daughters fundraise to join search in one of the hardest-hit areas of Nepal Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Clair Spry says her sister would hate the attention. She would want it focused on the Nepali people, who have been displaced or are in need of aid. She would want it to be on the impact of the climate crisis, especially on the world’s most economically vulnerable populations. “Her focus right now would not be on her; it would be on

This blog is now closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Joyce explains One Nation’s migration policy with sheep and cattle Barnaby Joyce has used sheep and cattle to illustrate his claim that One Nation wants to cut net overseas migration to 130,000 people without counting short-stay visas. No it’s not. … Short-term visa stay and things such as the Palm scheme, and Pauline’s quite right, are not counted in the net overseas migration number, overwhelmingly – small portion are – because they don’t stay for 12 months. They stay generally for a period

Even after a week in which Pauline Hanson and One Nation candidates tripped over themselves trying to explain key policies, voters still backed the party Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The One Nation hype machine went into overdrive after Saturday’s Secret Harbour byelection but one thing is clear from the thumping victory. Despite the party’s sustained surge in public support, Labor and the Coalition still don’t have any idea how to calm an angry electorate and dint support for Pauline Hanson and her insurgent movement. Continue reading...

Social services minister says social media was playing a role in the increase of sexual violence among teenagers Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Australian government is considering allowing users to opt in or opt out of social media algorithms, and is looking at a recent UK ban on depictions of strangulation and suffocation in pornography. The social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, said social media was “playing a huge role” in the increase in sexual violence among teenagers and choking, and confirmed the options

The no campaign was well-funded and accused of scaremongering, but the wording of the question may also have made a difference It was always going to be a close contest. But on the night, the figures showed just how divided Iceland was on the issue of whether or not to restart negotiations with the European Union. After a nail-biting overnight count, the well-funded no campaign rejoiced on Sunday morning as the broadcaster RUV declared it the winner with about 52.8% of the vote. Given the size of Iceland’s population- barely 400,000 – the margins were tiny. Continue reading...

The no camp looks to have prevailed, holding 52.5% of votes with only a few left to be counted, says public broadcaster Iceland appears to have ⁠rejected ⁠the government’s proposal ​to hold ⁠accession talks with ⁠the ​EU, ‌the public ‌broadcaster RUV has ‌reported, with only a small ‌number of votes ​left to count. The no camp had 52.5% of votes and the yes camp 47.5%, with only a few ballots left to be counted in one of Iceland’s six voting districts, which was already leaning towards no, online ballot counting on RUV showed on Sunday. Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed

Protester Tess Asplund on the photo that made headlines, and why she sees it as a sign of the change in Sweden today The striking photograph showed a lone Black woman, her fist raised, standing in the path of hundreds of uniformed neo-Nazis on parade in 2016, and it made headlines across the globe. At the time, it was held up as a symbol of the resistance to the far right. But 10 years on, as Sweden gears up for elections in which the far right is expected to emerge as the second most-voted-for party , the woman in the

Saga surrounding purchase for outspoken rightwing regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso refuses to go away The outspoken rightwing leader of the Madrid region is under growing pressure to explain why her government spent €6.3m (£5.4m) on a residential penthouse purportedly to serve as a temporary workspace while her offices were being renovated. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a prominent member of Spain’s opposition conservative People’s party (PP), has been the president of the Madrid region since 2019. Continue reading...

Three vessels and a helicopter deployed to monitor four ships travelling through the North Sea to the Channel The Royal Navy spent three days tracking Russian vessels as they passed through UK waters, it has emerged. The “intense” 72-hour operation took place last week, with radars used to monitor four ships that made their way from the North Sea through to the Channel. Continue reading...

Matt Bradley and crew assaulted while interviewing woman who said settlers had driven family out of home A Palestinian woman and an NBC News team are reported to have been attacked and injured by masked Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday, amid worsening confrontations in the area. Benjamin Netanyahu said he condemned the violence committed “by a handful of rioters”. Continue reading...

Book was removed for review earlier this month following complaint but reinstated after petition and State Library letter to Waverley council Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A Sydney library has returned to its borrowing shelves a book critical of Israel called How to Sell a Genocide following a public campaign and an intervention from the State Library of New South Wales. Waverley library removed the book “for review ” earlier this month after the Jewish news outlet JWire reported it had approached the council.

President denies visit was to gain support for Iran sanctions or due to fears that Putin plans to ‘test Nato resolve’ Donald Trump has downplayed a visit to Moscow by the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, as “semi-routine” after he turned up in the Russian capital unannounced, triggering a wave of speculation about the reasons for his trip. Ratcliffe was reported to have flown to Moscow on a government transport plane on Tuesday in a rare visit after taking off from the Andrews air force base in Maryland. Continue reading...

Efforts to rebuild domestic food production face severe challenges and have come at deadly cost As Gaza’s population of 2.1 million has been hemmed into an ever smaller slice of the territory, farmers are using every last remaining patch of unspoiled earth, no matter how tiny, in their struggle to survive. With severe shortages of water, fertiliser and pesticide, and with more than 80% of greenhouses ruined, it has taken inventiveness and determination to clear land of debris and coax new seedlings into life. Moreover, venturing out into the open to tend to plants can be deadly. Continue reading...

As photojournalist sentenced to 15 years, rights groups warn law would turn civic engagement into security crime Iran has taken the first step towards criminalising contact with foreign media, in a move human rights groups have said attempts to “sever the entire Iranian society from the rest of the world”. For journalists, researchers and even ordinary citizens, the proposed law being discussed by Iranian lawmakers this month could make speaking to international audiences and groups a potential criminal act and restrict coverage of events such as January’s mass anti-regime protests . Continue reading...

Nepal requests foreign ⁠help in identification and storing of bodies, DNA testing and rescuing people from tunnels Visual guide: how the deadly flooding unfolded New flood fears and a race to free group trapped in tunnel Poor weather temporarily hampered aerial rescue operations in Nepal on Saturday as the search for thousands of missing people in areas devastated by catastrophic flash floods along the border with China continued. The combined toll in Nepal and Tibet rose to 691 dead and more than 3,000 people missing after China’s latest update on Sunday. Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 missing, while

This blog is now closed. ‘The flood took everything I have’: survivors grieve for relatives and homes swept away in Nepal Chinese rescuers find ‘nothing but ruins’ at border crossing as Nepal seeks help to ID and store the dead Outside the army camp in the Nuwakot district of Nepal, people run their fingers down the sheets of paper pinned to the wall, scanning the growing list of those reported missing for news of loved ones. Nepali authorities said nearly 3,000 people are missing, while China reported more than 550 people unaccounted for. Nepal’s foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, has appealed

Tulshi Patel says mother Hemangini Jitendra Patel and aunt Hema Sunil Amin were last seen at Friendship Bridge on Nepal-China border • Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates The daughter of a woman missing in Nepal has told how she traced her mother’s location through a TikTok video posted hours before the devastating flash flood hit. The catastrophic flash floods that hit Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday , thundering down valleys and sweeping away entire villages, have killed at least 675 people, while more than 3,000 remain missing . Continue reading...

Family members pin photos of Nepal’s missing to hospital wall as people try not to give up hope on loved ones Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates Posters of missing people line the wall of the hospital, the glue still fresh beneath. A schoolgirl smiling in her uniform; a beaming, chubby-cheeked baby; a couple smiling on their wedding day; a young man, hands on hips, atop a mountain peak; a young girl with flowing hair, peeking out from behind a door. These faces are just a fraction of the thousands who have not been seen since deadly flash floods coursed

Scale of devastation emerges in Nepal as reporters reach disaster area, but Chinese state media focus more on rescue efforts Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates In the days since an enormous glacier in the Himalayas snapped away from a mountaintop and cascaded into the valley below, the true scale of the devastation caused by the flash floods in Nepal and Tibet is still unfolding. But the picture is emerging far more quickly in Nepal than in China, where strict controls on the flow of information from one of its most sensitive regions are hampering the public’s understanding of events.

Breakdown recovery group’s private equity owners reportedly in talks with various suitors to sell company Germany-based financial services company ⁠Allianz is considering a £5bn takeover swoop for AA, ⁠the breakdown ⁠recovery ​group, Sky News has reported. Allianz is ‌one of a small number of parties holding talks with advisers to the AA about a deal, Sky News said, adding that ‌the private equity outfit EQT was another bidder. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Research says sector is fixated with young talent, with most women experiencing unconscious bias or sexism Women working in the arts believe they do not have equal opportunities for roles, especially as they get older, according to a report saying that the industry is fixated with “young and emerging” talent. Nearly all (95%) women working in the arts thought gender inequality persisted, while three-quarters (75%) reported experiencing unconscious bias or sexism, according to a survey of 76 arts professionals. More than two-thirds (69%) felt that age negatively affected their career success – a figure that rose to 100% among

PM says anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter, will be excluded from the scheme PC Andrew Harper’s killers will remain behind bars after Andy Burnham announced changes to the early release scheme aimed at easing prison overcrowding, saying he understood “how strongly people feel about this issue”. The prime minister said anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter, would be excluded from the scheme, which would have made two of the officer’s killers eligible for early release. It comes after Burnham previously ordered a review of plans for the early release of thousands

Critics say changes by CMA will allow multinationals to obscure their ownership of vet practices Pet owners have been warned that they could be unknowingly ripped off by private equity firms who have bought local vet clinics, after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) removed requirements for multinational companies to disclose which practices they own. The CMA recently ran an investigation into the monopolisation of vet practices , and found that the lack of competition and transparency of ownership had led to high prices and a lack of information for customers. Pet owners were often unaware their local vet practice

Checking for sewage spills has become as normal as checking the weather forecast, say swimmers on East Sussex beaches South West Water has worst environmental record in England, analysis shows “I’m furious,” says Jo Armstrong, 75, sitting on Brighton beach with her daughter and granddaughter. Armstrong lives in Lewes, a town 8 miles from Brighton, and usually goes swimming in nearby Seaford in East Sussex every day. But over the past week the water there has been too polluted to swim. “Brighton beach was the only place that stayed clean,” she says. Continue reading...

Plaskett fire has swept through more than 5,900 acres in Monterey county and remains un-contained, says Cal Fire A fire in California’s Big Sur region doubled in size overnight, forcing the evacuation of nearby residents, in a coastal region where firefighters have battled another blaze for weeks. The Plaskett fire, which sparked on Tuesday, had swept through more than 5,900 acres (2,400 hectares) in Monterey county as of Friday, and remained un-contained, according to Cal Fire. Its cause is under investigation. Continue reading...

Bill Lee says he favors proposal to rename Nashville’s international airport after legendary country singer Bill Lee, the Tennessee governor, on Friday said he favored a proposal to rename Nashville’s international airport after legendary country singer Dolly Parton , who died three days earlier at age 80. In a statement , Lee said he and the managers of the airport in Tennessee’s capital city – where Parton resided – wanted to create “a lasting tribute to her indelible legacy and the generations of people she inspired”. He said he had spoken previously to the 11-time Grammy winner and her team,

Jose Carlos Hoyoz-Munoz was arrested after a family altercation and restrained for ‘combative’ behavior A cadre of Los Angeles police officers beat and restrained a handcuffed man in July, minutes before he was found dead in a jail cell, according to newly released body-cam footage . On 15 July, Jose Carlos Hoyoz-Munoz, 58, was found unconscious in his cell at the Van Nuys regional jail. At the time, the LAPD said two use-of-force incidents had occurred, without specifying the nature. In the video released on Friday, the department said three use-of-force incidents occurred. Continue reading...

Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen receive Congressional Space Medal of Honor The Artemis II astronauts who flew around the moon in April received the US’s highest space honor on Friday. Donald Trump presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the three Americans and one Canadian whose lunar flyby for the US space agency Nasa set a new distance record for humanity. Continue reading...

Ex-House intel committee chair, now running against Abdul El-Sayed, instead saw photo of Osama bin Laden’s body In a recent fundraising email, the Republican candidate for Michigan ’s open US Senate seat, former congressman Mike Rogers, appeared to mislead supporters about his past by suggesting that he had played an active role in the killing of Osama bin Laden , the leader of al-Qaida who was shot and killed in an American military raid on his compound in Pakistan in 2011. “When I served as a US army officer and an FBI special agent, I swore a sacred oath to

Scientists in South Africa are investigating why masses of sardines have washed up dead or dying along parts of the country’s west and south coast – and if a herpes virus detected in the fish is responsible. The mass mortality of sardines this month has so far stumped the country’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, though scientists have come to at least one conclusion: it is the first time that the virus in question – pilchard herpesvirus, or PHV – has been identified in...

Mutinying soldiers led armed clashes in Niger’s capital on Saturday, alarming residents, but the ruling junta said it had largely wrested back control after hours of heavy exchanges around some of its most sensitive sites. While the fighting had subsided later on Saturday, the rebel troops were said by a regional security source and an African diplomatic source to be holed up in an airbase near the capital’s airport. Niger’s ruling junta declared, in a statement read on state television, that it...

At least 37 people have died after a Russian drone struck a depot near Kyiv’s western suburbs overnight, sparking a huge fire and explosions, authorities said on Saturday. The depot, near the capital’s western suburbs, appeared to have been storing “explosive objects”, Ukrainian prosecutors said, as President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested ammunition was to blame. “Those who allowed this to happen must be held accountable for their decisions... ammunition cannot be stored near homes or other...

Norway’s new King Haakon VIII on Saturday addressed Norwegians for the first time since taking the throne, paying tribute to his 89-year-old father who died the day before. “Above all, you were a person who always stayed true to your values and commitments,” Haakon said of the late King Harald V in a televised speech. The new regent said it had been a “powerful and moving experience” to see the thousands of Norwegians who had gathered since Friday outside the Royal Palace in Oslo with “flowers,...

Mukti Patel has huddled with family and friends at her parents’ Richmond, Virginia, home since her dad, sister and two other relatives went missing in the catastrophic flash floods along the Nepal-China border. She knows the hotel they were staying in was swept away. But as she shared memories of them on Friday, she caught herself. “I shouldn’t talk in past tense yet,” she said. “We don’t know anything.” As rescuers continued pulling survivors from the mud, family members of some of the more...

Iranian leaders are acknowledging the economic toll of war with the United States, with the supreme leader calling on the government to address the hardship while the president reported foreign trade has shrunk 35 per cent due to the American sanctions and blockade. The warnings came even as other leaders threaten the US with military retaliation and declarations that the Iranian navy maintains control of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway giving Iran ‌leverage through its ability to...

A former White House teleprompter operator accused of using inside knowledge to make bets on the prediction market Kalshi has been ordered to turn over more than US$100,000 in profits and pay a US$65,000 fine as part of a settlement with federal authorities. The settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announced on Friday, also dealt Gabriel Perez a three-year trading ban. Perez was placed on unpaid leave from his job at the White House after reports emerged that he used his...

In contemporary discourse, the bogeyman of “debt traps” is almost exclusively tied to Beijing. Western media, think tanks, NGOs and policymakers from Washington to Brussels frequently warn developing nations of the perils of bilateral loans from China. Yet, Grenada’s debt dispute from a decade ago and St Vincent and the Grenadines’ (SVG) current troubles offer a starkly different, and often ignored, counter-narrative: the weaponisation of debt by Taiwan. For years, Grenada has grappled with...

President Donald Trump’s administration is considering giving a section of the renowned Yosemite National Park to a private developer, a lawyer for the company confirmed on Friday. The National Park Service had been holding talks with Nevada-based Kingsbarn Realty Capital to build an access road from a 33-hectare (83-acre) private property just outside the park to Yosemite’s entrance, in exchange for land elsewhere, lawyer Lanny Davis said. The news was first reported by NOTUS on Friday. The...

President Donald Trump on Friday said the US had entered an agreement with Venezuela to take control of 65 billion barrels of the South American country’s oil reserves. Trump in a social media post announced the agreement he said was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez. “The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!”...

US immigration officials arrested controversial British far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos on Thursday in New Orleans, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Immigration officials announced on Friday that Yiannopoulos was arrested at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and accused him of overstaying after entering the United States legally in May 2019 through New York. An immigration judge issued a final order of removal on July 22 after Yiannopoulos failed to show...

Artificial intelligence (AI) poses risks that do not respect national borders, from cyberattacks and misinformation to system malfunction and potentially dangerous misuse. In a geopolitically charged world, does greater incompatibility between countries make AI safer? UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres offered a clear answer at the inaugural UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance: “When countries align on how to test systems, measure risk and assign responsibility, safety travels with the...

US President Donald Trump on Friday announced the creation of a “Space Academy” to train future civilian and military recruits for an arena where the United States faces rivalry with China. Speaking at Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Trump said the institution would be modelled on the famed US military academy at West Point. “It’s called the US Space Academy. That’s a big deal,” Trump said as he signed an executive order creating the new school. “It’ll serve both the United States Space...

President Donald Trump arrives at an awkward moment for his presidency on Friday as the US-Israel war against Iran reaches the six-month mark, a notable milestone for a conflict that the Republican leader repeatedly assured Americans would be a “little excursion” lasting a matter of weeks. The war is not over, though Trump claims that through bombs and blockade, he has already devastated Iran’s leadership, military and economy. And this week his administration said it would turn its focus to...

The US central bank will “have work to do” if policymakers are not confident that underlying inflation is returning to its 2 per cent target, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said on Friday in remarks that acknowledged financial conditions do not appear restrictive and marked the closest he has come to acknowledging interest rate hikes may be needed to ease price pressures. “Here is my standard: We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at...

One of the two people killed in an attack at a school near Berlin was a 30-year-old nursery worker, police said on Friday. It had previously been reported that the man who was killed in Thursday’s attack was the caretaker. A woman and a man were killed in the violent incident at a school in the small community of Gosen-Neu Zittau on the southeastern edge of the German capital. The school site houses a primary and secondary school, as well as a nursery. A 19-year-old German man was detained and...

With the end of the 60-day US-Iran memorandum of understanding, tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have flared again. The crisis in the strait highlights how the security and stability of key international waterways are becoming an increasingly urgent global concern. Over the past decade, major maritime routes have been affected by regional armed conflicts, geopolitical tensions and growing security risks. These disruptions have exposed a vulnerability in the global trading system: a key...

An 81-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany for the murder of an American tourist more than 30 years ago, the presiding judge at Koblenz Regional Court, Rupert Stehlin, announced on Friday. The court also found that the offence was of a particularly serious nature. In doing so, the bench concurred with the unanimous assessments of the prosecution, the representatives of the joint plaintiffs and the defence counsel. The defendant had admitted to the offence in general...

A Dutch court on Friday handed a life sentence to a 66-year-old man for his role in the massacre of 3,000 Tutsis during the 1994 Rwanda genocide. During the violence that took place in April 1994, terrified victims sought refuge in a football stadium in Mbazi, southern Rwanda, only to be systematically slaughtered. The judge said that the man, identified as Eugene N., prevented Tutsis from escaping the stadium and threw a grenade into the crowd. The court said he was also involved in attacks...

Crown Prince Haakon became Norway’s king on Friday after the death of his father Harald. Here are some ⁠facts about the new 53-year-old monarch. Early years The new king was born Haakon Magnus on July ⁠20, 1973, and went to a state primary school, as is expected of royals in the egalitarian Scandinavian nation – though his secondary school was private. He joined the navy before studying politics at the University of California, Berkeley and, later, development studies at the London School of...

Norway’s King Harald has died aged 89, the palace said on Friday, his 53-year-old son Crown Prince Haakon automatically succeeding him on the throne. “It is with deep sadness that we announce that His Majesty King Harald passed away today. King Harald passed away peacefully at Oslo University Hospital on Friday, August 28 at 6.35am,” it said in a statement. The flag at the royal palace in Oslo was lowered to half mast. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said he had received the news with “deep...

Six months after the air strikes that began the war and propelled ⁠a badly wounded Mojtaba Khamenei into the role of Iran’s supreme leader, he remains entirely unseen and unheard by Iranians – a vacuum at the heart of his country’s leadership. Questions over his condition and role are growing increasingly fraught, with Iran facing critical decisions over a war that has set the Middle East aflame while trashing the country’s already fragile economy. Iranian officials and other senior sources in...

A diplomatic push by Oman, Pakistan and Qatar is widely expected to yield another pause in the Iran conflict, but there remains little prospect of a stop to what analysts fear has already become a “forever war”. On Monday, Iran and Oman agreed in principle to a temporary maritime route for ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz. This could lead to the easing of the tit-for-tat blockades imposed by Iran and the US if President Donald Trump’s administration accepts it. Regional mediators...

South Korea supports US President Donald Trump’s efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea, ‌but aims to ensure its security posture is not weakened and that Seoul is not sidelined, according to South Korea’s national security adviser. Seoul believed the resumption of talks between the US and North Korea should focus on progress on the North Korean nuclear weapons issue and must not undermine the country’s security readiness, Wi Sung-lac told reporters on Friday. “One point to keep in mind is...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. The path to America is narrowing. Here’s what that means for legal immigrants US green card interviews are on hold worldwide, student and work visas are subject to new restrictions, and citizenship is under fresh scrutiny. The SCMP...

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded a US$16.7 million contract to purchase 6,000 pairs of gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks, saying officers would use them to control detainees and protesters who resist. ICE moved forward with the purchase despite opposition from civil rights advocates and Democratic members of Congress, who said ICE officers cannot be trusted to use them appropriately. A notice published in a federal database Thursday said ICE entered into a no-bid...

South Korea said on Friday it would hold joint military exercises with the United States and Japan in September, after Washington scaled back annual drills with Seoul in an apparent bid to encourage dialogue with North Korea. The three countries would conduct the North Korea-focused Freedom Edge exercise from September 7 to 11 in international waters east and south of South Korea’s Jeju Island, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. “This exercise is a defensive drill conducted annually by...

Trita Parsi is co-founder and executive vice-president of the Quincy Institute, a Washington-based think tank. He is an expert on US-Iranian relations, Iranian foreign policy and the geopolitics of the Middle East. He has written four books on US foreign policy in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Iran and Israel. Born in Iran, Parsi moved to Sweden with his family as a child and then to the United States as an adult. SCMP Plus readers get early access to articles in the Open Questions...

A US federal judge on Thursday blocked the US Postal Service from implementing core parts of a new rule it adopted at President Donald Trump’s direction that would tighten mail-in voting requirements ahead of the November congressional elections. US District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston issued a temporary restraining order ‌at the behest of Democratic-led states and voting rights groups after the US Supreme Court on Monday issued a ruling that led to the lifting of earlier injunctions blocking...

Construction work at the White House was a factor in the US presidential helicopter passing too close to a passenger plane in the skies over Washington earlier this month, investigators said Thursday. The close pass happened on August 4 after President Donald Trump took off on Marine One from a temporary site on the Ellipse, outside the grounds of the White House, during the construction of a permanent helipad inside the grounds. The White House and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)...

Peter Cullen, a prolific voice actor who enlivened scores of television series, specials and films, including Optimus Prime in the syndicated 1984 series Transformers and Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh cartoon franchise, has died. He was 85. His agent, Kevin Motley, said Cullen died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. “His family asks that you honour his remarkable legacy by serving your communities and leading others with compassion, integrity, and loyalty and always remember ‘be strong...

In arguably his most important foreign trip, Elbridge Colby, US undersecretary for defence policy, visited key Southeast Asian capitals this month. In a speech in Manila, the Pentagon policy chief extolled America’s “flexible realism”, which he said serves “the practical, concrete interests of regular Americans” and echoes Southeast Asian nations’ commitment to “pragmatism, an openness to dialogue, respect for counterparts, proud nationalism, and a focus on economic prosperity”. Amid the United...

The US Federal Aviation Administration is taking steps to fire two air traffic controllers determined to have left their shifts early before an Air Canada Express plane collided with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport in March, according to people familiar with the matter. The moves are in keeping with a broader push by the Trump administration to crack down on controllers leaving shifts early or abusing sick leave, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the information...

Canada has awarded 64 global scholars with C$504 million (US$362 million) in funding to relocate their work to Canadian universities and advance projects in areas such as health and artificial intelligence. Some 48 of the researchers were poached from the US, including from elite institutions such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The other 16 researchers are coming from 12 other countries, including the UK, Germany, China and Japan. “While certain countries...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was renaming Lake Ontario to be known as “Lake America” in the United States, as he escalated his trade war with Canada. The Republican president signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to update the lake’s name in the US geographic naming service. Trump cannot force Canada to follow along, however. Trump has been floating the idea of the name change in recent days as the US announced it was imposing 50 per cent tariffs on...

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate stood in the witness box in federal court on Thursday and said they could not adequately defend themselves from criminal sex charges if they had to remain in a Miami jail while fighting extradition to the UK. During nearly two hours in a Miami courtroom, the Tates, in shackles and tan jail jumpsuits, denied under oath criminal accusations across multiple countries, blasted their critics and described their brash online personas that exude wealth...

Brazil will not be able to make rare earth magnets from its own raw materials before 2032, the coordinator of the country’s main magnet pilot plant said on Wednesday, leaving China’s near monopoly on the technology intact for years to come. Andre Luis Pimenta de Faria, who runs the plant for Senai, the research and training arm of Brazil’s national industry confederation, told a public policy panel at Exposibram, the country’s largest mining congress, that first batches could come by the end of...

The US military is experiencing a “beyond critical” shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe largely driven by US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, an American defence official in Europe and a Nato official said, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in Nato countries to a potential Russian attack. The US defence official said the most concerning shortfall involves Patriot missile interceptors, which can shoot down Russia’s high-speed ballistic missiles. The Nato official...

The United Kingdom has seen a spike in the number of migrants applying for citizenship and permanent settlement ahead of a planned government clampdown. Government data shows what appears to be a rush to secure residency rights in response to changes announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood that would force migrants to wait longer before they can gain them. The Home Office said 199,628 people were granted settlement, giving them the right to live, work and study in the UK permanently, in the...

Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military chief dubbed the “Butcher of Bosnia” for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, has died, Serbian state broadcaster RTS reported on Thursday. Mladic, 84, who had suffered several strokes in recent months, was serving a life sentence in The Hague for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity after overseeing the Srebrenica slaughter, Europe’s worst act of bloodshed since second world war. Serbian state officials and Mladic’s family had...

Two years ago, the prospect of a trade war between the United States and Canada, two of the world’s most closely integrated economies, would have been unthinkable. However, US President Donald Trump’s recklessness and capriciousness know no bounds. Last week’s breakdown in negotiations between the North American neighbours, which triggered the imposition of US tariffs of 50 per cent on a wide range of Canadian goods, showed the degree to which Trump’s trade policies are vindictive, politicised...

The Iran war has reached its endgame: a costly stalemate. Six months after US and Israeli ⁠forces attacked Iran, killing its supreme leader and maiming his son and successor, the Iranian government is under economic siege, but it still holds power and believes it has time on its side. A threat by US President Donald Trump to impose crippling new sanctions on Iran faces a fundamental problem: Tehran is betting he will not take the final step to break the stalemate – aggressively enforcing...

Russian ⁠foreign ⁠ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova ⁠said on Thursday that Russia could strike British military targets inside and outside Ukraine ‌in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russia using British missiles. Zakharova called on Britain to back off what she called London’s hostile ⁠stance on Ukraine, which she said ‌risked taking the conflict to an entirely new level. She ‌had told the same Moscow ⁠news ⁠briefing earlier that Britain and France were “playing with ‌fire” by supplying...

Colombia’s new hard-right government wants to use prison ships adrift at sea to lock up people it considers highly dangerous criminals, a defence ministry source said on Wednesday. President Abelardo de la Espriella took office earlier this month, vowing to come down hard on armed groups in Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producer. The US-backed millionaire campaigned on a pledge to bomb guerrillas and build so-called “mega prisons” in the style of El Salvador’s leader, Nayib...

Candidates’ attacks are focused on illegal immigration, faith and stock trading.

The second-place finisher in a primary where the top four advance to the November ballot said he would drop out of the race so voters could coalesce behind a single Democratic candidate.

Federal prosecutors planned to charge an immigration agent arrested in connection with a shooting in Minneapolis. Then the agent walked free.

Our White House correspondent Zolan Kanno-Youngs explains how so-called third-country deportations are sending immigrants to countries across the globe.

Mr. Yiannopoulos, an early supporter of President Trump and vocal supporter of mass deportations, was himself sent back to his home country, part of a long fall from right-wing grace.

A privacy measure for immigration aid workers became a free speech cause for backers of Mr. Shirley, a right-wing YouTube star. Democrats say the furor is fueled by misinformation.

The disclosure offered one of the clearest pictures yet of the disaster on the Chinese side of the border, where authorities have released few details.

A glacier unleashed a deadly flood earlier this week. For local trekking guides and climbers, the mountains were already changing.

At 78, the cookbook author and Food Network host knows what she likes, knows what she wants and isn’t stopping anytime soon.

Women are eager disciples of the “Never give up” dogma. But if we treat persevering and quitting as opposites, we lose.

Inside India’s viral political movement.

The intensity of Saturday’s assault prompted condemnations from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and other officials.