Minimalist News

Washington's Business Exodus Authored by Mark Harmsworth via The Washington Policy Center , Washington state’s business climate continues to deteriorate under the weight of record tax increases and burdensome regulations. A spring 2026 survey by the Association of Washington Business reveals alarming trends. Nearly one in four employers (24 percent) are now actively considering relocating their businesses out of state, up sharply from 17 percent in the previous quarter and nearly triple the level from winter 2025. Another 55 percent of business leaders are considering moving their personal residences elsewhere, citing the state’s escalating tax burden as the top challenge.

Amazon Plans $10B Missouri Data Center Campus By Sebastian Obando of ConstructionDive Amazon will invest $10 billion to build a data center campus in Montgomery County, Missouri, Gov. Mike Kehoe announced Monday. In addition to facility construction, the development includes roads and water infrastructure improvements, such as a new bridge over theNorfolk Southern Railway and a water system Amazon plans to transfer to the local utility after construction, according to the tech giant. The announcement adds yet another multibillion-dollar data center project to the construction pipeline, a sign the data center construction boom has room to run. Representational image of

US Security Chief Says One Suspected Terrorist Is Arrested At Canadian Border 'Almost Weekly' Authored by Paul Rowan Brian via The Epoch Times , U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says American authorities apprehend a suspected or wanted terrorist at the Canada-U.S. border "almost weekly," while warning that "fracturing" relations between the two countries could leave both more vulnerable to criminal organizations, fentanyl traffickers, and other threats. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin testifies before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security in Washington on June 3, 2026. AP Photo/Cliff Owen Mullin made the remarks June 17 during a fireside

Infant Mortality Drops To All-Time Low In United States Infant mortality has dropped to the lowest level ever recorded in the United States, according to new preliminary data from the CDC - though it's still higher than in some other countries. According to the data, 5.36 infants per 1,000 live births died , down from 5.54 in 2024 and 5.63 in 2023. The results are based on death and birth certificates. A baby in a hospital in a file photograph. Fred Dufour/AFP via Getty Images Infants is defined as children who have not yet reached their first birthday. According to

More Gunmakers Relocate To GOP States Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times , Firearms manufacturers Ruger and Rideout Arsenal are heading south, continuing a trend of firearms companies leaving Democrat-run states. On June 10, Virginia-based Rideout Arsenal, a firearms designer and manufacturer, announced that it would invest $22 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Thomasville, Georgia. The investment would create 120 new jobs over the next several years, the company said. " This relocation was not something we originally planned to pursue, " Rideout founders Travis and Kelsey Rideout said in a statement . "The reality

Bad News Overload? News Avoidance On The Rise These days more than ever, it often feels like there’s no end to bad news. In the age of social media and constant exposure to news, doom scrolling can take a heavy toll on people’s mental wellbeing. As a consequence, more and more people actively try to avoid the news or at least limit their exposure to it. As Statista's Felix Richter shows in the chart below, according to the Reuters Institute’s latest Digital News Report , an average of 42 percent of respondents from 48 countries included in the survey said

Waste Of The Day: Town Manager's Snacking Spree Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations , Topline: Michael Boaz, the former town manager of Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, made hundreds of unauthorized purchases on his city credit card from 2022 to 2024, including bullets and a hotel for his family vacation, according to a state audit released in May. Boaz was fired in 2024 when the allegations first came to light. Now that a state audit confirmed the questionable purchases, he has been indicted for felony embezzlement. Key facts: Boaz' questionable purchases totaled $18,426, much of which was spent on food.

Removing AI Spyware From Your Google Account Authored by Thomas Neuburger via Naked Capitalism , Yves here. News you can use! And advice that helps readers limit their exposure to two longstanding abuses. One is the unending efforts of the surveillance state to extend its reach. Two is the way AI companies steal original work without consent or compensation to feed into training sets. By Thomas Neuburger. Originally published at God's Spies The glorifyingly named Googleplex headquarters in Mountain View, California. As most have noticed, AI is entering our lives in a very big way . Doctor's offices are using

Gulf Oil Is Available Again, But Asian Refiners Balk At Soaring Tanker Rates Iran and the US have a peace deal? check ( for 60 days, allegedly ). Strait of Hormuz open? check ( for 60 days, allegedly ). Ships transiting freely? check ( not really ) Massive build up of Gulf oil desperate to reach Asian refiners? check . All great news, which means that oil should now flow freely and in huge amounts, right? Wrong: two of Asia's largest refiners, PetroChina and Indian Oil, failed to secure very large crude carriers to lift Iraqi Basrah crude in late

Bullish Or Bearish Into Year-End? BTIG & Fundstrat To Face Off LIVE NOW: https://t.co/jxITOFkt3p — zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 18, 2026 **************************** S&P 500 and Nasdaq remain near record highs despite yesterday’s post-Fed freakout . Risk-on is still in fashion as investors remain hopeful of a lasting U.S.-Iran peace. Though the question remains: Is the rally sustainable or are markets poised for a painful reversal before year-end? Tonight at 7pm ET, Adam Taggart of Thoughtful Money hosts a debate between two of Wall Street's closely followed technical strategists: Jonathan Krinsky, Chief Market Technician at BTIG , and Mark Newton, Head of

Pentagon Taps Argonne Spinout To Connect Military Supercomputers With Major Clouds Authored by Neetika Walter via Interesting Engineering , The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded Parallel Works, an Illinois-based software company spun out of Argonne National Laboratory, a contract to provide a unified platform that connects military supercomputing centers with secure commercial cloud infrastructure. Representative stock image of a supercomputer. iStock Photos The contract , granted under the department's High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP), will allow scientists, engineers, and acquisition professionals across the DoD to access both on-premises and cloud-based computing resources through a single interface .

Illegal Alien Alleged To Be Ringleader In Terror Plot To Kill "Capitalist Elites" At UFC White House Event Federal prosecutors allege that Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, a Mexican national who overstayed a B2 visitor visa and was living in Omaha, Nebraska, used the online alias "Shepherd" and was the ringleader of a failed terror attack targeting "billionaires" and " capitalist elites " at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House. The Department of Homeland Security released a statement on Thursday morning regarding the criminal complaint, filed in the District of Nebraska, charging Alvarez with conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to

The Judicial Resistance Fails Again Authored by Mike McDaniel via AmericanThinker.com, Do you recall Hannah Dugan? She’s a former Milwaukee County Judge. “Former” because she, with the help of her staff, distracted ICE agents who were present to arrest and deport a violent illegal alien in her court on unrelated charges. They snuck the illegal out of the courthouse. The agents didn’t disrupt her court. They were waiting until she was done with the illegal, who had been previously deported but reentered the country. They politely informed her of their authority and intentions and were waiting for her disposition of

Multiple Polls Show Warning Signs For Democrats In Upcoming Midterms Democrats have spent months telling anyone who will listen that the midterms are theirs to lose. With President Donald Trump's approval rating in the basement and conditions supposedly ripe for a blue wave, the party is feeling confident it can win both the House and the Senate in November. Polls do seem to suggest they have momentum, but a closer look at the numbers tells a very different story , and the wave that Democrats are banking on may not be coming after all. The latest NBC News poll does

LA City Council Advances Measure To Allow Non-Citizens To Vote In Local Elections Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness, The Los Angeles City Council voted 10-5 to advance a controversial proposal that would allow noncitizens to vote in local elections, including mayoral, city council and school board races. The New York Post reports that the proposal is part of a sweeping charter reform package headed for the November ballot. 🚨 LA City Council Advances Proposal on Noncitizen Voting for November Ballot Los Angeles City Council has moved forward on a measure from Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez (AI video) that would

Supreme Court Rules Feds Can't Disarm You Just For Being A Regular Stoner The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the government's prosecution of a Texas man under 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(3) - the provision barring "unlawful user[s] of" or those "addicted to" any controlled substance from possessing firearms - violated the Second Amendment. The case, United States v. Hemani , stemmed from an August 2022 FBI search of the family home of Ali Danial Hemani, a dual U.S.-Pakistan citizen who was born in Texas and had a stable job as a project manager at a Dallas-area insurance company . The

US Company Gets Approval To Build The World's First Fusion Power Plant In Washington Authored by Ameya Paleja via Interesting Engineering , US-based fusion energy company Helion has received the regulatory clearances to build the world's first fusion energy power plant. The company has received a Radioactive Materials License (RML) and a Radioactive Air Emissions License (RAEL) from the Washington Department of Health (DOH), clearing the way to begin construction of the generator building at the power plant site. Helion's Orion reactor is set to be the world's first fusion power plant. Helion Energy As the world looks for newer

Fed Moves To Close Stablecoin Loopholes With New Customer ID Rules Authored by Micah Zimmermann via BitcoinMagazine.com, The Federal Reserve proposed Thursday that payment stablecoin issuers maintain written customer identification programs, a move that signals Washington’s determination to bring digital asset markets under the same anti-money laundering discipline long applied to traditional banks — even as regulators race to finalize rules before a statutory deadline this coming January. The proposal would require so-called permitted payment stablecoin issuers, or PPSIs, to collect from each new customer a legal name, date of birth or formation, physical address, and a government-issued identification number

It Wasn't Fireworks... Social Isolation, Escalating Anger Drove Palisades Arsonist's Desire For Revenge, Jury Told Explosives and arson experts from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms this week told a jury in the federal arson case against Jonathan Rinderknecht that fireworks could not have been the culprit. The 29-year-old Rinderknecht is accused of starting a blaze in the Santa Monica Mountains, which investigators say led to the deadly Palisades Fire of 2025. “Anyone who was in this area—if there was a firework launched, burning, or landing here—would have seen it. They’re bright, there’s a lot of color, a

Asian Refiners Swamped, Brace For Over 60 Million Barrels Of Oil Ready To Exit Hormuz By Tsvetana Parskova of OilPrice.com Crude cargo arrivals in Asia from the Middle East could accelerate in the coming weeks as more than 60 million barrels of oil stuck in the Persian Gulf prepare to exit the Strait of Hormuz and head to Asian markets once the chokepoint reopens to traffic. About 62 million barrels of crude oil on nearly three dozen supertankers are expected to make their way to Asia within weeks after the Strait reopens, according to Signal Group data carried by Bloomberg

Review reveals rise in users and rates of psychosis in countries where cannabis is sold commercially Decriminalising the possession of cannabis or strictly regulating access to the drug do not appear to drive up usage, but when the drug is sold commercially the number of users increases and more mental health problems are seen, a review has found. An international team analysed the dramatic shift in policies on cannabis between 2000 and 2025, including how the numbers of people taking the drug, its potency, and rates of psychosis changed after new rules came in. Continue reading...

Canadian officials find structural defects in material used for hull and say firm failed to fully test ‘novel’ design Canadian safety officials have issued a damning report on the catastrophic final voyage of the Titan submersible, finding that the US company behind the expedition was overcome by “groupthink” and “confirmation bias” and failed to understand the profound risks confronting their largely untested craft. The 6.7-metre (22ft) carbon fibre submersible dipped below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in June 2023 en route to the wreckage of the Titanic ocean liner. But nearly two hours after it departed with five passengers,

Focus on business dealings with mining company Guadalajara rally to highlight fate of ‘disappeared’ Hyundai will be targeted by protesters at a rally before the Group A game between Mexico and South Korea in Guadalajara on Thursday, due to the World Cup sponsor’s business dealings with the South American mining company Ternium. A 2025 report from the environmental group Mighty Earth criticised Hyundai’s involvement in what they described as a “dirty steel supply chain”, as the South Korean motor company is a major buyer of iron ore from Ternium for use in steel production. Ternium has faced repeated criticisms for

Brazil supreme court finds that Eduardo Bolsonaro – who resides in the US - tried to get sanctions put on judges trying ex-president over coup plot Brazil’s supreme court has sentenced Eduardo Bolsonaro to four years and two months in prison after finding him guilty of courting US ⁠interference in his father’s coup plot trial last year. The office of Brazil’s ‌prosecutor general had ‌charged Eduardo Bolsonaro – who lives in the US - courting interference from the Trump administration to help Jair Bolsonaro’s case, by imposing sanctions on the court’s justices and tariffs on Brazilian goods. Continue reading...

Young adults and teens are being recruited through apps like Telegram and paid to carry out attacks, officials say Police investigators in Toronto have said that dozens of shootings – including one at the US consulate in March – are linked to a “multilayered” gun-for-hire network that is also responsible for attacks on synagogues around Canada’s largest city. Toronto’s police chief, Myron Demkiw, told reporters on Tuesday that young adults and teenagers are being recruited through encrypted messaging apps such as Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp by “bad actors” and paid by the networks to carry out the attacks. Shooters are

Online uproar follows Canadian brand’s use of taiko drum at sponsored festival held to celebrate Chinese culture The activewear brand Lululemon has apologised after a promotional event held on the Great Wall of China appeared to mistakenly feature a Japanese drum, prompting an uproar. The Canadian-headquartered company, known for its upmarket leggings, has been growing rapidly in China and arranged for a yoga festival to take place in late May on a section of the wall near Beijing. Continue reading...

Major operation launched after spate of pet thefts in Ho Chi Minh City, according to local media Police in Vietnam have rescued more than 400 cats in a bust of a cat meat crime ring in Ho Chi Minh City, according to animal welfare groups and local media reports. More than 40 cats were reunited with their owners after the multiday operation last week, but several dozen of those rescued have died due to the harsh conditions in which they were found, the groups said. Continue reading...

Fashion house pays tribute to Chinese style with its 75th anniversary catwalk show in Shanghai “New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Shanghai doesn’t even sit down.” For the British designer Ian Griffiths, who encountered this line in the New Yorker, it summed up why China’s biggest city was the right place to celebrate Max Mara’s 75th anniversary. “Max Mara is a product for metropolitan women, and it would be patronising to assume that a metropolitan wardrobe should be western-centric,” Griffiths said. Continue reading...

Japanese technology company at centre of Post Office IT scandal is negotiating settlement with UK government over faulty software Business live – latest updates The chair of Fujitsu, the Japanese technology firm at the centre of the Post Office IT scandal, has resigned after its board became aware of his “woman-related inappropriate conduct”. The company said on Tuesday that Hidenori Furuta had stepped down after two years in the role. Continue reading...

Country acts amid Iran war inflation pressures, but US Fed and Bank of England expected to hold rates Business live – latest updates The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has raised interest rates to a 31-year high as it tries to dampen inflationary pressures created by the Iran war. Policymakers in Tokyo raised the BoJ’s short-term policy rate by a quarter of one percentage point, to 1% from 0.75% , and warned that companies were passing on rising oil costs to each other at a “relatively fast pace”. Continue reading...

Agriculture minister says no evidence of mass mortality or infection in poultry as WA authorities say a second bird is sick and being tested A migratory seabird found in southern Western Australia has tested positive for avian influenza with further testing under way to confirm if it is Australia’s first mainland case of the deadly H5N1 strain. The brown skua, a subantarctic species, was found at Cape Le Grand national park on Sunday and had since died, the WA government said on Friday. Continue reading...

International firm owns up to breach of ethics after staff leaked confidential Optus information while bidding for telco contract Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast KPMG has admitted to another breach of ethics after its staff leaked Optus’ confidential information to colleagues bidding for an audit contract with Telstra. The consulting firm’s executives also surveilled a whistleblower’s laptop and dismissed the individual as someone with “workplace grievances”, a parliamentary inquiry heard on Friday. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed • Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast There were two small earthquakes in New South Wales this morning, according to Geoscience Australia. A 3.4 magnitude quake hit near Orange around 5.45am this morning, with at least 108 people reporting they felt the shakes. And a 3.2 magnitude temblor hit near Wilcannia two hours earlier. Just two people reported feeling that quake. If we’re given the choice between taking the easier path politically or doing the more difficult thing, but the right thing in the interests of particularly first home

State government and consortium strike deal to complete M6’s twin tunnels with minister insisting there is ‘no extra cost to NSW taxpayers’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Tunnelling on Sydney’s $3.1bn M6 project, dubbed the potentially “ unbuildable motorway ”, will resume after the state government struck a deal with contractors, ending a two-year stalemate during which works were halted. Under the terms of the new agreement, the private consortium will absorb the costs of finishing the tunnels, limiting the financial hit to taxpayers. Continue reading...

Progressive Jewish group calls for more focus on the threat from the far right and the recognition of a diversity of views within the community Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Far-right extremism and the conflation of Jewish identity with Israel are the main drivers of antisemitism in Australia, the Jewish Council of Australia (JCA) says. In its submission to the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion, the liberal Jewish group calls for more focus on the “often overlooked” threat from the far right,

US defence secretary addresses allies in latest attempt to get Europe to raise military budgets Pete Hegseth has announced a review of the US military presence across Europe, in a combative address to Nato allies where he threatened to cut force numbers in countries spending the least on defence. The US defence secretary, speaking at a meeting of Nato defence ministers in Brussels, accused some countries of “free riding” and others of being shameful for not allowing their airbases to be used by US jets bombing Iran in the spring. Continue reading...

Former negotiator believes in an unstable world, it is ‘perfectly possible’ the UK can rejoin the EU with old opt-outs UK could keep special pre-Brexit terms if it rejoined EU, Michel Barnier says A couple of years ago, Michel Barnier spent a weekend with Boris Johnson’s father, Stanley. It was not some ghoulish Brexit spin-off of The Traitors, but the result of the former EU negotiator’s wife, Isabelle, being a close friend of Johnson’s French cousin, Anne du Boucheron, the owner of Château de la Baronnière, a 19th-century estate in Mauges-sur-Loire, in western France. “We spent a weekend together in

Exclusive: Former chief Brexit negotiator says staying out of euro and Schengen area would be ‘perfectly possible’ ‘Cynical to get power’: Michel Barnier on Boris Johnson, Brexit and the EU’s future Michel Barnier has said Britain could regain its special terms if it rejoined the EU and claimed it was becoming clearer every day to the British people that they would be stronger in Europe. In an interview before the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum next week, the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator said he could not see any obstacle to the UK keeping the pound and remaining outside

Ukraine’s president ramps up rhetoric after overnight drone strikes on Russian capital Hegseth makes it clear that the review will not be just a box-ticking exercise. “ It’s a review that some countries will fail and others will pass with flying colours. In the end, the review is intended to both improve US force posture and basing and strengthen Nato 3.0.” “It will be designed to ensure that Nato is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading , stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defence of Europe.” “ Where other allies do not spend with urgency, our dues,

Other lawmakers respond with ‘shame on you’ in heated confrontation over passing of plan to increase deportations Rightwing MEPs have come under fire after they celebrated a vote aimed at increasing deportations across the EU with chants of “send them back”, leading other lawmakers to respond with cries of “shame on you”. The heated confrontation in the European parliament came on Wednesday after lawmakers voted 418 to 218 to approve controversial measures aimed at increasing deportations of undocumented people. Continue reading...

People in Nabatieh mourn the city’s recent dead in religious ceremony held amid empty streets and shattered buildings As the procession wound its way through mounds of rubble, the crowd chanted and beat their chests, their lamentations echoed by the dull thud of shelling in the foothills just beyond the city. “This the tragedy of Karbala, O Imam Hussein, look. This is the tragedy of Karbala,” the crowd cried in the opening procession of Ashura, in the city of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon. Continue reading...

He lambasted Jimmy Carter during the 1980 hostage crisis; now Trump’s presidency could be similarly blemished It began with the fate of hostages. Donald Trump’s first recorded foray into politics was sparked by the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Tehran, which saw 52 American diplomats held incommunicado for 444 days. Continue reading...

IDF claims continuing strikes come after Iran-backed group repeatedly violated ceasefire; JD Vance cancels trip as US-Iran talks set for Friday cancelled US-Iran talks in Switzerland abruptly called off JD Vance tells Iran deal critics in Israel: Trump is your only ally left in the world Reacting to news of four IDF soldiers being killed in southern Lebanon, Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said “all of Lebanon must burn”. In the latest in a series of incendiary statements, Ben-Gvir said he told the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “for every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand

Tanker owner trade body says centre of strait will remain closed for ‘some time’, with vessels risking running aground by taking Omani route The centre of the strait of Hormuz is blocked with about 80 mines that will need clearing for normal shipping to resume, the independent tanker owner trade body has said. Several vessels began to exit the Gulf through the key maritime chokepoint on Thursday, after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran. Continue reading...

JD Vance’s staff were at the airbase ready to fly to summit in Bürgenstock for Iran talks before trip was suddenly cancelled Talks set to take place on Friday between the US ⁠ ⁠and ​Iran in Switzerland to implement a peace deal were cancelled as Hezbollah killed four Israeli soldiers and Israel carried out a wave of retaliatory airstrikes in south Lebanon that killed at least 18 people. The talks were set to begin in the Swiss village of Obbürgen two days after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that opened a 60-day window to negotiate a permanent

Directive aimed at government workers, but reports of wider implementation spark warnings of future Afghanistan-wide prohibition The Taliban have ordered a sweeping ban on the use of smartphones by government officials – in what some analysts say could foreshadow broader, population-level restrictions. In a directive issued by the Taliban’s military courts and reviewed by the Guardian, the ban was to take effect this week and prohibits “high rank, low rank, general mujahideen, or service staff” from using mobile phones. Continue reading...

Campaigners welcome announcement cutting levies on menstrual health items, but say their work to end period poverty is ‘far from over’ Pakistan plans to abolish “period tax”, in a victory for young campaigners who had taken the government to court over the charges. Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced that sanitary towels and related items were “daily necessities that are indispensable for women’s health, dignity and full participation in social activities”, and said he intended to remove the sales tax. Continue reading...

Relations at lowest ebb in years after Washington refuses to apologise for deaths in strait of Hormuz Fury has continued to mount in India over the US’s refusal to apologise for the deaths of Indian sailors killed in strikes in the strait of Hormuz, further straining relations between the two countries as their leaders meet at the G7 summit in France this week. Last week, three Indian seafarers, who were working on board commercial oil tankers, were killed when the US launched missile strikes on the vessel as it sailed through the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Arrest of Min Zin, who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy, comes just month after Trump visit to Beijing China has arrested a US scholar who writes about Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy on suspicion of spying. Min Zin was suspected of “engaging in espionage activities that endanger China’s national security,” China’s ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Lin Jian, said on Friday. Continue reading...

Relatives of those killed on flight AI171 are still struggling to obtain answers about what happened When Sagar Patel’s mother boarded Air India flight AI171 on 12 June last year, she called her son as she always did before takeoff. The flight was due to leave Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel airport in Ahmedabad, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, and was destined for Gatwick. “We always had a little traditional thing,” said Patel, a business manager from London. “Once she got on the flight, she would sit down and call me. She’d tell me: ‘Yep, I’m on the flight. See

Sales rose 1.2% spurred by demand for items such as fans and paddling pools, says Office for National Statistics Retail sales bounced back to growth in May as record hot weather spurred sales of fans and paddling pools, while online purchases also surged. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the volume of retail sales in Great Britain grew 1.2% in May compared with the previous month, the strongest monthly rate of growth since January. Continue reading...

Burnham hails a ‘turning point’ for the country after a resounding victory over Reform UK and Restore that may force prime minister Keir Starmer to step aside Full report: Andy Burnham wins huge majority in Makerfield byelection, paving way for Starmer leadership challenge Burnham brings in top economists before possible leadership run David Blunkett , the former Labour cabinet minister, has suggested that Keir Starmer should stand down after the Makerfield byelection. In an interview on the BBC’s Newsnight, Blunkett suggested that Starmer standing aside would be the best option for the party regardless of whether Andy Burnham wins tonight

Greater Manchester mayor says result represents Labour’s ‘final chance to change’, after soundly beating Reform UK and Restore Britain UK politics – live updates Andy Burnham has set up a potential showdown with Keir Starmer after convincingly winning the Makerfield byelection, paving the way for his return to Westminster and a likely tilt at the Labour leadership. The outgoing mayor of Greater Manchester promised change after winning the byelection in the early hours of Friday morning with 55% of the votes and a majority almost double the size of his predecessor, Josh Simons. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Napo declares no confidence in probation service managers and threatens industrial action The public is “at direct risk” from unsupervised ex-offenders because probation officers in England and Wales are being asked to cope with excessive workloads, a union has said. As ministers prepare to release and monitor tens of thousands more prisoners this autumn, Napo’s executive has declared for the first time that it has no confidence in managers at the probation service. Continue reading...

Size of Makerfield victory has many allies hoping outgoing Greater Manchester mayor will be installed in No 10 within days UK politics – live updates How quickly could Burnham become PM? Speaking hours before polls closed in Makerfield, a Downing Street source acknowledged a rare moment of doubt about the prime minister’s future. “Keir will fight on,” the source said, repeating the message to which Keir Starmer has stuck for several weeks. “Although, that might depend on the size of the majority.” In the end, Andy Burnham’s majority was so convincing that allies hope he can be installed in No

This blog is now closed. Sign up for the Breaking News US email He calls the situation a “win-win” for the US. Vance is here, and he starts by claiming that Trump’s peace deal with Iran “is already bearing real fruits for the American people”, with 12.5m barrels going through the strait of Hormuz last night and gas prices dropping below $4 today for the first time since the conflict began. Continue reading...

Attack brings to at least 211 number of people killed as Trump administration targets alleged ‘narcoterrorists’ The US military attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday, killing three people, as the Trump administration wages a months-long campaign against alleged traffickers in Latin America. The latest attack brings the number of people the US military has killed in boat strikes to at least 211 since the Trump administration began targeting people it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September. Continue reading...

Wealth tax criticized by billionaires and Gavin Newsom would levy a one-time 5% tax on residents worth over $1bn A popular proposal in California to impose a wealth tax on billionaires has gained enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in November, state officials announced on Wednesday. The news is set to intensify an already heated debate around the tax, which has pitted tech moguls and the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, against the labor union backing the measure. Continue reading...

Musical stars and retired politicians from less polarised era seeming antidote to cage fights on White House lawn The Barack Obama presidential center opened in Chicago on Thursday after more than a decade in the making amid a musical fanfare and paeans to democratic principles that evoked a previous age, all while delivering an implied rebuke to Donald Trump . Featuring appearances by a cast of musical stars and retired politicians from a less polarised era, it was a seemingly perfect antidote to the crass spectacle of cage fights on the White House lawn. Continue reading...

Legal team of alleged gunman, 28, reverses position on ‘extreme emotional disturbance’ defense after one day In a stunning reversal, Luigi Mangione’s legal team said on Thursday they would no longer pursue a psychiatric defense in his upcoming state trial over the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Just one day earlier , Mangione’s lawyers told Judge Gregory Carro they would pursue a defense claiming the 28-year-old was suffering an “extreme emotional disturbance” at the time of Thompson’s killing on 4 December 2024. Continue reading...

Alex Doran, a 28-year-old corporate strategist, is cheering for the US national team and was pleasantly surprised by the size of its initial win against Paraguay last week, while acknowledging that his team is unlikely to go all the way. While he does not expect to attend a match in person involving tickets costing thousands of US dollars, he has been watching avidly online and hopes to see some matches at fan zones set up around Washington. “I’m a little uncomfortable with large crowds because...

Under Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s leadership, Hong Kong is drawing up its first five-year plan to complement Beijing’s 2026-30 blueprint. A two-month public consultation exercise has just started. But what is the nation’s 15th five-year plan, why is it important and what’s Hong Kong’s role? China’s five-year plan responds to “great changes unseen in a century”, prescient words used by President Xi Jinping since 2018. Chinese policymakers have anticipated headwinds in the world system,...

Vice-President J.D. Vance went on the offensive on Thursday to defend the “win-win” US-Iran agreement as critics slammed its vague provisions, even as others welcomed the apparent end to an expensive and unpopular war, no matter how potentially flawed the deal might be. “We have all the cards,” Vance told reporters at the White House. “Have a little bit of faith in the president of the United States. The idea that he is going to strike a deal that’s been bad for the American people, it’s...

An autopsy has shown that an 11-year-old girl who went missing in France was raped before she died, an informed source said on Thursday, confirming suspicions in a case that has sparked public outrage. The girl, named as Lyhanna, went missing on May 29 in the southwestern town of Fleurance and her body was found in an abandoned silo almost a week later. Anger grew after it emerged that the main suspect, the 41-year-old father of a school friend, had twice before been formally accused of raping a...

Is it goodbye Air Force One, hello Qatar Force One? White House officials bade farewell on Thursday to one of the two jets that have been used to transport US presidents for more than 30 years. The goodbye messages fuelled speculation that a Boeing 747 controversially gifted to President Donald Trump by the Gulf emirate of Qatar was due to enter service. “‘Well done, good and faithful servant. ‘The Last Ride,’” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said in a post on X with a picture of...

⁠SpaceX’s bankers are preparing to meet investors as early as next week to discuss a bond offering of at least US$20 billion, two sources familiar with the matter said ‌on Thursday, as Elon Musk’s newly public company seeks funding for an ambitious and capital-intensive AI expansion. SpaceX’s AI ambitions come with a steep price tag, requiring tens of billions of dollars in investment for data centres, computing hardware and power infrastructure. The offering ⁠would mark the first time the...

A group linked to al-Qaeda claimed Thursday’s attack on the airport of Niger’s capital, Niamey, that killed at least 11 soldiers and two civilians, six months after other jihadists staged a large assault on the sensitive site. Twenty-two attackers were also killed as security forces repelled the raid on the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger’s defence ministry said. Gunfire erupted early in the morning and rang out for hours near the airport, where a large military presence was...

The death of a young tourist who jumped from a runaway horse carriage in Central Park has intensified calls to ban the old-time attraction from one of New York City’s most recognisable destinations. Romanch Mahajan, 18, died after he got off the four-wheeled carriage as its horse sprinted through the park without the driver. He was believed to be the first person to die in a horse carriage accident since they were introduced in Central Park more than 150 years ago, according to the union...

A man has ⁠been arrested ⁠on suspicion of attempted murder ⁠after a three-year-old boy ended up in a crocodile enclosure at a zoo in central England on Thursday, resulting in him sustaining ‌critical injuries, police said. Cambridgeshire Police said officers were called following reports of an incident at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a zoo near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, which resulted in the boy being in the ⁠enclosure. The child has been taken to hospital with serious ‌injuries and is in a critical...

All living US ex-presidents – with the notable absence of current White House occupant Donald Trump – joined a star-studded line-up on Thursday for the opening of Barack Obama’s presidential centre in Chicago. Obama, 64, struck his trademark hopeful tone in a speech inaugurating the modernistic centre. The country’s first black president alluded to fears among many Americans that US democracy was in danger, winning applause with the phrase “no kings” – a popular anti-Trump protest slogan. But...

US President Donald Trump lashed out at critics of his agreement with Iran on Thursday, calling those who accused him of offering concessions to end the war “fools”, ahead of negotiations in Switzerland on implementing the deal. Oil prices tumbled after Trump and his Iranian counterpart separately signed their accord to end the Middle East war, with the Strait of Hormuz to reopen but two months of negotiations lying ahead. In a sudden development after uncertainty over when the deal agreed...

A British court has jailed two men linked to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London for up to 10 years for spying on activists, prompting immediate condemnation from the city government, which reiterated that their convictions involved “unfounded allegations and smearing”. Bill Yuen Chung-biu, an office manager at the HKETO, was sentenced to eight years in prison for assisting a foreign intelligence service on Thursday. Co-defendant Peter Wai Chi-leung, a security firm...

Israel’s foreign minister said on Thursday that he was severing all contact with the European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas over reported remarks in which she allegedly compared Israel to the apartheid regime that once ruled South Africa. Diplomatic relations between Israel and the EU have come under heavy strain since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, as well as over violence by Israeli settlers towards Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. On Thursday, Gideon Saar accused EU foreign...

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth lashed out at Nato allies on Thursday, announcing a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe whose outcome will depend on how fast the Europeans take responsibility for their own security. “This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that Nato is moving fast and irreversibly towards Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defence of Europe,” he told his Nato counterparts in Brussels. Hegseth lambasted...

Keir Starmer is not on the ballot, but the UK prime minister’s future is on the line in a special election on Thursday. Voters in the Makerfield district of northwest England were electing a new lawmaker, and the leading contender is Andy Burnham of the governing Labour Party, the current mayor of Greater Manchester and oddsmakers’ favourite to be the next prime minister. If Burnham defeats a candidate from the anti-immigration party Reform UK and wins the seat for Labour, he is almost certain...

Ukraine hit a major Moscow oil refinery for a second time in a week and disrupted commercial flights at Moscow airports in one of its biggest drone attacks since Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbour more than four years ago, Russian officials said on Thursday. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian oil facilities, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for the war and make Russians feel the consequences of the invasion. Some areas have reported fuel shortages. The attack came hours after...

A massive ancient oak tree linked to the legend of Robin Hood may have been loved to death. The 1,200-year-old Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is believed to have died after it did not sprout leaves this spring, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said Thursday. Visitors who viewed the tree’s gnarled limbs and sprawling canopy in Nottingham over the past two centuries compressed the soil around it, making it difficult for rain to reach its roots, the conservation group said. The forest...

Scientists have found the oldest known evidence of the plague, which sparked deadly outbreaks dating back about 5,500 years ago – some 200 years earlier than previously thought. The disease has sickened humans for thousands of years and wiped out a significant chunk of Europe’s population in the 14th century during what’s known as the Black Death. Though rare, the plague is still around today and is treated with antibiotics. “To understand our own history, we believe that understanding the...

A teenager thrown to the ground Wednesday when a Central Park carriage horse bolted away from its driver has died, according to police. The 18-year-old was riding in the horse-drawn carriage with three other passengers when the accident happened just before 3pm, according to the New York Police Department. At least two passengers were sent flying out of the careening cab. The teenager was initially hospitalised in critical condition, while the other passengers refused medical treatment. The four...

As US President Donald Trump moves to reopen the Strait of Hormuz through a peace deal with Iran, major shipping companies such as Maersk are likely to stop short of resuming normal operations in the near term amid lingering concerns about the waterway’s security and the durability of the agreement, according to observers. Some industry insiders said the deal’s impact on the global shipping industry would hinge on whether the United States extended sanctions relief beyond the initial agreement,...

A senior US official on Wednesday released the text of an agreement reached between Washington and Tehran to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, after months of conflict had battered the global economy and sent oil prices soaring. The outline of the agreement, titled “Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran”, was released following days of pushback over the Trump administration’s lack of transparency. US President...

US President Donald Trump is happy with Canada’s arrangement to allow a capped number of Chinese electric vehicles to be imported at a low-tariff rate, Prime Minister Mark Carney said. When asked about Carney’s comment, Trump did not express explicit approval, but said he could understand the quota. The deal, unveiled during Carney’s trip to Beijing in January, allows as many as 49,000 Chinese EVs in a 12-month period at a tariff rate of around 6 per cent, with that quota to climb gradually over...

A top Huawei Technologies executive’s admission that the Chinese telecoms company illegally conducted business in Iran can be used in the coming US trial against Huawei, according to a judge’s ruling filed in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday. Chief Financial ‌Officer Meng Wanzhou made the admission as part of a 2021 deal to dismiss the criminal charges she faced in the case. In a four-page statement of facts, Meng acknowledged lying to a financial institution about Huawei’s compliance with...

The US Federal ⁠Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, but policymakers expect a hike in borrowing costs later this year amid growing concerns about inflation lodged above the US central bank’s 2 per cent target. New quarterly projections showed nine Fed officials now anticipate a hike in rates by the end of 2026, and an updated policy statement removed language that had been used to flag the likelihood of further reductions in borrowing costs this year. Indeed, the statement, in an...

⁠Luigi Mangione, the man accused of ⁠gunning down a health insurance executive in Manhattan, plans to argue at his murder trial that he was undergoing an extreme mental health crisis at the time of the alleged killing, a judge revealed at a hearing on Wednesday. The strategy poses ‌steep legal hurdles but could lead to a jury convicting Mangione of the lesser crime of manslaughter, which carries significantly lighter sentences. Mangione, who appeared in court in a dark suit and white shirt, is...

US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attempted to defuse escalating tensions over the recent killing of three Indian sailors by American naval forces off the coast of Oman. Speaking to the media after their first bilateral meeting in 16 months, Trump said both Washington and New Delhi continue to “work together” on the issue, calling commercial vessel operations “a rough profession”. “I heard about that,” Trump added, without offering any condolences or...

US President Donald Trump sought on Wednesday to frame his vague arrangement aimed at ending a questionable war as a major win that would bring the conflict to a close, reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and prevent Iran from “ever” obtaining a nuclear weapon. “On Sunday, we reached an agreement with Iran that achieves everything we set out to accomplish, everything and much more,” the US president said at a press conference in France on the sidelines of the Group of 7 (G7) economies. “When I...

After decades waiting for justice, relatives of women murdered by New York’s Gilgo Beach serial killer laid into him on Wednesday before he was sentenced to life in prison. He told them: “I am responsible” for the crimes. “The words I would say would have no meaning,” added Rex Heuermann, the Long Island architect who lived a secret life of violence for years before admitting he killed eight women. The sentencing capped an extraordinary investigation that solved one of New York’s most perplexing...

From free marketeers to long-term interventionists, EU countries of all stripes are converging on the need for urgent action to prevent a Chinese-driven European deindustrialisation ahead of a key summit in Brussels, multiple sources said on Wednesday. A broad coalition of members now support the development of a tough new trade strategy that could involve multiple new instruments and a more rapid-fire, strategic use of existing weapons. One of the tools could be modelled on US President Donald...

When Iran’s ⁠Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced the interim deal this week to end the ⁠war with the United States, he declared his country the victor. To many Iranians, it does not feel that way. More than three months of US and Israeli air strikes, and a blockade of Iranian ports, have poured new misery on a people already toiling under years of sanctions. Although the war is over – for now – Iranians are still watching their spending carefully. Few of the supporters and opponents of the...

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Wednesday that his country’s negotiations with Israel in Washington were independent of the US-Iran deal to bring an end to the Middle East conflict. Lebanon and Israel have been holding direct talks in Washington since April, seeking to end the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah and separate their conflict from the wider regional war. But the announcement on Monday of the US-Iran deal, which Iran and mediator Pakistan say includes Lebanon, has...

Government workers in different parts of Afghanistan have started switching off their smartphones, following an order imposed on Wednesday that they said came from Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. A letter announcing the ban on smartphones for all government employees started circulating on social media last week under the emblem of the Supreme Court, which has not responded to requests to comment. “All the heads of departments in their respective provinces are advised to inform their...

In 1996, the bestselling China Can Say No, co-authored by a group of intellectuals, reflected a nascent rejection of worship of the West and a rise in Chinese nationalism. Thirty years on, China is not just saying “no” to the West, it possesses the strategic leverage to hit back, underpinned by its dominance in global supply chains, rare earth minerals and critical green technologies. China’s confidence is perhaps most evident in its rebuttals and forceful countermeasures against Western claims...

The fatal shooting in eastern Poland of a Russian artist known for his caricatures of Russian President Vladimir Putin was likely politically motivated, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday. “All indications are that this is a political murder,” Tusk said of the killing of Semyon Skrepetsky, whose real name is Robert Kuzovkov. “If it was commissioned by Russia, then this is also a very serious matter with an international dimension.” According to Polish officials, Skrepetsky was...

US President Donald Trump suspended a Senate hearing on Jay Clayton’s nomination for intelligence chief, saying on Wednesday he wanted to be sure Clayton’s current post as prosecutor would be filled by the man of his choosing. In a game of musical chairs, Trump picked Clayton, who headed the Securities and Exchange Commission during the president’s first term in office, as his director of national intelligence (DNI). Clayton has served as US attorney for the Southern District of New York – one...

Over 1,100 foreign citizens received Russian visas last year for their declared commitment to “traditional values”, state media reported on Wednesday, a track opened as Moscow hardens its anti-liberal narrative amid the war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has for years denounced anything that goes against what he calls “traditional family values” as unRussian – including everything from LGBTQ rights to mixed-gender bathrooms – portraying them as a sign of the moral decadence of the...

The recent escalation in the Middle East has produced an unforeseen winner. The conflict has rekindled worries about logistics and energy security, prompting governments and businesses to reconsider their reliance on fossil fuels and fragile supply routes. This has sped up the move towards renewable energy. And the principal beneficiary of this shift is China. The strategic significance of the Strait of Hormuz is well understood. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade passes through this...

Norway’s ⁠Crown Princess Mette-Marit has undergone ⁠a successful lung transplant and is recovering ⁠from the procedure, the royal household said in a statement on Wednesday. The 52-year-old wife of Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the Norwegian throne, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, a chronic disease that causes scarring in the lungs and leads to a reduced oxygen uptake. The hospital said the transplant had “so far” been successful, ‌in a statement provided by the palace, but...

For years, Washington described India as an indispensable partner, a democratic counterweight to China and a strategic anchor in the Indo-Pacific. Then the US Navy killed three Indian sailors and America’s top diplomat could not even bring himself to apologise. India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar raised the deaths directly with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call last Friday, reiterating what he called India’s “strong protest” and declaring, in a later social media...

A new political party called Restore Britain is threatening the rise of Nigel Farage’s hard-right group, with a tougher anti-immigrant stance and the backing of tech trillionaire Elon Musk. Led by businessman and ex-football chairman Rupert Lowe, Restore is tipped to deprive Farage’s Reform UK party of victory over the ruling Labour Party in a crunch special election on Thursday. Lowe, 68, formed Restore as an alternative on the right of British politics in February following his split from...

Captain Raman Kapoor was loading oil at an Iraqi port when word reached him that the United States and Iran were at war. Within hours, his tanker was trapped north of the Strait of Hormuz with 24 crew members aboard, as missiles began arcing across the sky overhead. “We were stuck inside the war zone and everyone was so scared and clueless about what to do,” Kapoor, 48, recalled. “We all felt so trapped. We were helpless, totally helpless.” He and his crew would stay that way for 75 days. The...

The leaders of the world’s richest democracies are talking about how to tackle some of the world’s biggest problems this week, but hot mics at the G7 summit revealed that conversations also covered lighter fare. Sports. Cigarettes. The weather. And something about Greenland? As world leaders made their way into conference rooms at a lakeside resort, microphones set up for their weighty discussions about war and trade often caught off-the-cuff banter. Meloni quit smoking Italian Prime Minister...

One of US President Donald Trump’s pet beauty projects for Washington was supposed to make the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool look blue, like part of the US flag. Enter Mother Nature. Algae has proliferated in the water, turning it a swampy green. “Can you see it in my photos? Oh well, I’ll just use a filter to hide the algae,” said Farrah Lu, a 43-year-old tourist from China. The invasion comes just days after the completion of the pool repainting project, part of Trump’s drive to put his...

SpaceX roared past Amazon’s market valuation on Tuesday ⁠and briefly topped that of Microsoft, rapidly scaling the list of the world’s most valuable companies on a topsy-turvy trading day fuelled by frenzied action in the firm’s newly listed option contracts. SpaceX shares rose 4.8 per cent to close at US$201.80, giving Elon Musk’s company a market value of roughly US$2.655 trillion – some US$800 billion more than its value when it sold its record initial public offering last week and about...

The race for artificial intelligence has hardened into a two-power contest between the United States and China, fought over rare earths, data and the rules governing the technology, with Latin America and Europe sidelined, Brazil’s top foreign policy adviser said on Tuesday. Celso Amorim, a former foreign and defence minister, made the case at the Forte de Copacabana International Security Conference in Rio de Janeiro, an annual forum run by the Brazilian Centre for International Relations with...

New York City found a reason to party on Thursday, cheering, crying and climbing around Broadway to celebrate the Knicks’ N.B.A. championship.

Fans gathered in Manhattan on Thursday to cheer on the N.B.A. champions at a parade that has been 53 years in the making.

The first lady and the mayor showed up for the celebration in style.

The defense secretary described the vaccine requirement, which he lifted in April, as an “absurd, overreaching” mandate.

The Major Oak in the Sherwood Forest was between 800 and 1,200 years old. It succumbed to a combination of over-tourism, climate change and misguided efforts to save it.

British archaeologists may have found the remains of a site where people celebrated the solstice thousands of years ago, a few miles from the famed stone circle.

Thursday’s opening drew four former presidents, as well as Bruce Springsteen, Bono and Jennifer Hudson. Chicago has seen years of planning and legal fights.

Celebrity guests paid winking homage to President Obama’s notorious tan suit.

The story of one progressive activist arrested in Minnesota in January shows what critics say is the aggressive nature of the Trump administration’s response to those who have protested its immigration crackdown.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to sell or give away most of the 11 warehouses it bought to detain migrants, reversing course on a signature initiative.

The case, which resulted in a short jail sentence despite years of alleged abuse, has drawn outcry in Texas. So have the attempts to politicize it.

Mr. Charles, a conservative Republican, had led the field ahead of a ranked-choice runoff. But Ms. Pingree, a former Maine House speaker, had been in a tight race with other Democrats.

Mr. Dunlap, a progressive Democrat, is set to face former Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, in a competitive general election in November.

An 18-year-old was ejected after a carriage horse bolted on Wednesday as the driver took a photograph. It was unclear how long the voluntary shutdown might last.

The high school philosophy exam is a rite of passage for French students. This year included questions about Friedrich Nietzsche’s 1878 book, “Human, All Too Human.”

I asked the vice president what is Christian about this White House.

Many gallerists are questioning the fundamentals of their business. It’s as if the art world they know has fallen off its axis.

“Trump’s answer to the question, ‘Who did you go to war with?’ and ‘How did it end?’ will be the same answer: ‘Iran,’” Kimmel said.

Judith Sheldon, 84, daughter of an Oscar-winning director, and her husband, Wylie, 86, were traveling to Oregon on a hot day. Their deaths are under investigation.