Minimalist News

RFK Jr. Says Government Pausing More Than $1 Billion In Medicaid Payments To California, Minnesota Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times, The federal government is pausing more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to two states, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is withholding more than $867 million from California and more than $200 million from Minnesota. Advanced analytics, identified through financial investigation and artificial intelligence, identified suspicious activity and potential fraud, officials said. “Every dollar the federal government allows to be lost to fraud, waste, and abuse is

House Panel Subpoenas Far-Left Groups Linked To China-Based Marxist Financier Neville Singham The House Ways and Means Committee has subpoenaed the People's Forum , a New York-based far-left NGO; BreakThrough News, a far-left propaganda media outlet; and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, which can be described as anchored in " national liberation Marxism ." These organizations are part of a broader investigation into more than $39 million in funding linked to Marxist China-based tech financier Neville Roy Singham , who has pushed for revolution in America. Here are some sights and sounds from today’s “Hands Off Iran” protest in New

Biden Bucks: Climate Change Funds A Bonanza For State Outfits Authored by James Varney via RealClearInvestigations , For much of its five-decade history, the Colorado Energy Office was a small department with a handful of employees who supported practical, cost-saving energy conservation measures. From 2010 to 2022, records show, the office received an average of $7 million per year from the U.S. Department of Energy. All that changed after the Biden administration and Congress approved hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending to provide "a more equitable , low-carbon, and clean energy economy." In fiscal year 2024, Colorado's state

Secret Service Official Sounds Alarm: "Threat Environment Highest Ever" As Assassination Attempts Explode The threat environment facing individuals under U.S. Secret Service protection, including President Trump, is the highest the agency has ever recorded , a senior official said during a background briefing with reporters, according to CNBC . Getty Images "What we're seeing now is something I've never seen before," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of a public briefing. The Secret Service has logged roughly 10,000 cases involving threats against government officials, including Supreme Court justices, so far in 2026 - a 40% increase from

DARPA's 'ECHO' Project: A Computer System That Declares You A Bio Threat - With No Physical Evidence Authored by Jon Fleetwood via JonFleetwood.com , In 2018, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) proposed building a portable computer system allegedly capable of determining whether a person had been exposed to biological or chemical threats - including weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their precursors. Even with no physical evidence. DARPA outlined the proposal in Broad Agency Announcement HR001118S0023 for a program known as ECHO (Epigenetic CHaracterization and Observation). DARPA proposed accomplishing this by comparing purported changes inside the person's own

Overeducated Liberals With Worthless Degrees Are DSA's "Sweet Spot" Voter Nate Silver identifies lower-income, highly educated voters as the core demographic of the Democratic Socialists of America, revealing a striking breakdown in the traditional relationship between education and higher income. "Income and education are usually positively correlated. But sometimes the relationship breaks down. What's the most Democratic voting group in America? People with post-graduate degrees but lower-to-middle incomes," Silver wrote on X. In today's newsletter, I argue this is the sweet spot for the DSA. DSA members are *very* college-educated (80% BA+) but *not* particularly well-off (45% HHI incomes below

Google Tumbles After Boosting 2026 Capex Guidance Again Update (5:00pm ET) : It took just a few minutes into the call for management to get to the elephant in the room, namely the relentless spending on overpriced commodity chips, and just like last quarter when GOOGL guided to a much higher capex for the current year, it did so again (if to a slightly lesser extent). The stock promptly slumped 3% to new session lows. *ALPHABET SEES FY CAPEX $195B TO $205B, SAW $180B TO $190B And then: *GOOGLE STILL SEES FY27 CAPEX INCREASING 'SIGNIFICANTLY' There was more: *GOOGLE TO

We Watched 'The Odyssey' So You Don't Have To! Submitted by blueapples on X via ashesofacacia.substack.com , After watching The Odyssey (don't worry, I pirated it), all I can say is that the hatred it fomented was ultimately to its benefit. It caused a reactionary response that amplified the hype surrounding the movie, with the hate-posting ultimately serving as free publicity. It needed it because the movie was extraordinarily mediocre. A solid 4/10, and that's only largely because the source material innately provides such a compelling story. As someone whose heritage is Greek, I completely understood that outrage. Hearing people

House Narrowly Passes $1.15 Trillion Defense Bill That Integrates US Military Tech & Supply Chains With Israel The House passed the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday by a 216-212 vote , sending the $1.15 trillion measure to the Senate after one of the most partisan House votes in the must-pass bill's recent history. Only six Democrats supported it, while seven Republicans voted no. 🚨 JUST IN: The US House has just PASSED the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — with the SAVE AMERICA ACT ATTACHED — sending it to the Senate before it heads to President

Despite Big Bounce In Revenues, TSLA Shares Drop After Disappointing Earnings After a dismal two years of weakening demand, falling sales, and damage to its brand by Elon Musk’s political activities, Tesla’s road to recovery remains mixed on the heels of an impressive delivery report . While earnings fell 18% compared to Q2 2025 to 33c a share (well below expectations of 51c) with higher AI spending and R&D weighing on profitability; the silver lining was that Revenue came in at $28.2 billion, which was 28% higher than last year (well above expectations of $26.4 billion). The company said it

IRGC To Trump: Strike Iran's Infrastructure, We'll Shut Off The Gulf's Power Summary More Tanker Attacks: Iran-backed Houthi militants said they targeted two Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea Trump ultimatum: Trump vowed the US will strike an Iranian bridge or power plant after every Iranian attack on shipping. Iran responds: The IRGC threatened to hit Gulf energy infrastructure if Iranian infrastructure is attacked, saying it will cut off electricity among US allies. Latest Gulf missile attacks: Iran claimed attacks on US-linked targets in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. Nuclear tensions: Iran denied nuclear activity at Pickaxe Mountain, calling

Jim Quinn Warns "We've Already Entered This Fourth Turning's Global War..." Authored by Jim Quinn via The Bruning Platform blog, “THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” – Thomas Paine – The American Crisis “At worst, should at least one desperate

Shirley You Must Be Joking: Groups Sue For Communication Records Linked To Somali Daycare Fraud Claims Authored by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times , A coalition of civil-rights groups sued the Trump administration on Monday, seeking to force the release of internal communications between federal health officials and a YouTube journalist who accused Somali-run Minnesota daycare centers of fraud. Independent Journalist Nick Shirley speaks at Freedomfest in Las Vegas, on July 9, 2026. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times The viral videos helped spur a since-abandoned effort to freeze childcare funding in five Democratic-led states. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department

OpenAI Admits Model Escaped Containment And Hacked Hugging Face To Cheat On A Test Authored by Felix Ng via CoinTelegraph.com, OpenAI disclosed Tuesday that a combination of its AI models, including GPT-5.6 Sol and a more capable unreleased model, escaped its testing environment and hacked AI startup Hugging Face last week to cheat on a test meant to measure their capabilities. In a blog post, OpenAI said the evaluation was designed to operate in a highly isolated environment with restricted network access. The models, however, found a way to gain internet access through a zero-day vulnerability in an internally-hosted third

"He Was Very Close To Being Arrested": Epstein's Paris Model Scout Found Dead At Home, Weeks After CNN Appearance Daniel Siad, the 69-year-old Paris modeling scout whose name appears nearly 2,000 times in the DOJ's Epstein files, was found dead at his home in Colombes, northwest of Paris, on Monday. The deputy public prosecutor at Nanterre, Marie-Celine Lawrysz, confirmed the death Wednesday and said an investigation into the cause was opened that evening, with an autopsy to follow. Which is to say: officially, nobody knows anything yet. Siad's lawyer told Reuters that "Daniel Siad never stopped proclaiming his innocence" -

Video Game Market Tanks As Studio, Console Stocks Sink ; Can GTA VI Revive Industry? Video game stocks have been battered so far this year, with Electronic Arts the only major name in positive territory and even then only marginally higher. The Roundhill Video Games ETF is down about 14.8% YTD, highlighting industry-wide weakness as investors await a potential revival sparked by Take-Two's release of Grand Theft Auto VI this upcoming fall. The latest report from Bloomberg, citing new data from market research company Circana, shows the video game market in the US contracted by 21% in June, its steepest

A Fed Rate-Hike Would Be A Serious Mistake Authored by Daniel Lacalle, The latest U.S. inflation report and jobs data do not justify another interest rate increase . Additionally, June data show that inflation is slowing down, especially in the core CPI measure that is most closely watched by monetary authorities, while ongoing tightening is stopping the labor market from reaching its full potential. Hiking rates while maintaining elevated liquidity harms families and small businesses and perpetuates the very factors that drive inflation, including rising money supply and government spending. Keeping rates above the neutral level has cost the U.S.

The Great Six Month Financial Blindfold Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance As many including myself recently have noted , we are already living through an extraordinary age of financial grift, accounting games, promotional fraud, speculative mania and almost total contempt for basic investor skepticism. The SEC’s apparent response is to consider giving public companies less frequently required financial disclosure in the face of demonstrable public disapproval of the idea. You genuinely can not make this shit up. At a moment when public markets increasingly resemble a casino operated by executives, influencers, investment bankers, meme-stock promoters, crypto carnival barkers and apparently

Google's Flagship Still Can't Ship - So It Launched Token Austerity And A Hacking Model Only Governments Can Use Alphabet reports second-quarter earnings after today's close - the first hyperscaler print since cheap Chinese tokens knocked the semiconductor index into a bear market. So naturally, Google chose the eve of that report to ship three new AI models, none of which is the one it promised. Getty Images The Tuesday launch consisted of Gemini 3.6 Flash , a cheaper workhorse whose headline feature is that it consumes fewer tokens; Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, a high-throughput model built for volume; and Gemini

Abandoned Navy Base Costs Taxpayers $340,000 A Year For Internet Nobody Uses Authored by Matt White via TaskandPurpose.com, The mostly abandoned neighborhoods on Adak Island, Alaska, were once home to 5,000 Navy sailors and their families. But after 40 years as a supply depot, Naval Air Facility Adak closed in 1997, leaving scores of homes and buildings behind. Today, a small community of government workers and Alaska Native families have turned the streets and buildings of the former base into the town of Adak. The island, far out on the Aleutian Island chain , is so isolated and decayed that

Trump’s 50% tariff threat means there will be no ribbon-cutting celebration of Gordie Howe International Bridge A planned joint US-Canada ceremony on Friday celebrating the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, is no longer expected to take place after Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on most Canadian goods. In announcing the tariffs, the president accused Canada of unfairly discriminating against US automobiles, alcohol and dairy products, escalating tensions with one of the United States’ closest allies. Continue reading...

US secretary of state says international community should ‘join forces’ against authoritarian Ortega regime Nicaragua’s congress, controlled by the country’s long-serving president, Daniel Ortega, has announced a “work plan” to implement the authoritarian leader’s order that the country should no longer hold elections. The UN and the US strongly condemned Sunday’s announcement by Ortega, who has been in power since 2007 and, after a controversial constitutional change last year, now governs alongside his wife , Rosario Murillo, as “co-president”. Continue reading...

Researchers listening off the Caribbean island of Dominica found variations in the mammals’ audible clicks when marine traffic was close Sperm whales produce a specific pattern of clicking noises when they hear the noise of boats, researchers have found. The pattern is so distinct that the scientists who identified it said they can now use it to predict when ships are nearby. Researchers from Project Ceti (the Cetacean Translation Initiative), a non-profit research organisation working to decode sperm whale communication, spent four years tuning in on the calls of 15 sperm whales off the coast of Dominica. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Sign up for US Breaking News email US gas prices have continued to rise since the conflict with Iran resumed this month. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), a gallon of fuel is now just over $4 – almost a dollar more than a year ago. It comes as Brent Crude , the international oil benchmark, is now up by almost 2% to $90.92 a barrel . Continue reading...

Mark Carney says Canada is ‘united’ in face of threats as leaders agree to talk before tariffs take effect next month Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Donald Trump has defended his new 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, claiming the country cannot survive without the US. The White House announced the sweeping round of import duties – due to come into effect next month – on Monday, igniting fresh tensions between Washington and Ottawa. Continue reading...

Isabel Rose, 26, sentenced to six years for blackmail and perverting course of public justice over her allegations against British man A British woman who reported being raped to police in Hong Kong has been sentenced to six years in prison for blackmail and perverting the course of public justice. Isabel Rose, 26, from south-east London, travelled to Hong Kong in early 2024 to visit a British banker she had met while travelling in south-east Asia. Continue reading...

Foreign minister Penny Wong will deliver speech criticising China’s recent launch of a nuclear-capable submarine-launched missile Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Penny Wong will warn China that Australia and other neighbouring nations will not be bullied by its “provocative” actions, after its involvement in another “destabilising and dangerous” incident this week. The foreign affairs minister – who will deliver the address on Thursday in the Philippines, where the 59th Asean foreign minister’s meeting is being held – will also caution world leaders against placing a toll on the strait of Hormuz after both

Prosecutors seek a one-year sentence and heavy fine after chef garnished dish with insects not approved for consumption Prosecutors in South Korea have asked a court to sentence the owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant to one year in prison for serving a dessert topped with ants, an insect not approved for consumption under local food safety law. The request, made on Monday, also sought a 20m won (£10,108) fine for the company that runs the restaurant, Yonhap news agency reported . Continue reading...

In April Japan coined new term kokushobi for days above 40C as country advises workers to wear shorts to the office to cope with stifling heat Japan logged its first official kokushobi or “cruelly hot day” on Tuesday since the new term for when temperatures top 40 degrees Celsius was introduced in April. The Japan Meteorological Agency coined the new designation to warn the public of the heat dangers of days that were once freak weather events but have now become more common. The central Japan cities of Gujo and Tajimi in Gifu prefecture, along with Toyota in Aichi prefecture,

Many of the more than 100 people awaiting processing on the tiny Pacific island are skipping meals to make ends meet, a new survey has found Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Most refugees and asylum seekers held in Nauru’s detention centres say they cannot afford to buy enough food or access clean drinking water, despite the Australian government spending the equivalent of more than $9m per person last financial year. The group of more than 100 people have been sent indefinitely to the tiny

Follow live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Self-reported domestic violence incidents declining in NSW but deaths and hospitalisations fail to fall New data shows self-reported domestic violence incidents in New South Wales have declined, but the number of women and children murdered or hospitalised in domestic and family violence incidents over the past eight years has not significantly budged. The decline in self-reported violence is significant because it reflects underlying levels of violence in the community, not just what is reported to police. It suggests that, despite rising reports of domestic violence to

National emergency test alert will be sent to all mobile devices on 27 July, with domestic violence advocates advising how to turn off safe phones Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Virtually every phone in the country will blare an emergency siren at 2pm AEST on Monday 27 July as part of the first Australia-wide test of a new national warning system called AusAlert. Most phones, and some smartwatches and tablets, will receive a pop-up notification and an alert sound that cannot be silenced –

The companies hope to follow in the footsteps of SpaceX, which raised $86bn and soared to a $2.1tn valuation after it listed on public markets in June Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Top US AI developers Anthropic and OpenAI cheered when Australia announced it would set new AI rules. Big tech celebrating limits on their Silicon Valley VC-funded free-for-all might seem counterintuitive but there’s a much broader play than just what happens in one relatively small market. Continue reading...

Military and SES personnel being taught analog communication and navigation techniques as experts warn solar flare could knock out ‘critical space infrastructure’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia’s emergency services and military personnel are being trained to read paper maps, navigate without GPS support and sail by the stars in case something knocks out the nation’s space capabilities. A panel at the 19th Australian Space Forum in Adelaide on Wednesday was asked to consider what would happen “if we suddenly lost access to critical

Research identifies 808,585 viral genomes belonging to what scientists estimate to be 362,802 different viruses Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast More than a decade after the human microbiome was comprehensively mapped, scientists have now identified the vast communities of microbes that make up the Great Barrier Reef. Analysing DNA from seawater samples of 48 reefs, researchers have mapped the microbiome of the Great Barrier Reef, documenting more than 360,000 distinct viruses as well as more than 500 new bacterial species not previously known to

Campaigners in Ukraine pledge to continue nationwide protests until Mykhailo Fedorov gets his job back Volodymyr Zelenskyy was under growing pressure to reinstate his sacked defence minister on Wednesday, after campaigners said they would continue indefinite nationwide protests until Mykhailo Fedorov got his job back. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy bowed to public demands by firing Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi . He appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new head of the country’s armed forces , as part of a radical reshuffle of the top military command. Continue reading...

Brussels talks between senior diplomats now underway in attempt to sign off 21st package of sanctions, after previous failed attempts The Venice Biennale said it would challenge a European Union decision to withdraw a €2 ⁠million grant in response to the return of Russia to its 2026 edition, despite continuing aggression on Ukraine, Reuters reported. The Italian government sharply criticised the move, while the European Commission warned it ​would suspend or terminate funding if the Russian ‌pavilion returned. Continue reading...

Figures come as large parts of southern Europe endure another record-breaking period of extreme temperatures France recorded more than 5,700 excess deaths during its June heatwave, authorities have said, as swathes of southern Europe continue to endure another record-breaking period of extreme temperatures. The French national health agency said on Wednesday that it had recorded 5,764 excess deaths ⁠between ​17 June and 2 July, an excess mortality rate of 36%. Continue reading...

The new PM talks less about the continent than his predecessor, but his agenda is more closely aligned with the EU’s • Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Europe’s leaders queued up this week to welcome Andy Burnham as Britain’s seventh prime minister since the Brexit vote – all expressing the hope that his tenure would continue the thaw in EU-UK relations initiated by his predecessor, Keir Starmer. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission chief, said she was looking forward to strengthening cross-Channel ties, adding that a “very good” first discussion had confirmed

Record June temperatures expected to cut grain harvest by 9m tonnes to its lowest level since 2018 The heatwave that swept across Europe in June is estimated to have cost the continent’s grain farmers €2bn (£1.7bn) in lost revenue and destroyed 9m tonnes of crops, sparking concern about the impact on the price of food. Coceral, the European cereals and oilseeds trade association, made the estimate for the harvest of crops such as wheat, barley, maize and oats following the heatwave. Continue reading...

US military says it is degrading Tehran’s ability to threaten ships in strait of Hormuz; Houthis say tankers violated their blockade; US signs nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is saying it stopped three oil tankers from passing through the strait of Hormuz . In recent weeks Iran has hit tankers using a route hugging the Omani coast to traverse the waterway, in an effort to push vessels into using its own waters and pay for safe passage as Tehran and Washington vie for control of the vital energy pathway. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. The Jordanian army said it intercepted four Iranian missiles on Wednesday with two additional missile falling in an open area, AFP reports. The two missiles that the army did not intercept fell in “two remote, uninhabited areas, without causing any human casualties or material damage” the army said in a statement. Continue reading...

Mamdani admits he lacks power to arrest Israeli prime minister after saying he’s ‘not welcome’ in New York City Zohran Mamdani , the New York City mayor, doubled down on his support for the international criminal court (ICC) on Wednesday and called on federal authorities to execute the court’s warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu ’s arrest should he visit the city in the fall. “I call on the federal government to join the international criminal court and to execute both this warrant as well as any warrant the international criminal court holds,” Mamdani told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.

New York mayor admits he does not have authority to arrest Netanyahu, adding Israeli PM is ‘architect of a horrific genocide’ Zohran Mamdani , the New York City mayor, acknowledged on Tuesday he does not have the authority to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu , but urged US federal authorities to do so if the Israeli prime minister visits the US later this year. “Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people,” Mamdani said in a video posted to social media. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: ​A White House operating without expertise, strategy or restraint ​is stuck in a conflict with no easy way out, which is sending economic shockwaves far beyond its own borders Good morning. Within two hours of entering No 10 on Monday afternoon, Andy Burnham had his first call with Donald Trump. After chit-chatting about the football (both agreed England had an “excellent tournament”) and Manchester (our new prime minister invited the president to visit the city Trump once described as a “town”), they got on to far trickier territory: the strait of Hormuz. The US has attacked Iran

Proceedings suspended as politicians call for Modi government to address police violence and education scandals India’s opposition parties have shut down parliament in a protest calling for the resignation of the education minister, in solidarity with the new youth-led “cockroach” movement . Opposition politicians, led by the Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, gathered outside the parliament building in Delhi on Wednesday, many dressed in black and waving placards calling on Dharmendra Pradhan to quit. Continue reading...

Thousands of people again on the streets of Delhi calling for education reforms despite police violence on Monday Taru had come to the protest prepared this time. In one hand was an anti-government poster and in the other was a bicycle helmet. “We need to have protection in case Delhi police beat us up again,” said the 25-year-old, who stood among her friends. “We are not scared of them and we won’t run away, no matter what they do. We’ll stay here till they listen.” On Tuesday, central Delhi still thronged with thousands of protesters, as an unprecedented expression of

National disaster agency confirms ‘severe financial and human losses’ in eastern province of Nuristan Rescue crews in Afghanistan are searching for survivors and bodies among the rubble of houses destroyed by devastating flash floods that authorities said had killed nearly two dozen people and left more than 100 people missing. The Afghanistan national disaster management authority said on Tuesday that 23 people had died, 80 had been injured and more than 100 were missing after floods struck the eastern province of Nuristan on Monday, causing an undetermined number of buildings to collapse. The provincial capital city of Parun was among

Youth-led group calls on education minister to quit in one of India’s largest anti-government rallies in years Tens of thousands of protesters have defied police orders and descended on Delhi to demand the resignation of India’s education minister in one of the largest anti-government demonstrations in years. A huge crowd, largely made up of students and gen Z-ers, filled the streets in the heart of India’s capital from early Monday morning shouting anti-government slogans. Hundreds had already camped out overnight. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Outdoor workers losing up to 9% of income as weather becomes ‘poverty multiplier’, research says Extreme heat is pushing some of India’s poorest workers further into poverty, with income losses of up to 9% for outdoor workers, new research has found. Analysis done by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and shared exclusively with the Guardian, found that extreme heat is acting as a “poverty multiplier” for hundreds of millions of workers in India’s informal sector. Continue reading...

More than 70 attacks have been recorded over past year, including acts of violence, property damage and vandalism One mosque is attacked in Britain every five days, according to new data released by the government’s partner for monitoring anti-Muslim hatred. More than 70 attacks on mosques in the UK have been recorded over the past year, which include acts of intimidation, violence, property damage, harassment, anti-Muslim hate speech, online abuse and vandalism. Continue reading...

New prime minister has made Sarwar – the first senior Labour figure to call for Keir Starmer’s resignation – a peer Scottish Labour’s rivals in Holyrood have slammed Anas Sarwar’s shock decision to resign as leader to sit in Andy Burnham’s new government, calling him a “chancer” and accusing him of lying to voters. The prime minister has made Sarwar – who was the first senior Labour figure to call for Keir Starmer to resign – a peer and given him a ministerial post at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, No 10 announced on Wednesday. Continue reading...

European Commission says Paramount Skydance’s decision to end Universal venture addresses merger concerns Paramount Skydance’s £80bn takeover of Warner Brothers took a step closer to being realised after it won conditional approval from the European Union. The European Commission said Paramount’s offer to ⁠end a film ⁠distribution ​joint venture with Universal Pictures addressed its concerns over the potential merger. As part of its commitments in the EU, Paramount has 13 months from the date of closing the deal to pull out from the venture. Continue reading...

PM says he wants to ensure ‘everything has been looked at’ amid outrage at policy from family of PC Andrew Harper Andy Burnham is immersed in a deepening political row after ordering a review of plans for the early release of thousands of killers, rapists and sex offenders from prison in September. After the family of PC Andrew Harper expressed outrage that his killers may be eligible for release, the prime minister responded by pledging to make sure that “everything has been looked at again” before a fresh tranche of about 6,000 offenders were freed on tags. Continue reading...

Public prosecutor for the region said suspect had been initially arrested shortly after the murder on 29 April last year A 70-year-old woman has been charged with the murder of Karen Carter, the British expat found dead in south-western France last year. The woman was charged on 2 July with Carter’s murder in Trémolat, in the Dordogne, and is “under judicial supervision”. Continue reading...

Shooting happened on street in popular neighborhood lined with restaurants, bars, shops and homes A police officer in Madison, Wisconsin, shot and killed a man Wednesday in an incident that was captured on cellphone footage, sparking local protests . John Patterson, the Madison police chief, acknowledged the shooting at a news conference, but stressed footage circulating was just one perspective of what happened. Continue reading...

Brad Sherman, US representative from California, said Congress should approve agreement only if ‘gold-standard safeguards’ are included US signs landmark nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia Sign up for the Breaking News US email A reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest out of the Middle East at our dedicated live blog. Donald Trump took to Truth Social a short while and noted that the US will destroy one bridge or power plant , including those near Tehran, “any time” that Iran “shoots a ship” in the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Trump administration hails agreement, which comes as the US fights a war with Iran in part to prevent Tehran enriching uranium domestically The US has signed a landmark nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia that could allow the kingdom to enrich uranium in the future. In a statement on Wednesday, the US Department of Energy said its secretary, Chris Wright, and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, signed a “peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement”, along with a “bilateral safeguards agreement”. Continue reading...

Gory details about tarp, mats and inflatable pool come to light during hearing over death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez At singer D4vd’s former Hollywood Hills home, law enforcement detected possible bloodstains – invisible to the naked eye – on items including a green tarp, black rubber mats and a crumpled inflatable pool that had the odor of fresh laundry. The gory details came to light on Wednesday, the second day of a hearing to determine whether there was probable cause for the musician, whose full name is David Anthony Burke, to stand trial for the murder and sexual abuse of

President visits swing state to promote ‘Trump accounts’ and says high prices lingering from Joe Biden’s presidency Donald Trump scoffed at the word “affordability” as a political message, describing it at a campaign rally on Wednesday as a term concocted by Democratic political consultants to criticize his presidency. Yet even as the president dismissed the notion of affordability, he devoted much of his speech at Wheeler high school to touting the bread-and-butter benefits of his economic policies. “So I just want you to remember that if you’re paying a little bit more – a lot of it’s come down now,

The man convicted of trying to kill Salman Rushdie spent years researching the writer’s whereabouts before stabbing him on a lecture stage, federal prosecutors said Wednesday at the opening of his federal terrorism trial. It is a second trial for Hadi Matar, who was found guilty in a New York state attempted murder case last year. The federal terror charges focus more on Matar’s alleged motive for the attack on the renowned author and free-speech advocate in 2022. Prosecutors started working on...

A French modelling scout with close ties to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead at his home outside Paris, prosecutors and his lawyer said on Wednesday. Under investigation in France, Daniel Siad, 69, was one of several French men accused of aiding the US financier to traffic and abuse women. Siad had not yet been questioned by investigators, but had denied the allegations. “An investigation to determine the cause of death was opened on Monday evening following the...

⁠From humble origins as a family business run out of an ⁠apartment near Moscow, Wildberries has grown in under two decades into Russia’s top online retailer and a key economic driver in the country. It has now become a target of strikes by Ukraine. Ukraine has attacked four Wildberries warehouses over the last week in a widening campaign of drone strikes against a company at the heart of Russia’s consumer economy, bringing the war closer to millions of ordinary Russians. In towns across Russia,...

US President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to destroy an Iranian bridge or power plant each time Tehran attacks a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, escalating Washington’s response as the conflict spread across the region and placed another major shipping route at risk. The warning came hours before Trump was due to attend the return of four US service members killed in Iranian attacks and related operations in Jordan and Iraq. “From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran...

Why haven’t Ukraine’s drone and missile attacks on Russia triggered Moscow’s use of tactical nuclear weapons, as it has threatened? When Russia is attacked time and again, one wonders what purpose it serves to have the world’s largest nuclear arsenal. The Ukraine war is at a stalemate. Though roughly 90 per cent of the territory in East Donbas is under Russian control, its ground advances have slowed to less than 100 metres a day, according to a July 1 report by the Centre for Strategic...

At least 999 people have died from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to official data published overnight into Wednesday, a grim toll in what has already been declared the fastest Ebola outbreak in history. The latest update from DR Congo’s Ministry of Health shows that as of Monday, 2,473 cases have been recorded in the latest outbreak, and 999 people have died. At least 737 patients were currently in isolation and hospitals, it said. The outbreak declared on May...

A judge on Wednesday set a June 1, 2027, trial date for ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on US drug-trafficking charges, while a defence lawyer vowed to seek dismissal of the case on the grounds that Maduro is immune from prosecution as the head of a sovereign state. Maduro and his wife, wearing beige prison garb, appeared during a hearing lasting about ‌20 minutes in Manhattan federal court before District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in one of the most...

On July 9, a fire burned through a shoe factory in Jinjiang, Fujian province, killing at least 28 people. The accident signals a larger problem: firms operating under financial pressure often cut costs by compromising safety. China’s low-cost business model needs reform, but why has change been so difficult? The plant that burned employed hundreds of workers, yet company filings for 2025 indicate that only a handful of them were enrolled in pension and medical insurance plans. A fire-safety...

After US strikes on Iran’s largest nuclear facilities last year, both US President Donald Trump and the White House were adamant that the Middle East nation’s nuclear programme had been destroyed. “Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term!” Trump wrote on social media. “Iran’s Nuclear Facilities Have Been Obliterated – and Suggestions Otherwise are Fake News,” the White House wrote in a press release. A year later,...

Searchers have found the wreckage from a Pan Am flight that plunged into the ocean off Puerto Rico in 1952, an accident that killed 52 and led to requirements for the passenger safety briefings given on every commercial flight. The plane, the Clipper Endeavor, made a hard landing after losing engine power shortly after take-off. The 17 passengers and crew who survived told investigators everyone lived through the landing, but panic set in as many passengers struggled to find life vests and the...

US President Donald Trump has approved an agreement with Saudi Arabia that could potentially provide the kingdom with uranium enrichment capability for its civilian nuclear programme, according to two people familiar with the matter. The people, who were not authorised to comment publicly about the yet to be formally announced decision, said the agreement was expected to be announced publicly as early as Wednesday. The deal was expected to last 30 years and was also expected to involve US firms...

The cost of the United States’ war in Iran has risen to US$37.5 billion so far, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday, as he faced sceptical lawmakers for the first time since heavy bombings resumed to seek urgent funding for the unpopular conflict. With just six months before midterm elections in which US President Donald Trump’s Republicans may face an uphill battle to keep their House of ‌Representatives and Senate majorities, Democrats are riding high in public opinion polls as...

Over the past year, China’s Belt and Road Initiative has seen rapid development in Central Asia. This has been evidenced by the launch of several railway and road routes connecting China’s industrial and economic centres to logistics hubs in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. China’s improved transport to the region reflects two interrelated trends: growing trade momentum and Central Asia’s strengthening position in continental logistics. Last year, China became the largest trading partner...

US President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to help Lebanon “a lot” as its president, Joseph Aoun, sought Washington’s backing for a fragile effort to disarm Hezbollah and forge a path to peace with Israel. Aoun, the first Lebanese president invited to Washington since 2009, asked Trump for political support and continued backing for the Lebanese army, which has begun deploying in southern areas under a US-backed framework agreement with Israel. “We need to support the LAF,” Aoun said, referring...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday sacked his Soviet-trained army chief Oleksandr Syrsky following a political crisis triggered by the removal of a popular, young and tech-savvy defence minister. The Ukrainian leader announced he was appointing joint forces commander Mykhailo Drapaty in his place. Syrsky, 60, had served in the role since 2024 and was among Kyiv’s most experienced commanders, having led the defence of Kyiv at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. His...

France’s parliament on Tuesday approved a bill banning social media access for children under 15, making France the first European country to bar children from apps such as TikTok. President Emmanuel Macron has championed the ban as a flagship reform of his final term in office and pledged to enforce it by September. “France is leading the way in Europe when it comes to protecting our children and teenagers,” Macron said in a video posted on social media, hailing “a major step forward”. He...

US President Donald Trump’s administration is using another tariff threat to put fresh pressure on Canadian provinces to end their boycotts of American alcohol. But provincial leaders are not backing off. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would not lift his province’s ban on the sale of American wine and spirits in government-run stores unless the US removes sectoral tariffs on cars and steel. “We have to negotiate through strength, not weakness. And we need to throw everything on the table,” he...

The ⁠man accused of murdering former ⁠government minister Ann Widdecombe struck her 21 times on the top of her head with a hammer during the attack at her home earlier this ‌month, prosecutors told a London court on Tuesday. Widdecombe, 78, who was a prominent figure in Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK but no longer a member of parliament, was found dead at her home in rural southwest England on ⁠July 9 after being attacked the day before. Police have said they believe Widdecombe had been...

Asia’s oil buyers are facing the risk of a second maritime chokepoint being disrupted after Iran-aligned Houthi militants threatened to impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, even as shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remain severely disrupted by the US-Iran conflict. Analysts said any serious disruption in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait could leave Asia with fewer alternatives for Middle Eastern crude, threatening Saudi shipments and increasing the risk of oil prices rising above US$100 per...

A man suspected of fatally shooting six child welfare workers at a shelter for mothers in Stade in northern Germany last month died by suicide in jail on Tuesday, officials said. The suspect, who has been partially identified in German media as 45-year-old Fatih Khan G., was found dead by jail staff in his single cell early Tuesday, the Lower Saxony state justice ministry said in a statement. The ministry said there are “currently no indications of third-party involvement” in the suspect’s death...

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Tuesday he would cut taxes ⁠on electricity bills, the first of several early moves to signal his intent to ease a cost-of-living crisis and quell anger over successive governments’ failure to bring change. On his second day in his new job, Burnham said his government would remove the value-added tax from domestic electricity bills from October 1, cutting around £45 from the average annual bill of around £1,862 that households pay. With bond investors...

The China threat has landed in Brussels. A new European Union position paper accuses Beijing of amplifying security threats, posing “a critical long-term strategic challenge” and reviving “sphere-of-influence logic” to reshape the global order. Beijing is cast as an enabler of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while its “assertive behaviour” in the South China Sea threatens European and Indo-Pacific security, stability and prosperity. The document, “Common Understanding: The Threats and Challenges...

While Beijing has lifted refined fuel export restrictions this month amid elevated global oil prices and ample national reserves, it has also introduced compliance requirements for refiners – a cautious pivot aimed at safeguarding domestic stockpiles, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. “With the interim truce between Washington and Tehran having collapsed, Beijing has adopted a more cautious stance on easing curbs for fuel exports,” a person familiar with the matter said in...

Nvidia’s H200 chips, a step down from its most advanced Blackwell line, have resumed imports into China, albeit in small quantities. Meanwhile, China’s chip exports nearly doubled in the first half of this year. Much of these exports are mature logic integrated circuits for applications in consumer electronics and automotive sectors. While the US is the undisputed leader in the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips, China is emerging as a dominant player in mass market legacy...

A man stabbed and wounded two tourists Tuesday morning near the ancient Acropolis in Athens, Greece’s top tourist attraction, police said, in what appeared to be a random attack. The assailant attacked a man and a woman, both Greek Americans, with a knife on a pedestrian street near an entrance to the Acropolis itself and near the entrance to the Acropolis Museum, which lies at the foot of the Acropolis hill. The 53-year-old male victim suffered a serious wound to his arm which required a...

Nicaragua’s long-serving President Daniel Ortega said the Central American country will no longer hold elections, eliminating the possibility of an electoral challenge when his term ends next year and further entrenching the rule he shares with his wife. Ortega, who has continuously held power since 2007 following an earlier presidential term ‌in the 1980s, said the move will close off any path to the opposition, although he did not provide details about carrying out the ban. “There won’t be any...

Iran targeted US radar and air defence installations in the Gulf on Tuesday, warning Washington of “more decisive and powerful” attacks to come as the conflict threatened to widen with a blockade of Saudi ports by Houthi rebels in Yemen. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked and stopped two “non-compliant oil tankers” attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, part of an effort to tighten its grip on the vital waterway while the war reignited. Following the deaths of at least three...

The US Department of Justice said on Monday it launched a probe reviewing whether some Harvard University financial aid programmes were discriminatory, marking the latest fight against ‌the university by President Donald Trump’s administration. “The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today it is opening a compliance review into Harvard University to determine whether its China-based financial aid programmes and practices exclude American-citizen students,” the department said...

US President Donald Trump signed orders on Monday to impose new 50 per cent tariffs on many Canadian goods, claiming “discriminatory treatment” by Ottawa against American alcohol, automobile and dairy products. The tariffs take effect in 30 days and cover various items including wine, hockey sticks and cement, said the White House. Trump, who saw many of his tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court this year, tapped an untested legal provision for the new duties – Section 338 of the Tariff Act...

Oil prices are set to rise once more as renewed US attacks on Iran leave the Strait of Hormuz, a major artery of oil trade, closed again. With US strategic petroleum reserves at their lowest in over 40 years, America will have trouble keeping oil prices below US$100 a barrel, as it has mostly done in the war so far. Analysts warn that sustained oil prices above US$100 risk accelerating inflation, depressing consumption and inviting recession. They have also turned their attention to China and...

A federal judge in California on Monday ordered Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery to temporarily pause their merger while a case brought by multiple states challenging the deal moves forward. The companies are prohibited from closing their US$110 billion deal for 14 days until another hearing is held on August 3 regarding a preliminary injunction, which would prevent Paramount and Warner Bros from closing the transaction before a final decision is reached. The states raised “serious...

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will fight extradition to the United Kingdom where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, their lawyer said on Monday, suggesting their arrest in Miami was politically motivated without explaining why. The Tates appeared in federal court on Monday for the first time since their arrest on Saturday and were being held in federal detention. In the coming weeks, a US district judge would consider whether they meet the conditions for...

Chess legend Judit Polgar on Monday turned down Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s offer to join his push to break with the Viktor Orban era as the country’s president. The pro-European conservative had nominated Polgar, widely considered the greatest woman to have taken to the chequered board, as a figure from outside politics to help carry out his promise of “regime change” from Orban’s hardline 16-year tenure. “I do not feel I have the strength to take on the historic responsibility of...

Chinese ⁠Premier ⁠Li Qiang on Monday extended congratulations to Andy Burnham on ‌becoming Britain’s new prime minister. Strengthening dialogue and cooperation between ⁠China and Britain will benefit ‌the two countries and “inject stability into global ‌peace”, Li said in ⁠his ⁠message, Reuters reported. “I am willing to ‌work with the prime minister ‌to strengthen exchanges, ‌enhance mutual ‌trust, promote communication and cooperation, ⁠and advance the long-term, ⁠stable comprehensive...

British prosecutors said ⁠on Monday a 28-year-old man ⁠had been charged with murdering ⁠former government minister Ann Widdecombe, and police said they were still investigating why she was attacked. Widdecombe, 78, who was a prominent member of Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK, was found at her home in rural southwest England on July 9, ‌after sustaining what police described as serious injuries. She stood down from parliament in 2010. Joshua Kerry, a white British national from northern...

Hungary’s government announced an investigation on Monday into a large foreign investment by Chinese carmaker BYD negotiated by a former foreign minister who last week resigned from parliament to take an executive position at the company. Peter Szijjarto’s announcement last Wednesday that he would take the job at the world’s top electric carmaker prompted accusations of a conflict of interest and criticism over his role in organising substantial government subsidies to the company while in...

Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was sentenced on Monday to life in prison in the US, after a plea deal last year in which he admitted to shipping millions ‌of kilograms of cocaine over decades as leader of the violent Sinaloa Cartel. Zambada is one of the most high-profile Mexican drug traffickers to be sentenced in a US court since fellow Sinaloa leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was sentenced to life in prison in 2019. In handing down the sentence at a hearing in Brooklyn federal...

As trade tensions with China reach boiling point, EU officials are ramping up engagement with Beijing in search of an off-ramp. Quietly behind the scenes, though, Europe is preparing for a trade war. In Brussels, a steely determination has set in to ensure the bloc’s manufacturing heartlands are not deindustrialised by the “China Shock 2.0”. With some industries already haemorrhaging jobs, the EU’s resilience-building and de-risking plans are now laced with deterrents as Brussels looks to...

Andy Burnham took office on Monday as Britain’s new prime minister, promising a 10-year plan to restore political stability and revive the economy while acknowledging that six other UK leaders have tried and failed to do so in the past decade. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street minutes after being formally appointed by King Charles, Burnham pledged to ease the cost of living for ordinary people, decentralise political power, revitalise industry and end street sleeping by homeless people. He said...

A teenager died and several people were injured during celebrations of Spain’s victory in the World Cup after a fountain collapsed in western Spain, local authorities and media said on Monday. “The city hall of Ciudad Rodrigo expresses its sadness and presents its condolences for the death of a boy of 13,” the municipality said in a Facebook post. “What should have been a celebration of Spain’s team in the football World Cup turned into tragedy,” it said, adding that several others were...

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas announced on Monday that it had elected Khalil al-Hayya, the group’s lead negotiator in indirect ceasefire talks with Israel, as the new head of its political bureau. “The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announces the election of brother mujahid Khalil al-Hayya as head of the movement’s political bureau, succeeding the martyred leader Yahya al-Sinwar,” Hamas said in a statement. Sinwar, whom Israel accused of being one of the principal architects of the...

Facing Europe’s ever-widening trade deficit with Beijing, Berlin is increasingly singing the same tune as Paris. The two nations displayed a united front at this year’s Franco-German Ministerial Council, which will soon be put on paper in a joint road map due by September at the request of Germany. “Our work between Germany and France is indispensable at a time when Russia threatens our security, when the People’s Republic of China challenges our economy, and when the transatlantic partnership...

The EU on Monday slapped a €550 million (US$630 million) fine on online retailer AliExpress for allowing the sale of illegal products, including unsafe toys and cosmetics. The European Union said AliExpress also did not do enough to stop the sale of counterfeit products and that when the platform detected illegal goods were on sale, many remained online for several weeks. The EU found some of the products sold on the platform did not meet the bloc’s strict environmental and safety standards...

North Korea’s top diplomat was in Moscow this weekend for talks analysts say likely focused on fresh ammunition and missile shipments to feed Russia’s war in Ukraine, while also laying the groundwork for a possible visit by Kim Jong-un. Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui met Vladimir Putin on Sunday, more than two years after Russia’s president had invited Kim to Moscow during their landmark summit in Pyongyang in June 2024. On Sunday, Putin expressed fresh gratitude for North Korea’s assistance in...

Lockheed Martin announced a lower-cost Patriot interceptor on Monday as militaries seek cheaper ways to counter drones ‌and missiles, while defence contractors face competition from start-ups making low-cost weapons that can be produced at scale. Lockheed said its new PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector (ACE) missile would cost less than half as much as its PAC-3 MSE interceptors, which cost roughly US$4 million per missile, according to US Army budget documents. Initial production could ⁠start...

Saudi Arabia has for years sought a deal to obtain American nuclear technology. The agreement, signed on Wednesday, could deepen U.S.-Saudi ties for decades to come.

In a video message, the mayor of New York City said he could not legally arrest Israel’s prime minister but reinforced his position as a voice of the international left.

Tens of thousands of immigrants have received letters to pay up or leave, as the government enlists debt collectors and seizes tax refunds.

Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.

The message in “The Surrendered Wife,” the best-selling book by Laura Doyle, was provocative. Many women credit it with saving their marriages.

The bill would leave it to physicians to decide if an abortion is necessary after 24 weeks of pregnancy. Current law allows such abortions only under certain circumstances.

Investment in artificial intelligence and related companies is lifting the stock market and spending across the economy.

Google’s parent company, which has spent heavily on artificial intelligence, also showed growth across its businesses, particularly in cloud computing.

The company is selling more cars, but the company’s profit was down because of price cuts and higher expenses.

Tossing verbal grenades back and forth with Roxanne Shanté, she helped establish a lasting hip-hop truism: Bad blood is good business.

The iconic Cinerama Dome and adjacent 14-screen theater complex will reopen in 2028 after a renovation. The venue closed in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Is celibacy cool now?

We will be stuck with tariffs long after this president is out of office.

Transmissible tumors have been reported in a handful of animal species, but never before among fish. Is it possible in humans?