Minimalist News

US Launches New Airstrikes On Iran After Trump Warned "They're Going To Get A Beating" Summary New US attack wave on Iran begins in overnight hours. Tehran denies seeking talks , insists on Hormuz terms. Oil climbs as attacks on Saudi energy sites continue. Conflict widens with joint US-Saudi strikes in Iraq which killed at least 20 . Will the U.S. invade Iran before 2027? Yes 25% · No 76% View full market & trade on Polymarket * * * New US Strikes on Iran Begin in Night Hours The United States has begun a new round of airstrikes in

California Democrats Attempt To Sabotage Voter ID Initiative In November, California voters will have the opportunity to vote on Proposition 39. The measure, officially the Voter Identification, Citizenship Verification, and Registered Voter List Administration Initiative, would require Californians to show identification when they vote and force state officials to clean up the voter rolls and verify that the people on them are eligible citizens. All signs suggest it will pass. A poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found in May that 71% of Californians support requiring proof of citizenship for first-time voter registration, and 54% want it

Chinese University Accused Of Sending Students To Factory Jobs Under Mandatory Labor Program Authored by Michael Zhuang via The Epoch Times , A Chinese university has come under scrutiny after an alleged internal safety agreement surfaced online alongside claims from a self-identified graduate that students were required to work on farms and in food-processing factories as part of a mandatory academic program while being denied basic workplace protections. A seeder working a cotton field in Tumushuke, Xinjiang region, China, in an aerial photo taken on March 24, 2021. STR/CNS/AFP via Getty Images The controversy centers on Xinjiang Agricultural University, which

Jack Reacher Star's Latest Movie Flops After Unhinged Anti-Trump Rant The Jack Reacher series, launched in 2022, received widespread acclaim for avoiding most of the woke tropes slathered all over the majority of streaming series and movies at the time. For those with short memories, in 2022, the idea of a project featuring a 6'3" 240 pound white guy as the main protagonist seemed impossible. The series felt like a refreshing callback to the 1980s and the action/thriller apex era of Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Solving big problems with unfiltered masculine violence is something audiences love, but Hollywood usually hates. If

xAI Sues Minnesota Attorney General Over Anti-Deepfake Law Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times , Elon Musk's artificial intelligence platform is challenging a Minnesota law that says companies can be held liable if users "nudify" real people by altering an existing photograph or video. The screen shows Grok app in this photo illustration. Oleksii Pydsosonnii/The Epoch Times Musk's company xAI, maker of the popular Grok AI tool, is suing Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to block the law, which is set to kick in on Aug. 1. Violators can be fined up to $500,000 for each image. According

MSFT Spikes After Leaving CapEx Outlook Unchanged Update (1800ET) : As this evening's conference call went on, we finally got to the meat of the matter as Microsoft kept its CapEx forecast unchanged on Wednesday, ...becoming one of the first hyperscalers to hold the line on the market's insatiable AI spending spree. Against expectations to spend $190 billion on capital expenditures this calendar year, Microsoft tonight maintained this spending outlook (due to an accounting change, this CapEx guidance is now $175 billion, but, in reality, Microsoft is keeping its AI capex plan the same for this year). This is a

Guess Who's Funding Barricades And Porta-Potties At Madison's Marxist-Antifa Encampment Far-left foot soldiers linked with Black Lives Matter and Antifa have established a two-block autonomous zone along Williamson Street in Madison, Wisconsin, following the death of 38-year-old Corey Durrell Ruiz . Good morning from Madison, where an encampment at Willy and Baldwin Sts is in its 7th day. pic.twitter.com/iR4kVl1hCQ — Laura Schulte (@SchulteLaura) July 29, 2026 Ruiz, who had reportedly been released from prison ( read report ) shortly before the incident, was approached by police while riding a bicycle after allegedly attempting to enter several vehicles. Far-left activists have

HHS Unveils Policy To End Funding For 'Dangerous Gain-Of-Function Research' Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times , The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on July 28 unveiled a new policy that would end federal support for "dangerous gain-of-function research," an experiment in which scientists genetically modify an organism to enhance its characteristics. Workers next to a cage with mice inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on Feb. 23, 2017. Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images In a statement, HHS said the policy would prohibit federal funding for dangerous gain-of-function research conducted in the United

China To Arm Iran With Hundreds Of MANPADS Despite Trump Warnings: Report President Trump has repeatedly said that China's President Xi Jinping has directly assured him that Beijing will not supply Iran with weaponry or military support. But this week these 'assurances' have been called into question by an Reuters investigation. " Iran is expected to receive within weeks a first shipment out of up to 400 Chinese-made shoulder-fired air-defense missile launchers , three sources familiar with the deal told ​Reuters, as it rebuilds its defenses amid war with the United States," the fresh report says. via Asia Times/X "The

Anatomy Of The 'Islamophobic' Shooting That Wasn't Authored by Andrew Bostom via RealClearInvestigations , On Nov. 17, 2023, Mustafa Ramos, a Muslim man wearing a turban and a robe, was shot in the buttocks while selling Islamic paraphernalia adjacent to the Islamic Center of Rhode Island mosque in Providence. The 52-year-old man was treated and released from the hospital in two hours. The incident, however, which happened just six weeks after Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack targeting Israeli citizen non-combatants of all ages, quickly became national and international news as the latest example of an "Islamophobic hate crime." Following the

Energy Department Issues Emergency Order To Secure Power Grid In 17 US States Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times , The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued an order to tackle an energy emergency situation across 17 U.S. states triggered by hot weather conditions. An aircraft takes off from Los Angeles International Airport behind electric power lines in El Segundo, Calif., on Aug. 31, 2022. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images The July 26 emergency order was issued by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright to Southwest Power Pool Inc. (SPP), the regional grid operator for the 17 states.

Lemonade Crashes As Customer Growth Miss Spooks Wall Street Lemonade shares crashed early in the US cash session after the technology-focused insurer reported fewer second-quarter customers than Wall Street expected and announced a transition of its chief financial officer. The company, which provides renters, homeowners, auto, pet and life insurance in the US and parts of Europe, plunged 18%, marking its steepest intraday decline since July 31, 2024. The shares are down 30% this year, rapidly reversing a rally that catapulted the stock from about $20 in late 2024 to nearly triple digits. Lemonade peaked at around $96 earlier this

US State Department Issues Travel Advisory For Caribbean Tourist Destination Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, The State Department updated its travel advisory for the Bahamas, highlighting the risk of crime, including sexual assaults, in the Caribbean nation. Violent crimes, such as sexual assaults, armed robberies, and burglaries, can occur anywhere in the country, the department said in a July 28 update. “Most crime occurs in Nassau and Freeport on New Providence and Grand Bahama islands. Stay alert in the ‘Over the Hill’ area in Nassau, south of Shirley Street, where gangs have killed residents. Stay alert in

Houthis Signal Red Sea Shipping Tolls In Mirror Image Of Iran's Hormuz Plan Houthis have entered the chat... Already multiple Saudi vessels have been targeted in the Red Sea region, forcing a number of tankers to U-turn, and now Yemen's Houthis are seeking to introduce their own 'toll system' for the Bab el-Mandeb Strait . "Yemen's information minister said intelligence confirmed IRGC advisers were directly involved in designing a Houthi-enforced toll system for the Bab el-Mandeb, mirroring Iran's contested claim to charge fees in the Strait of Hormuz," European media reports Wednesday. Source: Winward "The Houthi armed group is working

Garmin Boosts Full-Year Forecast As Wearables Earnings Jump Garmin shares jumped as much as 9.6% in premarket trading after the GPS-device maker delivered a broad beat on second-quarter earnings and raised its full-year outlook. Garmin produces GPS-enabled electronics and wearable technology across five main markets: Fitness: smartwatches, running watches, cycling computers and activity trackers Outdoor: hiking watches, handheld GPS devices, satellite communicators and dog-tracking systems Aviation: cockpit displays, navigation systems, avionics and flight instruments Marine: chartplotters, sonar, radar, autopilots and fish finders Automotive: vehicle navigation systems, cameras and technology supplied to automakers The company attributed the outperformance to "strong demand

The Mamdani Grocery Grift: NYC Mayor Sells Taxpayers A Bill Of Goods On City-Run Stores Authored by Jonathan Turley, Last week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s short stint as a faux president ended with an embarrassing acknowledgment that he could not, as promised during his campaign, arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. So, this week, Mamdani the Grocer made a reappearance, with details on the five city-run grocery stores that he will open. But rather than deliver discount groceries, Mamdani is selling New Yorkers a bill of goods that will cost them millions. What Mamdani described was a discount food bank dressed

Watch Live: Fed Chair Warsh Explains 'Hawkish' Hold Having delivered the biggest "non-cut" surprise to markets in decades - by holding rates unchanged (markets were pricing a 35% chance of a hike) - and given Warsh’s distaste for forward guidance, he is unlikely to offer any clearer signals during the press conference. Bear in mind that since 2015, traders have foreseen the Fed’s ultimate rate decision with an average error of 2.4 basis points the day before the central bank’s announcement , according to a note from Ian Lyngen, head of US rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets. “The market

No Rate-Change Sparks 3 Dissents As Warsh Fed Delivers Biggest 'Non-Cut' Surprise In Decades Tl;dr: The Fed held rates unchanged, delivering the biggest surprise "non-cut" to the market in decades. Three dissenters wanted a rate-hike, clearly signaling the direction of travel and confirming this decision as a "hawkish hold" though arguably only marginally. * * * Since the last FOMC meeting on June 17th (Kevin Warsh's first as Fed Chair), a lot has happened, with the Iran war re-erupting driving oil prices and the dollar higher, while stocks (momo/semis meltdown), bonds, gold, and bitcoin are all lower... Both growth and

US-Owned LNG Ship Reportedly Struck By Kamikaze Drone At Egyptian Port A potentially major escalation emerged late Wednesday after a US-owned gas-processing vessel moored at Egypt's Mediterranean port of Damietta was reportedly struck by a drone, according to Reuters, citing maritime security firm Ambrey. Details remain scant, and this assessment is preliminary. Explosion disrupts Damietta LNG hub An explosion at Egypt's Damietta LNG terminal has disrupted operations at one of the country's key LNG import hubs after damaging the Energos Winter floating storage and regasification unit and the GasLog Salem LNG tanker. Both vessels have… pic.twitter.com/mYNTUanzT7 — Kpler (@Kpler) July

Trump Invites California Teen Lifeguard Who Rescued Boy To White House Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times , A teen lifeguard, who heroically dove into pounding waves to save a young boy, will be honored by President Donald Trump at the White House. Lifeguards rescue boy at California beach amid intense waves "We're going to bring this heroic young man, and his family, into the White House with, perhaps, the boy he saved, to give him a High Civilian Honor," Trump announced on X July 28. "Very brave, he deserves it!" The lifeguard, Ryder Williams, 16, rescued the

Data shows Canadians have replaced US vacations with other international trips in apparent rebuke to Trump Canadians spent $3.3bn less on travel to the US in 2025 than in the previous year, as Donald Trump’s hostile policies towards his northern neighbour continue to incur an economic cost, new government data shows. The research also indicates that Canadians are not bucking travel overall and instead have replaced US vacations with other international destinations, in a rebuke to Trump’s tariff regime and the president’s continued musings on annexing Canada. Continue reading...

Three years after Maui wildfires many still struggle with ‘biological, emotional and social consequences’, study says A spate of ferocious wildfires across North America and Europe, worsened by the climate crisis, has incinerated homes and forests and forced thousands of people to flee. Previous fires suggest the effects of these blazes may linger for years to come. The current fires and their plumes of smoke can appear to be a temporary, if immediate, crisis. Nearly 1,000 fires have sprung into life in the boreal forests of Canada, causing the evacuation of towns and toxic smoke to waft into major Canadian

President also blames Brazil and Mexico and says online critics ‘do not want the ideas of freedom to succeed’ More than a week has passed since Ferran Torres scored the extra-time goal that gave Spain its second World Cup, but – at least for Argentina’s president – the tournament is not over. Javier Milei has claimed that a coordinated “anti-Argentina campaign” was behind criticism of the country’s team, accusations of racism among its fans and conspiracy theories alleging that Lionel Messi’s side was secretly being favoured by Fifa. Continue reading...

Nelson Haase Mazzei was sentenced for murdering Jara in 2023, but fled from authorities in Chile More than 50 years after the murder of the Chilean folk singer Víctor Jara , the last man wanted in connection with his death has been tracked down and brought to justice. Nelson Haase Mazzei, a retired colonel, fled from authorities in 2023 after he and six other retired soldiers were sentenced in absentia for murdering Jara and another man. Continue reading...

No one was injured and no suspects have been identified in connection to shooting near Toronto compound, police say Shots were fired near the US consulate in Toronto early on Monday but no one was injured in the second shooting near the diplomatic compound in four months. “Officers heard a firearm being discharged in the area,” and “a white sedan was seen fleeing the scene”, Toronto police said on X. Continue reading...

Emergency workers are continuing their search for survivors in southern Japan after yesterday’s powerful earthquake ‘Race against time’: Japan earthquake death toll rises as rescue teams search for missing An aerial view of a collapsed section of a bridge in the city of Yatsushiro after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck Japan’s southern Kumamoto prefecture: Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun newspaper has been speaking to people at the Nippon Paper Industries factory in Yatsushiro, where a chimney collapsed on to the site. “I never imagined something like this would happen,” said a 33-year-old man who worked at the factory.

Rescuers pulling people from the wreckage in southern Japan in a haunting repeat of disaster that struck 10 years ago ‘Race against time’: Japan earthquake death toll rises as rescue teams search for missing “There was a voice coming from the collapsed house, and I could see a hand,” Tomohide Nagata, a volunteer firefighter, told the Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun. “One of our senior members crawled in and pulled him out. He was bleeding from the head, but I’m so glad he survived.” Nagata had heard a noise coming from one completely flattened home in the rural town of Hikawa, close

Military mobilises thousands of personnel after quake on southern Kyushu island that registered a maximum 7 on the Japanese shindo intensity scale Earthquake rocks southern Japanese island of Kyushu – in pictures At least 13 people were killed when a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Japan on Tuesday, injuring hundreds and knocking out power and water to tens of thousands. “There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,” the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said on Wednesday. “We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can.” Continue

Move comes as the Trump administration has increasingly sought to keep Chinese technology out of the US The Federal Communications Commission announced a ban on humanoid robots from China on Tuesday, saying that the technology poses “unacceptable risks” to the country’s national security. The move comes as the Trump administration has increasingly sought to keep Chinese technology out of the US. The FCC defines the banned robots as “advanced robotic devices”, which include humanoids and animal-like quadrupeds. Continue reading...

Kumamoto shaken by 6.8-magnitude quake, knocking out power and damaging buildings, as people remain trapped inside shopping centre A 6.8-magnitude earthquake has shaken south Japan, killing at least two people and leaving at least 100 people injured. Some are trapped and presumed dead inside a shopping mall. The earthquake hit Kumamoto prefecture on the southern Kyushu island late on Tuesday afternoon, knocking out power to thousands of homes and damaging roads, bridges and buildings. Continue reading...

Follow updates live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Minister says meeting Closing the Gap target a major step, but more work needed on others Malarndirri McCarthy , the minister for Indigenous Australians, said early childhood education enrolment for First Nations children was a milestone in the effort to reach the Closing the Gap targets. It is important to see this milestone achieved, and that is because of the work of the Aboriginal and community controlled sector and those involved in the preschool sector. … Clearly, the challenges with all the other targets remain,

Authorities say local transmission of H5 bird flu virus among South Australian birds signals ‘shift in the situation’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia has entered a new phase in dealing with the incursion of deadly H5N1 bird flu , with authorities confirming on Wednesday that local transmission had taken place, and Victoria confirming first case of the highly virulent strain Thursday. “We have had what is suggestive of local transmission for the first time,” Julie Collins, the federal minister for agriculture, fisheries and

Member for Solomon has previously denied alleged incident with administrator David Connolly Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Luke Gosling, the federal Labor member for Solomon, was arrested on Thursday morning over an alleged assault on the Northern Territory’s administrator earlier this month, NT police said in a statement. “The Northern Territory Police Force has arrested the 54-year-old federal member for Solomon in relation to an alleged assault on the Administrator of the Northern Territory,” police said. Continue reading...

Decision to host event on Fitzroy River at Rockhampton, 600km north of host city Brisbane, prompted significant backlash Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, lobbied for controversial plans to host 2032 Olympic rowing events on the Fitzroy River at Rockhampton, documents released by the Queensland government show. The plans to send rowers 600km north of host city Brisbane – to a river that is natural habitat for saltwater crocodiles , and which prompted significant backlash among the rowing and broader

Exclusive: Scientists say about 5,000 fewer southern bent-wing bats have been recorded at a key maternity site for the species Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A sudden decline in critically endangered bats is troubling experts, who recorded about 5,000 fewer southern bent-wing bats than usual at Naracoorte’s “bat cave” this summer. These tiny russet-toned microbats roost in caves and forage for insects over long distances across south-west Victoria and south-east South Australia. Continue reading...

Greek authorities identify remains as those of Elizabeth Jane Ross after discovery in a derelict building 11 days ago A body found in a suitcase in an abandoned building in central Athens has been identified as that of a 38-year-old British woman. Eleven days after the find, and following an appeal to foreign law enforcement agencies, Greek police shed some light on the mystery of the body that until Wednesday had remained unidentified. Continue reading...

Repeated heatwaves and strong winds alarm experts, who warn blazes are becoming harder to quell Three Greek firefighters have died while tackling wildfires on the island of Crete and in the south of the mainland, the Greek fire department has said, as extreme heat hinders efforts to control blazes ravaging southern Europe. The arc of brutal fires, which runs from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean, and from the Scottish Highlands to the south of Spain, has alarmed experts because many of the fires have been out of control and burning close to towns and cities. Continue reading...

Johannes Kongsnes Natland was recruited to murder unknown person by international crime gang linked to Iran A Norwegian teenager has been found guilty of travelling to England to carry out a killing ordered by an international crime gang linked to Iran. Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, from Stavanger, Norway, agreed to shoot an unknown person for €25,000 (£21,500) in March last year. Two days after he arrived in the UK armed police arrested him in a hotel room in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, seizing two guns and ammunition. Continue reading...

FSB puts Pavel Durov on international wanted lists and says his messaging app is used for sabotage and murder Russian officials have charged Pavel Durov, the founder and chief executive of the messaging app Telegram, with aiding terrorism. The charges against the 41-year-old Russian-born billionaire , who lives in the Gulf, are the latest step by the Kremlin to bring the internet and digital communications under its control after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Continue reading...

Authorities fear progress in containing the fires in the Gironde and Madrid regions may be set back by temperatures expected to hit the low 40s in Brussels The European Union’s crisis-management team is expecting difficult weeks ahead, fearing a further outbreak of wildfires in Italy and Greece as the summer goes on. “ A firefighter will focus on protecting people. They will focus on protecting houses, protecting a business, a company, because this is something that matters for all our society. And indeed, sometimes by focusing on that, they cannot extinguish fire, [as] they would do it if it would

US announces attacks early on Thursday, as experts say strikes carried out by both sides in previous day increase risk of return to all-out war US-Saudi strikes in Iraq push region into ‘uncharted territory’, analysts warn The US military has hit the south-western Iranian city of Abadan as well as Qeshm Island , Iranian media is saying, citing regional authorities. The US attacked “a point near Qeshm” at 4am local time (0030 GMT), the deputy governor of the southern Hormozgan province said, according to the Mehr news agency. Continue reading...

Riyadh’s decision to join US in strikes on Iran-backed militia further complicates widening and ‘unpredictable’ war Middle East crisis – live updates US-Saudi strikes on Iran-backed militia in Iraq have pushed the region into “uncharted territory”, analysts have warned. Amid stark warnings of a widening and increasingly “unpredictable” conflict, Riyadh’s decision to publicly join the US in striking sites associated with Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), killing at least 20 fighters, has added another complicating dimension to the war. Continue reading...

Oil price spikes after flare-up of fighting and claimed Iranian attacks on three tankers in strait of Hormuz The US military said it knocked down an Iranian missile barrage and worked with Saudi Arabia forces to strike sites in Iraq that Tehran-backed militias have used to launch attacks in recent days. The strikes on Wednesday killed at least 20 members of a former paramilitary alliance that includes pro-Iran groups. In what Washington cast ⁠as “an attempted surprise ⁠attack” by Tehran, Iran had launched multiple ballistic missiles at US forces in the Middle East, shattering a brief pause in fighting. Iran’s

At least 1,500 protest after six men on drug-related charges put in solitary confinement before possible execution Prisoners at Iran’s largest jail have sewn their lips shut as hundreds of them joined a mass hunger strike amid a surge in executions over drug offences and charges linked to anti-government protests. The hunger strike, involving at least 1,500 death row prisoners at Ghezel Hesar prison near Tehran, began two weeks ago after six men convicted on drug-related charges were transferred to solitary confinement before their possible execution, according to Iranian rights groups. Continue reading...

In normal times the Mashala shelter founder takes in strays, but in wartime, he is the only lifeline for animals in the area During Israel’s 2006 war against Hezbollah, Houssein Hamze woke up one night to the sound of barking. Alarmed, he got up to check on the dog – his first rescue pet. Moments later, a bomb dropped next to his home and a piece of shrapnel landed right where he had been sleeping. “I swear to God, he really saved me from death. Animals always possess a sixth sense we don’t have,” Hamze said. Continue reading...

Local civil rights group alleges authorities removed evidence of killings amid communications blackout At least 30 people are alleged to have been killed in Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the past two days as part of what has been claimed is a brutal state crackdown that has engulfed the disputed region for weeks. According to a local civil society group, Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), the Pakistani security services fired on tens of thousands of peaceful protesters, killing 25 people on Monday and five more on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Cockroach Janta party says government has broken promise, with detentions in Delhi, Assam, West Bengal and Bihar India’s youth-led “Cockroach” movement, whose nationwide protests forced the resignation of the education minister , has accused the government of backtracking on its promise not to act against student protesters and has threatened to restart demonstrations. The Cockroach Janta party (CJP), which organised mass protests over exam paper leaks and other irregularities, said it had received reports of hundreds of students being detained or “harassed” by police. Continue reading...

Wind and record-breaking heat are fuelling the continent’s explosive fire season, with Spain and France among worst hit Explainer: what is a ‘fire cloud’, and how have they worsened wildfires in Europe? Europe wildfires live – latest updates A combination of an unusually wet winter, very low rainfall since spring and repeated record-breaking summer heatwaves is likely to explain why wildfires have ignited, spread and resisted control so readily across France and Spain in recent days . About 90% of wildfires are started by human activity, typically igniting “fine fuels” such as vegetation grass, pine needles, litter and twigs. And

In today’s newsletter: Across ​the country, a ​younger generation is turning private disillusionment into public defiance​ against a government that once felt untouchable Good morning. As flames engulfed parts of France and Spain this weekend, in India, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, was trying to put out a very different kind of fire. Thousands of people arrived in Delhi on Saturday to demand the resignation of his education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan. When he stepped down in the early afternoon, the protests turned into a triumphant block party. But the Cockroach protests that have swept through India this summer are about

Ally forced to resign, with opposition parties reinvigorated and strongman leader’s grip over media channels rocked Even the night before Narendra Modi accepted the resignation of his education minister, India’s prime minister appeared confident that the largest mass uprising to take place in his 12 years in power would do little to rattle his government. Addressing his “young friends” in a late-night Instagram selfie reel on Friday, he thanked the people – who were mobilised en masse across the country , shouting anti-government slogans – for their “thoughtful suggestions”. Continue reading...

Prime minister to highlight investment in communities as he launches next phase of nuclear submarine replacement Andy Burnham will place the renewal of Trident at the heart of his vision of a reindustrialised Britain on Thursday when he travels to Barrow-in-Furness to launch the next phase of the nuclear submarine replacement programme. The new prime minister intends to emphasise that defence spending on projects such as the £31bn Dreadnought-class boats built in the Cumbrian town is a case study of taxpayer investment revitalising communities around the UK. Continue reading...

Scotland Yard says threshold not met for criminal action against Green leader, who has refused to apologise to his Reform rival No further action will be taken by police after Zack Polanski shared a photo of a man with a T-shirt showing a guillotine and the phrase “we’re only making plans for Nigel”. The Metropolitan police’s decision comes after the Green party leader for England and Wales said he had made an “inadvertent mistake” and would not apologise to Nigel Farage. Continue reading...

Details of parents and staff, including email addresses and phone numbers, are among data taken by cybercriminals The Department for Education and a police database have been targeted by a cyber-attack, exposing more than 740,000 pieces of data. Details of government officials, senior school leaders, university staff, police officers and members of the public have been taken by hackers. Continue reading...

Rightwing media hostility helped sink his reform plans in 2010, but the new PM’s passionate speech suggests there is now clear political will for change For campaigners perpetually disappointed by the failure of England’s political classes to fix England’s creaking adult social care system, the fear was that Andy Burnham’s long-trailed speech on Wednesday would be less Brave New World, more Groundhog Day. Burnham acknowledged he had been here before. Back in 2010, as health and social care secretary, he unveiled extensive proposals to overhaul social care, only for them to collapse amid rightwing media hostility and furious political rows

Richard Tice had been referred to standards commissioner over undeclared sum from Farage aide George Cottrell Parliament’s standards watchdog has declined to investigate a complaint made against Richard Tice over an undeclared loan of nearly £80,000 from Nigel Farage’s aide George Cottrell . The Liberal Democrats had referred Reform’s deputy leader to the parliamentary standards commissioner, which was investigating Farage after the Guardian’s revelation that he received an undeclared £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. Continue reading...

Spokesperson says ‘work continues to secure sufficient support’ for Trump pick amid concern over IRS settlement Sign up for US Breaking News email Gary Peters, the Democratic ranking member on the homeland security committee, said that the committee has a long history of bipartisan inquiry and oversight, and the subject matter of risky research and the origins of covid-19 are a legitimate area to study. But today’s hearing with Anthony Fauci was not an example of that, Peters said. Continue reading...

Republican John Cornyn says he will not back nomination without written confirmation $1.8bn slush fund is dead Todd Blanche’s hopes of becoming US attorney general seemed to be in jeopardy on Wednesday after the Department of Justice did not provide written assurances to a key Republican senator that a $1.8bn slush fund was dead. The US Senate judiciary committee postponed a vote scheduled for Thursday on whether to advance Blanche’s nomination. Continue reading...

Police link shooting to gang violence but have not said who might have fired bullets that killed bystanders on Sunday Bullets that fatally struck two bystanders during a shootout at a Seattle food festival last weekend do not appear to have come from the gun that a 15-year-old arrested at the scene was firing, police said in court documents filed on Wednesday. The teen sprayed an untraceable “ghost gun” into a crowd, authorities say. Preliminary ballistics testing did not match the bullets recovered from the deceased bystanders to that weapon. Continue reading...

First-in-nation law sets up test on states’ power to regulate use of AI as it tries to outlaw fake nude images of real people Elon Musk’s company xAI has sued Minnesota over the state’s first-in-the-nation law banning “nudification” technology on websites and apps, potentially providing a test for how far states can go in constitutionally regulating the use of artificial intelligence. Musk’s company sued on Monday in federal court, days before the law is set to take effect on Saturday and make Minnesota the first state to try to outlaw the increasingly proliferating technology that lets people use AI to

Stock tumbles nearly 8% after weaker-than-expected results, despite CEO’s blitz to tout positive effects of AI Mark Zuckerberg’s media spree touting the positive effects of artificial intelligence did little to cushion the blow of Meta’s second-quarter earnings, which sent its stock tumbling on Wednesday. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published on Tuesday, the Meta chief executive expressed his optimism for a world where everyone has access to a super-intelligent machine. Continue reading...

Four women have accused Jared Leto of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers, to which the actor and musician responded Wednesday that he has “never sexually assaulted anyone”. “I have never sexually assaulted anyone in my entire life. These claims are absolutely and categorically false,” Leto, 54, said in a statement. The BBC documentary Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret, released on Wednesday, details allegations including those from four women who accused the actor of sexual misconduct...

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, a choice that may intensify questions about how US central bank chief Kevin Warsh will deliver on his commitment to bring inflation back down to the 2 per cent target. The widely ‌expected decision to leave the benchmark interest rate in the 3.50 per cent to 3.75 per cent range drew dissents from three of the 12 members of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee who “preferred” a quarter-percentage-point hike at this...

The United States on Wednesday sanctioned a group of mainland Chinese and Hong Kong shipping companies accused of operating vessels that transported Iranian oil to China, extending Washington’s economic campaign against Tehran alongside its naval blockade. The US State Department said eight companies were designated for operating vessels that moved Iranian crude oil and petrochemical products to China and the United Arab Emirates as part of Iran’s sanctions-evading “shadow fleet”. Six of the...

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged on Wednesday to take difficult decisions to overhaul England’s adult social care system, saying he wanted to work with other parties to end unfair high costs for users that he likened to US healthcare. Successive governments have failed to reform adult social care, for which families can pay hundreds of thousands of pounds, after previous proposals were defeated by opposition parties ‌who dubbed them a “dementia tax” or “death tax”. Burnham did not...

French DJ and musician Kavinsky, known for his electronic classic “Nightcall”, has been found dead at his home in Paris, prosecutors said on Wednesday. The self-taught pianist, whose real name is Vincent Belorgey, would have turned 51 on Friday. It was not immediately clear how he died, but emergency crews late on Tuesday noted nothing suspicious, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. “Nightcall” became a global hit after hit was featured in the soundtrack of 2011 movie Drive starring Ryan...

At least 15 elephants have died from exposure to a suspected poison in the Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya over a four-week period, the country’s nature conservation authorities reported on Wednesday. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the animals had died in the park, which lies along the border with Tanzania, between June 24 and July 24. The nearby Kimana Conservancy and the Kuku Ranch area have also been affected. The KWS said that 10 of the 15 elephants showed similar symptoms,...

A ⁠Norwegian teenager ⁠was convicted on Wednesday of ⁠conspiracy to commit murder in Britain after being recruited by a Swedish organised crime group that prosecutors said was being used by the Iranian government. Johannes Natland, now ‌19, was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, northern England, in March last year with two firearms and ammunition in his possession. Prosecutors said Natland had been recruited by the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish organised crime group used by ⁠the Iranian...

Firefighters in southwest France battled an uncontained wildfire four times the size of Paris on Wednesday as temperatures were forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), threatening to turn a calm night into only a brief reprieve. Authorities in the Gironde region said the blaze had not spread overnight, but rising heat and afternoon winds could revive smouldering hotspots, carry embers across firebreaks and open new fronts beyond crews’ reach. At the command centre in Lège,...

Over the past few decades, people in many countries have witnessed extraordinary technological progress. Transport is becoming smarter, robots and drones are entering everyday life, infrastructure is growing more complex, buildings are reaching ever higher into the sky and expanding cities are drawing in millions of new residents. The number of megacities – urban areas with populations of at least 10 million – rose from eight in 1975 to 33 in 2025. The United Nations expects this number to reach...

If South Korea wants to unlock access to South American trade, it will need to prove it is not a competitor interested only in extracting natural resources but a trustworthy partner committed to revitalising manufacturing industries, according to observers. On Monday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva agreed to revive negotiations on a free-trade agreement between South Korea and Mercosur, the South American trade bloc. A joint working group...

China’s emerging advantage in artificial intelligence (AI) is not that it already has the world’s best chips or strongest frontier models. It is that Chinese companies are increasingly providing capable intelligence at a price the global market can afford. AI is fast becoming everyday infrastructure. It is metered by usage and embedded in businesses, public services and devices, much like electricity or cloud computing. In an infrastructure market, leadership depends on affordability,...

Russia’s main domestic security agency said on Wednesday that Pavel Durov, founder and owner of the messaging app Telegram, has been charged with aiding terrorism and put on an international wanted list. The charges against Durov, who was born and began his career in Russia but later moved abroad, came as the Russian authorities restrict Telegram, one of the most popular messaging apps in the country. It is part of a long-term effort to bring the internet under the Kremlin’s full control that...

The US Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as Donald Trump’s top intelligence official on Tuesday, putting a permanent chief in charge of the country’s spy agencies as the president revives unsupported election fraud claims ahead of the midterms. Senators voted 51-47 to confirm Clayton’s appointment, with all Democrats in the upper chamber voting against it. “Jay is outstanding in every way, and will do a spectacular job as Director!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social shortly after the vote. The...

Elon Musk’s social media company X, formerly known as Twitter, launched its own bank account-like product where users can send money to one another. The service, known as X Money, is not a new bank. X Money is using technology and banking services provided by Cross River Bank and branding that backbone as X Money. It is common for new financial companies to use a traditional bank’s backbone to launch their services, as chartering a new bank is a timely and costly process. Currently X Money is...

A US teenager who shot dead four people at a high school with a gun his father gave him as a Christmas present was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday. Colt Gray, 16, pleaded guilty to carrying out the September 2024 attack at Apalachee High School in the town of Winder, Georgia. Gray was 14 years old when he shot dead two 14-year-old pupils and two teachers, while also wounding nine other people. He was charged as an adult. Superior Court Judge Nicholas Primm sentenced Gray to life in prison...

Jordan’s air defences intercepted five missiles launched from Iran early on Wednesday, the country’s military said, hours after the US military said it had knocked down an Iranian missile barrage launched against American forces in the Middle East, shattering a brief pause in fighting. The Jordanian military said the missiles had been “intercepted and destroyed”. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency carried a statement from the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard saying the Guard’s Aerospace Force...

Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie and Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally were among public figures who on Tuesday called for refugee protections to be upheld as the United Nations decried mounting pressure ‌on asylum systems. Legal safeguards for refugees are enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention, drafted in the aftermath of World War II, which displaced tens of millions of people. But while most people still support the principle of safe refuge, many governments are tightening border...

The man on trial in the stabbing of Salman Rushdie chose on Tuesday not to testify or call any witnesses in the federal terrorism case, which is expected to head to the jury as soon as Wednesday. Hadi Matar’s lawyer told the court that the 28-year-old – who already has been convicted of state-level attempted murder charges – would not take the stand at his trial on charges that include engaging in an act of transnational terrorism. “At this time, the defence rests,” lawyer Nathaniel Barone said....

Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as Peru’s president on Tuesday after winning the June presidential run-off by a margin of fewer than 50,000 votes, a victory that confirmed a regional shift in South America towards the conservative wing. With the ceremony, Fujimori, a four-time presidential candidate and leader of Peru’s largest political party, takes office as the country’s ninth president in a decade. The 51-year-old was hoping to stabilise Peru’s turbulent politics, reduce crime and boost economic...

US President Donald Trump voiced ⁠irritation with Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of their White House meeting on Tuesday, complaining that details of the Israeli prime minister’s planned talking points on Iran had surfaced publicly, in a fresh sign of strain between the two leaders. Asked about reports that Netanyahu wanted to talk to him about Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified facility buried deep underground near one of Iran’s main nuclear sites, Trump said, using Netanyahu’s nickname: “I don’t need...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought licences to produce Patriot air-defence interceptors during a “good meeting” with US counterpart Donald Trump on Tuesday, as he underscored Russia’s Vladimir Putin’s loss of initiative on the war front due to heavy losses. Zelensky spent just over an hour with Trump at the White House, in talks that came with Kyiv and Moscow intensifying long-range strikes as US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war stalled. “Today we had good meeting with President...

Firefighters raced on Tuesday to subdue huge wildfires that have forced unprecedented evacuations of tens of thousands of people across France and Spain, as western Europe braced for another heatwave. The fires have torn through a region already battered by a blisteringly hot and dry summer. Crews were seeking to capitalise on more favourable weather before a new wave of higher temperatures settled in from Wednesday. In the Bordeaux region of France, firefighters contained ‌the forest blaze...

US President Donald Trump eulogised Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Tuesday as a fixture of American politics and unflinching foreign policy hawk, as the leaders of Israel and Ukraine joined Washington’s most powerful at his funeral. Earlier in the day, lawmakers paid tribute at the Capitol Rotunda, remembering one of the last prominent Republicans to advocate for muscular US military power abroad as gregarious, funny and persuasive. “He was extremely hawkish – he never saw a war that he...

Footprints left on a muddy lakeshore in northern Kenya ⁠around 1.43 million years ago are providing new insight into the size and behaviour of a species in the human evolutionary lineage that was the last of its kind, known for extensive anatomical adaptations for eating tough vegetation. The species, Paranthropus boisei, is known mostly from skull and tooth fossils. Now researchers working along the eastern side of Kenya’s Lake Turkana have identified 21 footprints made by eight individuals of...

Oman presented ⁠Iran with a plan backed by Gulf states to manage the Strait of Hormuz, including collecting voluntary fees for using it, a Gulf source and a Western diplomat told Reuters on Tuesday. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Tehran had yet to respond to the Omani proposals, intended to serve as a basis to end the disruption to trade through the strait caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. President Donald Trump, who abruptly called off a two-week US bombing campaign over the...

In Orwellian totalitarianism, two plus two can equal five. But with American hegemony, things can be A and not A at the same time. Earlier this month, Washington declared war on the International Criminal Court (ICC), whose very existence, it claims, poses an “intolerable” challenge to America’s sovereignty. But, citing an international maritime law, it also led a coalition of 14 mainly Western countries in issuing a joint statement in support of a 10-year-old South China Sea arbitration ruling...

Confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s ongoing Ebola outbreak reached 3,262, its ministry of health said in an overnight update, nearly the same as the 2018-2020 outbreak that is the largest ever recorded in the country. Data from the Congolese health ministry showed that 1,437 patients have died out of the 3,262 cases, in what officials have said is the fastest Ebola outbreak on record, concentrated in the eastern Ituri province. The 2018-2020 outbreak that was recorded in Congo...

On a road ⁠in Gaza City’s Zeitoun district, Palestinian resident Assem Dawla loaded mattresses and ⁠bags onto a truck as concrete yellow blocks marking the edge of Israel’s expanding military zone stood amid the rubble nearby. He said it was the seventh or eighth time since the war began that he and his family had been forced to leave a shelter because of Israeli evacuation orders and the advance of what residents call the yellow line. Zeitoun is one of at least five locations across Gaza where...

An American company found itself under attack by American artificial intelligence systems. Its unlikely rescuer was a Chinese AI model. It sounds like a Hollywood science fiction film. It’s not. During an internal test, advanced OpenAI models bypassed network restrictions, gained access to the internet and launched autonomous cyberattacks on open-source platform Hugging Face. As engineers rushed to respond, several leading closed-source AI systems reportedly failed to provide meaningful help...

A wildfire in southwest France grew so powerful that its smoke column became a thunderstorm, generating lightning that struck the ground and ignited new fires beyond the original blaze, French officials said. Put another way, that means the inferno was no longer simply being propelled by the weather. It was making its own. The thundercloud also produced violent, erratic winds capable of driving the flames in new directions. The phenomenon, called a pyrocumulonimbus, or pyroCb, is rare in Europe...

US diplomats walked out as their French counterparts were speaking at the United Nations on Monday after America’s close European ally criticised the Trump administration’s human rights record. The surprise move during a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine followed US opposition to giving UN human rights chief Volker Turk another four-year term. The reappointment on Friday got overwhelming support, including from France. The US walkout reflects not only the more strained relations between...

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to clear the way for an executive order from US President Donald Trump that could dramatically change mail-in voting ahead of November’s midterm elections. The Justice Department asked the justices to halt for now lower court decisions blocking the sweeping changes in nearly half the country. The request comes soon after Trump delivered an address elevating his years-long push to raise doubts about the legitimacy of elections and could...

There were at least three suspects involved in a shoot-out at a crowded food festival near Seattle’s Space Needle over the weekend, police said Monday. One of them was among those killed in the violence. In a document filed in juvenile court in Seattle, where a 15-year-old arrested in the case waived his initial appearance Monday, police said they believe there were at least three shooters: the 15-year-old, an acquaintance who died at the scene and “at least one other unknown suspect”....

A judge ruled Monday that there is enough evidence to put D4vd on trial in the killing and dismemberment of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who authorities said had threatened to expose their relationship and crater the indie-pop singer’s rising career just a few days before his debut album dropped. “i will end ur career and ur life,” she told him in a text message sent the night before her death. Los Angeles Judge Charlaine Olmedo decided that evidence presented during a preliminary...

US TV show host Savannah Guthrie has said in a new video that her family is living an unending nightmare nearly six months after her mother’s disappearance and pleads with her kidnappers: “Tell us where to look for her”. The video, released on Monday, is the latest public plea from the Today presenter about 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie since her disappearance on February 1 from her home just outside Tucson, Arizona. Savannah Guthrie said her family will never stop looking for her. “The world can be...

When Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), met Jiang Feng, head of China’s mission to the African Union, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in mid-July, the message was practical. They signed a handover certificate that brought Beijing’s direct emergency support for the Ebola response to US$4.5 million. A five-member Chinese medical team was already working in the Democratic Republic of Congo capital of Kinshasa. Kaseya described the contribution as...

Firefighters sought on Monday to take advantage of more favourable weather to subdue massive wildfires threatening the French city and tourist region of Bordeaux and a number of sites in neighbouring Spain. They were racing against the clock as another heatwave is expected to hit both countries later this week in what has been a blisteringly hot and dry summer across western Europe. Authorities have evacuated about 220,000 people, including holidaymakers and ‌local residents, in France, while...

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will remain in prison for at least two more weeks until their next hearing as they fight extradition to the United Kingdom, where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking, a federal judge said on Monday. US Magistrate Lauren Louis set a detention hearing for August 13 to determine whether the Tates should stay in jail or be released during what could be a months-long extradition process. The brothers were not in court on Monday or...

Armed officers will be deployed for the UK’s largest Pride festival, police said following the attack on Berlin’s Pride event. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting condemned the “absolutely horrific” van and stabbing attack in the German capital that left one person dead and injured at least 29 others. The suspect – named as Abdul B and said to have links to Islamic State – was shot dead by police on Sunday after being on the run for nearly 24 hours. He was suspected of slamming a van into people...

At least one shot was fired early on Monday at the US consulate in Toronto, Canadian police said, the second shooting near the diplomatic compound in four months. No injuries were reported. An officer guarding the consulate “heard the sound of a gunshot in the vicinity here where he was stationed” at about 4.45am, the city’s deputy police chief Frank Barredo told reporters, adding that the consulate’s facade was struck by a bullet. Toronto police said a white car with no licence plates was seen...

A major new bridge linking Canada and the US at Detroit opened on Monday to trucks, cars and other vehicles, the climax of a years-long project that lately had been bruised a bit by international politics. Descendants of Gordie Howe, the hockey legend whose name is on the bridge, were among the first to cross over the Detroit River, which separates the Motor City from Windsor, Ontario. US Senator Gary Peters rode a motorcycle, while Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer drove a Ford Mustang with...

Former FBI director James Comey urged a judge on Monday to throw out federal charges against him, arguing that a photo of seashells arranged on a beach he posted on social media was not a call to violence against President Donald Trump but protected political speech. Comey’s lawyers argue the government cannot prove the Instagram photo of seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47” constituted a “true threat” against the Republican president, who fired Comey in 2017, and has publicly...

UK television personality Bill Oddie, best known for his role in the television comedy series The Goodies and presenter of nature shows, has died aged 85, his agent said on Monday. “Bill was a multitalented celebrity – wildlife presenter, broadcaster, comedian, writer, songwriter, musician and conservationist,” Oddie’s agent, David Foster, said in a statement. “Yet it was never fame that he valued. Instead he encouraged us to respect and protect the environment. “He taught us the wonder of it....

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham held his first meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a UK naval base on Monday, pledging new “Stone Cloak” jamming technology to help safeguard Ukraine’s drones on the battlefield. The meeting on the dockside and on board an aircraft carrier in the southern city of Portsmouth was Burnham’s first bilateral with a foreign leader and came ahead of a visit by Zelensky to Washington on Tuesday aimed at ending the four-year war with Russia. “We are...

A British funeral director faced prison on Monday over a scandal that saw bodies left “stored on racks” and uncremated while relatives were handed other people’s ashes, sparking calls for better regulation of the industry. An ex-employee described Robert Bush’s funeral parlour as a “horror scene”, prosecutor Chris Paxton said at the start of a five-day sentencing hearing. Police who searched his premises after a tip-off found 31 bodies in a cold storage area that should have been cremated months...

The project would make the airport easier to navigate and include a new United lounge, officials said. It’s part of the president’s plans to remake the Washington area.

Federal court judges appointed James M. McDonald, a former federal prosecutor, to the post. He represented President Trump in his appeal of his criminal conviction.

Senator Rand Paul said the committee he leads would vote next week on whether to hold Dr. Fauci in contempt of Congress.

Reihan Salam loves New York. He loves the free market. And he’s very worried.

The so-called pied-à-terre tax is causing anxiety for homeowners who feel outed by the publication of their addresses. Some say they have only one home.

The peculiar dynamic is playing out in Texas, where the fate of the Republican nominee, Ken Paxton, will help decide which party controls the U.S. Senate.

The president took in a staggering $2.2 billion last year while in office. Democrats are hoping to make it a campaign issue in the midterm elections.

The former president is trying to help Josh Turek net a Senate seat in Iowa, which Democrats see as one of their best pickup opportunities of the midterms.

What do you do when a $25 billion complex is under construction nearby? One couple in Abilene had an idea.

Hadi Matar stabbed Mr. Rushdie repeatedly at a literary conference in 2022 and could spend the rest of his life in prison.

The lifestyles of the wealthy in Myanmar — nightclubs, caviar and trips abroad — have been largely untouched by years of deadly conflict.

Devyn Dalton, a 4-foot-6 woman, is the leading man’s stunt double in Christopher Nolan’s summer blockbuster.

It’s easy to shake our fists at a monster. It would be more effective to actually help exploited girls.

Show trials are bad for democracy.

A lifeguard with a relentless grip on a young boy brought him to safety amid enormous waves that ripped across a Santa Cruz beach over the weekend.