Minimalist News

Street Unrest In Albania After PM Says Pristine Land 'Belongs' To US-Saudi Investors Authored by Jake Johnson via Common Dreams Albanians took to the streets in droves for the eighth consecutive day on Sunday to protest a proposed $1.6 billion luxury resort complex backed by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner , one of several investors in the project, which opponents say is both corrupt and disastrous for wetlands and wildlife . “One week later, we are still here, stronger than yesterday,” said the Albanian Ornithological Society, a leading critic of the proposed development. “Millions around the world are

10 Enduring Lessons From Adam Smith Authored by Nikolai G. Wenzel via The Daily Economy , Adam Smith (1723-1790) is widely considered to be the father of modern economics. There were precursors, such as the School of Salamanca and the French Physiocrats, but Adam Smith's 1776 magnum opus, "An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," was the first comprehensive treatise. A statue of Adam Smith in Edinburgh, Scotland, in a file photo. Travel Telly/Shutterstock In this 250th anniversary year, much ink will be spilled - and with good reason - celebrating the legacy of Adam

Apollo And Blackstone Raise $35 Billion For Anthropic In One Of The Biggest Ever Private Credit SPV Deals Back in January, when we profiled Meta's landmark $27.3 billion SPV deal named "Beignet" for the Hyperion data center located in Louisiana, in which Blue Owl provided the private credit, we said to "expect hundreds of billions of these in 2026." As a reminder, META is already neck deep in off-balance sheet debt. Here is a schematic of its $27.3 billion SPV with Blue Owl "Project Beignet" for the Hyperion data center. None of this touches META's balance sheet. Expect hundreds of

Report Says Cuba Mobilizing Militias As U.S. Invasion Fears On The Rise Weeks after Cuba's leader warned that any U.S. military action against the communist-controlled Caribbean island nation would be a " bloodbath " and risk destabilizing the region, local media reported that the regime had begun handing out weapons to ordinary citizens. Other reports, however, dispute that claim and suggest Havana is instead mobilizing its territorial militias. Either way, the signal is hard to ignore: Cuba is shifting into a higher defensive posture. Venezuelan news outlet Diario Versión Final reports: The Havana government has begun distributing weapons to ordinary

Tiny X-Ray Telescope Could Unlock The Moon's Hidden Chemistry Authored by Tokyo Metropolitan University via ScienceDaily , Researchers at Tokyo Metropolitan University have used simulations to show that a small, newly developed X-ray telescope could help create a chemical map of the entire lunar surface . Such a map would be a major step toward understanding how the Moon formed, changed, and evolved over time. A new compact X-ray telescope could help scientists produce the first-ever complete map of the Moon’s chemical makeup. Credit: Shutterstock Their detailed modeling, which included both the telescope detector and a realistic Moon orbiting satellite

4 In 10 American Adults Report Having 'Mental Health' Problems Over the past few years, a lot of progress has been made in accepting and understanding mental health problem s. Having long been seen as a sign of weakness, mental health issues in their many varieties and severities have become much less of a taboo. As Statista's Valentine Fourreau notes, the pandemic, which left many people feel isolated, powerless or overwhelmed, accelerated that trend, as it not only caused a spike in symptoms of anxiety or depression, but also led more people to open up about their problems. In a

Chinese Article Warns VPN Use Alone Can Trigger Punishment Under Expanding Censorship Regime Authored by Michael Zhuang via The Epoch Times , A widely circulated Chinese social media article warning that internet users can be punished simply for bypassing China's online censorship system has drawn attention to what observers say is an expanding clampdown on access to the global internet. The article, published June 2 on Chinese social media WeChat and later archived by California-based nonprofit China Digital Times, which tracks China's state censorship, compiled a series of publicly reported cases of suppression on the use of virtual private networks

OpenAI Files Confidentially For IPO, Joining SpaceX and Anthropic In Capitalizing On AI Frenzy The rush by AI companies to go public before the window closes (i.e., "market conditions" emerge) entered its final lap late on Monday, when OpenAI joined its two mega peers in filing for a blockbuster IPO that could value the ChatGPT creator at more than $1tn as it races rival Anthropic to list its shares publicly, following an imminent offering by SpaceX. OpenAI said it had confidentially submitted a draft IPO prospectus to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, formally kicking off the process for one

How A Tiny Insect Decimated Florida's Citrus, And What Orchardists Are Doing About It Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times , Lifelong citrus farmer Sidney Tillett cut a path through a grove that has endured in his family for four generations, stopping his SUV between two rows of trees. On one side was a long plot of lush green saplings, covered with protective mesh bags tied to stakes in the ground. The Citrus Place, a fruit and produce market in Terra Ceia, Florida, on May 21, 2026. The store is popular among vacationers. Directly on the other side,

Interim Air Force One Jet Gets Patriotic Paint Scheme Ahead Of America's 250th Party One month after the U.S. Air Force confirmed that the Boeing 747 donated by Qatar, designated as the VC-25B Bridge and widely described as President Trump's interim Air Force One aircraft, had entered flight testing in Texas and was being prepared for a new red, white, and blue color scheme, an OSINT account on X claims the aircraft has now been painted. "Ladies and gentlemen… your United States Air Force's new VC-25B," X user TGhormley Photography wrote Sunday morning. TGhormley Photography said the image was taken

529-To-Roth IRA Rollover Rules In 2026: Five Questions That Help Determine Whether You Qualify Authored by Adam H. Douglas via The Epoch Times , After funding a 529 college savings account for years, you realize there is money left over . Maybe your grandchild graduated early, earned a scholarship that covered more than expected, or decided college was not for them [ ZH: or maybe your grandkid is an ungrateful little shit ] . A federal rule now lets you move that leftover balance into a Roth IRA, tax-free. It may sound too good to be true, and for some

"Replacing Lower Value Human Capital": Banks Cut Staff As Recent Grads Face Off Against AI For Jobs As AI reshapes banking, students entering the industry are confronting a double challenge: navigating AI-driven hiring processes today while wondering how many traditional finance jobs will remain tomorrow, according to Bloomberg . Warwick University student Andre Bonnick, for example, spends hours preparing for automated screening interviews rather than conversations with human recruiters. While he hopes to secure a role in finance, he is also weighing options such as further study as entry-level opportunities become more competitive. Industry leaders have been increasingly candid about

Eyewitness Testimony Undercuts Self-Defense Claim In Austin Metcalf Killing Via American Greatness, Testimony from multiple eyewitnesses cast doubt on Karmelo Anthony’s claim that he acted in self-defense when he fatally stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a track meet. Several student witnesses described a confrontation in which Anthony, 19, allegedly refused repeated requests to leave a tent occupied by students from Frisco Memorial High School before the encounter turned deadly. One 17-year-old student-athlete testified that Anthony did not appear to be acting in self-defense. According to the witness, Anthony kept his hands inside his backpack until Metcalf shoved him, at which

Xi Jinping Applauds Kim's 'Socialist Cause' In Warm North Korea State Visit North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warmly greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Pyongyang Monday, kicking off Xi's two-day state visit to the internationally isolated country - which is his first trip there in seven years. Xi has called for deepening "strategic coordination and cooperation" with North Korea shortly after receiving a lavish, red carpet welcome at the airport. The two sides should inject "powerful momentum" into their ties , Xi said according to a readout released by Chinese state media Xinhua. Xinhua/ZUMA Press The Chinese leader spoke

Researchers Identify World's Largest Scorpion That Roamed Earth 415 Million Years Ago Authored by Maria Mocerino via Interesting Engineering , The University of Manchester has discovered that the world's largest scorpion, which lived 415 million years ago, was hiding in the museum's collection for 150 years. Since the 1870s, researchers have debated the identity of the strange fossil remains lurking in the Manchester archives. They possessed tiny fragments recovered from sites in England and Wales that puzzled them, but they could not piece them together. Was it a large woodlouse-crustacean? Life reconstruction of Praearcturus gigas. Franz Anthony High Res In

House Report Finds Minnesota Officials Ignored Fraud To Avoid Racism Accusations A House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform report released Monday paints a devastating picture of both Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and state Attorney General Keith Ellison , finding that they both knew about widespread fraud in state social services programs and failed to act. The report centers on the Feeding Our Future scandal, in which a Minnesota-based nonprofit systematically exploited federal COVID-19 relief funds intended to provide meals to children. So far, more than 60 people have already been found guilty of fraud in connection with the scheme,

On The Kavanaugh Anniversary, Democratic Leaders Swap Me Too For Maine Authored by Jonathan Turley, ...on the eighth anniversary of the Kavanaugh nomination. It now appears that there are some women who are not to be believed... when the Senate may be in the balance.. “It’s clear the fix is in.” Those words from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). came with her vote against confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Warren was outraged that her fellow senators refused to believe a woman who came forward with a decades-old allegation against Kavanaugh that lacked any corroboration. It now appears that Kavanaugh’s

Campbell's CEO Serves Up Warning For Restaurants As "Resilient" At-Home Cooking Trend Gains Steam There is not much to get excited about in canned-soup maker Campbell's third-quarter results, with sales slumping and softness in its snack unit weighing on performance. But one revealing detail from management's earnings call earlier on Monday offers a broader read-through on the consumer: households may be spending much more time cooking at home and pulling back from restaurants in the second half of the year. The canned-soup maker reaffirmed its full-year outlook, but Wall Street analysts were muted on the third-quarter results. BNP Paribas Max

US Army Develops 'Breakthrough' Quantum Sensor to Pinpoint Radio Signals on Battlefields Authored by Atharva Gosavi via Interesting Engineering , US Army scientists have demonstrated a new quantum sensor that can measure the full 3D direction of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields, a milestone that could reshape how signals are detected on the battlefield. The rubidium vapor cell. US Army The breakthrough was achieved by scientists at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory. According to the researchers, the sensor could improve situational awareness, strengthen secure communications, and help soldiers make faster, better-informed decisions in complex

Sam Bankman-Fried 'Absolutely' Wants A Presidential Pardon From inside a federal prison cell, disgraced crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried is making a direct bid for a White House lifeline . In a phone interview with FOX Business , the former FTX founder said he "absolutely" wants a presidential pardon from President Donald Trump. "Absolutely. It would be obviously, you know, ultimately up to the president, not up to me," he said. Bankman-Fried declined to confirm whether his family is currently lobbying the administration on his behalf, saying only, "I can't speak for them." In March 2024, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25

Football fans are celebrating the tournament coming to Guadalajara. But with a brutal crime syndicate holding sway there, what are the risks for fans – and the government? Excitement is mounting in Mexico as the World Cup opens in Mexico City, then heads to the city of Guadalajara. Mexican journalist Leon Krauze is a fan. He was there the last time the World Cup came to Mexico and will be watching again. The city of Guadalajara has a mythical footballing past: “Pele’s Brazil played there in 1970, then Zico and Socrates played there in 1986. There is a real football

Plane on way to pick up Yadier Molina and his family crashed in Dominican Republic, killing pilot and co-pilot A pilot and co-pilot from the United States have died in a fiery plane crash as they attempted an emergency landing in the Dominican Republic , authorities said. Former major league baseball all-star catcher Yadier Molina said on social media that the plane was bound for Texas to pick him up, along with family and friends. Continue reading...

Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of 1990s leader Alberto, is vying with a congressman to become country’s ninth president in a decade Peruvians go to the polls on Sunday in an election runoff that pits a perennial rightwing candidate, Keiko Fujimori, against a leftist congressman, Roberto Sánchez. Amid rising crime, chronic political instability, corruption scandals and voter apathy, they are vying to become Peru’s ninth president in a decade. Fujimori, who is the daughter of the late president Alberto Fujimori, won 17% of the vote in the first round in April . Sánchez, a former trade and tourism minister, took 12

Union says collective agreement is just the start of a broader fight to unionize major employers across the country Canadian warehouse workers have signed the first-ever collective agreement with Walmart, a breakthrough labour organizers are calling a “historic and powerful step”. But the union says the deal with a corporation long hostile to organized labour is only an opening salvo in a broader fight to unionize major employers across the country. Continue reading...

Oil tankers may be stuck behind strait of Hormuz, but holding the Iata AGM in Brazil defies warnings of impending shortages Nothing says jet fuel crisis, as one prospective attender put it, like flying everyone to Rio de Janeiro. Aviation leaders will converge in Brazil this weekend for the Iata AGM, the annual global airline summit, with the industry still, for the most part, looking resolutely skyward. The oil tankers may still be stuck behind the strait of Hormuz as the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran flickers on, but for now, airlines continue to defy dire warnings of

People told not to enter damaged buildings for fear of aftershocks from magnitude-7.8 quake At least 37 people have died and hundreds have been injured after a magnitude-7.8 earthquake shook part of the southern Philippines early on Monday, collapsing buildings and triggering tsunami alerts. The quake hit early in the morning about 20km (12.4 miles) off the coast of Sarangani province, with tremors felt strongly across Mindanao and 420km away in the city of Manado on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Continue reading...

Kim Jong-un welcomes Chinese leader on visit to renew relations strained amid Pyongyang’s closeness with Russia Xi Jinping has arrived in North Korea for a two-day trip, his first in nearly seven years, as China’s leader looks to revitalise ties with his junior ally. Footage published by China’s Xinhua state news agency showed an Air China plane carrying Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, touching down at Pyongyang’s Sunan international airport. Continue reading...

India declares onset as up to 280mm of rain falls in 72 hours in Kerala, while downpours hit south-west Thailand The monsoon season has officially begun in parts of Asia, marking the start of a period of enhanced rainfall vital to the region’s economy. The south-west monsoon begins each year as a consequence of a growing temperature difference between the Asian land mass and the Indian Ocean. Through spring, the land heats up more rapidly than the surrounding sea, creating a pressure difference that draws moisture-laden ocean air inland. Once this contrast reaches a critical point, the humid air pushed

Police and hunters in Utsunomiya, 100km north of the capital, resume their search for animal that is not usually seen so close to Tokyo A city in Japan has closed all its 94 primary and secondary schools after a bear was spotted in the municipality for the first time. Officials in Utsunomiya, a city of half a million people about 100km (62 miles) north of Tokyo, took action after a medium-sized black bear – estimated to be about one-metre-long – was seen near a park in the city on Saturday. The bear was spotted again on CCTV running just in

Exclusive: Dr David Wilson says former British police officer approached him as part of efforts to influence his work The author of a Home Office-sponsored report on the Chinese state and organised crime in the UK was the target of failed honey traps and a suspected attempt to compromise him by a former British police officer, it is claimed. Dr David Wilson, whose groundbreaking analysis was declassified in February, has told of multiple attempts to influence him or discredit his work as he sought to examine the policing challenges posed by the Chinese Communist party (CCP) and criminal gangs. Continue

This blog is closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast ‘If Australian datacentres are going to power the AI revolution, we deserve a fair return’ – David Pocock Independent senator David Pocock has published an opinion piece about the growth of AI datacentres in Australia and how the gold rush should benefit Australians. He writes: Huge investment in this space is pouring into Australia. In the past year, Microsoft has announced $25bn will go into Australian datacentres and Amazon Web Services has committed another $20bn. The prime minister has posed for photos with the

Labor MP Ernest Wong and restaurateur Jonathan Yee are facing court over allegedly circumventing election funding laws Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast New South Wales prosecutors have launched proceedings against two state Labor officials after they allegedly disguised donations to Chris Minns during his election campaign almost a decade ago. On Tuesday, the NSW Electoral Commission revealed the director of public prosecution had begun proceedings against former Labor MP Ernest Wong and restaurateur Jonathan Yee. The commission commenced an investigation in 2019 into a “potential scheme to circumvent” election funding laws during the

Denim giant claims trademarked design has been copied by S-Double, which was founded in 2008 by Shawn Stussy and is owned by the Melbourne-based clothing company Global jeans giant Levi’s has launched legal action against Australian clothing company Globe and one of its brands for sewing tags on to pockets – which it says is “blatant copying” of its trademark design. The US denim giant made the same claim 15 years ago against the same brand, S-Double, founded by Shawn Stussy and owned by Melbourne-headquartered Globe. Continue reading...

Liberals and Nationals grappling with surging support for Pauline Hanson’s party, which threatens to replace them as Australia’s main conservative party Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The new Liberal president, Tony Abbott, has backed preference deals with One Nation as he declared the party wouldn’t win the next election by being “slaves to focus groups” and just a “little less woke than Labor”. The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, all but confirmed he was open to such deals with Pauline Hanson, declaring the party was

Victorian premier says she will always call out ‘misogynist’ views after One Nation leader says ‘if the shoe fits’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Jacinta Allan has dismissed leadership speculation and says she will continue to call out “sexist, misogynist, hateful” commentary directed at her, despite the One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s advice to “suck it up, sweetheart”. On Sunday, the Victorian premier criticised a truck-mounted billboard, which has been travelling around Melbourne for several weeks, featuring AI-generated images of her wearing a black

Protectionist measures will deal blow to country’s budget as it defends itself against Russia, says Metinvest chief New EU limits on steel imports could destroy Ukraine’s industry and deal a big blow to the country’s budget as it defends itself against Russia, according to the head of its biggest steelmaker. Yuriy Ryzhenkov, the chief executive of Metinvest, said the new EU quota system due on 1 July could “kill the Ukrainian steel industry”. Continue reading...

In a wide-ranging interview, an upbeat Ukrainian president also discusses Donald Trump, King Charles, and how Kyiv is prepared to share its experience of drone warfare with the west Sitting down with the Guardian in London, Volodymyr Zelenskyy seems cheerful. More than four years after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion, he believes Europe’s biggest war since 1945 appears to be slowly turning in Ukraine’s favour. The military situation is the most promising it has been for Kyiv for two and a half years, Zelenskyy says. “We can’t say Russia is losing this war. But we can say they are losing the

Exclusive: Ukrainian leader says he has ‘a very good relationship’ with British monarch, who has supported his country Zelenskyy hopes Reform UK councils will allow Ukraine flags to be flown again Volodymyr Zelenskyy has revealed that he plans to invite King Charles on a state visit to Ukraine as early as this year, which would make him the most senior royal to travel to Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion. The Ukrainian president said he had a close relationship with the king, whom he has met on numerous occasions, including when he gave a public show of support after Zelenskyy’s explosive

Two new rape complaints have been filed against the 67-year-old singer and actor, who denies the claims French singer and actor Patrick Bruel, facing sexual assault allegations from multiple women, was taken into police custody on Monday, as two new rape complaints were filed against him. The 67-year-old, a major figure in French pop culture with multiple top-selling albums and more than 40 film appearances, is being questioned about 13 victims, the prosecutor’s office in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre said in a statement. Agence France-Presse contributed to this report Continue reading...

Post on Facebook received more than 900 comments, with one Italian writing that they were ‘ashamed’ A US tourist has warned visitors to Rome after paying €44 (£38) for two ice-creams in the Italian capital. Nicole Ann, from Florida, advised fellow tourists to “avoid Don Nino”, an ice-cream parlour on a street off Piazza Navona. She claimed she had ordered two small cups of ice-cream but instead was charged for two large cones topped with trimmings that were allegedly not requested, including macarons, cannoli and panna (whipped cream) . Continue reading...

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya now in cell barely big enough to sit in, says son, after UN experts demanded his release in March The son of a prominent Palestinian doctor who was detained by Israeli forces in Gaza in late 2024 and held for more than 500 days without formal charges has spoken of his deep concern for his father’s wellbeing after he was transferred without explanation to solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison. Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, was detained at work on 27 December 2024. Physicians for Human Rights Israel

This live blog is now closed. For the latest, read more of our coverage on the Middle East conflict here . Iranian media is reporting that there were no immediate casualties following apparent Israeli strikes on the Karun petrochemical plant in Mahshahr, a city in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province. According to the Fars news agency, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they responded to what they described as an American-Israeli strike on the Iranian petrochemical site by launching a missile attack on a similar plant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa. Continue reading...

Netanyahu acknowledges pause in fighting in TV speech but vows forceful response to future attacks Fears of a return to a full-scale regional war in the Middle East eased on Monday as Israel and Iran said they had halted attacks on each other after an appeal from Donald Trump to “immediately stop shooting”. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, acknowledged the halt in fighting with Iran in a televised speech, but vowed to respond “with force” to future attacks. Continue reading...

Recent exchange of missiles between Iran and Israel highlights diverging views between US president and Israeli PM The latest eruption of hostilities between Iran and Israel appears to have been contained for now after Donald Trump insisted he called “all the shots” in the Middle East, but in a dangerously fragile region Benjamin Netanyahu has again shown he is ready to take shots of his own. The exchange of missiles on Sunday and Monday was ample demonstration of the inherent instability of the current limbo between war and peace, but it also shone a bright light on the complex and

Arch-enemies Israel and Iran have returned to active confrontation while Donald Trump tries to present himself as mediator Israel and Iran have returned to active war for the first time since a ceasefire was agreed two months ago in an exchange of rocket fire that threatened efforts to end the conflict. Donald Trump, who started the war in February alongside Israel but has since attempted to present himself as a mediator, told the two sides to stop shooting and said “final negotiations” on peace were proceeding. By late afternoon on Monday, the attacks had stopped. Continue reading...

Cockroach Janta party began as online joke but is growing into one of the most unexpected challenges to country’s rightwing government The call out to the youth of India was simple: “Get ready to swarm the streets of Delhi with peaceful and loving dissent.” They came in their thousands. The weekend marked the first public protest of the Cockroach Janta party (CJP), a movement that began as an online joke, but which has swiftly grown into one of the most unexpected challenges to the indomitable power of the country’s rightwing Narendra Modi government – driven by millions of discontented and

Climbing support team rescue Hillary Dawa Sherpa almost a week on from when he was last seen A Nepali guide who was believed to have died on Mount Everest has been found crawling to base camp a week after going missing – and after his funeral rites had begun. Dawa Sherpa, also known as Hillary Dawa Sherpa after the famous climber Edmund Hillary, was last seen on 29 May but did not reach base camp with other climbing groups. Continue reading...

ICC’s decision comes amid growing concerns the team is being influenced by members of a notorious gang in India Cricket’s international governing body has suspended Canada over what it described as “serious breaches of its membership obligations”, dealing the latest blow to an organization that critics say has become a “laughing stock” within the sport. The suspension also comes amid growing concerns that one of Canada’s fastest-growing sports is being influenced by members of a notorious gang that operates with impunity from an Indian prison cell . Continue reading...

Truck was carrying Afghan families returning Pakistan when it overturned, official says A truck overturned in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing 18 people on board including 10 children, a provincial official told Agence France-Presse. Deadly traffic crashes are common in Afghanistan, due in part to poor roads after decades of conflict, dangerous driving and a lack of regulation. Continue reading...

New digital marking system is aimed at reducing human errors but many students say it has resulted in wrong grades A national outcry has erupted in India after more than 400,000 students requested copies of their answer sheets amid mounting complaints of errors in the marking of the country’s most important school-leaving examinations. Within days of the grade 12 exam results being issued, students began reporting marking discrepancies they linked to a new digital marking system. Continue reading...

Prime minister says he has no tolerance for such attacks after man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder A man has been seriously injured in north Belfast in a stabbing described by Keir Starmer as “sickening”. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said officers were called at around 10.30pm on Monday and the injured man was taken to hospital. Continue reading...

Conservative leader is giving her speech to the Institute of Government Badenoch says the idea that people should be treated equally under the law is “a value so deeply ingrained in our culture that most people in Britain accepted as a self-evident truth”. But activists have been telling the police “to treat people differently on the basis of identity groups, eroding a centuries old principle principle that has made Britain the amazing country”. Equality law, properly designed, should protect us all in the same way. It should be a shield, not a sword. It should protect people from discrimination. It

TUC, GMB and Unison leaders reject invitation to affiliate to Reform amid rising support for party among their members UK politics live – latest updates Major trade unions and the TUC have rebuffed Nigel Farage’s call for unions to affiliate to Reform UK, saying the party is “cosplaying” as workers’ champions and has opposed new employment rights. Farage issued a call on Tuesday for unions to attend Reform’s conference and to affiliate to the party, and he suggested one union may be on the brink of doing so. Continue reading...

Trump administration says restrictions could impose ‘disproportionate’ burden on US tech companies UK politics live – latest updates The White House has urged the UK not to impose a social media ban for under-16s, saying such restrictions could impose a “disproportionate” burden on US tech firms. In a submission to a government consultation on online safety, the US government came out against “prescribed one-size-fits-all government restrictions” and “blunt regulatory instruments” to address online harms to children. Continue reading...

British drugmaker’s new chief executive Luke Miels announces one of its biggest deals Business live – latest updates GSK’s new boss, Luke Miels , has struck one of the British drugmaker’s biggest deals, announcing the $10.6bn (£7.9bn) acquisition of a US cancer specialist with two late-stage medications. The FTSE 100 company is boosting its oncology portfolio by agreeing to buy Nuvalent, a Boston-based biotech that develops cancer drugs, including three for lung cancer. GSK will pay $124 a share in cash. Continue reading...

Musician who spliced jazz, funk and blues, including in a spell on a major label in the early 1980s, was celebrated as ‘fearless’ by his family James Blood Ulmer, the US guitarist celebrated for his avant garde splicing of jazz, blues and funk, has died aged 86. A statement on social media said he died on 3 June. “His music was fearless, and so was his spirit,” his family added in another statement. Continue reading...

Athlete Hannah Babalola says she was told to use the toilet without an aisle chair or leave Cape Town to Amsterdam flight The Dutch airline KLM has offered “sincere apologies” to a Paralympic athlete who was denied access to an onboard wheelchair during a long-haul flight so she could go to the toilet. The cabin crew on the flight later called the police after the request from Hannah Babalola, 37, who is paraplegic and competes in track events, for the wheelchair, known as an aisle chair as it is narrow enough to be used inside a plane. They first handed

JPMorgan Chase leads 65 banks making decisions incompatible with restraining rising temperatures, researchers say The world’s largest banks committed $906bn in financing to the fossil fuel industry last year, an “unfathomable” increase in investment locking in years more of coal, oil and gas production as the world continues to overheat, a new report has found. The surge in new fossil fuel lending, up $64bn or nearly 8% on 2024, shows that the world’s largest 65 banks are making decisions incompatible with international agreements to restrain rising global temperatures, according to the coalition of environmental groups behind the new analysis .

This live blog is now closed. Trump nominates his ex-lawyer Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general Sign up for the Breaking News US email Donald Trump on Monday posted on Truth Social that “ Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting’” before claiming an hour later that Israel and Iran were “looking to do an immediate ceasefire” and that “final negotiations on peace” were under way. While he did not provide any further details, AFP reports that Trump had called Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. Continue reading...

A renowned academic, Wood was hit by a car as he was crossing a supermarket’s parking lot and later died of the injuries Gordon S Wood, a Pulitzer prize-winning author and historian, was killed on Sunday when he was struck by a car in a supermarket parking lot in Rhode Island. Wood, 92, won the Pulitzer in 1993 in the history category for The Radicalism of the American Revolution, a landmark tome that advanced the theory of the break with Britain being at least as much of an internal social and political transformation as a desire to be rid of

A historically strong earthquake ⁠struck off Cuba’s northwest ⁠coast on Monday, according to official ⁠reports, shaking parts of Cuba, Mexico and Florida that are typically not prone to quakes. The US Geological Survey (USGS) measured the quake at a magnitude 6.1 at a shallow depth of 26km (16 miles) and its epicentre 104km ‌west-northwest of Mantua, Cuba, about two to four hours by car from the capital Havana. Monday’s earthquake was unusual for this area of the Caribbean, said Paul Earle, a...

The International Criminal Court’s ‌chief prosecutor Karim Khan has been suspended pending a vote by member states on his fate, the court’s governing body said on Monday, following a probe into accusations of sexual harassment made against him. A diplomatic source briefed on the decision told Reuters the court’s governing body’s executive bureau has ruled Khan had committed serious misconduct following an 18-month-long probe into accusations that the prosecutor had non-consensual sexual...

A new US$4.7 billion bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, is on track to open in the coming ‌weeks, a bridge authority said on Monday, despite a threat by US President Donald Trump in February to block its opening. A formal ribbon-cutting is expected later this week, a source told Reuters. Detroit media outlets reported on Monday the Gordie Howe International Bridge is expected to open to traffic on June 15. Trump in February cited Canada’s refusal to stock some US alcoholic beverages...

US President Donald Trump has nominated Todd Blanche, acting US attorney general, to fill the position on a permanent basis, rewarding a loyal ally whose controversial actions ensure an uphill Senate confirmation fight. The White House announced on Monday it had sent Blanche’s nomination to the Senate, a move Trump telegraphed last week during remarks at a private event in the Rose Garden. Blanche formerly served as one of Trump’s personal lawyers before the president picked him for the No 2...

A Norway court on Monday ordered the release of ailing Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s son Marius Borg Hoiby, who faces a multitude of charges including rape and abuse, citing her health crisis. Prosecutors quickly appealed the decision, so Hoiby will remain in custody until the appeal is processed. The 29-year-old, Mette-Marit’s son from a relationship before her 2001 marriage to Crown Prince Haakon, was on trial from February 3 to March 19. He faces 40 criminal charges, including the rape of four...

Israel and Iran warned that they each stood ready to launch retaliatory attacks if provoked, even as both nations appeared to back away from further strikes on Monday, hours after trading fire for the first time since the US agreed to a ceasefire with Tehran two months ago. The renewed hostilities raised concerns that the Middle East could plunge back into a full-scale war. Since the US and Israel began striking Iran on February 28, the war has shaken the global economy, driven up energy prices...

The United States has placed travel bans on more than 100 Nicaraguan officials and their family members as part of a broader campaign to punish the current government for human rights abuses. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Monday that the new sanctions were imposed in part because of the death last month of an imprisoned activist, Brooklyn Rivera, who criticised the policies of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president Rosario Murillo. “The United...

A federal ⁠judge on Monday ⁠struck down a US$100,000 fee that ⁠US President Donald Trump imposed on new H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, concluding that it constituted an unlawful tax that Congress never authorised. US District Judge Leo Sorokin ‌in Boston issued the ruling in a lawsuit filed by 20 Democratic state attorneys general challenging a fee Trump announced in September that dramatically raised the cost of obtaining H-1B visas, which tech companies in particular rely...

Kenya’s former chief justice David Maraga said he was arrested Monday alongside other activists protesting planned construction inside Nairobi National Park. Police fired tear gas canisters at the protesters who were marching outside the park while carrying banners with messages denouncing land grabs. Maraga was detained and later released while staging a sit-in on a major road outside the national park’s main gate. He was wearing a green T-shirt similar to those worn by other activists. The...

US President Donald Trump told the US Supreme Court he intends to ask the justices to revive his US$475 million defamation lawsuit against CNN over use of the term “Big Lie” in reporting on his claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him. Trump’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court for a 60-day extension to August 15 to file his petition for review of the lower court’s dismissal of the case, according to a request that was formally docketed by the justices on Friday. The filing, the first...

Hungarian lawmakers unanimously voted to slash their incomes and allowances on Monday, as Prime Minister Peter Magyar sought to reduce administrative costs. Critics had previously accused Magyar’s predecessor, nationalist premier Viktor Orban, of providing high salaries in an attempt to placate opposition deputies. Magyar, whose party filled with political newcomers won the April 12 elections by a landslide, was among those highly critical of the practice. All 189 representatives present in the...

Residents of Tehran awoke on Monday anxious and drained by the prospect of full-scale war resuming, following tit-for-tat strikes between arch-foes Iran and Israel that marked the greatest threat to the fragile ceasefire thus far. “We don’t know if there will be a war, nor if a peace deal will last,” said Maryam, a 41-year-old accountant in Tehran’s central Valiasr Square. She described a pervasive “sense of uncertainty and confusion” after Israeli strikes on Tehran on Sunday, which came in...

Apple and Google have been given a three-month ultimatum to make it impossible for children to take, share or view nude images on their smartphones, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday. The government wants firms to activate built-in features on their devices or come up with technological solutions on phones and tablets to detect and block such content. It means all adults will need to verify their age if they want to take or view nude images. Firms must implement changes or face...

Afghan residents in the western city of Herat have told of witnessing multiple women detained by the Taliban government’s morality police, in a crackdown over clothing which has drawn criticism from the United Nations. The UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said Sunday it was “concerned over multiple arrests and detentions of women in Herat, Afghanistan, for alleged non-compliance with dress requirements”. Taliban authorities rule according to a strict interpretation of Islamic law, and have...

As part of its decades-old “multi-vector” foreign policy, based on balancing relations between major powers such as China, Russia, the United States and the European Union, Kazakhstan – Central Asia’s largest country – is now actively diversifying its economic and financial policies. While in the past, Astana sought to strengthen cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the leading international financial hub in the Middle East, today, Hong Kong seems to be becoming a key partner for...

The head of the World Health Organization on Monday visited Uganda, where a deadly Ebola outbreak has killed two people after spreading from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The WHO has declared an international health emergency over the current outbreak, which was announced on May 15 in the northeastern DRC. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently also visited the DRC, which has seen 515 confirmed Ebola infections, including 91 deaths, according to the UN...

“When we graduate, what can we do?” As a philosophy professor, questions like this – about employability – often crop up in my conversations with students. Indeed, with youth unemployment on the Chinese mainland standing at almost 17 per cent, and intense competition among those seeking employment, it is no wonder that the priority for many – even students graduating from elite universities – is actually securing a job. The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) has only compounded such...

Foreign governments, international banks and multinational companies are increasingly tapping China’s domestic bond market, as panda bond issuance hit a record high in the first five months of the year. A total of 11 entities sold 14 panda bonds – yuan-denominated debt instruments issued by foreign entities in mainland China’s onshore market – worth 26.64 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion) in May, up 246 per cent from a year earlier and the highest level on record for the month, according to data...

Peru faced a drawn-out count in its bitterly contested presidential run-off after results showed the race for the ninth head of state in 10 years was too close to call. Figures released by electoral authorities showed conservative politician Keiko Fujimori with a modest lead over nationalist congressman Roberto Sanchez in a contest overshadowed by people’s concerns about surging crime. The outcome, expected to be tight, may not be known for days. An official tally on Monday showed Fujimori...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China is transforming historic African slave port into waterfront tourism magnet 2. The new Panama? Why Nicaragua could be next front in US-China influence battle 3. Is the dream over? Mainland students rethink Hong Kong over costs and cultural fit 4. How Chinese drink chains are testing the...

Christian Eriksen was conscious and undergoing further tests in hospital after collapsing on the field again while playing for Denmark’s national team on Sunday in a scary scene that had echoes of his cardiac arrest at the European Championship five years ago. Television footage showed the 34-year-old midfielder clutching his chest with both hands in an off-the-ball action in the 65th minute of Denmark’s international friendly against Ukraine at Nature Energy Park in Odense, Denmark. In the next...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received the backing of the leaders of the UK, France and Germany in calling for direct ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine, according to a joint statement issued following defence talks in London on Sunday. Zelensky met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at 10 Downing Street for talks as Russia’s war has stretched into its fifth year. The leaders “supported the proposal for...

When foreign ministers of countries that are part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) gathered in New Delhi last week, the agenda looked familiar: supply chain resilience, telecommunications security and maritime domain awareness. The talking points have evolved, the initiatives have multiplied and the meetings have become routine. Asia is entering a new strategic era. However, its geopolitical debate remains stuck in the previous one. Across the region, governments are investing in...

US President Donald Trump lasted through scrutinising questions about his Iran war strategy and repeated weather disruptions during an interview with US broadcaster NBC – but angrily stormed out when confronted over his unfounded claims of election fraud. “You’re a one-sided, crooked network. Sorry. Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time,” Trump told Meet the Press host Kristen Welker before standing up and walking out of the interview that aired...

Brazilian planemaker Embraer ⁠expects to eventually bring its ⁠E2 jets into China, seeing a role for the aircraft among the country’s domestically developed models, a senior executive told Reuters on Sunday. “We have a dedicated team in Beijing, they’re day-to-day working in China,” Embraer Commercial Aviation ‌CEO Arjan Meijer said on the sidelines of a global gathering of top airline executives in Rio de Janeiro. “We believe the E2 family is the ideal complement to the indigenous products of...

A Palestinian man with Israeli citizenship went on a shooting rampage in several towns in central Israel on Sunday, killing a reservist and wounding five other people, according to Israeli police and the military. The attacker was killed by police. The attack came at a time of heightened tensions following a spate of Israeli settler attacks, and the deadly shooting of a Palestinian baby over the weekend, in the nearby West Bank. Police identified the attacker as a resident of the Arab town of...

The ⁠White House is considering ⁠a plan to buy the Chagos ⁠Islands from Mauritius, the Telegraph reported on Sunday. US officials have drawn up a proposal to bypass the UK and make their own deal to take control of Diego Garcia, the report said. The plan is among several options being ‌drafted by the White House, in a paper aimed at providing alternatives to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ceding sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius, the report said. “President Trump has...

Iran’s military command on Monday announced it was halting its operation against Israel after the two sides exchanged fire for the first time since a truce took effect in April. Israel ⁠also halted ⁠strikes on Iran at the request of US President ‌Donald Trump, a senior Israeli official was cited as saying by Channel 12 ⁠on Monday. The official added ‌that if Hezbollah attacks on ‌Israeli towns continue, Israel will ⁠attack ⁠the southern suburbs ‌of Lebanon’s Beirut. The Channel 12 report also...

Pope Leo on Monday told Spain’s parliament that escalating conflict, deepening polarisation and widespread disregard for human rights had pushed the world into a profound crisis, in one of his most expansive political addresses yet. Leo, who has adopted a more forceful tone recently against the direction of global leadership, also firmly repeated his opposition to increased European military spending, urging politicians instead to end the wars ravaging the ‌globe and help migrants. “The world is...

Central African Republic has agreed to take in migrants from other countries deported by the United States, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, the latest example of the Trump administration striking deals with African states to accelerate removals. Washington has sent so-called third-country deportees to African countries including Democratic Republic ‌of Congo, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea, under opaque deals that Senate Democrats say have cost tens of millions of...

Dr Richard Lokudu, the medical director of Mongbwalu General Referral Hospital, has received barely any compensation for his work on the front line of one of Congo’s deadliest Ebola virus outbreaks. Lokudu and several of his colleagues work all day at the hospital treating an influx of patients. Notifications of suspected cases come even late at night. “I have not received my allowance [and] what happened to others could happen to me as well,” Lokudu said. “Despite all the infection prevention...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will stand if a leadership contest is triggered, a senior minister said on Sunday, after media reported Starmer had contacted key backers insisting he would run in any race. This came after popular Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham, who is standing in a key by-election this month, said last week he would participate in any leadership race, although none has yet been triggered. Starmer “has been absolutely clear – were there to be a contest – you need 81...

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claimed victory in parliamentary elections as voters overwhelmingly backed the South Caucasus country’s turn towards the West and away from Russia. Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party got 49.81 per cent of the vote, putting it on course to hold 61 of the 105 seats, data from Armenia’s Central Election Commission showed on Monday. Turnout was 58.97 per cent. Three opposition parties led by pro-Russian politicians passed the threshold to enter the National...

The arrival of Yuan Gujie, the new deputy director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, has sparked widespread speculation. Her legal background and experience in Guangdong province suggest that her posting carries a clear agenda: to promote deeper integration between Hong Kong and other Greater Bay Area cities. One thing is clear: if the Northern Metropolis is to accelerate, Hong Kong’s existing legal framework and development model may prove inadequate. A fundamental overhaul is urgently...

In their bare-bones tent in southern Gaza, Mostafa Shaaban built his family’s makeshift toilet behind a curtain in a corner. He dug a shallow pit in the sandy soil, poured a concrete slab around it, fixed a bottomless bucket over the hole, then topped it off with a battered, plastic toilet seat. It reeks with a foul odour and buzzes with flies and mosquitoes only a few feet from where they sleep and prepare meals. Every week, Shaaban has to dig the sewage sludge out of the pit. But at least it...

Once reserved for wealthy travellers, Dubai’s top-notch hotels have become almost exclusively reliant on residents, drawn in by dizzying staycation offers as war drives tourists away. On the Palm, an artificial island that has become synonymous with Dubai opulence, five-star hotels are busy on weekends and holidays once more, despite having been deserted by tourists. The clientele is driven by hotels offering residents-only deals that have become a lifeline for Dubai’s luxury tourism. “I had...

Gunfire erupted on Saturday near a busy street festival in Ohio, wounding at least 12 people and sending some eventgoers scrambling for cover while others rushed to help the victims. No suspects were in custody hours afterwards, Toledo deputy police chief Joe Heffernan said, and officials urged people who were at the festival to come forward with any photos or videos on their phones for possible leads. The shooting happened near the Old West End Festival, an annual gathering of live music and...

I grew up in a classroom where the name Norman Bethune was invoked with reverence. Like every schoolchild in China, I could recite from memory Chairman Mao’s 1939 essay “In Memory of Norman Bethune”, which characterised Bethune as a man who had come from afar, who gave his life to the Chinese revolution, who embodied selflessness and internationalism. For years, I kept a poster in my office – the famous oil painting of Mao meeting Bethune in Yan’an – as a quiet tribute. As the years passed and...

A top White House artificial intelligence policy adviser on Saturday said he will leave his position at the end of June, marking the exit of a leading ‌figure helping craft policies for frontier technologies. “This journey has been the privilege of a lifetime,” the adviser, Sriram Krishnan, posted on social media. Krishnan did not give a reason for leaving, but wrote in the post he intends to help “tackle some of the large challenges facing America” related to AI. Krishnan has been involved in...

Bernadette Chirac, the steel-willed former first lady of France who spent 12 years at the Elysee Palace from 1995 to 2007 beside President Jacques Chirac – weathering his notorious infidelities with dry humour while building her own political power base in rural France – has died. She was 93. President Emmanuel Macron confirmed her death on Saturday, saying he and his wife Brigitte had learned with “great sadness” of the passing of a woman who marked French history, and changed the lives of...

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday urged Europe to counter what he termed an “invasion” of its coastline by migration, as he marked the 82nd anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings in northern France. Hegseth also called on European countries to do more to contribute to their defence, in a speech at the American military cemetery in Colleville-sur-mer in Normandy. He was however conspicuously set to skip the main international ceremony marking the anniversary of the landings,...

Pope Leo on Saturday urged global leaders to avoid dividing their electorates with “sterile simplifications” to gain popularity and called on them to listen to the world’s cries for peace, in a forceful speech opening a week-long tour of Spain. Leo, who has angered US President Donald Trump by criticising his anti-immigration policies and the Iran war, will meet homeless people in Madrid and migrants in the Canary Islands during a visit he has said he hopes will set an example to the world about...

Nearly 500 Ebola cases have now been confirmed in the deadly outbreak raging in central Africa, a WHO overview showed on Saturday, amid mounting concern over the swelling scale of the epidemic. In its daily update on the situation, the World Health Organization tallied 452 confirmed cases, including 82 deaths, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), where the outbreak was declared three weeks ago. In neighbouring Uganda, meanwhile, it counted 19 confirmed cases, including two deaths. The...

Global airline chiefs open their annual summit in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday facing a sharper test of the industry’s post-pandemic recovery, as the Iran war drives up fuel costs and disrupts airspace while carriers try to cushion the blow with higher fares and tighter capacity. The annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which runs until Monday, comes as ‌that fuel shock collides with another problem airlines cannot quickly fix: a shortage of new aircraft. Boeing...

US President Donald Trump’s drive to reassert US supremacy in Latin America has already squeezed China’s interests in Cuba, Panama and Venezuela. Now, Nicaragua could be shaping up as the next economic battleground between the two powers, a scholar has warned. The American leader has yet to target Nicaragua since returning to office, but that could change if China revives an ambitious project to build a canal cutting across the country to connect the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, said Zhang...

It was not immediately clear what led to the incident, which came at a time when the cease-fire in the war has grown tenuous.

The night began with frustration and boos, and not because of the Knicks. But by the end of Game 3 of the N.B.A. finals, the team had slightly deflated some spirits, too.

As acting attorney general, Todd Blanche has shown a willingness to execute the president’s maximalist demands. Whether the Senate will confirm him remains unclear.

The Defense Department made the change after lawmakers objected to its original list, which did not include the Latter-day Saints among traditions labeled Christian.

The widespread use of drugs like Ozempic is giving scientists a clearer picture than ever of their effects.

The ruling voided “in its entirety” a policy from September requiring companies to pay $100,000 fees for H-1B visa petitions.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey said she was not allowed to speak with immigrants at the Delaney Hall detention center.

The push to denaturalize more immigrants is the latest sign that the administration is setting its sights on the legal immigration system.

Artificial intelligence is mastering the kinds of projects that have long helped to build the careers of young mathematicians. What does that mean for their future?

The company hopes to raise billions in a highly anticipated public offering that could unlock a new generation of tech industry wealth.

The iPhone maker revealed its new artificial intelligence products at its developer conference, the last with Tim Cook as chief executive.

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, is running for a seat in Parliament. It’s a vital step in a campaign to oust his party colleague Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

British officials accused Vice President JD Vance of trying to “stir up division” in his comments on the murder of Henry Nowak, whose killer was sentenced to life in prison last week.

Omar Artan was one of 52 referees selected for the FIFA World Cup. But on Saturday he was denied entry because of “vetting concerns,” U.S. officials said.

Two Times critics unpack the twin phenomenon of “Backrooms” and “Obsession” and what lessons should — and shouldn’t — be learned from their massive success.

The bissus of South Sulawesi are considered a link between the earthly and celestial because they are thought to embody both male and female traits.

There is a lot to gripe about. There’s also a lot to like.

Jon Stewart called the president’s interview his “worst nightmare: a woman who won’t stop asking pertinent questions.”

Forget those dreary passageways. The updated transit hub would add a grand entrance with sweeping staircases leading to an airy, glass-walled concourse.