Minimalist News

CENTCOM Says Hormuz Naval Blockade Ends As Gulf Energy Flows Reboot Summary: U.S. CENTCOM says U.S. Naval Blockade on Hormuz has been "Lifted" Kuwait Petroleum CEO says Energy Production to Ramp in a Week Iran Media says Southern Ports Traffic Begins Normalizing Hormuz Normalization Begins As Saudi Supertankers Exit And A Flood Of Persian Gulf Oil Heads For Asia The roughly two-month U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has officially ended, according to U.S. Central Command on X. This marks a major de-escalation in the Gulf region, as early signs point to the beginning of normalization of energy

Take-Two Shares Jump As 'Grand Theft Auto VI' Pre-Orders Open Next Week Take-Two Interactive Software shares jumped early in the cash session after the company announced on X that pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI will open next Thursday. The move is easing investor concerns that the highly anticipated game could face another delay, reinforcing expectations that Rockstar Games remains on track for its Nov. 19 launch date. " Pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI will officially begin on June 25 on digital storefronts and at other select retailers ," Rockstar Games wrote on X. The gaming studio is a

RFK Jr. Announces More Than $700 Million To Target Mental Illness, Homelessness Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times , The Trump administration is going to spent more than $700 million on programs aimed at reducing drug addiction, homelessness, and mental illness, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on June 17. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Washington on May 18, 2026. Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images The largest portion of the new funding, nearly $239 million, is going to a lifeline that people who are suicidal can call. Some $223 million is going to community behavioral

Amazon In Talks To Sell Its Trainium AI Chips To Other Firms, In Challenge To Nvidia Dominance Amazon is in talks to sell its custom-made Trainium AI chips for use in other companies’ data centers, Bloomberg reports, noting this "represents a key expansion of its efforts to cut into Nvidia's dominance", although a less optimistic read is that the company does not have enough demand or capacity to use the chips for its own uses. Peter DeSantis, Amazon’s AI chief, said the world’s largest cloud computing company has begun discussions but declined to name potential customers. Presumably, it will try

Forward Guidance Is Gone By Philip Marey, senior US strategist at Rabobank Summary As widely expected, the FOMC kept the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged and dropped its easing bias. However, this unanimous decision was announced in an unusually short statement. What’s more, at his first press conference as Fed Chair Kevin Warsh terminated forward guidance. However, the Summary of Economic Projections had already revealed that half of the FOMC participants (who submitted a forecast) expected to hike before the end of the year. Warsh did not submit his forecasts. Other interesting features of the statement were

Bullish Or Bearish Into Year-End? BITG & Fundstrat To Face Off S&P 500 and Nasdaq remain near record highs despite yesterday’s post-Fed freakout . Risk-on is still in fashion as investors remain hopeful of a lasting U.S.-Iran peace. Though the question remains: Is the rally sustainable or are markets poised for a painful reversal before year-end? Tonight at 7pm ET, Adam Taggart of Thoughtful Money hosts a debate between two of Wall Street's closely followed technical strategists: Jonathan Krinsky, Chief Market Technician at BTIG , and Mark Newton, Head of Technical Strategy at Fundstrat . Bull Case (Newton): Newton sees

US-Iran MOU Eases Energy Prices But Faces Sharp Pushback From Israel And GOP Hawks Summary: $6B of unfrozen Iran funds will be used to buy US goods The US and Iran signed a preliminary cease-fire agreement at the G7 summit in France. Energy prices fell as some Saudi supertankers resumed crossing the Strait of Hormuz. The deal includes a $300 billion private reconstruction fund and temporary Iranian oil export waivers. Iranian officials declared themselves the clear winner. The agreement has opened significant new divisions within the Republican Party. Israel described the deal as a major strategic setback. US Vice President

Centrus Jumps On Deal To Supply Oklo With Domestically-Produced Uranium Centrus Energy continues to solidify its role as a cornerstone of America's emerging advanced nuclear sector, today announcing a letter of intent with Oklo to provide domestically produced high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for the company's next generation of nuclear reactors, according to a release from the company's website . Shares the domestic enricher jumped more than 6% this morning. Under the proposed multi-year agreement, Centrus will begin supplying HALEU in 2029 to support up to five Oklo Aurora powerhouses, including reactors planned for Oklo's 1.2-gigawatt clean energy campus in Ohio.

The Treaty Of Versailles By Michael Every of Rabobank Yesterday, President Trump signed the US-Iran MoU in Versailles. It’s not a treaty, but the parallel with the one signed by Germany there on June 28, 1919, is notable: post-WW1, French Marshal Foch is widely credited with saying, “ This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years,” because he saw it as too lenient on the loser of that war. ‘Bravo’ says Macron after Trump signs Iran MoU at Versailles dinner. ‘Great job’ pic.twitter.com/5nDjGku4xS — Danny Kemp (@dannyctkemp) June 17, 2026 This MoU is also lenient on

Accenture Crashes Most On Record As AI Threatens Consulting Demand Accenture shares crashed by the most on record in premarket trading on a confluence of issues. First, the company's fourth-quarter revenue outlook missed Bloomberg consensus estimates and third-quarter bookings declined, reinforcing investors' belief that consulting demand is declining in the era of AI adoption across corporate America, which is wreaking havoc in the white-collar job market. The global consulting and technology services company, which helps large corporations and governments with strategy, IT, cloud migration, cybersecurity, and more, guided August-quarter revenue to a range of $17.75 billion to $18.4 billion, below

Both Parents Work Full-Time In Majority Of Families, Census Data Show Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times, Both parents work full-time in more than half of couples with children under 18, according to newly analyzed data. Fifty-two percent of couples comprised of a mother and father work full-time jobs as of 2025, according to the Pew Research Center analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau released on June 16. That percentage is an increase from 46 percent in 2015 and 31 percent in 1975. Black mothers are still the most likely to be in a couple where

"The Impact was Devastating": Chicago's Cross-Burning Was Set By Liberal, Anti-Trump Protester Authored by Jonathan Turley, After the Southern Poverty Law Center scandal of actually funding and encouraging racist protests, it appears that at least one individual has created his own orchestrated racist incident. In Chicago (where Jussie Smollett committed his infamous racist hoax ), a burning cross was denounced by Mayor Brandon Johnson as a sign of the racism in society. Johnson, however, refused to address the fact that the cross burning was actually the work of an anti-Trump liberal student. University of Illinois senior Merlin Lu said it

Energy Cliff, Supply Chain Shock: The Toxic Cocktail Behind The Urgent Push For An Iran Deal The U.S.-Iran interim peace deal has been signed, and the normalization of the Strait of Hormuz is now beginning. Tanker traffic through the critical waterway is slowly resuming, though a full return to pre-war or near-pre-war energy flows could take months. But behind the urgency to get the memorandum of understanding deal across the finish line were two uncomfortable realities. First, President Trump recently met with oil and gas executives , who likely informed the administration that the conflict and the shuttered Hormuz maritime

Continuing Jobless Claims Hit 3-Month-Highs The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time fell from 230k (4 month highs) to 226k (vs 225k exp) last week - elevated but still within the range of the last four years ... Source: Bloomberg Pennsylvania and Oregon saw the largest rise in initial claims last week while Ohio and Illinois saw the biggest decline... Meanwhile, continuing jobless claims rose back above 1.8 million Americans - the highest print in 3 months - but still well off cycle highs near 2 million in Q4 2025 ... Source: Bloomberg The bottom

Futures Rise, Oil Drops As Market Prices In Iran Deal For Yet Another Day Futures rebounded from the post-FOMC selloff, and oil prices fell as Trump signed the Iran MOU two days early to end the war in the Middle East (in the symbolic Palace of Versailles of all place) and some energy shipments began to transit the Strait of Hormuz. As usual, tech led the parade higher. As of 8:00am ET, S&P futures were up 0.6%, but off overnight session highs, partly unwinding a more than 1% decline after Kevin Warsh signaled the Fed may have to raise interest

Speculation About A SpaceX–Tesla Merger Is Already Growing SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO has fueled speculation that Elon Musk could take an even bigger step: merging SpaceX with Tesla to create a roughly $4 trillion technology conglomerate spanning rockets, AI, satellites, electric vehicles, robotics, energy, and social media, according to a new report from the New York Times . The idea has gained traction among investors, analysts, and even SpaceX executives. Tesla and SpaceX already share personnel, collaborate on major projects, and have business ties through AI development, data centers, batteries, and vehicle sales. Because Musk controls SpaceX and is Tesla’s largest

Congress Reaches Deal On Housing Bill With CBDC Ban Until 2030 Authored by Jesse Coghlan via Cointelegraph , reviewed by Felix Ng. The US House and Senate have reached a deal to move forward with a housing bill that includes a ban on the Federal Reserve creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC) until 2030. A bipartisan group of House and Senate leaders released an updated version of the 21st Century Road to Housing Act on Tuesday, which aims to address housing affordability and bans institutional investors from buying existing single-family homes to rent out. The bill has included a

"The Situation Has Become Unsustainable": Apple To Hike Prices To Offset Soaring Memory Costs Up until now, Americans primarily hated the flood of data centers popping up around the country like mushrooms (at least those that haven't been canceled or delayed due to regulatory pushback, lack of electricity or outright hostility) because of surging electricity prices and the rising tide of unemployment as chabots gradually make America's white collar workers obsolete. Now they can add surging consumer price inflation to the list of reasons to hate data centers, whose ravenous demand for memory has sent prices to record highs. According

Massive Ukrainian Drone Swarm Attack On Moscow Hits Refinery While attention this week has been fixed on the lower part of Eurasia, where the U.S. and Iran have finally signed an interim peace deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin normalizing tanker flows through the critical waterway, the other major conflict area in Eurasia is flashing new warning signs. Overnight developments in the Russia-Ukraine war suggest the fighting continues to grind on with no near-term off-ramp, as critical energy infrastructure remains in the crosshairs. Bloomberg reports that Ukraine launched its largest suicide drone barrage against Moscow to date,

Trump And Iran Sign MOU Deal Ahead Of Schedule Summary: The US and Iran have remotely signed their memorandum of understanding to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz ahead of schedule, and the agreement is now in effect, Axios reports. Trump admits energy stockpiles "run out in about four weeks" MoU signing could be As Early As Today Trump Says Will "Drop Bombs" If Bad Final Deal 14-Point US-Iran Draft Deal Released , Set For Friday Signing Trump Signs Iran Deal Remotely Ahead Of Schedule Confirming earlier speculation, Axios reports that the U.S. and Iran have remotely

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Do the concessions undermine the original objective of helping young Australians buy their own home? No Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The noise, negative headlines and internet memes that have surrounded Labor’s capital gains tax changes since their budget night unveiling made a backdown feel like an inevitability. It wasn’t a question of if concessions would be offered but rather when and, most importantly, how much they might undermine the original purpose. Continue reading...

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show migration growth is above pre-pandemic levels but tracking steadily down Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Net overseas migration added 301,000 people to Australia’s population last year, the lowest increase since mid-2022 but still above the pre-pandemic pace. The new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics come amid an increasingly fraught political debate around immigration, following Pauline Hanson’s declaration that our society should be “monocultural” . Continue reading...

Boseley won for her high-profile, multiplatform political explainer series, Parliamen-Tea: explaining the chaos of Australian politics Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Guardian Australia’s Matilda Boseley has taken out one of the top honours at the 2026 Walkley mid-year media prizes, winning the award for innovative storytelling. Boseley won for her high-profile, multiplatform political explainer series, Parliamen-Tea: explaining the chaos of Australian politics , engaging a younger generation in national policy debate. The category recognises journalism that breaks standard structural moulds to reach and inform audiences through dynamic digital platforms and creative production formats.

This blog is now closed Media union blasts Pauline Hanson’s ‘bitter, unprofessional’ attack on Guardian journalist Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Coalition says it’s good Hanson and One Nation getting the scrutiny of a party on the rise Kevin Hogan, the shadow assistant treasurer, says he thinks it’s good Hanson was able to speak at the press club yesterday as One Nation “needs to be put under much more scrutiny” amid surging support. The GetUp stunt completely backfired, it makes them look like [bullies] and makes her look like, you know, a victim

Union calls for journalists to stand with colleagues when they are targeted by politicians as Anthony Albanese says media organisations play ‘vital roles in our democracy’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The media union has condemned One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s attack on Guardian Australia senior correspondent Sarah Martin, as Anthony Albanese called on journalists to defend public broadcasters SBS and the ABC. After her landmark address to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Hanson called Martin “trashy” for asking about her

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

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

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

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

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

US president says he encourages Middle East countries to ‘maintain commitment to allowing our negotiations to beautifully unfold’ Reaction: Donald Trump’s Iran deal met with anger, relief and incredulity Analysis: Trump’s Iran deal is result of unrealistic ambitions for an untenable war Donald Trump had urged Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “stop blowing up buildings” during a phone call about Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper cited sources who overheard the phone conversation between the two leaders, whose relationship has grown increasingly hostile as the war raged on. Continue

Tehran says fees to cover cost of managing waterway will come into effect at end of 60-day negotiation period Middle East crisis – live updates Iran has announced plans to introduce a system of maritime fees in the strait of Hormuz in two months, after the 60-day period of negotiation that has been triggered by the signing of the memorandum of understanding. Tehran, claiming a historic victory over the US, said the strait was under its control and a European plan for a naval mission to escort ships though the strait would not be welcome. Continue reading...

Plan is admission US could not achieve what it sought through war as red line after red line has been erased Only a man with an unparalleled ignorance of history such as Donald Trump would have signed America’s peace treaty with Iran at Versailles, the byword for national humiliation. And only a man with an impish sense of humour such as Emmanuel Macron would have suggested it. It is easy to cast Trump in the role of the humiliated and hurt German count Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau. The treaty of Versailles, after all, was based on 14 points, just as the

Sellers of luxury villas have wiped tens of millions of pounds off asking prices, with sales down 19% in May from the previous month Property sales in Dubai have fallen “off a cliff”, a leading market watcher has said, after war in the Middle East forced a dramatic slowdown in one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets. Sales in the city dropped 19% in May compared with the previous month, accelerating from a 4% drop in April, the researcher ValuStrat found. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed – see our full report on the latest in the Middle East crisis Trump also addressed media reports of a leaked US-Iran deal (see post at 11:57 ), denying claims it includes a $300bn reconstruction fund for Tehran. “We’re not putting up 10 cents,” he said. “We are not investing and we do not have a fund.” It’s not final. It’s a memorandum of understanding, and if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them , dropping bombs on their head. If I don’t like it, if they don’t behave, we’ll go

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

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

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

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

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

Supermodel ‘completely abdicated’ her trustee responsibilities at Fashion for Relief, Charity Commission tells hearing Naomi Campbell showed herself to be unfit to run a charity after the supermodel “completely abdicated” her responsibilities as a trustee of her now defunct Fashion for Relief project, according to the charity watchdog. The Charity Commission told a tribunal that Campbell, who is trying to overturn a five-year ban on running a charity, was “highly culpable” for mismanagement and misuse of funds at Fashion for Relief, the former charity she founded in 2015. Continue reading...

BBC says its vetting process ‘clearly failed’ after Guardian reveals presenter’s past comments about women Warning: this article contains sexually explicit, offensive language The BBC has pulled a documentary series with its controversial presenter Ashley Cain after revelations over his history of abusive and misogynistic comments about women. In a statement late on Thursday, the BBC said its vetting requirements had “clearly failed” in the case of Cain, who was lauded by executives at the corporation for his ability to connect with young men. It added the BBC had “no plans” to broadcast a new series of Ashley Cain: Into

MP for Tewkesbury understood to have been arrested by Gloucestershire police on Wednesday night A Liberal Democrat MP has had the whip suspended pending the outcome of a police investigation, a party spokesperson said. Cameron Thomas was arrested by Gloucestershire police on Wednesday night, it is understood. His office has been contacted for comment. Continue reading...

Daryl McLune was 16 when he was held for 23 hours on suspicion of attempting to murder his mother after she tried to take her own life A teenager who was wrongly arrested for the attempted murder of his mother minutes after she had tried to kill herself has won a race discrimination claim against the Metropolitan police. A jury found that the Met discriminated against Daryl McLune, who was 16 at the time, because he was black. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Richard Hermer’s department understood to be first in government to restrict use after recent riots The attorney general has told his office to no longer post on X, making it the first UK government department to stop using the Elon Musk-owned platform amid increasing worries about its use to incite violence and racism. Richard Hermer’s office last posted on X on Friday, and it is understood that officials have been told to no longer use the site, unless for the specific purpose of combatting disinformation there. Continue reading...

Former presidents, heads of state and celebrities converged on a lakefront park in Chicago’s South Side to dedicate the Obama Presidential Center Sign up for the Breaking News US email He calls the situation a “win-win” for the US. Vance is here, and he starts by claiming that Trump’s peace deal with Iran “is already bearing real fruits for the American people”, with 12.5m barrels going through the strait of Hormuz last night and gas prices dropping below $4 today for the first time since the conflict began. Continue reading...

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

Parents and their kids, new and old fans and a few celebrities gathered to honor the team’s NBA Championship Thousands of Knicks fans – decked out in blue and orange jerseys, shorts, hats, necklaces and more – gathered in downtown New York City on Thursday to celebrate the team’s NBA championship in a lively ticker-tape parade. All along Church Street, the street running parallel to the parade route, fans lit joints, threw back shots of Fireball whiskey and drank Coronas, within view of bemused and outnumbered New York City police officers. Some fans climbed atop police cruisers and posed for

Cook is at the center of a supreme court case focused on whether Trump’s firing of her from the Fed board was legal The Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook faced more than $1.3m in legal and security fees after coming under attack from the Trump administration, according to ethics disclosures that were filed on Wednesday. The White House targeted Cook last summer as Donald Trump ramped up his unprecedented campaign to push the Fed to cut interest rates. Continue reading...

Funds meant for Secret Service were transferred to project president promised would be financed by private donations US politics live – latest updates Donald Trump’s administration has quietly redirected $352m in federal funds designated for the Secret Service toward the president’s controversial White House ballroom project, despite repeated promises by Trump that the construction would be financed by private donations The funds were drawn from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump’s signature tax legislation passed last summer on Republican-only votes. The law stipulates the money may only be spent on Secret Service personnel, training facilities, technology and related costs,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels continue to rise, China’s firms in the European Union have been forced to walk a delicate tightrope: expanding their presence in the lucrative market while grappling with heightened regulatory hurdles and rapid geopolitical shifts. In the second part of this three-part series, we look at whether China and the EU are heading for a full-blown trade conflict. Last week, Beijing gathered more than a dozen Chinese companies in Berlin for a forum with a...

The Russia-India-China (RIC) dialogue is back in the diplomatic conversation. It has not formally restarted, and no summit is on the horizon. But the signals are here. In 2025, Moscow again pushed for reviving the RIC format. India said any meeting would have to be arranged in a “mutually convenient manner”, a cautious but open formula. China said it was willing to maintain communication with Russia and India on trilateral cooperation. This month, Russian President Vladimir Putin again spoke...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang – whose work helped enable artificial intelligence – stressed in an interview on Tuesday that society has no choice but to change in the advent of AI. Huang has been optimistic about the technology’s potential to rapidly change society, creating faster economic growth and more scientific breakthroughs. But as the head of a computer chip company now developing AI systems, Huang has felt obliged to respond to critics who warn of job losses and threats to humanity...

US President Donald Trump has invoked the Defence Production Act in a bid to bolster weapons stockpiles that critics say have been strained by the war in Iran and other conflicts. This came as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a telephone call with his Pakistani counterpart on Tuesday during which they spoke about the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran. That MOU, announced on Sunday with few details, aims at ending the 109-day war started by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister...

A department store in central Paris announced on Tuesday the end of its cooperation with Chinese ultra-fast fashion giant Shein, which, French media reported, could see the e-commerce platform’s first physical store closed by this Christmas. La Societe des Grands Magasins (SGM), owner of the historic BHV Marais, which sits opposite Paris City Hall a few hundred meters from Notre-Dame cathedral, has sold the store to a group of executives, led by Karl-Stephane Cottendin, the group’s outgoing CEO,...

Russia said one of its warships fired warning shots on Tuesday near a yacht making a “dangerous approach” in the English Channel, though Britain evaluated that the shots were “not aimed at the vessel”. The incident involved the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich and a UK-registered yacht around 20 nautical miles (37km) south of the Isle of Wight, just outside British waters, a UK defence source said. The latest at-sea tension between London and Moscow came after UK commandos intercepted and...

US law enforcement said it had foiled an alleged plot to attack the White House during a crowded mixed martial arts event attended by US President Donald Trump. “Multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold,” FBI Director Kash Patel said on Tuesday. The Department of Justice announced charges against five men and said the plotters planned to fly drones armed with explosives over the event, forcing an evacuation when snipers would fire on “high value...

The European Parliament approved on Tuesday cutting duties on many US goods imports to fulfil the European Union’s side of a trade ‌deal struck last year, and avert a new round of tariff conflict between the world’s largest trading partners. US President Donald Trump struck a framework deal with the European Union at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland last July under which the EU agreed to remove import duties on US industrial goods in return for tariffs of 15 per cent on most EU...

Is the economic decline of Europe worse than the last decades of the Qing dynasty? That’s a question posed by Luis Vassy, director of Sciences Po, one of France’s premier universities. It has caused something of a stir in Europe and China. “The European Union has seen its share of the world economy fall from 30 per cent to 17 per cent between 2008 and 2025, a span of 17 years,” he wrote in Le Grand Continent, a European current affairs publication, last week. “China covered the same distance...

US President Donald Trump said Russia should make peace with Ukraine after a “very good” meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, in comments that sparked cautious optimism among G7 leaders that a peace deal could be struck. The upbeat mood over the Ukraine war, now deep into its fifth year, stands in stark contrast to Zelensky’s meeting with Trump in the Oval Office last year, when he was told he had no leverage in potential peace talks with Russia. Zelensky and his European allies...

A Swedish court on Tuesday sentenced a 61-year-old man to four years and five months in prison for having “ruthlessly exploited” his wife to have sex with scores of men for payment. The man was convicted of “aggravated pimping” as well as attempted rape, assault and issuing threats, as well as a minor drug offence, the court said in a statement, noting the actions took place over three years. “The district court has found that the man was the one who initiated the woman’s entry into prostitution...

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

While fans watched their team, José A. Alvarado Jr. watched the crowd.

The book by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan of The New York Times, “Regime Change,” reveals a host of details and surprising exchanges as President Trump pushed to drastically expand his power.

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

The reversal comes after the Senate passed a bipartisan bill on Wednesday to block the removal of deep-sea monitoring instruments.

A new book by John Leganski, the floor manager for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, offers a rare behind-the-scenes account of how President Trump wields his power through threats and intimidation.

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

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

I emigrated from the Soviet Union decades ago, and recently toured Thomas Jefferson’s home with my American-born history-buff son.

The justices sided with a Texas gun owner who faced criminal charges after admitting to marijuana use argued that a federal gun law violated the Second Amendment.

Big tech companies and small start-ups are using social media to hype new tools that allow students to trick teachers and A.I. detectors.

Artificial intelligence is expensive to use, many companies discovered. That has led to a new era of saving costs.

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

The Obama Presidential Center, opening on June 19, is poised to attract visitors to an often-overlooked area. Here’s what you’ll find in Hyde Park and beyond.

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

Low fertility rates are a lagging indicator, the final outcome of a string of social shifts.

In a Democratic primary for a coveted House seat in Manhattan, Micah Lasher is betting long experience can prevail despite anti-establishment headwinds.