Minimalist News

Iran's First Use Of ICBMs Raises Serious Questions About Remaining Arsenal In a startling move that has military experts questioning their assumptions about Iranian capabilities, Iran attempted to hit the joint UK-US base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia with two intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs). While US officials assured the Wall Street Journal that the base was unscathed, the Iranian strike aimed at a target roughly 4,000 kilometers from Iran suggests that the range of Iran's retaliatory capacity could be well beyond previous external estimates and claims made by Iran.  According to two officials who gave the Journal a Friday-night scoop on the

Trump Warns Tehran To "Fully Open" Hormuz Or Face 'Obliteration' As Iran-Israel Trade Nuke-Plant Strikes SUMMARY * Trump threatens to "obliterate" Iran's power-plants if Hormuz is not open and safe within 48 hours * Natanz nuclear site attacked: Iran says "no nuclear radiation" detected, even as attacks on core sites like Isfahan nuclear facilities signal clear escalation despite earlier Trump signals of maybe "winding down." * Iran has responded by targeting Israel's Dimona nuclear facility. The Israeli army confirmed "a direct impact of an Iranian missile" on a building in the city that houses a nuclear research facility, AFP reported. * War

On The Hidden Fragility Of Our Energy-Dependent World & The Cascading Consequences Of A Supply-Shock That Money Alone Can't Fix Authored by Milan Adams via Preppgroup blog, For a long time, I accepted the same framework most people in finance operate within—that the global economy is, at its core, a system governed by monetary policy, shaped by interest rates, and stabilized by central banks. It’s an appealing idea because it suggests control. If growth slows, you lower rates. If inflation rises, you tighten conditions. If markets panic, you inject liquidity. There is a sense that someone, somewhere, is ultimately in charge of the

Phantom Ayatollah? Iran's New Supreme Leader Has Never Been Seen Since Taking Office Amid widespread reporting that Iran had long ago moved into a emergency wartime decentralized command among autonomously-acting units, serious questions persist as to the role of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who replaced his slain father, longtime leader Ali Khamenei. What's clear is that the new, younger Khamenei - who may have been wounded in the early days of US-Israeli strikes, hasn't been seen in any public way, not even on TV, throughout the war. There have not so much as been official recent images of him circulated. AFP/Getty Images This has

Costco Gas Lines Surge As Drivers Hunt For Cheaper Fuel Rising fuel costs tied to the conflict in Iran are forcing many Americans to rethink everyday spending, especially on gas, according to Bloomberg. At a Costco near San Antonio, drivers are waiting up to half an hour to fill up, while others are checking apps like GasBuddy or driving farther to save a few cents per gallon. With prices close to $4 nationwide, households are cutting back on dining out, travel, and even groceries. The broader economic impact will depend on how long prices remain high. Oil has jumped about 45% since the

Iran Ready To Let Japanese Ships Use Hormuz As Chinese, Indian Tankers Already Allowed Passage While Iran's decision to close the Straits of Hormuz in response to the US-Israeli bombing campaign was understandable, after all it's the biggest point of leverage the IRGC-controlled nation has left (it is certainly more understandable than bombing all of its Gulf neighbors in the process pushing them from being on the fence to being staunchly anti-Iran), there was always a bit of a glitch in Tehran's calculus: as we showed the day the war broke out, the biggest clients of Gulf exporting nations by far

Musk Offers To Pay TSA Salaries, Trump Threatens To Deploy ICE As Democrats Hold Paychecks Hostage Update (1655ET): In addition to Elon Musk offering to cover TSA workers' paychecks during the ongoing shutdown, President Trump has threatened to place U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at airports if Democrats don’t agree to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). "If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever

"Complete Other Alias": Rep. Luna Drops Clinton-Epstein Bombshell Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna appeared on Bill Maher’s show and confirmed what the Epstein document dumps have long hinted at: the former president wasn’t just flying on the Lolita Express — he was operating under an entirely different identity in the files. This revelation lands as the House Oversight Committee presses forward with its investigation, following the Justice Department’s release of millions of pages under the Epstein Files Transparency Act signed by President Trump. Lawmakers and victims are still pushing for the remaining 2.5 million documents that remain hidden

Major Trade Group Releases Framework For Tokenized Gold Authored by Martin Young via CoinTelegraph.com, The major gold trade association, World Gold Council, and the Boston Consulting Group have proposed a new platform to modernize how the precious metal operates in digital financial systems. The World Gold Council said on Thursday that it published a white paper on “Gold as a Service,” a new platform to “support the issuance and operation of scalable, interoperable digital gold products.” The open platform would connect the physical custody of gold with the digital systems used to issue and manage tokenized gold products.  “By standardizing essential market processes such as custody coordination,

Trevor Milton Is Back And Wants To Produce AI Powered "Fully Autonomous Corporate Jets" Trevor Milton, founder and former CEO of the now-bankrupt Nikola, is trying to mount a "comeback story". Through social media, interviews, and bold public claims, Milton once convinced investors that Nikola was on the verge of delivering breakthrough technology with trucks. Now he's going to attempt the same in the aircraft business, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. He has reemerged in the aviation sector through his involvement with SyberJet, a company focused on developing a small business jet known as the SJ30. The aircraft itself

Robert Mueller Dies; Trump: 'Good, I'm Glad He's Dead' Robert Mueller, the former FBI Director and Special Counsel who led the high-profile investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and potential ties to Donald Trump's campaign, has died at age 81 - passing away Friday night, according to AP. No cause of death was disclosed in initial reports. In response, President Trump took to Truth Social to dance on his grave - writing "Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people! President DONALD J. TRUMP."  THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION As part of a Clinton campaign / deep

Senate To Work Through Weekend Debating SAVE America Act Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), WASHINGTON—The Senate will hold a weekend session as it debates the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require citizenship verification and photo identification in federal elections. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), joined by other Senate Republicans, speaks to reporters as the government is on verge of shutdown amid partisan standoff, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 30, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times President Donald Trump, who strongly backs the SAVE America Act, has called on lawmakers to add provisions banning men from

US Removes Sanctions On Iranian Oil Stranded At Sea To Boost Overall Supply On Thursday, Scott Bessent told Fox News that the US is considering unsanctioning Iranian oil, thereby making the 140 million barrels stuck on Iranian tankers, available to any buyer in the world and not just China, to ease the supply-chain bottlenecks that emerged after the Strait of Hormuz was blocked. In doing so, another formerly sanctioned US nemesis would be allowed free access to global markets, after Russia received a similar "temporary" permit a week earlier.  "In the coming days we may unsanction Iranian oil that's on the water, about

The Private Credit Crisis Is Spreading Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance The private credit crisis is spreading to another corner of the market that I warned about back in October, when I wrote about 10 parts of the market I’d avoid. For years I’ve been warning that buy now pay later (“BNPL”) industry was built on a pretty fragile foundation. The quality of the loans was always the obvious problem. The entire business model revolves around extending instant credit with minimal underwriting to consumers making small purchases. Companies whose primary innovation is allowing consumers to split a $40 online purchase into four installment payments probably aren’t

US Says Iran's Threat To Hormuz Traffic "Degraded" As 23 Nations Signal Waterway Support Three weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, the Trump administration's central focus now is very clear: reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restore the normal passage of crude and LNG tankers through a maritime chokepoint that carries roughly one-fifth of global oil and LNG flows. On Saturday morning, Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command and the official overseeing Operation Epic Fury, released an update on day 22 of the combat mission and stated: > Iran has lost significant combat capability over the last three weeks. We

Victor Hanson: What Is It With The Fickle Europeans? Via The Daily Signal, This is a lightly edited transcript of a segment of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words” podcast from Daily Signal. What is it with the fickle Europeans? I know that they have different interests than ours, but we’re both Western entities. You’d think that we’d be more collaborative on the effort to disarm and denuclearize Iran. But a lot of strange things are happening. The traditional use of the Diego Garcia critical airbase in the Indian Ocean, run by the British, but often leased to us and allowed us to have a

UK COVID Inquiry Finds Lockdowns May Have Cost 1000s Of Lives Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, The authoritarian COVID lockdowns and stay-at-home orders sold as life-saving measures have been unmasked once again as a deadly failure of big government overreach. A new UK Covid-19 Inquiry report has concluded that the relentless “Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives” messaging likely cost thousands of lives by convincing people they could not get access to health services. The inquiry, led by Baroness Hallett, slammed the slogan created by Cabinet Office officials without input from health leaders. It “led some people to feel they must avoid burdening the NHS”

"I Think We've Won" Trump Says As Iran Refuses Hormuz Talks, Houthis Threaten Red Sea Strait SUMMARY * CBS reporting 'heavy preparations' for ground troops as Trump says 'no ceasefire' for now; Trump calls NATO a 'paper tiger'; says "close to meeting our objectives", offramp? * IRGC contradicts Bibi: says missile production is ongoing, is of "no concern" - even as IRGC spokesman Ali Mohammad Naeini is reported killed. * Energy war ongoing: Major sites damaged across the region - Haifa refinery hit, Qatar LNG output cut 17%, Kuwait facilities ablaze. * Kharg Island escalation looms: Trump admin weighing seizure of Kharg

Britain Once Led The World. What Happened? Authored by Damian Pudner via the Foundation for Economic Education, An unsettling look at the economic settlement that the UK now seems willing to accept can be found in the latest fiscal forecast, published on March 3. By the end of the forecast period, borrowing will have decreased from 5.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024–2025 to about 1.6 percent. Public debt stabilizes at roughly 95 percent of national income. At those levels, even small shifts in interest rates matter: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimates that a sustained 1-percentage-point move in the Bank

Switzerland Halts Military Exports To US, Citing Iran War Neutrality  Switzerland on Friday announced it is halting all military and defense exports to the United States, citing its neutrality, coming as the Iran war reaches the three week mark. "Exports of war materiel to the US cannot currently be authorized," the government said, as quoted in Bloomberg. The statement specifically referenced Washington's "international armed conflict" in the Middle East. Source: screengrab via Johnny Harris/YouTube The announcement might not be a surprise, given similar past stances by Switzerland; however it comes at a sensitive moment where President Trump has been expressing frustration at Europe and

Tania Warner and Ayla, her seven-year-old with autism, sent to notorious Texas detention center and told to ‘self-deport’ * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox A Canadian woman and her seven-year-old daughter with autism who have been held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for nearly a week have been transferred to a notorious detention center and asked to “self-deport”, according to her husband, who said the pair had been “traumatized” by the experience. Tania Warner and her daughter Ayla Luca, originally from British Columbia, moved to the US five years ago,

National intelligence director said voting machine seizure was requested by US attorney in Puerto Rico – who’s been trying to revive 2020 election conspiracy theory When the US director of national intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, testified on Thursday that her office seized voting machines from Puerto Rico, she said it was at the request of the office of the US attorney in Puerto Rico. Left unsaid was that the prosecutor, as the Guardian previously reported, has been the center of a push by Donald Trump supporters to revive a long discredited conspiracy theory purporting to link Venezuela to Trump’s 2020 electoral

The insects covered its largest area since 2018, despite threats from habitat loss, climate crisis and pesticides The population of monarch butterflies in Mexico increased 64% this winter, compared with the same period in 2025, offering a glimmer of hope for an insect considered at risk of extinction. The figures, released this week by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Mexico, showed that the area occupied by monarchs expanded to 2.93 hectares (7.24 acres) of forest from 1.79 hectares (4.42 acres) the previous winter, the largest coverage since 2018. Continue reading...

Interim president announces changes after firing defence minister, who was close to Maduro, the leader ousted by US Venezuela’s interim president has said she has replaced all her senior military commanders, the latest in a flurry of changes since the US ousted Nicolás Maduro. Delcy Rodríguez announced the changes in a social media post a day after firing the long-serving defence minister, who had been close to Maduro, and replacing him with a former intelligence chief. Continue reading...

Mother and child held in notorious Rio Grande Valley detention centre despite presenting visa, family says A Canadian mother and her seven-year-old daughter, who has autism, have been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Texas since Saturday, family members have said. Relatives of Tania Warner and her daughter Ayla Lucas say they were detained unlawfully. They are uncertain about what problem ICE found with their immigration paperwork. Continue reading...

Almost 60 injured in blaze in Daejeon with footage seemingly showing people jumping from burning building to escape A fire at a car parts factory in South Korea has killed 14 people and injured almost 60 others. Firefighters said all of the missing are now accounted for after a search operation of the wreckage of the three-storey building. Continue reading...

Boyband drops album that speaks to its Korean roots ahead of Seoul comeback concert, with more than a quarter of a million fans expected to attend K-pop stars BTS released a new album on Friday billed as reflecting the maturing boy band’s Korean roots and identity, as buzz built ahead of their open-air comeback concert in the heart of Seoul. The Saturday night gig, which is expected to draw around 260,000 people, will be BTS’s first after a hiatus of almost four years while all seven members served compulsory military service. It comes ahead of an 82-date world tour. Continue reading...

Samoa and Tonga raise supply concerns with foreign partners as businesses and residents in Papua New Guinea grapple with higher fuel prices amid the Iran war The leaders of some Pacific countries have appealed for help with oil supplies while others urge against “panic buying” as the import-reliant nations grapple with fears over possible fuel shortages and escalating costs caused by war in the Middle East. Oil prices have surged to nearly $110 a barrel after strikes against energy infrastructure in Iran and the Gulf states. Continue reading...

As other Asian economies race to conserve energy, China has huge reserves of oil and gas as well as alternative energy sources like wind and solar * Middle East crisis – live updates Xi Jinping has been preparing for a crisis like this for years. China must secure its energy supply “in its own hands”, its president was reported to have said during a visit to one of its vast oilfields in 2021. The US-Israel war on Iran plunged the Middle East into a deep conflict, with the strait of Hormuz – one of the most important waterways in global trade –

US president was meeting with Japanese PM when he said: ‘Who knows better about surprise than Japan?’ * Middle East crisis – live updates * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox It would be funny if it wasn’t so Trumpy. Hosting the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, in the Oval Office on Thursday, Donald Trump could not resist mocking Japan about its 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor during the second world war. Continue reading...

Follow live updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia not ‘contemplating’ fuel rationing but state and federal governments have powers, Bowen says State governments also had fuel rationing powers, Chris Bowen said. When I was a kid … in the 80s in Sydney, I remember petrol rationing was done by state governments – the state governments do have powers there. Yes, the Commonwealth government, under the fuel emergency act, has powers. It’s not designed to be invoked lightly. It really has powers primarily around defence and health, in the first instance, to ensure that those key areas are

Energy minister says war on Iran creating ‘uncertain environment’ but insists government doing ‘all the preparatory work’ * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Six oil ships bound for Australia have been cancelled in recent days but the federal government is not yet considering any drastic measures, the energy minister, Chris Bowen, says. Bowen said on Sunday that six ships from Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea, that had been expected to arrive next month, were cancelled or deferred. The federal government was working to replace the ships,

Labor should urge Australians to rethink purpose of super, Tracey Burton says, so country’s $4tn in superannuation could help plug funding shortfalls * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Labor should more actively encourage wealthier Australians to spend more of their superannuation on their own care, an industry leader says, to help free up capacity in the struggling system to protect elderly people without means. Tracey Burton, the chief executive of Uniting NSW and ACT, will tell an industry event next week that some wealthier people believe

Amid a surge in fuel prices and fear of shortages, SA police chief signals officers might stop investigating ‘drive-offs’ unless service stations install prepaid pumps * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The rusty green fuel trailer hardly looks like it is worth stealing, but some time before 1 March it was hooked up to the back of a vehicle and taken from a property at Huntley, south of Orange, in the New South Wales central tablelands. It was just another in a series of thefts that

Labor secures landslide win, but One Nation vote tops 20%, leaving Liberals devastated and eating into ALP territory in outer suburbs * I’m going to leave you some land mines, Hanson warns premier * One Nation has put meat on the bones of its polling surge * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has used Labor’s landslide state election victory to urge a kinder and more inclusive politics, reaching out to disaffected One Nation voters and promising to work across political lines in his second term. The Labor leader increased his majority

National referendum is being seen as a de facto confidence vote on the government – and the polls are neck and neck In the run-up to a referendum in Italy on a government quest to overhaul the judiciary, a campaign flyer circulated online quoting Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister, taking aim at judges and feminists. “Judges block the deportations of rapists. Where are the feminists? Vote yes – there will not be another opportunity,” it read. The flyer, posted on the Facebook page of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, a party with neofascist roots, was subsequently removed. But its tone has defined a

Autopsy reveals James ‘Jimmy’ Gracey’s injuries consistent with repeatedly hitting breakwater’s rocks, Spanish media report * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox A University of Alabama student who was found dead in Barcelona after going missing while vacationing evidently fell into the sea by accident in view of surveillance cameras – and an autopsy revealed injuries on his body that were consistent with having repeatedly struck a breakwater’s rocks. Such details about James “Jimmy” Gracey surfaced in the Spanish media as a spokesperson for police in Barcelona told the Associated Press that “all

Bypassing animal health certificate system by using cheaper pet passport issued abroad could backfire, experts say British pet owners who want to take their furry friends elsewhere in Europe have been warned not to try to dodge expensive health certificates by using a pet passport issued abroad. Before Brexit, taking a cat, dog or ferret to the EU was relatively simple: the Pet Travel Scheme meant an animal needed a microchip, vaccination against rabies, a pet passport and, for dogs, there were also requirements concerning tapeworm treatment. Continue reading...

Mors Imperator caused a scandal in 1887 amid fears it mocked the German kaiser – more than 100 years later it is being displayed in a state museum Wrapped in a cloak with ermine fur and wearing a jagged iron crown, a hulking skeleton rests one foot on a globe and knocks over a royal throne with a dramatic flick of its ivory wrist. Entitled Mors Imperator (“Death is the Ruler”), the German artist Hermione von Preuschen’s 1887 symbolical painting was meant to express the transience of fame and power. But authorities feared the picture could be seen as mocking the ageing

Officials understood to be investigating use of visas by company linked to Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light The Home Office is investigating a company linked to a religious sect based in Cheshire over its use of immigration visas. The company under investigation is linked to the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL), a sect that blends tenets of Islam with conspiracy theories about the Illuminati and aliens controlling US presidents. Followers believe the sect’s leader, Abdullah Hashem, can cure the sick and make the moon disappear. About 100 of his followers live in a former orphanage in Crewe, in the

Trump tells Iran to reopen strait to shipping or face destruction of its energy infrastructure, as Tehran launches its most destructive attack yet on Israel Several blasts could be heard from Jerusalem on Sunday, AFP journalists said, after the Israeli military warned of incoming missile fire from Iran towards central Israel. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said there were no immediate reports of casualties. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed Circling back now to Diego Garcia, Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at the joint US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean – but neither of them hit, according to news reports citing US officials. The Wall Street Journal said one of the missiles failed in flight, and that a US warship fired an SM-3 interceptor at the other, citing two US officials. It could not be determined if an interception was made, one said. Continue reading...

Israeli air defence systems fail to intercept at least two projectiles during attacks on cities of Arad and Dimona * Middle East crisis live – latest updates Iranian ballistic missile barrages wounded about 100 people in southern Israel on Saturday, striking the cities of Arad and Dimona after air defence systems failed to intercept at least two projectiles. Among the injured were a 12-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl, both reported to be in serious condition. Continue reading...

First responders report 33 injured at multiple sites in Dimona, including a 10-year-old boy in serious condition * Middle East crisis live – latest updates An Iranian missile has hit the Israeli town of Dimona, home to a nuclear facility, in what Iran said was retaliation for strikes on its own nuclear site at Natanz. Dimona hosts a facility just outside the main town widely believed to possess the Middle East’s sole nuclear arsenal, although Israel has never admitted to possessing nuclear weapons. Continue reading...

Yvette Cooper says government wants swift resolution to war after two missiles directed at military base at Diego Garcia * Middle East crisis live – latest updates The foreign secretary has condemned Iran’s strikes on a joint US-UK military base on the island of Diego Garcia, while stressing the UK has “taken a different position from the US and Israel” on the conflict. Yvette Cooper said ministers wanted to see a swift resolution to the war, adding the government was supporting defensive action against the “reckless Iranian threats”. Continue reading...

At least 400 killed in Pakistan’s strike on drug rehab centre, Taliban say, with families searching unmarked mass graves Sohrab Faqiri spent Eid, the Muslim festival to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, looking for the grave of his brother, killed in a massive Pakistan airstrike on Kabul this week. Pakistan’s bombardment campaign, on what it says is terrorist and military infrastructure in neighbouring Afghanistan, appeared to have gone catastrophically wrong. A rehabilitation centre for drug addicts was hit on Monday night, according to the United Nations and the Afghan authorities. The UN’s preliminary death toll is 143 people,

Karachi particularly badly affected with 18 people killed, more than 50mm of rain and winds gusting up to 60mph Unseasonally wet weather struck southern Pakistan and north-west India on Wednesday, as heavy rain rolled in from the west, accompanied by thunderstorms, hail, and strong winds. Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, was particularly badly affected, locally recording more than 50mm of rain with winds gusting up to 60mph. Walls, buildings, and a pedestrian bridge collapsed, with flooding and power outages across the city. At least 18 people were killed and several more injured, many by structural collapses, with other deaths attributed to a fallen

Distributor says authorities warned screening Tunisian film-maker Kaouther Ben Hania’s docudrama could harm India–Israel relations The Indian release of The Voice of Hind Rajab, the Oscar-nominated Tunisian film about the death of a five-year-old girl during the Israel-Gaza war, has been blocked by the country’s ratings body, according to the film’s Indian distributor. In a report by Variety, Manoj Nandwana of Mumbai-based Jai Viratra Entertainment said that he was told that if the film was released, it would “break up” India-Israel relations. Continue reading...

People struggle to cook and businesses bear brunt as closure of strait of Hormuz slows imports of liquefied petroleum gas For four days, Maya Rani, 36, has been arriving each morning at a gas distributor’s office in Delhi, her six-month-old daughter in her lap, waiting for hours. And each day she returns home empty-handed, told that a cooking gas cylinder may not be available for at least another week. Around her, the queue keeps growing, people clutching forms and documents, hoping to secure a cylinder. The flame in her kitchen began to fade last week and her husband, as he always does,

Five-day cessation announced as mass funeral held for some of hundreds of victims of airstrike on rehab centre Pakistan has announced a five-day pause in strikes against neighbouring Afghanistan, as a mass funeral was held for some of the hundreds of victims killed in Monday’s attack on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul. The Afghan Taliban government has said more than 400 people were killed and 265 others wounded in that attack, which took place as people at the centre were praying days before the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Continue reading...

‘Problem-solving’, child-focused courts to replace adversarial hearings, with earlier intervention to cut delays Family courts are “not good enough” and have treated women and children unfairly for decades, a government minister has said. Announcing a major overhaul of the family justice system in England and Wales that will play a central role in “rebalancing” the family courts, Alison Levitt said often brutal legal showdowns will be replaced with a “problem-solving”, child-focused model. Continue reading...

Donald Trump’s ‘little excursion’ is likely to have long-term effects, from oil prices to inflation to growth, say experts In the days after the US and Israel first bombed Iran, financial markets bet the economic fallout from Donald Trump’s “little excursion” in the Middle East would be short-lived. “There are risks from higher oil prices longer term. But this is a tail risk,” one US-based fund manger said after the airstrike killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “History has shown time and time again that geopolitical flare-ups like this tend to be short-lived. This one should prove to be no exception.’’ Continue

Videos of Labour’s Al Carns include him talking about his time as a marine and challenging a firefighter to pull-up contest Labour minister Al Carns has claimed thousands of pounds on parliamentary expenses for promotional videos including one showing him doing pull-ups at a fire station in competition with a firefighter. The veterans minister and former Royal Marine, who is tipped by some MPs as a leadership hopeful, claimed about £3,000, approved by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), for the production of 17 videos that show him interacting with local businesses. Continue reading...

Venezuelan-born dancer posts emotional video saying she plans to take on new projects in other areas Strictly Come Dancing’s longest-serving female professional dancer, Karen Hauer, has quit the show after 14 years. In a video posted on Instagram, Hauer said it was “the right time to close this chapter and take on new projects in other areas I’m passionate about”. Continue reading...

The Woman’s Hour host, who has died aged 75, could talk about hydrangeas, campaign against domestic abuse, then tear a strip off a politician – all within a few minutes Before she took over Woman’s Hour in 1987, Jenni Murray was a presenter on the Today programme. She had joined the BBC in Bristol in 1973, and became a TV reporter and presenter for South Today, so arrived with solid news credentials. But Today in the 1980s was inveterately sexist – the guys took the politics, the women mopped up the rest – that the format was just too small for

Cyber experts say influence operations in ‘asymmetric’ campaign to intensify moral pressure on US and Israel Iran has radically overhauled its social media strategy in an all-out information war launched by the country’s Islamic rulers in response to US and Israeli military attacks. Cyber experts say Iranian foreign influence operations have gone into overdrive as part of an “asymmetric” campaign designed to complement its military retaliation and intensify moral pressure on the US and Israel into curtailing their war efforts. Continue reading...

People in hard-hit areas of Oahu and Maui told to evacuate with still more rain expected over the weekend As Hawaii endures its worst flooding in more than 20 years, officials urged people in hard-hit areas to “LEAVE NOW”. That warning early on Saturday came after heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week ago, and still more was expected over the weekend. Muddy floodwaters smothered vast stretches of Oahu’s North Shore, a community renowned for its big-wave surfing. Raging waters lifted homes and cars and prompted evacuation orders for 5,500 people north of Honolulu.

President attacks ‘Radical Left Democrats’ after homeland security funding bill again sinks in Senate * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to deploy federal immigration agents to US airports on Monday if Democrats do not agree to measures aimed at strengthening security and immigration enforcement. “If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. Continue reading...

Outrage mounts after president posted on Truth Social he was ‘glad’ former FBI director and special counsel had died Donald Trump has been condemned as a “vile, disgusting man” and a “sick human being” after gloating over the death of Robert Mueller, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Mueller, a decorated Vietnam war veteran who led a politically explosive investigation into Trump, died on Friday aged 81, triggering a callous reaction from the US president. Continue reading...

Mark Robinson, who ran for North Carolina governor in 2024, tells podcast he had ‘obsession’ with porn and sex * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox The former Republican North Carolina lieutenant governor Mark Robinson has admitted he misled voters during his unsuccessful 2024 gubernatorial campaign when he denied posting racist and offensive comments on a pornography website – suggesting he did so to protect Donald Trump’s successful presidential run. Robinson, who worked in furniture manufacturing before entering politics in 2020, told the After the Call podcast on Thursday: “I won’t say that

Robert S. Mueller III, the FBI director who transformed the nation’s premier law enforcement agency into a terrorism-fighting force after the September 11 attacks and who later became special counsel in charge of investigating ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, has died. He was 81. “With deep sadness, we are sharing the news that Bob passed away” on Friday night, his family said in a statement on Saturday. “His family asks that their privacy be respected.” No cause of...

US President Donald Trump ⁠on Saturday threatened to ⁠deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement ⁠agents to US airports if congressional Democrats do not immediately agree to fund airport safety. “I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one ‌has ever seen before,” Trump wrote in a social media post. Transportation Security Administration personnel are set to miss a second full pay cheque on March 27 amid a partial government shutdown...

King Harold’s legendary 200-mile march across England to the Battle of Hastings in 1066 is a “myth” that likely never happened, according to research published on Saturday. In arguably the most famous battle in English history, the Anglo-Saxon leader was defeated by William the Conqueror, who became the first Franco-Norman king of England, at Hastings on October 14, 1066. The decisive clash, which marked the start of the Norman conquest of England, is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, set to be...

Hawaii suffered its worst flooding in more than 20 years as heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week ago, officials said on Friday, while warning that more rain was expected during the weekend. Muddy floodwaters smothered vast stretches of Oahu’s North Shore, a community world renowned for its big-wave surfing. Raging waters lifted homes and cars and prompted evacuation orders for 5,500 people north of Honolulu. Authorities cautioned that a 120-year-old...

Most of Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region was ‌left without power on Saturday after a Russian drone attack, local governor Viacheslav Chaus said. He ⁠said repair works were under way ‌to fix the damage. The region, which ‌borders Russia and Belarus, ⁠had ⁠a pre-war population of nearly ‌a million. The regional capital, also called ‌Chernihiv, ‌was fully without power, ‌the city administration there ⁠said. Russia has conducted a vast ⁠bombardment campaign against Ukrainian energy facilities...

Iran launched ballistic missiles at the joint US-UK military base in Diego Garcia on Friday, showing a missile capability that goes beyond what Tehran was known to have possessed. The base, a strategic airfield that can host B-2 stealth bombers located nearly 4,000km (2,500 miles) from Iran, suffered no damage, according to a person familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity. The attack was the first time in the three-week-old war that Tehran was reported to have used weapons...

A 19-year-old star wrestler and two other young men were hanged in Iran this week, raising alarm among rights groups that a wave of executions may be under way as authorities facing relentless attacks from the US and Israel seek to squelch public dissent. The three men are the first to be executed from among the tens of thousands who were arrested during a January crackdown on nationwide protests. Rights groups say more than 100 others could face death sentences. The wrestler, Saleh Mohammadi,...

Before his first term as US president began in 2017, Donald Trump was probably best known for his book, The Art of the Deal. But by launching, together with Israel, a widely unpopular war on Iran, Trump has arguably dealt himself a very weak hand. There is little “art” in it. The headline splashed across the front page of the Financial Times on March 17 – “Allies reject Trump’s call for warships” (to force open the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has partially closed after US and Israeli attacks) –...

Three weeks into the Iran war, tit-for-tat escalations on multiple fronts have dragged the Middle East to the brink of the region-wide conflict that its governments have repeatedly warned about – and tried to avert – since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023. Israel has launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon in recent days, after Hezbollah entered the conflict in response to the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iraq has been turned into a shooting range, as...

A federal jury in California found on Friday that tech titan Elon Musk misled Twitter shareholders in an effort to drive down the company’s share price as he was poised to buy it in a US$44 billion deal. The verdict in a class action securities lawsuit means the world’s richest person could be ordered to pay out as much as US$2.6 billion, according to damages calculated by jurors. Giuseppe Pampena filed the suit against Musk on behalf of people who sold Twitter shares between mid-May of 2022 and...

A US federal judge on Friday ruled as unconstitutional a Pentagon press access policy that withdrew accreditations from a host of prominent media organisations. Elements of the policy are “unlawful because they violate the First and Fifth Amendments of the United States Constitution”, a judge in Washington said in response to a lawsuit brought by The New York Times. US media and a host of international news outlets including Agence France-Presse, Associated Press and Fox News declined to sign...

US President Donald Trump said Friday he was considering “winding down” military operations against Iran three weeks into the war, but warned the Strait of Hormuz would need to be policed by other countries. Trump’s comments were his strongest signal yet of an end to the conflict, although the key oil passage effectively remains closed, as thousands more Marines are headed to the Middle East. “We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military...

During a press conference of the annual “two sessions”, National People’s Congress spokesperson Lou Qinjian referenced the grass-roots football league Suchao or Su Super League, which drew millions of spectators in Chinese stadiums last year. At a time when boosting domestic demand tops Beijing’s economic agenda, discussing an amateur sports tournament at the national podium goes beyond mere cultural commentary. It hints at something broader about how policymakers are approaching the consumption...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected accusations on Friday that he had intended to offend Christians when he said the previous day that Jesus had “no advantage” over Genghis Khan. “More fake news about my attitude towards Christians, who are protected and flourish in Israel. Let me be clear: I did not denigrate Jesus Christ at my news conference,” Netanyahu wrote in English on social media. “To the contrary, I cited the great American historian Will Durant. A fervent admirer of...

The UK ⁠government gave authorisation on Friday ⁠for the US to use military bases in Britain to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites that are attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. British ministers met on Friday ‌to discuss the war with Iran and Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Downing Street statement. “They confirmed that the agreement for the US to use UK bases in the collective self-defence of the region includes US defensive operations to degrade the missile...

Three victims of IRA bombings in England on Friday dropped their civil claim for damages against former Irish republican leader Gerry Adams, whom they had sought to hold personally responsible for orchestrating the blasts. The trio – who were injured in IRA bomb blasts in the 1970s and 1990s – had also sought to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Adams was a senior member of the Irish Republican Army. But on the very last day of the two-week trial, their lawyer Anne Studd told the High Court in...

A pregnant Syrian woman and her five young children died when a fire ripped through containers housing agricultural workers near the southwestern Antalya resort, the governor and media reports said on Friday. DHA news agency said the 27-year-old mother was seven months pregnant, with her husband fighting for his life after the blaze. The tragedy occurred as Turkey began celebrating the three-day Bayram holiday to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Antalya Governor Hulusi Sahin...

Chuck Norris, the US martial artist and Hollywood action star most famous for his role in Walker, Texas Ranger, has died, his family said on Friday. He was 86. The martial arts expert turned actor starred in a slew of action films since his acting debut with a cameo in a 1968 Dean Martin film The Wrecking Crew. Four years later, his epic fight with the kung fu superstar Bruce Lee in The Way of The Dragon helped turn Norris into an icon on big and small screens alike. “It is with heavy hearts...

President ⁠Donald Trump assailed ⁠Nato allies on Friday ⁠over their lack of support for the US-Israel war against Iran, calling the long-time US allies “cowards”. “Without the U.S.A., Nato IS A PAPER TIGER!” Trump said in a social media post. Trump has ‌been calling for major US allies and others, none of whom were consulted or advised on the war, to help secure the safety of shipping through the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz. The conflict has roiled global markets, killed thousands and...

Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit said in an interview broadcast Friday that she was “manipulated” by convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, whom she accused of extorting others. A commoner who married Crown Prince Haakon in 2001, Mette-Marit’s name appears multiple times in Epstein documents released by the US Department of Justice earlier this year. The files revealed an unexpectedly close friendship between the pair and raised questions in Norway about whether Mette-Marit can become...

China’s exports of rare earth permanent magnets to the United States continue to fall, at a time when Washington and its allies are stepping up efforts to reduce reliance on the country’s critical mineral supply chains. Shipments of permanent magnets to the US totalled 994 tonnes in January and February, down nearly 22.5 per cent year on year, according to data released on Friday by China’s General Administration of Customs. This marked the seventh consecutive month of decline. Over the two...

The ⁠White House released an artificial intelligence policy on Friday that aims to pre-empt state rules, ensure protections for children and shield communities from prohibitive energy costs. The Trump administration has been pushing for a single legislative framework that can be applied uniformly across the country, rather than leaving states to form their own plans. US President Donald Trump ⁠in December said he would withhold federal broadband funding from states ‌whose laws to regulate...

China’s imports of discounted Russian crude oil surged in January and February, though analysts suggest volumes could moderate in the coming months as the war in Iran increases global competition for Russian oil. In the first two months of the year, Russia’s shipments of crude to China rose 40.9 per cent year on year to 21.8 million tonnes, according to Chinese customs data released on Friday. But the total import value rose just 5.8 per cent in US dollar terms. “China has been an opportunistic...

If you think the Israeli-American war of aggression against Iran is bad, it could get a lot worse. For the first time, a senior American official has openly acknowledged that Israel possesses nuclear warheads and could deploy them in the war. “Israel is getting hit harder than they’ve ever been hit before in their history,” said David Sacks, the White House’s artificial intelligence and crypto tsar, on the All-In Podcast. “If this war continues for weeks or months, then Israel could just be...

Global concerns are rising over the fate of ships and crews trapped in the Strait of Hormuz amid the intensifying Middle East conflict, as reports spread that Iran is rolling out screening processes and steep transit fees for vessels using the waterway. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) called for the establishment of a “safe maritime framework” to ensure the swift evacuation of merchant ships confined within the Persian Gulf, after holding a special session on the Middle East...

Firefighters battled a blaze at a giant oil refinery in Kuwait on Friday after a fresh drone attack as Iran kept up a wave of strikes on its neighbours and vowed there was “no concern” about its missile production. Despite calls for an end to targeting Gulf energy infrastructure by European leaders on Thursday, Kuwait reported a fire at its Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, a day after a direct hit on Qatar’s vital Ras Laffan facility. Iranian authorities had vowed to retaliate after an Israeli strike on...

If there is a thread that provides coherence to Donald Trump’s mad emperorship, it is the frenetic invention of new, evermore dramatic diversions: no week can be allowed to pass without new melodrama that erases the chaotic melodramas of weeks past. Nor can a week be allowed to pass without the seeds being sown for next week’s melodramas. This week it is Iran, and the computer-gaming unreality of a scorched-earth US-Israeli bombardment that has generated convulsions across economies in the...

At least 16 US military aircraft have been lost since the start of the war with Iran, including 10 Reaper strike drones hit by enemy fire and a half-dozen other planes badly damaged in attacks or accidents. The most serious losses were because of accidents: three US F-15s downed by friendly fire in Kuwait, and a KC-135 tanker destroyed during a refuelling operation. All six crew members on the tanker were killed in the accident. Five other KC-135s were reportedly damaged by an Iranian missile...

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and a veteran of the Revolutionary Guards, has emerged as the highest-profile political figure in the Islamic Republic after the killing of its leaders. A pillar of the Iranian establishment for some three decades and one of the Islamic republic’s most prominent non-clerical figures, Ghalibaf, 64, now appears to be playing a key role spearheading the war effort. Whereas the son and successor of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Precision strike: China targets US, Japan stranglehold on photoresist supply China’s push for semiconductor self-sufficiency is shifting from broad aspiration to a precision strike on chokepoint materials, with photoresist – the...

William Klein worked for more than two decades as a US diplomat, including in several senior roles at the United States’ embassy in Beijing from 2016 to 2021. He worked at the American Institute in Taiwan and on the US State Department’s China desk in Washington, and occupied US diplomatic posts in South Asia, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union. He is a consulting partner with FGS Global, a firm based in Berlin, with a focus on US-China and EU-China relationships. SCMP Plus readers get...

Anyone applying to become a minister in Madagascar’s new government will be subjected to lie detector tests to root out those who are corrupt, the country’s military leader said on Thursday. President Michael Randrianirina, who took power in a coup in the Indian Ocean island in October, said Madagascar had acquired a polygraph machine and a specialist to operate it to vet new government ministers. “We will know who is corrupt and who can help us,” Randrianirina said. “We are not looking for...

A punishing heatwave has been gripping the western United States, with parts of the region logging record temperatures - even though it was still winter. A desert community in southwestern Arizona reached 43.3 degrees Celsius (110 Fahrenheit) on Thursday, breaking a record for the highest March temperature recorded in the United States. The temperature was recorded just outside Martinez Lake, Arizona, in the Yuma Desert. The previous record of 42.2 degrees had been set in Rio Grande City, Texas,...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko freed 250 prisoners on Thursday - the biggest batch to be released so far - in return for a further easing of US sanctions, the US embassy in neighbouring Lithuania said. The releases were part of a bargaining process in which Lukashenko was seeking a normalisation of ties with Washington after years of isolation and sanctions, in exchange for easing repression in the former Soviet state he has led since 1994. Belarusian ‌human rights group Viasna said...

European Union leaders failed to convince Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Thursday to lift his blockade on a €90 billion (US$103 billion) EU loan to help Ukraine keep up its fight against Russia’s invasion. After a summit in Brussels, several leaders voiced deep frustration with Orban, who has cited a dispute over a war-damaged pipeline to justify blocking the implementation of the loan agreed back in December. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz accused Orban - who maintains cordial ties...

By the time this column appears, the world will feel very different from when my previous column appeared earlier this month. In just days, a conflict that some in Washington seemed to believe would quickly topple Iran’s leadership has instead become a potentially long and uncertain war, with little clarity on how or when it will end. The front lines will have shifted, more oil tankers will have been stuck at sea and more flights cancelled, and there will almost certainly have been further...

A federal arts panel comprised of members appointed by Donald Trump on Thursday unanimously approved a commemorative gold coin featuring his image, part of a series of coins the US Mint is planning to produce to celebrate America’s 250th birthday this year. The 24-carat gold coin was the latest effort by Trump and his allies to put the president’s name on buildings, government programmes ‌and US currency since his second White House term began in January 2025. During a presentation by a US Mint...

Allies of exiled Iranian royal Reza Pahlavi are signalling a potential reset in Tehran’s ties with China and Russia, even as the 65-year-old increasingly positions himself as a central figure in Iran’s political future – a claim that contrasts with Washington’s more cautious stance. Speaking at a media briefing in Washington on Thursday, Pahlavi’s chief of staff, Cameron Khansarinia, dismissed Beijing’s mediation efforts in the ongoing conflict, arguing that the current Iranian leadership was...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel and the United States were “winning” the war against Iran, with the Islamic Republic “decimated” and unable to enrich uranium or manufacture ballistic missiles. In an English-language press conference, Netanyahu insisted Israel had “acted alone” in striking Iran’s massive South Pars gas field, while confirming that US President Donald Trump had asked Israeli forces to “hold off” on such attacks moving forward. The Israeli premier also...

The Chinese founder of the massive router maker facing national security probes by the Trump administration has applied for an expedited visa under the Trump Gold Card programme, according to people familiar with the matter. California-based TP-Link Systems told the federal agencies scrutinising its operations that founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Chao had applied for permanent residency under the programme, the people said. Successful Gold Card applicants must give a US$1 million...

A US F-35 fighter aircraft was hit by suspected Iranian fire and had to make an emergency landing on Thursday. This would be the first time Iran has hit one of the US$100 million planes since the US and Israel launched their attack on the country on February 28, according to CNN, which first reported the incident. The F-35 was “flying a combat mission over Iran”, a spokesman for US Central Command said. “The aircraft landed safely, and the pilot is in stable condition,” Captain Tim Hawkins said....

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday there was no “time frame” for ending the US-Israeli war against Iran, which was launched three weeks ago. “We wouldn’t want to set a definitive time frame,” Hegseth told a news conference, adding that “we’re very much on track” and that President Donald Trump would be the one to decide when to stop. “It will be at the president’s choosing, ultimately, where we say, ‘Hey, we’ve achieved what we need to.’” American objectives in the war had not...

A pro-Kremlin figure who unexpectedly denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine in a social media post this week that went viral has been placed in a psychiatric facility, Russian media reported on Thursday. Ilya Remeslo made a career denouncing Putin’s critics until he became one himself, posting a manifesto late on Tuesday to his 90,000 followers on ⁠Telegram entitled: “Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin.” He said Putin had prosecuted a “failing war”...

Two men appeared in a London court on Thursday accused of being tasked by Iran to carry out hostile surveillance on the Israeli embassy, Britain’s oldest synagogue and other Jewish targets. Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, a dual Iranian-British national, and Alireza Farasati, an Iranian national, 22, are accused of being involved in gathering information and undertaking reconnaissance of targets given to them by Iranian spy services over five weeks last summer. As such, the alleged activities...

Europe woke on Thursday to another energy shock, as military attacks on critical infrastructure in Qatar and Iran sent oil and gas prices across the continent soaring to levels unseen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The continent’s benchmark natural gas price, the Dutch TTF, climbed above €70 (US$80) per megawatt hour in Thursday morning trading – its highest level since December 2022, though still well below the more than €300 peak reached in the summer of 2022. Brent crude surged...

The appointment of Robert S. Mueller III as special counsel to conduct an investigation related to a sitting president roiled Washington around the start of President Trump’s first term.

The G.O.P. senator President Trump chose to lead the Department of Homeland Security privately discussed concessions the White House has repeatedly rejected.

Mr. Beshear, the Democratic governor of Kentucky, sharply criticized Mr. Vance as both angle for potential presidential runs.

The president issued a threat to deploy ICE agents in an apparent attempt to force Democrats to approve a new budget for the Department of Homeland Security.

While he was supposed to serve in a limited role as an adviser to Kristi Noem, Mr. Lewandowski had wide influence over contracts, personnel and operations inside the agency over the last year.

Pierre-Édouard Stérin is financing projects to make France less Muslim, more Catholic and more capitalist. He says his program has trained thousands running for municipal office on Sunday.

The far-right party had first-round successes in several cities, but so did the far left. Sunday’s second round may clarify who has real momentum.

A stalwart of the mass media century, the longstanding network that launched the careers of journalists like Edward R. Murrow will air its final broadcast in May.

America shouldn’t fight a war like this.

What a 40-year-old movie told me about childhood today.

Voting starts Sunday on a referendum to overhaul Italy’s judiciary. Many people don’t understand the complex proposal — and it could hurt Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Thousands of residents on Oahu were allowed to return home on Saturday afternoon as the storm moved to Maui.

The center-left government is being challenged by a right-wing populist accused of launching a smear campaign in the final days of a close race.