Minimalist News

Humanity Crossed A Threshold, And Most Of Us Scrolled Past It Authored by Kay Rubacek via The Epoch Times, Something happened last week that most people scrolled past. Two Amazon data centers in the United Arab Emirates were struck during Iran’s retaliation for U.S. military action. Another facility in Bahrain was reportedly damaged after a drone landed nearby. The earlier strikes that triggered the retaliation were said to have used AI-assisted targeting systems. It was a brief moment in the news cycle, quickly overtaken by the next political story. But the implications are difficult to ignore. Artificial intelligence has now crossed into active geopolitical conflict. The

Suspected Missile Fuel Precursor Materials Sail From China To Iran, Even As US Bombs Fall A pair of cargo ships tied to a sanctioned Iranian state shipping line have quietly departed a Chinese chemical hub and are now sailing toward Iran carrying what analysts suspect is missile fuel precursor, according to fresh Washington Post analysis of ship-tracking data and satellite imagery. The vessels have been identified as Shabdis and Barzin, which operate under Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), the state carrier sanctioned by Washington and many allies. The IRISL has long been accused of shipping materials tied to Iran's ballistic missile program

22 Pounds: The Weight Of A Million Dollars Via WatchesOfEspionage.com, WATCHES AS TOOLS OF MONEY LAUNDERING AND ILLICIT FINANCE Luxury timepieces are one of the most effective mediums to move illicit funds around the globe and a tool to integrate those ill-gotten gains into the financial system.  Transnational criminal networks, terrorists, narcotraffickers and corrupt politicians have used watches to launder money as a part of global illicit finance. THE WEIGHT OF A MILLION DOLLARS – 22 POUNDS A million dollars weighs just over 22 lbs.  I learned this during one of my first tours as a CIA Case Officer.  Like any other morning, I mounted my

With World Seemingly At War, DARPA Finds Time To Unveil The X-76 Before Operation Epic Fury began, corporate media published a few very concerning headlines: Fast forward to Monday afternoon: Operation Epic Fury against Iran has entered its 10th day. Jared Cohen, President of Global Affairs and Co-Head of the Goldman Sachs Global Institute, warned investors on the GS Weekend Macro Call that regional spillover risks worldwide were among his top concerns. Latest headlines in the Middle East: * Iran Signals 'Fight To The End' Under New Ayatollah, As US Struggles To Define Israeli-Coordinated Endgame * "Let Them Keep Playing Games": Iran Warns

"Legacy Of Imbeciles": Corpus Christi Careens Toward Water-Shortage Catastrophe Submitted by Dylan Baddour via Inside Climate News (emphasis ours), The imminent depletion of water supplies in Corpus Christi threatens to cut off the flow of jet fuel to Texas airports and other oil exports from one of the nation’s largest petroleum ports, triggering potential shockwaves through energy markets in Texas and beyond. Without significant rainfall, Corpus Christi is headed for a “water emergency” within months and total depletion of the system next year, according to the city’s website. “The impacts are going to be felt tremendously through the state, if not internationally,” said Sean

Five Iran Women Soccer Players Defect In Australia, Trump Urges Immediate Asylum  The ongoing Iran war is a rare modern conflict where warring powers can in an unprecedented manner (generally-speaking in terms of the modern age) address each other directly over social media. For example Iranian top official accounts are busy trying to troll Washington in defiance, even as the US bombs fall. "9 days into Operation Epic Mistake, oil prices have doubled while all commodities are skyrocketing. We know the U.S. is plotting against our oil and nuclear sites in hopes of containing huge inflationary shock. Iran is fully prepared.

FBI Obtains Election Records From Arizona Senate Authored by Petr Svab via The Epoch Times, The FBI has collected a large volume of Arizona election records from the state’s Senate as part of a grand jury investigation. The subpoena indicates a broader scope of the investigation into irregularities in the 2020 election. The records pertain to the Arizona State Senate’s 2020 audit of Maricopa County, according to a March 9 X post by the Senate’s president, Warren Petersen. The county, where nearly two-thirds of Arizonans live, has been at the center of multiple controversies, including unsuccessful litigation by multiple Republican campaigns. The subpoena, first

Security Fears Suddenly Emerge Over Trump's Visit To China President Donald Trump’s forthcoming high-stakes visit to China will be restricted to Beijing alone due to both a demanding schedule and heightened security concerns, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. “Unfortunately, his schedule is very tight. There is no room to squeeze in a visit to a second city,” one source told the SCMP. “While the schedule is tight, security is also a top concern,” another source told the newspaper. “Adding a second destination will likely compromise security and create a logistical nightmare, so both sides agreed that the visit

From Redcoats To Robots: AI Is Challenging Our Republic's Future Authored by Jonathan Turley, This week, thousands of workers are receiving pink slips. They are not being let go due to inflation or outsourcing to foreign countries. To the contrary, they are being fired because booming sectors of the economy no longer need them. Indeed, it is an economy that may need fewer and fewer humans. Amazon this week announced further job cuts due to robotics and AI. Recently, Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, announced that his company Block would be laying off 40 percent of its employees. He cited AI as reducing the need for

Jesse Jackson's Son Rips Obama, Biden For Hijacking Father's Memorial To Attack Trump In a move that is sure to raise eyebrows within Democrat circles, Jesse Jackson Jr. lashed out on former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden for hijacking his late father's memorial with not-so-veiled attacks on President Donald Trump. The son of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, who passed away last month at 84 after a lifetime battling for the marginalized, unloaded during a private service at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters, calling out the former presidents for speeches that strayed far from honoring his dad's uncompromised "prophetic voice.” “Yesterday, I listened

Solar And Storage Could Reshape Rural Electricity Markets Authored by Leonard Hyman & William Tilles via OilPrice.com, * Rural electric cooperatives may face disruption from cheaper on-site renewables. * Co-ops serve about 12% of the U.S. population but operate over 40% of the nation’s power lines. * Financial pressure could grow across the system, as co-ops remain tied to long-term fossil power contracts with generation providers while renewable alternatives become cheaper for rural customers. Rural electric cooperatives may be next in line for meaningful disruption from lower-cost, renewable power generation technologies such as wind and solar.  The co-operative movement, a creation of

Investigation Suggests US Navy Likely Behind Attack That Killed 150 Schoolgirls In Iran It's looking more and more like the US Navy was responsible for killing more than 150 Iranian schoolgirls in the first hours of Operation Epic Fury, according to separate analyses of new video performed by research firm Bellingcat and the New York Times, who each tapped weapons experts to study the footage. Their conclusions contradict President Trump's casual accusation that inaccurate Iranian weapons were to blame.  Excavators dig more than 100 graves for schoolgirls believed to have been killed by US Navy Tomahawk cruise missiles on Feb 28 The strike occurred in the

Identity Politics Trumps Public Safety On The Chicago Transit Authority Authored by George Shay via American Greatness, THE LEGACY OF JESSE JACKSON MAKES ALL OF US LESS SAFE If you ride the trains or buses in Chicago with any regularity, you don’t worry about microaggressions. You worry about being maced, mugged, or shoved onto the tracks—or, in one grotesque recent case, set on fire. That’s the lived experience of Chicagoans navigating the Chicago Transit Authority and Metra. Not academic theory. Not seminar-room sociology. Reality. So naturally, when a modest pilot program is introduced allowing the transit agencies to suspend individuals who assault conductors, spit on drivers,

Watch: Antifa Activist Accidentally Sets Himself On Fire While Burning American Flag In a stroke of karmic hilarity, an Antifa activist briefly caught fire while attempting to burn an American flag outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Portland, Oregon. The incident, which occurred last week, was captured on video during a livestream of the Antifa-led protest. Footage showed a far-left activist dousing an American flag in accelerant and attempting to set it ablaze, according to The Post Millennial. The flames spread to his clothing for several seconds before he extinguished them. > Portland, Ore. — Antifa militant accidentally lights himself

Travelers To Face 3-Hour Delays In Airports: TSA Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, Travelers in the United States are facing significant delays at airports due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) stated on March 8 in a post on social media. “Today, travelers are facing TSA lines of up to nearly 3 hours long at some major airports,” said Lauren Bis, deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at TSA, on X. This has resulted in “missed flights and massive delays during peak travel.” Referring to TSA officers, Bis said, “These frontline heroes received only partial paychecks earlier

Goldman's Global Affairs Chief Warns Of Middle East Spillover Threats West Texas Intermediate crude futures spiked as high as $111 a barrel on Sunday evening as the deepening Middle East conflict sent panic through oil markets, with supplies from key Gulf producers going offline and the Strait of Hormuz remaining paralyzed into week two. The key question on some energy desks is whether this energy shock will force President Trump to scale back Operation Epic Fury in a TACO-style retreat by Tuesday with WTI in triple-digit territory. That is hard to say, given that U.S. Central Command stated on X over the

A Cycle-Low For Public Rectitude: Anything Goes To Maintain Democrats' Matrix Of Moneygrubbing Authored by James Howard Kunstler, FARTHER ALONG Don’t lose the plot. Embrace the suck. This is the world’s hard time, for now. The birth of anything can be a bloody horror. It can even look like death. Don’t be too afraid to see what comes on the other side of this awful spectacle. So many Americans are rooting and wishing for the Iran war to turn out badly for Western Civ. And why? Because Trump. And why? Because at the same time he is ending Iran’s long-running nuclear blackmail game, he

Satellite Data Shows Iran Moving Crude Through Hormuz Chokepoint, Putting Kharg Island In Focus Ten days into the U.S.-Israeli Operation Epic Fury against Iran, which has forced shut-ins at major Gulf oil and gas facilities, disrupted production at key oil fields, sent stockpiles soaring, sparked a global energy crisis (Brent crude hit $119/bbl highs overnight) and severely disrupted commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most critical energy chokepoint, new satellite imagery data from TankerTrackers, first cited by Bloomberg, suggests Tehran has recently moved substantial volumes of crude through the waterway. Geospatial intelligence data from TankerTrackers estimates that Iran-linked tanker

Trump Threatens Harder Strikes If Iran Hits Global Oil Supply, Pledges US 'Excursion' Nearly Complete Summary: * Trump pledges Iran 'excursion' going to be ended soon, but warned "Iran will be hit harder" if it starts up again, or if Tehran targets global global oil supplies. * When asked by reporter, Trump refuses to say if new Ayatollah has a target on his back. * Trump tells Republican conference it is going to be a short-term excursion in Iran, but he's ready to see the mission through against "evil" Iran.. Says of Tehran, "They should've cried uncle two days ago." And Iran

Even Dems Are Questioning Rep. Swalwell's Eligibility To Run For Governor Authored by Luis Cornelio via HeadlineUSA, Rep. Eric Swalwell has long maintained his primary residence in Washington, D.C., despite representing large portions of California in Congress. Now that he is running for California governor, his apparent on-paper-only California residency is under scrutiny - even from fellow Democrats.  Eric Swalwell / IMAGE: Evening Standard via YouTube Tom Steyer, a left-wing billionaire donor who is also running for the Democratic nomination for governor, called on California Secretary of State Shirley Weber to enforce the state’s residency requirements.  Steyer’s campaign wrote to Shirley that Swalwell “appears to live

Anglers describe harrowing phone calls to loved ones once ice detached from shores of Georgian Bay in Ontario * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Kevin Fox thought the spring-like temperatures that had temporarily pushed the cold away from south-eastern Ontario meant a good day on for ice fishing, a popular winter pastime in the region. After shifting location because the wind and ice “didn’t feel right” and the fish weren’t biting close to shore, he and a friend joined nearly two dozen others far out on a sheet of ice in Lake

US president claimed he wanted to eradicate cartels and made comments about Mexico’s president that were deemed sexist in summit speech * ‘Iron river’: Mexico’s cartel violence fuelled by trafficked firearms from US * Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Claudia Sheinbaum has responded to Donald Trump’s description of Mexico as the “epicenter of violence,” by calling on the US government to step up efforts to combat gun trafficking. “There is something that the US can help us a lot with: stop the trafficking of illegal weapons from the US to Mexico,” the president of Mexico said. “If they

Funding cuts, US political pressure and bureaucratic delays have left thousands of Haitians facing prolonged uncertainty in Tapachula A year ago, when Jean Baptiste Gensley stepped off a bus in Tapachula, Mexico’s southern city on the border with Guatemala, he carried a small backpack and the hope that his journey was finally over. In his native Haiti, Gensley, 37, worked as a radio journalist and social worker, analyzing the effects of gang violence in some of Port-au-Prince’s most dangerous neighborhoods. With time, as his research led to police intervention, he caught the attention of the city’s gangs. Continue reading...

Most residents of Canadian province wanted change for years – Trump’s unneighbourly rhetoric helped seal the deal Since 1918, the clocks in Creston, a town in eastern British Columbia, ran an hour ahead of nearby communities for half the year. For the other six months, they slipped back into sync. Not because the town changed them but because its neighbours changed back and forth from daylight saving time. Creston was an outlier: a community that effectively created its own time zone. But when residents in most parts of the province shift their clocks forward on Sunday, they will be doing it for

Explosion happened in pre-dawn hours at Dalí nightclub in the province of Trujillo along Peru’s northern coast A bombing at a nightclub in Peru has injured 33 people, including minors, authorities said Saturday. The explosion happened in the pre-dawn hours at the Dalí nightclub in the province of Trujillo along Peru’s northern coast, according to a statement from the local emergency operations center. Continue reading...

Royal commission says response led by Jacinda Ardern was broadly ‘appropriate’, in a wide-ranging report featuring recommendations for future pandemics A royal commission into New Zealand’s Covid response has found it was one of the best in the world but acknowledged the period had left “scars”. The second of two inquiry reports on the pandemic was released on Tuesday and focused on the period between February 2021 to October 2022, when the government changed from an elimination strategy to one of suppression and minimisation of the virus. It also examined vaccine safety and the government’s immunisation programme, lockdowns and tracing and testing

As speculation mounts that Kim Jong-un and Trump could meet this month, analysts say Pyongyang will continue to see nuclear weapons as a matter of survival * Middle East crisis – live updates North Korea’s launch last week of a missile from a naval destroyer elicited an uncharacteristically prosaic analysis from the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un. The launch was proof, he said, that arming ships with nuclear weapons was “making satisfactory progress”. But the test, and Kim’s mildly upbeat appraisal, were designed to reverberate well beyond the deck of the 5,000-tonne destroyer-class vessel the Choe Hyon – the biggest warship in the

Social media company tells MPs of continual fight against state-backed efforts, with Russia being most prolific Elon Musk’s X said it had suspended 800m accounts over a 12-month period as it fights the “massive” scale of attempts to manipulate the platform. The social media company told MPs it was continually fighting state-backed attempts to hijack the agenda on its network, with Russia the most prolific state actor, followed by Iran and China. Continue reading...

Kasasa island, in the Seto Inland Sea, has only seven residents but its fate is strongly intertwined with relations between Tokyo and Beijing His island home is shrouded in mist, but his union jack woolly hat makes Hideya Yagi easy to spot as he greets the approaching boat. The 80-year-old, a former president of a construction company, is pleased to see the small group of passengers disembark, mainly because he is one of only seven registered residents at their destination, Kasasa island. Kasasa is known as the “Hawaii” of Japan’s inland sea because of its warm climate and beautiful coastline. Yagi and

* Masataka Yoshida’s late HR helps seal 4-3 win * Naruhito first emperor in 60 years to attend baseball Masataka Yoshida’s late home run triggered a comeback win for Japan over Australia at the World Baseball Classic on Sunday, with Emperor Naruhito making a rare appearance. The underdog Aussies struck first in the sixth inning of the group stage game when outfielder Aaron Whitefield came home after a throwing error by Japan’s catcher, Kenya Wakatsuki. But in the seventh, Yoshida connected with a two-run shot over right centre field. Japan put on two more insurance runs in the eighth, and hung

Government and motoring groups say there is no shortage of fuel supplies but stockpiling has left country service stations running dry, as Iran war sparks oil price fears * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Regional service stations are struggling to replenish fuel supplies left empty by panic buying that has seen demand double and even triple in areas like the Barossa and Mildura amid an escalating Middle East conflict. As a leading motoring group warned of a “vicious cycle” of motorists stockpiling petrol, Chris Bowen, the

Airline reports spike in ticket sales to Europe in March, as passengers with carriers affected by flight chaos rebook * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Qantas has announced it is increasing the price of its international air fares amid oil price volatility caused by the war in the Middle East, while the airline also reported higher-than-normal ticket sales for flights to Europe. While the company hedges against change in jet fuel prices, it was not fully covered for the spike seen in the wake of surging oil prices, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Follow updates live * ‘I’m buggered’: David Littleproud resigns as leader of National party as Matt Canavan flags tilt * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Burke confirms Trump has called Albanese Burke has confirmed the US president, Donald Trump, has spoken with Anthony Albanese (who will be up to speak in Canberra shortly). I do know that the president called the prime minister and the views of the president put on this, I think, reflected what all good people have been thinking. Everybody’s been looking at this situation and saying, surely, is there something we can do? We’ve

Proposed new powers for home affairs minister are ‘truly appalling’, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre says * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Labor is toughening immigration laws to stop people from some countries travelling to Australia on some temporary visas and seeking to stay permanently because of the Middle East war. The assistant citizenship minister, Julian Hill, introduced urgent amendments on Tuesday, hours after home affairs minister, Tony Burke, facilitated asylum applications from members of the Iranian women’s football team. Continue reading...

Twin tunnels should be open but lead contractor wants out, blaming sinkholes and a ‘reverse fault’. The NSW government insists ‘there is a technical solution available’ * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Two years after large sinkholes opened above the construction of a $3.1bn Sydney motorway tunnel, the consortium charged with the project’s completion has been issued a notice forcing it to continue the job or face possible legal consequences. The New South Wales roads minister, Jenny Aitchison, said contractor CGU had on Monday been issued

French president says attack on island is ‘an attack on Europe’ as EU states send military support * Middle East crisis – live updates Emmanuel Macron has vowed that Europe will do whatever it takes to stand by Cyprus, the continent’s first state to be directly affected by the Iran war, after coming under what he described as “attack from multiple drones and missiles.” In the strongest show yet of solidarity towards the EU member closest to the Middle East, Macron likened the attacks, which included a drone strike against a British base on the eastern Mediterranean island, to an attack on

Interceptor drones and operators deployed to Middle East after ‘requests for help from 11 countries neighbouring Iran’ * Middle East crisis – live updates Ukraine’s president has said he dispatched interceptor drones and operators to protect US bases in Jordan last week, one of 11 countries that had asked Kyiv for help as the US-Israeli war against Iran continued into its 10th day. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview that he had responded to a US request for help in defending Jordan last week as Ukraine seeks to improve relations with Gulf and Middle Eastern countries coming under attack from Iran. Continue reading...

European Commission head says rules-based system can no longer be relied upon to protect the continent’s interests Europe can “no longer be a custodian for the old-world order” and needs “a more realistic and interest-driven foreign policy”, the head of the European Commission has said. Speaking to an audience of EU ambassadors on Monday, Ursula von der Leyen said the union “will always defend and uphold the rules-based system” but could no longer rely on it to defend European interests and shelter the continent from threats. Continue reading...

Russian oligarch says money is his to allocate despite international sanctions imposed on his assets The Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich has stepped up his row with the British government over the £2.5bn proceeds of his sale of Chelsea FC, insisting that the money is his to allocate despite the international sanctions imposed on his assets. The UK and EU imposed sanctions on Abramovich in 2022, freezing his assets in response to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, citing his ties to Vladimir Putin’s regime. Continue reading...

Private equity group EQT to take 42% stake as supplier faces scrutiny over environmental record and CEO’s pay * Business live – latest updates A leading European investor will pump fresh funding into Yorkshire Water including helping to cover a £600m loan, despite recent heavy sewage fines and a scandal over executive pay at the utility company. EQT, a Swedish private equity group, said on Monday it would take a 42% stake in Kelda Holdings, the Jersey-registered parent company of Yorkshire Water, which has 5.7 million customers across Yorkshire and parts of the East Midlands and Lincolnshire. Continue reading...

US president says war is ‘very complete’ and threatens worse strikes if passage of oil via strait of Hormuz is blocked; IRGC says it will not let out ‘one litre of oil’ * Oil prices drop sharply after Trump moves to reassure markets * Trump says Iran war is ‘very complete, pretty much’ as economic toll rises Investor hopes for a swift resolution to the Middle East conflict propelled Australian shares higher today, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finishing the day up 1.1% and recovering about $35bn in value after yesterday’s $90bn plunge. Oil prices surged to a four-year high early in

Both campaigns have been framed differently at different times, with dubious claims of defensive action and a curious reluctance to label it war Shifting goals, unclear timelines and a flimsy pretext: at times, the US-Israel campaign against Iran carries curious parallels of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The comparison is far from exact. In 2022, Putin sent a massive army across Ukraine’s borders in an unprovoked invasion of a democratic state, a campaign that quickly resulted in heavy losses. The United States has so far largely limited its involvement to airstrikes against Iran’s authoritarian regime. Continue reading...

Among the many justifications Donald Trump has presented for the US and Israel attacking Iran has been the supposedly imminent threat posed by its nuclear weapons programme. But how close was the country really to developing an atomic weapon? Ian Sample hears from Kelsey Davenport, the director of non-proliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. She sets out why many experts don’t believe the country even had a structured nuclear weapons programme, and explains what she thinks the impact of the war could be on nuclear proliferation around the world. Attacking Iran’s nuclear programme could drive it towards a bomb, experts

Monitors admit they are struggling to keep track of the environmental disasters arising from widening war Israel’s bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure will have major long-term environmental repercussions, experts have warned, as monitors admitted they were struggling to keep track of the environmental disasters arising from the widening war. Even as Iranians filled the streets to mark the appointment of a new supreme leader, the Shahran oil depot north-east of Tehran and the Shahr-e fuel depot to its south continued to burn on Monday, two days after they were bombed by Israeli warplanes. Continue reading...

This liveblog is closed. Follow the latest on our new liveblog here. Donald Trump has said a decision on when to end the war with Iran will be a “mutual” one he’ll make together with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Times of Israel has reported. It said Trump also claimed in a brief telephone interview on Sunday that Iran would have destroyed Israel if he and Netanyahu had not been around. The US president said: Iran was going to destroy Israel and everything else around it … We’ve worked together. We’ve destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel. I think it’s mutual … a little

Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra party secures thumping victory in first poll since gen Z protests that toppled government Balendra Shah, the rapper turned politician and popular figurehead of a gen Z revolution, looks set to become Nepal’s next prime minister after his party won by an unprecedented margin. Shah, known widely as Balen, and his Rastriya Swatantra party (RSP) secured a rare landslide victory in the first election since youth-led protests during which dozens were killed and the former government was toppled. Continue reading...

‘Stopgap measure’ designed to keep oil flowing into global market as Middle East crisis disrupts crude shipments * Business live – latest updates The US has temporarily allowed India to buy Russian oil currently stuck at sea in an effort to keep global supplies flowing and temper further price increases. The US treasury has issued a 30-day waiver allowing India to buy Russian oil, having previously imposed heavy sanctions related to the war in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Urgent request to dock is submitted by vessel after US submarine sank Iranian warship in same area on Tuesday * Middle East crisis – live updates Sri Lanka has evacuated 208 crew members from an Iranian navy vessel that made an emergency request to dock, a day after a US submarine strike sank another Iranian frigate, killing more than 80 people on board. Sri Lanka’s president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, on Thursday confirmed that the country’s navy would take over Iranian military support ship IRIS Bushehr and allow it to dock at the north-eastern port of Trincomalee. Continue reading...

Early results may be released from Friday after first election since gen z protests forced Nepal’s then-PM to quit Nearly six months after a wave of unprecedented gen Z-led protests forced Nepal’s then prime minister to quit, people have voted in a general election that is shaping up to be a high-stakes showdown between the entrenched old guard and a powerful youth movement. “The voting process has been concluded peacefully and enthusiastically,” said the chief election commissioner, Ram Prasad Bhandari. It appeared the turnout was only about 60%, according to initial estimates, the lowest in more than two decades. Continue reading...

Frigate goes down off Sri Lanka as Washington and Israel step up their offensive and promise to hit ‘deeper’ targets in Iran * Middle East crisis – live updates A torpedo fired by a US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the south coast of Sri Lanka as the Trump administration followed through on its threats to destroy Tehran’s military and political leadership. At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the attack on the Iris Dena. The frigate was sailing in international waters as it returned from a naval exercise organised by India in the Bay of Bengal. The torpedo strike

FTSE 100 opens higher and European markets rise as US president describes conflict as ‘very complete’ * Business live – latest updates * Middle East crisis – live updates Oil prices have tumbled from four-year highs, capping an extraordinary 24 hours in global markets and prompting global stocks to rebound after Donald Trump suggested the US-Israel war on Iran could end “very soon”. Brent crude, the international benchmark, surged as high as $119.50 a barrel on Monday as the Middle East conflict intensified fears of a deepening energy supply crisis. Continue reading...

Government facing prospect of most serious backbench revolt yet over proposals for England and Wales Plans to curtail the number of jury trials in England and Wales have been described as “unpopular, untested and poorly evidenced” by thousands of lawyers who have written to the prime minister. The letter to Keir Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, from 3,200 lawyers, including 300 senior barristers, comes as his government faces the prospect of one of its most serious backbench revolts since coming to power. Continue reading...

Anglian, Southern, Wessex and South East allowed to raise charges more than originally permitted by watchdog * Business live – latest updates Millions of households in England will pay even higher water bills than previously expected, after the competition regulator gave its final verdict on industry spending plans for the coming years. Five water companies had appealed to the Competition and Markets Authority to let them raise bills higher than was initially allowed by Ofwat, the industry watchdog. On Tuesday, the CMA said it would let them raise annual bills by an extra 2.2% on average. Continue reading...

More than 200 applicants fear they will lose places after home secretary suspends study visas from four countries Sudanese scientists who have been promised research posts at leading UK universities have spoken of their “shock” and “sadness” that their hopes have been dashed after Shabana Mahmood’s decision to end study visas for people from their country. More than 200 Sudanese postgraduates and undergraduates fear they will no longer be permitted to take up places at 46 universities, including Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London, with some claiming that their lives have been torn apart by the home secretary’s “blunt” intervention. Continue reading...

Regulator fined the multimillionaire £1.8m and banned him from the financial services industry last year Crispin Odey, the multimillionaire financier fighting various lawsuits relating to allegations of sexual misconduct, is to launch a case against the financial services regulator over his exile from the City. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Odey £1.8m and banned him from the financial services industry last year. Continue reading...

Rene Villarreal-Albe averted possible crash by pulling truck up to car and halting it as driver faced medical episode A Texas man who recently was driving on a highway reportedly pulled his truck out in front of a car with an unconscious man behind the wheel, gradually slowed it down with his back bumper and ultimately stopped it to avert what could have been a major crash. Rene Villarreal-Albe’s good deed was captured on dramatic cell phone video recorded by his wife, Andrea Walker, and then shared online by his sister, Cortney Trinidad, as the Texas news outlet Kens 5 reported. The

To some it was a reckless experiment but scientists hope the dispersal of 65,000 litres of sodium hydroxide into the Gulf of Maine could ease the climate crisis For four days last August, a thick slick of maroon bruised the waters of the Gulf of Maine. The scene, not unlike a toxic red tide, was the result of 65,000 litres of an alkaline chemical, tagged with a red dye, that had been deliberately pumped by scientists into the ocean. Though it sounds perverse, the event was part of a scientific experiment that could advance a technology to combat both global heating and

This live blog is now closed. * Trump news at a glance: president issues an ultimatum to Congress to get voter ID bill passed * Sign up for Breaking US News email alerts Donald Trump has urged the Australian government to grant asylum to five members of the Iranian women’s football team, amid reports that they refused to return home following the team’s elimination from the Women’s Asian Cup and were taken into the protection of Australian police. As my colleague Martin Farrer reports, speculation had mounted for days that some of the players would try to seek asylum in Australia they

President makes evidence-free claim despite video showing US Tomahawk missile hit naval base next to school As oil prices surged amid the widening war with Iran, Donald Trump suggested, without evidence, on Monday that the strike on an Iranian elementary school could have been carried out by Iran or “somebody else”. During back-to-back appearances in Florida, Trump was asked whether the US would accept responsibility for a strike that hit the school and killed scores of people, many of them children, after video evidence showed a US Tomahawk struck the naval base next to it. Continue reading...

Brothers who visited White House reunited with family after outcry from Texas lawmakers, including Republican congresswoman Two teenage mariachi musicians were released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after their detention sparked widespread backlash, including from a Republican congresswoman. The Democratic representative Joaquin Castro of Texas announced the release of the brothers, Antonio Yesayahu Gámez-Cuéllar, 18, and Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar, 14, on Monday afternoon, sharing photos on social media of the family reuniting. Continue reading...

Since the US and Israel unleashed strikes on Iran on February 28, war has spread across the region and casualties have been reported in countries across the Middle East. Due to reporting restrictions, Agence France-Presse has not been able to independently verify all of the following tolls. The figures are based on numbers released by governments, militaries, health authorities and rescue organisations in the affected countries. Iran Iran’s health ministry said on Monday that more than 1,200...

Explosive drone strikes by Haitian security forces targeting gangs have killed over 1,200 people, including 43 adult civilians and 17 children, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Tuesday, adding that operations have ramped up in recent months. Since last March, Haitian security forces, with support from Vectus Global, have carried out ‌anti-gang operations using quadcopter drones strapped with explosives, often in densely populated parts of the capital Port-au-Prince. Vectus Global is a...

Talks to advance US President Donald Trump’s plan to ⁠end the Gaza war have been on hold since last week when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran, sparking a broader Middle East war, three sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations said. The pause threatens to stall implementation of Trump’s flagship Middle East peace initiative, which he has cast as a major foreign policy objective. It comes less than a month after he secured billions of dollars in pledges for Gaza from Gulf Arab...

China’s export growth surged in the first two months of this year, as global demand booms, while experts pointed to the likelihood of strong momentum for the rest of the year as AI-driven tech investments ramp up. Exports jumped 21.8 per cent from a year earlier – the biggest gain in four years – to US$656.58 billion in the combined figures for January and February released by customs authorities on Tuesday. This represented a significant acceleration from the 6.6 per cent growth recorded in...

Three brothers, including two of America’s most successful luxury real estate brokers, were convicted of sex trafficking charges on Monday after a five-week trial over accusations that they used drugs and force to rape scores of women they had dazzled with their wealth and opulent lifestyle. The verdict came after 11 women testified they were sexually assaulted by one or more of the brothers: twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 38, and Tal Alexander, 39. All three of the men shook their heads as the...

Australia will deploy a military surveillance aircraft to the Middle East and send missiles to the United Arab ‌Emirates but will not put troops on the ground in Iran, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday. Australia’s military support would help the Gulf countries defend themselves against unprovoked attacks from Iran, Albanese said, stressing Australia was “not a ⁠protagonist”. “Our involvement is purely defensive,” Albanese told reporters. “And it’s in defence ‌of Australians who...

Canada will allow TikTok to continue operating in the country, a complete reversal after the government had previously ordered the social media company to close its Canadian division for security reasons. In November 2024, under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, Canada ordered ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, to wind down its Canadian subsidiary. That would not have banned the app’s use but would have forced its offices in Toronto and Vancouver to close. But in January, that order was set...

Around the world, news organisations are racing to create rules for artificial intelligence. Editors debate whether reporters may use AI to draft text, summarise documents or help in research. Some outlets promise readers they will disclose when a machine helps write an article. Others hope credibility will come from avoiding AI altogether. But this debate begins with a mistaken assumption: that journalism earns trust because journalists physically write the sentences themselves. That has never...

US President Donald Trump claimed on Monday that American military objectives in Iran were nearly complete and the conflict could be nearing an end - a declaration met with a defiant vow from Tehran that the war would end on its own terms. Speaking at a news conference in Florida on the same day he discussed the war in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump claimed the US was “achieving major strides towards completing our military objective”, adding that “some people could say...

It was a prank that turned deadly, authorities said: a group of teenagers unspooled rolls of toilet paper outside the home of a beloved high school teacher who tripped in the street and was struck by a pickup truck as the pranksters started to drive away. The 40-year-old teacher, Jason Hughes, died after being brought to a hospital late Friday, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office said. The 18-year-old driver of the pickup was arrested on a felony charge of vehicular homicide, and four other teens...

Ships anchored in the Gulf or transiting the Strait of Hormuz are changing their tracking data to boast links to China in an attempt to evade Iranian attacks, according to data from shipping tracker Marine Traffic analysed by Agence France-Presse. Iran has effectively closed the vital waterway since US-Israeli strikes on it began on February 28, and at least 10 vessels have been attacked since. But by claiming to have an “all-Chinese crew” aboard, or changing their destination to “Chinese...

The United States and China traded barbs at a ⁠UN drugs meeting on ⁠Monday, with Washington accusing Beijing of ⁠failing to stop sales of precursor chemicals for fentanyl and China dismissing the allegation as false while calling the US irresponsible. The exchange, delivered in separate statements at the UN’s annual Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting in Vienna, underscored tensions ‌between the two countries over illicit drugs and tariffs, with their leaders due to meet in China at the end of...

Anthropic on Monday filed a lawsuit to block the Pentagon from placing it on a national security blacklist, escalating the artificial intelligence lab’s high-stakes battle with the US military over usage restrictions on its technology. Anthropic said in its lawsuit that the designation was unlawful and violated its free speech and due process rights. The filing in federal court in California asked a judge to undo the designation and block federal ‌agencies from enforcing it. “These actions are...

A major fire in the heart of Glasgow crippled Scottish train services on Monday as firefighters worked to douse the blaze that destroyed a four-storey building next to Scotland’s busiest railway station. Glasgow Central Station was closed and all travel to, from and through the station was expected to be disrupted, according to rail operators. It was not clear when the station would reopen, but it was expected to remain closed for a further day on Tuesday. The fire broke out Sunday afternoon in...

Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams appeared at London’s High Court on Monday for a civil lawsuit which aims to hold him liable for Irish Republican Army bombings in Britain, a case which could ‌affect the prominent republican leader’s legacy. Adams became Sinn Fein leader in 1983 when it was the IRA’s political wing, establishing himself as the face of the movement seeking to end British rule in Northern Ireland. He later reinvented himself as a peacemaker after helping secure the 1998 Good...

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Iran towards Turkey on Monday, according to a statement by the Defence Ministry, raising the risk that the military alliance could be drawn more directly into the conflict in the Middle East. It follows a similar interception on March 4, after which Nato said it strengthened its missile-defence posture in the region. Debris from the munition landed in Gaziantep province in southern Turkey, around 150km (93 miles)...

Over the past 12 months, a series of political and military crises has erupted in different parts of the world. Do they have anything in common? On the surface, the dramas in Iran, Panama, Venezuela and Greenland look separate, each with its own cast, excuse and headlines. What links them is not ideology, or the public language used to sell each move. It is the map. Iran sits beside the Strait of Hormuz, the choke point for Gulf energy flows. Panama sits astride one of the world’s trade...

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday the G7 will discuss a possible release of strategic oil reserves, as finance ministers of the world’s leading industrialised nations prepared to meet for crisis talks on the Middle East war. Macron, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven advanced economies, said that “the use of strategic reserves is an option being considered”. A possible meeting of G7 heads of state and government could take place this week, Macron told...

Five players from Iran’s visiting women’s football team claimed asylum in Australia on Tuesday, seeking protection after they were branded “traitors” at home for refusing to sing the national anthem. Iranian players fell silent as the anthem played ahead of a tournament match in Australia last week, an act seen as a symbol of defiance against the Islamic Republic. US President Donald Trump was among those urging Australia to offer the players asylum, citing grave fears for their safety if they...

New video from Iranian state media shows a missile slamming into a compound in southern Iran, as evidence mounted that the US military was most likely responsible for the February 28 attack on a girls’ school that left more than 160 dead, mostly children. The footage, published Sunday by the Mehr News Agency, was titled “The moment when Israeli and American terrorists struck #Minab school”. Video shows a munition consistent with a Tomahawk cruise missile striking an area as black smoke rose from...

Iran has named a son of its late supreme leader as his successor. US President Donald Trump already had expressed disdain for Mojtaba Khamenei, calling him “unacceptable”. The Islamic Republic’s war strategy now has a new commander, and the powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has pledged allegiance. Oil prices shot above US$100 a barrel. Both sides in the war struck new targets over the weekend, including civilian ones. Bahrain accused Iran of hitting one of the desalination plants that...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. As Iran war closes Middle East skies, how high can Cathay Pacific fares fly? 2. Rising star chip scientist Jiang Jianfeng leaves MIT for Peking University 3. Takeaways from Foreign Minister Wang Yi at China’s ‘two sessions’ 4. Singapore real estate giants feel the heat amid China’s property...

Ukrainian ministers launched a protest at plans to reopen the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale, in a statement published in Kyiv on Sunday. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Culture Minister Tetyana Berezhna called the admission of Russian artists to international events unacceptable and asked the organisers to reconsider their decision. After all, they had condemned Moscow’s aggression soon after the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine more than four years ago, they noted. “It is...

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba was chosen ⁠by Iran’s Assembly of Experts to succeed his late father as supreme leader on Monday, in a sign that hardliners were still firmly in charge. The clerical body named the 56-year-old mid-ranking cleric, who has survived the US-Israeli air war on Iran, as successor more than a week after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an air strike, Iranian media reported. A member of the council, Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, said in a video on Sunday...

A home-made explosive thrown near anti-Islam protesters outside the New York mayor’s home was a viable device “that could have caused serious injury or death”, police said on Sunday. Two suspicious devices were thrown by a man identified by police as Emir Balat near the protest on Saturday led by a far-right influencer to oppose public Muslim prayer. An Agence France-Presse correspondent at the scene heard Balat shout “Allahu akbar” (“God is the greatest”) during the incident, which is under...

Authorities in Peru on Sunday said they have arrested three people following the bombing of a nightclub as the number of those injured rose to 44. The explosion happened early on Saturday at the Dali nightclub in the city of Trujillo in La Libertad region, which has the largest gold-producing area in Peru and is rife with extortion and illegal mining. La Libertad Regional Health Management confirmed that those injured rose from 33 to 44, including three minors between the ages of 16 and 17. At...

Iran on Monday named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, signalling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the week-old US-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above US$100 a barrel. Mojtaba, a cleric with influence inside Iran’s security forces and vast business networks under his father, had been viewed as a front runner in the lead-up to Sunday’s vote by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics tasked with choosing Ali Khamenei’s successor. “By a...

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump held a call on Sunday about the Middle East war, the UK government said, after fierce criticism of the British premier by the US leader. Trump had insulted Starmer over the latter’s initial refusal to have any role in the US-Israeli war with Iran, which began on February 28. “The leaders began by discussing the latest situation in the Middle East and the military cooperation between the UK and US through the use of RAF bases in...

President Emmanuel Macron will visit Cyprus on Monday, his office said, as France deploys warships to the Mediterranean following a drone attack on the island EU member days ago. Macron will meet his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Paphos to show “solidarity” and detail moves to “strengthen security around Cyprus and in the eastern Mediterranean”, the Elysee said on Sunday. The visit will take place as the war pitting the US and Israel...

Sixty-one years after state troopers attacked Civil Rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, thousands are gathering in the Alabama city this weekend, amid new concerns about the future of the Voting Rights Act. The March 7, 1965, violence that became known as Bloody Sunday shocked the nation and helped spur passage of the landmark legislation that dismantled barriers to voting for Black Americans in the Jim Crow South. But this year’s anniversary celebrations – events run all...

As missiles and drones curtail energy production across the Persian Gulf, analysts warn that water, not oil, may be the resource most at risk in the energy-rich but arid region. On Sunday, Bahrain accused Iran of damaging one of its desalination plants. Earlier, Iran said a US air strike had damaged an Iranian plant. Hundreds of desalination plants sit along the Persian Gulf coast, putting individual systems that supply water to millions within range of Iranian missile or drone strikes. Without...

Megan Worthy still recalls singing in a choir in the Australian capital, Canberra, as she was growing up. Now, as a rare form of early-onset dementia chips away at her vision and other brain functions, the 58-year-old is transported back to her musical youth as she and her daughter, Bronte, sing together with other people with neurological conditions in an Amsterdam concert hall, the Concertgebouw. “It’s pretty brutal,” Worthy said of her rare neurological condition. “I’m starting to lose...

The escalating conflict in the Middle East is having a direct impact on China’s access to sulphur – a raw material for producing fertiliser – just as the country enters its vital spring planting season. With China sourcing a large chunk of its sulphur from the Persian Gulf, the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz is already sending prices for the chemical shooting upwards as Chinese buyers complain of tightening supplies. China relies on imports for 47 per cent of its sulphur supply,...

Political efforts to cripple Turkey’s main opposition and lock up its presidential candidate will never stifle the people’s frustration with the government and their growing demand for change, Istanbul’s jailed mayor has said in an interview. “An irreversible process for a change in power has begun in Turkey and it won’t stop until it is complete. I cannot stop it … nor can the ruling party nor the judiciary,” Ekrem Imamoglu said in a written response to Agence France-Presse questions conveyed...

Sri Lanka discharged from hospital 22 Iranian sailors who were plucked from life rafts after their warship was sunk by a US submarine, officials said on Sunday. The sailors were treated at Karapitiya Hospital in the southern port city of Galle since Wednesday after the IRIS Dena was torpedoed just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. “Another 10 are still undergoing treatment,” said a medical officer at the hospital. He said the bodies of 84 Iranians retrieved from the Indian Ocean were also...

The US embassy in Oslo was hit by an explosion in the early hours of Sunday but no one was injured, police in the Norwegian capital said, adding the cause was not immediately known. The blast occurred around 1am local time and caused only “minor material damage” to one of the building’s entrances, Oslo police said in a statement. Investigators were examining the scene, while dogs, drones, and helicopters were involved in the search “for one or more potential perpetrators”, it said. “Police view...

A federal judge ruled ⁠on Saturday that Kari Lake’s ⁠leadership of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) ⁠for much of last year violated federal law, invalidating a sweeping series of actions she took to cut staff and end many operations at its Voice of America (VOA) unit. In another blow to the Donald Trump administration’s attempts to diminish various government agencies, US District Judge Royce Lamberth granted ‌a summary judgment in favour of plaintiffs – including VOA journalists and a...

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had killed three key commanders from the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in a strike on a hotel in central Beirut, which it said left five Guards dead. “Overnight, the Israeli Navy, directed by precise IDF (Israel Defence Forces) intelligence, conducted a precise strike in Beirut, Lebanon, targeting five commanders from the IRGC’s Lebanon Corps and Palestine Corps while they were meeting at a hotel in Beirut,” the military said. In a...

Gulf nations reported missile and drone attacks on Sunday, while Iran vowed to press on with strikes against neighbouring countries as the regional war entered its second week. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait all reported new attacks, after loud explosions were heard in Dubai and Bahrain’s Manama a day earlier. Kuwait’s national oil company announced a “precautionary” cut to its crude production, as the country’s military said on Sunday it had responded “to a wave of hostile drones that...

US President Donald Trump said he had told Kurdish forces not to enter the Iran war as the US and Israel continued launching strikes against Tehran. “The war is complicated enough without having – getting the Kurds involved,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday on his way back to Florida after attending a military service for six fallen US soldiers. “We’re very friendly with the Kurds, as you know, but we don’t want to make the war any more complex than it already is. I have...

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po delivered his latest budget on February 25. Over the past decade, under his stewardship, Hong Kong has weathered multiple economic shocks and recently returned to a respectable growth rate of 3.5 per cent. Yet the tasks ahead are formidable: addressing a structural fiscal deficit in the city’s capital account while ensuring sufficient resources for future growth, all against an increasingly volatile and dangerous global backdrop. Article 107 of Hong Kong’s...

The Iran war exploded further late on Saturday as pillars of flame rose above an oil storage facility in Tehran and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “many surprises” for the next phase of the week-old conflict. Iranian state media confirmed the strike as video footage showed the horizon glowing against the night sky. Israel’s military confirmed new strikes that shook neighbourhoods in Tehran’s east and south but did not immediately comment on targets. It appeared to be the...

Gulf nations on Saturday reported new missile and drone attacks, while Iran vowed to press on with its strikes against neighbouring countries. Loud explosions were heard in Dubai, the Qatari capital Doha and Bahrain, while attacks were later reported in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, where the national oil company announced a “precautionary” cut to production. The attacks came despite Iran’s president earlier apologising to Gulf countries for prior strikes, saying they would no longer...

Oscar nominee Timothee Chalamet is the front runner to take home the golden statuette for Marty Supreme – but he definitely has not won fans in the ballet and opera worlds. In a town hall discussion late last month with Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey hosted by CNN and Variety, the 30-year-old Chalamet was discussing the future of movie theatres and whether the advent of streaming will spell doom for cinemas. “If people want to see it – like Barbie, like Oppenheimer – they’re going to go see it...

US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Latin American nations to use military power against the “cancer” of drug cartels and offered to support them with US missile strikes targeting narco kingpins. Trump, currently waging a war with Iran, laid out a muscular position for advancing Washington’s interests in the western hemisphere, pronouncing that communist-led Cuba was “in its last moments of life” and advocating tough action by allies against organised crime blighting the region. He...

Prosecutors say one of the two men who were arrested hoped the attack would be deadlier than the Boston Marathon bombing. Officials said they are seeing increasing signs of radicalization.

The verdict comes more than a month after the trial began in Federal District Court in Manhattan where the jury heard weeks of emotional and often graphic testimony.

Balendra Shah’s party won a landslide in the election that followed Nepal’s Gen Z revolution. His style is pugnacious.

In a rare joint appearance, Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Brett M. Kavanaugh offered sharply different views on how the court should handle emergency requests.

The ruling found that the three-person leadership team in New Jersey’s federal prosecutor’s office was illegal, and sharply questioned President Trump’s priorities.

More solar energy was added to U.S. grids than any other technology, but the amount installed fell by 14 percent, according to a new report.

As the G.O.P. gathered in Miami for a party retreat where lawmakers hoped to focus on the economy, the president threatened to block his own party’s legislative agenda.

Hollywood’s archetypical agent has been showing a very different side of himself as a host of a video podcast called “Rushmore.”

The university said it was investigating a company owned by a podcaster after the president, Walter Carter Jr., said he had “made a mistake.”

Billionaires made 19 percent of all reported federal campaign contributions in 2024, a Times analysis shows, and even more in some local elections. Wealthy donors are reaping the rewards.

Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas led a delegation of Democrats to a South Texas detention center to press for the release of the brothers and their family.

After the sprawling and chaotic federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota, jurisdictions in other states have been bracing for a range of scenarios.

Some of the disgraced financier’s victims have said they were trafficked at the property south of Santa Fe, where the nearest neighbors are miles away.

The sports and marketing agency is contending with the fallout from the Epstein files, and it is continuing to look for a buyer.

The company is seeking F.C.C. approval to test an idea to reflect sunlight to Earth at night, possibly powering solar panels. Critics say it could be bad for people and wildlife.

Nadia Schadlow, a deputy national security adviser during Trump’s first term, explains how the U.S.-Israel war with Iran fits in with an “America First” agenda.

Only when the U.S.-Israeli bombing of Iran comes to a halt, without destroying the state, can the Iranian people sort out their fate.

“You can lie about many things in American life, but one thing you can’t lie about is gas prices,” Late Night host Seth Meyers said. “Everyone sees it.”

He served in the Special Forces, led a postwar raid to find P.O.W.s and became a voice of the right-wing anti-government fringe.

The fireball from space was spotted by a network of sky-watching cameras in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany.

The State Assembly and Senate are each calling for the state to raise taxes, piggybacking on a push by Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City.

Influencers have long hawked supplements on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Increasingly, the influencers are fake.