Minimalist News

Bloom Energy Defends Supply Chain, Calls Hunterbrook Report "False And Misleading" Bloom Energy is responding forcefully against allegations made by short seller Hunterbrook Capital, rejecting the firm's claims about its accounting, supply chain and growth prospects a day after a report sent shares sharply lower. The clean energy company said Thursday that Hunterbrook's assertions regarding its financial reporting and access to critical raw materials are "false and misleading," according to a statement reported by Bloomberg. The response comes after Hunterbrook published an investigation on July 8 that questioned Bloom's independence from Chinese suppliers and argued that the company's long-term manufacturing

Porsche Sales Tumble To Weakest In Six Years As Chinese Demand Plummets Days after Germany's top financial newspaper, Handelsblatt, reported that Porsche AG is planning more than 4,000 job cuts, the sports-car maker on Thursday revealed first-half sales figures that were the weakest in six years, with its China business falling off a cliff. For the January to June period, Porsche reported 122,306 vehicle deliveries across global markets, a 16% decline from the same period a year earlier. The first-half slump marked Porsche's weakest sales performance since 2020, with its top market, North America, seeing a 13% decline in vehicle

Return To War: Iran Fires Ballistic Missiles At Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, After US Struck 170 Iranian Targets Just as the US nighttime strikes were significantly bigger than prior rounds in June, so has Iran's 'retaliation' been bigger - chiefly on Gulf states and American bases there. In the overnight and Thursday daytime hours, Iranian ballistic missiles and drones have targeted Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and even faraway Jordan . The country is reporting that it has intercepted several missiles, which targeted Muwaffaq Salti Air Base - jointly operated by US and Jordanian forces. Oil prices have persisted above prewar levels

Canada Just Admitted Justin Trudeau's Climate Agenda Was A Scam Authored by Andrew Moran via LibertyNation.com, Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave Canada a lost decade. A key contributor to the country’s stagnation was the Liberal government’s obsession with climate change and its ushering in of green energy policies that were disastrous for a nation rich in natural resources. To make Canada great again, Prime Minister Mark Carney is abandoning climate alarmism and embracing what made the country wealthy in the first place: crude oil. Canada Loves Oil Again On June 30, the prime minister published a 17-minute YouTube video,

'Slow Hire, No Fire' Economy Continues As Jobless Claims Remain Near Record Lows The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time fell to to 215k last week (versus 217k exp), remaining near multi-decade lows... California and Missouri saw the biggest increase in initial claims while New Jersey and Connecticut saw the largest decline... Continuing jobless claims ticked higher (highest since March) but remains well off cycle highs from Q4... Despite disappointing payrolls (though jobs are still being added, though at a slower pace)... ...jobless claims data suggests there is no labor market stress as the economy

Futures Rise, Oil Drops As Markets Ignore Latest Middle East Airstrikes Futures are higher (although off session highs), and oil erased overnight gains as the market moved past the latest Middle-East flare up which saw the US military strike 90 Iranian targets for a second day and Tehran retaliated against American allies in the Persian Gulf. And like during previous escalations, this time nobody believes it will last. As of 8:00am ET S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 contracts gained 0.6% as semiconductor stocks advanced in Asia, Europe and US premarket trading after SK Hynix drew strong demand

SK Hynix's US Offering Reportedly Seven Times Oversubscribed The KOSPI struggled for direction overnight, erasing most of an opening rally that briefly pushed the South Korean main equity index up as much as 4.1%. The real strength was in memory stocks, with SK Hynix surging as much as 10% as investors piled back in. This move comes as Bloomberg reports the company's US ADR listing is more than seven times oversubscribed, underscoring strong institutional demand. The report said SK Hynix is selling 177.9 million American depositary receipts, with each ADR equal to one-tenth of a common share. Based on the

Biden Defender JB Pritzker Now Claims Trump Has 'Dementia' Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA , Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker , one of President Joe Biden’s most vocal defenders when the former president faced questions about his mental acuity, is now claiming President Donald Trump has dementia. Pritzker made the remarks during a June 29 interview with CNN host Caitlin Collins while discussing Trump’s criticism of democratic socialism. Trump had argued that socialism represents a similar threat to the country than historical crises. “The man is continually suffering from dementia. I don’t think he really understands what he’s saying,”

"We're Gonna Win Someday": Graham Platner Suspends His Senate Campaign Update: Graham Platner, the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine, announced Wednesday that he's suspending his campaign. The move comes two days after Politico reported allegations of rape against him by a former girlfriend. He posted an emotional video explaining his decision. "And I just want to make it clear this is all false," Platner said. "The things that have been claimed did not happen; it's not real." He described the past few days as an ordeal no regular person should have to survive, a normal guy suddenly

Canada Just Unleashed Its Fastest-Growing Oil Boom In A Decade Who says price isn't a rationing mechanism? Rather than sink billions into long-term oil sands projects, Alberta energy companies are increasingly chasing the Clearwater formation, a conventional heavy oil field that allows producers to capitalize on rising crude prices far more quickly, according to Bloomberg . The surge in activity has been significant. Alberta approved 1,764 drilling licenses between Jan. 1 and June 12, the busiest start to a year since 2014. Roughly one-fifth of those permits were for Clearwater wells, marking the highest proportion ever recorded. The formation is

Cocoa Prices Rally As Jefferies Warns Of "Perfect Storm" In West Africa Cocoa futures in New York have doubled since the start of March and have now climbed back toward levels not seen since late 2025, around $6,000 a ton, as Jefferies analysts warn that a " perfect storm's a-brewing " across West Africa, the world's top cocoa-farming region. Jefferies analyst Scott Marks wrote in a note on Tuesday that new weather concerns center on Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world's top cocoa-growing regions. He said that temperatures in both countries have been about 2F below five-year averages since March,

Iran Hits Back, Launching Missiles On Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar - Ignoring Trump's Warning Of "Much Worse" Bombing Summary Iran retaliates : air defenses reportedly active over Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait. Trump threatens "it will get much worse" after Wednesday night US attack wave commences along Iran's coast. Trump tells NATO summit that Iran wants to assassinate him : "on every single one of their list." Iran threatens to reclose the Strait of Hormuz and suspended final talks with the US. The US earlier revoked an Iranian oil waiver & now signals readiness to restore a maritime blockade . Trump said the

Europe's Utility Sector Is 'On The Brink Of A New Regime' Authored by Gregor Morris via BondVigilantes.com, Europe’s utilities sector is on the brink of a generational shift. After more than a decade of subdued demand, the system is being forced to modernize, rebuild and expand. Electrification, datacentres, renewable integration and ageing infrastructure are converging into what can only be described as unprecedented capital expenditure programmes across the sector. Simplistically, the bullish narrative is a convergence of rising electricity demand, visible investment pipelines, increase in regulated investments and improving returns. However, the same forces driving growth are also set to

Study Finds Self-Driving Cars Crash More Often, But Cause Far Fewer Injuries Self-driving cars may be involved in more crashes than human drivers on a per-mile basis, but the evidence suggests those accidents are generally far less likely to result in serious injuries or fatalities, according to Aulsbrook Car & Truck Lawyers . A review of autonomous vehicle safety data found self-driving vehicles are involved in about 9.1 crashes per million miles traveled, compared with roughly 4.1 for human-driven vehicles. However, the report found autonomous vehicle crashes are typically much less severe, with significantly fewer injuries and no recorded fatalities

Trump To Delist Syria From Terror Designation, Boasts Of Putting 'Fantastic' Sharaa In Power Via Middle East Eye US President Donald Trump lavished rare praise on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday, calling him "fantastic" and "highly respected", as the two leaders met on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. The meeting itself is a win for Sharaa, who was first introduced to Trump a little over a year ago in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, before finding himself in the Oval Office exchanging gifts with the US president by November. No Syrian leader - and certainly not one

Tourist Nightmare: Toxic "Bone-Cutting" Fish Invades Mediterranean Beaches Tourists heading to the Mediterranean are being urged to watch out for an invasive species of toxic pufferfish that has spread across popular beach destinations in Greece and other coastal countries, according to the Daily Mail . The silver-cheeked toadfish, originally native to the Indian Ocean, is believed to have entered the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal as rising sea temperatures expanded its range. Officials say the fish is now common in parts of Greece, including Rhodes, and has spread as far as Italy and Spain. The species poses multiple hazards. It

EU Mandates Dystopian In-Car Cameras To Monitor Every Driver's Face Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News , The European Union has made it official. Every brand-new passenger car, van, truck, and bus sold or first registered across the bloc must now carry interior-facing cameras that track the driver's gaze, head movements, and attention levels. The system, called Advanced Driver Distraction Warning or ADDW, forms part of the final phase of the updated 'General Safety Regulation' for all vehicles. The compulsory hardware activates at low speeds and tightens requirements as velocity increases, issuing escalating visual, acoustic, or haptic warnings when

How The Global Economy Became The World's Most Dangerous Battlefield Authored by Madge Waggy , The twenty-first century has introduced a form of confrontation that rarely appears on television screens, is seldom announced through diplomatic declarations, and almost never begins with the spectacle traditionally associated with war. Its progression is quieter, considerably more sophisticated, and arguably more consequential than many conventional conflicts because its primary objective is not the occupation of territory but the gradual acquisition of economic leverage capable of influencing political decisions, technological innovation, industrial production, and ultimately the everyday lives of billions of people. What follows is

US Military Races To Harden Strategic Nuclear Bases With Counter-Drone AI Shield Defense company AeroVironment has won an $80.5 million order from the Joint Interagency Task Force 401 for its Titan MS counter-drone system, expanding the Department of War's efforts to secure critical defense infrastructure and other homeland sites from AI drone swarm attacks. The award falls under a previously announced $500 million sole-source IDIQ contract and will support the Air Force Global Strike Command's layered defenses against suicide drones attempting to breach airspace over strategic nuclear bases. "This investment provides operators with the tools to detect, track, and defend

US Navy Backs 3,800 MPH-Speeding Blackbeard Hypersonic Missile With First Contract Authored by Sujita Sinha via Interesting Engineering , The U.S. Navy has awarded defense technology startup Castelion its first production contract for the Blackbeard hypersonic missile . This $23.4 million deal includes 50 pre-production missiles and shows the Navy is ready to move the program past development and testing. The U.S. Navy awarded Castellion a contract to deliver Blackbeard hypersonic missiles. Castelion This contract comes as the Pentagon looks for faster, more affordable hypersonic weapons for long-range strikes. For Castelion, it is the first step toward making Blackbeard at

Activist is challenging ruling last year that restored colonial-era homophobic law against same-sex intimacy Some of the UK’s top judges are hearing arguments over whether a Trinidad and Tobago court had the legal right to overturn a 2018 ruling to remove colonial-era homophobic laws that criminalise anal sex between consenting men. The country’s “ buggery law ”, often referred to as its “sodomy” law, was created in 1925 and was written into Trinidad and Tobago’s 1986 Sexual Offences Act . In 2017 a Trinidadian LGBTQ+ rights activist, Jason Jones , challenged the law, and in 2018 a high court ruled

Celeste Amarilla could face charges after French Football Federation complains about social media posts over World Cup match Prosecutors in France have opened an investigation into the racist attack on Kylian Mbappé by a Paraguayan senator, with officials weighing whether to demand that the senator be charged with aggravated public insult or incitement to hatred or violence. The Paris prosecutor’s office told the Guardian on Tuesday it had launched the inquiry after the French Football Federation (FFF) filed a complaint with the national unit for combating online hate. Continue reading...

Impoverished island was already struggling to keep the lights on before the US imposed a blockade in January Cuba on Monday suffered its third nationwide power outage since the start of the year, the state electricity company said. The impoverished island was already struggling to keep the lights on before the US president, Donald Trump, imposed an oil blockade in January, which has depleted the already dwindling supply of fuel for Cuba’s power plants. Continue reading...

TKMS beats South Korean rival to multibillion-dollar contract that will deepen Canada’s Nato ties Canada has selected a German consortium to build a dozen cutting-edge submarines in one of the country’s largest-ever defence contracts that will further deepen its Nato ties before a crucial summit this week. On Monday the prime minister, Mark Carney, announced the winner of a tightly contested battle for the lucrative government contract to replace its fleet of ageing, secondhand subs, most of which are undergoing maintenance. Continue reading...

Arrival of endangered cats, including rare white cub, revitalises team straining under fuel and medicine shortages For the Cuban zookeeper Ángel Cordero, the sight of four Bengal ⁠tiger cubs playing in a cage at the Cuban national zoo is a small miracle on an island stifled by shortages ⁠of fuel, medicine and ⁠days-long power outages. The ​birth of these endangered big cats – including an exceedingly rare white tiger – has revitalised a team of zoo workers, he said. Continue reading...

Local media in Hengzhou report king ratsnakes and cobras among hundreds in flood waters caused by typhoon Maysak Hundreds of snakes, including cobras, have escaped from flooded breeding farms in southern China as severe storms continue to batter parts of the country. State media reported that a snake farm in Hengzhou, in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was hit by flood waters after days of heavy rainfall caused by typhoon Maysak , prompting warnings for nearby residents. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed Telstra outage: Telco apologises for major time-keeping issue that hit mobiles, trains and triple-zero calls Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Telstra outage reported to be cause of Victoria train stoppage There is a long list of cancelled trains on the official V/line site, but the TL/DR is that Victoria’s regional train network has ground to a halt. Due to a radio network fault affecting the network, services are currently unable to operate … Passengers are advised to defer travel where possible. Continue reading...

Chinese leader Xi Jinping calls for ‘all out’ rescue effort as death toll rises and 16 people ⁠remain buried after a ⁠landslide in the country’s west The death toll from devastating storms in parts of China rose to 15 on Tuesday, with hundreds more injured and tens of thousands evacuated, state media reported, as the country’s leader, Xi Jinping, urged “all out” efforts to rescue people affected by the weather. Thunderstorms and gale-force winds killed at least 11 people and injured 331 in the central province of Hubei, where “severe convective weather” hit cities, while tornadoes were reported elsewhere late

Solomon Islands prime minister says he doesn’t want to see more countries testing ICBMs in Pacific, adding ‘be our friend but don’t threaten us’ Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has said China’s weapons test in the Pacific risks fuelling dangerous nuclear proliferation, with the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fired on Monday capable of causing “considerable damage” if weaponised. International condemnation has grown overnight after China’s state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday that a “strategic missile carrying a dummy warhead” had been launched from a “strategic nuclear submarine of the navy”. Continue reading...

Tropical storm causes extreme flooding in south of the country with heavy rainfall expected in coming days A tropical storm has killed two people, caused dam breaches and forced tens of thousands to evacuate in southern China. Typhoon Maysak killed two people in Nanning, in China’s southern Guangxi province. Maysak, which lashed Vietnam and China’s southern island province of Hainan over the weekend, will dump the water it sucked up on its way ⁠across the South China Sea as it weakens and heads inland, meteorologists say. Continue reading...

Exclusive: ‘The preferred policy is, of course, a carbon price,’ Dr Huw McKay says, amid slowdown in BHP action on emissions Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A former chief economist at mining company BHP says stronger climate policy by governments is needed to “move the needle” and incentivise tough decarbonisation decisions at major resource companies. Internal documents, leaked to Guardian Australia and the ABC earlier this year, showed BHP had delayed vast renewables projects in the Pilbara, scrapped a project that would have delivered significant cuts to global emissions, and war-gamed options to

Exclusive : Documents show $117,455.50 was spent in a single legal fight over laws rushed through after Bondi attack Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The New South Wales government has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees to unsuccessfully defend constitutional challenges against protest laws that were expected to be struck down. The costs, outlined in documents obtained by Guardian Australia via freedom of information legislation, include $117,455.50 of taxpayers’ money on a single challenge to controversial public assembly restriction declaration (Pard) laws. Those laws were enacted following the Bondi

A brown huntsman is the quickest of more than 250 species analysed by scientists in the UK and Germany If arachnophobes were not frightened enough by the horrific ability of Australia’s huntsman spiders to drag dead mice up the sides of fridges , they now have another reason. They might be the fastest spiders on the planet. Continue reading...

Indian prime minister wows crowd of 25,000 at Marvel Stadium as he praises role of diaspora in the India-Australia success story Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The throb of the drum beats intensified as the crowd of 25,000 Indian Australians prepared to welcome India’s prime minister back to Melbourne after more than a decade. As Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese stepped onto the red carpet at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night, twinkling phone lights illuminated the feverish audience as they chanted “Modi, Modi, Modi.”

Premier Jeremy Rockliff says the ‘traffic cones and street signs of Tasmania can breathe a small sigh of relief’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A one-tonne southern elephant seal named Neil, whose beachside antics have attracted millions of views on social media, appears to have returned to sea. The five-year-old has spent several weeks at his usual twice-yearly haul-out spot in southern Tasmania. Continue reading...

Greenland Energy says billions of barrels of crude lie beneath territory and claims it has exploration permits – a claim flatly denied by Nuuk On 10 June, a snowy-haired American in his 60s addressed the residents of a remote Greenland hamlet. He was there to tell them about a business venture supported by figures linked to Donald Trump. “So,” Robert Price said via an interpreter, “we have a project to drill for oil here.” The Texas oil company that Price represents, Greenland Energy, hopes to prove that billions of barrels of crude lie underground by bringing in 300 shipping containers

Some stations in Spain recorded temperatures of up to 44C after western Europe experienced the warmest June on record A high temperature warning has also been issued for a dozen counties in the Republic of Ireland, PA reported. Irish national forecaster Met Éireann said temperatures could exceed 27C during the day with overnight temperatures staying above 15C. The agency warned of water safety issues, heat stress, and uncomfortable sleeping conditions as a result. Continue reading...

Measures aim to make it easier for victims to gain compensation, with firms such as Bolt and Lime held responsible for damage Victims hit by rental e-scooters on German streets will have an easier time gaining compensation from their operators under legislation due to be passed in parliament that would put the vehicles on a legal footing similar to that of cars. The draft law by the right-left coalition government, which has been welcomed by consumer rights advocates, says that given the rapid rise in the use of e-scooters in recent years coupled with high accident rates, rental operators such

Airports have had to use gazebos to shield passengers from sun as they wait to be processed, says Alexander Zinell The boss of 14 Greek airports has called for a serious overhaul of the EU’s new border checks after having to erect gazebos for passengers queuing outside. Alexander Zinell, the chief executive of Fraport Greece, joined a growing chorus of critics calling out “fundamental flaws” in the entry-exit system (EES), which requires non-EU passengers to have their fingerprints and photo taken at the start of their trip and verified every time they leave or re-enter the Schengen zone. Continue reading...

Demonstrations at 18 sites set up as radical transformation plan put to board of Europe’s biggest carmaker Volkswagen’s proposal to slash up to 100,000 jobs and close factories faces a major test on Thursday as they are formally put to its supervisory board, with protests planned at all plants in Germany. IG Metall, the influential staff union, has organised demonstrations involving shop stewards and union council members at 18 sites at Europe’s biggest carmaker, including its headquarters. It told the chief executive, Oliver Blume, that he cannot “pass the buck for failures of recent years on to the workforce”. Continue

Sides exchange strikes with Iranian media saying attacks reported near facility in Bushehr Kuwait’s foreign ministry has issued a statement condemning the Iranian attacks against the country. It reads almost identical to the statement issued yesterday, although emphasises Kuwait’s sovereignty is “a red line” . “The state of Kuwait reserves its full rights to take all necessary measures to protect its security and preserve its sovereignty,” it said. Continue reading...

Residents in Bandar Abbas and Sirik regions describe communities in fear and ‘feeling abandoned’ after US launch fresh strikes over two-day period Residents in southern Iran have described two nights of fear this week after explosions shook coastal communities as the US launched fresh strikes on targets including the port cities of Bandar Abbas and Sirik . US Central Command confirmed the attacks, saying they were carried out to “further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz”. Continue reading...

At least 17 people killed in Iran in overnight attacks as Trump declares the agreement ‘over’ Middle East crisis live – latest updates The US and Iran traded strikes hours before the burial of the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday, with 17 people killed by US strikes while Tehran launched attacks against American bases in the region, straining an already shaky ceasefire . The tit-for-tat strikes were the largest since Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 17 June aimed at extending the ceasefire and giving space for negotiations for a permanent truce. Continue

Attacks on three locations across Iran came after three tankers in the strait of Hormuz were targeted on Tuesday The US military carried out strikes on Iran for a second day, hours after president Donald Trump said that an interim agreement to end the war was “over” . Late on Wednesday Iranian state media reported explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas in the strait of Hormuz; in Sirik, another southern coastal city; and the south-western Bushehr province, home to Iran’s nuclear-power-plant complex. Continue reading...

US president says new strikes are ‘retribution’ after ships hit in strait of Hormuz; Iranian state media report explosions in several locations US carries out another wave of strikes on Iran Wednesday’s strikes against Iran expected to be ​greater in number than those carried out on Tuesday, an unnamed U.S. official told Reuters. Sahar, a 34-year-old teacher in Tehran who uses only one name to protect her identity, said the latest attacks have left families worried about new strikes on the residential areas. “Every night we remain alert, in fear, and charge our phones, keep our packed bags near the

Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in prison in India, is accused of orchestrating assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023 US and Canadian authorities say they have “dismantled” the leadership of a notorious Indian criminal group, charging dozens of operatives who have “inflicted pain and cruelty on people, victims around the globe”, including a high-profile murder in Canada that strained diplomatic relations between Canada and India. At a press conference on Tuesday, members of the FBI and Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said as part of Operation Hard Ball – a multiyear federal investigation into murder-for-hire plots, shootings, extortion and

Early flight data shows K2 Airways plane crashed into sea with five crew on board south-west of Karachi Pakistan has located the wreckage of a Boeing cargo plane, the country’s airports authority said, adding that rescuers were searching for the five crew members on board when the aircraft went missing. The plane was approaching Karachi from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates when radar showed it “rapidly descending” on Tuesday evening after reporting a “navigational system issue”, according to the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA). Continue reading...

Amnesty International says Albanese has opportunity to ‘reaffirm mutual commitment’ to rule of law as thousands in diaspora expected at stadium event Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Australia in three years has sparked calls for the federal government to raise human rights concerns, as excitement builds within the nation’s Indian diaspora. Modi’s visit begins on Wednesday evening and marks his third since becoming prime minister. It will see him return to Melbourne after more than

Thousands of women are killed in dowry disputes each year, despite the practice being banned in 1961 Dowry deaths in India no longer provoke the public anger they once did, despite thousands of women’s lives still being lost every year, according to new research. The killings – women who are murdered or driven to suicide following dowry disputes between families – have also faded from political debate, despite an increase in cases. Continue reading...

Victims with cuts and gunshot injuries rushed to hospital after fighting between prisoners from two drug gangs Clashes at a Sri Lankan jail have killed 26 people, including seven guards, and wounded more than 100 in the country’s deadliest prison riot in years, officials said. Victims with cuts and gunshot injuries were rushed to Negombo hospital, north of the capital Colombo after overnight fighting between prisoners from two drug gangs, police said on Monday. Continue reading...

Reform UK leader also tells the Daily Mail he did not anticipate main parties would not stand candidates in Clacton byelection Reform activists urged to switch focus from Manchester to Farage’s Clacton contest The untold story of why Reform figures face NCA scrutiny Andy Burnham has posted a video on social media confirming that he has nominated himself for Labour leader. Nominations opened this morning. Labour will publish daily updates on how many nominations he has received (it’s an open process, and so names of MPs nominating a candidate are published), and Burnham says we should get the first update

Exclusive: Source close to co-claimant Prince Harry says he is protective of social campaigner and will not ‘see her out of pocket’ Doreen Lawrence, the social justice campaigner, will not foot any of a multimillion-pound bill for the failed attempt to sue the publisher of the Daily Mail, the Guardian understands. Lawrence, the mother of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence , whose case was the subject of a long-running Daily Mail campaign from the late 1990s, was one of seven claimants defeated in court over claims the Mail titles used unlawful methods to source stories. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Questions grow over George Cottrell’s role as party says he has never held an official position UK politics live – latest updates Why is Farage quitting as an MP, only to stand again? George Cottrell was routinely introduced as Nigel Farage’s chief of staff before the 2024 election despite denials that he had any official role, according to a Reform UK candidate who stood aside for the party leader. Others who have been closely involved in the party have also claimed Cottrell arranged the Land Rovers that ferried Reform’s newly elected MPs to parliament, and that he covered the

Questions swirl about origins of gifts, loans and donations as even party supporters wonder if it can weather the storm UK politics live – latest updates Why is Farage quitting as an MP, only to stand again? Scrutiny is mounting on Reform UK’s finances. On Tuesday, amid an investigation by parliamentary standards into an undisclosed £5m gift, Nigel Farage announced he would resign and trigger a byelection in his constituency of Clacton-on-Sea. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Party hoped to mount serious challenge in mayoral race but attention has been diverted to Essex UK politics live – latest updates Reform UK activists have been urged to divert from the Greater Manchester mayoral byelection to support Nigel Farage’s “fake” contest 250 miles away in Clacton. A WhatsApp message shared with party members in north-west England said: “The message could not be more clear. We now need all of our fantastic activists, branch officers and councillors to come and help us in Clacton.” Continue reading...

David Hearn was charged with a single felony count of property destruction last week Sign up for the Breaking News US email Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn has pleaded not guilty to vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. Hearn, 67, from Maryland, was arrested last month after stopping by the pool on a bike ride. He told several outlets that he was detained for almost five hours after he reached into the water to inspect what he described a piece of the blue liner that was partially detached from the bottom of the pool as he was curious what it

David Hearn is accused of destroying ‘American flag blue’ lining material on the bottom of the reflecting pool David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to damaging Washington’s reflecting pool after a $14.7m renovation project. Hearn, a three-time US Olympian, was indicted last week on a single felony count of property destruction. He appeared in local superior court in Washington DC, to enter the plea after he was criminally charged over the incident in mid-June. Continue reading...

‘Highly unprecedented anomaly’ meant 135 people given incorrect scores and wrongly informed of promotions The air force has canceled the promotions of dozens of service members after discovering what it said was a grading error in a test of their security knowledge. The “isolated and highly unprecedented anomaly” was announced in a press release on Tuesday, which said 135 airmen and women had been awarded incorrect scores on the security forces specialty knowledge test (SKT) and been wrongly informed they had earned promotion. Continue reading...

Officials say climate crisis ‘worsening our exposure’ to bacteria as at least 28 people sickened in Manhattan A New York outbreak of legionnaires’ disease, a rare but severe form of pneumonia, highlights the microbe’s growing and disproportionate impacts in a warming climate. At least 28 people have been sickened in an outbreak on the Upper East Side, a wealthy neighborhood between Central Park and the East River in Manhattan. Health department officials, seeking to stop the outbreak, have sampled water from nearly 160 building cooling towers to test for the bacteria. Continue reading...

City seeking bids to build and operate separate terminal, following Los Angeles, London and other cities Sick of the TSA lines? Tired of playing musical chairs at the gate? Rather sit as far from your fellow airplane passengers for as long as possible, in the comfort of your own private, luxury airport terminal? Soon you may get your wish. And San Francisco international airport wants to be your genie – for a fee. Continue reading...

China called on the United States and Iran to stick with peace plans after a resumption of missile strikes in the Middle East spurred a jump in oil prices. “Reigniting the conflict does not serve any party’s interests,” a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday. “We call on the US and Iran to follow through on their memorandum of understanding, resolve disputes through dialogue and negotiation, and avoid resorting to force.” Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose...

Graham Platner, a scandal-plagued Democratic Senate nominee whose insurgent rise had drawn comparisons to Donald Trump, ended his campaign on Wednesday after a rape allegation threatened to derail one of his party’s best chances of flipping a Republican-held seat. Platner, a Marine veteran, oysterman and political newcomer, won last month’s Democratic primary in the northeastern state of Maine to face Republican Senator Susan Collins in November’s midterm elections. His withdrawal gives Maine...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to rehear a case challenging his executive order curtailing birthright citizenship, a long-shot ‌bid to reverse the court’s rejection of one of his signature policies. The court last month rejected Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship in the US, ruling that his directive violated language in the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment that confers ⁠citizenship to those born in the United States who are...

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte defended US President Donald Trump’s criticism of the transatlantic security alliance, while saying this year’s summit showed “a huge sense of unity” and produced procurement plans worth tens of billions of dollars. During a press conference after the North Atlantic Council meeting of leaders at the Nato summit hosted by Turkey in Ankara on Wednesday, Rutte said this year’s gathering had resulted in more than US$50 billion in procurement deals as part of efforts...

The United States launched new air strikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar in crossfire that again threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Persian Gulf. Back-and-forth attacks, including a day earlier, have repeatedly threatened the ceasefire, but Thursday’s appeared bigger all around, with sirens sounding at least three times in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters, and missiles targeting Kuwait and...

A California man who swapped a library’s 17th century Chinese manuscript for a fake was sentenced on Wednesday after admitting to stealing a major artwork. Jeffrey Ying used a number of aliases to get access to classic works, some over 600 years old, at the library of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the Department of Justice said. Ying, 39, would check the works out and return days later with dummy manuscripts. He would frequently travel to China shortly thereafter, officials...

A judge on Wednesday authorised the payment of a multimillion-dollar award to magazine writer E. Jean Carroll to satisfy a 2023 civil verdict in which a jury found US President ‌Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan ordered the disbursement of nearly US$5.8 million to the former Elle magazine advice columnist, representing the original US$5 million verdict plus interest. The funds had been held in escrow while Trump appealed the...

British anti-immigrant politician Nigel Farage faces the embarrassing prospect of going head-to-head with perennial joke candidate Count Binface in a by-election after he decided to quit Parliament. His surprise move threatened to backfire Wednesday after other heavyweight parties confirmed they would not contest the vote for Farage’s seat in southeast England. Count Binface, a self-described “intergalactic space warrior”, is the only other person to have said so far that they would run. In a...

US President Donald Trump unexpectedly left Turkey on Wednesday aboard an older Air Force One rather than the newly renovated Qatari-donated jet that brought him there, but later boarded the new plane in Britain for the flight to Washington. The trip to Turkey for the Nato summit, the first international travel for the new ‌plane, took place as hostilities escalated with Iran, a country that borders Turkey. The unexpected plane switch followed months of scrutiny over the luxury gift intended to...

The Pitt led all nominees with 25 in a dominant second season, while Hacks led all comedies with 24 for its final season as the Emmy nominations were announced on Wednesday. HBO Max’s emergency room series The Pitt was a rookie upstart last year with big wins including best drama series, best actor for Noah Wyle and best supporting actress for Katherine LaNasa. Already a beloved veteran show, it owned this year’s acting categories. Wyle was nominated again, as was LaNasa. Taylor Dearden, Fiona...

Spain remained calm in the face of US President Donald Trump’s latest attack on Wednesday – which saw him order a halt to all trade with the country – as Madrid stressed its relationship with Washington remained “positive”. Trump called Spain a “wasted cause” and “hopeless, bad people” during comments to reporters ahead of a Nato leaders’ meeting in Ankara, and ordered officials to cut off trade with the country – the second time Trump has made such a threat since March. The US leader has...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday modestly downgraded its outlook for the world economy this year, citing the energy shock caused by the Iran war. But the fallout from the conflict is being partially offset by booming investment in artificial intelligence and other technologies. The IMF now expects the global economy to expand by a sluggish 3 per cent in 2026, down from 3.5 per cent last year and from the 3.1 per cent it had forecast for this year back in April. The fund expects...

At least two girls have been seriously wounded and a 16-year-old suspect arrested after an attack at a secondary school in the southern German state of Bavaria on Wednesday. The perpetrator appeared to have deliberately targeted the Welfen grammar school in the town of Schongau in a suspected “rampage”, a police spokeswoman said. She was unable to confirm press reports according to which the assailant used a knife in the attack. Local police said on their social media account that “a suspected...

A German palliative care doctor was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for murdering 15 people with lethal doses of sedatives, and he remains under investigation for dozens more killings. The court in Berlin convicted the 41-year-old of killing 12 women and three men during home visits between September 2021 and July 2024. But presiding judge Sylvia Busch said the conviction for 15 murders may well be only a glimpse of his many crimes. Prosecutors said during the proceedings that he was...

In the animated Soviet film The Golden Antelope, inspired by Indian folklore, a magical antelope tries to save a boy from a greedy raja by promising him as much gold as he wants. When she asks whether there can be too much, the raja laughs: “You can never give me too much gold.” But when the gold begins to bury him, he cries “enough” – and loses everything. Today’s financial system risks repeating the raja’s mistake. For too long, rising nominal wealth, asset prices and the fortunes of the ultra...

Norwegian police said on Wednesday that 28 men across seven countries had been arrested in an operation targeting buyers of material depicting sexual abuse of children. Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos), said the men had used the cryptocurrency Monero to pay for access to several forums on the dark web. “We have worked closely with six countries to coordinate the arrests of the identified users who paid with cryptocurrency to gain access to the forums,” police prosecutor...

Russian forces are trying to counter Ukrainian “mid-strike” drone attacks by camouflaging cargoes ⁠and installing powerful jamming systems to disrupt Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system, Ukrainian drone commanders and pilots have said. Kyiv’s development of “mid-strike” drones that can hit targets dozens of kilometres behind front lines accurately and cheaply, and are often flown via Starlink, has transformed the war in Ukraine. In a concerted mid-strike campaign this year, Ukraine...

Apple lost its challenge on Wednesday against landmark EU rules that designate its app stores and operating system iOS as gatekeepers subject to obligations aimed at giving rivals more room to compete. The EU Digital Markets Act (DMA), which sets out a list of dos and don’ts ‌for Big Tech with the threat of fines of as much as 10 per cent of a company’s global annual turnover, has triggered legal challenges by Apple, Meta and ByteDance since it took effect in May 2023. The ruling by the...

As another heatwave rolled across Europe, the warehouses emptied before the politics could catch up. Air conditioners and fans sold out across Spain, Italy and Germany, most of them Chinese. Fan sales in Spain alone on the retail platform of Alibaba Group Holding (which owns the South China Morning Post) nearly doubled last month while Midea Group’s air-conditioner sales in western Europe surged by over 70 per cent in the first six months of the year. A decade from now, such heatwaves may become...

British Columbia said on Tuesday it was preparing a lawsuit against OpenAI over the company’s failure to report violent ChatGPT activity by the person who committed a mass school shooting in the western Canadian province. OpenAI had banned an account linked to Jesse Van Rootselaar in June 2025, months before the 18-year-old transgender woman killed eight people at her home and a school in the tiny mining town of Tumbler Ridge. Canadian families impacted by the February shooting have already...

Workers have started making emergency repairs to stabilise a Manhattan high-rise after buckled columns and sagging floors forced evacuations in and around the midtown construction site. The scene unfolded throughout Tuesday after the precarious conditions were spotted in the morning at the 1970s-era building, which is being converted into luxury flats. Construction workers at the site and people in nearby buildings – including a school, diplomatic offices and several hotels – in the busy...

All charges against a radiologist accused of trying to kill his family in 2023 by driving his car off a cliff along the Northern California coast have been dismissed by a judge following his completion of a mental health programme. Prosecutors charged Dharmesh Patel, 45, with attempted murder after he drove his Tesla off a 276-metre cliff along the Pacific Coast Highway known as “Devil’s Slide”, injuring his wife and two young children. All four survived the January 2, 2023, crash in what one...

Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least seven people as Kyiv’s army said it had hit several Russian tankers, in fresh attacks just hours ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky at a Nato summit. A first large blast in Kyiv was heard shortly after midnight even before the city’s air alert sirens sounded - a rare failure in the system that has spooked residents of the capital. That was followed by a barrage of several more explosions. One...

The US Federal Communications Commission ⁠said on Tuesday it is adding California-based Digitalsystem Technology to a list of companies posing risks to US national security, citing links to Chinese telecoms firms and its ownership by a Chinese national. The FCC also said ‌it was denying the Los Angeles-based IT company permission to provide international telecommunications services, saying it could be exploited by Chinese threat actors. “There is significant risk that the government of China and...

The Iran battlefield might be quieter and diplomacy might have resumed, but the main contest has shifted to the architecture of the Middle East. The question is no longer whether Iran can be contained, the Strait of Hormuz can remain open or another round of escalation can be avoided. The larger issue is who will write the rules after the shock. Three tracks are taking shape. The first is led by the United States and built around the expansion of the Abraham Accords, the integration of Israel...

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez denounced the “ruthless” US embargo against the communist island during a UN General Assembly debate on Tuesday that took place despite diplomatic pressure by Washington to prevent it. “The government of the United States is carrying out against Cuba a multi-dimensional, non-conventional warfare that has already lasted for almost seven decades now and has become ever more cruel and more ruthless during the last seven months,” Rodriguez told the body,...

Colombia’s president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella on Tuesday suspended the transition process with President Gustavo Petro and accused him of planning a coup to stay in power, after the incumbent leader refused to recognise results of the country’s election. Petro said Monday that he refused to recognise de la Espriella’s victory in the June 21 presidential run-off election over the Petro coalition’s candidate Senator Ivan Cepeda, alleging fraud without providing evidence. The conservative,...

At least five women have accused the archbishop of Rabat of sexual assault, according to an Agence France-Presse investigation, prompting the Spanish-born cleric to announce he was “stepping back” on Tuesday while the Vatican holds an inquiry. Agence France-Presse interviewed a retired woman involved in the Church and reviewed the written testimony of another woman who said Cristobal Lopez Romero had sexually assaulted them. The 74-year-old archbishop denied all wrongdoing when contacted by...

The US state of Utah has revoked the licence of a boarding school where socialite Paris Hilton said she was abused as a teenager, saying the school has “failed to provide applicable health and safety services for clients”. The state’s action, which took effect on Monday, cites multiple non-compliance issues against Provo Canyon School’s campus in Springville. The school has 15 days to request a hearing before the Department of Health & Human Services. The wide-ranging citations, which go back to...

A lawsuit claims the Trump administration is unlawfully giving confidential personal information to Iran about Iranians who applied for asylum to avoid “grave danger” in their native country. The US is sharing private data with the Iranian government about asylum applicants including pro-democracy protesters as well as members of religious minorities and the LGBTQ community, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in Washington. Asylum seekers allegedly face deportation back to Iran, where the...

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says he will quit as a lawmaker and seek re-election to clear his name over financial allegations linked to millions of dollars’ worth of donations. “I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money,” Farage, a prominent ally of US President Donald Trump, said in a broadcast statement that did not take questions. Farage faces a probe by parliament’s standards watchdog over a £5 million (US$6.7 million) gift from...

Prince Harry’s final lawsuit aimed at taming the British tabloids ended in defeat on Tuesday as a judge found he failed to prove his privacy invasion claims against the publisher of the Daily Mail. Justice Matthew Nicklin rejected the broad inferences the Duke of Sussex had relied on to try to show that Associated Newspapers had engaged in unlawful activities. The judge said there was a realistic possibility the news came from legitimate sources. The ruling scuttles the lawsuits filed by Harry...

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen ⁠announced on Tuesday that she ⁠will run for president in 2027 after an appeal ⁠court shortened her ban on holding public office. Le Pen’s presidential hopes had been in limbo since March 2025, when she received a five-year electoral ban for using money from the European Parliament to pay wages for staff at her anti-immigrant National Rally (RN) party in France. On Tuesday, the Paris appeal court upheld Le Pen’s conviction for misusing European ‌Parliament...

The European Commission has been clearly signalling its intention to wage a trade war against China. Brussels’ intent to counter the so-called China shock 2.0 – the wave of subsidised Chinese exports such as electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels and batteries – is no longer merely a verbal threat but appears to be an imminent decision. Comparing current trade tensions between the European Union and China with the trade conflict between Europe and Japan in the 1970s and 1980s reveals striking...

Ukraine’s Security Service on Tuesday said it found the body of Ukrainian national Anastasiia Berezovska, who had been wanted by authorities in Monaco in connection with the bombing targeting Ukrainian business tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev. The security service, also known by its local abbreviation SBU, said an officer serving in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency confessed to killing Berezovska with the help of a former law enforcement officer. He claimed he acted on his own initiative and...

Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi led a business delegation to New Delhi for the 16th India-Japan annual summit. During last year’s summit in Tokyo, Takaichi’s predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined the Japan-India Joint Vision for the next decade – during which period India may see up to 10 trillion yen (US$62 billion) in investment from Japan. Some of Japan’s most notable investments in India have been in the financial sector. Japanese...

Explosions rocked Damascus on Tuesday as France’s president met with his Syrian counterpart in a landmark visit, wounding at least 18 people, Syria’s Interior Ministry said. It was the second blast to rock the capital in a few days, and a setback for the country’s new president as he welcomed his first visit from a western leader since ousting long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad. Syria’s new rulers have wrestled with outbreaks of violence as they work to assert control, but the capital has been...

⁠Democratic Party leaders on Monday called on Graham Platner to withdraw as their nominee to run against Republican US Senator Susan Collins of Maine, after media reports that a woman accused him of forcibly having sex with her nearly five years ago. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement: “The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the...

Cuba on Monday suffered its third nationwide power outage since the start of the year, causing mounting despair in the face of an energy collapse precipitated by a US fuel blockade. The communist island was already struggling to keep the lights on before US President Donald Trump in January cut off its oil supplies, depleting the dwindling supply of fuel for its power plants. Union Electrica (UNE), the state electricity company, announced a “total disconnection” to the entire island at midday,...

Singapore is the world’s most expensive city for luxury spending for a fourth consecutive year, as prices on items such as watches and jewellery surge around the globe. Zurich climbed to second place, edging out London, while Monaco entered the top three for the first time since the survey began in 2020, according to an annual report by Swiss wealth manager Julius Baer Group. Hong Kong and London rounded out the top five. Zurich’s three-place rise was propelled by the strengthening of the Swiss...

A third tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, British maritime security agency UKMTO reported on Tuesday, after Qatar blamed Iran for an attack on one of its ships. “UKMTO has received a report of a further incident involving a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The tanker was struck by an unknown Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and has sustained minor structural damage. No casualties or environmental impact reported,” it said in a post on social media. An “unknown...

The Furious, Hong Kong’s latest action flick, is crushing it on Rotten Tomatoes and has garnered critical acclaim abroad – proof of what human-centric filmmaking can still deliver in today’s market. But before we rush to hail the return of Hong Kong cinema, a new breed of drama factory is quietly generating content at a velocity no human team could ever match. In mainland China, micro dramas generated by artificial intelligence (AI) have turned the industry upside down. A production schedule...

Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country’s south on Monday killed four people, including three women, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said a school principal, her mother, a foreign female domestic worker and a male Syrian worker were killed when an Israeli drone targeted their car as they returned from inspecting their family home in Nabatieh al-Fawqa. The Israeli military said on Monday that it identified...

Norway wants China to use its ⁠ties to the Russian ⁠leadership to help bring about ⁠a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine, also for the sake of better relations with Europe, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday. “China is probably the country with the ‌best and most direct access to the Russian leadership. We expect, hope and strongly urge China to use that channel,” he told reporters after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Oslo. The biggest chunk of their...

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, it confronts a new world order dominated by its relationship with China. In this wide-ranging series, we examine the pressure points and possibilities in those ties, from hard tech to soft power. In this article, Sylvia Ma examines the numerous financial links between the two economies that make a true decoupling a difficult affair. On a landmark visit to Beijing in 1986, the New York Stock Exchange chairman at the time, John...

Iran’s history shows it is willing to dig in, even when it may suffer big losses.

A New York Times review of city records shows that the firm, Domani Inspection Services, was repeatedly accused of breaking New York City rules.

President Trump said the United States would license Ukraine to produce Patriots, which can intercept ballistic missiles. But it could be months or years before those are ready.

Two American allies, Germany and Japan, already have permission to build the American interceptors, a license that President Trump says he will also grant to Kyiv.

While President Trump insulted allies and demanded loyalty, the military alliance moved quietly closer to accepting more European responsibility for defense.

The Secret Service is said to have asked that the president not use the Qatari-donated jet when he left Ankara. The swap deepens questions about the retrofitting of the new plane.

With a voice both weathered and operatic, she minted 1980s pop anthems like “Total Eclipse” and “Holding Out for a Hero.”

The world’s most famous epic has something for every reader.

Emma Waters, pregnant with her third child, is crafting policy to encourage early parenthood. Some think she is pushing an ideology that does not meet reality.

The proposed 250-foot arch would violate a height limit on Washington structures under the traditional reading of the law. But the panel, now led by the president’s allies, has other ideas.

The last time the justices granted a rehearing request after a case decision was in 1965. The court has only once reversed itself after rehearing a case.

History hangs over the World Cup quarterfinal between France and its former protectorate. These days, national teams intermingle and overlap.

This year’s boom represents the most spent on global deal-making in a six-month period in a decade. But questions persist about whether it can continue.

Investors have taken heart from the fragile cease-fire between the United States and Iran before. Will they do so again?

The country’s leader, Xi Jinping, called on the authorities to make every effort to investigate the cause of the blaze in Fujian Province.

The data center boom has roiled communities across the country, but on Native land, a Big Tech push for quick approvals has pitted the need for development against a history of exploitation.

The Graham Platner experiment has failed. “There have been so many errors of judgment at every step of the way,” the columnist Michelle Goldberg argues following the implosion of the senate candidate’s campaign in Maine.

The trouble in Maine goes beyond a single candidate.

We look at the state of the conflict with Iran.

“Apparently, people don’t like a majority senator disappearing with no explanation for three weeks,” Ronny Chieng said on Wednesday’s “Daily Show.”

The devastation of Ms. Zúñiga’s city in Venezuela follows the demise of her political project. The revolution is over, but the human ties that help her cope remain.