Minimalist News

How It Took Nine Months To Remove One Illegal Alien From Voter Rolls Submitted by Maryland Freedom Caucus , Nine months after the Maryland Freedom Caucus exposed that a noncitizen with a final order of deportation had been registered to vote in Maryland, Ian Roberts has finally—and quietly—been removed from the state's active voter registration list. There was no press conference. No public announcement. No admission that anything had gone wrong. The removal comes only after Roberts was convicted and sentenced on federal charges related to falsely claiming U.S. citizenship. For years, Roberts remained an active voter in Maryland despite

China's Caribbean Listening Post? Satellite Imagery Shows Cuba Spy Base Completed The Center for Strategic and International Studies published a report using geospatial intelligence to show that construction of a circularly disposed antenna array in Cuba has been completed. CSIS states the circularly disposed antenna array in Cuba, just 240 miles miles from Miami, Florida, could be used to monitor or intercept radio transmissions across a wide range of frequencies in the region. The DC-based think tank added that the site may be linked to China and could be used to track sensitive U.S. military and communications activity across the

Democratic Socialist Mamdani Wants Democratic Party To Move Further Left Ahead Of 2028 Authored by Chase Smith via The Epoch Times , New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, issued one of his sharpest rebukes of the Democratic leadership Thursday night, saying that the party will lose the White House in 2028 if it does not fundamentally change course. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (R) gestures on stage with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), during a Get Out The Vote rally ahead of New York's primary election in the Brooklyn borough of New York on June 18, 2026.

"It's That Bad": Virginia Residents Battling Constant Noise From Data Center Generators For more than a year, residents living next to the Vantage Data Centers facility have endured what they describe as a constant, high-pitched whining or ringing sound coming from the site's massive backup generators - the facility's only source of electricity. An aerial view of the Vantage data center in Sterling, Va., which abuts a residential neighborhood. (NewsNation) Unlike most data centers connected to the power grid, this facility runs entirely on its own on-site power plant. What residents were told would be temporary generator testing has become

NY Pride Group Disbands After Drag Queen Founder - A School Board Member - Arrested On Child Sexting Charges A New York LGBTQ+ advocacy group has canceled a scheduled pride parade and disbanded after its founder was arrested on child-sexting charges . Travis J. Longo, 46, of Cazenovia - a drag queen and a member of the Cazenovia School District Board of Education (of course), was arrested on Thursday and charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child after allegedly sending sexually explicit communications to a child under the age of 12. In a now-deleted Facebook post,

Banning Hospitals' 'Certain Contracts' Could Save Americans $45 Billion, Report Finds Authored by Travis Gillmore via The Epoch Times , A ban on certain contracts between hospital systems and health insurers could save Americans around $45 billio n, according to a report from White House analysts released on June 18. Lenox Health Greenwich Village Hospital in Manhattan, New York City, on Nov. 2, 2020. Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times "The Council of Economic Advisers' findings reinforce that the Trump administration is delivering meaningful cost reductions for American patients," White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster told The Epoch Times by email June

Why CME Is Really Suing The CFTC Over Perps Authored by David Christopher via Bankless.com, CME wants Kalshi's Bitcoin perp reclassified as a swap, not banned. That distinction reveals what's actually at stake in the CFTC lawsuit. Yesterday, CME, the country's dominant derivatives exchange, sued the CFTC over its recent approval of regulated crypto perpetual futures. The exchange argues Kalshi's Bitcoin perp should be treated as a swap, not a futures contract, a classification shift that would push the product into a more restrictive, institution-facing rulebook. The CFTC called the suit "frivolous" and said it looks forward to dismissing it.

Agri Markets Hit By "Aggressive Positioning Washout" But Supply Risks Linger The Bloomberg Agriculture Spot Index has nearly reversed its US-Iran war gains in recent weeks, as sliding fertilizer and energy prices, along with an interim peace deal between Washington and Tehran, have reopened the Strait of Hormuz and initiated the normalization process . Daryna Kovalska, a commodity strategist at BofA Global Research, told clients that, with agricultural markets having undergone an aggressive positioning washout, there is reason to believe the selloff in the corn market is overdone. Kovalska pointed out that while improved US rains, easing geopolitical risks, and

DOJ Can Provide Biden's Conversations With Ghostwriter To Heritage Foundation, Judge Says Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times , A federal judge on Friday rejected former President Joe Biden's bid to prevent the conservative Heritage Foundation from receiving redacted transcripts and recordings of conversations he had with a ghostwriter for his 2017 memoir. Former President Joe Biden speaks in Chicago on April 15, 2025. Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo Although District Judge Dabney Friedrich delayed her own decision by three weeks later on Friday to allow for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to rule on the matter, she

CIA Official Confirms Agency Flip-Flopped Over COVID-19 Origins Over Five-Day Period Over the span of five days in 2021, the CIA abruptly changed its opinion on the origins of COVID-19 from a laboratory to neutral, a newly released document confirms. The seal of the Central Intelligence Agency at the entrance of the agency headquarters in McLean, Va., on Sept. 24, 2022. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters Originally, CIA analysts concluded that COVID-19 likely came from a high-level laboratory in Wuhan, China located near where the first cases were detected in late 2019, senior CIA officer James Erdman III told lawmakers in May. Over

Swalwell Ordered By FEC To Return Campaign Contributions Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times , Former California congressman Eric Swalwell was ordered by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) June 15 to return all donations received during his bid for governor before dropping out of the race. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) during a news conference on the introduction of the Protection from Abusive Passengers Act at the U.S. Capitol Building, in Washington on April 6, 2022. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images The agency charged with enforcing federal campaign finance laws threatened Swalwell with an audit or enforcement action if he fails

Russian Oil Refinery Over 1,200 Miles From Ukraine Attacked In Another War First After this week's devasting Ukrainian drone attacks on a Moscow refinery which sent massive plumes of black smoke across the capital city skyline, it has become obvious that the Zelensky's government believes its last major card to play is escalation of its UAV attacks deep inside Russian territory. This is once again on display as on Saturday Ukraine launched a drone attack targeting an oil refinery in Russia's Tyumen region for the first time since the the war. Significantly, Tyumen region is located some 2,000 kilometers (or

Trump Unveils New Air Force One Plane Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times , President Donald Trump on June 19 unveiled the plane that will serve as the new Air Force One, a $400 million Boeing 747-8 luxury jet that was gifted to the United States by the Qatari government in 2025. President Donald Trump delivers remarks after touring the newest aircraft in the presidential fleet at Andrews Air Force Base at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on June 19, 2026. Alex Wong/Getty Images Trump stepped down from the plane inside a new hangar at Joint Base Andrews that

Vance 'Skeptical' That Iran Closed Hormuz Strait Again, Pentagon Declares Safe Passage Remains 'Intact Today' Summary Vance & CENTCOM push back against reports of Hormuz 'closure' by Iranians. Iran's Ghalibaf, Araghchi en route to US Talks in Switzerland, IRIB reports. Also Witkoff-headed US delegation still expected. Iran declares Strait 'closed' again over US failing to reign in Israeli action in Lebanon. Rising death toll in Lebanon, after over 50 new rockets fired on Israeli positions by Hezbollah. Strait of Hormuz traffic returns to normal by end of June? Yes 8% · No 93% View full market & trade on Polymarket

National Guard Stationed At Lincoln Reflecting Pool After Multiple Sabotage Attempts It's difficult to find a single redeeming quality of liberal movements these days. Maybe it's the abject pettiness, like children throwing a tantrum, that makes them hard to respect. Or, maybe it's their violent emotional tendencies and complete lack of moral integrity. They are willing to do anything to gain power, including lie, cheat, steal and even murder. At bottom, the unstable psychological drivers of leftists lead them to hate certain things that most normal people love, including the basic maintenance of respected national monuments. One might think that

Trump Says He No Longer Views Anthropic As A National Security Threat Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times , President Donald Trump said he no longer views the artificial intelligence (AI) giant Anthropic as a national security threat. Illustration of Anthropic on June 18, 2026. Riccardo Milani/Hans Lucas via AFP via Getty Images "We have a situation with Anthropic, and we didn't like what they were doing, and so far I think they behaved very responsibly to our request," Trump told Axios's Marc Caputo in an interview that aired on June 19. Caputo then asked Trump if he

The Consumer Sentiment Disconnect From Economic Reality Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index just printed 44.8 in May. That’s the worst reading since the survey began in 1952. That print was lower than in 2008 and the 1980 inflation panic. It was also worse than the COVID lockdowns, yet the S&P 500 continues to climb higher, Q1 corporate earnings posted 27% growth, and weekly jobless claims sit near cycle lows. That “disconnect” has sparked many statements on social media, such as: “GDP is growing at a healthy 2.7% in the US. GDP statistics

Trump Mocks Italy's Meloni Over Disputed G7 Photo: 'She Wants To Be Friends Again, No Thanks!' President Trump has once again lashed out at Italy, as Washington and this 'wayward' NATO ally continue to clash on a range of issues from Iran to Israel to Ukraine.. It follows on the heels of the cancellation of the planned diplomatic visit by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. President Trump on Saturday has newly taken to Truth Social to reiterate that PM Meloni "asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France." He continued: “ She is

FBI Warns That Fake FIFA Website Being Used to Steal Personal Information Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times, The FBI on June 16 advised people to be wary of fraudulent websites that try to mimic World Cup or FIFA sites, as the agency warned that such websites have been used to steal personal information and sell counterfeit tickets. In a public service announcement, the FBI stated that scammers and fraudsters have launched spoofing attempts designed to mimic FIFA’s official website as the World Cup games hosted in North America continue. “Threat actors often create spoofed websites by slightly

The World Cup's Uneven Playing Field Due to its truly global footprint, the FIFA World Cup has always been a celebration of diversity, both on and off the pitch . It brings together different cultures, different playing styles and different levels of skill, professionalism and financial muscle. However, with the tournament now over a week old, it is clear that they are playing 'football' on an uneven playing field . As Statista's Felix Richter reports , while nations like France, Spain and England have assembled squads full of international superstars, other participants will field teams that are largely unknown to

Advocates say the Safe Third Country Agreement forces immigrants to head to an unsafe country: the United States It was the threat of gang violence in Honduras that pushed Carlos and Antonia to flee their home. In 2021, with their toddler, Alejandro, and a handful of belongings, the married couple ventured north hoping to reach safety in the US. The journey, through Guatemala and Mexico , was filled with danger and uncertainty Continue reading...

Frontrunner Abelardo de la Espriella has vowed to return to full-scale military confrontation with armed groups Colombians go to the polls on Sunday in a presidential runoff expected to trigger to a dramatic shift in the country’s decades-long armed conflict, now at its most violent point since the landmark 2016 peace agreement between the government and most of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). Polls show the frontrunner is the Trump-admiring far-right lawyer and millionaire businessman Abelardo de la Espriella, who has vowed to abandon President Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” plan of negotiating the disarmament of all criminal organisations

Bulldozers sent in to clear roadblocks that have stifled the country as farmers and Indigenous groups protest against conservative president Bolivia’s president declared a state of emergency on Saturday and deployed soldiers and bulldozers to raze anti-government roadblocks that have paralysed the country. For more than six weeks, unions, Indigenous groups and coca farmers have marched through cities and blocked roads across the country with rubble, logs and debris in protest against the conservative government. Continue reading...

Colombians will choose on Sunday between two men whose lives have been very differently shaped by the militias, and whose visions for the country are poles apart Whoever wins Sunday’s presidential runoff vote in Colombia, the country’s next leader will have a personal history intertwined with one of the criminal forces at the heart of a decades-long armed conflict that claimed nearly half a million lives. The lives of Iván Cepeda and Abelardo de la Espriella have, in very different ways, been shaped by their relationship with Colombia’s paramilitaries – private armies originally established by rightwing landowners, drug traffickers, businessmen,

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

Strong winds and heavy rain batter Slovenia, while France experiences atypical heatwave Severe thunderstorms swept across the Balkans last week, bringing widespread destruction to parts of the region. The storms developed as unstable hot air lingered over the Adriatic Sea while a cold front plunged south-eastward. The front began its journey on 10 June in Slovenia, where the Slovenian Environment Agency recorded 65mph gusts at Ljubljana airport. Heavy rain also fell widely across the region with 23mm reported in Kranj. Continue reading...

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

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

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

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

This blog has now closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Ted O’Brien distanced himself from Pauline Hanson ’s suggestion that Australia shouldn’t give aid to Pacific countries that also take aid from China. He said it was a legitimate concern, but her solution was “completely wrong” for the Pacific and not in Australia’s national interest. The idea that you effectively hold a gun to the head of our Pacific neighbours – that’s not what a friend does, that’s not a way of building trust, you don’t basically create an ultimatum. You certainly don’t

One Nation leader appears to suggest women should not be paid by employers while on maternity leave and calls for family income splitting Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast One Nation could wind back the clock by decades for working mothers, damage productivity and worsen gender inequality, economists have warned. In a controversial address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Pauline Hanson seemed to suggest women should not get paid by their employers while on maternity leave. She also hinted at major changes to

Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency to use International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition for ‘regulatory work’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia’s health watchdog has adopted a contested definition of antisemitism to guide its regulatory work. The move has been welcomed by the nation’s peak Jewish body while the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (Apan) has warned it could silence health professionals from criticising Israel’s human rights record. Continue reading...

Tests taken in Western Australia suggest a second bird was also infected, but there is no evidence poultry or agriculture systems are affected Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The deadly H5N1 bird flu strain has arrived on the Australian mainland with test results confirming a migratory seabird found on the Western Australian coast was positive for the disease. The agriculture minister, Julie Collins, confirmed a brown skua – found unwell last Sunday at Cape Le Grand national park near Esperance in southern WA had died from H5N1. Continue reading...

State government project among range of works celebrated for community-centred design that goes beyond utility The reimagined St Kilda pier has added more accolades to its burgeoning trophy cabinet, taking out some of the top gongs at the 2026 Australian Institute of Architects’ Victorian awards. The $53m Victorian government project by Jackson Clements Burrows Architects, alongside Site Office Landscape Architecture and AW Maritime, took home the Victorian architecture medal on Friday, the award given to the most outstanding project of the year. Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...

Spain’s leading festival of photography showcases the work of more than 300 visual artists in nearly 100 exhibitions across the country PhotoEspaña, Spain’s leading festival of photography, held its official opening in Madrid this month and by September nearly 100 exhibitions will have showcased the work of more than 300 visual artists in the capital and across the country. Loosely corralled under the theme of reimagining, the exhibitions feature work by major figures in Spanish and international photography and less well-known emerging artists. From the series Invisible Line. Photograph: Alejandro Cartagena Continue reading...

Poll also finds three quarters of people in Britain want closer ties, with majority accepting free movement Two-thirds of EU citizens would back Britain rejoining the bloc, while most UK voters say Brexit has been bad for the issues they care about and want closer ties, including levels of integration – such as free movement – long seen as toxic, a survey has found. Ten years after the Brexit referendum, the polling by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) , a thinktank, found 66% of respondents across 15 countries felt UK membership was a very good, good or “neither

Italian house’s catwalk emphasised the brand’s ‘molto sexy’ look with flamboyant, sometimes revealing outfits Dolce & Gabbana leaned heavily into the art of theatrical misdirection on the second day of Milan fashion week as it aimed to draw attention away from its debt issues, catwalk controversies and management reshuffles. On the catwalk its signature “molto sexy” Italian aesthetic that comes served with a generous scoop of la dolce vita was in full swing. This was Euro summer on steroids. There were clingy muscle vests and micro shorts that made short shorts look modest while some models simply went topless. Jeans

Guardian investigation also finds same areas experienced relative decline over same period Leave-voting areas have seen faster relative growth in foreign workers since the Brexit referendum, a Guardian investigation has found. Data analysis suggests that the decade since the Brexit vote may not have matched the expectations of many Leave supporters, showing their local areas have also become relatively more deprived over the same period. Continue reading...

Suggestion that Scott Bessent so described a world leader included in Regime Change, by New York Times reporters Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, advised Donald Trump not to host Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, having called the Ukrainian president a “little fucker”, a “special-needs child” and “Mr Bean on crack”, according to a new book. The suggestion that a US cabinet official described a world leader in such terms is included in Regime Change, a blockbusting account of the second Trump administration by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, set to be published worldwide on

Unclear if threat has been carried out or if move will jeopardise talks with US scheduled for Sunday Iran has said it is closing the strait of Hormuz after waves of Israeli strikes in Lebanon in a move that threatens to derail the fragile interim peace deal with the US, signed just days ago. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned ships not to approach the strategic waterway, which before the war carried a fifth of global oil and liquid gas supplies, citing what it called Israeli crimes in Lebanon and a US violation of commitments to establish a ceasefire there.

Wishah among at least 260 journalists killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023 Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera has said one of its journalists was killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza on Saturday, becoming one of the at least 260 Palestinian journalists to have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023. Ahmed Wishah, a cameraman for the network, was killed in a strike targeting a house in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, the broadcaster said on its website. Continue reading...

Mona Khalil led decades-long effort to protect nesting site for turtles near her home in south of the country The Lebanese marine activist Mona Khalil, who became a beloved figure in the country for a decades-long effort to protect a nesting site for turtles near her home, has died from injuries sustained in an Israeli strike. Khalil, 76, ran a sanctuary called the Orange House Project near the Mediterranean city of Tyre. She hosted volunteers in her house to clean and monitor a mile-long beach and welcomed tourists to stay and learn about conservation. Continue reading...

Now fighting is over, the question is how Iran’s government will behave. Early clues point to more authoritarianism and prioritising relations with China The precise ideological lessons that Iran’s new leadership draws from the 110-day war may prove to be the overriding factor in determining whether negotiations with the US culminate in an agreement that verifiably prevents the country from developing a nuclear weapon – an outcome that could usher in a new era for the Iranian economy while also reshaping the Middle East. Does this rapidly assembled leadership team, forged in the fire of war, still represent an Islamic

At least five killed in Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon on Saturday morning, as US envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly prepares to open talks with Iranian foreign minister What lessons will Iran’s new leadership draw from the 110-day war? ‘It’s a big mistake’: Israelis feel betrayed and angry after Iran peace deal Israel and Hezbollah agreed to renew a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon on Friday after 24 hours of intense violence that posed an early challenge to the new agreement between the US and Iran to end their conflict. A meeting that was scheduled to take place on Friday between

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

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

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

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

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

Business secretary says PM spending the weekend ‘making time to reflect on the political realities’ he faces Keir Starmer expected to announce departure as prime minister on Monday Some commentators have said Andy Burnham is just a better communicator than Keir Starmer, but have questioned how different he is on policy. The Guardian’s policy editor, Kiran Stacey, has helpfully looked at the political projects a Burnham government would likely pursue in this useful explainer: Continue reading...

Business secretary says Starmer is reflecting on ‘political realities’, amid overwhelming pressure from MPs UK politics – live updates Keir Starmer is expected to announce on Monday that he will step down as prime minister, after overwhelming pressure from Labour MPs to make way for Andy Burnham to become Labour leader. Speaking for the government on Sunday, Peter Kyle, the business secretary, refused to comment on Starmer’s specific plans but said the prime minister was aware of the “political realities” and would do what was best for the country. Continue reading...

Bank details at risk as criminals use AI to create fake sites and emails offering pre-release beta test version Like millions of gamers around the world, you have been waiting years for Grand Theft Auto VI to be released. Now you have the opportunity to play the much-anticipated game before everyone else. An email has arrived inviting you to play a pre-release “beta” version of the game so that you can alert the makers to any bugs before its official release later this year. Continue reading...

Removal of Alan Latham’s firms means there is no longer an entity for creditors to make claims against A prolific film producer, whose projects have starred Frasier’s Kelsey Grammer and Four Weddings and a Funeral’s Anna Chancellor , has had scores of his production businesses forcibly removed from the UK’s companies register, leaving workers unable to chase unpaid fees. Alan Latham, whose low-budget films have previously raised questions over his use of tax credits , has seen 50 of his film businesses compulsorily struck off by Companies House, according to data compiled by the film workers’ union, Bectu. Continue reading...

Ten years ago Ebbw Vale had the highest proportion of leave voters in Wales despite huge EU funding, which has not been fully replaced Where Ebbw Vale’s steelworks once stood is now a cluster of gleaming modern buildings including a hospital, a leisure centre and a college. Over the past decade, these public facilities have been joined by a public-private cybersecurity research centre and two tech firms. A new railway station opened at the site in 2015. Yet, during the Guardian’s visit to the Welsh valleys town last week, the area was quiet. Nearly as many sheep as people appeared

Elon Musk is a beneficiary of America’s lopsided prosperity – does the country have any appetite for redistribution? As Barack Obama’s presidency was coming to a close, Jason Furman, then chairman of the president’s council of economic advisers, laid out the strides his administration had made to curb the nation’s exorbitant income inequality in “the largest investments in reducing inequality since the Great Society”. Indeed, by the end of 2016, taxes and transfers cut the share of income accruing to the richest 1% of households by just over a fifth, according to estimates from the congressional budget office (CBO), more

After Jameson the dog, wearing a blue Knicks jersey, walked out into the hallway, an officer fired his pistol four times The Los Angeles police department has released footage of the moment when officers shot and killed a woman’s dog in the hallway outside her apartment in the Canoga Park neighborhood. Police had responded to reports of a woman screaming on 13 June, which turned out to be cheering, the night that the New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs to win the NBA finals. Continue reading...

In NY-12, four Democrats, including one Kennedy, are vying to replace Jerry Nadler – and potentially shake things up When news broke that a safely Democratic seat in New York’s wealthiest congressional district was becoming vacant, it was inevitable that there would be a crowded field of candidates. What people might not have expected is that the subsequent Democratic primary would become one of the country’s most closely watched and action-packed, the race coming to reflect a range of Democrats’ national political priorities: who is the strongest against Trump; who is the most critical of artificial intelligence companies; and who

Report finds close ties between the Trump administration and Geo Group, which profits from anti-immigration crackdown Jim Jordan is among the most famous names in this stretch of Ohio. The congressman and chair of the powerful House judiciary committee is considered among the most conservative and influential members in Congress, and is a longtime loyalist of Donald Trump. Continue reading...

430 ICE street arrests filed over a five-month period were clustered in predominantly Latino communities across New Jersey and New York Federal agents have arrested hundreds of immigrants off New York and New Jersey streets in recent months in a stealth enforcement campaign that disproportionately targeted people from Latin American countries, according to an investigation by the City Reporter based on a review of more than 1,200 lawsuits. More than 93% of the people grabbed off area streets who filed suit were from Latin American countries, although Latinos make up only 66% of immigrants without legal status in the region.

US President ⁠Donald Trump said on Saturday that much of the water at the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington “probably” has to be drained for repairs following what he called “vandalism” of the site. “We met with ‌contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs, but will have them done as quickly as possible,” Trump wrote in a post on social media. Several alleged vandals have been arrested,...

Claude Guillemot, who ⁠co-founded French video-game ⁠publisher Ubisoft with ⁠his brothers in 1986, has died, the company said on Saturday. “Ubisoft was deeply saddened to learn of the death of ‌Claude Guillemot, co-founder of the group and chairman of Guillemot Corp, in an accident,” the statement said. “Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time. No further statements ⁠will be made at this time,” it added. Guillemot, 69, died ‌on Friday in a plane crash in La...

One of Iceland’s two remaining whaling ships set out this week to hunt the giant mammals after a two-year hiatus, local media and campaigners reported on Saturday. Iceland is one of only three countries that still openly permit whaling, alongside Norway and Japan – despite international opprobrium from the public and animal welfare organisations. A protester chained himself to the mast of the vessel before it left the port of Reykjavik on Friday. He climbed down in the evening and was escorted...

Iran on Saturday said that it closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and warned that while negotiators were going to Switzerland for talks with the US on their interim agreement, not much likely will happen if the fighting does not stop. US President Donald Trump, in response, threatened to impose US tolls in the crucial waterway if a final deal with Iran is not reached in 60 days, saying the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries...

US President Donald Trump escalated a diplomatic row with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday, accusing her of repeatedly seeking a photograph with him and linking the dispute to tensions over Iran and Nato. The clash has opened an unusually personal rift between Trump and one of Europe’s most prominent right-wing leaders, who had sought to cast herself as a bridge between Washington and the continent during Trump’s return to power. Trump had initially told Italian broadcaster La7...

A Spanish court has ordered the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Begona Gomez, to stand trial by jury for corruption and banned her from leaving the country, according to a court order released on Saturday. The case is one of several corruption affairs that have embroiled the Socialist leader’s family and former allies, threatening to topple his minority coalition government. Judge Juan Carlos Peinado ordered Gomez to hand in her passport and to appear before the court twice a month until a...

At least 30 people have died since the start of May in one camp for displaced civilians in northeastern Congo, a death rate that camp officials said was unprecedented, with some confirmed to have died from Ebola in a sign the disease could be spreading fast there. It was not possible to confirm the causes of all the deaths because patients or their relatives in Kigonze camp in Bunia – the epicentre of the Ebola ‌outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo – had until Thursday refused testing, a...

One person died after two freight trains collided on a bridge in Munich overnight, causing loaded cars to plunge to the road below, police said on Saturday. Two cars of one train fell about 5 metres (16 ft) from a bridge and came to rest at round 1.40am, according to a spokeswoman. It was unclear what caused the collision on the bridge, which caused one of the trains to derail. The nature of the cargo was initially unclear, however police stated it was not hazardous material and that there was...

Led by Japan, East Asia seems to be setting off along a road to nowhere – beyond tension and maybe eventual conflict. This may seem a harsh indictment yet consecutive Japanese leaders have shown a lack of vision on the constructive role their country could play in achieving regional peace and economic integration. The latest manifestation of this is Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s proposal this past week to G7 leaders in France to coordinate the stockpiling of critical minerals,...

Bolivia’s crisis intensified on Saturday as President Rodrigo Paz declared a state of emergency, enabling wider military ‌deployment to clear blockades and restore order after protests brought the economy to a halt over the past 50 days. The emergency declaration gives Paz broader constitutional tools to restore order, such as sending armed forces to clear blockades. While the order goes into effect immediately, the president must notify Congress of the state of emergency within 24 hours of...

US ⁠envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi were both headed to Switzerland for ⁠talks, Axios said on Friday, as a ceasefire in Lebanon appeared to revive efforts to turn an interim Iran war pact into a lasting regional deal. Switzerland ⁠continues ⁠to provide a “discreet and reliable setting” ‌at Burgenstock to facilitate discussions on implementing a memorandum of ⁠understanding between the US ‌and Iran, the Swiss ‌foreign ministry said ⁠on Saturday. It ⁠added in ‌a...

Carl Jung was a big fan of the I Ching, also known as the Book of Changes. He was also a close friend of Richard Wilhelm, whose German translation was probably the most influential Western version of the ancient Chinese text in the last century. But over the years, I have become convinced that the great Jung didn’t really get it. A red flag is that he thinks it is very difficult for the Western mind to grasp what I will call the Chinese spirit of the I Ching, which he claims is completely...

Norway is imposing a near ban on the ⁠use of generative ⁠AI tools by junior ⁠school pupils while also restricting their use in the education of older children to prevent a negative impact on learning, the country’s prime minister has said. Facing a broad decline in education test ‌scores, the government in 2024 banned smartphones from schools and has given teachers back more powers to enforce discipline in the classroom. Using artificial intelligence increased the risk that young children skip...

For much of the 20th century, many were accustomed to thinking of people as an ever-expanding resource. As the number of people grew, so did labour markets, consumer markets, scientific communities, production systems and armies. In 1950, the world’s population was about 2.5 billion. In 2026, it is reaching 8.3 billion. In just 75 years, the population has increased more than 3.3 times. In this sense, the current human population may turn out not to be a permanent norm, but a historical anomaly...

Nine people were in critical condition on Saturday after a collision between two passenger trains in central England the night before killed the driver of one of the locomotives, police said. British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi said more than 80 people were treated in hospitals after the crash late Friday afternoon, and 28 remained hospitalised a day later. Buckingham Palace said King Charles “is greatly saddened” by the crash. It said “his thoughts and sympathies are with the...

A new Air Force One gifted by Qatar as a replacement aircraft for ferrying US presidents was unveiled on Friday by the US Air Force. “The Air Force’s VC-25B Bridge aircraft has officially arrived at the Presidential Airlift Group and will commence its initial commissioning flights, marking the successful delivery of a secure, modified executive platform,” the Air Force said. “The workmanship of this plane is, when you see it, you won’t believe it,” Trump said from inside the massive Andrews Air...

Poland’s nationalist President Karol Nawrocki announced on Friday he was stripping Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky of the country’s top award, escalating a row between the neighbours and allies over World War II massacres. Relations between Warsaw and Kyiv have been tense for days over Zelensky’s naming of a Ukrainian army unit after a WWII nationalist insurgent army that took part in massacres against Poles. Nawrocki’s decision landed days before Poland is due to host the annual Ukraine Recovery...

A clear majority of Keir Starmer’s cabinet believe it is now inevitable Andy Burnham will take over as prime minister, according to people familiar with the thinking of more than 15 cabinet ministers, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Friday. However, as of late in the afternoon, most remained unwilling to do anything about it. Most the cabinet was still not ready to tell Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure, the people said, preferring to wait and see how developments...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that a week ⁠should be enough ⁠for Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko to ⁠remove equipment from his country used by Russia in its attacks on Ukraine, adding a threat of Ukrainian action if Lukashenko did not do so. Zelensky said signal relay stations were located in two Belarusian regions bordering ‌Ukraine that were used by Russian forces to help with steering during attacks on Ukrainian civilians. Reuters could not verify his claims...

Iran sought to assert control over Strait of Hormuz by saying that ships need its permission and mandatory insurance to cross, even as the US said that 20 ships sailed through overnight via a route it recommends along Oman’s coast. The conflicting signals come as the shipping industry tries to assess whether it is safe to transit the world’s most important energy chokepoint and what sort of system will emerge after the US and Tehran reached an interim peace deal to reopen the strait. The number...

In the Moscow district of Maryino on Friday, shopkeeper Andrei Kondratyev braced for more Ukrainian attacks and possible petrol shortages, saying Russians needed to “get used to” a new reality. A day earlier, Kyiv set an oil refinery ablaze in the nearby Kapotnya area in its biggest drone attack on Moscow in years, engulfing the Russian capital in smoke. Such scenes were unthinkable when Moscow launched its full-scale offensive against Ukraine in 2022, but have in recent months become part of...

A British court sent two men to prison on Friday for setting fire to property linked to Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a plot orchestrated by a mysterious Russian-speaking figure. Ukrainian national Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Stanislav Carpiuc, a 27-year-old Romanian citizen, were jailed for seven years and two years, respectively, after being found guilty of conspiracy to damage property by fire. The men targeted a car and two properties linked to Starmer over three nights in May 2025 on the...

We’ve never had it so good. The S&P 500 and Nikkei 225 have hit record highs this month. SpaceX had its spectacular initial public offering, the largest in history. The company raised an eye-popping US$75 billion and saw a sharp rise in its share price to a mind-blowing valuation of US$2.5 trillion in two days. The US-Iran deal on reopening the Strait of Hormuz caused petrol prices to drop back to below US$4 per gallon. Global stock markets are creating seemingly unstoppable wealth for...

Italy’s foreign minister on Friday cancelled a visit to the United States over reported comments by US President Donald Trump that appeared to mock Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “The grave and offensive words of President Trump … offend the whole of Italy,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who had been due to visit the US on Sunday and Monday, said on social media. Meloni said she was “stunned” by Trump’s comments to Italian channel La7 in which, according to a transcript provided by the...

⁠Iran’s ⁠Strait of ⁠Hormuz body said on Friday it would waive planned fees to use ‌the strait during a 60-day negotiation period under the memorandum of understanding signed with the United States ⁠this week. Ships seeking passage through ‌the strait while the interim agreement was in ‌force must submit transit requests ⁠at ⁠least 48 hours before arrival, ‌Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority said ‌in a ‌notice. Iran will waive ‌fees for security, safety, ⁠environmental services and related...

A Vietnamese national deported to South Sudan by Donald Trump’s administration under its controversial third-country deportation programme was repatriated to Vietnam on Friday after spending more than a year in detention. South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the repatriation of 44-year-old Tuan Phan at a press briefing on Friday. “We are grateful that while in our custody Mr Phan was very disciplined, joyful, and importantly, he remained healthy,” spokesman Agok Anyar said. Phan...

After two wars in the space of a year, diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear programme has come back to much the same place it was before the fighting began. The memorandum of understanding signed by US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, on Wednesday sets up talks that non-proliferation experts said would largely resume the US-Iran diplomatic track Washington broke off in February. That track had built on Oman-mediated talks – part of a wider Gulf diplomatic effort...

Israel and Hezbollah agreed a ceasefire on Friday, a US official said, after deadly exchanges between the two sides in Lebanon put a deal to end the Middle East war under strain less than two days after it was signed. Talks that were scheduled for Friday between the US and Iran in Switzerland to take the deal to the next stage were postponed amid the fighting, with no new date announced. Tehran’s top negotiator warned it would not bend on its red lines and that its finger was still “on the...

Visitors to the Acropolis can now see the Parthenon’s western side looking whole for the first time in about 220 years. Officially unveiled Thursday, restorers have slotted two new marble blocks into long-empty gaps high on the temple’s western end – the view visitors see when they first enter the ancient monument in Athens. The 25-century-old monument overlooking the Greek capital attracted about 4.6 million visitors last year. Long-term restoration projects address damage caused by war,...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Iran and US sign peace deal, Strait of Hormuz to immediately reopen: Pakistan Iran and the US have signed a peace deal that will take immediate effect, with Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and the US lifting its naval blockade,...

Labour mayor Andy Burnham cleared a path on Friday to ousting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, potentially ushering in a new bout of political instability, by decisively winning a parliamentary seat in northern England. Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor nicknamed “King of the North”, won the contest in Makerfield in northwest England with 54.8 per cent of the vote, beating the candidate for Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party, on 34.5 per cent. The scale of Burnham’s ‌victory in what...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel’s military will stay in southern Lebanon, where it has occupied up to 10km (6 miles) from the border. The remarks were his first comment since the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting the militant Hezbollah group. It was unclear what that US-Iran deal means in practice. Israel and Hezbollah are not parties to the...

Cuban lawmakers on Thursday adopted nearly 200 historic free-market reforms aimed at rescuing the communist island from a severe crisis aggravated by a US oil blockade. In a landmark speech to the National Assembly, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero unveiled 176 measures aimed at rolling back the state’s role in the economy and attracting investment in everything from banking to tourism and agriculture. Under the reforms, foreign investors were no longer required to form joint ventures with the...

Alex Doran, a 28-year-old corporate strategist, is cheering for the US national team and was pleasantly surprised by the size of its initial win against Paraguay last week, while acknowledging that his team is unlikely to go all the way. While he does not expect to attend a match in person involving tickets costing thousands of US dollars, he has been watching avidly online and hopes to see some matches at fan zones set up around Washington. “I’m a little uncomfortable with large crowds because...

Under Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s leadership, Hong Kong is drawing up its first five-year plan to complement Beijing’s 2026-30 blueprint. A two-month public consultation exercise has just started. But what is the nation’s 15th five-year plan, why is it important and what’s Hong Kong’s role? China’s five-year plan responds to “great changes unseen in a century”, prescient words used by President Xi Jinping since 2018. Chinese policymakers have anticipated headwinds in the world system,...

Vice-President J.D. Vance went on the offensive on Thursday to defend the “win-win” US-Iran agreement as critics slammed its vague provisions, even as others welcomed the apparent end to an expensive and unpopular war, no matter how potentially flawed the deal might be. “We have all the cards,” Vance told reporters at the White House. “Have a little bit of faith in the president of the United States. The idea that he is going to strike a deal that’s been bad for the American people, it’s...

An autopsy has shown that an 11-year-old girl who went missing in France was raped before she died, an informed source said on Thursday, confirming suspicions in a case that has sparked public outrage. The girl, named as Lyhanna, went missing on May 29 in the southwestern town of Fleurance and her body was found in an abandoned silo almost a week later. Anger grew after it emerged that the main suspect, the 41-year-old father of a school friend, had twice before been formally accused of raping a...

Is it goodbye Air Force One, hello Qatar Force One? White House officials bade farewell on Thursday to one of the two jets that have been used to transport US presidents for more than 30 years. The goodbye messages fuelled speculation that a Boeing 747 controversially gifted to President Donald Trump by the Gulf emirate of Qatar was due to enter service. “‘Well done, good and faithful servant. ‘The Last Ride,’” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said in a post on X with a picture of...

⁠SpaceX’s bankers are preparing to meet investors as early as next week to discuss a bond offering of at least US$20 billion, two sources familiar with the matter said ‌on Thursday, as Elon Musk’s newly public company seeks funding for an ambitious and capital-intensive AI expansion. SpaceX’s AI ambitions come with a steep price tag, requiring tens of billions of dollars in investment for data centres, computing hardware and power infrastructure. The offering ⁠would mark the first time the...

A group linked to al-Qaeda claimed Thursday’s attack on the airport of Niger’s capital, Niamey, that killed at least 11 soldiers and two civilians, six months after other jihadists staged a large assault on the sensitive site. Twenty-two attackers were also killed as security forces repelled the raid on the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger’s defence ministry said. Gunfire erupted early in the morning and rang out for hours near the airport, where a large military presence was...

The death of a young tourist who jumped from a runaway horse carriage in Central Park has intensified calls to ban the old-time attraction from one of New York City’s most recognisable destinations. Romanch Mahajan, 18, died after he got off the four-wheeled carriage as its horse sprinted through the park without the driver. He was believed to be the first person to die in a horse carriage accident since they were introduced in Central Park more than 150 years ago, according to the union...

British police said ⁠on Friday they had ⁠released a man ⁠who had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a 3-year-old boy ended up in a zoo’s crocodile enclosure, saying he ‌had not been fit for an interview. The boy is in a critical but stable condition in hospital after staff at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in central England, pulled him ⁠from the enclosure following the incident on Thursday. Cambridgeshire Police ‌said the child had suffered serious injuries while in the...

All living US ex-presidents – with the notable absence of current White House occupant Donald Trump – joined a star-studded line-up on Thursday for the opening of Barack Obama’s presidential centre in Chicago. Obama, 64, struck his trademark hopeful tone in a speech inaugurating the modernistic centre. The country’s first black president alluded to fears among many Americans that US democracy was in danger, winning applause with the phrase “no kings” – a popular anti-Trump protest slogan. But...

US President Donald Trump lashed out at critics of his agreement with Iran on Thursday, calling those who accused him of offering concessions to end the war “fools”, ahead of negotiations in Switzerland on implementing the deal. Oil prices tumbled after Trump and his Iranian counterpart separately signed their accord to end the Middle East war, with the Strait of Hormuz to reopen but two months of negotiations lying ahead. In a sudden development after uncertainty over when the deal agreed...

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

Alienated by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claims about autism, advocates for disabled students are sounding the alarm about the Trump administration's shifting special education programs to his department.

The writer and actor, known for his profane comedic antiheroes, likes to find universal truths in human flaws.

The philosopher made a radical proposal about wealth.

Trump’s slimy, stinky swamp within the swamp.

Protests in Albania against plans for a luxury tourist site have become a cause célèbre for opponents of President Trump and his family. But the politics are local.