Minimalist News

End Of Cheap Food? Five Forces Set To Drive Grocery Bills Even Higher UBS analysts identified five long-term forces likely to keep global food inflation " structurally higher " above its pre-pandemic average of about 2.5%, crushing consumer hopes that price pressures will simply fade. "While food inflation globally has fallen from the COVID peak, a new debate is emerging: is the c2.5% LT average obsolete ?" London-based managing director and equity-research analyst Sreedhar Mahamkali asked in a note penned on Monday. Mahamkali and his team outlined five long-term drivers of global food inflation : 1. Climate risk is global,

US Lifts Sanctions On Iraqi Airline Blacklisted Over IRGC Ties Via The Cradle The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) lifted sanctions on Iraq's Fly Baghdad Airlines and two of its aircraft on Wednesday, clearing a carrier Washington had blacklisted in January 2024 over alleged support for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force. The Baghdad-based carrier was delisted from the Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) list under each of its three registered names, Fly Baghdad Airlines Company, Fly Baghdad, and Iraq Express . @JetPhotos Two Boeing 737 aircraft flown by the airline, carrying the tail numbers YI-BAF and

China Is Betting AI, Hypersonic Missiles And Quantum Technology Will Define The Next Era Of Warfare As China races to modernize its armed forces, its strategy is increasingly centered on developing technologies that could offset America's traditional military advantages instead of matching the U.S. system for system, according to the South China Morning Post . That philosophy dates back to Unrestricted Warfare , a book published in 1999 by former PLA strategist Qiao Liang. Rather than copying America's arsenal, Qiao argued China should focus on capabilities Washington lacks. Nearly three decades later, he says the concept still applies. Modern militaries,

Former Haitian Police Officer And Naturalized US Citizen Pleads Guilty To Gun Running Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times , A naturalized U.S. citizen and former Haitian National Police officer pleaded guilty to smuggling at least 140 firearms to Haiti. Soldiers patrol amid the sound of gunshots heard in the distance in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Oct. 17, 2024. Odelyn Joseph/AP Photo Jean Robert Casimir, 53, of Lauderhill, Florida, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to conspiracy, smuggling, and violation of the Export Control Reform Act on Tuesday, Aug. 4. According to court records,

Louisiana Has The Highest Car Ownership Burden In America For many Americans, owning a car is a necessity, but the financial burden varies dramatically by state. In the least affordable places, annual vehicle expenses consume nearly one-quarter of the typical household’s income. This map, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, ranks every state by annual car ownership costs as a share of median household income, based on analysis from LendingTree of active auto loan holders. The estimates include financing, insurance, fuel, and maintenance. The States Where Car Ownership Costs the Most The table below ranks every state by annual car ownership

Declassified Documents Show FBI Probed Whether Trump Fired Comey At Russia's Direction Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times , Newly declassified documents show the FBI probed President Donald Trump's termination of the agency's director as part of an effort to substantiate allegations that Trump colluded with Russia. Former FBI Director James Comey in Berlin, Germany, on June 19, 2018. Carsten Koall/Getty Images The documents, declassified by a White House task force on Aug. 5 , refer to Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey on May 9, 2017. In one of the documents, dated May 16, 2017, the

Fresh Panic As Pentagon Has Used 'Virtually All' Its Long-Range Precision Missiles On Iran US forces "used up virtually all" of their precision, long-range missiles during the course of the Iran war, and during the earlier heavy US-Israeli campaign of Operation Epic Fury, Reuters reported Tuesday. This has raised serious "concerns about the military's ​readiness for future conflicts," informed sources told the outlet. In particular it is the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM) which are said to be running critically low. US Army file image "Washington has used virtually all of these weapons , "

China's Power Demand Hits Records As Heatwave Grips Key Regions By Irina Slav of OilPrice.com Electricity demand in much of China hit a record this week due to scorching summer temperatures, driving grid loads to all-time highs, the State Grid Corporation of China said today, as cited by Reuters. On Monday and Tuesday, the company said, electricity loads reached a record in the country’s northern, northeastern, and eastern regions. No blackouts have been reported, however, as the grid operator moves in time to direct more baseload electricity where it is needed for air-conditioning. According to forecasts from the Chinese state

Federal Operation Takes More Than 800 Dangerous Truckers Off US Highways Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times , Federal authorities took more than 800 dangerous truckers off America's roads in a three-day enforcement action, officials revealed Tuesday. In the operation, they targeted unqualified foreign drivers and unsafe commercial vehicles. A truck drives through the Port of Oakland in Oakland, Calif., on Nov. 14, 2025. California has revoke 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses improperly issued to foreign drivers, about 2.5 percent of all commercial licenses in the state. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images The most recent wave of Operation Highway Shield was

Tit-For-Tat: China Hits Back At US With Tighter Drone Export Controls Sino-US relations are showing renewed signs of deterioration ahead of President Xi Jinping's expected visit to the US in late September. Beijing is retaliating against a series of recent U.S. trade restrictions. The Financial Times reports that the Commerce Ministry is set to review exports of drones, critical components, and related dual-use technologies on a "case-by-case basis." The report did not mention the exact details. The ministry also barred Chinese companies from dealing with Applied DNA Sciences and five other U.S. entities accused of "supporting illegal U.S. sanctions concerning

Argentina's Milei: Ending the Debt State By Holding Politicians Personally Accountable For Fiscal Excess Submitted by Thomas Kolbe Only contrast reveals one's own mistakes. Javier Milei is the antithesis of Germany's political class, and the comparison could hardly be starker. While Germany continues to expand the state, Argentina is slashing subsidies and radically reducing the size of its public bureaucracy. While Berlin piles up enormous amounts of public debt, Buenos Aires is posting a primary budget surplus. Friedrich Merz believes in the healing powers of state intervention, whereas Milei is deregulating markets and paving the way for an investment boom.

Japan Looks To Palantir For Battlefield AI Japan is preparing to introduce AI into the command-and-control systems of its Self-Defense Forces as part of a wider military modernization effort aimed at improving operational speed and interoperability with the United States, according to Nikkei . Under the proposal, multiple U.S.-developed AI platforms would support commanders by processing battlefield data, assisting with tactical decisions, and coordinating operations across missions such as missile defense, counterstrikes, and drone deployments. The initiative is expected to be incorporated into revisions of Japan's national security strategy later this year as the government reshapes its defense posture over

OpenAI, Anthropic Models Created Fake Profiles, Tried To Trick Humans During Cyber Tests Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times , Artificial Intelligence (AI) models from Anthropic and OpenAI carried out unsanctioned actions targeting multiple people and organizations during a cyber evaluation , according to the UK AI Security Institute (AISI). Illustration of Anthropic on June 18, 2026. Riccardo Milani/Hans Lucas via AFP via Getty Images AISI, which receives access to advanced AI models under voluntary agreements from major labs, put the agents through a fictional cybersecurity scenario to test capabilities. The organization tested multiple AI models on two

Jim Cramer Just Sold His Bitcoin And Bulls Couldn't Be Happier Looks like $100,000 bitcoin may be on deck, because Cramer is selling. The ultimate inverse indicator Jim Cramer says he is selling all of his bitcoin, warning that rapid advances in quantum computing could threaten the cryptocurrency’s security within the next three to four years, according to Cointelegraph and Coindesk . The CNBC host made the decision after interviewing IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, who urged investors to be "paranoid" about the potential impact of quantum computers on modern cryptography. Cramer said the conversation convinced him it was time to

Iran-Oman Hormuz Route 'Agreed To' As Iran Warns Against US 'Interference' Summary Iran says Hormuz route is agreed : Tehran says it has finalized a shipping route with Oman, blaming U.S. actions for delaying a final agreement. Tehran claims victory : Iranian officials say the deal would lock in Iran's wartime gains and strategic leverage over Hormuz. Mixed messages : Trump says a deal could come within days, while Iran insists the talks are only with Oman. Draft outline emerges : Reports outline Iranian oversight of inbound traffic and Omani management of outbound shipping. High stakes as pressure eased on

DHS Confirms Over 3 Million Total Deportations, Highlights Arrests Of Five More "Worst Of The Worst" Criminal Illegals Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday arrested five more “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens convicted for heinous crimes, including voluntary manslaughter, criminal indecent exposure, aggravated assault, and fentanyl trafficking. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), more than three million illegal aliens have left the United States due to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown: 2.2 million self-deportations, and over 985,000 deported by DHS. Each of the five violent criminals highlighted

Sandisk Tumbles After Revenue, Earnings Forecasts Miss Estimates Sandisk was one of the largest public holdings of the hedge fund of 24-year-old former wunderkind, Leopold Aschenbrenner, and its July collapse from $2300 to $1000 was chief the main reasons why the former OpenAI employee had to liquidate his extremely overlevered hedge fund and sell all positions at a 10% discount to Citadel to meet a volley of endless margin calls. Well, if he has some dry powder left he just may be able to repurchase some or all of his portfolio from Ken Griffen following the plunge of Sandisk after

They Really Don't Care Authored by Todd Hayen via Off-Guardian.org, This might not apply to all sheep-types, but many of the ones I have encountered simply do not care. This could be the reason we can’t seem to get through to them with the facts we are constantly shoving down their throats. Of course, the ones I’ve talked to may just be saying they don’t care to shut me up, but I really don’t think so. They seem pretty sincere. How could they not care? Now, that is the $64,000 question. People, in general, do not care about things they

FAFO: Democrat Candidate Threatening Beachgoers Gets Knocked Out Cold On Beach A Democrat hopeful gunning for a seat in Congress is sitting behind bars on $1 million bail after police described a chaotic beachside confrontation on Maui that involved a knife, repeated threats, and the candidate left unconscious in the sand. Kirill Basin, the 40-year-old primary challenger to Rep. Jill Tokuda in Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District, faces two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening stemming from the Aug. 1 incident at Keawakapu Beach in South Kihei. It started with a request to turn the music down. A 61-year-old man asked Basin

Israel To Scale Back Gaza Strikes To Give Trump's Hamas Disarmament Plan A Chance Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times, Israel has tightened restrictions on targeted strikes in Gaza, signaling that it intends to give President Donald Trump’s initiative to disarm Hamas a chance despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s firm public conditions for an Israeli withdrawal. Senior Israeli security and political officials told Epoch Magazine Israel on Aug. 5 that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has ordered that every targeted strike in Gaza receive his personal approval. Such operations previously required approval

The 20-year-old’s third calf is being monitored by officials as survival rates for the species are challenging, the zoo said The Toronto Zoo has announced the birth of a female pygmy hippo calf. Kindia, the zoo’s 20-year-old pygmy hippo, started showing signs of labor at around 8.15am last Sunday, it said. Around four hours later, the calf’s feet emerged and after 1.5 hours of active labor, Kindia successfully gave birth to the baby pygmy hippo. Continue reading...

César Gastélum was filming outside a fast-food outlet in Sinaloa state when he was killed by a motorbike driver A popular Mexican influencer has been shot dead while doing a live stream on social media outside a restaurant in Sinaloa state, where lethal cartel violence has become widespread. César Gastélum, who had nearly 600,000 followers on TikTok and was known for making comedy videos, was filming with two friends outside a fast-food restaurant in the city of Culiacán. The three were dressed in the bright orange jackets and backpacks of food delivery drivers. Continue reading...

Cardinal Pedro Barreto received death threats and harassment during his almost 20-year campaign against a US mining company’s operations in the Andes A Peruvian cardinal who received a barrage of death threats when he challenged the firm behind a toxic smelter has called a $150m (£111m) out-of-court settlement to more than 1,000 people who were allegedly poisoned by the plant as children “a historic milestone”. Cardinal Pedro Barreto, 82, was in Rome meeting Pope Leo XIV and other cardinals in June when he received news that the firm that ran the smelter, the Doe Run Company, a subsidiary of Renco

National Autonomous University of Mexico says applicants must take test in person after online debacle Mexico’s largest and most prestigious university has announced that about 58,000 students will have to resit their entrance exam after abnormally high test results raised suspicions of widespread cheating. The National Autonomous University of Mexico (Unam) said the exam would take place in person after its first attempt at a fully remote online version led to a debacle and thousands of annulled results. Continue reading...

Move is retaliation for Lula’s government refusal to approve Trump’s nominee for ambassador in Brasília Donald Trump’s administration has revoked the visa of Brazil’s ambassador to the US in a sharp escalation of a diplomatic feud with the country’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The US state department said Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti ’s visa had been cancelled in retaliation for Brazil’s refusal to approve Trump’s nominee for ambassador in Brasília and its decision last month to deny visas to two US diplomats seeking to visit ahead of an October election. Continue reading...

Coffee chain has faced backlash over marketing promotion tied to anniversary of Gwangju massacre South Korean police have raided the headquarters of Starbucks Korea as part of an investigation into a marketing campaign accused of trivialising the country’s 1980s pro-democracy movement. Investigators searched the building in southern Seoul on Tuesday, police said on Wednesday. No further details were released, although South Korean media reported that officers also searched the homes of the Starbucks Korea executives. Continue reading...

Snow falls in Wellington for the first time in 15 years while snow blanketed Dunedin and Christchurch on the country’s south island Temperatures have plummeted across New Zealand as an Antarctic cold snap hovers over the country, delighting the capital, Wellington, which experienced snow for the first time in 15 years, while giving a southern city’s residents a chance to ski through the streets. The front moved in on Tuesday, with much of the country waking to freezing conditions, frosts, snowfall, hail and bitingly cold wind. Continue reading...

WTA event win earns 21-year-old a presidential reception in the Philippines as interest in tennis surges in home country The Philippines has been swept up in tennis fever after 21-year-old rising star Alex Eala delivered a historic win, drawing praise from the president who hosted a reception in her honour. On Monday, Eala became the first player from the Philippines to win a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour-level singles title. Continue reading...

Most of the zoo’s 16 lions have struggled to cope with high humidity this summer Three lions from a Tokyo zoo have died from suspected heatstroke and others are undergoing treatment, a spokesperson said on Tuesday, as the big cats struggle in Japan’s high levels of humidity. Japan sweltered through its hottest summer on record last year and parts of the country have hit 40C in recent weeks, qualifying for the new “cruelly hot day” designation . Continue reading...

Large tabby cat that wiped out dozens of rare pāteke, or brown teal, has been killed after eluding trappers with its ‘very erratic’ behaviour A notorious feral cat given the name “Nine Lives” because it eluded trappers for three years has been caught and killed in New Zealand, ending its devastating rampage against one of the country’s rare duck populations. The cat, a large grey tabby, is estimated to have killed dozens of New Zealand’s rarest mainland duck – or 1% of its population – plus a host of kiwi chicks, native geckos and other native wildlife during the three

Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A 60-year-old man has died after an alleged assault in Melbourne, where he was allegedly set upon by a group of youths. Victoria police said the man sustained critical injuries on 1 August after the group of young people allegedly attempted to steal items from a nearby store in the suburb of Sunshine. The victim allegedly came to the aid of a shop employee before he was attacked himself. Continue reading...

Former 2UE and 2GB radio broadcaster is facing 22 charges. Jones, 85, has pleaded not guilty Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A former student sports star has denied in a Sydney court that he “fabricated” indecent assault allegations against broadcaster Alan Jones after he lost his police job and fell on “extremely hard times”. Jones’s defence barrister, Gabrielle Bashir SC, on Wednesday suggested to complainant J during cross-examination that he had a financial motive to report his alleged indecent assaults 20 years after the

Former AFL inclusion manager tells inquiry One Nation leader’s conduct is encouraging people to use ‘similar behaviour and words’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The rise of One Nation is fuelling racism, a federal parliamentary inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at First Nations people has been told, with high‑profile Indigenous journalists warning the inquiry that 1970s‑style racism “is back”. The inquiry is holding public hearings in Melbourne this week, hearing evidence from prominent personalities and sporting groups about their experiences of racism,

Mark Parton defends sending text message but denies he sent it to a sex worker, saying he is a ‘multi-tasker from hell’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast An Australian politician has admitted sending a text message that read “fuck, my job is boring” during a parliamentary hearing , but denied an allegation that he sent it to a sex worker. Mark Parton, the leader of the opposition in the Australian Capital Territory, made the admission after an anonymous complaint referred to the Legislative Assembly’s commissioner for standards alleged that last week’s text was

Jean-Claude Perrottet, brother of former NSW premier, asked about messages referencing federal opposition leader and factional group Reformers Icac’s spotlight has shone on Dominic Perrottet’s brother – and it won’t be the last we hear from his family New South Wales’ anti-corruption watchdog has been shown text messages which suggest Angus Taylor “had paid some money to the Reformers … or was refusing to”, according to the lawyer assisting the inquiry. Taylor, the federal opposition leader, is not named in Icac’s allegations and has previously denied making payments to the hard-right factional group the Reformers. Continue reading...

Zelenskyy says military managed to hit two refineries in targeted attacks At least six people were killed and 36 injured in another round of Russian overnight attacks on Ukraine, targeting the eastern city of Balakliia and the northern region of Sumy. But the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, noted that Ukraine’s military managed to hit two Russian refineries in targeted attacks, hitting “Russia’s oil revenues, which it uses to finance the war and the killing of Ukrainians.” Continue reading...

After Ukraine failed to shoot down a single ballistic missile fired by Russia on Wednesday, the president urged allies to increase supplies of Patriot interceptors Nato is working to get Ukraine the air defences it “urgently needs”, its secretary general has said, after Kyiv failed to shoot down a single Russian missile in an attack on Wednesday, and as Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was seeking to significantly boost missile ⁠production ahead of winter. Speaking at a National Security and Defense Council meeting on winter resilience, the Ukrainian president did not rule out the idea that stalling missile supplies from

Investigators treating incident as part of ‘professional hybrid threat scenario’, says Alexander Dobrindt • The Leipzig drone bomb marks a dangerous escalation for Europe Germany’s interior minister has warned that the discovery of a drone carrying explosives at Leipzig airport marks “a new level of danger” for the country, as authorities examine whether the thwarted attack could have been planned by a foreign power. The discovery of a small drone carrying explosives at Leipzig airport, a leading shipping and military hub, set off alarm and caused flight diversions on Wednesday morning. German police deployed a bomb disposal robot to defuse

Initial evidence suggests aerial drone, found near Ukrainian cargo planes at German airport, came from Russia The armed drone found at Leipzig airport on Wednesday may not have exploded, but the fact that it got inside the perimeter, close to Ukrainian cargo planes , raises obvious concerns for the security of international aviation. Though the identity of the culprits is unknown, the initial evidence points firmly towards a Russian-orchestrated plot. It is the first time that a drone with explosives has been found in Europe far from the Ukrainian border. Continue reading...

Ukraine shoots down most drones but no ballistic missiles in overnight attack that mainly targeted civilian facilities Volodymyr Zelenskyy has blamed allies for not delivering air defences fast enough after Ukraine failed to shoot down a single Russian missile in a deadly overnight attack that killed at least 17 people and ⁠injured dozens more. Preliminary data from the Ukrainian air force showed its defences shot down 98 of the 115 drones fired by Russia overnight, but no ballistic missiles. Continue reading...

Investigation by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and Legal Agenda shows Israel deliberately attacked Amal Khalil and colleague Zeinab Faraj knowing they were civilians An Israeli strike that killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and injured her colleague Zeinab Faraj in April was a war crime, three rights organisations said on Thursday. Investigations from Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International and Legal Agenda showed that Israel deliberately and directly attacked Khalil and Faraj, with apparent knowledge that they were civilians. The organisations called for the attacks to be investigated as war crimes, while HRW called for states to halt arm sales to

This live blog is now closed. The ⁠geographic coordinates for a shipping ⁠route ⁠through the ​ strait of Hormuz ⁠have been agreed by Iran and ⁠ Oman , and ​a ‌joint announcement ‌is being ‌finalised, provided no third parties interfere, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei ‌ said on Wednesday. Baghaei added ​that any such agreement between Iran and ⁠Oman would not, ​by itself, ​guarantee security ​in the ​strategic waterway. Continue reading...

Joint statement with Oman is being finalised, but Tehran says deal alone would not guarantee waterway’s security Iran and Oman have reached an understanding on ⁠the geographic coordinates for a shipping route through the strait of Hormuz, and ⁠a joint announcement ⁠is ​being finalised provided certain third parties do not interfere, Iran ’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail ⁠Baghaei said on Wednesday. Baghaei added that any such agreement between Iran and Oman would not, by ⁠itself, guarantee security in the strategic waterway. Continue reading...

Hits on two towns among deadliest bombings since start of June ceasefire An Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon killed one person and injured 11, the Lebanese ministry of health said, in one of Israel’s deadliest bombings since the start of the June ceasefire. Israel carried out an airstrike in the town of Tebnine, south Lebanon hitting a cemetery, the Lebanese health ministry said. It said the town of al-Mansouri, also in south Lebanon, was bombed too, forcing families to flee. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. US and Qatar report progress on Iran ceasefire and reopening Hormuz strait Iran and Oman have made progress toward a deal to reopen the strait of Hormuz, a potential breakthrough that could help end the war in the Middle East, regional officials have said. Under the emerging agreement, ships would enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman, with service fees charged for providing security and preserving the maritime environment, two regional officials told the Associated Press. Continue reading...

Sheikh Hasina plans a December comeback two years after being ousted in a bloody uprising led by students Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return home by the end of the year, even though she faces a death sentence. “They may put me in a cell. They may kill me. Anything may happen, but still I have to go,” said Hasina, two years after a student-led uprising toppled her government. Continue reading...

Rules brought in soon after killing of dozens of protesters, news of which was reported only by overseas outlets Pakistani authorities have imposed severe new restrictions on international media, including barring them from reporting in most of the country, in a move that has provoked a significant backlash from journalist organisations. According to the new rules anyone, including Pakistani nationals, should seek permission first if they want to report from anywhere Pakistan except three cities – Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. Continue reading...

Lahore police official says all personnel were responsible for preventing and reporting any wrongdoing at station The alleged rape of a 20-year-old woman with learning disabilities in a police station in Lahore, Pakistan, has prompted authorities to suspend all 78 police officers and staff at the precinct, in one of the country’s biggest ever disciplinary actions against its police force. The woman alleges that an assistant sub-inspector apprehended her, took her to Ghaziabad police station and raped her in a room on the second floor. The woman’s family said she disappeared on the street, before returning home in tears and

Increasingly erratic weather patterns due to climate change mean people are losing homes, crops and livestock As rain lashed the Pir Panjal mountains before dawn on 19 July, Haji Mohammad Latief stepped outside his home in Murrah, a remote mountain village in Indian-administered Kashmir. His daughter had asked him to move the family’s car to a safer place as the rain got heavier. “I had only just parked it,” Latief recalled. “When I turned around, I saw the water coming.” Minutes later, a cloudburst sent mud, boulders and water crashing down the hillside. Continue reading...

Opposition parties say nationwide protests that forced resignation of education secretary are beginning to dent BJP support India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party has lost a byelection in a seat it had held for three decades, after the Cockroach movement student protests that have shaken Narendra Modi’s government. Prashant Kishor, a high-profile electoral strategist turned politician, scored a breakthrough win for his fledgling Jan Suraaj (Good Governance) party in the Bankipur constituency in Patna, the capital of the eastern state of Bihar. Continue reading...

Firm lifts outlook saying it’s well placed to benefit from PM’s focus on new homes despite ongoing cost pressures of Iran war UK housebuilder Persimmon has lifted its outlook, saying it is “well-placed” to benefit from prime minister Andy Burnham’s policy agenda, despite growing costs linked to the Iran war. Despite rising cost pressures, Persimmon has lifted its outlook for the full year and now plans to complete 12,500 new homes by year-end, at the upper reach of its previous guidance. Continue reading...

Some want the chancellor to exploit newly flexible fiscal rules – others want a more creative approach, such as borrowing from markets With just 12 weeks to go until his first budget, new chancellor John Healey is seeking ways to ramp up public investment, without busting the Treasury’s fiscal rules – and some economists are urging him to be bold. As he settles into No 11 Downing Street, the former defence secretary’s most immediate challenges concern day-to-day government spending. Continue reading...

Sociology professor to stand down after university announces investigation into his qualifications and career Playbooks, plagiarism and a pig’s head: the claims surrounding a star Cambridge professor Jason Arday, the Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism and embellishment, has resigned after the university announced he was to face new investigations into his qualifications and career. Arday, who had been dogged by a growing series of questions over his academic work and credentials, issued a statement on Wednesday night, saying the “relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love”. Continue reading...

Health secretary says global heating means UK hospitals and GPs will have to prepare for summer as well as winter peaks of demand Adapting to global heating: which UK public services are struggling in hot weather? The NHS has been warned to prepare for potential annual summer crises caused by extreme heat with the same pressures as winter, as heatwaves caused by the climate crisis become routine in the UK. The health secretary, Yvette Cooper, said NHS staff were feeling A&E pressures that would normally be expected only during flu season – and said the government would use major investment

As NHS told to prepare for extreme weather, strain also felt in other areas including transport and farming NHS must prepare for annual summer heat pressures, says Yvette Cooper The NHS has been told it must become more resilient to increasingly frequent heatwaves supercharged by the climate crisis, as the UK government puts adaptation to extreme heat high on its agenda. But what other public services are already feeling the strain? Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate primary Sign up for the Breaking News US email A quick update on the marquee Democratic primary race for US Senate in Michigan. Haley Stevens is trailing Abdul El-Sayed by fewer than 15,000 votes , according the Associated Press, whose count the Guardian uses on election night. Continue reading...

Jeanine John Taele faces new weapons charges as details of ‘suspicious’ behavior ahead of president’s visit emerge A California man who was arrested at Donald Trump ’s Los Angeles-area golf course ahead of a presidential visit is facing more charges, as authorities released new details about the investigation. Authorities say federal agents first observed 38-year-old Jeanine John Taele near the golf grounds in Rancho Palos Verdes on 31 July, wearing an earpiece and capturing photographs and videos of security agents assessing the property. Continue reading...

Company is the third to report such an incident after Anthropic and OpenAI reported breaches during training Meta said on Wednesday that one of its AI models hacked ⁠another company during cybersecurity testing, after an error by its testing partner gave the model unintended internet access. The incident adds to a ⁠growing list of ⁠cases in ​which AI agents from major developers breached systems at other companies during testing, after Anthropic said last week that some of its models ⁠hacked three companies, and OpenAI disclosed that an AI agent breached the startup Hugging Face. Continue reading...

Burmese pythons are an invasive species in the Everglades, and the challenge is part of initiative to remove them The winner of this year’s annual Florida Python Challenge hunted down and eliminated 96 invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades national park, as part of an initiative to remove hundreds of the snakes from the area every year. The challenge invites hunters to participate in 10 days of capturing and humanely euthanizing as many of the invasive snakes as possible across eight designated hunting locations, with the winner taking home a cash prize of $10,000. The event is hosted by Florida

Variety of prescriptions were found in blood of mother accused of strangling her three children, court hears Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts woman accused of killing her three children in January 2023, continued on Wednesday with a forensic toxicologist testifying to the variety and concentration of medications found in the defendant’s blood. Justin Brower, a forensic toxicologist with NMS Laboratories, testified that his lab examined the levels of four psychiatric medications detected in Clancy’s blood after she allegedly strangled her children and attempted to take her own life. Continue

The Democratic Party’s progressive ⁠wing scored a high-profile victory on Wednesday when Abdul El-Sayed won the party’s US Senate nomination ⁠in Michigan, giving its anti-establishment message a boost ahead of November’s midterm elections. El-Sayed, a doctor whose campaign focused on healthcare, the economy and an end to unconditional military aid to Israel, was the first progressive to win a statewide primary in a state that US President Donald Trump carried in 2024. He will face Republican...

Iran and Oman have agreed a route for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and were finalising arrangements for jointly managing the strategic waterway, Tehran said on Wednesday, even as fresh security incidents highlighted continued risks for regional shipping. The agreement would be a step towards reopening the key energy route, but official sources briefing Iranian media stressed that any easing still hinged on Washington ending its own naval blockade of Iran’s ports. Iran has exercised de...

Scientists have captured images of the sun’s surface in the finest detail yet, revealing a strange and dynamic facade. It is dangerous to look directly at the sun without proper eye protection. But researchers were able to peek at its scorching surface with the help of the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, located on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Scientists originally took the images for a different reason: to fine-tune and test the limits of the telescope. But when...

A woman has been arrested after four men were stabbed in Covent Garden in central London on Wednesday afternoon. The Metropolitan Police said the four men, aged 34, 39, 42 and 52, were found with stab wounds. No further update has been given on the extent of their injuries. The 47-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and assault, the force added. She was taken into custody, where she remains. The stabbing is believed to have been a mental health-related...

The leader of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party defended the selection of a former neo-Nazi who had been jailed for hate crimes as a local election candidate, saying on Wednesday that he was rehabilitated and could help fight ‌antisemitism. Joshua Bonehill-Paine was convicted in 2015 of racially aggravated harassment of Luciana Berger, then a Labour member of parliament, and had also been imprisoned for stirring up hatred against a north London Jewish community. His selection as a...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel did not agree to the US-backed plan for Gaza, even after receiving assurances that an Israeli pull-out would only happen after Hamas disarms. In a video posted to his social media accounts on Tuesday night, Netanyahu said the team of US President Donald Trump “believes that they can bring about the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarisation of Gaza”. “We are checking this. They sent us a draft – we did not agree to it, it is not our draft. We...

German police raised the alarm at an airport overnight after an explosive-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane and another aircraft collided with an unknown flying object nearby before landing safely. All flights to Leipzig-Halle airport were diverted for several hours from around midnight as police deployed a bomb-disposal robot to remove the detonator from the explosive in the drone The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had been found on the tarmac. The airport in eastern Germany...

Russian missile and drone strikes killed at least 17 people and wounded dozens more in Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight, authorities said Wednesday. Kyiv was unable to shoot down any of the missiles launched by Russia, whose intensifying attacks have prompted Kyiv to plead for more US-made Patriot interceptors. Russia has significantly upped its attacks on the Ukrainian capital in recent months, typically firing salvoes of hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles in short blitzes that rock...

Guatemala remained on alert Tuesday after evacuating villages during an eruption of the Fuego volcano, one of Central America’s most active. About 1,700 people remained in shelters with the evacuations to stay in place until conditions improve, according to the country’s disaster agency CONRED. Officials raised the alert level to red in Sacatepequez, Escuintla and Chimaltenango, where about 29,000 people are affected by ashfall and schools remain closed. Authorities on Tuesday warned the next 72...

The United States has revoked the visa of Brazil’s ambassador, a State Department official said Tuesday, in a mounting diplomatic row just months before elections in Latin America’s largest nation. The move would be reversed, the official said on customary condition of anonymity, if Brazil granted its approval of US President Donald Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Brasilia. Trump nominated Daniel Perez, a prominent Florida Republican, as the new ambassador to Brazil in early June. While the...

A man carrying ammunition and with a gun in his vehicle was arrested Sunday at President Donald Trump’s Los Angeles-area golf course after appearing to monitor security preparations ahead of Trump’s fundraiser there on Tuesday, authorities said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Jeanine John Taele, 38, took photos and video and had a 16-round magazine with ammunition in his pocket. A search of his pickup truck in the golf course car park turned up a loaded 9mm pistol, binoculars...

A SpaceX rocket piece floating in space since last ⁠year smashed into the moon at high speed early on Wednesday morning, joining the ranks of meteoroids, wayward spacecraft and other pieces of space junk that have bombarded the lunar surface for ages, astronomers confirmed. The school-bus-size object is the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that had launched a lunar lander from Firefly Aerospace towards the moon in January 2025. Its predicted collision with the moon became a spectacle for...

A viral clip renews the headlined question for me. Jameela Jamil, a British actress of Pakistani and Indian descent, caused a public row in the UK for her interview last month on Yestergays, a pop culture podcast. She said: “Americans think British people are so sweet, which is crazy because British people are truly the most evil people in history. Like, they are Thanos. They owe 43 trillion to India … We colonised the world.” A similar figure came from Indian economist Utsa Patnaik. Based on...

A €1 million (US$1.15 million) lottery ticket was recovered from the trash in Italy after the frantic winner called on binmen to help her retrieve it, the waste management company said. The instant win ticket was “miraculously still in one piece” after rubbish workers combed through mounds of trash on their truck, said Roberto Nicola Toscano, the administrator of the SANB company in Italy’s southern Puglia region. Toscano explained how when the winner went on Sunday to check her ticket at her...

Latin American countries should resist pressure to choose between the United States and China and use their vast reserves of lithium, copper and other strategic resources to strengthen their negotiating power, according to a high-level commission co-chaired by former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and former Colombian president Ivan Duque. But the commission acknowledges that the region’s room for manoeuvre is sharply constrained in security, technology and critical infrastructure, areas in...

Ukraine on Tuesday accused Russia of committing a war crime after a video was released showing a drone chasing down and wounding a vegetable seller in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. Footage released by Ukrainian police shows the drone pursuing a man around a van being used as a street stand before exploding ‌as he dives for cover behind the vehicle. Police said the man in his 50s survived but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries. Ukrainian officials later identified him only as a...

It started with Instagram posts that suggested Spain’s border with Morocco was opening up. Then came Facebook users tracking coastguard patrols and TikTok videos showing where to swim. After many shares and comments, thousands of Moroccans became convinced that Europe was suddenly within reach. Within hours, young people began heading towards the border with the Spanish territory of Ceuta in North Africa. Packed buses rolled into the neighbouring Moroccan city of Fnideq. Regional trains filled...

The World Bank on Tuesday called on developing countries to embrace artificial intelligence technology tools to deliver better governance outcomes, warning that they risked being left behind if they failed to do so. “AI has thrown developing economies a lifeline, and they should seize it,” Indermit Gill, chief economist of the World Bank Group, said as the organisation launched its annual World Development Report. “They do not need large models or big data centres to reap its benefits,” he...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chile’s Kast courts China day after US hits exports with forced labour tariff Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast received China’s ambassador to Santiago, Niu Qingbao, at the La Moneda Palace, in an encounter that lasted more than an hour and marked the first meeting between the two...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering global relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Nato launches defence projects to counter Russia and China Nato member states unveiled a series of defence initiatives in June aimed at strengthening weapons development, production and supply chains in response to security challenges posed by Russia and China. Read the full story here. 2....

French and British vessels saved 157 migrants after their boat caught fire while trying to cross the Channel on Tuesday, authorities in both countries said. It is one of the largest such rescue operations reported since records began in 2018. “A small boat caught fire on the boundary between French and British waters, forcing its occupants to jump overboard” on Tuesday morning, the prefect’s office in France’s Pas-de-Calais region said, adding no casualties had been reported. They had left the...

The global AI race is becoming a contest over the international order. In June, the US convened the second summit under the 24-economy Pax Silica around secure supply chains, AI infrastructure and trusted technology partnerships. In July, all 193 UN member states met in Geneva for the inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance. Days later, 29 countries signed the agreement establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) in Shanghai. Together, these developments...

US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” on Monday assured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel’s withdrawal in Gaza would only begin after Hamas’ complete disarmament, following his objections. Two members of Netanyahu’s security cabinet had urged a vote to tear up the deal championed by Trump after the board released a text that called for Israel to begin a phased withdrawal. Netanyahu’s office said it had raised concerns to the United States, after Trump on Friday hailed as a...

Russia said on Monday that seven people, including three children, had been killed and 40 injured at its Black Sea holiday resort of Gelendzhik in what it said was a deliberate Ukrainian drone attack on civilians. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which like Russia, ‌says it does not deliberately target civilians in the full-scale war which Moscow launched in 2022. Social media videos, verified by Reuters, showed what appears to be a drone slamming into a busy beach area near the town...

In countries like France and Norway, the government census strictly avoids asking about race and ethnicity. Governed by a desire for national unity, these states operate on a firm premise: categorising citizens by skin colour risks creating divisions and reinforcing prejudice. Across the Atlantic and in the Commonwealth, you find a different philosophy. The United States, United Kingdom and Canada measure race and ethnicity. In these societies, data collection isn’t seen as a wedge to divide...

US President Donald Trump sharply criticised ⁠US Attorney Jeanine Pirro ⁠on Monday for dropping ⁠a case of alleged vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, saying she had “choked” under pressure from a judge and “folded like an umbrella”. “Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went ‌after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened,” Trump told reporters. Pirro’s office said in a court filing on Friday...

The US State Department has notified Congress that it plans to close five foreign missions in a rare downsizing of America’s global diplomatic footprint, according to people familiar with the notice. In the notice sent to some congressional committees late last week, the State Department said it ‌planned to close its posts in St George’s, Grenada; Nagoya, Japan; Medan, Indonesia; Douala, Cameroon; and Winnipeg, Canada. The people familiar with the notice spoke on condition of anonymity because...

Bank accounts held by US President Donald Trump were closed by Capital One in 2021 after it flagged financial activity that had characteristics of money laundering, the bank disclosed in a court filing over the weekend. The court filing is tied to a lawsuit filed against Capital One by one of Trump’s financial holding companies soon after he was sworn into office a second time. Trump alleges that Capital One illegally closed his accounts for political reasons, following the January 6 attacks on...

United Nations rights experts have urged Canada to take all feasible measures to protect the Sikh activist Moninder Singh, who has been repeatedly warned by the Canadian authorities of credible threats to his life. In a letter to the Canadian government dated June 3, and made public two months later, as per regular procedure, the five UN experts raised “concerning allegations of foreign intimidation and reprisals” against Singh, a Canadian national. It recalled that since 2022, Singh has...

A group of 25 Democratic-led US states sued US President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday, arguing that the president’s latest round of tariffs on goods from 60 trading partners, like most of his earlier sweeping tariffs, exceeds his legal authority to tax imports. The states’ lawsuit filed in the US ‌Court of International Trade in New York follows previous challenges by small US businesses, which sued to block the tariffs on the day they went into effect last month. States and small...

President Volodymyr ⁠Zelensky dismissed Ukraine’s ⁠ambassador to the ⁠United States, Olha Stefanishyna, in a presidential decree published on Monday. Stefanishyna had been in her job for nearly a year. Her departure had ‌been expected for several weeks. Her departure coincides with a shake-up in recent weeks of top officials, including the replacement of the prime minister and defence minister. A reshuffle of Ukraine’s diplomatic and ambassadorial appointments is also expected. Stefanishyna,...

Colombian prosecutors are investigating allegations that executives of a Chinese state-owned contractor building the Bogota metro demanded cash from a local subcontractor in exchange for releasing payments owed for work on the project, according to an investigation published over the weekend by Semana, the country’s leading news magazine. The consortium building the line has denied any wrongdoing, saying the money seen changing hands was a retention payment agreed upon between the two firms in a...

Two people have died in the cyclospora outbreak in Michigan, state health officials announced Monday, the first deaths confirmed in the US related to the microscopic parasite. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said both people had underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by the intestinal illness and dehydration. The department said it would not provide additional information about the deaths. Cyclospora is a microscopic, spherical parasite that commonly causes...

The government in Madrid has rejected allegations that it ignored warnings from the CNI intelligence service about a mass arrival of tens of thousands of migrants in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa. It said on Monday that no intelligence reports had been received warning of a migration crisis on this scale. Meanwhile, efforts to accommodate and repatriate the remaining migrants, as well as the search for further fatalities, are continuing in Ceuta. According to the Ministry of the...

France on Monday condemned a proposal by hard-right Reform UK party to launch, if it wins power, “the largest military operation” in the Channel “since World War II” to stop migrants crossing on small boats. The party’s leader, Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, at a press conference unveiled a policy to deploy Britain’s Royal Navy to return small boats to France. But the French interior ministry said that the plan “would be a violation of French sovereignty as well as a violation of maritime law...

Jay ⁠Clayton was sworn in on Monday as ⁠the US director of national intelligence after a contentious Senate confirmation hearing in which he refused to directly acknowledge that President Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. He takes on ‌a role that was vacated in June when Tulsi Gabbard stepped down after a tenure marked by clashes with congressional Democrats, who accused her of advancing Trump’s political agenda and promoting debunked election claims. “The safety and security of...

The US has signed a more than US$3 billion deal with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to ramp up production of Patriot and ‌THAAD interceptor missile parts, as conflicts in Iran and Ukraine strain stockpiles. The deal, announced by the Pentagon and Northrop on Monday, follows last week’s announcement of a contract for Lockheed worth up to US$58.6 billion to produce Patriot interceptor missiles. The United States has supplied large amounts of arms to ⁠allies while also using munitions in the...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Liberation Day 2.0? US slaps fresh wave of tariffs on China, 50-plus economies On July 24, the United States imposed a fresh wave of tariffs against 60 economies, including China, Japan, South Korea, India and European Union member states, hours before a temporary 10 per cent blanket levy...

A British man who kept his mother’s ⁠body in ⁠a freezer for nearly ⁠three years while he received almost £80,000 (US$108,000) of her welfare benefits was jailed on Monday. Christopher Phillips, 60, had admitted preventing the lawful and decent burial of his 89-year-old mother Sylvia Phillips after ‌she died in March 2023 until his arrest at their home in Porthcawl, south Wales, in February this year. Phillips also pleaded guilty to fraud after he received about £78,000 in benefits and pension...

With the US-Israel war on Iran entering its sixth month, Chinese policymakers have a multitude of questions weighing on their minds, with two proving particularly thorny according to a prominent economist: how much longer the conflict might last, and whether it will necessitate adjustments to previous plans. While the continuing impact on China might remain “small”, said Mao Zhenhua – co-director of Renmin University’s Institute of Economic Research and a professor at the University of Hong...

Artificial intelligence is transforming the world at extraordinary speed. It is reshaping manufacturing, finance, healthcare, education, scientific research and even the way governments make decisions. While AI advances at an unprecedented pace, one fundamental question has come to the fore: how to govern intelligence in an interconnected yet increasingly fragmented world? The question came into sharper focus after Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered the opening address at the World AI...

Only days ago, the Japanese yen’s descent showed no signs of stopping, having already dropped to a 40-year low. But by Monday morning – after a rare intervention on the currency’s behalf by Tokyo and Washington – it surged as high as 155.23 per US dollar, its strongest level since early May, according to Chinese financial data provider Wind. The joint action took on an extra layer of intrigue after a Reuters photograph revealed that a “to-do” list from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during...

Cuba’s power grid failed on Sunday, causing another nationwide blackout, a state utility said in a social media post. As the lights suddenly turned off across Havana, residents who were sat outside to get some respite from the summer heat audibly groaned en masse. Cuba has been suffering rolling power cuts due to ageing equipment and a US energy embargo that halted regular deliveries of fuel for power stations. State-run UNE said there was a “total disconnection” of the national electricity...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. From property to portfolios: why Chinese families are walking away from homes While Chinese families grow cautious, South Korean retail investors use record leverage to chase tech ETFs despite mounting risks. 2. Chinese pilot who landed safely after cabin leak given first-class merit award Chinese...

Chinese officials tend to report only good news and bury bad news for propaganda purposes and career advancement. That is why it came as a genuine surprise when, on July 22, Zhang Enhui, the party chief of Changchun, an industrial powerhouse known for its automobile sector and technological research, publicly broke with that tradition. He warned of “unprecedented difficulties and challenges” facing the city’s economy. The remark was apparently swiftly scrubbed from the city government’s website,...

A White House official says no final decision has been made about which plane will go on display at the Trump presidential library. That leaves the fate of the Qatari jet unclear.

Despite data to the contrary, the Treasury Secretary made the case that the K-shaped economy no longer exists.

A brutal summer has exposed how much Britain, France, Spain and other European countries are under pressure from forces largely out of their control.

The task force will allow the spy agency to quickly direct more financial, human and technical resources at the island, with the goal of creating fissures among the Cuban political elite.

Jason Arday was hired by the University of Cambridge in 2023 as the youngest Black professor in its history. Doubt has since been cast on his academic qualifications and claims about his life.

A knife-wielding masked man. A pig’s head outside his parents’ door. Running 30 marathons in 35 days. The Cambridge professor Jason Arday, accused of plagiarism, says he’s been through it all. Not everyone believes him.

The federal government is ending its contract with a Kentucky nonprofit that it says pressured medical workers to remove organs from patients who were getting better.

The agency had initially refused to even review the application but reversed course after a public outcry.

A proposal making its way through Congress would integrate the U.S. and Israeli defense and intelligence apparatuses more tightly. Some worry that it is a bad idea.

The agreement on an acceptable route for ships to pass through the strait would effectively ratify Tehran’s control over the crucial waterway.

A Senate panel scheduled a vote after Dr. Anthony Fauci declined to answer questions at a hearing last week. Here are the legal issues involved.

The development comes as a Senate committee prepares to vote Thursday on whether to hold Dr. Anthony S. Fauci in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions at a hearing.

With a protest movement in Kashmir challenging its authority in the region, Pakistan restricts independent reporting by local and foreign media.

Abdul El-Sayed is quick, magnetic, overflowing with infectious confidence. But he also has a blind spot endemic to his movement.

Why we keep searching for new ways to explain ourselves.

Amateur and professional astronomers pointed their telescopes at the impact site. Most did not detect anything.