Minimalist News

What War With Iran Could Mean For Markets Monday Tl;dr: Bloomberg macro strategist, Michael Ball, warned that President Trump’s urging of Iranians to overthrow the government gives Saturday’s US and Israeli strikes on Iran the potential to usher in a more prolonged higher-volatility era rather than being a one-off tradeable shock. Traders will be closely watching for updates on crude production and shipping disruptions, and any spike in oil will move across global rates and FX and eventually weigh on equities - but Trump’s post-strike comments make it harder for markets to assume this is one and done. A limited strike would likely see the usual pattern: Crude

"Tone Down My Opinions": Police Visit Maryland Man Over Facebook Rage Posts About Soaring Power Bill A Baltimore County, Maryland resident in a Facebook group called "BGE Victims," which has 22,000 Marylanders venting about the power bill crisis, revealed earlier this week that a Baltimore County Police detective "paid [him] a visit" over posts in the online group that allegedly threatened "the parasites of BGE and the grid owners/operators." Baltimore resident Vin Shrader - or at least that's his online name  - said, "A detective from the Balto. Co. P.D. just paid me a visit about some of my post claiming I've

US Again Demands Iraq End Maliki Nomination, Or Else Authored by Jason Ditz via AntiWar.com, Iraq's Coordination Framework is still putting forward Nouri al-Maliki as its candidate for prime minister, despite President Trump loudly and repeatedly demand he be withdrawn. The US had reportedly set a deadline of Friday, February 27, to end the candidacy or face unspecified repercussions. What happens next, after the US has attacked Tehran, is anyone's guess. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the US had similarly set a "final deadline" for Maliki’s withdrawal last weekend, though that deadline passed with little visible consequence and just more US complaining about Maliki. Prime Minister

Iran Says US-Israeli Attack Hit Elementary School, Killing 85+ Girls Via Middle East Eye At least 85 people, almost all of them young girls, have been killed in an air strike on a primary school in southern Iran, the Iranian judiciary said. The attack on Saturday morning hit Shajareh Tayyebeh schoolin the city of Minab, in Hormozgan province, as the United States and Israel began launching strikes on targets across Iran. The victims were between seven and 12 years old, according to Iran's Tasnim and Fars news agencies. A staff member at the Minab school, who asked not to be named, told Middle East Eye she remains in shock

DOE Announces $171 Million For Geothermal Expansion The DOE released a Notice of Funding Opportunity offering up to $171.5 million for next-generation geothermal field tests and resource exploration.  The program targets field-scale demonstrations of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) for electricity generation, along with drilling to characterize and confirm hydrothermal and next-gen prospects nationwide. The funding splits into two initial open topics: up to $100 million for EGS field tests and $71.5 million for exploratory drilling. Letters of intent are due March 27, with full applications due April 30. The move directly supports President Trump’s Executive Order “Unleashing American Energy,” according to the agency. Geothermal

What Susan Rice Really Meant By Her Retribution Threat Via The Daily Signal, This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson.  Susan Rice, the former U.N. ambassador under the Obama administration, national security adviser, and also served in various capacities with former President Joe Biden, gave an interview on a podcast with Preet Bharara. He is that very liberal federal prosecutor that developed quite a name for himself in New York, going after, I think, targeted a lot of people based on their politics. But nonetheless, it was one of the strangest interviews because she

CCP-Linked NGO Network Prepares "Emergency Protests" In US After Trump's Iran Strikes Jeopardize Oil Flows To China TL;DR, while we find the actions of the Trump administration disappointing - based on their anti-interventionist campaign promises vs. the interventionist reality - there can be little doubt (given the speed and breadth of action) that kneejerk protests emerging within minutes of an event are clearly manufactured, aimed at leftist youth, and risk alienating antiwar conservatives. Planned demonstrations branded "Hands Off Iran" or "Stop The War On Iran" are scheduled to take place this afternoon in major cities across the U.S. From New York to Los

Federal Judge Rules IRS Illegally Shared Taxpayer Data With ICE Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A federal judge on Feb. 26 ruled that the IRS acted illegally by disclosing taxpayer information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The IRS in Washington on Jan. 6, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said the IRS erred when it shared the taxpayer information with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as part of an agreement between the two agencies in a bid to identify illegal immigrants. Earlier in February, an IRS official, Dottie Romo, issued a sworn

Defiant Iranian FM Says Regime Change Will Be 'Mission Impossible' There have been more US and Israeli strikes on Tehran into the afternoon and evening hours local time, suggesting that the aerial operation will be sustained, at least for the time being. There have been rumors flying all day that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed, which Iranian officials have firmly denied. Many analysts believe that full regime change in Iran cannot happen unless there are US forces on the ground, and this prospect would be immensely unpopular among the American public. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Saturday remarks to NBC has

Watch: RFK Jr. Destroys Media's Trump Caricature, Celebrates Epic Win On Drug Prices Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a powerful takedown of the fake news narrative surrounding President Trump, exposing the blatant lies and highlighting the administration’s groundbreaking success in driving down prescription drug costs—a move that puts American families first and crushes Big Pharma’s grip. Kennedy’s remarks come amid the Trump administration’s aggressive push to overhaul healthcare, including the implementation of the Most Favored Nation policy, which ensures Americans no longer foot the bill for the world’s highest drug prices.  Kennedy noted that the U.S.

Watch: Gulf High-Rises, Tourist Spots Get Pummeled By Iranian Ballistic Missiles Update(1245ET): Some absolutely crazy footage has been emerging Saturday amid Iran's retaliation, following the overnight into early hours US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic. Among the most shocking: the Palm Jumeirah area has been hit, possibly directly or else by falling missile debris, which is the iconic man-made island in Dubai. Fairmont The Palm hotel on fire, and confirmation: "Dubai authorities confirm that an incident occurred in a building in the Palm Jumeirah area. Emergency response teams were deployed immediately, and the site has been secured. Dubai Civil Defence has confirmed that

"Expect Moderate Disruptions": Oil Tankers Avoid Strait Of Hormuz As Operation Fury Hits Iran Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel-tracking data indicate that multiple tankers abruptly reversed course near the entrance to the critical maritime chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz early Saturday, following the U.S.-Israeli operation (Operation Epic Fury) targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command-and-control infrastructure in multiple Iranian cities. Bloomberg reporter Stephen Stapczynski pulled data from the Terminal that shows shipowners of crude oil, crude products, and LNG tankers are avoiding the strait, even though the waterway remains open and traffic has not stopped entirely. "A number of oil and LNG tankers

We Didn't Just Get Expensive Electricity. We Built A System That Makes It Inevitable. Authored by William Murray via RealClearEnergy, Most Americans don’t think about electricity until the monthly bill arrives. It comes once a month, often quietly, but lately it’s landed like a thud. Heating your home now costs hundreds more a month than it did just a few years ago. You use the same appliances. You flip the same switches. Nothing in your daily life has changed – except the price. Why? When one looks inside the electricity system, the experience is less like analyzing an immense machine than being fed into one,

Russia Condemns US Attack On Iran, Warns Of Possible 'Radiological Catastrophe' As fully predictable, Moscow has blasted the major overnight and early morning US-Israeli strikes on Iran, calling the attack "a preplanned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent U.N. member state" and has demanded an immediate halt to the military campaign and a return to diplomacy. The Foreign Ministry in a statement on Telegram accused Washington and Tel Aviv of "hiding behind" concerns about Iran’s nuclear program while actually pursuing regime change, as also cited in The Associated Press. After all, even on Friday Iran was strongly signaling

Economic Sentiment Belies Strong Economic Estimates Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, Economic growth metrics for the United States have recently shown surprising resilience; however, consumers’ economic sentiment has not. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s advance estimate, real Gross Domestic Product expanded at an annualized rate of just 1.4%, well below expectations and a steep drop from the 4.4% pace in the third quarter. However, the record-long federal government shutdown, which ran from October 1 through November 12, subtracted roughly 1 full percentage point from growth, as federal outlays plunged 16.6%. Stripping out that self-inflicted drag, underlying growth was closer to 2.4%,

The Inflation Spark That Could Become A Deflation Shock Authored by Robert Burrows via BondVigilantes.com, Memory chips have quietly become the most important commodities in the global economy. DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) is considered the workhorse of the digital world. It functions as the operating memory when a device is turned on, and this memory is lost when a device is switched off.  These chips are used in almost all electronic devices. They play a critical role and sit at the heart of everything from AI servers, cars, smartphones, laptops and more. The Nvidia type of chips – GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) –

Pentagon Picks OpenAI To Replace Anthropic Update (2345ET): Sam Altman on Friday night announced that OpenAI and Department of War have struck a deal in which the DoW will be able to use the company's AI for military applications, and has agreed to abide by the company's red lines regarding safety (which were similar to rival Anthropic).  "Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems," Altman said on Friday night, adding "The DoW agrees with these principles, reflects them in law and policy, and we put them

Iran Strikes Should End In Regime Change, Senate Majority Leader Says, Ahead Of War Powers Vote Senate Majority Leader John Thune has made the maximalist hawkish US case on Iran, saying that any authorized strikes should result in nothing less than regime change in Tehran. "In my view, if you’re going to do something there, you better well make it about getting new leadership and regime change," the leading Republican Senator said Thursday. "If you’re going to take some sort of action, I think you want to achieve a result that actually brings about the transformational change that I think we want in

France's Le Pen Says She Will Not Run In 2027 Election If Under House Arrest, Names Successor Via Remix News, In March 2025,  Le Pen was convicted on charges dating back years ago, in a move that was widely contested and seen as a highly political attempt to keep her from running in next year’s presidential election. Now, she says she has no intention of running if her ban from running is lifted, if it means she must wear an electronic tag, i.e., ankle monitor. She is also ready to place full trust in Jordan Bardella, current leader of the National Rally (RN). Le Pen’s comments came

Rare Local Ceasefire In Ukraine At Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant For Urgent Repairs The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed in a Friday announcement that a local ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia is in effect around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to urgently allow crews to restore the facility's backup power supply. In a local, mutual agreement along the front lines, the UN nuclear watchdog confirmed both sides agreed to halt fighting in the area to enable work on the damaged line. This is a rare ceasefire moment, even if very localized and brief, which is a positive development that could possibly serve

Few clues as to how 10 heavily armed men intercepted on stolen speedboat came together from across Florida or what they hoped to achieve Foot traffic was slow outside the Bay of Pigs Museum on Calle Ocho in Miami’s Little Havana neighbourhood. A few tourists in T-shirts and shorts bypassed the gallery dedicated to one of the most fateful days in Cuba’s history and headed instead to nearby Máximo Gómez Park to take photographs of Cuban exiles playing dominoes. This is the street at the heart of the Cuban expat community of more than 1 million people where tens of thousands partied

Riot police use teargas to disperse people gathering around wreckage of plane loaded with money from central bank At least 20 people have died and dozens have been injured after a military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed while landing near Bolivia’s capital on Friday, damaging about a dozen vehicles on a highway and scattering bills on the ground, an official has said. Footage from local media showed people rushing to collect banknotes while police in riot gear tried to disperse them using teargas. Authorities were later seen setting the money alight in a bonfire at the scene of the crash. Continue reading...

As tensions between two countries reach new highs, US president says regime is ‘talking with us’ Donald Trump has suggested the US could carry out a “friendly takeover” of Cuba as tensions between Washington and Havana reach a new high after the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. As he left the White House for a campaigning event in Texas on Friday, Trump said: “The Cuban government is talking with us. They’re in a big deal of trouble.” Continue reading...

Second time in two weeks military used laser to attack what it mistakenly thought was a threat, disrupting air traffic * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Democratic members of Congress have expressed astonishment and anger at what they claim is the incompetence of the Trump administration after the US military used a laser on Thursday to shoot down what it thought was a threatening drone on the US-Mexico border in Texas but later turned out to belong to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The apparent confusion between two entities in the

Javier Milei’s boosters say law will revive employment, but critics decry cuts to severance and longer working hours Argentina’s senate is poised to approve a sweeping overhaul of labour laws aimed at weakening trade unions and lowering labour costs for businesses. The government of the self-styled “anarcho-capitalist” president, Javier Milei, says the initiative will help revive formal employment, after 290,600 registered jobs were lost between December 2023, when he took office, and November 2025. Continue reading...

Critics claim the operations are geared at social media, but police say they have enabled real arrests Police officers from Bangkok’s metropolitan bureau had less than 24 hours to prepare for their latest undercover operation. They would be starring as performers of a lion dance at a temple fair held for the lunar new year. Their mission: track down and arrest a suspected thief who had a history of evading officers. “The dance was spontaneous. We just did what we did,” said the police captain Lertvarit Lertvorapreecha, adding that nobody had time to practise. In his haste, he accidentally picked up his

Many observers believe North Korean leader has decided daughter Kim Ju-ae will succeed him, but others say gender politics could block her path to power When North Korea’s ruling party held a top-level meeting this month there were predictable boasts of unstoppable nuclear development and, more unexpectedly, a suggestion by Kim Jong-un that his country and the US “could get along” – provided that Washington recognised North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power. But for many North Korea watchers, the Workers’ party congress – held over several days just once every five years – was a rare opportunity to speculate over the

Graeme Kearns, chief executive of Foundation Theatres, says: ‘Our job in theatre is to absolutely defend the right to tell stories about culture’ * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The head of the theatre hosting the Shen Yun dance troupe in Sydney says the company would not be intimidated to pull the shows by any “outrageous” anonymous threats and that the publicity had increased interest in the show. On Monday, the Gold Coast venue for the Shen Yun performances was forced to evacuate after a bomb

Exclusive: Former New Zealand PM ‘based out of Australia’, according to spokesperson, after rumours she was looking for houses in Sydney The former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern is living in Australia with her family, a spokesperson has confirmed. “The family has been travelling for a few years now,” her office told the Guardian. Continue reading...

Tommy Schaefer released early from sentence for murder of Sheila von Wiese-Mack and will face US federal charges Indonesia has freed and deported a US man after he spent 11 years in prison for the premeditated murder of his then girlfriend’s mother on the tourist island of Bali, and he will now faces federal charges in the US. Tommy Schaefer was sentenced to 18 years in prison in Bali for the 2014 murder of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, the mother of Heather Mack, during a luxury holiday, in a case that became known as the Bali suitcase murder. Prosecutors allege the couple were

Follow the latest updates live * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The foreign minister, Penny Wong, says Australia was not told in advance about the bombing of Iran but won’t say whether intelligence facilities here were used. “We weren’t told advance. You wouldn’t expect us to be but you would see there’s obviously been a lot of discussion,” she said. Continue reading...

Australian foreign affairs minister says Israel and US should explain ‘the legal basis for the attacks’ on Iran and won’t say if Pine Gap used during strikes * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia has urged Iran to stop retaliatory attacks on countries across the Middle East after the US and Israel bombed Iran, killing its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, when asked about the legality of the strikes on Iran, said it was up to Australia’s allies to explain “the

Alan Nicolle was already approved for urgent aged care supports, but delays and confusion under a ‘Kafkaesque’ system made his final days exhausting and painful * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Dying Australians approved for government-funded aged care home support are struggling to access it, with carers describing a system plagued by delays and lack of control around how funding is spent. The accounts of carers and aged care assessors spoken to by Guardian Australia show that beyond the controversial,

At least 21 charges have been laid against individuals since October, Australian federal police say, following 951 reports to June * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Nearly three violent or menacing threats against federal politicians are being reported to police daily, according to Australian federal police data, with rates almost doubling in two years. The soaring danger for elected officials and their staff reached new heights this week when Anthony Albanese was evacuated from The Lodge in Canberra over a bomb threat. Continue reading...

Department of foreign affairs warns travellers of risk of reprisal attacks, further escalation and flight cancellations in Middle East * US-Israel attack on Iran – live updates * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia has declared its support for US action against Iran to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon and “to prevent Iran continuing to threaten international peace and security”. But Australia’s department of foreign affairs (Dfat) has warned of the risk of “reprisal attacks and further escalation” across the Middle East after the

Cygnet Texkimp was approved to export machines to Rydena, but ministers examining deal after Guardian highlighted founders’ links to Kremlin military supply chain Ministers are reviewing a decision to allow a British company to export hi-tech equipment to Armenia after the Guardian uncovered links to the Russian military supply chain. Cygnet Texkimp, based in Cheshire, was weeks away from exporting two machines that produce carbon fibre “prepreg”, a lightweight material that can be used in a range of civil and military applications. Continue reading...

Project Play finds UK taxpayers are funding ‘record child fatalities’ and ‘repeated violence’ against children in northern France The deaths of 22 children while trying to cross the Channel in the last two years, along with the mistreatment of thousands of others, were due to “catastrophic failures” of the UK and French governments, according to a new report. Project Play, an NGO that has worked with 2,192 children hoping to cross the Channel from northern France to the UK to claim asylum in the last two years, has documented the impact of the hostile conditions in northern France due to regular teargassing,

Legendary nightclub Le Palace, where Serge Gainsbourg and Prince also performed, to rise again In the late 1970s, Le Palace in Paris’s busy theatre district was one of continental Europe’s most famous nightclubs. On the opening night on 1 March 1978, Grace Jones stunned VIP guests with her rendition of Edith Piaf’s classic La Vie en Rose. Later, Serge Gainsbourg and Prince came to perform, Bob Marley was photographed there and Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol and Karl Lagerfeld were part of a glittering cast of international celebrities, politicians, designers and models who came to drink and dance. Continue reading...

US threats to seize Greenland have created ‘new international fault lines’ that can be used to spread disinformation, Danish intelligence agencies say Denmark’s intelligence services have warned that a foreign power may try to sway the general election on 24 March, saying the main threat was from Russia over support for Ukraine but also citing the chaos caused by US efforts to seize Greenland. The PET police intelligence service and FE military intelligence said in a joint statement the election campaign could be marked by disinformation and cyberattacks “to sow division, influence the public debate or to target candidates, parties or specific

Investigation under way after vehicle ploughs into building A tram derailed and crashed into a building in Milan on Friday, killing two people and injuring 38 others. One of the dead was hit by the tram as it derailed while the second victim was a passenger, the city’s mayor, Giuseppe Sala, told reporters at the scene. Continue reading...

US president says Khamenei’s death is ‘justice for the people of Iran’ as he repeats call for regime change * Full report: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed * A visual guide to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran – and Tehran’s response * War on Iran: how the US-Israeli bid for regime change unfolded Iran’s judiciary has confirmed the deaths of two senior military figures. The Guards’ commander, General Mohammad Pakpour, and Ali Shamkhani, the head of the national defence council, were killed in Saturday’s attacks, according to the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan online news portal. At least 133 civilians have been killed, and 200

This blog is closed. Follow our live coverage on our new blog here. * Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed * A visual guide to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran – and Tehran’s response * War on Iran: how the US-Israeli bid for regime change unfolded Blasts have been heard in several cities, including the capital, Tehran, and Isfahan in central Iran. Reuters reports there are long queues at petrol stations in the capital, as many people try to leave. An unnamed Iranian official who spoke to the news agency said several ministries in southern Tehran had been targeted. Continue reading...

Confirmation of supreme leader’s killing follows announcement by Donald Trump that ‘one of the most evil people in history, is dead’ * US-Israel war on Iran – latest reports * War on Iran: how the US-Israeli bid for regime change unfolded Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been killed, Iranian state media confirmed early on Sunday, in the opening salvo of a war aimed at regime change that was launched on Saturday by the US and Israel. Khamenei had not been heard from since the strikes began, and satellite imagery showed that his secure compound was heavily damaged in the initial barrage

Joint operation prompts Tehran to retaliate with missile attacks on bases across Middle East * Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed, says Donald Trump * US-Israeli war on Iran – live updates * A visual guide to US-Israeli strikes on Iran – and Tehran’s response Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been killed as the US and Israel launch a war on Iran to trigger regime change, Donald Trump has claimed. The US president announced the death of the ayatollah, who has ruled Iran as supreme leader since 1989, in a post on Truth Social. “Khamenei, one

War launched by US and Israel on Iran has quickly escalated prompting anxiety and concern in whole region * Full report * US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates Iran struck the world-famous Fairmont hotel in Dubai, setting the hotel alight, as the war launched by the US and Israel on Iran quickly spread to the rest of the Middle East on Saturday. Residents watched in shock as an Iranian missile hit the five-star hotel in Dubai’s luxurious Palm Jumeirah area. Social media videos showed fires breaking out near the entrance of the hotel, which led to four people being injured. Continue reading...

Taliban offer to resolve dispute via dialogue after Pakistan bombed cities in Afghanistan in latest escalation with its neighbour Washington endorsed Pakistan’s “right to defend itself” after it bombed major cities across Afghanistan amid heightened tensions between the two hostile neighbours. The Taliban government in Kabul stressed it was ready to negotiate on Friday as violence intensified between the two countries. Continue reading...

Military reckoned ‘good’ Afghan insurgents were separate from ‘bad’ Pakistani insurgents but distinction has blurred Days after the Taliban swept to power in 2021, Pakistan’s then spymaster appeared in Kabul on what looked to many like a victory lap. Sipping tea in the lobby of the Afghan capital’s fanciest hotel, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed told reporters: “Don’t worry, everything will be OK.” This week it became clear just how badly Pakistan had miscalculated how it could rely on the Taliban, as Islamabad unleashed airstrikes in Afghanistan and troops from both countries fought each other on the border. Continue reading...

Wave of strikes comes after Taliban forces attack Pakistani border troops following earlier action from Islamabad Pakistan has bombed major cities in Afghanistan including the capital, Kabul, with Islamabad’s defence minister declaring that the hostile neighbours were in a state of “open war” as a cycle of retaliatory attacks escalated further. Witnesses in Kabul and Kandahar, the southern Afghan city, reported explosions and jets overhead until dawn, while the Taliban government said later that Pakistani surveillance aircraft were still flying over Afghanistan. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read our full report here Both sides are reporting they have inflicted heavy casualties on each other, but it is difficult to know the true numbers when they are presenting sharply divergent figures. Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar claims 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed, with more than 200 injured. Of its own soldiers, Tarar says that two were killed in the cross-border fighting, while three were injured. The UK is deeply concerned by the significant escalation in tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We urge both sides to take immediate steps toward de‑escalation, avoid further harm

Escalation of violence between the volatile neighbours makes a Qatar-mediated ceasefire appear increasingly shaky Pakistan bombed Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul and two other provinces on Friday, hours after a cross-border attack, the latest escalation of deadly violence between the volatile neighbours who signed a Qatar-mediated ceasefire in 2025. Following months of tit-for-tat clashes, Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night in what the Taliban government said was retaliation for earlier deadly airstrikes. Continue reading...

Olivia Dean tops the winners list with four, while Sam Fender bags two – see all the category winners here • News: Olivia Dean sweeps the board at 2026 Brit awards, winning four including artist, song and album of the year • Alexis Petridis: This year’s Brit awards found a flicker of chaos – but the winners were never in doubt Olivia Dean Continue reading...

Bystander describes ‘loud crashing sound from the rocks’ as light aircraft goes into sea at Lee-on-the-Solent A pilot survived after a light aircraft crashed on to a beach in Hampshire on Saturday. The pilot had exited the aircraft before firefighters arrived and was subsequently assessed by the ambulance service, Hampshire and Isle of Wight fire and rescue service said. Continue reading...

The 26-year-old dominates in Manchester, landing the night’s biggest prizes as Rosé, Wolf Alice and Mark Ronson also take top honours • Brit awards 2026: the full list of winners • Alexis Petridis: This year’s Brit awards found a flicker of chaos – but the winners were never in doubt • ‘We’re going into a dark place’: Brit awards artists voice alarm over Reform UK’s rise Olivia Dean was the big winner at the 2026 Brit awards, taking home awards for artist of the year, pop act, song of the year for her Sam Fender duet Rein Me In, and album of the year

Makerfield MP had been under pressure concerning thinktank’s commissioning of PR firm to investigate reporters The Labour minister Josh Simons has resigned from the government after the Guardian revealed that he falsely linked reporters to a “pro-Kremlin” network in emails to GCHQ despite having claimed to be “surprised” and “furious” about a PR firm’s investigation into their journalism. Simons, who had been a Cabinet Office minister, previously ran the thinktank Labour Together. He quit on Saturday, saying his position in office had become “a distraction from this government’s important work.” Continue reading...

Lucy Powell calls for party to make more use of Greater Manchester mayor after Gorton and Denton defeat Andy Burnham would have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, Labour’s deputy leader said as she called for the party to make more use of the Greater Manchester mayor. Overturning a 13,000 Labour majority from the general election, Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green councillor, became the party’s fifth MP on Friday in an area that had returned Labour MPs for nearly a century. Continue reading...

Crowds gather in DC, New York and beyond to denounce Trump’s Iran strikes as an illegal act of war * US-Israel war on Iran – latest updates * Full report: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed * A visual guide to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran – and Tehran’s response * War on Iran: how the US-Israeli bid for regime change unfolded As news circulated that Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, had been killed in US and Israeli airstrikes on Tehran, anti-war protesters gathered across the United States, including outside the White House and in New York’s Times Square to voice opposition to

The US joined an Israeli assault after intel suggested Iran’s top clerics and commanders could be hit at once * Full report: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed * A visual guide to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran – and Tehran’s response * War on Iran: how the US-Israeli bid for regime change unfolded * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Donald Trump launched attacks against Iran on Saturday as part of a joint operation with Israel after they developed intelligence that they could simultaneously target the country’s leaders and mullahs, according to two

Actor, originally charged on two counts, also accused of shouting homophobic slurs during attacks on 17 February Shia LaBeouf surrendered to New Orleans police after they obtained a new warrant Friday to arrest him again in connection with a case that had already left him facing two counts of battery. The new warrant brought the number of people whom the Transformers film franchise star is accused of battering to three. He turned himself over to police in advance of a bail hearing on Saturday afternoon, after which he posted a $5,000 bond to continue out of authorities’ custody while awaiting the outcome

Body of Nathan Smith, known professionally as DJ Young Slade, was found in pond north of Atlanta in February The son of the rapper Lil Jon drowned after ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms, officials in the US state of Georgia said. The body of Nathan Smith, known professionally as DJ Young Slade, was found in a pond north of Atlanta in early February. Continue reading...

Imam Shuaib Din was not hit by multiple shots fired by Abdul Raouf Afridi, who ambushed him outside his home A man has been arrested for recently shooting a gun at prominent Muslim leader Imam Shuaib Din in Utah, the police department in the city of Sandy said Saturday. Din’s suspected attacker was identified as Abdul Raouf Afridi. Police said the man was arrested on 12 counts of aggravated assault, including felony discharge of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance, dangerous discharge of a weapon from a vehicle and possession of a dangerous weapon as a prohibited person. Continue reading...

The US military said on Saturday that it has been using single-use drones to attack Iran for the first time in combat, signalling adoption by the world’s wealthiest military of a technology already surging to prominence in the Ukraine-Russia war. “Task Force Scorpion Strike employed low-cost one-way attack drones for the first time in combat,” US Central Command (Centcom) said in a statement posted on social media. Centcom said the drones, which are expendable but cheaper than traditional...

The US-Israeli attack on Tehran on Saturday marks a turning point for President Donald Trump, who is wagering that a war – the kind he once vowed not to start – will strengthen his second-term agenda. In a break from his campaign promises to keep the US out of foreign wars, Trump decided to attack – despite what Arab mediators described as significant progress in nuclear talks to Tehran, and in the face of polling showing most Americans oppose fresh military action. It came less than two months...

Flights across the Middle East were being cancelled on Saturday as several countries slammed their airspace shut after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all announced at least partial closures of their skies in the hours after smoke began rising over Tehran and Iran began retaliatory attacks in the region. Iranian missiles hit capital cities around the wealthy Gulf region, killing at least one, as witnesses...

Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed, according to Iran’s state media. The confirmation came hours after US President Donald Trump said on social media that the 86-year-old cleric was dead. He called Khamenei “one of the most evil people in history” and said the strike delivered justice for Iranians, Americans and others “killed or mutilated” by him. Tehran declared a seven-day public holiday and 40 days of public mourning for Khamenei’s death. As the US and Israeli...

Iran responded to Saturday’s attacks by the United States and Israel as it had been threatening to do for months - by first launching a wave of missiles and drones targeting Israel. It followed with strikes targeting US military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the capital of the United Arab Emirates killed one person, state media said. The UAE and Iraq shut down their airspace. Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a defiant statement, saying that...

The coordinated US and Israeli strikes inside Iran mark more than another episode in a long-running confrontation. They represent a structural escalation – one whose consequences extend well beyond the Middle East. This is not the start of a new war. It is the next stage in a conflict that has been unfolding since October 2023, gradually shifting from proxy exchanges and shadow operations to direct state-on-state confrontation. On February 28, Washington moved from strategic backstop to visible...

Starting before his first term, Donald Trump has issued a litany of threats against Washington’s arch-enemy Iran, while also urging it to talks. He warned in late January that “time is running out”, urging Tehran to “make a deal”. After indirect talks resumed between the two nations, he threatened Iran on February 12 with “very traumatic” consequences, giving them “10, 15 days, pretty much maximum” to reach an agreement. Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu has for decades cast Iran’s nuclear...

The massive US military presence in the Middle East, including warships, fighter jets and refuelling aircraft, lays the foundation for a major campaign against Iran. Here we examine key US military assets deployed in the region, after Washington launched strikes that President Donald Trump said were targeting Tehran’s naval and missile forces. Ships Washington currently has more than a dozen warships in the Middle East, including aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln operating in the Arabian...

The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday following failed negotiations and a crackdown on mass protests against the Islamic republic. Here are the key actors in the crisis: US President Donald Trump The president has sought to position himself as a global peacemaker, but on Iran he has taken a consistently hard line. Last year, his forces joined Israel’s war with the Islamic republic by conducting strikes on nuclear sites. During the mass protests that shook Iran...

China and South Korea have resolved a trade dispute over hot-rolled steel coils through a price-undertaking deal, mirroring the solution used in China’s electric vehicle (EV) stand-off with the European Union. Analysts say the deal, which will see exporters raise export prices to avoid anti‑dumping duties, could avert punitive tariffs and safeguard market access for Chinese exports. The China Iron and Steel Association said in a statement issued on Thursday night that it “welcomed and supported”...

Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities are locked in a widening tit-for-tat confrontation that neither side seems willing to defuse, analysts said, warning the exchanges risked settling into a prolonged conflict along one of Asia’s most volatile borders. Islamabad has vowed to keep striking military targets inside Afghanistan until the Taliban takes action against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups Pakistan says operate from Afghan soil. Pakistani warplanes...

Donald Trump called on the Iranian people to overthrow their government after the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran early on Saturday in what the US president described as “major combat operations”. “We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally … obliterated. We are going to annihilate their navy. We’re going to ensure that the region’s terrorist proxies can no longer destabilise the region or the world and attack...

A cargo plane carrying money crashed on Friday near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on the highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Defence Minister Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city near the capital of La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to...

The UN rights chief on Friday decried mounting threats to women’s rights worldwide, highlighting rampant femicide and horrific abuse exposed in cases like that of US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Volker Turk denounced “social systems that silence women and girls” allowing powerful men to abuse them with impunity. “Violence against women, including femicide, is a global emergency,” the High Commissioner for Human Rights told the UN’s...

Central Asia has long been someone else’s crossroads. Squeezed between an overbearing Russia to the north and an increasingly unstable Iran to the west, the region’s landlocked ex-Soviet republics have settled on a different solution: send railways south, through Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, all the way to the Arabian Sea. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan – Central Asia’s two largest economies – have in recent months struck preliminary multilateral agreements for the construction of two...

Denmark’s intelligence services have warned that foreign powers may seek to interfere in the country’s March 24 general election, singling out Russia as the primary threat but also flagging the US and China as potential sources of influence. In a statement published on Friday night, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service said it was “highly likely” that Denmark was a prioritised target for Russian influence activities due to the Nordic nation’s support for Ukraine. It also cited rising...

President Donald Trump told the US government on Friday to “immediately” stop using Anthropic’s technology after the AI start-up rejected the Pentagon’s demand that it agree to unconditional military use of its Claude models. Anthropic insists its technology should not be used for the mass surveillance of US citizens or deployed in fully autonomous weapons systems, while the Pentagon says it operates within the law and that contracted suppliers cannot set terms on how their products are...

A New York businesswoman was sentenced on Friday to nine years in federal prison over a financial scheme that ripped off more than US$30 million from foreign investors and funnelled some of the stolen money into American political campaigns, including a fundraiser for US President Donald Trump. Sherry Xue Li was also ordered to forfeit US$31.5 million, as well as property at three locations, and to make restitution to her victims. The 54-year-old Oyster Bay resident, who has been detained since...

US President Donald Trump suggested a possible “friendly takeover of Cuba” as the White House looks to leverage the Communist-run island’s energy crisis to exert greater influence. “They’re in big trouble, and we could very well do something good, I think, very positive for the people that were expelled, or worse, from Cuba that live here,” Trump told reporters on Friday as he departed the White House for Texas. “You know, we have people living here that want to go back to Cuba.” “We could very...

German carmaker BMW said on Friday that it planned to deploy two AI-powered humanoid robots in a factory in a pilot programme for the first time this year. Dubbed Aeon and developed by the Swedish company Hexagon, the black-and-white robots stand 1.65 metres (5.4 feet) tall, weigh 60kg (132 pounds) and move on two wheels. They can autonomously manipulate and move components within a factory where the space has been previously fully scanned and digitised. A months-long pilot phase will start this...

Bill Clinton told American lawmakers on Friday that he “saw nothing that gave me pause” when he spent time with Jeffrey Epstein, as the former US president gave closed-door testimony about his relationship with the late sex offender. In a prepared statement, Clinton told the House of Representatives Oversight Committee that he would not have flown on the late financier’s plane if ‌he had known about his alleged sex trafficking of underage girls, and would have reported him if he did. “We are...

Nasa is shaking up its Artemis mission to the moon, cancelling a multibillion-dollar Boeing upgrade to the centrepiece SLS rocket and slotting in a test flight closer to Earth as the programme remains beset by delays and cost overruns. The changes announced on Friday mean that Nasa is essentially swapping the actual moon landing for an additional test mission staged closer to Earth – while insisting the 2028 deadline for a lunar touchdown remains unchanged. Artemis III, which was supposed to be...

US President Donald Trump voiced frustration on Friday with Iran’s stance in nuclear negotiations but said he had not yet decided whether to carry out a threatened attack, as US staff were authorised to leave Israel due to heightened risks. Trump has ordered the biggest military build-up in decades in the Middle East, with the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, approaching the coast of Israel, as he demands Iran agree to sweeping concessions on concerns starting with its...

British Defence Secretary John Healey has ordered a review of military files for any evidence that Jeffrey Epstein used airbases to traffic girls into the UK. Healey has tasked officials with trawling through more than two decades of Ministry of Defence (MoD) records and handing over to police any flight logs linked to the late paedophile financier. It comes after former prime minister Gordon Brown wrote to six police forces demanding investigations into whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor used...

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address was a long and rambling preparation for the congressional midterm elections in November. If, as Trump claims, America “is back, bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before”, what does it mean for the rest of the world? Is the global economy as a whole bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever? Or are we in what Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney argued in his stunning speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last...

US Vice-President J.D. Vance has said he does not believe potential military action against Iran would drag the country into a years-long war in the Middle East, according to an interview with The Washington Post published on Thursday. Vance said he did not know how US President Donald Trump would decide on the Iran issue. Options, he said, range from military strikes “to ensure Iran isn’t going to get a nuclear weapon” to a diplomatic solution. “The idea that we’re going to be in a Middle...

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited China’s eastern tech hub of Hangzhou on Thursday and met leading figures including those from Alibaba Group Holding and Unitree Robotics, signalling growing international recognition of the country’s robotics and artificial intelligence technologies. Merz had lunch and took group photos with local entrepreneurs, including Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu Yongming and Unitree founder and CEO Wang Xingxing, according to a social media account run by Chinese state...

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party suffered an embarrassing election defeat on Friday in an area of Greater Manchester that it had dominated for almost a century, a loss that underscores the breakdown of Britain’s two-party ‌politics. The loss of one of Labour’s safest seats, in the biggest electoral test in almost a year, puts further pressure on Starmer to prove that he should keep his job following weeks of political turmoil and calls for him to resign. The left-wing Green Party’s...

US President Donald Trump put his son-in-law Jared Kushner and long-time friend Steve Witkoff in charge of resolving the war in Ukraine and a stand-off with Iran. On Thursday, they juggled those momentous issues within hours of each other. Dispatched to Geneva, Switzerland, Kushner and Witkoff met Iranian officials at the Omani ambassador’s residence in a bid to seal a deal over Tehran’s nuclear programme and avoid what could be a massive strike by US and Israeli forces. Hours later, they...

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. Is China flexing its intelligence muscle by tracking US military moves near Iran? A Chinese private company has drawn the attention of security watchers after detailing US military deployments near Iran, a move experts say underlines...

The US military shot down a government drone with a laser-based anti-drone system, an accident that prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to bar flights on Thursday in an area around Fort Hancock, Texas, congressional aides told Reuters. Congressional aides told Reuters the Pentagon used the high-energy laser system to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection drone near the Mexican border, in an area ‌that often has incursions from Mexican drones used by drug cartels. The Pentagon,...

This year’s Munich Security Conference arrived as less of a shock to Europeans, who have largely accepted that the good old days are gone for good. A few might still have got teary-eyed when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described America as eternally “the child of Europe”, but most in the audience understood the underlying message: “You are on your own now, Granny.” The difference between Rubio’s more measured phrasing and Vice-President J.D. Vance’s blunt remarks last year is largely a...

Paramount Skydance, run by pro-Trump technology heir David Ellison, was poised to take control of Warner Bros. Discovery after Netflix said it would not raise its takeover offer, ending one of the biggest media bidding wars in a generation. The deal puts a constellation of media properties - from CNN to Nickelodeon to HBO - under the control of the family led by Oracle tycoon and White House ally Larry Ellison. Netflix said it was “declining to match” Paramount’s latest offer after the Warner...

The United States has warned Syria against relying on Chinese technology in its telecommunications sector, arguing it conflicts with US interests and threatens US national security, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The message was conveyed during an unreported meeting between a US State Department team and Syrian Communications Minister Abdulsalam Haykal in San Francisco on Tuesday. Washington has been ‌coordinating closely with Damascus since 2024, when Syria’s now President...

Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said China cannot serve as a substitute for the US, rebuking Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent outreach to the Asian superpower amid strained ties with the Trump administration. In a speech to business leaders on Thursday, Poilievre outlined his vision for the country’s relationship with the US and how his party would approach the trade war differently from the Carney government. “Canada’s prosperity and security are inseparable from a stable...

Britain’s ⁠government has agreed a framework with the police on which documents relating to the late 2024 appointment of former ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson ‌can be released, the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) said on Thursday. Mandelson, 72, was released from custody after the Metropolitan Police arrested him on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, following revelations over his ties to ⁠Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein is at...

Iran and the United States held hours of indirect negotiations on Thursday over Tehran’s nuclear programme but walked away without a deal, leaving the danger of another Mideast war on the table as the US has gathered a massive fleet of aircraft and warships in the region. Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who mediated the talks in Geneva, said there had been “significant progress in the negotiation” without elaborating. But just before the talks ended, Iranian state television reported...

A judge on Thursday ⁠declined to block US President Donald Trump from proceeding with the construction of a US$400 million White House ballroom to replace the demolished East Wing, finding that a challenge from preservationists did not meet the high bar for a preliminary injunction that would halt the project for now. US District Judge Richard Leon’s ruling came in a lawsuit by the National Trust for Historic Preservation aiming to stop construction until the White House complies ‌with federal...

A social media content creator was arrested Thursday after New York City police said he was one of a number of people who pelted officers with snow and ice during a massive snowball fight in Washington Square Park this week. Gusmane Coulibaly, 27, was charged with obstructing governmental administration, a misdemeanour, and harassment, a non-criminal violation. He appeared in handcuffs and wearing an olive-green sweatsuit during his arraignment Thursday evening in Manhattan criminal court. He...

Hillary Clinton used her forced appearance Thursday before a Republican-led panel probing Jeffrey Epstein to go on the offensive and demand US President Donald Trump testify about his own links to the sex offender. Clinton said after her deposition when asked if she was confident that her husband did not know of Epstein’s crimes, Clinton said “I am”. “I don’t know how many times I had to say I did not know Jeffrey Epstein,” she added. “I never went to his island, I never went to his homes, I...

A second British island voted on Thursday to approve assisted dying, as a similar bill that would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives is bogged down in the British parliament. The bill, which requires the formality of approval by King Charles, would allow terminally ill residents who have lived in Jersey for more than a year and are expected to have less than six months to live – or less than 12 months if they have a neurodegenerative disease – to end...

Suppliers to US aerospace and semiconductor ⁠firms face worsening rare earth shortages, with two turning away some clients, industry insiders said, weeks before US President Donald Trump is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for a summit in Beijing. The shortages centre on rare earths such as yttrium and scandium, niche members of the family of 17 elements, which play tiny but vital roles in defence technology, aerospace and semiconductors and are almost entirely produced in...

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called an early election for March 24, betting a popularity boost from a stand-off with US President Donald Trump over Greenland will help secure her another term in office. The move comes after the US president revived claims over the Arctic territory in early January, causing a diplomatic rift with Europe. The rupture in relations bolstered Frederiksen’s domestic standing, reinforcing her image as a disciplined and steady leader during periods of...

The president and CEO of the World Economic Forum, Borge Brende, said he was stepping down on Thursday, a few weeks after the forum launched an independent investigation into his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Brende, who became president of the WEF ‌in 2017, announced his decision in a statement following disclosures from the US Justice Department that showed the Norwegian had three business dinners with Epstein and had also communicated with the disgraced financier via email...

Four years after launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has not achieved any of its strategic goals. The conflict – now lasting longer than the Soviet Union’s fight against Germany in World War II – has only caused Moscow to lose its influence dramatically in the post-Soviet space. Is there a way out of the Kremlin’s Ukraine adventure? In the early days of war, which erupted on February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that his “special military operation” in...

Jeffrey Epstein joined Mr. Cavett’s wife in an effort to create a PBS documentary on the talk-show legend. But then the producers did a background check on the financier.

Former F.B.I. officials say Mr. Patel beefed up field office staffing near his girlfriend in Nashville and ordered a team to ferry her on errands and to events.

When Mahmoud Khalil was detained by immigration agents last year, the university’s response was restrained. It was different with Elmina Aghayeva this week.

El Mencho’s brutality and business acumen put him atop the cartel world, until he made a fatal mistake.

Cultivating sources. Verifying claims. Staying safe. After the death of El Mencho, four journalists share their approach to this difficult, dangerous work.

Exchanges between two X accounts appear to offer a vivid example of how campaigns may sidestep campaign-finance law to share strategic information.

Republicans largely supported the decision, while Democrats mostly opposed it — but divisions appeared in both parties.

The court is set to decide a major case that could scramble the country’s congressional maps. One crucial factor for this year’s elections is when the ruling lands.

How should Americans feel about the potential for regime change? What happens now?

The supreme leader organized his existence around one big idea: resistance.

The Los Angeles police did not offer details on the death of a student at Reseda High School, but a family said that a 12-year-old girl attending the school died after being struck with a water bottle.

The awards show didn’t mention racist slurs when it told the audience that a man with Tourette’s might make “involuntarily noises.”

Developers are using a new geothermal technology in Germany to produce clean energy.

Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan showed its overwhelming superiority in conventional warfare, but the Taliban have refined a lethal repertoire of guerrilla tactics.