Minimalist News

US, Philippines Launch Their 'Biggest Ever' Balikatan Drills With Large Japanese Contingent Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com, The US and the Philippines on Monday launched what’s being billed as the "biggest ever" Balikatan Exercise, an annual military drill that, for the first time, includes a significant contingent of Japanese troops as Tokyo increases its military activity in the region, ramping up tensions with China. The drills are scheduled to take place from April 20 to May 8 and will involve more than 17,000 troops, including about 1,400 Japanese military personnel. US Army photo Importantly, exercises will include live-fire drills in the northern Philippines, facing Taiwan, and

Halliburton Sees First Signs Of Life In America's Oil Patch: "We Are In Early Innings" An emerging theme we are focusing on is the early stage of a major capex upcycle in America's oil patch, with even Goldman now moving in that direction and forecasting a boom that could echo the industry's expansion cycle of the early 2000s. Continental Resources CEO Doug Lawler was the first of the major oil patch players to mention in early April that "Continental is increasing our capital budget, which will increase production." Now, another giant of the oil patch, Halliburton, a major supplier of the gear, crews,

US Treasury Sanctions 14 Targets For Helping Iran Obtain Weapons Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times, The U.S. Treasury Department on April 21 announced that it is imposing sanctions on 14 targets “for their involvement in helping the Iranian regime obtain weapons,” in contravention of international sanctions. “As the regime attempts to reconstitute its production capacity, the United States will continue to deplete Iran’s ballistic missile inventories,” the Treasury wrote in a post on X. According to a press release from the Treasury, the targets include 14 “individuals, entities, and aircraft” based in Iran, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, “for their

Conservative-Targeting SPLC Indicted By Trump DoJ For Fraudulently Funding KKK & Other Extremist Groups The Southern Poverty Law Center was indicted on federal fraud charges that accused it of illegally raising millions of dollars to pay informants in white supremacist and other extremist groups, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. An Alabama grand jury returned an indictment on April 21 with 11 counts of wire fraud, making false statements, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the Justice Department (DOJ). Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said SPLC used paid operatives within extremist circles to incite and intensify racial tensions, arguing the group fostered the

NewMexit: Secession In The Southwest? Authored by Stephen Anderson via The Mises Institute, Lea and Roosevelt counties in the US state of New Mexico (NM) in 2026 are seeking to secede and join the state of Texas. “There was a state representative or two from New Mexico who were expressing frustration with the government in Santa Fe,” Texas State Representative Carl Tepper said. “They have expressed an interest in being annexed by Texas, . . .” Their action is referred to as “NewMexit.” Ludwig von Mises wrote many times that a group of people in a sovereign nation or province should have the freedom to secede from that place to

'Eliminating Energy Blockade Top Priority' As Cuba Confirms Direct Talks With US Cuba confirmed on April 20 that it recently held direct talks with U.S. officials in Havana, marking a rare diplomatic engagement as tensions persist over Washington’s long-standing economic restrictions on the communist nation. Alejandro Garcia del Toro, deputy director general for U.S. affairs at Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in remarks published on April 20 by Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma that discussions were underway. “This is a delicate matter which, as we have already said, we are handling discreetly,” Garcia del Toro said. He confirmed that “a meeting between Cuban

FBI Officially Investigating Reports Of Deaths, Disappearances Of US Scientists Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times, The FBI said it is leading federal efforts to investigate potential connections in reports of dead or missing U.S. scientists in recent years, coming days after President Donald Trump expressed alarm. “The FBI is spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists. We are working with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and with our state and local law enforcement partners to find answers,” an FBI spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement on Tuesday. The spokesperson, who

Israel Says Hezbollah Fired Rockets, Breaching Lebanon Ceasefire Just as the Iran ceasefire seems on the brink of collapsing (though unilaterally extended late in the day Tuesday by Trump), so does the Lebanon one as well, as on Tuesday Israel accused Hezbollah of firing a new rocket volley at its IDF forces, effectively breaking the ceasefire. The Israel Defense Forces said Hezbollah targeted its troops in southern Lebanon, seeing in this a breaching of the fragile ceasefire ahead of a further round of US-mediated talks between the Israeli and Lebanese governments. Illustrative prior war image: Getty However, Hezbollah's stated stance is that it has

Democratic Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick Resigns Ahead of Ethics Committee Sanctions Hearing Authored by Chase Smith via The Epoch Times, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) resigned from Congress on Tuesday, stepping down hours before the House Ethics Committee was set to recommend a punishment for the 25 violations of campaign finance law and House rules it found her guilty of last month. The third-term Florida Democrat announced her resignation in a written statement, calling the ethics process a “witch hunt” and saying the committee had denied her new attorney’s request for time to prepare a defense while a federal criminal case against her remains pending. “I will

A Reckoning Is Underway At The FDA Authored by Maryanne Demasi via The Brownstone Institute, For months, a quiet battle has been unfolding inside the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It began with an analysis of child deaths after Covid vaccination, followed by strategic leaks to major media outlets, and has now erupted into the open with a memo from the regulator’s own vaccine chief. In September, it was reported that FDA officials had privately investigated 25 paediatric deaths following Covid vaccination — the first systematic review of such cases since the rollout began. The findings were meant to be presented to the CDC’s Advisory Committee

Whistleblower Says CIA Hid 2020 Election Threats To Help Biden For years, Democrats and the mainstream media treated 2020 as settled history: the system worked, the election was secure, and accusations of fraud were conspiracy theories. However, a newly declassified intelligence memo, paired with fresh whistleblower allegations, points in a less convenient direction.  Behind the scenes, U.S. intelligence warned well before the 2020 election that core election systems were more exposed than the public was told, especially the vast digital repositories that hold voter registration data. Making matters worse, according to former senior cyber official Christopher Porter, intelligence leaders then kept those warnings

This AI Warning Is A Myth; The Danger Is Not... Authored by Kay Rubacek via The Epoch Times, You know this story. Drop a frog into boiling water, and it will scramble out immediately. But place that same frog in cool water, heat it slowly, and degree by degree, it will never notice the danger until it is too late. Most of us accept this without question. The problem is that the story is not true. It traces back to a German physiologist named Friedrich Goltz, who in 1869 conducted a series of experiments with a rather unusual purpose: to determine whether the soul resided in the

Israeli Soldiers In Lebanon Who Sledgehammered Statue Of Jesus Arrested As Bibi Does Damage Control Earlier this week we featured commentary on a disturbing viral photograph: IDF Under Fire After Troops Caught Destroying Statue Of Jesus With Sledgehammer. The destruction of the statue took place in the Maronite Christian village of Debel, which is roughly 54 miles to the southeast of Beirut and situated just north of the border between Lebanon and Israel. Photo taken by IDF soldiers Since the onset of the war Israel began waging against Iran in March, Debel has come under heavy fire after a second front was created against Lebanon

All The Dream-Houses Of The Left Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness, The Left’s political imagination builds heroes, villains, and entire histories untethered from reality, substituting narrative for fact until it collapses under scrutiny. PSEUDO-HEROES It is difficult to determine whether the bizarro worldview of the current Democrat-media nexus can simply be attributed to either its generic Trump Derangement Syndrome or the attendant Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner obsessive/compulsive disorder. But the crazy world of the Left increasingly bears scant resemblance to reality. In this alternate universe, Eric Swalwell was a liberal icon and invaluable asset for years, though admittedly a bit randy and occasionally

Domestic Flights To Resume In Iran Tuesday, Even As Ceasefire's End Looms Large The two-week Iran ceasefire ends Wednesday, and President Trump is saying he doesn't plan to extend it if a second round of talks in Pakistan fail. These Islamabad talks, it should be noted, have not so much as even gotten off the ground. President Trump has further said "lots of bombs" will fall if there is no deal, and if Iran doesn't hand over its nuclear material. And yet the Iranians are remaining defiant and proving their resiliency by showing a sense of 'normalcy' has returned to Tehran and

Gold Vs An Erupting Financial Volcano Authored by Matthew Piepenburg via VonGreyerz.gold, Below, we look soberly at the historical case of gold in the backdrop of current headlines and a global financial system nearing an eruption moment.  Although the catalysts of oil, war, bond dysfunction, and bloated stocks may seem modern and unique, the current case for gold is as timeless and constant as nature itself. VOLCANIC PARALLELS… In May of 1980, David Alexander Johnston, a volcanologist for the United States Geological Survey, was manning an observation post 10 kilometers from the percolating volcano of Mount St. Helens in the state of Washington.  On May 18th,

No Protection From Gulf Shock: World's Biggest Condom Maker Warns Of Price Hikes The first-order effect of the U.S.-Iran conflict and the resulting shutdown of the Hormuz chokepoint was the disruption of global energy flows, from LNG to crude to refined products. The second-order effect was a spike in petrochemical prices and a widening shortage of key industrial inputs. Now the third-order effects are beginning to hit everyday goods, with Malaysia-based Karex, the world's largest condom maker, warning that prices are about to explode. Karex CEO Goh Miah Kiat spoke with Reuters in an exclusive interview about his plan to hike condom

The Latest AI Developments In 60 Seconds As the tempo of AI newsflow approached the frenzied rollercoaster pace of geopolitical headlines during the biggest oil shock in decades, it's becoming easy to get lost in all the latest developments and drama surrounding OpenAI, Anthropic, Nvidia, government blacklists, the AI circle jerk, sentinent killer robots, and so on... To help readers keep on top of things, we are launching a brief AI news roundup, which should help you get up to speed in under 60 seconds.  Here are the four main things you need to know:  * And just like that, Anthropic goes from

California School Excludes White Kids From Segregated 'Social Justice' Field Trip Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, In a stunning display of racial exclusion dressed up as “equity,” a California school district barred white students from a taxpayer-funded field trip centered on “social justice.” Albany Unified School District (AUSD) organized the overnight trip to Virginia exclusively for “young men and women of color” from Albany High School. White kids stayed home while their non-white classmates toured Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), visited civil rights sites, and held discussions on social justice, leadership, and self-awareness. The trip was officially approved by the board of

US Senator Urges Delay Of CLARITY Act Senate Markup Until May: Report Authored by Brayden Lindrea via CoinTelegraph.com, A US senator has reportedly urged Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott to delay the markup for the crypto market structure bill until May, as banking and crypto representatives need more time to resolve disagreements over stablecoin yield provisions. US Republican Thom Tillis of North Carolina told reporters Monday that he does not expect the Senate Banking Committee to mark up the legislation, also known as the CLARITY Act, in April and has recommended that Scott schedule it for next month, according to Punchbowl News. Tillis, who has been

Mexico to investigate possible breach of its constitution and assess US’s role in anti-drug operation near Chihuahua Mexico has launched an investigation into a possible breach of its constitution as it was reported that two US embassy officials who died in a car accident while returning from a raid on a drug lab with local officials in the border state of Chihuahua were CIA operatives. The accident happened early on Sunday, as the officials were driving back from the scene of the raid. Their vehicle skidded off the road and plunged down a 200 metre ravine in the mountains near Chihuahua’s border

Conservatives and former provincial premiers among those PM names to advisory committee on economic relations Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, says his new advisory committee on economic relations with the United States will draw on the “best advice and the broadest perspectives” as the country braces for what many expect will be tense trade negotiations with its southern neighbour. The 24-member advisory committee, announced on Tuesday, shows the prime minister’s eagerness to reach across the political spectrum to ensure Canada is “well positioned to advance its interests” at the looming trade talks. Continue reading...

An Ecuadorian fishing crew describe their ordeal as victims of Trump’s purported war on ‘narcoterrorists’ By 4pm, the light was softening over the Pacific, and the crew of the Don Maca were finishing a long day hauling in lines of swordfish and albacore. Down in the hold, the mood had settled into the familiar rhythm of a fishing day drawing to a close. “We were just working, waiting for the last trawler to return,” said Jhonny Sebastián Palacios, one of the fishers. “Everything was perfectly fine.” Continue reading...

At least four more injured at world heritage site in latest violent incident as country prepares to co-host World Cup One Canadian tourist has been killed and six other people were wounded by gunfire after an armed man opened fire at one of Mexico’s most famous tourist destinations, the Teotihuacán pyramids near Mexico City. The shooting – the latest violent incident to affect Mexico as it prepares to co-host the football World Cup in June – took place on Monday lunchtime and was captured in mobile phone videos. Continue reading...

Prime minister details efforts to attract investment and sign trade deals with other countries in 10-minute video address Canada’s strong economic ties to the United States were once a strength but are now a weakness that must be corrected, the country’s prime minister has warned. In a 10-minute video address, Mark Carney spoke about his government’s efforts to strengthen the Canadian economy by attracting new investments and signing trade deals with other countries. Continue reading...

Karex produces more than 5 billion condoms annually and is a supplier to leading brands like Durex and Trojan, as well as the NHS The world’s top condom producer, Malaysia’s Karex Bhd, plans to raise prices by 20% to 30% and possibly further if supply chain disruptions drag on due to the Iran war, its chief executive has said. Karex is also seeing a surge in condom demand as rising freight costs and shipping delays have left many of its customers with lower stockpiles than usual, CEO Goh Miah Kiat told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: The Australian government has been urged to take stronger action to protect overseas students from political repression The Australian government has been urged to take stronger action to protect Chinese international students from political repression by authorities on their return after a Chinese student was allegedly sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for joining pro-democracy protests in Australia. The student, who the Guardian has chosen not to name, lost contact with his friends in Sydney after returning to China in December 2024. Continue reading...

Jose Ramos-Horta urged by opposition to explain diplomatic passport given to businessman behind resort project, who denies any involvement with organised crime Timor-Leste’s opposition has questioned how foreign investors in a proposed cryptocurrency resort obtained prime beachfront real estate in the country’s capital, and has called on the president to explain why he issued a diplomatic passport to a Chinese businessman involved in the project. Speaking in parliament in Dili on Monday, Fretilin opposition party MP Florentino Ximenes da Costa “Sinarai” raised concerns about the proposed AB Digital Technology Resort, which was the subject of a months-long investigation by the Guardian and

Democrat led Hawaii from 1973 to 1986, coinciding with the party’s rise to power in the state George R Ariyoshi – Hawaii’s former governor and the nation’s first Asian American governor – has died at age 100. Ariyoshi, a Democrat who led the state from 1973 to 1986, died peacefully while surrounded by family on Sunday night, according to a statement Monday from the current governor, Josh Green. Continue reading...

Actor, who has publicly objected to plans to fast-track project near his farm, says he has received personal abuse The actor Sam Neill says he has received threats of violence from supporters of a controversial goldmine that could be opened several kilometres away from his farm in New Zealand’s Central Otago district, after he publicly objected to the government’s plans to fast-track the mine. The Australian mining company Santana Minerals is pushing to expedite a 85-hectare (210-acre) open-cast goldmine, called Bendigo-Ophir, in the Dunstan mountains, an area described as “outstanding natural landscape” by the Central Otago district council. Continue reading...

Health minister says NDIS ‘costs too much and growing too fast’ as he announces changes to scheme. Follow live updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Farmers promised more fertiliser imports Australian farmers are being promised more fertiliser imports under a deal struck between the federal government and two major companies, aimed at securing supplies in response to a global bottleneck, AAP reports. We’ve always said through this generational reform process that we’d listen to older people and we’d respond to their experiences. … What they’ve made clear is that they want showering and dressing. We’ve got a

Two staff suspended after damning review finds department was warned last December that triple murderer Regina Arthurell was living in the home * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Two staff members in the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice have been suspended following a review into why two foster children went to live with a convicted triple killer. The review, which was made public on Wednesday, found “significant failures” by the department led to foster children aged 12 and 14 living alongside convicted murderer

2Apply’s over-collection of personal information adds to the power of the real estate industry in the competitive rental market, Carly Kind says * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast An online rental platform has been urged to stop collecting users’ personal information after the Australian privacy commissioner found the gathering of “excessive” data compounded the vulnerability of tenants amid the housing crisis. RentTech platforms are increasingly used by real estate agents in Australia for people applying for rental properties to submit applications and supporting documentation. The Australian

The trend has been accelerated by the US-Israel war on Iran, leaving households – and cafe owners – glum, surveys suggest * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast For many coffee drinkers, takeaway orders are changing from a habitual purchase to an occasional treat, as elevated petrol prices and other living costs leave households feeling glum. This rapid shift in behaviour has disappointed cafe owners and surprised economists, raising an uneasy question: if takeaway coffee sales are falling, is the economy next? Continue reading...

Three other men already charged over February abduction and death remain before the courts * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A fourth man has been charged over the kidnapping and murder of an elderly Sydney man, who was allegedly abducted in a case of mistaken identity. More than two months after 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian was abducted from his home in Sydney’s north in the early hours of 13 February, police arrested a 19-year-old on Tuesday over two offences, including murder. Continue reading...

Research finds global heating has already lengthened the pollen season in addition to worsening heatwaves and droughts Climate breakdown has extended the pollen season in the UK and mainland Europe by between one and two weeks since the 1990s, a study has found, adding itchy eyes and runny noses to the harm wrought by fossil fuel pollution. The finding may be less dramatic than the floods and wildfires typically associated with a warming planet but represents a “huge” increase in the combined suffering of tens of millions of people, the researchers say. Continue reading...

A part suspension was tabled by Ireland, Spain and Slovenia but did not receive enough backing from other member states The EU remains split on imposing sanctions on Israel, despite some member states criticising the country over the plight of Gaza and violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy chief, said proposals for a part suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement remained on the table but required states to shift their positions to come into force. Continue reading...

In a letter to the Guardian, Uran Ferizi criticises ‘obsession’ with demonising Albanians Albanians in Britain are paying the price in schools and workplaces of being scapegoated by rightwing media and politicians, the Albanian ambassador has said. Uran Ferizi also criticised Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, for comments in parliament where she singled out Albanians when discussing problems with immigration. Continue reading...

EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, says there is ‘new momentum’ after Hungarian election as Ukrainian leader says Druzhba pipeline can resume operations German foreign minister Joseph Wadephul also makes it very clear that he is relieved with the change of government in Hungary, calling it “a breath of fresh air” and a promise of hope for Ukraine. He urged Hungary to drop its “unusual blockade” for policies for Ukraine “as quickly as possible,” pointing to what he argued was a clear pro-European mandate from the electorate in Hungary (it’s a bit more complicated than that, though). Continue reading...

Lords told sales of Scottish shellfish among areas that may benefit – but agreement will not erase all paperwork * Europe live – latest updates A new agriculture agreement with the EU will not wipe out all Brexit paperwork but might pave the way for sales of Scottish langoustines and oysters, the House of Lords has heard. The UK and EU are close to finalising a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement to reduce Brexit trade barriers, and while it will have “modest” impact on the UK economy the agreement will be significant, peers on the European affairs committee were told on Tuesday. Continue

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent says Iran’s Kharg Island storage facilities will be full and their ‘fragile’ oil wells shut in mere days because of the blockade; oil prices rise amid ongoing uncertainty * Trump announces extension of Iran ceasefire until ‘discussion concluded’ Far-flung Pacific nations are reeling from the impact of a global fuel crisis. Aid agencies have warned that the crisis has driven up prices for diesel, petrol and kerosene by as much as 70% in Papua New Guinea since the start of the Iran war. Continue reading...

Not using capital punishment ‘really a requirement’ for Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly, says president Israel’s observer status at the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly could be suspended over the country’s new law mandating the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of some offences, the president of the body has said. Petra Bayr, an Austrian Social Democrat and president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Pace), said not using the death penalty was “really a requirement” of having observer status at the pan-European human rights body, which has no connection to the EU. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. See our latest full report here: Trump announces extension of Iran ceasefire until ‘discussion concluded’ Iran’s armed forces are ready to deliver an “immediate and decisive response” to any renewed hostile action by its adversaries, Ali Abdollahi, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, was quoted by the Tasnim news agency as having said. He said Tehran had the upper hand militarily, including in the management of the strait of Hormuz, and would not allow Donald Trump to “create false narratives over the situation on the ground.” Continue reading...

Declaration comes amid intense efforts to bring two sides together in Pakistan for new round of talks Donald Trump unilaterally announced an extension of the two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday amid frantic efforts to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table. Hours after announcing that he “expected to be bombing”, the US president said he would extend the ceasefire until Iranian negotiators submitted a proposal for peace. Continue reading...

US president says on Truth Social attacks are on hold until Iran submits proposal and talks reach end * Middle East crisis – live updates * Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Donald Trump announced in a social media post on Tuesday that he was indefinitely extending a ceasefire with Iran at the request of Pakistan, which has been mediating talks, until the country responded to the United States’ negotiating positions or until talks reached a dead end. “I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will

Experts say Muslims and other minorities have been disproportionately deleted from the electoral roll ahead of the West Bengal elections this week Millions of people in the Indian state of West Bengal have been stripped of their vote ahead of a critical state election this week, after a controversial electoral revision described by critics as a “bloodless political genocide” and mass disenfranchisement of minorities. In West Bengal, a total of 9.1 million names have been deleted from the register, more than 10% of the electorate. While many were dead or duplicates, about 2.7 million people have challenged their expulsions, but still been

Islamabad has seized chance to act as mediator in Iran war and hopes to reap diplomatic and economic benefits As Pakistan works frantically to narrow differences between Iran and the US in its newfound role as global peacemaker, it is also seeking to recast its diplomatic standing and attract business. Pakistani officials, mediating between an unpredictable US president and hardliners in Tehran, were on Monday trying to coax both sides to put the conditions in place for a second round of talks in Islamabad this week, including easing the standoff in the strait of Hormuz. Pakistan was optimistic that the meeting would

Activists say clamp down on period products to target insurgents is gender-based violence and violates rights Myanmar’s military regime is expanding its ban on the distribution of period products, claiming they are being used to treat wounded resistance fighters, according to local activists. The south-east Asian country has been locked in civil war since 2021, when the military usurped the democratic government and launched a violent crackdown on dissidents. Artillery fire, the burning of townships and arbitrary arrests have become common in the years since then. Continue reading...

Opposition accuses Narendra Modi government of using quotas as cover for redrawing electoral map The Indian government has failed to pass a bill to increase female representation in parliament after being accused of using the plan as a guise to redraw the country’s electoral map. It was the first time in 12 years in power that a constitutional amendment proposed by Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government was not passed by parliament. Continue reading...

Trawler set off from Bangladesh and reportedly capsized due to heavy winds, rough seas and overcrowding About 250 people are missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi nationals capsized in the Andaman Sea, according to the UN’s refugee and migration agencies. The agencies said the trawler carrying more than 250 men, women and children reportedly sank due to harsh weather and overcrowding. It had departed from Teknaf in southern Bangladesh and was bound for Malaysia. Continue reading...

Calls for ‘urgent, sustained action’ over rising number of children who do not have permanent home Living in temporary accommodation has contributed to the deaths of 104 children in England in the past six years, 76 of whom were under the age of one, according to data. Statistics also show there were 64 stillbirths and 27 neonatal deaths involving mothers living in temporary accommodation (TA) in the UK in 2024. Experts say the housing crisis is pushing families into conditions that endanger their lives. Continue reading...

Demographic also overrepresented when police officers use force such as handcuffs, firearms or Tasers, says children’s commissioner Black children across England and Wales are almost eight times more likely to be strip-searched by police than their white counterparts, a report has disclosed. Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, said Black children are also overrepresented when officers use force and were more likely to have their “size, gender or build” cited as justification. Continue reading...

Sacked civil servant tells select committee of ‘pressure’ to give clearance and ‘dismissive’ attitude to vetting The civil servant sacked by Keir Starmer has given a devastating account of his government, saying Downing Street put huge pressure on the civil service to approve the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Washington ambassador despite the concerns of vetting officials. Olly Robbins, the former top official at the Foreign Office, said No 10 took a “dismissive” attitude to vetting, and Mandelson was given access to the Foreign Office building and to “higher-classification briefings” before he was granted security clearance. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Victims’ commissioner makes formal complaint after committee session left one attender ‘shocked, upset and extremely distressed’ Victims of rape and sexual violence have told parliamentarians they felt anxious and distressed during a Westminster evidence session, with one stating that witnessing “pugnacious” questioning had resulted in her “breaking down, sobbing and struggling to breathe”. The victims’ commissioner has made a formal complaint to the chair of an influential group of MPs after a highly charged evidence session carried out by the public bill committee for the courts and tribunals bill about controversial changes to jury trials. Continue reading...

Ministers hope tobacco and vapes bill, which will become law next week, will create a ‘smoke-free generation’ A bill banning anyone born after 2008 from buying tobacco in the UK has completed its progress through parliament in a move that ministers hope will create a “smoke-free generation”. Under the tobacco and vapes bill anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be able to be legally sold tobacco across the UK, in an effort to save lives and reduce the burden on the NHS. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. * Virginia voters approve new congressional maps in blow to Trump * Sign up for the Breaking News US email Donald Trump said that he does not want to extend the two-week ceasefire with Iran, in an interview with CNBC. “I dont’ want to do that. We don’t have that much time,” the president said. The pause is set to expire tomorrow, and vice-president JD Vance will lead last-ditch talks in Islamabad today, in the hopes of striking a deal with Tehran. However, speaking to Joe Kernen, Trump said that he plans to resume strikes if

Result could help Democrats win four extra US House seats in tit-for-tat redistricting battle begun by Texas Voters in Virginia on Tuesday approved new congressional maps intended to boost Democrats’ chances of retaking the House of Representatives, in the latest blow to Donald Trump’s effort to use mid-decade redistricting to preserve his control of Congress. The tit-for-tat redistricting battle began last year after Trump pressed Texas’s Republican-controlled legislature to redraw that state’s congressional maps in a bid to oust as many as five Democratic House lawmakers in the November midterm elections. Continue reading...

Todd Blanche announces 11-count indictment over payments to informants in extremist groups including Ku Klux Klan * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox The Southern Poverty Law Center, the prominent civil rights organization, has been indicted on federal fraud charges related to past payments it made to confidential informants to infiltrate extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan, the justice department has announced. In a statement, Bryan Fair, the SPLC’s chief executive, called the allegations “false” and said the justice department’s actions “will not shake our resolve to fight for justice and ensure

Cursor is aSilicon Valley startup using AI to automate coding as Elon Musk’s firm seeks foothold in the AI market SpaceX said it has secured an option to either acquire code-generation startup Cursor for $60bn later this year, or pay $10bn for their new partnership, as it pushes deeper into the lucrative market for AI developer tools. Along with OpenAI and Anthropic, Cursor is one of several Silicon Valley startups that has drawn waves of developers by using artificial intelligence to automate coding, a business where AI companies have found early commercial traction. Continue reading...

Reciting of Old Testament passage comes days after clash with pope and posting AI image of himself as Jesus * Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Donald Trump read a Bible passage from the Old Testament during a Tuesday event billed as a celebration of the US’s founding, days after he clashed with Pope Leo XIV and upset some of his religious supporters by posting an AI-generated image appearing to depict himself as Jesus. The event, titled America Reads the Bible, was imagined as a “sacred opportunity to call our nation back to

China’s shipyards are emerging as beneficiaries from the US-Israeli war on Iran, securing new orders as crude transport bottlenecks worsen and global demand for large oil tankers rises. With the United States and Iran effectively blockading the Strait of Hormuz – a chokepoint that handles about a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil – shipping companies are racing to expand capacity, particularly in very large crude carriers (VLCCs) capable of transporting about 2 million barrels of oil per...

US President Donald Trump and many of his leading Christian supporters and top Republicans are taking part this week in a marathon reading of the Bible in an America 250-themed event billed as encouraging a “return to the spiritual foundation that has shaped our country”. The America Reads the Bible event – with each participant reading a passage aloud – is being live-streamed from the Museum of the Bible in Washington and other locations. It featured a video of Trump from the Oval Office on...

The United States House Select Committee on China recently released a report on artificial intelligence. Titled “Buy What It Can, Steal What It Must: China’s Campaign to Acquire Frontier AI Capabilities”, it captures a hardening view in Washington that Beijing’s artificial intelligence rise is closely tied to both market access and security concerns. Whether fully substantiated or not, such beliefs are increasingly shaping the policy lens through which technology competition between the two...

A Canadian who was detained in China for nearly three years warned that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s electric vehicle deal risks creating a strategic dependency that the Asian superpower can exploit for political coercion. Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat who was imprisoned from 2018 to 2021, said on Tuesday that the agreement would lead to unfair competition and the erosion of Canada’s industrial base. Carney announced during a January trip to Beijing that Canada would accept an initial quota...

A Democratic lawmaker resigned on Tuesday, becoming the third member of the US House of Representatives to step down in just over a week as a wave of ethics scandals engulfs Congress. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida announced her immediate resignation ahead of a scheduled disciplinary hearing by the House Ethics Committee, which had been weighing potential sanctions over a string of campaign finance violations. Her departure follows the recent resignations of Democrat Eric Swalwell and...

Prosecutors in the rape retrial of disgraced US movie mogul Harvey Weinstein told Tuesday how he wielded his power to prey on then-aspiring actress Jessica Mann. Weinstein, a central figure of abuse allegations that spurred the #MeToo movement, appeared at the New York courtroom in a wheelchair due to ill health. He is being retried on a count of third-degree rape against Mann that allegedly happened in 2013 in a Manhattan hotel room. Last June, a judge declared a mistrial on the charge after...

The Israeli military on Tuesday said two soldiers would receive 30 days of military detention and be removed from combat duty over the destruction of a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon. The decision comes after widespread condemnation of a photo shared online showing an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head of a statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen off a cross. The sculpture was located in the Christian village of Debl in south Lebanon, near the border with...

Federal Reserve chief nominee Kevin Warsh ⁠called for “regime change” at the US central bank, including a new approach for controlling inflation and a communications ⁠overhaul that may discourage his colleagues from saying too much about the direction of monetary policy. Warsh’s comments during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee left key questions about his nomination unresolved. Republican Senator Thom Tillis used his full time to explain why he would not vote for the...

A former top ⁠foreign ministry official said on Tuesday he had faced “constant pressure” from UK Prime Minister Keir ⁠Starmer’s office to speed up the appointment of his pick as the ambassador to the US, deepening a row that threatens the British leader. A war of words over who should ultimately take the blame for appointing Labour veteran Peter Mandelson to Britain’s highest diplomatic post despite his history and known ties to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has piled pressure on Starmer,...

EU’s top court ruled on Tuesday that anti-LGBTQ legislation Hungary enacted in 2021 breached the bloc’s rules, including an article which sets out the fundamental values on which the EU is founded. The European Commission, 16 of 27 member states and the European Parliament took Hungary to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over the law, in what has been billed as the largest human rights case in the bloc’s history. Originally aimed at toughening punishments for child abuse, the law was amended...

China’s recent diplomatic efforts in the Middle East have led to speculation over whether its global strategy has shifted. There is consensus that China is stepping into a leadership role and trying to play peacemaker. Meanwhile, a few sceptics point out that the US-Israel war on Iran is not about China and has only exposed how thin Beijing’s influence is in the region. We’ve been here before. In the last decade, with each moment of conflict in the Middle East and North Africa, from Syria to...

When the Duchess of York gave birth to a baby girl exactly 100 years ago, nobody expected that the young princess would one day sit on the throne. Queen Elizabeth II would eventually become Britain’s longest serving monarch, reigning for over 70 years. A hundred years on, the South China Morning Post looks back at how it covered the queen during her life, beginning with the announcement of her birth in the newspaper on April 22, 1926. Training the heiress to Britain’s throne This article,...

There is a tendency to portray the global artificial intelligence (AI) landscape as consisting of two bitter rivals – China and the United States. The remaining 80 per cent of the world’s population, by virtue of their supposed dearth of scale, research and other critical overheads, are purportedly followers with no agency. The reality is more complex. The emerging global AI order is neither unipolar nor strictly bipolar. Instead, it is characterised by a swathe of middle powers hedging their...

Iran’s firing on two Indian-flagged oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz has raised fresh questions about how far Tehran can protect even friendly shipping as the conflict pushes closer to maritime chaos. The attack on Saturday has been especially awkward for Tehran because New Delhi is not an adversary and still maintains working ties, including renewed oil purchases in recent weeks under a temporary US sanctions waiver. Analysts said the attack on Jag Arnav and Sanmar Herald was likely a case...

Another Democrat is exiting the crowded contest for California governor. Betty Yee – a former state controller – announced on Monday she was suspending her campaign, just over a week after fellow Democrat and former US congressman Eric Swalwell left the race following sexual assault allegations that he denies. Yee, who was born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrant parents, was vying to be the first woman to hold the state’s highest office. But she lagged in fundraising and failed to break into...

The United States and Iran both warned they were ready for war as the clock ticked down on a ceasefire on Tuesday, with uncertainty over whether talks that US President Donald Trump had announced would resume in Pakistan. The White House said US Vice-President J.D. Vance was ready to fly back to Islamabad, which was preparing for a second round of talks on ending the war that has engulfed the Middle East and shaken global markets. However, Tehran’s government declined to confirm that it would...

As the US-Israel war on Iran raises global concerns about energy security, a new report has found that the clean power sector is rapidly gaining ground and emerging as a solution for nations looking to reduce their reliance on oil and gas imports. The world passed a significant turning point in 2025 as clean power generation rose faster than global demand for electricity, preventing an increase in fossil fuel generation, according to the study by London-based energy think tank Ember released on...

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Monday that planned talks with Israel aimed to end hostilities and the occupation in southern Lebanon, even as Hezbollah and its supporters rejected the negotiations. Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has sharply criticised the Lebanese government’s negotiations with Israel, which were set to enter a second round on Thursday. After the first round of talks last week, US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day truce pausing more than six weeks of war...

US Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is out of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, the administration announced on Monday, after a series of alleged abuses of her position’s power, including having an affair with a subordinate and drinking alcohol on the job. Chavez-DeRemer is the third Trump cabinet member to leave her post after Trump fired his embattled homeland security secretary Kristi Noem in March and ousted Pam Bondi as attorney general earlier this month. “While my time serving in the...

Apple on Monday announced that Tim Cook will step down as the tech giant’s chief executive officer in September, handing the top job to company veteran John Ternus. The announcement answers long-simmering questions about a successor for 65-year-old Cook, who said he will become executive chairman of the board when he cedes Apple’s CEO position. “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” Cook said in a...

A gunman killed a Canadian tourist and wounded six other people on Monday at Mexico’s famed Teotihuacan archaeological site, authorities said. The gunman killed himself after opening fire at the heavily visited destination in central Mexico, home to pre-Aztecan pyramids, according to a security official. The shooting occurred on the Pyramid of the Moon, a 45-metre-high monument visitors were allowed to climb using steep steps carved of volcanic rock. Six people were wounded by gunfire and taken...

A senior Cuban diplomat on Monday confirmed recent talks in Havana with US officials, as the communist-led island faces a deep crisis over President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign. “I can confirm that a meeting between delegations from Cuba and the United States was recently held here in Cuba,” Alejandro Garcia, the foreign ministry’s under-director of Cuba-US affairs, told the Communist Party newspaper Granma. Garcia said that the negotiators included assistant secretaries from the US State...

One person died and six were injured on Monday after a trolleybus veered off the road and crashed into a supermarket in Salzburg, Austria’s Red Cross said. “One person died despite attempts to resuscitate,” a Red Cross spokeswoman said. Police said in a statement the dead person was a local passer-by aged 55. One of the six injured was the bus driver, who they said they were hoping to question, they added. A police report referred to a medical emergency as the possible cause of the accident....

A planned fight among young people escalated into a mass shooting at a North Carolina park Monday morning that left two teenage boys dead and five other people injured, authorities said. Winston-Salem police Captain Kevin Burns said a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old died at the scene after being shot around 10am at Leinbach Park, near a middle school. Five others between the ages of 14 and 19 were shot and suffered injuries ranging from critical to minor, Burns said at a news conference. Four of...

David Burke, a 21-year-old musician known professionally as D4vd, pleaded not guilty on Monday to first-degree murder and other charges in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, months after her dismembered body was found inside ‌the boot of his Tesla in Hollywood. D4vd was charged with murder with special circumstances of lying in wait, committing a crime for financial gain, and murdering a witness in an investigation. He faces a maximum prison sentence of life without parole. Los...

An Amish woman and her six children ranging in age from three to 11 were killed in a swift-moving house fire after an explosion that shook nearby houses in rural north-central Pennsylvania, authorities said on Monday. Firefighters responding to a report of an explosion and fire at a home in Lamar Township in Clinton County near Mill Hall on Sunday morning said seven people were trapped, but they could not search the house engulfed in flames, Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement. All...

A court in southern Turkey sentenced eight people on Monday to prison terms over a 2024 cable car accident in the coastal resort of Antalya that killed one passenger and injured seven. Four of the defendants were convicted of causing death and injury through negligence and were sentenced to seven-and-a-half years each, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. The other four were sentenced to between three years and four months and five years for the same offence. In the April 12, 2024...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged on Monday that he made the wrong judgement when he picked Jeffrey Epstein’s friend Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to Washington, batting away a barrage of calls to resign over a scandal that has left his leadership teetering. Starmer said he would have withdrawn the appointment if he had known Mandelson had failed security checks, as he tried to explain why Mandelson was given the UK’s most important diplomatic post. Starmer placed blame...

Elon Musk did not appear on Monday for a voluntary interview with Paris prosecutors, who had summoned the American tech billionaire over a probe into his social media platform X and AI chatbot Grok. Prosecutors said they had “taken note of the absence of the first people summoned”, without mentioning Musk’s name. The billionaire had dubbed the French authorities “retards” weeks earlier in a French-language X post. “The presence or absence [of the people summoned] is not an obstacle to continuing...

FBI ⁠Director Kash Patel filed a defamation lawsuit against the Atlantic and its reporter ⁠Sarah Fitzpatrick following the publication of an article on Friday alleging the director had a drinking problem that could pose a threat to national security. The magazine’s story, initially titled “Kash Patel’s Erratic Behavior Could Cost Him His Job”, cited more than two dozen anonymous sources expressing concern about Patel’s “conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences” that “alarmed officials at...

With global attention fixed on the US and Iranian shipping blockades in the Strait of Hormuz and how many vessels have traversed the critically important waterway, a leading Chinese investment bank has been calculating the long-term gains and losses and how they could rewrite the global economic order. The United States was on the horns of a dilemma over the strait that might herald an acceleration of Washington’s strategic retreat and its increasingly transactional relationships with other...

Pro-Russian former President Rumen Radev has won Bulgaria’s parliamentary election by a landslide, official results showed on Monday, crushing long-dominant political forces and possibly pushing the EU and Nato member state closer to Moscow. The performance, exceeding opinion poll forecasts, is one of the strongest results for a single party in a generation and may end, for now, the chronic instability that led to eight elections ‌in five years. Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria party had 44.7 per...

The chief of China’s top economic planner has outlined strategies and priorities to safeguard economic security, as Beijing reassesses its preparedness and vulnerabilities amid disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Israeli war on Iran. Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), warned external risks were mounting and said China had to reinforce its strategic reserves and response capabilities. “The evolution of the international situation is...

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s fourth visit to Beijing in four years has once again drawn attention across Europe and the Atlantic, but perhaps less scepticism than before. In an era marked by intensifying US-China rivalry, geopolitical fragmentation and the European Union’s emphasis on “de-risking”, Spain’s sustained engagement with China is often seen as a strategic divergence from Brussels. That reading, however, underestimates both Spain’s intentions and the broader shift under way...

Pope Leo lamented during an event in Angola on Monday that many people in the world were being “exploited by authoritarians and defrauded by the rich”, the latest example of a forceful new speaking style he has adopted on his ‌four-nation Africa tour. The first US pope, who has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump with his more outspoken comments, told worshippers at a Mass in Saurimo, near the Democratic Republic of Congo border, that violence and oppression went against the Christian...

Russia said on Monday it had arrested a German woman found with a home-made bomb in her backpack in what it alleged was a Ukrainian-hatched plot to blow up a security services facility in the south. Russia has arrested dozens of people throughout the four-year war, mostly its own citizens, on allegations of working for Ukraine to carry out sabotage attacks. There has been a string of high-profile arrests of Western citizens since Moscow ordered its troops into Ukraine – typically on espionage...

Pakistan moved ahead on Monday with preparations for a new round of talks between the United States and Iran days before a tenuous ceasefire is set to expire, even as renewed conflict around the Strait of Hormuz raised questions about whether the meeting would take place. Over the weekend, the US attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel, known as the Touska, that it said had tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. The US Navy ordered the ship to evacuate its engine room before...

China’s trade with Iran and Gulf countries fell sharply in March as restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz tightened amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. Newly released data by Chinese customs showed imports from Iran plunged 48 per cent year on year last month, while exports to the country dropped 90 per cent. Across the broader Middle East, exports to eight Persian Gulf economies – including Saudi Arabia and Qatar – fell by 57 per cent, while imports declined by nearly 33 per cent. The disruption...

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. Lesson for China? Iran’s low-cost 358 missile takes out million-dollar US assets 2. Hong Kong Sevens: Blitzboks win first title, Black Ferns go unbeaten again 3. The rupture: how Europe fell out of love with America 4. Closed? Open? Closed? Why is Iran changing course on the Strait of...

Yemen’s Tehran-aligned Houthi movement has threatened to besiege a second key Middle East waterway as Iran launched drone attacks against US Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend after a diplomatic effort to end the war appeared to collapse. A closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, would effectively sever Saudi Arabia’s only remaining oil export route. The kingdom has been shipping up to 7 million barrels of crude per day through the...

US federal prosecutors said on Sunday an Iranian national was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport for allegedly trafficking arms to Sudan on behalf of Tehran. Shamim Mafi, 44, is charged with “brokering the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses and millions of rounds of ammunition manufactured by Iran and sold to Sudan”, US Attorney Bill Essayli wrote in a social media post. A resident of the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, Mafi “is an Iranian national who became a lawful permanent...

Israel on Monday told residents of south Lebanon ⁠to stay out of a belt of territory running the length of the border and not to approach the area of the Litani River, entrenching its grip over southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah. The US-mediated, 10-day ceasefire took effect on Thursday, largely halting the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that spiralled out of the ‌conflict between the United States and Iran. But it remains fragile, with Israeli troops...

British police have arrested two teenagers in connection with a weekend arson attack on a synagogue in northwest London, as Jewish leaders express concern about a wave of incidents targeting their community. Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes of London’s Metropolitan Police Service on Monday said officers arrested two young men, aged 19 and 17, overnight in relation to the attack on the Kenton United Synagogue in the borough of Harrow. The department has made 15 arrests related to six attacks on...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a video address released on Sunday that Canada’s strong economic ties to the United States were once a strength but are now a weakness that must be corrected. In the 10-minute address, Carney spoke about his government’s efforts to strengthen the Canadian economy by attracting new investments and signing trade deals with other countries. “The world is more dangerous and divided,” Carney said. “The US has fundamentally changed its approach to trade,...

Pope Leo on Sunday recalled the “sorrow and great suffering” Angolans endured for centuries, as the American pope prayed at a Catholic shrine located at the site of an important hub of the African slave trade during Portugal’s colonial rule. Leo travelled to the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, nestled in the Angolan savannahs of baobab trees at the edge of the Kwanza River. It became a major pilgrimage destination after believers reported an appearance by the Virgin Mary around 1833. But the Church of...

Iranian leaders fear being burned again by President Trump, who tore up a nuclear agreement reached during the Obama administration after lengthy negotiations.

Washington is demanding that the Baghdad government dismantle Iran-backed Iraqi militias that have been attacking Americans and U.S. sites there recently.

Republicans have accused the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is best known for investigating hate groups, of unfairly targeting conservative and Christian organizations.

The reversal came after the Justice Department replaced a career prosecutor with a loyalist to President Trump in the administration’s effort to charge the former C.I.A. chief with a crime.

A U.S. aid worker said that the Afghans, who were evacuated to Qatar, would face a choice between moving to the Democratic Republic of Congo and living under the Taliban.

“I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people,” said the conservative commentator, who has broken sharply with the president over the war with Iran.

In a tense congressional hearing, the health secretary also said he bore no responsibility for the measles outbreak in the United States.

The issue threatens to renew chaos at airports as lawmakers remain divided over a deal to end the two-month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.

The autobiographical novella, first published 50 years ago, arguably created a new type of guy: the literary fly fisherman.

In separate small clinical trials, two treatments showed promise that they could help patients with one of the most dire diagnoses in oncology.

The proposal, which was approved by Parliament on Tuesday, will ban the supply or sale of tobacco products to anyone born in 2009 or after, permanently.

Pahalgam, with steep ravines, grassy hillsides and pine forests, is a base for Hindu pilgrimages that business operators hope will revive visitors.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said the law does not violate the Constitution. The plaintiffs said they planned to ask the Supreme Court to reverse the decision.

On April 9, Zohran Mamdani posed for a picture with the New York Mets mascots. Since the joyous photo op, the Mets have not won a game.

The potential acquisition comes as Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker, which has been emphasizing artificial intelligence, is preparing to go public.

“A.I. gives us places to go we haven’t gone,” said one bank’s chief executive.

Sullivan & Cromwell apologized for submitting a court document that had fake citations created by artificial intelligence.

The unassuming look of the outgoing Apple chief executive was an asset, as he navigated pop culture, the president and following Steve Jobs.

A Yale report offers some honest self-reflection on where the university went wrong.

The smashing of a statue of Jesus by an Israeli soldier and the founding of four provocative settlements together show Israel’s thoughtless path forward.

As the pontiff arrives in the tiny authoritarian nation of Equatorial Guinea, some Catholics in Africa say they are excited about his visit but are feeling a little left out.

The man who killed one tourist at a Mexican pyramid and wounded several others had materials in his backpack tied to a 1999 U.S. attack, a possible reference to the Columbine High School massacre.

The large contribution from the billionaire collector Mitchell P. Rales is enabling long-term loans to smaller museums in perpetuity.

Mitchell A. Gaff, 68, acknowledged killing two women who were sexually assaulted before being found dead in their Washington State apartments in the 1980s.