Minimalist News

US Fentanyl Crisis Eases But Remains Dominant According to the latest provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , U.S. drug overdose deaths have come down from the peaks of the past years while remaining at high levels . Recent figures suggest a notable decline to around 70,000 annual fatalities in 2025, following a peak of nearly 110,000 in 2023. Still, synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, continue to be the main driver of overdose mortality, involved in more than half of the U.S. cases and underscoring the scale and persistence of the crisis. As Statista's Katharina Buchholz

The 4 Percent Rule Is Showing Its Age: Smarter Withdrawal Strategies For 2026 Authored by Peter Daisyme via Due , The 4 percent rule has guided retirement planning for three decades. The idea is simple: withdraw 4 percent of your savings in year one, adjust that dollar amount for inflation each year after, and your money should last about 30 years . It is a useful starting point and a great mental shortcut. But the person who created it has spent recent years telling people it is far more flexible - and often more generous - than the rigid version

FBI Mole Wore Wire Inside Newsom's Inner Circle: Lawyer A mole working for the Biden FBI was secretly recording Gavin Newsom's inner circle before the agency expanded its corruption probe into the California governor and his wife, according to a bombshell report by the NY Post . Gov. Gavin Newsom, Alexis Podesta Democrat insider Alexis Podesta , a 45-year-old Sacramento consultant and Newsom appointee - no known relation to John Podesta - secretly taped conversations for the FBI as early as June 2024, while Joe Biden was still in the White House, according to McGregor Scott, the former US attorney

US Navy Tests 3D-Printed Composite Patches To Speed Up F/A-18 Fighter Jet Repairs Authored by Mrigakshi Dixit via Interesting Engineering , The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) and Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) have co-developed a 3D-printed composite repair method designed to reduce F/A-18 Super Hornet maintenance times by approximately 50 percent. An F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot prepares for flight at Fleet Readiness Center Southwest in San Diego. NAWCAD Visual Information When an F/A-18 fighter jet gets damaged at a remote base, fixing its advanced composite parts typically takes weeks. The Navy had to wait for specialized technicians

America's $31 Trillion Economy By State As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary in 2026, its economy has grown to nearly $31 trillion, making it the world’s largest by a wide margin. Using the latest estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis ( BEA ), this visualization, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen , ranks every state by nominal GDP in 2025, showing how each contributes to national output. California: The Economic Engine of America If California were an independent country, it would have the world’s fourth-largest economy, behind only the U.S., China, and Germany, and ahead of all

'Something Has Gone Completely Wrong': Palantir's Alex Karp Goes Ballistic On OpenAI, Anthropic On Wednesday, Palantir CEO Alex Karp delivered a blistering critique of frontier AI labs, accusing them of having an "effing insane" business model that leaves enterprises paying escalating token costs for limited value while risking their proprietary data and intellectual property. He said that top AI labs such as Anthropic and OpenAI were misleading corporate partners - "overselling" the risks of AI while at the same time offering their most powerful models to companies and governments worldwide. When CNBC host Becky Quick said "You sound pretty angry,"

Green Hypocrisy. The Case Of Baltimore's Bresco Waste-To-Energy Incinerator Authored by Geoffrey Pohanka via RealClearEnergy , One definition of hypocrisy is pretending to have beliefs, values, or virtues that your actions do not match. In simple terms, it means saying one thing and doing another. On June 4th, 2024, Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed executive order 01.01.2024.19, Implementing Maryland's Climate Pollution Reduction Plan. It stated Climate change poses an existential threat to the economy, natural resources, and public health for every Maryland resident. Maryland communities, particularly historically marginalized and overburdened communities, are disproportionately impacted by climate change. Maryland's Climate Solutions

These Countries Have The Highest Percentage Of Female Population Across most of the world, men and women are present in nearly equal numbers. Yet in a handful of countries and territories, women make up well over half the population, creating some of the world’s largest gender imbalances. This visualization, created by Harris Saleem via Visual Capitalist , ranks the countries and territories with the highest female share of the population using the latest available World Bank data. Longer female life expectancy is a major factor, but migration and age structure also shape these demographic patterns. Where Women Make Up the

Feds, LAPD Announce Major Human Trafficking Sting In LA Authored by Evgenia Filimianova via The Epoch Times , Federal authorities have arrested 10 people in a major human trafficking investigation, with prosecutors saying the individuals targeted children and adults along South Los Angeles' Figueroa Corridor , marking the second large federal operation in the area in less than a year. Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli speaks as Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell (R) and Special Agent in Charge Kenny Cooper of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Los Angeles Field Division, look on at a press

Jill Biden's Memoir Sales Appear To Be Manipulated By Bulk Sales Former First Lady Jill Biden's memoir, View from the East Wing , debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction bestseller list on June 21. But how much of its sales were genuine sales from interested readers is unclear. Former First Lady Dr. Jill Biden speaks with journalist Paola Ramos (L) at the Sixth and I temple and venue on June 3, 2026 in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, DC. while promoting her new book, "View from the East Wing: A Memoir”.Tom Brenner—Getty Images In fact,

Alive And Kicking: News Of Woke's Death Is Greatly Exaggerated Authored by John Murawski via RealClearInvestigations , Just a few years ago, wearing a sombrero on Halloween could get you banished from polite society for the social crime of "cultural appropriation ." Nutrition experts argued that preventing obesity was a form of racialized " fatphobia ," even as scientific names of songbirds were purged in a moral campaign presumably aimed at white supremacy. Meanwhile, a slew of studies and papers and articles argued that punctuality, excellence, and other forms of professionalism are "the systemic, institutionalized centering of whiteness ." Today,

Billionaire Governor Pritzker Embraces Socialist Candidates As The Future Of The Democrat Party It's a common and almost inevitable component of communist history that the leaders of proletariat movements always end up becoming some of the wealthiest people in those movements. The idea of "equity" is a fantasy; every society no matter how "progressive" has an elitist class with more money and more power than the common citizen. Socialist and communist societies have some of the most egregious power gaps imaginable; they even reinstate archaic systems of hereditary succession. Just look at North Korea or the "princeling" (taizidang) system in

Building Codes For Energy Conservation Can Increase US Home Costs By $14,000: DOE Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, States that adopt the updated 2024 International Energy Conservation Code could see building costs for a typical single-family home go up by $14,000, the Department of Energy (DOE) warned on June 26. The International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) is a model code developed by the Washington-based International Code Council (ICC) for setting minimum energy efficiency requirements for commercial and residential buildings. While the ICC doesn’t mandate its code, states and local jurisdictions can choose to mandate the code in

Feds Nab Alleged Member Of "Sprawling" Cuban Communist Subversion Network Linked To Hasan Piker's Havana Trip Readers have been well ahead of both the federal government and the mainstream news cycle in asking whether there is a " Cuba connection " behind the radicalization of the Democratic Party and its aligned billionaire-funded nonprofit universe. What was once dismissed as speculation is now beginning to look more like a foreign influence operation, one tied to an alarming rise of anti-American socialist networks that openly seek to dismantle capitalism and the American way of life. Even mainstream Democrats are now sounding alarms

Japan's Biggest LNG Buyer Creates Standalone Trading Arm Authored by Michael Kern via OilPrice.com , Japan's JERA is creating a wholly-owned subsidiary to develop and manage its LNG, upstream, low-carbon fuels, and shipping businesses, the biggest Japanese LNG importer and largest power producer said on Wednesday. The new company, JERA Global Energy Solutions (JERA GES), will be the Japanese utility giant's response to increasingly volatile and complex energy markets. JERA GES will be a vertically integrated LNG company which can quickly respond to the market needs while maintaining security of supply for Japan as its highest priority, the company said.

NatGas, Nuclear, Coal Keep Nation's Largest Grid From Buckling Under Heat Dome Summary: NatGas, Nuclear, Coal Power Generation Keep PJM Alive First Day of Heat Dome Across Mid-Atlantic; Last Through Weekend "Set Your AC To 78F": NYC Socialist Pleads With Residents As Fragile Grid Faces Blackout Risk GridStatus' website shows the PJM Interconnection under severe peak-demand stress as heat-driven cooling loads surge across the Mid-Atlantic and eastern U.S. PJM load is near 158 GW, net load is around 142 GW, and real-time power prices are sharply rising to about $929/MWh. The fuel-mix chart shows the grid is heavily reliant on

World's Largest Data Center Project On Verge Of Collapse After Blackstone Unexpectedly Pulls Out Up until now, when it comes to real estate, Blackstone was best known in recent years for dumping many of its trophy office properties - which in the aftermath of work from home never recovered their projected cash flow potential - at a huge discount . Now, it may be pulling a page from its old, pre-Lehman playbook by calling the top in yet another commercial real estate segment: data centers. Two days ago we reported that Blackstone was selling its stakes in a trio of

US Nuclear Regulator Proposes Changes To Nuclear Safety Standards Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times , A U.S. nuclear regulatory agency proposed sweeping reforms July 1 to modernize nuclear reactor licensing and safety practices, shifting away from a global radiation measurement standard after 50 years. The cooling towers for units 4 (L) and 3 (R) are seen at Plant Vogtle, operated by Georgia Power Co., in east Georgia's Burke County near Waynesboro, Ga., on May 29, 2024. Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File The regulatory changes are expected to make it faster and easier to build more nuclear

Warren Pushes Progressive Agenda In Senate Primaries As Schumer Prioritizes Path Back To Majority Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are engaged in a high-stakes contest for influence over the future direction of Senate Democrat s, with the Massachusetts progressive working to reshape the caucus through targeted primary support while the New York leader focuses on expanding the map to retake the majority. Warren has thrown her weight behind several challengers who have explicitly said they would not support Schumer remaining as leader if Democrats regain control . She has framed her involvement as a response to

Ex-CIA Chief John Brennan Sues Trump, Admin Officials Over Allegedly Vindictive Investigations Authored by Timothy Frudd via The Epoch Times , Former CIA Director John Brennan is seeking a court order requiring the Trump administration to retain records related to allegedly vindictive investigations into him and his involvement in probing alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Former Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan testifies before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 23, 2017. Alex Wong/Getty Images While the Justice Department hadn't formally brought an indictment against

Security guard Hernán Alberto Gil Flores, 43, initially told rescuers not to tell his wife in case he did not survive A 43-year-old security guard who survived last week’s devastating earthquakes in Venezuela thanks to a pocket of air in his workstation cabin has been pulled from the collapsed basement of a shopping centre amid huge cheers from international rescue teams. Hernán Alberto Gil Flores had been trapped for eight days under the rubble of the Galerías Playa Grande in the hard-hit coastal port city of La Guaira since the back-to-back quakes struck. Continue reading...

Eleven-year-old developed symptoms 19 days after encounter in Ontario in ‘exceedingly rare’ case Doctors in Canada say a child who awoke to find a bat resting on his nose and mouth while visiting an Ontario cottage later died of rabies, in an “exceedingly rare case” that highlights the need for better public awareness. In a report published this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, infectious disease physicians confirmed that the 11-year-old boy died from rabies, a fatality they said probably could have been prevented with greater awareness of how the virus is transmitted. Continue reading...

Trump and US officials opted to keep USMCA alive on short leash of annual reviews rather than longer term renewal Donald Trump has refused to renew the North American trade pact he once championed as his signature deal, opting instead to keep it alive on a short leash of annual reviews rather than committing to another 16 years. Wednesday was the deadline built into the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) for the three countries to jointly decide its fate, which is set to expire in 2036. Continue reading...

Three of the victims died from suffocation More than a million people gathered in Mexico City Four people died, three ⁠from suffocation, as thousands of fans crowded Mexico City streets during World Cup celebrations, the capital’s health secretariat ⁠said in the early ⁠hours ​of Wednesday. The deaths occurred near the Angel of Independence landmark, where thousands of fans had gathered to ⁠celebrate Mexico’s 2-0 victory over Ecuador in the last 32. Continue reading...

Country is first to join since Australia in 2015 as event director says it ‘continues to welcome the world’ Canada will ​join the Eurovision song contest in 2027, becoming the first new ⁠participant since Australia in 2015, organisers have announced. Participation is not limited to countries in geographic Europe and instead is open to all members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which Canada joined last week. Australia is an associate member. Continue reading...

Official statement offers the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual and fatal incident in Beijing Chinese authorities said the man who flew a small plane into Beijing’s tallest skyscraper last week was a 66-year-old who had mental health problems. The statement published on Thursday offered the most detailed official account yet of the highly unusual incident that occurred in Beijing’s central business district on the evening of 26 June. Continue reading...

Charges yet to be filed over incident in Mukdahan involving 11-year-old, as police seek to establish circumstances An 11-year-old boy has driven his parents’ truck into a Buddhist procession in Thailand, killing at least nine monks. CCTV footage shared by a local rescue group showed the moment the monks, wearing orange robes, were run over as they walked in procession along a road. The timestamp on the footage was shortly before 11am local time on Thursday. Continue reading...

Rebels shoot pilot and set his civilian ⁠plane on fire amid long-running low-level battle for independence in region Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s restive easternmost region of Papua have shot dead an American pilot and set a civilian ⁠plane on fire, in what a spokesperson for a local militant group described as a “message” to the US and Indonesian governments. Sebby Sambom, ⁠a spokesperson for the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), named the pilot as Nicholas F Gosselin and said separatist fighters had set his ⁠plane on fire after it landed in the Yahukimo region of Highland Papua province. Continue

Unmarried man and woman whipped 21 times each because they had violated province’s version of Islamic law A young couple in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province have been publicly caned after a Sharia court convicted them of violating Islamic law by kissing during a TikTok livestream. The court ordered the couple, a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, to be whipped with a rattan cane 21 times each for kissing without being married. At least 100 people witnessed the caning, carried out by a group of people wearing robes and hoods on a stage in Bustanussalatin City Park in Banda Aceh.

Law comes into effect that critics fear will further erode rights of Uyghurs and Tibetans, as well as allow Beijing to pursue dissidents abroad A new ethnic unity law has come into effect in China despite warnings from Taiwan, the United Nations and rights groups that it could threaten freedoms, especially for minorities. The Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress aims to forge a “shared” national identity among ethnic groups, for example by strengthening the status of Mandarin as the official language. But overseas campaigners have argued it will further degrade the rights of ethnic minorities, such as Uyghurs

This blog is now closed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A teenager has been charged with murder after a 15-year-old boy was discovered with fatal stab wounds outside a community medical centre. AAP reports the boy was found critically injured outside Craigieburn Community hospital in Melbourne’s north about 7.50pm on Wednesday. A staff member from the clinic rushed to his aid and delivered CPR but he died at the scene. Continue reading...

Ebony Bell convicted and handed community work order following assault on senator and second ‘gratuitous act of violence’ while on bail Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A woman has been handed a community work order for punching Lidia Thorpe outside the MCG over claims the independent senator disrespected her mother. Ebony Bell was initially told to undertake an anger management course after her 2024 attack on Thorpe, but committed a second “gratuitous act of violence” while on bail, the Melbourne magistrates court was told

Premier apologised over organised crime in some of Victoria’s largest construction projects, in op-ed that claimed a royal commission would not solve the issue Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Jacinta Allan has admitted that criminals have infiltrated some of Victoria’s largest construction projects – but has again rejected growing calls for a royal commission into alleged corruption involving unions and labour hire companies. In an opinion piece published in the Age on Thursday night, the premier wrote that “we now know that criminals operated

State opposition tells court it will not take any steps to disendorse MP while legal proceedings under way Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A Victorian Liberal MP who sued her party to stave off a meeting that will determine her political future has been handed a temporary lifeline. Moira Deeming launched an eleventh-hour supreme court challenge against the Victorian Liberal party president, Brian Loughnane, and the party on Friday morning, seeking a temporary injunction to stop the meeting. Continue reading...

Migratory giant petrel discovered near Hawks Nest north of Newcastle infected with H5. Testing under way to determine if it’s highly pathogenic H5N1 strain Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast New South Wales has its first suspected case of the deadly H5 bird flu in a giant petrel that was found near Hawks Nest, north of Newcastle, on the state’s coast. If CSIRO testing confirms it is the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, it would mark the first detection of the deadly disease on the Australian

UK provisional peak of 37.7C shatters previous record by huge margin, while Germany hits all-time high of 41.7C Last week’s heatwave across western Europe shattered national June records and set new all-time highs. The UK recorded a provisional high of 37.7C at Lingwood in Norfolk on Friday 27 June, smashing the previous June record of 35.6C, set in 1976. Such a margin is exceptionally rare: temperature records are typically broken by 0.1C or 0.2C, not a remarkable 2.1C. Continue reading...

Suspect is said to have tried to pass as a man during attack apparently targeting Ukrainian-born oligarch The main suspect in ⁠a ⁠ bomb attack in ​Monaco ⁠this week is a woman ⁠who ​has ‌been spotted ‌in Germany, a ‌judicial source in Monaco told Reuters on Friday. Three ‌people were wounded on ​Monday evening in a parcel ⁠bomb explosion in the ​wealthy ​principality, which ​was ​believed ‌to ​be an attack ​on a Ukrainian-born oligarch. Continue reading...

President says Washington’s relationship with Nato is ‘not reciprocal’ and ‘they were not there for us’ in Iran war Donald Trump has said it is “ridiculous” for the US to continue its “one sided” relationship with Nato, less than a week before a summit of the military alliance in Ankara. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that “They were not there for us!!!” and Washington’s relationship with Nato “is not reciprocal”. Continue reading...

Researchers say Stelios Kouloglou’s device was compromised after he joined European parliamentary committee NSO Group’s hacking software was repeatedly used against a member of the European parliament while he was conducting an investigation of spyware abuses in Europe, according to a new report. Researchers at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto said they could not attribute the attacks against Stelios Kouloglou to any particular government operator of Pegasus spyware. But their investigation found the attack against the Greek now-former MEP bore the hallmarks of a previous hacking campaign against exiled Russian and Belarusian journalists in Europe. Continue reading...

From Times Square to the Norwegian parliament and even in fighter jet cockpits, the choreographed row is everywhere The fans have done it, in their thousands, in the stadiums. The players have done it on the pitch. Pretty much anyone who was there did it in New York’s Times Square . Norwegian MPs did it in parliament . Prince Sverre Magnus, third in line to the Norwegian throne, rowed in an Oslo subway carriage . Care home residents in their 90s rowed in rural Norway and Norwegian Royal Air Force pilots rowed in their F-35 fighter jets. Continue reading...

Huge scale of funeral for supreme leader across five cities is intended to relay message of resistance to rest of the world In the small hours of Friday the police roadblocks, stalls, posters and army vans were starting to appear across Tehran as millions of Iranians prepared to attend the long-delayed six-day funeral ceremony for Ali Khamenei’s, Iran’s supreme leader for 36 turbulent years. Khamenei was killed in the opening salvo of the US-Israeli attack on the country in February, and the funeral is intended to be an epic display of personal mourning, national power, resilience and social cohesion. Small

US president posts that meeting will take place on Tuesday in Qatari capital after exchange of fire in strait of Hormuz Iran is jealously competing with Oman as decision-maker over strait of Hormuz Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has agreed to hold talks in Doha after the US and Tehran traded fire in the strait of Hormuz this weekend, threatening the collapse of a ceasefire meant to keep the strait open and pave the way for peace talks. In a terse post on Truth Social, the US president claimed the meetings would take place in the Qatari capital, as

Tehran believes it should control the shipping route but its neighbour has its own plans for reopening it The strait of Hormuz is Iran’s chief bargaining tool in the negotiations with the US and so it was always likely to be the greatest point of contention. Every inch of the 24-mile-wide waterway is being contested in a test of wills and patience. For Iran, the continuation of the dispute is not a problem so long as it does not lose control. Continue reading...

Tehran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait amid efforts to open strait of Hormuz without Iran’s direct oversight Fresh hostilities in Gulf suggest US-Iran memorandum was too broadly worded A new round of escalating strikes between Iran and the US has continued, further undermining the fragile interim peace agreement between the two countries, and prompting Donald Trump to threaten violence that would ensure Iran “will no longer exist”. On Sunday, Tehran launched drone and missile attacks against Bahrain and Kuwait after new US strikes on sites in southern Iran, and threatened a “complete halt” to negotiations to end the war. Trump said

Document appears to have been subject to conflicting interpretations on key issues of Lebanon ceasefire and strait of Hormuz The sudden eruption of fresh hostilities in the Gulf – just 10 days after Iran and the US signed a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict – threatens to put the two countries back on the path to war . It appears the deliberately opaque wording in the memorandum has been unable to withstand the pressure of conflicting interpretations, and as a result supporters of the deal inside Tehran are on the back foot. Statements to the effect that Iran’s

Local officials said preliminary reports showed the centre was unregistered and operating inside a privately owned residential building Fourteen children died after ⁠the roof of a tutoring centre collapsed in Pakistan’s eastern city of ⁠Lahore on Tuesday, ⁠rescue ​officials have said, as authorities opened the way for a possible negligence ⁠investigation. Punjab’s emergency service said rescuers found children and a 30-year-old female teacher ⁠under the rubble of the private after-school facility. The ​children killed were aged ‌five to ‌16 with most below nine. Continue reading...

Government hopes for 30% of city’s fleet to be electric by 2030, in move hailed as ‘gamechanger’ on air pollution The unruly chaos of Delhi’s roads would be unrecognisable without the rickshaws and scooters that zip through India’s capital in their millions, emitting toxic fumes in their wake. But now, ambitious policies aim to give the city’s most recognisable vehicles an environmental makeover. On Monday, Delhi’s government announced plans to eventually ban petrol scooters, motorbikes and autorickshaws in favour of those running on electricity, in an attempt to bring down dangerously high pollution levels in the city by the end

Exclusive: Activist tells of his life as one of India’s most prominent political prisoners and his opposition to the government of Narendra Modi Prison is hardest at sunset. As the thousands of prisoners incarcerated in Delhi’s most infamous jail are cast out of their cells and forced into the dank yard until darkness falls, prisoner number 626714 feels the punishing dread begin to rise. Yet the inmate – better known as Umar Khalid – was recently moved to discover that another political prisoner, exiled at a camp thousands of miles from India, wrote of the very same feeling more than

Pakistan says strikes were aimed at a terrorist group while Taliban condemn ‘cowardly act of aggression’ Pakistani airstrikes in three eastern provinces of Afghanistan killed 36 civilians and wounded 163 others, Afghan officials have said, as attacks between the two countries showed no sign of abating. Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said the operations on Sunday night were aimed at a terrorist group his country blamed for a deadly militant attack in Karachi that killed three security personnel over the weekend. Continue reading...

Fears hard-won gains in reducing child mortality over 20 years are at risk after end of USAID funding for nutrition programmes Child malnutrition in Nepal has reached “alarming” levels, according to the largest ever survey of under-fives in the country. The new figures came just over a year after USAID, the former US flagship agency closed by the Trump administration in 2025, stopped funding work on child nutrition in Nepal. Continue reading...

Visitors can get free peek at works by one of UK’s most significant 20th-century artists and one of his successors Swifts screech overhead, hares lope along the grassy paths and butterflies flutter in the woodland fringe. There is an orchard; there are chickens, beehives. It seems simply a lovely, if conventional, slice of English countryside – until you happen upon striking sculptures fashioned out of chunks of reclaimed steel or machinery parts salvaged from factories, shipyards and farms. The pieces are the stars of a show called Heavy Metal, which brings together work by one of the UK’s most significant

The Labour MP hinted that he’s open to flexibility for some taxes that could aid high street businesses Hundreds of children’s shoes are being laid out in Parliament Square today in a display urging the government for better support for bereaved parents. The event has been organised by the charity It’s Never You, which was set up by Ceri Menai-Davis in memory of his six-year-old son Hugh Menai-Davis who died in 2021 after suffering from cancer. Continue reading...

Exclusive: As well as citing personal reasons, Ridley says she is making way for a successor ‘to work alongside new leader’ Hollie Ridley, Labour’s general secretary, is to step down this autumn after two years in the job, she has announced to party staff. Ridley, an ally of Keir Starmer who ran Labour’s field operations in the 2024 general win election, said in an internal email she would stand down after the party’s annual conference in September. Continue reading...

Given pressures on the public purse, the Makerfield MP may have to look at autumn tax rises to fund his ‘new direction’ An economy rattled by a global energy shock, jittery bond markets and rising spending demands. As Andy Burnham prepares for government, the pressures on the public finances are in focus. The prospective prime minister pledged a new direction for Britain this week within two constraints: sticking to Labour’s current fiscal rules, and consistency with its 2024 manifesto. Continue reading...

One of 11 surviving copies of ‘Exeter printing’ and only one known outside US was taken from American privateer ship For Michael Scurr, a volunteer at the National Archives in Kew, west London, it was “just a boring old Thursday morning” when he sat down in late May to catalogue a collection of documents from the British national collection that had never previously been recorded in detail. As he opened a volume of 18th-century Royal Navy correspondence, however, Scurr unfolded a document whose opening words he recognised. “In Congress, July 4, 1776. A declaration by the representatives of the United

New York mayor’s remarks at city hall to come just hours before Trump is set to deliver address at Mount Rushmore Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City, is expected to deliver a speech on Friday morning to mark America’s 250th birthday. The address, scheduled to begin at 10am local time and streamed live, will be delivered from behind George Washington’s desk in New York city hall. Mamdani will be surrounded by recently naturalized citizens. Continue reading...

Weekend’s high temperatures and humidity ‘virtually impossible’ without climate crisis, researchers say The scorching heat blanketing much of the US this week would have been “virtually impossible” if not for the climate crisis, researchers have found, warning that the high temperatures could threaten Independence Day celebrations and World Cup matches this weekend. “The climate the country has today is fundamentally different to the one it had when the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence,” said Theodore Keeping, extreme weather and wildfire researcher at Imperial College London, in a press release. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: As official celebrations spotlight a narrow cast of ​white heroes, communities across the US are reclaiming the histories that Freedom 250 leaves out Good morning, and a very happy 250th birthday to the United States of America. If you prefer to celebrate with cage fighting on the White House lawn, an IndyCar rally through the streets of Washington DC, or simply by watching the president do his lonely bop to YMCA at a sparsely attended state fair , so much the better. It takes a special kind of someone to make the semiquincentennial birthday of a nation

This weekend marks 250 years since the signing of the declaration of independence, but Donald Trump is making the celebration all about himself. As the anniversary approaches, Jonathan Freedland talks to the Atlantic’s Yoni Appelbaum about why so many Americans are feeling less patriotic these days Archive: AP, Reuters Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed. Trump posts AI video of him as doctor treating critics’ ‘derangement syndrome’ Sign up for the Breaking News US email OpenAI is reportedly in early stage talks to give a 5% stake in the ChatGPT developer to the US government as artificial intelligence companies attempt to smooth relations with Donald Trump’s administration. The OpenAI chief executive, Sam Altman , has argued that giving the US public a financial stake in the company is the best way to share the benefits of AI, according to the Financial Times, which cited two unnamed people familiar with

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. Chinese tech makes desalinating seawater cheaper than producing bottled water Desalination has always been an energy-hungry way of turning salt water into fresh water, making it largely the preserve of wealthy countries with abundant...

An “unforgettable” tribute to America, or a health hazard that will terrorise animals and pollute the environment? That is the question as Washington prepares to break the record for the world’s largest fireworks display on the United States’ 250th birthday on Saturday. The Trump administration’s “Freedom250” project has hired Pennsylvania-based Pyrotecnico to launch more than 850,000 fireworks shells across 10 sites around the Lincoln Memorial and Potomac River, starting at 10.30pm and lasting...

The latest child suicide figures from the Education Bureau make for grim reading. For three academic years in a row, suspected suicide cases among primary and secondary school students have remained stubbornly high – 32 in 2023, 28 in 2024, and 31 in 2025. Despite a deluge of government resources, the three-tier emergency mechanism in secondary schools and public awareness campaigns, these numbers refuse to budge. We must ask ourselves a difficult question: why are we failing our children? Of...

The Nato summit beginning on Tuesday in Turkey is expected to be low-key as European members track their progress towards increased defence spending goals and Beijing watches intently from afar. Low-key, that is, with one major caveat. Will the get-along US President Donald Trump show up, or the raging Trump who slammed the alliance, questioned its purpose and threatened repeatedly to take his military and head home? Early indications suggested it would be the raging one. “The United States...

The first act of pop sensation Taylor Swift’s wedding to NFL star Travis Kelce kicked off Thursday, with a rehearsal dinner for 100 guests ahead of a star-studded extravaganza at the famed Madison Square Garden. The billionaire singer and three-time Super Bowl champion, both 36, have kept fans guessing, but media reports describe an over-the-top celebration befitting one of the world’s most famous couples. The A-list festivities kicked off Thursday evening with an exclusive dinner for 100...

A former Olympian was indicted on Thursday on a felony charge in what US President Donald Trump has called vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where a renovation project he launched has been riddled with problems. David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, was indicted on a single count of property destruction in Washington DC court. District of Columbia US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Hearn ripped up recently installed sealant on the pool in “a deliberate act” that caused more...

Two British teenagers convicted of rape must serve time in custody, an appeal judge ruled on Thursday, after a public outcry over a judge’s decision to spare them detention. Lower court judge Nicholas Rowland in May sentenced the two 15-year-old boys to three-year youth rehabilitation orders, saying he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily”. However, the sentences provoked a severe backlash, prompting Attorney General Richard Hermer – the government’s chief legal adviser –...

China told the European Union that it is open to exploring ways to cut its massive trade surplus with the bloc during talks in Brussels this week, according to multiple people briefed on the discussion. Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao signalled to EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic that China was willing to consider purchase agreements covering European goods. The discussions touched on lowering tariffs on EU-made goods, in a rare sign that China recognises that its billion-euro a day trade...

A bomb blast rocked a cafe in Syria’s capital Damascus on Thursday, killing nine people and wounding 20, authorities said, in the latest challenge for the country’s Islamist leaders as they seek stability after more than a decade of war. The bombing – the deadliest since a suicide attack on a church last year – was not immediately claimed. It took place near the capital’s Palace of Justice, a key government building, sparking scenes of panic in the busy area. “The explosion that occurred in a...

The World Health Organization on Thursday declared an end to the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship which sparked international alarm, after the last person left quarantine. There were 12 confirmed and one probable case stemming from the MV Hondius, including three deaths. But while the outbreak is now over, for scientists and experts, the work is only in its early stages, as they try to learn lessons from the episode that triggered a global health alert. “Today, the final contact of a...

Hundreds of rescuers in Venezuela cheered and embraced Thursday after pulling a 43-year-old man alive from the ruins of a collapsed building eight days after deadly twin earthquakes. The official death toll has risen to nearly 2,600 and huge numbers of people are still missing, which meant the rescue of security guard Hernan Gil after so long under the rubble was greeted as a miracle. Gil was brought out on a stretcher after a painstaking operation to extract him from the collapsed seven-storey...

The United States posted weaker-than-expected job growth in June as new data showed the labour market is facing headwinds ahead of the testing midterm election for President Donald Trump’s Republicans. Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 57,000 and the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.2 per cent, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) said in a statement on Thursday. After months of seesawing growth and contraction, the US job market posted strong gains in the last three months, but...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. ‘I will sell to someone else’: Brazil’s Lula hits back at US after China beef win Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva thanked China for clearing the country’s beef of foot-and-mouth disease and fired a barb at US President Donald Trump, saying “I will sell to someone else”,...

China is trying to “infiltrate” the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement via Mexican automotive investments, a US manufacturing trade group said, as Washington indicated it would not renew the agreement that comes up for review this month. However, analysts cautioned that full decoupling from China’s automotive industry remains difficult, given North America’s continued dependence on Chinese-sourced motor vehicle components and Mexico’s legacy of export manufacturing plus quick access to the US...

Hundreds of people were besieging Lidl supermarkets in and around Paris on Thursday, with scuffles and shouting matches breaking out as residents scrambled to get their hands on bargain air-cooling units before the next heatwave hits the French capital. With few air conditioners on sale elsewhere for less than €1,200 (US$1,400), police were called to at least two stores as huge crowds descended on Lidl supermarkets trying to get their hands on basic models on sale for as low as €179. Mousa...

The Vatican on Thursday excommunicated six bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St Pius X and said any lay believers who “formally adhere” to the group would suffer the same fate. The Vatican decree comes a day after the traditionalist breakaway group consecrated four new bishops, defying a plea from Pope Leo not to do so. The decree called the ceremony “an act of schismatic nature”. For the Holy See, consecrating bishops without the approval of the pope is a direct act of...

It’s the 1000th day of war since a Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Other conflicts have emerged in the region, and fragile ceasefires show scars of persistent attacks. Both Israelis and Palestinians are weary of the strain. The fate of over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, largely displaced and living amid ruins, remains uncertain. Israeli forces controlled over half of the territory under the ceasefire that took effect on October 10, but Israel’s government has expanded...

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s trip to Canada highlights deepening ties at a time when Ottawa is seeking to court middle powers and establish its presence in the Indo-Pacific. Marcos is in the Canadian capital for a four-day visit that started on Wednesday, where he is set to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney in an effort to strengthen cooperation on trade, labour, energy and tourism, and enhance defence and maritime ties. He is also slated to meet Canadian business leaders and...

Doctors said Wednesday they feared the aftermath of Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes could trigger a widening medical crisis marked by untreated injuries, infectious diseases and a healthcare system already on the brink. Thousands of displaced Venezuelans are sleeping in crowded shelters or outside without access to clean water amid dismal sanitary conditions following the June 24 earthquakes which officials say killed at least 2,295 and left more than 11,000 injured. Aid workers said...

Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in the early hours on Thursday, killing at least 21 people, wounding scores more and damaging around 130 buildings in one of the biggest attacks of the war. Multiple explosions shook buildings and reverberated across the capital throughout the night as thousands of residents rushed to bomb shelters and underground metro stations. The attack caused the widest destruction in Kyiv so far this year, and was the...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that indirect talks with Iran in Qatar were making progress, offering a tentative sign that diplomacy was holding after recent exchanges of fire threatened efforts to end the Middle East war. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who led Tehran’s delegation, later said the talks had concluded and that the sides had agreed to establish a communication channel by Thursday to report and record violations of their initial memorandum of...

Martial arts icon Bruce Lee, who was born in San Francisco, will become the first Chinese-American in California history with an annual namesake day. Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law on Tuesday afternoon officially designating May 17 as Bruce Lee Day, according to the office of state Assemblymember Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco. An 18-year-old Lee returned to San Francisco on May 17, 1959, after spending his childhood in Hong Kong. Lee’s daughter, Shannon, who is CEO of the Bruce...

The United States confirmed on Wednesday it would not renew its North American trade pact, its trade chief blaming Canada’s pursuit of Chinese investment. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the three governments met virtually and that Washington would not endorse the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in its current form. “The United States did not agree to renew the USMCA in its current form. As a result, the USMCA is not renewed,” Greer said in a statement. The refusal did...

When people speak of the Great Game, they usually mean the 19th-century rivalry between the British and Russian empires for influence over Central Asia. It conjures up images of spies crossing deserts, mountain fortresses and imperial intrigue – an era vividly brought to life in Peter Hopkirk’s books, which first awakened my fascination with the region. A century and a half after the Great Game, another contest is unfolding across the same region. To the north is Russia, the region’s traditional...

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will celebrate their wedding at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the security plans. The festivities will kick off with a smaller rehearsal dinner planned for Thursday night, the official said. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss the events. Speculation about the superstar singer and American football player’s nuptials has built to a frenzy in...

A ship ran aground in the Strait of Hormuz while using a route not approved by Iran, state television in Tehran reported on Wednesday. The vessel was identified as a foreign container ship, with no other details. The report appeared aimed at underlining Tehran’s claims to control the strait, which the world has long considered an international waterway. A fifth of all oil and natural gas passed through it in peacetime. Since the US and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28, Iran...

A Russian couple of daredevil artists climbed to the top of the Empire State Building’s towering spire in New York City on Wednesday to unfurl a large banner urging world peace in what appeared to be an elaborate marriage proposal that ‌ended in their arrests. Dressed in sleeveless black outfits and documenting their time in the sky on social media, Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus hung onto the landmark skyscraper’s antenna spire near the glowing red light at its tip some 443 metres (1,454 feet)...

A Maltese tycoon went on trial on Wednesday accused of ordering the murder of a hard-hitting investigative journalist that rocked the island nation, brought down a government and drew global condemnation. Suspect Yorgen Fenech is charged with orchestrating the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, a prominent public figure and vocal critic who was killed by a bomb placed in her car near her home. “Nine years after my mother’s murder, the man accused of commissioning it stands trial,” the...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday took his maiden voyage on a new Air Force One – a retrofitted Boeing 747-800 worth US$400 million gifted by Qatar that embeds his personality more deeply into the institution of the American presidency. Gone is the trademark light blue hull that helped Air Force One blend into the sky. The refurbished jet is painted in Trump’s preferred colour scheme: a navy-blue belly with red and gold stripes. It has the luxury features that the president believes a...

We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering global relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. With no team in World Cup, Chinese fans root for Ronaldo, Messi … and a referee Among the hundreds of thousands of fans who travelled to North America for the World Cup are countless Chinese supporters. Yet while China remains one of the world’s largest football markets, its presence at the...

The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during their attack on El-Fasher city between 2024 and 2025, Amnesty International alleged Wednesday. Sudan has been mired since April 2023 in a brutal war between the army and the RSF, which has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, according to the United Nations. Both sides have been accused of atrocities, with a UN independent fact-finding mission in February concluding...

At least five people have been killed and many injured in a fire in an apartment block in the Belgian city of Antwerp, police said on Wednesday. The blaze broke out mid-morning on the eighth floor of the building, where more than 200 people live, in the city’s Linkeroever neighbourhood, sending vast plumes of smoke into the air, Antwerp police said in a statement. An evacuation of the 10-storey building was under way. “Right now, unfortunately, at least 5 people have died in the fire. There are...

Power has historically been measured by indicators such as territory, population, industrial production, military capability and economic scale. Those foundations remain indispensable. But each technological revolution has changed the nature of geopolitical competition. The Industrial Revolution rewarded manufacturing capacity. The 20th century rewarded industrial scale, military mobilisation and ideological reach. Globalisation rewarded efficiency, integration and financial connectivity. The...

Indirect talks in Doha, Qatar, between officials from the United States and Iran aimed at ending the Middle East war have started, a diplomat with knowledge of the talks said on Wednesday. The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, confirmed negotiations were under way after they earlier said the US and Iran were to hold “indirect technical talks on Wednesday in Doha with Qatari and Pakistani mediators”. The Doha talks are based “on the memorandum of...

Victor Willis, lead singer of the disco group Village People whose hit Y.M.C.A. became a fixture at rallies for US President Donald Trump, has died, his spouse said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. “It is with profound sadness that I must announce the death of my husband, VICTOR WILLIS. Victor passed away on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, as a result of a short, but aggressive illness,” the post on Willis’s official page said. The Texas-born musician, who was 74, was a co-founder of the Village People...

Spain recorded 1,029 excess deaths last ⁠month attributable to ⁠heat, official data showed ⁠on Wednesday, as a five-day heatwave with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) made it the second-hottest June on record. Data on the Health Ministry’s ‌daily mortality monitoring system MoMo showed this June had the most deaths attributed to heat since the same month in 2015. Average temperatures last month were 3.2 degrees higher than normal, weather agency AEMET said,...

Giant portraits of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s late supreme leader killed in US-Israeli air strikes, have been hung from Tehran’s Grand Mosalla as workers raced to prepare for his grand funeral ceremony. His funeral, initially delayed at the height of the Middle East war, will take place as Iran and the United States observe a fragile ceasefire after signing a preliminary deal to halt the conflict. Khamenei, a spiritual figure for many Shias, was killed aged 86 at his compound in the centre...

It was the deadliest reported strike in the US-Israeli war against Iran, and most of the victims were children. Yet over four months since a US missile struck an Iranian primary school, there is no final accounting of what happened. The Trump administration has not directly accepted the blame, though the military possessed evidence almost immediately that the site had been struck, a US official with knowledge of the situation told Associated Press. Drawing from interviews with US officials,...

The US military has established a robust footprint of US forces in and around Venezuela to support relief operations, with over 900 personnel inside the country and another roughly 800 in Caribbean hubs Puerto Rico and Curacao, according to the top US general for Latin America. General Francis Donovan, the commander of US Southern Command, said US forces had participated in search-and-rescue operations, helped get the airport up and running and mobilised air and naval assets to ‌allow for the...

Oman Air is looking to capitalise ⁠on the Gulf ⁠state’s appeal as a largely ⁠untapped tourism destination as it launches flights from Muscat to Singapore on Thursday and considers an expansion to North Asia over the next year. The new nonstop Singapore service was underpinned by a lower cost ‌base and the airline’s year-old membership in the Oneworld alliance to aid with connections, as serving the city state with a stopover in Kuala Lumpur failed nine years ago, Oman Air CEO Con Korfiatis said...

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted the leaders of Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Belarus in June. He also travelled to North Korea on his first overseas journey this year and his first visit to Pyongyang since 2019. In total, 20 national leaders have met Xi in Beijing this year, including US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The long list shows China’s growing global influence amid rising geopolitical tensions. Xi may meet Trump three more times this year. He...

Hong Kong’s first five-year plan will undoubtedly mark a significant milestone for the city. The public consultation launched last month covers a range of issues, such as economic development, innovation and technology, housing, healthcare, education, infrastructure and regional cooperation. The exercise offers a chance not only to discuss what Hong Kong hopes to achieve by 2030, but also how its success should be measured. That second question is perhaps the more important one. Hong Kong has...

A technical error caused a Tel Aviv-bound flight to report a hijacking Tuesday that led to Israeli and Bulgarian jets scrambling to intercept the aircraft, Bulgaria’s transport ministry said. An airport official earlier said that the Bulgarian company operating the Airbus A320 blamed pilot error. Bulgaria’s transport ministry said, however, in a statement: “The reason for the diversion is a technical failure of the aircraft’s transponder, which transmitted a false signal of unlawful...

US President Donald Trump reported more than US$1.4 billion in income from his ⁠family’s crypto ventures last year, showing how he now derives most of his income from digital assets that have benefited from his policies, according to a review of his latest financial disclosures on Tuesday. The filings, his annual disclosure for 2025 with the US Office of Government Ethics, disclosed that his companies received almost US$800 million from World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture he and his sons...

A person admitted to hospital in Scotland with suspected Ebola has tested negative, as central Africa continues to face a deadly outbreak of the virus. The person arrived at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow on Tuesday, according to a BBC report. A representative for the hospital declined to comment. Public Health Scotland (PHS) said in a statement a person was tested for Ebola as a precautionary measure. The government health agency said there are no confirmed cases in the...

Escalating drone strikes, fuel shortages and power cuts in the region Russia annexed are among the factors turning up the heat on President Vladimir V. Putin.

While relief could come to the Great Lakes and the far Northeast over the weekend, the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast will stay hot.

The last time the park recorded 100 degrees was July 18, 2012.

The event for about 100 guests at Madison Square Garden kicked off a weekend of celebration for the pop star and the athlete, as celebrities arrived in town and reinforcements were delivered.

It’s not just rent. There’s security, insurance, permits and other costs, not to mention extra police presence.

Ahead of Taylor Swift’s wedding celebration in Manhattan, Mayor Zohran Mamdani revealed that he is a bigger fan of her music than previously known.

The couple has revealed very little about their wedding plans, but that hasn’t stopped fans from searching for clues.

How are his legions of fans savoring what could be the last World Cup of their idol? I dove into a sea of screaming Messis to find out.

Any Israeli attempt to kill Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister, or Mohammad Ghalibaf, the Parliament speaker, would have derailed peace talks, American officials feared.

The Strait of Malacca may be a model for how Oman and Iran could collect fees in the Strait of Hormuz, but the differences between the waterways are vast.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his allies promised public-health libertarianism. The idea couldn’t survive once they took power.

David Hearn, a former canoeist, is accused of vandalizing the algae-challenged pool, which President Trump has said he would repair and beautify with fresh sealant. But the algae returned and the paint peeled.

The 44-year-old security guard was pulled alive from a pancaked basement, offering a fleeting moment of hope amid a soaring death toll.

As America nears its 250th year, we want to hear from you about this particular phrase in the country’s founding document.

Plans include an air show in Texas, 18,500 fireworks in Idaho and a frog-jumping contest in Missouri.

Francesca Hong, a state legislator running for governor of Wisconsin, wants to prove that a democratic socialist can win in a battleground. Some say she would hand the race to Republicans.

The expansion of an investigation into Fulton County’s election office reflects President Trump’s desire to prove his baseless claims that the 2020 election in Georgia was rigged.

Gov. Greg Abbott appointed a firebrand former opponent, Don Huffines, to be state comptroller, underscoring a G.O.P. push for unity ahead of the midterms.

Dry Dock Pool in Lower Manhattan is one of New York City’s 51 free outdoor pools where more than one million New Yorkers cool off with swimming, sunblock and community.

The Democrats’ constant solicitations for cash do not make their supporters feel like they are on a winning team.

On America’s 250th anniversary, Bryan Stevenson, a civil rights lawyer and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, looks toward the work that is ahead for the country.

Preservation experts say the move to develop the site reflects a tension in Germany between the need to preserve historically significant monuments and the need to build and modernize.