Minimalist News

Congress Moves To Boost Drone Funding As "War Unicorns" See Possible Procurement Supercycle Needham analysts see increasing congressional support for drones and counter-drone technologies as lawmakers advance the latest FY27 National Defense Authorization Act and related appropriations bills. This is bullish for defense-tech " war unicorns " specializing in drones, robotics, autonomy, and counter-UAS systems , as the Trump war economy shifts into higher gear. Analyst Austin Bohlig launched Needham's FY27 Defense Budget Tracker , which provides clients with updates on next-generation defense technologies, especially drones, robotics, and autonomous systems. Bohlig said the defense funding framework remains intact, with about

Silt, Anchovies, And Economic Disaster Authored by Matt Badiali via DailyReckoning.com, Silt and anchovy scales. Sometimes the greatest scientific discoveries start with the simplest things. Today, meteorologists are worried about a severe global event. It’s part of an atmospheric pattern that wasn’t recognized until the late 1960’s. But it has had major economic impact over the decades. And it will have an impact this year if it’s as bad as predicted. But the story starts with marine mud and frustrated fishermen. Geologists saw something odd in sediment cores taken off the West coast of South America. The cores looked like

"Chinese Empire Is Next": Townsend Warns Beijing's Energy Dominance Is Rewriting The Global Order Veteran energy economist Dr. Anas Alhajji said during last night’s ZeroHedge debate that Iranian crude trading activity reflects a serious peace deal sticking . Alhajji joined Jeff Currie, co-chair of Abaxx Exchange, and Erik Townsend of Macro Voices to weigh in on the Iran deal’s implications for oil prices, which he believes are poised for a significant decline. Townsend, meanwhile, thinks China will come out on top. Currie, unlike Alhajji, remains bullish crude due to supply constraints and, assuming Hormuz does open Friday, there is still

Trucking Group Asks Federal Court To Strip New York, California Of CDL Authority Authored by Noi Mahoney via FreightWaves , The Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) has filed a court petition seeking to force federal regulators to decertify the commercial driver’s license programs of New York and California. The Small Business in Transportation Coalition said the U.S. Department of Transportation has failed to enforce federal law after finding states out of compliance. (Photo: Jim Alen/Freightwaves) The petition, filed June 10, asks the court to review actions by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation

Trump Invokes Defense Production Act As US Moves To Rebuild Weapons Stockpiles The Trump administration is seeking a major increase in defense spending while simultaneously using executive authority to accelerate weapons production, reflecting growing concern over U.S. munitions inventories after the war with Iran, according to NBC . Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Senate Republicans this week to rally support for a proposed $350 billion defense package, much of which would be directed toward replenishing missile and weapons stockpiles. According to NBC , Sen. John Cornyn said the Pentagon is “running short of funding they need in order to

Of The Elite, By The Elite, For The Elite Authored by John C. Eastman via The American Mind , For generations, Democrats have portrayed themselves as the party of ordinary Americans - factory workers, waitresses, truck drivers, police officers, construction workers, and middle-class families trying to get ahead. Yet one of the most striking features of modern American politics is how often Democrat leaders, activists, and media allies seem genuinely baffled by the very people they claim to represent. The latest example comes from Washington Post columnist Monica Hesse, whose reaction to President Trump’s appearance at a packed UFC event

Fed Holds Rates Unchanged (As Expected), 'Dots' Signal Hawkish Bias As Warsh Takes Over Tl;dr: No rate change (as expected) but a dramatically hawkish shift in The Fed's bias ( 9 members seeing at least one hike this year ). Statement smilled down dramatically, also biases towards hawkish focus on price stability (inflation) over employment: "The Committee will deliver price stability" . “The market is focused on the dot plot for now, with half the committee thinking there will be hikes. The bear flattening seems reasonable based on that. Those who looked for a quiet first Warsh FOMC meeting must

Crypto Scammers Using Couriers To Collect Cash, Avoid Detection: FBI Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, Crypto scammers are using couriers to pick up cash from victims in person to avoid being traced by banks, the FBI is warning. The fraudsters first approach targets, typically seniors, with business or romantic proposals via social media, texts, or a fake cryptocurrency investment profile, the bureau said in a June 15 public service announcement alert. “After establishing a relationship with the victim, the scammer suggests investing in cryptocurrency and instructs the victim to download specific cryptocurrency trading applications and create investment

Democrat Politicians Seethe After Baseball Players "Deface" Pride Night With Bible Verses Recently we reported on the MLB's angry response to three San Francisco Giants players who scribbled bible verses across their "Pride Night" uniforms in a silent protest. The incident takes place in the midst of a rising tide of popular opposition to the woke movement's political authoritarianism. Gay pride has become synonymous with the liberal "cry-bully": Activists who try to assert social dominance over others then play the victim when people fight back. California State Senator and rabid gay activist Scott Wiener is the epitome of a typical

First Iranian Oil Moves Past US Blockade Ahead Of Deal Signing By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com Iran’s first observed crude oil exports in two months have moved past the US blockade outside the Strait of Hormuz in a sign that Iran is wasting no time to take advantage of the tentative deal with the United States. Following the announcement of the deal this weekend, and ahead of a formal signing ceremony expected in Switzerland on Friday, at least three Iranian crude oil tankers have exited the Strait of Hormuz and departed from the region moving past the U.S. blockade so

"The Kevin Warsh Era Has Arrived With A Bang": Wall Street Reacts To Warsh's First FOMC Below is a snapshot of several kneejerk reactions from some Wall street economists, strategists and traders: Anna Wong, head economist at Bloomberg: “The Kevin Warsh era has arrived with a bang – in the form of a dramatically shortened FOMC policy statement and a dot plot that didn’t contain any dot from the chairman himself. That marks a break from the eras of former chairs Jerome Powell, Janet Yellen, and Ben Bernanke. But the rest of the committee sent an equally strong signal: They

California Has Gay-Certification Program To Tap Into $633 Million For "LGBT" Businesses Authored by Christopher F. Rufo & Austen Hufford via City Journal , Americans are used to handouts for favored groups . Affirmative action in university admissions, corporate “diversity” initiatives, and minority-owned contracting requirements direct opportunities, resources, and contracts to supposedly “oppressed” groups, such as women, Native Americans, blacks, and Hispanics. In California, state Democrats have embraced another kind of favoritism: contracts for state-certified gay-owned businesses. The scheme operates through the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which regulates privately owned utility companies. California utilities spent more than $43 billion

Watch Live: Kevin Warsh's First Press Conference As Fed Chair Warsh's first press conference as Fed Chair is likely to be the most important event risk of the meeting . With The Fed leaving rates unchanged as practically 100% expected (with no dissents), and a very hawkish signal sent from the 'Dots', the question on everyone's lips is simple: "What Will Warsh Do?" (WWWD?) Will he shift to a cautiously hawkish path citing a resilient labor market, higher growth and soaring inflation... ...or will he reiterate the current easing bias as support for the lower leg of the 'K-shaped' economy

Big Oil Tankers Abruptly U-Turn Toward Hormuz Ahead Of US-Iran Peace Deal Signing Ahead of the formal signing of the US-Iran peace deal on Friday, Brent crude futures briefly fell below $80 a barrel, as traders priced a quicker pace of supply flows that could normalize in the Gulf area as the Strait of Hormuz moves toward reopening. That is welcome news on the US inflation front , with lower crude prices helping ease pressure across gasoline, diesel, freight, and other input costs. Back in the Gulf region, early maritime signals suggest commercial vessels are reversing course and heading toward

FBI Issues Warning For Vacant Property Owners Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times , American citizens who own vacant property parcels are being targeted by criminals in an identity theft scheme. “Criminals create fake identifications (drivers licenses and/or U.S. passports), Outlook email addresses, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) generated phone numbers and use them to impersonate landowners,” the FBI said in a June 16 public service announcement alert. An aerial view of single family homes in Miami, Fla., on Aug. 1, 2025. Joe Raedle/Getty Images The malicious actors “can obtain property parcel owner’s personally identifiable information through

Musk Supports Nuremberg-Style Trials After UK Rape-Gang Inquiry Release Via Remix News, After Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe released the Rape Gang Inquiry Report, which documented the systemic rape and often torture of up to 250,000 young British girls at the hands of predominately Muslim rape gangs, SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk agreed with calls for Nuremberg-style trials for the perpetrators and those who enabled the heinous attacks. One post calling for Nuremberg Trials in connection to the rape gang inquiry and executions for those who were responsible, also received a one-word response from Musk, who stated: “Yes.” Yes

"Early Signs Of A Turn In US Consumer Discretionary," UBS Says Brent crude futures tumbled below the $80-per-barrel level earlier this morning for the first time since March as traders priced in the U.S.-Iran peace deal and the expected reopening of the Strait of Hormuz maritime chokepoint on Friday. Goldman Sachs and RBC Capital Markets both slashed their fourth-quarter Brent crude forecasts, reinforcing the view that the war-risk premium is rapidly deflating. If oil has peaked, then inflation pressures may have peaked as well, a positive setup that could provide some tailwinds for consumers this summer through lower fuel costs.

Snap's Goofy AR Glasses Underwhelm Wall Street After Decade-Long Development Push Snap's new $2,195 augmented-reality glasses are being viewed by Wall Street analysts less as a mass-market consumer device and more as a developer kit, given the expensive price point. We suspect Snap's new AR glasses are unlikely to compete with the Meta glasses in terms of mass adoption, as Meta's are half the cost, if not cheaper. Evan Spiegel showing off the new Specs AR glasses to the public for the first time. pic.twitter.com/pCYBLU9xxH — Nathie @ AWE (@NathieVR) June 16, 2026 "Earlier today, Evan Spiegel hosted a keynote

Hillary Clinton Blasts Joe Biden After Endorsing Him Twice Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA , Twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton appears to be suffering from buyer’s remorse about the 2024 race. After repeatedly praising former President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign, Clinton now says his decision to seek re-election was a “terrible mistake.” “He made a terrible mistake for himself, his legacy and for the country,” Clinton said Monday of Biden’s decision to run for a second term. She made the scathing remarks during an interview with a New York Times editor in Manhattan. Hillary Clinton says Joe Biden

The $300 Billion Wager: Inside The Private Fund At The Center Of The U.S.-Iran Framework A proposed $300 billion investment fund has emerged as one of the most consequential-and politically explosive-features of the U.S.-Iran framework agreement, turning what began as a war-ending diplomatic effort into a test of whether private capital can be used as a substitute for reparations, sanctions relief and state-to-state reconstruction aid. This, of course, is the part where we 'give' Iran $300 billion - though what it actually is and does hasn't been disclosed until now. This isn't unfrozen Iranian assets, and is separate from parallel

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

Canadian officials find structural defects in material used for hull and say firm failed to fully test ‘novel’ design Canadian safety officials have issued a damning report on the catastrophic final voyage of the Titan submersible, finding that the US company behind the expedition was overcome by “groupthink” and “confirmation bias” and failed to understand the profound risks confronting their largely untested craft. The 6.7-metre (22ft) carbon fibre submersible dipped below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in June 2023 en route to the wreckage of the Titanic ocean liner. But nearly two hours after it departed with five passengers,

Focus on business dealings with mining company Guadalajara rally to highlight fate of ‘disappeared’ Hyundai will be targeted by protesters at a rally before the Group A game between Mexico and South Korea in Guadalajara on Thursday, due to the World Cup sponsor’s business dealings with the South American mining company Ternium. A 2025 report from the environmental group Mighty Earth criticised Hyundai’s involvement in what they described as a “dirty steel supply chain”, as the South Korean motor company is a major buyer of iron ore from Ternium for use in steel production. Ternium has faced repeated criticisms for

Brazil supreme court finds that Eduardo Bolsonaro – who resides in the US - tried to get sanctions put on judges trying ex-president over coup plot Brazil’s supreme court has sentenced Eduardo Bolsonaro to four years and two months in prison after finding him guilty of courting US ⁠interference in his father’s coup plot trial last year. The office of Brazil’s ‌prosecutor general had ‌charged Eduardo Bolsonaro – who lives in the US - courting interference from the Trump administration to help Jair Bolsonaro’s case, by imposing sanctions on the court’s justices and tariffs on Brazilian goods. Continue reading...

Young adults and teens are being recruited through apps like Telegram and paid to carry out attacks, officials say Police investigators in Toronto have said that dozens of shootings – including one at the US consulate in March – are linked to a “multilayered” gun-for-hire network that is also responsible for attacks on synagogues around Canada’s largest city. Toronto’s police chief, Myron Demkiw, told reporters on Tuesday that young adults and teenagers are being recruited through encrypted messaging apps such as Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp by “bad actors” and paid by the networks to carry out the attacks. Shooters are

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

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

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

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

Country acts amid Iran war inflation pressures, but US Fed and Bank of England expected to hold rates Business live – latest updates The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has raised interest rates to a 31-year high as it tries to dampen inflationary pressures created by the Iran war. Policymakers in Tokyo raised the BoJ’s short-term policy rate by a quarter of one percentage point, to 1% from 0.75% , and warned that companies were passing on rising oil costs to each other at a “relatively fast pace”. Continue reading...

Qantas now says first Project Sunrise flight due to take off in November 2027. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Coalition says it’s good Hanson and One Nation getting the scrutiny of a party on the rise Kevin Hogan, the shadow assistant treasurer, says he thinks it’s good Hanson was able to speak at the press club yesterday as One Nation “needs to be put under much more scrutiny” amid surging support. The GetUp stunt completely backfired, it makes them look like [bullies] and makes her look like, you know,

University of New South Wales ranks 19th in QS World University Rankings, with nine Australian universities achieving record-high positions Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The University of New South Wales has overtaken the University of Melbourne for the first time in a prestigious world university rankings list. UNSW ranked 19th in the QS World University Rankings, an improvement of one place for the Sydney university on last year’s result and 30 places since 2017. Continue reading...

Fathers particularly affected, with almost 15% reporting suicidal plans after relationship breakdowns, according to survey of 20,000 men Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Men who have recently gone through a breakup are seven times more likely to report a suicide attempt than those who have not, a new study shows. The Ten to Men project has followed more than 20,000 Australian men and identified the mental health risks in relationship breakdowns, which can include changes in their contact with their children, in their finances

Rouser Lab says the steel structure will record ‘every step’ humanity takes towards climate catastrophe Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast It was designed to survive the apocalypse, as humanity’s last testament to its failure. But for a while it seemed the “Earth’s Black Box” hadn’t even survived its own planning process. Now, five years after it was announced to much fanfare, followed by years of ominous silence, the box is back. Its creators say parts assembly is under way and, in December, the full

Labor minister says Australians would lose their jobs and wages would go down if One Nation’s policies became law Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Pauline Hanson has been roundly condemned for her National Press Club speech, with advocacy groups accusing the One Nation leader of using “hatred for political gain” while the Greens say Hanson is echoing “rubbish” lines from rightwing figures in the UK and US. In Hanson’s first address after 20 years in politics, the leader claimed transgender ideology “has penetrated almost

No formal warning issued to captains or ship owners, but industry body says they are exercising greater vigilance British officials believe Russia will try to retaliate for the Royal Marines’ seizure of the oil tanker Smyrtos, prompting UK ship owners to exercise greater vigilance until tensions with Moscow ease. Military sources said the UK had considered possible responses to the seizure of the vessel carrying Russian crude worth $40m (£30m) to India, and anticipate that the Kremlin will want to hit back. Continue reading...

Refugee charity says decision to let riot police use water cannon, which are banned in Great Britain, is ‘sickening’ French riot police deployed in northern France under a £660m deal with the UK are authorised to use water cannon against asylum seekers, the Guardian has been told. Two specialist policing units, including a 50-officer riot squad, have begun working to prevent asylum seekers and people smugglers from launching small boats under the UK-France deal in time for the summer months. Continue reading...

The US president’s opulent tastes will be well served in a palace that has hosted Putin, King Charles and JFK For a US president who has likened himself to a king and redecorated the Oval Office with golden paint and gold ornaments , it feels like the perfect dinner venue. Donald Trump said one of the deciding factors in accepting an invitation to dine with Emmanuel Macron at the spectacular, 2,300-room Palace of Versailles was that it was “not gold leaf” but the “real deal”. Continue reading...

French president welcomes group’s unity after ‘very deep change’ in Washington’s approach Emmanuel Macron has said the whole of the G7, including the US, recognises “the territorial integrity of Ukraine” as he hailed a “re-synchronisation” of positions on the issue. The French president welcomed a “very deep change in the US approach”, saying Donald Trump and all the leaders present at the G7 summit at Évian-les-Bains understood that Vladimir Putin was not interested in peace. Continue reading...

This blog has now closed – see all our coverage of the G7 summit here Rutte says the adjustment in the US pledge to the Nato Force Model is “not primarily about where forces and assets are currently, but about who would do what if our defence plans were activated.” He says historically the model was “overly reliant” on the US. “You will likely have seen news adjusting its contributions to the Nato force model. In some cases, this has been cast as a problem, as the US pulling away from its allies, but that is not the reality. The

Memorandum of understanding signed off on Wednesday; Tehran will charge ships after the 60-day negotiation period has ended, says chief negotiator Analysis: Where does Iran deal leave US-Israel relationship? Trump also addressed media reports of a leaked US-Iran deal (see post at 11:57 ), denying claims it includes a $300bn reconstruction fund for Tehran. “We’re not putting up 10 cents,” he said. “We are not investing and we do not have a fund.” It’s not final. It’s a memorandum of understanding, and if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them , dropping bombs on their head.

Senator Bill Cassidy attacks ‘worst foreign policy blunder in decades’ while others in his party skeptical over peace deal A handful of Senate Republicans have sharply criticized the agreement Donald Trump reached with Iran, accusing the administration of committing “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades”. On Wednesday, the Trump administration released the text of an interim deal between Washington and Tehran to end the 110-day conflict, framing it as a “major win” for the US – even as the 14-point accord made significant political and financial concessions to Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz and prevent a “worldwide

US entered war with maximalist goals and exits it with pragmatic decision to end conflict despite political cost Middle East crisis – live updates As the adage goes: no plan of battle survives first contact with the enemy. Donald Trump entered the war with Iran with maximalist goals: eliminating the country’s nuclear programme, destroying its ballistic missile programme and ending its support for regional military groups including Hezbollah and Hamas. Continue reading...

Details of 14-point agreement revealed as senior US officials claim ‘major win’ despite significant concessions to Tehran Middle East crisis – live updates The Trump administration has released the text of its 14-point agreement with Iran, claiming it delivered a “major win” for the United States – even as it made significant political and financial concessions to Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz and prevent a “worldwide depression”. In extraordinary remarks on Wednesday, Donald Trump went from threatening Iran with a new wave of attacks to suggesting the country had basic rights to enrich uranium for civilian use, that

Exclusive: Images show Israeli military using six companies’ bulldozers and excavators to demolish south Lebanon villages Human rights experts have alleged that six multinational construction equipment conglomerates may be aiding and abetting war crimes by supplying excavators and bulldozers to Israel, after photos and videos showed the Israeli military using their equipment to demolish villages in south Lebanon. The Guardian geolocated and verified images showing the Israeli military using excavators made by six companies – Caterpillar, Volvo, Hyundai, Doosan, Hitachi and Komatsu – to destroy homes, public utilities, shops and other structures across southern Lebanon. Israel has levelled entire villages

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

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

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

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

Government urged to reconsider proposal for 1,100 Afghans, currently stranded in Qatar, who worked with US forces Dozens of US lawmakers urged the Trump administration on Thursday to roll back any plans to ship to unsafe third countries Afghan nationals who worked with US forces during the war in their homeland. In a letter seen by Reuters, more than 80 House of Representatives members, including at least three Republicans as well as Democrats, appealed to secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to reconsider plans for 1,100 Afghans who have been stranded in Qatar awaiting relocation. Continue reading...

Nottinghamshire tree, one of Europe’s oldest and largest, fails to produce leaves after being stressed by series of hot, dry summers The Major oak, one of Europe’s oldest, largest and most celebrated ancient trees, has died. The huge tree, which has grown in Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, for at least 1,000 years, failed to produce any leaves this year, after becoming stressed by a series of hot, dry summers. Continue reading...

Wessex Archaeology suspect they have uncovered a prototype for world-famous Stonehenge site in Wiltshire A 5,000-year-old monument that was aligned with the summer and winter solstices and may have served as a prototype for the later solar alignment at Stonehenge has been discovered close to the famous neolithic site, in what archaeologists have described as a “once in a lifetime” find. The structure at Bulford, 5km (3 miles) from the world heritage site in Wiltshire, has been carbon dated to around 3000BC, the same time as the earliest phase of construction at Stonehenge and 500 years before its huge trilithon

Exclusive: Allies of Labour’s Makerfield candidate concerned rapid collapse of Starmer government would increase instability How quickly could Andy Burnham become the UK’s prime minister? Andy Burnham’s campaign has been forced to talk ministers out of resigning as early as this weekend to avoid Keir Starmer’s government descending into chaos amid fallout from the Makerfield byelection, the Guardian can reveal. As they prepare for a potential change of leader in the event he beats Reform on Thursday, Burnham’s team is increasingly concerned a rapid collapse of Starmer’s administration would mean further instability for the country. Continue reading...

Jane and Alan Kelvey’s holiday yacht met a warship in the Channel – at a tense time for Anglo-Russian relations “We actually had right of way,” said Jane Kelvey, a little crossly, though keeping it civil. “But we weren’t going to argue with a warship.” The dramatic standoff in the Channel on Tuesday morning between Admiral Grigorovich, a 125-metre (409ft) battle-hardened Russian frigate, and Bright Future, a 12-metre (40ft) pleasure yacht owned and helmed by Jane, 69, and her husband, Alan, 71, has rather caught the nation’s imagination. Continue reading...

Education secretary describes historical practice in England as a ‘shameful period’ in country’s history Downing Street is to make a full apology on behalf of the state to those affected by historical forced adoption in England, the education secretary has confirmed. Bridget Phillipson, giving evidence to MPs on the education select committee on Wednesday, described it as a “shameful period” in UK history. Continue reading...

The US has to approve a renewal of the existing agreement by 1 July, or announce its intention to exit the pact, a process that would take 10 years Sign up for the Breaking News US email Donald Trump also denied (again) that the memorandum of understanding includes a $300bn fund for Iran , and denied that he had asked the Gulf states to commit funding. “It’s false,” Trump told reporters as he sat alongside Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi . “You can invest if you want. What am I going to do, say no one is ever allowed to

Epstein associate’s lawyer rejected preferential treatment claims in January, saying ‘humane treatment isn’t special’ Staff from the House oversight and judiciary committees visited the Texas prison where Ghislaine Maxwell , the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein , is serving her sentence, according to Democratic lawmakers. In a statement , the Democratic representatives Robert Garcia and Jamie Raskin said staff from the committees traveled to the minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, on Tuesday to seek answers about Maxwell’s transfer there, and about allegations that she has received preferential treatment at the prison camp. Continue reading...

New York judge imposes life without parole after emotional statements at Rex Heuermann’s sentencing Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The families of eight women killed by Rex Heuermann spoke at the Gilgo Beach killer’s sentencing in Riverhead, New York , on Wednesday, more than three decades after the 62-year-old Manhattan architect began his killing spree. Heuermann pleaded guilty to murdering seven women and admitted to the killing of an eighth victim in April. Just before being sentenced to life in prison without parole on Wednesday for his admitted crimes, Heuermann offered a weak, generalized apology for

Officers responding to call about ‘screaming woman’, who was celebrating Knicks win, shot dog named Jameson As the Los Angeles police department faces mounting scrutiny after officers shot and killed a two-year-old golden Saint Bernard doodle, the city’s political leaders have backed calls for an investigation into the incident. On Saturday, LA police officers responded to a radio call about a “screaming woman” in the Canoga Park neighborhood, about 30 miles (48km) from downtown, which turned out to be celebratory noise in reaction to the New York Knicks’s long-awaited championship win. Continue reading...

Four states file alongside FTC, claiming WPath made deceptive claims about gender-affirming care for minors The Federal Trade Commission and four states sued the World Professional Association for Transgender Health on Wednesday, in the latest push by Donald Trump’s administration and others to limit gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The suit alleges the group, known widely as WPath, made deceptive claims about gender-affirming care for minors and that its members profited off the claims. Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas filed along with the FTC. Continue reading...

⁠Luigi Mangione, the man accused of ⁠gunning down a health insurance executive in Manhattan, plans to argue at his murder trial that he was undergoing an extreme mental health crisis at the time of the alleged killing, a judge revealed at a hearing on Wednesday. The strategy poses ‌steep legal hurdles but could lead to a jury convicting Mangione of the lesser crime of manslaughter, which carries significantly lighter sentences. Mangione, who appeared in court in a dark suit and white shirt, is...

US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attempted to defuse escalating tensions over the recent killing of three Indian sailors by American naval forces off the coast of Oman. Speaking to the media after their first bilateral meeting in 16 months, Trump said both Washington and New Delhi continue to “work together” on the issue, calling commercial vessel operations “a rough profession”. “I heard about that,” Trump added, without offering any condolences or...

US President Donald Trump sought on Wednesday to frame his vague arrangement aimed at ending a questionable war as a major win that would bring the conflict to a close, reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and prevent Iran from “ever” obtaining a nuclear weapon. “On Sunday, we reached an agreement with Iran that achieves everything we set out to accomplish, everything and much more,” the US president said at a press conference in France on the sidelines of the Group of 7 economies. “When I say...

After decades waiting for justice, relatives of women murdered by New York’s Gilgo Beach serial killer laid into him on Wednesday before he was sentenced to life in prison. He told them: “I am responsible” for the crimes. “The words I would say would have no meaning,” added Rex Heuermann, the Long Island architect who lived a secret life of violence for years before admitting he killed eight women. The sentencing capped an extraordinary investigation that solved one of New York’s most perplexing...

From free marketeers to long-term interventionists, EU countries of all stripes are converging on the need for urgent action to prevent a Chinese-driven European deindustrialisation ahead of a key summit in Brussels, multiple sources said on Wednesday. A broad coalition of members now support the development of a tough new trade strategy that could involve multiple new instruments and a more rapid-fire, strategic use of existing weapons. One of the tools could be modelled on US President Donald...

When Iran’s ⁠Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced the interim deal this week to end the ⁠war with the United States, he declared his country the victor. To many Iranians, it does not feel that way. More than three months of US and Israeli air strikes, and a blockade of Iranian ports, have poured new misery on a people already toiling under years of sanctions. Although the war is over – for now – Iranians are still watching their spending carefully. Few of the supporters and opponents of the...

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Wednesday that his country’s negotiations with Israel in Washington were independent of the US-Iran deal to bring an end to the Middle East conflict. Lebanon and Israel have been holding direct talks in Washington since April, seeking to end the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah and separate their conflict from the wider regional war. But the announcement on Monday of the US-Iran deal, which Iran and mediator Pakistan say includes Lebanon, has...

Government workers in different parts of Afghanistan have started switching off their smartphones, following an order imposed on Wednesday that they said came from Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. A letter announcing the ban on smartphones for all government employees started circulating on social media last week under the emblem of the Supreme Court, which has not responded to requests to comment. “All the heads of departments in their respective provinces are advised to inform their...

In 1996, the bestselling China Can Say No, co-authored by a group of intellectuals, reflected a nascent rejection of worship of the West and a rise in Chinese nationalism. Thirty years on, China is not just saying “no” to the West, it possesses the strategic leverage to hit back, underpinned by its dominance in global supply chains, rare earth minerals and critical green technologies. China’s confidence is perhaps most evident in its rebuttals and forceful countermeasures against Western claims...

The fatal shooting in eastern Poland of a Russian artist known for his caricatures of Russian President Vladimir Putin was likely politically motivated, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday. “All indications are that this is a political murder,” Tusk said of the killing of Semyon Skrepetsky, whose real name is Robert Kuzovkov. “If it was commissioned by Russia, then this is also a very serious matter with an international dimension.” According to Polish officials, Skrepetsky was...

US President Donald Trump suspended a Senate hearing on Jay Clayton’s nomination for intelligence chief, saying on Wednesday he wanted to be sure Clayton’s current post as prosecutor would be filled by the man of his choosing. In a game of musical chairs, Trump picked Clayton, who headed the Securities and Exchange Commission during the president’s first term in office, as his director of national intelligence (DNI). Clayton has served as US attorney for the Southern District of New York – one...

Over 1,100 foreign citizens received Russian visas last year for their declared commitment to “traditional values”, state media reported on Wednesday, a track opened as Moscow hardens its anti-liberal narrative amid the war in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has for years denounced anything that goes against what he calls “traditional family values” as unRussian – including everything from LGBTQ rights to mixed-gender bathrooms – portraying them as a sign of the moral decadence of the...

The recent escalation in the Middle East has produced an unforeseen winner. The conflict has rekindled worries about logistics and energy security, prompting governments and businesses to reconsider their reliance on fossil fuels and fragile supply routes. This has sped up the move towards renewable energy. And the principal beneficiary of this shift is China. The strategic significance of the Strait of Hormuz is well understood. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade passes through this...

Norway’s ⁠Crown Princess Mette-Marit has undergone ⁠a successful lung transplant and is recovering ⁠from the procedure, the royal household said in a statement on Wednesday. The 52-year-old wife of Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the Norwegian throne, was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, a chronic disease that causes scarring in the lungs and leads to a reduced oxygen uptake. The hospital said the transplant had “so far” been successful, ‌in a statement provided by the palace, but...

For years, Washington described India as an indispensable partner, a democratic counterweight to China and a strategic anchor in the Indo-Pacific. Then the US Navy killed three Indian sailors and America’s top diplomat could not even bring himself to apologise. India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar raised the deaths directly with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call last Friday, reiterating what he called India’s “strong protest” and declaring, in a later social media...

A new political party called Restore Britain is threatening the rise of Nigel Farage’s hard-right group, with a tougher anti-immigrant stance and the backing of tech trillionaire Elon Musk. Led by businessman and ex-football chairman Rupert Lowe, Restore is tipped to deprive Farage’s Reform UK party of victory over the ruling Labour Party in a crunch special election on Thursday. Lowe, 68, formed Restore as an alternative on the right of British politics in February following his split from...

Captain Raman Kapoor was loading oil at an Iraqi port when word reached him that the United States and Iran were at war. Within hours, his tanker was trapped north of the Strait of Hormuz with 24 crew members aboard, as missiles began arcing across the sky overhead. “We were stuck inside the war zone and everyone was so scared and clueless about what to do,” Kapoor, 48, recalled. “We all felt so trapped. We were helpless, totally helpless.” He and his crew would stay that way for 75 days. The...

The leaders of the world’s richest democracies are talking about how to tackle some of the world’s biggest problems this week, but hot mics at the G7 summit revealed that conversations also covered lighter fare. Sports. Cigarettes. The weather. And something about Greenland? As world leaders made their way into conference rooms at a lakeside resort, microphones set up for their weighty discussions about war and trade often caught off-the-cuff banter. Meloni quit smoking Italian Prime Minister...

One of US President Donald Trump’s pet beauty projects for Washington was supposed to make the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool look blue, like part of the US flag. Enter Mother Nature. Algae has proliferated in the water, turning it a swampy green. “Can you see it in my photos? Oh well, I’ll just use a filter to hide the algae,” said Farrah Lu, a 43-year-old tourist from China. The invasion comes just days after the completion of the pool repainting project, part of Trump’s drive to put his...

SpaceX roared past Amazon’s market valuation on Tuesday ⁠and briefly topped that of Microsoft, rapidly scaling the list of the world’s most valuable companies on a topsy-turvy trading day fuelled by frenzied action in the firm’s newly listed option contracts. SpaceX shares rose 4.8 per cent to close at US$201.80, giving Elon Musk’s company a market value of roughly US$2.655 trillion – some US$800 billion more than its value when it sold its record initial public offering last week and about...

The race for artificial intelligence has hardened into a two-power contest between the United States and China, fought over rare earths, data and the rules governing the technology, with Latin America and Europe sidelined, Brazil’s top foreign policy adviser said on Tuesday. Celso Amorim, a former foreign and defence minister, made the case at the Forte de Copacabana International Security Conference in Rio de Janeiro, an annual forum run by the Brazilian Centre for International Relations with...

As trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels continue to rise, China’s firms in the European Union have been forced to walk a delicate tightrope: expanding their presence in the lucrative market while grappling with heightened regulatory hurdles and rapid geopolitical shifts. In the second part of this three-part series, we look at whether China and the EU are heading for a full-blown trade conflict. Last week, Beijing gathered more than a dozen Chinese companies in Berlin for a forum with a...

The Russia-India-China (RIC) dialogue is back in the diplomatic conversation. It has not formally restarted, and no summit is on the horizon. But the signals are here. In 2025, Moscow again pushed for reviving the RIC format. India said any meeting would have to be arranged in a “mutually convenient manner”, a cautious but open formula. China said it was willing to maintain communication with Russia and India on trilateral cooperation. This month, Russian President Vladimir Putin again spoke...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang – whose work helped enable artificial intelligence – stressed in an interview on Tuesday that society has no choice but to change in the advent of AI. Huang has been optimistic about the technology’s potential to rapidly change society, creating faster economic growth and more scientific breakthroughs. But as the head of a computer chip company now developing AI systems, Huang has felt obliged to respond to critics who warn of job losses and threats to humanity...

US President Donald Trump has invoked the Defence Production Act in a bid to bolster weapons stockpiles that critics say have been strained by the war in Iran and other conflicts. This came as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a telephone call with his Pakistani counterpart on Tuesday during which they spoke about the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran. That MOU, announced on Sunday with few details, aims at ending the 109-day war started by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister...

A department store in central Paris announced on Tuesday the end of its cooperation with Chinese ultra-fast fashion giant Shein, which, French media reported, could see the e-commerce platform’s first physical store closed by this Christmas. La Societe des Grands Magasins (SGM), owner of the historic BHV Marais, which sits opposite Paris City Hall a few hundred meters from Notre-Dame cathedral, has sold the store to a group of executives, led by Karl-Stephane Cottendin, the group’s outgoing CEO,...

Russia said one of its warships fired warning shots on Tuesday near a yacht making a “dangerous approach” in the English Channel, though Britain evaluated that the shots were “not aimed at the vessel”. The incident involved the Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich and a UK-registered yacht around 20 nautical miles (37km) south of the Isle of Wight, just outside British waters, a UK defence source said. The latest at-sea tension between London and Moscow came after UK commandos intercepted and...

US law enforcement said it had foiled an alleged plot to attack the White House during a crowded mixed martial arts event attended by US President Donald Trump. “Multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold,” FBI Director Kash Patel said on Tuesday. The Department of Justice announced charges against five men and said the plotters planned to fly drones armed with explosives over the event, forcing an evacuation when snipers would fire on “high value...

The European Parliament approved on Tuesday cutting duties on many US goods imports to fulfil the European Union’s side of a trade ‌deal struck last year, and avert a new round of tariff conflict between the world’s largest trading partners. US President Donald Trump struck a framework deal with the European Union at his Turnberry golf course in Scotland last July under which the EU agreed to remove import duties on US industrial goods in return for tariffs of 15 per cent on most EU...

Is the economic decline of Europe worse than the last decades of the Qing dynasty? That’s a question posed by Luis Vassy, director of Sciences Po, one of France’s premier universities. It has caused something of a stir in Europe and China. “The European Union has seen its share of the world economy fall from 30 per cent to 17 per cent between 2008 and 2025, a span of 17 years,” he wrote in Le Grand Continent, a European current affairs publication, last week. “China covered the same distance...

US President Donald Trump said Russia should make peace with Ukraine after a “very good” meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, in comments that sparked cautious optimism among G7 leaders that a peace deal could be struck. The upbeat mood over the Ukraine war, now deep into its fifth year, stands in stark contrast to Zelensky’s meeting with Trump in the Oval Office last year, when he was told he had no leverage in potential peace talks with Russia. Zelensky and his European allies...

A Swedish court on Tuesday sentenced a 61-year-old man to four years and five months in prison for having “ruthlessly exploited” his wife to have sex with scores of men for payment. The man was convicted of “aggravated pimping” as well as attempted rape, assault and issuing threats, as well as a minor drug offence, the court said in a statement, noting the actions took place over three years. “The district court has found that the man was the one who initiated the woman’s entry into prostitution...

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that ending the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, was “the most important” issue in the peace deal with the United States announced the day before. “The important point I want to emphasise here is that in our view, there are two parties to this memorandum – one side is America and Israel, and the other side is Iran and Hezbollah,” said Araghchi during a briefing with foreign diplomats broadcast on state television. “This is perhaps...

“Overcapacity” has become the buzzword in Washington and Brussels. American and European policymakers insist China churns out far more steel, electric vehicles and green technology than it can absorb, flooding the world with subsidised goods. Yet the economic data tells a different story: of double standards, protectionist impulses and a habit of moving the goalposts. Start with steel. Western officials point to China’s massive output as proof of distortion. But China official data puts the...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, one of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, said in an interview published on Monday that Russia and Ukraine must compromise to end the war that has raged for more than four years with no end in sight. Lukashenko, whose ex-Soviet state has been improving ties with Washington, also said that ‌he would not rule out meeting US President Donald Trump. Lukashenko told Al Arabiya television that it was clear that victory on the battlefield was...

Shipowners ⁠will not resume transit through ⁠the Strait of Hormuz for weeks until they are confident that the US-Iran deal is “material”, the CEO of Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines told the Financial Times in an interview published ‌on Tuesday. The Iran war that began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes largely stopped shipping through the transit route for around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supply, along with products such as aluminium and urea. Mitsui O.S.K., one of...

The drones are grounded, tankers are reportedly moving again through the Strait of Hormuz and an electronically signed memorandum of understanding has formalised the pause. After 108 days, thousands dead and hundreds of billions of US dollars stripped from the global economy, the US-Israel war on Iran has ended – for now. Not with victory. Not with defeat. With a freeze. The United States and Israel assassinated Iran’s supreme leader and many of its top officials, then went on to degrade the...

Benjamin Netanyahu bet that his joint war alongside Donald Trump would topple Iran’s clerical rulers and bolster ⁠himself ahead of the election at home, as the architect of a US-Israeli alliance that would reshape the Middle East. Instead, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister is on a collision course with Trump as the US president seeks to extricate himself from the war, with both men’s goals unmet and Israeli military operations tied down in Lebanon. For now, Israeli officials have been...

Iranian Americans streamed into the Los Angeles stadium where Iran play their first match at the 2026 World Cup on Monday, with some calling for Iranians to band together and forget politics while others bore symbols protesting the government. The team arrived at the stadium, having flown into the US on Sunday from their training base in Tijuana, ‌Mexico, touching down in Los Angeles just as a deal was announced to end the US-Iran war. They are set to play New Zealand in Group G at 6pm local...

Eight people died when a US B-52 bomber crashed and erupted into a catastrophic fire shortly after take-off at an air force base in California on Monday, officials said. The heavy bomber was on a routine testing mission with a mixture of military, government and civilian contractors on board when it came down in a huge fireball at Edwards Air Force Base, 95km (60 miles) north of Los Angeles. Footage of the aftermath of the crash, which officials said was “unsurvivable”, showed a large charred...

As trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels continue to rise, China’s firms in the European Union have been forced to walk a delicate tightrope: expanding their presence in the lucrative market while grappling with heightened regulatory hurdles and rapid geopolitical shifts. In the first part of this three-part series, we look at a new, complex EU carbon tariff system that has business owners scratching their heads. Neil Miao has been exporting metal hardware to Europe for years. But earlier...

British prosecutors have charged with sanctions contravention offences the Indian captain of an interdicted alleged Russian shadow fleet vessel seized in the Channel, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Monday. It follows British armed forces on Sunday intercepting the sanctioned oil tanker Smyrtos – said to belong to Russia’s shadow fleet – in a dramatic operation hailed by Kyiv and London as a blow to Moscow’s war machine. British commandos boarded the ship off the southern English coast...

When it comes to the performance of real estate markets in the Asia-Pacific, Japan reigns supreme. Asia’s second largest economy is the deepest, most widely traded, and the safest market in the region. Last year, Japan accounted for 28 per cent of direct investment in Asia-Pacific commercial real estate, data from MSCI shows. The average vacancy rate for grade A offices in Tokyo was 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year. Rents have risen for nine straight quarters, increasing 13.2 per...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he was willing to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the United States, suggesting Putin would find such an offer “harder to refuse”. The Ukrainian leader said he made the proposal in a call with US President Donald Trump, and was waiting to see what came of it. Putin has repeatedly rejected offers for a face-to-face meeting with Zelensky to try to broker an end to more than four years of war. The Ukrainian leader said earlier that...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he intends to run in elections scheduled for later this year, as he faces domestic criticism over his wartime leadership. Netanyahu, 76, is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has led his country through three years of war on multiple interconnected fronts and is currently on trial for corruption. In recent months, he has come under mounting fire from opposition leaders who accuse him of failing to achieve the war aims he set out...

It’s the third such deal the Interior Department has struck to pay firms to abandon plans for offshore turbines, spending roughly $2.5 billion to get companies to abandon their wind projects.

Many see the rivalry between France and Senegal as a result of colonial heritage. But at the same time, European teams are more African than ever.

Officials at the Federal Reserve were split between no cuts this year and one or more rate increases as they braced for higher inflation, according to a new set of projections.

Interest rates didn’t change, but the language in Fed’s policy statement, which it released alongside its rate decision today, certainly did.

The leaders of the Georgia legislature pulled the plug on gerrymandering away U.S. House seats held by Black Democrats just hours before a special session was to begin.

Ms. Collins, a Republican in Maine facing a tough re-election battle, defended her vote to confirm Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh as Democrats look to capitalize on it politically.

The pastor, Jackson Lahmeyer, dropped out of the race for a House seat in Oklahoma as President Trump backed Mr. Lahmeyer’s Republican rival in a runoff election.

The State Department is taking over much of the control of global health initiatives, for which critics say the department does not have the expertise.

Some shareholders might object, but there is little they could do, legal experts say.

The Silicon Valley company’s ambitions to roll out autonomous cars nationwide have hit political roadblocks in some of the country’s biggest markets.

The N.B.A. and the N.C.A.A. have been rocked by indictments accusing players and others of fixing bets and playing in rigged poker games. Shane Hennen is named in each one.

The Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Long Island earns millions when it hosts the U.S. Open. But the nearby Indian tribe has for years only received a fraction of that.

In Ecuador’s highlands, a seamless mix of Kichwa and Spanish creates a language that bends grammar, adds melody and goes unnoticed by many who speak it every day.

The decision on Wednesday brought an end an infamous case that took investigators more than a decade to solve.

The department announced that it would deploy more than 10,000 of its ranks and put stringent security measures in place for the celebration of the Knicks’ N.B.A. championship on Thursday.

New Yorkers will descend on Lower Manhattan on Thursday morning to celebrate the Knicks. Here’s what you should know if you are one of them.

Heavy rain and flash flooding are expected across the region through Friday.

A county in Iowa reported a wind gust of 94 miles per hour during early morning storms. More are expected into the night.

The 2024 election showed that the party is simply not large enough to command a majority of the country.

In my darker moments, I worry I’ve failed them.

The horse bolted after the driver stepped out to take a photo of the passengers, the carriage drivers’ union said, and an 18-year-old tourist from India fell from the driverless carriage.