Will You Please Support Our Advertisers? Please?

Health/Science - Show - Books/Arts - Travel - Sport - Blog

logo
Logo

Will You Please Support Our Advertisers? Please?

Pilot with 'ideological motive' steals small aircraft and disrupts major international airport operations

Image

A stolen Cessna 172 caused a security incident at Vancouver International Airport, halting operations before the pilot was apprehended and charged with hijacking

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:41 pm

Russia says NATO threatens WWIII in latest deterrence plan that could take down Kaliningrad ‘faster than ever’

Image

NATO's enhanced ground capabilities in the Baltic region spark Russian warnings as military focus intensifies on Kaliningrad and the strategic Suwalki Corridor

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:58 pm

Police search former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's home, political headquarters

Image

Bolsonaro is prohibited from contacting foreign ambassadors and diplomats amid local media reports that police executed search warrants at his home and political HQ.

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:02 pm

Regional powers clash after Israel targets Syrian territory in defense of vulnerable Druze civilians

Image

Violence in Syria's Druze province has triggered Israeli military action, complicating relations with Turkey and creating a power vacuum that Iran could exploit.

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:48 pm

UK, France and Germany Plan for a Post-U.S. Future

Image

The leaders of France, Germany and Britain are building parallel diplomatic institutions to defend Europe as President Trump retreats from the continent.

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:25 pm

Who Are the Druse? The Religious Minority at the Center of Israel and Syria’s Tensions

Image

Spread across Syria, Lebanon and Israel, the secretive religious minority has long balanced integration and independence. Now, members are at the heart of the region’s shifting power struggles.

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:03 am

Floods and Heavy Rain Kill Dozens in Pakistan

Image

Relentless rain began on Wednesday, causing flooding in several cities and across vast rural stretches in the province of Punjab.

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:23 pm

Bolsonaro, Brazil’s Former President, Ordered to Wear Ankle Monitor Before Trial

Image

Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered Jair Bolsonaro, the former president, to stay home most hours, defying President Trump’s demands that charges against him be dropped.

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:19 pm

Extra! Extra! Read All About Last Newspaper Hawker in Paris

Image

Ali Akbar started selling papers on the streets in 1974. He is still at it, winning over Parisians and presidents with persistence, humor and his signature catchphrase: “Ça y est!”

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:02 am

Cuban Minister Resigns After Accusing Beggars of Faking Poverty

Image

The labor and social security minister drew public outrage when she said “there are no beggars” in Cuba, where many people struggle to afford food.

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:54 pm

Rubio Restricts U.S. Criticism of Tainted Foreign Elections

Image

A State Department cable telling officials to avoid comments on the “fairness or integrity” of most elections continues a U.S. turn away from promoting democratic values abroad.

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:57 pm

Prisoner Swap Frees Americans in Venezuela for Migrants in El Salvador

A deal freed 10 Americans and permanent U.S. residents detained in Venezuela, for more than 250 Venezuelans imprisoned in El Salvador after being expelled from the U.S.

Published: July 19, 2025, 12:08 am

Felix Baumgartner, Skydiver Who Jumped From the Edge of Space, Dies Paragliding at 56

Image

Nicknamed “Fearless Felix,” he jumped from the edge of space in 2012.

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:55 pm

Friday Briefing: Trump’s Order on Epstein Records

Image

Plus, panic-buying Korean beauty products

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:43 pm

Musk Clears Final Hurdles for Tesla and Starlink in India

Image

In the first tangible inroads Elon Musk has sought for years in India, Starlink passed a final regulatory hurdle and Tesla opened its first India store.

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:12 am

5 Charged in U.C. Berkeley Professor’s Killing in Greece, Including His Ex-Wife

Image

Przemyslaw Jeziorski, who taught quantitative marketing at the Haas School of Business, was shot several times on July 4 outside Athens, the authorities said.

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:51 am

Friday Briefing: Bloodshed in a Syrian City

Image

Plus, panic-buying Korean beauty products

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:52 pm

‘Bonjour’ Sets Off a Linguistic Dispute on a Belgian Train

Image

The rules can get complicated in a country with French, Dutch and German as official languages.

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:22 pm

Syria’s President Condemns Israeli Strikes on Damascus

Image

President Ahmed al-Shara said the airstrike on Damascus threatened to escalate sectarian violence, in his sharpest criticism of Israel since he came to power.

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:14 am

Trump Has Promised More Tariffs on Mexico. What Happens Next?

Image

President Trump has threatened to increase Mexico’s tariff rate to 30 percent starting Aug. 1, claiming the country hasn’t sufficiently tackled drug cartels.

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:39 pm

California wildfire victims face uphill battle as corporations and investors swoop in

Image

Six months after the Southern California wildfires, recovery shows mixed progress with corporations buying land while homeowners struggle with insurance settlements and rebuilding costs.

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:58 pm

Fox News True Crime Newsletter: Luigi Mangione's records, Karen Read's deal, James Craig's trial

Image

Stay up to date with the Fox News True Crime Newsletter, which brings you the latest cases ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:17 pm

Fowl play: Florida woman charged after allegedly spraying mace at driver who struck chicken crossing the road

Image

A Florida woman was charged after allegedly bear-macing a mother in a Key West road rage clash sparked by a chicken that was run over after crossing the street.

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:51 pm

FBI captures final illegal immigrant inmate who escaped ICE facility in New Jersey

Image

Colombian national Andres Pineda-Mogollon, who escaped an ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey, June 12, was arrested after a traffic stop in Los Angeles.

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:28 pm

Missing mom's convicted killer claims boyfriend tainted his trial

Image

Joseph Lawson seeks new trial in Crystal Rogers murder case, claiming he shouldn't have been tried alongside Brooks Houck in the death of the Kentucky mother of five.

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:22 pm

DHS accuses 'activist' judge of pushing radical gender ideology by releasing trans migrant

Image

The Department of Homeland Security has ripped a federal judge in Washington for releasing a transgender migrant from detention, saying the release was caused by the judge bowing to activist pressure.

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:47 pm

SkyWest flight diverted after passenger tries to open emergency door, fights with flight attendant: report

Image

A SkyWest flight from Omaha to Detroit was diverted Thursday over an unruly passenger, who is now facing multiple charges following his arrest in Cedar Rapids.

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:45 pm

FBI investigating explosion that killed 3 deputies at LA County Sheriff's Department facility

Image

An explosion at a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department training facility killed three deputies with 74 years of combined service, prompting investigations by the FBI and ATF.

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:38 pm

Legal pathway clearly exists for Trump's request to make Epstein grand jury testimony public

Image

President Trump asks AG Pam Bondi to release Jeffrey Epstein's grand jury transcripts, as legal experts explain how courts can unseal typically confidential documents

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:08 pm

Detective faces accused killer dentist in court showdown after alleged $20K hit attempt: 'ups the ante'

Image

Dr. James Craig faces murder charges for allegedly poisoning his wife Angela in March 2023, and was later charged with solicitation to murder Detective Bobbi Olson from jail

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:53 pm

Family vacation to Georgia lake turns tragic when 5-year-old dies from drowning

Image

Tragedy struck when a 5-year-old boy from Cumming, Georgia drowned in Lake Chatuge after going missing for about 10 minutes from his family's rental home.

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:44 pm

Catholic bishops call mandatory reporting law 'brazen act of religious discrimination'

Image

Roman Catholic clergy and the DOJ are pushing back against a state law slated to take effect this month, arguing it will infringe on the privacy of clergy's confessional duties.

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:42 pm

Feds' California Home Depot raid nabs 11 illegal migrants, one with 67 prior jail bookings

Image

Border Patrol in Sacramento arrested 11 illegal migrants during a raid at a Home Depot parking lot — including one man with 67 prior bookings in California since 1986.

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:52 pm

Illegal immigrant's 'kidnapping' by ICE exposed as money-making fraud and more top headlines

Image

Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:56 am

Murdaugh lead attorney says jury fix and hidden texts could blow up conviction, force new trial

Image

Alex Murdaugh's attorney claims new evidence of jury tampering by clerk Becky Hill may be grounds for overturning his murder conviction and securing a new trial.

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:00 am

Luigi Mangione's lawyers claim DA used fake court date, bogus subpoena to get his medical records

Image

Lawyers for Luigi Mangione alleged the Manhattan DA violated HIPAA by using a fake subpoena to get medical records, prompting a call for sanctions or dismissal.

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:47 am

Plane Is Diverted After Man Threatens to Kill Flight Attendant, Authorities Say

Image

The jet, bound for Detroit from Omaha, made an emergency landing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after a man shoved a flight attendant and displayed unruly behavior, SkyWest Airlines said.

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:43 pm

Gabbard Claims Obama Administration Tried to Undermine Trump in 2016

Image

Democrats denounced a report issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as politically motivated and error-ridden.

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:34 pm

Trump Administration Requests Release of Epstein Grand Jury Records. What’s Next?

Image

The records are at the center of President Trump’s effort to manage fallout from the Epstein case. But unsealing them is complex and requires a judge to sign off.

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:13 pm

When Getting Fired Is Only the Beginning for Federal Workers

Image

One thing is clear from a reporter’s conversations with laid-off federal workers this year: The cuts have been anything but straightforward and efficient.

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:45 pm

Rubio Restricts U.S. Criticism of Tainted Foreign Elections

Image

A State Department cable telling officials to avoid comments on the “fairness or integrity” of most elections continues a U.S. turn away from promoting democratic values abroad.

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:57 pm

Minnesota State Senator Found Guilty in Burglary Trial

Image

Nicole Mitchell, a Democrat, was charged with felonies and accused of breaking into her stepmother’s home. Her party holds a slim majority in the Minnesota Senate.

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:41 pm

To Staff Trump’s Immigration Crackdown, ICE Entices Its Retirees

Image

The administration is offering financial incentives to lure back recently departed immigration officers as it works to fill 10,000 job openings.

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:53 pm

In Response to Epstein Letter Report, Trump Says He Doesn’t ‘Draw Pictures’

Image

The president disputes reporting from The Wall Street Journal that he drew a picture for Jeffrey Epstein, but as a real estate mogul, he often sketched for charity.

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:27 pm

White House to Release $1.3 Billion in Frozen Funds for After-School Programs

Image

The money will allow federally funded after-school programs to open this school year, preserving a lifeline for working parents. But other federal dollars remain on hold.

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:09 pm

Trump Hosts I.R.S. Commissioner in Oval Office

Image

The ceremonial swearing-in is the latest sign of the unusual relationship the president is cultivating with the tax agency.

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:10 pm

Robert Alvarez, 76, Dies; Called Attention to Nuclear-Waste Safety

Image

A self-taught expert, he spent decades working in both nonprofits and the government to expose problems in the production of atomic weapons.

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:32 pm

Lawmakers Question Whether CBS Canceled Colbert’s Show for Political Reasons

Image

Paramount, the network’s parent, recently agreed to pay President Trump $16 million to settle his lawsuit over the editing of an interview on the CBS News program “60 Minutes.”

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:29 pm

After the Floods, a Pain So Vast It Makes Texas Feel Small

Image

The Hill Country has a hold on the hearts of many Texans, meaning the suffering caused by the disaster is reaching as far as the region’s appeal.

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:49 pm

State Dept. Official Testifies That Criticism of Israel Can Lead to Deportations

Image

The head of the Bureau of Consular Affairs said his office regularly weighed criticism of Israel when determining whether to deny or revoke student visas.

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:44 pm

When It Comes to Jeffrey Epstein, Trump Says He Is Ready to Defer to the Courts

Image

After months of pushing back against federal judges and the courts, the president has requested the release of Epstein-related grand jury testimony to be “subject to Court approval.”

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:26 pm

Jewel Thais-Williams, Whose Nightclub Catch One Celebrated ‘Queer Black Joy,’ Dies at 86

Image

Catch One, which she opened in Los Angeles in 1973 in the face of local animosity, became a glittering sanctuary for a largely shunned community.

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:19 pm

Explosion at Los Angeles Training Center Kills 3 Sheriff’s Deputies

Image

It was not immediately clear what caused the blast at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Biscailuz Training Academy center. No one else was injured, officials said.

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:21 pm

Trump’s War With Powell Throws a Little-Known Planning Board Into Scrutiny

Image

The National Capital Planning Commission has become pivotal in the administration’s campaign to discredit Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve.

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:18 pm

Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Hits Senior Care Work Force

Image

Nursing homes and home care agencies have lost workers as the Trump administration has moved to end deportation protections for migrants with temporary legal status.

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:33 pm

Debate Ignites at U.S. School Over Netanyahu’s Hall of Fame Status

Image

Recent comments by the Israeli prime minister and a Fox News commentator about Cheltenham High School, their alma mater in suburban Philadelphia, have inflamed a debate.

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:55 pm

As Harvard and Trump Head to Court, the Government Piles on the Pressure

Image

President Trump suggested a deal was coming, but officials are still demanding more from Harvard, including extensive information about international students, staff payroll and protests.

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:01 am

The Impact of Defunding NPR and PBS

Congress just voted to claw back $500 million in funding for public broadcasting. Benjamin Mullin, a media reporter for The New York Times, explains what will happen now to NPR, PBS and the many local stations that rely on the funding.

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:58 pm

Army Special Operations Warns Retired Members of Terror Threat

Image

The alert, issued to retired service members who served in Iraq or Syria and live in Florida, did not specify what kind of threat or which terrorist group was involved.

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:17 am

House Republicans Dangle Possible Vote on Epstein Files, After Voter Backlash

Image

The House Rules Committee laid the groundwork for an eventual vote to call for release of the Epstein files, reflecting Republican uneasiness with the president’s refusal to divulge information from the investigation.

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:48 am

Border Patrol Agents Raid a Home Depot in Northern California

Image

The raid indicates a new strategy of going deeper into California after focusing on Southern California for several weeks.

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:30 am

Trump Tells Bondi to Seek Release of Epstein Grand Jury Testimony

Image

The attorney general plans to ask a court to release the papers. But even if the request succeeds, it would fall far short of critics’ demands to release all investigative materials.

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:53 am

Newsom Wants California to Counter Texas on Redistricting

Image

Gov. Gavin Newsom says California should redraw its own congressional districts if Texas tries to gerrymander its lines. His idea faces long odds.

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:22 am

Ex-Voice of America Employee Arrested and Charged With Threatening Marjorie Taylor Greene

Image

Federal prosecutors accused the man of threatening to kill Ms. Greene, her staff, and their families, months before President Trump sought to dismantle the news agency.

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:41 am

A Timeline of What We Know About Trump and Epstein

Image

Donald Trump was friendly for at least 15 years with Jeffrey Epstein, the multimillionaire financier and convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019.

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:38 pm

Marine General to Lead Naval Academy, a First

Image

Lt. Gen. Michael J. Borgschulte, an aviator who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, will relieve Vice Adm. Yvette M. Davids, the academy’s first female superintendent.

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:44 am

Return of McDonald’s Snack Wrap causes lettuce supply crunch

Image

Company says it was ‘blown away’ by Snack Wrap sales

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:32 pm

Trump files $10 billion lawsuit against Murdoch, WSJ and NewsCorp over Epstein birthday card expose

Image

The president has filed a libel lawsuit in Florida against the right-wing media mogul and journalists who wrote the story

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:11 pm

Insect may have caused stampede following Beyoncé concert

Image

Chaos ensued as an overcrowded escalator started to speed up and then abruptly stop, throwing people to the ground

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:46 pm

Investigation launched after noose found at site of Tennessee Titans’ new stadium

Image

The group leading the construction denounced the ‘hate symbol’

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:41 pm

Trump’s ominous warning to Rupert Murdoch and ‘his pile of garbage’ WSJ over Epstein birthday card report

Image

The litigious president is threatening to sue the News Corp mogul in his latest shot at media coverage he dislikes

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:59 pm

Elon Musk unveils new AI ‘companion’ inspired by 50 Shades of Grey and Twilight

Image

The tech billionaire’s artificial intelligence offshoot xAI debuted the new features, allow users to interact with animated characters, on Monday

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:27 pm

Elon Musk’s $9B Neuralink told federal government it’s a ‘small, disadvantaged business’

Image

The company hopes to give 20 to 30 people brain implants by the end of the year

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:17 pm

California hospital accused of losing bodies and failing to inform panicking families that their loved ones were dead

Image

California’s public health department reportedly found several failures within the hospital system

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:16 pm

Venezuelans deported by Trump to brutal El Salvador prison are transferred to Caracas in exchange for Americans

Image

Dozens of newly released Venezuelans could expose conditions inside notorious prison after months-long legal battles

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:04 pm

Trump asks court to unseal Epstein grand jury testimony but still won’t release files at center of uproar: Live updates

Image

President Donald Trump allegedly penned a lewd letter to Jeffrey Epstein on his 50th birthday, a new report claims

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:10 pm

Why isn’t Fox News covering the Wall Street Journal’s bombshell scoop of the Trump-Epstein letter?

Image

Based on a review of Fox news transcripts, the only brief mention of the blockbuster story was a tease by Laura Ingraham — who never came back to it after an ad break, writes Justin Baragona

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:28 pm

A 15-year-old boy with no criminal history ended up at Alligator Alcatraz after rush to fill facility

Image

‘This is one of many problems with illegal immigration: individuals are in our country without any way to verify their identity,’ a spokesperson for the agency that oversees the facility said

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:37 pm

Pranksters fill Trump Tower gift shop with merch featuring pictures of Epstein with the president

Image

The prank comes as the Trump administration is embroiled in controversy surrounding files in the criminal investigation of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:25 pm

Border Patrol carries out raid at Home Depot parking lot 600 miles from US-Mexico border

Image

Activists say that a U.S. citizen observing the operation was among those arrested

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:23 pm

Hegseth tells lawmakers about plan to detain immigrants at bases in Indiana and New Jersey

Image

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says military bases in Indiana and New Jersey could house detained immigrants without affecting their military operations

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:17 pm

Las Vegas is feeling the impact of Trump’s anti-immigration agenda

Image

‘This industry cannot function without immigrant workers,’ warned one Sin City union leader

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:56 pm

White House knew about the Trump letter story for days - and were on a ‘f***ing warpath’ to stop it

Image

Stopping the story became a “priority” for the administration, according to reports

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:48 pm

Trump’s $9B clawback against PBS and NPR may have bought him a post-summer government shutdown

Image

President has circumvented the government appropriations process and that may heap pain on him come fall

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:34 pm

3 deputies dead in explosion at LA sheriff’s training center prompting bomb squad to respond

Image

The cause of the reported explosion at the Biscailuz Regional Training Center is not yet known

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:33 pm

Astronomer launches ‘formal investigation’ after married CEO Andy Byron and HR boss caught on Coldplay ‘kiss cam’

Image

‘Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding,’ the company said in a statement Friday

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:30 pm

The Epstein Files: How the saga unfolded within Trump’s administration

Image

Full day-by-day timeline of how Jeffrey Epstein investigation file caused rift in Trump’s MAGA base

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:09 pm

Man lucks into double $1 million Powerball win... by accident

Image

Paul Corcoran told the lottery he doesn’t have any plans for the cash yet

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:46 pm

The Wall Street Journal’s Trump story has united MAGA on the Epstein saga over their universal hatred of one thing

Image

For days, Donald Trump couldn’t get his MAGA base to drop their anger over the Epstein files. However, as Justin Baragona writes, it appears that the Wall Street Journal’s bombshell report gives the right the perfect opportunity to unite in its shared hatred of the mainstream media.

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:15 pm

Army veteran who gave tactical training to neo-Nazis learns his fate

Image

Kyle Christopher Benton, 29, of Snohomish, Washington, was sentenced to two years in prison for illegal gun possession after training extremists.

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:13 pm

Trump’s pivot from aid to trade leaves Africa wary as it faces tariffs and uncertainty

Image

U.S. President Donald Trump’s new Africa strategy shifts from aid to trade under a “commercial diplomacy” push, urging ambassadors to broker business deals rather than manage aid programs

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:02 pm

More than 30 million people at risk of flash flooding just weeks after deadly Texas floods

Image

As many as 13 inches of rain could fall around Ohio, Illinois and other states in the coming days

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:55 pm

GOP congressman claims ICE detention centers are ‘pretty friggin’ nice’ as concerns rise about conditions

Image

While Democrats are concerned by the conditions of the immigration detention facilities, Republicans claim there’s no reason for alarm

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:01 pm

‘Gentle, kind-hearted souls’: Tributes paid to British friends found dead in Portugal

Image

Portuguese police said King Edonmi, 29, and Mo Liasu, 27, from Ipswich, were found dead in a hotel swimming pool

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:39 pm

Planned Parenthood seeks to keep Medicaid funds flowing during legal fight

Image

Attorneys for Planned Parenthood argue that cutting Medicaid payments to their abortion providers will harm vulnerable populations with limited health care options

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:25 pm

IDF soldiers deliberately wounding children in Gaza ‘like a game’, says British doctor

Image

A British surgeon in Gaza has claimed medical workers are seeing “clear patterns of injury”, suggesting IDF soldiers are deliberately shooting Gazan children in different body parts depending on the day of the week.

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:23 pm

UK sanctions Russian spies who ‘targeted Britain in sustained campaign’

Image

The spies are also blamed for a prolonged campaign of cyberattacks across Europe

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:11 pm

Long Island astrologer arrested over $62,000 fortune telling scam

Image

Hemanth Kumar Muneppa was arrested Friday on Long Island for allegedly defrauding an elderly woman who sought his services

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:31 pm

Witnesses describe Felix Baumgartner’s final moments as paraglider spun out of control

Image

Beachgoers say they heard a loud boom as the paraglider spun out of control

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:47 pm

Kai Trump’s endorsements have made her a teenage millionaire

Image

Kai, the eldest grandchild of President Donald Trump, said she wants to become a professional golfer after college

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:38 pm

Man hijacks plane, scrambling fighter jets in act ‘constituting terrorism’, police say

Image

The hijacking in British Columbia prompted responses from police, K-9 units and F-15 fighter jets

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:22 pm

Trump claims he never ‘wrote a picture.’ His sketchy Epstein lie has now been exposed

Image

At least five sketches attributed to Trump have sold at auction over the past decade, undermining his claim, ‘I don’t draw pictures’

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:16 pm

How the EU aims to put the squeeze on the Russian economy with new sanctions package

Image

Key measures include a lower oil price cap, Nord Stream transaction ban and a full ban on Russian bank deals

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:16 pm

A former Obama official sponsored a government K9 in memory of his dead wife. Trump stopped him going to its graduation ceremony

Image

James Clapper, a former Director of National Intelligence under the Obama administration, was informed by the nonprofit dog-training group that his name had been taken off the list one day before the event

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:14 pm

CBS staff in turmoil over ‘Trump shakedown’ after Stephen Colbert and The Late Show are canceled

Image

Exclusive: Multiple CBS staffers who spoke with The Independent said they aren’t buying the company’s claim that Colbert’s cancellation was a ‘financial decision,’ adding that the demise of the show has left ‘everyone stunned.’

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:13 pm

Kristi Noem says other unnamed states are in the process of building Alligator Alcatraz-style facilities

Image

At least five Republican governors are reportedly considering building large-scale immigration detention centers modeled after Florida’s

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:05 pm

JD Vance slams Wall Street Journal’s Epstein report — despite calling for more coverage on the financier in 2021

Image

Vice President is one of many figures close to Trump who’ve reversed themselves on the matter

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:52 pm

Trump’s Epstein birthday card news rocks $9B PBS clawback vote in House: ‘I don’t know anything’

Image

Some Republicans refuse to answer while Democrats accuse Republicans of engaging in ‘a pathetic attempt at ass-covering’

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:47 pm

Dogs might be the key to getting rid of pesky spotted lanternflies before they even become a problem

Image

The invasive insects could cause millions of dollars in damage to the wine industry — but Fozzie the golden retriever can help

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:44 pm

Brazil’s former leader Bolsonaro must wear electronic ankle tag ahead of trial

Image

Bolsonaro has also been barred from contacting his own son, who has close ties to Trump, as part of criminal proceedings

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:11 pm

Former Voice of America employee arrested for threats against Marjorie Taylor Greene and her family

Image

The alleged crimes occurred before President Donald Trump’s return to office

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:09 pm

House Democrats demand answers from Fox News on edits to Trump’s Epstein comments

Image

‘It is legitimate to ask whether President Trump himself or those close to him may have actively encouraged’ the edit, House Oversight Committee ranking member Robert Garcia wrote Fox News

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:54 pm

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins tells MAGA congressman to ‘walk and chew gum at the same time’ in heated debate

Image

Senator Bernie Moreno attempted to redirect attention from the Epstein Files scandal to the Biden autopen scandal

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:39 pm

Gavin Newsom says Alcatraz will reopen the ‘same day Trump releases the Epstein files’

Image

A spokesperson dismissed the idea previously touted by the president, following a visit to the island by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:33 pm

Fox News’ Jesse Watters forced into embarrassing walkback over Gavin Newsom claims

Image

‘I’m sorry, he wasn’t lying,’ the Jesse Watters Primetime host says in a rare apology to the California governor

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:18 pm

Trump says he wants to ditch the word ‘soccer’. Does America finally understand football?

Image

But don’t blame America for the word

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:15 pm

Woman conned out of $15K after AI clones daughter’s voice

Image

Scammers convinced a Florida woman that her daughter had killed someone while texting and driving

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:13 pm

SkyWest flight forced into emergency landing after unruly passenger fights crew and attempts to open door, police say

Image

According to the FAA, SkyWest flight 3612 landed in Cedar Rapids ‘after the crew reported a passenger disturbance.’ Upon landing, authorities took 23-year-old chef Mario Nikprelaj into custody

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:50 pm

American woman arrested at Moscow airport with gun and check for $138,000, Russian authorities claim

Image

The suspect was stopped in a random check as she attempted to leave Vnukovo airport in the green lane designated for passengers who have nothing to declare

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:26 pm

Significant archaeological site could be washed away by the 2100s

Image

Te Pokohiwi o Kupe (Wairau Bar) in New Zealand holds the remains of first-generation Polynesian settlers

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:20 pm

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Macron says new package of EU sanctions on Moscow is ‘unprecedented’

Image

EU says will raise the costs so ‘stopping the aggression becomes only path forward for Moscow’

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:38 am

Louisiana scraps $3 billion coastal restoration funded by oil spill settlement

Image

Republican Governor Jeff Landry views the project as a threat to the state’s way of life

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:41 am

Giant cloud of smoke seen over Madrid as wildfires rage in central Spain

Image

The fire broke out in the town of Mentrida in the Castile-La Mancha region, around 30 miles southwest of the capital

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:05 am

Israel to ‘allow’ Syrian forces entry to conflict-stricken city as violence flares

Image

Syria says it is moving to quell renewed fighting with Bedouin tribes

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:55 am

How DeSantis administration blindsided county officials with plans for ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

Image

More than 100 emails expose the extent to which authorities in southwest Florida were left unaware of plans to build a sprawling immigration detention centre in the Everglades

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:30 am

No bats and no men: Kickball is sweeping the nation of Liberia

Image

The sport started as a version of baseball

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:29 am

How the climate crisis and aid cuts could devastate global supplies of vanilla

Image

Vanilla farmers in Madagascar, a country that supplies up to 80 per cent of the global crop each year, face a difficult future as the climate crisis and aid cuts bite, writes Nick Ferris

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:17 am

Why Alaska’s recent 7.3 earthquake has caught the attention of scientists

Image

Wednesday’s magnitude 7.3 earthquake off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands chain struck in a region that has experienced a handful of powerful quakes within the last five years

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:48 am

Europe has been ‘free-riding’ on US security, says Merz

Image

The German Chancellor admitted that Europe must ‘do more’ on defence spending

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:20 am

‘Bawdy’ birthday card that Trump reportedly sent to Epstein shines new light on their friendship

Image

The latest report comes as Trump continues to face fury from both Democrats and Republicans over the handling of the so-called Epstein files

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:07 am

Elon Musk leaps to Donald Trump’s defense following WSJ ‘hit piece’

Image

The Wall Street Journal report alleges that the president wrote the cryptic birthday card two decades ago, wishing that every day ‘be another wonderful secret’

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:45 am

The EU targets Russia's energy revenue and shadow fleet with new sanctions over the war on Ukraine

Image

The European Union is targeting Russia with more sanctions over its war on Ukraine

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:11 am

How hard will UK aid cuts hit projects helping women and girls?

Image

Programmes around education and health are expected to be especially hard hit by the cutting of international aid from 0.5 to 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:00 am

How Ukraine’s drone-infested front is slowing Russia’s advance

Image

The Russia-Ukraine war has become the most drone-intensive conflict yet – and Ukrainian commanders believe they are the only thing keeping Russian forces at bay, writes Max Hunder and Sabine Siebold

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:03 am

Yulia Svyrydenko: Ukraine’s new prime minister who masterminded key Trump deal

Image

New Ukrainian PM Svyrydenko says ‘war leaves no room for delay’ as she sets priorities for country

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:59 am

Trump’s tariff pressure pushes Asia toward American LNG, but at the cost of climate goals

Image

Asian countries are offering to buy more U.S. liquefied natural gas to ease trade tensions with the Trump administration

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:27 am

Rare flesh-eating bacteria has already killed four beachgoers in Florida this year

Image

Record number of cases of the life-threatening Vibrio bacteria in Florida last year after Hurricanes Milton and Helene

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:09 am

Shutdowns of cellphone internet links sweep Russia, further limiting already-stifled net freedom

Image

In the last two months, dozens of Russian regions have been hit by cellphone connectivity outages

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:08 am

Rep. Jim Jordan may be deposed over OSU sex abuse scandal

Image

The Ohio Republican could be deposed as soon as Friday

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:07 am

Trump asks Pam Bondi to release certain files on Epstein: ‘Subject to court approval’

Image

Trump asked AG Pam Bondi to ‘produce any and all pertinent’ grand jury testimony

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:45 am

Trump says he’ll sue over report of his bawdy birthday card to Epstein: ‘the letter was a FAKE’

Image

Trump called the Journal a ‘Disgusting and Filthy Rag’

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:39 am

Space skydiver Felix Baumgartner dies in paragliding crash aged 56

Image

Austrian extreme sportsman lost control of his paraglider before crash in central Italy

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:53 am

Only a quarter of Americans say Trump’s policies have helped them, new poll finds

Image

A majority of Americans believe Trump has fallen short on key issues such as the economy and immigration

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:25 am

‘We painted, sang songs’: the Russian woman found living in Indian cave with daughters

Image

Nina Kutina told police she moved to forest with girls, aged four and six, to get away from modern urban life

According to Nina Kutina, life for her and her two daughters in their jungle cave had been peaceful.

Buried deep in the forests of Gokarna, a coastal town in southern India, they had woken “up with the sun, swam in rivers and lived in nature”.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:17 pm

Trump worked to kill a story about his friendship with Epstein. Now we know why | Margaret Sullivan

Image

The president is reportedly ‘on a warpath’ over a story in the Wall Street Journal – controlled by Trump’s top media ally

For days before the Wall Street Journal published its story about Donald Trump’s salacious friendship with Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday, the president was frantically working the phones.

He reportedly put pressure on the paper’s top editor, Emma Tucker, and even Rupert Murdoch, who controls the paper’s business side, claiming that the alleged facts behind the story were nothing but a hoax, and threatening to sue the paper if it forged ahead. (Following publication of this article, Trump filed a suit against the paper and Murdoch.)

Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:45 pm

I’m an expert on ageing. Here’s what I know about thriving in later life | Kerry Burnight

Image

I scoured longevity research on wellbeing – and the deeper I dug, the more I recognized a profound underlying pattern

Anyone who says “age is just a number” has not reached the high numbers. Ageing is not easy, and “forever young” is not a plan. Regardless of how many burpees you can do or protein smoothies you chug, the passing of time brings challenges. Roles that you relished change, words on menus seem to shrink, necks sag, diagnoses arise.

On the other hand, ageing is not the downhill slide that people believe it is. A multibillion-​dollar anti-ageing industry profits when you feel awful about yourself and fear ageing like the plague. The tragedy of ageing is not that we will all grow old and die, but that ageing has been made unnecessarily, and at times excruciatingly, painful and humiliating. Ageing does not have to be this way.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:00 pm

The end of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show is a concerning nail in the coffin for comedy | Jesse Hassenger

Image

The long-running US television staple is coming to an end, signalling the slow death of late-night comedy and the worrying cultural power of Trump

The idea that the political career of Donald Trump would be a goldmine for comedy died a long time ago, with the coffin accepting stray nails for the past five years. The latest and possibly last such nail is the cancellation of The Late Show, the CBS late-night talkshow hosted by Stephen Colbert since the fall of 2015, and originated by David Letterman when the network poached him from NBC in 1993. At this point, Trump hasn’t just made topical late-night comedy look outdated, hackneyed and an insufficient response to his reign of terror; he’s also made a chunk of it flat-out go away.

There will be time to eulogize Colbert’s particular talkshow style later; the Late Show isn’t leaving the air for another 10 months, when his contract is up. Surely that leaves plenty more time to savage the president – and Colbert has been in this slot since right around the time Trump became a real contender in the presidential race, so why has this only now come to a head? Seemingly because the axing of the Late Show franchise follows the $16m settlement of a frivolous Trump lawsuit against CBS and their newsmagazine show 60 Minutes over the show’s editing of a 2024 interview with presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Colbert made great fun of his bosses’ payout as a cowardly “bribe” designed to appease the Trump administration, who are in the position to approve or deny the sale of Paramount, the corporate owners of CBS, to the company Skydance. In other words, the pre-merger nixing a comedian who regularly goofs on Trump on network TV seems like a convenient bit of timing – maybe even an unspoken bonus to go along with those millions of dollars.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:29 pm

The song of the summer is … nothing? Why 2025’s charts are so stale

Image

Experts say this year has produced the fewest new hit songs in US history – and it might signal the end of a singular seasonal smash

A spectre is haunting America – the spectre of Shaboozey.

Despite it coming out in April 2024, Shaboozey’s huge hit A Bar Song (Tipsy) is still, billions of streams later, at No 5 on this week’s Billboard chart. Its country-tinged refrain of “everybody at the bar gettin’ tipsy,” an interpolation from J-Kwon 2004 hit Tipsy, has stuck around well past closing time.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:08 pm

‘People lashed out because she wasn’t a guy’: Linkin Park on nu-metal, nostalgia and their new frontwoman

Image

After the death of lead vocalist Chester Bennington in 2017, the rap-rock icons have reformed, aiming to cultivate ‘good vibes’ for a new generation of fans. Mike Shinoda and Emily Armstrong discuss backlash and rebirth

It’s been almost 25 years since Linkin Park released their debut album, Hybrid Theory. An irresistible fusion of metal, hip-hop, electronica, industrial rock and infectious pop melody, it established the Californian sextet as instant nu-metal icons and laid the groundwork for the group to become, by many metrics, the biggest US rock band of this millennium: Hybrid Theory ended up the bestselling album of 2001; its follow-up, Meteora, would also go on to rank as one of the bestselling albums of the 21st century.

It’s been just 36 hours, however, since the band played their biggest headline gig to date, at a steamy and rapturous Wembley stadium. Outside, it’s still scorching, but in an icily air-conditioned hotel overlooking the Thames, Linkin Park’s co-founder, co-vocalist and chief songwriter, Mike Shinoda, is reflecting on the show. “For any band that’s been around a long time, it’s really easy to start heading into heritage territory,” says the 48-year-old. “You’re just playing that old stuff.”

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:00 am

Trump sues Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over Epstein report

Image

President follows through on libel threat over report that said he sent Epstein ‘bawdy’ birthday note and sketch

Donald Trump has sued Rupert Murdoch and two Wall Street Journal newspaper reporters for libel and slander over claims that he sent the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a lewd letter and sketch of a naked woman.

Trump’s lawsuit on Friday, which also targets Dow Jones and News Corp, was filed in the southern district of Florida federal court in Miami.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:45 pm

‘Profound alarm’: US veterans agency roiled by fight over anti-discrimination provisions

Image

Nearly 100 lawmakers claim the agency’s recent actions put veterans’ healthcare at risk. Department of Veterans Affairs chief says ‘no one is being discriminated against at VA’

The US Department of Veterans Affairs has enthusiastically joined Donald Trump’s war on DEI – demanding that staffers report colleagues who engage in diversity initiatives, banning LGBTQ+ pride flags from VA hospitals and shuttering an office investigating why Black veterans are more likely to have their mental health disability claims rejected.

Last week, the VA secretary, Doug Collins, tweeted that “VA is now squarely focused on Veterans – not out-of-touch, woke causes such as DEI and gender dysphoria treatments.”

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:13 pm

Democrats condemn CBS for axing Colbert show: ‘People deserve to know if this is politically motivated’

Image

Lawmakers note cancellation follows Colbert’s criticism of parent company Paramount for settling Trump suit

Democrats are condemning CBS for its recent decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, noting the news comes just a few days after its host criticized the network’s parent company, Paramount, for settling a $16m lawsuit with Donald Trump.

Senator Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who appeared as a guest on Colbert’s show on Thursday night, later wrote on social media: “If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:36 pm

Pete Hegseth replaces first woman to lead US naval academy with Marine Corps general

Image

Yvette Davids, who took the role in January 2004, will be succeeded by Michael Borgschulte

The first woman to lead the US naval academy is being reassigned, with the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, moving to replace her with a Marine Corps general, defense officials confirmed on Friday.

The decision marks the first time in the nearly 180-year history of the academy that a Marine Corps officer has been nominated to take charge.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:57 pm

Trump administration to destroy nearly $10m of contraceptives for women overseas

Image

As part of president’s end to foreign aid, destruction of the long-acting contraceptives will cost US taxpayers $167,000

The Trump administration has decided to destroy $9.7m worth of contraceptives rather than send them abroad to women in need.

A state department spokesperson confirmed that the decision had been made – a move that will cost US taxpayers $167,000. The contraceptives are primarily long-acting, such as IUDs and birth control implants, and were almost certainly intended for women in Africa, according to two senior congressional aides, one of whom visited a warehouse in Belgium that housed the contraceptives. It is not clear to the aides whether the destruction has already been carried out, but said they had been told that it was set to occur by the end of July.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:01 pm

Newsom ready to pursue lawsuit against Fox News host despite on-air apology

Image

California governor accuses Jesse Watters of lying about Trump phone call during anti-immigration raid protests

The California governor, Gavin Newsom, and Fox News host Jesse Watters have locked into a political tit-for-tat after the network figure admitted to mistakenly claiming that Newsom lied about a phone call with Donald Trump during June’s anti-immigration enforcement protests in the state.

On Thursday, Watters issued an apology on his program stemming from a $787m defamation lawsuit filed by Newsom against the host and Fox News, as the Los Angeles Times and other outlets reported. Newsom’s lawsuit claimed that Watters lied on air about the timeline of the governor’s conversations with the president during the peak of the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) protests across Los Angeles.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:37 pm

Company says investigation under way into footage of couple at Coldplay gig

Image

Video at the concert showed Astronomer’s married CEO with his arms around its head of human resources

Astronomer, the company at the center of the Coldplay scandal in which its CEO was caught canoodling with its chief human resources officer, has finally issued a statement on the matter.

More than 24 hours after a Jumbotron camera at a Coldplay concert in Boston, Massachusetts, caught the software company’s married CEO, Andy Byron, with his arms around the company’s HR head, Kristin Cabot, Astronomer has responded to the incident which has taken the internet by storm.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:31 pm

Caracas releases 10 Americans as Venezuelans freed from El Salvador jail

Image

Scores of Venezuelans deported by US to El Salvador repatriated as Marco Rubio hails return of Americans

Venezuela released 10 jailed Americans on Friday in exchange for getting home scores of migrants deported by the United States to El Salvador months ago under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

The resolution represents a diplomatic achievement for the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, helps Donald Trump in his goal of bringing home Americans jailed abroad and lands El Salvador a swap that it had proposed months ago.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:44 pm

Silicon Valley-backed California city project pitches plan for manufacturing hub

Image

Chief executive of ‘California Forever’ says proposal to develop site would represent ‘new home for frontier tech’

The chief executive of “California Forever”, a Silicon Valley billionaire-backed project to build a new city on tens of thousands of acres of California farmland, has announced plans to develop a manufacturing site within the future town for defense, energy, robotics, aerospace and transportation companies.

Speaking at the Reindustrialize summit in Detroit, Jan Sramek called the proposal the “Solano Foundry”. The 2,100-acre site would be located on the more than 65,000 acres in Solano county that the tech billionaires began purchasing in 2017 but have yet to develop.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:33 pm

Native American universities and colleges brace for crippling Trump cuts

Image

Indigenous leaders warn higher education institutions will close if the funding-slashing 2026 budget proposal passes

While colleges and universities slow down during summer break, Ahniwake Rose is busy wondering what the fall semester will hold for the nation’s 37 tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) – and if they will be able to stay open much longer.

As the president and CEO of the Indigenous non-profit American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), Rose (Cherokee and Muscogee Creek) braces as the schools she represents face a potential nearly 90% reduction in funding starting in October. President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget includes a proposal to slash operations funding from $183.3m to $22.1m for Bureau of Indian Education post-secondary programs – career and technical schools, community colleges, four-year colleges and universities. On 15 July, a House appropriations subcommittee approved legislation that allotted $1.5bn to the Bureau of Indian Education, though it did not specify how much would go toward post-secondary programs. Congress still needs to finish approving the budget for the Bureau of Indian Education, a subdivision of the Department of Interior.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:01 pm

‘Devastating’: US public broadcasters condemn Trump cuts to key programs

Image

PBS chief says cuts package ‘goes against the will of the American people’ as smaller outlets could face total closure

Public broadcast station leaders are condemning Donald Trump’s latest victory after Congress approved a bill to cancel all federal funding for public broadcasting programs including PBS and NPR.

The House signed off on the bill early on Friday morning, after Wednesday’s key decision in the Senate to pass $9bn in spending cuts, slashing public broadcasting as well as foreign aid. The PBS president and CEO, Paula Kerger, said that the Senate’s approval of the package “goes against the will of the American people”.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:00 am

Trump calls Fed chair ‘a numbskull’ who ‘makes it difficult for people to buy a house’

Image

In new attack, US president accuses Jerome Powell of preventing central bank from lowering interest rates

Donald Trump has renewed his attacks on Jerome Powell, calling the US central bank chair a “numbskull” and accusing him of “making it difficult for people, especially the young, to buy a house”.

The US president accused Powell of preventing the Federal Reserve from lowering interest rates to make housing more affordable.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:21 pm

House Republicans pass Trump’s proposed aid and public broadcasting cuts

Image

Proposal heads to president’s desk to be signed after party-line vote was delayed by Jeffrey Epstein controversy

House Republicans passed Donald Trump’s funding cut proposal just after midnight on Friday – clawing back $9bn in federal dollars.

The vote was split on party lines, 216-213, with two Republicans, Mike Turner of Ohio and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, opposing the package alongside all Democrats. The proposal will now go to the president’s desk to be signed and codified.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:37 pm

The long road to tragedy at the Texas girls camp where floods claimed 27 lives

Image

A 2018 county meeting foretold the Texas flood that overwhelmed the summer camp for girls

Investigators of the catastrophic Hill Country flooding in Texas may never be able to pinpoint a precise moment that sealed the fate of 27 young girls, teenage counselors and staff who perished after a wall of water surged through Camp Mystic on the banks of the Guadalupe River.

But perhaps no bigger clue can be found than the account of an otherwise unremarkable and sparsely attended meeting of Kerr county commissioners in March 2018.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:00 pm

‘Keeping us hooked on fossil fuels’: how can we negotiate with autocracies on the climate crisis?

Image

The bulk of global greenhouse gas emissions come from countries that are not democratic, and many big oil and gas exporters are also authoritarian

When it comes to the climate crisis, how do you negotiate with an autocracy?

It is the case today, and it is almost certain to remain so for the dwindling number of years in which we can hope to stave off the worst of climate breakdown, that the bulk of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from countries that are not democratic. Add to that, many of the major suppliers of oil and gas – the Gulf petrostates for instance, plus Russia, Venezuela and a few others – are likewise authoritarian.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:00 am

‘Our silence didn’t protect him’: daughter pleads for father on death row in Iran

Image

Arrested in 2023 after helping those injured during Women, Life, Freedom protests, Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri has been subjected to torture and a forced confession, say family and campaigners

In late October 2022, as protests over 22-year-old Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody swept across Iran, Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri, a father of three, was racing through alleyways in the city of Bukan, in western Iran, carrying medical supplies to secret clinics where doctors treated injured demonstrators in defiance of the state.

Many of the wounded were too afraid to seek hospital care after reports of secret police patrolling wards, interrogating patients and detaining injured protesters. By helping, Babamiri, a 47-year-old fruit and vegetable farmer, did not see himself as a revolutionary but simply as someone doing what was right, says his daughter, Zhino.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:00 am

Experience: I am the world champion of ‘doing nothing’

Image

The Space-Out competition involves sitting still for 90 minutes – no sleeping, no noise, no checking phones

From an early age I worried if I was doing enough. Growing up in Hong Kong, a city where competition is keen, I wanted to do well. That brought a lot of anxiety.

I started to practise mindfulness in 2012. It helps a lot with my emotions, and I can think more clearly. As an educational psychologist, I see lots of mental health issues. I think bringing mindfulness into our schools is an important way to find moments of calm, especially in the fast-paced city of Hong Kong.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:00 am

Felix Baumgartner: the man who skydived from space – video obituary

Image

The Austrian extreme sports pioneer Felix Baumgartner, known for his record-breaking 2012 skydive from the edge of space, has died in a paragliding accident in central Italy, police have said. Baumgartner, 56, lost control of his motorised paraglider while flying over Porto Sant’Elpidio in Marche on Thursday. He fell to the ground near the swimming pool of a hotel. The cause of the accident remains unclear

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:37 pm

Are collagen shots and supplements really the secret to youthful skin?

Image

Treatments to boost the protein are all the rage, but the evidence is uncertain and any results could be short-lived

From high-end aesthetics clinics to the middle aisle of Lidl, collagen is having a moment. Whether it’s in the form of fruity shots or powdered supplements, this structural protein is being touted as the secret to youthful skin and glossy hair.

Celebrities are also singing the praises of a collagen-boosting procedure called NeoGen, with the actor Leslie Ash claiming earlier this week that it had “taken 10 years off her”.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:00 pm

‘Cult of convenience’: how Tokyo’s retro shotengai arcades are falling victim to gentrification

Image

Across Japan covered shopping arcades are in a losing battle against property developers, depopulation and consumer culture

Tsutomu Nishiwaki raises the shutters of his store, the rattle marking the start of a new day at a shopping arcade in Tokyo. He wheels a display case into the foreground and stands behind the counter, framed by a sign proclaiming that this is a family-run noodle store.

It is a ritual Nishiwaki has been performing almost daily for 60 years. But like the fresh noodles its owner makes every morning, the store has a limited shelf life: in a few years from now, the 80-year-old will pull down the shutters for the last time.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:32 am

Trump’s endless toying with conspiracy theories has finally come back to bite him | Moira Donegan

Image

The president has long exploited useful fictions embraced by his supporters. Now he’s trying to change the narrative

Donald Trump’s followers, and the conspiracist influencers turned government officials through whom he persuades them, have turned on the president and US attorney general after they declared an end to federal inquiries into Jeffrey Epstein’s death. But it would be a mistake to think that the investigation scandal is sui generis. It’s more like the culmination of a long-running trend, one in which Trump’s exploitation of the conspiracist fictions, distrust of institutions, and prurient fascinations of his base have finally come back to bite him.

A pedophile ring at the center of power is a recurring theme in rightwing conspiracy theories of the Trump era. During the 2016 presidential election, supporters of Trump, then an outsider challenger for the Republican nomination, began to spread dark claims about his rival for the presidency, Hillary Clinton. Online, far-right trolls and members of the population now called “low trust voters”– people who believe that something nefarious and conspiratorial is going on in the halls of American power, even if they don’t know exactly what – speculated that Clinton was at the head of a huge human trafficking and pedophilic abuse ring based inside Comet Ping Pong, a pizza restaurant in Washington DC. There was no secret ring. But that didn’t stop a disturbed man from showing up with a gun.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:00 pm

Faced with a choice between saving his own skin and the lives of others, Netanyahu always chooses himself | Jonathan Freedland

Image

If Israel’s prime minister accepts a ceasefire deal soon, it will only be because the timing suits him. He, like his country, will face a reckoning

Will the war in Gaza last for ever? It’s not a wholly rhetorical question. There are days when I fear that the death and devastation that has gone on for 650 days will never stop, that it will eventually settle into a constant, low-level attritional war inside the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict – a war within a war – that becomes a background hum to world affairs, the way the Troubles in Northern Ireland endured for 30 years. In this same nightmare, incidentally, I see Benjamin Netanyahu, who has already sat in Israel’s prime ministerial chair for nearly 18 years, on and off, staying put for another 18 years or more, ruling the country until he is 100.

Israelis don’t want either of those things to happen. Polls show that only a minority trust Netanyahu, while an overwhelming majority – about 74% – want this terrible war to end. As the leader of one of the ultra-orthodox, or Haredi, parties that this week quit Netanyahu’s ruling coalition – over the government’s failure to pass a bill permanently exempting Haredi youth from military service recently put it: “I don’t understand what we are fighting for there … I don’t understand what the need is.”

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:05 pm

Listen up, weaklings: there’s no Epstein client list. Why are you so obsessed? Yours, Donald J Trump | Marina Hyde

Image

It’s the bonfire of the Maga hats. The real mystery is where their wearers got the idea of a paedophile conspiracy from in the first place

You have to feel for Donald Trump’s Maga base. The one huge secret they didn’t want disclosed was that he actually really hates them. All populists despise their people, obviously – but please, Mr President, respect the playbook! You’re supposed to do it quietly. Regrettably, no one could accuse Trump of hiding his spite under a bushel after a week in which he described those of his supporters who want him to simply do what he repeatedly promised, and release the so-called Epstein files, as “weaklings” and “stupid people”. This is quite the (public) volte face from the guy who originally swept to office declaring “I love the poorly educated”.

Most of you are unlikely to need a recap at this stage, but Jeffrey Epstein is the sex-trafficking financier and socialite, who conveniently died in jail while awaiting trial, apparently by suicide. A woman, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted of conspiring with him to sexually abuse minors, and is currently serving 20 years in a low-security Florida prison. But no big-hitting or even small-hitting male associate in the US has so much as been arrested for participating in what I believe the dead paedophile would have encouraged us to call his “lifestyle”. This second Trump administration didn’t just sweep to power while repeatedly screaming about the “cover-up” of this story, but it spent a good portion of its early months assuring its ravenous base that Epstein’s supposed “client list” was on a desk waiting for release approval. Yet now, Trump and his associates say there is no list. Nope. Never even was a list. Where did these weakling idiots get that idea? To summarise his administration’s position: “We took a look at the deep state and it turns out to be very shallow. Seriously, I’m standing in it right now and it doesn’t even come up to my knees.”

Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:53 am

You may not know it, but the Democratic primaries for 2028 are already under way | Osita Nwanevu

Image

Every American presidential campaign is many years in the making. So, what’s the state of the 2028 primary race now?

Every American presidential campaign is many years in the making. So, what’s the state of the 2028 Democratic primary race now? The Democratic party’s most eligible candidates for the next election have been scheming, climbing, wheeling and dealing for their shot at the ticket for years. Plans were being hatched for the cycles ahead well before Biden garnered the nomination for himself in 2020.

Like that race, 2028 promises another crowded and wide-open field of contenders ⁠– polls have taken the Democratic electorate’s temperature on as many as 20 potential candidates, from Kamala Harris, who is reportedly considering a run for California’s governor instead, to the sports pundit Stephen A Smith.

Osita Nwanevu is a Guardian US columnist. He is the author of The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:00 am

What’s causing chaos at the Maga conspiracy club? | Fiona Katauskas

Image

It’s unbelievable!

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:00 pm

The Guardian view on Maga and Jeffrey Epstein: the truth about Donald Trump and conspiracy theories | Editorial

Image

The US president is struggling to close down speculation about the case that those close to him have promoted


Donald Trump has thrived on conspiracy theories – “birtherist” lies that Barack Obama was born outside the US; the lunacies of the Q-Anon movement; false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. All centred on the idea that the “deep state” was lying to, and thus cheating, ordinary people. Mr Trump was their tribune.

It’s hard not to feel schadenfreude now that he’s at the sharp end of a theory that he at times encouraged and allies eagerly pushed: claims that the prison death of the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein might not be suicide after all, and that wealthy and well-connected associates were trying to hush up connections to the financier. Mr Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, promised that “truckloads” of documents would help reveal the truth and claimed that a client list was “sitting on my desk right now”.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:37 pm

Scottie Scheffler takes lead at the Open while Fitzpatrick drives British hopes

Image

  • World No 1 makes second-round 64 to take one-shot lead

  • Fitzpatrick in second; MacIntyre and Hatton tied for fifth

Imagine he cared. Imagine he really cared. Scottie Scheffler used media duties before the 153rd Open Championship to assess the pointlessness of golf in the grand scheme of life. “If I win, it’s going to be awesome for two minutes,” Scheffler asserted. The world No 1 should already prepare for his 120 seconds of ecstasy. There is an air of inevitability about Scheffler cradling the Claret Jug with only half of this tournament gone. It will be a shock should he not win from here.

Matt Fitzpatrick had the elements to contend with for spells on Friday afternoon. Next came Scheffler, marauding in the rear view mirror, which for a golfer is more troublesome than anything that drops from the sky. Fitzpatrick had only just signed his scorecard for a 66 and nine under total as Scheffler poured in a birdie putt at the 17th. Ten under par.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:46 pm

Cooper Flagg’s NBA soft launch showed the spotlight fits just fine

Image

The 18-year-old No 1 draft pick struggled to shoot in his first Summer League game. But his poise, defense and winning mentality confirmed his billing as a generational talent

“I would say that might be one of the worst games of my life,” Cooper Flagg told reporters last Thursday night. “But we got the win, so that’s what really matters to me.” It was a telling statement from the 18-year-old basketball phenom after his first Las Vegas Summer League game. The No 1 overall pick in this year’s NBA draft – taken by the Dallas Mavericks after a one-and-done college career at Duke – didn’t have nearly as disastrous a debut as he made out. Though he struggled to shoot the ball, Flagg still managed to flash his playmaking and defensive range. Clearly hyperaware to the moment and the hype surrounding his technical NBA debut, he looked determined to put on a show: aggressively hunting his shot and seeking out highlight-reel dunks at every opportunity.

He bounced back with 31 points in his second (and ultimately final) Summer League appearance on Saturday. But it was the second-half of his comment after Thursday night’s game that encapsulates why Flagg is one of the most hyped teenage prospects in decades: the kid is a winner.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:00 am

‘Two fights left’: Usyk closes in on history and retirement with Dubois test

Image

Ukrainian seeks to unify the heavyweight division again at Wembley on Saturday before putting family time first

Boxing, as Oleksandr Usyk knows, gets everyone in the end. It is a harsh and pitiless business and earlier this week, at the end of a long afternoon answering the same old questions in front of a line of television cameras, Usyk sat down with a small group of familiar faces who have written about him for years. During his last assignment for the day he opened up a little more as he spoke about the sacrifices boxing demands.

He told us how much he wanted to see his wife, Yekaterina, as she had just flown into London and they would be reunited that evening. Three months had passed, in a gruelling training camp, since they had been together and Usyk spoke about missing her and their four children.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:06 pm

Lloyd Howell steps down as head of NFL Players Association amid scrutiny

Image

  • Howell resigns as NFLPA chief, cites distraction

  • Reports on past lawsuit, side job sparked backlash

Lloyd Howell has resigned as executive director of the NFL Players Association, citing distractions his leadership has caused in recent weeks.

“Two years ago, I accepted the role of Executive Director of the NFLPA because I believe deeply in the mission of this union and the power of collective action to drive positive change for the players of America’s most popular sport,” Howell said in a statement released late Thursday night. “Our members deserve a union that will fight relentlessly for their health, safety, financial futures, and long-term well-being. My priority has been to lead that fight by serving this union with focus and dedication.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:19 pm

Tour de France: Pogacar pulls more than four minutes clear with stage 13 victory

Image

  • Defending champion eases to time-trial triumph

  • Vingegaard finishes second with Roglic in third

A breathless Jonas Vingegaard slumped exhaustedly over his bike on another baking Pyrenean afternoon, after Tadej Pogacar inflicted a further crushing defeat in the mountain time trial to the altiport at Peyragudes.

The second time trial in the 2025 Tour was expected to further confirm Pogacar’s supremacy over the peloton and so it proved, as the defending champion extended his lead to over four minutes with his fourth stage win in this year’s race and the 21st Tour stage of his career.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:10 pm

Ilona Maher and US rugby seek breakthrough with sell-out DC doubleheader

Image

Social media star will face Fiji on Saturday before the Eagles men play England. As US World Cups loom, it’s a big moment for the global game

At the ESPY Awards in Hollywood on Wednesday, Ilona Maher was named Best Breakthrough Athlete.

“It’s taken me seven years and two Olympics but I finally broke through,” the 28-year-old US Eagles center, social media sensation, swimwear model and reality TV star said, with a delighted laugh.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:56 pm

Felix Baumgartner, who jumped from edge of space, dies in paragliding crash

Image

Austrian extreme skydiver, 56, lost control of his motorised paraglider while flying over central Italy

The extreme sports pioneer Felix Baumgartner, famed for a record-breaking 2012 skydive from the edge of space, has died in a paragliding accident in central Italy.

The Austrian, 56, lost control of his motorised paraglider while flying over Porto Sant’Elpidio in the Marche region on Thursday and fell to the ground into the swimming pool of a hotel.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:03 pm

Christian leaders make rare visit to shelled church in Gaza

Image

Israel grants access after ‘stray’ tank round kills three people and wounds Catholic priest

Israel has granted two senior Christian leaders rare access to Gaza after an Israeli strike on the Palestinian territory’s only Roman Catholic church killed three people.

Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Catholic Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, led a delegation on Friday to the Holy Family Church, whose shelling the day before triggered international condemnation.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:22 pm

Alan Bergman, Oscar-winning lyricist, dies at 99

Image

Bergman teamed with wife Marilyn to write lyrics for such hits as The Way We Were and The Windmills of Your Mind

Alan Bergman, the Oscar-winning lyricist who teamed with his wife, Marilyn, for an enduring and loving partnership that produced such old-fashioned hits as How Do You Keep the Music Playing?, It Might Be You and the classic The Way We Were, has died aged 99.

Bergman died late on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles, family spokesperson Ken Sunshine said in a statement on Friday. The statement said Bergman had, in recent months, suffered from respiratory issues “but continued to write songs till the very end”.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 9:26 pm

Lawyer argues Call of Duty maker can’t be held responsible for actions of Texas school shooter

Image

Families of victims sued Activision and Meta, saying the companies bear responsibility for products used by gunman

A lawyer for the maker of the video game Call of Duty argued Friday that a judge should dismiss a lawsuit brought by families of the victims of the Robb elementary school attack in Uvalde, Texas, saying the contents of the war game are protected by the first amendment.

The families sued Call of Duty maker Activision and Meta Platforms, which owns Instagram, saying that the companies bear responsibility for products used by the teenage gunman.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:14 pm

More violence erupts in Syria’s Druze heartland as tribal groups reinforce local Bedouin

Image

UN calls for end to ‘bloodshed’ that has claimed at least 638 lives, according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

Armed tribes supported by Syria’s Islamist-led government clashed with Druze fighters in the community’s Sweida heartland on Friday, a day after the army withdrew under Israeli bombardment and diplomatic pressure.

The UN called for an end to the “bloodshed” and demanded an “independent” investigation of the violence, which has claimed at least 638 lives since Sunday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:15 pm

Explosion at LA law enforcement training facility kills three people

Image

Three deputies who were killed were members of department’s arson explosives detail, according to sheriff

An explosion at a law enforcement training facility in Los Angeles has killed three people with the county sheriff’s department in the largest loss of life for the agency since 1857, the sheriff said on Friday morning.

The three deputies who were killed were members of the department’s arson explosives detail said Robert Luna, the sheriff, at a press conference. Authorities were still working to notify relatives of the deceased, he said, and details on the circumstances around the explosion were limited.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:31 pm

Are they ‘having an affair’ or just shy? The couple caught on Coldplay’s kiss cam

Image

Internet transfixed by canoodling couple who, instead of waving, look horrified and quickly break apart

It is a moment of shock and mortification in Massachusetts that has transfixed the internet.

A camera at a Coldplay concert near Boston sweeps the audience and picks out a canoodling couple.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:38 am

Angela Rayner tells Labour to ‘step up’ and make case for being in power

Image

Exclusive: Deputy PM defends action against party rebels and says Send system is priority, in Guardian interview

Angela Rayner has urged Labour colleagues to “step up” and make the case for why the party should be in power as the government attempts to draw a line under a tumultuous first year in office and shift towards a more upbeat approach.

The deputy prime minister urged Labour MPs to focus on the party’s achievements over the last 12 months rather than always thinking about failures, saying they should all be “message carriers” for what had been done well.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:17 pm

Chevron closes $55bn Hess takeover after winning Exxon legal battle

Image

Blockbuster acquisition is one of largest energy deals in past decade

Chevron closed its $55bn acquisition of Hess on Friday after winning a landmark legal battle against its larger rival Exxon Mobil to gain access to the largest oil discovery in decades.

The strategy of Chevron’s CEO, Mike Wirth, to turn around his company’s lagging performance hinged on the acquisition, one of the largest energy deals in the past decade. The prize is a stake in the prolific Stabroek Block off the coast of Guyana that holds more than 11bn barrels of oil and is one of the fastest-growing oil provinces in the world.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:17 pm

US wetlands ‘restored’ using treated sewage tainted with forever chemicals

Image

Use of wastewater treatment plant effluent containing Pfas threatens wildlife, food and drinking water, advocates say

Many of the nation’s wetlands are being filled with toxic Pfas “forever chemicals” as wastewater treatment plant effluent tainted with the compounds is increasingly used to restore swampland and other waters. The practice threatens wildlife, food and drinking water sources, environmental advocates warn.

Effluent is the liquid discharged by wastewater treatment plants after it “disinfects” sewage in the nation’s sewer system. The treatment process largely kills pathogens and the water is high in nutrients that help plants grow, so on one level it is beneficial to struggling ecosystems.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:00 am

‘We’re the canary in the coalmine’: when will Russia take action on the climate?

Image

World’s fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases pays lip service to tackling climate crisis and, with fossil fuels central to regime’s legitimacy, it seems happier with status quo

Source of figures at top: World Economic Outlook

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:00 am

BP agrees to sell US onshore wind business as it shifts back to oil

Image

Company to sell business for undisclosed sum to LS Power as part of plan to offload $20bn in assets

BP has agreed a deal to sell off its onshore wind business in the US as the oil multinational turns its back on renewable energy after a failed attempt to go green.

The company said it would sell its share of 10 windfarms, which generate enough clean energy to power more than 500,000 US homes, to the New York-headquartered LS Power.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:03 am

Trump signs order creating new federal worker classification for at-will, political appointees

Image

Under the new classification, Schedule G, federal employees will be subject to hiring and firing by the president

Trump signed an executive order on Thursday creating a new classification of federal employees who would be subject to hiring and firing by the president, Schedule G, for employees working on policy, in the latest action by his administration to reshape the federal workforce.

The non-career classified employees will be expected to leave in changing presidential administrations, with the order claiming it will “improve operations, particularly in agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs, by streamlining appointments for key policy roles”.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 3:51 pm

Tim Walz says Trump ‘brings out the worst in people – and the worst in me’

Image

Kamala Harris running mate strikes regretful tone after calling for Democrats to ‘bully the shit out of’ US president

Donald Trump “brings out the worst in people, and he brings out the worst in me”, Tim Walz has said in a new interview in which Minnesota’s governor struck an apologetic tone over a recent plea for his fellow Democrats to “bully the shit out of” the Republican president.

Walz, who was Kamala Harris’s running mate as she unsuccessfully ran for the White House against Trump in November, made those comments in a conversation with the Minnesota news station KMSP that was published on Thursday.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:00 am

How destruction of Hotel Oloffson is symbol of Haiti’s gang crisis

Image

Once a haven for the world’s rich and famous, the landmark hotel was burned down this month as violence gripped Port-au-Prince

There was an outpouring of grief in Haiti when the Hotel Oloffson, a cultural and architectural landmark in Port-au-Prince, was set ablaze on the night of 5 July, in what local media described as retaliation by armed gangs after a police operation in its vicinity.

For many, its ruins are a stark and sobering symbol of the state of a capital city on the verge of collapse, and a sign that a once vibrant culture may be fading as violent criminal armed groups continue their reign of terror.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:15 am

Bolsonaro ordered to wear ankle tag over fears he may abscond as coup trial nears end

Image

Guilty verdict widely expected for Brazil’s ex-president accused of plot to seize power after losing 2022 election

Federal police have raided Jair Bolsonaro’s Brasília mansion, banned him from communicating with foreign diplomats and ordered him to wear an electronic ankle tag amid fears Brazil’s ex-president may abscond to avoid punishment over an alleged coup attempt.

A supreme court trial examining claims that Bolsonaro masterminded a murderous plot to seize power after losing the 2022 election is expected to reach its conclusion in the coming weeks.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:15 pm

Lammy announces exposure of 18 Russian spies after UK cyber-attacks

Image

Foreign secretary says two agents were involved in planting spyware on a device used by poisoning victim Yulia Skripal

The UK has exposed 18 Russian spies and their units responsible for cyber-attacks in Britain and hacking one of the victims of the Salisbury poisonings, David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has said.

Announcing individual sanctions, Lammy said Russia had targeted media, telecoms providers, political and democratic institutions and energy infrastructure in the UK in recent years.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 4:44 pm

‘Gangster granny’ jailed for leading family gang dealing drugs worth £80m

Image

Deborah Mason, 65, who had moniker ‘Queen Bee’, and seven members of her network sentenced to total of 106.5 years

A family-run organised crime group, orchestrated by a 65-year-old described by police as a “gangster granny”, has been sentenced for dealing drugs with a street value of £80m across the UK.

Deborah Mason, who had the moniker “Queen Bee”, and seven other members of the gang, were sentenced at Woolwich crown court in London on Friday for their involvement in supplying nearly a tonne of cocaine over seven months.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:23 pm

Stephen Colbert on Trump’s Epstein controversy: ‘Desperately looking for a scapegoat’

Image

Late-night hosts discuss Trump’s scramble to deflect from his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, his beef with Jerome Powell and CBS’s cancellation of the Late Show

Late-night hosts dig into Donald Trump’s growing anxiety over the Jeffrey Epstein files and his beef with the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:44 pm

Alex G: Headlights review – indie-rocker reins in the noise to reveal romantic soft rock

Image

(RCA)
While the sonic invention and off-kilter details remain, on his 10th album the cult musician eschews distortion for melancholic melodies and crooked love songs

Alexander Giannascoli’s nine-album back catalogue is the record of a great creative evolution. Starting with thin, wobbly Moldy Peaches-style anti-folk in his teenage years, the Pennsylvania native added lusher, twangier elements – Americana with a slacker twist – before introducing glitched beats, pitched-up vocals and copious vocoder. By 2022’s God Save the Animals he had a zealous cult following and was pushing at the limits of what indie singer-songwriter fare could be, melding acoustic strumming and sweet melody with distortion that ranged from unsettlingly inhuman to downright demonic.

On Headlights, his 10th album, Giannascoli, 32, reins in the warp and abrasion: the sonic invention remains, but it is deployed with increased subtlety. Exceptional opener June Guitar has chipmunk backing vocals and a surging organ riff that strongly recalls Centerfold by the J Geils Band; Beam Me Up is haunted by a mid-century sci-fi sound effect and Louisiana begins with a revving engine – yet all serve the timeless, melancholic soft-rock rather than overpowering it.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 8:00 am

Poor Creature: All Smiles Tonight review | Jude Roger's folk album of the month

Image

(River Lea)
Masters of atmosphere, Ruth Clinton, Cormac MacDiarmada and John Dermody contrast hauntological synths with robust noise on this playful debut

The latest gorgeous release from the fecund Irish folk scene doesn’t begin with bassy dread in the Lankum mode, but a mood of gentle, haunting psychedelia. Adieu Lovely Erin starts by evoking Broadcast swirling around a maypole; then it’s as if Cocteau Twins had been transported to a traditional music session. Its sweet, high female vocals also evoke the improvisations of sean-nós singing, while simmering, krautrock-like drums build drama.

Poor Creature comprises three musicians expert in heightening and managing atmosphere: Landless’s Ruth Clinton, Lankum’s Cormac MacDiarmada plus live Lankum drummer John Dermody. Their debut album steeps cowboy songs, Irish ballads, bluegrass and other traditional songs in a misty, playful lightness that somehow also carries an eerie power. Bury Me Not is a 19th-century American song about a dying sailor desperate not to be buried at sea, and Clinton delivers its lamenting lyrics with a bright, shining innocence. MacDiarmada leads Lorene, a rolling, country ballad by Alabama duo the Louvin Brothers, with a similarly soft, brooding magic. Singing as a boy desperate for a letter from his beloved, despite clearly knowing he’s being ghosted, the song’s melancholy slowly rises as voice and guitar mesh together.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 7:30 am

The best recent crime and thrillers – roundup

Image

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson; Kill Your Darlings by Peter Swanson; The Good Liar by Denise Mina; The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun; Gunner by Alan Parks

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson (Michael Joseph, £20)
The bestselling YA author’s first novel for adults has an intriguing premise: thanks to the combination of a blow to the head by an unseen assailant and a pre-existing medical condition, Jet Mason has a week to solve her own murder before a fatal aneurysm rupture. Jet, who comes across as rather younger than her 27 years, has retreated back to the dysfunctional bosom of her wealthy Vermont family after dropping out of law school; she disagrees with the police department’s choice of culprit and conducts her own investigation with the aid of childhood friend Billy. As Jet’s neighbours, family and the construction business from which the Masons derive their money come under the microscope, secrets and cover-ups are revealed, and it starts to look as if the killer may be very close to home … A propulsive plot, where the pathos is fuel for real suspense, makes this perfect holiday fare – a genuine page-turner for YA and adult readers alike.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:00 am

Death and the Gardener by Georgi Gospodinov review – how it feels to lose a father

Image

The International Booker winner explores Bulgarian family life under communism in this moving depiction of a son’s bereavement

The Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov was published quietly in the Anglophone world for years before he won the 2023 International Booker prize with Time Shelter, about an Alzheimer’s clinic that recreates the past so successfully, it beguiles the wider world.

He is perhaps now Bulgaria’s biggest export. Ever playful, never linear, his new novel Death and the Gardener consists of vignettes of a beloved dying and dead father, told by a narrator who, like Gospodinov, is an author. Gospodinov has spoken publicly about losing his own father recently, and the novel feels autobiographical in tone. When we read “My father was a gardener. Now he is a garden,” it is not the beginning of an Archimboldiesque surrealist tale, but rather a more direct exploration of how we express and where we put our love.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 6:00 am

‘A wild and orgasmic ride’: Basic Instinct set for ‘anti-woke’ reboot

Image

Original writer Joe Eszterhas is signed on for the new films, with the 80-year-old intending to unleash the ‘twisted little man’ inside him on the script

Joe Eszterhas, the screenwriter of 1992 smash Basic Instinct, is to write a reboot sources close to the project are calling “anti-woke”.

As first reported by the Wrap, Eszterhas, 80, has signed a deal with Amazon MGM for the script; the streamer guarantees a $2m fee, which will be upped to $4m should the film be made, making it the most lucrative spec sale of the year.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 10:48 am

Connie Francis obituary

Image

One of the biggest-selling pop singers of the 50s and 60s, with hits including Stupid Cupid and Lipstick on Your Collar

At the height of her career in the late 1950s and early 60s, Connie Francis, who has died aged 87, occupied a unique slot in the American record industry as she amassed sales that comfortably outstripped most of her male contemporaries. She scored her first big hit with Who’s Sorry Now? in 1957, and by 1967 had amassed 35 Top 40 hits in the US and sold 35 million records worldwide.

She was blessed with a voice that could handle everything from amusing novelties such as Stupid Cupid (1958) or Pretty Little Baby (1962) to intimate ballads, tales of heartbreak and even full-blown epics such as the flamenco-flavoured Malagueña (1960).

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:29 pm

Inside MasterChef’s nightmare fortnight: where does the show go now?

Image

Powerhouse brand is in disarray, raising questions about how to refresh format and what to do with new series

When Banijay, the producers of MasterChef, held a dinner attended by its top executives, programme makers and presenters almost two weeks ago, the longevity of its wildly successful cooking show was among the achievements to be toasted, alongside its move to state-of-the-art studios in Birmingham.

Yet just hours before guests arrived, a social media post from MasterChef’s erstwhile presenter Gregg Wallace began a nightmare fortnight that has left one of the BBC’s most important shows in need of not one, but two new judges. It has also left some in the TV world wondering if the show requires a wider refresh.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 1:59 pm

The Guide #200: Get Out, Breaking Bad and the pop culture that defined the 21st century so far

Image

In this week’s newsletter: To celebrate the Guide’s 200th edition, we look back at the films, shows, albums and more that mattered most over the last 25 years

The Guide is 200 issues old today – maybe not the biggest milestone, but one worth marking. So this week we’re doing just that, ending our recent miniseries on the culture of the past 25 years with a listicle spectacular.

We’ve picked a piece of popular culture for each year of the 21st century so far. Which isn’t to say a definitive list of the best culture of the 21st century – the Guardian’s arts desk already did that far more conclusively than we ever could. Instead, we’ve selected 21st-century TV shows, films, plays, podcasts, artworks, albums and games that together hopefully help explain how culture has evolved in that time.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 2:41 pm

‘He’s a lot of fun to be with’: Trump and Epstein were close friends for 15 years

Image

As Trump tries to claim he was ‘not a fan’ of Epstein, photos, videos and anecdotes paint a picture of a their relationship

It was a friendship that spanned three different decades. To Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein was a “terrific guy”. Epstein believed himself to be Trump’s “closest friend”, and praised the future president as “charming”.

The relationship would eventually break down, the men falling out over a bidding war on a property in Florida. And after Epstein was convicted of child sex offences in 2008, Trump distanced himself from the financier, claiming he was “not a fan” and wondering, in recent days, why his supporters would “waste time and energy” on demanding that FBI and Department of Justice files on Epstein be released.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 11:26 am

Ohio mosque worshippers reel after imam is detained by Ice: ‘No one is ever truly safe’

Image

Egyptian-born Ayman Soliman was detained while attending a regular check-in with immigration officers

A week after the detention of their imam, Egyptian-born Ayman Soliman, worshippers at the Clifton mosque in Cincinnati, Ohio, are still in shock.

Soliman was detained on 9 July while attending a regular check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officers, weeks after being told that his asylum status had been terminated, a provision that he had held for more than seven years.

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 12:00 pm

The week around the world in 20 pictures

Image

Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, combat training in Ukraine, wildfires in France and Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

  • Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing

Continue reading...

Published: July 18, 2025, 5:36 pm

Health/Science - Show - Books/Arts - Travel - Sport - Blog - Privacy - Main Sitemap - Cotact - Blog Sitemap

Crusade Explained