Craig Bowe says he heard screams during a trip to a beach to celebrate his daughter's birthday. Continue Reading »

A woman in her 20s has been charged by gardaí (Irish police) and is due in court on Friday evening. Continue Reading »

BBC Verify has looked at how much Burnham's new spending commitments cost and how they will be paid for Continue Reading »

The housing secretary tells the BBC that the Renters Rights' Act is already having a significant impact on the market. Continue Reading »

Basketball superstar LeBron James announces he will join the Philadelphia 76ers for what he says will be his final contract in the NBA. Continue Reading »

The four newly linked states — Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania — join Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and hard-hit Michigan.  Continue Reading »

Trump's Truth Social post railed against the European Union's new fine on Google, and prior penalties against U.S. tech giants Apple, Meta and Amazon. Continue Reading »

The president told Axios he was considering an operation "bigger than ever before" before Reuters reported Pakistan is seeking to restart peace talks. Continue Reading »

Moody's said AI spending is forcing even the world's most cash-rich corporations to lean heavily on debt, stock sales and off-balance-sheet moves. Continue Reading »

The bearish Tesla set-up we flagged ahead of Wednesday's report has delivered most of what it can. Continue Reading »

Par AFP Par François BENEYTOU © 2026 AFP Les regrets sont-ils aussi éternels que les triomphes? Arrivé au pied de l'Alpe d'Huez avec le groupe de tête et une avance confortable sur Pogacar, Lenny Martinez a roulé à l'économie vendredi, renonçant à tout donner pour l'emporter, mais s'est replacé à la cinquième place du général, son objectif proclamé du jour.Parti dans la bonne échappée, le petit grimpeur tricolore a pris une jolie deuxième place et a surtout réalisé une superbe opération au classement général, grappillant deux places en dépassant Mattias Skjelmose et Juan Ayuso pour débouler dans le top 5 à deux jours de l'arrivée sur les Champs-Élysées.Mais l'on se demandera forcément si une belle place au tableau d'honneur de cette 113e édition marquera autant les esprits qu'un sacre au sommet d'une des montées les plus mythiques de la Grande Boucle.L'équation semblait pourtant simple lorsqu'un groupe de costauds a plongé à toute vitesse dans le chaudron alpin avec 3 min 30 d'avance sur le petit peloton des favoris: il fallait rouler, et vite, pour éviter de voir Pogacar, ses jambes de feu, sa soif de victoire et son maillot jaune fondre sur la tête de course. "Coup d'avance" Elle ... Continue Reading »

Par TV5MONDE avec AFP L'ancien patron des renseignements du Mali a été condamné, ce vendredi 24 juillet, par la Cour d'assises de Bamako à 15 ans de prison pour "complot contre le gouvernement". Les cinq autres co-accusés ont écopé de 7 à 15 ans d'emprisonnement.  L'ancien patron des renseignements du Mali a été condamné, ce vendredi 24 juillet, par la Cour d'assises de Bamako à 15 ans de prison pour "complot contre le gouvernement". Les cinq autres co-accusés ont écopé de 7 à 15 ans d'emprisonnement. Au terme d'un procès de dix jours, le colonel-major Kassoum Goïta, ancien directeur de la Sécurité d'État, a été condamné à 15 ans de prison, ce vendredi 24 juillet. Il était accusé d'avoir participé à un projet de tentative de coup d'État et de déstabilisation des institutions. Il a été reconnu coupable des faits d'association de malfaiteurs et de complot contre le gouvernement. Le procureur avait requis 20 ans de réclusion pour Kassoum Goïta et ... Continue Reading »

Par AFP Par Jacques KLOPP © 2026 AFP Tadej Pogacar fonce vers un cinquième victoire finale dans le Tour de France après s'être imposé vendredi à l'Alpe d'Huez grâce à une remontée fantastique mais aussi à la passivité de Lenny Martinez en tête de course.En attendant d'égaler dimanche Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault et Miguel Indurain, le Slovène a déjà empoché sa cinquième étape dans cette 113e édition, sa première en haut des 21 lacets mythiques qui mènent à la station iséroise.Il la voulait et il a tout fait pour la décrocher, remontant un retard de plus de trois minutes au pied de l'ascension finale, avalant les échappés un par un an, en avançant comme un Pacman jaune déchaîné au milieu d'une foule énorme – 600.000 spectateurs, selon les autorités locales."C'était un grand objectif pour moi de gagner ici", a expliqué le double champion du monde après avoir battu le record de la montée en compétition avec un temps de 35 minutes et 26 secondes, effaçant des tablettes la marque de Marco Pantani (36:50), réalisée en 1995 à l'époque de l'EPO roi."L'ambiance était folle", a savouré le maillot jaune qui a réussi à se frayer un chemin au ... Continue Reading »

Par Maeliss ORBOIN Les Gardiens de la Révolution de la République islamique d'Iran ont affirmé ce vendredi 24 juillet avoir détruit à Bahreïn un centre de données de l'entreprise Amazon. Depuis le début de la guerre, plusieurs "data centers" ont été frappés par le régime iranien en raison de leurs liens avec l'armée américaine.  Les Gardiens de la Révolution de la République islamique d'Iran ont affirmé ce vendredi 24 juillet avoir détruit à Bahreïn un centre de données de l'entreprise Amazon. Depuis le début de la guerre, plusieurs "data centers" ont été frappés par le régime iranien en raison de leurs liens avec l'armée américaine. L'escalade entre les États-Unis et l'Iran se poursuit. Puissante force paramilitaire aux ordres du Guide suprême, les Gardiens de la Révolution ont de nouveau riposté tous azimuts ce vendredi 24 juillet, après une nouvelle nuit de bombardements des Américains contre le territoire iranien. Ils ont revendiqué des attaques contre des installations utilisées par l'armée américaine ... Continue Reading »

Par AFP © 2026 AFP L'incendie, parti de Biscarrosse, dans les Landes, progresse au sud-est vers la commune de Parentis-en-Born, où 8.000 habitants sont en cours d'évacuation en plus des 23.000 déjà évacués depuis jeudi soir, a annoncé vendredi le préfet du département."Il n'y a pas de victime au moment où l'on se parle dans la population civile. Du côté des sapeurs-pompiers, il y a eu cinq blessés ou incommodés mais légers", a ajouté le représentant de l'État, Gilles Clavreul lors d'un point-presse."L'enveloppe du feu est très, très grande, 13 kilomètres sur 5 pour schématiser" et, "avec la reprise des vents, avec la chaleur qui s'est accumulée dans la journée, il redevient virulent", a-t-il expliqué.Le vent a réorienté le brasier vers la commune de Parentis-en-Born et conduit les autorités à ordonner l'évacuation préventive des habitants, qui seront accueillis dans plusieurs communes alentours.Cet incendie, qui a parcouru 2.600 hectares, a détruit "110 à 120" habitations et bâtiments, selon un dernier bilan provisoire communiqué par le préfet."Quand on aura stabilisé le front sur Biscarrosse, quand toutes les parties habitées auront été mises en sécurité, on pourra vraiment savoir ce qu'il en est", a-t-il dit.Plus de 500 sapeurs-pompiers luttent contre le ... Continue Reading »

Wildfires are raging in southwestern France and central Spain, prompting authorities to evacuate around 80,000 people Read Full Article at RT.com Continue Reading »

Russia has hit a Ukrainian drone exhibition attended by commanders planning attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure, Moscow has said Read Full Article at RT.com Continue Reading »

Residents of Zawtar El Gharbiyeh in southern Lebanon told RT they feel betrayed as they cannot return home despite the IDF withdrawal Read Full Article at RT.com Continue Reading »

The US imposed 10% tariffs on imports from India, replacing the previous 150-day tariff that lapses on Friday Read Full Article at RT.com Continue Reading »

Russia’s football comeback is no longer a question of if but how. FIFA is moving first, while UEFA weighs politics, security, and money Read Full Article at RT.com Continue Reading »

Форвард "Балтики" отличился на 35-й секунде встречи с ЦСКА Continue Reading »

По данным СМИ Украины, это четвертый случай за день Continue Reading »

При необходимости для этого будут привлечены дополнительные средства из внебюджетных источников, отметил глава региона Сергей Аксенов Continue Reading »

Колумбиец Эйнер Рубио был госпитализирован Continue Reading »

Как передает телеканал Al Hadath, Исламабад сообщил представителям Тегерана, что возможное закрытие Баб-эль-Мандебского пролива "еще больше осложнит нынешнюю ситуацию в регионе" Continue Reading »

Trump's foul-mouthed Iran meltdown leaks as he runs out of options... (Top headline, 1st story, link) Related stories:Rapid pace of weapons use alarms...Tehran warns of new strikes on Tel Aviv...Bahrain, Kuwait Warplanes Bomb Iran...War and Tariffs Threaten Economy -- Again...Gas price surge may be just the start...Interest Rate Jumps to Highest Level of Second Term... Continue Reading »

Rapid pace of weapons use alarms... (Top headline, 2nd story, link) Related stories:Trump's foul-mouthed Iran meltdown leaks as he runs out of options...Tehran warns of new strikes on Tel Aviv...Bahrain, Kuwait Warplanes Bomb Iran...War and Tariffs Threaten Economy -- Again...Gas price surge may be just the start...Interest Rate Jumps to Highest Level of Second Term... Continue Reading »

Tehran warns of new strikes on Tel Aviv... (Top headline, 3rd story, link) Related stories:Trump's foul-mouthed Iran meltdown leaks as he runs out of options...Rapid pace of weapons use alarms...Bahrain, Kuwait Warplanes Bomb Iran...War and Tariffs Threaten Economy -- Again...Gas price surge may be just the start...Interest Rate Jumps to Highest Level of Second Term... Continue Reading »

Bahrain, Kuwait Warplanes Bomb Iran... (Top headline, 4th story, link) Related stories:Trump's foul-mouthed Iran meltdown leaks as he runs out of options...Rapid pace of weapons use alarms...Tehran warns of new strikes on Tel Aviv...War and Tariffs Threaten Economy -- Again...Gas price surge may be just the start...Interest Rate Jumps to Highest Level of Second Term... Continue Reading »

War and Tariffs Threaten Economy -- Again... (Top headline, 5th story, link) Related stories:Trump's foul-mouthed Iran meltdown leaks as he runs out of options...Rapid pace of weapons use alarms...Tehran warns of new strikes on Tel Aviv...Bahrain, Kuwait Warplanes Bomb Iran...Gas price surge may be just the start...Interest Rate Jumps to Highest Level of Second Term... Continue Reading »

Huge crater after back-to-back Israeli strikes on Gaza refugee camp. Continue Reading »

Israel has arrested wounded Palestinians in a hospital as it shuts off Nablus following Friday’s deadly settler attack Continue Reading »

The incident adds to concern that Moscow’s war on Ukraine risks spilling over to entangle neighbouring NATO states. Continue Reading »

Scientists warn that falling vaccination rates leave vulnerable groups such as young children more exposed to disease. Continue Reading »

Gaza families endure scorching summers without refrigerators, struggling to preserve food, medicine and basics. Continue Reading »

The IDF and ISA said Adham Ibrahim Sha’aban Nasman directed Hamas’ October 7 infiltration from Gaza City and later took part in holding Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, Ziv and Gali Berman, Eitan Mor, Matan Angrest and Omri Miran captive Continue Reading »

After October 7, the chairman of Effi Capital redirected much of his energy from building neighborhoods to building trust between the ultra-Orthodox community and the Israeli military Continue Reading »

More than 23 kilometers of the earthworks have been completed along Gaza’s Yellow Line, separating IDF-controlled territory from populated areas, as construction expands toward Rafah and raises fears the line could become permanent Continue Reading »

Police pinned 42-year-old Abderrahim Fakir to the pavement after reports that he was acting violently; video shows him struggling, saying he could not breathe and calling for help before losing consciousness, as Italy opens an investigation and protests spread Continue Reading »

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More measles cases have been reported in the United States in the last two years than in all the years from 2000 through 2024 combined. Continue Reading »

Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania now join Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia in cyclospora outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce. Continue Reading »

The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond has risen steadily this year, as the Iran war rages, government spending worries intensify and artificial intelligence spending boosts growth. Continue Reading »

After a delay ordered by President Trump and new tariffs against Canada, the bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit finally opened on Friday. Continue Reading »

The businesses are represented by the Liberty Justice Center, a legal group that has successfully challenged President Trump’s past duties. Continue Reading »

The Chinese upstart says it has trained high-performing AI models cheaply, without using the most advanced chips. Continue Reading »

DeepSeek, SoFi and more in the latest Market Talks covering Technology, Media and Telecom. Continue Reading »

DeepSeek is called “amazing and impressive” despite working with less-advanced chips. Continue Reading »

The LinkedIn co-founder is starting Manas AI with “The Emperor of All Maladies” author Siddhartha Mukherjee. Continue Reading »

Apps can add flexibility and freshness to your routine. Just try not to get injured. Continue Reading »

Israel allowed displaced Gazans to begin crossing a military zone that bisects the enclave after a deadlock over hostage releases was broken. Continue Reading »

Troubles at Vanke raise questions about the continued spread of the property crisis and whether the Chinese state will step in. Continue Reading »

Some of the women were held alone for extended periods and spent eight months in tunnels, an Israeli medical official said. Continue Reading »

The alliance mounted its first coordinated response to a suspected sabotage campaign against critical infrastructure after another cable was severed in the Baltic Sea. Continue Reading »

Residents of Goma reported gunfire and shelling after rebels overran Congolese troops. U.N. officials estimated that more than one million displaced people were now inside the city. Continue Reading »

The state edged Nevada to be first, marking a major shift from past primary schedules Continue Reading »

Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other head-slapping events in the world of politics. The fruits of these labors are hundreds of cartoons that entertain and enrage readers of all political stripes. Here's an offering of the best of this week's crop, picked fresh off the Toonosphere. Edited by Matt Wuerker. Continue Reading »

Three in five Americans believe gas prices in their area have risen by more than they actually have, according to a POLITICO analysis. Continue Reading »

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He defeated a DCCC-backed candidate in the 1st District, one of Democrats’ top pickup opportunities this cycle. Continue Reading »

House members leaving Washington for recess acknowledged they’re going to need to ease their constituents' worries about the Iran war and affordability. Continue Reading »

“We have a hell of a lot of work to do,” one House Republican said. Continue Reading »

The White House this week dialed up its rhetoric against the Senate majority leader. Continue Reading »

Democrats say they'll call Staley back to testify under oath if their party wins the majority in the midterms. Continue Reading »

It could be included on the agenda of a pending Commerce Committee markup of AI legislation. Continue Reading »

World leaders and Washington power players will be in the city for the longtime South Carolina lawmaker's funeral. Continue Reading »

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned that Senate Majority Leader John Thune is on thin ice when it comes to advancing the president’s marquee voting overhaul. Continue Reading »

The Trump administration is once again threatening to impose high tariffs. White House allies worry it’s undercutting the GOP’s affordability message. Continue Reading »

The president began his day observing the final return of four American soldiers and spent the afternoon rallying his base. Continue Reading »

The share of MAGA voters who think the war is worth the economic cost has fallen to roughly over a third, down from 50 percent in May, the POLITICO Poll found. Continue Reading »

President Donald Trump made a lot of promises on the 2024 campaign trail. Which have been kept, and which are unfulfilled? Continue Reading »

California Gov. Gavin Newsom says Hollywood is returning to its glory after years of production fleeing Los Angeles for cheaper filming locations, but industry experts tell Fox News Digital the sector is still reeling from production "decimation." "We need a major rescue, like, immediately," Shadowcast Pictures owner Jay Ellison said. Major studios are increasingly opting to film television shows and movies outside California, such as Canada and overseas in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, as well as to domestic production hubs in Georgia and New Mexico... Continue Reading »

The lead strategist for former Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said the campaign made strategic mistakes, weeks after he dropped out of the Maine race due to a rape allegation. Platner suspended his campaign on July 8 following a Politico report in which an ex-girlfriend alleged he raped her. Prior to that allegation, Platner stayed in the race for months, amid a range of scandals. They included sexts he apologized for, saying he had worked it out with his wife; allegations reported by the New York Times that he was physically aggressive with several ex-girlfriends, which he denied; a barrage of controversial Reddit posts from years ago he said were made during struggles with PTSD following combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan... Continue Reading »

Political commentator Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday said President Trump should "take the next month off" as the 80-year-old chief executive faces widening foreign and domestic dilemmas. O'Reilly, 76, wrapped up the latest episode of his podcast, "No Spin News," with a reflection on the roughly 40 years that he has known the president. He said he has noticed Trump "hunching over a little bit and that's normal," before prescribing his recommendation to the president... Continue Reading »

The weekend before one April election, I got a text from a friend about the upcoming county board of supervisors race. Our district had one candidate on the ballot. A last-minute write-in campaign was starting for someone else – someone I would have voted for. Unfortunately, the deadline for filing as a "registered write-in candidate" was the day before the would-be candidate decided to stand for office. Election rules in Wisconsin are specific about when write-in votes are eligible to be counted and when they are not. In this case (with ballot candidate(s) equal to or greater than the number of seats to be filled), write-in votes for an unregistered write-in candidate would not be counted... Continue Reading »

Dozens of America's trading partners, from Europe to China to India, now face new tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on goods shipped to the United States, according to the office of the US Trade Representative. The tariffs, announced Thursday, went into effect Friday morning. Goods from the 60 affected trading partners make up 99.4% of US imports... Continue Reading »

It's not that every Republican lawmaker thinks Donald Trump has had a perfect second term. But if you ask them about their disagreements with the president, they struggle to name anything. Even after Trump has spent the first half of his second term attacking fellow Republicans, waging a largely unsuccessful war in Iran, imposing unpopular tariffs, accepting a luxury jet from Qatar, pocketing more than a billion dollars from the crypto industry, tearing down the East Wing, trying to conceal the Epstein files, picking fights with the Pope, celebrating Robert Mueller's death, sharing racist posts online, making thousands of stock trades, threatening war with... Continue Reading »

Is the rise of progressive and democratic socialist candidates necessary to energize working-class voters, or does it risk alienating swing voters and fracturing the party's broad coalition? Continue Reading »

The national homicide rate in the U.S. continued its historic decline in the first half of 2026, although eight cities — including San Francisco, Dallas, and Norfolk, Virginia — saw spikes compared to the same period in 2025, a new study finds. The downward trend continues from last year, which saw the largest single year-over-year drop and likely the lowest murder rate in the U.S. since 1900, pending the final FBI crime statistics for the year. Continue Reading »

Crime rates across major U.S. cities have plummeted in 2026, with homicides on track to hit their lowest level since record-keeping began in 1900, according to a report released Thursday by the independent Council on Criminal Justice. Researchers told Straight Arrow there is no single explanation — or consensus — for why crime is falling so dramatically. Notably, crime rates dropped across the country, regardless of location, population size or local politics. "It was a good surprise," Ernesto Lopez, the report's co-author, told Straight Arrow. Continue Reading »

The national homicide rate plunged to a historic low in 2025 and has continued to fall so far this year – except in eight major US cities. The country saw the sharpest year-over-year decline in murders on record last year, with homicides dropping 20% from 2024 and likely reaching their lowest levels since 1900, according to a new analysis of local crime rates released by the Council on Criminal Justice. Continue Reading »

AI is not a neutral technology whose benefits need to be redistributed. It is a weapon of class war from above, designed to cheapen labor and concentrate power. Nationalizing it does nothing to change that. Continue Reading »

The federal government says it will drop its subpoenas compelling New York Times reporters to testify about anonymous sources in a case that involved President Donald Trump's claims about a Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet. Continue Reading »

AI-generated animal videos are sweet, until you realise the joy, like the animal, was never really there. Continue Reading »

One of the most robust findings in economic research is that rent control doesn't work. A policy often sold as a humane way to make housing more accessible and affordable instead constrains housing supply and makes market housing harder to access and more expensive. Continue Reading »

The financial math behind fleeing high-tax states for a Florida paradise is hitting a major roadblock. Continue Reading »

In the summer of 2021, Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, were cruising the Mediterranean by yacht when they stopped for a swim off the Adriatic coast. Continue Reading »

More than two dozen states on Thursday sued the Trump administration for requiring them to comply with election and immigration conditions in order to receive billions of dollars in federal funding for disasters. Continue Reading »

Over two dozen Democrat-run states sued the Trump administration after it attached conditions to providing Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funding. Continue Reading »

A coalition of mostly Democratic-led states asked a ​federal judge on Thursday to block the Department of Homeland Security from withholding certain disaster-related funds until states adopt ‌election administration practices favored by Republican President Donald Trump's administration. Continue Reading »

Gas Prices Nearing Levels That Could Push Trump Towards Iran Talks, Says JPM Commodities Expert One of the main macro drivers this week remains the Gulf energy shock, as chokepoints from the Strait of Hormuz to Bab el-Mandeb are disrupted. Turmoil in the Black Sea between Russia and Ukraine is also sending chills through commodities desks. Related energy coverage: RBC Commodities Chief Warns "War Entering Dangerous Phase" As Chokepoint Chaos Risks Oil Above 2008 Peak Brent crude is back above $100 a barrel, while WTI has reached $92, pushing Treasury yields higher, tightening financial conditions and weighing on duration-sensitive and consumer-facing stocks. At the start of the week, AAA data showed that while prices vary across states... ... the national average for regular gasoline had exceeded the politically sensitive threshold of $4 per gallon. And going higher... JPMorgan's head of Global Commodities Research and Strategy, Natasha Kaneva, told clients that Brent should average about $94 a barrel if the conflict is contained to one month, with each additional month of disruption adding roughly $7 to $8 as global inventories shrink. Kaneva warned that a three-month disruption could lift Brent to around $114, while a 1 million ... Continue Reading »

Trump Must Hand Over Finance Records Sought By BBC In Defamation Lawsuit, Judge Rules Authored by Rachel Roberts via The Epoch Times, A judge in Florida has ruled President Donald Trump must hand over financial records sought by the BBC for its defense against his $10 billion defamation lawsuit. The U.S. president is suing the corporation over an episode of “Panorama” that edited together different sections of his speech on the day of the Capitol breach in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. The BBC reported that Judge Enjoliqué Lett granted a motion by the corporation’s legal team to compel the release of financial records held by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, created to manage his businesses while he is president. ‘Partial Success’ The judge’s ruling at Tuesday’s opening hearing in Miami can still be appealed, but the BBC said it amounts to a “partial success” in its attempt to force Trump to provide evidence for his claim that he suffered financial loss due to the Panorama edit. The defamation case is currently at the discovery phase, where both sides must provide documents, internal or otherwise, that could form part of their evidence. The corporation has produced ... Continue Reading »

Trump Losing Patience, In 'Revenge Mode' After 13th Consecutive Night Of US Strikes On Iran The latest little peace overture by Washington widely reported Thursday night was apparently a big nothingburger, as on Friday the Iraqi prime minister’s office has denied a New York Times report claiming that Iran rejected a US ceasefire proposal delivered to Tehran by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi. The fresh statement from the prime minister's office said what was published in the Times was "entirely unfounded" and had "no relation to reality." The statement underscored the temporary nature of the proposal and that it was the "only offer on the table" and still left the question of control over the Strait of Hormuz unresolved - and so Tehran was uninterested. It's also the reality that Tehran wants to see Trump sweat and impose economic and political costs particularly ahead of the midterms in November, where Congressional Republicans must face voters over failing to rein in Trump's Iran war. The Iranians continue to openly voice this, for example in the following from the parliament speaker: They wanted to punish Iran. Punished themselves with triple-digit oil instead. 10/10 strategy👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/w80f1Xzuvk — محمدباقر قالیباف | MB ... Continue Reading »

Historic Buffalo Church Torches Twice In Four Days Following Sale To Islamic Group Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News, A 140-year-old Catholic church in Buffalo has been deliberately set on fire for the second time in four days, the third blaze to hit the site this year. Investigators confirmed arson. The property was sold years earlier by the Diocese of Buffalo to a company affiliated with the Downtown Islamic Center, which planned to turn the historic complex into a mosque. Christian heritage keeps vanishing while officials scramble over "securing" the site they already allowed to fall into the wrong hands. The former St. Ann's Church and Shrine at 651 Broadway, built in 1886, suffered a fire around 5:45pm on Tuesday, July 21. Buffalo Fire Department crews contained it. Officials ruled the cause arson. It came just four days after a three-alarm blaze on Friday, July 17, that began in the rear of the structure. In January, a four-alarm fire had already gutted the adjacent former school building, causing an estimated $600,000 in damage. Here we go again...a 140-year-old church in Buffalo, New York has been torched twice in 4 days by arson. It's ... Continue Reading »

Trump's Tariff Wall Returns With Forced-Labor Duties On 60 Countries The Trump administration imposed Section 301 tariffs on 60 countries accused of failing to "impose and effectively enforce" bans on goods produced with forced labor, according to a new notice from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Today, Ambassador Greer is taking action, at President Trump’s direction, under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 by imposing tariffs on 60 trading partners for their failure to adopt and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.… — United States Trade Representative (@USTradeRep) July 23, 2026 Goods from countries including Canada, Mexico, India, and the UK will face a 10% duty, while imports from the European Union and Taiwan will be taxed at least 10%. Products from Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland will face levies of at least 12.5%, with dozens of other countries subject to a flat 12.5% tariff. Fuel, food, fertilizer, and products already covered by sector-specific tariffs, including automobiles, metals, and pharmaceuticals, will be exempt. Goods qualifying under the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement will also be excluded. The tariffs take effect Friday at 12:01 a.m. ... Continue Reading »

US New Home Sales Rise For First Time In 3 Months As Prices Near 5-Year Lows With Case-Shiller reporting existing home price declines in half of America's largest cities, and despite a weaker homebuilder confidence print, New Home Sales were expected to rebound from April and May's ugly declines... and they did, but only very modestly. New home sales rose 1.6% MoM (+4.8% MoM exp) marking the first rise in three months, but May's 7.3% MoM decline was revised up to a mere 4.3% MoM decline. However, this bounce was not enough to get annual sales positive (still down 5.6% YoY)... Overall, new home sales have really gone nowhere for four years (but on the bright side, they are not as bad as existing- and pending-home-sales)... It seems lower mortgage rates (admittedly having risen for the last month) did nothing to help move new home sales, and now they are on the rise again... Median new home prices dropped for the second month in a row, back near their lowest levels since 2021... The decline in homebuilder confidence still has a long way to go to catch down to homebuyer confidence... Unfortunately, the decline in price is more than ... Continue Reading »

US PMIs Mixed But Still Signal Accelerating Economic Growth In Q3 With 'hard data' trending weaker, today's preliminary July PMIs offer the first glimpse at whether the reignition of the Iran War is weighing on 'soft' survey sentiment in the US economy. The data was mixed (as always) with Manufacturing disappointing while Services accelerated more than expected: Flash US Manufacturing PMI: 53.8 (June: 53.9). 4-month low. Flash US Services PMI Business Activity Index: 53.6 (June: 51.2). 8-month high. “US businesses reported a good start to the third quarter," said Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, adding that "the ‘flash’ PMI survey data broadly consistent with GDP growing at an annualized 2.0% against a 1.2% pace signalled for the second quarter." The month saw an encouraging return to hiring by companies, with employment rising for the first time in three months. “However, some of this improvement may prove shortlived as July saw hospitality spend boosted by the FIFA World Cup and USA 250 anniversary activities," warned Williamson. It was also worrying – though not unexpected – to see manufacturing growth weaken as some of the stock building seen in prior months showed signs of ... Continue Reading »

Yet Another Wildberries Facility - Russia's Amazon - Goes Up In Flames After Ukraine Drone Strike Another large warehouse and logistics hub for major online Russian retailer Wildberries has been targeted and struck by Ukrainian drones. This is the third time in a week the company widely considered to be the 'Russian Amazon' has seen its warehouses go up in flames. At least eight of its shipping facilities have been attacked overall this month. Wildberries co-founder Tatyana Kim confirmed the fresh attack on company facilities Friday morning: Kim, Russia's wealthiest woman, said Wildberries facilities in St. Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region, as well as in annexed Crimea, were hit overnight. Fires broke out at several locations, though Kim said "parts" of the warehouses were saved. While Kim said none of the company's employees were injured, Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko wrote in a post on Telegram earlier in the morning that three people were hurt during the attack in his region. Moscow Times via Telegram Operations at these facilities have been halted, while all personnel a the impacted warehouse in Crimea have been evacuated. The St. Petersburg attack resulted in especially dramatic scenes of a huge smoke plume stretching ... Continue Reading »

"It's Getting Worse": HSBC Warns Commodities Face Squeeze As Chokepoint Chaos Spreads The key takeaway heading into the weekend is that maritime chokepoint chaos has spread from the Strait of Hormuz to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, while fighting across the Black Sea has intensified between Russia and Ukraine. The widening disruptions have prompted several institutional desks this week to warn that a potential squeeze on physical commodity markets could send prices from energy to agricultural goods higher. "The Middle East conflict has escalated, putting a substantial squeeze back into commodity markets," Paul Bloxham, HSBC's chief economist for Australia, New Zealand and global commodities, wrote in a note on Friday morning. Bloxham continued, "Traffic through Hormuz has almost stalled again, and the disruption has spread to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the key access point for the Red Sea, for Saudi oil going to Asia and Europe-Asia trade through the Suez Canal." Bloxham warned that with Brent trading above $100 a barrel and strategic petroleum reserves being rapidly depleted worldwide, energy markets face a mounting risk of a "super-squeeze." His message was blunt: "It's not over yet," adding, "Hormuz, Mandeb, oil at 100 ... it's ... Continue Reading »

Braggawatts, Cheap Chinese Compute, & Simple ROI Authored by Peter Tchir via Academy Securities, With weakness in chips and AI the prior week, that was a major topic of conversation, as was the escalation in Iran (please see Academy’s Geopolitical Analysis for the latest on Iran and geopolitics more broadly). Two key themes from last weekend’s From Trinkets to Compute seem to be playing out: Cheap Chinese Compute Most importantly, the story of Cheap Chinese Compute is garnering staying power. While DeepSeek may have been a one-off, the story is increasingly about China delivering Cheap Compute. We have seen China flood/control markets in the past. I didn’t see it coming in compute (at least not yet), but it might be here? China doesn’t have to deal with NIMBY, but they do make a lot of chips (generally lower quality, but a lot), and have been ramping up all forms of electricity production and storage for years. The U.S. is finally getting on board with this ProSec™ theme, while the rest of the world is only starting to wake up to the need and potential opportunity that adopting a ProSec™ mindset delivers. On the less “savory” side are “allegations” (and I’m being polite here) that a lot of the Chinese compute trains ... Continue Reading »

NANO Nuclear And Fortil Advance Critical KRONOS Fuel System NANO Nuclear Energy has pushed another critical piece of its KRONOS MMR program toward preliminary design, this time with French engineering group Fortil. If there's a corner of the French industrial sector that America should be comfortable leaning into, their nuclear segment is arguably the safest bet. Their 57-reactor fleet, accounting for 70% of the country's electricity generation, is only surpassed by the US and Chinese commercial fleets. The companies said conceptual design work is nearly complete on the reactor’s Fuel Handling & Storage System, which will manage the safe handling, storage and movement of nuclear fuel throughout operations. The work includes defining subsystem interfaces, evaluating engineering solutions and producing documentation needed for the next design stage. It’s not the most glamorous part of a reactor, but it’s the sort of picks-and-shovels engineering that separates a reactor rendering from an operating nuclear plant. Fortil’s dedicated nuclear team is handling multidisciplinary work across mechanical and systems engineering, nuclear safety, instrumentation and control, and radiation protection. The consultancy has more than 2,500 employees across 30 offices in 14 countries, giving NANO access to an international engineering bench ... Continue Reading »

"I'm Not Racist": Musk Slams Snooty Leftist Interviewer, Says "I Support The Normal People" Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News, During a terse exchange, Elon Musk told the virulently leftist editor-in-chief of The Economist that civil war in Britain is inevitable on current trends - driven by rapid migration of people whose beliefs clash with Western civilisation. In response, Zanny Minton Beddoes accused Musk of supporting the "far right," and amplifying racists. Musk called the coming confrontation a "reckoning," rejected the racist smear, and turned the tables on an interviewer determined to paint secure borders and opposition to rape and murder as fringe extremism. When the interviewer insisted she lived in Britain and called the claim "nonsense," he shot back: "You live a very closeted existence!" He expanded: "If you have a large and growing, rapidly growing, group of people whose beliefs are antithetical to western beliefs, at some point there will be a reckoning." Musk described the prospect as inevitable and called it a "crying shame" that mainstream outlets refuse to recognise the threat to Western civilisation. Pressed on whether he was racist or anti-Muslim, Musk answered directly: "My partner is half-Indian and ... Continue Reading »

Futures Rebound As Brent Dips Below $100 US equity futures are seeing a modest rebound after posting their biggest drop this month, as Brent crude dropped back under $100 a barrel, and bond yields and rate hike odds - which track the price of oil one to one - halted their ascent. As of 6:00am ET,  S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%, with the index still on track for its first back-to-back weekly loss since the early stages of the Iran war. Tech stocks remained under pressure as South Korea’s memory and Japanese chip giants were pummeled. Treasury yields hovered just below their highest levels this year, while Brent fell more than 3% toward $97 a barrel. In premarket trading, Tesla leads gains among Mag 7 stocks after the electric vehicle maker plunged about 15% on Thursday (Tesla +1.3%, Microsoft +1.1%, Alphabet +0.7%, Meta +0.7%, Amazon +0.5%, Apple +0.2%, Nvidia -0.4%) Amkor Technology (AMKR) rallies 11% after the company announced a $1.5 billion multi-year binding agreement with Nvidia to develop advanced semiconductor packaging and test technologies for next-generation AI and accelerated computing platforms. Intel (INTC) gains 4% (well below the kneejerk surge 12% higher) after ... Continue Reading »

Inside Global Aerospace & Defense Boom: 12 Takeaways From World's Most Important Airshow The Farnborough International Airshow is coming to a close in the UK, marking the end of one of the aerospace and defense industry's top gatherings. Institutional research desks have had boots on the ground, tracking commercial-aircraft orders, defense procurement and other industry trends. A team of Citi analysts led by John Godyn attended Farnborough earlier this week and reported back to clients Thursday morning. Their findings pointed to accelerating missile demand and a wave of new aircraft orders that could fuel a stronger and more robust growth cycle for aerospace and defense companies. Godyn highlighted the event's key takeaways, giving clients a clearer picture of the aerospace and defense industries heading into fall and 2027: 1) Aftermarket channel checks across multiple companies extend recent strength. We spoke with a wide range of aftermarket exposed companies including engine manufacturers, parts/component manufacturers, MROs, and aircraft lessors. Consistently, across all meetings, companies expressed the view that the key themes driving aftermarket continue including: (1) low retirement rates, (2) high lease renewals and tight secondary market trends for AC/engines, (3) strong demand for lift ... Continue Reading »

India's Fuel Exports Set To Soar In July As Refining Margins Jump By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com, India is on track to export the highest volume of refined petroleum products in months as refining margins have jumped with the re-escalation of the Middle East conflict. India is estimated to ship as many as 1.55 million barrels per day (bpd) of light and middle distillates in July, per data by commodity analysts Kpler cited by Reuters columnist Clyde Russell. The July volumes would be nearly double the fuel export volumes of just 866,000 bpd in May, when the Strait of Hormuz crisis hit crude supplies to India and the rest of Asia. In May, India saw its lowest fuel exports in four years. The tightening fuel markets in Asia and the rest of the world added to a renewed rally in refining margins after the U.S.-Iran ceasefire collapsed two weeks ago. This has encouraged Indian refiners to ramp up refined petroleum exports. The expected volumes in July would be the second-highest level in Kpler’s data series dating back to 2017. Earlier this month, Kpler estimated that India’s refined petroleum exports would hit in July the highest level since September 2025 ... Continue Reading »

Deaths Now Outnumber Births In 17 US States Natural population growth is slowing across much of America. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates, 17 states recorded more deaths than births between July 2024 and July 2025, up from only four states during much of the 2010s. Using U.S. Census Bureau data, Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld created this map showing natural population change in every state. Because the measure excludes domestic and international migration, it highlights where population growth increasingly depends on people moving in. Natural Population Change by State The table below ranks every state by natural population change between July 2024 and July 2025, highlighting where births continued to outpace deaths—and where they no longer did. State Natural Population Change Jul 2024–Jul 2025 Pennsylvania -10,708 West Virginia -7,887 Maine -5,019 Michigan -4,998 Oregon -3,764 Mississippi -2,607 Alabama -2,188 New Hampshire -2,167 New Mexico -1,885 Vermont -1,769 Florida -1,333 Arkansas -1,224 Ohio -729 Delaware -554 Rhode Island -304 Montana -90 Kentucky -83 Missouri 177 Wyoming 295 South Carolina 564 Wisconsin 1,161 Hawaii 2,024 Connecticut 2,283 District of Columbia 2,516 Oklahoma 2,559 South Dakota 2,605 North Dakota 2,630 Louisiana 2,774 Iowa 2,949 Nevada 3,051 Alaska 3,308 Tennessee 3,597 Kansas 4,951 Nebraska 6,136 Idaho 6,900 Massachusetts 8,419 Indiana 8,561 Illinois 10,903 Maryland 11,444 Minnesota 12,071 Virginia 13,817 North Carolina 15,129 Washington 17,230 Colorado 20,608 Utah 24,961 New Jersey 26,023 Georgia 28,631 Arizona 20,914 New York 42,815 California 109,715 Texas 157,711 Pennsylvania recorded the nation’s largest natural decline (-10.7K), followed by West Virginia, Maine, and Michigan. Most states with natural decreases were concentrated in the Northeast and Appalachia, regions that include several states with some of the country’s oldest populations. Florida also recorded more deaths than births, yet remained one of America’s fastest-growing states because of migration. The South remained the engine of natural population growth. ... Continue Reading »

EU Is Launching A Mission To Board Russian Shadow Fleet Tankers In The Indian Ocean The European Union has authorized its naval mission in the Indian Ocean (apparently there is one) to stop and board Russian shadow fleet tankers suspected of operating under false flags, the bloc announced on Wednesday. The Spanish Navy frigate Santa María F81, deployed as part of the European Union Naval Force Operation ATALANTA, seen off the coast of Mogadishu, Somalia, on April 24, 2025. EU member states have authorized Operation Atalanta, the union’s counter-piracy naval mission off the Horn of Africa, to begin conducting flag-verification boardings of vessels suspected of belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet in the western Indian Ocean, DefenseNews reported. The decision, announced this week by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, extends to Atalanta a power already exercised by the EU’s Mediterranean mission, Operation Irini. Kallas made the announcement alongside news that Irini forces had boarded the sanctioned oil tanker MV South Star on July 20, acting on suspicion that the vessel was sailing under a false flag. “Every illicit voyage helps sustain Russia’s war machine. We are matching our sanctions with action at ... Continue Reading »

Eco Loon Lobbies For Cameo In British Soap To Spread Climate Alarmism Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News, BBC naturalist Chris Packham has openly requested a guest role on the fictional soap EastEnders so he can turn the nation's most-watched entertainment show into a vehicle for climate crisis messaging. In comments reported by GB News and drawn from a Radio Times interview, the veteran naturalist described his fantasy appearance: an environmental disaster such as a flood hitting the fictional London borough, followed by him marching through as himself with a placard to lecture the locals. Packham told Radio Times he wants the role because it "would give me the capacity to communicate to an audience which I don't talk to in my sphere of work." Chris Packham makes request for BBC EastEnders role to spread awareness of climate crisishttps://t.co/EGpYTlGvjp — GB News (@GBNEWS) July 22, 2026 He complained that while some people understand the "scale of the crisis," broader media fails at "truth telling" to "bring it home to everyone." "The trouble is, I keep popping that bubble and looking outside, and I see that other people are not aware of the gravity of ... Continue Reading »

EU Approves Biggest Russia Sanctions Yet After Holdout Greece Secured LNG Exemption What is there left to sanction and what is its effectiveness? Europe is boasting of no less that its 21st package of sanctions against Russia, approved by the EU on Thursday. Apparently it has found plenty of entities still to sanction, as the compiled blacklisting is said to be the EU's largest in four years, targeting primarily financial and energy sectors. The bloc also agreed to freeze the Russian oil price cap at current levels for another year, alongside issuing 218 new designations. Getty Images "At a time when Ukraine has built military momentum, our sanctions continue to weaken the economic foundations of Russia’s war effort," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. And Kaja Kallas, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and chair of the Foreign Affairs Council, announced that "With each round of sanctions, we squeeze Russia's economy and its capacity to prolong its illegal war. Our 21st package includes the highest number of listings in four years." She described: "We’re hitting over a hundred banks and crypto operators, 40+ vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet, and several oil refineries ... Continue Reading »

The Multipolaristas' Are China-Maxxing Authored by Iain Davis via Off-Guardian.org, Let’s consider the arguments of those who advocate global governance, the people whom Hrvoje Morić identifies as the Multipolaristas. They are often engaged in China-maxxing and are, whether they know it or not, essentially serving as propagandists for the global oligarchy. Research conducted by analysts working for the South China Morning Post (SCMP)—an English-speaking, Western-aligned Chinese news outlet—suggests that, between 2015 and 2025, a notable shift occurred in the way China and its government were portrayed by the leading Western media organisations. Chief analyst Jianlu Bi, who is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Policy Studies and a research fellow at the Charhar Institute in Beijing, wrote: [N]early 70 per cent of stories covering China’s economy, technology or environment in 2019 had a negative tone [but] by 2025, the share of negative stories dropped to around 40 per cent, along with an increase in neutral coverage across all categories and positive coverage of the [Chinese] economy. This notable Western media narrative shift is part of a wider trend that can be described as “China-maxxing.” With outlets like The Economist, the Financial Times, and The New York Times—all previously known for their staunch ... Continue Reading »