US Vice-President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance welcomed their fourth child Alec Neel Vance on Sunday morning — the first child born to a sitting US Vice-President in more than 150 years and the first pregnancy or birth of a sitting second lady in 156 years, with the couple announcing the birth in a social-media statement; Alec joins older siblings Ewan, nine; Vivek, six; and Mirabel, four.
Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 after extra time to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup Sunday at New York-New Jersey Stadium — with Ferran Torres scoring the only goal of the game in the second half of extra time against a 10-man Argentina side; the victory delivers Spain's second World Cup crown after South Africa 2010 and completes what NPR framed as a defensive masterclass — the first World Cup champion to win the title while conceding only a single goal across the entire tournament, with wins over four of the world's top ten teams.
US Central Command confirmed three US service member deaths across two days: two killed and one missing after Iran hit two Jordan military bases Friday, and a third killed Saturday during a 'controlled detonation' of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone in northern Iraq — with the US military launching retaliatory airstrikes against Iran beginning 6 p.m. EDT Saturday, Jordan summoning Iran's top envoy to protest, and Israel warning that Tehran's attacks are 'coming close' as US-Iran escalation approaches full war.
US President Donald Trump arrived at the 2026 FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina at New York-New Jersey Stadium aboard Marine One presidential helicopter Sunday — with his presence prompting tighter security checks that caused logistical delays and lengthy queues for supporters entering the venue; Al Jazeera reporters faced lengthy queues to enter the stadium due to the tighter security architecture, per Al Jazeera reporting from inside the ground.
Russia carried out one of its largest ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in a five-hour assault Saturday that left at least eight dead and dozens injured — with Ukrainian officials framing the capital as having been hit with about 40 Iskander missiles causing fires and damage across the city; the barrage was framed as one of the biggest of the war amid rare domestic political instability triggered by a sudden wartime shakeup of Ukraine's defense leadership.
Andy Burnham, the 56-year-old former mayor of Greater Manchester, was officially declared leader of Britain's governing Labour Party Friday at a special conference in London, pledging to bring hope to the British people and end factional infighting as he cleared his final hurdle to take office as prime minister next Monday — with Burnham the only contender in the center-left party's leadership contest to replace departing PM Keir Starmer, having succeeded on his third attempt after failing in 2010 and 2015.
The US military launched a seventh consecutive night of strikes on Iran on Friday night with Central Command framing the attacks as designed to 'continue degrading Iranian military capabilities' — with the US expanding into civilian infrastructure by hitting bridges in Iran's southern Hormozgan province (killing at least seven per Iranian state TV), energy facilities and collapsing a tower at the Bandar Abbas port; Iran retaliated with strikes on a Kuwait water and electricity plant and US military sites hosted by Gulf neighbours.
US President Donald Trump delivered a primetime White House address Thursday alleging China meddled in the 2020 US election and questioning voting security ahead of November midterms — citing newly declassified DHS documents that critics say don't reveal anything new or prove past-election fraud; DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin publicly repeated many unverified claims, Senate Democrat Ed Markey called for Trump's impeachment, and China's Foreign Ministry rejected the claims as 'pure fabrications' and 'unfounded smears'.
Trump Media & Technology Group is launching a paid 'Truth API' offering high-frequency Wall Street trading firms the fastest access to Truth Social posts including Donald Trump's — with the company pitching a $100,000 monthly fee for the low-latency feed to firms seeking market-moving advantages from the president's posts; the offering comes amid ongoing concerns that Trump has 'frequently been accused of trading government influence for improper financial gain'.
The White House suspended a longtime teleprompter operator on administrative leave after an ABC News report accused him of using nonpublic inside knowledge of President Donald Trump's speeches to make nearly $100,000 betting on Kalshi event contracts tied to those speeches — with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission investigating whether the staffer profited from event contracts tied to Trump's speeches; Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt framed the alleged conduct as a 'disgrace'.
Spain reached the FIFA World Cup 2026 final Tuesday after goals from Mikel Oyarzabal in the 22nd minute and Pedro Porro in the 58th minute delivered a convincing 2-0 semifinal victory over France in Dallas — with Spain fans celebrating what one framed as 'a tactical thrashing' of pre-tournament favourites, and manager Luis de la Fuente saying his team had recaptured the '2010 spirit' as they are now just one win from a second World Cup crown.
The US House of Representatives voted 308-117 Tuesday to pass the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025 that would make daylight saving time the permanent standard time nationwide and end the practice of changing clocks twice a year — with broad bipartisan support including 95 Democrats and the majority of Republicans (22 Republicans and 95 Democrats voted against), President Donald Trump backing the measure, and the legislation now heading to the Senate.
Writer E. Jean Carroll received a payout of over $5.62 million from US President Donald Trump three years after a unanimous nine-person jury found him liable for sexually assaulting and defaming her — with Trump having sought to delay the payment as he tried to persuade the Supreme Court to overturn the judgement; the payout, framed by Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan as vindication of the 2022 jury verdict, resolves the immediate financial-liability portion of the case.
Ukraine's parliament accepted the resignation Tuesday of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, the 40-year-old economist who stepped down after just a year in office at the request of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a reshuffle for which he has offered little explanation — with the motion passing despite some lawmakers expressing unease about such an abrupt change, and Deutsche Welle framing the change as Ukraine 'changing its political strategy'.
Iran retaliated Monday-Tuesday for US President Donald Trump's Hormuz blockade and 20% cargo toll by striking US allies Bahrain and Jordan and attacking two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz with cruise missiles — with the US launching a third consecutive night of strikes hitting Iranian port cities Bushehr and Bandar Abbas in response, and the UAE condemning Iran's 'brazen' attack on the tankers; Trump has threatened to hit additional targets including fortified nuclear site Pickaxe Mountain.
A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a 26-year-old Colombian national during an immigration operation in Biddeford, Maine on Monday — with Al Jazeera reporting more than 60 people have died in ICE shootings or while in ICE detention since Donald Trump returned to power, and the Maine killing coming less than a week after an undocumented migrant was fatally shot in Houston by an immigration agent during a traffic stop.
French police arrested two suspects for suspected arson amid the ongoing Fontainebleau forest fire that has burned more than 1,900 hectares 70 km south of Paris since Sunday — with residential neighborhoods evacuated and train and highway traffic disrupted; French police raised suspicions after several fires broke out in close proximity, with the blaze one of several wildfires in western Europe as the region bakes under its third red-alert heat wave this year, and 10 people still unaccounted for from a Spain fire.
The death toll from Sunday's Bangkok pub fire at Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao in Chatuchak district rose to 30 Tuesday after three more critically injured patients died from wounds sustained in the blaze — with Thai police framing negligence as the 'primary theory' in their investigation of whether emergency exits were blocked or hard to access; the bar owner offered 'deepest apologies' as authorities confirmed 24 people remain in critical condition and the fire is now the deadliest Bangkok blaze in 17 years.
US District Judge Kathleen Williams on Monday voided President Donald Trump's $1.776 billion settlement with the IRS that had given him immunity from tax audits and funded an 'anti-weaponization' fund, in a scathing ruling framing the underlying $10 billion lawsuit as 'collusion' since the two parties were never truly averse — Williams sanctioned the president's lawyers, referred a Trump attorney for possible disciplinary action, and framed the suit as brought for 'improper purposes'.
One person was killed Monday in a fatal shooting involving US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Biddeford, Maine, according to the Maine House Speaker — the second US ICE-involved fatal shooting in a week following the killing of a man on his way to work in Houston, Texas, during a traffic stop; a state lawmaker framed the Maine victim as a young person, adding to substantive concerns about immigration-enforcement use-of-force patterns.
US President Donald Trump declared Monday the US will 'take over' the Strait of Hormuz as 'guardian' and reinstate its naval blockade of Iran and Iranian shipping in the Gulf while imposing a 20% toll on all cargoes shipped through the key maritime passage — with Iran rejecting any US control over the strait as both sides continue exchanging heavy drone and missile strikes; Brent crude rose 5% on the announcement and Bitcoin threatened $62,000 in a risk-asset rout, with the US framing the toll as covering 'safety and security' of the waterway.
Michael Saylor's Strategy raised $467 million through MSTR stock sales to boost its cash reserve to $3 billion while leaving its 843,775 BTC holdings unchanged for a second straight week — signalling a substantive-pivot away from Strategy's decade-long accumulation-only architecture; Strategy's total holdings account for roughly 4% of Bitcoin's 21 million supply cap and are worth approximately $53 billion at Bitcoin near $64,000, with the position roughly $9.7 billion underwater at the average $75,476 cost basis.
New Zealand actor Sam Neill — internationally famous for playing Dr Alan Grant in the 1993 film 'Jurassic Park' and for his roles in 'The Piano' and 'The Tudors' — has died 'unexpectedly' at the age of 78, with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon calling him 'one of the greats'; Neill had announced in April that he was cancer-free after undergoing treatment for stage-three blood cancer.
A fire at Bangkok pub Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao in the Chatuchak district killed 27 people and left another 22 in critical condition just after midnight Monday local time, in one of Thailand's deadliest such incidents in recent years — with officials investigating whether emergency exits were obstructed and an initial assessment pointing to an electrical short circuit in an air conditioner in the ceiling as the cause; Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited the aftermath as many victims were found at the restrooms at the back.
Italy's Jannik Sinner defeated Germany's Alexander Zverev 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 6-4 in the Wimbledon men's singles final Sunday to defend his 2025 title, claim his fifth Grand Slam crown and extend his head-to-head dominance over the German to 10 straight victories — with Zverev appearing bothered by a knee issue following a slip on the grass at a key point in the third set; Sinner's win came in his first tournament since a second-round French Open meltdown.
US forces said they had attacked 140 targets in Iran on Saturday night and Sunday morning as Iran again declared the Strait of Hormuz closed accusing ships of using unauthorized routes — with US President Donald Trump rejecting the closure claim and the US launching a third round of strikes after Iran's IRGC struck the Cyprus-flagged container ship GFS; the ceasefire agreed last month is now at the point of collapse after almost a week of tit-for-tat exchanges.
US Senator Lindsey Graham, the 71-year-old South Carolina Republican and staunch Trump ally who backed the 2003 Iraq invasion and the recent war with Iran, died Saturday night after 'a brief and sudden illness', his office said — with President Donald Trump paying tribute to Graham as 'a true American Patriot' and 'one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known', while South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster prepares to appoint a temporary replacement to fill the vacant Senate seat.
Typhoon Bavi made landfall in eastern China's Zhejiang province Sunday after Chinese authorities evacuated nearly two million people in its path, with the storm downgraded to a severe tropical storm after landfall — no immediate reports of damage or casualties in China; before reaching China, the storm lashed northern Taiwan and Japan's southwestern islands, and the Philippines death toll rose to 18 after Bavi's earlier passage; schools, work, and outdoor activities suspended and many transport services cancelled.
The Trump administration DOJ served subpoenas on four New York Times journalists Friday over their reporting on security risks involving President Donald Trump's Qatar-gifted Air Force One plane that recently entered service — with the Times reporting that the refurbished jet lacked some advanced security measures of older aircraft used to transport the president; House Democrat Jim Himes framed the new plane as 'a security risk' while press-freedom advocates flag the subpoenas as substantive concerns about press freedoms under the administration.
Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei framed avenging his slain predecessor and father Ali Khamenei as 'the demand of the nation' that 'must certainly' take place in a Saturday Telegram message, per France 24 — as US President Donald Trump threatened to 'completely decimate' Iran should it attempt or succeed in assassinating him, with chants for Trump's death having erupted at the funeral processions and US officials demanding Iran publicly frame the Strait of Hormuz as open.
Meta discontinued its Muse Image AI feature that had let users generate AI images from photos in public Instagram accounts, the company announced, following widespread privacy backlash days after the Tuesday launch — with a Hollywood union among the vocal critics; the company said its intent was to provide a creative tool and give people control over whether their public content could be referenced, but heard feedback that the feature missed the mark.
Apple sued OpenAI on Friday in federal court in San Jose, accusing the AI company of orchestrating an aggressive campaign to steal the iPhone maker's trade secrets as OpenAI works to develop its own consumer hardware device — with the lawsuit alleging former Apple employees took confidential designs, supplier information, and engineering files before joining OpenAI, and that OpenAI encouraged Apple employees to share information about upcoming products through job interviews.
US President Donald Trump refused to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on Friday in protest of Senate non-passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act — but without a veto the bipartisan housing bill nonetheless became law automatically at midnight Saturday, including a provision that bans the Federal Reserve from developing a US central bank digital currency until 2031, and demands from Trump that Republicans prioritise voter ID legislation before November midterms.
South Korean chip giant SK Hynix raised over $26 billion in its share offering as its Nasdaq Global Select Market debut Friday marked the largest foreign listing in US market history, with shares jumping more than 13% on the first day of trading amid frenzied demand for chips and artificial intelligence; SK Hynix priced its American depositary receipts at $149 each before opening, with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won framing the debut as a 'historical moment' expecting huge AI investment.
Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old charged with murdering far-right pundit Charlie Kirk, told his roommate a day after the fatal shooting that he wished 'he hadn't done it', according to testimony from ex-roommate and romantic partner Lance Twiggs heard Thursday on the fourth day of a preliminary hearing to determine whether the case can proceed to trial — with prosecutors playing recordings of a police investigative interview during the hearing.
Donald Trump's proposal to build a 250-foot triumphal arch in Virginia across the Potomac River from Washington cleared an initial federal review Thursday when the National Capital Planning Commission — which includes three Trump appointees — voted 8-1 to approve preliminary site and building approval; the commission put off a decision on whether federal law limiting building heights should apply to the project, setting up a substantive debate as the Interior Department argues DC height limits do not apply to federal projects.
Syrian authorities said on Thursday they had arrested several suspects accused of carrying out a series of bombings in Damascus, including the attacks during French President Emmanuel Macron's visit earlier this week — with the Interior Ministry announcing security forces had dismantled the entire cell and an official blaming Islamic State, though ISIS has not claimed responsibility for the two explosions that occurred in the Syrian capital during the Macron visit.
US President Donald Trump called a second wave of US strikes on Iran 'retribution' as the two militaries continued to exchange strikes overnight Thursday, with US Central Command reporting it struck about 90 Iranian military targets including air defence systems, missile and drone storage sites and naval capabilities — in violation of the 60-day ceasefire the two nations agreed to last month, with the second-day exchange marking the most severe violations yet of the Memorandum of Understanding that came into effect June 17.
Iran on Friday laid to rest its former supreme leader Ali Khamenei four months after his killing in an airstrike, with the flag-covered coffin carried into the shrine of Imam Reza in his home city of Mashhad as thousands of people waited outside — Khamenei's son Mojtaba has assumed the supreme leader role, per Deutsche Welle, inheriting a political system his father spent decades building, with France 24 framing the transition as a shift from theocracy to nationalist military leadership.
US President Donald Trump threatened to cut trade ties with Spain calling it a 'terrible partner' in NATO over its actions during the US-Israel war on Iran and renewed his demand that the US take over Greenland at the final day of the two-day NATO summit in Ankara Wednesday; French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on the sidelines that he 'doesn't believe' the US would seize Greenland — as Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
