US President Donald Trump imposed new tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 countries — accounting for 99% of US imports — under Section 301 of the Trade Act citing failure to enforce bans on goods produced by forced labor, replacing a 10% global duty struck down by the Supreme Court that was set to expire Friday; the sweeping tariffs hit South Korea, Japan, the EU, Taiwan, and Australia at 12.5% minimum with the Guardian counting more than 80 trading partners affected.
The Trump Justice Department announced Thursday it would withdraw the subpoenas issued to four New York Times journalists earlier this month over their reporting on security concerns involving the president's Qatari-gifted $400 million Air Force One replacement plane — with the withdrawal announced during a Manhattan federal court hearing in which Judge Arun Subramanian was weighing whether to enforce them; the reversal comes less than two weeks after Sean Buckley from the Manhattan prosecutor's office issued the subpoenas.
US President Donald Trump publicly conditioned a proposed US-Saudi civilian nuclear deal on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords and formally recognising Israel — with the condition emerging less than 24 hours after the agreement was signed; the BBC framed the landmark deal to help Saudis develop nuclear energy as now dependent on Riyadh recognising Israel, while Deutsche Welle framed critics as warning the deal could spark a Middle East nuclear arms race with Israel and UAE unhappy and reports suggesting the US may already be backtracking.
The US Secret Service said Thursday it was investigating a member of Vice President JD Vance's protective detail over allegations of compromising 'operational and information security' — with the agent placed on administrative leave and facing both an administrative investigation and a potential criminal inquiry, per Chief of Communications; the agent came under suspicion after allegedly providing information for an MS Now report about the Vice President's helicopter trip.
US President Donald Trump said he is close to deciding on a 'massive attack' against Iran on a scale larger than strikes already witnessed — with the 13th night of US strikes coming after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, driving Brent crude above $100 a barrel; Trump also framed the US as ready to hold Iran responsible for future Houthi attacks, while the House approved a second resolution to end the Iran war with four Republicans joining Democrats in a non-binding rebuke.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday the United States was 'not finished' attacking Iran and warned the next US military target could be Iran's underground Pickaxe Mountain nuclear complex 'pretty soon' — on a 10th straight day of hostilities as Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Senate Appropriations Committee the US-Israel war on Iran has so far cost $37.5 billion, and requested nearly $88 billion more from lawmakers furious over the soaring price tag and last week's three American service member deaths.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would allow American carriers to resume direct flights to Lebanon more than 40 years after the US suspended the route — with the announcement coming after Trump's White House meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun; direct flights between the US and Lebanon were suspended in 1985 by Ronald Reagan's administration following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847, and Trump also framed himself as open to direct talks with Hezbollah as pressure builds on Beirut to disarm the Iran-backed group.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired General Oleksandr Syrsky as commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces Tuesday following days of mass protests in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities calling for his removal — with Zelensky naming General Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new army chief; the BBC framed the dismissal as following backlash over the earlier removal of popular Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, extending the substantive Ukrainian wartime political instability into military-command-track architecture.
France's parliament approved a bill Tuesday banning social media access for children under 15 — making France the first EU country to enact such a ban, with President Emmanuel Macron having championed the initiative as a key reform of his final term and wanting the ban in effect before the September school year; the legislation targets apps such as TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook and YouTube and follows Australia's world-first under-16s ban that came into force in December.
US President Donald Trump signed three orders Monday imposing 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods in response to what the White House called Canada's 'discriminatory' treatment of US cars, alcohol and dairy products — with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney blasting the move as a 'direct violation' of the countries' trade deal while agreeing to 'intensify' negotiations in the coming weeks; Senate Majority Leader John Thune framed himself as 'not a huge fan of tariffs' and 'curious to know a little more about the rationale.'
Kevin Keegan, the iconic striker and former captain and manager of the England national football team who won two-time European Footballer of the Year honours with Hamburg and became a legend at Liverpool and Newcastle, has died aged 75 — seven weeks after revealing he had been diagnosed with stage-four cancer, per BBC Sport; the former striker's death removes one of the defining figures of 1970s and 1980s English and European football.
Andy Burnham was formally sworn in Monday as the UK's new Prime Minister — the country's seventh PM in 10 years — after receiving King Charles III's invitation to form a government following Keir Starmer's resignation; the former Greater Manchester mayor pledged in his first Downing Street speech to end political instability, end rough sleeping, deliver a 10-year national plan, and see off populist forces making large gains — framing 'both stability and major reforms' as his defining priorities.
Hamas announced Monday it has elected veteran Qatar-based chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya as the new head of its political bureau and overall leader in a wartime election process — replacing Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in 2024; al-Hayya, one of the founding members of the Palestinian militant group, is framed as a respected and pragmatic Hamas veteran who last year survived an Israeli attack in Doha targeting the Hamas leadership which left several people dead, including one of his sons.
Ukraine fired more than 400 drones toward Moscow on July 20 in its latest major attack on the Russian capital — hours after Russia bombarded Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with ballistic missiles in what the Guardian framed as a 'relentless cycle of tit-for-tat strikes'; a Russian strike on a ship near Odesa killed 10 people and raised substantive concerns about the Ukraine-Russia grain-shipping route as Moscow targeted the southern city after being hit by 400 drones.
US President Donald Trump lingered on stage as Spain lifted the 2026 FIFA World Cup trophy after beating Argentina 1-0 at MetLife Stadium — with FIFA president Gianni Infantino intervening so the champions could take centre stage; France 24 framed the scene as Trump 'appearing determined to stay in the spotlight during the trophy presentation' and The Hill counted six major World Cup political moments dominated by the president, including his three-call Balogun red-card intervention.
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.
