With a little planning, you could lower your healthcare costs substantially.
There’s a reason so many retirees worry about running out of money. Once you move over to a fixed income, it’s important to keep your costs as fixed as possible. But as we all know, inflation has a sneaky way of driving living costs up.
This especially holds true in the context of healthcare. Fidelity says that a 65-year-old who’s leaving the workforce this year can expect to spend $172,500 on healthcare costs in retirement. That’s a 4% increase from last year, and a pretty daunting number overall.
Image source: Getty Images.
That’s why it’s so important to be strategic when it comes to all things Medicare. With that in mind, here are a few Medicare moves that could save you big money in retirement.
1. Enroll on time
Although Medicare eligibility generally begins at 65, you don’t have to wait until you turn 65 to sign up. Your initial enrollment period begins three months before the month of your 65th birthday, and it ends three months after the month you turn 65.
If you don’t enroll during that initial window, but rather much later, you’ll put yourself at risk of lifelong Medicare surcharges. Specifically, you’ll face a 10% increase in your Part B premium costs for each 12-month period you were able to get Medicare but didn’t enroll. And that surcharge is one that applies for life.
For this reason, it’s best to plan to enroll in Medicare on time unless you have qualifying group health coverage through an employer. In that case, you’ll generally qualify for a special enrollment period and won’t be penalized for failing to enroll during your seven-month initial enrollment window.
2. Review your plan choices annually
Each year, Medicare holds an open enrollment period from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. During this window, existing Medicare enrollees can make a host of changes, such as:
Joining a Medicare Advantage plan for the first time.
Switching Medicare Advantage plans.
Switching Part D drug plans.
Moving from Medicare Advantage to original Medicare.
It’s important to review your plan choices each year, even if you’re reasonably happy with your existing coverage. That’s because:
Your plan’s rules and costs can change.
Your healthcare needs can change.
There may just be a better plan out there for you.
Switching Medicare plans could, depending on the circumstances, result in lower premiums and copays. So it pays to do your research each fall.
3. Buy a Medigap plan
If you’re planning to stick with original Medicare, as opposed to Medicare Advantage, then it pays to buy Medigap coverage early on. Medigap is supplemental insurance, and it could kick in when you’re facing hefty costs like coinsurance for a hospital stay or skilled nursing facility.
Your initial Medigap enrollment window begins the month you’re enrolled in Medicare Part B and are 65 or older. And that window lasts six months.
It pays to buy your Medigap coverage during that time because you can’t be denied for pre-existing conditions. If you wait, you risk being denied coverage for your plan of your choice, or getting coverage at a (much) higher premium rate.
It’s natural to worry about money in retirement. But if you’re smart about Medicare, you can potentially lower some of your health-related expenses and stretch your nest egg further. So it pays to make these essential Medicare moves if you like the idea of having healthcare in retirement cost less.
The Spanish-language awards show will broadcast live on Sept. 25, 2025 from Panama City at 7 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. CT.
Premios Juventud announced its nominees for its 22nd annual award ceremony. Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny and Venezuelan balladeer Danny Ocean both lead with six nominations each.
Not far behind are hitmakers Anitta, Beéle, Carín León, Emilia, Myke Towers, Netón Vega and Peso Pluma, who each count five nominations. Other nominees include Becky G, Camilo, Fuerza Regida, Grupo Frontera, Kapo, Karol G and more.
It’s a monumental year for the awards ceremony, which began back in 2004 as part of the Univision network, now under the media conglomerate TelevisaUnivision.
The live broadcast will take place in Panama City, Panama, which is the first time the show will be held outside of the U.S. The decision to host abroad follows TelevisaUnivision’s “commitment to honoring the strength, values, and traditions of Latin American communities,” the network writes in a press release statement.
But location is not the only new element in the works. The theme this year is “Evolucionando al ritmo de la música,” and that certainly seems to be the case.
This year, Premios Juventud is introducing eight new categories to its lineup that better reflect evolving youth interest, including best alternative Mexican music song, best pop/rhythmic song, Afrobeat Latino of the Year.
While there has historically been an emphasis on music and television, this year the organization is also honoring creators in the beauty and fashion industry as well as podcasters, streamers, travel vloggers and soccer enthusiasts. In recent years, the award show has opened up new categories for digital creators, advocates and comics as social media platforms have become a hot spot for growing Latino talent.
Winners of Premios Juventud 2025 are determined by votes from viewers, which can be cast at premiosjuventud.com from now until September.
Hosted by Dominican actor Clarissa Molina (and others TBA), the awards show will broadcast live on Sept. 25 from the Figali Convention Center on Univision, UNIMÁS, Galavisión and ViX at 4 p.m. PT, 7 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. CT.
Sweden’s landmark Kiruna Church begins a two-day journey to a new home, inching down an Arctic road to save its wooden walls from ground subsidence and the expansion of the world’s largest underground iron ore mine.
Workers have jacked up the 600-tonne, 113-year-old church from its foundations and hefted it onto a specially built trailer – part of a 30-year project to relocate thousands of people and buildings from the city of Kiruna in the region of Lapland.
Mine operator LKAB has spent the past year widening the road for the journey, which will take the red-painted church – one of Sweden’s largest wooden structures, often voted its most beautiful – 5km (3 miles) down a winding route to a brand new Kiruna city centre.
The journey, which begins on Tuesday, will save the church but remove it from the site where it has stood for more than a century.
“The church is Kiruna’s soul in some way, and in some way it’s a safe place,” Lena Tjarnberg, the vicar of Kiruna, said. “For me, it’s like a day of joy, but I think people also feel sad because we have to leave this place.”
For many of the region’s Indigenous Sami community, which has herded reindeer there for thousands of years, the feelings are less mixed. The move is a reminder of much wider changes brought on by the expansion of mining.
“This area is traditional Sami land,” Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen, chair of the local Gabna Sami community, said. “This area was grazing land and also a land where the calves of the reindeer were born.”
If plans for another nearby mine go ahead after the move, that would cut the path from the reindeer’s summer and winter pastures, making herding “impossible” in the future, he said.
“Fifty years ago, my great-grandfather said the mine is going to eat up our way of life, our reindeer herding. And he was right,” he added.
The church is just one small part of the relocation project.
What next?
LKAB says about 3,000 homes and approximately 6,000 people need to move. A number of public and commercial buildings are being demolished, while some, like the church, are being moved in one piece.
Other buildings are being dismantled and rebuilt around the new city centre. Hundreds of new homes, shops, and a new city hall have also been constructed.
The shift should allow LKAB, which produces 80 percent of the iron ore mined in Europe, to continue to extend the operation of Kiruna for decades to come.
The state-owned firm has brought up about two billion tonnes of ore since the 1890s, mainly from the Kiruna mine. Mineral resources are estimated at another six billion tonnes in Kiruna and nearby Svappavaara and Malmberget.
LKAB is now planning the new mine next to the existing Kiruna site.
Rare earth elements
As well as iron ore, the proposed Per Geijer mine contains significant deposits of rare earth elements – a group of 17 metals critical to products ranging from lasers to iPhones, and green technology key to meeting Europe’s climate goals.
Europe – and much of the rest of the world – is currently almost completely dependent on China for the supply and processing of rare earths.
In March this year, the European Union designated Per Geijer as a strategic project, which could help to speed up the process of getting the new mine into production.
About 5km (3 miles) down the road, Kiruna’s new city centre will also be taking shape.
“The church is … a statement or a symbol for this city transformation,” mayor Mats Taaveniku said. “We are right now halfway there. We have 10 years left to move the rest of the city.”
US special envoy Tom Barrack has asked Israel to withdraw from the Lebanese territory after Beirut approved a plan to disarm the Hezbollah group by the end of the year, in exchange for an end to Israeli military attacks on its territory.
“There’s always a step-by-step approach, but I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply with that equal handshake,” Barrack told reporters on Monday, in Lebanon’s capital of Beirut, after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
The US-backed plan sets out a four-phase roadmap for the Hezbollah group to hand in their arsenal as Israel’s military halts ground, air and sea operations and withdraws troops from Lebanon’s south.
Lebanon’s cabinet approved the plan on August 7 despite Hezbollah’s outright refusal to disarm, raising fears that Israel could intensify attacks on Lebanon, even while it carries out near-daily violations of the November truce it signed with Hezbollah to end its war.
Israel has continued these attacks against Lebanon even in the weeks since the cabinet approved the plan.
Barrack described the cabinet’s decision as a “Lebanese decision that requires Israel’s cooperation” and said the US was “in the process of now discussing with Israel what their position is” but provided no further details.
Asked by reporters about whether he expected to see Israel fully withdraw from Lebanese territory, the US envoy said “that’s exactly the next step” needed.
“There is cooperation from all sides. We are not here to intimidate anyone. The positive outcomes will benefit Hezbollah, Lebanon, and Israel alike,” he said.
US Special Envoy Tom Barrack listens to a question during a joint news conference following his meeting with Lebanon’s president at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on August 18, 2025 [AFP]
‘An economic proposal’
The US envoy also said Washington would seek an economic proposal for post-war reconstruction in the country, after months of shuttle diplomacy between the US and Lebanon.
Barrack voiced optimism after Monday’s meeting, stating: “A return to prosperity and peace is within reach. I believe we will witness progress in several areas in the coming weeks.”
“This is the first visit of the American envoy to Lebanon after the Lebanese cabinet mandated the Lebanese army to assess how to disarm Hezbollah,” said Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Beirut.
“However, there are a lot of concerns with respect to how this process is going to happen, given the fact that Hezbollah refused.”
On Friday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem raised the spectre of civil war, warning there would be “no life” in Lebanon should the state attempt to confront or eliminate the group.
In a written statement after his meeting with Barrack, Aoun said “other parties” now needed to commit to the roadmap’s contents.
Barrack is also set to meet with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri, who often negotiates on behalf of Hezbollah with Washington.
A ‘return to prosperity and peace’?
Under phase one of the US-backed plan, the Lebanese government is to issue a decision committing to Hezbollah’s full disarmament by the end of the year – which it now has – and Israel will cease military operations in Lebanese territory.
In phase two, Lebanon would begin implementing the disarmament plan within 60 days, and the government would approve troop deployments to the south. Then, Israel would begin withdrawing from the south and releasing Lebanese prisoners.
In phase three, which should happen within 90 days of that, Israel is to withdraw from the last two of the five disputed border positions, and money would be secured for Lebanon’s reconstruction.
In phase four, Hezbollah’s remaining heavy weapons are to be dismantled, and Lebanon’s allies will organise a conference to support the country’s economic recovery.
Hezbollah emerged badly weakened from last year’s 14-month war with Israel, during which longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in a huge Israeli strike on Beirut. Before the war, Hezbollah was believed to be better armed than the Lebanese military.
The group has long maintained it needs to keep its arsenal to defend Lebanon from attacks, but critics accused it of using its weapons for political leverage.
Hezbollah has said it refuses to discuss its arsenal until Israel ends its attacks and withdraws troops from southern Lebanon. Aoun and Salam both want to disarm Hezbollah and have also demanded Israel halt its attacks and withdraw from the country.
Just on Monday, Israeli attacks blew up a house in the town of Meiss el-Jabal, a sound bomb went off in the border town of Dahra, and drones could be overheard in the towns of Wadi Zefta, al-Numairiyeh and Wadi Kafra, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.
Aoun said he wants to increase funding for Lebanon’s military and raise money from international donors for post-war reconstruction. The World Bank estimates that the war caused $11bn in damage and economic losses. The country has also faced a crippling economic crisis since 2019.
Second in a series of stories profiling top high school football players by position. Today, Brian Bonner, Valencia running back.
There are many ways Brian Bonner of Valencia High impacts a football game. As a running back, using his 10.48-second speed in the 100 meters, any kind of opening creates the opportunity for a touchdown.
Ditto catching a ball out of the backfield and being allowed to improvise as he makes defenders miss. And then there’s kickoff returns, where he builds up speed like a locomotive and heads to the end zone faster than putting mustard on a hot dog.
“I think being versatile is very important,” he said. “A lot of teams in college look for a running back that can do more than run the ball. They want you to be able to catch and block.”
At 6 feet and 190 pounds, Bonner is ready to take a place among the many great Valencia backs of the past, from Manuel White to Shane Vereen to Steven Manfro, all of whom made it to the college ranks.
“It’s really cool to learn about the history of the other running backs and it would be an honor to be part of that group,” Bonner said. “I’ve learned all the great things they’ve done at Valencia.”
No one has been faster in Valencia history than Bonner, who started attracting attention when he ran 100 meters in 10.85 seconds during his last race as a freshman. A stampede of football offers started coming after his 10.48 time last year.
Brian Bonner of Valencia runs for yardage against West Ranch during his sophomore season.
(Craig Weston)
“My recruitment started to blow up,” he said. “They were really impressed by speed and my football form backed up my speed. The best way to determine how fast someone is by track times. People can see how fast you are as a player and it shows how important speed is to coaches.”
Bonner rushed for 1,493 yards and 25 touchdowns last season and also caught 40 passes for 498 yards and four touchdowns. He committed to Washington last month.
His combination of speed, size and versatility makes him a valuable offensive weapon. Add to that his patience and youth. He just turned 17 in July and was perfectly fine with playing junior varsity football as a freshman.
“I think everybody wants to play varsity as freshman,” he said. “Now that I look back, it was good. I learned things that I brought to varsity. I knew what to expect instead of being a freshman and not knowing what to expect.”
Valencia coach Larry Muir is plotting how to best use Bonner’s versatility and quickness.
“When you’re special, you have a skill set to catch the ball out of the backfield and he does that as well as anyone,” Muir said. “His speed is incredible, but when you get him in the open field and get him in open space, it’s fun to watch.”
It’s Bonner’s senior year, and he has no intention on relying what he’s done in the past or what 100-meter time he ran.
“You have to work hard, because everyone is going to get better,” he said. “You have to stand out and do things a lot of people won’t do to be the best. Putting in extra hours, learning the plays, learning defenses, becoming a student off the game.”
Thursday: St. John Bosco receiver Madden Williams.
Running backs to watch
Maliq Allen, St. John Bosco, 5-8, 180, Jr.: Showed flashes of brilliance with 1,003 yards rushing
Brian Bonner, Valencia, 6-0, 190, Sr.: Speed and hands make him explosive weapon
Justin Lewis, Mater Dei, 5-10, 195, Sr.: Thousand Oaks transfer gained 1,306 yards as junior
AJ McBean, Mira Costa, 5-11, 208, Jr.: Big back with speed and power
Sean Morris, Orange Lutheran, 5-10, 195, Sr.: Northwestern commit transfers from Loyola
Deshonne Redeaux, Oaks Christian, 6-0, 185, Sr.: USC commit has high expectations for senior season
Edward Rivera, Compton, 6-0, 185, Jr.: City Section transfer gained 1,843 yards and 21 TDs last season
Ceasar Reyes, Garfield, 5-11, 175, Jr.: Rushed for 1,520 yards, 22 TDs with relentless energy in 2024
Journee Tonga, Leuzinger, 5-8, 175, Sr.: Rushed for 2,267 yards, 29 TDs last season
Jorden Wells, Servite, 5-7, 150, So.: Let’s see what track speedster can do in first varsity season
From Jack Harris: Before trade rumors heated up and dream scenarios were briefly envisioned, before the Dodgers were linked to a string of big names who all wound up anywhere but Los Angeles, the team’s front office foreshadowed what proved to be a rather straightforward, unremarkable trade deadline on Thursday afternoon.
“This group is really talented,” general manager Brandon Gomes said last week. “I would argue it’s better than the team that won the World Series last year.”
“It’s really about our internal guys, and the fact that these are veteran guys that have well-established watermarks,” echoed president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, amid a July slump that fueled deadline speculation about what the team would need.
“I think the fact that we see the work they put in, how much they care, just makes it easier to bet on.”
On Thursday, maintaining faith in their current group is exactly what the Dodgers did.
The team did address its two main needs ahead of MLB’s annual midseason trade deadline. In the bullpen, it reunited with right-handed veteran Brock Stewart in a trade with the Minnesota Twins. In the outfield, it added solid-hitting, defensively serviceable 30-year-old Alex Call in a deal with the Washington Nationals.
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UCLA NEWSLETTER
We have a new newsletter! It’s called UCLA Unlocked, and yes, you guess it, it’s about UCLA athletics, from football to basketball to baseball to you name it, it will be covered here.
Get informed and entertained about everything Bruin sports, from takeaways on the latest big game to recruiting buzz. We’ll also remember some of the greatest athletes, coaches and games that made UCLA sports so special.
The newsletter will be interactive, including polls and questions about UCLA sports old and new. It’ll also cover the school’s tradition-rich Olympic sports, highlighting one each week.
The newsletter will be emailed to you every Monday morning.
From Bill Shaikin: In the slang, “mid” means disappointingly mediocre, forgettable, uninspiring. On TikTok, a classic rant starts: “It’s called the Midwest because everything in it is mid! Skyline Chili? Mid! Your Cincinnati Reds, who haven’t won a World Series since 1990? M-M-M-Mid!!!”
They are three games under .500, four games out in the American League wild-card race, with four teams to pass, hoping to end baseball’s longest playoff drought at 10 years.
The Seattle Mariners, tied with the Texas Rangers for the final wild-card spot, traded for middle-of-the-lineup corner infielders in third baseman Eugenio Suárez and first baseman Josh Naylor. The Rangers acquired Merrill Kelly to supplement Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi atop the starting rotation.
The Angels made two trades, picking up two veteran setup men and an infielder batting .152 for three lightly regarded minor leaguers.
Why lightly bolster a team with a 1.3% chance of making the playoffs, as projected by Baseball Prospectus before Thursday’s trades, when you could start building the 2026 roster in the many areas needing improvement?
“Giving them a chance to play this thing out, relative to what was presented [in trade talks], made a lot of sense,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said.
From Sam Farmer: Trey Lance welcomes any opportunity that comes his way — a vexing four NFL seasons have only made him more eager — so Thursday night felt especially good.
Lance, the onetime third overall pick of the San Francisco 49ers, is battling for the Chargers’ backup quarterback job, and he made a compelling case in the Hall of Fame Game against the NFC darling Detroit Lions.
Although he didn’t put up gaudy numbers — completing 13 of 20 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns — he was as relaxed and at ease in front of the crowd of 18,144 at Tom Benson Stadium, as refreshing as the gentle evening breeze after a day of sprinkling rain.
“I was excited that we got this fourth preseason game,” Lance said after the 34-7 victory. “If I could play four games I’d be fired up about that.”
Here are five observations from the Chargers’ preseason opener.
A global audience of 90 million people tuned in on their televisions one evening in 1973 and watched her whip Bobby Riggs in a tennis challenge billed as “The Battle of the Sexes.”
But King’s resume, which would stretch from one end of Wimbledon’s Center Court to the other and keep going, is missing one thing, and that was bugging her. The omission came up last year in a conversation she was having with the staff of her New York-based consulting, investing and marketing company. (Yes, she still runs a business and a foundation promoting education, leadership and activism.)
In the spring this year, at the age of 81, Billie Jean King went back to school, chasing not a trophy, or a cup, or a medal, but a degree.
1963 — Arthur Ashe becomes the first Black tennis player to be named in the US Davis Cup team.
1982 — American Greg Louganis becomes 1st diver to score 700 (752.67) in 11 dives in winning 3m springboard gold, World Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
1987 — Mike Tyson wins the undisputed heavyweight championship with a 12-round unanimous decision over IBF champion Tony Tucker in Las Vegas.
1992 — Eric Griffin, a two-time world champion at 106 pounds, loses to Rafael Lozano of Spain under the new electronic scoring system at the Olympics. All five judges credit him with more blows than his opponent as did five jury members used as a backup in case the computer failed.
1996 — Michael Johnson wins Olympic gold in the 200 meters in a record 19.32 seconds, becoming the first male Olympian to win the 200 and 400 in a single games. Dan O’Brien wins gold in the decathlon, four years after failing to make the U.S. Olympic team.
2002 — In signing star linebacker Ray Lewis to a 5-year contract extension the Baltimore Ravens give him a $19m signing bonus, then the largest in NFL history.
2004 — Karen Stupples wins her first major title with a record-tying 19-under 269 at the Women’s British Open. Stupples ties the low score in a major, set by Dottie Pepper at the 1999 Nabisco Dinah Shore.
2009 — Rachel Alexandra rolls past the boys again to win the $1.25 million Haskell Ivitational at Monmouth Park, establishing herself as one of the greatest fillies. Ridden by Calvin Borel, she beats Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird by six lengths.
2010 — Stuart Appleby hits golf’s magic number, shooting a 59 to win the Greenbrier Classic. He is the fifth PGA Tour player to reach the milestone.
2010 — Yani Tseng of Taiwan wins the Women’s British Open by one stroke for her third major title and second of the year to go with the Kraft Nabisco.
2010 — Bob and Mike Bryan win their record 62nd career doubles title on the ATP Tour. The twins were tied with Hall of Famers Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde of Australia.
2012 — Four teams are kicked out of the women’s badminton doubles at the London Games for trying to lose on purpose. The eight players from China, South Korea and Indonesia are cited for conduct “clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport.”
2021 — Marcel Jacobs becomes the first Italian athlete to win the 100m dash in 9.80 at the Tokyo Olympics.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1906 — Harry McIntire of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched 10 2-3 innings of no-hit ball before Claude Ritchey of Pittsburgh singled. McIntire weakened in the 13th and lost 1-0 to the Pirates on an unearned run, finishing with a four-hitter.
1937 — Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees hit for the cycle in a 14-5 rout of the St. Louis Browns. It was the second cycle of Gehrig’s career. Gehrig hit a two-run homer in the first inning, doubled in the second, singled in the fourth and tripled in the seventh.
1941 — New York Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez walked 11 St. Louis batters in a 9-0 victory to set a major league record for walks in a shutout.
1962 — Bill Monbouquette of the Boston Red Sox pitched a no-hitter to beat the White Sox 1-0 at Chicago.
1970 — Willie Stargell of Pittsburgh hit three doubles and two home runs to power the Pirates to a 20-10 rout of the Braves in Atlanta.
1972 — Nate Colbert of the San Diego Padres drove in 13 runs in a doubleheader with five home runs and two singles. San Diego beat the Atlanta Braves in both games, 9-0 and 11-7.
1977 — Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants hit two home runs, including his 18th career grand slam, a total that still leads the National League.
1978 — Pete Rose went 0-for-4 against Atlanta pitchers Larry McWilliams and Gene Garber to end his 44-game hitting streak as the Braves defeated the Cincinnati Reds 16-4.
1986 — Bert Blyleven threw a two-hitter and struck out 15 to become the 10th major league pitcher with 3,000 career strikeouts and Kirby Puckett hit for the cycle to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 10-1 victory over the Oakland A’s. Puckett tripled in the first inning, doubled in the fifth, singled in the sixth homered in the eighth. Puckett finished 4 for 5 with three runs and two RBIs. It was the first cycle to happen at the Metrodome.
1994 — Baltimore’s Cal Ripken became the second major leaguer to play 2,000 straight games, and the Orioles edged Minnesota 1-0.
1998 — Switch-hitter Tony Clark set an AL record by homering from both sides of the plate for the third time this year, powering the Detroit Tigers past Tampa Bay 8-0.
2005 — Rafael Palmeiro was suspended 10 days following a positive test for steroids, less than five months after the Baltimore Orioles first baseman emphatically told Congress: “I have never used steroids. Period.”
2006 — Carlos Guillen hit for the cycle in Detroit’s 10-4 victory over Tampa Bay.
2009 — The Oakland A’s retire Rickey Henderson’s uniform number 24.
2017 — Evan Longoria hits for the cycle, becoming the second player in team history to pull off the feat, as the Rays defeat the Astros, 6-4. It takes a video review to confirm that he slid safely into second base in the 9th for the missing double that completes the quartet of hits.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
US President Donald Trump says he has ordered two nuclear submarines to “be positioned in the appropriate regions” in response to “highly provocative” comments by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
In a post on social media, Trump said he acted “just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that. Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances”.
He did not say where the two submarines were being deployed.
Medvedev has posted several comments in recent days threatening the US in response to Trump’s ultimatum to Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, or face tough sanctions.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it plans to revoke a scientific finding on climate change that has served as the basis for key environmental and pollution regulations.
In an interview on Tuesday, Lee Zeldin, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the EPA, said that the agency would nix the 2009 “endangerment finding” that links emissions from motor vehicles to climate change and negative health impacts.
Zeldin added that those who seek to reduce carbon emissions only highlight the negative effects.
“With regard to the endangerment finding, they’ll say carbon dioxide is a pollutant and that’s the end of it. They’ll never acknowledge any type of benefit or need for carbon dioxide,” Zeldin told a right-wing podcast, Ruthless.
“It’s important to note, and they don’t, how important it is for the planet.”
The “endangerment finding” has been central to the justifications for regulating greenhouse gas emissions, including through vehicle emissions standards.
The finding, issued under Democratic President Barack Obama, has become a frequent target of conservative lawmakers and fossil fuel companies, which have sought its repeal.
Nevertheless, the “endangerment finding” has withstood several legal challenges in court.
Its revocation would be a continuation of the Trump administration’s push to roll back environmental protections and slash regulations in the name of boosting the economy.
The news agency Reuters reported last week that the EPA is also planning to scrap all greenhouse gas emissions standards on light-duty, medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles.
In Tuesday’s interview, Zeldin likewise positioned the repeal of the “endangerment finding” as a boon to business.
“There are people who, in the name of climate change, are willing to bankrupt the country,” Zeldin said.
“They created this endangerment finding and then they are able to put all these regulations on vehicles, on airplanes, on stationary sources, to basically regulate out of existence, in many cases, a lot of segments of our economy.”
Zeldin also touted the finding’s revocation as the “largest deregulatory action” in US history — and a potentially fatal blow to efforts to curb climate change.
“This has been referred to as basically driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion,” Zeldin said.
A 2021 study from Harvard University’s TH Chan School of Public Health found that a decrease in vehicle emissions helped bring the number of yearly deaths attributed to air pollution down from 27,700 in 2008 to 19,800 in 2017.
The researchers credited that decline to a combination of federal regulations and technological improvements.
They also noted that, if emissions had remained at the 2008 levels, the number of deaths would have instead risen to 48,200 by 2017.
Supporters consider air pollution regulations to be a vital part of the effort to slow climate change and minimise adverse health effects.
Trump, however, has defied scientific consensus on climate change and referred to it as a “hoax”.
Instead, he has pushed for the US to ramp up fossil fuel production, considered the primary contributor to climate change.
Earlier this month, his energy secretary, Chris Wright, wrote a column for The Economist magazine arguing that climate change is “not an existential crisis” but a “byproduct of progress”.
“I am willing to take the modest negative trade-off for this legacy of human advancement,” Wright wrote.
The United Nations has estimated that, between 2030 and 2050, climate change would contribute to 250,000 additional deaths per year, from issues related to tropical diseases like malaria, heat stress and food security.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The United States and Argentina on Monday announced that they are working on a plan to allow Argentine tourists to again travel to the U.S. without a visa.
It probably will take two to three years before visa-free travel becomes a reality for Argentine passport holders, but the Trump administration’s move to kickstart the process marked a show of support for President Javier Milei, its staunchest ally in South America and a darling of conservatives around the world.
The gesture coincided with a visit by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, for closed-door meetings with Milei and his officials. Noem signed the statement of intent alongside Security Minister Patricia Bullrich in Milei’s office.
Noem, on horseback at the country’s sprawling Campo De Mayo army base and donning a cowboy hat and jeans, told reporters that the Trump administration would put Argentina on an “expedited path” to enrollment in the Visa Waiver Program.
Still, she cautioned that securing approval within the next year “would be very difficult,” according to a White House pool report.
The Department of Homeland Security praised Milei for reshaping Argentina’s foreign policy in line with that of the U.S.
“Under President Javier Milei’s leadership, Argentina is becoming an even stronger friend to the United States — more committed than ever to border security for both of our nations,” the statement said.
This first step toward waiving visa requirements for Argentines, it added, “highlights our strong partnership with Argentina and our mutual desire to promote lawful travel while deterring threats.”
The department cited Argentina as having the lowest visa overstay rate in the U.S. of any Latin American country.
Trump’s loyal ally in South America
The removal of rigorous U.S. visa requirements — particularly at a time when President Trump is tightening restrictions for foreign nationals — would offer a symbolic victory to Milei, a self-described “anarcho-capitalist” who rose to power as a far-right outsider mimicking Trump’s war-on-woke rhetoric and skillful use of social media.
When he became the first world leader to visit Trump after the U.S. election, Milei pranced around Mar-a-Lago like an excited school boy.
At the Conservative Political Action Committee convention in Washington in February, he gifted billionaire Elon Musk a bureaucracy-slashing chainsaw to support his DOGE campaign to eliminate government waste.
When not riding the far-right, pro-Trump speaking circuit, Milei is focused on straightening out South America’s second-largest economy after years of turmoil under left-wing populist rule. Through tough budget cuts and mass layoffs, Milei has succeeded in driving down Argentina’s notorious double-digit inflation.
The last time Argentines didn’t require a visa to enter the U.S. was in the 1990s under another free-market devotee, the late former President Carlos Menem.
Menem’s neo-liberal reforms and pegging of the peso 1 to 1 to the U.S. dollar destroyed Argentina’s industry, exacerbating poverty in what a century ago was one of the world’s wealthiest countries.
In the crisis that followed, the U.S. reimposed visa restrictions in 2002 as young Argentines seeking to flee misery lined up at European embassies and began to migrate illegally to the U.S.
“Argentina has had the advantage of the program before, and they’re looking to get back on track and reenrolled,” Noem, who grew up on a farm in rural South Dakota, said while feeding sugar cubes to a dark brown horse named Abundance, according to the pool report.
When pressed about her talks with Milei, she was short on specifics, saying they discussed security partnerships and “the business we could be doing together.” She said she appreciated Milei’s “embrace” of Trump’s policies.
The Argentine presidency described Monday’s preliminary agreement as “a clear demonstration of the excellent relationship, based on trust” between Milei and Trump.
After riding Abundance through the grassy fields of the army base, Noem rejoined U.S. and Argentine officials for asado — the traditional meat-centric barbecue and a national passion.
She is the third member of Trump’s Cabinet to meet Milei in Buenos Aires this year, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Tough limits on travel to Trump’s America
More than 40 mostly European and wealthy Asian countries belong to the exclusive club that allows their citizens to travel to the U.S. without a visa for up to three months. However, border officers have the power to turn anyone away.
About 20 million tourists use the program each year. Currently, Chile is the only Latin American country in the program.
Overseas travel to the U.S. plunged in the early days of Trump’s return to the White House as tourists, especially from Latin America, feared being caught in the administration’s border crackdown. Some canceled travel plans to protest his foreign policy and anti-immigrant rhetoric.
But those numbers began to rebound in April, with more than 3 million international arrivals — 8% more than a year earlier — from countries other than Mexico or Canada, according to the International Trade Administration, an agency under the U.S. Department of Commerce.
In addition to clamping down on the southern border, Trump has put up additional obstacles for students, tourists and others looking to travel to the U.S.
His recently passed “big, beautiful” bill of domestic priorities calls for the enactment of a new “visa integrity fee” of $250 to be charged in addition to the cost of the visa itself.
Travel industry executives have expressed concern that the charge could drive away tourists who contribute more than $2 trillion annually and 9 million jobs to the U.S. economy, according to the International Trade Administration.
About a quarter of all travelers to the U.S. come from Latin America and the Caribbean, the agency says.
Arrivals from Argentina have jumped 25% this year — a bigger increase than from any other country.
Debre and Goodman write for the Associated Press. Goodman reported from Medellin, Colombia.
The United Kingdom government is moving to reinstate extradition cooperation with Hong Kong that was suspended five years ago due to concerns about the city’s Chinese national security laws.
The Home Office applied to Parliament to make the changes on July 17, followed by a letter to Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp the next day.
“It is in our national interest to have effective extradition relationships to prevent criminals from evading justice and the UK becoming a haven for criminals,” the July 18 letter from Security Minister Dan Jarvis said.
The Home Office also plans to restore an extradition framework with Chile and Zimbabwe, according to the letter, which was shared on X by Conservative MP Alicia Kearns.
Cases for Hong Kong and Zimbabwe would both be considered on a “case-by-case basis,” Jarvis said.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, is a particular sticking point for the UK due to their historical relationship and the sharp decline in political freedoms in Hong Kong since China imposed controversial national security legislation in 2020.
In 2024, legislators in Hong Kong approved a new national security law - referred to as Article 23 – that gave the government new powers to crack down on all forms of dissent on the grounds of alleged treason, espionage, sedition and external interference in Hong Kong’s internal affairs.
At the time, Hong Kong’s government said Article 23 was needed to prevent a recurrence of the protests of 2019, and that its provisions would only affect “an extremely small minority” of disloyal residents.
The UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany and the United States all suspended their extradition agreements in 2020 with the Chinese city due to concerns about how the laws would be used.
“In my view, reinstating extradition with Hong Kong is morally indefensible. The Chinese Communist Party has turned Hong Kong into a surveillance state where freedom of expression, rule of law, and basic civil liberties are systematically dismantled,” Kearns wrote on X.
“This move risks legitimizing a regime that imprisons critics, silences democracy activists, and uses extradition as a tool of persecution,” she said.
Here is the letter from the Home Office.
In my view, reinstating extradition with Hong Kong is morally indefensible.
The Chinese Communist Party has turned Hong Kong into a surveillance state where freedom of expression, rule of law, and basic civil liberties are… pic.twitter.com/6gb923QXKb
Ronny Tong, a Hong Kong barrister and member of the city’s executive council, told Al Jazeera that concerns about a potential extradition deal were overblown.
“Extradition is in relation to non-political criminal cases, so any fear that it’d be used to transfer persons with political crimes, eg, national security cases, is totally unfounded and only shows ignorance of the procedure,” he said. “Furthermore, it is up to judges of the transferring state to ensure the procedure will not be abused.”
He said the city was “more than ready to restart the arrangement, as we have full confidence our judges are totally independent and of highest integrity”.
Hong Kong’s 2020 national security law criminalised secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference, and was supplemented in 2024 to include treason, sedition, theft of state secrets, espionage, sabotage, and external interference.
Hong Kong’s government has said the laws are necessary to protect the city from political sabotage and foreign influence, following months of pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019.
Security Minister Chris Tang said in June that 326 people have been arrested under Hong Kong’s national security laws since 2020.
The government has also used international bounties to expand its reach to Hong Kong activists abroad, or cancelled their passports while they were overseas.
The moves have been seen as largely symbolic, but also chilling for a city that was once considered the freest place in Asia.
On Friday, Hong Kong issued a new list of bounties for 19 activists involved with a pro-Hong Kong democracy NGO in Canada.
Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 as a “special administrative region” and was promised special rights and freedoms until 2047, under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
A British expat has revealed the biggest problem with living in Spain – and it’s something that’s shared by both locals and those who move to the country
11:55, 10 Jul 2025Updated 12:04, 10 Jul 2025
A woman who moved to Spain shared a drawback of tourist season (stock image)(Image: Getty Images)
For countless Brits, swapping the dreary, overcast weather of the UK for Spain’s glorious sunshine represents the ultimate fantasy. It’s easy to understand why this Mediterranean nation has captured the hearts of so many expats seeking a new life abroad.
Boasting roughly 3,000 hours of annual sunshine – nearly twice what Britain offers – alongside stunning coastlines, mouth-watering cuisine and a more relaxed lifestyle, the appeal is undeniable. Yet beneath this seemingly perfect exterior, relocating to Spain isn’t without its challenges, as one British resident has candidly revealed.
Georgia, who runs the TikTok account Geo in Spain, has opened up about the less glamorous realities of her life in Malaga, confessing that despite adoring her Spanish home, “there are some things I don’t like”.
The coastal city’s magnetic pull for holidaymakers has become a significant source of frustration – particularly throughout the sweltering summer months. Local pubs and eateries become absolutely “super busy” with visitors during peak season, leaving residents battling for tables.
“You’re probably going to have to make reservations for the places you would normally go without any trouble,” the expat cautioned.
Georgia explained that during the peak months Malaga is packed with tourists(Image: Getty)
Georgia elaborated: “It’s the same with the beaches and pools. Obviously, everything gets super busy, so it’s good if you can plan your day out.”
She suggested hitting popular venues first thing in the morning, before the tourist hordes arrive.
“Or if you have a pool at home, just try to find solutions to get away from those problems,” she advised.
Another gripe during the peak holiday season is the nightmare of finding a parking spot: “Parking in summer is horrendous – and I am just trying to go to work.
“I can never find parking because people come on holiday, leave their car there and don’t move it for a week.”
Georgia also disclosed that securing a parking space to rent is both challenging and costly.
It’s not only expatriates who are feeling the pinch. Spanish locals have been expressing their dismay at overtourism within the country, often through public demonstrations.
Earlier this year, saw tens of thousands march through 40 cities throughout Spain.
Rallying behind the banner “Let’s end the housing business”, the protests are set to kick off in Madrid before spreading to other major cities including Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, as well as the Balearic and Canary Islands.
July 8 (UPI) — The Trump administration has announced it will work to limit Chinese nationals and nationals from other so-called adversarial countries from purchasing U.S. farmland, saying their ownership of U.S. crops poses a national security risk.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a seven-point National Farm Security Action Plan on Tuesday aimed at protecting U.S. farmland and food from becoming owned by foreign governments and entities, specifically the People’s Republic of China.
During a press conference in Washington, D.C., with the Trump administration’s leading law enforcement and military officials, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said U.S. farmland was under threat from “criminals,” “political adversaries” and “hostile regimes” seeking to use it as a weapon against the American people.
“American agriculture is not just about feeding our families but about protecting our nation and standing up to foreign adversaries who are buying our farmland, stealing our research and creating dangerous vulnerabilities in the very systems that sustain us,” she said.
According to the plan, the USDA will seek state and congressional lawmakers to pass legislation and the president to institute executive action to end the direct and indirect purchase or control of U.S. farmland by nationals from countries of concern or other foreign adversaries.
Rollins explained that they are also working to “claw back” land already purchased by Chinese nationals and nationals from other foreign adversarial countries.
She said they have already canceled seven active agreements with entities in foreign countries of concern and that she signed a memo Tuesday to immediately remove 70 citizens from those countries who have contracts or research arrangements with the USDA. She added that another 550 entities were in the process of being removed.
The announcement comes amid deepening competition between the United States and China and concern over Chinese nationals potentially working in the United States to further the objectives of Beijing, whether that be through stealing technology or recruiting potential assets.
According to a USDA Farm Service Agency report for 2023, Chinese, Iranian, North Korean and Russian investment in U.S. agricultural land accounts for less than 1% of foreign-held agricultural property across the country, with Chinese investors owning 277,336 acres as of the end of that year.
Also participating in the press conference were Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, emphasizing the national security attention the Trump administration intends to place on U.S. ownership of U.S. cropland.
Hegseth, as the head of the Pentagon, said he wants to know who is buying farmland in the United States near his bases, calling that “common sense.”
“We would be asleep at the wheel if we were not fully a party to an effort like this, to ensure that our nation had the food supply it needs,” he said.
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s decision to hike tariffs once again on some of America’s largest trading partners rattled markets on Monday, dashing hopes on Wall Street that the White House would cut any significant trade deals, as it had promised, by the middle of this week.
In a series of letters sent to foreign leaders, and promptly posted by the president to his social media platform, Trump said the new rates amount to the cost of doing business with “the extraordinary Economy of the United States, The Number One Market in the World, by far.” Under the new policy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Kazakhstan will face 25% import duties starting Aug. 1, while goods from Laos and Myanmar will face a 40% tariff, according to the letters.
South Africa’s president also received a letter, stating goods from the country imported to the United States would face duties of 30%.
Markets recoiled at the news, with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping 1.4%, the Nasdaq falling 1.2% and the Standard & Poor’s 500 sinking 1.2%.
The move essentially returns U.S. tariff rates on those countries to those Trump first announced on April 2, on what he called Liberation Day, but that he ultimately abandoned over widespread Wall Street panic that began spooking the bond market.
Trump hit pause on the crisis by announcing a 90-day suspension of the higher tariff rates, a period set to expire Wednesday. But the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Monday that Trump would extend the deadline to the end of the month.
Several senior officials in the Trump administration had promised a slew of trade deals would follow the April episode — “we’re going to run 90 deals in 90 days,” said Peter Navarro, the president’s top trade advisor. Yet the administration has failed to secure a single detailed trade deal, instead announcing three frameworks of understanding with the United Kingdom, China and Vietnam.
“The president is taking a very deliberate approach to correcting this wrong of many decades, of many past presidents — I think he should be commended for the time and the effort that he’s putting into this,” Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing.
“The fact that he has announced a framework with China, a trade deal with the U.K., a trade deal with Vietnam and many others to come in just six months is truly historic, and it’s a testament to this president and his trade team,” she added.
In his letters to foreign leaders, Trump warned that any effort by their governments to retaliate would be met with escalation.
“If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25% that we charge,” he wrote.
Leavitt said more letters would be sent in the coming days. She also stated that additional trade deals could be announced soon. “We are close,” she said.
Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, told CNBC in an interview that his inbox was “full last night with a lot of new offers” for trade deals ahead of the now-defunct Wednesday deadline.
“We’ve had a lot of people change their tune in terms of negotiations,” Bessent said. “So it’s going to be a busy couple of days.”
The stock market reaction to Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs, which hiked rates on countries all around the world, was an historic rout, eviscerating trillions of dollars in value, with the Standard & Poor’s index bleeding 12% in just four days.
Markets recovered within weeks, after Trump reversed course, with the S&P hitting a record high on July 3.
DENVER — Clayton Kershaw got to the precipice of history on Thursday afternoon. And now, when he inevitably crosses the 3,000 career strikeout milepost, it will almost certainly happen on his home mound.
In the Dodgers’ 3-1 win against the Colorado Rockies, Kershaw struck out five batters over a six-inning, one-run start to move to 2,997 punchouts for his career.
For a moment, it seemed as if Kershaw might be able to eclipse the threshold on Thursday. At the end of the sixth inning, he had thrown only 69 pitches while mowing through a free-swinging Rockies lineup.
Alas, manager Dave Roberts gave his 37-year-old left-hander an early hook, turning a narrow late-game lead over to his bullpen — and preserving the opportunity for Kershaw’s milestone moment to happen back at Dodger Stadium during next week’s homestand.
“I would argue there might be a temptation to take him out [today] and let him go for it in front of the home fans,” Roberts said pregame, when asked if he would consider extending Kershaw’s leash to let him chase his 3,000th strikeout on Thursday. “I’m not going to force anything.”
Ever since Kershaw returned from offseason foot and knee surgeries in May, and showed an ability to produce even with a diminished fastball and increasing mileage on his arm, his pursuit of 3,000 strikeouts has felt less like an “if” than a “when.”
Entering Thursday, his career total was up to 2,992, leaving him just eight shy of becoming the 20th pitcher in MLB history, and only the fourth left-hander, to join the prestigious 3K club.
“I guess ultimately the last box he needs to check for his future Hall of Fame career is that 3,000-strikeout threshold,” Roberts said. “We’re all waiting in anticipation.”
More impressively, though, Kershaw has been winning games and limiting runs for the Dodgers (51-31), improving to 4-0 with a 3.03 earned-run average through eight starts this season.
“I think there’s good days and bad days, good pitches and bad pitches,” Kershaw said. “Not as consistent, not as perfect as I would want. But the results have been OK. And at the end of the day, we’re winning games that I’ve been on the mound. So I’m thankful for that. Just a product of being on a great team.”
Kershaw wasn’t exactly expecting to reach the 3,000 mark Thursday, acknowledging that “eight in Colorado is never going to be easy to do.”
Over his first two innings, however, he quickly inched closer. Thairo Estrada whiffed on a curveball in the first inning. And though Brenton Doyle hit a solo homer in the second, Kershaw set Michael Toglia and Orlando Arcia both down swinging with a slider and curveball, respectively.
“I just love that edge that he gives each start day,” Roberts said. “We certainly feed off that.”
Kershaw didn’t get another strikeout until the end of the fifth, retiring the side with a slider that froze Braxton Fulford for a called third strike. An inning before that, he was bailed out by his defense after his lone walk, when Miguel Rojas turned a spinning double-play up the line at third base to erase the free pass.
“It could’ve been one run in, runner on second, nobody out,” Kershaw said. “So to turn that double-play there was kind of a game-changer. … Biggest play of the day.”
Still, in the sixth, all eyes returned to Kershaw’s strikeout total after Tyler Freeman was rung up on a generous outside strike call to finish off an eight-pitch at-bat.
Though it would have required striking out the side, Kershaw was as little as one inning away from No. 3,000.
Instead, Roberts decided to end his day, ensuring that the next time Kershaw takes the mound — likely to be next Wednesday at home against the Chicago White Sox — he will need only three more strikeouts to do something only two pitchers before have ever done: Have a 3,000-strikeout career while playing for only one team.
“It would be very special,” Kershaw said of potentially reaching the milestone at Dodger Stadium. “It would be.”
Ohtani to pitch Saturday
While Kershaw mowed through the Rockies (18-63), Shohei Ohtani delivered the biggest swing of the day for the Dodgers, padding what was only a 2-1 lead in the seventh with a solo home run to right, his NL-leading 28th of the year.
The blast came hours after the other big news of the day, with Roberts confirming pregame that the two-way star will make his next start as a pitcher on Saturday against the Kansas City Royals.
That game will mark Ohtani’s third pitching outing of the season and could be his first in which he goes beyond the first inning. Last week, Roberts hinted at the possibility of Ohtani — who is still building up in his return from Tommy John surgery — pitching into the second inning, but he has continued to leave any final decisions open-ended.
Constitutional panel ratifies bill to cease cooperation with IAEA after US and Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.
Iran’s Guardian Council has ratified a parliament-approved legislation to suspend Tehran’s cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, after the war with Israel and the United States.
Iranian news outlets reported on Thursday that the appointed council, which has veto power over bills approved by lawmakers, found the parliament’s measure to “not to be in contradiction to the Islamic principles and the Constitution”.
Guardian Council spokesperson Hadi Tahan Nazif told the official state news agency, IRNA, that the government is now required to suspend cooperation with the IAEA for the “full respect for the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
Nazif added that the decision was prompted by the “attacks … by the Zionist regime and the United States against peaceful nuclear facilities”.
The bill will be submitted to President Masoud Pezeshkian for final approval and would allow Iran “to benefit from all the entitlements specified under … the Non-Proliferation Treaty, especially with regard to uranium enrichment”, Nazif said.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf suggested that the legislation is now binding after the Guardian Council’s approval.
“Continued cooperation with the agency, which plays a role as a protector of anti-human interests and an agent of the illegitimate Zionist regime through the pretext of war and aggression, is not possible until the security of our nuclear facilities is ensured,” Ghalibaf said in a social media post.
However, the IAEA said on Thursday that it had not received an official communication from Iran regarding the suspension.
Iranian officials have been decrying the IAEA’s failure to condemn Israeli attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities.
Before the war started, Tehran claimed to have obtained Israeli documents that show that the IAEA was passing off information to Israel about Iran’s nuclear programme – allegations that were denied by the agency.
Israel is widely believed to have its own nuclear arsenal, but its nuclear programme has not been monitored by the UN watchdog.
For years, Iranian nuclear sites have been under strict IAEA inspection, including by constant video feed. But it appears that Iran moved its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium from the facilities before they were bombed by Israel and the US during the recent war, putting them out of the view of UN observers for the first time.
US and Israeli officials have argued that the military strikes have set back Iran’s nuclear programme for years. But suspending cooperation with the IAEA could escalate the programme, although Tehran insists that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday that Moscow was “interested in Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA continuing”.
“We are interested in everyone respecting the supreme leader of Iran, who has repeatedly stated that Iran does not and will not have plans to create nuclear weapons,” Lavrov said.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also told journalists that Berlin “urges the Iranian government not to go down this path” and cease cooperation with the board.
On June 13, Israel launched a surprise bombing campaign against Iran, striking residential buildings and nuclear sites and military facilities, killing top commanders and scientists as well as hundreds of civilians.
Iran responded with barrages of missiles that left widespread destruction in Israel and killed at least 29 people.
On Sunday, the US joined Israel and launched unprecedented strikes on Iran’s Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites.
Following Iran’s retaliatory attack on a US military base in Qatar, a ceasefire was reached between the countries.
Both Israel and Iran declared victory after the war.
The order to restrict cannabis use for medical purposes only must pass another hurdle before becoming law.
The Thai government is moving to tighten rules around the sale of cannabis, just three years after the kingdom decriminalised recreational use of the popular substance.
Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health on Tuesday night ordered that cannabis use be restricted to medical use only, throwing the estimated $1bn industry into a state of uncertainty.
Government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub said cannabis had created serious social problems for young people, and the industry, which has boomed in recent years, needed to be scaled back.
“The policy must return to its original goal of controlling cannabis for medical use only,” Jirayu said in a statement.
The order, however, is not law yet.
It will need to be published in the official Royal Gazette to come into force, and the government has not indicated when that will happen.
Thailand became the first country in Asia to fully decriminalise cannabis in 2022, in a move that has been wildly popular with tourists but less so among more conservative Thais.
Thousands of cannabis stores have opened across Thailand in the past three years, although it has remained relatively unregulated despite multiple attempts by the government.
The latest move to restrict cannabis use comes amid wider political turmoil in Thailand.
Last week the Bhumjaithai Party, previously a champion of decriminalising cannabis, withdrew from the government’s ruling coalition due to its mishandling of a border conflict with Cambodia.
The Thai Chamber of Commerce previously estimated that the cannabis trade could be worth $1.2bn by 2025, although experts say it has not reached its full potential due to the uncertainty that has plagued regulation around the industry since it was decriminalised.
Clayton Kershaw’s first strikeout Friday night came on his “Cooperstown curveball” — a pitch that’s dazzled since its first appearance at Dodger Stadium on May 25, 2008. Two strikeouts on sliders that dove into the dirt like paper airplanes curtailing in the wind brought his chase to single digits.
The milestone is inevitable. Kershaw will all but certainly reach the 3,000-strikeout mark, etching his name on a list that features just 19 other pitchers. But he’ll have to wait a little while longer.
“There’s a few pitches tonight where it clicked,” Kershaw said, moving his earned-run average to 2.49 in June. “It’s just not every one. So hopefully it’ll get there.”
Kershaw struck out four batters against the Nationals, tossing five innings and giving up two solo home runs as the Dodgers took the series opener 6-5.
“It’s really special knowing that he’s approaching 3,000,” said infielder Miguel Rojas, who played third base Friday like he did for Kershaw’s no-hitter in 2014. “Every pitch… every strikeout counts. But for him, I feel like it’s more important to win games, and for him to be 3-0 and with really good numbers overall, I’m happy for him — that he’s healthy, happy and able to contribute.”
Kershaw brought his career strikeout total to 2,992, just eight away from 3,000. Strikeout 3,000 could come Thursday in Colorado or Friday in Kansas City when he’s next expected to toe the mound.
“It’s hard not to appreciate how close he is to the 3,000 mark,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “My guess is that he just wants to get this thing over with as soon as possible, right? … He wants it over as quick as possible, I’m sure.”
Kershaw still doesn’t feel his sharpest in his seventh start of the season. He walked two and 33 of his 78 pitches were balls. His fastball was more than a tick down from his season average as he flailed with his command early.
And yet, Kershaw battled through five innings.
“I can still get people out,” Kershaw said. “I just want to do it a little bit better.”
Clayton Kershaw delivers in the third inning against the Washington Nationals on Friday night.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
If the Dodgers’ previous four-game series against the Padres had the energy and animosity of postseason baseball, then the Nationals coming to town felt like a true mid-June game. Coming off an 11-game losing streak — broken Thursday in Colorado — the Nationals (31-45) fell out of an early lead because of self-inflicted gaffes.
After the Dodgers knotted the score 1-1 when bench coach Danny Lehmann’s first successful challenge (stepping in at manager for the suspended Roberts) brought home a run after Mookie Betts was deemed safe at first on a fielder’s choice, Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams made what looked to be an inning-ending force play.
Abrams dove to his right on an infield single from Andy Pages, stabbed the ball and used his glove to flip to Amed Rosario at second base. The ball never reached Rosario, and Betts hustled home from second base without a throw.
Rojas extended the Dodgers’ lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth when he hit his third home run of the season, a two-run shot, to score Kiké Hernández (two for three, two doubles). When the Nationals threatened in the top of the seventh — with runners on second and third, down by two — Michael Conforto came to the Dodgers’ rescue by making a diving catch to keep his team ahead.
“It’s a long season, and you’re going to receive more opportunities to contribute, and it’s nice to finally get one game like this where you feel part of it,” Rojas said, adding that he was glad to showcase his hitting against a left-hander such as Washington ace MacKenzie Gore.
Abrams homered in the ninth, but Dodgers closer Tanner Scott buckled down to secure his 15th save.
The Dodgers (47-30) will turn to right-hander Dustin May against the Nationals on Saturday as they attempt to clinch their fourth consecutive series. Neither Roberts nor Lehmann was made available to reporters after the game.
Miguel Rojas, left, is gets a hand slap from Dodgers first base coach Chris Woodward after hitting a two-run home run in the sixth inning against the Nationals on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Etc.
Right-hander Tyler Glasnow (shoulder inflammation) is set to throw two innings in a rehabilitation assignment with triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday, while left-hander Blake Snell (shoulder inflammation) is set to throw a bullpen in the next few days, Roberts said.
Roki Sasaki (right shoulder impingement), who stopped throwing after a recent flare up stymied his progression, threw in the outfield Friday afternoon.
“I don’t know if it was 60, 90 feet, with the baseball,” Roberts said of Sasaki, who was moved to the 60-day injured list Friday. “That was a bonus. That was a plus. Chatted with him briefly afterward. He was excited about it.”
On how Sasaki was feeling, Roberts said: “I would say pain-free. Now it’s just getting the build-up. But most important, he’s pain-free.”
Japan said J-15 warplanes operating from two Chinese aircraft carriers in the Pacific carried out risky manouvres around patrol planes.
Japan has protested to Beijing over what was described as Chinese fighter jets’ “near-miss” manoeuvres near Japanese maritime patrol planes over the Pacific where China’s two operational aircraft carriers were spotted deployed simultaneously for the first time last weekend.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday that a Chinese J-15 warplane from the Shandong aircraft carrier flew within 45 metres (147 feet) of a Japanese P-3C maritime surveillance plane and made other “dangerous manoeuvres” during incidents on Saturday and Sunday.
“We have expressed serious concern to the Chinese side and solemnly requested prevention of recurrence,” Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
According to Japan’s defence ministry, P-3C aircraft, belonging to Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force based on the island of Okinawa, were conducting surveillance over international waters in the Pacific when they encountered Chinese warplanes.
On Saturday, a J-15 from the Shandong chased a Japanese P-3C patrol aircraft for about 40 minutes. Then, on Sunday, a J-15 fighter chased a P-3C for 80 minutes, crossing in front of the Japanese aircraft at a distance of only 900 metres (2,952 feet), the ministry said.
“Such abnormal approaches by Chinese military aircraft could potentially cause accidental collisions,” the defence ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, attaching close-up images of the J-15 jet it took on Sunday. There was no damage to the Japanese planes or harm caused to the aircraft crew, the ministry added.
Hayashi, the top Japanese government spokesperson, said Tokyo will maintain communications with Beijing at various levels and will also ensure the monitoring of airspace around Japan’s territories continues.
The last time a similar incident was reported was more than a decade ago in May and June 2014, when Chinese Su-27 fighter jets flew within 30 metres (98 feet) of Japan’s military planes.
The Kyodo news agency also reported that the Shandong aircraft carrier conducted takeoff and landing drills on Monday to the north of Japan’s southernmost Okinotori Island, inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Liaoning carrier was also spotted inside the EEZ on Saturday before moving outside the zone where it also conducted takeoffs and landings on Sunday.
China’s first aircraft carrier Liaoning, arrives in Hong Kong waters, in July 2017 [File: Anthony Wallace/AFP]
June 11 (UPI) — The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly advanced legislation for a regulatory method for payment with stablecoins.
The cloture, which ended debate, was approved 68-30, including 18 Democrats. It clears the way for final approval for the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, or GENIUS. Two Republicans, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri, voted no.
A stablecoin, which supporters say is a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value, is typically pegged to another asset such as a currency such as a U.S. dollar or a commodity, including gold. Other digital cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, can experience significant price fluctuations and are not part of the Senate legislation.
For passage in the Senate, there needs to be at least 60 votes. On Tuesday, two House committees easily approved a bill that establishes a regulatory framework for digital assets, not just stablecoin, called the CLARITY Act.
“We want to bring cryptocurrency into the mainstream, and the GENIUS Act will help us do that,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, adding there was “more work to be done” for Congress in regard to digital assets, referring to the House’s bill.
The bill would require stablecoins to be fully backed by U.S. dollars or similar liquid assets, mandate annual audits for issuers with more than $50 billion in market capitalization and add language around foreign issuance.
The cloture ended an open amendments process. Democrats had sought to add a provision that would prevent President Donald Trump and other elected officials from profiting off stablecoins.
“Let me be clear, this did not happen by accident,” Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., said on the Senate floor before the vote. “It happened because we led. To those who said Washington could not act, to those who said Washington could not act, to those who doubted bipartisanship — let’s prove them wrong.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York voted against the bill along with other prominent Democrats.
“The GENIUS act attempts to set up some guardrails for buying and selling a type of cryptocurrency, one type called a stablecoin,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said on the Senate floor before his no vote.
“Well, we need guardrails that ensure that government officials aren’t openly asking people to buy their coins in order to increase their personal profit or their family’s profit,” he added. “Where are those guardrails in this bill? They’re completely, totally absent.”
Some Democrats were concerned about foreign issuers, anti-money laundering standards, potential corporate issuance of stablecoins and Trump’s deepening ties to crypto ventures.
Trump and his wife, Melania, launched meme coins days before his inauguration on Jan. 20. His affiliated venture, World Liberty Financial, recently launched its stablecoin. Trump Media is planning to build a multi-billion dollar Bitcoin treasury. And American Bitcoin,a mining firm backed by his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., is planning to go public via a Gryphon merger.
“It’s extremely unhelpful that we have a president who’s involved in this industry, and I would love to ban this activity, but that does not diminish the excellent work of this legislation,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who approved the measure, said.
“It does not diminish the hard work that bipartisan group of senators put into this to make a difference and to write a law that can protect consumers, that can protect our financial services industry, that can protect the strength of the dollar, and that can protect people who would like access to capital.”
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who voted against cloture, said: “Through his crypto business, Trump has created an efficient means to trade presidential favors like tariff exemptions, pardons and government appointments for hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of dollars from foreign governments, from billionaires and from large corporations. By passing the GENIUS Act, the Senate is not only about to bless this corruption, but to actively facilitate its expansion.”
