French music producer Kavinsky, known for Drive soundtrack hit Nightcall, dies aged 50

• Following a January 2026 attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolas Maduro, Donald Trump has announced plans for military intervention in Mexico. • The report, authored by Prof Michel Chossudovsky on August 18, 2026, alleges a connection between Trump's policies and drug cartel activities.

• The author argues that the policy of isolating the Taliban has failed, resulting in severe humanitarian crises and increased security risks. • A proposed "pragmatic engagement" framework suggests opening diplomatic channels to address urgent stability and human rights issues without granting formal recognition.

• Global oil markets are shifting their expectations to account for a potentially prolonged crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, rather than a brief geopolitical shock. • Analysts are evaluating whether persistent disruptions in this critical shipping lane could sustain elevated oil prices through 2027.

Rodney Greer accused of securing unauthorized prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs and selling them to customersAn Illinois man allegedly impersonated doctors – and evidently referred to himself online as “$hotboy1” – is facing criminal charges that he secured unauthorized prescriptions for Ozempic and Mounjaro pharmaceutical drugs that facilitate weight loss and are taken by some for cosmetic rather than legitimate medical reasons.Rodney Greer purportedly launched the allege scheme in early 2023, according to court filings from federal prosecutors and a US justice department news release issued on Monday. Continue reading...

Almost 45m acres of national forests could be potentially opened to road construction, drilling and loggingThe Trump administration said on Tuesday it plans to rescind the “roadless rule” that has protected old growth forests in the US for 25 years, potentially opening up almost 45m acres of national forests to road construction, drilling and logging.Conservationists had feared the announcement was coming since last summer after Brooke Rollins, Trump’s secretary of agriculture, targeted a rule brought in by Bill Clinton’s administration, describing it as “overly restrictive” and an “absurd obstacle” to development. Continue reading...

Migration minister asked how he intends to stop deportations of people ‘who had lived in Sweden for decades’The deportation and removal of British citizens from Sweden over Brexit residency rights is damaging relations with the UK amid efforts to reset positive associations with London, a Swedish MP has said.Häkan Svenneling, representative for Vârmland, where a 78-year-old British widow, Joyce Thomas, has been given four weeks to leave Sweden after 21 years of residency, has written to the migration minister, Johan Forssell, asking what he “intends to do to stop the deportations”. Continue reading...

Patrons at two of the chain’s London pubs were all for Tim Martin’s ban on playing music or taking calls on speakerThe terrace of the Moon Under Water Wetherspoons pub in Leicester Square was full of people enjoying the warm weather and chatting between tables – without a TikTok video or speakerphone call in earshot.At Wetherspoons, the convivial atmosphere can no longer be punctuated by rude customers taking phone calls on blast, or playing videos without headphones after Tim Martin, the owner of the pub chain, banned both actions on his premises. Continue reading...

Family says Venezuelan has pending asylum claimDHS says 34-year-old faces removal proceedingsSan Diego Padres minor-league catching coordinator Oswaldo Pirela remained in federal immigration custody on Tuesday after being detained at an airport in El Paso, Texas, while returning from a work trip.Pirela’s family said the 34-year-old Venezuelan has a pending asylum claim and has continually renewed his work authorization. The Department of Homeland Security said he does not have legal status and will face removal proceedings. Continue reading...

Marco Rubio announced measures against Tomoko Akane and Abdoulaye Seye, who was investigating Israel’s war crimes in GazaThe US will sanction the president of the international criminal court (ICC) and a prosecutor tasked with investigating crimes committed by Israel during its war on Gaza.The new sanctions designations were unveiled by Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, who called the Hague-based ICC a “corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate”, in a statement. Continue reading...

Jacque St Ann, 17, and his friends broke into Plaza Tower and he fell as they were descending an interior staircaseA high school student recently fell to his death after entering an abandoned high-rise tower in downtown New Orleans with his friends – in an apparent case of urban exploration highlighting the dangers of unaddressed city blight.New Orleans police said Jacque St Ann, 17, and his friends, of the nearby community of Belle Chasse, Louisiana, traveled into the city and broke into the fenced-off, 45-story Plaza Tower in the central business district, which has stood derelict for years. Continue reading...

US supreme court declined to halt execution of William Frances Silvia, and state has two executions next monthA Florida man convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife and wounding his mother-in-law is set to be executed on Tuesday, continuing the state’s aggressive use of the death penalty in Republican governor Ron DeSantis’s final term.William Frances Silvia, 61, would be the 13th prisoner put to death this year in Florida, which has two more executions scheduled in September and has carried out more than half the US’s 22 executions so far in 2026. Continue reading...

Duane Davis is only man ever charged in relation to drive-by shooting of Shakur in Las VegasWhat we know about Tupac Shakur’s death and what to expect from murder trialIf you’re catching up now on what’s happened so far in th Tupac Shakur murder trial in Las Vegas, here is video of key evidence presented to the Las Vegas jury yesterday:The court heard brief testimony from Thomas Kern, who was a crime scene analyst for the Las Vegas police department in 1996, who was present at the autopsy of Tupac Shakur, and is authenticating evidence from the autopsy. Kern did not face any cross-examination. Continue reading...