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• The Opinions Editor argues that while immediate economic troubles have eased, the structural foundations necessary for sustainable, long-term growth remain absent. • Key sectors are struggling: high-skilled IT services are under pressure, manufacturing is failing to gain traction, and the financial sector is not creating enough low-to-medium skilled roles. • Job growth is currently concentrated in low-end services, exemplified by Zepto, which saw its delivery rider workforce surge from 49,278 in 2024 to 2.21 lakh in 2026.

• Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav criticized the BJP-led central government on Saturday, alleging that paper leaks and examination irregularities have become recurring events. • Speaking in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Yadav claimed the government consistently fails to learn from its mistakes, leading to systemic failures in the education sector. • The attack highlights growing political tension over the integrity of competitive exams and the impact of these leaks on students' futures.

• Former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav criticized the BJP-led central government, claiming that examination paper leaks will persist as long as they remain in power. • Yadav argued that the government's failure to learn from previous scams is jeopardizing the futures of students and job aspirants across the country. • Separately, Champat Rai and Anil Mishra of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust have resigned, taking moral responsibility for alleged embezzlement of Ram Mandir donations.

• The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration had the legal authority to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for certain migrants. • The decision follows a decade-long effort by immigration hard-liners to remove deportation protections, specifically targeting groups such as Venezuelans. • This ruling is a significant victory for the Trump administration, which previously claimed that judicial interventions blocking these policies constituted "judicial tyranny."

Efforts of campaign groups, supporters and party figures coalesced after May elections as MPs’ views began to change The third coming of Andy Burnham began in earnest on the dancefloor of the Ministry of Sound.It was the annual conference of the centre-left pressure group Compass in May 2025, on an unusually hot spring weekend. Keir Starmer, a year into his premiership, was deep in the trenches of the welfare battle. And the keynote speakers were Andy Burnham and Louise Haigh. Continue reading...

Co-defendants in case against Stockport man include a paramedic, a football coach and a taxi driverThe identities of 13 men charged alongside a man accused of drugging and raping his wife can be revealed after reporting restrictions were lifted.The main defendant in the case is due to go on trial in September. He stands accused of drugging and sexually assaulting his wife over a period of 20 years and conspiring with other men to engage in abuse. Continue reading...

• The Nifty 50 and Sensex recorded their longest weekly gaining streak in nearly seven months, with the Nifty closing at 24,056 and the Sensex at 77,100.47 on Thursday. • Both Indian indices saw a modest daily increase of 0.14%, reflecting a period of sustained positive momentum in the domestic equity market. • Broader Asian markets showed mixed results, featuring significant gains in South Korea's Kospi (5.42%) and Japan's Nikkei 225 (4.61%), while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.43%.

Pair of sick snakes discovered at club in County Durham presumed to have been dumped there by ownerFor most golfers, the biggest hindrance they are likely to come across during a round is a strong gust of wind or getting their ball caught in a bunker. For golfers in County Durham, however, the obstacles that players have encountered are 3 metres long and covered in scales.Two boa constrictors have been found on Blackwell Grange Golf Club in Darlington one week apart, with the first being found on 13 June during a children’s golf lesson when a 12-year-old girl’s shot landed directly on the snake. Continue reading...

• The focus of AI investment is shifting away from Large Language Models (LLMs) toward the development of "Agentic AI" systems. • Industry leaders are now prioritizing technologies that enable autonomous decision-making and real-world application over simple generative text. • This transition is evidenced by recent acquisition trends and investor demand, signaling a move toward more functional, goal-oriented AI agents.

• AI consolidation reached record levels last year, with 33 major acquisitions totaling at least $157 billion in disclosed value. • High-profile deals include Google's $32 billion purchase of Wiz, IBM's $27.8 billion data-stack acquisition, and Salesforce's $3.6 billion purchase of Fin. • These trends indicate a shift in investor demand away from Large Language Models (LLMs) toward specialized infrastructure and data-stack companies.

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian strikes destroyed 60,000 tonnes of Russian ammunition at a Baltic Fleet arsenal near St. Petersburg and targeted key defense-industrial facilities. • Zelenskyy claimed that Moscow has been forced to shift its air defenses to protect the Kerch Bridge and the capital city of St. Petersburg. • The Ukrainian leader asserted that Vladimir Putin's rejection of substantive diplomatic proposals is the primary reason the war is being prolonged.

• Viu CEO Janice Lee revealed at APOS 2026 that nearly 20% of the platform's long-form viewers have transitioned to watching microdramas. • The streamer is expanding its branded content and co-production efforts, highlighted by the Indonesia-set series “Abracadabra” produced with Samsung and starring Ji Chang-wook. • This shift matters as the short-form format attracts advertisers seeking rapid production turnarounds and higher engagement through pan-regional tentpole strategies.

While warehouse fires are often extinguished in a day, the Boyle Heights blaze is on its sixth day. Here’s what to knowLos Angeles firefighters are on their sixth day of battling a fire at a massive warehouse near downtown that stores frozen food.Smoke has billowed from the warehouse, which was covered in solar panels and insulated like a freezer, filling the air surrounding the roughly 500,000-sq-ft (46,450-sq-meter) facility. Continue reading...

Greenspan served under the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and George W BushAlan Greenspan, the influential economist who ​steered US ⁠monetary policy ⁠during ​his ‌five ‌terms as chairman ‌of the Federal Reserve ‌under four presidents, ​has died aged 100, ⁠NBC News ​reported ​on ​Monday.In a statement that she shared with the network, Greenspan’s wife, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell, said he died from complications of Parkinson’s disease. Continue reading...

• Viu CEO Janice Lee reports that nearly 20% of long-form users now watch microdrama, a growing format on the platform. • The platform is expanding its branded content and co-production efforts, including a partnership with Samsung for the series "Abracadabra" starring Ji Chang-wook. • This strategy allows for rapid turnaround times, making the short-form format attractive to brands looking for quick content.

Groups say new directive fails to respect Native sovereignty amid complicated history of Indigenous child removalsOne morning early last July, Micha Bitsinnie arrived at work to an onslaught of messages from confused families.New Mexico’s governor Michelle Lujan Grisham had just issued a directive mandating the state’s child welfare department seek custody of all newborns who had been exposed to drugs and alcohol in utero. Some parents wondered whether medications that they were taking for addiction recovery, such as methadone, would flag their cases. Healthcare providers wondered whether the fentanyl in an epidural counted as a drug exposure. Continue reading...

Frontrunner Abelardo de la Espriella has vowed to return to full-scale military confrontation with armed groups Colombians go to the polls on Sunday in a presidential runoff expected to trigger to a dramatic shift in the country’s decades-long armed conflict, now at its most violent point since the landmark 2016 peace agreement between the government and most of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).Polls show the frontrunner is the Trump-admiring far-right lawyer and millionaire businessman Abelardo de la Espriella, who has vowed to abandon President Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” plan of negotiating the disarmament of all criminal organisations and instead return to full-scale military confrontation with armed groups. Continue reading...

• Jimmy Kimmel is departing for his annual summer break, leaving his late-night talk show to be managed by a series of guest hosts. • The selection of guest hosts is drawing significant attention due to Kimmel's recent shift toward frequent political commentary and open criticism of Donald Trump. • This transition highlights the intersection of entertainment and politics, as the show continues to address major American political developments during the host's absence.

• Hollywood continues to maintain a significant global cultural presence, but its dominance is being challenged by the rise of Asian media industries. • Countries including China, South Korea, Japan, and Indonesia are increasingly producing their own original narratives and content. • This shift signifies a transition from Asia being primarily a consumer of Western media to becoming a confident creator of global entertainment.

• The European Parliament has approved a long-delayed trade agreement with the United States, granting tariff-free access for US industrial goods and preferences for agricultural products. • The deal includes a safeguard allowing the European Commission to suspend these tariff preferences if the US maintains tariffs exceeding 15% on EU steel and aluminium derivatives. • This agreement aims to strengthen economic ties and reduce trade barriers between the two major global markets.

A five-year-old girl was swept away and a woman was pulled into the water, prompting authorities to urge precautionMassive waves, coastal flooding and dangerous rip currents are roiling the California coastline this week as authorities advise people to take precautions while visiting beaches following two deaths last week.Turbulent waters swept a five-year-old girl, who was walking with her mother and brother, out to sea from the shore of Treasure Island Beach in Orange county in southern California on Tuesday. Bystanders were able to rescue the mother and son, but the girl was not found and her body was recovered on Thursday. Continue reading...

‘Pointless’ reviews are wasting public money and ‘significantly harming’ the mental health of claimants, charity says Disabled people with lifelong conditions are repeatedly being put through “pointless” benefit reassessments, contrary to official guidance, new analysis suggests.A study by the anti-poverty charity Z2K has found that hundreds of thousands of disabled people are going through “unnecessary” personal independence payment (Pip) reviews, “wasting” public money and “significantly harming” the mental and physical health of claimants. Continue reading...

Bill Ritter, anchor on WABC since 2001, said he’s stepping down but will continue to report on the diseaseA longtime New York City television news anchor has announced his sudden retirement from the airwaves after revealing that he has the early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.Bill Ritter, a veteran of ABC New York station WABC, has presented the main evening news in New York since 2001 and become a familiar face to millions of its residents. Continue reading...

• Ukrainian forces launched a massive wave of hundreds of drones targeting Russian oil and gas facilities overnight and into Friday morning. • The strikes specifically targeted energy sites, aiming to disrupt the infrastructure that fuels the Kremlin's economy and military operations. • These attacks represent a strategic effort to deplete President Vladimir Putin's "war chest" by cutting off critical energy exports and revenue streams.

Beloved movie critic and arts reporter was known for bushy hair and mustache and affection for groan-inducing punsGene Shalit, a movie critic and arts reporter for the Today show over four decades who was known for his puffy hair, oversized handlebar mustache and affection for groan-inducing puns, has died. He was 100.Shalit’s family announced the death Friday to NBC News, saying in a statement that he “passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life”. Continue reading...

• A rare "3-planet parade" featuring Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter will occur on June 12. • The planets will align low on the western horizon, becoming visible shortly after sunset. • This event offers a brief but striking visual spectacle for stargazers to observe the planetary alignment.

• The UK government and private sector announced multi-billion pound investments at London Tech Week. • Lumai unveiled an optical computing system capable of running billion-parameter Large Language Models (LLMs) in real time, a significant advancement in AI technology. • This development indicates that AI is becoming increasingly tangible and powerful, with potential applications across various industries.

• The war in Ukraine has officially surpassed the duration of World War I, leading analysts to draw unsettling parallels between the two conflicts. • The comparison highlights a pattern where initial technological innovations in warfare fail to provide a lasting strategic advantage. • Historical evidence shows that opposing forces, such as the British and French in WWI, eventually adapt and develop countermeasures to neutralize new tactics.