Vat

US president’s lawyers in court filing say Washington arts complex must undergo repairs or risk demolitionThe John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts could be demolished if repairs are not carried out, Donald Trump’s administration warned in a court filing on Monday.Lawyers for the US president said the national arts complex in Washington DC must undergo a $250m renovation or risk facing the wrecking ball. Continue reading...

• Pulnovo Medical has enrolled the first two U.S. patients in its PULSE-LHD clinical trial at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. • The trial is conducted under an FDA Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) to evaluate pulmonary artery denervation for treating pulmonary hypertension associated with left heart disease. • This study is significant as it tests a novel medical device approach to managing complex heart failure and pulmonary hypertension conditions.

• Several major retail activations are currently transforming malls across Asia, featuring oversized installations such as a 10-metre corgi in Hong Kong and giant vegetables in Bangkok. • Notable projects include a Disney and G-Dragon collaboration at Hong Kong's Harbour City running until September 6, and an H&M x MLMA partnership in Seongsu featuring a giant sculptural head. • These immersive experiences, which combine art exhibitions and pop-up stores, aim to drive foot traffic and consumer engagement through high-impact visual storytelling.

• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Jared Kushner recently held a private meeting in New York City to explore "potential areas of common ground." • The meeting between the Democratic leader and Donald Trump's son-in-law has drawn attention due to their starkly different political affiliations. • House Speaker Mike Johnson responded to the news by dismissing the move, asserting that Republicans will maintain their House majority in the upcoming elections.

• The Indian Parliament's Monsoon Session has not been prorogued despite being adjourned indefinitely ten days ago. • This unusual delay has sparked widespread speculation that the Central government intends to introduce a delimitation-linked amendment to the women's reservation bill. • The move is significant as it suggests the government may be seeking a legislative window to align reservation quotas with upcoming electoral boundary redistributions.

Government announce plan for ‘stepping stone’ qualification as 620,000 year 11 students face retaking maths or English after failure to achieve grade 4The government’s plans to make young people continue studying maths and English if they fail GCSEs could be demotivating and ineffective, according to education experts and school leaders after retake pass rates slumped this year.Only one in seven students in the age group retaking GCSE maths after a previous failure got a grade 4 or above this summer, while only one in six managed to pass English, meaning the majority will have to retake the exams next year if they remain in education or training. Continue reading...

• NASA has canceled the "Swift Boost" mission, which was intended to extend the operational life of the Swift space observatory. • As a result of the cancellation, the observatory will eventually re-enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up. • The decision marks the end of the mission's efforts to maintain the telescope's orbit for further astronomical observations.

Prime minister wishes couple well in their move back from the US to a non-royal residence outside London• Harry and Meghan: key moments and controversies since US moveSecurity funding for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when they return to live in the UK this month is a “private matter”, Andy Burnham has said.News of Harry and Meghan’s planned return to Britain from the US came as a surprise to many on Wednesday night; King Charles was only informed three days earlier. Continue reading...

• The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) released the minutes from its July meeting on Wednesday, revealing that officials believe inflation remains elevated. • The meeting involved twelve Fed officials, including the seven Board of Governors members and five regional Reserve Bank presidents, who assess economic conditions to set monetary policy. • This acknowledgment is critical as it signals the Federal Reserve's ongoing struggle to bring inflation down to its target levels, influencing future interest rate decisions.

• The Retail Technology Innovation Hub has highlighted 20 retail tech ventures that recently secured significant investments across sectors like AI shopping, live commerce, and warehouse robotics. • Among these, EAIGLE, a specialist in AI-powered gate and yard automation, secured an undisclosed funding round led by Noro-Moseley Partners with support from In Revenue Capital and Boreal Ventures. • EAIGLE intends to use the new capital to accelerate its go-to-market expansion and further develop its proprietary automated logistics technology.

Former real estate developer leads press corps on tour of grounds and says ‘one thing I know how to do is build’As the US national debt climbed past $40tn for the first time on Wednesday, and the war with Iran he started nearly six months ago dragged on, forcing Americans already struggling to pay the bills to spend more on fuel, Donald Trump led the press corps on a tour of the extensive remodeling of the White House grounds he is personally overseeing in his role as the self-styled “builder-in-chief”.The tour, during which Trump showed off upgrades such as a new granite driveway and refurbished columns, and expounded at length on newly laid grass, culminated in Trump autographing the back of a stone, inscribed with his name, to go in the center of the ornate new helipad he insists he needs. Continue reading...

Researchers laud return of giant tuna to North Sea after being fished almost to point of extinctionResearchers have lauded two giant bluefin tunas being caught off the coast of Yorkshire for the first time in more than six decades as a “success story” for marine conservation.The tunas, which were caught a day apart off the coast of Whitby earlier this week, have mostly been absent along the north-east coast of Britain since the 1960s. While a small numbers of the species have been spotted in the waters around Yorkshire in the previous years, the pair were the first to be caught for market from the North Sea since licences to catch the fish were issued in July. Continue reading...

In video celebrating Maggie’s cancer charity, queen recalls ‘longing to let it out’ on visit to centre in 2024The queen has spoken for the first time of how difficult she found it to keep King Charles’s cancer a secret before it was announced publicly.Camilla found herself “longing to let it out” during an official visit to a Maggie’s cancer support centre in 2024, after Charles had received his diagnosis but before the news was released. Continue reading...

National Trust for Historic Preservation filing comes after president made emergency bid for construction to continueA historic preservation group that sued to block construction of Donald Trump’s White House ballroom urged the US supreme court on Tuesday to suspend the project while it considers whether the work can continue.The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed its request less than a week after the Trump administration asked the nation’s highest court to allow the White House to continue construction on its $400m ballroom project during the appeals process. Continue reading...

Network alleges FCC demand for early license renewal is retaliation for political purposeAfter being forced to apply early to renew its license to broadcast on the eight local television stations it owns, ABC has sued the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), arguing that it is being retaliated against for content-based reasons.The network filed the lawsuit on Tuesday while it waits to hear whether the Brendan Carr-led FCC approves its renewal requests, or, more likely, holds a hearing on their merits. Continue reading...

The leftwing commentator has been invited to appear on the Planet America program in Australia on Monday nightThe ABC is set to air the return of its Planet America program on Monday night as the US midterm elections gain steam, with a new episode featuring the leftwing commentator Hasan Piker.Host John Barron said the episode will focus on the “rise of Democratic socialists and the populist left”, with Piker speaking about “what it’s like in the eye of a political storm”. But the appearance quickly sparked the ire of conservatives in Australia. Continue reading...

Revelation comes after it was disclosed that Reform UK backer had paid for spying on prominent journalistThe businessman and Reform UK backer Arron Banks commissioned a private intelligence firm to dig into the Conservative party chair, in addition to having paid for an investigation into a prominent journalist.Banks, a former Reform UK candidate and leave campaign donor, appeared to confirm on Sunday that he was behind an investigation into Kevin Hollinrake. Continue reading...

• McKinsey's latest research indicates that India's economic growth is broadening, driven by strong domestic demand, digitalization, manufacturing, and exports. • Key sectors gaining significant momentum include banking, automotive, e-commerce, and private capital, signaling a diversified growth trajectory. • The report emphasizes that while these drivers are propelling the next phase of growth, businesses and investors must still navigate specific structural challenges.

The Guardian travelled 100 miles along the EU’s longest river, where some residents are struggling to secure drinking waterFor centuries, the rock was seen as a warning. When it began to emerge from the Danube, beneath Gellért Hill in Budapest, it meant the river had fallen so low that floating mills could no longer operate, crops were probably failing, and hunger would almost certainly follow. That is why, in the Hungarian capital, where over time the boulder became little more than a legend, it was named Ínség-szikla – the Rock of Starvation.Today, amid record-low water levels on the Danube, the rock has not only emerged from the water, but surfaced almost in its entirety, along with the sandy riverbed on which it rests, astonishing geologists and government scientists sent to examine it. And, much as the rock was said to warn, Hungary is now facing an unprecedented energy crisis that has forced the country to shut down all but one of its Danube-cooled nuclear reactors for the first time in 44 years. Continue reading...

• Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) has announced plans to invest over $3 billion over the next five years to expand its global R&D lab network. • The investment aims to increase experiment capacity by more than 50% and compress product development cycles to better serve customer needs. • This expansion is driven by the AI era's demand for semiconductor breakthroughs, including chips with new architectures and advanced materials.

• A board largely appointed by Donald Trump has reportedly voted again to close the Kennedy Center to undergo renovations. • This follows a previous unanimous vote in May that was temporarily blocked by a U.S. district judge. • In a separate ruling, Judge Christopher Cooper ordered Trump's name to be removed from the building's facade, declaring the addition illegal since only Congress can change the institution's name.

• The Kennedy Center board voted on Thursday, August 13, 2026, to add President Donald Trump’s name to the building's facade. • The board also approved a two-year closure of the facility to facilitate substantial renovation work. • This decision marks a significant symbolic shift in the branding of the national performing arts center.

President signed memorandum giving private sector a role in combating ‘transnational criminal organizations’Donald Trump signed a memo on Wednesday that aims to give private companies the power to carry out offensive cyber-attacks against foreign criminal entities.The president ⁠signed a ​national security presidential memorandum directing his administration to “leverage the capability and innovation of the private sector to help conduct these ⁠cyber operations under the direction, control and authority of the US government”, the White House said. Continue reading...

The center has until next week to present plan to judge who had blocked earlier rehab and name changeUS politics live – latest updatesThe board of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington is said to have voted once again to move forward with Donald Trump’s controversial plan to temporarily shutter the building for substantial renovations, as well as to inscribe the US president’s name on the facade of its building, despite a federal order for his name to be removed from the signage.The board – mostly handpicked, staunch allies of the president – voted “to close the Kennedy Center’s main building, while keeping a newer addition to the campus, known as the Reach, open for limited programming and to operate as an active memorial to John F Kennedy”, according to the New York Times, which was first to report the results. Continue reading...

• Advancements in space science are being accelerated by the integration of quantum computing, nuclear fusion, and biological engineering. • Research is heavily focused on achieving controlled nuclear fusion through breakthroughs in magnetic and inertial confinement to provide a source of limitless clean energy. • These scientific developments are critical for enabling long-term interplanetary exploration and addressing the urgent global need to mitigate climate change.

The three teenagers are students at Scots College, one of Sydney’s oldest all-boys’ private schoolsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThree students from a Sydney boys’ private school have been charged with sexual assault offences in relation to the alleged assault of a teenage girl.Police launched an investigation after reports that a 14-year-old girl had last month been assaulted in an alleyway in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Continue reading...

• Indian stock indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to have a muted or slightly weaker opening on August 13, 2026, as signaled by Gift Nifty. • Market sentiment is balanced between positive global cues from softer US inflation and strong AI infrastructure earnings, and negative pressures from elevated crude oil prices. • Investors are closely monitoring geopolitical tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the performance of financial stocks and the Tata Group.

• The Consumer Price Index for July reported a 3.4 percent year-over-year increase in prices, though energy costs remain elevated due to the ongoing war in Iran. • This data arrives as the Federal Reserve evaluates whether to raise interest rates after keeping them steady throughout the year. • The report is critical because inflation has consistently exceeded the central bank's 2 percent target for over five years.