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Nolan Wells FBI Investigating Alleged 'Interstate Threats' Published July 16, 2026 5:23 PM PDT | Updated July 16, 2026 5:59 PM PDT The FBI is investigating alleged threats that they say have been sparked by
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'90 Day Fiancé' Star Armando Attorney Urges DHS to Expedite Immigration Case ... Amid Daughter's ICU Stay Published July 16, 2026 5:08 PM PDT | Updated July 16, 2026 8:20 PM PDT Armando Niedermeier-Rubio's immigration
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'TODAY' Show Alleged Intruder First Glimpse of Suspect After Terrifying Set-Storming Scare Published July 16, 2026 4:40 PM PDT Play video content The man accused of barging into the "TODAY" show and confronting Craig Melvin
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'Deadliest Catch' Jake Anderson Fighting Estranged Wife Over $$$ In Nasty Divorce Published July 16, 2026 3:50 PM PDT Jake Anderson -- star on the hit show "Deadliest Catch" -- and his wife Jenna are
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Tom Holland on Zendaya Sorry, Odysseus, She's Married To Me!!! Published July 16, 2026 2:54 PM PDT Tom Holland may be playing Telemachus in "The Odyssey" ... but he just launched another epic voyage into
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A drone view shows construction personnel working on a multi-home residential project in California. US single-family home-building fell for a third straight month in June while permits for future construction dropped to the lowest level
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TOPSHOT - South African residents hold an ID card as they gesture to protect themselves during an anti-migrant protest in Alexandra near Johannesburg on July 16, 2026. Protest organisers and participants have vowed to continue
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This aerial photograph shows a general view of The Rike Park Theatre and Exhibition Hall (centre) in front of The Presidential Palace in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. (AFP/File Photo) Authorities in the Georgian capital Tbilisi have approved the demolition of a half-finished futuristic cultural complex, rekindling a debate over one of the city's most divisive landmarks.Critics have long argued that the site — in the shape of two silvery steel and glass tubes — clashes with Tbilisi's historic skyline, while supporters see it as an emblem of jailed former president Mikheil Saakashvili's drive to rapidly modernise the ex-Soviet nation.Its planned removal has prompted accusations that the ruling Georgian Dream party is seeking to erase architectural symbols associated with its imprisoned political rival.Earlier this month municipal authorities approved the dismantling of the buildings designed by Italian architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas that were put up in the historic Rike district in 2011-2012.The owner, who plans to build a hotel on the site, has until December 25 to complete the demolition.Saakashvili denounced the plan, describing the complex as a "world architectural and cultural masterpiece" and accused the authorities of destroying an asset built with public funds.Intended to house a concert hall and exhibition space, the complex never opened. Work stopped after Saakashvili's United National Movement lost power to Georgian Dream in 2012, leaving its interiors unfinished.Around $29mn in public money had already been spent on the project, according to Georgian fact-checking organisation FactCheck.ge.Massimiliano Fuksas also condemned the decision."If public money was spent to build something, why destroy it?" the 82-year-old architect told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, calling the plan "madness".He said his studio had contacted the Georgian authorities in May, offering to discuss alternative uses for the complex, but received no response.
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Andy Burnham smiles as he leaves Labour’s 'Special Conference' where he was confirmed as the Labour Party's new leader and the country's next prime minister, in central London yesterday. (AFP) Andy Burnham vowed yesterday to restore "hope" to the British people as he officially became the ruling Labour party's new leader, and incoming UK prime minister.Nicknamed the "King of the North" for a nine-year spell as Manchester mayor, Burnham pledged to work to improve living standards in every region of the United Kingdom."People and places ... have been waiting too long for politics to let them hope again ... We're going to give them hope back," he promised at a special party conference."I am for us, for all of us," Burnham told cheering delegates.The 56-year-old takes over from Keir Starmer, who resigned last month after months of political turmoil, scandal and domestic policy missteps.Centre-left Labour retains an overwhelming majority in parliament after the 2024 general election. As the leader of the largest party he becomes the country's prime minister, without having to call new polls.Burnham will enter Downing Street on Monday after meeting King Charles III, becoming the UK's seventh prime minister in a decade.It is only four weeks since Burnham sensationally returned as a member of parliament following a nine-year absence, determined to replace Starmer.Labour MPs reckon he is their best chance of reining in Nigel Farage's anti-immigrant Reform UK party, tipped in the polls to win the next general election, expected in 2029.Burnham's flagship idea is devolving powers to cities and regions, including by setting up a "Number 10 North" office.Hailing from the party's so-called soft left, he favours more public control of services, such as water, and reindustrialisation."If we want an economy and a country that works for all people and places ... then it requires a new path to the one we've been on for the last 40 years," he said.Burnham has pledged to boost the construction of public housing to try to resolve the homelessness crisis, and pump resources into social care.After facing no challengers, he becomes leader at his third attempt, following failed bids in 2010 and 2015.Burnham was an MP between 2001 and 2017, serving as a minister in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's governments.He has since reinvented himself as a man of the people, melding a relaxed folksy style with slick social media videos.Labour MPs see him as a better communicator than Starmer and hope will take a more radical approach to reforming Britain's battered public services."It feels like a fresh start. There's reason to be hopeful," Labour MP Richard Baker told AFP after Burnham's speech.— New leader, old problems —Starmer returned Labour to power after 14 years in opposition in July 2024 with a landslide victory over the Conservatives, who had churned through five prime ministers in the tumult unleashed by the 2016 Brexit referendum.But his premiership quickly became characterised by domestic policy missteps and controversies, including his appointment of ex-Jeffrey Epstein associate Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.Disastrous local and regional election results in May heaped further pressure on Starmer, which became impossible to withstand after Burnham won a parliamentary by-election on June 18, allowing him to run for leader.Burnham, regularly seen in his trademark dark T-shirt and casual jacket, secured the backing of 379 of Labour's 403 MPs, with no one mustering the 81 nominations required to challenge him.He will face the same unenviable challenges that beset Starmer: a tepid economy, high government borrowing costs, a ballooning welfare bill and irregular migrants arriving in small boats that have fuelled support for Reform.Unpredictable energy prices due to the US-Iran war and a volatile American president in Donald Trump also threaten to buffet his premiership.Burnham has vowed not to raise the country's main taxes, but will need to fill a £4.7-billion ($6.3-billion) gap over four years in the country's defence investment plan."Most of what's been said by Burnham and his supporters so far has been pretty vague," politics professor Tony Travers told AFP."He's going to have to come out with a visible plan and policies people understand ... pretty quickly," or he risks "losing momentum", Travers added.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday cast Beijing as the champion of a new global AI order, using China's premier tech conference to promote open-source technology and challenge US influence over the rules governing the fast-moving sector.In a speech to the opening ceremony of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Xi urged countries to seize the "historic opportunity" of open-source AI, and pledged to help developing nations build AI capabilities, warning against the emergence of "new historical injustices" from unequal access to the technology.The remarks amounted to Xi's clearest articulation yet of China's ambition to shape global AI governance, framing its open-source models as a global public good and positioning Beijing as an alternative to Washington at a pivotal moment in the race for technological leadership.Comparing AI's significance to the invention of the steam engine and electricity, Xi outlined a vision in which China shares AI technology and expertise with countries across the Global South, while leading global efforts to create standards governing the emerging technology.The speech pitched China's AI coalition as a rival to the US-led "Pax Silica" international initiative to secure global AI and critical mineral supply chains, though Xi avoided naming Washington.Chinese state media has increasingly portrayed Beijing's AI strategy as a response to what it calls a US-led attempt to erect an "AI Iron Curtain".In a commentary published on Thursday, Yuyuan Tantian, a prominent social media account affiliated with state broadcaster CCTV, said China was seeking to build "another order" by "pooling the strength of all humanity and all countries to build an open-source, all-factor AI ecosystem".The WAIC conference underlined the shifting AI landscape, with Chinese open-weight AI models making rapid gains against proprietary systems from US companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.Beijing-based startup Moonshot AI yesterday unveiled Kimi K3, which it described as the world's largest open AI model by parameter count, a month after the US government abruptly pulled Anthropic's frontier-class AI models due to security concerns.Reuters reported earlier this month that Beijing is weighing restrictions on overseas access to some of China’s leading AI models, highlighting the growing tension between its promotion of open-source AI and an increasingly stringent national security agenda.Xi also called for AI systems to remain under human control and urged countries to establish early-warning and emergency-response mechanisms to manage AI risks, in his clearest remarks to date on AI safety.He further urged measures to guard against loss-of-control scenarios, warning of the dangers posed by autonomous AI systems that could evade human oversight and control.China will provide AI training and develop AI cooperation centres with Brics, Asean, Latin American and African Union countries, Xi said, aligning its AI diplomacy with major Global South blocs where Beijing already carries significant influence.The remarks came a day after the launch of the China-created World AI Co-operation Organisation, or WAICO, which signed up 29 member countries. Xi called the organisation a "milestone in the history of world AI development" and said it responded to demands from Global South nations for greater participation in AI governance.Analysts said the timing turned what might have been a routine policy speech into a statement linking China's technological advances to a formal diplomatic platform."You've got the leader of the second most powerful country in the world, a country that's still posting real technological gains despite everything going on with the US, standing up and laying out China's view on AI," said Alfredo Montufar-Helu, managing director at Ankura China Advisors.That institutional push reflects a broader Chinese effort to avoid being cast as a rule-taker in a sector increasingly shaped by US companies, US export controls and Washington-led technology partnerships, according to analysts."Xi's message is clear: China is not going to follow anyone on both AI technology and standards. Instead, China is going to lead the world in both aspects," said George Chen, chair in digital practice at The Asia Group, a consultancy.The July 17-20 gathering comes as Washington and Beijing prepare for their first government-level AI talks under US President Donald Trump's administration.The two powers laid out competing visions at a UN AI dialogue last week, where US officials argued excessive regulation could hinder innovation, while China promoted its low-cost, open-source models as a tool for narrowing global disparities in AI access.Washington has brought together 35 countries behind its AI Opportunity Statement, compared with 29 countries signed up to the China-led WAICO.Kazakhstan is the only country listed as joining both initiatives, a person familiar with the US position said, arguing the limited overlap showed most countries aligned with Washington's framework had not endorsed Beijing's competing initiative.Alongside China's leading technology companies, attendees at WAIC include UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
