Top World News

Sep 17, 2026 - World

Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, is due to address the European parliament on Thursday. Plus, how the attention economy overwhelmed children’s TVDon’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.Donald Trump has threatened the EU with “serious tariffs” after the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, invited Canada to become the EU’s first “associate member”.Why does the EU want closer ties with Canada? Von der Leyen told the European parliament that, as democracies faced a “fracture in the international rules-based system”, Brussels and Ottawa needed to pull closer together. “This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” she said.How has the EU responded to Trump’s comments? France’s Europe minister, Benjamin Haddad, said on Thursday that Washington had no power to veto EU decisions. “It is not up to the United States, or ‌anyone else, to choose the political and geopolitical direction of the Europeans,” Haddad ‌told the Public Sénat TV channel.What’s next? Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has been addressing the European parliament on Thursday. Follow our live coverage here.Did Warsh identify what is driving inflation? Warsh acknowledged changing geopolitics, but avoided calling out the US-Israel war with Iran by name.How did Trump respond? Shortly after the announcement, Trump said in a Truth Social post that interest rates should be 1% or less and criticized the US trade deficit. Continue reading...

Sep 17, 2026 - World

Washington and Florida insiders are exploring lucrative deals for a post-communist Cuba crushed by ever-increasing US sanctionsSpanish hotel chains. A Canadian mining firm. European shipping giants. Visa and Mastercard. Scores of foreign companies have been driven out of Cuba this summer over fear of being hit with potent, new secondary sanctions. Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, told Axios last month there are “no escape valves” from his unprecedented pressure campaign against the island.But not everybody is losing out. A growing cast of Washington and Florida insiders – from billionaire Trump cronies and Rubio-linked lobbyists to Cuban exiles – are jockeying for control of the communist-ruled island-nation’s key assets, charging top dollar to help clients navigate the ever-expanding web of sanctions, and positioning themselves for lucrative business opportunities in the case of regime collapse. Continue reading...

Sep 17, 2026 - World

Make ICE Pay Act would block nearly $140bn in funding and redirect money to places reeling from Trump crackdownThe US congresswoman Ilhan Omar is set to introduce a bill that would make federal immigration agencies “pay the price” for terrorising vulnerable communities, blocking nearly $140bn in funding and redirecting it to local recovery efforts, the Guardian has learned.The Make ICE Pay Act, due to be introduced on Thursday, targets funding previously designated for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”. Continue reading...

Sep 17, 2026 - World

At present, spouses and partners of international students can work in Australia, although the number of hours they are permitted to work varies depending on the student's course of study.

Sep 17, 2026 - World

World leaders are not impressed with President Donald Trump's claim that welcoming Canada into partnership constitutes a "hostile act," the Washington Post reported Thursday.Trump made this claim in North Carolina Wednesday in response to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's proposal to make Canada the European Union's first-ever "associate member." "If it's a good intention, that's fine," Trump said. "If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe."Now leaders from up north and across the pond are saying they don't intend to be influenced by Trump or the United States. Benjamin Haddad, France’s European affairs minister, said on French television Thursday that the U.S. has no veto over decisions made by the 27-nation bloc, according to the Post.“It is not up to a foreign power, not the United States or anyone else, to choose the geopolitical direction of the Europeans,” he said on Public Sénat. “Once again, we have a relationship ⁠with Canada, and we are fully entitled to seek to deepen it.”European Union Commission spokesman Olof Gill said the E.U. leader made clear that “the proposed strengthening of our partnership with Canada is not against anyone else, but for our common strength.”Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, set to address European lawmakers on Thursday, described a partnership between his country and the European Union as "natural."According to the Post, he said both wanted “a deeper partnership that reinforces our mutual sovereignty to create more opportunities and prosperity for our peoples.”