Top World News

May 16, 2026 - World

Politicians still care about traditional media, but winning over people spending more of their lives online is the challenge for modern MPsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastHe’s up before sunrise, pounding the pavement in a cap and running shorts. He’s still up late into the night, having slipped into a comfortable sweater while he checks figures in a darkened office by lamplight, fuelled by sugar-free Red Bull.It’s “decision week”, Jim Chalmers declares of the annual federal budget in a video that pinged around political group chats this week. The treasurer was keen to take people behind the scenes on social media. Continue reading...

May 15, 2026 - World

Order, issued without any noted dissent, is the latest twist in the nation’s mid-decade redistricting competitionThe supreme court on Friday rejected Virginia’s bid to restore a congressional map that would have given Democrats a chance to pick up four seats in the closely divided House of Representatives.The court’s order, issued without any noted dissent, is the latest twist in the nation’s mid-decade redistricting competition . It was kicked off last year by Donald Trump urging Republican-controlled states to redraw their lines and was supercharged by a recent supreme court ruling severely weakening the Voting Rights Act that opened up even more winnable seats for the Republican party. Continue reading...

May 15, 2026 - World

Change reflects both transformation of US in Trump era and China’s increasing confidence on world stageAsked before he departed for Beijing if he would raise with the Chinese president the case of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy activist jailed in Hong Kong, Donald Trump said: “I’ll bring him up.”But, the US president added: “It’s like saying to me, ‘If Comey ever went to jail, would you let him out?’ It might be a hard one for me.” Trump was referring to James B Comey, a former FBI director and a frequent target of Trump’s ire. Continue reading...

May 15, 2026 - World

Gita Gopinath, an economics professor at Harvard University, took to X and described the all-male optics as, "A painting of the end of meritocracy: A meeting of the two largest economies and not one woman at the table."

May 15, 2026 - World

Chaotic week in which enforcer of ‘war on drugs’ flees senate building leaves government looking ‘incompetent’The wanted man outran security agents, rallied protesters and even serenaded the media with a military hymn. Then, after a sudden exchange of gunfire, the Philippines’ most controversial lawmaker slipped out of the heavily guarded senate building in the middle of the night.Senator Ronald dela Rosa, who is wanted by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity, is now nowhere to be seen. Continue reading...