Top World News

Feb 17, 2026 - World

The World Health Organisation and Donald Trump's administration still maintains contact despite the United States leaving the organization this year. While the WHO is less dependent on U.S. financing, it has made it clear that it believes the world is less safe without its involvement. Insiders and admin officials told The Guardian columnist Devi Sridhar that, even though the U.S. had severed ties with the health body, it was still in touch with it. Sridhar wrote, "We have China and Russia increasing their bilateral ties to low-income countries, tying together global health aid with their influence. And we have health threats such as the H5N1 variant of bird flu, antimicrobial resistance and continual disease outbreaks requiring rapid information-sharing and coordinated response."The U.S. government knows this. I am told that in all practical ways, Trump’s leadership team is still engaging with the agency privately, while lambasting it publicly."Sridhar suggested the reason for opening private channels and yet blasting the organization publicly is to play up the MAGA voter base ahead of the midterm elections. She wrote, "This plays to his MAGA base who need a foreign enemy to attack, while also ensuring the U.S. has the necessary global intel on health risks that the WHO holds. Yet again, Trump says one thing publicly while doing the opposite privately. "In another 'emperor has no clothes' moment, the real story is that the U.S. government is more dependent on the WHO than vice versa." Professor Sridhar, a chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, also claimed the World Health Organisation had nearly buckled under MAGA pressure in the past. "A senior WHO staff member told me that it had been pressed to align with the MAGA talking points on the links between vaccines and autism, and paracetamol in pregnancy and autism, as well as climate-change denialism," she wrote. "When the agency pushed back that this wasn’t scientifically accurate, it was reprimanded."Having studied the WHO (and co-written a book on it), it is bizarre to watch the U.S. government attacking the very agency it has been the architect and champion of for years. The entire UN system was premised on the idea that cooperation across countries could prevent collective catastrophes like the Second World War. "U.S. leadership has been central to global campaigns against smallpox, polio, HIV/Aids and reducing child mortality. Financially, too, the U.S. has been the single largest contributor to the WHO, through assessed contributions and voluntary funding tied to specific programmes."

Feb 17, 2026 - World

Citizen Lab report suggests Cellebrite software was used to break into Boniface Mwangi’s phone while he was under arrestWhen Boniface Mwangi, the prominent Kenyan pro-democracy activist who plans to run for president in 2027, had his phones returned to him by Kenyan authorities after his controversial arrest last July, he immediately noticed a problem: one of the phones was no longer password protected and could be opened without one.It was Mwangi’s personal phone, which he used to communicate with friends and mentors, and contained photos of private family moments with his wife and children. Knowing that its contents could be in the hands of the Kenyan government made Mwangi – who has described harassment and even torture – feel unsafe and “exposed”, he told the Guardian. Continue reading...

Feb 16, 2026 - World

An economic plan from world leaders could reduce the impact of Donald Trump's tariff policy worldwide, insiders say. The president's economic plan, which he implemented during his second term, has caused disruptions domestically and internationally. World leaders are now seeking a way through the economic spiral, and Canadian PM Mark Carney is believed to be at the helm of this plan. Insiders, speaking to Politico, confirmed there are nearly 40 countries interested in the talks. A Canadian government official said, "The work is definitely coming along. We’ve had very fruitful discussions on it with other partners around the world."Both the European Union and members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, including Canada, Mexico, and Australia, are keen to stand against Trump's economic policies and their effects on the wider world. A Japanese trade official said, "We see a lot of value in increasing trade among the EU and CPTPP parties, which would also contribute to enhancing supply chain resilience."Another diplomat from an unnamed nation spoke positively of the possible alliance between the EU and CPTPP. They said, "If the EU is up for the conversation, then of course it would make things very interesting indeed."Klemens Kober, director of trade policy, EU customs and transatlantic relations at the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also confirmed relevant parties were looking into an agreement which, if signed, could hinder Trump and his administration's hold on world economics.All relevant actors are looking at it," Kober said. "If there can be a focus on having these rules as harmonized and simple as possible, as part of these negotiations, that could prove advantageous for German companies."Having the possibility of cumulating origin between different FTAs is very useful. We hope that if that’s a success, if you can see tangible benefits in different areas, that could also entice other countries to join in and team up in a positive sense. So the more the merrier."

Feb 16, 2026 - World

The Guardian’s community affairs correspondent, Chris Osuh, reports on the plot by two IS terrorists to massacre Jews in Manchester, and how it was thwarted by an undercover stingWalid Saadaoui had once worked as a holiday entertainer, organising dance shows and quizzes at a resort in his native Tunisia. After moving to the UK and marrying a British woman, he became a restaurateur and an avid keeper of birds.All the while, however – as the Guardian’s community affairs correspondent, Chris Osuh, explains – he was hiding a secret: he had pledged allegiance to Islamic State. Continue reading...

Feb 15, 2026 - World

At this point, you have probably heard enough about the effect of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show on the president and his coalition. While there are plenty of details to debate, including the ludicrous allegation that the Grammy-winner’s performance was “pure smut,” I think it’s important to keep your eyes fixed on what’s really at stake.Rightwingers don’t mind “indecent acts,” as their protection of “the Epstein class” should attest. What they mind is a global superstar, who originates from Puerto Rico and whose native language is Spanish, making affirmative claims about who belongs in America.Bad Bunny’s halftime show was an extension of remarks he made two weekends ago after winning six Grammys. “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out,” he said. “We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”His argument in favor of kindness and common cause, and in defense of diversity and inclusion, was later immortalized on words written on a football — “Together, we are America” — and it lay beneath a spectacle seen by 135 million, according to the Daily News.The strength of Bad Bunny’s argument was enhanced by the impotence of its counterpart. Turning Point USA, the hate group founded by the late Charlie Kirk, organized an alternate musical event. Emceed by Kid Rock, the show’s message was, more or less, America is for “us,” not “them.” According to the Daily News, just 6 million watched it.That’s their beef.Donald Trump and his rightwing allies will not believe their vision of America — essentially, a racially exclusive club — is unpopular. They will never accept that America has fallen in love with a man who was born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, who was bagging groceries a decade ago before rising to Spotify’s top global artist, who welcomes everyone and whose life embodies the American Dream.So they smear him, accusing him of involvement in a criminal conspiracy to somehow force Americans into loving him against their will. That’s the thinking behind a new complaint by US Congressman Andy Ogles. The Tennessee Republican described the Super Bowl halftime show as "pure smut" featuring "explicit displays of gay sexual acts, women gyrating provocatively, and Bad Bunny shamelessly grabbing his crotch while dry-humping the air."Ogles continued, saying Bad Bunny "openly glorified sodomy and countless other unspeakable depravities." Ogles said "these flagrant, indecent acts" break federal law regulating television airwaves. He called for an investigation in a letter to the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees broadcast regulations.But such allegations are decoys. Rightwingers do not care about “family values.” If they did, they would not tolerate the incarceration of babies. (The youngest person in the Dilley Detention Center in Texas is 2 months old, according to Univision.) Rightwingers do not care about higher-order things, only whether they can be used to accomplish their goals.In this case, the goal is discrediting a global superstar who is popularizing a new and dangerous idea of belonging in America. You don’t need to pass a test. You don’t have to know the rules. You don’t even need the correct paperwork. If you’re here, you’re American.Because “together, we are America.”“Together, we are America” is new, as it casts immigration in the context of brotherhood, so the burden of government is finding ways of turning a fact of life into a fact of law.It is dangerous, as it upends a decade of rightwing effort to move public understanding of immigration away from a matter of freedom and opportunity to a matter of crime and punishment. The burden is now entirely on individuals. They’re presumed guilty until proven innocent. “Together, we are America” has the potential of turning that around.Bad Bunny’s ethic of belonging is dangerous for another reason. It comes as the logical conclusion to ten years of fear-mongering and hate speech is coming into view: families ripped apart, communities shredded, citizens murdered and concentration camps opening.Even respectable white people, or “independent voters,” are recoiling (mostly because they are shocked to learn that an “immigration crackdown” includes them). Thanks to the horrors the country has witnessed over the last month, they are now open to alternatives, especially alternatives being advanced by the most popular performing artist on the planet.Right now, the focus is on ICE and its crimes. That, however, is like the allegation that Bad Bunny’s show was “pure smut” — it limits politics to terms favorable to Trump. “Abolish ICE” should be part of a bigger picture so the meaning of belonging is radically redefined.Immigrants are Americans. They might not speak the language. They might not know the rules. They might not have the right papers. But they are here. That makes them American.The question is not if they are, but when it becomes official.