Top World News

Oct 4, 2026 - World

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has arrived in Kyiv to show support as Russia intensifies attacks on Ukrainian cities

Oct 4, 2026 - World

Britain under pressure to put tariffs on cheap Chinese vehicle imports ahead of protectionist trade measuresBritain’s car industry is grappling with a “difficult trade-off” between China and Europe, as manufacturers struggle to balance the benefits of both markets ahead of looming trade measures that could restrict UK exports to the EU.The UK is an outlier in choosing not to put import taxes on Chinese vehicles, even as the US has shut them out almost entirely, and the EU imposes duties of up to 45%. Continue reading...

Oct 4, 2026 - World

Police confirm investigation into period the man reportedly spent in Australia before alleged attempted terrorist attackGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralian security agencies have launched an investigation after it emerged that the flydubai co-pilot who allegedly tried to hijack an Israel-bound flight spent about two years in the country as a student.Disaster was narrowly averted on Wednesday when passengers and crew intervened to stop the co-pilot’s attempt to take control of the flydubai flight to Tel Aviv, which had 182 people onboard and plunged 16,625 feet (5,067 metres) in just over 30 seconds. Continue reading...

Oct 3, 2026 - World

Fears mounted Saturday that the Trump administration was “gearing up for something” ahead of Brazil’s presidential election on Sunday, in which incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face off against far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, an ally to the White House.“They are absolutely gearing up for something and they won’t try to hide it because they assume nobody will do anything to stop it,” argued Vesper Jordan, an independent filmmaker and video essayist.In what some critics called an “unprecedented move,” the Trump administration suspended all U.S. consular services in Brazil on Friday, just two days before Brazil’s first-round presidential election. The U.S. State Department said the suspension was due to unspecified “security concerns,” though critics feared the move was part of an effort to “interfere in the country’s democratic elections.”Critics also expressed outrage over the apparent lack of media attention that the Trump administration’s actions in Brazil had received. Foreign affairs journalist Ishaan Tharoor argued that “the U.S. role in Brazil’s election” was “criminally under-discussed in the U.S.,” and journalist Noah Kulwin issued a similar but far more blunt assessment.“If we had a real news media instead of smug a------- who do video podcasts and video podcasts that are now broadcast on TV, this is the kind of thing that would be breaking through,” Kulwin wrote in a social media post on X.Bolsonaro is a lawyer, politician and son of Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president who’s currently serving a 27-year sentence on charges related to an attempted coup after his election loss in 2022.Last year, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil in response to Jair Bolsonaro’s prosecution, calling it a “Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY.”“The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace,” Trump wrote in a July 2025 letter to Lula. “This Trial should not be taking place.”The US role in Brazil's election is criminally under-discussed in the US, though obviously front and center of the conversation in Brazil. https://t.co/qqnagh3LX0— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) October 2, 2026

Oct 3, 2026 - World

Jared Kushner's questionable ties to a deal he helped negotiate are again in the spotlight a day after he spoke out to defend himself.On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Kushner's business partners stand to profit from a Russian oil deal he helped broker. A day earlier, Kushner took to X to blast a CNN report scrutinizing his business dealings in Israel.Talks between the Trump administration and Russia over ending the war in Ukraine have widened to include a multibillion-dollar sale of international assets owned by Lukoil, one of Russia's largest oil companies, the Times reported. Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the deal during a September 5 Kremlin meeting with Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to the report.The leading group bidding for Lukoil's assets includes Trump megadonor Todd Boehly, a federal agency and two Middle Eastern investment groups with business ties to Kushner or Witkoff's family. One is a Qatar-based conglomerate run by brothers Moutaz and Ramez Al-Khayyat, who have partnered with Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, on a luxury resort in Albania.Another member of the group is a fund controlled by Emirati national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whose separate fund Lunate ranks among the biggest backers of Kushner's private equity firm.The Times found no sign that Kushner or Witkoff would personally profit. But a senior administration official confirmed both men had a direct hand in shaping the federal government's financial stake, pushing for a "substantial upfront payment and profits interest for the United States."Hui Chen, a former Justice Department prosecutor and ethics adviser, raised red flags about the arrangement."This is an alarming and very concerning set of entanglements," Chen told the Times. "And it means you have to question how the Trump administration is evaluating the different bidders involved here. Are the personal interests involved going to wrongly influence the outcome?"The revelations land one day after Kushner went on the offensive against CNN, which reported Thursday that his firm Affinity Partners is the top shareholder in an Israeli financial company invested in suppliers to Israel's military. CNN noted it found no evidence his diplomacy affected those holdings."For the last 10 years, I have ignored false and misleading stories about me and focused on the work," Kushner posted on X Friday. He called CNN's story "deeply misleading" and vowed to start publicly rebutting coverage he views as inaccurate.