User Articles

Tariffs can be negotiated or US will ‘just set prices’

President Donald Trump says that some point his administration will “just set prices” for trade deals with US partners if they don’t come to the table, saying it is “physically impossible” to conduct detailed negotiations will all countries, as a deal with South Korea grows closer. South Korea and the United States have agreed to craft a trade package aimed at removing new US tariffs before the pause on reciprocal tariffs is lifted in July, Seoul’s delegation has said after the first round of trade talks in Washington.

AP/Reuters

Defence

NATO chief urges allies to do more

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has called for European countries and Canada to make a “quantum leap” in boosting their contribution to the alliance. Rutte, who is visiting Washington for talks with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, wrote in an...

AP/Reuters

Ukraine

Zelensky ends trip after strikes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says a large-scale overnight attack on Kyiv by Russia was “one of the most outrageous”. Zelensky was speaking on a visit to South Africa, which he said he will cut short to return home because of the attack that killed at least nine people and injured more than 70 in the Ukrainian capital. Zelensky said preliminary information indicated more than 250 drones and ballistic missiles were involved in the attack that targeted civilians.

AP/Reuters

Attack

Tensions rise between India, Pakistan

India and Pakistan have cancelled visas for their nationals to each other’s countries amid rising tensions between the two nuclear armed neighbours after India blamed Pakistan for a deadly attack by gunmen that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in disputed Kashmir.

AP/Reuters

In Depth

23 Apr 2025

Cracks appear in administration as controversies add up

The infighting and backstabbing that plagued US President Donald Trump’s first term have returned as a threat to his second, with deepening fissures over trade, national security and questions of personal loyalty. The latest turmoil threatens to...

AP/Reuters

23 Apr 2025

Defence

War details revealed in another chat

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is alleged to have shared details of a March attack on Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis in a second message group that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer. The second chat on Signal — which is a commercially available app not authorised to be used to communicate sensitive or classified national defence information — included 13 people and was dubbed “Defense Team Huddle”.

AP/Reuters

South America

Bukele proposes prisoner swap

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has proposed a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government is keeping imprisoned for what he calls “political prisoners” in Venezuela.

AP/Reuters

Ukraine

Zelensky: Easter truce an ‘impression’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of creating a false appearance of honouring an Easter ceasefire, saying Moscow continued to launch attacks after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a unilateral temporary truce. “As of Easter morning, we can say that the Russian army is trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire, but in some places, it does not abandon individual attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine,” Zelensky said in an online post.

AP/Reuters

Middle East

19 Apr 2025

US: China aiding Houthi attacks

The US State Department has accused a Chinese firm, Chang Guang Satellite Technology, of directly supporting attacks on US interests by Iran-backed Houthi fighters and called this “unacceptable”. Earlier, the Financial Times cited US officials as...

AP/Reuters

19 Apr 2025

Canada

Trump looms over first leaders’ debate

Prime Minister Mark Carney faced off with his chief rival for the first time during Canada’s election campaign, in a French-language debate that could help determine who wins the April 28 vote and then deals with US tariffs. Polls show the ruling Liberals, who have been in power for 9½ years, ahead of the Conservatives led by Pierre Poilievre. Carney has admitted his French is imperfect. Jean-Marc Leger, head of Quebec-based polling firm Leger, said Carney exceeded expectations in a debate that produced no obvious gaffes.

AP/Reuters

Diplomacy

Rubio heads to Europe for Ukraine talks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Europe this week for talks about ending Russia’s war in Ukraine and laying the groundwork for a nuclear deal with Iran. The State Department said Rubio and Witkoff...

AP/Reuters

Nature

Anger after ancient tree felled by British pub owners

British nature campaigners were left outraged after a pub chain cut down an almost 450-year-old tree in north London on health and safety grounds. The local council in Enfield said they were treating the felling of the oak tree as criminal damage...

AP/Reuters

Politics

Biden back on stage with a warning

Former Democratic US President Joe Biden has made his first major speech since leaving the White House in January, issuing a warning over Social Security as the Trump administration cuts agency staff and shutters some of its offices. The speech in Chicago to disability advocates was a major re-emergence by Biden onto America’s political landscape, as President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, run by tech billionaire Elon Musk, makes massive cuts to the federal workforce.

AP/Reuters

Israel

Netanyahu in Gaza calls for hostage release

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a surprise visit to troops in northern Gaza, his office said, without providing details. Netanyahu was accompanied by the country’s defence minister, head of the military and other senior officials. A statement released by his office said Netanyahu received a security briefing in northern Gaza on the military’s effort to free Israeli hostages and to defeat Hamas.

AP/Reuters

Education

US government freezes billions of funds for Harvard

The US government says it’s freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard University, after the institution said it would defy the Trump administration’s demands to limit activism on campus. In a letter to Harvard Friday, President Donald Trump’s administration had called for broad government and leadership reforms at the university, as well as changes to its admissions policies. It also demanded the university audit views of diversity on campus, and stop recognising some student clubs.

AP/Reuters

Technology

All-female crew successfully launches into space

Billionaire Jeff Bezos launched his fiancee Lauren Sanchez and five other women into space on a Blue Origin rocket and successfully returned to Earth, marking the first all-female spaceflight in more than 60 years. The first was Soviet cosmonaut...

AP/Reuters