User Articles

Carney takes campaign to BC battleground

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, riding high in polls, has looked for support in British Columbia, one of a few fiercely competitive areas that will help determine the outcome of Monday’s national election. Carney’s Liberals are leading in the most populous provinces of Ontario and Quebec, after running a campaign focused on countering US President Donald Trump, while the Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre, dominate the Prairie provinces.

Reuters

Election

Albanese pledges critical minerals strategic reserve

Labor has pledged an initial investment of $1.2 billion to set up a strategic reserve of critical minerals as it looks to create a separate supply chain in a market dominated by China. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, holding a slender lead in polls ahead of a national election nine days away, said the reserve would make use of the country’s mineral deposits and boost its economic resilience.

Reuters

Trade

Opportunity for big US-China deal

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that high tariffs between the United States and China are not sustainable, as US President Donald Trump’s administration signalled openness to de-escalating a trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has raised fears of recession. US stocks rallied on hopes that the two countries might lower the steep trade barriers they have erected over the past month, though there was no sign that negotiations might start anytime soon.

Reuters

Israel

Netanyahu marks Holocaust with Iran warning

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has addressed Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day opening ceremony at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, saying that Iran is a threat to the fate of all humanity and warned the Western countries will be next if Israel “loses this battle.“ “The horror regime in Iran is a threat to the fate and the existence not only to our future but also to the fate and future of all human society,” Netanyahu said. “If Israel were to lose this battle, God forbid, the Western countries would be next.

Reuters

Middle East

12 hours ago

Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood

Jordan has outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the group were found to be linked to a sabotage plot, Interior Minister Mazen Fraya says. There was no immediate comment from the movement, which has operated legally in Jordan for decades and has widespread grass-roots support in major urban centres and scores of offices across the country.

Reuters

12 hours ago

History

Bite marks reveal gladiator’s fatal encounter with lion

In Rome’s Colosseum and other amphitheaters in cities scattered across the sprawling ancient Roman Empire, gladiatorial spectacles were not merely human-versus-human affairs. Gladiators also were pitted against animals. While there are depictions of...

Reuters

USA

Chancellor dashes hopes of early trade deal

Britain’s government is not in a rush to secure a trade deal with US President Donald Trump’s administration, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said, and she ruled out making concessions on food standards in the talks. “We’re not going to rush a deal. We...

Reuters

Denmark

Danish king to visit Greenland in show of unity

Denmark’s King Frederik will visit Greenland next week, the royal palace announced, in a show of solidarity with the semi-autonomous Danish territory that US President Donald Trump says he wants to control. In a further display of unity, Greenland...

Reuters

Gaza

Israel bombs school-turned-shelter

An Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced families in northern Gaza killed at least 10 people, while another hit a children’s hospital, medics said, as three European leaders called on Israel to end its blockade on aid. Since a January...

Reuters

Space

China set for spaceflight launch; calls out US meddling

China is set to launch its Shenzhou-20 mission that will carry three astronauts to the Chinese space station Tiangong at 5.17pm on April 24 (0917 GMT), state media said. The main purpose of the mission is to complete the in-orbit rotation with the...

Reuters

Turkey

Powerful quake jolts Istanbul

More than 150 people were injured when they jumped from buildings in Istanbul as one of the strongest quakes in years hit the city. Many people gathered in parks and others sat on doorsteps, or stood outside their homes in the centre of Istanbul as...

Reuters

Canada

23 hours ago

Party leaders focus on energy

An unusual consensus around energy policy has emerged in the campaign ahead of Canada’s April 28 election, with the two main candidates both promising to fast track energy projects to diversify oil exports away from the United States. US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and talk of annexing Canada as the 51st state sparked a national conversation around energy supplies in the world’s No. 4 oil exporter. Recent public opinion polls show a dramatic uptick in support for the idea of building new cross-Canada pipelines, a concept that once faced widespread opposition in regions such as Quebec.

Reuters

23 hours ago

Energy

Concern over Chinese solar panels

Britain is considering changing legislation to ensure its new state-owned energy company, Great British Energy, avoids the use of solar panels linked to suspected Chinese forced labour. Legislation is going through parliament to establish the state-backed company, but the government’s plans are facing criticism from some lawmakers about the origin of solar panels. Any changes to supply chain rules could put Britain’s 2050 target for net zero emissions at risk.

John McDonald

Argentina

US may offer Argentina credit line

US President Donald Trump’s administration would be willing to offer Argentina a credit line if an “external shock” jeopardised the country’s economic turnaround, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The comments were made in a closed-door meeting in Washington and shared with Reuters by a person inside the room. According to the comments by Bessent, who recently travelled to Buenos Aires, the US government would be willing to use the Exchange Stabilisation Fund to support Argentina if something happened through no fault of its own.

Reuters

Business

Musk to ease back on DOGE role

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he will cut back “significantly” the time he devotes to the Trump administration to spend more time running the electric-vehicle maker, after his cost-cutting tactics sparked public backlash and investor concern. Musk’s 130-day mandate as a special government employee in the Trump administration is set to expire around late May.

Reuters

Ukraine

Putin willing to discuss truce proposal

Russian leader Vladimir Putin is ready to consider a proposal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to halt attacks by both sides on each other’s civilian infrastructure, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says.

Reuters