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Alex Wickham

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in Ottawa in April. Trudeau has faced accusations of not responding swiftly enough to foreign interference.

WORLD / Politics

Jul 14, 2024

Canada said to have mapped out secret Chinese police operations

Concern has grown over whether or not Beijing monitors and intimidates members of the Chinese diaspora living in Western democracies.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer

WORLD / Politics

Jul 7, 2024

Untested Starmer is suddenly the West’s last man standing tall

Keir Starmer — who’s spent the last six weeks campaigning under the one-word banner of ‘change’ — is about to discover how in politics, it can come at you fast.

A Ukrainian serviceman waits for Russian drones next to a military vehicle with a anti-aircraft cannon at an undisclosed location in Donetsk region, Ukraine.

WORLD / Politics

Jul 3, 2024

China is making and testing lethal attack drones for Russia

Beijing may be edging closer to providing Russia with the sort of lethal aid that western officials have warned against.

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer speaks during a debate in Nottingham, England, on Wednesday, in the build-up to the U.K. general election set for July 4.

WORLD / Politics

Jun 27, 2024

Starmer denies Sunak clear win he needed in U.K. election debate

The head-to-head contest came amid a betting scandal that’s dominated the last two weeks of the campaign.

Russian officials have increasingly been threatening not to extend the visas of African students and young workers unless they agree to join its military and fight against Ukraine, sources say.

WORLD

Jun 10, 2024

Russia is sending young Africans to die in its war against Ukraine

Moscow has also been enlisting convicts from its prisons, one source said.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks to journalists following an election campaign event at Melksham Town F.C. on Friday. Sunak apologized after skipping events to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France to return early to the U.K.

WORLD / Politics

Jun 8, 2024

The moment the Tories have long dreaded is finally upon them

With Labour so far ahead in the polls, few Tories expect to stay in power after the election.

Brexit architect Nigel Farage said he'll stand as a candidate for Reform U.K. in Britain’s general election on July 4, an about-turn that threatens to destabilize the campaign for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s governing Conservatives.

WORLD / Politics

Jun 4, 2024

Nigel Farage barrels into U.K. campaign in gut punch to Conservatives

With trademark chutzpah, Farage convened what he called an "emergency” press conference to tell reporters that he would, in fact, be standing as a candidate.

U.K. prime minister Rishi Sunak speaks at a Conservative Party election campaign event in London on Wednesday.

WORLD / Politics

May 23, 2024

Sunak blindsided his own chancellor with early U.K. election call

Some ministers backed the election decision, but disappointment was a common sentiment among Tory members of Parliament as the vote could cost scores of them seats.

The Russian Embassy in London. Britain's deportation of Russia's defense attache is a response to a suspected arson attack against Ukrainian-linked properties in East London and other espionage activities, the U.K. Home Secretary said.

WORLD / Politics

May 9, 2024

U.K. expels Russian envoy in pushback against spying surge

The action is a response to a suspected arson attack against Ukrainian-linked properties in East London and espionage activities across the U.K and Europe.

Grant Shapps, U.K. defense secretary, departs following a meeting of cabinet ministers at 10 Downing Street on Nov. 22, 2023.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

May 8, 2024

China seen hacking systems to build profiles of U.K. defense personnel

The U.K. is accusing China of using hacked data to build up their profiles of British military personnel and those in sensitive roles.

U.K. Prime Minister Sunak is hearing calls to consider policies including an immigration cap and a withdrawal from the European Court of Human Rights.

WORLD / Politics

May 6, 2024

Tories press Sunak to move to right after local election rout

Sunak's team said they will respond with upcoming media appearances and policy announcements on the economy, migration and healthcare.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a joint ministerial meeting of the GCC-U.S. Strategic Partnership in Riyadh to discuss the humanitarian crises in the Gaza, on Monday.

WORLD / Politics

Apr 30, 2024

U.S. warns ICC action on Israel would hurt cease-fire chances

The U.S. and its allies are concerned that the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials just as the country is getting closer to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas, potentially jeopardizing a deal, people familiar with the matter said.

U.K. Prime Minster Rishi Sunak speaks during a news conference on his flagship Rwanda migration policy in London on Monday.

WORLD / Politics

Apr 23, 2024

Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill to become law after long fight

The U.K. is set to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda in around July after Parliament approved the prime minister's plan.

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron

WORLD / Politics

Apr 10, 2024

Cameron lobbies old adversary Trump to unlock Ukraine aid

Despite sparring in the past, the U.K.'s foreign secretary sees the former U.S. president as key to giving Ukraine more funding.

Both the U.S. and U.K. have announced sanctions against Chinese nationals for cybercrimes.

WORLD / Politics

Mar 26, 2024

U.S. and U.K. accuse China of broad cyberattacks and voter data theft

The revelations add to a growing list of cybersecurity breaches that the U.S. and its allies say are backed by the Chinese government.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets with local residents during a walkabout with Conservative MPs in Winchester, England, on Friday.

WORLD / Politics

Jan 20, 2024

Why Sunak’s Conservatives are talking about the 1993 Canadian election

A week of Tory rebellions and cataclysmic polls has left members of Sunak’s governing party plumbing new depths of despair over their prospects of staying in power.

A supporter of Donald Trump prior to a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, last month. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak signaled that voters in the United Kingdom will go to the polls in the fall, around the time that the United States will be in the midst of its own pivotal vote.

WORLD / Politics

Jan 7, 2024

Trumpian bravado poses risk for Sunak amid dueling U.K. and U.S. votes

Polls show U.K. voters are becoming more wary of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as an election looms.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak greets Rwandan President Paul Kagame at Downing Street in London on May 4.

WORLD / Politics

Dec 7, 2023

Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill seeks to waive some human rights law

Deportation plan to deter asylum-seekers from France is one of his key pledges to U.K. voters ahead of polls that he must call in 14 months.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks as he holds a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on Tuesday.

WORLD / Politics

Nov 15, 2023

U.K. Tories face showdown over sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda

Sacked former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has accused Rishi Sunak of betraying the public and breaking a promise he made to clamp down on immigration.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

WORLD / Politics

Sep 22, 2023

Zelenskyy under pressure as Ukraine's allies shift priorities

Allies are pushing the Ukrainian leader to turn his attention to what kind of country will emerge from the war, even as Kyiv struggles for a breakthrough.

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

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