Top World News
Chicago mayor visits Pope Leo at Vatican, invites pontiff to return home
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson led a 46-person delegation to the Vatican on Wednesday for a private audience with Pope Leo XIV, the Chicago-born pontiff who was meeting with his hometown's leader for the first time since his election to the papacy. The pope declined to wear a Cubs hat that was presented to him by the mayor.
Alarm at Mexico bill allowing elections to be annulled for ‘foreign interference’
Opposition says constitutional amendment would give bill ruling party carte blanche to overturn will of votersSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailAmid fierce criticism from opposition groups, Mexico’s senate has passed a constitutional amendment to include “foreign interference” as grounds to annul election results in the country.The bill, which was presented by the country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, defines foreign interference as “illicit financing, propaganda, the systematic dissemination of misinformation, digital manipulation, and the intervention of foreign governments or agencies”. Continue reading...
Lula says Brazil will not be treated like ‘tinpot country’ after US designates gangs as terrorists
Marco Rubio made announcement after meeting president’s far-right challenger Flávio BolsonaroBrazil will not be treated as a “tinpot country,” the country’s president, Luiz Inácio da Silva, said on Friday after the United States designated Brazil’s two largest criminal gangs, the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command, as foreign terrorist organisations.The announcement, made by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, on Thursday, is being widely seen in Brazil as a setback for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president who had strongly opposed the designation – and a boost for Lula’s main challenger in October’s presidential election, the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro. Continue reading...
'Cringe level is off the charts': Hegseth mocked over motivational speech to Navy sailors
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was criticized Friday after giving what was intended as a motivational speech to a group of Navy sailors.Hegseth joined the military personnel for a workout drill on USS Boxer, which is docked in Singapore, when he stopped to give a pep talk about the ongoing Iran war.“The president said 'Iran can either do it the right way, with a deal across the table, or they can deal with my guy on the left.' That happened to be me. But it's not me. It's you guys!” Hegseth said.People online mocked Hegseth's message to the group."The cringe level is off the charts," journalist Aaron Rupar, who has 1.1 million followers, wrote on X."Hegseth is an actor playing a Secdef in a cheesy movie," former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), a frequent Trump administration critic and veteran, wrote on X."Pete Hegseth got how many of our fellow Americans killed and injured and how many bases destroyed all because he used GROK to plan a war with Iran and then got America's A-- handed to her?" Pastor Ben Dixon, a political commentator with more than 164,000 followers, wrote on X."This is so ... stupid!" Gwilym Eades, a lecturer in human and environmental geography at Royal Holloway University of London, wrote on Bluesky.the cringe level is off the charts https://t.co/SvhS7oolvs— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 29, 2026
Ghana's parliament passes a bill criminalizing the promotion of LGBTQ activities
Ghana 's parliament passed a bill Friday that would impose prison terms of up to 10 years for people who promote LGBTQ activities, reviving legislation that has long been pushed by religious groups in the West African country but condemned by human rights advocates.
Canadian man admits sending ‘suicide packets’ to hundreds of people around world
Kenneth Law, who sold lethal chemicals online with instructions on how to use them, admits counselling or aiding suicide ‘It was too easy’: families ask how Kenneth Law enabled so many suicidesA Canadian man who mailed “suicide packets” of poison to more than 100 people in dozens of countries – including Canada, the UK, the US, Italy, Australia and New Zealand – has pleaded guilty to 14 counts of assisting suicide.Kenneth Law appeared in a packed courtroom in Newmarket, Ontario, on Friday to enter the plea after prosecutors agreed to withdraw 14 murder charges. Sentencing is expected to take place in September. Continue reading...
Can the second coming of Tony Abbott resurrect the Liberal party? Or is it another step toward ‘self-destruction’?
Angus Taylor believes the former PM is uniquely placed to help the party as its new president, but some fear he will render it even more unelectableGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastImmediately after ousting Sussan Ley, Angus Taylor used his first press conference as opposition leader to debut a slogan he hoped would define a new era of Liberal conservatism.“The door must be shut,” Taylor said of his approach to prospective migrants who didn’t subscribe to Australia’s “core beliefs”. Continue reading...
Eight students are suspected of arson after a deadly fire at a girls school in Kenya
Police in Kenya have arrested eight female students on suspicion of arson, authorities said Friday, after a fire destroyed a dormitory at a boarding school, killing 16 children and injuring dozens of others. The motive is still unknown.
Anger at decision not to prosecute Canadian suicide kit supplier in UK
Kenneth Law pleaded guilty in Canada to sending products internationally, knowing they would probably be used to end livesBereaved families whose loved ones were the victims of an online supplier of suicide kits say they feel insulted by a decision not to prosecute him in the UK.Kenneth Law pleaded guilty in a court in Ontario, Canada, to 14 charges of aiding suicide and sending products internationally in the knowledge that they were likely to be used to end lives. He is due to be sentenced at a later date. Continue reading...
Brazilian court orders restoration of Fordlandia, Henry Ford’s Amazon ghost town
A Brazilian court has ruled that officials must restore and preserve Fordlandia
South Africa court weighs feud over the body of Zambia's former President Lungu
The family of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu is appealing a court ruling to have his remains buried in South Africa
Weather tracker: deadly May heatwave shatters records across Europe
Temperatures across parts of continent around 10-15C above average for this time of year, while thunderstorms strike eastern AustraliaEurope has experienced an exceptional heatwave this week, with temperature records broken across multiple countries under a persistent area of high pressure, commonly referred to as a “heat dome.” The UK surpassed its May maximum temperature record on Tuesday, with 35.1C recorded at Kew Gardens, London.This broke the record set only the day before, with 34.8C recorded in London on Monday. Previously, the maximum May temperature record was 32.8C, recorded in 1922 and then matched in 1944. Ireland also broke its May maximum temperature, with 28.8C recorded at two weather stations – in Killarney in the south-west and Clonmel in the south. Continue reading...




