This is a historic and pivotal year for democracy across the globe. Around 70 countries – from the United States to South Africa, via Mexico and Taiwan – will hold elections in 2024. After India’s huge and ongoing six-week ballot, however, the biggest election in terms of voter numbers will happen next week, when 373 million Europeans can go to the polls and elect 720 members of the next ...
The US and Chinese defense chiefs are holding a rare in-person meeting Friday as the two powers navigate a contentious security landscape across the Asia-Pacific and a range of frictions between them from China’s intimidation of Taiwan to American’s strengthening alliances in the region. The meeting, between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and China’s Minister of National Defense Adm. Dong ...
Early results from South Africa’s election suggest the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party could lose its majority for the first time in 30 years. With results in from 22% of polling stations at 4 p.m. local time, support for the ANC stood at 43.5%. The official opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), had 24.7% of the vote, while the far-left ...
Catherine, Princess of Wales, will not be returning to royal duties with an appearance at the Colonel’s Review, a military parade in London in early June, as she continues her treatment for cancer. The ceremonial display on June 8 is the traditional dress rehearsal for the King’s official birthday parade known as Trooping the Colour, which takes place a week ...
The first US commercial flight to Haiti in months made a bleak roundtrip on Thursday morning, returning with the bodies of a young American couple who were killed by a gang in Port-au-Prince last week. The remains of Davy and Natalie Lloyd were accompanied in the flight by US Ambassador to Haiti Dennis Hankins and US security agents, according to ...
It’s unclear exactly what the image is. A series of tents? Truck beds against a rust orange background? Multicolored rectangles? Mountains are visible in the background, and in the foreground are the following words: “All Eyes on Rafah” — a reference to the southernmost Gazan city that became the center of war coverage this week, after an Israeli strike on ...
As Australian women push for action on domestic violence – a problem described by the country’s prime minister as a “national crisis” – one state has appointed a special official charged with improving men’s behavior. Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan announced Wednesday that state MP Tim Richardson would serve as the inaugural Parliamentary Secretary for Men’s Behavior Change – the first ...
A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted Wednesday for the fifth time since December, spewing massive lava flows that threaten to cut off the town of Grindavík and prompting the evacuation of the world-famous Blue Lagoon. Dramatic video and images from the scene showed fountains of red-hot lava shooting into the air along a 3.4-kilometer (two-mile) fissure near Mount Hagafell on ...
Editor’s Note: This story contains graphic and disturbing descriptions of sexual violence. Within an hour of being arrested by Russian security forces, Roman Shapovalenko was threatened with rape. On August 25, 2022, the day after Ukraine’s Independence Day, he said three armed, masked officers from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) stormed his home in the southern Ukrainian port city of ...
Claudia Sheinbaum was campaigning for president in southern Mexico when hooded men approached her car, filming the interaction as they implored her to keep their town from being taken over by gangs. One man said he felt helpless, and that the government had “never done anything for these lands.” They lived in Chiapas, Mexico’s poorest state and an increasingly important territory for criminal organizations ...