World politics

World politics

China's official discourse centres on the idea of peaceful rise, the commitment to non-interference in internal affairs, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and economic partnerships based on mutual benefit. Beijing insists that relations with Washington should not slide into conflict, calling for a system of global governance built on cooperation rather than confrontation. Yet the geopolitical landscape reveals a wide gap between this discourse and reality. Donald Trump's return to the White House has brought back rhetorical escalation and increased geopolitical pressure.

Diplomat Yury Filatov hits out at Helen McEntee and says Ireland is hostile to Russia

Trump said on Thursday that a US armada is heading towards the Gulf region with Iran being its focus. US officials said an aircraft carrier strike group and other assets are to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days. We're watching Iran. We have a big force going towards Iran, Trump said. And maybe we won't have to use it. We have a lot of ships going that direction.

"The harassment by Israeli settlers had become unbearable," said Rashid, a young mother, as she stood leaning on the metal doorframe of her home in Ras Ein el-Auja in the occupied West Bank. Nearby, a few suitcases and other belongings sat in the corner, neatly packed. "There is no safety left. We've been suffering for three years, but now the provocations increased," Rashid told DW, speaking of how settlers entered their home.

The charter for President Donald Trump's newly formed Board of Peace claims the organization aims to secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict. Some of its member states seem less than committed to that goal. The president faced widespread backlash for his highly controversial invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is reportedly still considering accepting a place on the board.

A group of researchers from Berkeley, Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, and Yale warn that the rise of AI bots and AI agents could pose a serious threat to democracy. For example, power-hungry politicians around the world can relatively easily create swarms of AI bots that flood social media and messaging services with propaganda and disinformation. In this way, they can not only influence election results but also persuade parts of the population to replace parliamentary democracy with an authoritarian regime.

He announced a 10 percent tariff on eight European countries that had sent troops to Greenland for a military exercise. On Sunday afternoon, he composed a poorly punctuated, paranoiac note to the Norwegian prime minister in which he blamed the Norwegian government for not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, said the rejection had liberated him to stop thinking about peace, and claimed that it had set him on the path to conquer Greenland to protect the United States.

When fear dominates, nuance and exceptions fade. Over time, this dynamic creates insular echo chambers that amplify threat narratives while filtering out contradictory evidence. What is particularly striking, and deeply concerning, is that this climate of dread is no longer confined to one group. It is now mirrored across political divides, leaving many people-regardless of affiliation-feeling powerless, overwhelmed, and chronically anxious.

One foreign policy achievement that Donald Trump prefers not to boast about is his role in helping Mark Carney win last year's Canadian general election. The incumbent Liberal party faced crushing defeat before Mr Trump threatened to annex Canada. Mr Carney's candidacy was buoyed up by a patriotic rally against US bullying. Perhaps because his country has also been coveted by Mr Trump, Mr Carney has given one of the most clear-sighted responses of any democratic leader to the US president's designs on Greenland.

Europe is weighing retaliation if President Donald Trump imposes more tariffs - and it threatens the US's big global advantage. French President Emmanuel Macron pushed to activate what's commonly referred to asa trade "bazooka" in response to Trump's recent threat to impose an additional 10% tariff on European countries unless they agree to a deal ceding control of Greenland.

Armed with bulldozers and tear gas, the Israeli military forcefully entered the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) office in Sheikh Jarrah, in East Jerusalem. They targeted at least two UNRWA buildings for demolition, and fired tear gas in a vocational school serving young refugees in Qalandia, on the outskirts of Jerusalem; the Palestinian Authority said that Israeli forces hit a 15-year-old boy in the eye with a rubber bullet.

At their disposal are mainly three options: The use of the so-called "trade bazooka" a never-before-used instrument that could even go as far as restricting market access for US companies in the EU. The implementation of retaliatory tariffs. The suspension of the EU-US trade deal, which has yet to come into effect. EU heads of state and government will meet for a summit on Thursday a dinner cobbled together in haste to coordinate which of those options the bloc will use in response to Trump's threats.

The abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by the United States military and the subsequent threats by Washington to intervene in Iran during its recent upheaval have generated a tide of enthusiasm in hawkish pro-Ukraine circles in the West. If Moscow's allies are weakened, then Russia also gets weaker, the simplistic logic goes. Although he criticised US interventionism in the past, US President Donald Trump is newly infected with the regime change fever once spread by his Democratic predecessors.

Myanmar's military-backed political party has extended its lead after the second round of voting, according to official figures from the country's election body, and the country now heads into the final phase of its three-stage general election amid widespread conflict. The latest data published on Friday indicates that the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is on track to win 182 seats from the combined first and second phases of voting, more than half of the seats in the country's 330-member lower house.

Yemen's Saudi-backed presidential leadership council has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Salem bin Breik and appointed Foreign Minister Shaya Mohsin al-Zindani as the country's new prime minister, the state news agency Saba has reported. Bin Breik formally submitted the resignation, which was approved by the council, before Zindani was named to form the next cabinet, Saba said on Thursday.

Naef was clear as to the reason for the government's failure a lack of unity and clear command structure. For years, government soldiers and other anti-Houthi fighters have adhered to conflicting agendas across the country, with many of the fighters in the south supporting the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC). A solution to that division, Naef thought, was far-fetched. However, more recently, things have changed.