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A person on a bicycle with a dog rides past an open mining area with a large excavator in the distance.

US, Ukraine sign ‘economic partnership’ centered on Ukraine’s wealth of critical minerals – but extracting them isn’t so simple

Scott L. Montgomery, University of Washington

The global costs of the US-China tariff war are mounting. And the worst may be yet to come

Kai He, Griffith University

The global costs of the US-China tariff war are mounting. And the worst may be yet to come
In talking with Tehran, Trump is reversing course on Iran – could a new nuclear deal be next?

Jeffrey Fields, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

A red, white and blue mural shows men sitting at a negotiating table.
A grey-haired journalist protester holds up a sign in Spanish with blood-spattered effects, reading: 'They are killing us.'

How state agents target journalists while governments claim to protect them – stark warnings from Mexico and Honduras

Tamsin S. Mitchell, University of Sheffield

A soldier walks through a forests of broken trees, missing leaves.

50 years later, Vietnam’s environment still bears the scars of war – and signals a dark future for Gaza and Ukraine

Pamela McElwee, Rutgers University

Terrorists weigh risks to their reputation when deciding which crises to exploit − new research

Seden Akcinaroglu, Binghamton University, State University of New York and Yusuf Evirgen, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Broken down cars and debris line a street
Terrorists weigh risks to their reputation when deciding which crises to exploit − new research

Seden Akcinaroglu, Binghamton University, State University of New York and Yusuf Evirgen, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Broken down cars and debris line a street
Italy’s Meloni is positioning herself as bridge between EU and Trump – but will it work?

Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager, Colorado State University and Miranda McCreary, University of Colorado Boulder

A woman sits at a conference table.
Oshikatsu, the fandom phenomenon Japan hopes can boost its flagging economy

Fabio Gygi, SOAS, University of London

A crowd of young Japanese people scramble to grab leaflets promoting a music concert in Tokyo.
A woman with an umbrella walks past posters showing the face of election candidates.

Japanese women have long sacrificed their surnames in marriage − politics and demographics might change that

Linda E. White, Middlebury

Did ‘induced atmospheric vibration’ cause blackouts in Europe? An electrical engineer explains the phenomenon

Mehdi Seyedmahmoudian, Swinburne University of Technology

A large crowd of people sitting on and standing around a staircase leading to a subway.
Travelling to my ancestral home in China unearthed tragedy tinged by the climate crisis – it inspired me to write Red Pockets

Alice Mah, University of Glasgow

Rice fields in China

Foreign policy 101

Disinformation and other forms of ‘sharp power’ now sit alongside the ‘hard power’ of tanks and ‘soft power’ of ideas in policy handbook

Andrew Latham, Macalester College

A teddy bear is seen in dark glasses and with toy guns.
The Thucydides Trap: Vital lessons from ancient Greece for China and the US … or a load of old claptrap?

Andrew Latham, Macalester College

A painting depicts an ancient battle scene.
What is a ‘revisionist’ state, and what are they trying to revise?

Andrew Latham, Macalester College

People sit around a large conference table.
What is the rules-based order? How this global system has shifted from ‘liberal’ origins − and where it could be heading next

Andrew Latham, Macalester College

Pins display various countries' flags.
Mountains flank a blue river

Tensions over Kashmir and a warming planet have placed the Indus Waters Treaty on life support

Fazlul Haq, The Ohio State University

Ecuador: can freshly re-elected Daniel Noboa govern a country in crisis?

Nicolas Forsans, University of Essex

Daniel Noboa speaks after election results show him being re-elected as president of Ecuador.
Malaria scorecard: battles have been won and advances made, but the war isn’t over

Shüné Oliver, National Institute for Communicable Diseases and Jaishree Raman, National Institute for Communicable Diseases

A long-legged insect with its head down
What 2,000 years of Chinese history reveals about today’s AI-driven technology panic – and the future of inequality

Peng Zhou, Cardiff University

2,000-year-old painted 'terracotta army' figures from an ancient Chinese burial chamber.
IMF World Economic Outlook: economic uncertainty is now higher than it ever was during COVID

Sergi Basco, Universitat de Barcelona

IMF World Economic Outlook: economic uncertainty is now higher than it ever was during COVID
Fake cures and vaccine passports for sale: the conspiracy communities in Brazil monetising the anti-vax movement – podcast

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

Two protestors holding anti-vaccination signs in Brazil.
What lies ahead for South Korea after the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol?

Yoon Walker, SOAS, University of London

People gather to celebrate Yoon's impeachment during a rally in Seoul, South Korea.
Thailand’s fragile democracy takes another hit with arrest of US academic

Adam Simpson, University of South Australia

Thailand’s fragile democracy takes another hit with arrest of US academic
To truly understand Pope Francis’ theology – and impact – you need to look to his life in Buenos Aires

Fernanda Peñaloza, University of Sydney

To truly understand Pope Francis’ theology – and impact – you need to look to his life in Buenos Aires
Hitler and Mussolini in Munich, Germany, June 18, 1940.

80 years after Benito Mussolini’s death, what can democracies today learn from his fascist rise?

Matthew Sharpe, Australian Catholic University

A man in traditional Chinese garv stand next to a man with cymbals.

Is China the new cool? How Beijing is using pop culture to win the soft power war

Shaoyu Yuan, Rutgers University - Newark

A man stands in the shadow of a religious leader.

Make Russia Medieval Again! How Putin is seeking to remold society, with a little help from Ivan the Terrible

Dina Khapaeva, Georgia Institute of Technology

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Every Tuesday and Friday
A young man looks over a pile of weapons.

Cambodia’s haunted present: 50 years after Khmer Rouge’s rise, murderous legacy looms large

Sophal Ear, Arizona State University

Pink Floyd in an Ancient Roman amphitheatre

When rock music met ancient archeology: the enduring power of Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Craig Barker, University of Sydney

Israel-Gaza latest

In Israel, calls for genocide have migrated from the margins to the mainstream

Tamir Sorek, Penn State

A women sitting on rubble holds her head in her hand.
How power imbalance, misread signs and strategic blunders clouded Hamas’ judgment over Gaza ceasefire

Mkhaimar Abusada, Northwestern University

A plume of black and grey smoke is seen with distances in the foreground.
The Gaza ceasefire is dead − Israeli domestic politics killed it

Asher Kaufman, University of Notre Dame

A man surveys rubble and debris.
Israel’s war on Gaza is deliberately targeting children – new UN report

Rachel Rosen, UCL and Mai Abu Moghli, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies

Palestinian women and children queue for food with their pots and pans, Mach 10 2025.
Read more on the war in Gaza

Ukraine-Russia conflict

A priest holds up a cross as he blesses troops during an Easter Day service in Ukraine. April 20 2025.

Ukraine war: path to peace looks increasingly narrow as Kyiv’s western backers scramble to focus on their own interests

Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham and Tetyana Malyarenko, National University Odesa Law Academy

A large warship is seen at sea behind a big wave crashing on some rocks

Maritime truce would end a sorry war on the waves for Russia that set back its naval power ambitions

Colin Flint, Utah State University

More on the Ukraine-Russia War

Trump and the world

Two men in suits stand and point.

In trade war with the US, China holds a lot more cards than Trump may think − in fact, it might have a winning hand

Linggong Kong, Auburn University

Trump’s Greenland plan glosses over a history of segregation and discrimination for Indigenous Alaskans

Andrew Gawthorpe, Leiden University

The US vice-president, J.D. Vance, visiting the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland.
Trump’s desire to ‘un-unite’ Russia and China is unlikely to work – in fact, it could well backfire

Linggong Kong, Auburn University

Two men in suits stand on a platform.
More than just chips: Chinese threats and Trump tariffs could disrupt lots of ‘made in Taiwan’ imports − disappointing US builders, cyclists and golfers alike

Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University

Container ships sit in port.
Foreign aid cuts could mean 10 million more HIV infections by 2030 – and almost 3 million extra deaths

Rowan Martin-Hughes, Burnet Institute; Debra ten Brink, Burnet Institute, and Nick Scott, Burnet Institute

Illustration of the HIV virus

Around the globe

A bridge extending from a barge in the water.

Chinese barges and Taiwan Strait drills are about global power projection − not just a potential invasion

Colin Flint, Utah State University

Ethiopia’s 2026 elections: without reforms, the vote may not be free or fair

Bizuneh Yimenu, Queen's University Belfast

Two men and a woman looking at a pile of folded up papers on a table in front of them
Digital imperialism: How US social media firms are using American law to challenge global tech regulation

Yasmin Curzi de Mendonça, University of Virginia and Camille Grenier, Sciences Po

An assembled crowd stands during a ceremony.
China’s dwindling marriage rate is fuelling demand for brides trafficked from abroad

Ming Gao, Lund University

A Chinese couple on their wedding day.
Colombia wants to ban Pablo Escobar and other narco-themed merchandise – here’s why

Ross Bennett-Cook, Leeds Beckett University

A mural dedicated to Pablo Escobar in a neighbourhood in Medellín.
Iran and US to enter high-stakes nuclear negotiations – hampered by a lack of trust

Ali Bilgic, Loughborough University

A woman walks outside the former US embassy in Tehran which is decorated with murals showing US and Iran in negotiations.
China’s new underwater tool cuts deep, exposing vulnerability of vital network of subsea cables

John Calabrese, American University

A man in a fluorescent vest works on a beach.
DeepSeek is now a global force. But it’s just one player in China’s booming AI industry

Mimi Zou, UNSW Sydney

Red flag with one large yellow star and four smaller yellow stars in top right corner.
African Union’s new chair has a long list of tough tasks – what it will take to get them done

Ulf Engel, University of Leipzig

Man wearing grey suit, seating in front of two flags

Scam Factories: An investigation from The Conversation

Scam Factories: the inside story of Southeast Asia’s brutal fraud compounds

Scam Factories: the inside story of Southeast Asia’s brutal fraud compounds

Gemma Ware, The Conversation; Justin Bergman, The Conversation, and Matt Garrow, The Conversation

‘It seemed like a good job at first’: how people are trafficked, trapped and forced to scam in Southeast Asia – Scam Factories podcast, Ep 1

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

Buildings under construction in Sihanoukville.
‘Your life becomes a nightmare’: how scam operations exploit those trapped inside – Scam Factories podcast, Ep 2

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

A man who was trafficked to a compound praying.
‘I thought about escaping every day’: how survivors get out of Southeast Asia’s cybercrime compounds – Scam Factories podcast, Ep 3

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

A man who was trafficked to a scam compound.