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Feb 27, 2026 - World

Many observers believe North Korean leader has decided daughter Kim Ju-ae will succeed him, but others say gender politics could block her path to powerWhen North Korea’s ruling party held a top-level meeting this month there were predictable boasts of unstoppable nuclear development and, more unexpectedly, a suggestion by Kim Jong-un that his country and the US “could get along” – provided that Washington recognised North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power.But for many North Korea watchers, the Workers’ party congress – held over several days just once every five years – was a rare opportunity to speculate over the identity of the country’s future leader. Continue reading...

Feb 27, 2026 - World

Escalation of violence between the volatile neighbours makes a Qatar-mediated ceasefire appear increasingly shakyPakistan bombed Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul and two other provinces on Friday, hours after a cross-border attack, the latest escalation of deadly violence between the volatile neighbours who signed a Qatar-mediated ceasefire in 2025.Following months of tit-for-tat clashes, Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night in what the Taliban government said was retaliation for earlier deadly airstrikes. Continue reading...

Feb 27, 2026 - World

Graeme Kearns, chief executive of Foundation Theatres, says: ‘Our job in theatre is to absolutely defend the right to tell stories about culture’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe head of the theatre hosting the Shen Yun dance troupe in Sydney says the company would not be intimidated to pull the shows by any “outrageous” anonymous threats and that the publicity had increased interest in the show.On Monday, the Gold Coast venue for the Shen Yun performances was forced to evacuate after a bomb threat, with a similar threat forcing the evacuation of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s official residence, The Lodge, in Canberra the next day. Continue reading...

Feb 26, 2026 - World

The internet was in uproar on Thursday after a new Reuters report disclosed that the U.S. has planned to admit 4,500 applications from white South Africans as refugees. The Trump administration has pushed to limit refugee applications from other countries. But an unreported State Department document from Jan. 27 revealed a new target for specifically white South Africans. People sounded off on the Trump administration's move, questioning the decision. "Ripping Latinos from their homes while importing whites. Let’s call this what it is: ethnonationalism," user Mina, who self-described as "an American woman with wide-ranging interests," wrote one user on Bluesky. "Gotta import new racists as the older ones in America have been dying off," user S.T. Jones wrote on Bluesky."The Trump/MAGA vision: Make the US the Hungary of North America, a nation of, for and by white Christian male racists," systems analyst Ric Steinberger wrote on Bluesky."[turns over ‘days since I muttered a bigoted remark about white South Africans’ counter back to zero]," Ryan Cooper, senior editor at The American Prospect, wrote on Bluesky. "We need to shut it down until someone figures out just what the hell is going on," artist Luke Russell joked on Bluesky.Economist ‪Tony Yates‬ reacted, "US policy =Black refugees bad; white refugees good."Labor economist Aaron Sojourner wrote on Bluesky, "POTUS loves exactly one kind of import."

Feb 26, 2026 - World

A new report revealed Thursday that the U.S. has planned to admit 4,500 applications from white South Africans as refugees, according to Reuters. The Trump administration has limited its refugee applications from other countries. This new target, according to an unreported U.S. State Department document from Jan. 27, showed a push to increase refugees from South Africa, Reuters reported."Trump has said the U.S. would only admit 7,500 total refugees from around the world in fiscal year 2026, while a much higher cap of 40,000 to 60,000 was discussed internally last year," according to Reuters. "Only 2,000 white South Africans had entered the U.S. as refugees as of January 31 under a program launched in May 2025, although the pace has picked up in recent months."More than 67,000 people had expressed interest in moving to America, the South African Chamber of Commerce in the U.S. said in 2025. Trump demanded a stop to refugee admissions after he returned to office in 2025, citing his policy on stopping legal and illegal immigration. "But weeks later, he launched an effort to bring in white South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity as refugees, saying they had been violently persecuted in the majority-Black country," Reuters reported. "South Africa's government has rejected that claim, while some refugee advocates have criticized the Trump policy."