Top World News

Feb 26, 2026 - World

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani secured the release of a Columbia University student taken by the Department of Homeland Security after a phone call with President Donald Trump.On Thursday morning, Claire Shipman, acting president of the university, said agents had misled staff about a missing person to gain access to the student, who was later identified as Ellie Aghayeva.“DHS illegally arrested me. Please help," the student said in a one-second video recorded from the back of a vehicle.The New York Times described the incident as a "significant escalation of immigration enforcement on Columbia’s campus."By Thursday afternoon, Mamdani announced that he had spoken with Trump."Just got off the phone with President Trump," the mayor wrote on X. "In our meeting earlier, I shared my concerns about Columbia student Elaina Aghayeva, who was detained by ICE this morning.""He has just informed me that she will be released imminently," he added.

Feb 26, 2026 - World

A secret 17-page draft has been circulating among pro-Trump activists and the White House that would potentially give President Donald Trump the path to "unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting," a The Washington Post report revealed Thursday.The draft executive order claims that China interfered in the 2020 election, which would justify Trump declaring a national emergency, according to The Post. Trump has pushed a scheme to mandate voter ID and launch a ban on mail-in ballots for the midterm elections. The pro-Trump activists tell The Post they expect the draft will play a role in Trump's "promised executive order." The White House has reportedly not commented. Florida lawyer Peter Ticktin, who attended the New York Military Academy with the president, has been advocating for the draft executive order. In 2022, he was part of Trump's legal team in the unsuccessful lawsuit that included accusations that Democrats had colluded to damage his reputation by alleging that Trump conspired with Russia in his 2016 campaign. “Under the Constitution, it’s the legislatures and states that really control how a state conducts its elections, and the president doesn’t have any power to do that,” Ticktin told The Post. “But here we have a situation where the president is aware that there are foreign interests that are interfering in our election processes,” Ticktin added. “That causes a national emergency where the president has to be able to deal with it.”

Feb 26, 2026 - World

Wendy Faith and Alesi Diana Denise were taken into custody under laws that have outraged LGBTQ+ community and rights activistsTwo women have been arrested and detained in Uganda after allegedly kissing in public, an act of “same-sex activity” which can lead to a life sentence in the east African country..Wendy Faith, a 22-year-old musician known as Torrero Bae, and Alesi Diana Denise, 21, were taken into custody after police raided their rented room in Uganda’s north-west Arua City last week. Continue reading...

Feb 26, 2026 - World

Atmospheric machine-gun has fired storm after deadly storm at the region this year, leaving a trail of widespread destructionFor Andrés Sánchez Barea, in Spain, it was the fear that arose when water started to spurt from plug sockets. For Nelson Duarte, in Portugal, it was the helplessness that hit as violent winds smacked down trees and tore tiles from roofs. For Amal Essuide, in Morocco, it was the reality that dawned when a corpse was pulled onboard a boat in the flooded medina.Each moment of horror is a fragment of the destruction wrought by an atmospheric machine-gun that in recent weeks has fired storm after storm at the western Mediterranean. Scientists do not know if climate breakdown helped pull the trigger, but research suggests it loaded the chamber with bigger bullets. Continue reading...

Feb 26, 2026 - World

Exclusive: Former New Zealand PM ‘based out of Australia’, according to spokesperson, after rumours she was looking for houses in SydneyThe former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern is living in Australia with her family, a spokesperson has confirmed.“The family has been travelling for a few years now,” her office told the Guardian. Continue reading...