Politics

How UberEats killed the democracy sausage

May 9, 2025

Call me a wonk, a nerd, a bore, but I love election day. The sense of anticipation around who will emerge victorious, the atmosphere on the polling booths, the new trend of doggy bandanas spruiking candidates and, of course, the quintessential election day sausage sizzle. The democracy sausage is one of the joys of election […]

BlackRock, VanEck, and other experts on what’s driving Bitcoin as price nears $100,000

May 9, 2025

Bitcoin is nearly at $100,000. Can it notch another record high? We checked in with some experts to find out. Bitcoin is ratcheting upwards as trade negotiations between the US and the rest of the world continue. The largest cryptocurrency was trading around $99,700 on Thursday morning in New York, up from around $94,000 a […]

Liberal Party still hampered by continuing lack of female representation

May 9, 2025

The Liberal Party has been told it has a women problem for years now. But you only have to look at its results in Western Australia to see how it is struggling to make progress. In the west, the party ran candidates in all 16 of the state's federal seats. Just four were women, compared […]

How Russia suffered record losses in Ukraine in 2024

May 9, 2025

In our analysis, we prioritised exact dates of death for soldiers. If that wasn't available, we used the date of the funeral or the date the death was reported. In the first two years of the war, 2022 and 2023, Russian losses followed a wave-like pattern: heavy fighting with high casualties alternated with periods of […]

US withdraws from formal Ukraine peace negotiations

May 9, 2025

The United States will no longer mediate peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia after Vladimir Putin refused to sign up to a ceasefire. The State Department said it is changing “the methodology of how we contribute” to the talks and will no longer “fly around the world at the drop of a hat” for meetings. […]

Russia creates security strip in Sumy after ‘breaking’ Kyiv

May 9, 2025

Moscow’s forces are trying to create a “security strip” in the border areas of Ukraine’s Sumy region after driving Ukrainian troops out of Russia’s neighbouring Kursk region. Ukraine claims it still has a small foothold in Kursk, but has warned for months that Russia is planning an offensive into Sumy. Vladimir Putin said in March […]

Katy Perry’s Met Gala AI-Generated Deep Fake Stumps Fans Again (but Not Her Mom This Time)

May 9, 2025

AI-generated images of Katy Perry on the 2025 Met Gala red carpet went viral for the second year in a row and left fans stumped over her attendance The singer shared the images on Instagram and explained that she was not able to attend the biggest night in fashion due to an upcoming performance on […]

Starmer to promise ‘defence dividend’ from UK military spending

May 9, 2025

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is shown an interactive map during a visit to Leonardo, one of the biggest suppliers of defence and security equipment to the UK MOD, in Luton, north of London, Britain, May 2, 2025. HENRY NICHOLLS/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) – […]

Miss Universe Philippines 2025 reveals Top 24

May 9, 2025

Only 24 out of the 66 candidates remain as the Miss Universe Philippines 2025 pageant announced the ladies moving on to the next round. Here are the candidates who made it on the first cut: Gwendoline Meliz Soriano – Baguio City Amanda Russo – Pasay City Chanel Olive – Nueva Ecija Juliana Fresado – Iligan […]

Russia, Ukraine Swap 205 Prisoners Of War In Latest Deal

May 9, 2025

Welcome to Wider Europe, RFE/RL's newsletter focusing on the key issues concerning the European Union, NATO, and other institutions and their relationships with the Western Balkans and Europe's Eastern neighborhoods. I'm RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, and this week I'm drilling down on two issues: Why EU and Ukraine trade will be less free going […]