All Things Left

America doesn't have one voting system. It has 50, with different rules on voter ID, mail-in ballots, and who can handle someone else's ballot. Now those rules are becoming a huge political fight ahead of the midterms.

World leaders gathered in New York for the UN General Assembly, but after a week of speeches, diplomatic battles and competing visions for the future, what did it actually achieve?

From Ethiopia and Eritrea to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen, conflicts are increasingly threatening to pull neighboring states into wider wars.

Every week, hundreds of people in Britain face criminal prosecution over the TV licence, with women making up around three-quarters of those prosecuted. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of households are walking away from the licence fee as the BBC faces falling revenues, audience pressure and a string of controversies.

Spain is facing a major political crisis after tens of thousands of people reportedly crossed from Morocco into Ceuta in just two days. The government has faced accusations of failing to protect the border and protests demanding Pedro Sánchez's resignation have spread across Spain.

Winning battles is one thing. Winning a war is something else entirely.

Macklemore was removed from the remaining U.S. dates of Ed Sheeran’s tour after making pro-Palestinian remarks on stage — then announced his own Free Palestine Tour just 10 days later.

Germany's AfD is polling at around 40% in eastern state elections, despite being classified as a right-wing extremist organisation by domestic intelligence. The political establishment has tried to contain the party with surveillance, legal action and a strict ban on coalitions. Yet its support keeps growing.

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have wrapped up a closely watched summit in Washington, extending their trade truce and reopening dialogue — but the biggest disputes between the world’s two most powerful countries remain unresolved.

Tim Cook has stepped down as Apple's CEO after 15 years, during which the company's value soared from around $350 billion to $4.5 trillion. Now John Ternus takes over, inheriting a tech giant that's struggling to keep pace with the AI revolution.

The Trump administration has promised a major crackdown on human trafficking, but questions remain over falling federal prosecution figures, resources for investigators and whether vulnerable victims are getting the protection they need.

Russia is recording its highest number of serious crimes in 13 years, while attacks in schools have surged. Its own Interior Ministry has identified the war in Ukraine and returning prisoners as factors behind the rise.

North Korea is sending troops to fight in Ukraine, learning from modern warfare and bringing those lessons back home. Meanwhile, explosions along the Korean border have injured South Korean soldiers, raising fresh concerns about a conflict that technically never ended.

France's 2027 presidential race is already shaping up to be one of Europe's biggest political contests. Marine Le Pen remains the leading candidate in first-round polling, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon has surged into second in several recent scenarios, raising the possibility of a runoff between the right and left that would leave the political centre out.