Theodore Grant writes on politics and public life with a long memory and a taste for first principles. Erudite, unhurried, and more interested in the argument than the news cycle.
The prime minister told MPs the current UK-EU relationship is not good enough and promised to push for agreements on food trade, youth mobility and emissions trading. He says deals reached at the summit could add £10bn a year to the economy by 2040.
A working group meets in Brussels on 14 October to discuss visas restricting Russian nationals to named countries rather than the full Schengen area. Finland's prime minister plans to push for a complete tourist visa ban at an EU summit the following day.
The Irish presidency wants to trim the 2028–2034 financial framework to around €1.6 trillion, a reduction aimed at satisfying frugal member states. Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands say it still isn't tight enough.
Voters in Germany, France, Italy and Spain go to the polls in a sequence that could pull the EU sharply rightward. In Germany, the AfD is already positioned to become the first far-right party to govern a state since 1945.
The Prime Minister announced five areas for negotiation, including food trade, energy and youth mobility, projecting gains by 2040. Conservatives say he has shown his hand too early and the EU will not offer a better deal.
A coalition led by Austria wants Brussels to spend twelve months implementing existing rules rather than writing new ones. The group is calling the plan a "Year of Simplification" and says it is deep cleaning, not deregulation.
Poland's prime minister told parliament the tactic is designed to weaken allies' will to support Ukraine. NATO and the EU are now debating how to respond to attacks that fall below the threshold for collective defence.
Foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg imposed asset freezes and EU entry bans on missile producers, drone manufacturers and submarine shipyards. The bloc also extended separate sanctions on 80 individuals tied to Russian disinformation and hybrid activity until October 2027.
The Finnish prime minister will take the proposal to an EU summit, warning that Russia could use tourist access to organise sabotage in Europe. European countries issued 800,000 tourist visas to Russians last year; Finland issued none.
The British prime minister said he asked for an intelligence assessment after taking office in July and received 'the clear answer that, yes, there was' involvement. No sitting UK prime minister had previously said so in public.
Wes Streeting said Britain would not back the US agreement with Moscow, and that Ukrainians alone should choose their leader. Zelenskyy warned the deal would hand Russia money for more weapons.
Witkoff and Kushner told Kyiv that US intelligence sharing could be at risk if the attacks continued. Zelensky said he would only halt them if Russia stopped striking Ukrainian power plants — and called a US decision to lift sanctions on Russian diesel exports 'not fair and not honest'.
Ukraine's president met a bipartisan Congressional delegation in Kyiv, under an active air raid alert, to push for the Lindsey Graham sanctions law and faster joint Patriot interceptor production. He warned that easing sanctions without a lasting de-escalation deal would be an obvious weakness that would prolong the war.
The US president told a Washington summit that productive discussions with Tehran are progressing. But his administration insists Iran must make a meaningful cut to enrichment capacity and halt production of highly enriched uranium — conditions Iran's president has called futile to negotiate over.
Putin asked Trump's envoys to help broker the deal when they met at the Kremlin on 5 September. Todd Boehly is leading the buyer consortium, which includes UAE investors and the US development finance agency.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the measures will ban transactions with the court and could punish companies that provide services to it. The ICC said the sanctions are intended to obstruct an independent judicial body, and that its work will continue.
The deal would see ESMA supervise stock exchanges, clearing houses and crypto providers directly, rather than simply coordinating national regulators. Germany secured an exemption for Deutsche Boerse, and a final text still needs to clear the European Parliament.
France's top general confirmed Germany's departure from the Main Ground Combat System, a project launched in 2017 to replace both countries' ageing tanks by 2040–2045. It is the second Franco-German defence programme to collapse this year, following the failure of the SCAF aircraft project in June.
Seventeen member countries took part in the Steadfast Noon drill, hosted by Italy and held far from Russia. The alliance told Moscow in advance, stressing the exercise was routine and posed no threat.
Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and three other wealthy member states have called for reductions of hundreds of billions of euros. The European Parliament wants a bigger budget and protected funding for farming and regional development — putting the two sides far apart.
Michael DeSombre called Xi Jinping a 'very rational actor' who would back down if military action looked like it would fail or carry major consequences. His remarks came before a planned Trump–Xi meeting on 30 October and amid reports of an unprecedented military vessel sighting off Taiwan's coast.
Japan's prime minister used the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to press ahead on AI and semiconductor cooperation with Washington. The talks came as Beijing's controls on rare earths and critical minerals — imposed after Takaichi warned a Chinese attack on Taiwan could threaten Japan's survival — have driven Sino-Japanese relations to their lowest point in decades.
The Pentagon told US Central Command several days ago to finish its preparations for a return to major combat operations. Trump has set no date and made no final decision, but advisers are debating whether to act before or after the US midterm elections.
Chris LaCivita and James Blair spent a weekend in Republika Srpska advising its government on election integrity, each receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars. Trump said he would terminate them immediately if he found a conflict of interest.
It is the first penalty issued under the Outbound Investment Security Programme, which took effect in January 2025. The rules govern US investment in Chinese artificial intelligence, semiconductor and quantum computing businesses.
Péter Szijjártó faced three hours of closed questioning before the National Security Committee about whether his new role at the Chinese carmaker poses a security risk. He helped broker the deal that brought BYD's factory to Hungary, which came with 20 billion forints in state support.
The 2,500 service members at Erbil Air Base departed on 30 September, closing a 12-year mission. Iranian attacks have caused $5 billion in damage across 11 US bases in the region, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has called for a formal review of where American forces are based.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham made the announcement at the UN General Assembly, saying Russian agencies had copied the branding of 28 British organisations and tried to interfere in the 2019 general election.
August Hanning, 80, who ran the BND from 1998 to 2005, is alleged to have used classified documents to prepare an analysis for an Azerbaijani intelligence operative. His former office manager was arrested the same morning on suspicion of supplying around 2,000 secret documents for money.
The European Commission wants a mechanism that would let any member state call consultations among all 27 governments after sabotage, cyberattacks or drone incursions. Several diplomats worry it would duplicate NATO structures and slow decisions rather than sharpen them.
The US vice president said Tehran must take meaningful action on enrichment — not just give assurances — before Washington will accept any deal. Trump has already rejected Iran's latest offer and warned military operations could intensify after the midterms.
Israel confirmed the British consulate in East Jerusalem will shut on Thursday after London banned trade in goods from Israeli settlements. Britain still hopes for an agreement but is considering retaliating by expelling Israeli diplomats from London.
Brett McGurk says the administration was weighing what he called 'pretty draconian measures' after an Israeli strike killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza. An intelligence warning of an Iranian aerial assault — 120 ballistic missiles, 170 drones and 30 cruise missiles — forced a sudden change of course.
The three nationally broadcast spots, due to air before November's congressional elections, had drawn criticism from ethics experts and lawmakers on both sides who said they could breach rules against government propaganda. The underlying question of whether federal money can fund ads celebrating a president remains unresolved.
Diesel hit $6.52 a gallon last month and was averaging $6.37 on Friday. The G7 deal will frontload a substantial release of diesel in the next 20 days, with the rest to follow over four months.
The alert, part of Operation Economic Outcast, threatens civil and criminal penalties and loss of access to US dollar clearing. Treasury said it tracked roughly $9 billion in Iranian-linked funds moving through American banks in 2024.
Hungary's prime minister has told diplomats not to obstruct the next two sets of accession negotiations. Budapest's full support depends on Ukraine's parliament passing a bill on Hungarian-language education rights on 12 October.
Washington says its military's main goal is to stop Iran exporting energy, as part of a wider push to strangle its economy. An Iranian official says the Strait of Hormuz could reopen within seven days if the US eases pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports.
The council halted its fire-and-rehire plan after talks broke down when Unison refused to ballot its members on the pay offer. Negotiations are due to resume early next week.
The agency named the China General Technology Research Institute as a front for Chinese state intelligence, saying it secretly financed British research into AI, cyber-security and covert communications. Universities have been told to cut all ties, with criminal charges possible for those who do not.
The UK Conservatives say removing the £100,000 threshold would cost £700 million a year. They plan to cover it by cutting staff at public bodies such as Arts Council England and the Environment Agency.
The legislation, part of the EU's wider asylum pact, sets a shared framework across member states and Norway. Amnesty International has warned that return centres cannot be run in a way that is compatible with human rights protections.
The 47-53 vote defeated a resolution by Democrat Chris Van Hollen that would have required the State Department to report on nine American killings and the treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention. Only one Democrat crossed party lines — to vote against it.
The Trump administration has imposed new sanctions on Cuba, cutting off Cuban businesses from US bank accounts and requiring approval for cultural exchanges, people-to-people visits and business travel. An oil blockade against Cuba has been in place since January.
The proposal, put forward by special envoy John Coale, would offer Moscow sanctions relief and a return to trade without waiting for the war in Ukraine to end. Zelensky says he will do everything he can to block it.
A referendum on 27 September would write 'perpetual and armed' neutrality into the constitution, potentially forcing Switzerland to unwind its existing sanctions against Russia. Polls show around two-thirds of voters opposed, but the outcome is not certain.
The two presidents agreed to meet twice more before the year is out, at the APEC summit in China and the G20 in the United States. Tech executives including Elon Musk, Tim Cook and Sam Altman joined the state dinner as Free Tibet protesters marched outside.
The two leaders discussed AI safeguards and the war in Iran, though no broad agreement was expected. On Wednesday, the countries agreed to extend their trade truce for two more months beyond its November deadline.
The two leaders met in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and agreed to cooperate on liquefied natural gas, space infrastructure and critical minerals. Canada is also in talks to become the EU's first associate member.
A shipment heading from Australia to the US for repairs was rerouted by a Lockheed Martin intermediary, and some parts vanished. The incident has sharpened concern about the Pentagon's control of F-35 equipment — a 2023 audit found more than a million spare parts had gone missing over five years.
Some 130 heads of state are expected to speak at the General Assembly in New York, with conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and beyond topping the agenda. Secretary-General António Guterres will open the session — and his second term ends in December, with no successor yet in sight.
Aleema, Uzma and Noreen Khan were held for 30 days under a public order law and sent to Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. Their detention comes a week before PTI supporters are due to march on the capital in a nationwide protest the government has declared illegal.
United Russia took 355 of 450 seats, around 20 more than it currently holds. It was the first parliamentary election since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the only parties allowed to stand were those backing Putin and the war.
The French president said Russia's campaign of sabotage, cyberattacks and drone incursions against Europe had intensified. He warned the activity would not go unanswered and pledged to maintain France's support for Ukraine.
The president announced the conversion on Sunday, saying the military had requested space for drones, snipers and ammunition storage. The Pentagon offered no details beyond his statement, and final planning approval for the arch is still pending.
Italy's prime minister announced the measures at her party's youth conference on Sunday. She gave no figures for the proposed classroom cap, which would sit alongside a 30 per cent limit already on the books since 2010.
A chatbot wrongly identified the vessel's cargo as components for a nuclear weapons programme, and special forces were readied before officials caught the error. One source told CNN the false report 'almost started a war.'
The House passed the measure 262-159, with broad Republican support. It targets Russian officials, banks and energy revenues, and directs Trump to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top importers of Russian oil and gas.
The three-day election for 450 State Duma seats opened on Friday with the opposition barred and United Russia almost certain to keep its grip on the chamber. Voting extends to four Ukrainian regions illegally annexed by Moscow, which Kyiv and the European Commission have called illegal.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the measures target those involved in race-based discrimination against white Afrikaners. South Africa says the move is based on mischaracterisations pushed by fringe groups.
The US president called the proposal a potential hostile act, warning of 'very serious tariffs' if it goes ahead. The move pulls Europe into what had been Washington's bitter dispute with Ottawa.
Markets put the odds of a quarter-point rise on Wednesday at above 92%, with inflation still running at 3.4%. A further increase in December is seen as more likely than not, with CNBC putting the odds at above 75%.
Four journalists were among those released and were immediately deported to Lithuania. More than 900 political prisoners are thought to remain in Belarusian custody, according to the human rights group Viasna.
The court's majority blocked a postal service rule that would have tightened mail ballot requirements for the November elections. Trump called his three appointees who joined the majority 'a shell of their original selves' and praised the two dissenters as 'legends'.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink made the disclosure at a defence conference, calling it a deterrence message to China and Russia. No details were given on the weapons' type, number or how long they have been in orbit.
Speaking in Ireland on Sunday, Trump said the strikes were causing a global diesel shortage — not the Middle East conflict, as many analysts argue. Zelenskyy has not responded, and it is unclear how the public dispute will affect US-mediated peace talks.
More than 90% of ballots have been counted, with Magdalena Andersson's centre-left bloc projected to take 176 seats in the 349-seat Riksdag against 173 for Ulf Kristersson's right-wing alliance. Early votes still have to be counted, and the final result will not be known before Wednesday.
The US president made the unsolicited remarks during talks with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Dublin. He later headed west to his golf course for the Irish Open, under one of the biggest security operations Ireland has ever mounted.
The proposals would remove questions on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, and limit the count to citizens and lawful permanent residents. The changes could redraw House apportionment and shift federal resources — and are expected to face legal challenges.
The German chancellor used the term in a Bundestag confrontation with AfD leader Alice Weidel, saying the party's remigration policy would target people by origin and skin colour. The AfD's result — more than double the CDU's share — left it the strongest force in the state, though short of an outright majority.
A forthcoming book by Haaretz reporters claims Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan called Netanyahu a week and a half before the attack — and that Netanyahu kept the warning from Israeli security chiefs. Netanyahu's office called the account an absolute lie.
The Kremlin said Trump presented a swift settlement as the path to restored ties and expanded trade between Washington and Moscow. Russia resumed drone and missile strikes on Kyiv the same day, killing five people.
Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday with what Trump called 'an idea for peace'. Zelenskyy matched the pause, saying Ukraine would hold off strikes on Moscow through Monday. The two envoys travel to Kyiv on Sunday — their first joint visit to the Ukrainian capital since the peace process began.
Golden Global Bank and two subsidiaries stand accused of helping Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps move oil revenues from China into cash and gold in Turkiye. Foreign banks that do significant business with the targets could also lose access to the US financial system.
The US Treasury Secretary held up the Trump administration's deregulation record — 129 rules scrapped for every one added — as a model for the world. The meetings are shadowed by US tariffs on allies, a breakdown in Canada trade talks, and an ongoing US-Iran conflict pushing up gas prices at home.
Mohan Bhagwat, head of the RSS — widely seen as the ideological parent of India's ruling BJP — is due to speak in New York on August 29. A bipartisan federal commission has urged the government to revoke his visa, and 61 organisations have signed an open letter opposing the visit.
The order suspends USPS rules requiring states to reformat ballots and submit voter lists before mail-in votes can be delivered. Attorneys general from 24 states have joined the legal challenge, and a hearing is scheduled for 3 September.
The administration says a DC appeals court ruling that blocked the removal of currently serving transgender troops was 'gravely erroneous.' The Supreme Court allowed the wider ban to take effect last year, but has not yet ruled on whether those already in uniform can be forced out.
Voters will be asked whether the provincial government should begin the legal path toward a future binding independence vote. The US tariff dispute has galvanised both camps — pro-unity groups say it proves Canada must stand together, while separatists say it proves Ottawa cannot protect the province.
Premier Danielle Smith has ruled out energy as a retaliatory tool, saying counter-tariffs on oil and gas would be 'disastrous.' Critics point out that Alberta's exports are largely exempt from US tariffs — while Ontario, Quebec and BC are bearing the brunt.
The State Department, working with homeland security officials, is preparing to cancel business and tourism visas issued between 2016 and 2026. Revocation would not automatically trigger deportation, but those affected would lose their status as short-term visitors.
Six months of polling show a near-unbroken decline in public backing for the conflict. Even among Republicans, enthusiasm has slipped sharply — a warning sign ahead of the midterms.
The new levy would sit on top of the 12.5% forced-labour tariff already applied to Chinese imports. Officials say the rate is deliberately modest, designed to avoid derailing a planned Trump-Xi summit expected in late September.
What began with a Truth Social post in November 2024 has become a prolonged tariff conflict, with 50% duties now hitting $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. As of late August 2026, there is no sign of resolution.
Scott Bessent described the coming measures as a 'one-two punch' alongside the naval blockade of Iranian ports in place since April. Details are due at a press conference on August 24, but Bessent made clear that any country still buying Iranian oil or moving Iranian money would face US enforcement action.
The gross federal debt reached $40.047 trillion on 19 August, with a trillion dollars now being added roughly every five months. Interest payments have already surpassed the defence budget this year, and the legal borrowing ceiling is projected to be hit sometime in 2027.
The two sides are meeting daily ahead of an August 19 deadline, but some Canadian negotiators think the gap is too wide to close in time. Ottawa is willing to concede on dairy, alcohol bans and auto tariffs — but it cannot force the provinces to lift their bans on American booze, and some have refused to budge.
The cover, worth up to $500,000 per officer, is the latest addition to a package of financial incentives that could reach $2 billion this year. Critics say it is designed to remove any hesitation officers might have about legal exposure.
The state will become the first in Australia to run the new national buyback scheme, which begins in November. Up to 50,000 licence holders are affected, and most will be limited to four guns under wider reforms passed after the December attack killed fifteen people.
An Apache went down near Salado, Texas on August 12 during a maintenance test flight, killing both soldiers aboard. The Army has suspended all Apache training missions across the force while investigators work to establish the cause.
A report called 'The Great Transshipment Scam' claims Chinese exporters are rerouting goods through third countries to avoid duties. Canada, the EU, Japan and Vietnam are among those named, with estimated losses to the US treasury running up to $26 billion a year.
An appeals court lifted a three-day pause on the rollout, allowing the city to keep pushing ahead with the surcharge on non-primary residences, expected to raise $500 million a year. A lower-court hearing on August 31 could still complicate things.
The measures, grounded in a national security investigation, take effect in September. Even close allies such as the EU, Japan and the UK are not exempt, though they face lower rates.
A National Security Presidential Memorandum signed in August marks the sharpest step yet. It follows five months of executive orders laying the groundwork to disrupt, investigate and dismantle transnational criminal organisations overseas.
Trump announced her departure on August 12, saying he 'totally understands' her decision to step back for her young family. No successor has been named, with the midterm elections less than three months away.
Trump announced the departure of his youngest-ever press secretary on Truth Social, calling her one of his most trusted aides. Leavitt, 28, said she could not give the role the time it demands while raising two young children.
The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement commits three of the Muslim world's most powerful states to treat an attack on one as an attack on all. It arrives as Netanyahu, facing elections in October, had privately identified a normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia as his last major prize before the vote.
Trump's former personal defence lawyer secured the narrowest possible margin after two Republicans broke ranks. Written pledges to scrap a proposed $1.8 billion compensation fund swung the deciding votes his way.
The US president made his most optimistic public remarks since the ceasefire collapsed in early July, saying Iran 'can't go much longer.' Reports of low US weapons stockpiles have emerged alongside the diplomatic push.
The US president declared a historic agreement to fully disarm Hamas in Gaza. Israel said the terms fell short of its core demands, and Hamas stopped well short of accepting.
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