Author: Lucas Bennett

A high-level meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies is now weeks away, yet the groundwork that typically underpins such encounters remains largely unfinished. The summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, scheduled for March 31 to April 2, was confirmed by the White House — but China has yet to officially announce the dates, consistent with its usual diplomatic practice. What is less usual is how little has been settled about what the two sides actually hope to get out of it. Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, is expected to meet Chinese…

America’s once-feared financial weapon is showing signs of wear, and the shift in how Washington handles its most powerful economic tools is becoming impossible to ignore. For decades, the United States Treasury’s ability to cut off governments, companies and individuals from the global financial system gave Washington extraordinary leverage over adversaries — without firing a shot. That era appears to be drawing to a close. The clearest sign came last week, when the Treasury Department announced it would allow Russian oil tankers currently stranded at sea to deliver their cargo to India — a direct relaxation of sanctions that have…

Newly released government documents show the Prime Minister received a formal advisory note flagging Lord Mandelson’s links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein less than two weeks before confirming the appointment — raising fresh questions about Sir Keir’s judgement. A 147-page cache of internal government files, released after MPs forced disclosure, has laid bare the full timeline of Lord Mandelson’s appointment as UK ambassador to the United States and the messy fallout that followed his sacking last year. The documents reveal that on 11 December 2024 — nine days before Mandelson was formally confirmed in the role — the Prime…

At least six people are dead and five more injured after a man reportedly soaked himself in petrol and set himself alight inside a passenger coach in western Switzerland on Tuesday evening. The incident occurred in Kerzers, a small town around 12 miles west of the Swiss capital Bern, shortly after 6.25pm local time. The coach, which was carrying a number of passengers at the time, was rapidly engulfed in flames after the man allegedly ignited the blaze from inside the vehicle. Videos circulating on social media showed flames rising several metres into the air from the burning coach. Photographs…

A powerful new synthetic drug known as flakka has been spreading rapidly across parts of the United States and has been reported in Australia and potentially parts of Europe, prompting serious concern among law enforcement and health officials about its extreme and sometimes deadly effects. The substance, which gets its street nickname “gravel” from its appearance as small colourful crystals resembling decorative aquarium stones, belongs to the same chemical family as the bath salts drugs that made international headlines several years ago. It can be snorted, smoked, injected or swallowed, making it accessible through multiple methods of consumption. The behavioural…

Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio used a speech in Detroit to set out his case for a sweeping overhaul of the American tax system, arguing that the kind of pro-business reforms he is proposing could breathe new life into cities that have struggled through years of economic decline. Speaking before a packed audience of business and political leaders at the Detroit Economic Club, the Florida senator described the city as the perfect backdrop for a conversation about building a new American economy, pointing to Detroit’s recent rebound as evidence of what can be achieved under pro-growth leadership. Rubio outlined a…

American airlines collected more than $38 billion in charges on top of base ticket prices in 2014, according to a new report from the minority staff of the Senate Commerce Committee, which found that passengers are routinely kept in the dark about the true cost of their travel until it is too late to make informed decisions. The report, released following pressure from constituents contacting members of Congress, identified a range of practices that senators say make it extremely difficult for travellers to accurately compare the full cost of flights before purchasing. Among the most striking findings was that the…

A giant sinkhole swallowed a car, a towable caravan and a motorhome at a popular Queensland beach campsite on Saturday night, forcing the emergency evacuation of around 300 people in scenes that left witnesses shaken. The hole opened gradually at Inskip Point at around 10.30pm local time, giving campers enough time to get clear before it reached its full extent. Initial assessments estimated the sinkhole to be approximately 325 feet wide and around 10 feet deep — larger than a football field — though authorities warned it could continue to grow. No injuries were reported and all persons at the…

The question of what wiped out the woolly mammoth has been debated for decades, but a closer look at recent research reveals that headlines claiming climate warming drove the animals to extinction may be telling only part of the story — and in some cases, telling it backwards. A study published in Science, titled “Abrupt Warming Events Drove Late Pleistocene Holarctic Megafaunal Turnover,” was widely reported as evidence that rising temperatures were responsible for the disappearance of mammoths and other large prehistoric animals. National Geographic, Democratic Underground and several other outlets ran headlines pointing to warming as the primary cause.…

CD Projekt Red has revealed that its upcoming Witcher 3 expansion will be comparable in size to the entirety of The Witcher 2, offering players a substantial new chapter in Geralt’s story rather than a brief add-on. The expansion, titled Hearts of Stone, is a ten-hour adventure that sends the series’ protagonist into a dangerous region known as No Man’s Land, where he takes on a contract for a mysterious figure called the Man of Glass. The scale of the content has drawn significant attention from fans of the series, many of whom had expected post-launch additions to be considerably…