Top World News

Sep 12, 2026 - World

Officers found one 14-year-old’s ebike was capable of hitting 90km/h. Owners have two weeks to appeal the seizure before the bikes will be crushedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastDozens of high-powered and illegal ebikes have been seized by police on Sydney’s northern beaches just weeks after the force was granted new powers to destroy dangerous bikes.The operation was part of a coordinated push with the New South Wales government to ensure people only ride legal ebikes that have not been modified to reach high speeds. Continue reading...

Sep 12, 2026 - World

Australia is being exploited by an ally that could draw it, however unwillingly, into war with China, experts warnGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcast“Physical security matters,” said Kevin Rudd, at his axiomatic best before the National Press Club this week.“Our first responsibility is to secure our people’s future in this most contested region of the world.” Continue reading...

Sep 11, 2026 - World

Fareed Zakaria raked President Donald Trump over the coals in The Washington Post Friday for his "dangerous fantasy" that he can still negotiate rationally with Russia's Vladimir Putin.There is no placating Putin, said Zakaria; he only wants the destruction of America, and he has proven this time and time again."It is worth recalling a lesson about Putin learned by another businessman turned government official — Hank Paulson, former CEO of Goldman Sachs. As treasury secretary, Paulson visited Beijing for the Olympics in August 2008, just as the global financial crisis was gathering force and markets were increasingly worried about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two giant institutions that guarantee most mortgages in the United States." When he arrived, he learned that Putin's government actually proposed Russia and China "dump large quantities of Fannie and Freddie securities" to destabilize them further — a plan China didn't indulge."Think about what this says," wrote Zakaria. "At a moment when the American financial system was approaching its worst crisis since the Great Depression, Putin was searching for ways to hit America when it was down — even though a deeper American crash would inevitably have damaged the rest of the world, including Russia. Putin appeared willing to risk a lose-lose outcome, as long as the U.S. lost badly."A businessman would never make that kind of decision, he said — yet Trump remains convinced he can deal with Putin the way he dealt with competitors in business.Trump's allies, he concluded, "see a businessman looking for a win-win. Putin’s record suggests that he is something very different: a man who has repeatedly been willing to impose costs on Russia, destabilize other countries and risk losses if doing so weakens the U.S. Hank Paulson learned that lesson in Beijing 18 years ago. It would be useful if America’s current businessmen-diplomats learned it in Moscow."Trump has repeatedly gone to and from the table to try to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At times, even he has appeared close to out of patience with Putin, but at other times he has pushed for "peace" plans that would be huge giveaways to Russia.

Sep 11, 2026 - World

A CNN panel reacted with a mix of disbelief and disgust to newly surfaced text messages showing FBI Director Kash Patel trying, and failing, to marshal the bureau's press shop against an anonymous internet troll.The exchange, reported Thursday after journalist Seth Hettena spotted it in an FBI records release, showed Patel pressing his communications team to fire back at an account that had mocked him with a slur, replying with the FBI's "record year" stats. A top spokesman refused, warning it "would look bad on you." Patel pushed anyway, insisting it was about the post's view count.On CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper," the panel struggled Friday to make sense of it."They are very, very thin-skinned, and they are willing to use the resources of the government to protect their thin skin," said Corbin Trent, a former communications director for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). He noted Patel appeared to misread the platform entirely, mistaking the post's views for comments, and called the director's fixation "bizarre" and "a dereliction of duty" as antisemitism and Islamophobia were rising.Republican strategist Ashley Davis, a former George W. Bush White House official, condemned the slur outright. "If my son said that word, I'd slap him up against the head. I just think it's such an offensive word," she said. Davis questioned why the nation's top law enforcement official would "lower himself" to spar with a troll while crime and murders were falling."Don't worry about some trolls calling you a [slur]," she said.The texts had already surfaced in the FBI's release of records tied to its Jeffrey Epstein review, drawing days of ridicule. They come amid persistent scrutiny of Patel's handling of the Epstein files and his freewheeling use of social media. The FBI declined to comment to CNN.

Sep 11, 2026 - World

The presidential briefing documents were declassified on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacksSeveral dozen presidential briefing documents declassified on Friday, the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, detail intelligence that government officials had gathered about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida leading up to the hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people and upended American national security.The documents illustrate security analysts’ tracking of Bin Laden’s movements and support system, as well as concerns about possible threats to US targets. They also detail officials’ understanding of his network in the United States and other countries, including how his operations were financed. Continue reading...