Trending topics from trusted journalism, transformed into structured debates. Unlike our community discussions, these are automatically curated from breaking news to spark timely, nuanced conversation.
News Discussions are automatically generated from trending stories in real-time. Explore Discussions shows community-created topics on any subject. Both use the same structured debate format, but News focuses on current affairs.
We aggregate stories from these reputable sources to ensure balanced, quality coverage:
Simukai Chigudu, author of ‘Chasing Freedom: Coming of Age at the End of Empire’ and associate professor of African politics at Oxford University, answers your questions about statues, reparations for slavery and decolonising the curriculum. GET IN TOUCH WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 Email: [email protected] Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent. Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Lewis Vickers with Anna Budd and Cordelia Hemming. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davis. Technical production was by Philip Bull. The editor is Sam Bonham. The
The first round of the French presidential election is just a year away, and a new poll gives an idea of where things stand. French far-right Jordan Bardella comes in a comfortable first, while far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon and right-wing Edouard Philippe tie in second place. The race is very much tightening for whoever will face the National Rally in the second round. FRANCE 24's Marc Perelman tells us more
Former President Biden is suing the U.S. Department of Justice in an attempt to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of private conversations with his biographer. Why it matters: The recordings from 2016 and 2017 formed a key part of special counsel Robert Hur's investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents. The big picture: Biden denies sharing classified information, but Hur concluded that the former president read classified notebook passages aloud to ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer. Hur concluded that Biden's memory lapses would make it harder to prove he acted willfully. Driving the news: The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., comes as the DOJ plans a June 15 release of redacted transcripts and audio recordings to Congress and the Heritage Foundation, which sued for the material under the Freedom of Information Act. Representatives for Biden and the DOJ did not immediately respond to Axios' Tuesday-evening request for comment
The Pope, the President, and Our Democratic Crisis President Donald Trump’s undermining of democratic institutions poses a difficult challenge for Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope. Since World War II, the Catholic Church has endorsed democracy as an effective way to advance two of its foundational principles, human dignity and the common good. How should the Vatican respond when the world’s most powerful leader flouts democratic norms by abusing executive authority, violating basic human rights, and questioning the legitimacy of free elections? The question is complicated by the Church’s commitment to political neutrality. As a religious institution with a mission to spread the Good News of salvation, the Vatican respects the autonomy of the secular political sphere. Popes are committed to working with diverse governments, many of them autocratic, to safeguard the Church’s mission and protect its institutions and members. Historically, however, this respect for the secular realm has not meant agnosticism when it comes to political systems. For centuries, popes accepted autocracy as the preferred way to promote order, peace, and the common good. They opposed the French Revolution, universal human rights, and religious freedom as incompatible with those principles. Only at the turn of the twentieth century did Leo XIII encourage Catholic accommodation with democracy (while still insisting that the ideal polity embrace Catholicism as the official religion.) It was not until 1944 that Pius XII, responding to the catastrophe of war and dictatorship, threw the Church’s moral authority behind democracy as a promising way to advance human dignity, the common good, and peace in practice. The Second Vatican Council (1962–5) went further. While its key documents did not mention democracy by name, they acknowledged the constitutional principle of religious freedom, celebrated human rights, and affirmed political systems with elected leaders and a separation of powers. During h
Great links, images, and reading from Chartbook Newsletter by Adam Tooze
For five days, activists have gathered outside a detention center in New Jersey to denounce conditions inside. Federal officials have rejected those concerns
Police have searched the headquarters of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's PSOE party investigating possible illegal payments. Sanchez meanwhile said he was still standing by former PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
The president has launched a high court bid to overturn the 2022 Phala Phala panel report as parliament moves towards an impeachment committee
A group of seven women and 12 children linked to Islamic State fighters are bound for Australia after years in Syria, the Australian interior minister said on Tuesday. The so-called "IS brides" are Australian nationals and left the Roj camp, controlled by Syrian Kurdish forces, last week. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said they would not receive any assistance from the Australian government. "Any members of this cohort who have committed crimes can expect to face the full force of the law," he said
All eyes will be on the Republican Senate runoff between the incumbent John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton. But Tuesday’s runoffs in Texas will feature other key contests
ANKARA, May 24 (Reuters) - Turkish riot police fired tear gas and broke through the gates of the main opposition party's headquarters to evict its ousted leadership on Sunday, a Reuters witness said. An appeals court on Thursday ousted Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel, annulling the results of the CHP congress where he was elected in 2023, citing irregularities. The court reinstated in his place former CHP chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who lost to President Tayyip Erdogan in a national election that year