Paige Bruton

2 weeks ago | semafor.com | Paige Bruton |Mathias Hammer

Reactions in the US to Israel’s overnight strikes on Iran largely fell along party lines: Several Republican leaders backed Israel’s actions and its right to defend itself from Iran’s nuclear threat, while Democrats pushed for restraint. However, some MAGA-aligned conservatives questioned the value of another war in the Middle East, as negotiations over Gaza have faltered. The White House appeared to distance itself from Israel’s decision.

3 weeks ago | semafor.com | J.D. Capelouto |Paige Bruton

Exit polls showed left-wing Democratic Party candidate and frontrunner Lee Jae-myung South Korea’s presidential election “by a landslide,” AFP reported. The snap election caps a six-month stretch of intense political instability and paralysis in South Korea, after former president Yoon Suk Yeol briefly declared martial law in December, a move that led to his removal from office and a criminal indictment.

1 month ago | semafor.com | Tom Chivers |Paige Bruton

Britain’s Labour government unveiled plans to clamp down on migration, the latest in a spate of left-leaning Western parties talking tough on the issue. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK risks becoming an “island of strangers,” promising to bring migration down by tightening English language requirements, abolishing some visas, and increasing how long someone must live in the UK to qualify for permanent residency.

2 months ago | semafor.com | Paige Bruton |Tom Chivers

Canada’s center-left Liberal Party won the country’s general election but likely fell short of the seats needed to form a majority government. It represents a stunning turnaround for leader Mark Carney’s party, which was trailing the opposition Conservatives by twenty points at the beginning of the year. Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre lost his seat in the election and conceded to Carney.

2 months ago | semafor.com | Paige Bruton |Prashant Rao

A high-ranking Russian general was killed by a car bomb in Moscow Friday, Russian authorities confirmed, as US negotiators arrived in the city for key peace talks. Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian army, died in the explosion in the city of Balashikha just outside Moscow, officials said.