Politics

Wednesday, January 21st 2026 - 13:16 UTC
UK investment in Antarctica underlines role as a leading polar research nation

A major new British Antarctic Survey (BAS) facility at Rothera Research Station is being presented as evidence of the UK’s standing in polar research. The £100 million Discovery Building—together with a new services network at Rothera—has been formally opened by BAS Director Professor Dame Jane Francis, completing what BAS describes as the largest UK construction project ever carried out in Antarctica.
Wednesday, January 21st 2026 - 11:21 UTC
Why the Chagos Islands are strategically vital to US and UK military operations

The Chagos Archipelago is of major military significance as it hosts the strategically located Diego Garcia base.
Wednesday, January 21st 2026 - 11:17 UTC
US/UK controversy as Trump describes handing the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as a ‘great stupidity’

The UK Ministry of Defense has said, “it will never compromise on our national security,” after US president Donald Trump condemned London’s “great stupidity” for handing over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Under the agreement UK is allowed to keep control of the Diego Garcia military base while agreeing to hand the islands to Mauritius.
Wednesday, January 21st 2026 - 09:36 UTC
Falklands patrol: HMS Medway replaces HMS Forth that completed five years in South Atlantic

HMS Forth has been replaced by HMS Medway as the Royal Navy's permanent patrol vessel in the Falkland Islands and the wider South Atlantic. The handover sees one Batch 2 River-class sister ship replacing the other after HMS Forth's more than five years based at East Cove Military Port. HMS Forth is now heading back to the UK for the first time in more than five years.
Wednesday, January 21st 2026 - 03:52 UTC
Trump signals possible role for Machado as U.S. tightens Venezuela oil crackdown

United States President Donald Trump said Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado could “maybe” be brought into the transition process “in some way,” marking a notable shift in tone as Washington balances political messaging with day-to-day coordination in Caracas following Nicolás Maduro’s capture on January 3, according to a Reuters report.
Wednesday, January 21st 2026 - 00:26 UTC
Brazil revives naval industry through Petrobras-led investment drive

Petrobras, through its logistics subsidiary Transpetro, signed contracts worth R$2.8 billion (around US$570 million) on Tuesday for the construction of five gas carriers, 18 pushboats and 18 barges at shipyards in Rio Grande do Sul, Amazonas and Santa Catarina, as part of a government-backed effort to revive Brazil’s shipbuilding industry and reduce reliance on chartered vessels.
Tuesday, January 20th 2026 - 18:09 UTC
Macron warns Davos of a “world without rules” as Trump’s Greenland row intensifies

French President Emmanuel Macron told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday that the world is drifting toward a “world without rules,” where the law of “the strongest” prevails—remarks delivered against the backdrop of a deepening transatlantic dispute over Donald Trump’s push to secure control of Greenland and his fresh tariff threats.
Tuesday, January 20th 2026 - 03:39 UTC
Trump links Greenland ambitions to Nobel snub ahead of Davos appearance

US President Donald Trump reignited tensions with European allies on Monday by linking his push for control of Greenland to the Nobel Peace Prize — arguing that, because he did not receive the award, he no longer feels “obliged to think only about peace.” In a message addressed to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre —later circulated to European embassies in Washington— Trump pivoted from the Nobel grievance to Greenland, saying the world would not be safe without “total and absolute” US control of the Arctic island.
Tuesday, January 20th 2026 - 01:51 UTC
Argentina–Iran: diplomatic tensions after Quds Force is added to Argentina’s terrorism registry

Iran warned it would deliver an “appropriate response” after the Argentine government designated the Quds Force—an external-operations unit within Iran’s Revolutionary Guards—as a “terrorist organization” and added it, along with 13 linked individuals, to Argentina’s Public Registry of Persons and Entities Connected to Terrorism and its Financing (RePET).
Monday, January 19th 2026 - 18:45 UTC
Trump’s obsession: why central bankers came out in support of Fed’s chair Powell

By John Hawkins (*) - Central bankers from around the world have issued a joint statement of support for US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, as he faces a criminal probe on top of mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump to resign early.