WORLD - The African Mirror

May

20

2026

The word ‘Black’ has disappeared from a set of bills aimed at addressing Black maternal health

WORLD

THE word “Black” has been almost completely removed from a package of bills that have long been viewed as Congress’s main legislative vehicle to address the Black maternal health crisis, frustrating some advocates who feel Black women are being erased from the policy. This story was originally reported by Barbara Rodriguez of The 19th. Meet Barbara and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. The key change this year is the title. The Momnibus Act — filed in mid-March — was called the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act in 2023; before that, it was the Black Maternal…

May

19

2026

By MARIA RYAN

Trump’s ‘cordial’ Beijing trip has not changed superpower rivalry

WORLD

DONALD Trump’s appraisal of his recent state visit to China was, typically, positive and self-regarding. At the end of the trip, the US president told reporters that it had achieved “a lot of good” and “fantastic trade deals” had been signed. He concluded that a lot of different problems were settled “that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve”. As usual, the US president appeared to enjoy the pageantry of a state visit. He likes meeting other “great” leaders – strongmen who lead powerful countries. At face value, the trip appeared largely successful. The Trump-Xi relationship appeared cordial. There…

May

19

2026

By PETER RUTLAND

More than just a critical blow to Keir Starmer and Labour, local votes signal a dis‑United Kingdom

WORLD

LOCAL elections in Britain on May 7, 2026 – in which the ruling Labour Party suffered deep losses – revealed tectonic shifts. The two-party system that has been operating there since 1721 has effectively turned into a five-party free-for-all. Reform U.K., the anti-immigrant right-wing party led by Nigel Farage, won 1,453 seats in local councils, followed by Labour with 1,068, Liberal Democrats with 844, the Conservatives with 801, and the Greens with 587. According to analysis by the BBC, at the national level, Reform won 26% of the vote, Greens 18%, Conservatives 17%, Labour 17%, and the Liberal Democrats 16%.…

May

19

2026

By CHUKA ONWUMECHILI

A football World Cup is a global cultural exchange. How will that work in Trump’s America?

WORLD

THE most culturally diverse men’s football World Cup in history is taking place in the United States at a time when foreign nationals feel less and less welcome in the country. The 2026 competition kicks off on 11 June with games in Canada, Mexico, and the US. The US will host by far the largest number of matches, including the championship game. The 2026 cup is also hosting the largest number of competing teams in history – 48. Over its near-century-long history, the competition has remained the premier sporting event, attracting the largest number of travellers. Some spend huge sums…

May

18

2026

By XIANDA HUANG

From beef ribs to a ‘heavenly’ walk: Xi‑Trump summit symbolism underscored American power and Chinese tradition

WORLD

DIPLOMACY often masquerades as theater. And nearly nine years after his first state visit to China, Donald Trump returned to Beijing with an extended cast of characters. Alongside the U.S. president on his May 2026 visit was a senior delegation of politicians, including his secretary of defense, and a phalanx of business leaders and technology executives. It was a traveling display of American political and corporate power. Not that the hosting Chinese were short of symbolic gestures themselves. Trump’s first visit to China in 2017 had already shown how far Beijing was willing to go to turn diplomacy into theater.…

May

18

2026

By IGOR SHISHLOV

The hidden role of export credit in the energy transition

WORLD

FOR most policymakers, export credit agencies (ECAs) are financial tools that boost national companies’ business endeavours abroad. But a recent research project conducted by Philipp Censkowsky, Paul Waidelich, Igor Shishlov, and Bjarne Steffen reveals the profound impact they have on the energy transition. Our study analysed 921 energy-finance deals backed by ECAs from 31 countries between 2013 and 2023. We used commercial transaction data to track how much ECAs invested in fossil fuels versus renewable energy. We also examined key policy shifts to understand how international agreements influence the decisions ECAs make. Are ECAs slowing down or speeding up the…

May

18

2026

By BETH TIMMINS

The puppet shows bringing storytelling and solace to bomb shelters in Ukraine

WORLD

AS war threatens to erase everyday life in Ukraine, artists have turned to puppetry, one of the oldest forms of storytelling. Light enough to travel, intimate enough to gather a crowd, and able to capture the attention of children, puppet shows have become resilient tools of resistance, support, and relief for the people of a country at war. Contemporary Ukrainian puppetry is part of a long tradition, from the 16th-century travelling folk theatre known as vertep, to the establishment of theatres in Kyiv and Odesa in the 1930s. Although later repressed and censored for satirising Soviet leaders, puppetry survived these…

May

16

2026

By WESLEY WIDMAIER

After an opaque summit, China and the US want to work together again. That might not be good news for the world

WORLD

BACK in 2005, US economist Fred Bergsten coined the term “Group of 2” or “G2”, proposing a stronger partnership between what are now the world’s two largest economies – the United States and China. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, a few years later, economic cooperation between these two countries briefly seemed to attest to the success of efforts at integrating China into a liberal rules-based order. To be sure, the ostensible G2 was not meant to replace the larger, formalised G20 group of major economies, so much as strengthen it. Underpinning the broader G20’s response to the…

May

16

2026

By MATTHEW RICKETSON

Patrick Radden Keefe investigates Russian money in London through a teenager’s suspicious death

WORLD

NEW Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe has become one of a small number of narrative non-fiction writers whose latest book is keenly anticipated. He has become such a byword for a certain kind of investigative reporting, he even cameoed as himself in the final scene of HBO hit series, Industry, this year. His fifth book, London Falling, has been eagerly awaited, largely thanks to the impact of his last two books, which minted his sterling reputation. His 2018 book on the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Say Nothing, won the Orwell Prize and was adapted for a 2024 streaming series.…

May

15

2026

By AMIRA JADOON and SAIF TAHIR

Baloch insurgency: Suicide bombs and uptick in violence threaten Pakistan, regional security

WORLD

IN the space of 10 days in late April 2026, insurgents in Pakistan purportedly carried out 27 attacks in the country’s southwest province of Balochistan, killing at least 42 military personnel. Then, on May 11, authorities announced that a suicide bombing plot on the capital, Islamabad, had been foiled. Authorities arrested a girl over the incident – a nod to militants’ increasing use of young Baloch women to carry out attacks. These incidents represent the latest flare-up of a long-running insurgency in Pakistan’s largest province and home to around 15 million people. For a rundown of what you need to…