Trace — 2026-05-31

Politics1 outletleft

Louisiana Republicans pass gerrymandered map that eliminates majority-Black district

The new map has five of the state’s six House districts as GOP-leaning.

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Brisport walks off the $$$ plank

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Trump jumps into Republican primaries for governor in South Carolina, Iowa and Oklahoma

Contests in those states have pitted allies against each other in a fierce competition for the president's endorsement.

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Socialism's next test: Swing states

Francesca Hong is part of an array of lefty candidates running in competitive states emboldened by a turn toward economic populism amid widespread cost-of-living concerns.

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English Green party leader Zack Polanski tells Australian colleagues to ‘connect with anger’ to counter rightwing populism

Australian Greens should ‘take on’ Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, Polanski tells Victorian conference, just as he took on Nigel Farage’s Reform UKGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastZack Polanski, the leader of the Green party of England and Wales, has told his counterparts in Australia that they need to start “connecting with people’s anger” and learn from the “storytelling power” of populist rightwing politics.Speaking via video link at the Victorian Greens campaign conference on Saturday night, Zack Polanski said the party in Australia needed to start “taking on” Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, just as his own party had taken on Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

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Thousands without power in Perth as destructive storms hit WA

Wind gusts up to 125km/h forecast to hit city as residents urged to stay away from windowsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIntense storms are lashing the western coast of Australia with an unusually deep low pressure system packing powerful winds and heavy rain.The extreme weather eventbrought wind gusts of up to 125 km/h to Perth and communities along Western Australia’s coast on Sunday afternoon.

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Moana Pasifika sign off from Super Rugby with a win and emotionally charged hymn

Undermanned side upsets finals-bound ACT Brumbies 21-19Players come together to mark victory and club’s expected demiseAn undermanned Moana Pasifika have capped off their potential final match with a stirring victory, upsetting the finals-bound ACT Brumbies 21-19.But there were mixed feelings as players celebrated a rare win before coming together with staff to mark the occasion of the club’s farewell game and expected demise with an emotionally charged hymn.

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Chinese dissident says he was berated by ‘pro-regime’ interpreter for UK police

Hong Qi, who orchestrated protest against Communist government, claims interpreter on 101 call launched political tiradeA Chinese dissident who orchestrated an anti-government protest in China after fleeing to the UK has claimed that a “pro-regime” interpreter used by a British police force berated him when he sought help.Hong Qi, who made headlines last year after using a mobile phone while in the UK to remotely project anti-regime slogans on to a building in his home city, Chongqing, contacted police after discovering that his bank accounts had been frozen.

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Four more men freed from flooded Laos cave in hazardous rescue mission

Two still missing as divers make their way deeper into cave through muddy water and sharp rocks to find themFour more miners who were trapped in a flooded cave in Laos for 10 days have been freed by divers, but two people are still missing as rescuers continue to crawl through narrow, deluged tunnels and sharp rocks to find them.The first of the party of seven men was rescued on Friday in a perilous rescue mission which has required teams to drain water from the cave and navigate collapse hazards.

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New Aukus drone tech to protect critical undersea cables as Marles warns: ‘seabed is a battlefield’

Minister at Singapore defence summit also reveals Australia to buy only secondhand Aukus submarines from USFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe defence minister, Richard Marles, has said the “seabed is a battlefield” in a combative speech urging Beijing to be more transparent about its maritime operations, and taking aim at weak international controls over so-called “shadow-fleet” vessels.The warning came as the US, UK and Australia announced a new Aukus project to develop new underwater drone technology to protect undersea cables.

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Bound by blood: new film highlights Jamaica’s outlawed obeah belief system

Stew Peas focuses on obeah, an enduring African magic practice in Jamaica banned by colonisers in the 1700sA new movie from award-winning Jamaican film-maker Sosiessia Nixon shines a spotlight on Jamaica’s enduring west African-based magic and spiritual healing tradition known as obeah.Nixon’s tense, feature-length suspense, Stew Peas, tells of the story of Jamaican detective Tessa, who is obsessed with an old murder case.

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Canadian man admits sending ‘suicide packets’ to hundreds of people around world

Kenneth Law, who sold lethal chemicals online with instructions on how to use them, admits counselling or aiding suicide ‘It was too easy’: families ask how Kenneth Law enabled so many suicidesA Canadian man who mailed “suicide packets” of poison to more than 100 people in dozens of countries – including Canada, the UK, the US, Italy, Australia and New Zealand – has pleaded guilty to 14 counts of assisting suicide.Kenneth Law appeared in a packed courtroom in Newmarket, Ontario, on Friday to enter the plea after prosecutors agreed to withdraw 14 murder charges.

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Lula says Brazil will not be treated like ‘tinpot country’ after US designates gangs as terrorists

Marco Rubio made announcement after meeting president’s far-right challenger Flávio BolsonaroBrazil will not be treated as a “tinpot country,” the country’s president, Luiz Inácio da Silva, said on Friday after the United States designated Brazil’s two largest criminal gangs, the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command, as foreign terrorist organisations.The announcement, made by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, on Thursday, is being widely seen in Brazil as a setback for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president who had strongly opposed the designation – and a boost for Lula’s main challenger in October’s presidential election, the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro.

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Alarm at Mexico bill allowing elections to be annulled for ‘foreign interference’

Opposition says constitutional amendment would give bill ruling party carte blanche to overturn will of votersSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailAmid fierce criticism from opposition groups, Mexico’s senate has passed ‌a constitutional amendment to include “foreign interference” as grounds to annul election results in the country.The bill, which was presented by the country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, defines foreign interference as “illicit financing, propaganda, the systematic ⁠dissemination of misinformation, digital manipulation, and ⁠the intervention of foreign governments ⁠or agencies”.

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Colombia prepares to go to polls in election shadowed by resurgence of political violence

Sunday’s presidential vote is contest between left and right – and between contradictory proposals for dealing with the decades-long armed conflictMateo Pérez Rueda was one internship away from completing a degree in political science.

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Colombia goes to polls in election pitting outgoing leader’s ally against pro-Trump candidates

Ballots are being cast in the first round of the South American nation’s presidential electionsColombians are casting ballots in the first round of the South American nation’s presidential election, choosing between candidates with radically diverging visions for the future of peace in a country haunted by decades of armed conflict.The vote on Sunday, seen as a referendum on outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s policies, comes 10 years after Colombia signed a historic peace pact with guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

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Japan defence minister rebuffs claims of ‘new militarism’ levelled by China

Shinjiro Koizumi says Japan valued as a ‘peace-loving’ nation while China expands military capabilities ‘without sufficient transparency’Japan’s defence minister took a veiled swipe at China on Sunday, pledging to keep strengthening the military despite Beijing’s criticism of Tokyo’s increasingly muscular security stance.Under the prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, Japan has quickened its pivot to a more proactive defence policy, further shaking off – with US encouragement – its pacifist outlook in place since the end of the second world war.

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The household battery revolution that could change energy bills … and the world

Australia is pioneering a revolution in home renewables and battery use, proving what is possible with the right policiesThe timing was rich with symbolism.

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Australia to buy only secondhand nuclear subs from US in major Aukus switch – as it happened

This blog is now closedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastExtra negative gearing limits could hurt market and family budgets, Labor saysClare O’Neil has rejected calls from the Greens and others to put further limits on negative gearing access, saying the government should not interrupt “immediate arrangements”.There’s people in the debate who want to see the government go further.

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Government declines to protect Indigenous sacred site to be bulldozed for Brisbane Olympic stadium

Environment minister Murray Watt decides against emergency declaration to halt construction but does not rule out ‘longer term protections’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe federal government has decided against an 11th-hour intervention to halt construction of an Olympic stadium and aquatic centre in the heart of Brisbane, in a park that traditional owners say is a First Nations sacred site.The environment minister, Murray Watt, issued a statement on Sunday afternoon to say he had considered applications made under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act for him to stop construction in Victoria Park.

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Sunday, May 31, 2026

Louisiana Republicans pass gerrymandered map that eliminates majority-Black district

Brisport walks off the $$$ plank

Trump jumps into Republican primaries for governor in South Carolina, Iowa and Oklahoma

Socialism's next test: Swing states

English Green party leader Zack Polanski tells Australian colleagues to ‘connect with anger’ to counter rightwing populism

Thousands without power in Perth as destructive storms hit WA

Moana Pasifika sign off from Super Rugby with a win and emotionally charged hymn

Chinese dissident says he was berated by ‘pro-regime’ interpreter for UK police

Four more men freed from flooded Laos cave in hazardous rescue mission

New Aukus drone tech to protect critical undersea cables as Marles warns: ‘seabed is a battlefield’

Bound by blood: new film highlights Jamaica’s outlawed obeah belief system

Canadian man admits sending ‘suicide packets’ to hundreds of people around world

Lula says Brazil will not be treated like ‘tinpot country’ after US designates gangs as terrorists

Alarm at Mexico bill allowing elections to be annulled for ‘foreign interference’

Colombia prepares to go to polls in election shadowed by resurgence of political violence

Colombia goes to polls in election pitting outgoing leader’s ally against pro-Trump candidates

Japan defence minister rebuffs claims of ‘new militarism’ levelled by China

The household battery revolution that could change energy bills … and the world

Australia to buy only secondhand nuclear subs from US in major Aukus switch – as it happened

Government declines to protect Indigenous sacred site to be bulldozed for Brisbane Olympic stadium

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