Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

DARK SECRETS: 86 | Vintage Vibes

Trump-Xi summit: Cautious progress on trade, ties and some ‘win-wins’

President Donald Trump departed China on May 15, 2026, after a two-day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that was scrutinized from every angle for clues on where the relationship is heading.

The Conversation

AI-generated fantasies of US intervention reveal how desperation has narrowed Cuba’s political horizons

Ever since U.S. commandos successfully removed Nicolás Maduro from power in Venezuela on Jan. 3, 2026, speculation has been growing that “Cuba could be next” on the list of the Trump administration’s targets.

The Conversation

A fungal disease, along with climate change, threatens Colorado’s prized peaches

In western Colorado, home to the treasured Palisade peach, cytospora canker is one of the most economically consequential fungal diseases faced by growers.

The Conversation

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Is baby talk bad? Why ‘parentese’ actually helps babies learn language

Many parents have heard the warning: Don’t use baby talk with babies and toddlers. Instead, caregivers are often encouraged to speak properly and use adultlike language, out of concern that simplified speech could confuse children or delay language development.

The Conversation

You can persuade AI models to accept falsehoods as truth, study shows

When you ask a large language model a question, the reply may include falsehoods, and if you challenge those statements with facts, the AI may still uphold the reply as true. That’s what my research group found when we asked five leading models to describe scenes in movies or novels…

The Conversation

From medieval plague ships to hantavirus: How outbreaks at sea helped to shape the international public health system

Cruise ships are convenient floating hotels by which to see far-flung parts of the world – but as an epidemiologist, I know they are also everything an infectious pathogen could want: thousands of strangers packed into enclosed spaces for days or weeks, sharing dining rooms and high-touch surfaces such as…

The Conversation

Would a $1 rideshare fee affect wealthier or working-class Philadelphians more? 2 Chicago studies offer some perspective

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker has proposed a US$1 fee on all Uber, Lyft and other rideshare trips in the city to begin in 2027. The projected $48 million annual revenue would go entirely to support the chronically underfunded Philadelphia school district, which faces a $300 million budget deficit.

The Conversation

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

America’s musical founding father: ‘Liberty songs’ by a self-taught singer and tanner helped fuel the Revolution

As July 4, 2026, approaches, Americans will be paying more attention than usual to events of 1776: the year the American Colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. Public historians, including filmmaker Ken Burns, have tried to offer a more inclusive view of the American Revolution, highlighting lesser-known patriots. But…

The Conversation

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

Local elections in Britain on May 7, 2026 – in which the ruling Labour Party suffered deep losses – revealed tectonic shifts.

The Conversation

From landslide to leadership crisis: where did it all go wrong for Keir Starmer?

The failure of many of the UK’s recent prime ministers, who have passed through Downing Street in quick succession, seems easy to explain. Theresa May couldn’t do what she promised and didn’t “get Brexit done”. Boris Johnson broke his own rules, and the law. Liz Truss failed through sheer incompetence.

The Conversation

The blind spot in Europe’s energy strategy: almost all of its building data is based on approximations and averages

Europe is once again eyeing international energy markets with unease. The war in Ukraine, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the extreme volatility of gas prices are all stark reminders of a painful truth: the continent’s energy security is still at the mercy of external factors.

The Conversation

How studying friendship has changed the way I understand my own loneliness

A few years ago, I had just moved into a house.

The Conversation

My unsung hero of science: Carolyn Wood Sherif, pioneer of feminist psychology who foresaw the risks of scientific bias

In the US state park of Robbers Cave, Oklahoma, Carolyn Wood Sherif is standing squinting up at the sun. The two wooden cabins before her rattle with shrieks and cries from excited 11-year-old boys. They have been split into two groups of 11 and encouraged to bond.

The Conversation

Energy gels: here’s what runners need to know

Sebastian Sawe ripped open a carbohydrate gel sachet and slurped it five minutes before the start of the 2026 London Marathon. Sixty minutes later, he inhaled another one before smashing through the two-hour marathon barrier.

The Conversation

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

The Conversation

How reindeer herds, nature and Sámi culture can thrive when forests are restored across northern Europe

Political debates about the future of forests in Sweden and the EU are reaching an impasse. Producing more wood comes at the expense of nature and the storage of carbon within trees and soils. Conserving and restoring more forests may limit commercial wood production.

The Conversation

Elizabeth I refused to go to bed before she died – a stubborn final act that reflected her reign

In March 1603, Elizabeth I refused to go to bed. For days, she sat on cushions in her Richmond Palace chamber, silent and withdrawn, as her courtiers waited for the end. It’s a final moment that can be read not simply as the failing of her body, but as the…

The Conversation

Paula Rego’s Story Line – an exhibition that invites exploration of the ambiguous narratives the Portuguese artist drew

At first glance, these look like sketches – the kind artists make on the way to something more finished. But that expectation doesn’t quite hold. The drawings assert themselves: restless, unresolved, and often more direct than the paintings they eventually lead to. This is Story Line, the latest exhibition of…

The Conversation

The conspiracy theorists who feel vindicated by the Epstein files

At 8.16am on August 10 2019, a post appeared on the online forum 4Chan: “[D]ont ask me how I know, but Epstein died an hour ago from hanging, cardiac arrest. Screencap this.”

Get all your
news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One news app.

The Conversation

Xi-Trump summit: reset for US-Chinese relations but tension over Taiwan remains

The initial top line emerging from the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing was that while the two leaders had talked trade, technology and the US war in Iran, the most potentially hazardous issue was Taiwan. The Chinese foreign ministry reported that the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, told the US president, Donald…

The Conversation

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

The Conversation

A historic court victory has upheld transgender rights in Australia. A legal academic explains why

After a years-long legal battle, the Federal Court of Australia has handed down a judgment in a landmark case about gender discrimination law. It found a transgender woman was directly discriminated against on the basis of gender by being refused access to a women-only social media app.

The Conversation

Australians wait 12 months for aged care – and the latest budget funding is unlikely to change that

Imagine your elderly mother needs help to get out of bed, shower and manage her medications – and then waiting more than a year for that support to arrive.

The Conversation

Theatre for young audiences should be seen as critical for children’s cultural agency

Young children are spending less and less time outdoors. Most Australian preschool children don’t play outside every day. This is despite research that suggests time spent in non-urban outdoor environments is linked to better physical and mental health, social competence, resilience and stronger learning outcomes.

The Conversation

Should I take vitamin D now there’s less sun, or for bone or immune health?

It can be easy to think you get plenty of vitamin D when you live in a country bathed in sunshine, but the reality is more complicated.

The Conversation

What is the ‘Thucydides trap’ Xi warned Trump about? Lessons from an ancient war between Athens and Sparta

During their high-stakes meeting in Beijing this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly asked US President Donald Trump if the two countries could overcome the “Thucydides trap”.

1 … 85 86 87 88

People

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Organisations

the Trump Administration

the World Health Organization

746 stories

the Scottish Parliament

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Topics

Places

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.