This Month
US launches brazen mission to take back Panama Canal
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in Panama City with an audacious mandate from his boss, which the wary host says is “impossible”.
- John Hudson
January
A real estate queen and the secret she couldn’t keep
A party guest revealed the part of her identity she had obscured for decades.
- Anna Kodé
Attacks prompt extra security ahead of Washington events
Preparations are well under way for the roughly two-week stretch that will test security in the nation’s capital.
- Maria Sacchetti, Ellie Silverman, Mark Maske and Justin Jouvenal
From Georgia to Washington, memorials trace Jimmy Carter’s life
The journey, like his life, began and will end in a patch of rural Georgia, where he was born and raised and where he died on December 29 at age 100.
- Updated
- Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon and Rick Rojas
- Opinion
- World politics
Rich democracies need an acute crisis to trigger real change
It is almost impossible to sell voters on drastic reforms until their nation is in acute trouble. The chronic kind isn’t enough.
- Janan Ganesh
Trump, holding court at Mar-a-Lago, says he will go to Carter funeral
Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny were among guests at the black-tie affair, along with billionaire and Trump confidant Elon Musk.
- Maggie Haberman
December 2024
ASX slips; Gold miners’ silver lining; China’s new stealth aircraft
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
US stock markets to close for Carter’s January 9 funeral
The closures are part of a long-standing American tradition in which financial institutions halt operations following the death of a US president.
- Isabelle Lee and Bailey Lipschultz
- Opinion
- Obituaries
Jimmy Carter was right about America, but nobody listened
“Too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption,” he said in his famous 1979 speech.
- Ron Lieber
ASX slips; Jimmy Carter dies; Gerry Harvey’s property pain
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
- Updated
- Obituaries
Jimmy Carter, Nobel-prize winning US president, dies at 100
He lived longer after his term in office than any other leader of the nation. He also earned a reputation as a better former president than he was a president.
- Updated
- Bill Barrow
November 2024
- Opinion
- US election
America’s search for a new role continues
Despite the mediocrity of the candidates, America is not down for the count. But it is wasting precious time to redefine its world role
- James Curran
September 2024
- Opinion
- US Votes 2024
Harris must dazzle in debate or face defeat
The Democratic candidate badly needs a breakthrough in this week’s televised debate to restore momentum to her faltering campaign.
- Gideon Rachman
August 2024
- Opinion
- US election
The astonishing metamorphosis of Kamala Harris
Her shift from indifferent vice president to source of Obama-scale enthusiasm has caught many unaware. Yet Democratic talk of victory is dangerously premature.
- Updated
- Edward Luce
July 2024
A history of political assassination in the US
There have been several instances of political violence targeting US presidents, former presidents and major party presidential candidates.
- Darlene Superville and Christina Cassidy
Is America entering another age of political violence?
Let’s hope that the voices of American moderation, who have been cowed by extremes on both sides of the political spectrum, step back into the arena.
- Peter Spiegel
June 2024
- Opinion
- US election
Why next week’s Biden v Trump debate is so important
A set piece clash between Joe Biden and Donald Trump will turn less on policies than on manner and appearance. What they say will matter less than how they seem.
- Updated
- Edward Luce
- Opinion
- US election
It’s not the economy, stupid. Voters blame Biden for inequality
It’s unfair to blame the US president alone for imbalances that have been widening for decades, but nor will selling the good news harder make any difference.
- Ruchir Sharma
May 2024
- Opinion
- Legal profession
How the US Supreme Court became a political organisation
When judges make decisions that should be left to politicians, they undermine democracy.
- Amanda Stoker
January 2024
- Opinion
- US election
Is Joe Biden the next Jimmy Carter? Here’s why not
There are uncanny parallels between 2023 and the fateful year of 1979. But there is one good reason why President Biden will not follow his one-term predecessor.
- Barry Eichengreen