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What We're Watching & What We're Ignoring

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

Next Tuesday's Brexit vote – The Brexit mess looks set to get messier. Next Tuesday, Theresa May will likely lose a scheduled vote in the House of Commons on her Brexit plan.


Jeremy Corbyn continues to resist calls by some within his Labour Party to push for a new Brexit referendum. Instead, he wants a general election "at the earliest opportunity" to "break the [Brexit] deadlock."

Irrefutable proof of time travel – In 1958, CBS aired an episode of a Western TV show called "Trackdown" in which a conman tries to sell a town a "wall" to protect citizens from the fake threat of a meteor shower. "I am the only one, just me," the fraudster assures the gullible crowd. The con man's name? Trump. Love the president or hate him, it's hard to take your eyes off this clip, which has so far stood up to fact-checking.

WHAT WE'RE IGNORING

Robo-soldiers – Engineers are now building robots that can perform many of the physical tasks associated with military infantry. We're ignoring this story because, really, what could go wrong?

Narendra Modi waves – A few speakers at the annual Indian Science Congress made international headlines this week with comments that suggest politics and ideology might be clouding their scientific judgment. Among our favorite claims from the podium: stem cell research was discovered in India thousands of years ago, a demon king from a Hindu religious epic owned 24 types of aircraft, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein were both wrong about gravitation, and gravitational waves should be renamed "Narendra Modi Waves." Less fanciful Indian scientists have denounced these comments as an embarrassment to their country.

More For You

A family votes during the second round of Hungary's general election in Budapest, April 23, 2006. Hungarians went to the polls on Sunday with the Socialist-led government of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany looking set to make history by becoming the first to retain power since the return of democracy in 1990.

A family votes during the second round of Hungary's general election in Budapest, April 23, 2006. Hungarians went to the polls on Sunday with the Socialist-led government of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany looking set to make history by becoming the first to retain power since the return of democracy in 1990.

REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh
With the year's end fast approaching, it's time to look ahead to the elections that could reshuffle global power dynamics in 2026. Here are a few you should keep an eye on.Hungary’s parliamentary electionsAfter consolidating power and chipping away at democratic freedoms, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán faces his most credible challenger in [...]
Slovenia's Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset applaud during a Council of Europe diplomatic conference in The Hague, Netherlands, December 16, 2025.

Slovenia's Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset applaud during a Council of Europe diplomatic conference in The Hague, Netherlands, December 16, 2025.

REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
Ukraine peace talks up their paceUkraine peace talks are showing new signs of progress. US and European negotiators emerged from meetings in Berlin yesterday agreeing to provide so-called Article 5-like security guarantees and reportedly saying “90% of the issues between Ukraine and Russia” had been resolved. However, the promise seems vague and [...]
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., USA, on Dec. 5, 2025.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney draws his country’s name at the FIFA World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., USA, on Dec. 5, 2025.

ddp/Marc Schüler via Reuters Connect
158: Canada has been a self-governing nation for 158 years, and has been fully independent of the UK Parliament since 1982. But Prime Minister Mark Carney has been sprinkling British English spellings – think words like “globalisation” or “colour” – into some of his communiqués, rather than Canadian English. Some linguists are upset at his [...]
​Chief Superintendent of the police force's National Security Department Steve Li Kwai-wah speaks at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building after the verdict in the national security collusion trial of pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, in Hong Kong, China, on December 15, 2025.

Chief Superintendent of the police force's National Security Department Steve Li Kwai-wah speaks at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building after the verdict in the national security collusion trial of Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, in Hong Kong, China, on December 15, 2025.

REUTERS/Lam Yik
156: After a 156-day trial, Hong Kong’s High Court found media tycoon Jimmy Lai guilty on national security charges on Monday. Lai, who advocated for democracy in the semi-autonomous Chinese city before the 2019 crackdown, now faces life imprisonment. The decision is another blow for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. [...]