The Rest of the World Report | Sunday, May 24, 2026
Five stories from the week that are worth carrying into the weekend.
"Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government." — Thomas Jefferson, 1789
REst of the world report
When Trump won, my phone started filling up with the same question from friends back home: "what is the world saying about this?" I’d answer, they’d go quiet for a second, and then: "why aren’t we hearing that?"
That second question I couldn’t quite answer.
Then the war in Iran started. The messages became a flood.
Then the war in Iran started. The messages became a flood.
Fifteen thousand people found this in three weeks without me asking them to. I’m still not entirely sure what that means. But I think it means the question my friends were asking — "why aren’t we hearing that?" — isn’t just their question.
This is me answering that second question.
This is me answering that second question.
Twice a day
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The Rest of the World Report | May 22, 2026 — Evening Edition
The Iran war told Taiwan it can’t have its weapons back yet. Senate Republicans left town because Trump wanted a ballroom. A federal judge quoted Robert Jackson to tell the Justice Department it picked the man before the crime.
The Rest of the World Report | May 22, 2026 — Morning Edition
Last night The Late Show aired its final episode. Stephen Colbert was the number one late-night host in America. He was cancelled three days after calling a Trump settlement “a big fat bribe,” while his parent company needed the president’s approval for a multibillion-dollar merger. The US now ranks 64th in global press freedom, down from 57th last year. American freedom of expression is at its lowest point since World War II.
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Rudy Martinez is the founder of The Rest of the World Report. He publishes daily international news coverage sourced from the world's press, translated for American readers. ROTWR is free, independent, and sustained entirely by its readers.
