Top World News
Jul 9, 2026
Trump triggers economic alarm bells as exports of an American staple crater: report
The Trump administration erroneously touted export numbers for an American staple while the real numbers spark concern, per a report. Reuters reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had to revise beef export sales and slash numbers by 90 percent compared to the incorrect number offered for a sales period ending in late June.The USDA touted in early July that the exporters sold more than 126,000 metric tons of U.S. beef to foreign buyers, but the real number turned out to be just over 12,000 metric tons. The error came as U.S. beef prices have reached record highs this year because of "tight cattle supplies" and demand, and beef exports have also continued to decline since 2022, Reuters reported. Although domestic demand for hamburgers and steaks is strong, the increased price and reduced production of beef are feeding the declining exports, Reuters noted."We're priced out of the world market to a certain extent," Austin Schroeder, a commodity analyst at Brugler Marketing & Management, told Reuters. "It wouldn't make a lot of sense for that big of an export number."The USDA also erroneously reported record sales of more than 38,000 metric tons of beef to Chile and more than 32,000 metric tons to Italy, according to Reuters, which noted neither of those countries is a major market for U.S. beef. The corrected figures revealed the U.S. actually sold 367 tons to Chile and 350 tons to Italy, and revised sales downward to 14 other countries as well, according to Reuters.The U.S. also has low domestic supplies of beef and has had to increase the amount of beef it imports, Reuters added. The beef industry was threatened by the outbreak of screwworm earlier this year, which led to the declaration of a state of disaster in Texas.
Jul 9, 2026
JD Vance gets shot across the bow as Fox News calls for Trump to put in new negotiators
Knives were out for Vice President JD Vance — and coming from an unlikely ally, The Daily Beast reported Thursday.Fox News host Brian Kilmeade fired off a tough demand and called for the Vice President to be pulled from the Iran negotiations.“The one thing we need is a different negotiating team. If we go to negotiations and that’s a big if, this team can’t do it,” Kilmeade said.Vance has stumbled through two rounds of high-stakes talks — first in Pakistan, then Switzerland — and has appeared shaky on the details of the deal he helped broker. Instead, the Fox anchor argued that Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff should turn their attention to Ukraine as pressure grows for the U.S. to reach an agreement amid escalating fighting this week. As the fragile truce has unraveled quickly, Tehran has struck back at American allies from Qatar to Jordan, and both sides are trading blame over who broke the ceasefire first.Kilmeade referred to current negotiators as "a waste of time," and claimed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been "calling the shots." "We should demand different people," Kilmeade said. "The foreign minister is a waste of time, and the speaker is a waste of time. The IRGC is calling the shots. So, why are we pretending to talk to the other guys? Talk to the people who make the decisions. Knowing ahead of time that they’re not to be trusted."
Jul 9, 2026
Floridians bash Trump's 'patently absurd' airport vanity project: 'Do not like it at all'
Florida travelers did not mince words after Palm Beach International Airport was rebranded as the Donald J. Trump International Airport on Thursday.MS NOW interviewed several people at the Florida airport to get their reactions. "I think it's patently absurd that we're spending taxpayer money to rename an airport after a criminal that's sitting in the White House," one traveler said. "I think it's disgusting, ridiculous, pompous and a lot of other bad things," another person said. "I do not like it at all." "I resent that the name is on every institution that we have, this included," another traveler told MS NOW. "I resent that we have to have every institution in this country being named after Donald Trump."Palm Beach is home to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.Trump is the first president seeking to trademark an airport. The Trump Organization has filed for trademark rights to the airport. No other sitting president has named an airport or roadway after himself during his current term — most are named after former presidents once they have served their term, and in some cases, after they have died, MS NOW reported.
Jul 9, 2026
'Art of the Deal' writer rocked by WSJ for poorly-worded clause that disintegrated pact
President Donald Trump may call himself the master of making a deal, but four Wall Street Journal writers think he stinks at writing them. The Journal on Thursday published a stern rebuke of Trump's memorandum of understanding with Iran, arguing a single "poorly worded clause" resulted in the battle for the Strait of Hormuz. "The root of the dispute is Paragraph 5, which says Iran will make arrangements to restore shipping through the strategic waterway and then work with Oman to determine how to administer it in the future," the report states. "But it also includes an Iranian pledge to ensure safe passage and remove military obstacles such as mines." The pledge became a problem because it was open to different interpretations by both sides as the war ramps up again, the Wall Street Journal reporters argued."Trump administration officials saw that clause as unlocking the strait, the main accomplishment of the president’s deal." they wrote. "Iranian hard-liners, however, have used it to push a maximalist interpretation that gives the Islamic Republic exclusive control over the waterway as a key source of leverage."Geopolitical analyst Michael Horowitz agreed with their assessment. "Washington has tried to convince Tehran that compliance would be more profitable, but this framing misses the point," he reportedly said. "Iran's behavior isn't driven by financial motives but by security concerns and bargaining leverage. It's a power dynamic."Now the U.S. faces tough times ahead in the struggle, according to the analysis"Tehran has also repeatedly asserted that it will work out arrangements for future management of the strait with its weaker neighbor across the waterway, Oman," the Journal report stated. "The difficulty coming to terms on opening the Strait of Hormuz points to rough negotiations ahead."
Jul 9, 2026
Mexico investigates whether US lied about role in capture of drug lord
Reporting suggests FBI involved in seizure of Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada García from Mexican territory in 2024Mexico has launched an investigation into whether the US lied about its involvement in the capture and secretive transfer of a top Sinaloa cartel member in 2024, in what would be a potential violation of the country’s sovereignty.The US has long denied it played any role in the operation to detain the drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, a founder of the Sinaloa cartel, inside Mexico. Recent reporting by the local media outlet Pie de Nota, however, suggested that the FBI was involved in his capture. Continue reading...
Jul 9, 2026
Furore in Nigeria over fake federal agency set up in government HQ
President orders investigation after fictitious body given funding, triggering renewed scrutiny of alleged corruptionA fictitious federal entity that was allocated 1.3bn naira (£700,000) in Nigeria’s 2026 budget has precipitated a political storm in Africa’s largest democracy in the run-up to a general election set for January.The fake agency came to light last October when Femi Gbajabiamila, the president’s chief of staff, wrote to the police alleging that his signature, along with official seals and reference numbers, had been forged by Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, who was claiming to have been appointed by the presidency to head the presidential foreign intervention promotion council (PFIPC). Continue reading...
Jul 8, 2026
Cost of Trump's war exceeds $100 billion — and there's no plan to pay the bill: analysis
A new analysis estimated that President Donald Trump racked up a $103 billion bill for the Iran war in 120 days.According to an analysis by Popular Information, the Trump administration has no plan to pay for the Iran war, and neither do congressional Republicans.The analysis found that over four months, the U.S. spent more than $103 billion on the war in Iran, based on budgetary costs such as operations, personnel, and matériel. It also noted that Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, told the House Appropriations Committee last week that the U.S. has spent $30 billion on the war.According to Popular Information, expenses for weapons such as missiles, interceptors, and bombs total about $46.7 billion, making it the highest cost. The other major expenses included operations such as mobilization, administration, and combat, which cost $28.5 billion, and losses such as damage or destruction of military assets, which cost $20.3 billion, per the analysis."The Trump administration has offered Congress lowball war cost estimates," Popular Information noted. In May, Pentagon comptroller Jay Hurst and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified that the war cost only $29 billion. In April, the estimate was $25 billion.The Trump administration and congressional Republicans are declining to pay for the war costs through tax increases or spending cuts, according to Popular Information, which included a quote from House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) saying, "War is never paid for when you fight it."However, taxes were levied to pay for the costs of World Wars I and II, Popular Information noted.
Jul 8, 2026
US charges Indian criminal gang leader with organising murder of Canadian Sikh activist
Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in prison in India, is accused of orchestrating assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in 2023US and Canadian authorities say they have “dismantled” the leadership of a notorious Indian criminal group, charging dozens of operatives who have “inflicted pain and cruelty on people, victims around the globe”, including a high-profile murder in Canada that strained diplomatic relations between Canada and India.At a press conference on Tuesday, members of the FBI and Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said as part of Operation Hard Ball – a multiyear federal investigation into murder-for-hire plots, shootings, extortion and drug trafficking – they had charged 37 people, some of whom were already in custody. Authorities are still searching for seven fugitives in the US, two in India and one in Europe. Continue reading...
Jul 8, 2026
'Sir, we love you': Trump goes off script with meandering self-praise at NATO conference
Amid reports that diplomats and world leaders are beside themselves over Donald Trump’s threats at the NATO conference in Turkey, the president attempted Wednesday to spin the meeting as a lovefest.Sound raspy and looking tired, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, looking over his shoulder, the president, as is his custom, departed from his prepared notes to claim that he is quite the popular guy with his counterparts.“They respect us as a country," Trump said. "They didn't respect us two years ago. They laughed at us. NATO laughed at us, everybody laughed at us. They don't laugh anymore.” Trump then added an odd remark.“And they're, you know, just again, if you could have seen the respect and the love in the room and it's love really for the country, for our country," Trump said. "I don't want to say me because you'll say, oh, he's so conceited. He's such a conceited person. But they do.”“I mean, you know, they, like the job I'm doing,” he continued. “They said, ‘We love, sir, we love you.’ These are grown people saying that. Isn't that nice?”“Maybe, I don't know, maybe they're trying to get to me. And, in a way they did, because there was tremendous unity in that room,” he asserted. - YouTube youtu.be
Jul 8, 2026
Pakistan locates wreckage of Boeing 737 cargo plane that went missing off coast
Early flight data shows K2 Airways plane crashed into sea with five crew on board south-west of KarachiPakistan has located the wreckage of a Boeing cargo plane, the country’s airports authority said, adding that rescuers were searching for the five crew members on board when the aircraft went missing.The plane was approaching Karachi from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates when radar showed it “rapidly descending” on Tuesday evening after reporting a “navigational system issue”, according to the Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA). Continue reading...
Jul 8, 2026
UK judges begin hearing appeal over Trinidad and Tobago anti-gay law
Activist is challenging ruling last year that restored colonial-era homophobic law against same-sex intimacySome of the UK’s top judges are hearing arguments over whether a Trinidad and Tobago court had the legal right to overturn a 2018 ruling to remove colonial-era homophobic laws that criminalise anal sex between consenting men.The country’s “buggery law”, often referred to as its “sodomy” law, was created in 1925 and was written into Trinidad and Tobago’s 1986 Sexual Offences Act. In 2017 a Trinidadian LGBTQ+ rights activist, Jason Jones, challenged the law, and in 2018 a high court ruled that it infringed upon his constitutional right to privacy and equality. Continue reading...
Jul 7, 2026
A rock star welcome and human rights protests to greet India’s prime minister Narendra Modi in Australia
Amnesty International says Albanese has opportunity to ‘reaffirm mutual commitment’ to rule of law as thousands in diaspora expected at stadium eventFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Australia in three years has sparked calls for the federal government to raise human rights concerns, as excitement builds within the nation’s Indian diaspora.Modi’s visit begins on Wednesday evening and marks his third since becoming prime minister. It will see him return to Melbourne after more than a decade, with a stadium event expected to attract more than 20,000 people. Continue reading...
