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Conservative analyst Scott Jennings got heated during a panel discussion on CNN's "The Arena" on Tuesday after new polling found the American public largely does not approve of President Donald Trump's war in Iran. A new poll from CNN revealed that two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the war, and 63% said they believe the conflict will develop into a prolonged war. Another 70% of respondents said they oppose sending ground troops to Iran, and another 71% of respondents said they want Congress to reject the Pentagon's $200 billion funding request for the war. CNN anchor Abby Phillip, filling in for Kasie Hunt, called the poll "a lot of bad news for President Trump in terms of how the American people view this war."It shows that the president tonight is speaking maybe a little too late," Phillip said.Jennings said the poll is "somewhat irrelevant now" because the U.S. is already engaged in the conflict with Iran. Lulu Garcia-Navarro, a journalist at The New York Times, responded by spelling out "L-O-L," an acronym for "laugh out loud," after Jennings spoke. "Is that a serious response to a serious answer?" Jennings snapped. "President Trump chose to do this, and now he's changing what the metrics of success are," Garcia-Navarro said. "This is a disaster for the region, and it has been a disaster for the American people because they have had to pay for this war.""L-M-A-O. That's my response to that," Jennings shot back, using a vulgar acronym with similar meaning.

TMZ caught 30 members of Congress touring Scotland courtesy of taxpayer funding amid the ongoing partial government shutdown. The large group was captured on camera at Edinburgh Castle, a major tourist location, all while government workers have gone unpaid, according to a report on Wednesday. The image featured Rep. John McGuire (R-VA), Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC), Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), and Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) all taking a guided tour at the historic location. "Congress is not supposed to take taxpayer-funded trips like this during a government shutdown — or so we thought — but it sounds like they're getting around it because this is a partial shutdown. The way we see it, a shutdown is a shutdown," TMZ reported. TMZ has been closely tracking politicians on vacation during the stalemate, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at Disney World, Sen. Ted Cruz on a flight from D.C. to Texas and arriving in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) fleeing D.C., and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) was spotted at a casino in Las Vegas.The outlet reached out to representatives for the traveling lawmakers. A spokesperson for Van Orden said the following: "DVO is joining more than 30 other members of Congress on a delegation that was pre-approved by the House Ethics Committee months ago. The trip focuses on economic development, foreign partnerships, and business engagement, including meetings with members of Parliament and other international officials," according to the statement.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio took a shot at trying to explain the Iran war to the nation before President Donald Trump was scheduled to appear on television networks hours later.In a video posted by the White House this week, Rubio offered the administration's latest excuse for attacking Iran. The secretary's X account also shared the video on Wednesday ahead of Trump's address."Let me explain," the secretary of state offered. "Iran wants to have nuclear weapons. Of that, there is zero doubt.""But why the attack now?" he continued. "Iran was trying to build a conventional shield, in essence, have so many missiles, have so many drones that no one could attack them, and they were well on their way. We were on the verge of an Iran that had so many missiles and so many drones that no one could do anything about their nuclear weapons program in the future. That was an intolerable risk."The Trump administration has also pointed to regime change, a planned strike by Israel, an imminent threat of attack, and destroying other parts of Iran's military as excuses for the war. Last year, Trump had repeatedly claimed that Iran's nuclear program had been "obliterated."Rubio's latest explanation was met with criticism online."Yup, clear as mud. Now we are making Israel a superpower...that wasn't on my Middle East bingo card," Danny Layaou wrote."That's not foreign policy language. That's a defense contractor earnings call," Wall Street Balance Sheet noted."This government has to be the most confused one, everyday you keep coming up with different excuses as to why you're losing the war you started," Oko Oyinbo observed."It's the Christian Zionists who have an apocalyptic vision of the future. Your brilliant stunt has now enabled Iran to collect tolls from every ship passing through Hormuz," Lucy Liu commented.

President Donald Trump sent another conflicting signal on the status of the Iran war on Wednesday, saying he does not care anymore about Iran's possession of enriched uranium — a key reason he previously stated for launching the military operation in the Middle East. Trump was just hours away from addressing Americans when he made the comment that contradicted his previous statements, and that left ambiguous what conditions might end the conflict, The New York Times reported. “That’s so far underground, I don’t care about that,” Trump told Reuters in an interview, referencing Tehran's uranium stockpile, which was reportedly buried following the June 2025 air strikes. "His comment was sharply at odds with his argument that a main goal of the war was to prevent Iran from being able to produce an atomic bomb," The Times reported.Trump has not given a clear indication of what would lead to the end of the conflict. "He wrote on Truth Social early Wednesday that he would not consider a cease-fire until the Strait of Hormuz was open, a day after he said that the U.S. military campaign would be over 'very soon' and that Iran’s closure of the strait was for other countries to resolve," The Times reported.

South Korea will delay the shutdown of coal-fired plants, while the Philippines also plans to boost the output of its coal-burning plantsGovernments across Asia are ramping up their use of coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, as they try to cover huge energy shortfalls triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran.The move has triggered warnings from climate experts who point to coal’s devastating environmental impact, and say the energy crisis should be a wake up call for governments to invest in renewables, which can offer a more stable supply that is not exposed to price shocks. Continue reading...

Beirut is bursting under a massive wave of displaced people as Israel’s attacks and evacuation orders drive families out of southern and eastern Lebanon and the southern suburbs

President Donald Trump has signaled he is likely to retreat from the ongoing Iran war, a former White House insider said on Tuesday. Bill Kristol, conservative analyst and editor-at-large for The Bulwark, shared what he thinks Trump and his administration will do next as the war now reaches the fifth week. "Where he’s heading is toward the exits," Kristol wrote. Kristol also suggested that Trump could be backing off on his demand to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, citing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's vague comment with reporters on Monday that the administration was "working toward" establishing operations again in the crucial waterway. He also referenced a Wall Street Journal report early Tuesday that indicated the end could be near. "President Trump told aides he’s willing to end the U.S. military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed. . . . He decided that the U.S. should achieve its main goals of hobbling Iran’s navy and its missile stocks and wind down current hostilities while pressuring Tehran diplomatically to resume the free flow of trade," The Journal reported. "If that fails, Washington would press allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead on reopening the strait, the officials said."It's unclear what Trump will do next, but the signs have pointed to withdrawing, Kristol wrote."And if that wasn’t enough of a tell, Trump seemed to all but confirm the reporting this morning when he posted that other countries were going to have to figure out how to get oil through the strait themselves. '[T]he U.S.A won’t be there to help you anymore,' he added," Kristol explained. "All in all, it seems more likely than not that Trump plans on walking away rather than escalating," Kristol added. "I think this would be a less bad outcome of this reckless and feckless 'excursion' than introducing ground troops. But it will still be a bad outcome for the United States and the world. And I’m afraid it won’t be the last bad outcome we’ll experience from having an unbelievably irresponsible individual as our president."

Reports, based on X post from unofficial account, follow JD Vance’s accusations and threats of finding ‘legal remedies’Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxSeveral news outlets have falsely reported that Somaliland’s government called for the extradition of Ilhan Omar, basing their stories on a post from an X account that does not represent the state despite its claims to the contrary.Fox News, the New York Post, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s the National News Desk and the Independent ran stories on the US representative. The reports centred on a post by @RepOfSomaliland in reaction to claims by JD Vance that Omar had committed immigration fraud, which echoed prior allegations against the Somali-born Minnesota Democrat that she has vehemently denied. Continue reading...