Top World News

A former Republican strategist blasted President Donald Trump and his "vandals" for betraying Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) last crusade with "nonsense."During an episode of The Warning, Steve Schmidt talked about how Trump is "putting a great deal of money" into Russian President Vladimir Putin's pockets with the Iran war. Late senior Sen. Lindsey Graham had just come back from Ukraine and, as Schmidt noted, was ready to propose sanctions against Russia when he died."Lindsey Graham, a few hours before his death, was talking about his Russia sanctions bill," Schmidt said. "When Donald Trump launched his war with Iran, global oil prices spiked, putting a great deal of money into whose pocket? That's right, Vladimir Putin's pocket."Graham was a loyal Trump ally, Schmidt noted as he blasted "the shallowness, the abject stupidity of MAGA policy and the MAGA senators who are celebrated in too many quarters as statesmen as opposed to imbeciles."Schmidt didn't just go after Trump but also "Jared Kushner and his Abraham Accords, which are a disaster," and Kushner and "Steve Witkoff meddling around the world," calling it all "nonsense" that's leading to another war."They squeeze on the balloon, moving air around it in disruptive ways that are often, in the end, catastrophic," Schmidt said. "America losing a war to Iran means that there will be a bigger, more deadly war sometime in the next decade."Speaking about the bigger war, Schmidt continued, "All of the seeds are being laid for it right now, today, as we speak, by the foolish men and women who have followed Trump to the edge of the abyss and over it."

Political heavyweight Pete Buttigieg predicted that Marco Rubio is never going to recover from "selling his soul" for one lie.During an interview on The Bulwark Podcast with former GOP operative Tim Miller, Buttigieg talked about how much Rubio has fallen in his eyes since becoming Trump's secretary of state.When Miller asked how Rubio has been doing, Buttigieg said, "If he hadn't asked for it, I would feel sorry for him," but criticized Rubio for testimony he gave before Congress in May 2025. Rubio claimed that no children had died as a result of the Trump administration's foreign aid cuts, Buttigieg said."When Marco Rubio lied to Congress about whether the aid cuts had killed children, when he stood there with a straight face and said no children died over this, when we already knew the names of some of the children who had been killed by this," Buttigieg said."Right then, you could just tell that this guy's just morally — and I hope politically — never going to recover from selling his soul," Buttigieg continued.Miller mentioned that the new book Regime Change revealed that Rubio was "supposed to be the normal, responsible adult in the administration." However, Rubio was "the point man" for cutting a deal with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to receive immigrants deported from the U.S., Miller said."You're going to have a gulag essentially in El Salvador," Miller said, summing up what Rubio negotiated. "We're going to send these people. We were sending innocent people there, and it was absolutely, I think, the most outrageous thing the administration has done."

A Democratic lawmaker had a sharp critique for the Trump administration on Tuesday after President Donald Trump opted to back off plans to charge fees in the Strait of Hormuz.During a live segment with CNN anchor Boris Sanchez, Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) responded to Trump's decision change after the United States was mounting its military offensive in the region and preparing to restart its blockade of the waterway, facing pressure from several Gulf nations who have since offered to invest in the U.S."It's not a major reversal; it's Donald Trump's daily reversal," Crow said. "Literally, this changes by the day. One time the strait is open, the next day it's closed. One day we're going to charge a toll, the next day we're not. The next day, we signed a peace deal, an MOU. The next day we don't. This is what happens."The former Army Ranger said he wasn't surprised by the move."Let's just put it this way — who would have guessed that getting into another war in the Middle East without a plan, without an endgame, without a strategy, without allies, would possibly have ended up like this, right?" Crow said. "It is nuts that, where we are now, six months into this, we have spent over $100 billion! Service members have lost their lives. We've lost our credibility. The Iranian regime is actually more emboldened and has more control over Iran and the Iranian people than it did in February. This is an unmitigated disaster."

Foreign policy expert Trita Parsi sounded the alarm Tuesday over what he suspected would be a “major escalation” from the United States, one he predicted would come “in the next coming days.”“I do suspect that there’s going to be a major escalation from the U.S. side in the next coming days… I think it’s going to be quite terrible,” Parsi said in a video interview published by Zeteo Tuesday.Parsi’s warning comes amid resumed hostilities between the United States and Iran, sparked by Iran’s strike on a container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz, which Iranian officials claimed to be in violation of the tentative U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement. Iran has since declared the Strait of Hormuz “closed,” sparking multiple exchanges of fire between the United States and Iran.Beyond announcing that the U.S. would reinstate its naval blockade on Iran, President Trump has not disclosed further details about U.S. military plans. He did, however, promote commentary Tuesday morning encouraging him to “take Kharg Island,” a small Iranian island and oil hub. Experts have warned that seizing Kharg Island would result in "considerable" American casualties.Parsi, the co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, also warned that, even in the “best-case scenario,” the recent flare-up in hostilities would put the United States in a worse negotiating position than it was in last week.“In the absolute best-case scenario, the two sides, through the mediation of regional states, will find some sort of way back to the table. But nothing will have changed even by then – nothing has changed now,” Parsi continued. “The runway for the U.S. before the economic crisis is shorter. The only thing that may have changed is that the illusion that military power can rearrange facts on the ground in a manner that will favor your negotiation position may no longer be an illusion that exists, it may have been dispelled by this. But that’s in a best-case scenario!”‘Major U.S. Escalation’ Against Iran Soon, Experts Tell Zeteo by Mehdi HasanIn a Town Hall Q&A for paid subscribers, Zeteo assembled three Middle East experts to unpack developments in Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza. It’s a conversation you won’t find in the mainstream media.Read on Substack

Sam Neill, the popular New Zealand actor whose career spanned five decades and encompassed more than 150 film and television roles, has passed away in Sydney. The actor, best recognized for portraying paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant across multiple "Jurassic Park" installments, was 78.His family shared the news through a social media announcement, noting that Neill "passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life" while surrounded by loved ones, The New York Times reported.Neill had battled angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma following his diagnosis in early 2022.Originating in Northern Ireland before relocating to New Zealand during his childhood, Neill launched his acting journey in the late 1960s, becoming known for his striking appearance and distinctive vocal delivery.His body of work included critically acclaimed New Zealand features such as "The Piano" and "Hunt for the Wilderpeople," popular entertainment franchises including "Thor: Love and Thunder," and the acclaimed British drama series "Peaky Blinders."Australian political leaders paid tribute to Neill's cultural impact, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese highlighting the actor's connection to the country, writing on X: “Wry and dry, thoughtful and laconic, Sam fought illness with the same dignity, humor and conviction that gave strength to his every performance.”

A former CIA officer on Sunday floated a disturbing new theory about when late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) actually died.Reports indicate that Graham suffered from cardiac arrest at his Washington, D.C., residence late Saturday night, and that he was pronounced dead at George Washington University Hospital later that night. However, the timeline of events leading up to Graham's death didn't make sense to former CIA officer Charles Johnson, who floated a new theory about when Graham died in a new Substack essay. "This is total bulls---!" Johnson wrote about the official story of Graham's death. Johnson noted that Graham had traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 10, which makes the timeline of his death harder to believe. "So, let’s go [through] the timeline," Johnson wrote. "Senator Graham arrived in Kyiv between 09:45 [and] 10:45 local on July 10th. The train he took from Poland departed Warsaw at 18:15 hours local on July 9th. It was an overnight train. To arrive in Poland in time to take the 18:15 train, Lindsey would have departed Dulles International Airport at around 0700 local on July 9 — the flight from Dulles to Warsaw is 9 hours.""So, Lindsey Graham arrives in Kyiv by 11 am (sic) Friday morning. He meets with Zelensky and tours a drone factory. Then we are asked to believe that he returns to Washington, D.C., after spending less than 24 hours on the ground. Again, I call bulls---!!" he added. Additional details of Graham's trip made it seem likely that he actually died in Kyiv, possibly while he was traveling back to the U.S., Johnson noted. "The earliest train back to Warsaw departs Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi at 07:40–08:00 on the 11th and arrives Przemyśl Główny in the afternoon (~17:00–18:00). That is at least nine hours. That would make it roughly 1100 hours in Washington, D.C.," he wrote. "Let’s assume he has an hour to get to the airport and the plane takes off at 1900 hours local from Poland. The flight going west takes 10 hours… This means the earliest the plane could have landed at Dulles is midnight on the 11th. That is 3 ½ hours after Graham reportedly died at home," Johnson added.

Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) sudden death reverberated across the globe on Sunday as world leaders reacted to the news. Graham died late Saturday night after a "brief and sudden illness," according to his office. It is believed that Graham suffered from cardiac arrest before his death. President Donald Trump described the late Senator as "one of the greatest people and Senators that I have ever known." Leaders of American-allied nations reacted to the news on Sunday, offering condolences to Graham's family and colleagues. However, the mercurial senator's death also sparked a more terse reaction from America's enemies, particularly inside the Kremlin. "He worked tirelessly to strengthen sanctions, in close coordination with the E.U.," Ursula von der Leyen, the E.U. commission president, remembered in a post on X. "A determined and fearless leader. He will be deeply missed." "Throughout his career, he stood resolutely in defense of democracy and freedom, most recently and particularly with Ukraine and its people," Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on X. "I offer my condolences to Senator Graham’s family, friends, and all those who served alongside him."Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, also thanked Graham for his staunch advocacy for Ukrainians defending their country against Russian aggression. "We will always be especially grateful for the recognition of our people and words of admiration for the courage of Ukraine’s defenders," Zelenskyy noted in a post on X. "America and the world have lost a determined leader."Graham's death sparked a much different message inside Russia's Kremlin and among the Putin regime's propagandists, The Daily Beast reported. Alexey Pushkov, a Russian lawmaker who represents Putin's party, called Graham "bloodthirsty" in a Telegram post shortly after his death, according to the report. Kremlin propagandist Sergei Mardan added that the Russian people "certainly won't miss him," the report added.

Shortly after the United States launched a fresh round of strikes at Iran on Sunday, the United Nations secretary-general pleaded with all parties to practice restraint, or risk sparking global and imminent “catastrophic consequences.”On Saturday, the United States launched strikes at Iran in response to an attack on a container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz, and in a manner that Iran claimed to be in violation of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement. Iran responded early Sunday morning with strikes targeting major U.S. allies in the region.On Sunday, the United States retaliated again with a new wave of strikes, only this time, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres pleaded with all parties involved to stop hostilities, The New York Times reported.“A return to full-scale hostilities would have catastrophic consequences [for the region and for the global economy],” Guterres said, according to a statement issued by his spokesperson.Guterres went on to say he was “deeply concerned by the serious escalation” and urged both the United States and Iran “to exercise maximum restraint, avoid further escalatory action and take immediate steps to de-escalate.”The United States’ most recent attack on Iran, according to a U.S. official who spoke with the Times under the condition of anonymity, was to degrade “Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping vessels,” the Times reported.On Saturday, Iran also announced that the Strait of Hormuz – a critical shipping route through which around 20% of the world’s oil trade flows – was “closed until further notice,” citing “America’s interventions in the region.”