Top World News

South African police have arrested four suspects in the killing of former world champion boxer Zolani Tete

Famous cricketers from around the world have renewed their appeal for the medical treatment of former star player turned politician Imran Khan in a letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif

Lawmakers from Japan have traveled to Beijing to meet with Chinese officials in the first visit since tensions rose after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's comment on Taiwan angered China

Icelanders are voting Saturday on whether to restart talks about joining the European Union

President Donald Trump was criticized on Wednesday after claiming he had a great relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, prompting backlash over his recent comments.Trump, who had called for U.S. military exercises with South Korea to be cut, claimed during an Oval Office press conference that continuing the drills would be unfair to North Korea's supreme leader."I do have a good relationship with Kim Jong Un," Trump said. "I didn't like the fact that we're doing these massive military exercises really against North Korea when I'm friendly with him."Commentators on social media were furious with the president's remarks."Maybe next time we shouldn’t elect someone President who kisses the a---- of Putin and Kim," David Yoffee, a frequent political commentator who self-describes as a Democrat, wrote on X."@RepDonBacon still waiting for you to pull your 29 years of honorable service out of the trash and do something that should not have to seem so brave. Please wake up, D̴r̴.̴ ̴J̴o̴n̴e̴s̴ Rep. Bacon," wrote attorney John Oleske in a post on X, calling on the veteran and GOP lawmaker to respond."Trump: Maybe Kim does a little 'military operation' and takes over South Korea in a Putin-ish manner. Maybe I look the other way unless $10 billion appears in my lap. Who knows," liberal political commentator Chris Robinson wrote on X."Worst reboot ever of the movie ‘The Interview’ with Seth Rogen and James Franco," journalist Nancy Levine Stearns wrote on X.Worst reboot ever of the movie ‘The Interview’ with Seth Rogen and James Franco. https://t.co/d9EIX5DwGR— Nancy Levine Stearns (@nancylevine) August 19, 2026

President Donald Trump went on a rant Wednesday over the helipad construction, grass, his ballroom project, the Iran war and his relationship status with Kim Jong Un. Trump was outside the White House for a helipad press tour on the South Lawn when he gave a rambling update."It's very close to being finished, the hard work is done," Trump said, talking about the material and building process. "This is for many presidents, they will have it for a long time."He praised the construction crew, and talked about how it would be important for foreign leaders and White House events."Right now they're not impressed," he said. He also spoke in detail about the grass — and made an admission."It's in shock," Trump added. "But you come back in two or three weeks, this has all been redone. It's all been topsoiled. If you remember, it had big sunken areas in here, and was pretty bad. It was in bad shape, but this grass was the highest quality. It was given free of charge by ScottsMiracle-Gro. Scotts is a great company. They actually contributed to my campaign, I must be honest."Independent journalist Aaron Rupar captured Trump's comments, compiling a series of clips shared on social media."Here's a supercut of Trump just now ranting and raving like a complete lunatic outside the White House on topics including his military ballroom, warm relationship with Kim Jong Un, and how great things are going in Iran," Rupar wrote on X.Other media and political commentators weighed in on Trump's remarks.Reporter James Fallows raised a question."Challenge: Is there anyone who has worked in a non-Trump White House—as I did, eons ago, under Carter—who views this rant as other than *insane sundowner perseveration* fit for a Florida nursing home? To me, this is insane sundowner obsession. Anyone with first-hand WH experience who disagrees?" Fallows wrote on Bluesky.Max Berger, co-founder of Momentum Training Institute, an organization that trains progressive activists, argued Trump's focus on Kim Jong Un — and the president's claim he planned to meet with him — were revealing."The ultimate irony of Trump, like all fascists, is that he’s a weak person’s idea of a strong man. Trump is a pathetic simp for anyone who strokes his incredibly fragile ego because he can’t take an ounce of objective reality. Of course he gets along with another fat delusional nepo-baby," Berger wrote on Bluesky.

President Donald Trump was lashed with insults Wednesday by two Floridians who voted for him in the past.In a clip shared by MS NOW host Stephanie Ruhle on Wednesday morning, one self-identified Trump voter let his annoyance with the Iran war grow into an angry rant about gas prices.Asked by MS NOW’s Alex Tabet about the war the Trump voter gave the MS NOW reporter an earful.“I think what Trump's doing now, I'm kind of having a about-face,” he admitted."You know, we started a war over there in Iran we can't possibly finish,” he continued. “You should know more about history — I know you're not going to sort these people out over there.”“Are you benefiting from this war?” Tabet pressed.“No!” the Florida man exclaimed. “Who's benefiting from it? Look at fuel prices! We went to Costco yesterday and it was ridiculous. And everything's expensive! Where does it end, right?”A woman then told Tabet, “Gas shouldn't be that high, but everything, groceries, everything.”“We're just suffering right now,” she lamented. - YouTubeyoutu.be

Questions are being raised about Secretary of State Marco Rubio being sent to the sidelines while President Donald Trump's Iran war drags the administration down.According to a column from MSNBC's Julia Jester, as the nation's supposedly top diplomat, Rubio would normally be the face of efforts to bring the quagmire that Iran has become to a close.As the Iran war persists, the Israel-Hamas has "hit a sizable snag" and the Ukraine-Russia war continues, Rubio has appeared to step back from his role in addressing the most pressing international crises facing the United States.Instead, Rubio has focused his diplomatic efforts on the Western Hemisphere, leading negotiations on Venezuela and Cuba. His work on Cuba is personally significant, given his background as the son of Cuban immigrants.According to the report, "Over the past year, Rubio has waged a maximum pressure campaign on the communist island, crippling its economy with sanctions and publishing a 100-page department report outlining espionage and influence efforts that threaten U.S. national security."Rubio has publicly attached his name to most Cuba-related State Department actions and stood alongside Trump at a press conference following a military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, but was notably absent from major public appearances after the joint U.S.-Israel operation against Iran.According to his public schedule, Rubio "attends meetings and briefings at the White House, where he has Trump’s ear. But he’s not always deployed to conduct diplomacy in person on behalf of the U.S. in its most critical quagmires."Former State Department negotiator Aaron David Miller expressed concern about Rubio's apparent absence from the administration's most significant foreign policy challenges."I worked for half a dozen secretaries of state," Miller said. "None of them would ever have agreed, in the face of the gravest and greatest crisis of the Trump administration's foreign policy presidency, to basically be sitting this one out or perceived to be M.I.A."Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, called the decision to have special envoys report directly to Trump rather than through the secretary of state "extraordinary," telling MS NOW, "I think it’s a testament to how dysfunctional this is that the president saw fit to deploy his best friend and his son-in-law to navigate and negotiate three of the most difficult conflicts in the international system, and the results I think are pretty predictable.”