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Aug 18, 2026 - World

Author Adam Johnson criticises Waverley council saying ‘reality is often upsetting’ while Palestinian group says libraries should hold ‘challenging’ booksFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA Sydney library has removed a book critical of Israel called How to Sell a Genocide, following a complaint reportedly from a survivor of the Bondi beach terror attack.Waverley library at Bondi Junction is in the same council area as Bondi beach. Continue reading...

Aug 17, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's comments about the Iran war and scaling back military exercises with ally South Korea amid his talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un were raising serious questions on Monday.CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes, who Trump had snapped at during an Oval Office press conference earlier, pointed to why the president's comments were fueling concerns."President Trump there saying that he had had some kind of communication or opened the door to communication with Kim Jong Un," Holmes said. "And then shortly afterward, this announcement that they were scaling back the military exercises with our ally, South Korea."Holmes compared the move to when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House, and it was anticipated he would request the U.S. help provide more missiles."The day before, President Trump talked to President Putin," she said. "And because of that phone call the next day, he denied giving Zelensky Patriot missiles, citing conversations that he had had with Vladimir Putin. So this is a real and justifiable question."Holmes added that this has also triggered scrutiny over "the other crisis that he is facing" — the Iran war."The idea that North Korea has been stockpiling illegal nuclear weapons — what message is that sending to Iran that he is willing to support North Korea in this, as they stockpile these illegal nuclear weapons, or at least look the other way?" Holmes asked. "Now, all of this is coming at a point where President Trump seems to be at least foreign policy-wise, completely spiraling," she added. "And that is likely due to what we are seeing here at home. There is no end in sight to this war in Iran. And in fact, President Trump is saying the same thing today that he said five months ago: that they want to negotiate, that they're not going to come up with a deal that he likes, and that the baseline premise of this entire war is to make sure Iran doesn't get nuclear weapons."As the unpopular war has dragged on for five months, Americans have become more frustrated."Now, part of the reason he is likely having so many issues, particularly when it comes to Iran and answering these questions, is this poll, the poll that we did at the end of last month in which we asked voters if they believe that the Iran war was worth both the U.S. lives lost and the financial cost. And 74% of Americans said no," Holmes said. "Those polls are not lost on this White House."

Aug 17, 2026 - World

A U.S. airman who was recently arrested at the Capitol after calling for President Donald Trump's impeachment spoke out on CNN in his first interview since being released. Air Force Maj. Jason Watson joined CNN's Erin Burnett on "OutFront" to discuss his arrest and the impact he hopes his statements against the Trump administration will have. Watson told Burnett that he is facing a court-martial for his statement, which he made while dressed in full uniform, and a host of other legal challenges that could upend his life. Even so, Watson said it is important to speak out against Trump, whom he considered to be a "failure" of a president. "He has failed us. And not only is he a failure as president, but he is also flagrantly violating the Constitution, breaking the law, engaging in rampant corruption, and killing Americans," Watson said. "And that is unacceptable to me. And it should be unacceptable to all of us. I feel like, unfortunately, many of us have gotten used to this, and we've normalized this conduct, and we think that there's nothing that we can do about it." Calls to impeach Trump have increased in recent weeks. Over the weekend, a report indicated that the White House had planned to retaliate against Colorado if the state did not release convicted election denier Tina Peters, which caused the impeachment calls to ramp up. Watson said that pressure needs to increase going forward. "I want to just inspire people and bring the conversation to impeach, convict, remove," Watson said. "I believe we can defeat this government if we just take a stand," he added.

Aug 17, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's Iran war has spiraled so far off the rails that he's now turning his fire on America's own friends, and analysts warn the fallout could be catastrophic, according to a new analysis.The latest target: Oman, a venerable regional ally that had quietly stepped in to broker peace, opening talks with Iran over a toll system for ships stranded by the Strait of Hormuz standoff. Trump's response wasn't gratitude. It was a threat to bomb them."If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s--- out of them," he told Fox News — a stunning vow to attack a partner that was trying to clean up his mess.David Graham, a staff writer for The Atlantic, argued in a new article that Trump's about-face against a U.S. ally was "understandable," but no less "shocking.""Throughout Trump’s two terms, many analysts have sought to discern some sort of guiding doctrine to his foreign policy," Graham wrote. "The incoherence of his actions in the past week alone should provide further evidence that looking for a framework is futile. Earlier this year, my colleagues Missy Ryan and Ashley Parker reported that the White House’s foreign-affairs philosophy was 'F--- around and find out.' Administration officials meant this as a warning to the leaders of other countries. But as the current crisis festers, they, too, are finding out."The outburst is the product of a foreign policy that no longer holds together, Graham added. One day the war's mission is stopping Iran's bomb. The next, it's cheaper gas at the pump. Trump insisted this weekend that the "number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon" — even as his own vice president reportedly countered that lowering fuel prices is now "goal No. 1."The whiplash keeps coming. Trump vowed to declare the Strait of Hormuz "a territory of the United States," contradicting his own Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Tehran mocked the claim, scoffing that the waterway "cannot be seized with a tweet."Meanwhile, he snubbed South Korea while gushing over North Korea's Kim Jong Un — a dictator whose nuclear program has never slowed.Analysts have hunted for years for a Trump doctrine. A single week of contradictions suggests there's nothing there to find.

Aug 17, 2026 - World

Likud’s depiction of Zohran Mamdani is latest move in spat between Israel’s prime minister and New York City mayorBenjamin Netanyahu’s party has compared the New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, to the leaders of Iran and Hezbollah on a campaign billboard.The billboard in central Tel Aviv depicts Mamdani alongside the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, and the chief of the militant group Hezbollah, Naim Qassem. Continue reading...