Top World News

Oct 29, 2026 - World

US vice-president writes to top Iranian security official in sign Washington has not abandoned diplomacyHopes of averting a major new conflagration between Iran and the US soon after Tuesday’s midterm elections could rest on Iran’s response to a personal letter from the US vice-president, JD Vance, offering to restart diplomacy.The letter, written after predominantly Qatari mediation, was sent to the secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council, Mohsen Rezaei on Sunday. It requires Tehran to agree to make commitments on its nuclear programme at the start of a process that would lead to the opening of the strait of Hormuz within seven days in return for US sanctions relief. Continue reading...

Oct 29, 2026 - World

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) says he’s been briefed on the Iran war plan President Donald Trump is expected to launch after the midterms and calls it “insane,” the Daily Beast reported on Thursday.Murphy said he couldn’t share details. However, in a post on X, he claimed the plan would likely destroy the country’s commitment to the rule of law, adding that it “will not achieve objectives and will set off a new cycle of escalation.”At the Middle East Institute on Thursday, Murphy said he’d had a “fairly detailed conversation” about it and predicted it would prolong the conflict with Tehran. He acknowledged the public has heard it described as short in duration, but said the plan is “insane.”He noted reports that the Pentagon may be considering civilian infrastructure targets.Murphy said officials had been asked by the president to develop a plan, and that whether they think it will work, he couldn’t say. In his view, it would drag out the war and hurt U.S. security interests.He is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Appropriations committees. His comments followed reports that Gulf nations were told to prepare for a brief but intense campaign after Nov. 3. The Wall Street Journal cited officials as saying Trump was weighing strikes on nuclear sites and civilian infrastructure. Trump has said he won’t strike Iran before the election.Trump's campaign against Iran has proven wildly unpopular, with the public largely seeing him as breaking a promise to avoid foreign entanglements, and with the Strait of Hormuz crisis driving up energy prices to uncomfortable levels.

Oct 29, 2026 - World

Canadian rock star Bryan Adams brutally mocked President Donald Trump in a new song he released just before the midterm elections, according to a new report. The Guardian reported that Adams wrote a new song titled "Lake Ontario," which takes a shot at Trump for his efforts to "rename" one of Canada's most famous bodies of water. The move further escalated the feud between the two countries and resulted in the U.S. and Canada placing additional tariffs on goods coming from either side. The lyrics make it clear that Trump's renaming efforts were an attempt to "deflect from the president’s other political problems, including the war in Iran and renewed scrutiny of the Jeffrey Epstein files," according to the report. "But things weren’t going his way in Iran/ So like a baby tossing the toys from the pram/ But it feels like another distraction/ while the Epstein files were getting traction," the lyrics read in part. Adams explained that the song came from a project he called a "love letter" to Canada. “After finishing the first song, I moved on to that one, and then moved on to another one, and then started thinking maybe I should just carry on with my theme,” Adams told The Guardian.

Oct 29, 2026 - World

Blaze was world’s deadliest residential fire since 1980, but some survivors and bereaved families say justice has yet to be servedHong Kong’s leader has apologised for government shortcomings that contributed to a fire that killed 168 people in the city last year, a rare sign of public contrition that nevertheless failed to impress some victims’ families.The chief executive, John Lee, and seven other officials bowed in apology at the release of a report that pointed to “decades of failure” by government bodies. Continue reading...

Oct 29, 2026 - World

Musician wrote a ‘love letter’ to Canada with a new album – and some pointed commentary about the US presidentLake Ontario, the vast body of water that straddles the US-Canada border, has gone by many names over the centuries: Lac Saint-Louis, Lacus Ontarius, Skaniadorio, Cataraqui Lake. But one thing it will never be called, says the Canadian rock star Bryan Adams, is Lake America.In his new song Lake Ontario, Adams takes aim at the US president, Donald Trump, accusing him of “breaking the peace” between the people who live on the lake’s shores.The ‘lake of shining waters’ is what the Iroquois called herIt’s a First Nations name – not an executive order.But things weren’t going his way in IranSo like a baby tossing the toys from the pramYou can push us to the brinkBut where the open road divides Continue reading...