Top World News

Sep 18, 2026 - World

For the second year in a row, the administration has barred the Palestinian delegation from US travel for the forumThe US state department said on Wednesday that it had again denied entry visas to Palestinian officials ahead next week’s United Nations general assembly gathering in New York.The state department said in a statement the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) had “failed to live up to their commitments”, accusing the groups of “taking actions to internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict including through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ)” and of “glorifying terrorism” among other allegations. Continue reading...

Sep 18, 2026 - World

Johannesburg is struggling with a deepening waste crisis marked by unreliable collections, rapidly shrinking landfill space and a rise in illegal dumping

Sep 18, 2026 - World

Japan's central bank raises benchmark interest rate to 1.25%

Sep 17, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump could hold a landmark sit-down with Venezuela's interim leader Delcy Rodriguez within days, according to people familiar with the planning — an encounter insiders say comes loaded with political hazards on both sides of the border.The meeting would likely happen on the margins of Trump's upcoming trip to New York for the UN General Assembly, where talks with Gulf leaders on the Iran war are already on his calendar. Tuesday has emerged as a possible date for adding Rodriguez to the schedule, Axios reported.One Trump adviser framed the relationship as central to the administration's foreign policy wins, saying, "Iran is tough, but Venezuela is without a doubt the president's top success, and Delcy is a key to that." A senior administration official was more cautious, noting nothing is locked in yet, and the final call rests entirely with the president.A Manhattan meeting would unfold not far from the detention facility holding Nicolas Maduro, Rodriguez's old political partner turned prisoner, who's been sitting there since American forces snatched him from Caracas in a January raid Trump personally signed off on and now faces narco-terrorism charges. Rodriguez stepped into the power vacuum left behind and has since built a working relationship with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, most notably through a sweeping oil agreement between the two governments that's drawn its own share of scrutiny.Not everyone is happy about that partnership. Venezuelan exiles concentrated in South Florida — a politically vocal bloc — have grown increasingly angry watching Washington cozy up to someone they view as cut from the same socialist cloth as Maduro, both having climbed to power under the late Hugo Chavez. Neither Trump nor Rubio has demanded Venezuela actually hold elections, a notable silence given how relentlessly they once painted Maduro as a dictator who stole his own vote.Backers of exiled opposition figure Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, share some of that frustration too, still stung by administration pushback when she tried heading home after June's earthquakes.Venezuelan public opinion polling shows both Rodriguez and Trump struggling with weak approval, while Machado sits on top, even as her own support has started slipping. Some people close to Trump privately fret that being seen shaking his hand could brand Rodriguez a U.S. puppet in the eyes of her own citizens. The administration official waved off that worry entirely."The fact is POTUS loves Delcy because she's delivering and she's leading," the official said.Back home, though, political operatives in Florida say voters heading into the midterms are far more consumed by pain at the pump from the Iran conflict and the administration's crackdown on immigration than by anything happening with Venezuelan democracy — suggesting whatever backlash follows a Rodriguez meeting may stay confined largely to the exile community rather than spilling into the broader campaign.

Sep 17, 2026 - World

The Pentagon's thoughts about withdrawing 25,000 troops from Europe are spurring fears of the threat the move would create for U.S. allies.On Thursday, NBC News reported that the Pentagon is considering pulling out 25,000 or more U.S. troops from Europe, which is nearly a third of the American forces stationed there. The withdrawal would include aircraft, ships, and weapons, even though NATO allies have warned about the growing threat from Russia.Online critics pointed to the move as proof that President Donald Trump and his administration are aligned with Russian leader Vladimir Putin."For the umpteenth time: Trump works for Putin," wrote former GOP congressman Joe Walsh in a post on X. "He's a Russian asset. Plain & simple. Putin is smiling again today.""What US national security interest would this decision advance?" wondered former U.S. ambassador to Russia and political science professor Michael McFaul. "I missed the Party of Reagan and Peace Through Strength.""Trump is helping Putin to attack Europe," declared investigative journalist Robert van der Noordaa."As European countries build their defense capabilities, this kind of withdrawal may become possible," former U.S. ambassador Steven Pifer lamented. "It makes no sense now.""UNBELIEVABLE!" exclaimed influencer Brian Krassenstein, who had a theory for why the Trump administration was making the move. "This is happening right after the EU signed a trade deal with Canada and invited Canada to join the EU as an associated member. Trump is mad that two allies are working together after he pissed them both off."This would not be the administration's first drawdown in Europe. The Pentagon ordered about 5,000 U.S. troops out of Germany earlier in 2026 amid tensions with Berlin, Fox News reported.It also echoes Trump's first term, when he ordered roughly 12,000 troops out of Germany in 2020. That plan drew bipartisan pushback and was frozen by President Joe Biden, CBS News reported.What US national security interest would this decision advance? I missed the Party of Reagan and Peace Through Strength. https://t.co/Un0R9eB6GY— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) September 17, 2026