Top World News

Jun 6, 2026 - World

Pope Leo XIV’s weeklong visit to Spain will bring him to a once-staunchly Catholic country that has long been in the throes of waning religious practice

Jun 6, 2026 - World

Lebanon is preparing for its largest amnesty since its civil war ended in 1990

Jun 6, 2026 - World

Voters in Kosovo are heading to the polls this weekend for the third time in 18 months

Jun 5, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's Iran envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner made an unannounced trip to visit the nation's top nuclear experts at the national lab in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, according to an Axios report on Friday.A deal to end the Iran war has not yet been reached, and many of the conditions were still under consideration, but the ongoing negotiations and secret meeting at the energy department facilities on Thursday signaled the experts "could play a role in nuclear negotiations with Iran," Axios reported. "This meeting in Oak Ridge doesn't mean that a deal is going to happen, but it is a sign that the negotiations are in a very serious phase and that there is a good chance to get it done and we want to be prepared," a U.S. official told the outlet."Some of the country's foremost experts in uranium processing and centrifuge technology are based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex. In the past, nuclear materials and equipment — including from Kazakhstan and Libya — were routed through Tennessee," according to Axios. The Trump administration and the National Nuclear Security Administration have not commented on the meeting.The White House has indicated 'positive indications' of a potential finalized deal; however, internal divides among Iranian leaders have continued."If the negotiations advance to the second phase, the team of experts that met with Witkoff and Kushner would have to develop a plan for the disposal of Iran's nuclear material, how to limit the enrichment program further, and how to verify compliance," Axios reported.

Jun 5, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump has instructed Bill Pulte, the controversial new acting head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), to execute sweeping personnel cuts across the nation's 18 federal intelligence agencies and units before a permanent successor is confirmed.In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump revealed his explicit mandate to Pulte, who lacks the necessary security clearances, to dramatically reduce the size of an agency he views as "unnecessary and/or too big.""I'd like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn't be there," Trump admitted to The Journal, specifically targeting career officials from the Biden and Obama administrations. When asked directly if he was ordering firings, Trump confirmed the instruction. "I want him to 'start the process,'" Trump said, adding that his eventual permanent nominee should continue the purge once confirmed.Trump bluntly framed Pulte's temporary status as an operational advantage rather than a limitation. "You're less shackled," Trump said of the acting designation. "It sort of gives you more power, you know, for a somewhat limited period of time."The president outlined a calculated strategy to complete major structural changes before his permanent appointee takes office, allowing the future ODNI to inherit a smaller, ideologically aligned agency rather than managing the cuts themselves."Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come," Trump explained. "Because, if he [Pulte] reduced the size, in conjunction with me…and in conjunction with possibly the person coming in…he can do a lot of the hard work and we wouldn't have to saddle somebody that goes in."The approach reflects Trump's broader effort to reshape the intelligence community according to his preferences, The Journal reported. Pulte, who has no prior intelligence experience and has been highly critical of the FBI and other agencies, is widely viewed as unlikely to survive Senate confirmation despite his acting appointment.Pulte and ODNI representatives declined to comment to The Journal on the directives.