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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...

Aug 17, 2026 - World

Energy Secretary Chris Wright took to Fox News Monday to boast about the amount of vessels currently transiting the Strait of Hormuz, but quickly pivoted to attacking the Biden administration and blaming Democrats after being issued a blunt reality check.Wright boasted that 30 vessels had transited the Strait of Hormuz Sunday amid the ongoing U.S. war against Iran that’s caused severe disruptions to the critical waterway, and bragged that the United States was “continuing to get oil and gas and other critical products” out of the channel.“So even if the numbers were 30 ships per day, that's still down from a pre-war high of about 130 ships per day,” noted Fox News host John Roberts. “When can we expect to see the traffic increase back up to pre-war levels?”Wright dodged Roberts’ question by informing him that he didn’t “know the future.” He also insisted a generous amount of oil was, in fact, being transited through the Strait of Hormuz, and dismissed the need for oil coming out of the strait, citing the United States’ own oil production.“Oil is still $83 a barrel, up from I think low $60s back in early February,” Roberts said. “Why is the price of oil so high if almost all the oil that was getting out before the war is getting out now?”Wright was forced to admit that “we’re not fully back to the full flow” and that there was a “disruption” before pivoting to attack the Biden administration and Democrats.“I've got to point out: oil prices were far higher during the Biden administration when there wasn't disruption of flows in the Middle East, and another huge thing for energy prices in the United States is Democratic policies!” Wright said. “Foolish green energy policies, they're at least as responsible for high energy prices as the conflict with Iran.”"Foolish green energy policies, they're at least as responsible for high energy prices as the conflict with Iran!"- Energy Secretary Chris Wright pic.twitter.com/ivRUDSxl57— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) August 17, 2026

Aug 17, 2026 - World

Another fiasco has struck a Navy warship as a guided-missile destroyer lost power for four days in the middle of one of the most tense maritime zones on Earth while President Donald Trump has downplayed worrisome conditions for sailors serving at sea, according to reports on Monday.Military service members aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold spent four grueling days without working toilets, potable water, hot meals and air conditioning as the ship baked in the brutal South China Sea heat after a total power failure, The Daily Beast reported. The warship, which was built 30 years ago to shoot down enemy aircraft, sink enemy ships and hit targets on land, was in the middle of standard patrols in the Indo-Pacific when its generators gave out, Navy Cdr. Matthew Comer, a spokesperson for the 7th Fleet, told CNN."There were no injuries to the crew, who demonstrated resilience, grit, professionalism, and unwavering steadiness in their response," Comer said.The power outage has remained under investigation.Former Navy captain Carl Schuster told CNN about his experience on a destroyer that lost power near Puerto Rico, which went dead in the water for about four hours. He explained what conditions would have been like for the crew on the USS Benfold."It would have been quite stressed. Operations officers were worried about crew morale and operational concerns, the engineers were focused on how to solve it, and the navigator was worried about the direction they were drifting and what weather was coming," Schuster said."I can assure you four hours in the waters southeast of Puerto Rico is not nearly as stressful as four days in the South China Sea," Schuster explained.Beijing claims vast stretches of those waters as its own — a claim Washington rejects.The Navy reportedly scrambled to keep its crew fed, sending the guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls to deliver hot meals while other vessels from the Japan-based USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group pitched in to help, according to The Beast. Eventually, the crippled destroyer had to be towed to the Philippines, where repairs weren't finished until Aug. 8.This isn't the only disaster to hit a Navy warship. It's the second Pacific Command destroyer this year to go dark. In May, the USS Higgins lost power and propulsion for hours in the Indo-Pacific after what the Navy vaguely described as an "engineering casualty" in its electrical system.

Aug 17, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump’s Sunday decision to side with North Korea over South Korea and then threaten another ally appears to have been the last straw for a contributor to the conservative National Review.Trump rattled two allies within days of each other this week, threatening to bomb Oman while ordering the Pentagon to pull back from decades-old military drills with South Korea.On Monday, as the U.S.-Iran ceasefire expired amid disputes over the Strait of Hormuz, Trump told Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst: "If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the s--t out of them,” leading critics to wonder why the president would threaten to bomb a nation widely seen as a neutral U.S. ally.Sunday night, the president ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to "substantially reduce" joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises that have run since the 1970s to deter North Korea.According to the president, the exercises are "totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea, as he described strongman Kim Jong Un's regime as "unthreatening and respectful."On X, radiologist and National Review writer Dr. Pradheep Shanker was more than stunned.“So in the last couple days: 1. Trump threatened to bomb ally Oman. 2. Applauded a defense pact between the Saudis and Pakistan. 3. Claimed North Korea is more peaceful than South Korea,” he wrote.He then added, “ If this keeps going on, we may have to question his sanity. Seriously.”He later noted, to his dismay, that the president is kicking the Iran War can down the road again.Reacting to a report stating: “The US and Iran have reportedly agreed to extend their 60-day ceasefire which was set to expire today,” he responded, “This is truly pathetic. I'm almost getting to the point where random Democrats would be handling this better than Trump is.”

Aug 17, 2026 - World

US president makes threat in comments to Fox News, as his son-in-law meets the Israeli leader in Jerusalem in effort to push Gaza peace planTrump threatens to bomb Oman if it ‘gets in the way’ of ending Iran warNetanyahu and Kushner talks make no breakthrough on stalled Gaza dealThe UN rights chief voiced alarm Monday at the rising civilian toll of escalating hostilities in Yemen, urging restraint and an immediate de-escalation to avoid plunging the country back into a full-scale war.“I urge all parties to halt immediately any actions that risk returning Yemen to full-scale conflict,” Volker Türk said in a statement, as renewed fighting between the Houthi rebels and the government undermined a 2022 truce. Continue reading...