Top World News

Jun 21, 2026 - World

A former senior Pentagon official sounded the alarm on Sunday over their belief that the Trump administration was likely to bury an internal investigation into an incident that coincided with the launch of the U.S. war against Iran, an incident one Democratic lawmaker described as “one of the most horrific episodes” of the “illegal Trump war.”Trump’s Operation Epic Fury began with “double tap” strikes on Shajareh Tayyebeh, an Iranian girls’ elementary school, which killed at least 156 people, 120 of them children. Trump initially blamed Iran for the strikes before it became clear that a U.S.-made Tomahawk missile was used in the attack.While the U.S. military is reportedly still investigating the incident, several former Pentagon and national security officials “expressed doubt” to The Guardian for its report published on Sunday that the results of the investigation would ever be made public.“It’s very rare that you would have a military operation and not have some incidents where there was a mistaken target and civilians are harmed or killed, but then there is a system for investigating, assessing accountability and taking responsibility,” one former senior Pentagon official told The Guardian, speaking on the condition of anonymity.“There’s a very clear process for this, and I’m very doubtful that the [Defense Secretary Pete] Hegseth Pentagon will follow through.”Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), also speaking with The Guardian, said that she had vigorously pressed the Trump administration for answers, only to be stonewalled.“The US strike [on the girls’ elementary school] is one of the most horrific episodes of the entire illegal Trump war in Iran,” Ansari said.“Donald Trump is hiding the truth from the American people and Congress, and deflecting blame to Secretary Hegseth, because he does not want the public to know the true horrors of what he unleashed on the Iranian people with absolutely nothing to show for it.”

Jun 21, 2026 - World

For one day every June, South Africa’s searing racial inequality seems to melt away at Comrades raceIn the early morning dark, thousands of runners waited, jostling with anticipation. South Africa’s national anthem rang out. Then the haunting swell of Shosholoza, first sung by Zimbabwean migrant workers in South Africa’s goldmines. Finally, that unmistakable, spine-tingling piano: Chariots of Fire.Runners gather before the start of the marathon Continue reading...

Jun 20, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to muse about who gets to charge ships for passing through the Strait of Hormuz — and landed on an answer that put the United States, and himself, at the center of it.In a post Wednesday, Trump declared there would be "NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days" during what he called the "Cease Fire Period," and "NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired" — with one sweeping exception. The carve-out: tolls "imposed by and for the United States of America," should the underlying deal collapse.The justification he offered was pretty clear. The fees, he wrote, would be compensation "for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East," covering "past, present, and future reimbursement of costs." He signed off, as he often does, with "Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!"The post recasts a fragile ceasefire — one Trump secured only after threatening that Iran's "whole civilization will die tonight" — as a kind of protection arrangement, with Washington positioned to bill the region for the privilege of safe passage.His latest post openly contemplates American tolls rather than ruling them out.Iran, for its part, has confirmed it won't collect tolls for 60 days but, per semiofficial outlet Tasnim, plans to start charging "for services" once the window closes — leaving both Washington and Tehran eyeing fees on the same waterway.The stakes behind the bravado are real. Roughly a fifth of the world's oil — about 20 million barrels a day — moves through the Strait of Hormuz, alongside much of the globe's liquefied natural gas.

Jun 20, 2026 - World

Vice President JD Vance is facing online mockery after a boast about the recent Iran deal backfired.Vance went on Fox & Friends Weekend on Saturday morning to tout Trump's new Iran deal. He told the Fox program, "My understanding, talking to Steve and Jared this morning, is that things are going well," referring to Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner."The United States has all the cards," Vance continued. "The straits are now open."Less than a few hours after he made those comments, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, and online commentators let him have it."How humiliating," writer Polly Sigh reacted on X."Steve and Jared - the two who completely bungled these negotiations from the start which led us into this mess," added MeidasTouch, a political news network."Talking to Steve and Jared. Good lord," wrote Missouri Democratic congressional candidate Fred Wellman."He's not a particularly good liar," veteran journalist Bill Kristol said. "But he's certainly a shameless one.""Believe nothing that comes out of his mouth," Middle East and geopolitical analyst Matthew RJ Brodsky posted."Trump has given Vance enough rope to hang himself," economist and author Anders Aslund wrote. "Witkoff and Kushner are no negotiators, nor knowledgeable. The US has no cards.""We said Uno. Iran said Draw Four," writer and podcaster Hemant Mehta posted, playing off Vance's card metaphor."It might be time to retire the 'we have all the cards' metaphor," University of Ottawa professor Roland Paris suggested. "Given how obviously the administration is being outplayed by those who supposedly don't have any cards."Norman Ornstein, a political scientist and contributing editor for The Atlantic, simply reacted, "Hahahahahahahahaha."

Jun 19, 2026 - World

Global framework for reparatory justice adopted at event includes demand for compensation and debt reliefMore than money: the logic of slavery reparationsA global framework for reparatory justice has been adopted at a conference in Ghana, as African and Caribbean leaders demanded formal apologies from countries that benefited from the transatlantic slave trade.Heads of state and government and other officials formally approved the strategy on Friday at a gathering in a hotel in the capital, Accra, which was the first major meeting since the adoption of the landmark United Nations (UN) resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity. Continue reading...