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Sep 4, 2026 - World

Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly helped shut down a federal investigation into a businessman involved in President Donald Trump’s massive Venezuelan oil deal —then publicly said there was no investigation against him.Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt had spent years under investigation by the Justice Department as part of a sprawling billion-dollar money laundering case, according to a new CNN report. But prosecutors in Miami recently closed the probe after receiving direct orders from then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.“The move came as part of an effort by Trump White House officials and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to enlist Betancourt to engineer a massive new oil deal with Venezuela’s government,” the report said.Rubio, in an interview this week with a Venezuelan broadcaster, took credit for helping arrange Betancourt’s role in the oil deal and went on to defend the businessman as having been fully vetted.“We thoroughly investigate what we know within our system,” Rubio said. “Obviously, if these individuals were under investigation in the United States, and we have checked that with all the authorities, there was no investigation within our system against him.”But, according to CNN, Rubio did not disclose that he “played a key role in why Betancourt is no longer under investigation.” The Justice Department disputed that Blanche personally directed prosecutors to shut the case, calling the claim “a complete fabrication,” the Friday report said. Betancourt, who is now a partner in Trump’s Venezuelan oil plan, was never charged with a crime. “Now we have an opportunity to do something that I believe is going to benefit everyone,” Rubio said in the interview. “But specifically, in the long term, benefit the Venezuelan people.”

Sep 4, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump downplayed the severity of the Iran war when pressed by reporters in the Oval Office during an executive order signing ceremony on Friday."The Vice President said yesterday that he would not describe the conflict with Iran as a war…If this is not a war, what exactly is it?" asked ABC's Rachel Scott. Trump replied, "I call it a military conflict because it's small potatoes for us. It's not a big thing."When Trump was reminded that 18 people have died and are facing "record-long deployments," Trump shot back, "Why is it record long? How long were we in Vietnam? We're in 5 months now."The president's flippant comments earned instant outrage from commenters on social media."A quote — 'small potatoes' — that Republicans would absolutely hang over the head of a Dem president if he uttered it," wrote The Bulwark's Sam Stein. "Underscores the disparity in the messaging machines between the two parties.""Ordering Americans into harm’s way is maybe the most solemn and serious responsibility of the Commander in Chief. And this guy calls it small potatoes?" wrote Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), himself a veteran of the Iraq War. "Every chicken hawk cheerleading this reckless war owns his disrespect of our troops and their patriotism.""Every day he does the most un-American thing possible, and every day it's something new," wrote Tucson-based attorney Joe St. Louis. "I thought I was numb to his callousness, but God this makes by blood boil."

Sep 4, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's "incoherence" in a little-noticed exclusive interview with GB News caught the eye of a British journalist who was startled by what he witnessed, he said Friday. During the interview, a rambling Trump managed to touch on subjects ranging from immigration to Meghan Markle's return to Britain, prompting iPaper columnist James Ball to argue the president was an “elderly man” who no longer had a grasp of reality.“Trump has always been a little chaotic, with at best a loose relationship with the truth," he wrote. "But based on his remarks in an extended interview with GB News, the US President is only getting worse. In the space of minutes, he managed what amounted to little more than a concentrated stream of nonsense about the UK, Iran, and even the Falkland Islands.” Ball took umbrage with Trump's claim that he was "saving your country" — arguing the U.S. president was doing something very different.“The US President seems fixated on securing the gratitude of British and European politicians for a war they didn’t want him to start, which never secured congressional approval, and for which he’s never formally set out any goals," the columnist wrote. "It also doesn’t seem to have made us any safer – quite the opposite.”According to Trump, England stood at risk of an imminent nuclear threat from Iran, to which Ball replied, “This is an odd way to understand a nuclear capability.”“Countries don’t immediately launch nuclear missiles as soon as they obtain them – instead, they generally use them to try to deter invasion by their adversaries,” he reasoned. “Why Iran would immediately launch its theoretical nukes against European nations who hadn’t involved themselves in the war against it is never spelt out by Trump.”Ball pointed out that US presidents rarely give interviews to foreign media, and only when they have ”something important to say, or a serious message that he needed to make sure reached the people of that country.”On that count, Trump failed, Ball argued.“Instead, it was a display of an increasingly elderly and incoherent man, ranting only semi-coherently about world affairs," he wrote. "Trump used to be a man who wanted to look in control at all times. Now, though, he just looks like he’s lost it." - YouTube youtu.be

Sep 4, 2026 - World

Togo-sponsored resolution called to phase out traditional map that depicts continent as similar size to GreenlandThe United Nations has voted to adopt a resolution for the world to formally phase out the traditional Mercator map of the globe in favour of one that more accurately displays Africa’s size.In a session at its headquarters in New York, the UN general assembly officially retired the 16th-century Mercator projection in favour of one based on the more accurate 2018 Equal Earth design. Continue reading...

Sep 4, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump issued a menacing threat Friday to blow up the United States’ global trade in an attempt to coerce the Federal Reserve to cave to his demands.“We should have the LOWEST RATE of any country in the World, like ‘the old days.’ Without the United States agreeing to allow them their big surpluses, and we could stop that immediately, they would no longer be considered financially ELITE!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.“LOWER THE RATE OR I’LL STOP TRADING WITH COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE HAVE A DEFICIT, which the U.S. Supreme Court, in its ridiculous and very costly Tariff decision, strongly acknowledged ‘the President’ has an absolute right to do. ITS BETTER THAN TARIFFS! The Fed Board, with its great new leader, must get smart - BE PATRIOTS for a change.”Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said Thursday that a possible interest rate hike was in play and would be determined by a forthcoming inflation report set to be published next week. Meanwhile, rising oil prices sparked by Trump’s deeply unpopular war against Iran have inflated costs and deepened inflation concerns among experts.“High interest rates put the U.S.A. at a very unfair disadvantage, and I won’t allow that to happen!” Trump continued.