Top World News

Aug 16, 2026 - World

A message shared by one of the top admirals in the U.S. Navy after visiting the stranded crew on the USS Abraham Lincoln sparked fireworks on Sunday. Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads United States Central Command, said on Sunday that his time aboard the ship was "awe-inspiring," although he admitted that being deployed at sea for long periods "isn't for everyone." Cooper also noted that the mental health challenges reported by sailors on the ship are lower than those of other carriers that are not deployed near Iran. Cooper's visit came just days after Trump seemed to bash the sailors on the ship, some of whom have reportedly thrown themselves overboard to escape the conditions. Reports also indicate the ship is running low on essential supplies like food, medical items, and female hygiene products. Cooper's comments also sparked backlash from analysts, some of whom described his claims as "gaslighting.""The gaslighting of the Sailors onboard USS Lincoln and their families is disheartening. My Shipmates deserve better," Travis Akers, a retired Navy intelligence officer, posted on X. "Gaslighting on new levels," Rose Benson, a comedian, posted on X. "Old enough to remember when the Department of Defense used to embed journalists in deployed US forces when America was at war. I guess that's only for LEGAL, not ILLEGAL wars," Dan Garrett, a political scientist, posted on X.

Aug 16, 2026 - World

A nanny who was recently released from custody shared horrific details of her time in captivity during a new interview Sunday. Iliana Lick, an Argentinian nanny who was working for two families in Philadelphia, was recently arrested by President Donald Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement troops after she was accused of overstaying her visa "without permission," she told CNN National Correspondent Rafael Romo. Although she has been released and is back home in Philadelphia, Lick recalled several disturbing details about her time in multiple ICE facilities. Romo recounted some of the details during a segment on CNN "Newsroom" with host Fredricka Whitfield. "Lick told me she's going through a roller coaster of emotions and that trying to go back to normal has been weird because she's thinking of all the time about the other people in detention she met while in custody of [ICE]," Romo said. Lick, who primarily shared her story in Spanish, told Romo that she was released on a $10,000 bond and forced to wear an ankle monitor after her release. She was also moved through multiple ICE facilities while she was detained. At each stop, "she and other detainees had to wear a black and white striped jail uniform while wearing full restraints that included ankle cuffs and shackles," like they did when they were held in Cambria County Prison in Pennsylvania. Romo noted that ICE had also tried to impugn Lick's character by describing her as an "illegal alien" in a news release after she was let out of custody. "She felt she was being treated as a common criminal and insisted that she shouldn't have been detained in the first place because she has always complied with immigration law," Romo recounted. "She said, 'I paid all the fees. I went to all the hearings. My case was pending. I was never out of status.'"Lick will be in front of an immigration judge again in about a week and a half, Romo said.

Aug 16, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's administration has quietly "weaponized" a power cloaked in secrecy to punish his critics and prop up corrupt power brokers, according to a new report. Trump's government has been revoking the visas of foreign leaders, judges and journalists while quietly reinstating those of like-minded allies, the New York Times reported Sunday.“No recent American administration ever did this kind of open attack on freedom of expression” said John Feeley, a career diplomat. “A congressman or a prosecutor without a U.S. visa...is somebody who is flying with a broken wing.”Past State departments have also revoked visas but mostly to keep security threats out of the country or fight corruption, the Times reported.It is difficult to quantify the tactic as visa records are confidential, but the State Department said in a statement to the Times that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. officials have “broad discretionary authority” to cancel visas “whenever and wherever."Johana Obando, a Costa Rican lawmaker whose personal and diplomatic visas were canceled, said she felt like the Trump administration was sending her a message. “It is a way of intimidating decision makers to benefit the United States,” she said. The Trump administration also rewards others whom critics say it should not.“Corruption, human rights violations or judicial interference no longer matter,” Ana María Méndez Dardón, of the rights group Washington Office on Latin America, told the Times. At least three senior Salvadoran officials whom former President Joe Biden considered too corrupt or anti-democratic to earn visas have benefited, according to the report."Visa revocations have also been used to suppress criticism of the Trump administration, or even of U.S.-aligned foreign leaders," the report stated. "In Panama, for example, after two politicians criticized a sweeping security pact between their country and the United States, they were notified that their U.S. visas had been revoked."

Aug 16, 2026 - World

UK has refused resettlement application despite ‘years of loyal service’ that have resulted in ‘constant fear’ of reprisalsA man has received threats from the Taliban after his work for the Afghan police was revealed by a Ministry of Defence leak and the UK refused his application for resettlement.Hamid* worked for the Afghan national police special unit and received certificates for his work signed by senior British figures praising his “dedication, unparalleled service and leadership”. His details were also included in an accidental 2022 leak by an MoD official that identified 18,700 Afghans who had worked with or for the British government. Continue reading...

Aug 15, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump boasted Saturday morning about how well he gets along with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un — even if he does appear "unfriendly." In a Saturday morning post, Trump shared a picture of himself gazing into Kim's eyes in which they almost appear to be holding hands."Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we're smiling," Trump wrote. "Kim Jong un and I get along GREAT! President DONALD J. Trump."Kim presides over one of the world's most repressive states, and human rights groups and the United Nations have documented a long record of atrocities under his rule. Since he took power in 2011, he's deepened his country's nuclear posture and blamed the U.S. for worsening global instability.The post was accompanied by a slew of Truth Social posts, including one that pushed the story of vandalism at the World War II memorial. Another featured a screenshot from a Fox News segment that called Trump the "influencer-in-chief."One of the posts that immediately followed his Kim photo was a Fox News segment with Lara Trump attacking Democrats as communists, ironic considering he was touting his friendship with the leader of a communist country.Branding Democrats as communists has become a central Trump midterm attack line as progressives backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani have won a string of House primaries. Reporters have repeatedly noted that Trump conflates democratic socialism with communism, and his recent posting spree made his position on communism more unclear.A couple of other posts shared reports by Trump ally John Solomon from Just the News that went after another communist country, China, and that defended Trump's tariffs.Trump and Kim met three times during Trump's first term, including a 2019 Hanoi summit that collapsed and a DMZ handshake that made him the first sitting U.S. president to step into North Korea. No denuclearization deal ever came of it, though.