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Sep 26, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's touted "biggest oil deal in world history" with Venezuela faces legal and logistical problems likely to sink it.The Guardian reported Saturday that nearly every major claim the Trump administration has made about the arrangement falls apart under scrutiny, from how long it lasts to the Pentagon's role in it. Venezuelan law caps oil development agreements at 25 years, not the 100 Trump has boasted about, and Venezuela's own government has put the term at 25."This is all just propaganda," Venezuelan legal expert Jose Ignacio Hernandez told The Guardian. "It cannot be implemented as announced by the administration."Trump announced in August that the Pentagon would take roughly a third of North American Blue Energy Partners, the second-largest private oil company in Venezuela. The move followed the January raid in which U.S. forces captured Nicolas Maduro and replaced him with Delcy Rodriguez.Experts say Congress never gave the Office of Strategic Capital, the Pentagon arm initially tied to the investment, the power to buy stakes in companies. A Pentagon spokesperson told Reuters in August that the office "does not take equity stakes in private companies." In a written briefing to the armed services committees, the Pentagon said it actually holds warrants, which are rights to buy shares later, rather than the shares themselves.The stake will reportedly be held by a separate Pentagon office whose mission is shoring up the defense industrial base and has nothing to do with oil.Phil Gunson of the International Crisis Group said major oil firms and investors are privately keeping their distance."It's the opacity of the agreement that has serious investors concerned," he said.The Guardian's investigation also found that Venezuelan crude won't help refill the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve any time soon, despite Trump's promises.At the center of the deal sits the company's owner, Alejandro Betancourt Lopez, who has been pulled into several international corruption inquiries but has never been charged with a crime. His lawyer denied that Betancourt ever sought or encouraged bribes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U.S. had no investigation into him.Former U.S. diplomat John Feeley offered a blunt comparison."The deal is like the big beautiful wall that Mexico will pay for," he said. The Guardian noted Trump's comments at the United Nations earlier this week remained defiant."It was a war, but it's perhaps the biggest deal ever made," he said. "To the victor belong the spoils."

Sep 26, 2026 - World

Fox News host Laura Ingraham has criticized the Chinese Communist Party for years. On Friday night, she told viewers that the White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping was "historic and epic," and critics online didn't let the change go.Ingraham, who attended the dinner, brought up her past criticism of Beijing on her show, "The Ingraham Angle.""All of you already know how I feel about the CCP, its trade practices, human rights abuses. Not to speak of the cover-up at the Wuhan lab," she said. "Imagine my surprise that I was invited. It was historic and epic."In another segment, which ran under the chyron "TRUMP DEALING WITH XI FROM STRENGTH," she argued that President Donald Trump has the upper hand."China needs us way more than we need China," Ingraham said. "Our economy is booming."Acyn Torabi, who posts political video clips on X, shared both segments. The replies came quickly.Tennis great Martina Navratilova, an outspoken Trump critic, quote-posted the economy clip with a short response: "Umm….nope."John Harwood, a former White House correspondent for CNN and CNBC, answered the dinner clip by throwing Ingraham's word back at her: "this is epic."An X user posting as "Radio Justice" compared her upbeat economic talk to what a loyalist might have told Hitler late in World War II."Yes, Mein Fuhrer, we are winning the war on the Russian Front," the user wrote.Jill E. Friedman, a writer and sculptor, replied with a GIF of Will Ferrell laughing as Ron Burgundy."No they don't," she also wrote.Ingraham's evening at the dinner also drew attention because of who wasn't there. Reporters from CNN and MS Now were reportedly kept out of the event. A federal judge had ordered the administration earlier that week to restore the press credentials it pulled from those outlets and Politico.

Sep 26, 2026 - World

President’s ‘hard, drastic and necessary measure’, likely to attract widespread public support, polls suggestThe Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has signed an order banning fixed-odds sports betting just over a week before the first round of the presidential election, in a move he said was designed to tackle the pervasive problem of families falling into debt.The decision ends the operation, offering, intermediation and advertising of betting. Continue reading...

Sep 26, 2026 - World

Donald Trump Jr.'s ex-fiancée has used her ambassadorship to promote one foreign firm while keeping its paid lobbyist at her side.Kimberly Guilfoyle, whom President Donald Trump named ambassador to Greece, has repeatedly pressed Balkan governments to work with Aktor Group, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Aktor is a Greek construction company that only recently moved into the natural gas business.Christos Marafatsos, who lobbies for the firm, has joined Guilfoyle at so many meetings that some foreign officials took him for her chief of staff. Federal lobbying records show Aktor paid Marafatsos $160,000 through June to build ties with the White House and the State and Energy departments. Several people who met with the pair, including government officials, told The Journal he never disclosed his work for the company.This spring, Guilfoyle arrived in Bulgaria on a private jet provided by Aktor's CEO and urged officials there to do business with the company."There is no doubt that this is kind of an official position of the U.S. government," a person familiar with the talks told The Journal.Robin Brooks, who oversaw the Balkans on the National Security Council under former President Joe Biden, called an ambassador promoting a foreign company "absolutely problematic." Bringing a registered lobbyist into meetings with foreign officials, she said, "calls into question whether the meeting is advancing American interests or advancing some sort of private interest."Guilfoyle's lawyer, Jesse Binnall, said she has "worked with companies across the energy sector" and that her official meetings are arranged through embassy channels rather than through Marafatsos. Lawyers for Aktor said the company's involvement began before it had any contact with the ambassador."I am proud to champion commercial initiatives that advance U.S. interests and create lasting economic opportunity in Greece and Southeastern Europe," Marafatsos said in a statement.Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Guilfoyle an "incredibly effective advocate for the President's agenda."

Sep 26, 2026 - World

President Trump has turned down a proposed pause in fighting with Iran and confided to aides that he anticipates striking the country again once this fall's midterm elections have concluded, the Wall Street Journal reported.The rejected offer came out of weekend talks in Qatar, where Iranian representatives suggested a seven-day halt to hostilities that would have seen Tehran reopen a critical shipping waterway and resume nuclear discussions, contingent on Washington easing its economic squeeze on the country, including its naval presence blocking Iranian ports. Trump maintains publicly that Iran will ultimately have no choice but to accept a deal once the election passes, but sources say he harbors real doubts Tehran will cooperate and has already signaled to staff that renewed airstrikes feel like the more probable path forward.Just how extensive any future strikes might be is still uncertain. Sources describe a president torn between wanting to preserve limited weapons stockpiles for other potential flashpoints and a pattern of threatening dramatic military action whenever talks stall, threats he's historically walked back from at the last moment.Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly this week, Trump insisted electoral politics play no role in his Iran strategy."The Republican Party is running, and I'll be helping them, but I am not running. I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence through the election when it comes to Iran," Trump said.Behind the scenes, talks are still ongoing through go-betweens, and one U.S. official credited a successful American operation keeping oil tankers moving safely through the Strait of Hormuz, despite Iranian threats, with easing some of the pressure to rush into an agreement. Washington has made clear to both Tehran and outside negotiators that ending the naval blockade isn't happening anytime soon, calculating that continued financial pain will eventually force Iran's hand on more favorable terms.Regional go-betweens say Iranian officials have conceded their economy is in serious trouble and put forward several possible frameworks to wind down the conflict.Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, effectively controlling the country since February, has pushed back on new arrangements, indicating a willingness to fight indefinitely and preferring instead to revive elements of an earlier framework from June, one built around sanctions relief, unfrozen funds, and some acknowledged Iranian involvement managing the strait once it reopened.