Top World News

Oct 7, 2026 - World

A towering gold statue of a naked President Donald Trump has gone on display inside a European Parliament building.The 8.5-foot sculpture, titled "Orange Plague" and also known as "King of Injustice," shows a nude Trump holding a set of justice scales and a long golf club topped with a golf ball made to look like the Earth, and he sits on the shoulders of a smaller, clothed man who holds him up, reported The Telegraph.The plinth reads: "I am sitting on the back of a man. He is sinking under my burden. I will do anything to help him. Except stepping down from his back."The statue stands at one of the busiest crossings between two of the parliament's buildings in Strasbourg, France, and is set to remain there until Thursday.Danish artist Jens Galschiot, who made the piece and covered it in 23-carat gold leaf, said it was inspired by "The Emperor's New Clothes," the fairy tale about a vain ruler whose subjects are too afraid to tell him he is naked."Trump represents one of the greatest threats to the rules-based world order, democratic values and our common effort to solving the climate crisis," Galschiot said. "We must address this issue and stand together against such destructive influence."Per Clausen, a left-wing Danish member of the European Parliament, invited the artist to show the statue. He shrugged off any worry about how Trump might react."If someone is so thin-skinned that they cannot tolerate this sculpture being exhibited in the European Parliament, then they have no place on the world stage," Clausen said.The statue has already appeared at last year's COP30 climate summit in Brazil and at this year's Munich Security Conference. Visitors are getting free miniature versions, and Galschiot has posted files online so people can 3D-print their own.The White House has not responded.It's a far cry from the golden tributes Trump prefers. In April, a 15-foot clothed statue called "Don Colossus," showing him with his fist raised, was unveiled at his Miami golf course, and he plans to put two giant golden statues of himself in his presidential library.

Oct 6, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's boast that allies agreed to a "massive" fuel release falls apart on close inspection, according to an economist.Justin Wolfers, an economist at the University of Michigan, argued in an article for his Platypus Economics newsletter on Tuesday that the 100 million barrels of oil and fuel the Group of Seven pledged last week are largely what's left over from an emergency release promised in March.Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday that Europe had agreed to release a "massive amount" of diesel right away, casting it as a concession won in exchange for dropping his threat to ban U.S. diesel exports.But Wolfers wrote that "almost nothing new has happened," with the G7 agreeing to do what it had already promised.Wolfers noted that International Energy Agency members agreed in March to tap their emergency reserves for roughly 400 million barrels after the U.S. attack on Iran made shipping through the Strait of Hormuz dangerous. By his reading, about 100 million barrels of that pledge remain undelivered, and the G7's new communique simply commits the G7 to finishing the job within four months."This is an agreement to agree that they agree about the earlier agreement," Wolfers wrote.He also flagged that the Energy Department offered oil companies up to 40 million barrels from the U.S. reserve on September 29 as part of America's share of the March pledge, raising the possibility that a big chunk of what Trump credited to Europe is American oil already owed. Wolfers said there's no way to know for sure because neither the G7 nor the IEA has disclosed which countries owe what.Taken at face value, Wolfers argued, the release is still tiny next to the shortfall. The package works out to about 0.8 million barrels a day, while traffic through the strait was down about 12 million barrels a day from prewar levels as of August."The daily gap is 15 times larger than the fix," Wolfers noted.The communique promises a "front-loaded substantial diesel release" within 20 days but offers no figures, no country breakdown and no way to enforce it. Wolfers pointed out that the window closes October 22, less than two weeks before the midterms.Traders weren't buying Trump's brag either, Wolfers noted. Diesel futures dropped after Trump's post but climbed back to about $4.55 a gallon wholesale within hours once the actual communique came out, according to Wolfers."It isn't new, it isn't large, and it isn't enforceable," he wrote. "It's the appearance of doing something without the thing actually getting done."

Oct 6, 2026 - World

MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace struggled to find words on Tuesday's edition of MS NOW's "Deadline: White House," following President Donald Trump's open invitation for Iran to bomb Los Angeles and San Diego.She bounced her thoughts off Amy McGrath, a retired Marine colonel and fighter pilot who ran for Senate in 2020."It's tribalism," said Wallace. "It's tribalism for dummies because there are a whole bunch of Republicans. I mean, there are 100,000 active-duty military in San Diego. There have been Republican governors who presided over the cities of San Diego and Los Angeles."With all that in mind, she said, "The idea that you could take out L.A. and San Diego and that that would be some kind of owning of the liberals or some troll of the left is insane."McGrath agreed."There are seven major military installations just in San Diego alone," said McGrath, noting that she had served at Miramar Air Station in San Diego for seven years. "We have Marines, sailors, military families live there. Millions of Americans live there.""I do think it's important to put aside the bizarre, ugly rhetoric for just a second and make sure that the American people know that Iran cannot launch a ballistic missile from Iran and hit San Diego or Los Angeles," McGrath added. "That cannot happen ... they simply do not have the capability to do that." Trump, she said, is just "trying to scare Americans" so they won't question his war — but that's "something I have never, never would imagine that a U.S. president would do." - YouTube youtu.be

Oct 6, 2026 - World

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is asking the Trump administration for proof after U.S. officials claimed that U.S. service members were fired upon from Mexico.“We asked for all the evidence because we have no evidence,” Sheinbaum said Monday during her daily news conference, just one day after U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson claimed U.S. Coast Guardsmen were “fired upon” near the Rio Grande in Texas.The incident reportedly occurred on Sept. 26, with U.S. Coast Guard service officials telling Stars and Stripes last week that the initial gunshots came from the Mexican side.The incident comes as tensions between Sheinbaum and Johnson remain high. As noted by Al Jazeera, the Trump administration has threatened to carry out military strikes inside Mexico to target cartels, and Johnson “has sought to push the Mexican government to cooperate with [President Donald] Trump’s demands.”“The fight against cartels should unite us, not divide us,” Johnson wrote in a social media post on X in June. “Every moment spent turning this shared security challenge into a political dispute is a missed opportunity to strengthen our partnership and protect the people we serve.”Sheinbaum fired back at Johnson the next day during her daily news conference, demanding the Trump appointee respect Mexico’s sovereignty.“It is also very important, and I say this respectfully, to remember that ambassadors should focus on coordination and collaboration,” Sheinbaum said. “Ambassadors must respect the internal political affairs of their countries.”Since the alleged shooting, the United States has sent some 500 troops to the border, according to Mexico News Daily. Relations were already strained by an April car crash in Chihuahua that reportedly killed two CIA agents, and Sheinbaum said her government was never informed of their activities in the country.

Oct 6, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump’s glib comments about Iran attacking Los Angeles and San Diego were greeted with amusement by MS NOW host Catherine Rampell, who claimed the president is making life miserable for the Republican Party.On Monday night, the president defended the costs of his war on Iran, insisting once again he prevented the country from developing nukes. He then added, “They could take out a city. Let them take — Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.” On Tuesday morning, Rampell joked with MS NOW’s Peter Alexander that California's Republican candidates must be cringing —particularly the GOP nominee for governor.“You know, I bet Steve Hilton is having a terrific day today,” she joked with tongue in cheek.She continued, “I think that this is an easy thing for Democrats to tee up as an attack on Donald Trump and evidence that he does not have the voters' interests at heart, including in places where there are a fair number of Republicans like San Diego. And this is a very difficult position for Republicans to be in, because how are they supposed to defend this?”Pressed about Trump’s ongoing campaigning in red states where he is creating campaign fodder for Democrats, she added, “I feel like there are a lot of Republican candidates who are out there secretly saying, ‘Please stop helping us stop. Just stay home, go in your bunker and keep your mouth shut.’” - YouTube youtu.be