World
The White House as a stage: Trump’s hosting streak meets America’s 250th birthday and the World Cup
WASHINGTON | When nearly all the scheduled musical performers pulled out of a concert series marking America’s 250th anniversary — fearing the event had become too closely tied to President Donald Trump — he responded by making it official. Trump announced he’d now be the headlining act of the Great American State Fair. That put […]
Ukrainian drones hit St Petersburg oil terminal before the Russian city hosts economic forum
Ukrainian long-range drones struck an oil terminal in St. Petersburg and set it ablaze, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday, as the Russian city hosts an annual international economic forum that is a banner event for President Vladimir Putin. The drones flew more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) to hit the terminal, Zelenskyy said on social […]
Raúl Castro turns 95 as Cuba celebrates enigmatic figure
Raúl Castro turned 95 on Wednesday, a landmark birthday for a man still helping lead one of the last communist countries in the world. His name and face became synonymous with the 1959 revolution led by his brother, Fidel Castro. Decades after the triumphant revolution, Fidel Castro stepped down, and Raúl Castro served as Cuba’s […]
Trump confirms he called Netanyahu ‘crazy,’ as he says Israel is complicating peace talks with Iran
BEIRUT | President Donald Trump in an interview released Wednesday confirmed an earlier report that he criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “crazy” in a Monday phone call, saying he was “a little bit perturbed” that Israel’s fighting of Hezbollah in Lebanon was holding back peace talks with Iran. But even as the U.S. […]
Australian judges weigh Indigenous activist’s bid to prosecute King Charles for genocide
MELBOURNE, Australia | Three Australian appeals court judges reserved their decision Wednesday on whether an activist can prosecute Britain’s King Charles III for alleged genocide of Australia’s Indigenous people. Uncle Robbie Thorpe, 68, turned to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Victoria state after two lower courts rejected his bid to launch a private prosecution […]
Trump’s Education Department is backing away from addressing civil rights for Black students
WASHINGTON | For generations, the federal government enforced civil rights laws with an eye toward remedying historic, systemic discrimination against Black people and other people of color. The Justice Department pressed schools to desegregate. The Education Department worked to promote equal opportunity and held schools accountable for racial bias. But under the Trump administration, efforts […]
Iran and the US trade strikes in the Persian Gulf, further testing ceasefire
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates | Kuwait briefly shut its main airport Wednesday after Iranian drones heavily damaged a terminal building, killing one person and wounding dozens — the latest in back-and-forth attacks by Tehran and Washington that have tested a fragile ceasefire. Semiofficial Iranian news agencies have said the country had stopped communicating with mediators […]
US says it plans extra tariffs of 10% or more for most trading partners after forced labor probe
WASHINGTON | The Trump administration is proposing that tariffs of 10% or more be imposed on products from dozens of major trading partners following a probe into imports of goods allegedly made with forced labor. The report released early Wednesday by the U.S. Trade Representative said Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and the United Kingdom and some […]
Trump taps housing finance director Pulte as acting director of national intelligence after Gabbard
WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump has tapped Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to be the acting director of national intelligence — putting a real estate scion and fierce Trump loyalist in a key national security post as the U.S. remains at war with Iran. Trump made the surprise announcement Tuesday on […]
Iran stops talking to mediators over Israel fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iranian reports say
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates | Iran stopped communicating with mediators after Israel threatened to bomb Beirut as it fights the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, two semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported Tuesday. Halting communication likely is a means to further pressure U.S. President Donald Trump over negotiations on the ceasefire, which include trying to loosen Iran’s […]