Top World News

Apr 19, 2026 - World

Federal prosecutor says woman is suspected of dealing weapons to Africa on behalf of Iranian governmentA California woman was arrested at Los Angeles international airport after allegedly trafficking weapons on behalf of the Iranian government to contacts in Africa, including Sudan.Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills was detained on Saturday night by federal agents, according to the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles. Continue reading...

Apr 19, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the U.S. has seized an Iranian-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz that was allegedly attempting to get through the U.S. blockade. The announcement came at a time when U.S. officials have said that Iran chose to close the Strait of Hormuz to many foreign ships, which is in violation of the fragile ceasefire agreement the two countries recently agreed to. At the same time, some U.S. officials are scheduled to travel to Pakistan next week to continue negotiations to end the war in Iran, which has raged since late February. "Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop." "The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom (sic)," he added. "Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel. The TOUSKA is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!"

Apr 19, 2026 - World

Jeremy Hansen praised for speaking French in space after Air Canada chief’s linguistic snub exposed tensions and drew rebuke from PMFew people foresaw humanity’s quest for the moon as accurately as the 19th-century French author Jules Verne, whose two works –From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon – anticipated many of the features of modern lunar exploration.But Verne’s language had never been spoken in deep space until the Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen uttered four words during Nasa’s recent Artemis II mission. Continue reading...

Apr 18, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump has lost the war with Iran but is refusing to accept it, according to a Nobel Prize winner. Paul Krugman believes that Trump is flat out unable to deal with the fallout of the war in Iran, and that it has not yet set in that the United States' intervention in the Middle East has failed. Writing in his Substack earlier Saturday, Krugman claimed, "It’s been clear for a while that the United States has basically lost this war. "The goal was to achieve regime change, possibly to take Iran’s uranium. Neither of those is going to happen. The Iranian regime is a harder line than it was before. Iran has ended up strengthened because it’s demonstrated its ability to shut off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz."Well, as best I can tell, and this is all speculation now, I don’t think that Trump has taken on board, maybe he’s emotionally incapable of taking on board the reality that he screwed up, that he took us to war and lost, that he, in his mind, still thinks that America has the upper hand and that the Iranians are cowering in fear over the might of the U.S. military, and that he doesn’t need to make any concessions."The Strait of Hormuz had briefly been opened by Iran but was again closed over a US blockade. A new closure of the Strait of Hormuz was confirmed by Iranian military operational command, Khatam Al Anbiya, with a statement accusing the US of "maritime piracy and theft".The statement reads, "For this reason, control of the Strait of Hormuz has reverted to its previous state, and this strategic waterway is under the strict management and control of the armed forces.""Until the US restores the complete freedom of navigation for vessels from an Iranian origin to a destination, and from a destination back to Iran, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will remain strictly controlled and in its previous state."President Trump previously imposed a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz as part of his escalating Iran war strategy, declaring he would "immediately eliminate" Iranian Navy vessels attempting to breach it.

Apr 18, 2026 - World

Pope Leo XIV has made clear he has no interest in continuing his public feud with Donald Trump. During his 11-day African tour, the pontiff firmly rejected the notion that he's been debating the American president, insisting his peace message transcends partisan politics.According to Politico, Leo addressed the spiraling controversy that has dominated headlines all week. "There's been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the president of the United States made some comments about myself," Leo said."Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said."The Pope was defending his remarks at a peace meeting in Bamenda, Cameroon — a city at the epicenter of a separatist conflict ravaging the country's Anglophone region for nearly a decade. In those remarks, Leo had blasted the "handful of tyrants" who were ravaging Earth with war and exploitation, Politico is reporting.Leo emphasized the remarks predated Trump's attacks. "My remarks were written two weeks ago, long before Trump's criticisms began," he explained, undercutting Trump's narrative that the Pope was specifically targeting him."And yet as it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate again the president, which is not in my interest at all," Leo said, making clear he views the controversy as a distraction.Looking forward, the Pope signaled his priorities lie elsewhere. "I primarily come to Africa as a pastor, as the head of the Catholic Church to be with, to celebrate with, to encourage and accompany all the Catholics throughout Africa."