Top World News

Aug 1, 2026 - World

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is being pressured to backtrack after an airstrike gone wrong, according to The Atlantic.The Pentagon is moving towards restoring as many as half of the roles that Hegseth cut during a "pugnacious" purge at the Department of Defense, according to reporting by The Atlantic. Hegseth's downsizing included the firing or reassignment of staff dedicated to avoiding civilian casualties in war, the reporting noted."The potential reversal, which hasn't previously been reported, now awaits Hegseth's signature," according to The Atlantic. The Pentagon is considering bringing back staff as it deals with the fallout of an airstrike that killed almost 170 people, most of them children, at a school in southern Iran, The Atlantic reported.The Atlantic also noted that Hegseth said early in the conflict that the U.S. would fight with "no stupid rules of engagement" and "no politically correct wars."An anonymous Pentagon official confirmed to The Atlantic that the DoD is "currently undergoing a strategic reassessment to inform its future reorganization."A Pentagon inspector general report this spring determined that the DoD's cuts to civilian-harm protections may have violated laws designed to protect noncombatants, The Atlantic reported. Leaders of the Pentagon's combatant commands also support the restoration of personnel who can safeguard against civilian casualties, a U.S. official told The Atlantic."Over the last year, we have seen a total disconnect between the willingness to wage wars all over the world, at an unprecedented pace and scale, while at the same time all but abandoning their leading role in setting up the systems and approaches needed to better protect civilians," Emily Tripp, the head of Airwars, an independent UK-based watchdog, told The Atlantic.

Jul 31, 2026 - World

A former Republican strategist on Friday argued that a major development in President Donald Trump's Iran war has gone under the radar and will change the outcome of elections in November.In an interview on his podcast, The Warning, Steve Schmidt discussed the disastrous fallout over the war in a conversation with Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. The two talked about how Americans will rebuke Trump and his administration in the midterms this fall and how the latest incident has changed the shape of the conflict."There is a momentous event that occurred this week that I think is underreported and commented on, which is that a Ukrainian drone struck an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea, combining these two theaters of war," Schmidt said. "What should the American people know about this moment in time and the danger we're facing?""The American people should know that Donald Trump and his foreign policy are absolute failures," Beshear said. "He got us into a war of choice that has only made the country that we went to war with more powerful. Iran is more powerful today based on their control of the Strait of Hormuz than they were before this war started."Beshear criticized Trump for starting a war without a realistic goal that could be achieved. And in the process, putting Americans at risk as the national deficit and debt rise."This is not just bungling international. It is really damaging at home," Beshear added. "And he doesn't have a way out of it. And part of it is look at who he sent to negotiate. We have amazing people in the Foreign Service that spend decades understanding every nuance of every word that an Iranian negotiator would say at the table to put us in the best position to get a peace deal that prevents a nuclear weapon. But we don't send them." He called Trump out for sending developer and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff with his son-in-law Jared Kushner, along with JD Vance, "a vice president who is way out of his league just being vice president, much less trying to negotiate and failing to negotiate any lasting peace.""It is bananas that foreign policy would be conducted this way and that the Senate and the House haven't stopped it and are allowing a president to just go to war and make decisions on his gut," Beshear added. "When we know our munitions are low, when we know our sailors have been on some of the longest deployments ever. It is the worst that you could ever potentially run a foreign conflict."

Jul 31, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's remarks questioning whether Iran had hacked water systems in Minnesota sparked anger online Friday.Trump pushed back on the U.S. and state officials' reports about Iran hacking in Minnesota and several other states during a cabinet meeting at Camp David in Thurmont, Maryland."We heard in Minnesota there was a cyberattack and they blame it on Iran. I don't think so. I blame it on Minnesota because they're grossly incompetent."Nearly three dozen water plants were attacked in the state this week, according to reports. But Trump blamed Gov. Tim Walz instead, despite evidence from U.S. intelligence officials saying it was likely to have been Iranian hackers, MS NOW reported."Iran's got bigger problems than worrying about Minnesota," Trump said.Political experts and commentators pushed back on Trump's claims, suggesting that there could be more to the cyberattacks."Remember a few months ago when it was reported that Iran was psychologically profiling Trump to decode his behavior? One has to wonder if Iran targeted Minnesota specifically because they knew Trump would let them get away with it because of his deranged hatred of Minnesota," wrote behavioral scientist Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D, who has more than 377,000 followers on X."Let's be clear: Trump sees Minnesota as much as Iran (or maybe even more so) as constituting an enemy country," Greg Sargent, staff writer at The New Republic, wrote on X."At Helsinki, Trump undermined America’s intelligence community. At Camp David, he just did it again," Jessica Tarlov, Democratic strategist and co-host of Fox News show "The Five," wrote on X."Sure, sure, let’s just downplay an attack by a hostile foreign actor. Iran has some of the most persistent — and effective — hackers on the planet. This is irresponsible as hell from Trump," X political commentary account Angry Staffer, which has more than 565,000 followers, wrote."His own FBI assessed it was Iran. They also said they attacked multiple states," Sawyer Hackett, political strategist and content creator, wrote on X."The President of the United States is siding with Iran over Minnesota!" Political commentator Covie, who has more than 182,000 followers, wrote on X."Just like he did with Putin in the past, he takes the side of an enemy over his own country," anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project posted on X.Remember a few months ago when it was reported that Iran was psychologically profiling Trump to decode his behavior? One has to wonder if Iran targeted Minnesota specifically because they knew Trump would let them get away with it because of his deranged hatred of Minnesota. https://t.co/ECkw97aSQh— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) July 31, 2026

Jul 31, 2026 - World

The White House used a Bad Bunny song to promote its deportations and harsh immigration agenda — and Tik Tok was not happy about it, TMZ reported on Friday.A TikTok posted Thursday shows ICE agents handcuffing and hauling off detainees to Bad Bunny's "LA MuDANZA," according to TMZ.In the video, the White House took the original lyrics "un aplauso pa mami y papi porque en verdad rompieron," meaning "a round of applause for mom and dad, because they really crushed it" — and changed them.The video instead had: "A round of applause for Donald J. Trump because he really crushed it." The post was captioned "We're making America great again."Bad Bunny hasn't commented on the White House move yet, according to TMZ.The Puerto Rican rapper Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio has been a critic of the Trump administration and its policies. The international star performed at the Super Bowl halftime show in February, sending a message of pride to the Latino and immigrant community.Tik Tok commenters were outraged. Nearly 3,000 people responded to the video, the top comments were mostly condemnations."Do not disrespect Bad Bunny like that," wrote one. Said another, "This is just disgusting." @whitehouse We’re making America great again ♬ original sound - The White House

Jul 31, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump has been yelling at his White House staffers as he deals with a lingering frustration, an author revealed.In a recent episode of Inside Trump's Head, Trump biographer Michael Wolff explained to co-host Joanna Coles why the president has resorted to "yelling at people" to resolve his frustrations with the war in Iran. Trump's recent yelling about the Iran war has been reported in The Wall Street Journal and NBC News."He's stuck, he's stuck, he's stuck. He can't do anything," Wolff said. "He can retreat. He can admit defeat, which also he doesn't want to do. So he's yelling at people, 'Solve the problem! There must be something we can do.'"According to reports by the Journal and NBC News, Trump started shouting expletives and yelling at a meeting with his top national security officials over frustrations with the Iran war."He has been told over and over again — because there's effectively nothing left to tell him — that we have exhausted all military solutions," Wolff said. "We are running out of missiles. We will run out of missiles if we keep up the pace. We have done everything that an air campaign can do. There's nowhere to go. There is nothing more we can do except invade."Wolff framed Trump's 2024 campaign posture as Trump touting himself as "The 'No Forever Wars' president," which complicates his option of getting deeper into the war in Iran. However, "if he retreats, and even if he claims victory and says it's all marvelous, the Iranians still control now the Strait of Hormuz," Coles said."Trump is the Hormuz president," he concluded.