Top World News

Mar 17, 2026 - World

Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation on X Tuesday by saying he “cannot in good conscience” back Donald Trump’s war in Iran. It delivered a jolt to the administration that is already reeling from a war that is going badly.According to Kent, Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”In less than an hour, his X post had over 4.7 million views.Kent, known as a card-carrying member of the MAGA movement, was both lauded and accused of treason, with all agreeing his resignation is a game-changer for Turmp. One follower observed, “The dominoes are starting to fall. Those who want to save face should do the right thing and resign immediately. The overwhelming majority of the American people reject this war.”Podcast producer Benjamin Rubinstein added, “This is a man who actually loves his country. Bravo.”Asked for comment, retired Brigadier General Steve Anderson told CNN that the resignation is a “terrific blow to Trump'” and the “timing couldn't be worse.”“This is incredibly honorable but now there is gonna be a coordinated attack against you by the same people that got us into this war...thank you Joe for your service brother,” wrote Real America’s Voice personality Alex Stein.“This is the definition of America First. Thank you, Joe,” claimed The Maine Wonk. Highbee Nation asserted, “A Green Beret who buried his wife to terrorism just told the most powerful man on earth no more forever wars for someone else's lobby. That's not disloyalty. That's the definition of America First.”“The Director of the National Counterterrorism Center just resigned and publicly said Iran posed no imminent threat and the war was started due to Israeli lobby pressure. This isn’t a podcaster. This isn’t a pundit. This is the person literally in charge of tracking threats to America saying there WASN’T ONE. Read that again. The highest-ranking insider just confirmed everything the ‘traitors’ were saying from day one,” noted influencer tosino007.

Mar 17, 2026 - World

Falling costs and government incentives make solar an attractive option for many, reducing need for gasAfter prices of liquefied natural gas surged to record highs after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, millions of people in Pakistan were repeatedly left without electricity. An intense heatwave and gas shortages amid record-breaking prices resulted in power cuts across the country.But people soon started to realise there was an alternative. The falling costs of solar panels and generous government incentives to feed excess power back to the grid made rooftop solar an attractive option. Continue reading...

Mar 17, 2026 - World

Donald Trump's most loyal Iran war hawks are experiencing buyer's remorse as what they envisioned as a quick military victory threatens to metastasize into a prolonged, unpopular quagmire requiring American boots on the ground, according to a report.More than two weeks into the campaign, insiders close to the White House are sounding the alarm — the president has lost control of the conflict's trajectory, Politico reported. Iran now holds the upper hand, they warn, and Trump may have boxed himself into a corner where escalation — potentially including a full ground invasion — becomes the only face-saving option."They decide how long we're involved — and they decide if we put boots on the ground. And it doesn't seem to me that there's a way around that, if we want to save face," one White House insider told Politico.The core problem: securing oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz against Iranian attacks almost certainly requires seizing Iranian territory — a step that would inevitably mean deploying American troops on Iranian soil."The terms have changed," said a second person familiar with U.S. operations in Iran. "The off-ramps don't work anymore because Iran is driving the asymmetric action."The deteriorating situation is rattling Trump's "America First" coalition, which fears the president is stumbling into exactly the kind of open-ended Middle East morass he spent a decade condemning. With Iran weaponizing oil market disruption to drive up gas prices, Republicans worry the conflict has become a political time bomb — especially heading into midterms when voters are already furious about inflation and affordability."For the White House, now the only easy day was yesterday," the insider added bluntly. "They need to worry about an unraveling."Some Trump allies are still urging restraint, arguing the administration retains non-military tools to pressure Tehran. But they acknowledge each U.S. escalation narrows the exit ramps further.The severity of the initial strikes compounds the problem. By killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with dozens of senior commanders and family members, Trump may have made Iranian capitulation impossible. The new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei — the late leader's son — has far less incentive to back down than his predecessor."You've killed one guy, the next guy up is even more radical. You killed his dad and his wife," one White House source said. "Do you think he's gonna be more — or less — reasonable?"You can read more here.

Mar 17, 2026 - World

More than 100 others injured in bombings targeting post office, market areas and hospital in MaiduguriAt least 23 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured in multiple suspected suicide bombings in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, shattering its reputation as a relative oasis of calm in recent years as a long-running insurgency was pushed to the rural hinterlands.Authorities said the explosions went off at the post office and market areas, as well as the entrance to the University of Maiduguri teaching hospital, on Monday evening during iftar, the breaking of fast in the month of Ramadan. Continue reading...

Mar 17, 2026 - World

Britons learn about the country’s involvement ‘almost as a self-congratulatory narrative’, says historian Joseph Mulhern In 1845 British citizens and companies were already legally prohibited from owning or buying enslaved people overseas, yet that year 385 captives were “transferred” to a British mining company in Brazil named St John d’El Rey.Despite a global campaign waged by the UK against slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, the move was not technically illegal because the enslaved people were not sold but “rented” – a practice permitted overseas under the 1843 Slave Trade Act. Continue reading...