Top World News

Feb 13, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump vowed to bomb "the dust" remaining at Iran's nuclear sites if he attacks the country again.During a Friday gaggle, one reporter pointed out that Trump had previously claimed the nuclear sites had been "obliterated" before threatening another strike."You said inside the Iranian nuclear sites have been totally obliterated," the reporter said. "What's left to go after?""Well, you could get whatever the dust is down there," Trump replied. "That's really the least of the mission. If we do it, that would be the least of the mission. But we, you know, probably grab whatever's left.""It has been obliterated, as you know," he added. The Pricer estimated that Trump's 2025 bombing of Iran's nuclear sites cost over $500 milllion.

Feb 13, 2026 - World

President of Protect Our Care issues one-word statement to US health and human services secretary: ‘Resign’A prominent healthcare advocacy group is calling for US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr to step down from his post after he downplayed Covid-19 risks by saying: “I’m not scared of a germ. I used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats.”Kennedy, who was appointed secretary of the federal health and human services (HHS) department despite his avowed anti-vaccine activism, made that remark on the 12 February episode of Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend. Continue reading...

Feb 13, 2026 - World

Hakeem Jeffries says offer ‘clearly omits things that need to happen’US homeland security department on track for shutdown after funding bill fails in SenateThe annual rate of US inflation eased in January, according to the latest data consumer price index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Over the last 12 months, the cost of goods has increased by 2.4% – down from 2.7% in last month’s report.Lawmakers in the House and Senate left Washington on Thursday as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) heads for another shutdown, when stopgap funding lapses tonight. Nearly all Democrats blocked a second attempt to pass the annual DHS appropriations bill as negotiations for guardrails on federal immigration enforcement have stalled. Senator John Fetterman was the only lawmaker to break ranks with the party. Continue reading...

Feb 13, 2026 - World

The men appeared in a photo lineup assembled by the southern district of New York and had no apparent connection to the late sex offenderRo Khanna, a California Democratic representative, read a list of six names on the House floor earlier this week and said they were “wealthy, powerful men that the DoJ hid” in the recently released files related to Jeffrey Epstein. After questions from the Guardian, the Department of Justice said that four of the men Khanna named have no apparent connection to Epstein whatsoever, but rather appeared in a photo lineup assembled by the southern district of New York (SDNY).Khanna, along with Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican representative, pushed the justice department to unredact names in the files, arguing that some names were being unlawfully redacted. Massie claimed credit on X earlier this week for forcing the justice department to remove redactions on a file that listed 20 names, birthdays and photos, including those of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Khanna then read some of those names on the House floor. Continue reading...

Feb 13, 2026 - World

This live blog is now closed.If you need a primer on what’s on the agenda for the next three days, I spoke with the MSC’s head of policy Nicole Koenig, the author of the European part of their security report published ahead of the meeting.I asked her what is most likely to be the focus of this year’s forum, will Rubio deliver a “JD Vance 2.0” speech or say something more (nomen omen) diplomatic, and what other topics are likely to come up.“We have had years, decades of complaints by the US about the fact that in Europe, we were not spending enough on defence. That has changed since the summit in The Hague. The shift in mindset is that yesterday in the room, what we felt, all of us, there was a clear coming together of vision and of unity. “They want [us] to perceive the Russians as a mighty bear, but you could argue they are moving through Ukraine at the stilted speed of a garden snail, so let’s not fall the trap of the Russian propaganda.” Continue reading...