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Apr 29, 2026 - World

A Democratic lawmaker accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of lying to President Donald Trump during a heated congressional hearing on Wednesday. Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), a former Army Ranger who served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, raised questions about attorney Tim Parlatore and a potential conflict of interest. He pressed Hegseth during a fiery exchange over whether Parlatore was appointed and asking if Parlatore was removed from a White House investigation in 2025. Hegseth denied the accusations, saying he wasn't aware of it, and claimed he was also not removed from the investigation. "You're not aware of it. That's interesting. Well, is it true that Mr. Parlatore disparaged President Trump?" Crow asked.Hegseth again said that he wasn't aware of the investigation, smiling and appearing to laugh. "Is it true that Mr. Parlatore was accused by President Trump and his lawyers of lying?" Crow asked. Hegseth appeared annoyed by the questions. "What you're accused of is a cute line of questioning that's going nowhere," Hegseth said, referring to Crow's questions as "a stunt."Crow pushed back on Hegseth's comments."Secretary Hegseth, what I'm really concerned about is you purport to have unfaltering loyalty to President Trump, and yet you are continuously going..." Crow said.Hegseth was angry with the comment and interjected Crow's questions. "Oh you care a lot about President Trump, don't you? This is a cute, huge waste of your five minutes," Hegseth said. Crow didn't stand down against the Pentagon chief. "You are repeatedly going behind President Trump's back, appointing people who he has accused of lying, who the White House has accused of lying. And you are not being honest with President Trump," Crow said.

Apr 29, 2026 - World

Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) triggered outrage from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after he called President Donald Trump's war in Iran a "quagmire.""Secretary Hegseth, you have been lying to the American public about this war from day one, and so has the President," Garamendi said during a House Armed Services Committee budget hearing on Wednesday. "You have misled the public about why we are at war. You and the President have offered ever-changing reasons for this war. You've misled the public about the progress of the war.""This war of choice is a political and economic disaster at every level," he continued. "The President has got himself and America stuck in the quagmire of another war in the Middle East. He's desperately trying to extricate himself from his own mistakes."Hegseth responded by calling Garamendi "reckless.""When I said reckless, feckless, and defeatist of congressional Democrats at the beginning, that came after watching you say the same thing on CNN this morning, a quagmire," the Defense secretary gasped. "My generation served in a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan, years and years of nebulous missions and utopian nation building that led us to nothing.""Congressman, you should know better. Shame on you calling this a quagmire two months in!" he exclaimed. "You call it a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies, shame on you for that statement."Hegseth complained that Garamendi had said he supported the troops while calling the conflict in Iran a quagmire."That's a false equivalation!" he grumbled. "Who are you cheering for here? Who are you pulling for?""And you sit there and go on TV for your clickbait about quagmires!" Hegseth added. "Your hatred for President Trump blinds you to the truth of the success of this mission and the historic stakes that the president is addressing, which the American people support. Iran's been at war with us for 47 years! You want to talk about a forever war?""For two months, this president has stared them down. He's going to get a better deal than anyone ever has and ensure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon. I know the American people support that mission, despite your loose talk and words like quagmire!"

Apr 29, 2026 - World

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) had to fight for speaking time during a contentious confrontation with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday morning, at one time having to exclaim, “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” to get the Donald Trump appointee to hush.As the ranking Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, Smith got the first shot at the former Fox News personality and was barely able to finish his questions before the amped up Hegseth began spouting talking points about the success of the Iran war that has continued to drag on.After Hegseth gave an opening statement touting the success of the war, Smith pounced.“You have to stare down this kind of enemy who is hell-bent on getting a nuclear weapon and get them to a point where they're at the table, giving it up in a way that they haven't have,” Hegseth stated which led Smith to interrupt with, “So they haven't broken yet? Okay, we haven't gotten there yet.”“Well, their nuclear facilities have been obliterated underground,” Hegseth shot back, which drew a puzzled look from the Democratic House member.As Hegseth continued with, “They are buried—”, Smith protested, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whow whoa whoa.”“Reclaiming my time for a second here," Smith lectured. “We had to start this war, you just said 60 days ago, because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. Now you're saying that it was completely obliterated?”“They had not given up their nuclear ambitions, and they had a conventional shield of thousands of —,” Hegseth protested as Smith talked over him and bluntly stated, “So Operation Midnight Hammer was a moment of nothing of substance. It left us in exactly the same place we were in before.” - YouTube youtu.be

Apr 29, 2026 - World

Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe also fined after pleading guilty to immigration and firearms-related offencesTwo months after an employee was shot in the back at the Mugabe family home in a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, a South African court has fined and ordered the deportation of Robert Mugabe’s youngest son over two unrelated charges.Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, 28, and his cousin Tobias Mugabe Matonhodze, 33, were initially both charged with attempted murder after the incident on 19 February. Continue reading...

Apr 29, 2026 - World

Delegates at event in Cape Verde highlight opportunities from tech while stressing AI is no replacement for talentLast July, the Nigerian singer-songwriter Fave found herself caught up in a viral moment: an unauthorised version of a track by her featuring an AI choir had been released, quickly becoming an internet sensation. To get ahead of the situation, she recorded her own remix that integrated the AI-assisted song and added it to her discography.“In my view, [that] was smart and very business aware,” Oyinkansola Fawehinmi, a Lagos-based entertainment lawyer, observed a few months later. “She essentially reclaimed the ‘AI version’ and released it as her own official expression.” Continue reading...