Top World News
Hegseth memo lays out Pentagon plan to protect elections from foreign interference
Sep 28, 2026 - World 
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo Monday laying out what he said is the Defense Department's plan to protect the 2026 midterm elections from "external manipulation and disruption from foreign actors."
Iran officials renew call for deal to open Hormuz despite Trump's peace plan rejection
Sep 28, 2026 - World 
Iran's foreign minister met with mediators on Monday in New York City to review the latest proposals from both sides and exchange views about the current state of his country's war with the U.S. and Israel, according to reports, just days after President Trump rejected Tehran's latest peace plan.
Trump denies offering to sell U.S. arms to China at Xi summit
Sep 28, 2026 - World 
President Trump on Monday said he did not discuss an offer to sell U.S. weapons to China during the recent summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
'Mind-boggling' drop hits as new data shows US massively shunned by travelers: expert
Sep 28, 2026 - World 
Add the travel industry to the growing list of economic casualties of President Donald Trump's policies, joining farmers and manufacturers as sectors bleeding cash under his trade wars and border crackdowns.Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, laid out the damage in blunt terms to Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei: even America's "closest allies" are refusing to visit. Despite the U.S. hosting the World Cup this summer, overseas travel still fell — the country is on pace to lose 2 million overseas visitors compared with last year, a drop that leaves visitation 20 percent below its 2019 peak. "We're the only major country in the world losing visitation," Freeman told VandeHei. "It's mind-boggling."The falloff is concentrated among traditional allies. Canada is down 23 percent over two years, while Germany and France have each dropped double digits year to date. Freeman said the exodus is "largely out of protest and fear" rather than economics, as travelers shun a country whose tariffs and immigration enforcement have made headlines abroad. Meanwhile, China is "capturing the visitors America is losing by expanding visa-free entry," and Japan is riding the "cheap yen" and surging reputation to a long-term tourism boom.The hit to travel — an industry that supports millions of U.S. jobs — lands alongside mounting anger from farmers squeezed by Trump's tariff fights and cut off from major agricultural buyers, and manufacturers still waiting for the factory jobs Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs promised but never delivered.
Colombia issues lengthy sentences against ELN rebel leaders for recruiting children
Sep 28, 2026 - World 
A judge on Monday sentenced in absentia 11 commanders of Colombia's largest remaining rebel group to prison for recruiting 60 children as young as 8 into their ranks between 2004 and 2018.
