Top World News

Jun 25, 2026 - World

Iran has discussed plans with its neighbors to extract billions from the global economy by setting up permanent tolls in the Strait of Hormuz—a direct result of President Trump's disastrous war that handed Tehran unprecedented leverage over the world's most critical oil artery.According to the Wall Street Journal reporting, Iranian officials are boasting to Middle Eastern neighbors that a lucrative new revenue stream is imminent. The Islamic Republic estimated that charging for "security, safety, and environmental services" in the strait could generate $40 billion annually for "participating states."The scheme would represent a dramatic reversal of pre-war conditions. Iran has positioned itself to control and monetize the "global shipping chokepoint" it effectively seized when the war began, causing worldwide pain.To gain regional buy-in, Tehran pitched the toll arrangement throughout the Middle East and to Beijing, proposing that Persian Gulf neighbors share in the revenue, with the Journal noting the model "mirrors" Turkey's system in the Dardanelles, where ships pay a tax known as the gold franc for passage."Everyone needs to know that management of the strait will never return to the way it was before," declared Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, during a visit to Oman on Tuesday to discuss the arrangements, the Journal reported.According to the report, "The number of ships crossing the strait on Wednesday reached its highest since the war began, with around 70 crossings, according to ship trackers, whose estimates vary. On average, before the war, 130 oil tankers went through the neck of the Persian Gulf each day."Secretary of State Marco Rubio attempted to push back during a Middle East trip this week, insisting that tolls or fees represent an unacceptable precedent that would "spread like a contagion and cause chaos.""No country on earth has the right to charge for the use of international waterways, and that will never be an acceptable condition of any deal," Rubio said in Bahrain, claiming Persian Gulf countries have rejected the toll idea.However, the Journal reported Rubio's objections may prove toothless, noting, "The 60-day deal to end the fighting and reopen the waterway puts Iran in charge of demining it and insists on toll-free passage for ships in that time. But the document also gives Iran, which doesn’t recognize maritime law governing the strait, a say in the future management of the shipping chokepoint."

Jun 25, 2026 - World

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Thursday that next month's NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, will further demonstrate Europe's commitment to a stronger military.

Jun 25, 2026 - World

In her dissent from one of the Thursday Supreme Court decisions on immigrant rights, Justice Elena Kagan made sure Donald Trump’s litany of racist remarks would be a forever part of the court’s historical record.The liberal justice used her dissent in a case where the conservative majority gave the president the legal authority to strip Temporary Protected Status from over 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, among others, to call out the president for his flagrant racism.On MS NOW, legal analyst Lisa Rubin read directly from Kagan’s blunt dissent, telling the panel, “Justice Kagan in her dissent doesn't just summarize the statements from the president and from Kristi Noem, who was then the head of Homeland Security, but makes them plain, and I want to read to you from her dissent because she gathers them up.”Looking at her laptop, she read, “’Haitians are eating the dogs, they're eating the cats, they're eating the pets of the people that live in Springfield.’ And ‘Haitians are also,’ and this is the quote, ‘eating other things too that they're not supposed to be.’ And Haitians in the United States, quote, ‘Probably have AIDS’. And Haiti, is quote, 'A whole country which is,’ quote, ‘filthy, dirty and disgusting,’ end quote.”She continued, “And, Haitian immigration is, quote, ‘Like a death wish for our country.’ And Haitians, along with some others, are quote, ‘Poisoning the blood,' end quote, of our country. And finally, this is a statement from the president that ‘we only take people from s-hole countries like Haiti and Somalia. Why can't we have some people from Norway and Sweden?’”“And then she [Kagan] goes back to something that was talked about at oral argument when she asked one of the lawyers for the Haitians, ‘So it's not Haiti particularly, it's all these countries have people of color, as opposed to Denmark and Scandinavia, you know Scandinavia generally, and whatever,’ and the lawyer says, ‘I certainly think that the record supports the idea that the president in particular, has focused in on Haitians, but it's broader than that. Haitians are our plaintiffs.’ But the relevant comparison, the relevant group here is all TPS countries all of which are non-white — and that makes its way into Justice Kagan's dissent," Rubin pointed out.“The majority briefly replies that those remarks are not 'overtly racial,' but it is hard to know what that means,” Kagan wrote, before adding, “Haitians are Black. (Norwegians and Swedes not so much.) The references—of filth, disease, and primitiveness—are shot through with racial stereotypes and tropes. It is hard to imagine the statements being made today of any white community.” - YouTube youtu.be

Jun 25, 2026 - World

MAGA followers rebuffed Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) on Thursday after he spoke out against the Trump administration following a Supreme Court ruling that ended temporary protected status for Haitians and Syrians.Lawler wrote in a post on X that he thinks the situation in Haiti is a "humanitarian and political disaster and continues to warrant an extension.""While I have never disputed the ability of the President to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS), I strongly disagree with ending Haitian TPS at this time," Lawler wrote, adding that the immediate ending of this status would "create a crisis in our hospitals, nursing homes."Conservative social media users and MAGA supporters made their dissatisfaction with Lawler known."Two things can be true at the same time. We can sympathize with those who have to leave our great country but also understand that applying the skills and education they received here back in Haiti is the only hope of ever saving that nation," Julie Kelly, a MAGA-aligned political commentator and writer with more than 909,000 followers, wrote on X."I've said it before and I'll say it again. The worst GOP Congressman. He hurts our team more than a Democrat in his seat would. Vote him out-- yes, even in the general," Jeremy Carl, senior fellow at conservative think tank the Claremont Institute, wrote on X."They’ve been on this 'temporary' status for nearly 20 years," Real Political Data, a conservative political commentary account with more than 58,000 followers, wrote on X."Exile this guy to Haiti," conservative writer Paul Kersey wrote on X.I've said it before and I'll say it again.The worst GOP Congressman. He hurts our team more than a Democrat in his seat would.Vote him out-- yes, even in the general. https://t.co/AUkPwOxgqs— Jeremy Carl (@realJeremyCarl) June 25, 2026

Jun 25, 2026 - World

King Charles III will not live at Buckingham Palace after the completion of a 10-year, 369 million-pound ($487 million) refurbishment program as the monarchy seeks to increase public access to the historic building that has been the center of royal life for almost 200 years.