Top World News
Top Republican snaps and walks away from reporter when pressed on record-high gas prices
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), one of President Joe Biden's fiercest Republican critics over inflation and gas prices, is refusing to account for his stunning reversal now that a Republican president's unpopular war in Iran is putting an even bigger squeeze on American consumers.When pressed by MS NOW's Jack Fitzpatrick, the normally press-friendly Louisiana Republican walked away.During his interview with MS NOW, Kennedy attempted to sidestep questions about his dramatic change of heart while simultaneously insisting his hands are tied.Gas prices have surged by more than $1.50 per gallon since Trump launched attacks against Iran nearly 10 weeks ago. On Friday, prices hit an average of $4.54 per gallon according to AAA — a 47% increase from the $2.98 national average just before the conflict began and limited oil stocks indicate little chance of a swift turnaround," Fitzpatrick is reporting while adding Republicans are urging "patience.""There are trade-offs," Kennedy attempted in his interview. "I think the American people understand it. They've been through conflicts in the Middle East before. They know these prices will come down once the conflict is over."This measured acceptance stands in sharp contrast to Kennedy's relentless criticism of Biden administration gas prices resulting from Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Even before that war started, Kennedy was hammering Biden with variations of the same joke: "I don't like to brag about all the expensive places I've been, but earlier today I went to the gas station," Fitzpatrick noted.When asked what Congress could actually do about the soaring prices, Kennedy's answer was blunt: "There's nothing we can do.""The price of gas and natural gas and gasoline and diesel fuel and oil is a product of the conflict in Iran, you know that," he told MS NOW.When pressed about whether limited options should constrain his patience with Trump's Iran war — and how he squares his current stance with his past criticisms of Biden — Kennedy grew hostile."You need to try adulting real hard," he snapped.When asked directly how he reconciles his patience now with his impatience under Biden, Kennedy refused to engage. "I don't have to square anything with you," he said, with the MS NOW reporter adding the lawmaker patted him on the back as he ended the interview and walked away.
Up to 2cm a month: Nasa keeps track as Mexico City sinks into the ground
Powerful radar system is providing new data on city’s subsidence, which experts hope will draw more attention to itWalking into Mexico City’s sprawling central Zócalo is a dizzying experience. At one end of the plaza, the capital’s cathedral, with its soaring spires, slumps in one direction. An attached church, known as the Metropolitan Sanctuary, tilts in the other. The nearby National Palace also seems off-kilter.The teetering of many of the capital’s historic buildings is the most visible sign of a phenomenon that has been ongoing for more than a century: Mexico City is sinking at an alarming rate. Continue reading...
Woman jailed in Somalia for peaceful protest ‘stripped, kicked and beaten’
In an exclusive interview from prison, Sadia Moalim Ali, a 27-year-old rickshaw driver, tells of her treatment after being arrested for demonstrating against the governmentA woman being held in prison in Somalia for taking part in peaceful protests has described how she was tortured by her guards.Sadia Moalim Ali, 27, told the Guardian she was stripped naked by two male guards in a room monitored by CCTV, kicked, beaten with a baton and left for two days in a small cell without food. Continue reading...
Argentina races to find origins of cruise ship hantavirus outbreak, amid reports some passengers have returned to US
Argentina, where the MV Hondius cruise departed, consistently ranked by WHO as having highest incidence of hantavirus in regionOfficials and experts in Argentina are scrambling to determine if their country is the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has gripped an Atlantic cruise ship, amid reports that a number of passengers have already returned to their home countries.Argentina, where the cruise to Antarctica departed, is consistently ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having the highest incidence of the rare, rodent-borne disease in Latin America. Investigators there are working to contact trace the source of contamination. Continue reading...
Three evacuated from hantavirus-hit ship as Spain says vessel can dock
British guide Martin Anstee among those evacuated from MV Hondius, which is now heading for Canary IslandsExplainer: What is hantavirus?Three people with suspected hantavirus have been medically evacuated from a cruise ship.They include a British man who was an expedition guide onboard the ship, the MV Hondius. He was named on Wednesday evening as Martin Anstee, 56. Continue reading...
Insider trading accusations fly over suspicious Iran war oil trades
Serious questions were raised about market manipulation as President Donald Trump and his administration came under scrutiny over the status of the ongoing Iran war amid a chaotic rise and fall of oil prices. Axios released a report early Wednesday that the United States was moving closer to an end of the Iran war — that's when people started to notice suspicious activity in the market. The Kobeissi Letter challenged the timeline of incidents in a post on X."According to our analysis, ~$920 million worth of crude oil shorts were taken 70 minutes before an Axios report claimed the US and Iran were near a '14-point' deal to end the war," according to The Kobeissi Letter. "At 3:40 AM ET today, nearly 10,000 contracts worth of crude oil shorts were taken without any major news. This is equivalent to ~$920 million in notional value, an unusually large trade for 3:40 AM ET. At 4:50 AM ET, just 70 minutes later, Axios reported that the US is 'close' to a 'memorandum of understanding' to end the Iran War. By 7:00 AM ET, oil prices had fallen over -12% with these crude oil shorts gaining approximately +$125 million. Minutes later, Iran launched the 'Persian Gulf Strait Authority' and oil prices surged +8%. What just happened?"Experts and lawmakers reacted to the volatile market. "Record levels of fraud," Michael Bento, owner of Valois Capital Management, LLC, wrote on X."The most corrupt war in US history. Maybe in world history," Phillips O'Brien, historian and professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews, wrote on X."Shocker," Rick Wilson, former Republican strategist and co-founder of The Lincoln Project, wrote on X."This has to stop. Lives on the line so they can insider trade!" Jessica Tarlov, Fox News co-host and podcast co-host, wrote on X."$900M in oil shorts right before the Axios article. I’ve found at least another $100M in the same kind of trades onchain. Meaning multiple insiders knew about the article forthcoming and traded on it," Adam Cochran, professor, policy consultant and journalist, wrote on X."When is everyone going to start realizing that the manic on again off again war/peace rhetoric is really just insider trading? And sprinkle in some murder. Only a select few in the top tax bracket are benefiting from this, and the majority of you ain’t in it," former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) wrote on X."WTF!" Independent journalist and former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta wrote on X.
JD Vance flattened for dismissing thousands of deaths as 'little blip'
An offhand comment about the war in Iran by Vice President JD Vance during a speech in Iowa on Tuesday set off a chorus of harsh criticism on MS NOW on Wednesday morning.The vice president spoke at a manufacturing facility during a rally to boost the candidacy of Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Joni Ernst (R) and, while downplaying the economic devastation being visited on US consumers by the war, he awkwardly admitted, "We also know that a lot of our farmers are struggling with high fertilizer prices. I'm aware of that. As the president of the United States has said, we got a little blip in the Middle East. We gotta take care of some business on the foreign policy side."The panel on “Morning Joe” was quick to pounce on Vance’s dismissive comments.Co-host Willie Gest, speaking with conservative columnist David French, prompted his guest with, “We had two days ago the president of the United States calling this a ‘mini war. ‘Yesterday you had Vice President Vance calling this a blip. I think everyone who's lost a family member in this war, or who's now paying $4.50 a gallon on national average, or much more in many states, would consider it much more than a blip. They're trying to sort of minimize and diminish the war and in many ways, wish it away.”“You know, it's very clear at this point that it looks like Trump was essentially sold a bill of goods that he thought, and he keeps using the Venezuela comparison, we've heard it that he thought what he was getting was going to be a short and glorious and victorious military operation and he hadn't thought this through," French noted.Co-host Joe Scarborough turned the conversation back to Vance’s remark.“Over 100 school children being killed the first day of the war is a blip, up to maybe 10,000, 15,000 Iranians being killed, JD Vance is calling a blip,” he recited. “You have JD Vance calling a blip entire communities in Lebanon being wiped off the face of the earth. I mean, how would JD Vance feel if his community that he grew up in didn't have a building left standing? That's what's happening in Lebanon, all across Lebanon, because of this, quote, ‘blip.’”“That's what's happening in Iran because of this blip,” he added. “And as you say, people across the world are paying for this day in and day out with an economy that's getting worse. And of course, I guess only people like me worry about spending money and the national debt, but this war has already cost us $250 billion at minimum.”“If this is what JD Vance calls a, quote, ‘blip,’ well, then JD Vance is not a serious person. He's not a compassionate person. He's certainly — the lack of humanity calling this something that caused this much suffering a blip speaks volumes.” - YouTube youtu.be
Trump's legacy hinges on an issue he has no interest in paying attention to: biographer
President Donald Trump's legacy hinges on an issue he has no interest in addressing, according to one of his biographers. Journalist Michael Wolff argued during a new episode of the "Inside Trump's Head" podcast, co-hosted by Nico Hines, the Daily Beast’s global editorial director, that Trump's war in Iran is shaping up to end a lot like the oil crisis that plagued former President Jimmy Carter long after he left office. Wolff noted that Americans have become increasingly sensitive to rising gas prices resulting from the war, similar to the crisis Carter faced when the former Iranian regime fell, he added. At the same time, Trump has failed to pay attention to the changing nature of modern warfare, Wolff argued. Not only could that cost the U.S. a decisive victory in Iran, but it could also make Trump a footnote in history. "So the lesson that everyone should have been learning if they paid attention to Ukraine — which Donald Trump was not doing, was not interested in doing, and rather stubbornly refused to do — is that the nature of warfare was changing," Wolff said. Wolff added that Trump's team inside the White House has no clue how to respond to the crisis that the president has created. "Everybody within the white House and within the Trump political team is aware that they don't know what to do about this," Wolff said. "They literally do not know what to do. They don't know how to get us out of the war, and they don't know how to manage this on a political basis."
GOP strategist gives blunt verdict on Rubio presser
Secretary of State Marco Rubio showed an impressive command of the issues when going to bat for the Trump administration at his press conference on Tuesday, former George W. Bush strategist Mark McKinnon told MS NOW's Katy Tur on Tuesday, but it won't be enough to salvage the administration's credibility.During the speech, Rubio — who in recent months has been eyed more intensely for another presidential run — did his best to justify the president's decisions in the Iran war, and insist that the United States was on track for a strategic victory."Mark, there's been a lot of talk lately about 2028," said Tur. "What's going to happen after Donald Trump leaves the scene? And the two men that get talked about the most in the Republican Party are Marco Rubio and JD Vance. And there are real questions about whether JD Vance is likable enough to win an election, and a lot more and a lot louder whispers about Marco Rubio. What did you see today?""Well, three things I'd say," said McKinnon. "Number one, it's significant that they've rolled out Marco Rubio to explain something that nobody else in the administration has been able to very clearly, compellingly explain. Number two, watching him, he's a really good explainer. I mean, he's an adult. He's really wired on foreign policy. I used to cover his foreign policy events years ago, and when he was heading up the committee, he knows what he's talking about. But thirdly, I'd also say, if you're explaining in politics, you're losing. That was a lot of explaining and not a lot of clarity.""Yeah, that's a really good point," said Tur. "You'd have to imagine that if they put him out there in the beginning ahead of all this, or maybe had him go and attempt diplomacy with our allies to get him on board, whether we'd be in a different situation, Mark.""No question about it," agreed McKinnon. "And I again, I say watching him today, you see how effective he is. He's a great communicator. You know, he knows diplo-speak really well. You could tell that he'd be good dealing with foreign adversaries and allies, maybe better than, you know, a couple of guys that don't have any foreign policy experience. And Witkoff and Jared.""So again, I think you make a great point," he said. "Had he been involved up front, not only in the negotiations, not only the decision, I don't know what he was involved in the decision, but in articulating it with our allies, I think we'd be in much better place than we are today." - YouTube youtu.be
'Why is everyone giggling?' Laughter ensues as Rubio calls on right-wing reporter
Reporters at the White House press briefing on Tuesday were audibly laughing after Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on a pro-MAGA correspondent to ask a question. Rubio called on Cara Castronuova, a White House correspondent for LindellTV, which is owned by Mike Lindell, a Trump ally who also founded My Pillow, when the laughter broke out. "What happened, why is everyone giggling? What happened? I'm sorry, are they being mean to you? Rubio asked."I don't think they are, I don't think they are, I hope not," Castronuova said, asking Rubio to comment on Trump's comment that Iranians needed guns and if the U.S. would supply those. reporters start giggling as Rubio calls upon a Lindell TV correspondent to ask a question pic.twitter.com/UCfu3OVwAa— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 5, 2026
'Get the children away': Outrage breaks out over Trump's startling remarks around kids
People were stunned on Tuesday after President Donald Trump started touting his unpopular Iran war and discussing it in front of a group of children in the Oval Office. The kids were at the White House to celebrate Trump's signing of a proclamation to restore the Presidential Fitness Test award, and in the press briefing, the president ranted about trans athletes in youth sports, then attempted to make his case for the Middle East conflict.Media experts were astounded by Trump's comments, with some calling out the president for his misinformation and decision to talk with children about adult topics. "He’s the LeBron James of being weird around kids," political commentator Evan loves Worf wrote on X."These are lies. And children are being exposed," Scott MacFarlane, MeidasTouch chief Washington correspondent, wrote on X."T***p's third term can be Santa Claus at the mall where unsuspecting children could sit on his lap all day long," author Joyce Carol Oates wrote on X. "He needs an R rating," Heather Thomas, actor and activist, wrote on X."I thought the whole ~*thing*~ the right was mad about for years was kids being made aware that some people transition," media strategist Ari Drennen wrote on X."Get the children away from him," Juliet Jeske, journalist and writer of the Substack Decoding Fox News, wrote on X.
Rubio gets blunt fact check on Trump's claims that Pope 'endangering' Catholics
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was hit with a serious fact check on Tuesday after denying that President Donald Trump had previously said that Pope Leo was "endangering" Catholics with his comments against the Iran war. Rubio was filling in during a press conference for White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt who was on maternity leave when he was asked to clarify Trump's comments. "I don't think that's an accurate description of what he said," Rubio said, denying the president's remarks. Christopher Hale, a political operative and Letters from Leo publisher, pushed back on Rubio's response. "That’s 100% what President Trump said. Here’s the proof," Hale wrote in a post on X, sharing the recent Salem News Channel interview with Trump where he did indeed say that Pope Leo was "endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.""I guess if it's up to the pope, he thinks it's just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon," Trump said in the interview. That’s 100% what President Trump said. Here’s the proof. https://t.co/8vX3hUYd6X pic.twitter.com/iPGkFaQMOL— Christopher Hale (@ChristopherHale) May 5, 2026
