by The Associated Press | Sep 20, 2026 | News, World, World News
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ed Sheeran opened a concert Saturday with comments about Gaza after controversy swirled around his tour and supporting acts withdrew in solidarity with opener Macklemore, who was dropped after making pro-Palestinian comments onstage.
Sheeran began the concert alone on stage with no opener, but was joined by other musicians later in the show.
Sheeran said he wants his music and shows to be about unity and humanity, not politics. But he said the attacks in Israel of Oct. 7, 2023, were horrific and what is happening in Gaza “catastrophic and unjustifiable.”
“I don’t want to disappoint fans, and I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet,” Sheeran said during his performance at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
The comments before a nearly full stadium came after a tumultuous week that began with rapper Macklemore, Sheeran’s original U.S. opener, being dropped in response to exclaiming “Free Palestine” during a Sept. 5 show in New Jersey.
Sheeran has said he was not responsible for the decision, which came at the urging of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. His company owns a stadium where Sheeran’s tour was scheduled to play on Friday.
Within hours of Sheeran’s statement Tuesday, his supporting acts withdrew.
Sheeran has performed many songs solo during his Loop Tour concerts, but was joined for several songs at each stop by the Irish folk band Beoga before they dropped out in support of Macklemore.
Macklemore was replaced by Danish band Lukas Graham and Irish singer Aaron Rowe before
by The Associated Press | Sep 19, 2026 | News, White House, World, World News
President Donald Trump announced Friday he has a deal with Denmark to bolster the U.S. military presence in Greenland after months of threatening to take the island by force from the NATO ally — an agreement that also keeps the Arctic territory in Denmark’s hands.
Trump in a social media post announcing the deal said the agreement “gives the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns.”
He added that with the agreement his administration would “immediately” begin the process of developing a larger military presence on the mineral-rich Danish territory.
The office of Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, said the deal will be signed by all three governments next week during the United Nations General Assembly, but parliamentary action is still needed by the Danish and Greenland governments before it can be enforced.
In a statement she said “the agreement recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Greenland and Denmark and upholds both people’s right “to self-determination.”
Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said the emerging deal benefits all three governments and “recognizes Greenland’s interests and our place in the international cooperation.”
Allies pushed back on Trump’s call for the US to acquire Greenland
With his return to the White House last year, Trump called on Denmark to sell the island to the United States, while insisting Greenland is crucial for U.S. security. He pointedly wouldn’t rule out taking the island by military force, even though Denmark is a NATO ally of the U.S.
Denmark and Greenland repeatedly said the island is not for sale and condemned reports of the U.S. gathering intelligence there. The U.S.
by Steve Benen | Sep 18, 2026 | Maddowblog, White House, World, World News
In recent weeks, as domestic energy prices reached new heights, the White House rolled out a talking point: Instead of blaming the unnecessary war Donald Trump launched in Iran, perhaps people should blame Ukraine.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent helped get the ball rolling earlier this month, arguing that fuel prices have climbed because Ukraine decided to “blow up Russian energy assets.” A few days later, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy echoed the claim, connecting diesel prices to Russia’s war in Ukraine. And earlier this week, the American president himself pushed the same line during his recent trip to Ireland.
“Mr. Zelenskyy has to do one thing,” Trump said, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia.”
The obvious problem with the rhetoric was that Trump should’ve been lecturing Russia, not Ukraine. The less obvious problem is that the underlying claim about the cause of increased energy costs wasn’t even true.
But the day after Trump’s comments, he published an announcement of sorts to his social media platform. “Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!” the American president wrote. “The World’s Diesel price rise is mostly caused by the Russia/Ukraine War, not Iran.”
Again, the latter part of the missive was plainly incorrect (about a subject Trump really ought to understand by now), but the former part seemed encouraging. Regardless of the impact on the global market, any kind of diplomatic progress between Russia and Ukraine would be a step in the right direction, and an energy truce would offer new reason for hope.
Three days later, Bloomberg News reported, “Ukraine damaged
by David Rohde | Sep 17, 2026 | Iran, News, World
The GOP’s fortunes in the midterm elections appear increasingly tied to the actions of Iranian-allied militant groups launching attacks on new oil choke points.
An Iranian-backed attack on a key Saudi pipeline has raised fears of $5-per-gallon gas prices in the final six weeks before Election Day.
And another Iranian-backed group’s lightning seizure of Red Sea coastline pushed diesel to record highs on Wednesday.
But President Donald Trump and his aides are downplaying the attacks, and Trump is rebuffing calls for military help from U.S. ally Saudi Arabia to confront Iran’s proxies, which could open yet another front in Trump’s ongoing war against Iran.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken about the Iranian proxy attacks only once in recent days, saying “we’re watching those events very closely.”
“We actually feel like we are on top of the situation,” Vice President JD Vance said Monday, adding that the U.S. was in talks with Houthi militants, one of the Iranian proxy groups.
The recent attacks along the Red Sea trade route and inside Saudi Arabia are signs that Iran is finding new ways to use its proxies to pressure the U.S.
On Sept. 11, Iranian-backed militias in Iraq conducted a long-distance drone strike that damaged multiple pumping stations on Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, satellite images show.
Saudi Arabia is under pressure to restart the pipeline, which transports 4% of the world’s oil moving to market, before it leads to further disruption in the global oil supply.
Former U.S. officials say a second Iranian proxy group — Houthi rebels in Yemen — have advanced closer to holding critical territory near the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb on the Red Sea and are emerging
by Sydney Carruth | Sep 17, 2026 | Congress, News, White House, World
The GOP-controlled Congress has directed President Donald Trump to end his military campaign in Iran five times since the conflict began nearly seven months ago.
The latest effort to rein in the president’s war powers just weeks before the midterms was notable: It attracted fresh support from three Republicans, including two in Iowa battleground districts where farmers are struggling against rising costs inflicted by the war.
Seven House Republicans bucked their party on Tuesday to join Democrats in voting to stop Trump from continuing the U.S. military conflict against Iran.
Most GOP lawmakers have shown little interest in halting the president’s authority over the U.S. war with Iran. But in a 220-204 vote, the lower chamber delivered its most resounding political rebuke yet of the exceedingly unpopular war days before lawmakers are slated to trade Washington for the campaign trail in the final sprint to Election Day.
Among those heading home to campaign are Republican Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn of Iowa, both of whom are locked in tight re-election races in the farm state. They broke with their party Tuesday for the first time to call for an end to the president’s war.
Their decision to defy Trump and the party he leads represented a last-ditch opportunity to distance themselves from the president before voters head to the polls.
The Iran war, which has cost taxpayers an estimated $38 billion, has taken a unique toll on farmers. The prices of gas, diesel and fertilizer — all critical agriculture inputs — have soared as materials required for their production remain stranded on container ships, unable to safely transit the Strait of Hormuz to reach the
by Zeeshan Aleem | Sep 16, 2026 | culture, Opinion, White House, World
Donald Trump Jr. hasn’t taken kindly to the recent scrutiny of his lavish wedding party, following the revelation that it was partially bankrolled by a Russian oligarch with deep ties to the Kremlin. In a joint statement with his wife, Trump Jr. argued that “friendship doesn’t require a political motive” and “sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift.” His defense might make an ounce of sense if he was not the son of the president.
Investigative media outlet ProPublica, citing records it reviewed and interviews with three people familiar with the event, revealed on Monday that Trump Jr.’s three-day party held across two private islands was funded in part by Umar Kremlev, a “Russian oligarch close to President Vladimir Putin.” Kremlev heads the International Boxing Association, an organization that has been financed by the Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom. ProPublica reported that Kremlev “footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses,” including paying to rent one of the islands and the fireworks show. (A spokesperson for Trump Jr. did not dispute the wedding payments from Kremlev and told ProPublica that “Umar is a personal friend of Don.”)
Without even getting into the political and geopolitical concerns, this arrangement is, on its face, peculiar for a few reasons. Trump Jr. said on his podcast that the party was “really small, like, just really close friends,” which makes it all the more striking that Kremlev helped pay for the celebration and attended. ProPublica says Kremlev “speaks limited English,” and Kremlev’s office said that he and Trump Jr. met “a couple of years ago.” President Donald Trump said he’s
