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Apr 27, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump has weaponized Vice President JD Vance to absorb blame over failed negotiations with Iran, an analyst reported on Monday.Salon's Amanda Marcotte described how Trump has forced Vance into a situation he didn't want to be in and by doing so, has put his political future in question."The vice president didn’t even want to be there, a feeling he has apparently made clear through anonymous leaks from either himself or his associates to journalists, which haver [SIC] resulted in flattering stories alleging that the vice president tried to talk Trump out of launching a war on Iran," Marcotte wrote. "These accounts are likely true enough, but not because Vance has some noble objection to needless killing. At 41, the vice president has enough wits about him to see what was very obvious, something the [SIC] Trump has refused to see: that this war would be a political debacle for the administration — and for Vance’s future plans to run for president."Although Vance publicly claims support for the war, his private efforts tell a different story, according to Marcotte. "Vance’s efforts to discreetly paint himself as opposed to the war, though, are backfiring," Marcotte wrote. "The more the Iran war drags on, the more the vice president finds himself getting sucked into the quagmire at the risk of becoming as much the face of the fiasco as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or even Trump himself."But Vance will continue to face this predicament. "Perhaps the dam will break, but right now, it seems like the vice president could be stuck for a long time in the hellhole of trying to negotiate the end of a war he didn’t want with very few cards to play, and a boss who won’t admit that they have been defeated," Marcotte added. "All of which means that, while Trump hits the links at Mar-a-Lago or rests behind his desk while answering reporters’ questions in the Oval Office, it will be Vance whose face is out front on coverage of the war. It will be Vance striding toward planes in photographs and Vance standing behind podiums to explain why negotiations aren’t working."

Apr 26, 2026 - World

The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society said Saturday that his organization has submitted evidence of US-Israeli war crimes to the International Criminal Court and other global bodies, seeking accountability for massive attacks on civilian infrastructure and other violations.“The ICC prosecutor announced that the documents provided by the IRCS are accepted as official evidence,” said Pir-Hossein Koulivand, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society. “All cases of attacks on civilians are being legally pursued based on the Geneva Conventions.”The IRCS estimates that US and Israeli airstrikes have destroyed more than 132,000 civilian structures throughout Iran, including hospitals, apartment buildings, universities, research facilities, and bridges. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to destroy all of Iran’s bridges and power plants if the country’s leadership does not succumb to his administration’s demands in negotiations to end the war.Luis Moreno Ocampo, the founding chief prosecutor of the ICC, said earlier this month that Trump could be indicted if he follows through on his threats.“My suggestion: You read the indictment of the Russians, change the name, and it is very similar,” said Ocampo, referring to ICC arrest warrants issued against senior Russian officials in 2024 for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.In a series of social media posts on Saturday, the IRCS provided video footage and photographic evidence of what the group described as war crimes committed by the US and Israeli militaries.“Among the most bitter war crimes of America and Israel in Iran is the attack on the home of 19-month-old Helma in Tabriz, in which four members of her family were martyred,” the IRCS wrote Saturday. “The only survivor of this family is Helma.”The ICC is tasked with investigating and prosecuting individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other grave violations of international law. Iran is not currently a party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC—so the court does not have jurisdiction over war crimes committed on Iranian territory.Human rights organizations and advocates have implored Iran to grant the ICC jurisdiction to pursue justice for war crimes committed during the illegal US-Israeli assault that began on February 28. On the first day of the war, the US bombed an elementary school in southern Iran.“From the killing of over 150 students and teachers to strikes on hospitals full of newborns, every day more and more evidence emerges pointing to the commission of grave war crimes in Iran since the start of the war,” said Omar Shakir, executive director of DAWN. “Victims deserve justice. The mechanisms exist, and the US has no veto over them.”Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, wrote earlier this month that “the Iranian government could join the court now and grant it retroactive jurisdiction, similar to what Ukraine did to allow prosecution of Russian war crimes.”Last month, the IRCS formally requested that the ICC initiate “an investigation into war crimes arising from attacks by the United States of America and the Israeli regime against civilian objects.”“According to field reports from relief workers, operational documentation, and data recorded by the Iranian Red Crescent Society, a wide range of residential areas, medical facilities, schools, humanitarian facilities, vital urban infrastructure, and public places were directly or indiscriminately targeted during the recent military attacks,” the group wrote in a letter to the ICC’s top prosecutor.

Apr 26, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump's administration has been criticized for a mistake made over King Charles III's visit to the United States. Black lampposts outside of the White House were adorned with flags representing Australia, not the United Kingdom. Political analysts were left astonished by the mix-up, which Trump's admin apologized for at the time. The i Paper opinion editor, Victoria Richards, suggested this was an awkward moment during a strained time for the US and UK's relationship. Richards wrote, "The blunder happened on Friday, when hundreds of national banners were installed across the capital to welcome the King and Queen Camilla, who are making a four-day state visit to Washington, New York and Virginia to mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The error was 'quickly corrected', a DC Department of Transportation official said on Friday."Richards went on to suggest the flag change may have been more than just a simple slip-up. She added, "But given how much the UK Government is hoping the state visit will heal the rift between the US and the UK – and between Donald Trump and Keir Starmer – the slip-up serves as a pretty good summation of how much attention America as a whole is paying. Namely: not a lot."So, this gaffe, now, when relations between our two nations are at perhaps their lowest ebb in 70 years, feels – accidental as it may be – like a power move."Britain is sharply divided as to whether the King should be meeting Trump and touring the US, worried our honor and dignity is being traduced. The US, meanwhile, can’t even remember what our flag looks like. And, in the end, what we’re left with is the message that there’s only “king” who matters in Washington – and his name is Donald Trump."Further analysis from political commentator Art Candee suggested the Trump admin should be embarrassed by the flag mix-up. Candee wrote, "Trump’s administration put up some Australian flags instead of British flags ahead of King Charles’ visit? Embarrassing and beyond symbolic of this dumpster fire presidency."

Apr 26, 2026 - World

A contrast between President Donald Trump's war with Iran and a previous conflict has been flagged by a war scholar.Trump's military conflict with Iran has emerged as one of the most consequential failures of his second term. The war, launched without congressional authorization, has devastated regional stability and undermined American credibility with traditional allies.Domestically, the conflict has fractured the MAGA movement, with prominent figures like Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene publicly opposing the war as a betrayal of "America First" principles.Historian Hai Nguyen believes there are parallels between how Iran has reacted to US strikes and how Vietnam responded to a boots-on-the-ground deployment in the 1960s. Salon columnist Andrew O'Hehir wrote, "From the beginning of this conflict, the Iranians identified the fundamental weakness of U.S. strategy, which was based on a litany of false assumptions, starting with the premise that total victory could be achieved with air power (something that has never happened in the history of warfare) and that killing Iran’s senior leaders would cause the regime to surrender or collapse. "Trump and Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio and whoever else somehow persuaded themselves — or allowed Netanyahu to persuade them — to ignore the obvious Heffalump trap that was right in front of them, that being yet another protracted, expensive and massively unpopular foreign war likely to crater or destroy a presidency."Hai Nguyen, a Vietnam War scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School, told [Foreign Policy columnist Michael] Hirsh that he saw history literally repeating itself. Like the Viet Cong of 50-odd years ago, the Iranians have perceived the American superpower’s Achilles heel: 'They understand that the U.S. could drop thousands of tons of bombs, but it does not possess the patience to withstand a prolonged war.' "In refusing to negotiate despite the risk of further devastation and the immense hardship inflicted on its own people, the Iranian regime is observing a time-honored principle attributed to Napoleon: Never interrupt your opponent when he’s making a mistake."

Apr 25, 2026 - World

President Donald Trump has cancelled a planned diplomatic mission to Pakistan involving senior envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who were scheduled to meet with Iranian representatives, outraging observers.Trump revealed the decision to a Fox News reporter, Aishah Hasnie, first, stating: "I've told my people a little while ago, they were getting ready to leave, and I said, 'Nope, you're not making an 18 hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you're not going to be making any more 18 hour flights to sit around talking about nothing'."He then made a similar "all the cards" announcement on social media.The sudden reversal has drawn criticism from observers across the political spectrum. Former Obama adviser David Axelrod responded with sarcasm: "'We have all the cards,' said the @POTUS, whose casinos went bankrupt six times."Journalist Glenn Greenwald highlighted the stark contradiction in Trump's messaging, noting a complete policy reversal within 24 hours. "From: Iran is begging for negotiations so I'm sending Jared and Witkoff to: We're not sending anyone because we have all the cards," Greenwald wrote, adding that Iran has repeatedly rejected negotiations with Kushner, viewing him as "an agent of Israel."America First conservative David Pyne raised concerns about Trump's stated commitment to ending the conflict, saying: "Many Trump supporters believe him when he says his Iran war is over but his decision to continue the US naval blockade and cancel all peace talks with Iran while surging half the US Navy and USAF along with over 10,000 ground troops strongly suggest otherwise."Ex-prosecutor Joyce Vance captured the shifting messaging with a common comparison: "This is a lot like the weather in Portland, Oregon. If you don't like it, wait 15 minutes and it will change."Far-right influencer Myron Gaines chimed in, "For the r----- Fox news viewers talking about the canceled Pakistan talks. Trump didn't cancel the negotiations. Iran did. Trump is just trying to save face. This ceasefire benefits the US/Israel WAY MORE than Iran. Trump has no cards militarily and he knows it. Any half brain geopolitical commentator knows Iran has escalation dominance right now."