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Lindsey Graham, South Carolina senator and Trump ally, dies at 71

Lindsey Graham dies

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who spent years as one of Donald Trump’s sharpest critics before becoming one of his closest allies in the Senate, has died at 71, his office announced Sunday.

Graham died after a “brief and sudden illness,” according to a post from his office on X. U.S. media reported that emergency personnel responded to a call for cardiac arrest at his Capitol Hill home in Washington on Saturday night.

The race to fill his seat won’t shift the broader battle for Senate control in November between Republicans and Democrats, since South Carolina has voted reliably Republican for years. But his death takes away a dependable vote for Trump at a moment when the president is trying to push his agenda through a narrowly divided Senate. It also lands while another senior Republican, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, remains hospitalized for undisclosed health issues.

South Carolina law gives the state’s Republican governor, Henry McMaster, the power to name a temporary replacement for Graham’s seat right away. State Republicans will then have to hold an expedited primary to choose a nominee for the November 3 general election, and that nominee doesn’t have to be the same person McMaster appoints as the temporary fill-in.

Graham built a reputation as a defense hawk. He backed Israel and Ukraine consistently and pushed a hard line against Iran. He had just returned from a trip to Ukraine and was scheduled to appear Sunday morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the network said.

Trump reacted to the news by calling Graham “one of the greatest people and senators I have ever known” and a hard-working patriot. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was “deeply saddened” and described Graham as “a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel had lost one of its greatest friends, that America had lost a great patriot, and that he personally had lost a beloved friend.

A former critic turned ally

Graham didn’t always speak about Trump this way. During the 2016 campaign, when Graham was one of many Republicans competing against Trump for the party’s presidential nomination, he warned on social media that nominating Trump would lead to political disaster, adding that Republicans “will deserve it.”

In a 2015 interview with CNN, Graham called Trump “a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” and said he didn’t represent the Republican Party or the values that American troops were fighting for.

Their relationship shifted dramatically in the years that followed. Graham became a loyal supporter and a frequent golf partner of Trump’s. Even so, he broke with Trump publicly last year over the president’s decision to pardon roughly 1,500 supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, warning that the move could encourage more violence.

A steady voice on Ukraine

Graham visited Ukraine 10 times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, according to Zelenskiy. On Friday, just days before his death, Graham met with Zelenskiy in Kyiv to discuss Ukraine’s air defense needs and a pending Russian sanctions bill.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv’s Mykhailivska Square, Graham argued that China held the key to ending the war. He said the path toward peace ran through Beijing more than through Washington, Kyiv or Moscow, and said he hoped China would use its influence on Russia for the benefit of the world. He added that he didn’t believe Russian President Vladimir Putin was ready for peace talks yet, but said it wouldn’t take much to get him there.

Zelenskiy wrote on Facebook that Ukraine would always be grateful for Graham’s recognition of the country and his admiration for the courage of its defenders.

Decades in Washington

Graham most recently chaired the Senate Budget Committee. He also served on the Appropriations Committee, the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Before entering the Senate in 2002, Graham served in the House of Representatives, first elected in 1994. He worked as an Air Force lawyer and served in the South Carolina Air National Guard earlier in his career.

Graham was not married and lived in Seneca, South Carolina.

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George Mensah

George Mensah is a Senior Political & Conflict Correspondent at ClicxPost, covering global politics, international conflict, and economic developments. With five years of experience in breaking news and geopolitical reporting, he delivers fast, accurate analysis on major world events.

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Lindsey Graham dies

Lindsey Graham, South Carolina senator and Trump ally, dies at 71

July 12, 2026 No Comments

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who spent years as one of Donald Trump’s sharpest critics before becoming one of his closest allies in the Senate, has died at 71, his office announced Sunday.

Graham died after a “brief and sudden illness,” according to a post from his office on X. U.S. media reported that emergency personnel responded to a call for cardiac arrest at his Capitol Hill home in Washington on Saturday night.

The race to fill his seat won’t shift the broader battle for Senate control in November between Republicans and Democrats, since South Carolina has voted reliably Republican for years. But his death takes away a dependable vote for Trump at a moment when the president is trying to push his agenda through a narrowly divided Senate. It also lands while another senior Republican, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, remains hospitalized for undisclosed health issues.

South Carolina law gives the state’s Republican governor, Henry McMaster, the power to name a temporary replacement for Graham’s seat right away. State Republicans will then have to hold an expedited primary to choose a nominee for the November 3 general election, and that nominee doesn’t have to be the same person McMaster appoints as the temporary fill-in.

Graham built a reputation as a defense hawk. He backed Israel and Ukraine consistently and pushed a hard line against Iran. He had just returned from a trip to Ukraine and was scheduled to appear Sunday morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the network said.

Trump reacted to the news by calling Graham “one of the greatest people and senators I have ever known” and a hard-working patriot. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was “deeply saddened” and described Graham as “a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel had lost one of its greatest friends, that America had lost a great patriot, and that he personally had lost a beloved friend.

A former critic turned ally

Graham didn’t always speak about Trump this way. During the 2016 campaign, when Graham was one of many Republicans competing against Trump for the party’s presidential nomination, he warned on social media that nominating Trump would lead to political disaster, adding that Republicans “will deserve it.”

In a 2015 interview with CNN, Graham called Trump “a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” and said he didn’t represent the Republican Party or the values that American troops were fighting for.

Their relationship shifted dramatically in the years that followed. Graham became a loyal supporter and a frequent golf partner of Trump’s. Even so, he broke with Trump publicly last year over the president’s decision to pardon roughly 1,500 supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, warning that the move could encourage more violence.

A steady voice on Ukraine

Graham visited Ukraine 10 times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, according to Zelenskiy. On Friday, just days before his death, Graham met with Zelenskiy in Kyiv to discuss Ukraine’s air defense needs and a pending Russian sanctions bill.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv’s Mykhailivska Square, Graham argued that China held the key to ending the war. He said the path toward peace ran through Beijing more than through Washington, Kyiv or Moscow, and said he hoped China would use its influence on Russia for the benefit of the world. He added that he didn’t believe Russian President Vladimir Putin was ready for peace talks yet, but said it wouldn’t take much to get him there.

Zelenskiy wrote on Facebook that Ukraine would always be grateful for Graham’s recognition of the country and his admiration for the courage of its defenders.

Decades in Washington

Graham most recently chaired the Senate Budget Committee. He also served on the Appropriations Committee, the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Before entering the Senate in 2002, Graham served in the House of Representatives, first elected in 1994. He worked as an Air Force lawyer and served in the South Carolina Air National Guard earlier in his career.

Graham was not married and lived in Seneca, South Carolina.

FIFA World Cup semi finals 2026

Top four ranked teams reach world cup semi-finals for first time under new fifa draw

July 12, 2026 No Comments

For the first time, the four highest-ranked teams in FIFA’s world rankings have all reached the World Cup semi-finals, and a change FIFA made to the draw for this tournament helped make that happen.

Spain sits first in the rankings, followed by Argentina, France and England. FIFA split those four teams into separate quadrants of the draw, which meant none of them could meet before the semi-final stage. To reach that point, each team still had to win its group, and all four did.

That separation kept Spain and Argentina apart until a possible final. It also sent England and France to opposite sides of the knockout bracket, setting up a path where each could only run into Spain or Argentina once the semi-finals arrived. FIFA said the change was designed to protect “competitive balance” by creating “two separate pathways to the semi-finals.”

The semi-final matchups are now set: France plays Spain on Tuesday, and England takes on Argentina on Wednesday.

Wimbledon uses a similar method to keep top seeds apart, and so does the new Champions League format, which pairs seeded teams to keep them from meeting early.

A ranking system with a mixed track record

FIFA introduced its world rankings in 1994, though organizers didn’t use them to seed that year’s tournament. Since then, ranking success has been inconsistent. Belgium in 2022, Germany in 2018, Spain in 2014, Italy in 2010 and France in 2002 all entered their World Cups ranked in the top four, and none of them survived the group stage.

Every World Cup since 1998 has produced at least one shock: the top-ranked teams never all made it through to the semi-finals until now.

Why FIFA changed the draw

FIFA officials were open about the reasoning behind the new draw format. The governing body wanted to stop the four top-ranked countries from facing each other in the early knockout rounds, a move meant to hold the biggest matchups for the later stages of the tournament.

Under the old 32-team format, this wasn’t much of an issue. Group winners simply couldn’t meet in the last 16. The last time two of the world’s top four teams played each other before the semi-finals was 2010, when the Netherlands beat Brazil 2-1 in the quarter-finals.

The switch to a 48-team World Cup changed that math. With an extra knockout round added, group winners could now run into each other far earlier, and that’s exactly what happened this summer. Three last-16 matches paired group winners against each other: the United States against Belgium, England against Mexico, and Switzerland against Colombia.

That expanded format pushed FIFA to adjust the draw. Officials wanted to avoid a scenario where a glamour matchup between two top-four sides also guaranteed one of them an early exit.

How it played out at the Club World Cup

FIFA used the same ranking-based approach for last year’s Club World Cup, though the results there were less clean. One of the four top seeds, Real Madrid, still managed to reach the semi-finals despite the format designed to test how well seeding could hold up under the new bracket structure.

Jude Bellingham World Cup 2026

Bellingham reaching heights of World Cup legends

July 12, 2026 No Comments

Jude Bellingham dragged England through the thin air of Mexico City, then through the wet heat of Miami, and both times he scored the goals that kept his country moving forward. At 23, he now looks like a player trying to end a wait that has lasted six decades.

Some World Cups turn on one man. Diego Maradona did it for Argentina in 1986. Ronaldo did it for Brazil in Yokohama in 2002. Lionel Messi finally got his hands on the trophy with Argentina in Doha in 2022. Bellingham scored twice to beat Norway in the Miami heat, and his name now belongs in that conversation, even if he has a long way to go before he belongs in that company.

The road ahead is brutal. Messi and Argentina, fresh off a win over Switzerland, wait in Atlanta for the semi-final. Beyond that sits either Spain or a French side built around Kylian Mbappe, standing between England and a first World Cup since Sir Alf Ramsey’s team won it on 30 July 1966.

Those are steep obstacles. But every so often a player wills a tournament to bend to him, and Bellingham looks like he’s trying to do exactly that.

Bellingham matches World Cup greats

Nobody is ready to put Bellingham alongside Pele or Maradona. That comparison would be premature given what those two achieved and the legends they became. But his performances in the Azteca against Mexico, followed by his display against Norway in Miami, already stand up next to some remarkable numbers.

Bellingham is the first player to score two or more goals in consecutive knockout games at a single World Cup since Maradona managed it in 1986. He’s also the second-youngest player to do it, behind only Pele, who scored twice in consecutive knockout matches at 17 during Brazil’s title run in Sweden in 1958.

He has earned the right to wear the number 10 shirt that both of those players wore, this time in white rather than blue and white or yellow.

The numbers from the Norway game back up the eye test. Bellingham had five shots, more than any other England player on the pitch. He led the team in touches inside the opposition box with six, won more duels than anyone else with eight, and won four fouls, also a team high.

He has built a habit of scoring when England need it most. Against Slovakia in Gelsenkirchen, he leveled the score with an overhead kick in the 94th minute and 34th second, a goal that set up an extra-time win in the last 16. He has had rough stretches since then, including a spell when head coach Thomas Tuchel left him out of the squad entirely. None of that showed up at this World Cup.

After the win over Mexico, in which he scored twice in a 3-2 victory, and then the double against Norway, Bellingham could be forgiven for feeling like the man England keeps turning to when the pressure is highest. Of his 12 international goals, nine have come at major tournaments. Five have put England ahead in a match, and two have been equalizers.

Only Gary Lineker, who scored six goals during the 1986 World Cup, has more non-penalty goals in a single tournament for England, and Bellingham still has matches left to add to his total.

He has scored with his left foot, his right foot, and his head at this World Cup. The only other player at the tournament to do that is Erling Haaland. His goals have come in different ways, too: some are the instincts of a natural poacher, arriving in the right spot at the right time, and others are moments where his pace, strength and technique simply overwhelm defenders.

Bellingham chasing the greats

Reporters who have now covered seven World Cups have watched this pattern before. A player raises his level, and his team rises with him, until both match the size of the occasion.

In Japan and South Korea in 2002, Ronaldo carried the weight of his own comeback story. Four years earlier in France, he had struggled through mysterious health problems before Brazil lost the final 3-0 to the host nation in Paris. He had also battled serious injuries in between. In 2002, he scored both goals in Brazil’s 2-0 win over Germany in the final, then stood in front of reporters in Yokohama and said simply: “The agony is over.”

Messi went through his own version of that pain, losing the 2014 World Cup final to Germany in Brazil before finally winning the trophy with Argentina in Qatar, beating France on penalties after a final many still call one of the best ever played.

Bellingham hasn’t reached that stature yet, but his role for England is starting to carry that kind of weight, alongside captain Harry Kane’s.

In some ways, Bellingham is chasing his own redemption. He started for England in the Euro 2024 final, which they lost to Spain. Shoulder and hamstring injuries then interrupted his season at Real Madrid, and there was real debate over whether he would even start at this World Cup, given the form of his boyhood friend Morgan Rogers.

Tuchel let that competition play out publicly, encouraging the rivalry between the two players. When the World Cup arrived, he chose Bellingham, citing his experience in big matches and the level he can reach.

Bellingham has answered that decision with performance after performance, closing the door on anyone who questioned his place in Tuchel’s starting eleven.

If England are going to end a wait that stretches back to 1966, Bellingham will need to help them get past Argentina, then either Spain or France. Judging by the way he has played through Mexico City and Miami, few players look more ready to try.

US Iran strikes 2026

Iran closes Strait of Hormuz, US launches fresh strikes

July 12, 2026 No Comments

US forces carried out a new round of strikes on Iranian military targets after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard hit a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz, deepening a conflict that has pushed the two countries to the edge of open war.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the strait was closed until further notice and struck US bases and allied nations across the Gulf in response to the American attacks. The Guard said it hit a US base in Jordan, while the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain all intercepted missiles and drones fired from Iranian territory.

The latest exchange follows attacks earlier in the week on three commercial tankers, which triggered a separate round of US and Iranian strikes. State media in Iran said the government shut the strait after firing a naval cruise missile at a vessel that tried to sail through an unapproved corridor. The Guard said the ship was “hit by warning shots and stopped” after ignoring repeated instructions, according to a statement carried by the state news agency. Iranian officials also warned that any US response to the closure would be met with “severity” and that new bases in the region would come under fire.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator with Washington, wrote on X that the “era of one-sided deals is OVER.” He added: “We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”

US Central Command launched its third round of strikes this week after accusing the Guard of attacking a Cyprus-flagged vessel in the strait. Centcom said the ship, the MV GFS Galaxy, suffered major damage to its engine room and could not continue its journey. One crew member was reported missing. The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations agency said military authorities told it the crew had abandoned ship and were adrift in a lifeboat.

“Iran was provided yet another opportunity to demonstrate adherence to the Memorandum of Understanding after being held accountable for earlier attacks on commercial vessels but has again failed,” Centcom said in a statement posted to X. The command said US forces hit 140 Iranian military targets, including missile and drone sites, communication networks and coastal surveillance posts.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared the statement and wrote: “Iran made a poor choice. Now they pay.” The Guard said the US had targeted “a number of coastal bases and telecommunications towers on the southern coast.”

Iran said its “first phase” of retaliation included a strike on Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan, which it said destroyed the base’s command and control center along with hangars housing MQ-9 drones.

The Guard has published its own proposed shipping route through the strait, running between the Iranian islands of Qeshm and Larak and skirting a marked “dangerous area” before connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. Iran has told shipping companies to use that route instead of a separate US-recommended path through Omani waters.

Three tankers came under attack earlier in the week while attempting to cross the US-recommended route. Iran has repeatedly said its own route is the only “safe” passage through the strait. The attacks prompted a series of US strikes that killed 17 people and injured 115, according to Iranian officials, followed by Iranian strikes on US allies across the Gulf.

The exchange pushed tensions higher. President Donald Trump said the Iranian attacks meant a prior ceasefire was over, while Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the US of violating the agreement. Trump said talks would continue and that mediators were working to revive the process. US media outlets have reported that Iran told American officials the tanker attacks were a mistake carried out by a rogue internal group. American officials say they have told mediators that Iran must publicly confirm the Strait of Hormuz remains open and commit to stopping fire on commercial ships.

The closure came days after a call for revenge from Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, in his first public address since taking power. His father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, was killed in an air strike on February 28, the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran, and was buried in Mashhad on Friday.

Reading a statement on state television, the new ayatollah said vengeance was the “will of the nation.” He said: “We pledge to avenge the blood of the martyred leader and all the martyrs of these two wars from the criminal and disgraced killers.” He added: “The matter depends neither on my personal existence nor on that of other officials. Whether we are present or not, it will come to pass.”

Mourners at funeral ceremonies for Ali Khamenei in Mashhad carried placards calling for the killing of Trump over the past several days. Trump said Saturday that any such plans would prompt the US to “decimate and destroy all areas” of Iran in response.

The Wall Street Journal and other US outlets reported this week that Israel had shared intelligence with Washington indicating Iran had recently drawn up a plan to assassinate the US president. Trump denied that Tehran had made a fresh plan or that Israel supplied any such intelligence. He told the New York Post that he had been “No. 1 [on Iran’s kill list] for a long time.”

Vozinha sea slug named after him

Vozinha’s world cup heroics earn him a sea slug named in his honour

July 11, 2026 No Comments

Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha has picked up an unexpected honour after his run at the World Cup, with scientists naming a newly identified sea slug species after him.

The Cape Verde islanders pushed Argentina to extra time before falling 3-2, a result that capped a tournament run few had predicted for the small West African nation. Before that exit, Vozinha kept a clean sheet in a goalless draw against European champions Spain, a result that gave Cape Verde its first-ever point at a World Cup.

That performance changed his profile almost overnight. His Instagram following jumped from 50,000 to 17.4 million, a number that puts him ahead of NFL veteran Tom Brady in social media reach.

A New Species Named In His Honour

Biologist Jesus Ortea, a professor emeritus at the University of Oviedo, found the small red mollusc in the Caribbean and gave it the name Aldisa vozinha, tying it directly to the 40-year-old goalkeeper.

In his published report on the discovery, Ortea wrote that he wanted to mark Vozinha’s role at the tournament. He also pointed out a detail that made the choice feel deliberate rather than arbitrary: the slug’s red colouring mirrors the nickname of Spain’s national team, La Roja, the side against whom Vozinha delivered his best-remembered display.

“The red colour of the dedicated species is a reminder of his feat,” Ortea wrote.

A Scientist With A Football Habit

This isn’t the first time Ortea has mixed marine biology with football. At 75, he has built a pattern of naming new species after players who catch his attention during major tournaments.

He previously named a species discovered in Costa Rica after Keylor Navas, the goalkeeper who played for Costa Rica at several World Cups and spent time at Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Nottingham Forest.

Ortea also named a separate creature after Quini, the former Sporting Gijon striker, picking a species whose colours matched the club’s kit.

His connection to Cape Verde goes beyond this latest naming. Ortea received the country’s Medal of Merit in 2023 for his research in the waters surrounding the island nation, work that had already put him in contact with Cape Verdean officials before Vozinha’s World Cup run began.

A Breakthrough Run For Cape Verde

Cape Verde’s World Cup campaign stood out as one of the tournament’s more unexpected stories. A nation of roughly 500,000 people reached a stage most had not anticipated, and Vozinha’s saves against Spain became the moment that defined the run for many watching outside the country.

The draw with Spain secured a point that Cape Verde had never managed at a World Cup before that match. Reaching the knockout stage and taking Argentina to extra time added to a run that turned Vozinha into one of the tournament’s more recognisable figures, despite representing one of its smaller footballing nations.

His social media numbers reflect how quickly that recognition spread. Going from 50,000 followers to 17.4 million in the span of a single tournament put him among the most-followed athletes to emerge from this World Cup, regardless of how his side’s run ultimately ended.

Science Meets Sport

Ortea’s naming choices follow a consistent logic. Rather than picking names at random, he has tied each species to a detail about the player or club being honoured, whether through colour, geography, or timing. The Vozinha naming continues that approach, linking a mollusc found in the Caribbean to a goalkeeper who plays his football thousands of miles away in Africa and Europe.

Species names given in honour of public figures are not unusual in taxonomy, but Ortea’s specific focus on footballers gives his research a public profile that pure marine biology often doesn’t attract. Each naming tends to draw attention back to his broader work cataloguing new mollusc species, work that includes his research around Cape Verde’s coastline.

For Cape Verde, the timing adds another layer of recognition to a tournament that already delivered milestones the country had not reached before. Vozinha’s clean sheet against Spain and the near-miss against Argentina will likely remain the sporting highlights of the run, but the naming of Aldisa vozinha gives the goalkeeper a mark tied to the tournament that will outlast this particular World Cup cycle.

Ortea’s report on the discovery did not indicate whether he plans to name further species after players from this tournament, though his history suggests Vozinha may not be the last footballer to receive this kind of tribute.

Trump Iran assassination plot

Trump Says He Has Left Instructions Should Iran Assassinate Him

July 11, 2026 No Comments

President Donald Trump said he has left instructions for a massive military response against Iran if Tehran manages to kill him, a warning he delivered while dismissing a recent report about a fresh assassination plot tied to the country.

Trump spoke to the New York Post on Friday and said Iran has wanted him dead for years and would face retaliation on a scale it has not seen before if any plot against him ever worked. He pushed back on the idea that Israel had uncovered a new plan targeting him, even as he stood by his longstanding claim that Iran’s intent toward him has never wavered.

“No, no. Israel came up with nothing. No, no,” Trump said. “I’ve been No. 1 [on Iran’s kill list] for a long time, and it’s the way life is, you know.”

He then added, “I hope you’ll miss me.”

CNN later reported that intelligence Israel passed to the United States did not describe a formal assassination plot. Instead, the intelligence contained unspecified information suggesting that Ahmad Vahidi, a commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, wanted Trump dead, according to the New York Post’s account of the CNN report.

Trump’s comments landed as tensions between Washington and Tehran escalated sharply. He recently walked away from a ceasefire with Iran and an early-stage memorandum of understanding after Iran allegedly struck three ships in the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the week. The United States responded by revoking a sanctions waiver tied to Iranian oil and launching close to 200 strikes across Iran over a two-day span.

Iran has said publicly that it wants revenge against Trump since 2020, when he ordered the strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, a senior Iranian military commander. Multiple attempts to assassinate Trump have been stopped since he survived a shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, the New York Post reported.

Anti-Trump sentiment in Iran has grown more intense in recent days. Demonstrators at memorial gatherings have carried banners calling for his death, according to the New York Post. Iranian media cited by the newspaper quoted a eulogist at one gathering asking, “Why shouldn’t we kill the one who killed my imam and my leader? Trump’s killing is our duty. Why is the most despicable man in the world still alive?”

Trump made similar comments in 2025, when he said he had given orders to destroy Iran if he were assassinated. The New York Post noted that his latest remarks carried more force than before, coming as threats against him have picked up again.

Trump repeated his claim about being Iran’s top target while speaking at the NATO summit in Ankara earlier in the week. He also took aim at the country’s leadership during those remarks.

“They had leaders, they’re gone. Then they had another set of leaders, they’re gone. Now they have another set of leaders, they may be gone, who knows?” Trump said. “And you know what? I may be gone too. Because I’m their No. 1 target, it’s out all over the place. Because they’re scum.”

He continued, “That’s the way they act and that’s the way they’ve done it for 47 years.”

Trump switched aircraft on his way back from Ankara this week. The White House described the switch as a security precaution taken after Trump publicly said Iran continued to pursue his assassination.

The exchange in Ankara came against a backdrop of a military campaign that has expanded quickly since the Strait of Hormuz incident. The nearly 200 strikes carried out over two days marked a sharp jump in the scale of US action against Iran, following the collapse of the ceasefire and the memorandum both sides had been working toward before the attack on the three ships. US officials have said Washington wants Iran to commit to ending its attacks in the strait, a waterway that carries a large share of the world’s seaborne oil traffic and has repeatedly been a flashpoint between the two countries.

Trump’s account of what Israeli intelligence showed differs from the version CNN reported. Where Trump described the reports of a plot as unfounded, CNN’s sourcing pointed to intelligence about a specific IRGC commander’s alleged wish to see him killed, without describing that intelligence as evidence of an organized plan. The distinction matters for how the threat is being assessed inside the US government, even as Trump’s public message stayed focused on the broader, years-long pattern he says Iran has followed.

That pattern, as Trump described it in Ankara, includes a succession of Iranian leaders he said have been removed one after another, a reference to the toll Israeli and US strikes have taken on the country’s senior military and political figures during the recent conflict. His comment that he “may be gone too” was delivered in the same breath as his claim to be Iran’s top target, a claim he has repeated regularly since ordering the Soleimani strike in January 2020.

That strike, carried out by a US drone near Baghdad’s airport, killed the commander of Iran’s Quds Force and prompted Iran’s government to vow retaliation against Trump personally. Tehran has repeated that vow at intervals in the years since, and Trump has cited it as the basis for his security posture whenever the subject comes up.

The Butler, Pennsylvania, rally shooting in July 2024 added a separate layer to the security discussion around Trump, one not directly tied to Iran. The New York Post’s report treated the plots allegedly linked to Iran as a distinct thread from that shooting, describing both as part of a broader run of threats against Trump that have been disrupted since he returned to the campaign trail and then to office.

Trump’s remark to the Post, “I hope you’ll miss me,” came across as characteristically informal for a statement about his own possible assassination, a tone he has used before when discussing threats against him. He paired that remark with the more pointed warning about the scale of retaliation Iran would face, without detailing what form a military response would take beyond calling it massive and unprecedented.

The White House has not released additional detail on what instructions Trump says he has left or with whom. The New York Post’s report did not specify which officials or agencies had been briefed on the plan, and the newspaper’s account relied on Trump’s own description of the arrangement rather than confirmation from a second source inside the administration.

Iran’s government has not issued a direct response to Trump’s latest comments as of the New York Post’s report. The eulogist’s remarks at the memorial gathering, relayed through Iranian media, reflected sentiment among some demonstrators rather than an official statement from Tehran.

The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz remains unresolved. US officials have continued to press Iran to commit to halting attacks in the waterway, even as the two countries’ broader diplomatic track, including the ceasefire and memorandum Trump abandoned, remains stalled. Trump’s comments in Ankara and to the New York Post suggest he intends to keep linking that unresolved military standoff to his own personal safety in public remarks going forward.

Ro Khanna West Bank settlers

Ro khanna says he was detained by armed Israeli settlers during West Bank trip weighing 2028 run

July 11, 2026 No Comments

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna said he was detained by Israeli settlers carrying U.S.-made rifles during a West Bank visit this week, an encounter he described as an unfiltered look at the human cost of Israeli occupation as he weighs a run for president in 2028.

Speaking with Reuters on Thursday in a Palestinian village, Khanna said his group’s van was surrounded a day earlier by settlers carrying M4 rifles while touring a part of the southern West Bank where residents face frequent attacks from settlers.

“We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed, they had destroyed the school, they had destroyed that village, and we were just looking at it,” said Khanna, a progressive Democrat from California in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“And these hoodlums come in with machine guns – M4, an American-made machine gun – and they detain us. They block off the road. And then they call the IDF and the IDF is on their side, not on the side of the Americans,” Khanna said, referring to the Israeli military.

Cameron Kasky, an aide to Khanna who was part of the group, said they were held for more than an hour and appealed to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem for help. Officers who appeared to be police eventually stepped in and the group was released, Kasky said.

The Israeli military said troops and police intervened after receiving a report that settlers had blocked vehicles near Khirbet Zanuta, a small Palestinian hamlet whose residents were forcibly displaced by settler raids following the Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023. “Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way,” the military said. Israel’s police did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.

Democrats split over Israel’s conduct

Khanna is the second Democrat weighing a presidential bid to visit the region this week. Rahm Emanuel, who served as chief of staff under President Barack Obama, said in Tel Aviv on Wednesday that Israeli policies toward Palestinians were wearing down American support for the U.S.-Israeli alliance.

Asked whether he plans to run for president, Khanna said he’s strongly considering it and feels more resolved to do so after this trip.

Israel’s treatment of Palestinians has become a dividing line inside the Democratic Party heading into November’s midterm elections, and it has already cost some incumbent lawmakers their seats in primaries, where left-wing challengers accused them of backing Israel’s right-wing government. Israel’s favorability rating among Democrats dropped from 59% in 2018 to 22% in May, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

Israel has long drawn support from both parties in Washington, but a growing number of congressional Democrats are now pushing to cut off military aid to the country. That aid totals $3.8 billion a year and includes funding for weaponry such as M4 rifles and missile interceptors, the latter of which Israel used during its recent war with Iran.

Khanna calls party leadership out of touch

Standing above a valley dotted with settler outposts on the edge of Turmus Ayya, a village home to thousands of Palestinian Americans holding dual citizenship, Khanna said he believes his party’s leadership is out of touch with how much of a moral test the situation in Palestine, Gaza and Israel has become.

He said he deliberately planned a trip focused only on the West Bank, with Palestinians leading the programming, to get an unfiltered view of territory Israel has occupied since capturing it in the 1967 Middle East war.

“If you’re unwilling to speak up for Palestinian human rights, if you’re unwilling to speak up against the genocide in Gaza, the apartheid in the West Bank, then you are morally compromised,” Khanna said.

Israel denies it has carried out genocide in Gaza or that it operates an apartheid system in the West Bank, which is home to roughly 3 million Palestinians and about 500,000 Jewish settlers.

Most countries and the United Nations consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, pointing to the Fourth Geneva Convention’s ban on moving civilian populations into occupied territory. Israel disputes that view, arguing the West Bank is disputed land where Jewish communities have existed for thousands of years. Palestinians see the West Bank, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem, as part of a future Palestinian state.

Support for Israel remains strong among Republicans, though some figures within Trump’s political coalition have also called for scaling back aid.

Harry Kane Trump golf

Harry Kane confirms ‘surreal’ golf round with Trump ahead of England’s world cup clash with Norway

July 11, 2026 No Comments

England captain Harry Kane confirmed Friday that he once played golf with U.S. President Donald Trump, calling the round “surreal” and giving Trump credit for his game.

Trump told reporters earlier this week that he had played golf with Kane, describing the England striker as a great player and a solid golfer.

Speaking on the eve of England’s World Cup quarter-final against Norway, Kane confirmed the round happened in Palm Beach, Florida, about 18 months ago.

“I played all right, to be honest,” Kane told reporters in Miami. “He invited me to play when I was down in Palm Beach. So yeah, when the president invites you somewhere…”

“It was a pretty surreal experience just to meet him and obviously play golf with him. His golf is pretty good, to be honest,” Kane added. “I hope I can play as well as him when I’m his age. So yeah, unique experience and I was just grateful he invited me down to play.”

Trump had praised the Bayern Munich forward on his Truth Social platform after England’s 3-2 win over Mexico in the last 16, writing that Kane is a great player.

The next day, Trump revealed the two had golfed together, calling Kane a good golfer whom he likes a lot.

Kane’s comments came at a press conference dominated by talk of Saturday’s quarter-final against Norway in Miami, a match built around a showdown between Kane and Norway’s Erling Haaland, two of the tournament’s most productive strikers. Kane has scored six goals through five games this World Cup, one behind Haaland’s seven and two shy of the tournament lead held jointly by Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. His tally already places him alongside Gary Lineker as one of only three England players to reach six goals in a single major tournament, matching a mark Kane himself set at the 2018 World Cup.

Kane has also become England’s all-time leading World Cup scorer, and a Saturday appearance would tie him with Wayne Rooney as the country’s most-capped outfield player.

Haaland’s run has been just as striking. Playing in his first World Cup, the Manchester City forward has found the net in each of Norway’s four matches so far, a streak that helped carry the country to its first World Cup quarter-final since returning to the tournament after a 28-year absence. His double against Brazil in the round of 16 eliminated the five-time champions and turned Norway into one of the tournament’s biggest surprises.

Kane described Haaland as “a machine” in his pre-match press conference, while drawing a distinction between their games. He said the two strikers operate in almost different positions on the field despite sharing the same role, and pointed to England’s collective effort rather than individual scoring as the source of the team’s results. He singled out contributions from teammates in defense and midfield during the win over Mexico, saying the team has what he called “hero moments” spread across the pitch rather than relying solely on goals from its forwards.

Norway coach Stale Solbakken said Friday that the matchup would likely decide the game, framing it as a contest between two sides built around their respective number nines. England reached the quarter-finals after topping Group L, beating Croatia and Panama and drawing with Ghana, before needing a second-half comeback against the Democratic Republic of the Congo and then holding off co-hosts Mexico in a chaotic 3-2 win at Azteca Stadium. Norway finished second in Group I, then needed a late goal to beat Ivory Coast before stunning Brazil by the same scoreline in the last 16.

England will be without defender Jarell Quansah, who is serving a two-match suspension after a red card against Mexico, and enters the match with lingering fitness questions surrounding Marc Guehi and Reece James. Jordan Henderson is out for the rest of the tournament with a broken wrist. Norway has reported no injury concerns heading into the match.

Saturday’s winner will advance to face either Argentina or Switzerland in the semifinals.

Kane’s relationship with Trump adds an unusual subplot to a tournament that has already drawn its share of political attention in the United States, where World Cup matches are being played across several cities this summer. Kane, who has spent his club career at Tottenham Hotspur and now Bayern Munich, said the invitation to play golf came directly from Trump during a personal visit to Florida rather than through any official channel, and described it as a one-off experience rather than part of any ongoing relationship. He did not offer further detail on how the round came about or whether the two have stayed in touch since.

For now, Kane’s focus remains on ending what has been a 60-year wait for England to win a major men’s tournament. He has said his priority this summer is the trophy itself rather than the Golden Boot, even as his goal tally keeps him in contention for both.

Lionel Messi World Cup 2026

Scaloni says Messi’s age has not slowed him down: ‘as long as he wants to, he will be the best’

July 11, 2026 No Comments

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said Friday that he isn’t surprised by Lionel Messi’s physical condition at 39, and he repeated his belief that the captain will remain the best player in the world for as long as he wants to keep playing.

Messi has driven Argentina’s run through this World Cup, scoring eight goals to match France’s Kylian Mbappe atop the tournament’s scoring chart, and sparking a 3-2 comeback win over Egypt in the round of 16.

Against Egypt, Messi, who is playing in a record sixth World Cup, scored once and set up Cristian Romero’s goal after Argentina fell behind 2-0 with 11 minutes left. The Inter Miami forward, who turned 39 last month, entered the tournament facing questions about his fitness following a recent muscle strain.

“Leo runs more or less the same in every match,” Scaloni said. “Physically, it’s true that he has done preparation work with his fitness coach and it has paid off, but in terms of numbers I don’t know if he has changed that much.”

“What is clear is that he’s giving everything he has. When he gives everything he has and senses that he can create danger, he is a machine,” the coach added.

Scaloni said people expecting Messi’s age to slow him down simply don’t know him well enough.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “Maybe people who don’t know him expected that at 39 he wouldn’t be at this level, but I don’t know how many times I’ve said it: as long as he wants to, he will be the best. I think that, and not because I’m his coach.”

Argentina faces Switzerland in the quarter-finals Saturday in Kansas City. Scaloni had praise for the opponent, which reached the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in 72 years after beating Colombia on penalties following a scoreless draw.

“There are no easy rivals, we all know that,” Scaloni said. “They are a very good team. They compete with the best national teams and always come through. They may win or lose, but they always compete. They have World Cup tradition, experienced players and are physically strong.”

Spain vs Belgium World Cup

Merino’s late strike sends Spain past injury-hit Belgium into world cup semi-final vs France

July 11, 2026 No Comments

Substitute Mikel Merino struck late for Spain on Friday after Belgium goalkeeper Senne Lammens lost his grip on the ball, sealing a 2-1 win over an injury-depleted opponent and booking a World Cup semi-final date with France.

The two sides were tied 1-1 at halftime, and Spain finally broke through when Lammens, who had replaced the injured Thibaut Courtois earlier in the second half, fumbled Pau Cubarsi’s low shot. The ball dropped in front of him, giving Merino just enough space to fire it in as the largely pro-Spain crowd roared on a scorching afternoon at Los Angeles Stadium.

“There are no such things as coincidences,” Merino said. He also scored a late winner off the bench in Spain’s 1-0 round-of-16 win over Portugal. “If you go into a match well-prepared, things tend to happen again.”

Spain last reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2010, the year they won the tournament.

“We are two matches away from winning the World Cup and that is what we are going after,” Merino added.

European champions Spain will meet tournament favorites France in Dallas on Tuesday for a place in the final.

“We’re going to work hard to try and beat France,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said. “They’ll be just as worried as we are.”

Spain came out swinging

Spain pressed early against Belgium, and Fabian Ruiz put them ahead in the 30th minute. He pounced after Courtois made a diving save, then squeezed a shot between defender Timothy Castagne’s legs and into the net.

Ruiz’s goal justified De la Fuente’s decision to start the Paris St Germain midfielder over Pedri, who entered the match in Ruiz’s place early in the second half.

Belgium answered 11 minutes later. Charles De Ketelaere timed his run well and headed home Castagne’s cross past goalkeeper Unai Simon, the first goal Spain had conceded in the tournament. The equalizer gave Belgium fresh momentum, and both teams battled through the heat to halftime.

Spain looked sharper after the break. The team controlled possession and probed Belgium’s defense, with 18-year-old Lamine Yamal a constant threat down the flank. Spain outshot Belgium 17-5 across the match, and the second goal arrived through Merino, who scored just two minutes after entering in the 86th.

Merino is now the first player in World Cup history to score the winning goal in two separate knockout matches as a substitute.

Belgium, led by veterans Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, pushed for a second equalizer and created a few promising chances but couldn’t find a way past Spain’s defense.

Belgium’s injury toll

Belgium entered the match already shorthanded. Captain Youri Tielemans was pulled from the starting lineup shortly before kickoff after getting hurt in the warmup, with Hans Vanaken taking his spot. Midfielder Amadou Onana was also out, having torn his ACL during Belgium’s round-of-16 win over the United States.

The biggest blow came from Courtois. The 34-year-old Real Madrid keeper, regarded as one of the best in the world, made four strong saves before telling the bench he felt muscle pain in his leg while taking long kicks in the second half. He was in tears leaving the field after coach Rudi Garcia opted to substitute him.

“I wanted to continue but, yeah, the coach wanted someone 100%, so okay, that’s his decision… and that’s not a problem,” Courtois said.

That substitution turned out to matter. Courtois could only watch from the sideline as Lammens failed to handle a routine save, opening the door for Merino’s winner.

“Senne, obviously, I gave him a big hug,” Courtois said. “Not much more I can do at the moment. I know, for goalkeepers, this is a shit feeling, and he’s a great goalkeeper, and he will only get stronger from this.”

The 70,492 fans at Los Angeles Stadium included musicians Courtney Love and Noel Gallagher, actor Brad Pitt, and Spanish actors Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.

Friday’s quarter-final was the eighth and final World Cup match held at the $5 billion venue, known as SoFi Stadium outside the tournament and home to the NFL’s Rams and Chargers.

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