'A definitive backslide.' Inside fashion's worrying runway trend

04/06/23 8:53 PM

Now that the Fall-Winter 2023 catwalks have been disassembled, it's clear one trend was more pervasive than any collective penchant for ruffles, pleated skirts or tailored coats.

'A new Axis of Evil?' Fury after Trump invitation to 'treason summit' floated by adversary

10/19/26 1:19 AM

President Donald Trump's name was floated as a potential attendee to what some political analysts have described as a "treason summit."The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Trump may be invited to an upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping to discuss an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. The hypothetical invitation came at a time when Trump had sparked fury for not only buying diesel fuel from Russia and allowing the proceeds to go toward continuing the war in Ukraine and arming America's adversaries in Iran, but also lifting sanctions on Russia that were implemented under legislation passed in honor of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The report ignited a firestorm on social media. Grant Stern, executive editor of Occupy Democrats, posted on X that the summit should be known as "Treason Summit 2.0," an ode to the last time Trump met with Putin in Alaska. John Jackson, a military veteran and frequent Trump critic, acknowledged the possibility of the summit happening, even though nothing official has been organized. "Of course. This will play to Trump’s ego," Jackson posted on X. David Corn, a columnist for Mother Jones, argued that the summit would mark the formation of a new, nefarious global alliance. "A new Axis of Evil?" Corn posted on Bluesky.

'Floored' US allies were blindsided at Trump Russia plan meeting: report

10/15/26 12:03 PM

President Donald Trump’s decision to approve Russia selling a substantial amount of diesel on the world market caught U.S. allies flat-footed, according to the Wall Street Journal.In a deep dive on growing U.S.-Ukraine tensions, the Journal reported that the deal has created a schism that has allies, and some Republican lawmakers, furious.Senior Ukrainian and European officials flew to Miami on Oct. 9 to meet Trump negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in a bid to revive peace talks, the Journal reported. During the six-hour meeting, Kushner and Witkoff said the president was considering a diesel deal with Russia. The Ukrainian and European officials were “floored,” people familiar with the matter told the paper.That same day, Trump held a 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and announced the deal shortly after hanging up, the Journal said. Treasury then issued a temporary license allowing Russian diesel into the global market, according to ABC affiliate WJLA.“Lower prices for Americans, especially our Great Farmers, Ranchers, and Truckers, is my Greatest Priority,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it “a weak decision, unfortunately, a weak decision by strong partners.”The Journal reported that Trump "had increasingly soured on Zelensky" over the previous month. Since a discussion between the two, it said, the U.S. "had asked Ukraine about a half dozen times to halt strikes" on Russian energy. Ukrainian officials said they would agree to any energy truce, but Russia refused, so they didn’t pull back. Trump was annoyed that Ukraine was using U.S. resources to target Russia’s energy exports in a way he thought could hurt American consumers, people familiar said.Several Republican lawmakers called the White House angry after the announcement, the Journal reported, saying the deal handed Russia a win without concessions and went against a 2022 law banning U.S. imports of Russian energy. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) said: “It makes me a little bit nervous anytime we’re talking about relieving a sanction on Russia.”On Sunday, Trump declared on Truth Social that “there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine” effective immediately. “Both parties have agreed. Do not break it!” he wrote. Moscow had not confirmed it, the Journal reported while adding, Zelensky said Russia struck multiple Ukrainian power plants that day, including one in Kharkiv.

'I hope I'm wrong': Trump announcement spurs dark war prediction and bipartisan backlash

10/18/26 6:11 PM

President Donald Trump formally endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for reelection on Sunday. The move angered critics on the left and some of Trump’s own “America First” supporters.Trump posted the endorsement on Truth Social as a letter “To the Great People of Israel.” He called Netanyahu “a great warrior Prime Minister, and an even greater partner for peace in the fight against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”“If Israel has the wrong leader, meaning anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do the job itself, and I have no inclination to do so,” Trump wrote. “Please consider this letter my full and complete endorsement of Benjamin Netanyahu in his next race for reelection as Prime Minister of Israel. Bibi Netanyahu will never let you down!”Axios reporter Barak Ravid was among the first to flag the post. Netanyahu answered with a video saying that only he and Trump would destroy Iran’s nuclear program.Danny Citrinowicz, a senior fellow at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the wording worried him.“I may be reading too much into this statement, and I certainly hope I am wrong,” he wrote. “But it is hard not to interpret it as suggesting that Netanyahu promised Trump another joint military operation against Iran in exchange for his political support.”“Israel cannot afford another war with Iran driven by political calculations rather than a genuine national security necessity,” he added.Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, pointed to the International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued for Netanyahu in 2024 over the war in Gaza.“Netanyahu has committed genocide, yet Trump endorses him,” Roth wrote. “I suppose that’s not worse than aiding and abetting the genocide, which Trump also did.”Some of the sharpest criticism came from the right. Conservative commentator Breck Worsham, who posts as ThePatrioticBlonde, called the endorsement a “slobber filled love letter of idolatry.”“Trump just once again endorsed Netanyahu, KNOWING how much the American people hate him, KNOWING how much the American people detest Israel,” she wrote. “He just continues to give the middle finger to the country he was elected to represent.”Rich Baris, director of the right-leaning Big Data Poll, noted that the endorsement came hours after a report said Trump wouldn’t weigh in on Israel’s election.“Welp, that was wrong. He did,” Baris wrote.The endorsement comes more than six months into Trump’s war with Iran, which polls show is deeply unpopular with American voters.

'The government is trembling': Furious protesters flood 140 cities in major US ally

10/18/26 11:09 AM

Protests erupted throughout France on Saturday, with demonstrators citing a wide variety of grievances including inequality, the high cost of living, and poor conditions in the nation’s schools.As reported by Agence France-Presse, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in Paris and other cities to protest what they said was inaction by the French government on the biggest problems facing the country.“For years we’ve had climate, economy, and equality problems,” one protester identified as Agnes told AFP, “but the government is not doing anything about it.”18-year-old student Kamil Alahyan told AFP that there are “so many reasons” to protest, including “the elections coming up in 2027, politicians who lie, the ultra-rich who’ve been taking more and more wealth over the past 10 years.”A 19-year-old protester identified as Lola expressed a similar view in an interview published by The Guardian on Saturday.“We are fighting because the cost of living is too harsh,” Lola said, “because the price of fuel is too high, because high school pupils are being violently attacked and hurt all over the country just for trying to protest and ask for more teachers and decent learning conditions.”Student organizer Ryad Rani told AFP that “the government is trembling and it’s right to tremble because when the French people are angry, they never let up.”Saturday’s demonstrations mark the expansion of a movement that began last month when students blockaded their schools to protest staffing shortages, dilapidated buildings, and a widely criticized university application system.According to The New York Times, demonstrations took place in at least 140 cities across the country.Some of the protests did turn violent in major cities including Lyon, Marseille, and Paris, AFP reported. A Saturday BBC report claimed that more than 270 protesters have been arrested nationwide.French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu accused “ultra-left groups” of inciting violence at the demonstrations.“To those who clearly want to use these acts of violence as a ‘warm-up’ ahead of the presidential election, let me be clear: we will not be intimidated,” Lecornu wrote in a social media post. “No one will impose their political agenda through violence.”Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader the left-wing France Unbowed party, slammed the media for focusing too much on the isolated incidents of violence and not reporting on the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of the demonstrations.“Crowds of people everywhere, calm and joyful everywhere when the police aren’t around,” Mélenchon wrote in a social media post that featured photos of peaceful marches from across the country, which he described as “images you won’t see in the official media.”

'This is very strange': Questions fly as Rubio contradicts Trump in 'weird' interview

10/18/26 4:12 PM

Secretary of State Marco Rubio tried to clear up why Ukraine’s satellite internet has been slowing down. Critics say he made things murkier, and one prominent conservative predicted Congress would be asking about it.Rubio talked to reporters Saturday at Joint Base Andrews before leaving for Central Asia. One asked about Starshield, the military version of SpaceX’s Starlink. Elon Musk had said this week that limits on the system are up to the president.“Starshield is a defense product, a military product,” Rubio said. “It’s not at this moment available to Ukraine, and that’s under conversation.”Asked about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s claim that the slowdown was deliberate, Rubio waved it off.“I’m not sure Zelenskyy knows what he’s talking about, but it wasn’t deliberate,” he said. “We have nothing to do with that. I don’t – the United States, nobody ordered that Starlink speed to be slowed down. It sort of happened, but my understanding is it’s been restored.”He added that Ukraine wants Starshield “in order to conduct deep strikes inside of Russia” but doesn’t have access to it.Christopher Miller, chief Ukraine correspondent for the Financial Times, said that’s wrong.“In fact, Ukraine has had access to and contracts for Starshield since 2024,” Miller wrote. “So it seems the Ukrainian president is not the one who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”Miller noted that a week after the slowdown, Ukraine still has no explanation of who ordered the speed limits.“The White House and SpaceX each claim it’s the other who’s responsible,” he wrote. “Rubio says nobody in the US is responsible.”Barak Ravid, a politics and foreign policy reporter for Axios, pointed out that Rubio’s account doesn’t match what Kyiv has said.“This is very strange. Ukrainian officials claim they had access to starshield through the Pentagon until a few days ago when it was restricted,” Ravid wrote. “Maybe there is some misunderstanding.”Even some critics on the right questioned Rubio’s version. David Pyne, a conservative national security commentator who posts as “America First Con,” wrote: “Rubio is lying. Biden gave Ukraine access to Starshield years ago when he authorized deep strikes into Russia. Trump has only disabled it intermittently since October 14th.”Jonah Goldberg, the conservative editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, said the moment won’t go away.“This interview is weird,” Goldberg wrote. “What he says here will be revisited by journalists, historians, and Congressional committees.”Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) went after Rubio’s tone.“Innocent civilians are dying in Ukraine because of Trump/Musk and Rubio treats it like it’s a special at Applebee’s that has run out,” he wrote.Terry Moran, an independent journalist and former ABC News correspondent, said Rubio has given up the hawkish views he once held.“Marco Rubio was once a serious man,” Moran wrote. “Now he cannot even whisper a syllable of the principles he once proudly and effectively proclaimed. It profits a man nothing to sell his soul for the whole world. But for Donald Trump?”German military analyst Julian Röpcke, a former journalist for the tabloid Bild, wrote in German that “the former Russia critic Rubio” had shown how Trump’s “authoritarian aura turns formerly principled politicians into spineless Putin supporters.”An American YouTuber based in Ukraine who posts as Jay in Kyiv put it more bluntly: “Rubio tells a series of complete lies.”The remarks come shortly after President Donald Trump put on hold the sweeping Russia sanctions law named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, and a week after he struck a deal to import Russian diesel.

'Very bad look': Ambassador up in arms as Trump keeps sending adversary 'kisses'

10/18/26 7:56 PM

A former ambassador to Ukraine sounded the alarm Sunday as President Donald Trump continues to send "kisses" to one of the U.S.'s chief adversaries. Last week, Trump announced that the U.S. was planning to buy millions of barrels of Russian diesel fuel in an effort to lower gas prices ahead of the midterms. Trump backed up that move this week by lifting sanctions against Russia that were included in the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026, a law passed in honor of the late Republican Senator from South Carolina who took a hard-line approach to dealing with Russia. Both moves caused a plethora of outrage from Republicans and Democrats alike, although no legislative action has been taken to rein in Trump. John Herbst, senior director at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center and a former ambassador to Ukraine, said on "CNN Newsroom" with host Fredricka Whitfield that Trump's moves are a "very bad look" for the president and the U.S. as a whole. "They haven't handed him victory, but they've given him several gifts over the past week, [or] week and a half, while Putin has done everything he can, not just to conquer Ukraine, but to counter the United States in the Middle East," Herbst said. "So, while Putin is warring against us, we are sending him kisses, and that's a very bad look."Herbst also took issue with reports that White House officials ordered a slowdown of Ukraine's Starshield system, the military equivalent of the Starlink internet service provided by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Trump denied knowing who gave the order, which raised speculation that he himself gave it. The former ambassador described the Starshield service as "one very good element of support that Trump has provided and actually precedes Trump." "In his term, he's provided almost the entire time," Herbst added. "Cutting that off is very serious. It makes it much harder for Ukraine to stop the strikes that are killing civilians, going after Ukrainian energy and water infrastructure. So that's the most important thing."

'Wow': Shock as Volodymyr Zelenskyy 'trolls Trump' with 'clear message' in just five words

10/17/26 4:37 PM

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a five-word tribute to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham on Saturday. Plenty of people took it as a jab at President Donald Trump.“Thank you for everything, Lindsey!” Zelenskyy wrote on X, in English and Ukrainian. He attached a photo of himself shaking hands with Graham, who is giving a thumbs-up.Zelenskyy didn’t mention Trump. But the timing stood out. The post went up hours after Trump put on hold the sweeping Russia sanctions law named for Graham, a South Carolina Republican and longtime Russia hawk who died in July.“Late last night, President Trump waived the financial punishments on buyers of Russian oil that Congress had enacted to stop funding Putin’s war machine,” wrote Margaret Brennan, moderator of CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Passing that bipartisan bill was meant to honor Lindsey Graham’s legacy, as he had pushed for those sanctions.”She added that Zelenskyy said Saturday “it is harder now without Senator Lindsey Graham in Ukraine’s corner.”Caitlin Doornbos, a foreign policy and war reporter who founded the outlet The Correspondent, also pointed to the timing.“Wow. President Zelensky posts this hours after Trump announced waivers of the new Lindsey Graham sanctions law on Russia,” she wrote.Christopher Miller, the Financial Times’ chief Ukraine correspondent, shared the post with a one-word reaction: “Wow.”Others read it as a deliberate shot.“Zelenskyy is basically just trolling Trump at this point, and I’m all for it,” wrote Vatnik Soup, a popular pro-Ukraine account.Finnish geopolitical analyst Joni Askola called it “a clear message from Zelensky to Trump.” Nicolas Tenzer, a senior French civil servant and senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, wrote: “This is the message.”John O’Brennan, a professor of European politics, called it “master trolling.”Fox News co-host Jessica Tarlov brought up Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, who was appointed to finish his term.“Wonder what Darline would say about who she stands with,” Tarlov wrote.The post comes during a rough stretch between the two leaders. Trump said last week that Ukraine needs “a new president.” He also blamed Zelenskyy’s strikes on Russian refineries for high U.S. diesel prices, and Thursday he said he finds Zelenskyy “more difficult to deal with than Putin.”

11 Of The Best Things To Do In London This Mother's Day And Paddy's Day Weekend

03/17/23 5:02 PM

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17 Very British Tweets About The Very British Queue To See The Very British Queen's Coffin

09/24/22 1:25 AM

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