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Trump approval falls from 35% earlier this month, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows64% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s White House performance, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows80% expect US involvement in Iran to continue for an extended period, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows President Donald Trump’s approval rating fell to the lowest level of his presidency, with an overwhelming majority of Americans concerned the U.S. war with Iran will last a long time, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Monday.Just 33% of respondents in the four-day survey said they approved of Trump’s performance in the White House, while 64% disapproved. Trump’s approval rating, down from 35% in a poll that closed earlier this month and lower than at any point in his current term, has now tied the lowest level of his prior term reached in December 2017. After returning to the White House in 2025 with just under half the country approving of his presidency, Trump’s popularity this year took a hit after he ordered strikes on Iran alongside U.S. ally Israel. The ensuing conflict paralyzed a fifth of the global oil trade, triggering a surge in the price of gasoline that is weighing on U.S. households – and on Trump’s Republican allies defending congressional majorities in November midterm elections.Trump, who campaigned on promises to keep inflation in check and avoid long-lasting wars, initially pledged the conflict with Iran would take a few weeks. But Iran has proved resilient and has kept the oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz largely bottled up even as the conflict has cooled. Some 80% of Americans – including 87% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans – think U.S. involvement in Iran “will go on for an extended period of time,” the Reuters/Ipsos poll found. Just 16% said the conflict would likely end in a few weeks. TRUMP JUSTIFIES HIGH GAS PRICES Trump told a political rally in Garden City, New York, on Friday that paying “a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” is worth the cost of ensuring “a very evil country” could not have a nuclear weapon, one of his stated rationales for the war. Throughout the conflict, the president has alternated between threats of escalation and assertions that a peace deal is imminent. Only one in five Americans – and just half of Republicans – think the war has been worth it, the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll found. Concerns about the war and gasoline prices have Republicans nervous about their hopes of defending their slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in the November 3 elections, and Democrats increasingly see the U.S. Senate also within their grasp. Reuters/Ipsos polling this month has shown voters prefer Democrats over Republicans as better stewards of the economy for the first time in about a decade. The latest poll showed 38% of voters think Democrats will handle the economy better, compared to 35% who prefer the Republican approach. Democrats are also seen as better equipped to manage the cost of living. The Republican approach to immigration has remained more popular than that of Democrats throughout Trump’s term, with a sharp fall in border crossings and sustained nationwide crackdown ordered by Trump. But Republicans are losing ground amid deadly confrontations and a surge in detainees, including children. Some 40% of registered voters said Republicans have the better approach on immigration policy, compared to 38% who pick Democrats, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll. That 2 percentage point spread is the lowest of Trump’s term. Republicans led by 26 points in January 2025.The Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted online, gathered responses from 1,166 U.S. adults nationwide and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points in either direction. Source link
A drone view shows makeshift tents for patients outside the Ben Mboi Manggarai regional hospital which has been damaged, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in…
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah met on Monday with Sudanese counterpart Mohieldin Salem Ahmed Ibrahim, currently visiting Saudi Arabia.During the meeting, the two ministers reviewed bilateral relations and explored avenues to expand and strengthen cooperation across various domains. They also discussed recent regional developments and exchanged views on matters of mutual concern.Both sides reiterated their commitment to advancing bilateral ties and deepening cooperation in diverse sectors. Related Story Source link
Rain forecast for eastern Belgium today is expected to provide much-needed assistance to firefighters battling the largest wildfire in the country’s history, as authorities work to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading toward the German border. Belgium’s Royal Meteorological Institute (IRM) forecast between five and nine millimetres of rain for Monday in the High Fens nature reserve in the east of the country, where wildfires have been burning since Friday. Temperatures in the area are also expected to fall to around 20 degrees Celsius, after exceeding 30 degrees Celsius last week during a heatwave that pushed temperatures in parts of Belgium as high as 37 degrees Celsius.Speaking about the expected rainfall to Belgian broadcaster RTBF, a fire service commander said the change in weather could have a significant impact.”It will change everything,” he said, noting that in addition to the rainfall itself, humidity levels would also increase.Wildfires have affected several European countries this summer following successive heatwaves intensified by climate change, which have sharply increased dryness in both the weather and vegetation.Data from the European Forest Fire Information System showed that wildfires have burned approximately 1.4 million acres across Europe since the beginning of the year. Earlier this week, wildfires that swept across the Greek island of Salamina killed an elderly couple, damaged homes and, fanned by strong winds, pushed flames toward residential areas. Authorities were forced to evacuate around 500 people by ferry.Meanwhile, a wildfire in Aragon, northeastern Spain, destroyed around 40,000 acres, while a blaze in the Croatian resort town of Omis forced about 1,000 people to evacuate. Related Story Source link
US President Donald Trump ordered a reduction in the joint military exercises with South Korea, which began Monday.In a post on the Truth Social platform Trump said the exercises aren’t only costly, but also send an inappropriate message to North Korea, which he described as having posed no threat during his time in the White House.The US president added that he had recently asked South Korea to join the United States in efforts to denuclearize Iran, but it declined.South Korea and the United States began their joint summer military exercises today, with Seoul seeking to accelerate efforts to regain operational control.The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises will continue through Aug. 27 and include joint operations across all domains to enhance the two sides’ readiness and capabilities through simulations of realistic threats that reflect the rapidly evolving nature of modern warfare. Related Story Source link
US President Donald Trump said Sunday he was pleased by the recent signing of a defence pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan. “Very happy to see that Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Pakistan have recently, and finally, signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. “It shows how the Middle East is coming together, and how Countries will finally be able to defend themselves in a more meaningful way,” he wrote, calling it a “BIG, BOLD, IMPORTANT FIRST STEP.” Source link
2026-08-16T020537Z_1227022854_RC2LKGAECWTA_RTRMADP_3_NORTHKOREA-RUSSIA North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed the deepening of ties with Russia in a message to President Vladimir Putin as Pyongyang marked the anniversary of independence from Japan’s colonial rule, KCNA state news agency said yesterday.Kim was replying to a message of congratulations from Putin marking Saturday’s 81st anniversary of Tokyo’s surrender in World War Two. The Russian leader said the bond was forged as Soviet soldiers fought against Japan and that cooperation would continue “in all the sectors”.The North Korean leader expressed hope for the future of ties that had “carried forward the history of common struggle for justice and precious traditions of friendship”.Pyongyang and Moscow have grown closer since the reclusive state began deploying troops and weapons to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in what has been Pyongyang’s most significant involvement in a war since the 1950s. The Russian ship Pallada arrived at Wonsan port for a goodwill visit on Saturday tied to the liberation anniversary, and was greeted by North Korean provincial officials and Russian embassy staff, KCNA said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accompanied by his daughter Kim Ju Ae and his wife Ri Sol Ju, visits the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery on…
Women with children sit in a shelter at a makeshift evacuation centre at a stadium in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara,…
Australia’s New South Wales state will start a gun buyback in November, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said yesterday, part of the national response to a shooting spree that killed 15 at a festival in Sydney, the state capital.Albanese’s centre-left government enacted laws in January for the gun buyback, tighter checks for gun licences and a crackdown on hate in the wake of the December 14 gun attack at a Bondi Beach celebration in Australia’s most populous city.The alleged gunmen used powerful firearms that were legally obtained. Australia had a record 4.1mn firearms last year, the government has said, with more than 1.1mn of those in New South Wales, its most populous state.The buyback is to be Australia’s largest since a similar campaign after a 1996 massacre in Tasmania’s Port Arthur, in which a gunman killed 35 people.Albanese and New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said in a statement the scheme would start on November 2 and that people returning rifles and handguns would be eligible for up to A$1,000 ($700) compensation per firearm.”Australians are quite rightly proud of our gun laws, but the fact is there are more guns in Australia today than there were at the time of dealing with the Port Arthur gun buyback,” Albanese said in televised remarks.New South Wales now limits individuals to possession of four guns under its own reforms prompted by the Bondi Beach attack, which police say was carried out a father and son who police believe were inspired by the militant group Islamic State. The surviving suspect, Naveed Akram, 24, is yet to enter pleas to a raft of charges, including 15 counts of murder. Source link
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, along with Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, gestures during his annual state of the nation address before the members of the Parliament, ahead…