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A war of words erupted Monday between the world's two most influential Americans, President Trump and Pope Leo XIV, over the war in Iran in a feud that could upend Mr. Trump's support among the Christian right.

The Trump administration ramped up pressure on Tehran on Monday with a comprehensive U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, but the Islamic republic's pre-war preparation could give the regime significant economic staying power.

Hezbollah urged Lebanon on Monday to step down from scheduled direct talks with Israel set to take place in Washington, the first in decades.

Iran reached out to the U.S. because it wants to make a deal "very badly," President Trump said Monday as he implemented a blockade of Iranian ports to punish Tehran and force it to the negotiating table.

President Trump said Monday that his blockade of Iranian ports is designed to get Tehran back to the negotiating table and compel the Iranians to relinquish their chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump's trade agenda is paying off by slashing trade imbalances with major global powers in 2025 and reducing America's reliance on China, the White House said Monday in a report to Congress.

Fatou, the world's oldest gorilla living in captivity, celebrated her 69th birthday with a feast Monday, munching on cherry tomatoes, beets, leeks and lettuce at the Berlin Zoo.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is in China again this week, his fourth trip in just over three years to the world's second-largest economy as Spain seeks to strengthen its political and commercial ties with Beijing.

All that newborn Shiman knows of the world is a flimsy tent along Beirut's waterfront - the stench of mildewed blankets, stings of swarming insects and screams of Israeli warplanes striking the Lebanese capital.

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Algeria on Monday on a first-ever papal visit, calling for peace and the end of "neocolonial tendencies" in world affairs, while facing an extraordinary broadside by President Donald Trump over his criticism of the U.S.