Israel Hits Tehran in Broad-Scale Strikes

Israel launched broad-scale air strikes on Tehran and Hezbollah in Beirut, while Iran fired missiles at Tel Aviv and U.S. bases.

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Global Powers Push Ghana to Halt Gold Royalty Hike

US, China & several Western governments are pressing Ghana to halt a proposed gold royalty increase from 5% to as high as 12%. Mining firms warn the reform could raise costs in Africa’s largest gold producer & threaten operations.

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Overnight, UAVs operated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) destroyed two Pantsir-S2 air defense missile and gun systems in occupied Crimea.

BREAKING: U.S. officials say Russia is giving Iran intelligence on the locations of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East, helping Tehran target U.S. forces.

The information reportedly includes positions of ships, aircraft, and radar systems.

Officials say the support suggests Russia is indirectly involved in the conflict, although Moscow has not commented and is not directly fighting.

China does not appear to be providing similar assistance.

Source: WaPo

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian:

Some countries have begun mediation efforts.

Let's be clear: we are committed to lasting peace in the region yet we have no hesitation in defending our nation's dignity & sovereignty.

Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict.

The U.S. moved 1,000+ Paveway guided-bomb kits from Osan Air Base to the U.S. in Dec 2025, possibly later used in strikes on Iran.

Seoul says the transfer happened without prior consultation.

Source: Chosun

Dubai billionaire Khalaf Al Habtoor to Trump:

Who gave you the authority to drag our region into a war with Iran?

And on what basis did you make this dangerous decision?

You have placed the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab countries at the heart of a danger they did not choose.

📸 The Imam of Khorramabad delivered his Friday sermon wearing a military uniform, holding a gun.

The office of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that the Minister’s son was injured during military activity along the Lebanon border.

He reportedly sustained light injuries and is in good condition.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson on Iran:

We're not at war, we have no intention at being at war.

Trump and the Department of Defense have made it very clear, this is a limited operation.

Iran Strikes U.S. Missile Interceptors in Jordan and UAE

Satellite images show Iran struck U.S. THAAD radars in Jordan and the UAE, damaging critical AN/TPY-2 systems.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom:

Trump's Presidency, as we know it today, is over in a matter of months when Speaker Jeffries gets the gavel.

Don't talk about 2028. It's not about 2028. It's about 2026.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Netanyahu:

What I can't accept today though is what Bibi Netanyahu is doing in Israel. And I just can't countenance that.

I don't like the direction he's going.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Iran:

I'm very angry about this war.

Not because I'm angry the Supreme Leader is dead — quite the contrary. I'm not naive about the last 37 years of his reign, 47 years since the 1979 Revolution.

But I'm also mindful that you have a President who still is incapable of giving us the rationale of why — why now, what's the endgame?

We've got a regional war. We have allies shooting down our planes. We have six Americans, including a young man from Sacramento, California, who just died.

Border Infiltration Claims Raise Ethiopia-Eritrea Tensions

Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of supporting militant groups and infiltrating Tigray as tensions rise along the Ethiopia-Eritrea border. Military movements & local reports raise fears of renewed conflict after the 2020-2022 war that killed at least 600,000.

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Saeed Khatibzadeh, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister:

Trump is asking for change in the leadership of Iran… he cannot even appoint the Mayor of New York.

German Chancellor Merz:

We are aware that we have to make progress in energy policy as a whole.

Even independent of such external shocks, energy in Germany is still too expensive, and that’s why we are working very hard to bring energy prices down in Germany too.

We need energy production capacities; this applies above all to electricity, but we also need new sources for gas and oil.

German Chancellor Merz on Iran:

We are urging strongly that Iran’s statehood be preserved.

We do not want to see a Syrian scenario here, but rather we want this state to become functional from within itself.

And that is why I also appeal, both in Washington and in all talks with the Israeli government, to create the conditions as quickly as possible for this country to be stabilized, for it to get a democratically legitimized government, and for it to be able to continue to exist as a state.

It is a country with over 90 million inhabitants, and we naturally also have a high self-interest in this in order to avoid new refugee flows from the region.

German Chancellor Merz on Iran:

At the moment, we see the economic effects as practically negligible.

But if this conflict were to last longer, if it were to possibly extend to larger parts of the Middle East, then it could of course have much more far-reaching consequences.