As part of Syria’s economic recovery, President al-Sharaa said GDP grew 30–35% in 2025 to around $32 billion.

Qatar’s Energy Minister and QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi said he had repeatedly warned U.S. officials and industry partners about the risks of provoking Iran, saying, “I was always warning… that that could be detrimental to us.”

Source: Reuters

Iranian officials are unwilling to even discuss reopening the Strait of Hormuz as they prioritize surviving ongoing US-Israeli attacks.

Source: Bloomberg

CBS News is cutting about 6% of its staff and shutting down CBS News Radio after nearly 100 years.

The layoffs come as part of a broader overhaul led by editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, following Skydance’s takeover of Paramount.

BIG: Over about a week, Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana was repeatedly overflown by groups of unauthorized drones, not just a single incident, but coordinated waves of roughly a dozen or more at a time.

These drones weren’t typical hobby models: they showed signs of long-range control, resistance to jamming, and deliberate, organized movement patterns, including spreading across sensitive parts of the base like areas where B-52 bombers are stationed.

They flew for hours each day, used changing routes (likely to avoid tracking), and may have been intentionally testing how the base responds to intrusions.

Despite the seriousness—given Barksdale’s role in U.S. nuclear operations—there’s no public confirmation that any drones were shot down or stopped.

Officials are still investigating, and while some suspect foreign reconnaissance or probing, no actor has been officially identified.

Source: ABC

Trump on Iran:

Ukraine has done nothing. Anything Zelensky has said as far as what Ukraine has done to help us, he’s just doing for political and PR purposes. They’ve done nothing.

Source: MS NOW

Trump on Zelensky:

Zelensky is more difficult to deal with than Putin is.

Source: MS NOW

Kremlin denies the report.

Qatar’s GDP is expected to contract by about 9% in 2026 after Iran’s attacks.

The damage to Ras Laffan has taken roughly 17% of export capacity offline, meaning less production, fewer exports, and a sharp drop in foreign income.

Source: Reuters

The U.S. military is actively preparing plans for the possibility of sending ground troops into Iran, but no final decision has been made.

Source: CBS News

A senior FEMA official, Gregg Phillips, is facing scrutiny over past comments and behavior.

Recently appointed to lead disaster response, Phillips previously promoted conspiracy theories, used violent rhetoric, and claimed on podcasts that he experienced “teleportation,” including to a Waffle House miles away.

Source: CNN

The UK has approved US use of British bases to strike Iranian sites threatening ships in the Strait of Hormuz, expanding earlier permission limited to defensive actions.

Source: BBC

Trump on Iran:

They executed 3 young people for protesting.

Trump:

We don’t use the Strait of Hormuz; we don’t need it.

Europe, Korea, Japan, and China need it; they will have to get involved a little bit.

Reporter: Do you think Israel will be ready to end the war when you are ready?

Trump: I think so, yes... we want similar things; we want victory.

Trump on Iran:

I think we’ve won.

Trump:

The Strait of Hormuz will open itself at a certain point.

Trump wants China to get involved in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump on Iran:

I don't want to do a ceasefire. You don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side.

Trump on troop deployments in Iran:

I seem to have great support. CNN came out with a poll today that I'm at 100%.

They said they have never seen a poll like that.

Trump on Senator Graham:

Lindsey Graham was the big NATO guy for a while; now he is not.