The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a new round of sanctions Friday targeting the Iranian Oil Trade and Shadow Fleet, levying sanctions against the China-based independent teapot refinery Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co., Ltd., along with 19 tankers and a number of crypto wallets utilized by the Central Bank of Iran.

Major drone and missile attack underway tonight against Crimea and Russia by Ukraine, with hundreds of one-way attack drones and cruise missiles currently airborne over Western Russia.

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has announced that, under orders from SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force - Southern Spear (JTF-SS) conducted a lethal kinetic strike Friday against on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organizations operating in the Eastern Pacific. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations, with two alleged male narco-terrorists killed during this action by SOUTHCOM.

The Trump Administration announced Friday that it plans to add firing squads, electrocution and gas asphyxiation as alternative methods of executing people convicted of the “gravest federal crimes,” noting difficulties in obtaining drugs for lethal injections resumed last year by President Trump. The plan follows the recommendation of a 52-page report from the Justice Department’s Bureau of Prisons, ordered several months ago by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, as noted by Reuters.

For the first time since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Eurofighter Typhoons with the British Royal Air Force have engaged and downed Russian one-way attack drones over Ukraine. According to Romania’s Ministry of Defense, the Typhoons, serving under Operation Biloxi 2026, the RAF’s four-month contribution to the NATO Enhanced Air Policing Mission over Romania, were given clearance to engage the drones over Reni in Southern Ukraine earlier this morning, after several were spotted heading towards Romanian Airspace.

Major clashes are being reported in Kidal, along with several other regions across the West African nation of Mali, as simultaneous attacks by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) appear to be underway against positions of the Malian Army and Russia’s Africa Corps.

Fighters of the Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) have reportedly entered and possibly captured a military base in Sévaré, Southern Mali.

Larger numbers of militants seen entering Mali’s capital of Bamako this morning, as elements of the Malian Army and Africa Corps have seemingly collapsed across the country upon almost immediate contact with the FLA and JNIM.

Reports of a Malian helicopter, possibly a Mi-35M, shot down by the FLA near the city of Gao in Eastern Mali.

Multiple technicals and dozens of militants, likely with Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), seen earlier entering Kati just to the northwest of Mali’s capital of Bamako, with seemingly no resistance from the Malian Army or Africa Corps.

Additional video evidence of a downed helicopter of the Malian Air Force near Wabaria in the Gao Region of Eastern Mali, potentially shot down by fighters of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA).

The U.S. Embassy in Mali has instructed Americans in the country to shelter-in-place, amid a possible organized offensive by both the FLA and JNIM against the Malian Army and Russia’s Africa Corps.

Militants capture a gas station in Kidal, Northeastern Mali, during an ongoing offensive by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA).

Jihadist militants capture checkpoints and other positions of the Malian Army and Russia’s Africa Corps to the north of Mali’s capital Bamako.

Kidal and large portions of the Gao Region of Eastern Mali are now under the near complete control of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), as anti-government offensive operations continue across the West African nation of Mali.

Clashes between the Malian Army and militants of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) are continuing in Gao, Eastern Mali.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG-115) escorts the Iranian-flagged crude oil tanker, M/T HERBY, in the Indian Ocean, enforcing the ongoing blockade by the U.S. Navy against ports in Iran, April 24, 2026.

Militants have captured the Governor’s Palace in Kidal, Northeastern Mali, following the reported withdrawal earlier of government officials and the Malian Army.

Convoy of jihadist militants with Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) seen moving south through the town of Kati just to the northwest of Mali’s capital Bamako, with small clashes reportedly taking place against elements of the Malian Army and Russia’s Africa Corps.

The Flag of Mali is lowered and the Flag of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) is raised at a military base within the Eastern Malian town of Kidal.