North Korea’s Ninth Party Congress ended yesterday. During a parade to mark its end, North Korean special operations soldiers who fought in the Russian Kursk region against Ukraine marched with both the Russian and North Korean flags at the head of their formation.

During a press briefing yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the indirect talks happening today between Iran and the U.S. will largely be focused on their nuclear program. However, he caveated the statement by saying that Iran’s unwillingness to negotiate on its burgeoning ballistic missile program, a key point of contention, is still a sticking point in the negotiation process, as past assessments have Iran fielding ballistic missiles of increasing range over the course of the next ten years.

Full Comment:
“The negotiations tomorrow and the talks tomorrow will be largely focused on the nuclear program, and we hope progress can be made because that’s the President’s preference: to make progress on the diplomatic front. But it’s also important to remember that Iran refuses – refuses – to talk about ballistic missiles to us or to anyone, and that’s a big problem.”

Clashes between Pakistani and Afghan forces have resumed after Afghanistan announced the targeting of Pakistani border outposts in response to a Pakistani airstrike that they say killed a number of civilians earlier this month. Clashes are ongoing as Afghan news sources claim that up to 15 Pakistani posts have already been taken along with prisoners. However, this information has not been verified by Pakistani government sources and must be verified.

White House special advisor Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were disappointed by what they heard from the Iranian Foreign Minister during this morning's negotiations, according to a source familiar with the details who spoke to Axios. Another round of talks is still ongoing now in Geneva.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who mediated the indirect U.S.-Iran talks today, has said that today's talks have now finished and both sides will consult with their governments after "significant progress" was made. However, the next round of talks will not happen at the decision-maker level and instead at the technical level next week in Vienna, Austria.

All Persian-language news and political networks in Iran and across the Middle East broadcast by the Yahsat Satellite Communications Company based in the United Arab Emirates, are current offline, with the reason for the outage still unclear.

Despite the ongoing buildup of air-defense systems, military aircraft, and munition at bases across the Middle East, which has stretched on now for several week, officials believe that the Pentagon still does not have the forces or munitions needed for an extended bombing campaign against Iran. Seven to ten days is about how long the American military positioned in the region could continually carry out strikes, according to one U.S. military official who spoke to the New York Times.

Reports of possible strikes by the Pakistani Air Force against Taliban military infrastructure and sites across the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Pakistan state-run media has now confirmed that the Pakistani Air Force carried out a number of strikes tonight against Taliban military sites within the capital of Kabul and several other areas across Afghanistan, as part of Operation Ghazab Lil Haq. Under the operation, aircraft of Pakistan’s Air Force reportedly targeted and destroying two brigade headquarters in Kabul; a corps headquarters, brigade headquarters, ammunition depot, and logistics base in Kandahar; and a corps headquarters in Paktia.

Video footage published earlier by Pakistan’s Defense Ministry, which shows several of tonight’s strikes by the Pakistani Air Force against Taliban command-and-control centers and other military infrastructure in the Afghan capital of Kabul and other provinces of Eastern Afghanistan, close to the border with Pakistan.

Major pre-positioning moves are being made tonight by the U.S. Air Force in preparation for potential strikes soon against Iran, with 5 KC-46A Pegasus and at least 2 KC-135R/T Stratotankers, along with a number of C-17A Globemaster llls, currently bound for the Middle East, many for air bases in Israel. 12 F-22 Raptors with the 1st Fighter Wing are currently forward deployed to Ovda Airbase in Southern Israel, while around half a dozen aerial-refueling tankers, KC-46s and KC-135s, are located at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv.

The Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), Adm. Brad Cooper, briefed President Trump on Thursday about potential military options against Iran, officials tell ABC News.

Pakistan’s Minister of Defense Khawaja Muhammad Asif has stated that Pakistan is now at war with Afghanistan.

An Afghan official, Fazl Hadi Muslimyar, has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to pressure Pakistan to deescalate after wide ranging strikes against Taliban forces. Taliban forces are also reportedly withdrawing from areas they previously controlled due to the considerable overmatch that Pakistan is exercising over them. This comes after clashes renewed between the two nations over past Pakistani airstrikes inside of Afghanistan.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a new temporary flight restriction near Fort Hancock, Texas, which includes all aircraft on the U.S. side of the border, following reports that a U.S. military counter-unmanned aerial system shot down a drone that belongs to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs & Border Protection (CBP).

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that while military strikes against certain targets in Iran, primarily nuclear and long-range missile sites, remain under consideration by President Donald J. Trump, he and many other officials prefer a diplomatic option and that that if strikes do occur, there is “no chance” that it would result in the United States becoming involved in a years-long, drawn-out war in the Middle East.

“The idea that we’re going to be in a Middle Eastern war for years with no end in sight - there is no chance that will happen,” Vance told The Washington Post in an interview as he returned to Washington from an event in Wisconsin on Thursday. He further said during the interview that he still sees himself as a “skeptic of foreign military interventions,” a description he believes continues to apply to President Trump.

While military assets with the U.S. Army, Air Force, and Navy continue to flow into Europe and the Middle East, as part of the largest regional buildup by the United States since the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi is scheduled to meet with Vice President JD Vance and other U.S. officials in Washington on Friday for previously unreported talks in an effort to stave off a potential conflict with Iran, sources tell NewsNation.

The U.S. State Department has authorized the departure of non-emergency government personnel and family members of government personnel from the American Embassy in Israel due to safety risks, likely related to tensions with Iran, stating that “Persons may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available.”