🇹🇼⚡️ — Two Taiwanese Air Force lieutenant colonels were killed after a T-34 training aircraft crashed and caught fire near the northern end of the runway at Gangshan Air Force Base in Kaohsiung.

➡️ The aircraft, tail number 3414, lost control for unknown reasons during a simulated engine-failure exercise.

➡️ Both pilots, Lt. Col. Lu and Lt. Col. Kuo, were pronounced dead at the scene.

➡️ The Air Force says a special task force has been established to investigate the cause of the crash.

🇮🇱🇺🇸🇱🇧⚡️ — Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of turning Israel into a “full-fledged protectorate state” after he obeyed Trump’s order not to strike Beirut.

⚡️🇺🇸🇮🇷 — Oil prices slipped after President Trump stated that talks with Iran are ongoing, easing some market anxiety even as uncertainty over the negotiations keeps markets on edge, according to Reuters.

➡️ Brent crude edged lower following Trump's comments, retreating from earlier gains driven by continued disruption to Strait of Hormuz shipping. The remarks offered a tentative signal that diplomacy remains alive despite the toughened conditions Washington recently sent to Tehran.

🇮🇱🇾🇪⚡️ — Israel is strengthening its air defenses in the Eilat area amid growing concerns over potential long-range attacks from Yemen's Houthis (Ansarallah) as the conflict in the region widens, according to the Jerusalem Post.

➡️ The military buildup includes the deployment of additional Iron Dome batteries and naval assets in the Red Sea, reflecting intelligence assessments that Ansarallah — which recently signaled readiness to join the war alongside Hezbollah — may attempt to strike deep into Israeli territory.

➡️ The move follows reports of ongoing coordination between Ansarallah, Hezbollah, and other Iran-backed groups, with Yemeni officials vowing that Hezbollah will not stand alone against Israel. Israel's defense establishment is taking the threat seriously despite the geographic distance.

🇮🇱❌🇱🇧 — Israeli warplanes targeted building in the town of Al-Sharqiya, southern Lebanon, moments ago.

🇪🇺⚡️ — The EU has agreed on a deal to deport migrants to third-country "return hubs" outside the bloc, including to countries they have no connection to, though member states have not disclosed which nations will host them, according to France 24.

➡️ Brussels says the new rules will address the fact that only about 20% of those ordered to leave the EU currently do so, but implementing the plan beyond the press release remains the hard part.

🇧🇭❌🇮🇷🇮🇶 — Bahrain's Ministry Of Interior:

Citizens are banned from travelling to Iran and Iraq due to ongoing security tensions.

🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡️ — Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stated that negotiations are the only option to end the war with Israel, saying that power lies not in fighting war but in the courage to end it through talks.

➡️ Aoun added that Lebanon's army and security apparatuses constitute the foundation for preventing strife.