Egyik 19

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Asia

China
2026-03-10 10:08  China today noted that keeping the Strait of Hormuz secure is vital for global energy supplies. Geng, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, underscored Beijing’s focus on halting military conflict, noting that China’s special envoy for Middle East affairs plans to travel across the region to support stability and encourage dialogue among all parties involved. Stressing the importance of safeguarding shipping lanes and oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, he urged the international community to cooperate in preserving stability. Earlier today, US President Trump threatened Iran with a strike ’20 times stronger’ than anything it has faced if the country moves to block oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz which handles roughly 4.5% of total global trade annually. Oil prices jumped more than 20% yesterday to their highest levels since July 2022. (Source: Shafaq News - Kurdistan)

India
(11 March 2026)  Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Leavitt described India as a good actor that had previously stopped buying sanctioned Russian oil amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine. “So as we work to appease this temporary gap of oil supply around the world because of the Iranians, we have temporarily permitted them to accept that Russian oil,’ she said. The opposition leader Ramesh today in Congress described remarks by the United States that Washington had ’temporarily permitted’ India to accept Russian oil as a ’capitulation certificate’ for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The recent waiver follows earlier tensions between the US and India over New Delhi’s purchases of Russian crude oil. The Trump administration had in August imposed a punitive levy on India for buying oil from Russia amid the Ukraine war. This had taken the combined US tariff rate to 50%. On February 7, Trump issued an executive order to remove the additional 25% punitive tariff on imports from India over New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. This brought the effective US tariff rate on Indian imports to 18% after the interim trade deal was agreed to. On March 5, the US had granted Indian refiners a 30-day waiver to buy Russian oil stranded at sea amid the conflict in West Asia. (Source: Scroll – India)

Iran
(Wednesday), 10:39-11 March 2026 AD ـ 22 Ramadan  Iran's Kharg Island, about 25 kilometers south of the mainland in the north of the Gulf hosts the country's main crude export terminal and is responsible for the overwhelming majority of its oil shipments to the world. Kharg underwent key developments during Iran's oil expansion in the 1960s and 1970s, with much of the country's coast too shallow for supertankers. The island handles roughly 90 percent of Iran's crude exports. Any attempt to seize it would mark a major escalation in the conflict. The US and Israel have so far treaded carefully around the island. But an Axios report over the weekend cited Trump administration officials saying capturing Kharg was on the table as the war in the Middle East persists. Iran has looked to diversify its export capabilities by opening the Jask terminal outside the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint in the Gulf of Oman in 2021, but Kharg remains a critical vulnerability for Iran. ’A direct strike would immediately halt the bulk of Iran's crude exports, likely triggering severe retaliation in the Strait of Hormuz or against regional energy infrastructure,’ JP Morgan said. It is a cornerstone of Iran's economy and a major source of revenue for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, JP Morgan added. Over the weekend, the director of the White House National Energy Dominance Council, Agen, told Fox News that ’what we want to do is get such massive oil reserves in Iran out of the hands of terrorists’. Also in recent days, the Washington Post reported heightened speculation that US ground forces could be being prepared to deploy, citing analysts saying Kharg Island would be an early target. Not a wise move during combat, when Kharg is almost an entire island of oil facilities and pipelines and tank farms. Iranian strikes have all but halted maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and have also impacted oil infrastructure in other Gulf states. Iran - the fourth-biggest crude producer within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) -- vowed not one liter of oil would be exported from the Gulf while the war continues. Any attack on its infrastructure would get an eye for an eye response, it said. On Saturday, Israel launched its first attack of the war on oil facilities in Iran. It said they were used to operate military infrastructure. The same day, Israeli opposition leader Lapid argued for stronger steps, saying in an X post: ’Israel needs to destroy all of Iran's oil fields and energy industry on Kharg Island; that's what will crush Iran's economy and bring down the regime.’ (Source: Asharq Al-Awsat - based in London, United Kingdom, owned by a member of the Saudy royal family)

11.03.2026  Funeral ceremonies for slain military commanders, including former Revolutionary Guards commander Pakpour, former armed forces chief of staff Mosavi, and former Defense Council chief Shamkhani, are set to take place in Tehran today afternoon. Iran’s military threatened today to launch retaliatory attacks on American and Israeli banks in the region following an airstrike on a bank in Tehran. A spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the unified command of Iran’s armed forces, said that a bank in the Iranian capital was struck by the US and Israel yesterday, adding that it has left Iran’s armed forces with the right to target economic centers and banks belonging to the US and Israel across the region. The spokesperson also urged people in countries hosting US and Israeli banks to stay out of a one-kilometre radius of these facilities. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

10.03.2026  Late yesterday, in an interview with CNN, Kharazi, a foreign policy adviser to the office of Iran’s supreme leader ruled out diplomacy and said Tehran is prepared for a prolonged war with Washington and may continue attacking Gulf countries to pressure them to urge US President Trump to step back from the conflict. ’Trump had been deceiving others and not keeping with his promises, and we experienced this in two times of negotiations — that while we were engaged in negotiation, they struck us,’ Kharazi told CNN yesterday. Asked whether Iran’s military and leadership remain unified, Kharazi said they do. “The responsibility of the leader of Islamic Republic of Iran is to lead the defense capability of Iran, and therefore, as Ayatollah Khamenei was doing that, now the new leader would do that,” he added. Trump said last week that Mojtaba’s appointment as his father, Khamenei’s successor would be ’unacceptable’ to him. “That is not his business,” Kharazi said. Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries that are home to US military assets. Iran also effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which normally handles about 20 million barrels of oil shipments daily and around 20% of global liquefied natural gas trade, most of which is destined for Asian markets, also cutting off the region’s large exports of crop nutrients used in fertilizer production. The supply shock, combined with rising energy and freight costs, is expected to increase pressure on global food supply chains and contribute to higher food prices worldwide. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Iraq
(Tuesday), Mar. 10, 2026  Kataib al-Imam Ali, which makes up the PMF's 40th Brigade, today said that 'a cowardly American attack' targeting one of its bases in Kirkuk's Dibis had killed four of its fighters. Shortly after the pro-Iran group's announcement, Iraq's Joint Operations Command condemned the attack as 'a blatant attack on Iraq.' On Saturday, another position of Kataib al-Imam Ali was attacked in the Qayyarah town south of Mosul, in which at least one person was killed. Iran-backed Iraqi factions have claimed responsibility for several recent attacks on US interests in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, including the US Embassy in Baghdad, the Consulate General in Erbil, and American military bases. The attacks have also targeted bases of Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups, the Turkish consulate in Sulaimani, the Emirati consulate in Erbil, and civilian infrastructure like hotels and telecommunication towers. At least three people have so far been killed in the attacks on the Kurdistan Region. (Source: The NewRegion - headquartered in Erbil Governorate, Iraq)

March 10, 2026, 8:19 AM  The most important question: why this war has erupted at this particular moment, and what ’the major powers’ seek to achieve through it. The most common explanation links the war directly to Iran: its nuclear programme, its missile capabilities and its regional influence. Iran may be the immediate target, but it is not the only objective. The first dimension relates to Israel. Iran is not merely a hostile state; it is a country with a large industrial, military and demographic base, capable of developing advanced military programmes and building a network of regional influence that stretches across several countries. The deeper objective is to eliminate Iran’s ability to re-emerge in the future as a threatening regional power. This explains why some strands of Israeli strategic thinking go beyond simply targeting Iran’s nuclear or missile programmes, extending instead to weakening the Iranian state itself or altering the nature of the system that governs it. The war unfolding today appears closer to an attempt to reshape the balance of power in the Middle East. Since the fall of Saddam’s regime in Iraq in 2003, a new regional order has emerged, characterised by a fragile balance among several key powers: Iran, Turkey, Israel and the Gulf states. This balance enabled Iran to expand its influence across several regional arenas, making it a central actor in the region’s strategic equations. The current war may represent an attempt to redraw this balance. Iran emerges weakened or exhausted, thereby opening the way for a new regional order in which Israel assumes a greater economic and military role, alongside an expanded role for other regional powers. The third dimension relates to Iran’s ability to threaten maritime navigation or target energy infrastructure - a strategic concern for countries ’around the world, primarily the US’. Weakening Iran militarily could effectively secure the flow of global energy in the Gulf region and the Strait of Hormuz under a security umbrella led by Washington, thereby strengthening its capacity to influence one of the most vital levers of the global economy. The fourth dimension concerns great power competition. In recent years, Iran has strengthened its relations with both Russia and China, in military as well as economic spheres. In some western strategic circles, this growing alignment has been viewed as part of a broader axis seeking to reduce western influence in the Middle East. From this perspective, weakening Iran could also reduce the scope of Russian and Chinese influence in the region. And there is the dimension of military dominance. The region remains a strategic crossroads within the international system for the US at the intersection of global trade routes, energy flows and vital maritime corridors. One of the war’s unstated objectives may be to send a broader deterrent message within the international system, reasserting American military dominance in the region. In light of these factors, the current war may represent a moment of profound transformation in the regional order of the Middle East. The region could change significantly, potentially giving rise to a new regional order. Political and security vacuums’ effects of a weakened emerged Iran may extend across a number of countries in the region. For Iraq, the post-war phase represents both a challenge and an opportunity. By virtue of its geography and its political and economic relations with Iran, the Gulf states and the US, Iraq is likely to be among the countries most affected by the outcome of this war. It becomes essential for Iraqi foreign policy to adopt a pragmatic approach built on three fundamental principles. The first is to insulate Iraq from regional conflicts and prevent its territory from becoming a battleground among competing powers as much as is feasibly possible. The second is to maintain balanced relations with major international and regional actors, enabling Baghdad to act as a bridge for dialogue rather than as an arena of confrontation. The third principle is to use regional transformations as leverage to strengthen Iraq’s role as a balancing state in the region – capable of playing a greater political and economic role within the emerging regional order. (Source: The National – United Arab Emirates)
by Alaaldin, a foreign affairs adviser to the Prime Minister of Iraq

Israel
10.03.2026  Israel said today that a total of 2,339 injured people, including both civilians and soldiers, have been admitted to hospitals since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran on Feb. 28. At least 191 injured people were admitted to hospitals in the past 24 hours. 95 people are currently hospitalized, including one in critical condition. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

March 10, 2026 at 8:55 am  Speaking yesterday, an Israeli official has criticised remarks by US President Trump suggesting the war with Iran is close to ending, saying: ’Nothing has been completed yet’. ’Our initial assessment was that the battle would take about two weeks,’ the senior Israeli official said, reported by Israel’s privately owned Channel 15 television, which did not name the official. Earlier yesterday evening, Trump told CBS News that the war was nearly over. He said: ’I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force.’ He added: the US is ’very far’ ahead of his initial 4-5 week estimated time frame for the war. (Source: Middle East Monitor – located in London, United Kingdom, financed by the State of Qatar)

Jordan
10 March 2026 12:21 (UTC +04:00)  On the night of March 10, a missile strike was launched at the military base in Al-Azraq, Jordan, where Bundeswehr and U.S. Air Force personnel are stationed. The missiles were launched from Iran. One of the projectiles hit a building where the FRG contingent was housed, however, the military personnel were in shelters at the time of the attack, so no one was injured. The Bundeswehr has been at the Al-Azraq base for several years, participating from there in the international coalition against the terrorist group islamic state. (Source: APA – Azerbaijan)

Lebanon
(Wednesday), 05:12-11 March 2026 AD ـ 22 Ramadan  The Israeli military ordered reinforcements to the area bordering Lebanon including its elite Golani Brigade. It has also sent more soldiers into south Lebanon, where some of its troops had remained since 2024, establishing what it has called forward defensive positions to guard against the risk of Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. Hezbollah fighters were braced for the possibility of a full-scale Israeli invasion of the south. Around 5:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) an Israeli strike hit an apartment block in central Beirut today in Aisha Bakkar neighborhood, beyond the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs where heavy bombardment continued. On Sunday, an Israeli strike hit a hotel in the seafront Raouche neighborhood. The Israeli military said that strike killed five senior members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, which established Hezbollah in 1982. Israel kept up heavy strikes on the southern suburbs, known as Dahieh, overnight and into today, sending towers of smoke billowing across the skyline. Israel has ordered residents of Dahieh to leave, along with residents of a swathe of southern Lebanon and parts of the east - all areas where Hezbollah has a grip on security and political sway. Since March 2, Israeli strikes have killed 570 people in Lebanon, and uprooted 700,000 more, Lebanese authorities say. Adding to the death toll, Israeli strikes killed seven people in the eastern Bekaa Valley today morning, and another seven in south Lebanon. After fleeing their homes, around 100,000 people are in organized shelters. France will provide 60 metric tons of humanitarian aid for Lebanon, French Foreign Minister Barrot said. (Source: Asharq Al-Awsat - based in London, United Kingdom, owned by a member of the Saudy royal family)

10.03.2026  Israel and the US launched a joint attack on Iran on Feb. 28. The conflict spilled over to Lebanon, with Israel launching deadly airstrikes that have so far killed nearly 500 people and displaced thousands. The Israeli army launched attacks in southern Lebanon today, shortly after issuing in a statement on the US social media company X immediate evacuation orders for residents in areas south of the Litani River to move north ahead of attacks. The army also ordered immediate evacuation orders for residents in the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon ahead of attacks against what Tel Aviv described as Hezbollah infrastructure. It called on residents of buildings marked in red on the attached maps, as well as nearby structures, to evacuate immediately and move at least 300 meters away. Two airstrikes targeted the towns of Deir Siryan and Taybeh in Marjayoun. Fighter jets also struck a building in Aabbasiyyeh town in Tyre. The Israeli army confirmed that its aircraft bombed what it called Hezbollah infrastructure in the town of Ansariyah in southern Lebanon. The army said airstrikes yesterday targeted assets and cash storage facilities belonging to Al-Qard Al-Hassan, claiming the funds are used by the group to purchase weapons, and pay Hezbollah fighters. In recent days, Israeli forces have carried out airstrikes on facilities linked to the association at multiple locations across Lebanon, including the capital Beirut. The attacks came as Israeli forces attempted to advance on the ground in southern Lebanon amid cross-border attacks with Hezbollah. Earlier today, Hezbollah said its fighters engaged in intense clashes with the advancing Israeli force in Khiam, damaging two Merkava tanks. It also said it targeted an Israeli force with rockets as it attempted to infiltrate toward the border town of Houla. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Persian Gulf
11/03/2026 - 11:33  Iran continues to target Gulf states. Dubai airport, Qatar, and Saudi oil field among targets of Iranian drones. (Source: France 24)
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(March 10, 2026) 8:44 PM CET  There are currently about 400 oil and product tankers idle in the Gulf. One oil tanker passed through the Strait of Hormuz without incident yesterday, according to data from MarineTraffic, a project that tracks the movement of vessels around the globe using publicly available data. (Source: AP - U.S.)

Qatar
11/03/2026 - 11:24  Iran adoption a strategy of 'war of attrition on several fronts' (Source: France24)
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Strait of Hormuz
March 11, 2026, Wednesday // 11:40  The Revolutionary Guard emphasized it would not allow even a single litre of oil to leave the region for hostile countries until further notice. The US Central Command reported destroying 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels yesterday. President Trump confirmed on social media that the US had taken pre-emptive measures against the vessels. Trump assured lawmakers that US operations were significantly ahead of schedule and predicted the war might end “very soon.” Casualties among US forces continue to mount, with the Pentagon reporting seven deaths and around 140 injuries, mostly minor, among service members. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed that military action would continue until Iran and its regional proxies no longer posed a threat to his country. Contrasting with Trump’s optimistic timeline, the conflict shows no signs of de-escalation, both Iran and Israel continue to engage in heavy exchanges of fire. Early today, Iran and Israel exchanged additional strikes, with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia intercepting multiple Iranian drones targeting oil facilities. Residents in Tehran described some of the heaviest strikes they had witnessed since the war began, with reports of damaged residential buildings and civilians seeking refuge in the countryside. Iranian casualties have been significant, with at least 1,230 reported killed. Lebanon and Israel reported over 480 and 12 deaths, respectively. (Source: Novinite - Bulgaria)

09:17-11 March 2026 AD ـ 22 Ramadan  Three vessels have been hit by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz today. The Japan-flagged container ship One Majesty had sustained minor damage from an unknown projectile 46 km northwest of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. Its crew members are safe and the vessel is sailing towards a safe anchorage. The Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree was targeted and damaged north of Oman. The fire had been extinguished, there was no environmental impact. Necessary crew remained on the vessel. The Marshall Islands-flagged Star Gwyneth, a bulk carrier, was also hit by an unknown projectile approximately 50 miles northwest of Dubai. The vessel's crew were safe. There were no reports of Iran planting explosives in the Strait of Hormuz, US President Trump said in social media posts. The US said it took out more than a dozen minelaying Iranian vessels yesterday to help prevent any attempt to close the waterway. Some tankers, believed linked to Iran, are continuing to get through the Strait of Hormuz. Seven ships had passed through the strait since March 8. Of those, five were linked to Iranian-associated shipping. Iran has restarted crude exports through its Jask oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman. A tanker loaded roughly 2 million barrels at Jask on March 7. (Source: Asharq Al-Awsat - based in London, United Kingdom, owned by a member of the Saudy royal family)

(March 10, 2026)  Iran has begun laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The mining is not extensive yet, with a few dozen having been laid in recent days. Iran still retains upward of 80% to 90% of its small boats and mine layers, so its forces could feasibly lay hundreds of mines in the waterway. Severe volatility was on the crude oil market today, with the price per barrel fluctuating between more than $90 and less than $80 in a series of peaks and valleys. Nearly 15 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude production, plus another 4.5 million bpd of refined fuels, are now effectively stranded in the Gulf. Producers like Iraq and Kuwait have no alternative to shipping oil through Hormuz. US Central Command said in a social media post later today that the military destroyed multiple Iranian naval ships - including 16 minelayers - near the Strait of Hormuz. (Source: CNN – U.S.)

United Arab Emirates
March 11, 2026 at 10:25 am  In a statement issued early today Houthi- and Hezbollah-linked group calling itself the Brigades of the True Promise in the Arabian Peninsula threatens to target Barakah nuclear facility in Abu Dhabi. (Source: Middle East Monitor - located in London, United Kingdom, financed by the State of Qatar)

(10 March 2026)  The UAE is considering a crackdown on Iran’s financial assets. Estimates range high, could be $20 billion to $50 billion or more. The figure includes Iran-linked trade, real estate, gold, and corporate accounts. Annual UAE-Iran trade is about $27 billion, with Emirati exports to Tehran amounting to $22 billion. The UAE has long been Iran's gateway to the world, it has implicitly allowed a number of Iranian businesses and individuals to operate in the shadows, away from the sanctions spotlight cast by the treasury departments of Western governments. Iran uses shell companies registered in Dubai’s free-trade zones to mask the origin of its oil. Iran-linked entities conduct business through hundreds of shell companies in the UAE that sell oil, petrochemicals, and other commodities to global buyers. The UAE allows this in self-interest, as Abu Dhabi balances its US military alliance with Iran ties. A large Iranian diaspora of about 400,000 people forms the backbone of the UAE workforce, while Iranian capital boosts the Emirati property market. The UAE’s potential freezing of Iran-linked assets can mirror the West’s actions against Russia. Gulf states once criticised the West for freezing the assets of the Central Bank of Russia to browbeat Moscow into ending the war against Ukraine. Freezing assets can spark further Iranian attacks on key infrastructure, such as ports and refineries, analysts say. The UAE’s real estate market can face a slump, while its image as a neutral destination for investments and tourists from around the world remains at stake. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)

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Israel
(Tuesday), 03/03/2026 - 13:40 GMT+1  On Saturday evening, the same day that the airstrikes took place, flight-tracking data showed that Israel's government plane had landed at Berlin's Brandenburg Airport. Online, users claimed that Israeli Netanyahu was on board the flight. A protest was organised in Berlin demanding to know whether Netanyahu or another member of the Israeli government was on board. Some claimed that Germany had breached "Article 7" (likely of the Rome Statute) by failing to arrest Netanyahu when the plane landed, as the Israeli leader is subject to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip. Most of these allegations rely on flight-tracking data from Flightradar, and a review of this data indeed confirms that the Israeli government plane, known as Wing of Zion, departed Beersheba in Israel in the early afternoon of Saturday. The aircraft then spent several hours circling over the Mediterranean before landing at Berlin's primary airport in the evening. There is no evidence to suggest that Netanyahu was on board the plane. A picture posted by his office shows him attending a security meeting in Kirya, in Tel Aviv, with the IDF Chief of Staff and Director of the Mossad one day after the plane landed. A photograph was attached showing him attending the meeting on Sunday. His office also released a photograph showing him on the roof of a building in Kirya. Another video posted on Monday shows him at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Beit Shemesh. His presence there was corroborated by multiple Israeli outlets. A spokesperson for the German foreign ministry said the Israeli government "asked us if they could park the plane here" and only the flight crew and the pilot were on board the flight. Israel's government plane has routinely left Israeli airspace during rounds of fighting with Iran, presumably for safety. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)
See also: 02.03.2026  Statement by PM Netanyahu at the site of the missile strike in Beit Shemesh (Source: Prime Minister's Office - Israel)
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March 3, 2026, 6:03 a.m. ET  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered military leaders at the end of last year to begin planning for a solo strike against Iran to be carried out sometime between April and June. Military commanders were unenthusiastic, one defense official said, because they did not believe that Israel, acting alone, could achieve much more than it had in the 12-day war in June 2025. They were also concerned about their ability to defend against what they expected would be an Iranian response targeting Israeli population centers with ballistic missiles. Once it became clear that the United States would be Israel’s partner in an attack on Iran and it began to amass forces in the region, Israeli generals changed their tune. The shouldering of much of the burden by the Americans - including sending aloft a huge fleet of midair-refueling tankers - made it possible for Israel to deploy its largest air fleet ever on Saturday. That allowed for what proved a devastating assault on Iranian missile launchers. Emboldened by its partnership with the United States, feeling its own military strength, and sensing the weaknesses of its fiercest adversaries, Israel is seizing the new war as an opportunity to pursue its own geopolitical agenda. Now, Israel and the United States own the skies over Iran and are steadily blowing up its ballistic missile infrastructure and arsenal. And when Hezbollah joined the fight, however symbolically - with a single, relatively feeble volley of rockets and drones launched into northern Israel at about 1 a.m. yesterday - Israel had the pretext it needed. It announced a much more significant and long-in-the-making counteroffensive, striking Hezbollah leaders in Beirut and throughout the country. Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah, analysts said, reflects the fact that it had made plans months ago for such an attack and was waiting for an excuse to execute them. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Lebanon since the fighting began, and 52 were killed yesterday. An Israeli military spokesman announced today morning that troops had indeed seized new areas of southern Lebanon close to the border overnight, but insisted that this was a tactical step and not part of a broader maneuver or invasion. The country’s swaggering self-confidence also carries the possibility of overreach. Ms. Efron, a RAND analyst, said that Israel needed to remember to make political agreements, not just make war. (Source: The New York Times - U.S.)

03.03.2026  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today rejected claims that Israel pushed the United States into a war with Iran, calling the allegation ridiculous. Israeli leader says US president acts on his own judgment amid report of months-long lobbying. You don't have to drag him into anything, he said. He does what he thinks is right for America. He does also what he thinks is right for future generations, Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News. The New York Times reported that Netanyahu played a central role in steering US President Trump toward a war with Iran, lobbying him personally for months and working to prevent diplomatic talks from derailing plans for a military offensive. The NYT report described the US decision to strike Iran as a significant victory for Netanyahu. According to the report, Netanyahu first raised the prospect of hitting Iran’s missile sites during a visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in December. Two months later, he secured broader US involvement in a campaign aimed at bringing down the Iranian leadership. Israel earlier announced that it launched what it called a preemptive attack against Iran early Saturday under the name Operation Lion’s Roar, and declared a special and immediate state of emergency across the country. The strikes came as talks between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear program were ongoing under Oman’s mediation. A new round of talks in Geneva ended on Thursday. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

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Americas:

Caribbean

Haiti
10 March 2026 10:32 (UTC +04:00)  Haitian security forces, with support from Vectus Global, have carried out anti-gang operations using quadcopter drones strapped with explosives, often in densely populated parts of the capital Port-au-Prince. Since last March, explosive drone strikes by Haitian security forces targeting gangs have killed 1,243 people, Human Rights Watch said in a report today. The strikes also injured 738 people. Vectus Global is a private U.S.-based military company led by Blackwater founder Prince. The operations have ramped up in recent months - from November to January there were nearly double the number of drone operations compared with the prior three months. The drones can maneuver between buildings and moving vehicles while their controllers track suspects using live video feeds. The U.S. charge d'affaires in Haiti told a Senate committee last month that the State Department had licensed Vectus to export its services to Haiti. A spokesperson for the U.N.-backed Gang Suppression Force in Haiti declined to comment. Despite Kenyan, U.S. and U.N. support, armed gangs have expanded well beyond the capital and security forces have yet to capture a major gang leader. The gangs have killed thousands, displaced over a million and crippled the economy. The U.N.'s human rights chief said last October the drone strikes were disproportionate and likely unlawful. Last month, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) said it had no indications the deaths and injuries were being investigated. HRW said there was no evidence drones were being used widely by gangs. (Source: APA - Azerbaijan „citing Reuters” – United Kingdom)

North America

United States
(March 10, 2026) 7:35 PM CET  About 140 US troops have been wounded in the Iran war, including 8 severely. “The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty,” Pentagon spokesman Parnell said. Eight U.S. service members are currently 'severely injured,' Parnell added. Retaliatory rocket and drone strikes from Iran have also claimed the lives of seven soldiers in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. (Source: AP - U.S.)

(March 10, 2026) 4:41 PM CET  First 2 days of Iran war cost the US $5 billion in munitions alone. An estimate the Pentagon sent to Congress does not appear to include other war-related expenses besides munitions. The war is currently in its 11th day. (Source: AP - U.S.)

14:08, 10 Mar 2026  To date, the US has a total of six unaccounted-for nuclear warheads from 32 documented Broken Arrow accidents. One incident in 1958 involved a fully-armed B-47 carrying a Mark 15 hydrogen bomb, which dropped its nuclear bomb following a mid-air collision. The weapon was never retrieved despite initial assertions it was a dummy. The B-47 was transporting a 7,600-pound Mark 15 hydrogen thermonuclear bomb. The Mark 15 possessed an explosive yield of 3.8 megatons, 190 times more devastating than the Fat Man bomb, which flattened Nagasaki. The B-47 sustained damage, the pilot worried the bomb might explode and released the Mark 15 into the waters of Wassaw Sound, near Tybee Island. Over 100 Navy personnel searched for the jettisoned Mark 15. The search continued for two months, and they discovered nothing. The Air Force informed the public that the bomb's plutonium warhead had been removed before the flight and replaced with a lead substitute. Decades later, in 1994, documents released from a 1966 Congressional testimony revealed the Tybee Mark 15 was actually an intact nuclear weapon. In 1966, a B-28 thermonuclear bomb was lost in the Mediterranean Sea following a collision between two U.S. military aircraft, and its warhead remains missing. One Spanish shrimp fisherman witnessed the misshapen white package descend. It was one of four B28 thermonuclear bombs that had been dispersed after two US military aircraft collided over the Mediterranean. Three of the B-28s were recovered on land but the warhead has never been located. (Source: Mirror - United Kingdom)

10.03.2026  The Trump administration is mulling a ground operation to retrieve Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, believed to be sitting in a storage facility deep underground, according to military officials who spoke to CNN. They said that the move would require a significant number of US ground troops, not just a special forces operation - mark of ’the first major commitment of US ground forces to the war.’ Much of the uranium is believed to be at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site. The military escalation would put a large number of troops in danger, as it would require a complex mission to safely recover and transport a large amount of highly radioactive material. US intelligence agencies believe the Iranians who have been working to clear the debris from damage to Isfahan facility’s above ground facilities caused by US military air strikes in June last year, have access to the underground tunnels where the uranium was hidden. Officials believe that 200 kilograms of uranium is probably still at the Isfahan site. Iran’s uranium is currently enriched at around 60%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Additional radioactive material also believed to be stored at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility. Iran has claimed that it uses the uranium only for peaceful energy purposes. Experts said enriching the material above a certain threshold - around 90% - means it can be used to create nuclear weapons. Trump has repeatedly said that Iran can never be allowed to have a nuclear weapons program. ’One thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon’, the president said last month. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

(Tuesday), March 10, 2026 9:51 AM (= 02:51 CET)  Trump, Putin talk of war and peace as US weighs easing Russian oil sanctions. US President Trump and Russian counterpart discussed on Monday the war in Iran and prospects for peace in Ukraine, just hours after the Kremlin chief warned that a global energy crisis threatened the world economy, cautioning that oil production dependent on transport through the Strait of Hormuz could soon come to a halt. The Kremlin said Trump called Putin, in the leaders' first telephone call this year, and they discussed Russian ideas for a speedy end to the conflict in Iran, the military situation in Ukraine and the impact of Venezuela on the global oil market. The US and Israeli attack on Iran triggered the biggest spike in oil prices since the turmoil following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Gulf producers reduce output after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. "I had a very good call with President Putin," Trump told a press conference at his Florida golf club, adding that Putin wanted to be helpful on Iran. "I said, 'You could be more helpful by getting the Ukraine-Russia war over with. That will be more helpful." Putin said Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter and holder of its biggest natural gas reserves, was ready to work again with European customers if they wanted to return to long-term co-operation. Amid the turmoil on global energy markets, Trump's administration is considering reducing oil sanctions on Russia, with an announcement possible as soon as Monday, according to three sources familiar with the planning. The move would be intended to boost world supplies of oil following massive disruptions to Middle East shipments from the expanding conflict. It could also complicate US efforts to deprive Russia of revenue for its war in Ukraine. Talks could cover broad sanctions relief as well as more targeted options for certain countries, such as India, to buy Russian oil without fear of US penalties, including tariffs. "We're also waiving certain oil-related sanctions to reduce prices. So we have sanctions on some countries. We're going to take those sanctions off until this straightens out," Trump told reporters, without identifying the countries. "Then who knows, maybe we won't have to put them on; there'll be so much peace. But when the time comes, the US Navy and its partners will escort tankers through the Strait if needed." Last week, the United States allowed India to temporarily buy Russian crude oil already on tankers at sea, to help it cope with the cuts to Middle East supply. On Friday, Treasury Secretary Bessent said the United States could free more Russian oil from sanctions. Russia's special presidential envoy on investment, Dmitriev, said on Saturday he was discussing the issue with Washington. Kremlin foreign policy aide Ushakov said the discussion with Trump was "very substantial" and "likely to have practical significance for further work between the two countries". Ushakov said Trump believed it was in the US interest to see a "rapid end to the conflict in Ukraine with a ceasefire and a long-term settlement". (Source: AsiaOne Singapore / Reuters - United Kingdom)

 Space

March 10, 2026 / 10:35 AM EDT  A 1,300-pound NASA probe is set to re-enter Earth's atmosphere today, nearly 14 years after it was launched. The Van Allen Probe A, which was launched in August 2012, is likely to reenter Earth's atmosphere around 7:45 p.m. ET today. There is a 24-hour margin of uncertainty. Most of the probe is expected to burn up as it reenters the atmosphere, NASA said, although some components are expected to survive re-entry. 'There is a 1 in 4,200 chance of anyone on Earth being harmed', NASA said, noting that the risk is low. The probe and a twin spacecraft, Van Allen Probe B, were sent to explore Earth's permanent radiation belts and determine how particles within them are gained and lost. (Source: CBS News - U.S.)

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United States
Mar 2, 2026, 10:17 AM CET  America's energy dominance. In 1987, when Trump was first flirting with running for president, he told an audience in New Hampshire that the United States should attack the 'horrible, horrible country' of Iran, ’and take over some of their oil.’ In the years since, Trump talked about grabbing control of the natural resources of Venezuela, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, and Libya, too. For a long time - including during Trump's first term - this smash-and-grab idea to corner the global energy supply was treated as something of a joke by outside analysts and political opponents. In this second administration, a version of it has become a building block of American power projection, both at home and abroad. That policy is one of the reasons why the US captured Venezuela's president. And it's why the Trump administration was bragging in the run-up to this past weekend's massive American-Israeli assault on Iran ’that it could do so without upending the global economy’. To vastly oversimplify the ’energy dominance’ plan, it boils down to three steps: maximize America's share of the world's energy supply, especially its fossil fuels; leverage the hell out of 'em; and then make rivals both foreign and domestic bend the knee. Or, as President Trump put it in a speech he gave in Corpus Christi, Texas the day before he ordered this new attack on Iran, he's ’cementing America's status as the number one energy superpower by far anywhere on Earth.’ Previous presidents from both parties encouraged more and more and more drilling, all in the name of weaning America off others' fossil fuels. Now the US produces more oil than Russia and Saudi Arabia combined. ’Our oil, our gas, our minerals, our coal,’ Goldberg, who last year helped set up the administration's National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC), tells. ’If you can unlock those assets, that's trillions of dollars and an incredible amount of power projection and leverage over our adversaries.’ Take Iran. Before the president ordered the bombing of Tehran's nuclear facilities last year, he got a little jumpy. Iran had repeatedly threatened the global energy market, with its mines and drones and fast-moving attack boats stationed around the strategically-located Strait of Hormuz. Trump's advisers told him not to worry. The US and its allies now controlled so much of the world's oil, Iran couldn't make that much of an impact. Sure enough, crude didn't rise too high for too long, peaking at $79 per barrel before settling back down to $66 two days later. In part, that was because of all of that cheap American and allied crude on the market. Energy Secretary Wright later chalked it up as ’perfect evidence of Trump's energy dominance agenda, you know, growing production in the United States - and a sign that the US could keep on attacking Iran with minimal economic blowback’. This time, almost all energy analysts are predicting a short-term bump in prices, with some foreseeing a jump to $100 per barrel. Then there's Venezuela. When American forces grabbed Caracas' dictator Maduro in early January, Trump declared that the US was going to ’run the country.’ He wanted to do it by controlling Venezuela's oil: where it flowed, and who profited from it. Wright and other US officials locked arms with Maduro's business-friendly deputy, González, the opposition leader the US recognized as the president-elect after the 2024 vote. Caracas' oil was immediately cut off to what had previously been Venezuela's closest ally, the communist government in Cuba. That deepened an economic crisis so severe that talk of another regime change in Latin America is now in the air. The drive towards energy dominance shows few signs of slowing down. A scenario: Trump leverages Venezuela to gain backdoor control of - or at least serious influence over - OPEC. Venezuela is one of 12 members of OPEC, the global oil cartel which has held sway over world's energy prices for decades. But that dominance is not total, and the Trumpists see China as the biggest threat to it. Beijing's solar, wind, and battery tech has become so efficient and cheap that it's undercutting the appeal of US-controlled fossil fuels, while dressing themselves as global good guys, working to stave off a planet-wide climate emergency, even as it continues to be the world's polluter-in-chief. China exported more than $222 billion in cleantech last year. Its carmakers exported 2.6 million electric vehicles, worth more than $70 billion. US automakers sold about half of that - at home and abroad. China continues to build coal plants - as much as 95% of the world's new coal construction is happening there. Renewable power is coming online in China even more quickly: Bloomberg New Energy Finance expects solar to make up more than 30% of China's power generation by 2030. Now the National Energy Dominance Council would be freer than ever cutting deals to further expand America's oil and gas exports, sawing through the regulatory crust keeping the United States from building out its energy and power infrastructure. Kelm, a former Shell and Valero Energy staffer now with the NEDC, said on a podcast last summer that the council acts as a ’concierge, white-glove service’ for energy companies looking to overcome the bureaucratic inertia that can overtake large-scale developments. Like the massive, 800-mile Alaska natural gas pipeline, stuck in planning and permitting limbo for decades, that's now on track to be built before the end of Trump's term, and will eventually supply 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Energy dominance is more than simply an instrument of geopolitical leverage, the Trumpists insist. AI data centers require massive amounts of power, and the only way to reliably supply it at the scale required, the administration has claimed, is with fossil fuels. It's a blueprint for rewiring the American economy for the age of AI before China can do the same. Big Tech companies are plowing an unimaginable pile of cash into data centers and have jumped on the Trump administration's narrative of an energy competition with the People's Republic of China with both feet. In a late October letter to the White House, for example, OpenAI's chief global affairs officer Lehane warned of a widening 'electron gap' with the PRC, that ’could jeopardize the greatest national economic opportunity since electricity drove the latter half of the Industrial Age’. Natural gas plants take too long to build, with wait times of up to seven years for the turbines required. New nuclear operations take even longer. That's why OpenAI is investing in both natural gas and solar projects, Lehane wrote. In February, Google signed up for another gigawatt of solar capacity in Texas. Microsoft just announced that it identifies renewable sources for all of its electricity consumption worldwide. Wind, hydropower, and solar already account for 27% of data centers' global energy supply, according to the International Energy Agency. Such power sources will continue to grow, the agency predicts, as will a resurgent nuclear industry. The Trump administration's reactions to this trend towards renewables have been, for the most part, predictably hostile. Before he took office, Trump's energy dominance agenda started. ’I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!’ he posted in December 2024. Washington has since elbowed out Moscow as Europe's leading natural gas supplier. At a February meeting in Paris, Wright gave an ultimatum to the International Energy Agency, which has provided authoritative data and policy guidance for a half-century. Either the agency stops focusing on ’climate stuff,’ or the United States quits, Wright demanded. Months earlier, the Trump administration was reportedly accused of threatening Asian and Caribbean diplomats as part of its successful campaign to torpedo a 100-nation agreement curbing emissions from cargo ships. As the NEDC cleared the way for more fossil fuel projects, Burgum, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior had been holding up federal approvals on hundreds of solar and wind farms that are designed to power millions and millions of homes. "No one's electric bill has gone up because of a data center. It's gone up because of the climate fantasy versus the energy reality,' he told Fox News. The vision of energy dominance that centers around fossil fuels is colliding with the reality of spiking prices. Electricity costs in areas near major data centers are up as much as 267% over the last five years, a recent Bloomberg analysis concluded. There's an effort underway to reinterpret the president's previous blanket hostility towards renewables. Burgum is beginning to review six of the "utility-scale" solar projects that the Interior Department previously held up. MAGA figures like Musk are touting solar as the cost-effective energy of the future. The economics of US fossil fuel production are unlikely to change. Prices are too low to make new oil drilling worth it. The boss has publicly expressed his opinion that windmills are killing all your birds, causing cancer and ruining the views from his golf course in Scotland. At a time when the Trump administration is openly contemplating decapitating more governments, pushing one-time allies towards America's biggest rival, sabotaging projects that could supply power to millions, and upping the chances of a climate catastrophe — all in the name of energy dominance — maybe it doesn't matter how coherent the theory of the case is. Maybe all that matters is how dangerous it's proving to be. 'We have a big decision to make,’ Trump said in Corpus Christi, the day before the attacks that have killed hundreds of Iranians, including the top tier of their political leadership. "I'd rather do it the peaceful way, but they're very difficult people. I want to tell you that. They're very dangerous people.’ In front of Trump were a pair of placards. They read: ’America's energy dominance.’ (Source: Business Insider – headquarters New York City, U.S; owned by a German company)
by Shachtman, a contributing editor at WIRED and a veteran reporter on global security issues. He previously served as the editor-in-chief of Rolling Stone and The Daily Beast.

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Europe

France
01/03/2026 - 14:46  Former NATO vice chief-of-staff Yakovleff weighs in on US President Trump's call for the Iranian people to rise up and overthrow the battered government following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. (Source: France 24)
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28/02/2026 - 17:33  Strikes on Iran: In Israel most people support this operation: Bassist, Correspondant for Al-Meritor and public Israeli radio Kan. (Source: France 24)

Germany
01/03/2026 - 14:53  There are concerns that Hezbollah sleeper cells or even Al Qaeda and their affiliates could attack American bases or embassies. Speaking to German media, Henrichmann, of the Parliamentary Control Committee of the Intelligence Services in Germany, warned that the weekend’s attacks won’t stay isolated to the Middle-East. He told Süddeutsche Zeitung: The escalation in the Middle East doesn’t just affect the region itself. The Iranian regime has repeatedly demonstrated in the past that it carried out its terror beyond its own borders. The German official continued by saying 'Iranian sleeper cells in Europe cannot be ruled out' as a form of Tehran’s retaliation strategy. (Source: GB News – United Kingdom)

Poland
February 28, 2026 8:59 pm CET  Poland’s leadership said today it had prior awareness of the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, in contrast to France, which said it was neither informed of nor involved in the operation. (Source: Politico – U.S.)

European Union
01/03/2026 - 10:56  European foreign ministers were set to hold an emergency meeting today to discuss the conflict in Iran following the killing of the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. The foreign affairs council's meeting will take place via video link, said Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief. (Source: RFI - France)

Russia
15:46, Sun, Mar 1, 2026  Today, Russian President Putin expressed condolences over the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. He called the act a murder committed in cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law. The Russian Foreign Ministry had sharply denounced the joint US Israeli military operation in Iran the previous day, describing it as a pre planned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state and a violation of core principles of international law. In Moscow's view, Washington and Tel Aviv have once again embarked on a dangerous adventure that is rapidly bringing the region closer to a humanitarian, economic ’and, not exclude, a radiological catastrophe.’ The Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that the US and Israel are covering themselves with an imaginary concern to prevent the Iranians from acquiring nuclear weapons, while in fact their main goal, according to Moscow, is to destroy the constitutional order and destroy the leadership of a state they do not like, which has refused to submit to forceful dictate and hegemonism. The foreign ministry also appealed to Russians in Iran and Israel to leave these countries immediately if possible. Experts blamed Trump for unwittingly creating political and psychological opportunities. In the conversation with Solovyov on channel Solovyov Live, speaking about Russia’s next move, Karnaukhov and Simes, former presidents and CEOS of The Centre for the National Interest highlighted what needs to be done as they blamed Europe for waging war against Russia: ’Estonia is waging war against us. Mr Trump untied our hands for our Supreme Commander in chief to do whatever he finds appropriate to do for the nation’s security”. (Source: Express – United Kingdom)

28.02.2026  Putin held videoconference with permanent members of country’s Security Council (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

United Kingdom
March 1, 2026 9:32pm ES  The U.S. has been cleared to use British bases for limited strikes on Iran’s missile capabilities after Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed off on the plan. The only way to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at source, in their storage depots or the launchers which are used to fire the missiles, Starmer confirmed in a recorded statement to the nation. The U.S. has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose, he said. 'We have taken the decision to accept this request.' (Source: Fox News – U.S.)

28 February 2026 / 5h 22 min  Breaking / BBC News (Source: BBC – United Kingdom)
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Europe
Mar 01, 2026  'Craven Europeans give US and Israel a blank check for illegal war. They frame the crisis not as an act of war against a UN member state, but as a natural consequence of Tehran’s failure to capitulate unconditionally'. What many both in the West and outside knew all along is that for London, Paris, Berlin, and Brussels, the rules-based international order has been reduced to a simple, brutal premise: might makes right, provided the might is Western. Not a single reference to the international law that explicitly prohibits aggression. It is particularly Orwellian that the European leaders urge the Iranian leadership 'to seek a negotiated solution', when Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi was literally doing exactly that the day earlier in Geneva. The target is blamed for the attack, and the aggressors are seen as restoring order. There is genuine animosity toward the Iranian regime - and not without reason. The brutal suppression of protests in January 2026, support for Russia in its war in Ukraine, and the persistent use of dual nationals as diplomatic hostages have all rightfully earned the Islamic Republic few friends in European capitals. But here is the uncomfortable truth that European leaders refuse to confront: disliking a regime does not justify condoning illegal war against it. International law is not a reward system for good behavior. It is a set of constraints designed precisely for moments like this - when powerful states convince themselves that the target is so odious that the normal rules should no longer apply. The short-term gratification of 'doing something' about a despised regime give way to long-term strategic catastrophe - the erosion of international legal norms that protect all states, including Western ones. One leftist member of the European Parliament from Belgium put it bluntly: 'The EU condones the US-Israeli illegal and unprovoked war of aggression on Iran. European failure to stand up for basic principles of international law legitimizes rogue state behaviour and endangers lives throughout the world. Shameful. Dangerous.' The strikes occurred as U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, mediated by Oman, were reportedly showing progress. The message is unmistakable: there is no point in engaging with the U.S. as it does not negotiate in good faith, and its European allies will always be available to provide Washington diplomatic cover. One case of dissent in Europe is Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's, alone among the leaders of major European countries, who rejected the 'unilateral military action of the U.S. and Israel' for contributing to 'a more uncertain and hostile international order.' The mainstream, represented by the E3 and EU Commission President der Leyen, is consumed with managing the consequences of the aggression — not only having utterly failed to do anything to prevent it through a diplomatic settlement between the U.S. and Iran, but also exacerbating tensions by deploying snapback of the UN Security Council sanctions against Iran. Der Leyen's response is to convene a 'special Security College' tomorrow to discuss Iran's 'unjustified attacks on partners,' effectively treating the escalation as a problem caused by the target's retaliation. Not even hypocrisy remains for European foreign policy — just irrelevance. (Source: Responsible Statecraft – U.S.)
by Mamedov, a Brussels-based foreign policy expert and Non-resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute.

28 Feb 2026  Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz issued a statement saying their countries did not take part in the strikes on Iran but are in close contact with the US, Israel and partners in the region. The strikes by the US create a dilemma for its democratic allies. We condemn Iranian attacks on countries in the region in the strongest terms. Iran must refrain from indiscriminate military strikes. We call for a resumption of negotiations and urge the Iranian leadership to seek a negotiated solution. Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future, they said. France, which has military presence in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan, will offer military aid to its partners in the Middle East, Mr Macron said in a statement. European Union leaders issued a joint statement yesterday calling for restraint and engaging in regional diplomacy in hopes of “ensuring nuclear safety”. The European Union’s top diplomat called the conflict perilous and said ’she was working with Israeli and Arab officials to pursue a negotiated peace'. We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law, said European Commission president der Leyen and European Council president Costa. (Source: Nation Cymru - Wales)

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Asia

Bahrain
Sunday 1 March 2026 07:34, UK  Iran launched retaliatory strikes targeting US military assets across the Middle East after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran. Suspected Iranian drone strike hits high-rise building in Bahrain.  (Source: Sky News – United Kingdom)
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Iran
01 Mar (2026), 17:27  Former Iranian President Ahmadinejad was reportedly killed by Israeli airstrikes. (Source: The Caspian Post - Azerbaijan ?)

01.03.2026  Iranian state TV confirmed today Supreme Leader Khamenei was killed at his office early yesterday, following US-Israeli bombardment. State media announces 40 days of public mourning. US President Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social that 'Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead.' (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Mar 1, 2026 16:35 IST  Senior cleric Ayatollah Arafi, 67, named interim Supreme Leader after Khamenei killing. Arafi is a senior figure in Iran's clerical hierarchy. He heads Iran's national network of Islamic seminaries, serves as a clerical member of the Guardian Council and sits on the Assembly of Experts. He will jointly lead the country with President Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Mohseni-Eje’i. The trio, together, now hold the supreme authority previously exercised solely by Khamenei. As the only cleric in a system traditionally headed by a religious Supreme Leader, he effectively becomes the senior figure within the trio. Vahidi has been appointed as the new chief of IRGC, one of Iran’s most powerful institutions, which operates separately from the country’s regular armed forces with major military, political and economic influence. (Source: India Today)

10:31, Sun, Mar 1, 2026  Ayatollah Khamenei's killing has been described as a declaration of war against Muslims by Iranian President Pezeshkian. Speaking on state television he said: ’The assassination of the highest political authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a prominent leader of Shiism worldwide… is perceived as an open declaration of war against Muslims, and particularly against Shiites, everywhere in the world. The Islamic Republic of Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime’. Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Larijani says Iran will strike the US and Israel with force they have never experienced before. Grand Ayatollah Sistani, Iraq’s most revered Shia cleric, issued a rare and powerful statement from Najaf, describing Khamenei’s death as martyrdom. Pro-Iran factions in Iraq, including the Coordination Framework, mirrored Sistani’s language, declaring that Khamenei's blood would be a guiding light. In Baghdad, protesters attempted to storm the US embassy in the Green Zone in response to the killing. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia condemned the Israeli strikes and accompanying US military action in the strongest terms. Turkey's President Erdogan expressed deep sorrow and stated he was deeply disturbed by the US-Israeli attacks, which he said clearly violate Iran’s sovereignty. He also issued a firm condemnation of Iran’s subsequent retaliation, calling the drone and missile attacks on Gulf countries unacceptable, regardless of the reason. He warned that the region is now in a ring of fire. (Source: Express – United Kingdom)

Sunday 1 March 2026 09:21, UK  Iranian state media is reporting that explosions were heard near Iran's broadcasting complex. (Source: Sky News – United Kingdom)
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March 1, 2026  A three-person council made up of President Pezeshkian and judiciary chief Mohseni Ejei, as well as a member of the Guardian Council will assume responsibility for the transitional phase, will temporarily govern Iran following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. (Source: Premium Times - Nigeria)

01.03.26, 01:55 PM  Pragmatist Larijani emerges as power broker in Iran. Iran's Veteran politician Supreme National Security Council Secretary Larijani accuses the United States and Israel of trying to plunder and disintegrate Iran and warns 'secessionist groups' of a harsh response if they attempted any action, state television said today. Larijani was at the forefront of efforts to crush the series of demonstrations that swept Iran in January. He has been managing a broad portfolio from nuclear negotiations to Tehran’s regional ties to its violent suppression of internal unrest. His status as a trusted Khamenei strategist was underscored last month by a trip to mediator Oman to prepare for indirect nuclear talks with the US. Larijani had also made several trips to key ally Moscow in recent months to discuss a range of security ties. Larijani was also tasked with advancing negotiations with China which led to a 25-year cooperation agreement in 2021. Some of his public statements on the nuclear issue struck a pragmatic tone. In my view, this issue is resolvable, Larijani told Oman state television last month, referring to the talks with the US. Born in Najaf, Iraq, in 1958 to a leading Iranian clerical family, Larijani moved to Iran as a child and went on to earn a philosophy PhD. He was parliament speaker from 2008 to 2020. During that posting, Iran struck a nuclear deal with six world powers in 2015 after almost two years of delicate negotiations. President Trump withdrew the US from the hard-fought agreement during his first term in 2018. (Source: Telegraph - India)

March 1, 2026, 3:49 AM  An 88-member panel called the Assembly of Experts appoints the supreme leader. Until then, a leadership council can step in and temporarily assume all the duties of leadership. The panel consists entirely of Shiite clerics who are popularly elected every eight years. The supreme leader is at the heart of Iran’s complex power-sharing Shiite theocracy and has final say over all matters of state. He also serves as the commander-in-chief of the country's military and the powerful Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force that the United States designated a terrorist organization in 2019 and which Khamenei empowered during his rule. The Guard, which has led the self-described Axis of Resistance, a series of militant groups and allies across the Middle East meant to counter the U.S. and Israel, has extensive wealth and holdings in Iran. (Source: ABC News – U.S.)

Mar 1, 2026 13:40 IST  Israeli fighter jets reportedly dropped 30 bombs on a complex housing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, following intelligence identifying a high-level leadership meeting, according to The Wall Street Journal. The report further cited American sources as saying that Washington had intelligence indicating the Islamic Republic was considering action against American targets before the attack order was issued by US President Trump. (Source: India Today)
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Mar 1, 2026 13:22 IST  The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) announced the name of its new Commander-in-Chief today, Brigadier General Vahidi appointed as IRGC's new Commander-in-Chief. Prior to this, Vahidi served as the nation's Minister of Defence and Minister of Interior. He also held the position of Deputy Commander-in-Chief at the IRGC. His predecessor, the erstwhile Commander-in-Chief, Pakpour, was killed in the joint military operation launched by the United States and Israel. 'The criminal and terrorist act of the wicked governments of America and the Zionist regime is a clear violation of religious, ethical, legal, and customary principles; therefore, the hand of revenge of the Iranian nation for severe, decisive, and regretful punishment of the killers of the Imam of the Ummah will not leave their collar', the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has issued a warning. (Source: India Today)
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Mar 1, 2026 09:24 IST  Iran confirms Khamenei killed in US-Israel strikes. Analysts have previously cited potential successors including Khamenei’s son Mojtaba and Hassan, grandson of the Islamic Republic’s founder Khomeini. However, no current figure commands comparable religious legitimacy or institutional control, raising concerns over whether any successor can assert authority over powerful bodies such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and senior clerical networks. (Source: India Today)

Sunday 1 March 2026 00:08, UK  Video appears to show people in Karaj celebrating after reports of the death of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. (Source: Sky News – United Kingdom)

Mar 1, 2026 02:31 IST  Israel says Ayatollah Khamenei killed in strikes; Iran calls it mental warfare. (Source: India Today)

Mar 1, 2026 01:23 IST  Khamenei's son-in-law, daughter-in-law killed in US-Israel strikes, says Tehran council member. State television aired footage of black-clad mourners gathering outside government buildings, while clerics called for national unity during televised addresses. (Source: India Today)

Iraq
01.03.2026 Smoke rises from US military base in Erbil after explosions. The incident occurred shortly after the Iraqi Shiite group Seraya Evliya ed-Dem claimed responsibility for a kamikaze drone attack on US military installations in the region. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

01.03.2026  Iraqi authorities foiled an attack on a military base in the southern city of Nasiriyah. Two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) targeted the base but were intercepted by anti-aircraft units of the army, and no casualties were reported. Three people were injured in the Iraqi southern city of Basra after two missile warheads fell in residential areas. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

March 01, 2026 | 12:54 PM  Harir Air Base in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was subjected to two consecutive attacks at dawn today. Thick plumes of smoke were observed rising near the adjacent airport. Harir Air Base had previously come under rocket fire yesterday, with four violent explosions heard in the areas surrounding the facility. (Source: Gulf Times - Qatar)

08:43-1 March 2026 AD ـ 12 Ramadan  Baghdad announced a three-day mourning period for Khamenei. Iraq's top Shiite Muslim cleric Sistani, himself born in Iran, today urged Iranians to remain united as Iraqis mourned supreme leader Khamenei following his death in US and Israeli strikes. Iran wields significant influence in Iraqi politics, and also backs armed groups whose power has grown both politically and financially. Khamenei's death was met with anger in Baghdad, where hundreds of protesters have tried since the early hours today to storm the fortified Green Zone where the US embassy is located. (Source: Asharq Al-Awsat - based in London, United Kingdom, owned by a member of the Saudy royal family)

Israel
(Sunday), 01.03.2026  At least 21 people were injured, one of them seriously, after an Iranian missile struck Tel Aviv yesterday. Israeli journalists circulated footage showing extensive damage and large fires in Tel Aviv following the strike, amid heavy censorship regarding losses and affected sites. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Lebanon
01.03.2026  'The hour of your freedom is at hand… Bombs will be dropping everywhere… When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will probably be your only chance for generations.' This is the sentence generations in the region have longed to hear from Washington - the promise that tyranny will fall, that American power will finally align with democratic aspiration. But the record is too heavy. Too bloody. Too inconsistent. From Afghanistan to Iraq to Syria, the region learned something difficult: American intervention - or American retreat - did not translate into democratic transformation. Sometimes it produced a vacuum. Sometimes fragmentation. Sometimes abandonment. Always costly disappointment for America’s local allies. The danger is not that Iranians want freedom. They do. The danger is telling them that freedom will arrive riding on missiles. War - especially one framed as liberation - demands institutional weight. It demands congressional authorization, visible debate, and shared accountability. This decision carried none of that. There was no vote in Congress. No clear authorization for the use of force. No evident consultation with the Gang of Eight. No articulated plan for what comes after the bombing stops. Ultimately, this war is being labeled a U.S.–Israeli attack on the Iranian regime. Yet on both sides of the Atlantic and across the Middle East, many see it less as an institutional decision and more as the convergence of two leaders - Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu - whose political incentives align with escalation. For Americans, the fear is institutional: What does this mean for constitutional limits and executive power? For many in the region - including those who despise the Iranian regime - the fear is strategic. Netanyahu is not viewed as a guarantor of peace, and Gaza remains painfully recent. History has shown what happens when power moves faster than credibility: War, launched on rhetoric without durable institutional grounding, at a moment when trust - in Washington and in the Middle East alike - is already dangerously thin. And this part of the world has already paid for that lesson. (Source: Daraj - Beirut, Lebanon)
by Ibrahim, founding partner and CEO of "Daraj", Lebanon

North Korea
10:27 March 01, 2026  North Korea is believed to have shipped some 33,000 containers of military supplies, including weapons and ammunition, to Russia, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) under the defense ministry said today. The shipped volume, in terms of ammunition, could amount to over 15 million 152-mm artillery shells. The DIA's announcement in July last year was about 28,000 containers of military supplies shipped from North Korea to Russia. North Korea is also believed to have supplied 220 artillery pieces, including 170-mm self-propelled howitzers and 240-mm multiple rocket launchers. It is presumed to be shipping other weapons, including 122-mm and 152-mm shells, anti-tank missiles, short-range ballistic missiles and anti-tank rockets to Russia. North Korea is known to have mostly used Rajin Port near the border with Russia to ship the containers via sea routes. Since October 2024, North Korea has dispatched more than 16,000 troops to support Russia in the war. Pyongyang has widely been viewed to be seeking the acquisition of key military technologies, especially those related to spy satellites, miniaturized nuclear weapons and nuclear-powered submarines from Russia, in exchange for its support in the prolonged war. (Source: Yonhap News Agency - South Korea)

Oman
2026/03/01 12:34 PM  Two drones targeted Duqm Port on the country’s southeastern coast today. (Source: SANA - Syria)
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Pakistan
9:11 PM CET, March 1, 2026  At least 22 people killed in Pakistan as protesters try to storm US Consulate. 12 people were killed and over 80 wounded in clashes with police in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region when thousands of protesters angered by U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran attacked the offices of the U.N. Military Observer Group and the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), local police official Ali said. A government spokesman, Mir, said all staff working for those organizations was safe. He said protesters repeatedly clashed with police at various places in the region, damaged the offices of a local charity, and set fire to police offices. However, he said authorities had deployed troops and brought the situation under control. The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan said in a post on X that it was monitoring reports of ongoing demonstrations at the U.S. Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore, as well as calls for additional protests at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and the consulate general in Peshawar. (Source: AP News – U.S.)

March 01, 2026 12:49 CET  Several people were killed when a crowd of students attempted to storm the US consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. The deaths occurred after reports of gunfire between law enforcement and members of the Imamia Students Organization (ISO), linked to Shi'a political parties. (Source: RadioFreeEuropeRadioLiberty - U.S.)

Mar 1, 2026 15:59 IST  At least 12 Pakistani protesters were killed and more than 30 others injured in firing by United States Marine security personnel during violent clashes outside the United States Consulate in Karachi today, according to local media reports. Pakistani authorities and US officials have not independently confirmed the reported casualty figures. (Source: India Today)

Persian Gulf
2026/03/01 12:36 PM  In the United Arab Emirates one person was killed and 11 others injured after drones struck Abu Dhabi and Zayed International Airports. Two more people were wounded in Dubai when debris from intercepted drones fell into residential yards. Drones targeted Bahrain International Airport, causing limited material damage but no casualties. Qatar’s civil defense teams extinguished a minor fire in an industrial area after debris from an intercepted missile fell there. (Source: SANA - Syria)

Qatar
Mar 1, 2026 00:06 IST  Iran fired 44 missiles and eight drones at Qatar, damaging an early-warning radar and forcing Doha to suspend public events, Ramadan tents and tourism activities amid escalating regional conflict. (Source: India Today)

Saudi Arabia
March 01, 2026 | 11:02 AM  Muslim World League * condemns Iranian attack on Arab states. Yesterday, Secretary-General of the MWL and Chairman of the Organization of Muslim Scholars Dr. Issa denounced the attack, describing it as a blatant act of aggression against religious values, as well as against international and humanitarian laws and norms. (Source: Gulf Times - Qatar)
* Based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

South Asia
01.03.2026  Demonstrations seen in Pakistani, Indian cities as well as Indian-administered Kashmir following US-Israel strikes on Iran, with calls for prioritizing diplomatic engagements. Protests also erupted in several parts of India, including in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand, following the killing of Khamenei. India’s main opposition Congress party leader Gandhi said the targeted assassination of the leadership of a sovereign nation and the killing of multitudes of innocent people is despicable and deserves strong condemnation, no matter what the proclaimed reason for it is. “Those in charge of it would do well to remember Mahatma’s words: An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Police in Pakistan's commercial capital Karachi clashed with protesters who stormed the US consulate. At least nine people were killed in the clashes, according to officials. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

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Africa

Djibouti
28 Feb (2026)  Will Djibouti be Iran’s next target? (Source: Horn Review - Ethiopia)

Asia

Bahrain
28/02/2026 - 15:39 GMT+1  Moment Iranian strike hits US military base in Bahrain. (Source: Euronews – based in Lyon, France)
Video

Iran
28 Feb 2026  At about 9:27am (06:27 GMT), Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported a series of explosions in the capital, Tehran. Iranian media reported strikes on the Ministry of Intelligence, the Ministry of Defence, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Parchin military complex. Several missiles also hit University Street and the Jomhouri area of the capital. Iran’s National Security Council has advised residents to leave Tehran amid fears of further escalation. While it is not yet clear what was hit, Isfahan is considered a key hub for Iran’s ballistic missile programme, with production plants and research facilities in and around the city. Other locations that were struck include: Kermanshah, Qom, Tabriz, Ilam, Karaj, Lorestan province, Zanjan, Urmia, Bushehr, Damavand, and Shiraz. At their closest points, Israel and Iran are less than 1,000km apart. The distance from Tel-Aviv to Iran’s capital, Tehran, is about 1,600km. Iran’s missile arsenal; How ballistic missiles work. *    Multiple explosions were reported in the skies above northern and central parts of Israel, including in the Tel Aviv area and Haifa, where sirens have been sounding continuously. A nine-storey building was hit in northern Israel after Iranian missiles had been intercepted. Israel’s missile arsenal; Israel’s air defence capabilities **     Major US military buildup in the region: The USS Abraham Lincoln; the USS Gerald R Ford. ***     According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the US operates a broad network of military sites, both permanent and temporary, across at least 19 locations in the region. Of these, eight are permanent bases, located across Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. As of mid-2025, there are about 40,000 to 50,000 US soldiers in the Middle East, comprising personnel stationed in both large, permanent bases and smaller forward sites across the region. The countries with the most US troops include Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. These installations serve as critical hubs for air and naval operations, regional logistics, intelligence gathering and force projection. **** (Source: Al Jazeera – Qatar)
* ; **; *** : Charts
**** : Maps
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February 28, 2026 9:37pm EST  On Tuesday, the CIA published a Persian-language video on its X account urging Iranian dissidents to make secure contact with the CIA amid renewed anti-government demonstrations. Iranian authorities have imposed restrictions with national connectivity dropping to roughly 4%. Voice of America  Persian-language service pushes Trump’s message inside Iran today as regime clamps down on communications. VOA launched its Persian-language programming in 1979. Foreign-based Persian-language satellite channels attract a large viewership, according to BBC News. (Source: Fox News – U.S.)

28 February 2026 23:18 GMT  A civil war in Iran would bring serious disorder to the Middle East and risk destabilising Iraq, Turkey and potentially Pakistan. Trump need only look at Afghanistan and Libya for examples of the danger of ousting a regime without an obvious plan for a transition 'to liberal democracy'. There are now real concerns about the possibility of a violent power struggle, with Iran now in a power vacuum. The powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) could impose martial law and take control of the country in the short term if the clerical elite are removed from power.    Different groups who form Iran’s fragmented opposition and who could vie for the Iranian leadership in the event of a power vacuum:    The People’s Mujahideen Organisation. Known by its Persian name, the Mujahideen-e Khalq Organisation (MEK or MKO), the group fell out with the other factions alongside which it deposed the Iranian Shah and replaced the Imperial State of Iran with the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. The remnants of the once-powerful leftist militant group which bombed the Shah’s government and US targets in the 1970s still wield a degree of influence in Iran, and now advocate for the overthrow of the Iranian government. The Mujahideen soon developed large numbers of enemies in Iran after siding with Iraq during the war of 1980-88. Rajavi, its former leader, remains in exile and has not been seen for more than 20 years. His wife, Maryam, is now in control, but the group has shown little evidence of activity within Iran’s border for years. The group is the driving force behind the National Council of Resistance of Iran, led by Ms Rajavi, which has an active presence in many Western countries. The Mujahideen has been criticised by rights groups for what they describe as cult-like behaviour and the abuse of its followers. The group denies these allegations.    The monarchists: Revolution swept through Iran in 1979, transforming the country into an Islamic Republic. Pahlavi – Iran’s last Shah – fled the country. He died in Egypt in 1980. Reza, his son, was heir to the Iranian throne at the time of the revolution. He now lives in the US, from where he calls for regime change through non-violent means and a referendum on a new government. Following reports Khamenei had been killed, he wrote on X: 'With his death, the Islamic Republic has in effect reached its end and will very soon be consigned to the dustbin of history.' Despite having support among the Iranian diaspora, it is unclear whether Mr Pahlavi would be a popular choice within Iran.    Ethnic minority groups: Iran’s Sunni Muslim Kurdish and Baluch minorities have long expressed opposition to Tehran’s Persian-speaking and Shi’ite government. Major protests in Iran have often been the fiercest in the Kurdish and Baluchi areas. But there is no strong, unified resistance against Tehran’s rule.   Kurdish groups have carried out periods of active insurgency against government forces in western areas of Iran, where they form a majority.    In Baluchistan, along the border with Pakistan, opposition ranges from supporters of Sunni clerics to armed jihadists linked to al-Qaeda.    Leaders of mass protests movements which have swept Iran at different points for many decades. Protests in December and January soon spiralled into anti-regime protests which were met with brutal force by the Iranian regime. Some reports suggested around 30,000 were killed by regime forces. Whether mass unrest will once again erupt following Khamenei’s death and whether Tehran’s response would be quite as forceful as it was in January - and who would lead it -  remains to be seen. In 2022, major protests gripped Iran, centred on women’s rights. Mohammadi, a 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner who served as one of the figureheads, is currently in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. (Source: The Independent – United Kingdom)

Saturday, February 28, 2026  Iranian exile group forms provisional government as U.S.-Israeli military operation continues (Source: Maryam Rajavi – France ? / The Washington Times – U.S. )

(28 February 2026) 21:44 GMT  Khamenei is dead. (Source: Iran International – headquarters in London, United Kingdom)

(28 February 2026)  Fresh strikes by US and Israel carried out across Iran (Source: YouTube – U.S. / BBC – United Kingdom)
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February 28, 2026  The primary objective of the US-Israeli strikes is to dismantle Iran’s missile architecture. Tehran is currently at a diminishing, but far from zeroed-out capacity. The 2025 war destroyed roughly one-third of Iran’s missile launchers and depleted long-range missile stocks. Iran retains 2,000 or so ballistic missiles, Bryza, former US ambassador and an Istanbul-based international affairs specialist says, while noting uncertainty over attack drones that Iran has reportedly supplied to Russia for use in Ukraine. According to Toga, a researcher at the Ankara-based Centre for Iranian Studies (IRAM), Iran’s post-2025 inventory has fallen from about 2,500 to 1,500 missiles, while two-thirds of its launchers have also been destroyed. Iran is assessed to have significantly replenished its stockpiles, he tells. In the so-called first wave of retaliation, Iran launched around 35 ballistic missiles at Israel, while simultaneously hitting multiple US bases across Gulf nations. One asymmetric option Tehran has actually rehearsed is the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz, through which most of its own oil exports and roughly one-fifth of global oil transits every year. A closure of the strait will sever Tehran’s lifeline to China, its largest oil customer, while alienating Gulf neighbours. Operationally, there are currently two US aircraft carriers in the region. Iran’s naval assets would be degraded within hours, Toga says. A short-term symbolic closure or mining attempt remains possible, Toga says. Such a move will only be aimed at driving up global oil prices and raising the cost of war for the US. The Strait of Hormuz, attacks via Iraq, and cyber operations are all on the table, he says. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)
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Feb 28, 2026 2:04 PM EST  Satellite imagery from Vantor shows what it assesses to be an Iranian Alvand class frigate, one of three seen sitting pier-side in Konarak, a port city in Iran’s southeastern corner, that sits along the Gulf of Oman and near the Pakistani border, billowing dark smoke after being struck as part of the U.S. and Israeli air campaign against the country. The location gives Iran closer access to the Indian Ocean, and it’s also an area known to be a hotbed of drone and missile capabilities, especially the anti-shipping kind, that can be launched from there to reach far out beyond the Gulf of Oman, putting ships at risk in the Indian Ocean. Though Iran refers to them as frigates, the Alvand class warships displace around 1,500 tons with a full combat load, putting them in a category more typically described as corvettes. The current Islamic Republic inherited four Alvand class vessels from the previous imperial regime, all of which had originally been built in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. (Source: The War Zone – U.S.)

February 28, 2026 1:14pm EST  Israel pummeled Iranian targets with simultaneous airstrikes from roughly 200 fighter jets which dropped hundreds of munitions on about 500 targets, including aerial defense systems and missile launchers, attaining air superiority over Iran and severely degrading its offensive capabilities. (Source: Fox News – U.S.)

February 28, 2026 12:18pm EST  Iran's terror proxies in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen say they're ready to respond to US-Israel attacks. (Source: Fox News – U.S.)

28/02/2026 - 16:53  Iran's judiciary said US-Israeli air strikes killed at least 85 people at a girls' elementary school in Minab, in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. (Source: France 24)
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February 28, 2026 16:17 CET  Fires, destruction in Iran after US and Israeli strikes. (Source: Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty – U.S.
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February 28, 2026 15:34 CET  Debris, protests against US and Israeli strikes in Tehran; people waiting in lines at gas stations; heavy traffic on the streets of the Iranian capital; people looking for shelter; plumes of smoke in Tehran. (Source: Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty – U.S.
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February 28, 2026 4:00 PM  Iran's Defence Minister Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Pakpour are believed to have been killed in Israeli attacks, two sources familiar with Israel's military operations and one regional source said. (Source: AsiaOne - Singapore)

Saturday 28 February 2026 09:51 GMT  Iran has the largest stockpile of ballistic missiles in the Middle East, according to the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. They have a self-imposed range of 2,000 km, which Iranian officials have said was enough to protect the country as they can reach Israel. Many of Iran's missile sites are in and around Tehran. There are at least five known underground "missile cities" in various provinces, including Kermanshah and Semnan, as well as near the Gulf region. The arsenal encompasses multiple long-range missiles that can reach Israel, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It says these include the Sejil, with a 2,000-km range; Emad, 1,700 km; Ghadr, 2,000 km; Shahab-3, 1,300 km; Khorramshahr, 2,000 km; and Hoveyzeh 1,350 km. The semi-official Iranian news outlet ISNA published a graphic in April 2025 showing nine Iranian missiles it said could reach Israel, including the Sejil, which ISNA said was capable of flying at more than 17,000 km per hour and had a range of 2,500 km; the Kheibar, with a range of 2,000 km; and the Haj Qasem, 1,400 km. Washington-based think tank, the Arms Control Association says Iran's ballistic arsenal included the Shahab-1, with an estimated range of 300 km; the Zolfaghar, 700 km; Shahab-3, 800-1,000 km; Emad-1, under development, 2,000 km; and a Sejil model under development, 1,500-2,500 km. The Arms Control Association says Iran's missile programme is largely based on North Korean and Russian designs and has benefited from Chinese assistance. Iran also has cruise missiles such as the Kh-55, an air-launched nuclear-capable weapon with a range up to 3,000 km. (Source: The Independent – United Kingdom)

28.02.2026  US-Israeli airstrikes struck more than 20 cities across Iran since early Saturday, according to the Iranian Red Crescent. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Feb 28, 2026 06:01 IST  Iran agrees to 'never, ever' have nuclear bomb material, says Oman's foreign minister. He said US-Iran nuclear talks have made major progress, including agreement on zero stockpiling of enriched uranium and full IAEA verification, urging more time to finalize the deal. (Source: India Today)

(Saturday, February 28, 00:11 CET)  Breaking news. US launches major combat operations in Iran (Source: Sky News – United Kingdom)
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Israel
February 28, 2026  China’s port investments in Israel open the door to espionage. US Navy vessels can no longer dock at Israel’s northern port of Haifa without worrying that its Chinese-made cranes could be spying on them. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Cohen, the program manager for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

28.02.2026  Iran fired more than 200 missiles at Israel today, wounding 89 people and causing damage in central areas, as one missile struck a building in the city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
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February 28, 2026  Israel intercepts Iranian missiles (Source: ABC News – U.S.)
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(28 February 2026) 19:59 GMT+1  Explosions were seen over Tel Aviv as Israel’s defense system intercepted missiles reportedly launched by Iran. Tehran said it had begun a first wave of drones and missiles. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)
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Saturday, February 28, 2026 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s full statement on Iran. (Source: Washington Times – U.S.)

Oman
(Saturday), 2026-02-28 14:02  Oman to US after Iran strikes: This Is Not Your War. Before today’s strikes, a new round of US-Iran nuclear talks had been scheduled for Monday in Vienna under Omani mediation. However, US President Trump said he was not happy with the negotiation process and reaffirmed his refusal to allow Iran to enrich uranium at any level. Tehran has consistently maintained that its uranium enrichment is for civilian purposes. Oman’s Foreign Minister Albusaidi said today that the recent US and Israeli strikes on Iran have disrupted nuclear talks, warning Washington against being 'sucked in further' into the conflict. “I am dismayed. Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined,' Albusaidi wrote on X, adding that neither US interests nor global peace are served by the escalation. Addressing Washington directly, he stressed, “This is not your war.” (Source: Shafaq News - Iraq)

Persian Gulf
February 28, 2026 10:15am EST  Iran launched missile and drone strikes targeting U.S. military facilities in multiple Middle Eastern countries 'Friday', retaliating after coordinated U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iranian military and nuclear-linked sites. Explosions were reported in or near areas hosting American forces in Bahrain - home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet -, Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base and the United Arab Emirates' Al Dhafra Air Base, Kuwait and Jordan, according to regional officials and state media accounts. Several of those governments said their air defense systems intercepted incoming projectiles. The United States military earlier carried out strikes against what officials described as high-value Iranian targets, including IRGC facilities, naval assets and underground sites believed to be associated with Iran’s nuclear program. One U.S. official told that American forces had suppressed Iranian air defenses in the initial wave of strikes. Tomahawk cruise missiles were used in the opening phase of the U.S. operation. The campaign was described as a multi-geographic operation designed to overwhelm Iran’s defensive capabilities and could continue for multiple days. Officials also indicated the U.S. employed one-way attack drones in combat for the first time. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

February 28, 2026 7:56 AM ET  Several Gulf countries that host American military bases in the region including the Bahrain, Qatar and United Arab Emirates say Iran has retaliated to U.S. strikes, they have been attacked. (Source: NPR - U.S.)
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Saturday, February 28, 2026  The Iranian attacks have targeted locations in at least six countries, including U.S. military bases across the region, and Israel. Explosions reported near Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi as Iran launches major counterattack. (Source: Washington Times – U.S.)

Qatar
Saturday 28 February 2026 14:24, UK  A missile, which was likely intercepted, was free falling into a residential area in Doha. (Source: Sky News - United Kingdom)
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Saudi Arabia
February 28, 2026  US base in Saudi Arabia under attack. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)
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28.02.2026  Saudi Arabia today strongly condemned what it described as blatant Iranian attacks targeting the Riyadh region and the Eastern Province, saying its air defenses intercepted the projectiles. The Foreign Ministry said the attacks were unjustifiable under any circumstances and came despite the kingdom’s prior assurances that its airspace and territory would not be used to target Iran. Riyadh said it would take all necessary measures to safeguard its security and protect its territory, citizens and residents, including the option of responding to the aggression. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Strait of Hormuz
Feb 28, 2026 21:47 IST  No ship allowed through Strait of Hormuz, Iran Guards tell vessels: EU naval mission. (Source: India Today)

United Arab Emirates
Mar 1, 2026 00:30 IST  A viral video showed, in what appeared to be a drone, plummeting into the landmark Palm Jumeirah area in Dubai. (India Today)

01.03.2026  UAE says today it shot down 132 missiles, intercepted 195 drones in Iranian attack. Defense Ministry outlines interception figures, affirms right to respond. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

(Saturday), Feb 28, 2026 22:53 IST  Dubai, a key global trade and aviation hub, was targeted by Iran despite does not host U.S. base. The UAE Ministry of Defence announced that its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed a new wave of Iranian missiles and drones launched towards the country. Over 100 airlines operate flights to and from Dubai, connecting it to countries across continents. Over 700 flights were cancelled at Dubai alone. (Source: India Today)

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United States
Mar 1, 2026 8:47 PM EST  U.S.-Israeli war with Iran enters day two (Updated) /Source: The War Zone – U.S./
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(March 1, 2026) 11:06 AM EST  U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has confirmed the first U.S. casualties of the conflict. Three U.S. service members have been killed in action and five are seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury, according to an official statement. Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions — and are in the process of being returned to duty. The statement does not say where these casualties occurred. CENTCOM has also confirmed that Iran targeted the U.S. Navy’s supercarrier USS Abraham Lincoln, but says that the missiles didn’t even come close to the ship. The IDF is now saying that it destroyed the General Staff headquarters of Iran’s Internal Security Forces, as well as the command center responsible for coordinating the defense of Tehran. (Source: The War Zone – U.S.)

01/03/2026 - 11:16  White House releases photo of Trump overseeing US-Israeli strikes on Iran. Faces are solemn. (Source: Fance 24)
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(1 March  2026)  Breaking the bridge while building it. Trump built his political brand opposing 'endless wars' and criticising the Iraq invasion. “America First” promised strategic restraint, hard bargaining and an aversion to open-ended intervention. Does sustained tension serve certain strategic preferences more comfortably than durable peace? US and Iranian negotiators met in Geneva earlier in the week in what mediators described as the most serious and constructive talks in years. Oman’s foreign minister, Albusaidi, spoke publicly of ’unprecedented openness’, signalling that both sides were exploring creative formulations rather than repeating entrenched positions. Discussions showed flexibility on nuclear limits and sanctions relief, and mediators indicated that a principles agreement could have been reached within days, with detailed verification mechanisms to follow within months. These were not hollow gestures. Real diplomatic capital was being spent. Iranian officials floated proposals designed to meet US political realities – including potential access to energy sectors and economic cooperation. These were gestures calibrated to allow US President Trump to present any deal as tougher and more advantageous than the 2015 agreement he withdrew the US from in May 2018. Tehran appeared to understand the optics Washington required, even if contentious issues such as ballistic missiles and regional proxy networks remained outside the immediate framework. Then, in the middle of these talks, the bridge was shattered. Sensing how close the negotiations were – and how imminent military escalation had become – Oman’s foreign minister, Albusaidi, made an emergency dash to Washington in a last-ditch effort to preserve the diplomatic track. In an unusually public move for a mediator, he appeared on CBS to outline just how far the talks had progressed. He described a deal that would eliminate Iranian stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, down-blend existing material inside Iran, and allow full verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency – with the possibility of US inspectors participating alongside them. Iran, he suggested, would enrich only for civilian purposes. A principles agreement, he indicated, could be signed within days. It was a remarkable disclosure — effectively revealing the contours of a near-breakthrough in an attempt to prevent imminent war. But rather than allowing diplomacy to conclude, the US and Israel launched coordinated strikes across Iran. US and Israel attacked Iran even as peace was in sight. The message to Tehran and to other adversaries weighing diplomacy is stark: even when talks appear to work, they can be overtaken by force. Trump announced major combat operations, framing them as necessary to eliminate nuclear and missile threats while urging Iranians to seize the moment and overthrow their leadership. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks targeting US bases and allied states across the region. What is most striking is not merely that diplomacy failed, but that it failed amid visible progress. For the first time in years, there was credible movement toward stabilising the nuclear issue. By attacking during that negotiation window, Washington and its allies have cast doubt on the durability of American commitments to negotiated solutions. The message to Tehran – and to other adversaries weighing diplomacy – is stark: even when talks appear to work, they can be overtaken by force. Iran is not a dynastic dictatorship but an ideologically entrenched state with layered institutions, doctrinal legitimacy and a deeply embedded security apparatus, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Its authority is intertwined with religious, political and strategic narratives cultivated over decades. It has endured sanctions, regional isolation and sustained external pressure without fracturing. Hitting such a system with maximum force may instead consolidate internal cohesion and reinforce narratives of external aggression that the leadership has long leveraged. Destabilisation in Tehran could rapidly spill across borders and harden into prolonged confrontation. In the current escalation, Tehran has already launched retaliatory missile and drone strikes against US military bases and allied territories in the Gulf, hitting locations in Iraq, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (including Abu Dhabi and Dubai), Kuwait and Qatar in direct response to US and Israeli strikes on Iran’s cities, including Tehran, Qom and Isfahan. Explosions have been reported in Bahrain and the UAE, with at least one confirmed fatality in Abu Dhabi, and several bases housing US personnel have been struck or targeted, underscoring how the conflict has already spread beyond Iran’s borders. Miscalculation could draw multiple states into conflict, inflame sectarian fault lines and disrupt global energy markets. What might have remained a contained nuclear dispute now risks expanding into a wider geopolitical confrontation. (Source: Scroll - India / The Conversation - Australia)

Sunday 1 March 2026 04:23, UK  US Central Command has released videos it says are fresh strikes directed at Iran. (Source: Sky News – United Kingdom)
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 NATO

1 March 2026 - 10:10  With a kick-off on March 9, the Norwegian-led military winter exercise Cold Response will be joined by troops from 14 NATO countries. The exercise is NATO's largest inside the Arctic Circle in 2026 and will take place in northern Norway and Finnish Lapland, on land, at sea and in the air. (Source: Barents Observer)

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United States
Feb 28, 2026, 10:37 PM  'Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS. He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do. This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country. We are hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us. As I said last night, 'Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!' Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves. That process should soon be starting in that, not only the death of Khamenei but the Country has been, in only one day, very much destroyed and, even, obliterated. The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD! Thank you for your attention to this matter', President Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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February 28, 2026  Opinion: America's moral power is the first casualty in Iran: We may not know for years what drove Trump to bypass his own campaign promise to be a no-war president. What led Washington to this unprovoked war with negotiations underway?  Israel, which actually launched the main attack, pulled the U.S. administration into war. Israel and its supporters in Congress, bolstered by the powerful pro-Israel AIPAC lobbying group, were also behind President Trump’s tearing up the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 — the five permanent U.N. Security Council members, plus Germany — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. That agreement aimed to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, but Trump wanted a deal of his own, not one negotiated under President Obama, and Israel wanted one that restricted not only Iran’s nuclear capability but ballistic missiles that could threaten its people. A poll taken in early February by the University of Maryland showed that 21% of Americans overall and only 40% of Republicans favored attacking Iran. In going to war Trump has ignored the advice of his own party leaders as well as, reportedly, his top military adviser. The attack took place while the United States was holding indirect talks with Iran, which, the latest indicators seemed to say, were moving in the right direction. Oman’s foreign minister, who communicated proposals to both sides and who was therefore privy to the discussions, had gone on U.S. television Friday to appeal to the American people to help prevent the war now at full steam. Israel’s current prime minister, whom Trump admires, is fighting for his political life as well as against accusations of criminal behavior. A war is Benjamin Netanyahu’s only hope to convince Israelis in the next election that he must stay at the helm of the country. But Trump is not one to risk his own political skin for another leader’s future. The Epstein files are a possible motivator. A war is a handy distraction. Perhaps he dreams that if he turns Iran into a democratic anchor in the mostly autocratic Middle East, he will finally get a Nobel Peace Prize of his own. Bush’s Iraq War's ripple effects are still being felt. Bush followed the illusion put forth by Netanyahu that getting rid of a Middle Eastern dictator — two decades ago it was Saddam — would bring about peace. Instead, we have an Iraq that is closer to an Iranian client. The remote killing of its top leaders, even a total collapse of the regime, risks the possibility that a much more radical leadership will emerge. Today’s attacks will inflict immeasurable damage on the United States in the Muslim world. While most governments around the Persian Gulf denounced Iran’s attack against U.S. bases on their soil, the peoples of the region, the Muslims of Iran as well as their fellow Shiites in Iraq and Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen and young Arabs and Muslims everywhere are even now feeling more sympathy with the Iranian people than their own leaders. The United States is finding out in concrete terms what has long been known abroad: Its power in the world comes not from its military might alone, but from its moral authority. The saying “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me’ applies here. America has been fooled into an unnecessary war that will further put Americans and American policy in danger. What caused this foolish decision is anyone’s guess, but eventually history will look back on this as an act of folly.  (Source: Religion News Service - U.S.)
by Kuttab, the publisher of Milhilard.org, a news site focused on Christians in Palestine, Israel and Jordan.

Feb 28, 2026 5:25 PM EST  U.S. Military has used long-range Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) kamikaze drones in combat for the first time. America's clone of Iran's Shahed-136 had been used against Iran in an ironic vignette of modern drone warfare. (Source: The War Zone – U.S.)
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Saturday 28 February 2026 19:19 GMT  The U.S and partner forces began striking targets at 1.15am ET to dismantle the Iranian regime. Targets included the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command and control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields. Video shows moment US launches strikes on Iran from aircraft carrier. (Source: The Independent – United Kingdom)

February 28, 2026 U.S. Senator Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a statement on the United States' preemptive attack on Iran.

Feb 28, 2026, 8:30 AM  U.S. President Trump posted an eight-minute video on his social media platform calling the attack a massive and ongoing operation. (Source: Truth Social – U.S.)

Saturday 28 February 2026 14:11 EST  The former Fox News host and close ally of the president, Carlson, has described Trump’s airstrikes in Iran as disgusting and evil, according to a new report. He made the remarks to ABC White House correspondent Karl. Carlson has previously been highly critical of U.S. foreign intervention in the Middle East and has been extremely vocal in his criticism of the Israeli government, describing escalating conflicts with Iran as a reckless effort to serve the interests of Tel Aviv. Following the previous U.S. strike on Iran in June last year, Carlson wrote in his newsletter that Trump was complicit in such efforts by Israel and warned that getting further involved would be suicidal. Carlson later received backlash for a separate interview with Iranian President Pezeshkian, with critics alleging that he provided a platform for regime propaganda without sufficient pushback. Carlson has been critical of Trump at other times in the past, once referring to him as a demonic force, a destroyer. (Source: The Independent – United Kingdom)

Saturday 28 February 2026 08:34 GMT  Despite worldwide backlash, the US president continues to embrace an aggressive foreign policy agenda. Every country Trump has attacked or threatened in second term after Iran struck again by ‘America First’ president:    In February last year, 10 days after his inauguration, Trump launched a series of military strikes against isis key figures in Somalia. Further attacks on isis, and the Islamist paramilitary group al-Shabab, were launched in January this year.    The US conducted several counterterrorism operations against isis in Iraq in March 2025.    Trump launched bombings against Yemen’s Houthi rebels in March 2025 after a wave of attacks by the group against ships in the Red Sea that were in response to Israel’s war in Gaza. The United States is reported to have carried out more than 1,100 strikes, killed hundreds of Houthi fighters, and spent more than $1 billion over the 52-day campaign. Despite the bombardment, rebels began attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea again in July.    In June last year, the International Atomic Energy Agency warned Iran was violating its non-proliferation commitments and had enough enriched uranium to potentially develop nine nuclear bombs. Within days, Israel launched airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and a Twelve Day War began. Iran launched a wave of missile and drone strikes in response. The US then intervened and launched a series of bombing raids on Iran’s nuclear sites. A ceasefire was agreed, but tensions between the US and Iran resumed in January this year after widespread protests across the country prompted a ruthless government crackdown, with human rights groups warning of thousands dead. President Trump launched 'major combat operations' in Iran today, on 28 February, warning that there may be US casualties. The strikes, Trump said were aimed at destroying Iranian missiles and annihilating its navy.    The US began attacking alleged 'narco-terrorist boats' off the Caribbean coast of Venezuela in September 2025, which later expanded to the Pacific Ocean, with Trump accusing Venezuela’s then president of being a top-level member of drug cartel, Cartel de los Soles. On 3 January, US special forces raided Maduro’s residence in Caracas. Maduro was removed from office and extradited to the US to appear in a New York court to face criminal charges. Trump announced the US would be taking over sales of Venezuelan crude oil across the globe and said the government in Caracas was providing Washington with between 30 and 50 million barrels of formerly sanctioned oil to sell.    In November, the US military was joining the Syrian armed forces to destroy 15 isis weapons caches in southern Syria. On 19 December 2025 US Central Command (CENTCOM) launched Operation Hawkeye Strike against isis in Syria, in coordination with Jordan. The most recent attacks took place earlier this month. The January operation had launched 90 precision munitions at more than 35 targets, using over two dozen aircraft.   In December 2024, Trump had threatened to impose tariffs on Canada unless it increased its military spending and fortified its border security. Trump has continued to reiterate his desire to make Canada “the 51st state”, throughout his second term. The president has ruled out the use of military force to annex Canada, but said he would use economic force instead. His comments have sparked a boycott of American products.    On Christmas Day 2025, Trump ordered strikes against isis targets in Nigeria after he accused the group of targeting Christians. Camps in Sokoto state near the border with Niger were hit during the strikes. A defense department official told that the strikes had been carried out with the knowledge and cooperation of the Nigerian government.     Mexico has long been a target of Trump’s anger with the president blaming their government for failing to deal with drug cartels and preventing the flow of migrants across the border. He warned the country, which has been led by left-wing president Sheinbaum since October 2024, has to get their act together or 'we’re going to have to do something'.     US secretary of state Rubio said in January that he believes Cuba is in a lot of trouble following the capture of Maduro, a key ally. “I’m not going to talk to you about what our future steps are going to be and our policies are going to be right now in this regard,” Rubio told NBC. “But I don’t think it’s any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime, who, by the way, are the ones that were propping up Maduro.'     Trump also warned Colombian president Petro – one of his fiercest critics on the international stage – that the South American country could be his next target.    Trump has had his sights set on purchasing the semi-autonomous territory of Greenland since 2019. He has ramped up his rhetoric in recent weeks and refused to rule out military action. The president argues it is vital to ensure the “national security” of the United States and to prevent the island falling into the hands of Russia or China. However, his threats have sparked backlash from Nato allies and European leaders. Throughout January, European troops from Germany, France and Sweden were deployed to the region, and Trump was threatening tariffs against any country that stands in his way. (Source: The Independent – United Kingdom)
by Butt

February 28, 2026 1:22 PM  Trump, in his remarks, suggested that he wanted to overwhelm the Iranian military to the point that its more than 600,000 troops - and even its police force - give up any fight. Iran's Revolutionary Guard, a theology-driven force that reports directly to the Iranian supreme leader, is estimated to have close to 200,000 members. Iran has a fleet of hundreds of fast boats that specialize in swarm attacks in the Persian Gulf. It has a massive arsenal of 3,000 to 6,000 naval mines that can enable it to temporarily close off the Strait of Hormuz. In the initial wave, the U.S. carried out dozens of strikes with attack planes launched from bases around the Middle East and from one or more aircraft carriers. The focus of the American strikes for the moment is military targets in Iran, a U.S. official said. Besides its nuclear facilities, Iran is believed to have more than 2,000 missiles, primarily short- and medium-range ballistic missiles that threaten Israel and U.S. forces across the region. Those missiles are scattered at launch sites across Iran and were among the first targets. (Source: Miami Herald / The New York Times = U.S.)

28 February 2026  Candidate Trump promised to end forever wars. Now President Trump is starting them. Trump: ’Neoconservative warmonger’. He told the Washington Post this morning that “all I want is freedom for the people”, and in a video address he attacked the Islamic regime to hand the Iranian people a 'once in a generation chance' to oust the mullahs. He said the regime had caused regional mass terror. These lofty and moral considerations are nothing like his previous calls for US foreign policy to focus solely on the national interest. Now he has unleashed a war whose outcome he cannot control. The secretary of war, Hegseth, said as recently as December that the “War Department will not be distracted by democracy-building interventionism, undefined wars, regime change”. Vance, an America Firster, said this week that a 'full-blown war' would not happen, and Vance, who served with the US Marine Corps in Iraq, must have smarted at the glib way Trump said in his speech that Americans will probably die as 'that often happens in war'. Vance’s prediction now looks more like futile hope than White House policy. Carlson, who was at the White House with Trump last week, has reportedly called the war “absolutely disgusting and evil”. (Source: New Statesman – United Kingdom)

(Saturday, February 28, 2026 8:03 am CET  Trump, in his State of the Union address in February, accused Iran of restarting its nuclear weapons program — a claim Iran has denied. The Trump administration wanted Tehran to stop its uranium enrichment and curb its ballistic missile program. Iran rejected efforts to limit its missile program and steadfastly claimed that it had no intention of building a bomb — but had the right to enrich uranium. Iranian FM Araghchi, after the most recent round in Geneva, said the two sides had agreed to a set of principles to frame future discussions. But key differences remained. Benjamin Netanyahu, who Trump and top administration officials met with throughout the negotiating process, has also encouraged the U.S. to demand Tehran curb its ballistic missile program and halt funding for its proxy groups in the region. US and Israel hit Iran in coordinated attack. 'We’re going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground,' Trump said in video confirming the attack. The Trump administration has said little publicly about what it would do to avoid civil unrest if the strikes manage to destabilize a regime that has prevailed for nearly half a century. Israel has urged strong military action, pushing for strikes that would target, not only Iranian centrifuges, but also Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command-and-control nodes. Israeli Defense Minister Katz announced that Israel had launched a preemptive strike against Iran early today. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu hailed the U.S.-Israeli attack today morning. The IDF later said it had identified missiles launched from Iran toward Israel. (Source: Politico – U.S.)

February 28, 2026 10:56 IST  OpenAI has signed a deal with the U.S. Department of Defence, stepping in after President Trump ordered a ban on AI rival Anthropic after it refused to allow unrestricted use of its models for weapons and surveillance. (Source: The Week – India)

February 28, 2026 3:57 AM  US aims to bring in 4,500 white South Africans per month as refugees. The new target is contained in a previously unreported document from the US State Department dated Jan 27. (Source: AsiaOne - Singapore)

February 28, 2026 3:42 AM  Trump raises prospect of 'friendly takeover' of Cuba, telling reporters at the White House that Secretary of State Rubio was dealing with the issue at a very high level. "The Cuban government is talking with us, and they're in a big deal of trouble,’ Trump said. The Cuban government has said it is not in any high-level talks with the United States but has not outright denied press reports that US officials may be in informal talks with Castro, the grandson of former Cuban President Raul. (Source: AsiaOne - Singapore)

 International Atomic Energy Agency

Feb 28, 2026, 06:54 PM EST  U.N. Nuclear Agency's Board to hold emergency meeting on Monday at 9 a.m. (0800 GMT) about U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. The meeting was requested by Russia. The emergency meeting will start an hour before a long-scheduled quarterly meeting of the board at which Iran’s nuclear programme was already on the agenda. Diplomats said there was no indication Iranian nuclear facilities were struck today. (Source: Huffpost – U.S./ Reuters – United Kingdom)

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United States
(February 18, 2026)  Trump moves closer to a major war with Iran, the most consequential U.S. military intervention in the Middle East in at least a decade. A U.S. military operation in Iran would likely be a massive, weeks-long campaign that would look more like full-fledged war than last month's pinpoint operation in Venezuela, sources say. It could begin very soon. It would likely be a joint U.S.-Israeli campaign. Such a war would have a dramatic influence on the entire region. By bringing so much force to bear, Trump has raised expectations for what an operation will look like if a deal can't be reached. And right now, a deal does not look likely. Nuclear talks paired with a massive military build-up are driving the news. Trump's advisers Kushner and Witkoff met with Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi for three hours in Geneva yesterday. Both sides said the talks "made progress." The gaps are wide and U.S. officials aren't optimistic about closing them. Vice President Vance told Fox News the talks "went well" in some ways, but "in other ways it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through.” Vance made it clear that while Trump wants a deal, he could determine that diplomacy has ’reached its natural end.’ Trump's armada has grown to include two aircraft carriers, a dozen warships, hundreds of fighter jets and multiple air defense systems. More than 150 U.S. military cargo flights have moved weapons systems and ammunition to the Middle East. Just in the past 24 hours, another 50 fighter jets - F-35s, F-22s and F-16s - headed to the region. Trump's advisers don't view the deployment of all that hardware as a bluff. "The boss is getting fed up. Some people around him warn him against going to war with Iran, but I think there is 90% chance we see kinetic action in the next few weeks," one Trump adviser said. Last June 19, the White House set a two-week window for Trump to decide between further talks or strikes. Three days later, he launched Operation Midnight Hammer. The Israeli government - which is pushing for a maximalist scenario targeting regime change as well as Iran's nuclear and missile programs - is preparing for a scenario of war within days, according to two Israeli officials. There's more and more evidence that a war is imminent. (Source: Axios – U.S.)

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 United States
(Tuesday, 17 January, 2026) 10:13  Recent speech delivered by the third-ranking official at the Pentagon, Colby. On Thursday, at a meeting of NATO defence ministers held at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Colby, the U.S. Under Secretary of Defence for Policy, who represented Secretary of Defence Hegseth, called on NATO to be based on partnership, not dependency. Colby sought to explain how NATO should operate today. He referred to the U.S. National Security Strategy and the National Defence Strategy (which he co-authored). Colby stated that the unipolar world order shaped after the Cold War no longer exists. We are currently witnessing significant strategic changes worldwide - which requires realism and the ability to adapt - and the return of power politics and a stronger use of armed forces to pursue political interests. The United States and its allies must be prepared for potential adversaries acting simultaneously across multiple theaters. Colby also stated that this does not mean the United States wants to leave NATO - on the contrary, it means returning to the Alliance’s roots. The Alliance was founded in the late 1940s to provide strong, credible, and fair defense of the North Atlantic area. Throughout the Cold War, »NATO 1.0,« as he referred to it, was characterised by a tough, realistic, and sober approach to deterrence and defence. Allies were expected to meet their obligations, as reflected in Article III of the Washington Treaty and the 1951 Lisbon commitments. Difficult conversations about burden-sharing have always been a natural part of the Alliance. This strategy worked for over four decades and ensured that the Soviet Union never considered military aggression against the Western Alliance a viable strategy. After the Cold War, this model ran its course and the Alliance evolved into „NATO 2.0.” It focused more on out-of-area operations beyond Europe, which contributed to Europe’s gradual disarmament. Colby’s proposal is to create a NATO 3.0 model – one that more closely resembles what the Alliance was during the first decades of its existence. NATO 3.0 requires the allies to make far greater efforts and assume primary responsibility for the conventional defense of Europe, pointing to the need to combine military efforts with diplomacy. In 2025, at the NATO Summit in The Hague, allies committed to significantly increasing defense spending (’by 2035, NATO members are to spend at least 5% of GDP on defence’). The European member states must fulfill these commitments and take greater responsibility for collective defense. As Colby notes, they possess the necessary economic and other capabilities. The United States, he stressed, must and will prioritize areas where only American power can play a decisive role, in line with the National Defense Strategy. This is a recognition of Europe’s capacity to take the lead in its own defence - in a way that would make NATO stronger and far more secure. Colby ’wrote’ that by leveraging NATO’s respective strengths and specializing in the areas where the organization is best positioned to act, the partners can build a more sustainable, effective, and resilient alliance. Emphasizing the shift in priorities that took place during the presidency of Trump, Colby recalled that the Indo-Pacific is for the United States the central geopolitical theater of paramount importance to the security, economic vitality, and technological leadership of the United States. Europe should possess the preponderance of forces necessary to deter, and if necessary defeat, conventional aggression. This means also ensuring proper military readiness, large stockpiles of ammunition, well-functioning logistics, and integrated command structures. Colby, the third-ranking official at the Pentagon announcing honest communication between the United States and its European allies, also listed U.S. commitments toward its allies. These include extended nuclear deterrence and the provision of conventional capabilities that will contribute to the defense of NATO (though in a more „limited and targeted scope”). The US will continue to train, exercise, and plan together with its allies, Colby added, also saying the Department of War will continue to prepare the US forces to fulfill our Article V obligations, with Europe taking the lead in conventional defence. The US official noted that signs of significant progress have already become visible, with several European allies substantially increasing defence spending. Others are reforming procurement and combat readiness systems that had long been neglected. He appreciated the outstanding leadership of General Grynkewich and Admiral Vandier, saying NATO’s defence planning process is becoming more demanding, more operationally driven, and ’more focused on real warfighting requirements’. The American strategist also outlined plans for 2026. In his view, Europe should already be capable of serving as the primary conventional defender of its own theater of operations. The United States would play a supporting role. NATO itself should be a militarily credible, politically durable, and strategically realistic alliance. He also said that this future cannot be achieved through mere declarations alone. It will require sustained political will, investment, and consistent action. He also was noting the necessity to hold uncomfortable conversations and reach difficult compromises. It would be desirable to have a shared understanding that the essence of NATO lies not in symbolism or abstract aspirations, but in deterrence - and if deterrence fails, in effective defense that secures a better future for all involved nations. Partnership, by definition, means walking this path together, each of the parties involved bearing a fair share of the burden. Colby said that we must - and the United States will insist on this - hold one another accountable for fulfilling our commitments. (Source: Defence24 – Poland)

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Nakai, Japánból 

Téli Olimpiai Játékok, Milánó, Olaszország

Női egyéni műkorcsolyaverseny.

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A felmorzsolódás kegyetlen játszmája - Ukrajna 

Resperger, biztonságpolitikai szakértő, ezredes, egyetemi tanár

 elemző összefoglalója

11:03-tól.

(Forrás: YouTube / Mandiner)

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Kulcsszavak a fent említett szóbeli összefoglalóban:

Ausztria     Donyec-medence    Egyesült Államok     Egyesült Királyság    Európa    Európai Unió    Észak-Korea   Fehéroroszország    fénykép    Franciaország    Irán    Izrael    Kína    NATO    Németország    Oroszország    Ukrajna    Venezuela

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Europe

Hungary
(Monday), February 16, 2026 8:05am EST  U.S. Secretary of State Rubio signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement involving the U.S. and Hungary today. During remarks at the signing ceremony, Rubio indicated that the U.S.-Hungary relationship, and the relationship between President Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is very close. The American diplomat described the relationship between the two nations as being "as close as I can possibly imagine it being."     Munich Security Conference: RUBIO BLASTS ‘WORLD WITHOUT BORDERS’ FANTASY, WARNS MASS MIGRATION THREATENS WESTERN CIVILIZATION    Rubio, during remarks delivered alongside Orbán, asserted, "Your success is our success." He noted that if Hungary ever faces financial problems, impediments to growth or threats to national stability, he knows "President Trump will be very interested" in "finding ways" to help.     HUNGARY'S ORBÁN SAYS BUDAPEST IS EUROPE'S SAFEST CITY FOR JEWS AS ANTISEMITISM SURGES    Trump has praised Orbán and backed him for re-election. "Highly Respected Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, is a truly strong and powerful Leader, with a proven track record of delivering phenomenal results. He fights tirelessly for, and loves, his Great Country and People, just like I do for the United States of America. Viktor works hard to Protect Hungary, Grow the Economy, Create Jobs, Promote Trade, Stop Illegal Immigration, and Ensure LAW AND ORDER!" Trump declared on Truth Social this month.     THE ONE SENTENCE IN RUBIO'S MUNICH SPEECH THAT REVEALED TRUMP'S RED LINE FOR EUROPE     "Relations between Hungary and the United States have reached new heights of cooperation and spectacular achievement under my Administration, thanks largely to Prime Minister Orbán. I look forward to continuing working closely with him so that both of our Countries can further advance this tremendous path to SUCCESS and cooperation. I was proud to ENDORSE Viktor for Re-Election in 2022, and am honored to do so again. Viktor Orbán is a true friend, fighter, and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Hungary — HE WILL NEVER LET THE GREAT PEOPLE OF HUNGARY DOWN!" Trump added. (Source: Fox News – U.S.)
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United States
(Saturday), February 14, 2026 2:14pm EST  Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio today blasted the idea of a ’world without borders,’ warning European leaders that unchecked mass migration is destabilizing Western civilization and eroding national sovereignty. Rubio criticized the post-Cold War belief that the world had reached the ’end of history,’ an era in which liberal democracy would spread and national borders would fade, calling it a dangerous delusion. This was a foolish idea that ignored both human nature, and it ignored the lessons of over 5,000 years of recorded human history. And it has cost us dearly, Rubio said. He stressed that border security is not rooted in exclusion, but in responsibility. "We must also gain control of our national borders, controlling who and how many people enter our countries," Rubio said. "This is not an expression of xenophobia. It is not hate. It is a fundamental act of national sovereignty." Failing to do so, Rubio warned, is not just an abdication of one of our most basic duties owed to our people. It is an urgent threat to the fabric of our societies and the survival of our civilization itself. The top U.S. diplomat added that lax enforcement threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture and the future of our people. Rubio’s remarks come amid mounting political tensions in both Europe and the U.S. over migration, asylum policy and border security. Outlining America’s direction under President Trump, Rubio said the U.S. seeks to rebuild its alliance with Europe on stronger footing. "This is why we do not want our allies to be shackled by guilt and shame. We want allies who are proud of their culture and of their heritage, who understand that we are heirs to the same great and noble civilization, and who, together with us, are willing and able to defend it. "We in America have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West's managed decline," Rubio said. "We do not seek to separate but to revitalize an old friendship and renew the greatest civilization in human history." The secretary said the U.S. seeks an alliance ready to defend our people, to safeguard our interests and to preserve the freedom of action that allows us to shape our own destiny, not one that exists to operate a global welfare state and atone for the purported sins of past generations. Rubio reminded attendees that America’s ties to Europe stretch back centuries, saying the U.S. will remain permanently linked to the continent. "What we have inherited together is something that is unique and distinctive and irreplaceable," Rubio said. "Acting together in this way, we will not just help recover a sane foreign policy. It will restore to us a clear sense of ourselves. It will restore a place in the world. And, in so doing, it will rebuke and deter the forces of civilizational erasure that today menace both America and Europe alike." (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

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Europe

Hungary
11.02.2026  Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accused Brussels and Kyiv today of pursuing a plan to fast-track Ukraine's accession to the EU, calling it an open declaration of war against Hungary. Orbán said, in a post on US social media platform X, that ’the Brusselian elite's official publication, Politico,’ had published ’Brussels' and Kyiv's latest war plan, the five-point Zelenskyy plan,’ adding, ’They have decided that Ukraine will be admitted to the Union as early as 2027.’ He claimed the plan ignored Hungarian voters and targeted his government: They disregard the decision of the Hungarian people and are determined to remove the Hungarian government by any means necessary. Orbán also alleged that Brussels wanted Hungary's opposition Tisza Party to take power, saying it would mean ’no more veto, no more resistance, and no more staying out of their conflict.’ The prime minister framed the issue as a domestic political fight ahead of the April elections. "This April, at the ballot box, Hungarians must stop them," he said. "Fidesz is the only force standing between Hungary and Brusselian rule, and the only guarantee of Hungarian sovereignty." (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Austria
(Tuesday), February 10, 2026 5:50 pm CET  EU leaders must urgently focus on lowering energy prices that are suffocating European industry, Austria's chancellor Stocker told ahead of an informal EU summit on Thursday in Belgium. 'No other factor is suffocating European industry so much, and no other issue affects so many member states simultaneously.' The Austrian chancellor's comments echo other leaders including Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, both of whom have called on the EU to do away with 'environmental rules they blame for' high energy prices. 'The approach we took with the Green Deal was certainly not sustainable: in Austria, for example, the reduction in CO2 emissions is ultimately primarily due to a decrease in production,' Stocker added, referring to a landmark environmental package of regulations approved during the European Commission's previous mandate. 'Becoming greener cannot be our goal; it means becoming poorer.' (Source: Politico - U.S., owned by a German media group)

France
(Tuesday), Feb 10, 2026 - 12:15  French President Macron has called on EU countries to launch a new joint borrowing initiative to finance strategic investments ’and challenge the dominance of the US dollar’. The push for EU joint debt outlined in an interview with several European newspapers, including Le Monde, The Economist and Süddeutsche Zeitung, comes ahead of an EU leaders’ meeting in Flanders on Thursday to discuss how to tackle the bloc’s lagging competitiveness. ’Macron urged deeper integration of the single market, through the completion of the capital markets union and the interconnection of the 27 member states’ electricity grids. Certain sectors, including clean technologies, chemicals, steel, automotive manufacturing and defence, require particular protection. ’Macron insisted on the need for Europeans to undertake large-scale, joint investment in defence, green transition technologies, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. ’He estimated annual public and private investment needs for green and digital technologies at €800 billion, rising to €1.2 trillion when defence spending is included. To mobilise the necessary funding, Macron argued for the issuance of eurobonds on global markets. EU ’democracies’ are more attractive than ever compared with the US, and markets are seeking safe and liquid assets, he said. ’That makes this a unique opportunity, one that could also challenge the dominance of the dollar.’ Global market is increasingly wary of the American greenback, the French president added. ’Let’s offer it European debt.’ (Source: Euractiv - Brussels, Belgium)
Note: Is the 'common' money running out?

Italy
February 10, 2026, 6:04 AM  Much like the Olympic flame, there is another symbol of triumph and transcendence. The wooden Cross of the Athletes has arrived in Olympic host city Milan for the Winter Games, symbolizing unity through sport. It holds pride of place beside the main altar in one of the city's oldest churches, the Basilica of San Babila, which Milan’s Catholic archdiocese has designated the Church of Athletes while the cross is within its walls, during the Olympics and Paralympics. The Romanesque basilica sits in the heart of the city. As part of the church's activities for this period, it is celebrating some Masses in Italian, English, French and German. The broader program of Milan archdiocese's to promote unity during the 2026 Winter Olympics includes a youth-focused “Tour of Sports Values,” cultural exhibitions, a theatrical performance, concerts and inclusive sports initiatives, as well as art routes through some of Milan’s historic churches. The presence of the cross at the Games is a tangible sign of the Catholic Church ’s belief that sport is a powerful way to bring people together. This cross is unique in that it is made from pieces of wood sourced in five continents, an apparent nod to the five Olympic rings that convey the same sentiment. English artist Cornwall used 15 pieces of wood from continents around the world to craft the cross, which made its grand debut at the London Olympics in 2012. Since then, special ceremonies have marked its arrival to host cities for both the Summer and Winter Games. Last June, it was in the Vatican for the Jubilee of Sport, celebrated with Pope Leo XIV. “The cross - carrying the prayers and hopes of athletes - is a Christian message addressed to the entire world of sport, a sign of hope for humanity, and a proposal of peace among peoples,” according to a document from the Vatican’s culture ministry. Leo said in a message entitled “Life in Abundance” issued on the same day as the Milan Cortina opening ceremony, that sport brings people together. “It teaches us that we can strive for the highest level without denying our own fragility; that we can win without humiliating others; and that we can lose without being defeated as individuals,” he wrote. (Source: ABC News / The Associated Press = U.S.)

Poland
12.02.2026  Strozyk, head of Poland’s Military Counterintelligence Service has rejected Russian allegations that its security services were involved in an attempted assassination of a senior Russian military intelligence officer, Lieutenant General Alexeyev in Moscow. Warsaw calls the allegations disinformation aimed at Russia's domestic audiences. Russian authorities said Lt. Gen. Alexeyev, deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, was shot several times in Moscow on February 6 and taken to a hospital. The attacker fled the scene. They later said a Ukrainian-born Russian citizen, 66-year-old Korba, was extradited from Dubai and charged with injuring Alexeyev. The FSB said the attack was ordered by Ukrainian intelligence, alleging Polish services were involved in recruiting the suspect. Russian media also claimed Korba’s son, a Polish citizen living in the southern Polish city of Katowice, helped recruit his father under the coordination of Polish intelligence. Strozyk dismissed the accusations, saying reports of Polish involvement in assassinations or sabotage in Russia and Belarus were fabricated to bolster a narrative that Russia and Belarus are under constant pressure from NATO and Western countries. He said the claims may have been partly linked to the recent arrest in Warsaw of a suspected long-term Russian mole at Poland’s Defence Ministry. Strozyk also criticised the spread of the allegations through major international outlets, calling it disturbing. He said Polish intelligence services operate within the law and under political oversight from senior state officials, including the prime minister and the president. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)

Spain
Feb 10, 2026  European potentates have gone to war with Musk and his X platform, sensing that the liberation of political speech could spell electoral doom for them. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, is seeking to muzzle X for the criticism of his proposed amnesty of illegal immigrants. Sanchez announced last week the legalization of some 500,000 illegal immigrants. Was the number actually closer to a million? His slavish state television immediately cast the measure as moderate. Last Saturday, Montero, a leader of Podemos, the party’s top political strategist and a former minister of equality, told a rally in Zaragoza that the amnesty was intended to win votes. ’I am asking migrants and racialized people to please not leave us alone with so many fascists! ’We have obtained papers for you, regularization [amnesty], and now we are going to demand that you be given citizenship so that you be able to vote, a very animated Montero shouted at the crowd. The Podemos party is one of the parties supporting Sanchez in the legislature. Sanchez announced his intention to legalize these illegal immigrations to mollify Podemos, which has long demanded amnesty as the price for its support. ’Yes, hopefully we’ll have replacement theory. Hopefully, we’ll be able to sweep away from this country all these fascists and racist people, with immigrants and working people. Yes, of course, I want replacement’, Montero, swept up in her own fervor, shouted. But one can’t enact a successful replacement if everyone notices. It did not take long in the age of X for people outside of Spain to notice what was going on. Cheong posted: ’By legalizing 500,000 illegals under the guise of defeating the far-right, Pedro Sánchez is essentially dropping the mask. This is electoral engineering.’ Musk saw that and reposted with one word: “Wow!” Virality ensued. So Sanchez is working to make sure that X becomes as house-trained and domesticated as the domestic news channels. The prime minister used an address he had scheduled this week at the Dubai World Government Summit to unload on X and Musk. “Just last week, the owner of X, a migrant himself, used his personal account to amplify this information about the sovereign decision by my government, the regularization of 500,000 migrants that live, work and contribute to the success of our country, Sanchez said, as if amplifying news, i.e., reporting it, should be a crime. After listing many supposed crimes by X and other social media platforms, Sanchez said, „Some may say that if we don’t like social media platforms, we can simply leave them. That no one is forced to use X or TikTok. … But we know that our children and many citizens do not have that choice. Social media has become an integral part of their lives, of their reality. So if we want to protect them, there’s only one thing we can do. Take back control.’ Sanchez then listed exactly what steps his government will present to Parliament next week. The only one that really addressed minors: Spain will ban access to social media for those under 16 years old. Few had anything to do with sparing minors the harms of online activity. ’Hold platform executives legally accountable and open to criminal liability for failing to remove illegal or hateful content; turning of ’algorithmic manipulation, and amplification of illegal content, into a new criminal offense.’ The Spanish government will pretend to ’track, quantify, and expose how digital platforms feed division and amplify hate’ - in other words, you have to give information exactly how Sanchez’s minions on Spanish media would. So X, Facebook, etc., will cease to be private entities. Add your own critical take, however, and you are criminally liable. Spain will investigate Grok, TikTok, and Instagram for possible infringements and prosecute when necessary. Spain, he added, will defend Spaniards ’from the digital Wild West’. In other words, if these proposals become law, Spain will cease to be truly free. Spain’s Left is and has always been one of the most retrograde in the West. „There are no longer anti-clerical mobs going around Spanish cities and towns, torch in hand, but they talk the same way’. ’Sometimes it seems like the same group that was burning down convents, raping nuns, and assassinating political opponents right before the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War has been brought forward by a time machine’. Sanchez’s party is well behind in the polls, and he must face the voters next year. The only way to survive, he seems to be saying, is to carry out what his 1930s predecessors were prevented from doing. (Source: The Heritage Foundation / Washington Examiner = U.S.)
by Gonzalez, the Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Senior Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

European Commission
11 February 2026  The EU Court of Auditors (ECA) sees ‘systemic weaknesses’ in €650bn Covid fund fraud detection, despite attempts by the European Commission to tackle fraud in its €650 billion Covid recovery fund. The current situation still has too many gaps in the rules,which make the system vulnerable to abuse, ECA said in its special report published today. The European watchdog has highlighted serious issues with fraud detection in the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) - how fraud is reported and corrected. The RRF, launched in 2021 to help European Union countries recover from the pandemic, has faced persistent issues since its inception. The ECA’s investigation reveals that the European Commission does not have a proper overall view on the total amount of fraud in the EU with the funds. Because of this, the ECA found, member states’ anti-fraud systems are inconsistent, often delayed and lack the necessary rigour to combat fraud effectively. Although the the European Commission introduced stricter requirements through bilateral financing agreements, ’these were not specific enough’ to ensure uniform standards across the bloc. In some cases, audits were completed only after the first payments had already been made, raising questions about whether sufficient safeguards were in place. One of the most glaring issues, according to the ECA, is the underuse of data mining tools, which are essential for identifying suspicious patterns. Many member states failed to fully utilise Arachne, the EU’s primary data mining tool for fraud detection, with some relying on outdated or inadequate national systems instead. Another concerning issue is the lack of a standardised approach to reporting fraud. Member states apply different criteria for determining what constitutes fraud affecting EU funds, leading to incomplete and inconsistent data. The European Commission’s own monitoring system does not distinguish between suspected fraud and other irregularities, making it difficult to assess the true scale of the problem. Unlike in other EU funding programmes, member states are not required to return recovered fraudulent funds to the EU budget unless the the European Commission deems their recovery efforts insufficient. Countries may prioritise keeping recovered funds rather than ensuring they are returned to EU coffers. The main mechanism for member states – the management declarations – will no longer be required after December 2026, when the last payment must be made by the Commission. With the RRF set to wind down by the end of this year, the ECA warns that most fraud cases will only emerge after the programme’s formal closure. This raises the risk that fraudulent activity could go undetected or unpunished long after the money has been spent. The auditors call on the European Commission to define clearer anti-fraud requirements for future programmes, strengthen its audits, and ensure that recovered funds are consistently returned to the EU budget. (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium) 

European Parliament
Feb 11, 2026 - 10:57  MEPs have reached agreement on the conditions necessary to resume implementation of the tariff agreement with the US. with a crunch vote now set for late February. The proposal covers part of the deal struck between Commission President der Leyen and Trump in Turnberry, Scotland, in July, under which EU tariffs on US goods would be removed in exchange for a 15% blanket tariff on EU exports. That requires Parliament’s approval. A committee vote will take place on 24 February, paving the way for a plenary vote in March and the launch of negotiations with the Council. Socialist MEP Lange, chair of the trade committee and the Parliament’s lead negotiator on the US file, said that a safeguard à-la-Mercosur, which could lead to re-imposing tariffs if domestic producers are harmed, had been backed by the groups. Criteria for triggering a suspension clause linked to threats to the EU’s territorial sovereignty have yet to be defined. A stronger involvement of the Parliament on supervising the deal with Washington has also been agreed. The deal with the US would expire by March 2028 under a so-called sunset clause lasting 24 months from now, Lange said. The European People’s Party had pushed for 36 months ’to grant’ more certainty to business. On the issue of steel, Lange said that political groups recognised that the US has breached the Turnberry deal by imposing tariffs on more EU steel products. MEPs agreed to automatically establish tariffs on US steel products if Washington does not remove their own over the next six months. (Source: Euractiv - Headquarters Brussels, Belgium)

Russia
Feb. 10, 2026  Russia appears poised to complete the capture of three strategic areas in the coming weeks or months, according to military experts. Capturing all three areas - the town of Huliaipole in the southeast and the cities of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, about 60 miles northeast - would give Russia an urban foothold to base troops and organize logistics for future offensives. Moscow could use the gains to argue during peace talks that its advance, while slow, is inevitable, and that Ukraine would be better off ceding land now in a deal, rather than losing it later in bloody fighting. In the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, town Huliaipole, with a prewar population of 12,000, was one of the last Ukrainian-held urban centers in the region outside the regional capital, the city of Zaporizhzhia, Huliaipole is almost entirely under Russian control, according to Capt. Filatov, a Ukrainian officer, commander of the First Separate Assault Regiment, fighting in the area. He said in text messages last week that Ukrainian forces still held a few buildings inside Huliaipole. “The majority of the town is fully under enemy control,” he said, adding that 95 percent of the troops there were Russian. Beyond Huliaipole lie open fields, giving Ukrainian troops few built-up areas to hunker down and thwart Russian advances. About 40 miles west of Huliaipole, Russian forces are closing in on the outskirts of the city of Zaporizhzhia, an industrial hub of 700,000 people known for its steel. Battlefield maps show Moscow’s troops about 15 miles from the city’s southern entrance. Further advances would put the area within range of small attack drones. Analysts attribute Russia’s gains in the area to thin Ukrainian defenses, as Kyiv concentrates its forces on holding cities in the neighboring Donetsk region. There, Ukraine has focused on defending the cities of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, which together had a prewar population of more than 100,000. Troop deployments there, combined with drone warfare, have slowed Russian assaults. Should Russia fully capture those cities, it could use them to conceal drone operators and exploit roads and railways to streamline logistics. Myrnohrad would give Moscow a springboard to push north and pursue its goal of taking all of the Donetsk region, about three-quarters of which it already controls. A major target could be Kostyantynivka, 25 miles farther east, which is the southern gateway to a chain of cities forming Ukraine’s last major defensive belt in Donetsk. Should it fall, nearly all cities farther north would come within range of Russian drones, and Moscow would gain access to a key road linking these cities. After partly surrounding the city last year, Russian forces began infiltrating it this winter. Moscow has also intensified drone strikes against roads that Ukrainian troops use to resupply the city. A Ukrainian brigade commander recently said that approaching Kostyantynivka had become so dangerous that most supply missions into the city were entrusted to robot-like remotely operated vehicles. If Russian troops advance on the battlefield, Ukraine is likely to face more pressure on the diplomatic front. (Source: The New York Times - U.S.)

United Kingdom
(11.02.2026  While served as UK special representative for international trade and investment, former Prince Andrew forwarded to convicted sex offender Epstein a confidential UK government briefing produced by the provincial reconstruction team, outlining high value gold, uranium, marble, iridium, thorium and possible oil and gas reserve deposit investment opportunities in Helmand province, in Afghanistan, noting the potential for low-cost extraction. According to official guidance, trade envoys are bound by duties of confidentiality regarding sensitive commercial and political information obtained during official visits. Andrew may also have sent Epstein official reports from trade visits to Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam, as well as additional files labelled 'Overseas bids'. Thames Valley Police are examining the claims. Mountbatten-Windsor, 65, withdrew from royal duties in 2019 after his connection to Epstein became public. He also gave up his other royal titles, including the duke of York. In 2022, he settled a civil lawsuit brought by Giuffre, an American who accused Epstein of trafficking her to Andrew when she was 17. Andrew has consistently denied the allegations, and the settlement included no admission of liability. Giuffre died last year, and her posthumous memoir includes several specific claims involving Andrew. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

10 February 2026)  After facing pressure to quit, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he will ’never walk away from the country that I love", surviving a day of political jeopardy which saw the Scottish Labour leader call for his resignation. Speaking at a community centre in Hertfordshire, the PM also sought to brush off speculation about his leadership saying he would lead his party into the next general election. The prime minister has faced questions about his leadership for months, following numerous U-turns and a drop in his government's popularity. Those questions intensified following the release of emails from Epstein, which revealed the extent of the relationship between the convicted sex offender and Mandelson, the prime minister's pick to be his ambassador in the US. Around half a dozen Labour MPs have called on the prime minister to quit. Yesterday, Scottish Labour leader Sarwar became the most senior figure in the party to call for Sir Keir to go, saying there had been too many mistakes in Downing Street. Had senior ministers publicly backed Sarwar's call for the PM to go, Sir Keir could have been forced to step down. However, shortly after Sarwar began his press conference, the cabinet started posting messages of support for the prime minister on social media. A few hours later, the prime minister received an 'enthusiastic response’ when he addressed a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party. He has also received public backing from three potential leadership challengers - former deputy prime minister Rayner, Health Secretary Streeting and Greater Manchester Mayor Burnham. Tory leader Badenoch said it was clear the Labour Party had lost confidence in Starmer and that it was a matter of when, not if he stepped down. The prime minister’s position remains fragile and the situation could change quickly. There could be further embarrassing revelations, when the government fulfils its promise to publish documents and communications related to the appointment of Lord Mandelson. Elections in Scotland, Wales and for councils in England in May could trigger fresh leadership challenges, if Labour perform badly. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

Europe
11 February 2026  A Financial Times article last week reported on a trip by US Under Secretary of State Rogers to Italy and other European countries. The visit was framed as part of a US effort to support and finance MAGA-aligned think tanks and charities. In Italy and across Europe, debate is intensifying, sparking political backlash and accusations of American interference in domestic affairs over possible funding by the Trump administration of movements and think tanks aligned with the MAGA movement. The left-wing media often describe them as a “black international” aimed at strengthening European nationalist forces and weakening the European Union. The US has historically provided funding in Europe, largely through USAID, founded in 1961 to fight against Communism and to provide disaster relief. Under President Clinton USAID began to move Left, with President Obama adding LGBT initiatives and climate policy. According to Primorac, who worked for USAID for three years and is now with the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, under President Biden USAID introduced transgenderism into every programme. During this period, USAID had an annual budget of approximately €23 billion. President Trump shut down most of this immediately after taking office. According to Scalea, director of the Machiavelli Foundation, a conservative think tank partnered with the Heritage Foundation in Italy, the left cries ‘foreign interference,’ but what is really being contested is not the method, but the political orientation. It remains unclear whether and to what extent new funding from Washington may reach Europe. Analysts have identified three key American actors fostering closer ties with conservative and right-wing movements on the continent: The Heritage Foundation, a US conservative think tank influential in shaping right-wing policymaking; networks linked to Bannon, and Italian associates connected to Musk, all broadly aligned with the current administration’s political orientation. Bannon is seen as mainly active through efforts to establish a training school for global MAGA cadres in Italy. Information emerging from the Epstein files has also pointed to Bannon’s past interest, dating back to 2018 and 2019, in supporting Italy’s League party at a time when it was polling strongly but facing financial constraints. There is no indication that such initiatives remain active today. Musk’s influence, by contrast, operates primarily through Stroppa, a young Italian cybersecurity expert and external adviser widely considered Musk’s man in Italy. Stroppa acts as a local intermediary with institutions and publicly supports Musk’s positions, although so far this does not appear to amount to a structured political organization. Attention has focused in recent days on the visit to Rome by McCarthy, Senior Research Fellow for European Affairs at the Heritage Foundation. The organisation plays a central role in promoting traditional values, national sovereignty, defence policy, and a more assertive foreign policy. “We receive no money from the US government or any foreign government,” McCarthy told, emphasizing the Heritage Foundation’s independence and reliance on private donations. “However, we are aligned with the Trump administration for one basic reason: We wrote a detailed plan, Project 2025,” he said, referring to an initiative outlining policies, personnel, and strategies to implement a conservative agenda for the current administration. Heritage’s activity predates the Trump administration and remains institutionally independent from it, but has found a strong overlap of interests, values, and strategic priorities with the current government. „About 75 per cent of our proposals have been adopted or are in progress", he added, noting that many Heritage staff who helped draft the plan are now working within the administration. McCarthy spoke on the side-lines of a transatlantic relations conference at the Italian parliament, attended by MPs from Brothers of Italy, the League, and Forza Italia, and organized by the Machiavelli Foundation. “We are building bridges with conservative think tanks across Europe,” McCarthy said, naming the European Conservatives and Reformists group, the Patriots, and their affiliated think tanks as main partners, while noting continued contacts with the European People’s Party, despite what he described as its shift leftward in recent years. “We do not want to destroy Europe, but rather to build a strong partnership with a strong America. Greater national sovereignty for Europeans would strengthen transatlantic relations,” he added, arguing that the strength of nationalist parties and movements in Europe reinforces transatlantic ties because it is grounded in shared ’civilisational values”. He said the goal is to align with these movements and, on a geopolitical level, encourage Europeans to strengthen their defence capabilities against external threats, ’particularly from Russia’. The Heritage Foundation, he concluded, does not fund its European partners but instead "develops strategic dialogue" and 'provides policy advice'. According to McCarthy, the activities of the Heritage Foundation in Italy and Europe are not coordinated in any way with those of Bannon or Musk. Scalea, whose Machiavelli Foundation collaborates with the Heritage Foundation, echoed McCarthy’s assessment. This heterogeneity shows that there is no single, coherent strategy by the US administration to influence Europe, but rather multiple power centres pursuing their own parallel initiatives, he said. According to Scalea, potential funding from across the Atlantic would therefore not represent a novelty in itself. While stressing that the Machiavelli Foundation has never received such funding, Scalea argued that this reflects a broader shift in US geopolitical thinking. What would be new, he suggested, would be the recipients - no longer aligned primarily with progressive causes, but rather with conservative or nationalist political forces. (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)

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Asia

Central Asia
February 11, 2026  Under the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, the Cross-Regional Connectivity Agenda aims to improve links between the EU and Central Asia through Türkiye and the South Caucasus by coordinating strategic investments and regulations. The objective is to boost trade and socio-economic development. The Connectivity Agenda was launched at the Cross-regional Security and Connectivity Ministerial Meeting in Luxembourg on 20 October 2025 and further advanced at the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor and Connectivity Investors Forum in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 27 November 2025. Reflecting geopolitical shifts and vulnerabilities in the Northern Corridor, the Trans-Caspian Corridor, a route of railways and ports linking Europe, Türkiye, the rest of the Black Sea, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Central Asia is becoming an alternative trade route connecting both continents. Since 2022, trade on the route has quadrupled. With the right investments, it can triple by 2030. The European Commission has published an EU-funded meta-study that highlights where investment is needed to strengthen transport, trade, energy and digital connections along the corridor, in line with the EU’s plans to rebuild trade routes to Central Asia via the South Caucasus. The study highlights key stretches where infrastructure is missing, outdated or not fit for today’s volumes. It provides a practical guidance for investment which will give governments and the private sector a clear picture of where their capital can make the biggest difference in building modern and reliable infrastructure, upgrades to rail, ports, border procedures, energy links and digital connectivity. Much of the infrastructure is old and outdated, so investment is urgently needed. Public-private partnerships are essential to modernising infrastructure along the corridor. The meta-study is structured around three core pillars: transport and trade, energy, and digital. The Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor has strategic importance as a reliable alternative trade route to Asia. It recommends smoother, more aligned border rules. Following the European Council conclusions of June, October and December 2024 on political developments in Georgia, ’the European Commission suspended financial bilateral assistance directly benefiting Georgian authorities’, whilst projects related to regional connectivity are being assessed on a case-by-case basis. The study also notes ’the growing role of Ukraine and Moldova in Europe’s efforts to diversify and strengthen its wider transport network’. It identifies opportunities to diversify energy links, ensure reliable electricity connections, and support decarbonization efforts by stronger, modernized grids, alongside greater use of renewables. The study underlines the growing strategic importance of secure data routes improving cybersecurity, following European and international standards, and supporting for emerging technologies, such as AI. It calls for alternative fibre-optic corridors, fibre installation alongside energy and transport projects, and the creation of new internet exchange points. Satellite links are also highlighted as a resilience tool in areas where ground networks are weak. The EU4Digital Initiative is the EU’s regional programme supporting digital transformation and the harmonization of digital markets in countries included in the Eastern Partnership. It aims to support interoperability, cross border data exchange and regulatory harmonisation in alignment with EU standards. (Source: EU Reporter - based in Brussels, Belgium; ultimate beneficiary in Ireland)

China
February 10, 2026, 1:45 PM  We are moving into a world of issues-based cooperation. This is perhaps clearest from the cavalcade of leaders who are visiting Beijing. Already, French President Macron, South Korean President Lee, Taoiseach of Ireland Micheál Martin, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer have all visited China in recent months. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to begin his visit in February. Even U.S. President Trump is set to visit in April. These visits are a response to the erosion of the post-Cold War order, whose death became the main topic of discussion at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with Washington no longer serving as a reliable steward of the multilateral system. The European Union’s long-standing pursuit of strategic autonomy ’is moving from rhetoric to practice’ - an independent pole, defined by regulatory power, economic gravity, and normative influence. For much of the post-Cold War period, ’perceptions of shared values’ sustained bloc loyalty, even when material interests diverged. That created the G-7 and NATO, that saw much of the Western world intervene together in the Balkans in 1999, fight in Afghanistan together after 9/11, and join forces to support Ukraine. Over the past decade, this same Euro-Atlantic community was gradually moving toward a consensus that China was hostile to the community of liberal Western states and should be isolated with a cordon sanitaire. That unity, such as it was, is now at an end. With Washington attacking Europe rather than trying to rally it, Canada, the U.K., and the EU have all begun to reach out to China to engage on their own terms. The world is entering a contested phase of multipolar governance without bloc-based communities - different coalitions for different issues based on common interests. Climate cooperation does not need to follow security alliances. Trade governance does not align neatly with bloc-based technological standards. Artificial intelligence, supply chains, and health security each generate their own constellations of cooperation. China’s green industrial capacity - spanning solar, wind, batteries, electric mobility, and grid equipment - has driven global decarbonization. Yet for years, the United States cajoled its allies to limit uptake of Chinese green technology. Now, Europe and Canada are freed from the blinders of bloc-shaped politics and increasingly able engage with Chinese capacity and expertise wholly on their own terms. Similarly, the European Union and China both maintain that they share a responsibility to uphold an international rules-based order rooted in the United Nations and in advancing reform of the World Trade Organization, such as the restoration of its dispute settlement function, including the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement. Areas of divergence remain, including trade remedies, market access, and industrial policy. The member nations of the EU still maintain security ties with the Washington, and the EU itself is engaging on its own terms with China rather than joining a new camp. The EU can hold on to the values that it does not share with China while still cooperating on shared interests. This new configuration increasingly resembles a Romance of the Three Kingdoms-style balance. In this classic Chinese narrative, no single kingdom is able to dominate outright, and power remains contested. A growing field of middle powers with their own agency shaping the state of play results a setting where all are compelled to negotiate, hedge, and adapt, whether small or large. ’China remains deeply embedded in global supply chains and consistently engaged in multilateral institutions. ’For decades, China has been happy to work with countries across the global south without conditions while advocating consistently for multilateralism, sovereignty, stability, and impartiality in trade relations. ’For those who must now hedge against an increasingly transactional Washington, Beijing’s stability offers a welcome relief - especially as smaller states need not chain themselves to Beijing’s anchor to benefit from the stability that it provides. Middle powers are waking up to a future where they must pick interests rather than picking sides. ’While this carries risks, by cutting through camp-based constraints, the world can better address the climate crisis, facilitate cooperation on human development, and promote a more inclusive new equilibrium. (Source: Foreign Policy - U.S.)
by Wang, the founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization, a ’nongovernmental’ think tank based in Beijing. Wang often advises the Chinese government.

Iran
February 10, 2026, 11:14 AM  According to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), as of yesterday, more than 6,400 protesters have been killed and over 51,500 arrested on charges linked to the demonstrations. Over 11,000 more related deaths remain under review. Farsi-language social media remains flooded with images of the dead, missing and detained. Videos show families grieving loved ones killed in the streets, while others are pleas from relatives searching for missing family members in morgues and prisons, or seeking legal support for those behind bars. Many wounded protesters still seek medical advice from doctors on social media on how to treat their injuries at home, because they fear getting arrested in hospitals by regime forces, who closely monitor hospitals in order to track wounded protesters. An Iranian lawyer told last week that several of doctors who provided home treatment to wounded protesters have been arrested. The volume of such social media posts has shown no sign of slowing. According to HRANA, at least 331 forced confessions related to the protests have been broadcast so far. The Iranian regime also arrested several prominent reformist figures yesterday, according to Fars News, after they allegedly criticized the authorities’ handling of the protests. They face charges including attacking national unity and coordinating with enemy propaganda,”according to Fars News. (Source: ABC News - U.S.)

Iraq
10:14-10 February 2026  As part of a US operation to relocate isis group detainees, ’suspected’ extremists have been transferred from Syria. The detainees are among around 7,000 suspects the US military began transferring last month after Syrian government forces captured Kurdish-held territory where they had been held by Kurdish fighters. The SDF went on to jail thousands of ’suspected’ extremists and detain tens of thousands of their relatives in camps. They include Syrians, Iraqis and Europeans, among other nationalities. Maan, a spokesperson for the Iraqi government's security information unit told today that 4,583 detainees had been brought to Iraq so far. Isis committed massacres across Syria and Iraq in 2014. Iraq proclaimed the defeat of isis in 2017. In neighboring Syria the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces ultimately beat back the group two years later. In Iraq many prisons are packed with isis suspects. Courts have handed down hundreds of death sentences and life terms to those convicted of terrorism offences, including many foreign fighters. This month Iraq's judiciary said it had begun investigations into detainees transferred from Syria. (Source: Asharq Al-Awsat – Headquartered in London, England, owned by a member of the Saudi royal family.)

Strait of Hormuz
13:24, 10/02/2026, Tuesday  Tensions spike in Hormuz. The United States has issued an emergency warning for commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran fortifies nuclear sites. The moves point to heightened military preparations amid stalled nuclear negotiations and regional uncertainty, even as fragile indirect diplomatic talks, nuclear negotiations continue between Washington and Tehran in Oman. In a new guidance, the U.S. administration advised that U.S.-flagged commercial ships should avoid Iran's territorial waters, „as far away as possible" while transiting the Strait, a passage vital for global energy supplies. The advisory explicitly instructed crews not to forcibly resist if boarded by Iranian forces, emphasizing this does not imply consent. Satellite images published by Israeli media suggest Tehran is reinforcing its nuclear facilities. Imagery of tunnel entrances being sealed with earth at Iran's Isfahan nuclear complex has fueled speculation of preparations against a potential attack. Analysts suggest this could be a defensive measure to protect enriched uranium stocks and limit damage in the event of an air strike. Speaking in Armenia, U.S. Vice President Vance stated the U.S. administration believes a constructive agreement would benefit both sides, but the talks remain deadlocked over the scope of issues, with the U.S. insisting on including Iran's missile program and regional activities. He indicated that demands in the negotiations would remain confidential and that any deal would require President Trump's approval. (Source: Yeni Şafak - Turkey)

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AMERICAS:

Caribbean

Cuba
February 10, 2026 / 10:44 AM EST  In late January, Mr. Trump signed an executive order that would impose a tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba. U.S. sanctions against Cuba have been in place for more than six decades and have long stunted Cuba's economy. But they reached new extremes. Political pressure from President Trump on Latin America has effectively severed Cuba's access to its primary petroleum sources in Venezuela and Mexico. There was speculation in January that Mexico would slash oil shipments to Cuba under mounting pressure by Mr. Trump to distance itself from Havana, but on Monday, President Sheinbaum said her country would offer more help to Cuba, and called Mr. Trump's policies unfair. "There will be more support for Cuba," she said Monday as more than 800 tons of humanitarian aid was loaded onto Mexican Navy ships to be transported to Cuba. She said Mexico was taking the necessary diplomatic steps to resume oil shipments to Cuba. Isolation of Cuba dries up nation's jet fuel supplies, forcing airlines to adjust. While the rationing may not disrupt shorter regional flights, it presents a significant challenge for long-haul routes from countries like Russia and Canada - a critical pillar of Cuba's tourism economy that once generated $3 billion in annual revenue and served as a vital economic lifeline. The last time such cuts occurred - more than a decade ago - aircraft bound for Europe refueled in Nassau, Bahamas. On Monday, Air Canada announced it was suspending flights to the island, while other airlines announced delays and layovers in the Dominican Republic before flights continued to Havana while others could refuel in Cancun, Mexico. Cuban aviation officials have warned airlines that there isn't enough fuel for airplanes to refuel at nine airports across the island, including José Martí International Airport in Havana, starting yesterday and continuing until March 11. Cuban officials also announced Monday that bank hours have been reduced and major cultural events like the Havana International Book Fair this weekend suspended. Fuel distribution companies said they would no longer sell gas in Cuban pesos - sales will be made in dollars and limited to about 5 gallons per user. For many Cubans, the crisis has translated into power outages lasting up to 10 hours, fuel shortages for vehicles, and a lack of food or medicine that many compare to the severe economic depression in the 1990s known as the Special Period that followed cuts in aid from what was then the Soviet Union. (Source: CBS News - U.S.)

10.02.2026  Cuba depends heavily on imported fuel to power its electricity generation, transport and food distribution, making supply disruptions especially damaging for the already struggling economy. The UN warns shortages are hitting daily life as Cuba faces deepening fuel crunch under US pressure following threats by US President Trump to impose tariffs on any country supplying oil to the Caribbean nation. Beijing says it will back Havana’s sovereignty and survival needs. ’China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding national security and sovereignty, and opposes external interference,’ Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin told in Beijing today. Washington has stepped up pressure on Havana since early January, after a US military operation abducted Venezuelan President Maduro - a key ally of Cuba - and as part of a broader effort to isolate governments it considers hostile. In a late-January executive order, Trump labelled Cuba an unusual and extraordinary threat to US national security, declaring a national emergency and opening the door to tougher economic measures. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)

North America

United States
(Wednesday), Feb. 11, 2026 8:32 pm ET  Pentagon prepares second aircraft carrier to deploy to the Middle East in two weeks, likely from the U.S. East Coast. Trump hadn’t yet given an official order to deploy the second carrier, and that plans could change. The U.S. has built up its firepower in the region in recent weeks, sending in the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln from the South China Sea, as well as additional warships, air defenses and fighter squadrons. The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is completing a series of training exercises off the coast of Virginia. The warship can launch and recover strike, electronic attack and reconnaissance aircraft. That includes carrier versions of the F-35 Lighting stealth fighter. Trump met today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House to discuss Iran negotiations. “I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be, Trump said in a social-media post following the meeting. „We have plenty of time. If you remember Venezuela, we waited around for a while. And we’re in no rush. We have very good talks going with Iran, Trump told reporters on Friday. (Source: The Wall Street Journal - U.S.)

Feb. 11, 2026, 10:03 PM GMT+1  The grounding of aircraft at El Paso International Airport in Texas early today was in response to testing near Fort Bliss of U.S. military technology of high-energy lasers designed to take down drones from drug cartels that could cross over the U.S. border. The Federal Aviation Administration responded by issuing a Temporary Flight Restriction Notice. The notice said the airspace was classified as national defense airspace. FAA halted all flights out of El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days - from Feb. 11 to Feb. 21 - .for what it said were special security reasons before abruptly lifting the order. A Trump administration official earlier told that Mexican cartel drones had breached American airspace and the Defense Department had disabled them. El Paso Mayor Johnson said all aviation operations, including emergency flights, were grounded. El Paso borders Mexico and the city of Ciudad Juárez. The airport handled 3.49 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2025. Mexican President Sheinbaum said officials in her country had not seen evidence of drone activity along the border. (Source: NBC News - U.S.)

02/11/26 12:07 p.m. EST  Starting this year, Gallup, the public opinion polling agency will no longer track presidential approval ratings after more than eight decades doing so. The company said it would stop publishing approval and favorability ratings of individual political figures. President Trump has seen his rating by the agency slip in recent months, peaking at 47 percent last February and dipping to less than 37 percent in its last poll taken in December. (Source: The Hill - U.S.)

Feb 11, 2026, 12:40pm GMT+1  Anthropic safety researcher, CEO Amodei quit, saying the world is in peril in part over AI advances. Anthropic was founded with the explicit goal of creating safe AI; its CEO Amodei said at Davos that AI progress is going too fast and called for regulation to force industry leaders to slow down. Sharma said the safety team constantly faces pressures to set aside what matters most, citing concerns about bioterrorism and other risks. Two key members of OpenAI’s Superalignment team, tasked with steering AI development, quit in 2024, saying the company emphasized financial gain over minimizing the dangers of building Other AI safety researchers have left leading firms, citing concerns about catastrophic risks. (Source: Semafor – U.S.)

February 11, 2026, 5:16 AM  What war with Iran would look like? Decapitation strikes against the regime are likely. In recent weeks, the United States has dramatically reinforced its military posture in the Middle East. Iranian officials insist that they will not capitulate under pressure. Yet both sides continue to speak, often simultaneously, about negotiations. The most plausible outcome of the current standoff is not a U.S. invasion of Iran or a full-scale regional war. In international politics war, or the threat of it is used as an instrument of bargaining. When diplomacy alone cannot produce credible commitments - that we are witnessing today - is not a collapse of diplomacy but its militarization alongside quiet but ongoing negotiations in Oman, where Iranian and U.S. interlocutors are attempting to probe each other’s red lines and willingness to compromise. In bargaining logic, diplomacy and military pressure often advance in parallel, not sequentially. From Washington’s perspective, Iran appears weaker today than at any point in the past decade. Over the last two years, Tehran’s regional deterrence architecture, once framed around the so-called Axis of Resistance, has eroded significantly. Even Iran’s own airspace was exposed during the 12-day war with Israel last year. Iran still possesses substantial missile and drone capabilities, and it may even have expanded parts of its arsenal. Iranian missiles partially broke through Israeli Iron Dome during the recent war. But Iran’s ability to impose unacceptable costs on its adversaries across multiple theaters, has weakened. Inside Washington one camp argues that this is precisely the moment to escalate pressure. Iran, in their view, is strategically cornered and unusually flexible. Negotiations, therefore, should be used to extract maximal concessions on the nuclear program, on missiles, and on regional proxies. Some voices go further, openly advocating regime change as an attainable goal if sufficient force is applied. Why settle for limited gains when the balance of power appears favorable? The second camp emphasizes that U.S. President Trump has consistently opposed large-scale military interventions and endless wars. The current moment presents an opportunity for Trump to claim victory without plunging the United States into another Middle Eastern conflict. A deal achieved under pressure would allow Washington to constrain Iran while reinforcing Trump’s long-standing narrative: that strength, not war, produces results. Commitments narrow his room for maneuver. Launching a full-scale war contradicts his core political brand. “Peace through strength’- military force is a tool to compel negotiation on favorable terms. Limited, decisive action is meant to deter adversaries, reassure allies, and demonstrate resolve, without dragging the United States into prolonged conflict. A limited strike becomes likely if Iran withholds the kind of concessions Trump needs to claim victory. U.S. policymakers see a limited, calibrated strike, rather than an invasion, ’as the most attractive’ tool. It signals resolve, satisfies domestic hawks, preserves Trump’s anti-forever-war credentials, and, critically, reshapes the bargaining environment ahead of more serious negotiations. The U.S. operation in Venezuela also reinforced the plausibility of this model. But in Venezuela, Washington pursued quiet, pre-strike talks with regime insiders before arresting Maduro. The Venezuelan precedent resonated in Tehran: it signaled that directly targeting the apex of a state’s command structure is no longer unthinkable, nor prohibitively costly, a lesson that now shapes Iran’s threat perceptions. An invasion of Iran would be strategically irrational. The United States lacks the political and strategic justification to do so. Few in Washington believe they could manage Iran’s size, population, and internal complexity without triggering prolonged instability. The costs would be enormous, the regional consequences uncontrollable, and domestic support deeply uncertain - a strategic self-inflicted wound in the context of great-power competition, inevitably diverting U.S. military, financial, and political resources away from Washington’s primary strategic focus: competition with China. An attritional conflict in the Middle East would raise global energy prices, fuel domestic inflation, strain U.S. alliances, and reduce Washington’s capacity to project power in the Indo-Pacific. From Beijing’s perspective, such a war would function as a strategic diversion, tying down U.S. attention while China consolidates its position on Taiwan, the South China Sea, and critical technology supply chains. Even a successful initial invasion would not guarantee regime collapse, but it would almost certainly entangle the United States in a costly stabilization effort. For U.S. policymakers this makes invasion fundamentally incompatible with the United States’ long-term global priorities. Military planners understand this. The debate has shifted away from invasion toward more surgical uses of force. The most plausible option is decapitation. This would likely be followed by a U.S. strategy of escalation dominance aimed at deterring Iran’s vowed retaliation from escalating into all-out war. The message would be unmistakable: „The United States can strike at the heart of the Iranian system’, absorb limited retaliation, and still control the ladder of escalation. ’The strike would be designed to end quickly, signaling that Washington seeks leverage, not war. A decapitation-style strike raises the costs of defiance while reopening the door to negotiations; this time on altered terms. Tehran could choose a limited, symbolic retaliation, calibrated to preserve deterrence and domestic credibility without inviting uncontrolled escalation, avoiding a direct clash with U.S. forces. Alternatively, Iran could reject the logic of U.S. escalation dominance altogether, responding instead in ways that deliberately widen the conflict and challenge Washington’s ability to control the pace and scope of escalation. This could include targeting U.S. assets across multiple regional theaters, threatening maritime chokepoints, or accelerating nuclear activities to alter the strategic calculus. Even when both sides seek to avoid full-scale war, miscalculation, misreading of resolve, or domestic pressures can push them beyond intended limits. Once violence becomes the medium of communication, actions meant to deter can instead provoke. This is why the current moment is so volatile. The likely sequence is force followed by negotiation: A strike occurs. A strike would not mark the failure of diplomacy. It would be its grim precondition. Bargaining through force is used to avoid war, yet it brings war closer. The question is no longer whether force will be used, but whether it can be used without unleashing a conflict that neither side truly intends, yet both would struggle to contain. (Source: Foreign Policy - U.S.)
by Reisinezhad, a visiting fellow of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics and Political Science; Reisinezhad, a lecturer in economics at the University of Essex.

February 11, 2026 2:32 AM  Walk for peace.  Draped in burnt-orange robes, a group of two dozen Buddhist monks were walking from Texas to end 3,700km journey in Washington DC. The monks began their walk in Texas more than three months ago, at times braving frigid winter temperatures, sometimes with bare feet, to raise "awareness of peace, loving kindness, and compassion across America and the world." The marchers continued on despite a powerful winter storm that spread a paralysing mix of heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain from the Ohio Valley and mid-South to New England, compounded by bitter, Arctic cold gripping much of the US. "The Walk for Peace is a simple yet meaningful reminder that unity and kindness begin within each of us and can radiate outward to families, communities, and society as a whole," said Pannakara, spiritual leader of the Walk for Peace. The self-described spiritual journey across nine states has been cheered on by crowds of thousands. The Walk for Peace has made stops in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. During their stop in North Carolina, the state's governor, Stein, thanked the monks for bringing hope to millions with their message of peace, equality, justice and compassion. "You are inspiring people at a time when so many are in need of inspiration,’ Stein said. „Our country needs this. We feel divided and people want more kindness and more compassion and more peace," Donoghue, 59, from Silver Spring, Maryland, said. The Buddhist monks arrived in Washington yesterday accompanied by people pet Aloka, a rescue dog from India who has gained a following on social media as "he Peace Dog. In Washington, hundreds of people came out to see the monks as they walked along a road informally known as Embassy Row because of the high number of embassies and diplomatic residences. While they waited hours just to see the monks for less than a minute, many of the spectators said the camaraderie and good energy made the experience worthwhile. "They are beautiful distraction from the chaos that is taking place in the city, the country and in the world right now. "It gives everyone a second to pause and think about something that is not as stressful as what the chaos is creating, O'Donoghue, 62, of Washington said. The monks met with spiritual and other leaders after arriving in Washington. They also held an interfaith ceremony at the National Cathedral. They will spend today in Washington and end their journey in nearby Annapolis, Maryland tomorrow. During the ceremony at the cathedral, Bassett, the District of Columbia's secretary of state, presented the monks with a proclamation honouring them on behalf of the Washington Mayor Bowser. Your pilgrimage has brought people together across cities, states and communities, Bassett said. Although the walk has been positive, it has not been without obstacles. While walking through Dayton, Texas, a truck struck the monks' escort vehicle, injuring several people. Two monks sustained serious injuries and one had his leg amputated. Despite the accident, the group continued to trek across the US to honour not only their original message of peace but also their brothers. The walk has garnered support from millions of people on social media, with many sharing messages of support for the monks. Supporters have braved snow and rain to meet and offer flowers to the monks as they passed through their cities. (Source: AsiaOne - Singapore)

February 10, 2026 1:22pm EST  I do think that some of our allies have under-invested in Arctic security, and if we're going to invest in Arctic security, if we're basically going to pay a lot of money and be on the hook for protecting this massive landmass, I think it's only reasonable for the United States to get some benefit out of that, and that's going to be the focus of the negotiations here over the next few months, Vice President Vance said today before boarding Air Force Two upon departure for Azerbaijan, at Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan, Armenia. Greenland is very important to the national security of the United States of America, Vance added. "It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building. NATO should be leading the way for us to get it. If we don’t, Russia or China will, and that is not going to happen! Trump said in mid-January. A week later, Trump said, "Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region.’ "We have been in close dialogue with NATO and I have spoken to NATO Secretary General Rutte on an ongoing basis, including both before and after his meeting with President Trump in Davos. NATO is fully aware of the position of the Kingdom of Denmark. We can negotiate on everything political; security, investments, economy. But we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty," Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen asserted in a statement. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

10.02.2026  The administration of US President Trump considers expanding nuclear arsenal and possibly resuming underground nuclear testing following the expiration of the last major US-Russia arms control treaty. According to a report published yesterday by The New York Times, the recent statements from senior officials suggest Washington is reviewing options to deploy additional nuclear weapons and it is preparing for possible renewed testing. This would mark a significant shift from decades of US policy aimed at limiting and reducing deployed warheads. The report followed the expiration of the New START treaty, which had capped the number of deployed strategic warheads for both the US and Russia at about 1,550. DiNanno, the State Department’s undersecretary for arms control and international security, told a disarmament forum in Geneva that the expired treaty had placed unilateral constraints on Washington and said the US is now free to strengthen nuclear deterrence. Options include expanding existing forces and activating non-deployed nuclear capabilities if directed by Trump. One potential step involves reactivating missile tubes on the US Navy Ohio-class submarines that had been disabled to comply with treaty limits, allowing additional nuclear-armed missiles to be deployed at sea. Some experts believe such moves could be intended to pressure Russia and China into new arms control negotiations, while others warn they could instead trigger a broader arms buildup. DiNanno also addressed nuclear testing, offering the first detailed explanation of Trump’s earlier call to resume testing ’on an equal basis’ with Russia and China. He suggested Moscow and Beijing may have conducted smaller, hard-to-detect nuclear explosive tests, including a suspected Chinese test in 2020, though an international monitoring network reported no detection at the time. The US last conducted a full-scale nuclear explosive test in 1992. Hruby, former head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, told the newspaper the administration’s intentions remain unclear. Wallace, former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, also expressed surprise at the certainty of claims about foreign testing, the report said. Trump declined an informal extension proposed by Russian President Putin while the sides considered negotiating a replacement accord. On February 5, he said Washington should seek a new, improved and modernised nuclear arms control agreement rather than extending the New START with Moscow. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)

NATO

Wednesday 11 February 2026 16:19 GMT  The specter of the alliance’s most powerful country threatening to annex part of another ally, Denmark – Greenland, a semiautonomous territory in the Danish realm - has deeply shaken the rest of the alliance. NATO has launched a new military effort in Greenland, dubbed Arctic Sentry. Initially, it will be the NATO label for national military exercises in the region, such as Denmark’s Arctic Endurance and Norway’s Cold Response drills. It does not involve the permanent or even long-term deployment of troops to the region under a NATO banner. NATO’s role in this series of military activities will be coordinated through its U.S. headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. “Arctic Sentry underscores the alliance’s commitment to safeguard its members and maintain stability in one of the world’s most strategically significant and environmentally challenging areas,” said U.S. Air Force Gen. Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe. As part of the effort, the United Kingdom has announced that the number of British troops deployed to Norway will double over three years from 1,000 to 2,000. Other NATO activities will be added to Arctic Sentry once broader security needs are assessed and as the national military exercises end. France and Germany have said they will take part but have not said how many troops would be involved. European allies hope that Arctic Sentry and ongoing talks between the Trump administration, Denmark and Greenland will allow NATO to move on from the dispute. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

South America

Colombia
Feb 11, 2026 02: 31 am IST  Yesterday night, Colombian President Petro's helicopter was unable to land at his destination on the Caribbean coast because of fears that unspecified people he did not name ’were going to shoot’ at it. Today, in a cabinet meeting he said he have escaped assassination attempt hours earlier, after months of warnings about an alleged plot by drug traffickers to target him. "We headed out to open sea for four hours and I arrived somewhere we weren't supposed to go, escaping from being killed”, Petro said. The cabinet meeting was broadcast live. Petro's claim came amid a surge in violence months ahead of presidential elections. Petro is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term. The country is marred by decades of conflict between guerrilla and other armed groups. Colombia has a long list of leftist leaders, including presidential candidates, assassinated over the years. Petro, the South American country's first-ever leftist president claimed that a drug-trafficking cabal has had its sights set on ending his life ever since assuming office in August 2022. He had reported another alleged attempt on his life in 2024. The alleged plot involves narco bosses and war lords such as Mordisco, who commands the largest group of dissidents who broke with the FARC guerrilla army after it agreed to disarm under a 2016 peace agreement. /Source: New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) - India / Agence France-Presse/

Venezuela
Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026.  US Energy Secretary Wright arrived today in Venezuela for a firsthand assessment of the country’s oil industry. The visit further asserts the U.S. government’s self-appointed role in turning around Venezuela’s dilapidated energy sector. Venezuelan acting President Rodriguez greeted U.S. Energy Secretary at Miraflores presidential palace in the capital, Caracas. Wright is expected to meet with government officials, oil executives and others during a three-day visit to the South American country. His visit comes as the administration of U.S. President Trump continues to lift sanctions to allow foreign companies to operate in Venezuela and help rebuild the nation’s most important industry. It follows last month’s enactment of a Venezuelan law that opened the nation’s oil sector to private investment. Rodríguez proposed the overhaul of the country’s energy law after Trump said his administration would take control of Venezuela’s oil exports and revitalize the ailing industry by luring foreign investment. „Rodríguez’s government expects the changes to the country’s oil law to serve as assurances for major U.S. oil companies that have so far hesitated about returning to the volatile country. Some of those companies lost investments when the ruling party enacted the existing law two decades ago to favor Venezuela’s state-run oil company, PDVSA. The new law now grants private companies control over oil production and sales, ending PDVSA’s monopoly over those activities as well as pricing. ’It also allows for independent arbitration of disputes, removing a mandate for disagreements to be settled only in Venezuelan courts, which are controlled by the ruling party. Foreign investors view the involvement of independent arbitrators as crucial to guard against future expropriation. Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves and produces about 1 million barrels a day. Wright today told the blockade is essentially over as the U.S. is ’flowing Venezuelan crude out, selling it at a much higher price than Venezuela was selling it before,’ and the revenue is being used in ’specific projects’ benefiting Venezuelans. Since Maduro’s Jan. 3 ouster, the Trump administration set out to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s petroleum products and oversee where the revenue flows. Wright planned to visit oil fields tomorrow. (Source: AP - U.S.)

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Miért nyeri meg a választást a Fidesz, avagy ki tartja Orbán Viktort a hatalomban?

"Választásokon a választópolgár helyett

a média valóságipari műveit sikeresebben működtető oligarchikus csoport dönt.

Orbán Viktor 16 éve fennálló hatalma nem a magyar választó akaratán, hanem

a globális birodalom egyre dominánsabb szárnyának támogatásán alapul,

amit sikeresen konvertál a magyar választó látszólagos akaratává.

Ez egy hármas nagy-koalíció

ami a német globális tőke struktúrákból,

az amerikai fehér, konzervatív termelőtőkés struktúrákból

és a birodalom kiválasztó főhatalom békepárti szárnyából áll - válaszol Bogár.

/Video/

(Forrás: YouTube / Egy bogár naplója)

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