ISRAEL - Iran fired over 300 missiles and drones at Israel overnight as fears of a wider war in the Middle East ramp up. Israel could launch devastating strikes on Iran's nuclear weapons facilities after Tehran attacked the country overnight, an expert has warned. Iran fired over 300 missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for the IDF's strike on the Iranian consulate building in Syria, killing two of Iran's military generals. The escalating hostility has left many fearing that the Middle East is on the verge of a wider war. Max Abrahms, associate professor of political science at Northeastern University, believes that Iran's attack was a declaration of war. He added that Israel could target Iran's nuclear facilities with missile attacks in the future.

IRAN - As RedState reported, Iran launched a large-scale air attack on Israel using drones and ballistic missiles. It represented the biggest escalation from the Islamic Republic against the Jewish state in history, which has long used proxy militias in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen to do its dirty work. This is different, and the response from Israel and possibly the United States will be different, with reports circulating that Israel will retaliate against Iran regardless of whether lives are lost in the current attack. How will all of this unfold? Those with a heavy isolationist bent are already predicting doom and shouting "World War III" at the top of their lungs. Yet, there's every reason to believe that Iran has severely overplayed its hand.

VENEZUELA - The world's 'next war' that nobody is talking about as two countries 'on the brink'. Tensions between Venezuela and its neighbour Guyana are reaching boiling point, as fears grow of an imminent outbreak of war between the two South American nations. Last December, the Venezuelan government held a referendum on whether to annex two-thirds of oil rich Guyanese territory, known as Essequibo. According to Venezuelan officials, more than ten-and-a-half million voters or more than one third of the country' population, took part in the plebiscite. They claimed as many as 95 percent had voted in favour of annexation, although many independent observers dispute this figure. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro declared the people had spoken loud and clear.

ISRAEL - The night sky above Jerusalem is being lit up by the more than 150 drones and missiles sent by Iran in response to a drone strike at the beginning of April in Syria that killed 12 Iranians, including two top generals. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said via state media: 'The aerospace unit of the Revolutionary Guards has attacked targets in Israel with dozens of drones and missiles in reaction to the Zionist regime's crimes, including the attack on the consulate section of Iran's embassy in Damascus and martyring our commanders and military advisers in Syria.' Missiles have begun to enter Israeli airspace, with video shared with MailOnline showing them being intercepted by the Iron Dome system above Jerusalem, in Israel's east.

MIDDLE EAST - Iranians celebrate attack despite Israel and US shooting down ‘vast majority’ of 300 drones, missiles. Israel shot down the “vast majority” of drones and missiles shot at them by Iran after the Jewish state was attacked in a vicious Saturday barrage, officials said. Iran launched some 300 drones and missiles from within the Islamic Republic — as well as from proxies in Yemen, Iraq, and Lebanon.The “vast majority” of the missiles were intercepted outside of Israeli air space, the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement.

IRAN - Iranian commandos stormed a container ship linked to Israel as it travelled through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important marine passages. Special forces from the naval branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) boarded the MSC Aries roughly 50 miles off the coast of the United Arab Emirates early on Saturday. Footage of the mission taken by a member of the crew shows at least three commandos rappelling down a rope from a helicopter onto the vessel, a container ship sailing under the flag of Portugal and linked to Israeli maritime magnate Eyal Ofer. The 1,201ft long and 168ft wide ship left the UAE port of Khalifa and was due to arrive in the Indian city of Nhava Sheva before the attack... Iran's state news agency said that Iranian commandos were involved in the boarding, and said the vessel was being transported to Iranian waters, though Iranian officials are yet to comment on the seizure.

NORTH KOREA - The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea needs to be ready to fight and win a war, the nation’s leader Kim Jong-un said during a visit to an elite military academy, the state news agency KCNA reported on Thursday. Kim visited the Military and Political Academy in Pyongyang named after his father, Kim Jong-Il. The institution was established in 2020 to educate the most promising army officers. “Now is the time to be more thoroughly prepared for a war than ever before,” Kim told students and staff during Wednesday’s tour of the facility. “The DPRK should be more firmly and perfectly prepared for an actual war – which should be won without fail – and not just a possible war,” he added. Kim noted the unstable military and political situation in North Korea’s neighborhood and described the international situation as being “seriously aggravated due to ever-escalating violence and armed conflicts.”

GIBRALTAR - Officials in Gibraltar have reportedly expressed concerns about the mounting cancellation of British events in the territory in recent years amid growing tensions over its status. Amid Brexit negotiations over Gibraltar, a Red Arrows aerobatics display scheduled for last September was cancelled after a Spanish official warned it would be a 'hostile act' and that its response would likely 'not be mild', according to leaked diplomatic cables seen by The Telegraph. The official allegedly deemed the display 'unnecessary, unconstructive and provocative', with the British Embassy in Spain suggesting it was 'clear that Spain is deeply opposed to the activity'.

UK - Britain is at war. We have been since 2001 - and we are losing. We lost in Afghanistan; we lost in Iraq; and unless we step up, we will lose in Ukraine. The time has come to get serious. Defence spending must go up - to at least 3.5 per cent of GDP, ideally more. It's time to stop the endless prevarication and rearm. When Osama bin Laden struck the Twin Towers on 9/11, President Bush launched a war on terror. But I believe 9/11 also sparked a broader war - against the West and its allies - one that has never been officially declared nor necessarily fought by state armies on traditional battlefields. Two things are clear. First, that our enemies in this war, while often at odds with each other, are united in their desire to overthrow the Western-led status quo; and second, that they have finally congealed into a recognisable axis led by China, Russia and Iran.

USA - According to a Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia report, US credit card delinquency rates were the highest on record in the fourth quarter. The Philadelphia Fed said that as of the end of December, almost 3.5% of card balances were at least 30 days past due. That’s the highest figure in the data series going back to 2012 and up by about 30 basis points from the previous quarter. The share of debts that are 60 and 90 days late also climbed. “Stress among cardholders was further underscored in payment behavior, as the share of accounts making minimum payments rose 34 basis points to a series high,” according to the report.