USA - The US is rapidly depleting its weapons stockpiles and has “burned through years” of some critical munitions since starting its war against Iran, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. In a closed‑door briefing on Tuesday, Pentagon officials estimated that the first six days of the US war with Iran have already cost at least $11.3 billion, according to the outlet. The rapid munitions drain has stoked fears over the soaring cost of the war and Washington’s capacity to restock key weapons, including advanced long-range Tomahawk missiles, the FT said. The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that US forces fired 168 Tomahawk cruise missiles during the first 100 hours of the operation against Iran. “That’s a huge Tomahawk expenditure. The Navy will feel that for several years,” one source told the outlet, adding that the US is facing a shortfall that is unlikely to be fixed anytime soon.

USA - A torrent of fake videos and images generated by artificial intelligence have overrun social networks during the first weeks of the war in Iran. The videos — showing huge explosions that never happened, decimated city streets that were never attacked or troops protesting the war who do not exist — have added a chaotic and confusing layer to the conflict online. The New York Times identified over 110 unique AI-generated images and videos from the past two weeks about the war in the Middle East. The fakes covered every aspect of the fighting: They falsely depicted screaming Israelis cowering as explosions ripped through Tel Aviv, Iranians mourning their dead and American military vessels bombarded with missiles and torpedoes. Collectively, they were seen millions of times online through networks like X, TikTok and Facebook, and countless more times within private messaging apps popular in the region and around the world.

LEBANON - Israel is reportedly preparing a “massive” ground invasion of southern Lebanon aimed at pushing the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group away from the Israeli border and dismantling its weapons infrastructure. According to a report from Axios, the operation would target territory south of the Litani River, an area Israeli security officials see as critical to preventing Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. The move follows a large-scale rocket barrage earlier this week, when Hezbollah launched more than 200 rockets toward northern Israel. Officials said the attack was coordinated with Iran, which launched missiles at Israel at the same time. Meanwhile, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Friday the group was prepared for a prolonged military confrontation.

IRAQ - A missile struck the United States Embassy compound in Baghdad early Saturday morning, destroying part of its air defense system and sending plumes of smoke over one of the most heavily fortified areas in the Iraqi capital. The projectile landed within the embassy’s boundaries in the Green Zone, the heavily fortified district in central Baghdad that houses Iraqi government institutions and foreign embassies. Images from verified accounts on social media showed damage to the embassy’s Counter-Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar (C-RAM) air defense system and its associated radar, with signs of fire observed at the site. No US casualties have been reported so far, and the US Embassy had not yet issued an official statement as of early Saturday.

USA - Donald Trump has demanded Britain send warships to help defend the Strait of Hormuz and avert a global recession. The US President had previously slapped down Sir Keir Starmer, saying earlier this month that his offer of assistance was no longer needed because the war was already won. But on a day of escalating tension in which Tehran threatened to use helicopters to kidnap US soldiers, Mr Trump urged the UK to join an international armada to force open the blockaded Strait, where Iran has begun laying mines. It came as Iran's foreign minister confirmed in an interview that his country was receiving military help from Russia and China. Mr Trump's plea for help followed the most devastating bombing raid of the war yet. He boasted of 'obliterating' military facilities on Kharg Island off the coast of Iran – home to a major oil terminal considered the country's economic lifeline.

USA - In 1961, John F Kennedy addressed a crowd, pledging that decade to do something hard and audacious — “more important than any other scientific enterprise”. This speech was, instead, about something actually significant. Even if, before events in the Gulf this week, few of us considered it: desalination. Kennedy wanted to achieve “one of man’s oldest dreams: securing fresh water from salt water”. It was a dream that would help us all but especially “those who live in deserts or on the edge of oceans”. We would, he said, “see the deserts bloom”.

MIDDLE EAST - It's becoming clear that Donald Trump gravely miscalculated his assault on Iran. Less than two weeks after American forces killed Ayatollah Khamenei, and with hundreds of Iranian casualties and 140 US troops injured, a treacherous problem has arisen. Two days after Operation Epic Fury was launched on February 28, Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz closed. Now that 25-mile-wide strip of water between the south coast of Iran and the United Arab Emirates – through which 20 per cent of the world's oil and gas exports travel – has become a chokehold.

IRAN - Iran's government is not at risk of collapse and its leadership remains broadly intact after two weeks of relentless US and Israeli bombing, classified intelligence suggests. A 'multitude' of classified reports provide 'consistent analysis that the regime is not in danger' of falling and 'retains control of the Iranian public,' sources told Reuters, with the latest completed within days. Donald Trump claimed last night the war had been 'won' and would be over 'soon' – only for six tankers to be struck by Iranian suicide boats in the Strait of Hormuz hours later, sending oil prices above $100 a barrel.

MIDDLE EAST - For a lot of people, this war with Iran is not just another war. Millions of Shiite Muslims all over the world are convinced that this is the war that will result in the rise of the Mahdi. In fact, most of Iran’s key leaders are eagerly watching for the appearance of the Mahdi. So why would they give up if they actually believe that the Mahdi is going to show up at any moment? To them, that wouldn’t make any sense at all. On the other side, there are millions of Christians all over the world that believe that this war with Iran is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Of course there is a tremendous amount of debate within Christian circles about which passages of the Bible are actually being fulfilled. But if this war with Iran is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy, we should expect other major events to soon follow.

MIDDLE EAST - Stinchfield: “Iran should have never gotten near those tankers now on fire!” Trump is furious! Overnight, Iranian drones struck commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving freighters burning and sending shockwaves through global energy markets. But here’s the question I’m asking today: why wasn’t the US Navy ready for this? Iran has said for years that its number one military objective in a conflict would be shutting down the Strait of Hormuz. That threat wasn’t hidden. It was repeated over and over again. Yet ships are now on fire in the world’s most important shipping lane. Protecting that corridor is the responsibility of the US Fifth Fleet. So, how did the most predictable move Iran could make catch us unprepared?

RUSSIA - The temporary measure is expected to cool global energy markets as crude prices continue to soar after US-Israeli attacks on Iran. The US has eased sanctions to allow countries to purchase Russian oil and petroleum products already loaded on vessels at sea, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The move comes as escalating Middle East tensions triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran have sent global oil prices soaring. The US and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran on February 28, prompting Iranian retaliatory attacks across the region. The crisis has led to the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz – which carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s daily oil supply – as Iran effectively blocks transit for ships from non-friendly nations, sending oil prices surging nearly 50% to almost $120 per barrel.

MIDDLE EAST - The Strait of Hormuz, just 24 miles wide and surrounded by sunbaked rocky deserts, is among the world’s least appealing seaways. But the narrow waterway is a crucial trade route for vast parts of the global economy, with 40,000 tankers and cargo vessels crossing it every year. Most of us know about the oil and gas riches pumped out by Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which travel through the waterway – collectively exporting 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas through the narrow strip of water. But the Persian Gulf is a global choke point for a raft of other vital commodities too – including the fertilisers that feed US and EU farms, the sulphur needed for everything from batteries to metals, and, going the other way, the Indian rice and other grains which keep the region from starvation. With the war on its 10th day, and the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed over threats from Iran, there are growing fears that the global economy is teetering on the brink of a major crisis.

MIDDLE EAST - The Iran war has triggered an even bigger oil shock than the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. The Paris-based agency said the conflict in the Middle East had caused the “largest disruption to crude supplies in the history of the global oil market”. The amount of oil carried by tankers through the Strait of Hormuz has plunged from around 20 million barrels per day (mb/d) to “a trickle”, it said. By contrast, around four mb/d were removed from global markets by the Arab oil embargo during the Yom Kippur war of 1973. Not only is the hit to global supply bigger but production has also suffered a deeper blow. With “limited capacity” to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, Gulf countries have been forced to cut production by at least 10mb/d as storage sites have filled up, the IEA said. By contrast, production was reduced by about five mb/d in 1973.

USA - The number of Americans losing their homes to banks has risen for the twelfth consecutive month, highlighting mounting pressure in the US housing market. In February, foreclosure activity reached 38,840 properties - a 20 percent increase compared with the same month last year. Filings track the full spectrum of the process, from initial lender warnings to the formal repossession of homes after missed mortgage payments. This strain is already being felt in neighborhoods. As banks seize more homes and flood the market with discounted properties, surrounding home values drop, eroding equity for nearby homeowners who have kept up with their payments. The surge in foreclosures reflects broader financial stress for Americans. Rising taxes and interest rates are pushing some behind on mortgages, while unpaid credit card bills and auto loans add further pressure.

USA - It’s double or quits for the civilised world, for the cause of human flourishing, freedom and democracy. Either Donald Trump holds his nerve, crushes the Iranian regime, rides out the oil shock and reopens the Strait of Hormuz, or he and America are finished, exposed as unserious, fickle and incapable of forward planning, a superpower manquée felled by drone-wielding barbarians. The challenge is Trump’s character, his willingness to accept short-term economic and electoral pain, not America or Israel’s exceptional military capacities. Does the US president, a hawk on Iran for 47 years, have it in him to finish the job, going down in history as the saviour of civilisation from nuclear Islamism, or is he merely the unidimensional man-child his critics believe him to be?