MIDDLE EAST - The central question now confronting Washington and Jerusalem is no longer whether Iran can be weakened militarily. It is whether the United States and Israel are prepared for what may come next: a prolonged war of attrition with the Iranian revolutionary regime. How this war unfolds and how long it lasts will depend on the war aims of the United States and Israel. Is the ultimate objective regime collapse and the possibility of positive political change in Tehran? Is the goal to weaken the regime enough to create conditions for a future uprising by the Iranian people? Or is the aim more limited, degrading Iran’s nuclear and missile programs sufficiently for the president to declare victory and end the war? Where those objectives land will determine whether this conflict lasts weeks, months, or far longer.

MIDDLE EAST - Strengthening regional stability in the Middle East is based on moderate Sunni-majority states and Israel's national interests. One of the most notable phenomena of the war against Iran is the renewed rivalry and struggle between Shi’ites and Sunnis in the Middle East. What is unfolding before our eyes is not only a blow to the Shi’ite regime in Iran, but something much broader, which likely constitutes a turning point regarding the place of Shi’ites in the Arab world, and perhaps in the Muslim world more generally.

SAUDI ARABIA - Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, has been advising US President Donald Trump to “keep hitting the Iranians hard,” White House officials told the New York Times in a report published on Sunday. This follows the same advice of the late Saudi King Abdullah, who had reportedly told Washington repeatedly to “cut off the head of the snake.”

CHINA - Beijing is directly mediating a ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan, neighboring countries that have been engaged in intense fighting since February, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said. Foreign Minister Wang Yi has had phone conversations with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts during the past week, the ministry’s spokesperson Lin Jian said in an X post on Monday. Making it clear that China will continue to facilitate reconciliation and ease tensions between the neighboring countries, the spokesperson said, “China hopes Afghanistan and Pakistan will remain calm and exercise restraint, engage face to face ASAP, achieve a ceasefire at the earliest opportunity, and resolve differences and disputes through dialogue.”

CUBA - US President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric against Cuba on Monday, saying he expected to have the "honor" of "taking Cuba in some form" and that "I can do anything I want" with the neighboring country. The threatening statements come even as Cuba and the United States have opened talks aimed at improving their largely adverse relations, which have reached one of their most contentious moments in the 67 years since Fidel Castro overthrew what had been a close US ally. "I do believe I'll be ... having the honor of taking Cuba. That's a big honor. Taking Cuba in some form," Trump told reporters as the island faces an unprecedented economic crisis, exacerbated by an oil blockade the US imposed after capturing former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. "I mean, whether I free it, take it. Think I can do anything I want with it. You want to know the truth," Trump told reporters at a signing event in the Oval Office.

UK - The eyes of the world are rightly focused on the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, its malign impact on the price of oil and gas and the destructive consequences for both businesses and consumers. Yet away from the current oil shock and the flames engulfing the Middle East is another firestorm which, although largely hidden, could prove as devastating as the great financial crisis (GFC) of 2008 when the world’s banking system had to be rescued by Western governments. Now, once again, banks and the fund managers looking after our pensions and savings are in a state of panic.

MIDDLE EAST - The American collective memory is scarred by Persian misadventures. Voters recall the charred remains of helicopters in the desert during the 1979 hostage rescue shambles; they remember the IEDs of Iraq and the 'forever war' of Afghanistan. The moment the first US helicopter clips a rotor, or a warship is scuttled by a mine, and American lives are lost by the dozen, public support will shrivel. For a President who promised to bring troops home, placing boots on Iranian soil is a hard sell that could cost him the House and the Senate.

USA - A top advisor to Donald Trump admits he is worried about Israel "contemplating using a nuclear weapon" in the Middle East conflict. David Sacks, the czar for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency in the Trump administration, warned that if Israel came under concerted attack it could use the nuclear option. He has spoken about the risks of an “escalatory approach” in the conflict with Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. “Israel could get seriously destroyed,” he said, before adding: “And then you have to worry about Israel escalating the war by contemplating using a nuclear weapon.” Israel and the United States have been pummelling Iran but despite the triumphalist tone from Trump, there does not appear to be any clear end in sight.

CHINA - China's most dangerous technology has already been deployed, and you're likely already within the system's database, according to a new book. Social media giant TikTok and AI behemoth DeepSeek - both Chinese-made applications - are 'Trojan Horses' employed by the Chinese Communist Party to scrape up sensitive data on Americans, writes Wynton Hall in his forthcoming book 'Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI.' The AI and social media companies track users' keystrokes, IP addresses, habits, browser history and more - a threat that could help China build profiles on US citizens for things like espionage, influence campaigns, or surveillance.

UK - Sharia Patrols on Horseback Rampage Through Manchester Streets as Police Stand Idly By – Starmer’s Two-Tier Tyranny Accelerates Britain’s Surrender to Islam. In a scene straight out of a dystopian nightmare, self-styled “Sharia patrols” on horseback charged through Manchester’s streets on March 4, 2026, chasing down peaceful demonstrators celebrating the end of Iran’s brutal Islamic Republic regime. These vigilantes, reportedly wearing armbands emblazoned with “Sharia Law,” terrorized anti-regime protesters — many from the Iranian diaspora and local Jewish communities — who gathered to mark the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in recent US-Israeli strikes.

ISRAEL - The Israel Defense Forces said they 'destroyed' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's private plane, while his successor Mojtaba Khamenei is reportedly in Moscow for treatment of 'serious' injuries. In a statement on X on Monday morning, the IDF claimed the plane, which was targeted at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, was used by Ali Khamenei and other senior officials of the regime to 'advance military purchases and manage communications with the Axis countries through domestic and international flights.' Meanwhile, new reports have claimed the late supreme leader's son Mojtaba is in Moscow receiving treatment for injuries sustained during a joint US-Israeli airstrike. Meanwhile on Sunday, an Israeli security official told the Daily Mail bluntly: 'We know where he is.' The security official added: 'I recommend not following every report Iran puts out.'

USA - Just when you thought that the craziest winter ever was coming to an end, a “megastorm” has formed right over the middle of the country. This “Megastorm” is spawning blizzards, thunderstorms, wildfires and tornadoes over a very large stretch of the country… Meanwhile, Los Angeles could see triple digit temperatures this week, and Hawaii is being absolutely pummeled by historic flooding… Almost every part of the nation is getting hit right now. In Nebraska, there are three colossal wildfires that are currently racing across the state. To say that these wildfires are voracious would be a tremendous understatement. The destruction that we have witnessed so far is staggering, but this story is not even close to over because at this stage the fires are zero percent contained…

USA - Millions of Americans are under tornado watches as an enormous storm rages across the South and eastern portion of the United States. The raging weather system has already dumped more than a foot of snow from parts of the northern Rockies to the Great Lakes, while wind gusts as high as 75mph have left hundreds of thousands of people without power further south. Meteorologists have forecast a high risk of twisters forming in nine states, with tornado warnings covering more than 12 million people as of Sunday evening, according to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center. Parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee are at the highest risk of tornadoes forming, and there is also risk in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Georgia. Meteorologists have said the storm is drawing moisture from both the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, creating a volatile combination of rain, wind and rapidly changing temperatures.

MIDDLE EAST - For shipowners with vessels stuck inside the Gulf this weekend, there are serious, human reasons not to risk sending cargo through the narrow and perilous Strait of Hormuz, where there is a grave threat of attack from Iran. On board each ship will be, one industry source estimates, between 18 and 25 crew members, many of them with families back home — typically in the Philippines, India or China. In the event of an attack, the odds are stacked against them. But there are also hard-nosed economic reasons why most shipowners won’t take the risk.

IRAN - By launching a devastating attack against Iran’s strategically important Kharg Island, the US has, at a stroke, exposed the Achilles heel of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC). After a week in which Iran has deliberately targeted the oil infrastructure of neighbouring Gulf states, while at the same time seeking to close the all-important Strait of Hormuz waterway, the US military has graphically demonstrated that the regime has arguably more to lose by maintaining its attempt to wreak havoc in the global economy.