- Exclusive: Minutes from disaster — how Qatar shot down two Iranian bombers in its first aerial combat operation CNN
- Iranian Missile Strikes Biggest U.S. Air Base in the Middle East, Qatar Says WSJ
- Qatar says Iran didn’t warn of missile attacks, no comms with Tehran Al Jazeera
- Column of black smoke seen on Doha horizon following explosions The Times of Israel
- US-Iran latest: Israel orders everyone out of Beirut's southern suburbs thenationalnews.com
Live updates: NATO shoots down Iran’s missile heading toward Turkey; U.S. submarine sinks Iranian ship – The Washington Post
Putin accuses Ukraine of attacking gas tanker that exploded and sank off Libya
The Arctic Metagaz burst into flames before sinking after what the Russian president described as a terrorist attack
Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of carrying out a terrorist attack on one of Russia’s liquefied natural gas carriers which exploded into flames and sank in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya.
The Arctic Metagaz had been sanctioned by the US and EU for being part of Moscow’s “shadow fleet” of ageing tankers that carry its oil and gas around the world, skirting Western restrictions.
Continue reading...Starmer’s slow start in the war against Iran could leave UK playing catch-up
Prime minister’s initial refusal to help US could constrain Britain’s ability to protect its nationals in the Gulf and reassure allies
Britain knew that the US was considering attacking Iran from the moment Donald Trump told protesters that “help is coming” in the middle of January. It was obvious to the world that the White House was serious when the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was sent to the Arabian Sea in late January.
But as Trump gradually built up his “massive armada”, reinforcing it with a second carrier strike group in mid-February, UK deployments were constrained and limited even though there was a recognition that it was likely allies and bases with British soldiers would be attacked in an Iranian retaliation.
Continue reading...Blackout in Cuba leaves millions without power amid US oil chokehold
Latest outage darkens island facing dwindling oil reserves and increasing pressure from Washington
A blackout hit the western half of Cuba on Wednesday, leaving millions of people in Havana and beyond without power in the latest outage to affect an island struggling with dwindling oil reserves and a crumbling electricity grid.
The government’s Electric Union confirmed the outage on social platform X, saying it affected people from the eastern town of Pinar del Rio to the central town of Camaguey.
Continue reading...Checkpoints everywhere and internet blackouts: Life in Iran as US-Israeli strikes intensify
Iranians are coping with daily strikes and security crackdowns - all while trying to stay in touch with loved ones.
Trump’s War on Iran Could Screw Over US Farmers – WIRED
- Trump’s War on Iran Could Screw Over US Farmers WIRED
- ‘A big burden for farmers’: Gulf shipping crisis threatens food price shock The Guardian
- Fertiliser disruption from Iran conflict prompts global food shortage warnings Financial Times
- India Urea Producers Trim Output as Iran War Disrupts LNG Flows Bloomberg.com
- Fertilizer Prices Have ‘Significant’ Rise After Attack on Iran Farm Policy News
Middle East crisis live: US submarine sank Iranian warship, Hegseth says; Israel launches fresh strikes on Tehran – The Guardian
The Iran war has been a stunning operational success – The Economist
- The Iran war has been a stunning operational success The Economist
- The Iran war has been a stunning aerial success The Economist
- Iran’s barrage of attacks across the Persian Gulf shows regional chaos is key to its strategy AP News
- How Iran fights an imposed war Al Jazeera
- Iran’s Strategy: Expand the War, Increase the Cost, Outlast Trump - The New York Times The New York Times
What we know on day five of US-Israeli attacks on Iran – Al Jazeera
Russia blames Ukrainian naval drones as tanker sinks in Mediterranean – BBC
- Russia blames Ukrainian naval drones as tanker sinks in Mediterranean BBC
- Russia LNG Tanker Halts in Mediterranean After Another Attacked Bloomberg.com
- Putin accuses Ukraine of attacking gas tanker that exploded and sank off Libya The Guardian
- Russia accuses Ukraine of drone attack as gas tanker sinks in Mediterranean Al Jazeera
- Russian gas tanker sinks near Libya after explosions, maritime authority says Reuters
Russia blames Ukrainian naval drones as tanker sinks in Mediterranean
The Arctic Metagaz went down between Libya and Malta after it was hit by explosions and a fire, Libyan officials say.
Iran postpones Khamenei funeral as US-Israeli bombardment continues
An official says more preparations are needed for the three-day ceremony in Tehran, where the supreme leader will lie in state.
Watershed moment as Russia’s sporting exile ends
Sports Editor Dan Roan analyses Russia's controversial return to global sporting action at the Winter Paralympics and what it might mean for other sports.
Starmer defends Iran response as Badenoch calls for more action – BBC
- Starmer defends Iran response as Badenoch calls for more action BBC
- ‘No Winston Churchill’: Trump opens new rift with Europe as leaders try to avoid being sucked into Iran war CNN
- Starmer’s government hunkers down for ‘long-haul’ Iran conflict politico.eu
- Hanging on to Trump’s latest words ‘is not the special relationship’, Starmer tells MPs The Guardian
- Starmer breaks with Trump on Iran, says UK doesn’t support ‘regime change from the skies’ The Hill
European Commission proposes ‘Buy EU’ plan to compete against China
Plan, which aims to preserve jobs in clean tech and low carbon sectors, could include UK if there is reciprocal market access
The European Commission has proposed a “Buy EU” plan to boost domestic low-carbon industries and help the continent compete against China.
The commission published a draft regulation – called the Industrial Accelerator Act – on Wednesday, setting demands for EU-made and low-carbon content on bodies spending public money. The rules mark a major shift in economic thinking from Brussels, long a bastion of open markets.
Continue reading...US Senate to vote on Trump’s war powers as Iran conflict continues
The measure, which is not expected to pass, would require the withdrawal of US forces from the operation until approved by Congress.
Labour MP says she had no reason to suspect her husband may have broken law after his arrest on suspicion of spying for China – as it happened
Joani Reid asks for privacy after it was revealed her husband David Taylor was one of the three men arrested
Starmer begins PMQs by telling the Commons that his thoughts are with Sarah Everard “on this very painful anniversary” of her death.
He says the government is working hard to prevent boys and men from becoming abusers.
Continue reading...US sub sinks Iranian warship in Indian Ocean, Hegseth says
More than 100 personnel were thought to be aboard the vessel, which went down to the south of Sri Lanka.
Analysis finds urban areas in England where no one lives within 15-minute walk of nature
Government says it is working to solve ‘postcode lottery’ of access to green or blue spaces
There are urban areas of England where no one lives within a 15-minute walk of nature, government data shows, as ministers scramble to meet their access to nature targets.
While the data shows 80% of people live within walking distance of green or blue spaces such as a river, park or woodland, it also reveals a disparity between rural and poorer urban areas.
Continue reading...