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.

IRAN - Iran has launched waves of drones to attack Israel that are set to hit within hours, after Israel announced it was closing all schools amid fears of an upcoming attack from the rogue state. Dozens of drones were seen flying from Iran over neighbouring Iraq's Sulaymaniya province, according to three security sources. US officials have also confirmed the attack, which is expected to hit at around 2am local time. Israel said tonight that its airspace was shutting down at 12:30am local time. Iraq also announced it was shutting down its airspace and suspending all air traffic on Saturday.

ISRAEL - The United States general in command of the Middle East headed to Israel on Thursday to coordinate with Israeli defense officials after Iran threatened retaliation against the country for an attack in Syria. General Michael 'Erik' Kurilla's expected meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other senior Israel Defense Forces officials was first reported by Axios. Kurilla is commander of US Central Command. It comes after an Israeli strike on an embassy complex in Damascus killed Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi and several others last week.

ISRAEL - The outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas following the October 7 attacks rocked the already precarious security landscape in the Middle East and stoked fears that violence could spread throughout the region. Now that prospect seems increasingly likely, with the Islamic Republic vowing revenge on what it calls the 'evil Zionist regime' after a suspected IDF strike on Iran's consulate in Syria killed 13 people, including two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds force generals. Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed retribution in the wake of the attack, to which Tel-Aviv - yet to take responsibility for the strike on Damascus - retorted swiftly.

ISRAEL - With Iran and Israel neither willing nor able to send ground forces of their own to battle the other, the options for a conventional war are limited. But Iran, while removed from Israel's border by hundreds of miles, has a series of well-armed, well-funded and ferocious proxy forces under its thumb besides Hamas that surround Israel on all sides. Hezbollah, the political and military group in Lebanon - has in recent years emerged as a potent force in the Middle East, boasting a multifaceted arsenal and diverse military capabilities that pose a considerable threat to Israel. In addition to the array of small arms, machine guns and hundreds of thousands of rockets at its disposal, Hezbollah boasts a range of anti-tank and anti-air systems, a fleet of thousands of drones, and dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles. An express order from Tehran could see Hezbollah's leaders dramatically step up aggressive operations against Israel.

MIDDLE EAST - CIA-Led ceasefire breaks down after Hamas admits it can’t release hostages. The CIA’s hope of negotiating a ceasefire in Israel’s military strike on Gaza ground to a halt after the terrorist group Hamas suggested that many of the remaining hostages taken during its October 7 massacre were already dead, the Israeli news site Walla reported. “Hamas breached the understandings that were reached in Paris and which stipulated that 40 hostages would be released, and is claiming that it knows the location of less than 40 hostages who are alive,” said Israeli broadcaster Arutz Sheva, citing recent reports from the country’s N12 news channel. With Hamas unable to furnish the 40 hostages needed to negotiate, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he planned to launch another major military strike, Reuters reported.

USA - California is overdue for a 7.8 magnitude quake which occurs every 150 years. A major earthquake in California could cause hundreds of billions of dollars in damage and kill thousands. If the Big One did strike, 'it would be a matter of a few tens of seconds before the shaking from a San Andreas event that ruptures the segments closest to Los Angeles reach our urban areas,' Jonathan Stewart with the University of California, Los Angeles told DailyMail.com. According to the California Earthquake Authority, the natural disaster would cause destruction in a 100-mile radius of the fault line, which starts near Eureka and ends below Palm Springs, killing at least 1,800 people, crumble millions of homes and cause more than $290 billion in damages. California's last 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit San Francisco in 1906 and left 3,000 people dead and $524 million in property damages in 1906 - which amounts to $117 billion in 2024.

GERMANY - Violent crime has exploded to a 15 year high in Germany. New data shows 41% of crime suspects are foreigners, and that figure is not representative of reality, because millions of migrants have already been 'naturalised'. The new figures prompted Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser to announced that “Foreign offenders must leave Germany much more quickly. The strict deportation rules we have created must now be enforced.”

USA - America was once a nation of free-thinking individualists priding themselves on the constitutional idea that God ordained and endowed each person as an end unto himself with rights to think, act, believe, and behave according to personal thoughts, conscience, and individual interest. According to the Declaration of Independence, those “inalienable rights” include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Therefore, because government’s power is derived from the consent of the free, the job of those running the country is to “secure,” not undermine those rights and freedoms.

EUROPE - A full-scale military conflict in Europe has become more likely due to the standoff with Russia, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has claimed, while warning member states against relying on the US to defend them. Several other European officials have cited a heightened military threat in recent months, with UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps saying last week that the world is moving from a “post-war to a pre-war” state due to the alleged threat emanating from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk made a similar “pre-war” assessment in March.