IRAN - Iran has reportedly said it will enlist the help of a terrorist group to further constrain global shipping if the US military attacks Iranian energy infrastructure. Iran has instructed Yemen’s Houthi rebels to prepare to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if the United States attacks Iranian power infrastructure, Reuters reported, citing Iranian and regional sources familiar with the communications. The report came as the US military escalated its operations with repeated airstrikes on critical infrastructure, including highways, bridges and energy sites, according to the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters. The Islamic Republic’s leadership already sent the request to the Yemeni Houthis, Reuters reported, citing two senior Iranian ‌sources and a regional source who spoke anonymously.

UKRAINE - Ukraine says its drone manufacturing capacity has expanded to 10 million units annually, with plans already underway to double production to 20 million. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the report, claiming that Ukraine has already surpassed its earlier objective of producing one million drones annually, despite widespread skepticism. "I remember when I first publicly announced the state's plan: 1 million drones per year," Zelensky said. "There was a lot of skepticism everywhere — both inside and outside... We make 10 million drones a year. Ten, and it will be 20." The announcement coincided with a new defense cooperation arrangement between Ukraine and the European Union valued at $1.1 billion, placing drone production at the center of Kyiv's long-term military planning.

USA - American drone sourcing moves beyond traditional domestic defence suppliers. The US bought 2,000 F-Drones F10 attack UAVs from Ukraine as the Pentagon moves to the next phase of the billion-dollar 'drone dominance' program, with the legacy US military-industrial complex cautiously looking. The United States has taken delivery of 2,000 Ukrainian F10 attack drones after manufacturer F-Drones secured a Pentagon contract during the opening phase of the Drone Dominance program. The delivery also comes as the Pentagon advances the next stage of its broader $1.1 billion Drone Dominance initiative aimed at expanding domestic and allied unmanned capabilities.

USA - The US Drone Dominance program will purchase tens of thousands of drones. The Pentagon has recently selected two Ukrainian drone manufacturers as finalists in its $1.1 billion Drone Dominance program. For years, Chinese manufacturer DJI has dominated the global small drone market, but the US military is now actively seeking alternatives that do not rely on components sourced from China. The top finisher was the Shrike 10 Fiber, a fiber-optic FPV drone developed by Ukrainian company SkyFall in partnership with British firm Skycutter. The system scored 99.3 points out of 100, finishing more than ten points ahead of its nearest competitor, an American company, Neros. The drone employs fiber-optic guidance rather than traditional radio frequencies, making it invulnerable to electronic warfare countermeasures. The fiber-optic spool extends 20 km, ensuring a stable video feed throughout the flight.

UKRAINE - Long-distance drone interception works from more than 1,240 miles away. Ukraine has become the first country to scale remotely operated interceptor drones capable of destroying aerial targets over vast distances, opening the door to air combat carried out far from the battlefield itself. Operators can now guide interceptor drones from secure bunkers hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away, allowing aerial targets to be destroyed without pilots or launch crews exposed to direct danger. Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said the capability is already working in combat conditions, with confirmed interceptions taking place across long distances.

RUSSIA - Ukraine has hit the Moscow region with a swarm of 400 drones in what is believed to be one of its biggest attacks of the war. Hundreds of drones were sent to strategic sites across the region surrounding the Russian capital. The Russian Defence Ministry said air defence systems had shot down 381 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov overnight. Huge fires raged around this region ringing Moscow city in the latest blitzkrieg by Ukraine aimed at taking the war to where the pro-war Kremlin elite live. The aim is that they should directly feel the consequences of the conflict they espouse, suffering as do Ukrainians under Putin's barrage. The attacks followed Russia's most powerful ballistic missile attack of the war directed at Kyiv on Sunday.

USA - Mamdani desperately seeking legal loophole to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu when Israel PM visits NYC. Netanyahu, however, remains unfazed by Mamdani’s threats. In a recent radio appearance, he accused Mamdani of supporting Hamas. “I think he should look at who he’s condemning, who he’s praising. He’s condemning Israel, the one democracy that stands shoulder to shoulder with American values,” the prime minister said during an interview this week with Sid Rosenberg on 77 WABC. “Who does he champion? Hamas, that calls openly to massacre every Jew on earth, that conducted that horrible massacre [on October 7, 2023], the worst massacre on Jews since the Holocaust.” He also said Mamdani “doesn’t care” that “those who hate the Jews and Israel ultimately hate America.” “And in fact, I think secretly, he hates America,” the prime minister said.

TAIWAN - It’s the million-dollar question in Taipei: if China attacked Taiwan, would the US intervene? Most analysts agree that Washington would. The US supplies the island with virtually all of the weapons and support that would be crucial to its survival in the event of an invasion. But there is a crucial blind spot in Taiwan’s defence. The US and Taiwan’s militaries have not trained together for decades and have no combined command structure, making it a formidable task to fend off one of the largest and most powerful militaries in the world. Mark Montgomery, the former commander of the US’s sole continuously deployed carrier strike group in Japan, said: “It’s clinically insane to me that the country which we are most likely to fight with against our highest-level adversary, China, we intentionally are deconflicted.”

UK - Last week Ed Miliband approved One Earth, the second-largest solar farm in Britain. Britain is now carpeting farmland with glass panels at startling speed, in pursuit of very ambitious solar power goals. All of which sounds worthy, even sensible, until you remember one salient fact. A World Bank study ranks Britain second from bottom in the world for practical solar potential (only Ireland is worse). Because we are relatively dark, cloudy and northerly. Conversely, our mild climate and plentiful rain make us exceptionally good at growing grass and crops. We are therefore taking land that nature has optimised for food production and using it to harvest something much harder. It’s like Saudi Arabia converting oilfields into garden centres and watercress beds. And the madness doesn’t stop there. The list goes on. The importing of oil as we prohibit new exploration in the North Sea. The £100 million bat tunnel for HS2 that cost £400,000 per bat. The wood – yes, wood – we burn in power stations. Sometimes it feels as if Britain has gone uniquely mad. And we are certainly exceptional in our readiness to impose painful and expensive sacrifices upon ourselves at the altar of decarbonisation... So we can become self-sufficient in moral vanity.

USA - Experts are alarmed: The line between independent medical advice and paid promotion has vanished. If nothing changes, patients will continue to receive sponsored health guidance disguised as organic content. New research reviewed by investigative journalists reveals that doctors hyping drugs on social media are overwhelmingly on pharmaceutical payrolls. A JAMA study cited by independent outlets found that over 90% of physicians promoting brand-name medications on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) had financial ties to the manufacturers. These doctors are not outliers; they are the new norm. As Lance D Johnson reported in NaturalNews.com, young, virtue-signaling doctors who posted pictures of themselves getting Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) shots are the same types who accept gifts, freebies and bribes from drug companies and then prescribe accordingly. This is not a matter of a few bad apples. It is a systemic infection of the medical profession by an industry that prioritizes profit over patient health.