IRAN - Iran’s decision to retaliate against US-Israeli air strikes has dragged many of its neighbours into the conflict. Tehran has continued to strike military bases that house US troops across the Middle East and has not shied away from hitting civilian targets, including high-rise buildings, airports and shipping. Any sense of calm and safety in the oil-rich Gulf has been shattered at Iran’s behest. It has struck 12 nearby countries in retaliation for America’s Operation Epic Fury, which killed Iranian regime figureheads such as Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president. Those hit by Iran range from Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, to France and the UK, via its RAF station at Akrotiri in Cyprus. It is thought that Tehran is lashing out at America’s allies in the belief that it could pressure the Trump administration into halting the attacks that have beheaded the Islamic regime.

UK - Britain is scrambling to send a warship to Cyprus after France announced a major deployment to the eastern Mediterranean. The Royal Navy is expected to send a Type 45 destroyer, either HMS Dragon or HMS Duncan, to the region after an RAF base was attacked by Iranian drones on Monday night. France’s nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and its strike group are heading to the area. Emmanuel Macron, the French president, has also ordered anti-drone weapons and a frigate to the eastern Mediterranean. Mr Trump also told The Telegraph that he was “very disappointed” in Sir Keir after he refused to let the US use the Chagos Islands base of Diego Garcia to launch strikes on Iran at the start of the war. Gulf states are also understood to have expressed concern at Sir Keir’s reticence. Around 300,000 Britons are currently in the countries under fire from Iran.

IRAN - US President Donald Trump said he would not rule out sending US ground troops into Iran “if necessary,” telling the New York Post he was “not ruling anything out” as the US and Israel press their campaign under Operation Roaring Lion. Speaking on Monday, Trump said he “didn’t care about polling,” argued that leaders sometimes must act without clear public backing, and claimed the operation was “way ahead of schedule.” Our objectives are clear. First, we're destroying Iran's missile capabilities... Second, we're annihilating their navy... Third, we're ensuring that the world's number one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon... And finally, we're ensuring that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm, fund, and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders."

UK - This weekend, Iran, or possibly one of its proxies on the Mediterranean shore, launched two attacks at British sovereign territory: RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. The first salvo fell short, the second, possibly a single drone, hit. Thankfully there were no casualties and damage was minimal. To be clear, British sovereign territory has been attacked and remains under threat. Our response? Very slow. Why didn’t we get a destroyer out there ages ago? Meanwhile our bases get hit and we do nothing, because we lack the leadership and confidence to know whether we should even be present at all. We need to wake up and take action now before it’s forced upon us and costs more. Today, right now, that day is getting closer.

ISRAEL - Israel's military has said it has struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, after the Iranian-backed Shia group said it launched rockets and drones at the Israeli city of Haifa to avenge the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Lebanon's disaster management unit said 52 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the country on Monday. There were no reports of casualties in Israel from Hezbollah's fire, which the group said was retaliation for Khamenei's "pure blood" and Israeli strikes in Lebanon since a ceasefire ended a war between them 15 months ago. The Israeli defence minister vowed Hezbollah would pay a "heavy price".

USA - Donald Trump said America is “knocking the c--p” out of Iran, warning that a “big wave” of strikes is still to come. The US president suggested the missiles that killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other high-ranking officials in the early hours of Saturday in Tehran were just the start of his military campaign. “We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon,” Mr Trump told CNN. He refused to rule out American boots on the ground in Iran during a separate interview with the New York Post.

MIDDLE EAST - Ships travel the seas using the Automatic Identification System (AIS). It’s a satellite tracking system that uses transponders to continuously broadcast a ship’s location, type, length, and so on. Currently, over 210 tankers and container ships are anchored outside the Strait of Hormuz. Through this waterway choke point (Hormuz) flows 20% of the global oil, along with large volumes of LNG (Liquefied natural gas). The Strait is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point. But the shipping lane width, in either direction, is only 2 miles. Those two lanes are separated by a 2-mile buffer zone. Massive AIS signal interference has been observed around the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. This appears to come mostly from the Iranian coastal cities of Assaluyeh and Bandar Abbas.

USA - Walk into any middle school classroom in America and look around. Statistically, about one in three of those kids already has prediabetes or type 2 diabetes (T2DM), conditions most people associate with overweight adults in their 40s and 50s. That is the central finding of a new study, and it is as alarming as it sounds. Researchers analyzed federal health data on nearly 2,000 adolescents ages 10 to 19 and found that 30.8 percent had blood sugar levels in the prediabetes or type 2 diabetes range. Early prediabetes, where blood sugar is elevated but not yet in the diabetic range, is reversible. Once type 2 diabetes takes hold, it is not.

CYPRUS - Israel confirms that two missiles launched by Iran toward Cyprus fell into the sea, marking the first Iranian attack directed at a European country. Israeli officials confirm that the missiles launched toward Cyprus fell into the sea. The missiles were fired toward the island of Cyprus, where Britain operates strategic military bases. At the Royal Air Force base in Akrotiri on the island, F-35 fighter jets and refueling aircraft are stationed, alongside a broad military presence that includes thousands of troops and advanced radar systems. British Defense Secretary John Healey clarified that London assesses the missiles were not aimed directly at British bases, but emphasized that the very launch demonstrates the “indiscriminate" nature of Iran’s retaliatory actions in the region. At the same time, Secretary Healey noted that approximately 300 British military personnel were located near the impact areas in Bahrain.

MIDDLE EAST - Having already dropped 1,200 bombs on Iran, the IDF, along with the US Air Force, is close to achieving air supremacy in Iranian airspace. This shift could mark an increased capability for Israel and the US to help anti-regime protesters by targeting specific regime forces, including the Tharallah headquarters, which has been used to oppress and mass murder them for the last two months and during prior rounds of protests in recent decades. In June 2025, it took several days for the air force to achieve such supremacy, which signifies that essentially Iran's anti-aircraft defenses have been so battered that Israeli aircraft and drones can hover over target areas for extended periods without worrying as much about whether air defenses might target them. On Saturday night, the IDF had said that over 200 aircraft had struck 500 Iranian targets. On Sunday morning, the US said it had struck around 900 Iranian targets.