IRAN - London, Paris and Berlin ALL 'under threat' from Iranian missiles after Tehran's mullahs 'use space rocket' to target British base on Diego Garcia - as experts warn the regime may have been 'serially underestimated'. Two ballistic missiles were fired towards Diego Garcia, a base in the Indian Ocean jointly operated by the US and the UK, on Friday night. Sources reported that one of the missiles failed in flight, while the other was intercepted by a US warship in what is believed to be the first ever strike on the military base. The IDF confirmed the Diego Garcia attack was the first time Iran had launched a long-range missile, capable of reaching a distance of around 4,000 km, since the start of the war. 'The Iranian terrorist regime poses a global threat. Now, with missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin,' it added.

USA - When the United States and Israel initiated the war against Iran last month, their messages were perfectly in sync on the sweeping goal of regime change. President Donald Trump told Iranians to seize their “only chance” for generations to “take over your government,” and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implored them to “cast off the yoke of this murderous regime.” But nearly three weeks into the conflict, the war aims are diverging between a US president who saw the historic opportunity of a quick military victory with only modest economic pain and an Israeli leader with grander visions of toppling a regime he’s sought to vanquish for 40 years, said multiple US, Israeli and Middle East officials and lawmakers familiar with the matter. Trump’s latest outburst against Israel’s attacks on Iran’s huge South Pars gas field on Wednesday laid bare the tensions between the two allies and the inconsistency of the president’s approach to the conflict.

IRAN - Iran is revealing new military capabilities as its war with Israel and the US enters its fourth week, and the regime still has more cards to play, from as-yet-unseen missiles to allied militias and sleeper cells abroad. The missiles fired at the US-UK Diego Garcia base required a range of around 2,400 miles, far beyond previous estimates of Iran’s capabilities. Tehran’s military also deployed the Haj Qasem, a newly developed medium-range ballistic missile with a half-tonne warhead, for the first time this week. Iran’s most powerful weapon, the Khorramshahr-4, has been used in greater numbers in recent attacks. Regime officials remain bullish despite heavy personnel and material losses inflicted by US-Israeli air strikes, and are threatening escalation. Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said in an interview this week that: “We are using weapons in this war that we have not used in the past, and we will use them more in the coming days.” The regime is also known to have amassed a large stockpile of cruise missiles, including anti-ship variants that could prove effective in close-quarters fighting if naval vessels attempt to break its blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

USA - The US and Israel underestimated Iran's capabilities and it's unlikely the regime will collapse, according to a Middle East analyst, who warned that Iran could now be more determined to obtain nuclear weapons. In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Danny Citrinowicz, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, a nonpartisan think tank, said he believes the chances of regime change are "very slim," especially without the use of ground troops — which would be a potentially disastrous gambit, he said. "We had our hopes too high," he said. "If somebody thinks that by air campaign, you can topple this regime, despite the fact that it's weak, but it's still very strong, I think we should think twice."

USA - The city of Los Angeles is being sued for its wild and unsupported claim that believing the Bible is a mental illness. Its anti-Christian ideology was revealed in a recent dispute with a city employee who as a Christian objected to the LGBT promotions in his department during June, and asked for permission to work remotely during that time period so as to avoid giving the appearance that he endorsed that agenda. The fight is being handled by Liberty Counsel, which already has filed a legal action against the city. “Instead of working remotely, officials suggested he simply use the ‘back door’ or seek ‘mental health counseling’ if the ‘Pride’ flag caused him distress,” the legal team explained. “[Eric] Batman received the suggestion that his religious beliefs about human sexuality ‘may need counseling’ as overtly hostile toward his religion,” the legal team said. The legal team pointed out that being allowed to work remotely is exactly the accommodation the city already allows for Muslims when they object to something in their workplace offending their beliefs.

UK - After a late-night debate in the House of Lords, a dark decision was reached that will affect generations to come, and deliver the United Kingdom into the arms of the ‘culture of death’ once and for all. In a shameful turn of events, the peers voted to allow abortion up to birth. This barbaric practice will now become lawful, in yet another sign of the decadence of Britain, and of the Western World in general. The amendment included a clause to change the law to decriminalize abortions for any reason, including if women did not want to have a child of a certain sex – and at any point up to and during birth.”

UK - The culture of death is taking hold of the United Kingdom. A mere two days after the UK House of Commons voted to decriminalize late-term abortion ‘up to birth’, the Labour party of failing Prime Minister Keir Starmer has approved a bill legalizing assisted suicide. Starmer was glad to vote for the bill, and – as proof of just how committed the UK has become to the culture of death – a good deal of Tories (including failed Globalist, former PM Rishi Sunak) and even Reform UK MPs also backed the bill. The ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’ was approved in the House of Commons by 314 votes with 291 against, a majority of 23 (down from a majority of 55 in the last reading of the bill). The Bill now goes to the House of Lords for further scrutiny, and if approved in the upper house it will ‘pave the way for assisted dying services to be introduced by the end of the decade’.

MIDDLE EAST - The Gulf states’ ability to preserve stability, maintain strategic flexibility, and avoid being drawn into an escalation will shape the region for years to come. The ongoing war with Iran has placed the Gulf states squarely at the center of a confrontation they never sought. From Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait, these countries find themselves facing the consequences of a conflict that was started by others, yet whose reverberations have engulfed their territories and economies. For years, they have sought to avoid entanglement in Iran’s regional ambitions. Today, however, the war has forced them to confront the harsh reality of their vulnerabilities.

MIDDLE EAST - Iran’s attacks against the Gulf states are increasingly generating unity among them, as they tiptoe toward possible action against Tehran. Iran has launched thousands of drones and missiles at the Gulf states. In addition, it has sought to escalate incrementally against them over the course of the three-week war. After an Israeli strike on an Iranian gas field, for example, Iran attacked Qatar’s Ras Laffan industrial facility. The Gulf states are now seeking unity in talks about their next steps. Riyadh’s restraint could end, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Thursday. “The Kingdom and its partners possess significant capabilities, and the patience we have shown is not unlimited,” Saudi Arabia-based newspaper Arab News quoted him as saying. “It could be a day, two days, or a week – I will not say.”

UK - Bond yields spiked, oil and gas prices rallied and the FTSE 100 sank to its lowest level since the start of the year as reciprocal military strikes on energy ­interests across the Middle East raised the prospect of a “doomsday scenario” for global energy markets. Heightened anxiety over the possibility that a protracted energy shock could stoke inflation led central banks in Britain, the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan to put interest rate-cutting cycles on hold. The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee voted 9-0 in favour of keeping the borrowing rate at 3.75 per cent, the first time it had acted unanimously since 2021, and warned that “energy supply would take time to ­recover even if the conflict abated”. Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s governor, said: “None of us know how this is going to play out.” He later told LBC “the longer it goes on… the effect will be larger”, adding that reopening the Strait of Hormuz shipping route was “the best thing to do to get the energy market back on its normal footing”.