ISRAEL - Iran’s Saegheh is no ordinary UAV; it is the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ prize drone for assault and intelligence gathering. It made its debut outside Iran on Saturday, February 10 when it slipped into Israeli airspace, first circling east into Jordan. The speed of this counter-punch confirmed that Israeli intelligence had tracked the drone from the moment it took to the air from T-4 and was on standby to snag it.  

ISRAEL - The Times of Israel reports: Israel appealed to Russia to intervene and prevent further escalation after an Iranian drone was shot down over Israel Saturday, leading to “large-scale” Israeli strikes in Syria and heavy Syrian counter-fire. An Israeli F-16 fighter jet subsequently crashed under fire from Syrian air defenses in a severe increase in tensions. Diplomatic sources said Israel was in contact with officials in Moscow, seeking to convey a message to Syria and Iran that though it had landed a heavy blow in response to the drone incident, it was not interested in further violence. Similar calming messages were reportedly passed on to Washington. Moscow, in a statement, called for “restraint” of all parties in Syria and said it considered risking the lives of Russian soldiers “absolutely unacceptable” following large-scale Israeli air strikes inside Syria.

UK - Britain’s Labour Party is demanding the UK government impose an imperialistic diktat upon the predominantly black citizens of Bermuda for refusing to adhere to the liberal-left’s same-sex marriage demands. Helen Goodman — Labour’s shadow Foreign Office minister — said the devolved, democratic decision taken by Bermuda to repeal gay marriage laws — “turns same-sex couples into second class citizens”, implying force should be used to impose gay marriage laws. “For that to happen anywhere in the world would be shameful. For it to happen in a British territory, for the legislation signed by a British governor and permitted by a British foreign secretary makes us complicit in something which this House has repeatedly voted against,” she argued. Apparently imperialism is fine, but only in the pursuit of leftist goals like those of the LGBTQII++ lobby, in a mostly Christian nation.

USA - Planned Parenthood will still be receiving over half a billion dollars in taxpayer funds, thanks to congressional Republicans. The House voted 240-186 to approve the joint funding and budget bill passed by the Senate that focused primarily on military spending and immigration.

JAPAN - Since the Kobe Ocean Bottom Exploration Center (KOBEC) was established in 2015, it has carried out three survey voyages to the Kikai Caldera, south of Japan's main islands. Based on these voyages, researchers have confirmed that a giant lava dome was created after the caldera-forming super-eruption 7,300 years ago.

ISRAEL - Israel issued stark warnings on Sunday over Iran's presence in neighbouring Syria after a confrontation threatened to open a new and unpredictable period in the country's seven-year civil war. Israel carried out major air raids in Syria on Saturday, including against what it described as Iranian targets - the first time it had publicly acknowledged doing so since the war began.

ISRAEL - Israel warned Syria and Iran Saturday morning that their attempts to escalate the situation in the north will bring the full force of the IDF upon them. “Iran and Syria are playing with fire,” the army said in a statement. “The IDF acts with determination against the attempt of the Iranian-Syrian attack and the violation of Israeli sovereignty. The IDF is prepared for a variety of scenarios and will continue to act as necessary.” Syria's involvement shows that it has chosen to interfere in the Israeli-Iranian incident, the IDF statement said, "the Iranian mask has been removed. It is clear that they are using Syria as a launchpad for activity against Israel."

ISRAEL - The decision by the Iran-led “Shiite Axis” in the region to send an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) into Israeli territory was a dangerous miscalculation by Tehran and its puppets in Syria and Lebanon. It’s likely the Iranians were testing the model’s ability to penetrate Israeli airspace undetected, making Israel’s discovery of the UAV a remarkable display of regional military superiority. In reacting as it did, Israel sent Iran, Syria and Hezbollah a clear message that they will suffer enormously following any future provocation. The Shiite Axis would do well to check its inflated hubris and think twice before messing with Israel again.

USA - The Pentagon reportedly plans a “major muscle movement” from the Middle East to East China, with thousands of extra Marines to be deployed. The goal is to “persuade Pacific nations to stand with the US” and not China. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the US plans to boost its military presence in the East Pacific with rotating deployment of Marine Expeditionary Units, or MEUs. An MEU is a group of about 2,200 Marines who operate from amphibious assault ships and have their own aircraft, tanks, heavy weapons, and other resources. A typical deployment lasts for seven months and may involve missions on the shore like patrols or military-to-military training. The US already has about 50,000 service members in Japan, almost 30,000 in South Korea, and 7,000 more in Guam.

USA - For the first time in Olympic history, men who identify as "women" are being allowed to compete against women during the Winter Games in South Korea. “For the first time, the IOC [International Olympic Committee] has ruled that transgender athletes can take part in the Olympics. Female-to-male athletes can compete “without restriction,” while male-to-female athletes must undergo hormone therapy. Previously, IOC guidelines called for athletes to have reassignment surgery followed by at least two years of hormone therapy in order to be eligible. The only remaining regulation is that male-to-female athletes must demonstrate that their testosterone levels have consistently been below the cutoff point for at least one full year prior to competition.

CHINA - China will launch its own crude oil futures in March, the securities regulator said Friday, as the energy-hungry giant looks to wield greater influence on the international market by offering an alternative to the Brent and WTI benchmarks. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said the contracts would be launched on March 26 on the Shanghai futures market. It is the culmination of a long-standing ambition for China, which for a quarter century has nursed plans to launch its own oil contracts in order to exert greater influence on the market for the black gold. The brief statement from the CSRC did not offer any details but Chinese press reports said the contracts would be open to foreign investors and denominated in yuan.

GERMANY - With the US's international role waning, Europe must define its own future, says a highly anticipated report. This assessment sets the agenda for leaders in the run-up to Germany's pre-eminent conference on security. Security experts are rarely optimists and security reports rarely optimistic. That holds true for the latest Munich Security Report published on Thursday. Titled "To the Brink — and Back?" it forecasts a new era of uncertainty on the horizon.

GERMANY - Germany’s system of proportional representation will not assign the AfD an official status as the leading opposition party, but parliamentary tradition decrees that it can lay claim to a number of privileges that other parties will struggle to deny it. Whenever Merkel makes a statement in the Bundestag, the AfD will be the first party allowed to respond – a running order that is usually replicated in TV reports on parliamentary debates. On budget debates, the AfD will get to speak ahead of the government.

GERMANY - The Bundeswehr is expected to install a new NATO military headquarters in Germany. The move is part of the alliance's strategic upgrade in the face of increased tensions with Russia. Germany is expected to set up a new NATO planning and control center, possibly near the former capital Bonn, as part of the alliance's upgrade plans in Europe. 

USA - On July 20, a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship departed Charleston, South Carolina carrying thousands of containers. One of them held a lucrative commodity: body parts from dozens of dead Americans. According to the manifest, the shipment bound for Europe included about 6,000 pounds of human remains valued at $67,204. To keep the merchandise from spoiling, the container’s temperature was set to 5 degrees Fahrenheit.