Admiral Brad Cooper says the allies have “exceeded” their military objectives in the war with Iran
US Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Admiral Brad Cooper has praised Israel and Arab states hosting American bases as “exceptional” allies in the war against Iran. He made the remarks amid reports of a possible second round of peace talks this week, as a two-week truce is set to expire on Wednesday.
During a press conference with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon on Thursday, Cooper hailed Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE as “exceptional teammates.”
“And there’s been no better teammate than Israel,” Cooper added.
“Together, the four best air forces in the world – the Israeli Air Force, the US Air Force, and the air forces of the US Navy and US Marine Corps – together met and exceeded our own military objectives over and over again,” Cooper said.
The admiral recalled that he met Israel’s Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, late last month to ensure the two countries remained “closely aligned.”
Democrats and some Republicans, as well as former US National Counterterrorism Center chief Joe Kent, have argued that US President Donald Trump had been pressured by Israel to launch the war against Iran. Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, have framed the conflict as Trump betraying his “America First” agenda in favor of “Israel First.”
Speaking alongside Cooper, Hegseth denied that the war had been “foisted upon” Trump by Israel. “President Trump makes his own decisions about the interests of this country and defending our interests, and then works with allies and partners – in this case Israel, which has a lot of will and a lot of capabilities, which we’re grateful for,” he said.
Kent, who resigned from his position last month in protest of the war, said intelligence agencies could not confirm Trump’s claim that Iran has been pursuing nuclear weapons.
The Narendra Modi–led government has claimed victory over a decades-long insurgency, bringing development and peace to remote areas of central India
In the remote forests of Bastar, a district in central India’s state of Chhattisgarh, the air no longer carries the acrid scent of gunpowder. Instead, the sweet, heady fragrance of Mahua flowers drifts through villages once trapped in the grip of left-wing extremism.
Bastar is famous not only for its forests and diverse tribal groups, but for the Maoist insurgency, functioning for decades as the epicenter of their conflict against Indian security forces. Bastar has been considered a prominent stronghold of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), an armed wing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a banned political organization in India, since early 2000s. Inspired by Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong, the rebels advocate for class struggle and agrarian revolution through armed resistance.
What was long touted as the Maoists’ ‘Red Corridor’ – a vast stretch of ‘liberated zones’ from southern India toward Nepal – has now been dismantled. Sustained operations by India’s security forces, particularly since 2024, have significantly weakened the presence of Maoists, also known in the region as ‘Naxalites’ or ‘Naxals’ after the 1967 uprising in Naxalbari village in West Bengal state.
After more than four decades of insurgency, roads, electricity, schools, and governance are steadily reclaiming territory that the state had lost to armed rebels.
Speaking in parliament on March 30, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said that the left-wing extremists and their supporters had presented a false narrative before innocent tribal people that they were fighting for their rights and to deliver justice to them. He said that Naxalism has now been “almost completely eradicated from Bastar,” and a campaign has begun to build schools and open ration shops in every village there, calling it one of the key achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
In Puwarti village, birthplace of the notorious Maoist commander Madvi Hidma linked to the deaths of hundreds of security personnel and civilians – a security forces camp now stands where arms training for his battalion once took place. Children play near a newly built Anganwadi child-care center.
Scenes of women picking Mahua flowers without fear, no longer forced to surrender part of their earnings as a “levy” to the insurgents, are now common here. Security personnel, once symbols of dread, now hand out pens, cricket bats, and biscuits to children, and grocery kits to elders – small gestures aimed at rebuilding trust after years of conflict.
Hidma’s deputy, Barse Deva, surrendered in early 2026, and his battalion has largely disintegrated through encounters, surrenders, and dispersal. Similar change is visible in Gougunda, a former Maoist bastion perched on a 660-meter-high cliff surrounded by dense forest. For the first time in living memory, electricity has reached the village. Residents who once lived by the sun’s rhythm now stay up late studying, working, or socializing.
Gangi Muchaki, who opened Gougunda’s first grocery shop with government help, beams under the glow of a solitary LED bulb: “This feels surreal! I still cannot believe that we have electricity, a motorable road and a ‘kirana’ (grocery) shop in our village. The night of red terror is over; this is a new dawn.”
Maoists had deliberately banned constructing roads or installing electricity poles, as well as telecom towers, to maintain control of these areas through isolation. Today, the Border Roads Organization, an agency under the Ministry of Defence of India developing and maintaining road networks in India’s border regions and remote areas, is cutting all-weather roads through the forests. These road link remote districts in Chhattisgarh toward the southern city of Hyderabad. Arterial roads closed for 15-30 years due to frequent ambushes have now reopened.
Abujhmarh – the rugged, mysterious hilly terrain spanning over 4,000 square kilometers, larger than the entire state of Goa, a popular spot among foreign tourists, used to be a safe haven for top Maoist leaders for a long time. For the past few years, security camps have been established deep inside.
Displaced villagers are returning home. In Baleveda village, falling under Narayanpur district, a Border Security Force (BSF) camp now occupies the site where Maoists once held their so-called kangaroo courts and carried out executions.
Ramulal Wadde, a Madia tribesman who lived in exile for 20 years in a slum, has returned as the new sarpanch, an elected head of a village-level self-government, along with about 20 other families. They are now rebuilding homes that fell into disrepair during their absence.
Wadde recalls the terror of those years: “This area is the place where they executed so many innocent villagers, including my relatives, for simply defying their diktats, like giving away one child to Naxal’s Bal Sena or simply daring to go out of the village to the town to see a doctor or study in a state-run residential school.”
His own family suffered losses on both sides of the conflict – one son, who was forced to join the rebels, was eventually killed by security forces, while another was killed by Maoists after he was branded a police informer.
Wadde himself fled after he was labelled an informer. As sarpanch, one of his first acts was symbolic: “The first thing I did as the village head was to raze the Shaheed Minar (a tower to honor the fallen Maoists) to dust. You see the hand pump there. I deliberately paved its platform with the debris of their pillar of pride to trample upon their legacy every day and forever.”
Since 2000, violence between insurgents and security forces has claimed nearly 12,000 lives, including over 4,000 civilians, according to the South Asian Terrorism Portal.
Similar scenes of return and reconstruction are unfolding in villages like Khader, where new brick homes funded by the prime minister’s housing scheme are rising amid the jungle. Despite brutal Maoist reprisals – including public beheadings of suspected “informers” witnessed by families – residents are coming back in growing numbers.
Education Replaces Indoctrination
Maoists destroyed or closed hundreds of schools and killed over 20 teachers since 2020 while running indoctrination centers in thatched huts. The state is now reversing the damage. In Bastar’s interior areas, 263 schools have reopened or been newly established, enrolling over 9,000 children, with nearly 100 new buildings under construction.
District officials, including Narayanpur’s district magistrate Smita Jain, conduct ‘Sushasan Shivir’ (Good Governance Camps) on motorcycles without fear, turning them into festive occasions where villagers obtain documents recognized pan-India, including Aadhaar cards (a 12-digit individual identification number issued to Indian residents), ration cards, and other essential documents.
Security forces have cleared jungle paths not only for operations but also to deliver governance directly to remote communities.
Veteran journalist Animesh Paul, who has covered the insurgency for nearly two decades, observes the dramatic shift. “Travelling in a police vehicle today is routine; just months ago, it would have been considered suicidal,” he opines.
Eliminating Leadership, Rehabilitating Cadres
In May 2025, Nambala Keshava Rao, alias Basavaraju, the general-secretary of the banned CPI (Maoist), was neutralized in a 50-hour encounter in the Abujhmarh hills. Young local recruits like Manish Usendi – whose brother was killed by Maoists for wanting to join the police – played roles in such operations. The collapse of Naxalites accelerated with a chain of high-profile operations executed by security forces. The elimination of top leaders, including Hidma, shattered command structures and triggered mass surrenders.
For regular Maoist cadres, the government gives an opportunity to lead a normal life. In a rehabilitation camp in Narayanpur, former members of the rebel movement now wear civilian clothes and train for new lives.
Over 2,700 Maoists have surrendered in the Bastar region in recent years as part of a larger nationwide trend. Senior officers credit sustained pressure on leadership, financial networks (extortion from contractors and forest produce traders), and infrastructure expansion for reducing the group’s capacity for major attacks.
Chhattisgarh’s Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, who also holds the Home portfolio, sums up the current phase: “The operation has been successful. But you don’t relieve yourself immediately after the operation. It is time for healing the state. Also, the Naxals are gone, but they’ve left behind landmine-riddled roads, jungles and ponds. The forces are clearing them out to make the jungles safe for everyone.”
Mangtu, who joined as a child soldier at age 14, confides, “I was so smitten by the uniforms and weapons of the Naxals that I accompanied them, almost hypnotized.” Aspiring to become a taxi driver, he adds, “I am training to be a taxi driver; some are getting training to eke out a living as plumbers. I am done with this goalless and endless revolution. I am tired of running and hiding. I want to live a normal life now and start a family.”
Many surrendered rebels revealed the Maoists’ brutal practice of forced sterilization – vasectomies and tubectomies performed without anesthesia on hundreds of young cadres – to sever family bonds and turn them into detached “human weapons.” They are now seeking a reversal procedure.
The dream of a contiguous ‘Red Corridor’ exploiting tribal grievances, poverty, and weak state presence has now collapsed into isolated pockets. Historically, the Naxalite leadership was often from Telugu-speaking regions in the country’s South, as the movement drew from post-Independence agrarian unrest, including the Telangana Struggle of 1946-51. The foot soldiers were local ‘adivasis’, or tribal people, while funding came mainly from local “levies” rather than large-scale foreign support.
After eliminating insurgency, authorities are now replacing parallel local governance structures and Kangaroo courts with transparent governance. Hundreds of security camps that have been established in the villages will further transition into schools, health centers, or community facilities once the area is fully stabilized. Central forces continue de-mining of areas to ensure physical safety. There are many underlying vulnerabilities – single rain-fed agriculture, dependence on minor forest produce like Mahua flowers and tendu leaves, and lack of irrigation – created fertile ground for insurgency.
The proposed Bodhghat project on the Indravati River, estimated at around $6 billion and intended to generate 125 MW of power and irrigate nearly 700,000 hectares across key districts, could enable multiple crops and reduce the economic fragility that Maoists once exploited.
The grand Maoist vision of a continuous “Red Corridor” stretching from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh to Pashupati in Nepal now lies in tatters, reduced to scattered remnants in a handful of remote pockets. What remains is the harder, more enduring task: translating military gains into lasting peace through inclusive development, responsive governance, and economic opportunity.
Lindsey Graham says the American-brokered ceasefire should not undermine Israel’s ability to fight the militants
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has criticized the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, arguing that it could empower the regional armed group Hezbollah.
The 10-day truce, which took effect on Friday, is aimed at halting Israel’s military operation in Lebanon, which has left 2,196 people dead and 1.2 million displaced.
The IDF renewed airstrikes and expanded their presence in southern Lebanon last month after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in support of Iran.
“While I appreciate every effort to bring peace through diplomacy in the Middle East, particularly in Lebanon, we have to be realistic about the situation on the ground,” Graham wrote on X.
“The last thing we need to do in the name of peace is throw Hezbollah a lifeline by restricting Israel’s ability to attack this terrorist organization,” he said, adding that the Lebanese army has been “woefully inadequate in credibly disarming Hezbollah.”
“I will not support any agreement regarding peace in Lebanon that fails to convince me that it will result in the disarmament and demise of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization,” Graham said.
According to the US State Department, Israel has agreed to halt “offensive military operations against Lebanese targets,” but has reserved the right to “take all necessary measures in self-defense.” The deal also calls on the Lebanese government to prevent Hezbollah from attacking “Israeli targets.”
Hezbollah, which was not involved in the US-mediated negotiations, said the truce must halt all IDF activities in Lebanon.
The conservative commentator criticized the US president for attacking the pope and waging war with Iran “on Israel’s behalf”
US President Donald Trump’s true religion is “Israelism” rather than Christianity, conservative journalist and podcaster Tucker Carlson has claimed, criticizing the president’s Middle East policies.
Carlson made the remarks in response to controversial statements Trump made over the past week, including his attacks on Pope Leo XIV and posts depicting himself as a Christ-like figure.
On Monday, Trump described the US-born pontiff as “weak” and “terrible for foreign policy” after the pope called Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization “truly unacceptable” and said that Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
On his show, Carlson argued that the US had launched the war against Iran “on behalf of Israel” and “at the instigation of Israel.”
“What’s the religion, honestly, of Donald Trump? It’s not Christianity, clearly. It’s Israelism. It’s the defense of Israel,” Carlson said, adding that support for the Jewish state has become a “civic religion” of the American government.
He described Trump’s social media posts as “iconography” and “attempts to send a statement about faith,” which “doesn’t actually add up to a theology.”
Trump shared an AI-generated image of himself as a robed figure healing a bedridden man, flanked by eagles, fighter jets, and US service members, with the Statue of Liberty and the US flag in the background. He later deleted the post, saying it had been misinterpreted by the “fake news” media.
Carlson said Trump’s actions amounted to a “mockery of God by a temporal leader” and praised former US congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who labeled the post “more than blasphemy” and “an Antichrist spirit.”
US Vice President J.D. Vance, who is Catholic, sided with Trump, arguing that it is “very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”
Several senior US officials have invoked religious imagery to justify the war with Iran, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth urging Americans to pray for victory “in the name of Jesus Christ.”
The agreement includes West Jerusalem’s right to take “all necessary measures in self-defense” if attacked
The 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon entered into force on Friday, with US President Donald Trump insisting that Hezbollah is part of the agreement, although the armed group had boycotted peace talks with Israel as futile.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) renewed their operation in Lebanon in early March after Hezbollah fired rockets and mortars at Israel in support of Iran.
At least 2,196 people have been killed in Lebanon, and 1.2 million have been displaced, as Israel carried out airstrikes on Beirut and other cities and issued sweeping evacuation orders in an effort to expand its “security zone” in southern Lebanon.
Iran, which reached a two-week ceasefire with the US and Israel on April 8, has listed an end to the Israeli campaign in Lebanon as one of the key conditions for a permanent peace deal.
Americans facing higher fuel costs have paid the price of Washington’s war on Iran, the Brazilian president has said
US President Donald Trump’s policy has ended up creating problems for Americans, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said, citing soaring energy prices linked to the war on Iran.
Lula made the remarks in an interview with El Pais published on Thursday.
“[Trump] is playing a very dangerous game. He operates on the premise that American economic, military, and technological power dictates the rules of the game. Ultimately, it ends up creating problems for the United States,” he said.
“When he decided to attack Iran, I don’t know if he realized that fuel prices would rise and that the people would be the ones to pay the price,” the Brazilian president added.
Fuel prices in the US have surged since the US-Israeli war on Iran disrupted oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran closing the key freight corridor to ships associated with nations it considers hostile. The fighting has also damaged key petrochemical facilities in the region.
Gasoline prices across the US averaged $4.09 per gallon on Thursday, compared to $2.94 in late February, prior to the Iran conflict, according to data from the American Automobile Association.
Negotiations between Washington and Tehran have not produced results since a tentative ceasefire took hold last week. Iran has blamed the breakdown of the talks on “unrealistic demands” presented by the US, while Washington has reacted by announcing a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz for Tehran-linked vessels.
The possibility of new talks is being discussed, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told journalists on Wednesday, without providing further details.
The Russian Security Council has warned that the US and Israel could be exploiting the negotiations to prepare a ground invasion of Iran, given that “the Pentagon continues to build up the US grouping in the region.”
A dispersed European industry is powering long-range attacks – and reshaping the nature of the war
Kirill Budanov, the former head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, has recently stated that his country is not able to produce drones on its own.
Many supporters of the Ukrainian regime found this statement, coming from the current Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, to be at odds with Vladimir Zelensky’s own comments. Following Budanov’s remarks, Zelensky rushed to put out the fire, claiming that the newest Ukrainian drones can fly up to 1,750 kilometers. Meanwhile, tape measure in hand, Ukrainian media tried to hastily calculate where the drones could reach.
In response, the Russian Ministry of Defense published a detailed list of companies within the EU that are responsible for manufacturing components for Ukrainian drones. The idea wasn’t so much to reveal potential priority targets as to demonstrate international involvement in producing long-range ‘Ukrainian’ weaponry.
One could react to the news that Ukraine only has drone assembly facilities (i.e., not full-cycle production) in different ways. Some may irrationally celebrate Ukraine’s backwardness. However, for a country whose industries are constantly attacked by Russian precision weapons, decentralizing the production chain and relocating it beyond the battlefield is essential.
This news indicates that, having diversified its production across several countries, European industry is capable of creating long-range drones, and these weapons are already being used against Russia.
The EU is focused on increasing the financial efficiency of its war efforts against Russia. Rather than relying on expensive missiles and launch systems, the bloc is ramping up its industry to produce comparatively cheaper means of mass destruction. Given that, in today’s landscape, the leading experts in drone warfare are Russians, Ukrainians, and Iranians, the EU is apparently attempting to shed moral responsibility for drone strikes. After all, European soldiers don’t have to be deployed to launch long-range drones.
In reality, the degree of responsibility remains unchanged. The drones carry munitions, have a long range, and strike not just military facilities but also civilian facilities and individuals unrelated to Russia’s military operation or the energy and fuel sector.
A year ago, the EU completely depended on American arms supplies in the war against Russia. Now, it aims to reduce that dependency.
The problem isn’t that the bloc risks confronting Russia alone, and would suddenly have to ‘grow up’ if the US were to completely withdraw from the conflict – these risks are known and accepted by the EU.
And it’s not just that it runs the risk of exhausting its own economy: despite declining living standards due to rising taxes, the EU still has some resilience.
The real issue is that the European Union is no longer just Ukraine’s rear logistical support system – it is becoming a full-fledged participant in the conflict. This shift threatens the core foundation of the European project – internal security, market stability, and predictability in everyday life.
In other words, it challenges the very purpose for which the EU was created.
Sergey Shoigu has cautioned Finland and the Baltic states against allowing Kiev to use their airspace for attacks on Russia
Russia has the right to retaliate if Finland and the Baltic states are found to be deliberately allowing Ukrainian drones to pass through their airspace, Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu warned on Thursday.
“Recently, there has been an increase in Ukrainian drone strikes against Russia via Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia,” Shoigu told journalists. “As a result, civilians are suffering and significant damage is being caused to civilian infrastructure.”
Either Western air defenses are proving ineffective, or these four countries “deliberately provide their airspace, thereby becoming open accomplices in aggression against Russia,” he added. In the latter case, Moscow has the right to self-defense in response to an “armed attack” under Article 51 of the UN Charter, the security chief stressed.
In recent weeks, Kiev has intensified drone strikes on Russia in what Moscow has characterized as “terrorist attacks,” with the Russian military regularly reporting hundreds of UAVs downed in a single night.
Late last month, Kiev attacked Russia’s Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk with swarms of UAVs. The raids resulted in fires in both towns, which house extensive petrochemical infrastructure.
Kremlin aide Nikolay Patrushev said he believed that Finland and the Baltic states were “complicit in these crimes.” The provision of national airspace for Ukrainian drone strikes would “signify direct NATO participation” in attacks on Russia, he said Monday.
Multiple Ukrainian drones have also struck the territories of Finland and the three Baltic states since early March. Despite this, all four nations have avoided condemning Kiev outright for violating their airspace.
Moscow has already formally warned Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia against allowing Ukraine to send drones via their territory, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last week. “If the regimes in these countries are smart enough, they will listen. If not, then they will have to deal with the consequences,” she said.
Disruption of fertilizer flows through the Strait of Hormuz could slash harvests, Jose Andres of World Central Kitchen has warned
Disruptions to fertilizer supplies caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran risk triggering a multi-year food crisis globally, World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder Jose Andres has warned.
Tensions around the Strait of Hormuz have already driven up energy prices and rattled the global economy, disrupting one of the world’s most important trade arteries. The route handles around 20% of global crude exports, but it is also critical for shipments of nitrogen-based fertilizers.
Speaking to The Guardian on Thursday, Andres said delays in fertilizer deliveries risk missing critical planting windows, reducing yields in subsequent harvests and fueling a chain reaction of lower output and higher food prices.
“It is not only oil that leaves through the Strait of Hormuz. I foresee a very big increase in famine across the world by the fall of 2026 and 2027,” he said, warning that shipping turmoil in and around Hormuz is already tightening fertilizer supplies and pushing up costs for farmers.
The conflict has also led to reported shutdowns of fertilizer plants across the Gulf, further straining supply. Nitrogen fertilizers account for the majority of global use and underpin roughly half of the world’s food production. With the Gulf acting as a key export hub, disruptions to maritime routes have intensified shortages during the peak planting season.
Andres warned that poorer nations would bear the brunt. “In places like Haiti, they don’t serve you a kilo of rice, they serve you one ounce at a time. Those people are going to be suffering the consequences,” he said, suggesting governments allocate a small share of national budgets toward food security.
A UN Development Program report estimates that up to 32 million people could be pushed into poverty across 162 countries due to the Middle East war’s wider economic impact, with import-dependent nations facing the greatest strain. The heaviest burden is expected in parts of Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and small island states.
The US president earlier announced a ten-day truce has been agreed between Israel and Lebanon
A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will include the Lebanese-based militant group Hezbollah, US President Donald Trump has said, following his earlier announcement of the deal.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump announced an upcoming meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, adding that “they’re going to be having a ceasefire, and that will include Hezbollah.”
His remarks followed an earlier announcement on Truth Social that a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon had been agreed following talks in Washington. He said the truce would begin at 5 PM EST (22:00 GMT). The post, however, did not mention Hezbollah.
Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim Moussawi reportedly told the media that the group would respect the ceasefire, stressing that Israel must “abide by it completely,” including a “total cessation of hostilities” and withdrawal from the “occupied territories.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the announcement in a post on X, while Netanyahu also reportedly confirmed he had agreed to the truce.
Israeli military sources reportedly told BBC they have no intention of moving their thousands of troops out of southern Lebanon during the 10-day ceasefire.
More than 2,000 people have been killed and thousands more wounded, including hundreds of women and children, since Israel launched its invasion of southern Lebanon in early March in what it described as an operation against Hezbollah. More than one million people have been displaced – around one in five of the population.
Last week, the IDF carried out its largest wave of strikes across Lebanon since the conflict began, pounding central Beirut just hours after the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran.
US-Israel strikes and Tehran’s retaliation are pushing oil and gas facility damage costs toward $50 billion, Rystad Energy projects
The US-Israel war on Iran could push regional repair costs in the Middle East to as much as $58 billion, with oil and gas facilities alone accounting for up to $50 billion, according to an analysis released by energy research firm Rystad.
However, the report stresses that the main constraint is not funding but limited global capacity to supply key equipment and engineering services, which could delay repairs for years.
Rystad’s estimate marks a sharp increase from the initial $25 billion projection the firm issued three weeks ago, reflecting the broader scope of damage before the April 8 ceasefire between the US and Iran.
“Repair work does not create new capacity. It redirects existing capacity, and that redirection will be felt in project delays and into inflation far beyond the Middle East,” Rystad senior analyst Karan Satwani said.
“The $58 billion bill is the headline, but the knock-on effects on energy investment timelines globally may prove just as significant,” Satwani highlighted.
Rystad said total repair spending is likely to average around $46 billion, with downstream refining and petrochemical assets accounting for the largest share due to the scale and complexity of the damage. Industrial, power, and desalination facilities could add $3 billion to $8 billion, with recovery timelines diverging across assets and countries due to differences in execution capacity and supply chain constraints.
Iran faces the most extensive damage, with costs potentially reaching $19 billion across gas processing, refining, and export infrastructure, the company said. Qatar’s impact, meanwhile, is seen as more concentrated but technically complex, centered on the Ras Laffan LNG hub, where repairs may coincide with ongoing expansion projects.
Tehran plans to seek compensation from five Arab states – Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia – for damage from the latest military standoff, Iran’s UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani told Tasnim. He said the countries acted as “co-participants” with the US and Israel and breached their obligations toward Iran.
Last week, the Iranian Red Crescent Society reported that 125,630 civilian units had been affected by the war, including 100,000 residential homes, some of them completely destroyed. It also cited damage to 23,500 commercial properties, 339 medical facilities, 32 universities, 857 schools, and 20 Red Crescent centers.
IRCS head Pir Hossein Kolivand stressed that around 15 major logistical sites, including fuel depots, airports, and civilian aircraft, had been hit, highlighting widespread disruption to transport, energy, and public services.
The US VP had to defend President Trump’s Gaza policy at a rally on a Georgia college campus
US Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to defend Washington’s policy in Gaza after he was booed and heckled at a key MAGA event on Wednesday.
Co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative student group that has long been seen as a strong support base of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement but is now showing apparent cracks.
Less than 15 minutes into a TPUSA event at the University of Georgia on Wednesday, Vance was interrupted by hecklers over US policy in Gaza, with one audience member shouting, “Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” As he attempted to respond, others shouted, “You’re killing children!” and “You’re bombing children!”
Vance replied by referring to Trump’s achievements as president, including securing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, something he said the previous administration of Joe Biden failed to do.
“I recognize that a lot of young voters don’t love the policy that we have in the Middle East,” he said, asking the students not to turn away from the Republican Party. “I’m not saying you have to agree with me on every issue. What I’m saying is don’t get disengaged because you disagree with the administration on one topic.”
Vance took questions at the event because Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk, had canceled her plans to lead the event due to unspecified threats, according to a statement from TPUSA.
Kirk was assassinated at a university rally last September. The case has led to the spread of multiple conspiracy theories, including widely circulated claims that Kirk was killed for turning on TPUSA’s pro-Israel donors and opposing US strikes on Iran during the 12-day war last year.
The suspected killer’s lawyers insist that federal investigators could not conclusively match the bullet recovered from the crime scene to the alleged assassin’s rifle.
During a moment of rising tensions, the opposition turns to rapprochement with mainland China – the only viable path forward
Last week, the leader of the Kuomintang (KMT), the Taiwanese conservative opposition party, paid a six-day visit to mainland China. Invited personally by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Cheng Li-wun traveled through Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing in what became the first high-level meeting between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the KMT in a decade.
Relations across the Taiwan Strait have entered their most dangerous phase in years. China’s national rejuvenation is accelerating, the US is intensifying its strategic competition with Beijing, and separatist forces on the island have become increasingly emboldened. Against this background, the meeting between Xi and Cheng signaled the re-emergence of the only political channel with a proven record of reducing tensions and preserving stability.
The KMT and the CPC may differ on many matters, but both understand a basic reality that the current authorities in Taipei refuse to acknowledge: there is only one Chinese nation, and the future of both sides of the Strait depends on avoiding confrontation.
The Taiwanese authorities’ outcry
Predictably, Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party denounced Cheng’s trip. DPP figures accused her of being “subservient” to Beijing and portrayed the visit as a betrayal. Yet these attacks revealed less about Cheng than about the DPP’s own political predicament.
Since Tsai Ing-wen entered office in 2016, the DPP has systematically dismantled the political foundations that had previously kept cross-Strait relations stable. Beijing cut off high-level communication with Taiwan after Tsai refused to endorse the principle that both sides belong to one Chinese nation, expressed politically through the 1992 Consensus. What followed was a downward spiral of mistrust, military tension and diplomatic isolation.
The DPP has attempted to compensate for this failure by drawing Taiwan ever deeper into foreign geopolitical plays. Taipei has strengthened military coordination with the US and expanded its cooperation with Israel’s defense sector. It has deepened political and security ties with Japan while quietly extending support to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, effectively aligning the island with the broader Western bloc.
These policies have not made Taiwan safer. On the contrary, they have transformed it into a front line in Washington’s containment strategy against China. The more the DPP binds Taiwan to external powers, the more it erodes the possibility of peaceful development across the Strait.
For the DPP and its foreign allies, preserving hostility is politically useful. Tension allows them to justify higher military spending, closer foreign dependence and the illusion that Taiwan can indefinitely move toward formal independence without any consequences. But for ordinary people on the island, this strategy offers only risk, instability and economic pressure.
The deeper meaning
Cheng Li-wun’s itinerary was carefully designed and politically meaningful. Her visits to Jiangsu province, Shanghai and Beijing reflected the mainland’s comprehensive vision for cross-Strait relations.
In Jiangsu, Cheng engaged with local economic and cultural institutions, emphasizing the deep historical and social ties between people on both sides of the Strait. Jiangsu has long been one of the mainland provinces most closely connected to Taiwan through investment, trade and family networks. By beginning the trip there, Beijing underscored that cross-Strait relations are a matter of shared heritage and practical cooperation.
In Shanghai, Cheng met business representatives and discussed opportunities for renewed commercial exchange. Shanghai remains one of the mainland’s principal gateways for Taiwanese investment and entrepreneurship. The message was clear: stable relations bring tangible benefits. Trade, tourism, student exchanges and industrial cooperation once delivered prosperity to millions of Taiwanese families. Those benefits have steadily diminished under the DPP’s confrontational approach.
The final stage in Beijing gave the trip its unmistakable strategic weight. There, Cheng met Chinese President Xi Jinping in the highest-level interaction between the two parties since 2015. Xi framed the future of cross-Strait relations around four principles – shared identity, peace, people’s well-being, and national rejuvenation.
Cheng’s response aligned closely with this framework. She stated plainly that opposing Taiwanese independence and maintaining the 1992 Consensus is the only way to “avoid war, prevent tragedy, work together and create peace.” That formulation captured a truth increasingly recognized by many Taiwanese citizens. Continued movement toward independence risks catastrophe.
A follow-up with real substance
Unlike many diplomatic meetings that end with vague declarations, the KMT-CPC talks produced concrete follow-up measures. Most important were ten new initiatives, including the creation of a regular communication mechanism between the two parties.
This is a major development. Since 2016, one of the most dangerous aspects of cross-Strait relations has been the absence of reliable channels of communication. Miscalculation becomes far more likely when there is no trusted means to exchange views or manage crises.
The new mechanism is intended to institutionalize dialogue between the two parties, allowing them to coordinate on economic, cultural and political questions. Other measures include support for youth exchanges, tourism, trade, academic cooperation and greater access for Taiwanese businesses operating on the mainland.
The KMT presented these measures as practical steps to restore normality and reduce the possibility conflict. Party figures argued that Taiwan needs fewer slogans and more channels for communication.
Taiwan’s official authorities reacted differently. DPP politicians dismissed the agreements and insisted that only the government in Taipei has the legitimacy to conduct cross-Strait affairs. Yet this position ignores an obvious reality: the DPP government has failed to maintain any meaningful dialogue with Beijing for nearly a decade.
If official institutions are paralyzed by ideology, alternative channels become necessary. The KMT’s role is therefore not a challenge to Taiwan’s interests, but an attempt to defend them where the current authorities have failed.
A history of seeking peace
Cheng’s visit inevitably invited comparison with the famous “Journey of Peace” undertaken by then-KMT Chairman Lien Chan in 2005. That eight-day trip to mainland China marked the first meeting between top KMT and Communist Party leaders since 1945, when Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong met in Chongqing.
The 2005 initiative came at another moment of acute tension. Like today, separatist sentiment on the island was growing, while the US encouraged a harder line toward Beijing. Lien’s meetings with Hu Jintao in Beijing established a framework for communication and helped reduce the risk of confrontation.
The historical symbolism was profound. In 1945, despite civil war and ideological struggle, the two sides still recognized one another as legitimate political forces within a single Chinese nation. The CPC acknowledged the KMT as the lawful government of China, while the KMT accepted the CPC as a legitimate opposition force.
Lien Chan’s trip revived that logic. Cheng Li-wun’s visit now represents its contemporary continuation.
A growing public demand for stability
The political climate inside Taiwan is also changing. Global instability, rising energy prices and economic uncertainty have increased pressure on ordinary households. Many Taiwanese increasingly recognize that the DPP cannot solve these daily problems.
The promise that confrontation with the mainland would bring greater international support has not been fulfilled. Instead, Taiwan faces slower growth, declining opportunities and growing insecurity.
By contrast, memories remain strong of the years when stable cross-Strait relations produced clear benefits. Tourism flourished. Taiwanese businesses expanded on the mainland. Students and families traveled more easily. Economic growth was stronger, and the danger of war seemed more distant.
As a result, public demand for restored exchanges is growing. More people understand that peace is not achieved through rhetorical defiance or dependence on foreign powers. It is achieved through dialogue, realism and mutual recognition.
The only viable path forward
The significance of Cheng Li-wun’s visit lies in the fact that it reopened a political channel that had been deliberately shut.
The DPP’s strategy has led Taiwan toward greater isolation and greater danger. By encouraging separatism while relying on the US and its allies, it has turned the island into a geopolitical pawn.
The KMT-CPC dialogue offers a different path: opposition to Taiwanese independence, commitment to the 1992 Consensus, institutional communication, and a shared determination to avoid war.
The Taiwan question will not be solved through military pressure, foreign intervention or endless political theater. It will be solved through cooperation between the two forces that still recognize the deeper historical and national connection across the Strait. CPC-KMT cooperation is therefore the key to solving the Taiwan question and securing a peaceful future for the Chinese nation.
Washington has reportedly approached General Motors and Ford as it seeks to expand military output amid ongoing conflicts
The Pentagon has approached major US car manufacturers General Motors and Ford about producing weapons and military equipment, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing sources.
General Motors already supplies military vehicles to the Pentagon through its GM Defense unit, while Ford has no major military contracts.
The discussions reportedly involved senior executives and focused on whether – and how quickly – civilian factories could be redirected toward producing munitions and other military supplies, as Washington seeks to replenish stockpiles depleted by the Ukraine conflict and the war on Iran, the outlet wrote on Wednesday.
GE Aerospace and vehicle and machinery maker Oshkosh were also involved in the talks, which began before the US-Israeli war against Iran started on February 28, it added.
Officials have cast the push as a move to put industry on a “wartime footing,” the outlet noted, invoking World War II-era mobilization, when Detroit automakers halted car output to produce bombers, aircraft engines and trucks.
The war against Iran has significantly strained US weapons stockpiles. The American military has launched more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles during the first four weeks of the campaign. The rate has prompted alarm among some Pentagon officials, the Washington Post reported last month. While the US Department of War does not disclose the exact number of Tomahawks it has, analysis suggests that before Operation Epic Fury, the US Navy had between 4,000 and 4,500 such missiles.
US President Donald Trump has requested a record-breaking military budget of around $1.5 trillion for the 2027 fiscal year, up from nearly $1 trillion this year, according to the administration’s budget outline. The proposal includes more than $1.1 trillion in base defense funding alongside additional allocations tied to ongoing military operations.
The war in Iran is costing the US government roughly $2 billion a day, former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed on X on Thursday. Independent online tracker WarSpend estimates that Washington has spent nearly $48 billion on the conflict since its start.
A ten-day truce will begin at 5 PM EST (22:00 GMT) on Thursday following talks between the sides, the US president has announced
US President Donald Trump has announced that a ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has been agreed upon following talks in Washington.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump stated the truce would begin at 5 PM EST (22:00 GMT), following what he described as “excellent conversations” with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The talks, held in Washington DC, were the first direct meeting between the two nations “in 34 years” and involved US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump said, adding that he had directed US officials to work with both sides toward a “lasting peace.” Trump also claimed that the deal would be his “10th” such achievement.
Trump did not mention Israel’s ongoing war with Hezbollah after its invasion of southern Lebanon in early March, or its attempt to effectively annex some 15% of the country. Last week, the IDF carried out its largest wave of strikes across Lebanon since the conflict began, pounding central Beirut just hours after the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran.
Israel has killed over 2,000 people and wounded thousands more since March 2, including hundreds of women and children, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Around 1.2 million people have been displaced.
In a follow-up post, Trump invited Netanyahu and Aoun to the White House, describing it as the “first meaningful talks” between the two countries since 1983.
Israeli officials reportedly expressed “outrage” after Trump announced the ceasefire ahead of the planned Israeli security cabinet call to discuss a truce. Netanyahu told the ministers that the deal would begin “at the request of Trump,” according to Ynet, adding that Israeli forces would remain in their positions in southern Lebanon.
Trump’s announcement comes amid deadly ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanese civilians. On Wednesday, Netanyahu said he had ordered an expansion of military operations. Multiple strikes on the village of Mayfadoun the same day reportedly left four paramedics dead and six others wounded. Strikes were also reported near one of the last functioning hospitals in southern Lebanon, in the town of Tebnine.
Armed robbers seized around 25 people inside a Naples bank branch; the hostages were freed in a police raid
Armed robbers took around 25 people hostage during a bank heist in the Italian city of Naples on Thursday, local media reported.
The incident unfolded shortly before noon at a Credit Agricole branch in the hilltop Vomero district, where attackers stormed the bank and seized customers and staff.
Police rapidly surrounded the bank, sealing off the area, and firefighters were deployed. Witnesses cited by media said the suspects barricaded themselves inside, triggering a tense standoff in one of the city’s busiest neighborhoods.
After about two hours, security forces launched a coordinated breach, with firefighters smashing a reinforced window to allow police to storm the building.
All hostages were freed in the operation. At least six people were treated for shock, but no serious injuries were reported.
Naples chief prosecutor Nicola Gratteri arrived at the scene as investigators began working to establish the sequence of events and identify those responsible.
Reports suggest at least two suspects were involved, though it remains unclear whether any arrests have been made or if the attackers managed to escape.
Reports suggest at least two suspects were involved, though it remains unclear whether any arrests have been made or if the attackers managed to escape.
Bank robberies involving hostage-taking are a recurring feature of crime in Naples. Italian media report that attackers typically strike during business hours, threatening staff and customers and holding them inside while waiting for time-locked safes to open.
In one such case in May 2024, an armed robber held employees and clients hostage for around 40 minutes before escaping with more than €12,000 ($14,000) according to local reports.
An overnight Ukrainian drone raid killed two minors in the Russian Black Sea port city of Tuapse
The Russian armed forces carried out mass strikes on Ukrainian military and energy sites on Thursday in response to a drone attack that killed two children in the country’s Krasnodar Region, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.
Russian strikes hit facilities involved in the production of cruise missiles and medium- and long-range UAVs, the MOD said in a statement on Thursday, adding that energy infrastructure sites used to support Ukraine’s military were also targeted.
”In response to terrorist attacks by Ukraine against civilian targets on Russian territory, a mass strike has been carried out over the past day using long-range precision weapons launched from land, air, and sea, as well as strike drones,” the ministry statement read.
”The objectives of the strikes have been achieved. All designated targets have been hit,” it added.
The strike followed a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian Black Sea port city of Tuapse, in which two children aged five and 14 were killed.
Ukrainian UAVs also targeted other coastal cities in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Region, including Sochi, which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics, and Dagomys, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said. An apartment block, a kindergarten, and five houses were damaged in what he called a “massive” drone assault.
Ukraine also attacked a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in Russian territorial waters, injuring the vessel’s captain, a Turkish national, who has been hospitalized, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced on Thursday.
Ukraine has frequently targeted Russian port infrastructure and energy facilities, as well as tankers and cargo ships.
Russia has accused Kiev of using Western-supplied weapons to target civilians, with the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday releasing a list of European companies it said are involved in manufacturing military drones for Kiev.
The ministry stated that, rather than strengthening the security of European states, the actions of some of the continent’s leaders were increasingly dragging their countries into a war with Russia.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned the European nations on the list that the facilities are “potential targets” for the Russian armed forces.
The Knesset measure echoes legal practices associated with apartheid and colonial rule, Naledi Pandor has said
Former South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor has condemned a death penalty bill debated in Israel’s Knesset, saying the proposed measure targeting Palestinians reflects legal practices associated with apartheid and colonial rule.
Pandor highlighted a draft bill discussed during a March 30 session of the Knesset that seeks to mandate the death penalty for Palestinians involved in attacks resulting in the loss of Israeli life.
According to Pandor, the legislation bypasses traditional judicial safeguards, representing a “mandatory” sentence dictated through legislative act rather than a standard court hearing or trial.
Pandor, who has long been a vocal figure in South African political communications and international strategy, likened the bill to laws enforced under British colonial and early South African rule circa 1935. During that era, the death penalty, specifically hanging, was mandatory for black citizens convicted of certain crimes, with no alternative sentencing available to the courts.
“Now, we’re going back to laws that we link with colonialism and apartheid,” Pandor remarked, suggesting that such measures validate international accusations of Israel operating as an apartheid state.
The proposed bill has sparked significant international debate regarding its alignment with democratic values and international law.
The BBC reported that Israel’s parliament has approved a law that would make the death penalty the default sentence for Palestinians convicted of deadly terror attacks. It further reported that critics, including UN human rights chief Volker Türk, have described the new law as discriminatory.
Türk also said its application would “constitute a war crime”. The new law passed its third and final reading in the Knesset by 62 votes to 48, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voting in favour.
The bill stipulates that Palestinians convicted in Israeli military courts of carrying out deadly attacks deemed to be “acts of terrorism” would be executed by hanging within 90 days, with a possible postponement of up to 180 days.
The legislation was pushed hard by the far-right, with the National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir its driving force. After the vote, he posted on X: “We made history!!! We promised. We delivered.”
A member of Ben-Gvir’s party, Limor Son-Har-Melech, who survived an attack by Palestinian gunmen in which her husband was killed, argued that the law was necessary, citing the example of how one of her husband’s killers was later released and went on to take part in the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel.
During the debate in the Knesset, she said: “For years, we endured a cruel cycle of terror, imprisonment, release in reckless deals, and the return of these human monsters to murder Jews again.”
Pandor described the legislative process as “undemocratic” and “evil,” alleging that the session’s conclusion was met with “the drinking of champagne” by proponents of the bill.
The criticism centres on three primary concerns:
Mandatory sentencing: The removal of judicial discretion in capital cases.
Selective application: The specific targeting of one demographic (Palestinians) for these capital measures.
International non-compliance: The perceived neglect of established international legal frameworks governing human rights and occupied territories.
Pandor concluded her assessment by labelling the legislative actions as “absolutely disgraceful”, signalling a continued hardening of the diplomatic stance between Pretoria and Jerusalem regarding human rights and judicial independence.
Pandor was the South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation who spearheaded the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2023 and January 2024. As the head of DIRCO at the time, she led the diplomatic efforts and appeared at the Hague for the announcement of provisional measures.
South Africa filed a lawsuit with the ICJ requesting an injunction against Israel because Israel’s attacks on Gaza violate the Genocide Convention.
South Africa requested that the ICJ grant interim injunctions, including that Israel immediately cease its military operations in Gaza, take reasonable measures to prevent the genocide of Palestinians, ensure that the displaced return to their homes and have access to humanitarian assistance, including adequate food, water, fuel, medical and hygiene supplies, shelter and clothing, take necessary steps to punish those involved in the genocide and preserve the evidence of genocide.
A Russian envoy has said Swedish cyberattack claims are based on “unfounded suspicions” and “highly likely” conjecture
Stockholm’s allegations that a pro-Russian hacker group attempted to disrupt a thermal power plant in Sweden last year are unfounded and lacking concrete evidence, Russia’s ambassador to the country, Sergey Belyaev, has said.
Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin claimed on Wednesday that a group linked to Russian intelligence attempted to attack a district heating plant in western Sweden in the spring of 2025. Bohlin stated that Swedish security services had identified the actor behind the attack, which he said was thwarted by the plant’s built-in security systems.
“The Swedish Security Service handled the case and was able to identify the actor behind it, which has ties to Russian intelligence and security services,” Bohlin told reporters.
However, Belyaev has rejected the allegations as baseless, noting that Stockholm has not sought any consultations with the Russian side over the issue, which suggests that “there are no specific facts or evidence.”
He further stated that claims about the alleged involvement of “certain Russian hackers in such illegal activity remain at the level of the ‘highly likely’ principle, beloved by Western countries, that is, unfounded suspicions.”
Moscow has repeatedly denied Western accusations of involvement in hacking activities as warmongering and has consistently expressed willingness to cooperate on cybersecurity matters.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously noted that accusing Russia of hacking is “a favorite hobby around the world,” and that blaming Moscow for everything has become a common trend in the West.
The latest Swedish allegations come amid heightened tensions between Moscow and NATO. The military bloc has cited the supposed threat of Russian aggression to justify a massive military buildup and developing offensive cyber capabilities.
In February, the EU’s tech chief Henna Virkkunen also said it was “not enough” to have defensive measures and that the bloc needs also to have “offensive capacity.”
The number of DDoS attacks on Russian companies exceeded 186,000 in 2025, marking a 2.7‑fold increase from the previous year, according to the RED Security cybersecurity firm. In 2026, the upward trend has continued, with weekly attacks on state resources surging from an average of 350 to 949 in the spring, according to the Russian authorities.
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