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Trump has declared his intent to "take" Cuba as a US oil blockade plunges the island into repeated nationwide blackouts, while Kazakhstan approved a new constitution critics say consolidates presidential power.

Elsewhere, Iran breached Israeli air defences injuring 160 people near the Dimona nuclear site, Trump issued Tehran a 48-hour ultimatum to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and damage to Qatar's Ras Laffan LNG facility has forced the cancellation of long-term supply contracts with Europe and Asia for up to five years.

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Top 5 Stories

1️⃣ 🇺🇸🇨🇺 Trump declares intent to "take" Cuba amid total power blackout: Donald Trump stated he expects to have "the honour of taking Cuba," claiming he could "do anything I want" with the country as US-Cuba negotiations continue following an oil blockade that collapsed the island's electrical grid. The New York Times separately reported, citing four anonymous sources, that US officials demanded Cuba remove President Miguel Díaz-Canel during recent talks — a condition Cuba has historically treated as a dealbreaker.

2️⃣ 🇰🇵 North Korea fires ~10 ballistic missiles in response to US-South Korea drills: Launched from near Pyongyang's international airport, the missiles travelled roughly 220 miles before landing in the Sea of Japan, hours after South Korea's Prime Minister met Trump in Washington. Experts warned the launches risk derailing diplomatic progress between the parties, as North Korea has simultaneously hardened its position by demanding Washington drop denuclearisation as a precondition for talks.

3️⃣ 🇷🇺 Abandoned Russian shadow fleet tanker threatens Mediterranean ecological disaster: The Arctic Metagaz — a crewless liquefied natural gas carrier carrying 700 metric tons of fuel — has been drifting between Malta and Italy since catching fire early March, which Russia attributed to a Ukrainian drone strike launched from Libya, though Ukraine has not claimed responsibility. EU member states warned the European Commission that any intervention risks undermining sanctions imposed on Russia's shadow fleet, creating a dual dilemma between preventing an ecological disaster and maintaining sanctions integrity.

4️⃣ 🇨🇳🇹🇼 US intelligence assessment finds China not planning 2027 Taiwan invasion: A newly released annual report concluded that Chinese Communist Party leaders have no fixed timeline for unification and currently prefer a non-military path to control over Taiwan, though the PLA continues developing capabilities that could be used to seize the island.

5️⃣ 🇩🇰🇬🇱 Denmark secretly prepared for potential US invasion of Greenland in January: According to Danish public broadcaster DR, Copenhagen flew blood supplies and runway-demolition explosives to Greenland while simultaneously coordinating a multinational military deployment — including Danish, French, German, Norwegian and Swedish forces — designed to compel the US into a significant hostile act before any occupation could proceed. Denmark's defence ministry and both the Danish and Greenlandic prime ministers' offices declined to comment on the report.

Major Story

Military

1️⃣ Iranian missiles breach Israeli air defences injuring 160 near nuclear site: Ballistic missiles struck the southern Israeli towns of Arad and Dimona on Saturday evening, injuring 160 people after interceptors failed to stop two direct hits from warheads weighing hundreds of kilograms, with Israeli authorities now investigating the air defence failure. Iran said the strikes were retaliation for a US-Israeli attack on its Natanz nuclear facility, while the IAEA confirmed no radiation increase at either site — though Dimona sits 13km from the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, widely understood to hold Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal.

2️⃣ Trump issues 48-hour ultimatum to Iran over Strait of Hormuz: Trump threatened to destroy Iranian power plants "starting with the biggest one first" if Tehran did not fully reopen the strait within 48 hours, a day after signalling he was considering winding down the war. Iran responded by threatening to target US and allied energy and desalination infrastructure in the region.

3️⃣ Iran's Diego Garcia missile strike reveals range capable of hitting European capitals: The attempted attack on the Indian Ocean base — using a Khorramshahr missile based on a North Korean design — travelled approximately 4,000 kilometres, double Iran's previously declared range limit of 2,000 kilometres, putting London, Paris and Berlin within reach. The revelation coincided with UK Prime Minister Starmer approving Diego Garcia as a launch site for offensive strikes in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Iran's foreign minister to threaten continued targeting of British bases.

4️⃣ Ukraine deploys drone expertise to Gulf states: Zelenskyy confirmed more than 200 Ukrainian experts had been sent to the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to help counter Iranian Shahed drones — the same type Russia has fired at Ukraine in its thousands — with Ukraine offering interceptor drones at roughly $3,000 per shot compared to up to $10m for US ballistic interceptors. 

Diplomacy

5️⃣ Trump signals potential wind-down of Iran war while Pentagon prepares escalation: Trump posted on Truth Social that the US was "getting very close" to meeting its military objectives and was considering winding down operations, while separately telling reporters he would not pursue a ceasefire as the US was "obliterating the other side." The statements contradict concurrent Pentagon preparations reported by CBS, including detailed planning for a ground force deployment into Iran and the dispatch of 2,500 Marines and additional warships to the region.

6️⃣ Iran offers Japan safe passage through Strait of Hormuz as selective blockade takes shape: Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi told Japan's Kyodo News the strait remained open to non-enemy nations, with Tehran prepared to facilitate Japanese transit through direct coordination — a significant offer given Japan sources over 90% of its crude oil from the Middle East. Lloyd's List separately reported that an IRGC vetting and registration system is being developed, with 10 ships already transiting via an emerging safe corridor close to Iran's coastline, joining a small cohort of vessels from China, India and Pakistan granted passage in recent days.

Economic/Oil

7️⃣ Iranian strike on Qatar's Ras Laffan facility forces cancellation of European LNG contracts: QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi announced the company would invoke force majeure on long-term supply contracts with Italy, Belgium, South Korea and China for up to five years after Iranian ballistic missiles damaged two LNG trains and one gas-to-liquids facility, removing approximately 12.8 million tons of annual export capacity — roughly 17% of Qatar's total and 3% of global supply. European gas futures jumped as much as 35% on Thursday to more than double pre-conflict levels, even as several European governments downplayed the severity of the supply disruption.

Other News

1️⃣ 🇺🇸🇮🇷 US intel chief's written testimony contradicts Trump's Iran war justification: Tulsi Gabbard's written submission to the Senate intelligence committee stated that Iran had made no attempts to rebuild its nuclear enrichment capabilities following the June 2025 US-Israeli strikes — though she omitted that finding from her oral testimony, citing time constraints. The disclosure adds to mounting contradictions around the administration's rationale for war, with the UK's national security adviser, Oman's foreign minister, and the now-resigned director of the National Counterterrorism Center all separately disputing claims that diplomacy had failed or that Iran posed an imminent threat.

2️⃣ 🇰🇿 Kazakhs approve new constitution critics say expands presidential power: Preliminary results showed 87% support for the changes, which replace the bicameral parliament with a unicameral body, allow the president to appoint key officials without parliamentary approval, and establish a new advisory council with legislative powers. The OSCE deployed only a limited monitoring team citing transparency concerns, and journalists covering the vote faced brief detentions near polling stations.

3️⃣ 🇪🇺 Five EU nations seek Brussels intervention over drifting Russian gas tanker: Italy, Spain, Malta, Greece and Cyprus jointly wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen requesting activation of the EU's civil protection mechanism, warning the crewless Arctic Metagaz — carrying LNG and other fuels — risks imminent ecological catastrophe in EU waters. The tanker has since drifted from its earlier position between Malta and Lampedusa toward Libya, with Malta imposing a 7km exclusion zone around the vessel due to explosion risk.

4️⃣ 🇺🇸🇻🇪 Trump eases Venezuela oil sanctions as Iran conflict drives crude above $100: The Treasury Department authorised PdVSA to sell Venezuelan oil directly to US companies, with payments held in a US-controlled account and sales to Russia, Iran, North Korea and some Chinese entities explicitly barred. The move accompanied a 60-day Jones Act waiver on domestic shipping requirements, as Brent crude hit $109 a barrel amid a near-total halt to Strait of Hormuz traffic following US strikes on Iranian anti-ship missile sites and Kharg Island.

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