Breakfast News Recap: Middle East tensions flare as Gaza talks stall and markets turn defensive

Iran has warned it will move to a fully offensive military posture as efforts to secure a permanent end to the war with the United States stall, while a separate report said a vessel was hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, with one crew member reported dead or injured.  🔗  🔗

Sponsored

In Gaza, talks linked to Jared Kushner’s peace plan ended without a breakthrough, even as Israel and the United States agreed that an American general would verify Hamas disarmament before any Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.  🔗  🔗

Across the wider region, UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon said Israeli military activity has risen sharply over the past two weeks, with civilians bearing the immediate impact, and in Iraq a fire at a fuel depot near Sulaimaniyah injured about 20 people and destroyed dozens of tanker trucks.  🔗  🔗

Russia said the Moscow region was hit by a large overnight drone attack, with air defences intercepting many of the aircraft but several people still injured and buildings damaged. Moscow also accused the United Kingdom of escalation after confirming British made drones were used in strikes near Podolsk, and separately upheld the ban on Yabloko from September’s parliamentary elections while a deputy leader received an 11 year sentence.  🔗  🔗  🔗

Sponsored

In Asia, South Korea is reviewing Donald Trump’s decision to sharply scale back joint military drills just as the exercises were due to begin, after Trump said Kim Jong Un had responded, and heavy rain in southern South Korea triggered a landslide in Geoje that killed one person and injured four.  🔗  🔗  🔗

China announced a new Arctic shipping route from Ningbo to Felixstowe via Russia’s Northern Sea Route, a move aimed at bypassing Red Sea disruption, while Beijing also held the funeral of former premier Zhu Rongji in a tightly controlled and low profile manner.  🔗  🔗

Elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East, an explosion was reported at a school in Kabul’s Dasht e Barchi district with several students injured, Syria opened an investigation into the death of former White Helmets rescuer Mohammed Gamira in police custody, and Russia summoned Japan’s ambassador after Tokyo protested Vladimir Putin’s visit to the disputed Kuril Islands.  🔗  🔗  🔗

In the Americas, Likud is holding primaries in Israel ahead of the next general election, while in the United States federal cases in Albany saw an Ecuadorian man plead guilty to illegal reentry and a Brazilian national plead guilty to transporting aliens; separately, an alleged $165 million crypto Ponzi scheme suspect is due in court after deportation from Fiji.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

Sponsored

In the UK, Andy Burnham was reportedly targeted by someone posing as White House chief of staff Susie Wiles in a messaging exchange, adding a fresh political security concern.  🔗

#MiddleEast #markets #Russia #SouthKorea #China #breakingrecap #recapbreakfast