Breakfast News Recap: US and Iran trade maritime blows as West Bank sanctions and trade tensions widen

US forces struck five Iranian tankers, sinking one, after Tehran twice targeted an American warship, in the latest sharp escalation in Gulf waters. The exchanges have raised fears of a wider confrontation at sea as tensions between Washington and Tehran intensify.  🔗

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Iran backed Houthi forces in Yemen also launched strikes on four cities in southern Saudi Arabia, while reports said they attacked Saudi energy facilities, helping push oil to a six week high. President Donald Trump separately said oil would fall as the United States wins its conflict with Iran and denies Tehran a nuclear weapon.  🔗  🔗  🔗

Washington has also tightened pressure on Iran beyond the maritime clashes, announcing new sanctions on the country's aviation sector under Operation Economic Outcast. The move adds to a broader campaign of economic pressure on Tehran.  🔗

In the Middle East, Britain and 11 other countries moved to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, prompting a hostile response from Israel. The UK had already announced sanctions on illegal settlements, saying it marked the start of a new approach to the Israeli issue.  🔗  🔗

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Diplomatic and legal pressure on Israel is also building elsewhere, with a report saying the United Arab Emirates warned Benjamin Netanyahu before the 7 October attacks, and Nicaragua urging the International Court of Justice to keep its case against Germany alive over arms exports to Israel. China meanwhile said it would deepen communication and coordination with Qatar after a visit by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.  🔗  🔗  🔗

Across Europe, Friedrich Merz is under renewed scrutiny after the far right Alternative for Germany won a historic victory in the Saxony Anhalt state election. In Ukraine, prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko resigned after anti corruption investigators raided his office, while Russia and Ukraine continued deadly drone strikes that killed two civilians at a border checkpoint and hit Novorossiysk.  🔗  🔗  🔗

In the wider security picture, a new report said cluster munitions killed or injured at least 1,063 people worldwide in 2025, putting the year among the highest annual tolls on record. In the United States, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is driving a Pentagon shake up that is deepening internal strain, and the White House has renewed efforts on Ukraine peace after Donald Trump spoke by phone with Vladimir Putin.  🔗  🔗  🔗

Elsewhere, the US has imposed an import ban on Canadian products including alcoholic spirits, dairy goods and motorbikes, deepening the trade dispute with Ottawa. In domestic politics, Republican John E. Sununu and Democrat Chris Pappas won New Hampshire primaries and will face each other in the Senate race, while ICE arrested David Ortiz García in Puerto Rico on child exploitation charges and Sergei Anatolyevich Filimonov appeared in US federal court after extradition in a bank account takeover fraud case.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

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In Asia Pacific, Indonesia reopened Jakarta's main international airport and four others after ash from Mount Anak Krakatau spread across Java and Sumatra. In Australia, workers at Premier Coal in Collie voted for protected industrial action after talks on a final enterprise agreement broke down, and in the Pacific the US warning over a Taiwan Strait conflict said any war there would be globally disastrous.  🔗  🔗  🔗

In The Gambia, violent protests erupted over rolling blackouts in Banjul and nearby cities as President Adama Barrow promised new power capacity. The unrest underlines the strain caused by prolonged electricity outages.  🔗

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