🇪🇹🇪🇷⚡- An unidentified convoy of vehicles in the Sheraro area of northern Tigray, Ethiopia, was drone struck by the Ethiopian military.

The convoy had entered Ethiopia from Eritrea. Initial reports suggest at least nine casualties.

🇨🇳🇯🇵🇵🇭⚡- China’s Ministry of Transport has announced the launch of a “special maritime traffic law enforcement operation” in waters to the east of Taiwan.

According to China Central Television (CCTV), the move was undertaken in response to the recent announcement by Japan and the Philippines of maritime boundary negotiations in the same area—an initiative that Beijing asserts encroaches upon China’s "sovereignty and maritime rights".

🇺🇸🇹🇷🇪🇬⚡- "The US administration recently requested clarifications from Egyptian and Turkish representatives in Washington regarding security and military contacts between the two countries' defense ministries.

US intelligence warns against these cooperation steps, indicating that they could include "game-changing" arms deals that would affect the balance of power in the region [i.e. affect Israel's hegemony in the Middle East]," - Ma'ariv.

🇺🇸🇮🇷🇮🇱⚡- The Pentagon has raised Israel’s counterintelligence threat level from “high” to “critical," after Israeli spy agencies intensified efforts monitoring U.S. officials involved in the U.S.-Iran talks, the New York Times reports.

🇺🇸⚡️- A mass shooting has occurred at a festival in Toledo, Ohio, where multiple people have been shot.

Victims have been transported to the hospital. The shooter is not in custody.

🇺🇸🇨🇺⚡- "The threat of military intervention has once again shaken the streets of Cuba. Amid the deployment of military might by the United States near the island, the Havana government has begun distributing weapons to ordinary citizens, officially urging them to prepare for an imminent foreign invasion," - Version Final.

🇺🇸🇨🇺⚡- "The climate of tension and uncertainty is palpable on the ground and is already affecting daily life in the Cuban capital. Preparations for a war scenario have reached the point where administrators of state-owned buildings are consulting tenants about wartime logistics.

In the state building where our main offices are located, one of the administrators approached us to ask if we were going to need the office during an invasion," - CNN correspondent Patrick Oppmann tells Bloomberg.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️- "Earlier today, U.S. forces in the Middle East shot down two Iranian one-way attack drones that threatened international maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

American forces remain postured and ready to continue defending against Iranian aggression." - US Central Command.

🇺🇸🇨🇺⚡️- "Cuban girls and boys are direct victims of greed, economic strangulation, and U.S. aggression.

The oil embargo and the extreme tightening of the blockade that the U.S. applies against Cuba constitute a cruel and indiscriminate collective punishment that causes deaths in our country, mainly among infants.

An example of this is the doubling of the infant mortality rate from 4.0 to 9.9 per thousand live births, and the reduction in life expectancy for children with cancer from 85% to 65%.

Stop the U.S. aggression. Let Cuban children live and grow in peace." - Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️- "The U.S. government will attempt to redirect Iranian assets to Gulf states for rebuilding and repairs of future damage caused ​by Iran, a source familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has ‌also directed a team to assess costs for damage already inflicted on Gulf allies by Iran, the source said, adding that the U.S. will consider using Iranian assets for those repairs as well.

The source on Saturday did not specify what kind of assets the Treasury was examining. The language ​used to describe the new measures did not appear limited to frozen assets." - Reuters.

🇷🇺🇦🇲⚡️- One day before the elections begin in Armenia, Armenian authorities have arrested six candidates from the Strong Armenia party, the pro-Russian party.

Samvel Karapetyan, the current leader of the Strong Armenia party, is currently under house arrest for threatening to overthrow the government in 2025.

Tensions between Russia and Armenia have increased recently as Armenia shifts away from Russia and is increasingly moving towards Europe and the West.

🇺🇸 - The USS Nimitz (CVN-68) has departed Jamaica after finishing its Southern Seas tour of south America and is underway again.

The Nimitz is scheduled to return to Naval Station Norfolk to be decommissioned.

🇺🇸⚡️- The mass shooting at the Old West End Festival in Toledo, Ohio has left 12 people shot, at least two in critical condition, and police still searching for the shooters.

The Deputy Police Chief said it appears that two people were shooting, and they believe they were firing at each other.

🇱🇧🇮🇱⚡️- Four IDF soldiers have been wounded in a Hezbollah FPV drone strike in southern Lebanon.

🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡- "A Russian drone struck a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel near Ukraine's disused Chornobyl power plant. Ukrainian officials say radiation levels at the site remain stable," - Reuters.

🇦🇲 - Armenia's parliamentary elections are taking place today. Nikol Pashinyan is expected to win.

🇦🇲⚡- Armenia's parliamentary election voter turnout at 11am local time stood at 14.5%, the highest in 14 years.

🇬🇧⚡- The Bank of England have axed Winston Churchill (£5), Alan Turing (£50), and Jane Austen (£10) from banknotes, deeming them 'elitist' and 'divisive'.

🇪🇸🇻🇦⚡️- Around 1.2M Spanish Catholics rallied in Madrid for the Pope's visit to Spain.