🇾🇪⚡- Air defenses are active over Aden, Presidential Leadership Council controlled Yemen.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡- "Also, with respect to the Iran negotiations, Iran should be responsible for the damages and death caused to the people of Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Gaza!" - President Trump on Truth Social.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️- “Trump will not reach an agreement, we will accompany him until his term ends.” - Majid Shakeri, advisor to Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf.

Iran has effectively stated that it will not reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz until 2029 unless the United States unconditionally surrenders to its demands.

🇾🇪⚡- For the second time in three days, Ansarullah is attacking the port city of Mocha, Presidential Leadership Council controlled southwest Yemen.

🇱🇾⚡- Overnight, eastern Libya-based Libyan National Army's Director of Military Intelligence Fawzi al-Mansouri was assassinated in Benghazi.

🇩🇿🇳🇪⚡- In a major regional pivot, Algeria has armed Niger with four helicopters, including attack aircraft, to combat anti-state actors such as the terrorist group ISSP.

🇺🇸⚡- "FIFA would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing President Gianni Infantino. He is fantastic, having just presided over the most successful World Cup, by four times, ever presented. If he is gone, it will never be as successful or profitable again! Thank you for your attention to this matter." - President Trump on Truth Social.

🇾🇪🇸🇦🇵🇰⚡- Ansarullah struck a Saudi-managed commercial vessel in the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, killing three crew members, two of which were Pakistani.

🇸🇾⚡- Court of Damascus has sentenced former Assad's regime officer Atef Najib to death. He has been convicted of crimes against humanity, including the torture of children.

Atef Najib, the cousin of Bashar al-assad, was abandoned in Syria after the Assad brothers fled to hide in Moscow. Najib is currently being held in a prison in the Syrian capital.

The court has also sentenced the former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his brother, Maher al-Assad, to death in absentia.

🇨🇴⚡️- At least 162 deaths reported from the earthquake in Colombia.

🇨🇩⚡️- At least 2000 deaths reported from the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the DRC.

Health officials indicate the spread is not contained.

🇺🇸🇦🇪🇷🇺⚡- The U.S. has sold two Russian ghost tankers it had seized in January to UAE's Global Marketing Systems, GMS. GMS will dismantle and scrap the two Russian vessels, ERA and LILEO, at its scrapyards in India.

🇺🇸🇸🇾🇮🇱⚡- The United States, Syria, and the IAEA have reached an agreement to remove the remaining yellowcake uranium from Syria's former al-Kibar nuclear site. The facility was destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in 2007, and its entrances were attacked again in December 2024 to prevent the new Syrian government from accessing the site.

The leftover nuclear material will be removed under IAEA supervision in a deal brokered by Washington to reduce the risk of an Israel-Syria confrontation that could potentially draw in Turkey.

🇾🇪🇸🇦🇵🇰 - UKMTO confirms the Ansarullah attack on a Saudi-managed commercial vessel in the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, which killed two Pakistani crew members, and a single Indonesian.

🇸🇩🇪🇹⚡- The Rapid Support Forces, RSF, have launched another offensive from Ethiopian territory, this time advancing toward the Geisan area, Ad Damazin direction, southeast Sudan.

Fighting has been ongoing since early this morning, with RSF forces attempting to breach the Sudan-Ethiopia border at multiple points.

The assault follows a similar RSF operation two months ago in areas under the influence of the al-Hilu's forces, also in the Ad Damazin direction, briefly capturing Kurmuk before being driven out by a Sudanese Armed Forces counteroffensive.

🇸🇦🇾🇪⚡- Saudi Arabia launched two drone strikes targeting the same al-Houthi positions as two days ago in Wadi al-Mashawwat in the Ghumar district of the Sa'da region - Ansarullah stronghold of northern Yemen.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡- A Panama-flagged Iranian shadow vessel was fired upon by a U.S. military helicopter in the Gulf of Oman after attempting to breach the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and ignoring repeated warnings. No casualties were reported.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡- Mediators Qatar and Pakistan have both stated talks between Washington and Tehran are at an advanced stage and a deal is near.

🇪🇬⚡- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's schizophrenic foreign policy continues to face questions over its strategic direction. Egypt had been expected to become the fourth signatory to the historic Mecca Agreement defense pact over the weekend, but ultimately withdrew at the last minute, highlighting yet again an inconsistent and often contradictory approach to regional affairs.

One of the main obstacles to Cairo becoming a founding member was its full diplomatic and strong relationship with Israel. Egypt has also sought to avoid taking sides in the growing rivalry between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, maintaining close ties with both capitals, particularly the UAE.

During the recent U.S.-Iran war, Egypt played an active military role in support of Emirati airspace security. Cairo and Abu Dhabi have also formed a non-official alliance to combat Muslim Brotherhood influence in the wider region, an alliance that has been at odds with its own self interests at times. For instance, whether that's Egypt's backing of UAE-supported, anti-Islamist commander Khalifa Haftar in eastern Libya, while also backing Sudan's Islamist-leaning and Qatari-backed Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. A few months ago, Riyadh asked el-Sisi to close the al-Kufrah supply route for the Rapid Support Forces in southeast Libya–Egypt did, but for a week only.

🇸🇩🇪🇹⚡- BREAKING: The Rapid Support Forces, RSF, have captured Geisan, Ad Damazin direction, southeast Sudan. RSF are continuing their push northwards along Khawr Baba, where heavy fighting remains ongoing.

Note, the announcement of Geisan's capture by RSF media is particularly significant as it effectively reinforces allegations that Ethiopian territory is being used as a staging ground for RSF operations. Unlike the earlier offensive in the Kurmuk area, which also borders South Sudan, Geisan shares a border exclusively with Ethiopia.

Geisan is 60km away from Kurmuk.