President Donald Trump’s top general is preparing for 14 days of strikes on Iran, according to new reports
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, is designing a devastating air campaign, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal
The thinking behind the escalation is to force Tehran to comply with its demands in the Strait of Hormuz after smaller attacks appear not to have deterred the IRGC
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had vowed to “punish the aggressor today” after a wave of US strikes on Iranian targets overnight
Jordan’s air defences shot down five missiles launched from Iran Thursday morning, the country’s state-run Petra news agency said, hours after the US military announced it had completed “a heavy wave of strikes against Iran” in response to an earlier Iranian missile attack on a US base in Jordan
The US military has resumed strikes against Iran after Donald Trump promised Tehran would “get a beating”
Trump unleashed an expletive-ridden threat to “beat the f****** s***” out of Iran” Wednesday following its “surprise” missile attack against the US
Saudi Arabia also joined US strikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq Wednesday, killing at least 20 soldiers
Iran’s Araghchi presses European counterparts over use of bases in US operations
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged Bulgaria to reconsider its decision to allow the temporary deployment of U.S. military aircraft at the Bezmer air base, Iranian state media reported on Thursday
During a phone call with his Bulgarian counterpart, Velislava Petrova-Chamova, Araghchi said Sofia’s approval of a U.S. request to station military aircraft at the base to support military operations amounted to facilitating aggression against Iran, adding the move was unacceptable and contrary to the traditionally friendly relations between the two countries
Iran has repeatedly warned countries allowing their territory to be used for U.S. military operations against it that they could “face consequences”
Araghchi held a separate phone call with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, during which he stressed the importance of preventing foreign military bases in Cyprus from being used against Iran
Maira Butt30 July 2026 15:31
Trump’s general plots two weeks of strikes in major escalation of war effort
President Donald Trump’s top general is preparing for 14 days of strikes on Iran, according to new reports
Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, is designing a devastating air campaign, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal
The thinking behind the escalation is to force Tehran to comply with its demands in the Strait of Hormuz after smaller attacks appear not to have deterred the IRGC
Maira Butt30 July 2026 15:05
U.S. economy turns in sluggish 1.5 per cent second-quarter growth and inflation remains above Fed target
The US economy expanded at a sluggish 1.5% pace from April through June as rising imports weighed on growth. But consumer spending rose. And the Federal Reserve’s favored measure of inflation grew more slowly last month, but remained above the central bank’s 2% target
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that growth in U.S. gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — decelerated from 2.1% in the first three months of 2026 and came in below economists’ expectations
U.S. economy turns in sluggish 1.5% second-quarter growth and inflation remains above Fed target
The U.S. economy expanded at a sluggish 1.5% pace from April through June as rising imports weighed on growth
Maira Butt30 July 2026 14:40
Iran’s revolutionary guards claim attack on Kuwait airbase
The IRGC has claimed responsibility for an attack on the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait
Maira Butt30 July 2026 14:11
Netanyahu says Israel has ‘special forces’ ready if he is arrested abroad after Mamdani threat
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is notafraid of being arrested as a suspected war criminal in New York and that special forces are on standby if it were attempted
New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, recently called on the federal governmentto enforce an arrest warrant issued against Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court in 2024
While the US is not a member, the arrest warrant means Netanyahu is nowan internationally wanted suspectand that the ICC’s 124 member states – including the UK – would be obliged to arrest him if they were to enter their territory
Netanyahu says Israel has ‘special forces’ ready if he is arrested abroad
Netanyahu said he would press ahead with a trip to New York after the city’s mayor urged the US government to arrest him for suspected war crimes
Maira Butt30 July 2026 13:33
Oil prices slip and Asian shares are mostly lower as investors sell chipmaker stocks
Oil prices fell Wednesday and Asian shares were mostly trading lower as South Korea’s Kospi extended its losses after falling more than 16% over the past two days
Crude prices remain volatile after the U.S. said early Thursday it had conducted a “heavy wave” of strikes against Iran, responding to an attack on a U.S. base
U.S. futures edged higher after losses on Wall Street
In South Korea, recent drops in its benchmark Kospi, a big beneficiary of the global boom in artificial intelligence, have been seen by some analysts as a reflection of broader doubts about massive investments by technology giants in expanding capacity for AI
Oil prices slip and Asian shares are mostly lower as investors sell chipmaker stocks
Oil prices have fallen and Asian shares are mostly trading lower
Maira Butt30 July 2026 13:01
Iran says talks with Oman over management of Hormuz continues
Iran has said that talks with Oman over management of the Strait of Hormuz is continuing after Muscat put forward a Gulf-backed proposal on “voluntary fees” for vessels transiting the vital shipping route
imilar proposal for the Red Sea
Maira Butt30 July 2026 12:30
Trump’s Iran war is becoming a political disaster, new poll shows
A new AP-NORC poll suggests Americans are growing increasingly skeptical of the war with Iran,with about two-thirds saying the conflict has not been worth fighting and support for President Donald Trump’s handling of the war slipping
The survey, conducted July 23-27, found just 28% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of Iran, down from 34% last month. Support also dipped among Republicans, with 61% approving, compared with 71% in June, though the poll’s margin of error means the decline is modest
The findings come after nearly two weeks of intensified fighting in which U.S. forces struck Iranian military and commercial targets and Iran retaliated against American facilities in the Middle East. Eighteen U.S. service members have been killed since the conflict began on Feb. 28
Trump’s Iran war is becoming a political disaster, new poll shows
Most Americans say the war in Iran has not been worth fighting
Maira Butt30 July 2026 12:00
Three revolutionary guard members killed in US attacks
Three members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been killed in the US strike on Iran, state media has confirmed on Thursday
US Central Command announced early Thursday that it had launched strikes against Iran in what it called a “powerful response” to attempted attacks on American forces in the Middle East
Maira Butt30 July 2026 11:35
