A retired schoolteacher named Dan J. Sullivan is on Alaska's U.S. Senate ballot with Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola. The New York Times reported Democratic operatives recruited Dan J. Sullivan as a spoiler; the Justice Department and Alaska officials are investigating, and Peltola denies knowing about it.
Al Jazeera reported, citing Wafa, that Israeli settlers placed a mobile home and tent on Palestinian land west of Ramallah, establishing a new settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank.
The Omani navy evacuated 25 crew from a vessel off the Musandam Peninsula, according to Reuters. This is an analyst's conditional warning about possible escalation, not a factual claim to check. General political commentary about Middle East dynamics and Israeli politics; no specific factual claim to check. An opinion/wish about Middle East governance and Jerusalem; not a factual claim.
The Guardian reports an evacuation of civilians from Russian-held Oleshky, near Kherson, began as part of a joint relief operation, the first such operation in four years and eight months of war.
BP reported quarterly underlying replacement cost profit of $8.46bn (£6.3bn), an 18-year high, according to The Guardian, amid higher refining margins during the Middle East conflict.
The Guardian reports Binance suffered a $6.3bn cryptocurrency hack, described as the largest heist in history, and says North Korea is the likely culprit; Binance says it will cover customer losses.
BThe first civilian evacuation in nearly five years of war is underway in a Russian-held city in southern Ukraine.
BOleshky, across the Dnipro from Kherson. The Guardian reports a joint relief convoy got in today with food and medicine.
BAnd they're bringing people out. First operation of its kind since the invasion, four years and eight months.
BThat's the part that gets me. A city under Russian control, and it took this long to get civilians out.
BThe logistics are brutal. It's on the occupied side of the river, front line nearby, constant shelling.
BStill, you have to ask why it took a joint relief operation, not a military corridor, to make this happen.
BBecause neither side wants to be seen as losing ground. Civilians get caught in that.
BAnd the people who stayed? They've been living with severe shortages for months. This is long overdue.
BLet's hope it's not the last.
BDifferent corner of the war economy now. BP just posted its best quarter in eighteen years.
BEight point four six billion dollars. The Guardian calls it obscene. Climate campaigners are furious.
BAnd the reason is the war in the Middle East driving up refining margins. Conflict is good for oil companies.
BThat's the uncomfortable truth. When Iran and Israel trade strikes, oil prices spike, and BP cashes in.
BI'm not going to pretend I'm shocked. Oil companies profit from instability. That's the business.
BBut eighteen-year high? While civilians are suffering? The optics are terrible.
BThe optics are always terrible. The question is whether BP did anything wrong, or just rode the market.
BThey didn't start the war. But they're certainly not losing sleep over it.
BNo, they're celebrating a banner quarter. That's the quote from the company.
BBanner quarter. While the Middle East burns.
BMeanwhile, in the West Bank, Israeli settlers have started a new outpost west of Ramallah.
BAl Jazeera, citing the Palestinian news agency Wafa, says they placed a mobile home and a tent on Palestinian land.
BThis is how settlements start. A trailer, a tent, then permanent structures. And it's illegal under international law.
BThe Israeli government calls them outposts, not settlements. But the effect is the same. Land gets taken.
BAnd every new outpost makes a two-state solution harder. That's not opinion, that's geography.
BThe settlers know that. They're not building for peace. They're building to make withdrawal impossible.
BAnd the international community will condemn it, and nothing will change. Same as always.
BThat's the cycle. Condemnation, construction, more condemnation.
BQuick one from the Gulf. Oman's navy evacuated twenty-five crew from a vessel off the Musandam Peninsula.
BReuters has the story. No word yet on what happened to the ship, but the crew's safe.
BOman's been quietly building its naval capacity. This is the kind of operation they're good at.
BAnd it's a reminder that the Strait of Hormuz is right there. Any incident in those waters matters.
BOne more thing worth watching. A Middle East analyst named Eric Mandel is warning that if Iran feels cornered, Hezbollah and the Houthis could ignite a wider war.
BThat's a conditional warning, not a prediction. But it's the scenario everyone's gaming out.
BIf Trump moves decisively against Tehran, the proxies don't sit still. They're designed for exactly this.
BThe question is whether Iran's leadership feels cornered enough to risk it. That's the calculation.
BAnd it's a calculation that could reshape the region in a week.
BThat's the world we're living in. One miscalculation away from a much bigger war.