Category: Middle East

U.S. service members are increasingly looking for ways to leave the military early rather than participate in President Donald Trump’s Iran war, a report has alleged.
Almost 3,600 people, including at least 1,665 civilians, have been killed so far by the joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes against Tehran that began on February 28, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Many soldiers have taken to calling the 24-hour GI Rights Hotline run by the nonprofit Center on Conscience and War to express their concerns and frustration, NPR reports.
Counseling director, Bill Galvin, told NPR he has noticed a sharp uptick in calls over the past month.
open image in galleryServing members of the U.S. military are increasingly anxious about the Iran war and many are seeking means of ducking out early, rather than fight in a conflict they do not believe in, says the the Center on Conscience and War (Reuters)The bombing of a girls' school on the first day of the war, which left 165 civili..

Israel bombed Lebanon so intensely on Wednesday that witnesses, and the wounded, told The Independent it felt like they had unleashed a “ring of fire” on the capital, Beirut, and an “earthquake” across the rest of the country.
Over 100 targets were hit in just 10 minutes, according to Israel’s count. More than 250 people were killed and over 1,000 injured, according to the Lebanese Civil Defence. They are still digging bodies out of the rubble.
This “absolute massacre”, as it was described by a renowned British conflict surgeon in a Beirut emergency room, does not just impact Lebanon.
It is already jeopardising the future of a long-awaited and deeply fragile truce between the US, Israel and Iran. A truce which hangs in the balance.
This deal, this resolution to a global nightmare, is desperately needed for the civilians chewed up in the violence – and for us all.
It is not just about the worst disruption to global energy supplies in history, shuttered airports bringing movement around..

Vance accuses Kyiv and Moscow of ‘haggling over a few square kilometres’Moscow has threatened to attack countries in the Baltic that are allowing Ukraine to use their airspace to fly drones to attack Russia.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova issued the warning after Kyiv used drones to attack the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, which are key to Moscow’s oil exports.
“If third countries have provided or are providing their territory for enemy drones to fly over, they must fully understand – and we are confident they do, because it has been explained to them – the risks they are exposing themselves to,” she said on Thursday.
Russian drones and aircraft have repeatedly violated European airspace, including fighter jet incursions into Estonia and unidentified drones flying over Copenhagen and Oslo airports.
The Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — are Nato members after gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Britain's defenc..

Putin ‘no longer has upper hand’ in war, says ex-CIA chiefA secret unit of Ukrainian forces launched attacks on a Russian oil tanker while operating in western Libya, officials in the north African country said.
In a suspected sea drone attack, Ukrainian forces hit the Russian-flagged Arctic Metagaz, carrying 61,000 tons of liquefied natural gas, causing it to suddenly explode in a massive fire early in March.
The oil tanker, part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet, was transporting oil in violation of international sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
It was badly damaged and its crew evacuated, leaving it to drift towards Libyan waters.
While Ukraine has not issued a direct comment on the Arctic Metagaz incident, it says Russia uses its oil export revenues to help fund the invasion, making its tanker fleet legitimate targets.
Earlier, ex-CIA chief David Petraeus said Vladimir Putin’s forces “no longer ha[ve] the upper hand” in the war with Ukraine.
He told CBS News:..

Israel strikes Lebanon with no warning after saying Iran ceasefire doesn’t apply thereDozens have been killed and hundreds injured in Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday, according to the country’s health ministry.
The Israeli military told The Independent that it had completed the “largest strike” on the country since the start of the conflict.
Israel had said it welcomed a ceasefire between Iran and the US but said the agreement “does not include Lebanon”. It launched strikes on Beirut and Tyre on Wednesday and claimed to be targeting Hezbollah fighters.
Hezbollah said it had paused fighting in light of the ceasefire and urged Israel to do the same.
Meanwhile, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said that the American military will be “hanging around” in Iran as he declared the US had won a “decisive military victory”.
Trump announced the agreement on Tuesday, hours after he threatened to wipe Iranian civilisation off the map. The two-week ceasefire will lead to Iran reopening..

Donald Trump has demanded that Fox News takes one of its hosts off the air, branding her a “real loser” in his latest attack on a female journalist. ​
Trump unloaded on Jessica Tarlov, co-host of The Five in a furious Truth Social post Tuesday, while also blasting Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream.
​“For Fox executives only, take Jessica Tarlov off the air,” the president wrote. “She is, from her voice, to her lies, and everything else about her, one of the worst ‘personalities’ on television, a real loser! People cannot stand watching her.”
Trump took Bream to task over the SAVE America Act, or Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which includes proposals to tighten voter registration laws in federal elections.​
He also went on to accuse her of failing to “correct” Representative Jake Auchincloss when he criticized the commander-in-chief’s dealings with China and his handling of the ongoing conflict with Iran.
open image in galleryPresident Donald Trump has demanded that Fox N..

Trump warns Iran ‘a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back’ as his strikes deadline loomsIran’s Kharg Island – a crucial oil export hub – has been targeted in several strikes on Tuesday, according to the Iranian Mehr news agency.
A US official confirmed the attacks on iver 50 military targets in comments to the Wall Street Journal.
President Donald Trump issued a staggering new threat on Tuesday, saying: “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen but it probably will.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said if the US crossed red lines Tehran’s response would be “beyond the region” and that the US and partners would see oil and gas supplies disrupted “for years” to come.
President Donald Trump’s deadline to “decimate” Iran’s civilian infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened is now hours away as Israel warned Iranians not to take trains on Tuesday ahead of strikes.
The US leader said he i..

A U.S. Army staff sergeant who reported for duty at a military base in Louisiana with his new bride last week was shocked to see her arrested by ICE agents shortly after their arrival.
Staff Sgt. Matthew Blank, 23, had driven from Houston, Texas, to Fort Polk with his wife Annie Ramos, 22, and his parents in time for a 2 p.m. registration appointment on Thursday April 2.
Ramos is an undocumented migrant who was brought to the U.S. by her parents when she was a toddler and had understood that she would receive a green card through her marriage, which would entitle her to apply for citizenship within three years of its receipt, as is customary under U.S. immigration law.
open image in galleryMatthew Blank and Annie Ramos on their wedding day in March (Family/GoFundMe)The group duly signed in at the base’s visitors’ center as instructed and presented their documentation, which included Blank’s military ID, their marriage license, and Ramos’s Honduran passport.
But rather than be ushered i..

Tehran issues warning after Donald Trump's swear-laden threats to IranPresident Donald Trump and First Lady Melania will host the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn Monday morning as he faces growing outrage over his threats to Iran this weekend.
At 10 a.m. ET, members of the public and Trump’s administration will attend the event, which will have a more patriotic theme to reflect the United States’ upcoming 250th anniversary.
The president will later hold a press conference at 1 p.m., one day after he drew ire from Republicans and Democratswith an expletive-ridden threat to Iran.
“Open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy b*****ds, or you’ll be living in Hell –JUST WATCH!,” Trump wrote as part of his Easter Sunday message on Truth Social.
He also claimed “an Easter Miracle” led to the rescue of an F-15 fighter jet crew member from Iran.
Former MAGA congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed Trump had “gone insane.” Democratic lawmakers said the president’s message ..