Saturday, March 7, 2026

World

US-Israeli strikes pound Tehran as Trump demands surrender

A week into the US-Israeli war on Iran, massive strikes have hit Tehran including near a primary school, while Iranian missiles have flown over Tel Aviv and Iran has retaliated with strikes across Gulf energy infrastructure. Trump has ruled out any deal short of "unconditional surrender" and the White House says the campaign will last four to six weeks. Airwars, a war monitoring group, reports the opening days have "hit significantly more targets than any campaign in recent decades."

Economy

Oil surges to 2023 highs as Iran war rattles markets

The US-Israeli war on Iran has sent oil to its highest price since 2023, with Gulf energy infrastructure taking direct hits for the first time in recent memory — ships in the Gulf are even falsifying transponder signals to declare themselves Chinese and dodge attack. The US is now weighing lifting more sanctions on Russian oil to ease the crunch, a day after it authorised India to buy Russian supplies. Wall Street closed out its worst week since October as the Iran crisis compounded an already weak US jobs report.

Politics

ICE shoots US citizen, arrests journalist without warrant

Two separate incidents have intensified scrutiny of ICE operations: footage has emerged showing a US citizen, Martinez, shot by an ICE agent during a Texas traffic stop — a fact the Department of Homeland Security concealed for nearly a year. Separately, agents arrested Estefany Rodriguez Florez, a reporter for Nashville Spanish-language outlet Nashville Noticias who had published stories critical of ICE, during a traffic stop without a warrant according to her lawyer.

Tech

Ukraine deploys armed battlefield robots against Russian forces

Ukraine has launched a formal programme to deploy armed ground robots on the frontlines against Russian forces, marking a significant escalation in autonomous battlefield technology. The move comes as a Ukraine-Russia prisoner exchange — 500 soldiers each over two days — stands as one of the few concrete outcomes of stalled peace talks. Ukraine is simultaneously hosting British engineers at undisclosed western Ukrainian facilities to repair donated weapons including British-supplied howitzers.

Health

FDA vaccine chief ousted for second time in a year

Dr. Vinay Prasad is leaving the FDA for the second time, after a tenure marked by controversy over vaccine reviews and approvals of specialty drugs for rare diseases. FDA commissioner Marty Makary informed staff by email that Prasad will depart at the end of April. His repeat removal signals continuing instability at the agency's vaccine division under the Trump administration.