The military says that any US attack will trigger sustained strikes on US bases and interests in the region, the report adds, warning that regional countries supporting US aggression against Iran will be considered parties to the conflict. (Times of Israel)
Iran has conveyed its conditions to mediators for re-engaging in negotiations aimed at ending the war with the US, Al Jazeera cited Iran's Security Chief Mohsen Rezaei as saying in an interview on Saturday.
The conditions include ending the war on all fronts, unfreezing Iranian funds, and ending the naval blockade, Rezaei said, adding that consultations were continuing with Qatari and Pakistani mediators and that Tehran was awaiting a response from US President Donald Trump.
Rezaei asserted that it is in Washington’s best interest to accept Iran’s terms, saying that US threats will yield no progress because Iran remains prepared for a “decisive war.” (Read More)
President Donald Trump struck a sweeping agreement with Denmark and Greenland this week granting the United States permanent military rights on the strategically placed Arctic island.
The U.S. will now have permanent access, basing and overflight rights in Greenland and the ability to establish additional military installations as needed, according to a senior U.S. official who outlined the deal exclusively to Fox News Digital.
The deal bars China, Russia and other non-NATO countries from establishing military bases or maintaining troops in Greenland. It also restricts adversaries from investing in sensitive sectors that could pose a threat to U.S. national security.
"Greenland will forever be part of the strategic defense area of North America and exclude any adversary from it and the surrounding area," Rubio said. "This deal permanently and completely addresses our national security concerns in Greenland. (Read More)
More than four years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Europe is preparing for a scenario that until recently seemed implausible: the spread of fighting beyond Ukraine's borders. Senior officials across the continent are warning that Moscow may escalate its military actions and attack NATO member states that supported Kyiv, according to a report published Saturday in Politico.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk presented a particularly alarming assessment, suggesting a Russian attack could occur within the coming months. French President Emmanuel Macron reinforced his words, stating the warning is "well-founded" while unveiling a new plan designed to protect critical infrastructure in France in the event of a Russian strike.
"This Is No Coincidence"
Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten joined the chorus of warnings Friday. "It is no coincidence that the Polish prime minister is speaking so forcefully," Jetten said. "We need to take this warning very seriously. We must consistently show that we do not accept this, and that we will act if necessary."
According to the reports, the scenarios European officials are warning about include attacks using drones or missiles on the territory of NATO states that supported Ukraine. Intelligence sources estimate Moscow may test Western response through targeted provocative actions against energy infrastructure or other critical facilities. (Read More)
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti warned that the Houthis would strike Turkey and Pakistan if they intervene for Riyadh, as the Mecca defense pact faces its first real test.
A senior Houthi official has warned Turkey and Pakistan against backing Saudi Arabia in its war with the group, saying both countries would be attacked if they intervene.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau, made the remarks in an interview with the Iraqi channel iNews. "We will strike them with an iron fist," he said. "Just as we are disciplining Saudi Arabia today, we will discipline them too."
Al-Bukhaiti warned last week that any direct Turkish or Pakistani intervention on Saudi Arabia's behalf would carry a heavy price.
The threat targets the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, signed in August by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, which created a framework for mutual defense cooperation. The pact has not yet been invoked. A Turkish official told Middle East Eye that Riyadh had not formally requested Ankara's assistance under it.
Regional analysts say Turkey is reluctant to confront the Houthis and would prefer to use its ties with both Riyadh and Tehran to defuse the crisis, while supplying Saudi Arabia with defensive equipment. Turkey has commercial, military and energy supply lines running through the Red Sea that an escalation could disrupt, and it already has a naval presence in the area, with warships guarding an energy exploration vessel off Somalia and participation in a UN-backed anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. (Read More)
Sirens blared in Mecca on Tuesday as the Houthis fired a drone from Yemen toward Islam’s holiest city, at least according to the Saudis.
Only a month before, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman hosted the leaders of Turkey and Pakistan to sign a joint defense agreement with great fanfare in the same city.
The Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia were the first test of that Mecca Agreement, and it doesn’t seem to have translated to improved security for the Gulf kingdom. Its cities, ships, and infrastructure are coming under daily attack, and Turkey and Pakistan have not mobilized to defend their beleaguered ally — this despite Saudi Arabia hosting at least 8,000 Pakistani troops.
Officials from Turkey and Pakistan told The Associated Press they have not received a Saudi request for support in response to the Houthis’ escalation. If they are telling the truth, and the new alliance doesn’t warrant even a request for assistance in the moment of truth, MBS is already admitting that it doesn’t actually make his kingdom any safer.
The manifest worthlessness of the Mecca pact is only one element of an increasingly dire situation for Saudi Arabia, one that doesn’t offer any easy way out.
The emerging reality – Iranian allies firing on the kingdom across multiple borders while closing crucial shipping lanes — “puts the Saudis in serious danger,” said Yoel Guzansky, senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies. “This is their biggest challenge since 1990, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and threatened Saudi oilfields.” (Read More)
President Trump said Friday he is banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House "effective immediately," escalating his long-running battles with news organizations.
Why it matters: Trump is seeking to use White House access against news outlets whose coverage he objects to, while threatening to target additional organizations.
The latest: Trump's Truth Social post called the three outlets "Fake News" and accused them of reporting "FICTION and LIES," before threatening to also ban other "Fake News Media Outlets."
Between the lines: The scope of the ban wasn't immediately clear. As of shortly after the post, CNN continued to work from the White House, the network reported.
Friction point: Trump has previously moved to restrict access for reporters and outlets he has clashed with.
State of play: The White House took control of selecting the presidential press pool from the White House Correspondents' Association last year.
More American service members have died in the Middle East during the ongoing Iran war than the Pentagon has disclosed publicly, according to six U.S. officials familiar with the Defense Department’s internal casualty accounting data.
Five of the officials said there have been at least 22 military fatalities — four more than what appears in the Pentagon’s public database, known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS. (Read More)
CAIRO (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Iranians rallied Friday in a government-organized show of defiance after months of war, pledging their readiness to take up arms in the biggest such demonstration since the United States and Israel attacked in February.
Iran’s government has sought to rally the people and stress national unity, even as the economy worsens under a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and new U.S. sanctions. On Friday, it claimed another attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway it has sought to control since the start of the war.
Estimates varied of the number of people volunteering to receive limited military training and defend the country in an effort described as “Janfaday-e Iran,” or the “ones who sacrifice their lives for Iran.” They marched through downtown Tehran in combat uniform, carrying flags, as onlookers cheered. (Read More / Watch)
Iran says 313,000 people have been mobilised in Tehran as part of preparations for a potential crisis. Authorities say volunteers include civilians from different generations and backgrounds who can be trained and assigned to battalions.
The figure 313 has symbolic importance in Shia Islam. They believe when their Mahdi Messiah returns in the end times he will have 313 companions.
In this section of the August 2026 episode of FO Exclusive, Atul Singh and Glenn Carle warn that the Iran war is disrupting the energy, fertilizer and shipping systems that modern agriculture depends on. These disruptions combined with other factors could reduce harvests, drive food inflation and starve millions. Notably, poorer countries face the risk of famine, social unrest and political destabilization.
As pointed out repeatedly by Atul and Glenn, the Hormuz crisis has caused a massive energy and fertilizer crisis. This global crisis is increasing food inflation. Monetary policies are worsening this inflation.
International staples such as wheat, corn and soybeans are priced in dollars. As FOI has pointed out repeatedly, post-Covid monetary easing debased the dollar. As many have noticed, groceries cost far more than before.
In poorer countries, this inflation is a lot worse. Many currencies in emerging markets are depreciating against the dollar. Thanks to the exchange-rate multiplier effect, food prices are rising in many poorer countries even faster than in the US. Note that high food prices helped trigger the Arab Uprisings at the end of 2010.
Glenn emphasizes the political consequences of the
upheavals in 2010. Food inflation did not single-handedly cause the Arab
Uprisings. Corruption, unemployment, repression and political exclusion had
already generated deep frustration. Yet rising prices transformed those
grievances into household emergencies. Governments become far more vulnerable
when families can no longer afford bread. As Atul says repeatedly, “revolutions
depend on the price of bread.” (Read More / Watch)
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Senior Reseaarcher Brad Myers comments;
Could there come a time in the future when poor and middle-class families all over the world, including in the US, Canada, and the UK, will no longer be able to afford a loaf of wheat bread, because it will cost a full day's pay?
Are current global trends in 2026 pointing toward a worldwide financial collapse ? Across the globe, do we see wars spreading, famine threatening fragile regions, and essential commodities like food and fuel becoming increasingly expensive and scarce, all while the wealth gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen?
Do you know where all these global trends are leading in the future, and whether they will lead to what we see in Revelation 6:5–6?
As far as is known, US President Donald Trump rejected Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's urgent appeals for direct military intervention. Saudi Arabia's approach to Israel through US Central Command, first reported by Israel Hayom on Monday, was another indication of bin Salman's growing desperation. Israel, however, is not expected to join direct combat against the Houthis and will limit its assistance to intelligence and defensive support, including information on launches.
The Saudis also fear a Houthi ground incursion into the kingdom, an "Oct. 7 scenario" that could have dramatic consequences for bin Salman's standing. At the same time, Saudi oil exports have fallen to unprecedented lows, costing the kingdom billions of dollars in lost revenue.
Iran, which initiated the Houthi campaign in an effort to drive up oil prices and hurt Trump ahead of the US midterm elections, also stands to benefit from the humiliation of Saudi Arabia, the leading Arab state. The message Tehran is seeking to send is clear: "We are still here, and we are not going away anytime soon." (Read More)
The US State Department approved a potential Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia involving 48 F 35 stealth fighter jets valued at 24.3 billion dollars, moving the transaction to Congressional review despite intelligence assessments regarding potential Chinese espionage risks.
Regional officials say kingdom is asking allies for aid in defense against missile and drone attacks from Yemen as interceptors run low, though there have yet to be signs of military support.
Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors and has turned to regional and Western allies for assistance as its standoff with Houthi rebels in Yemen drags on, two regional officials said Wednesday. An unnamed Saudi source speaking to Israel’s Kan public broadcaster, however, dismissed the idea that the path to Israel-Saudi normalization would be advanced if Israel were to provide assistance.
The regional officials said the Saudis have asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air-defense support to the region to help defend against missiles and drones fired by Houthis and other Iran-backed groups.
The outreach was initiated because Saudi Arabia’s main ally and arms supplier, the United States, has seen its own stock of interceptors dwindle over the course of a six-month war with Iran, one official said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. Saudi officials did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
A Saudi source quoted by Israel’s Kan said that even if Jerusalem were to provide assistance against the Houthis, Riyadh would not agree to normalize ties without a resolution of the Palestinian issue. The report didn’t clarify whether Saudi Arabia has asked Israel for help.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stressed that it will not agree to normalization without an “irreversible pathway” to Palestinian statehood, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government adamantly opposes. (Read More)
_______________________________
To understand why Saudi Arabia banners the Palestinian plight, rather than normallize relations with Israel, watch the Dr. Bill Salus video teaching below entitled,
The Saudi - Palestinian Historic and Prophetic Connections
President Trump told Axios Thursday that he's approaching a critical juncture in the Iran war over whether to restart massive attacks in an effort to bring the conflict to a close.
Why it matters: Though Trump has made similar threats before, his comments come ahead of a planned meeting Tuesday with leaders from six Gulf countries — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman — on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
What he's saying: Trump made clear in the interview that he wants to use the meeting at the UN to hear directly from regional allies about the war's next steps.
Driving the news: In early August, Trump held off on resuming major combat operations after Saudi Arabia and Qatar expressed concern that Iran would bomb Saudi oil and gas facilities in retaliation.
State of play: Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have ordered the military to maintain its level of forces in the Middle East until the end of the year, U.S. officials say, to remain ready for a potential return to full-scale combat.
