The United States has attacked Iran for the eleventh consecutive night, hitting aircraft hangars and drone storage sites across the country. The strikes come after Iran launched retaliatory attacks on US air bases and neighbouring Gulf states, which have accused it of deliberately targeting desalination plants essential for life in the region. Both sides now claim they are preventing the other from gaining control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil was shipped before the war began.
Operation Epic Fury, which began with the aim of regime change, has now shifted its objective to reopening the strait and undoing the damage caused by the US and Israel's decision to start the war. President Donald Trump drastically underestimated Iran's capacity for enduring pain, according to analysts, and is now trying to bomb his way out of a conflict he created. The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, told the Senate the war had cost $37.5bn so far, facing fury over the soaring price tag and the deaths of three American service members.
At home, UK Labour leader Andy Burnham is under pressure to explain how he will fund his policy pledges as he urged his new cabinet to examine all possible ways to tackle the cost of living crisis. Meanwhile, a man has appeared in court charged with the murder of former MP and Reform UK spokesperson Ann Widdecombe. Joshua Kerry, 28, is accused of killing the former Conservative minister at her home in Devon by hitting her on the head with a hammer 21 times.
In climate news, about 23 million people will be banned from using hosepipes by this weekend as England and Wales move closer to drought status. In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired the commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, and offered a prominent position to the defence minister he sacked last week, prompting nationwide protests.
The US-Iran conflict could yet escalate into a wider regional war, with the Houthis threatening a maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia. Trump's private firm, The Trump Organization, is at work on a skyscraper in Dubai, but even he will not be insulated from the consequences of this violence.
