Megan O’Toole

Oil price jumps after Qatar minister warns all Gulf production could stop Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi says energy prices for everyone will rise if the Iran war continues.

Qatar’s energy minister warns that all oil and gas exporters in the Gulf could stop production within days, amid a conflict that threatens to ‘bring down the economies of the world’ - with the price of oil potentially soaring to $150 a barrel.

Exclusive: Iranian authorities prepare for civil war scenario The establishment is preparing for inter-Iranian fighting and separatist unrest as US and Israel target municipalities, police stations and civil service centres, sources say

As Israeli and US attacks on Iran continue, Iranian political and military leaders are preparing for the possibility of a civil war, according to sources within the IRGC.

How Iran war may accelerate the fall of US empire This conflict could prove to be Washington's most perilous adventure yet - the classic story of a superpower overreaching

‘Suez did not end the British Empire overnight. But it exposed something fatal: that military capability without political legitimacy and force without restraint accelerate decline rather than prevent it … Iran may yet prove to be Washington’s Suez.’

Exclusive: Iranian girls killed by ‘double-tap’ strikes on Minab school Eyewitnesses describe second blast which killed survivors as they sheltered in prayer hall

The girls’ school in Iran, where 165 people were killed by an apparent US-Israeli attack, was hit with two strikes, with the second missile killing sheltering survivors, two first responders and the parent of a slain child have told Middle East Eye.

In White House comments, Trump now suggests that he “forced Israel’s hand” in launching the war on Iran, when confronted with the contention that Netanyahu is in the driver’s seat.

Iran war live: New Israeli and US barrage hits Tehran At least 787 civilians have reportedly been killed since the US-Israeli war on Iran began, including 176 children

The death toll from US-Israeli strikes on Iran over the past four days has risen to 787, according to the Iranian Red Crescent, as fresh strikes have reportedly hit the building of the assembly tasked with electing a new supreme leader.

Iran vows to attack any ship trying to pass through Strait of Hormuz An Iranian Revolutionary Guards senior official said on Monday that the Strait of Hormuz is closed and Iran will fire on any ship ​trying to pass, Iranian media reported.

Iran is vowing to set ablaze any ship that tries to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a move that threatens to choke a fifth of global oil flows.

Inside the plan to kill Ali Khamenei Israel spent years hacking Tehran’s traffic cameras and monitoring bodyguards ahead of the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader

Inside the plan to kill Ali Khamenei: ‘Israel spent years hacking Tehran’s traffic cameras and monitoring bodyguards ahead of the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader.’

How the New York Times paved the way for apocalyptic war The newspaper's superficial critique of Trump's Iran strategy comes after 47 years of vilifying the Islamic Republic

“As the New York Times whines retroactively about Trump’s ‘reckless’ behaviour in Iran, western establishment media would do well to reflect on the role that years of preemptive journalistic strikes on the country have played in fuelling this bloody mess.”

Qatar shoots down Iran jets; Iran hits Gulf energy sites as Tehran bombed US president says attacks on Iran will continue until all objectives are met as Tehran keeps up raids on US assets.

Qatar says its air force has successfully shot down two Su24 fighter jets incoming from Iran, after earlier attacks forced LNG exporter QatarEnergy to halt production.

Iran targets energy sites as Israel strikes Tehran; US jets crash in Kuwait US president says attacks on Iran will continue until all objectives are met, as Tehran keeps up raids on US assets.

Huge plumes of smoke are rising into the skies of Beirut as Israel says it is striking Hezbollah targets across Lebanon.

Israeli society is intoxicated by war and the dream of expansion. It cannot last Netanyahu appears to be gaining on both the domestic and international fronts but the war on Iran is plunging the region into disaster

‘Israeli society and the West more generally are on track to once again learn why the colonial era ended … The peoples of the Global South have long fought against colonialism - and they will continue to do so, refusing to live with a western boot stamping on their faces.’

Live: Iran kills nine Israelis and three US soldiers as Pezeshkian vows revenge Tehran declares 40 days of mourning in wake of Ali Khamenei’s killing on Saturday

Iran has killed nine Israelis and three US soldiers as Pezeshkian vows revenge in the wake of Khamenei’s assassination. There are also unconfirmed reports that former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been killed in Tehran.

IRAN CONFIRMS KHAMENEI’S KILLING IN US-ISRAEL STRIKES Explosions heard in Tehran, elsewhere, as Israel and US launch attacks; Iran retaliates, blasts across region.

Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies are now confirming the death of Khamenei.

Live: Khamenei's body has been found and he is confirmed dead, Israeli official says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were many signs indicating Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "is no longer", without explicitly confirming his death.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead and his body has been found, a senior Israeli official tells Reuters.

US-ISRAELI ATTACKS ON IRAN KILL 201; IRAN FIRES BACK, BLASTS ACROSS REGION Explosions heard in Tehran, elsewhere, as Israel and US launches attacks; Iran retaliates, blasts across region.

US and Israeli attacks have hit 24 of Iran’s provinces, killing more than 200 people, according to the Red Crescent Society.

Live: US and Israel bomb Tehran, Iran strikes American bases Reuters reports Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei moved to safe place

The US and Israel have launched a wave of bombing across Iran, in what Washington is calling ‘Operation Epic Fury’, pushing for regime change. Iran has launched retaliatory rocket attacks on Israel and US bases across the region, from Doha to Riyadh.

Pakistan says ‘open war’ with Afghanistan, casualties on both sides Pakistani and Afghan officials have both declared full military operations as border clashes intensify.

Pakistan says it is in ‘open war’ with Afghanistan, as explosions are reported in Kabul and fighting rages along the border.

US-Iran tensions: Will Trump flinch at the last moment? The erratic leader is being propelled into a full-blown war that neither Washington nor Israel will have any capacity to control

‘Will Trump flinch at the last moment? Who knows. If he has any vestige of common sense, he should - for this could be the war that proves to be the nemesis of both Trump and Netanyahu, the ultimate bridge too far.’

How Russia’s War Has Devastated Civilian Life in Ukraine - bellingcat Russia's full-invasion of Ukraine began four years ago today. While Ukraine has resisted, the impact on civilian life continues to be severe.

We spent the past four years tracking and verifying incidents of civilian harm in Ukraine, as Russia’s onslaught systematically destroyed the threads tying communities together: homes, schools, playgrounds, fire stations, hospitals, churches, cultural centres, museums, businesses and farms.

Visualising AI spending: How does it compare with history’s mega projects? AI spending is projected to reach $2.5 trillion in 2026, surpassing the largest scientific and infrastructure projects.

Spending on AI is forecast to skyrocket to $2.5 trillion in 2026, dwarfing history’s largest scientific and infrastructure mega-projects.

Trump officials plan to build 5,000-person military base in Gaza, files show Exclusive: approximately 350-acre compound planned as base for multinational force, according to records reviewed by the Guardian

The Trump administration is planning to build a 5,000-person military base in Gaza, sprawling more than 350 acres, according to Board of Peace contracting records reviewed by the Guardian.

Israel's annexation drive has sped up - because the world allows it New mechanism for land registration in the occupied West Bank highlights the need for Palestinians to reclaim the discourse about their own future

‘With hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers spread across the occupied West Bank, and countless legal complications surrounding land ownership, the latest steps are designed to cement the fact that this is not temporary - and the state will not be able to reverse the measures already taken.’

Israel kills 10 Palestinians in Gaza bombing ahead of 'Board of Peace' meeting Death toll in Gaza hits 600 since ceasefire was signed in October, amid hundreds of Israeli violations

Israeli forces killed at least 10 Palestinians in air strikes across the Gaza Strip this weekend, days ahead of the inaugural meeting of Trump’s ‘Board of Peace.’

Israel denies cancer treatment for Palestinian child over Gaza address Judge claims the petition to get the five-year-old boy medical treatment in Israel is an attack on the establishment

An Israeli court has denied pleas to allow the urgent treatment of a five-year-old Palestinian cancer patient in Israel, on the grounds that his address was listed to be in Gaza. Judge Ram Winograd said the petition to get him medical treatment in Israel was an attack on the state.

Israel’s new West Bank measures ‘accelerate annexation and end Oslo Accords’ Analysts say Israeli changes have cornered Palestinian Authority and will pave way for ethnic cleansing

Sweeping new measures that expand Israeli control in the occupied West Bank will cement de facto annexation and bring an end to the Oslo Accords, analysts say, dashing hopes for a Palestinian state.

The criminal elite exposed in the Epstein files are burying the truth A handful of figures will be sacrificed - but only to protect a wider culture that believes rules don't apply to the ruling elite

‘The neoliberal elite view the rest of us as non-player characters … Seen in this larger frame, what does it matter if children suffer, either in Gaza or in the mansions of a billionaire?’

Washington Post layoffs deepen western media retreat from global reporting Layoffs gut international desks as journalists warn of shrinking footprint in Global South

The Washington Post’s decision to lay off more than 300 journalists is ‘part of a broader contraction in western media, one that is hollowing out international reporting at a moment of unprecedented global crises.’

Palestine Action defendants acquitted of aggravated burglary After eight days of deliberations, defendants were acquitted, or not convicted, of all offences levelled against them

A UK court has found six Palestine Action activists not guilty of aggravated burglary, after a months-long trial in connection with a break-in to an Israeli-owned arms factory.

Epstein files show Kaaba cloth pieces from Mecca shipped to him via UAE-linked contacts Sacred cloth that covers shrine in Saudi Arabia reached the convicted paedophile through UAE-linked businesswoman

Newly released files detail a shipment of sacred cloth from the Kaaba in Mecca to the US, arranged through contacts linked to the UAE and delivered to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.