Watch: Tehran’s army chief places $30k bounty on US soldiersTehran’s army chief places $30k bounty on US soldiers
Maira Butt17 August 2026 08:30
Trump orders US to scale back military drills with South Korea over his ‘very good’ relationship with Kim Jong Un
The 11-day joint drills between South Korea and the US military start on Monday.
The war games were expected to involve about 18,000 South Korean troops alongside US forces and 12 of the 18 member states of the United Nations Command (UNC), a multinational military force formed after the Korean War to oversee the 1953 armistice.
Mr Trump also said he had asked South Korea if it would join the US efforts in the denuclearisation of Iran but Seoul declined.
Maira Butt17 August 2026 08:00
Kushner arrives in Israel after Hamas talks on Gaza peace plan
President Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner has arrived in Israel on Monday where he is expected to meet Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It follows rare talks between Kushner and Hamas on the beleaguered 15-point Gaza peace plan.
Netanyahu had firmly rejected the plan publicly earlier this month despite the Board of Peace suggesting that Hamas had agreed to disarm.
Both parties have said that an agreement would be conditional on expectations being met by the other. Israel wants Hamas to disarm and Hamas wants Israel to withdraw from Gaza and stop strikes in the strip.
Over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since a US-brokered ceasefire in October 2025.
Maira Butt17 August 2026 07:27
Trump moves aircraft carrier out of Pacific as USS Abraham Lincoln heads home
Donald Trump is moving an aircraft carrier out of the Pacific to support America’s war on Iran, replacing the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East.
The USS George Washington, the last carrier in the Pacific, will depart the South China Sea to be deployed in the Middle East waters.
USS Abraham Lincoln was deployed to the Middle East last November with around 5,000 crew on board.
It had been expected to be deployed until May but its stay has been extended and there is currently no end date in sight, a situation that has led to a number of recent reports about dwindling morale.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar17 August 2026 06:50
How the Iran war is forcing families to choose between schooling and survival
Sou Sreynich dreams of becoming a teacher. But she knows she’s far behind.
The 13-year-old first entered a classroom at 10, an age when most Cambodian children have already been in school for years. Her mother waited until she was old enough to swim, fearing the boat to school could capsize — a decision familiar to many parents on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.
Now, the price of gasoline has spiked because of the Iran war, an additional burden. Unlike outright school closures during Covid-19, the Iran war’s impact on education is less visible.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar17 August 2026 06:20
Sailor’s texts reveal deteriorating conditions on USS Abraham Lincoln – report
Text messages sent home by a sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have revealed new details about the deteriorating conditions on board, according to a report.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier was deployed to the Middle East last November with around 5,000 crew on board and has been supporting President Donald Trump’s war with Iran since the spring.
It had been expected to be deployed until May but its stay has been extended and there is currently no end date in sight, a situation that has led to a number of recent reports about dwindling morale.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar17 August 2026 06:08
Iran used MoU with US to prepare for bigger war – report
Iran used the 60-day pause in war with the US to prepare for a bigger conflict in the region, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The memorandum of understanding signed in mid-June expires today and it is not immediately clear what will happen next.
Iranian leaders viewed the agreement as a possible attempt by the US and Israel to ease global economic pressure and “buy time before another attack down the road”, according to the report.
“There is also a widespread view in Iran that the main war has not yet begun,” Mohammad Hassan Sangtarash, a Tehran-based defence analyst close to the Iranian government, told the WSJ.
“What we have seen so far is increasingly interpreted through the lens of ‘salami-slicing’ tactics – limited, incremental escalation designed to weaken capabilities before a larger confrontation.”
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar17 August 2026 05:45
Trump orders Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with Seoul
President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back planned joint military exercises with South Korea, saying it declined to help “denuclearise” Iran and citing his good relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Trump said in a social media post that the exercises slated to begin this week are not only costly but “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” during his time in the White House.
“Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!” Trump wrote.
The president added that he recently asked South Korea’s president to join the US in its efforts to denuclearize Iran, “and they said, ‘No thanks!’”
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar17 August 2026 05:20
Shipping slows through Strait of Hormuz
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend, data showed, following attacks on tankers, while US-Iran talks to resolve the Middle East conflict stalled.
Five commodity vessels transited the strait on Saturday, with none registered for Sunday, shiptracking data from Kpler showed, versus 31 in the prior weekend.
Shipping appeared to grind to a near standstill after the UAE said three vessels operated by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company were attacked in transit last week.
The United States said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar17 August 2026 05:00
Iran-US memorandum of understanding will expire today
The Iran-US memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in June between Iran and the US will expire today, even as the impasse in talks continues.
The 60-day memorandum was signed to halt the US and Israel’s war on Iran and address Tehran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
It was not immediately clear what would happen once the MoU expires.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar17 August 2026 04:45