BIG Wrap

(BBC News) A Russian tanker carrying oil to Cuba has entered the waters off the Communist-run island, Russian news agencies report. The oil shipment – the first to reach Cuba since January – comes hours after US President Donald Trump said that he had no problem with countries, including Russia, sending supplies to the island. Trump's remark appeared to signal a loosening of a de facto oil blockade his administration had imposed on Cuba since January. Cuba...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of limited ground operations in Iran, potentially including raids on Kharg Island and coastal sites near the Strait of Hormuz, according to United States officials quoted by The Washington Post newspaper. The plans, which fall short of a full invasion, could involve raids by special operations and conventional infantry troops, the Post reported on Saturday, exposing US personnel to Iranian drones and missiles, ground fire, and improvised...

(BBC News) FBI Director Kash Patel's personal email account has been hacked by an Iran-linked group, the agency has confirmed. A group, known as the Handala Hack Team, shared Patel's purported resume and photos of him on its website on Friday along with a statement that says: "This is just our beginning." The FBI said it was aware of "malicious actors" targeting Patel's email information. "The information in question is historical in nature and involves no...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Israel has struck a uranium processing facility in the central Iranian city of Yazd, the Israeli military confirmed, in an escalatory move that comes as regional diplomats have been attempting to broker an agreement to halt the joint US-Israeli war on Iran. The Israeli Air Force said it hit a plant used to extract raw materials essential to the uranium enrichment process, describing it as a “unique facility” in Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Iran’s Atomic...

(BBC News) A court in Russia has banned the documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin from three streaming platforms on the grounds that it "propagates extremism and terrorism". The BBC documentary, which won an Oscar earlier this month, documents the ramping up of war propaganda in a Russian school following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It is based on footage collected by Pavel Talankin, a school events coordinator who later fled Russia. Prosecutors argued that the documentary expressed a...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) A California jury found ⁠Alphabet’s Google and Meta liable for $3 million in damages in a landmark social media addiction lawsuit that accused the companies of being legally responsible for the addictive design of their platforms. The decision was handed down by a Los Angeles-based jury on Wednesday after more than 40 hours of deliberation across nine days, and more than a month after jurors heard opening statements in the trial. Among those...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) India has arrested six Ukrainian nationals and an American citizen for allegedly entering India’s northeast region without permits and crossing to neighbouring Myanmar to train armed groups in drone warfare. The foreign nationals were arrested by Indian police on March 13 at three different airports across the country. According to Indian media reports, the US national was detained by the Bureau of Immigration at Kolkata airport, three Ukrainians were detained in...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Israeli forces have attacked the Qasmiyeh Bridge, a key crossing linking Lebanon’s south to the rest of the country, in an escalation that President Joseph Aoun called a “prelude to ground invasion”. Sunday’s strike on the vital artery and other civilian infrastructure came after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to destroy all crossings over the Litani River and homes close to the border between the two countries. The bombing...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Military and political authorities in Iran are projecting a message that “victory” is near as war with the United States and Israel continues to escalate, and air strikes and assassination attempts are reported across the country. Massive joint US-Israeli air raids were recorded in multiple areas of the capital Tehran overnight into Sunday, and in central Iran’s Isfahan city in the morning, a day after Dezful and Andimeshk in western Khuzestan and several...

(Al Jazeera Media Network) Switzerland has said ⁠it will not issue licences for companies to export weapons to the United States due to ⁠the ongoing war on Iran, citing the country’s longstanding principle of neutrality. “The export of war materiel to countries involved ⁠in the international armed conflict with Iran cannot be authorised for the duration of the conflict,” the government said in a statement on Friday. “Exports of war materiel to the USA ‌cannot currently be...