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Iran announced that a state funeral for supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which had been planned for Wednesday evening in Tehran, was postponed "in anticipation of unprecedented turnout," state television reported.

Sri Lanka's foreign ministry said that the military had rescued 32 people on board the sinking Iranian ship. Dr. Anil Jasinghe, a top health ministry official, says one of them is in critical condition, seven are receiving emergency treatment.

Iran has said it will allow only Chinese vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as an expression of gratitude for Beijing's stand towards Tehran since the war in the Middle East began, sources have said

Oil giant Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura, home to its largest domestic refinery, was struck again by a drone today, a Saudi Defence Ministry spokesperson said.

Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) shredded President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on MS NOW's "Morning Joe" Wednesday, for rushing headlong into a war in Iran without any idea why they are doing it or what they are going to do now that it's happening."You said on Armed Services, these are issues you've thought a lot about," said anchor Jonathan Lemire. "Give us your take now about these mixed messages from the administration as to why this war even began. But more than that, it seems so very clear there's not a plan for the day after, including President Trump yesterday, in a moment, perhaps, of unexpected candor, said it sort of dawned on him like, oh, he was asked who could follow the Ayatollah as Supreme Leader? And he's like, oh, well, I guess the worst case would be someone who's just as bad. It's very clear there's no plan for the next day.""Yeah, I mean, we have a very muddled why and when, and I don't care what the administration does now," said McCaskill. "They have been incompetent in one of the most important things a government must do when going to war, and that is having clear rationale for an attack, clear rationale for lives lost, clear rationale for why it happened when it happened. And they can't fix this now. This is muddled beyond recognition.""But more importantly, there's the 'what now' question," McCaskill continued. "And in the 12 years I sat on the Armed Services Committee, I spent a lot of time on contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan. And I can tell you that the 'what now' is the biggest problem of all. We have no idea whether someone even more extreme is going to take over Iran. And if they do, what now? We have no idea whether the government will have any even wisp of democracy involved. And if it doesn't, then what now? We have no idea if the plans will be to immediately reconstitute whatever they need to do to get nuclear power. And then what now? So the lack of planning here, in terms of the day after is stunning."McCaskill concluded by taking a swipe at what she sees as Hegseth's infantile view of military force."I never thought I would hear the Secretary of Defense talk like my 12-year-old grandson saying that our enemy is quote-unquote, 'toast,'" said McCaskill. "The way he discussed this was not serious. It was not somber. It was almost gleeful. And frankly, I think that is startling to most Americans. I found it startling, the tone that he took in this press conference. I get it that he thinks this is all about killing people and showing lethality and supporting the warriors. And certainly we must support our warriors. But the tone of it was, in my mind, inappropriate for this moment in history." - YouTube www.youtube.com

Tory MP says MP whose partner has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China should be revealed so colleagues can help investigationStarmer begins PMQs by telling the Commons that his thoughts are with Sarah Everard “on this very painful anniversary” of her death.He says the government is working hard to prevent boys and men from becoming abusers. Continue reading...

Stéphane Séjourné is the latest high-profile name to express solidarity with Spain over Trump’s comments last nightin MadridSánchez’s defiant speech may have been made in response to Trump’s threat to cut off all trade with Spain, but his words were also aimed every bit as much at other EU leaders (and at Spain’s political class).“A war that, in theory, was said to be waged to eliminate Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, bring democracy, and guarantee global security, but which, in reality, seen in retrospect, produced the opposite effect. It unleashed the greatest wave of insecurity our continent has suffered since the fall of the Berlin Wall.”“It is absolutely unacceptable that those leaders who are incapable of fulfilling this duty use the smokescreen of war to hide their failure and, in the process, line the pockets of a select few – the same ones as always; the only ones who profit when the world stops building hospitals and starts building missiles.”“The government of Spain stands with those it must stand with. It stands with the values that our parents and grandparents enshrined in our constitution. Spain stands with the founding principles of the European Union. It stands with the Charter of the United Nations. It stands with international law and, therefore, stands with peace and peaceful coexistence between countries and their harmonious coexistence. Continue reading...

US defense secretary and Dan Caine, the chairman of the joint chiefs, hold briefing on day five of US-Israeli war on IranHow Iran school bombing unfolded – a visual guideSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxGen Caine said today that the US will “now begin to expand inland, striking progressively deeper into Iranian territory”, after forces were able to establish air superiority.“The throttle is coming up,” Caine said, “as opposed to ramping down”. Continue reading...