Trump said to decline Saudi crown prince’s request for US strikes on Houthis

Report: Iran and Gulf states to meet next week in push for Hormuz deal

Gulf foreign ministers plan to meet their Iranian counterpart in a push by Oman and Iran to secure buy-in for a temporary deal to manage shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reports.

The gathering is scheduled to be held on Monday in the Omani coastal city of Salalah, the report says, citing two people briefed on the matter.

Star NFL quarterback Aaron Rogers claims Trump heading an ‘Israel first administration’

Star NFL quarterback sounds off against US President Donald Trump’s administration, suggesting that it is prioritizing Israel’s interests over those of the US.

“There has been nothing but the obstruction of transparency with this entire administration,” Rogers says during a podcast interview days days before he takes the field to begin his second season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Anybody who even liked Trump or thought that things would change — this is a pro-Israel first administration.”

“Ween you dig into it — that’s the uni-party. It’s how many members of Congress are sponsored by AIPAC,” he claims.

“There is no MAGA movement. There’s no Make America Great Again movement because the guy you elected hasn’t done any of his campaign promises,” Rogers says.

Aaron Rodgers: “This is a Pro-Israel First administration. And when you dig into it, that’s the uniparty” pic.twitter.com/OY41kQgTfm

— Harrison Berger (@BergerPosts) September 10, 2026

Hormuz shipping traffic falls to single digits, data shows

Vessel transits at the Strait of Hormuz fell to seven on Thursday from 11 the previous day, preliminary ship-tracking data showed on Friday, well below the 10-day average of 15.

Of the seven vessels, two Panamax ships exited the strait, one carrying fertiliser and the other sailing in ballast, according to data from ship tracker Kpler as of 0306 GMT.

Five vessels entered the strait, including a Panamax vessel carrying dry bulk cargo, a Handysize vessel laden with steel, a Handysize vessel carrying grains, a medium-range tanker loaded with dirty petroleum products, and a Supramax vessel carrying dry bulk cargo.

The figures exclude any vessels that might have crossed the strait with their Automatic Identification System transponders turned off to avoid detection.

Before the Iran war started on February 28, the strait typically handled about 125 large, commercial vessels per day, including tankers, gas carriers, bulkers and container vessels, accounting for some 20% of the world’s daily crude oil and liquefied natural gas supply.

A US blockade of Iran-related shipping has halted Iranian crude oil exports since it was reimposed in mid-July.

In the Red Sea, Iran-aligned Houthis seized control of Yemen’s port city of Mocha on Thursday and advanced down the Red Sea coast to strategic islands, military sources said.

In the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Thursday, 26 commodity vessels travelled through, tracking data showed. Of these, 10 vessels entered and 16 exited.

This compares with an average of around 27 ships over the last 10 days.

Syria arrests nine former Assad-era pilots

Syrian authorities say nine former pilots, including three generals, who are accused of having taken part in lethal bombings of towns and villages under the former rule of Bashar al-Assad, have been arrested.

For more than 13 years of a civil war that claimed over half a million lives, Syrian forces relentlessly shelled areas held by the rebels before al-Assad was toppled in December 2024 and the current Islamist government came to power.

Following a series of operations in Latakia in the country’s west, the Internal Security Forces arrested nine former military pilots “involved in war crimes against the Syrian people… in several regions,” news agency SANA reports, citing authorities.

Among them are generals Menhel Anwar Saleh, Sami Ibrahim Mahmoud, and Ghayath Ali Rehye.

“Their crimes caused a large number of casualties… and inflicted extensive damage on towns and villages, in addition to displacing residents and destroying homes and civilian infrastructure,” SANA adds.

Since al-Assad was overthrown, Syria’s new Islamist authorities have arrested dozens of former security officials, and trials began in April.

Syrian authorities said Monday they had arrested a former general accused of involvement in the bloody repression of protests in 2011 that sparked the country’s civil war and the 1982 Hama massacre.

Syria sentenced Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad, and five other security officials to death in absentia in August for atrocities committed during the civil war, the first such ruling under the new authorities.

The former president fled Syria as his government fell and is believed to be living in Russia.

Likud MK suggests there’s no ideological difference between his party and the far-right Otzma Yehudit

Likud MK and coalition whip Ofir Katz suggests that there is no ideological difference between his party and the far-right Otzma Yehudit faction.

Katz is asked during a Kan interview to explain the ideological difference between the two parties, given that several Likud members have either considered or decided to run on the Otzma Yehudit list.

Pressed on the difference between the two, Katz responds, “One is Likud, and the other is Otzma Yehudit.”

“Everything related to IDF soldiers, we’re the same thing. [Likewise with] everything related to the fight against terror supporters,” the Likud MK adds.

Katz then goes on to argue that most Israelis choose which party to support based on who the leader is.

Contradicting Trump, US official says Iran attack on base in Jordan damaged military aircraft

Iranian strikes damaged multiple American military aircraft this week on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, a US official tells Reuters, contradicting US President Donald Trump, who insisted on Thursday that no such damage had been caused.

The US military, the highest-funded in the world, suffered material damage even before Iran’s strikes on Tuesday. This includes the destruction of more than two dozen drones, Iran striking fighter jets, and aircraft being lost to accidents.

According to a May report from the Congressional Research Service, 42 US military aircraft had already been lost or damaged in the conflict.

Since the Iran war started in February, 18 US service members have been killed and over 800 injured.

A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says Iran’s attack hit one A-10 Thunderbolt II, known as the Warthog, leaving it with a missing wing, while roughly eight F-15s sustained light damage and were returned to service.

Iran’s strike on the US base in Jordan came after US forces said they destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers. The US said its strikes were in response to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeting a US Navy warship with ballistic ​missiles twice over the previous two days.

The Iranian attack required US forces to fire roughly 30 Patriot interceptors to counter the missiles, the US official said, amid increasing concern about the inventory of US air defense interceptors and other missiles.

While specific inventory numbers are classified, the Center for Strategic ​and International Studies has estimated that about 65% of US Patriot interceptors were expended between February and July, with fewer than 850 left on hand, down from 2,330 before the Iran war began.

In a sign of the destruction caused by Iranian strikes against US military targets, acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao told the Epoch Times that Iran “blew the hell out of Bahrain.” He was referring to the United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters based at Naval Support Activity Bahrain, which Tehran has struck.