Hello!🐦⬛
A raven has landed with your weekly intelligence briefing. We've sifted through the global noise to bring you only what matters. Prepare for this week's essential developments—distilled, unbiased, and delivered in one swift flight.
Escalating Conflict Between the United States, Israel, and Iran Impacts Regional Infrastructure and Global Markets 🇺🇸🇮🇱💥🇮🇷🛢️🌍
On the ninth day of the war, U.S. and Israeli forces targeted Iranian oil storage depots and refining facilities for the first time, including the Shehran oil depot near Tehran.
Iranian officials condemned a U.S. strike on a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island, warning that it set a dangerous precedent for targeting critical water infrastructure.
In retaliation for the Qeshm strike, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched attacks against the U.S. naval base in Bahrain's Jufair.
Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior reported that an Iranian drone strike subsequently caused material damage to one of its own water desalination plants.
U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded the "unconditional surrender" of Iran and stated that the war will continue until that objective is met.
The conflict has resulted in at least 1,332 Iranian civilian deaths, while 11 people have been killed in Israel and six U.S. service members have died in retaliatory strikes.
A U.S. submarine torpedoed and sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena near Sri Lanka, which led to the recovery of 87 bodies by the Sri Lankan navy.
The Sri Lankan government took custody of a second Iranian vessel, the IRIS Bushehr, and its 208 sailors after it entered the country's exclusive economic zone.
Australia has indicated it may provide military assistance to help Gulf nations defend against Iranian missiles and drones but refuses to join a ground war.
The Australian government confirmed that three of its personnel were on board the U.S. submarine during the sinking of the IRIS Dena.
Rockets were fired at the United States Embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone as regional tensions continued to spike.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized to neighboring countries affected by the strikes but maintained that U.S. military bases remain legitimate targets.
Global oil prices have reached multiyear highs as the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed to U.S. and Israeli shipping.
U.S. and Israeli officials have reportedly discussed the possibility of deploying special forces at a later stage of the war to seize Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Source: Al-Jazeera, Associated Press, The Guardian, and Turkiye Today.
Raven Bites🐦⬛
News/Events/Politics
DOJ releases missing Epstein files related to a woman who made an allegation against Donald Trump. (more)
Zelenskyy offers help to Saudi Crown prince on combatting Iranian drones. (more)
A new Nepali party, led by an ex-rapper, is set for a landslide win in parliamentary election. (more)
Trump encourages Latin American leaders to use military action to help U.S. fight cartels. (more)
China has warned against seeking government change in Iran amid the ongoing US-Israeli offensive, saying any such move lacks public support. (more)
Economics/Business/Crypto
Kuwait cuts oil production as Strait of Hormuz closure disrupts global energy market. (more)
Moscow sees significant rise in demand for Russian oil, gas amid Iran war. (more)
A widening Middle East conflict has posed a fresh test for global central banks, as fears of an oil shock and renewed inflation risks complicate policymakers’ calculus for shoring up growth. (more)
European stock markets closed lower on Friday, reversing their positive start to the session, as oil prices resumed their rally amid the ongoing war in the Middle East. (more)
$BTC ( ▲ 2.13% ) Large bitcoin holders, or whales, bought aggressively during last week's Iran-related sell-off and then sold much of those positions as prices rebounded to $74,000. (more)
Technology
Apple released new iPhone 17e, M4 iPad Air, M5 MacBook Air, new MacBook Pro models, new M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, a new Studio Display and Studio Display XDR, and a cheaper MacBook called the MacBook Neo that runs on a chip similar to the iPad and iPhone. (more)
Indonesia outlines plan to limit under-16s’ access to social media, delaying children’s access to social media platforms: Children 13 or older will be able to use platforms the country deems “lower-risk,” while “higher-risk” platforms will be only open to users above 16 years old. (more)
OpenAI released GPT-5.4, a new foundation model billed as “our most capable and efficient frontier model for professional work.” In addition to the standard version, GPT-5.4 is also available as a reasoning model (GPT-5.4 Thinking) or optimized for high performance (GPT-5.4 Pro). (more)
Meta sued over AI smart glasses’ privacy concerns, after workers reviewed nudity, sex, and other footage. (more)
Paramount+ and HBO Max to merge into one streaming service after WBD deal closes, estimated at $110 billion. (more)
Bill Gates’ TerraPower gets approval to build new nuclear reactor by The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as electricity demand from data centers grows. (more)
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