Breaking: ADF helicopter forced to take evasive action during interaction with Chinese aircraft: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-06/brk-adf-helicopter-evasive-action-chinese-military/106426388
Reuters Exclusive
"U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school."
"The strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the Middle East."
Australians are on submarines involved in combat operations against Iran
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
There’s been a few other good pieces on this theme the last day or two.That’s because it’s a real thing. There’s a real sense of shock and betrayal which is not like past episodes of grumbling and intra-alliance bargaining.
Gulf states could review overseas investments to ease strains caused by Iran war ft.trib.al/3LJMUUw
My article for @brookings.edu with @hamzehhadad.bsky.social on the value of Iraqi stability for the region, and the cost of allowing it to descend into the regional war: www.brookings.edu/articles/ira...
The JSOC experience: arrive, murder a member of the armed forces of a nation who we want to be a partner, leave.
The use the language of "clash" but the additional reporting is that a column sent out to investigate what was happening got air striked with no warning.
www.rudaw.net/english/midd...
I was asked by @techpolicypress.bsky.social
what I am watching for as a tech scholar in the ongoing war. Here is my take:
Iraq's first lady, Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed, a political/humanitarian figure from a prominent (& very political) Sulimaniyah-rooted Kurdish family closely tied to the PUK, coming in hot with a free history lesson for people who think Iraqi Kurds might be unquestioningly game for more US bait-and-switch.
Tonight, two of the white nationalists I reported on in this piece showed up to attempt to intimidate me on a private night out at a small music venue.
I’ll have more to say tomorrow. I’m safe.
They also didn’t pay cover 🖕
Kim Jong Un supervised the launch of sea-to-surface 'strategic cruise missiles' from country's new naval destroyer.
A map showing casualties. Iran – killed: 1,045, injured: hundreds Israel – killed: 11, injured: hundreds US soldiers – killed: 6, injured: 18 Bahrain – killed: 1, injured: 4 Iraq – killed: 2, injured: 5 Jordan – killed: 0, injured: 5 Kuwait – killed: 4, injured: 35 Lebanon – killed: 50 injured: 335 Oman – killed: 1, injured: 5 Qatar – killed: 0, injured: 16 Saudi Arabia – killed: 0, injured: 0 United Arab Emirates – killed: 3, injured: 68
Al Jazeera has a useful tracker of who is getting killed and injured.
www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/...
NEW: A source from the Iranian Kurdish group Komala denies reports that it launched a ground offensive into western Iran.
Source: www.rudaw.net/kurmanci/kur...
The largest daily newspaper in Israel published an opinion piece by someone arguing for the total redrawing of the Middle Eastern borders— first by dismantling Lebanon and Syria and reconstituting them into half a dozen or more smaller, ethnic statelets.
BREAKING: The partner of a sitting Labour MP is among three men who have been arrested on suspicion of spying for China
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Middle East conflict offers economic lifeline to Russia’s flagging war machine
CNN: More than 1,000 civilians killed in Iran since war began, rights group reports By Helen Regan More than 1,000 people, including children, have been killed in Iran since the war began on Saturday, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). The rights group said as of Tuesday afternoon ET, at least 1,097 civilians had been killed, including 181 children. More than 5,400 civilians, including 100 children, have been injured, HRANA reported. The group said its report is preliminary and is veritying hundreds more reported deaths.
At least 1,097 civilians had been killed in Iran so far, including 181 children.
Real 2003 vibes...at least for me. While Iraq was going on I decided to fuck off and backpack around South America on an adventure. I didn't realise this was also an option for the US military.
The thinking in the wh, to the extent there is any, seem to be “if we can just hold out long enough the Iranians will run out of conventional munitions and have to say uncle”, which even if true just leads to Iran opening the asymmetric warfare toolbox and I really don’t think we like how that goes
“The United States and Ecuador conducted joint military operations against ‘designated terrorist organizations’ in the South American country, the Pentagon said on Tuesday night, in what appeared to be a major expansion”
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/u...
As US and Israeli bombs fell on Iran this weekend, bettors on Polymarket — where $529 million was traded on contracts tied to the timing of the strikes — were cashing in
NEW: The CIA has been working to arm Kurdish forces with the aim of fomenting a popular uprising in Iran, multiple people familiar with the plan told CNN.
www.cnn.com/2026/03/03/p...
John Hudson § @John_Hudson X.com SCOOP: A suspected Iranian drone attack hit the CIA's station in Saudi Arabia in what would amount to a significant symbolic victory for the Islamic Republic as it lashes out at U.S. targets and personnel across the Middle East, sources tell @nakashimae and me 3:01 PM • 3/3/26 • 88K Views John Hudson & @John... • 13m The U.S. and Saudi governments confirmed that two drones hit the U.S. Embassy complex in Riyadh on Monday but did not disclose that America's spy hub was hit in the attack.
John Hudson & @John... 13m g An internal State Department alert obtained by The Post said the attack "collapsed" part of the embassy's roof and "contaminated" the inside with smoke. The notice said the embassy sustained "structural damage" and personnel "continue to shelter in place." John Hudson @ @John... 13m g While the attack amounts to a minor setback for the spy agency's presence in Saudi Arabia, it may find significance to an embattled regime that has long viewed the CIA as its ultimate foe, given Washington's covert support for the 1953 military coup that ousted Iran's elected prime minister
⚠️ CIA Saudi Arabia station hit by Iranian drone attack
'Police alleged Mr Michaels spent the past couple of months plotting a "mass casualty" attack on public buildings in Perth, including the police headquarters, parliament and Muslim mosques.'
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...
⚠️ Reuters joins AFP in reporting fire at the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia:
France to boost nuclear arsenal, involve European allies in deterrence: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-03/macron-france-allow-nuclear-armed-jets-deployment-to-euro-allies/106408404
Iranian attacks on energy sites in the Middle East triggered the biggest rise in natural gas prices since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. ft.trib.al/EBwQ7Fq
Also quoted in the guardian. This can't be good.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
