World

Powerful explosions and fires erupted at oil infrastructure facilities in the Iranian capital Tehran and its surroundings following a series of attacks. Thick clouds of black smoke rose over the city, with residents in some districts reporting unusual precipitation known as "black rain" caused by combustion byproducts. These events occurred against the backdrop of a sharp escalation in the Middle East, leading global oil prices to exceed $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022.

The Israeli military announced early Monday that it had begun an "additional wave" of strikes against "regime infrastructure" in central Iran. These actions are part of daily attacks that have continued since February following the killing of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Simultaneously, Israel struck sites belonging to the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in Beirut.

Global energy markets are experiencing sharp volatility as oil prices have surged past $100 a barrel for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, driven primarily by the widening fallout from the United States and Israel's war on Iran. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose by as much as 20% on Sunday, topping $111 a barrel, amid growing fears of prolonged disruption to global energy supplies. This escalation highlights the deepening instability in key energy-producing regions, with the conflict threatening to exacerbate existing economic pressures worldwide.

Iran's Assembly of Experts has selected Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as the country's new supreme leader. The 88-member assembly made the decision on March 8, just over a week into a fierce conflict with the United States and Israel. Mojtaba Khamenei, born on September 8, 1969, in Mashhad, assumes the highest office following his father's death in an Israeli strike on February 28.

Guinea's government has dissolved 40 political parties, including the country's three main opposition groups, in a move that critics say marks the final step toward a one-party state under President Mamady Doumbouya. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation issued the decree late on Friday, citing the parties' failure to meet their legal obligations.

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has stated that an “improvised explosive device” was thrown during a protest outside the home of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, with two men taken into custody. The statement on Sunday came a day after the incident outside the mayor’s residence, Gracie Mansion, where far-right, anti-Muslim demonstrators, led by activist Jake Lang, clashed with counterprotesters, highlighting the deep societal divisions within the US regime.

Former US President Donald Trump announced in a post on his Truth Social account that he will not sign any other legislation until Congress passes a bill to impose stricter identification requirements for US voters. This statement underscores Trump's continued focus on election administration ahead of the US midterm elections in November, even as the US-Israeli war continues to dominate headlines.

Israeli forces struck Iran's oil infrastructure, killing at least four people and sending dense smoke over Tehran's skyline. This incident occurred on the ninth day of the US and Israeli military campaign against Iran.

US President Donald Trump has once again promised to exert influence over the selection of Iran's next Supreme Leader, stating that without Washington's approval, whoever is chosen for the role "is not going to last long." This statement came on Sunday, just hours after a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts said the clerical body had selected a replacement for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed following the US and Israeli initiation of war with Iran on February 28.

A military projectile struck a residential area in Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, killing two foreign nationals and injuring 12 others, according to Saudi authorities. The Saudi civil defense stated on X that the victims were an Indian and a Bangladeshi citizen, both identified as foreign workers. The projectile landed on a site belonging to a maintenance and cleaning company, highlighting the risks to civilian infrastructure in the ongoing conflict.

India's cricket team achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first side to win the T20 World Cup on home soil, defeating New Zealand by 96 runs in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Led by Suryakumar Yadav, the team buried the ghosts of past disappointments and secured a record-breaking third T20 World Cup title in front of a sell-out crowd at the world's largest cricket venue.

As the Israeli military's media apparatus celebrates the February 2026 assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several family members as a purely Israeli intelligence triumph, the operational reality on the ground tells a far more complex story. The series of high-profile 'decapitation' strikes that also decimated the leadership of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah in 2025 and 2024, respectively, are increasingly viewed by military analysts not as the long arm of Mossad, but as the result of a massive and pervasive United States technological umbrella as well as profound internal decay within Tehran's security apparatus.