Middle East
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Israel drops charges against soldiers who sodomized Palestinian with knife

The Israeli military says it is dropping charges against five soldiers who were accused of sexually abusing a Palestinian detainee in a purported assault partially caught on camera.

It's a bombshell development in a case that has divided Israel ever since the country moved to arrest the soldiers at the Sde Teiman military prison, which was set up to hold Palestinians rounded up in Gaza during Israel's war against the Hamas militant group, in 2024.

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Iran attacks on Mideast shipping and energy infrastructure send oil prices soaring

Unrelenting Iranian attacks on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure pushed oil above $100 a barrel Thursday, as American and Israeli strikes pounded the Islamic Republic with no sign of an end to the war in sight.

Iran hit a container ship off the coast of Dubai, caused a blaze near Bahrain's international airport, targeted a major Saudi oil field with a drone and forced Iraq to halt operations at all of its oil terminals after attacking its port of Basra on the Persian Gulf.

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Targeting 'mistake' led to deadly US missile strike on Iranian school

The United States was responsible for a Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian school because of a targeting mistake, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

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Trump says war to end 'soon' as 'nothing left to target'

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday again signaled there could be a swift ending to the U.S. war on Iran, saying there is little left in the country for U.S. forces to attack.

There is "practically nothing left to target" and the war will end "soon," Trump was quoted as saying in an interview with Axios. "Any time I want it to end, it will end."

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Iran military says ships of US, Israel, allies in Hormuz strait 'legitimate targets'

Iran's military on Wednesday said any ships belonging to the United States, Israel or their allies passing through the strategic Strait of Hormuz will be targeted.

"Any vessel whose oil cargo or the vessel itself belongs to the United States, the Zionist regime or their hostile allies will be considered legitimate targets," said the military's central operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, in a statement carried by state TV.

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War must be stopped 'before it engulfs entire region in flames', says Erdogan

The war raging in much of the Middle East must be stopped before it engulfs the entire region at increasing cost to the global economy, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

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Iran's new supreme leader injured but 'safe', says president's son

Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is injured but "safe and sound", the son of the president said Wednesday, offering the first official explanation for why the 56-year-old has not been seen since his appointment at the weekend.

"I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections," Yousef Pezeshkian, who is also a government adviser, wrote in a post on his Telegram channel.

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Iran targets commercial ships, Dubai airport and oil facilities

Iran attacked commercial ships on Wednesday across the Persian Gulf and targeted Dubai International Airport, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich region as global energy concerns mounted and American and Israeli airstrikes pounded the Islamic Republic.

Two Iranian drones hit near Dubai International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and the world's busiest for international travel. Four people were wounded but flights continued, the Dubai Media Office said.

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Iran deploys Lego-style animation in propaganda war with US, Israel

While Iran hits back against U.S. and Israeli attacks with missiles and drones, it is also fighting a propaganda war with a Lego-style animation video complete with toy renditions of Donald Trump, bombs and warplanes.

Iran's state-run Revayat-e Fath institute released its video on state television following the February 28 U.S.-Israeli attacks that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggered the Middle East war.

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Iran vows to fight on and block all Gulf oil

Iran vowed on Tuesday that not one liter of oil would be exported from the Gulf while its war with the United States and Israel continues, in a stark rebuke to President Donald Trump's boast that the conflict was all but over.

Trump's argument that the war would be "ended soon" helped reverse the Monday's spike in oil prices, which have surged since Iranian attacks on shipping closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed its supreme leader.

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