🇷🇺🇨🇳⚡️ — Rosatom forecasts a 14% rise in cargo traffic along Russia’s Northern Sea Route in 2026, after volumes exceeded 37 million tonnes for two straight years.

Chinese carriers are expanding Arctic shipping, with more than 30 voyages planned this year as trade between China and Russia grows.

🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 — Meanwhile, the United States has begun a large-scale series of strikes within Iranian territory.

According to reports, the strikes are targeting locations in various areas along the coast of the Persian Gulf.

🇰🇵🇺🇸⚡️ — North Korea rejected US demands for denuclearization and stated that it will continue to strengthen its nuclear arsenal. Pyongyang emphasized that the US "hostile policy" toward North Korea has not changed.

A North Korean foreign ministry official called US criticism of the country's human rights situation, calls for complete denuclearization, and planned military drills with South Korea and Japan evidence of Washington's "hostile approach."

Pyongyang called its nuclear weapons an "absolute guarantee" of sovereignty and stated that repeated US demands will not change North Korea's nuclear status.

North Korea also said that expecting a reduction in regional tensions is "pointless" as long as Washington adheres to its current policy, stressing that US policy toward North Korea has also not changed.

🇮🇱❌🇱🇧 — Initial reports of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon.