Huge eruption of the Kanlaon volcano in Negros Island Region, Philippines 🇵🇭 (09.07.2026)

Ash from the volcano is estimated to reach about 2-3 km into the sky.

Massive fire breaks out at Huiteng Shoes Co., Ltd. factory in Jinjiang, Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China 🇨🇳 (09.07.2026)

Multiple people are trapped as emergency rescue operations get underway.

🇰🇵⚡️ — The DPRK has decided to significantly strengthen its nuclear forces, both in quality and quantity, according to the KCNA.

🇹🇷⚡️ — Turkey has reportedly resold Russian S-400 missile systems to the UAE or Qatar, according to Hürriyet.

🇮🇱🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️ — Israel has reportedly provided the United States with information alleging that Iran was planning an assassination attempt against Trump, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources.

This information could lead to a hardening of the U.S. position and an escalation of the conflict with Iran.

🇷🇺🇺🇦⚡️ — Almost 5,000 drones were destroyed by Russian air defense systems in a week, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

🇺🇸🇮🇱🇮🇷⚡️ — CNN: U.S. intelligence views the Israeli report regarding an alleged Trump assassination plot as part of a broader Israeli campaign to influence Trump's decisions on Iran, rather than as neutral intelligence. That is why some U.S. intelligence officials treat Israeli intelligence reports with caution and skepticism instead of accepting them at face value.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️ — Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped sharply, with just 22 verified transits recorded Thursday, Kpler reports.

➡️ Only one vessel crossed via the Omani channel — the rest opted for Iran's designated shipping lane.

➡️ 22 transits is well down from 40–50 in recent weeks and a fraction of the 100+ daily crossings recorded before the war began.

➡️ Some vessels are disabling transponders entirely, meaning actual traffic may be higher than tracked figures show.

🇺🇸⚡️ — US average gas prices have surged 9 cents in two days, reaching $3.88 per gallon, AAA reports.

➡️ Prices rose 5 cents Thursday and a further 4 cents overnight, following a roughly 6% rise in oil prices since US-Iran hostilities resumed in the Persian Gulf.

➡️ The outsized jump reflects how gas prices behave: they rise sharply in anticipation of higher wholesale costs, but fall only gradually as station owners use lower prices to recover lost profit margins.

➡️ Gas had been slowly declining from a wartime peak of $4.56 per gallon hit in mid-May before the latest oil spike reversed that trend.

🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️ — Fighting has paused temporarily between the US and Iran, but no compromise is in sight over the disputed administration of the Strait of Hormuz, CNN reports.

➡️ Iran views control of the strait as its key wartime gain and insists ships must follow its assigned route — the latest round of fighting was triggered after the US retaliated against Iran for firing on vessels that defied its directives.

➡️ The dispute centers on Point 5 of the MoU, which calls on Iran to arrange safe passage and engage Oman on future strait administration — but does not explicitly grant Iran exclusive authority over shipping there.

➡️ Both sides have been imposing their own interpretations of the clause; Crisis Group warns the ambiguity that helped end initial fighting has since become a liability.

➡️ Mediators are working to return both parties to the negotiating table; Iran has shown no sign of compromise, but hostilities appear to have paused as of today.

🇺🇸🇮🇱🇮🇷⚡️ — The Trump administration has signaled it does not want Israel involved in US strikes on Iran, according to two Israeli sources cited by CNN.

➡️ One source said Netanyahu "would really want to join the US strikes," but Washington has made clear Israeli participation is unwanted at this stage.

➡️ Israeli officials broadly assess that Trump is not seeking a return to full-scale war — with the most likely escalatory step being a reinstatement of a naval blockade on Iranian ports.