I am the the President of Venezuela, I consider myself a prisoner of war. I was captured at my home in Caracas.

Reuters reports, citing sources familiar with the matter, that thousands of Iranian Kurdish fighters positioned near the Iraq-Iran border are preparing to launch an attack within the coming week. The initial objective is to seize control of strategic border towns in western Iran, including Oshnavieh and Piranshahr.

Iranian Kurdish sources told Reuters that the factions' long-term goal is to establish a semi-autonomous governing region within a federalized Iran, modeled after the Kurdistan Region in Iraq.

The preparations follow consultations between Kurdish groups and the United States regarding potential operations against Iranian security forces, as well as Israeli airstrikes supporting the effort by targeting areas in western Iran.

President Trump has publicly expressed support for such Kurdish actions.

Iran has responded with recent strikes on Kurdish opposition positions in Iraqi Kurdistan. The developments risk opening a new western front in the escalating regional conflict.

The United States and Israel have held discussions on deploying special forces—potentially U.S., Israeli, or joint teams, possibly with nuclear experts—into Iran during a later phase of the ongoing conflict to seize or neutralize its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Iran is believed to possess approximately 450 kg of uranium enriched to 60%, material that could be rapidly converted to weapons-grade levels sufficient for multiple nuclear weapons.

Options under consideration include physically removing the uranium from Iran or diluting it on-site. Any such ground operation would only proceed once Iran's military is sufficiently degraded to limit effective resistance.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is announcing the transfer today during a visit and press conference at Uppland Air Base.

Separately, negotiations are set to open on the sale of newer Gripen E variants to Ukraine, financed via an EU loan. This builds on a Letter of Intent signed in October 2025, which could lead to a larger deal for 100–150 aircraft in total.

Official ABS data recorded 1.481 in 2024. Government projections from the Centre for Population now put the rate at 1.42 for 2025–26 — well below the 2.1 replacement level.

Despite the decline in births, Australia’s population continues to grow, driven primarily by net overseas migration rather than natural increase.

In an interview with the Financial Times in Kabul, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said Afghanistan would “absolutely” welcome American investment in mining, infrastructure, agriculture and trade. “Relations between Afghanistan and the United States should not be assessed through the lens of the past 20 years of war, but rather on the basis of future co-operation,” he said. “Our economic policy is open.”

Geological surveys estimate Afghanistan holds at least $1 trillion in largely untapped resources, including copper, lithium, cobalt, gold, iron ore and niobium. Kabul is also pressing for the return of frozen reserves, which Afghanistan’s central bank puts at $9.5 billion held abroad, including about $7 billion in the United States.

The outreach comes five years after the Taliban returned to power and as the group tries to ease its diplomatic isolation, despite continued international criticism over severe restrictions on women and girls. President Trump has shown little interest in closer ties and has instead pressed for the return of Bagram air base, a demand the Taliban has rejected.