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Trump says will 'soon' declare Hormuz strait US territory
US President Donald Trump said he would "soon" declare the Strait of Hormuz waterway part of US territory, claiming that Iran was being heavily defeated.
"Pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States. It's true," he said with a chuckle during a political rally at a police academy in New York state.
UK criticises Netanyahu over 'Islamic republic of Britain' comment
Britain hit back at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu derisively calling the country an "Islamic republic" in an interview, branding the remarks "completely unacceptable".
The diplomatic tit-for-tat came after the right-wing prime minister made the reference in an army radio podcast interview the previous day, in which he criticised the UK's stance on Israel.
It echoed the language of far-right politicians and commentators in the Western world who have made baseless claims that parts of Britain have come under Islamic law due to immigration, drawing accusations of Islamophobia.
US to hit Iran hard economically, Trump says
US President Donald Trump told Fox News that the United States will hit Iran hard economically as Washington and Tehran struggle to reach a deal to end a nearly six month conflict.
His comments came a day after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US was going to apply measures that have "never been seen" on Tehran as soon as next week.
Houthi attack on Yemen's Mokha kills six, says govt military source
A military official from Yemen's internationally recognised government said a Houthi attack on the port city of Mokha killed six people, two of them security personnel.
The Iran-backed rebels "fired five missiles at commercial ships unloading at the port, and two ships are on fire", the official said.
Netanyahu derides 'Islamic republic of Britain' in interview
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu derisively called Britain an "Islamic republic" as he criticised the country's stance on Israel during an interview.
The remarks echoed the language of far-right politicians and commentators in the Western world who have made baseless claims that parts of Britain have come under Islamic law due to immigration, drawing accusations of Islamophobia.
In an interview, the right-wing prime minister spoke of how Winston Churchill's grandson and namesake vocally supported Israel during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
"Would you find that now?" Netanyahu said on an army radio podcast on Thursday.
"Someone once said that the first Islamic republic with nuclear weapons would be the Islamic republic of Britain," he added with a smile. "We're making sure there's not another one here in Iran."
Britain was one of a number of European countries that recognised Palestinian statehood last year, infuriating Israel.
Trump dismisses concerns over conditions on US aircraft carrier
US President Donald Trump dismissed concerns over living conditions and the mental health of service members on a US aircraft carrier deployed against Iran and said the ship would soon rotate out.
Asked by reporters whether family members were worried about the situation on the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, Trump said "no, they're not."
Trump also rejected that the ship – now in its ninth month at sea – had been deployed for too long. "No, no, no, not nearly enough," he said.
Trump confirmed reports that the Abraham Lincoln was due to be rotated with a replacement aircraft carrier as the United States remains locked in a stalemate with Iran over control of the Strait of Hormuz and the country's nuclear program.
Houthis say they targeted Aramco in Saudi Arabia's Najran with drone
Yemen's Houthis said they targeted an Aramco facility in the Saudi city of Najran with a drone, the group-run SABA news agency reported, citing a military source.
The source said the attack was in response to what it described as Saudi military aircraft violating Yemen's sovereignty by entering airspace over the northeastern part of Saada governorate.
There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities or Aramco. It was not immediately clear from the report whether the facility was hit.
Israeli defence minister calls for police to replace military in handling West Bank settlers
Israel's defence minister called for the police to take over law enforcement in the occupied West Bank from the military, which has come under fire from the right-wing for trying to remove settlers harassing Palestinians.
The measure, if implemented, would be a step towards Israeli annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory – something several ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government openly call for.
The announcement comes almost a week into a siege by Israeli settlers who have blockaded Palestinians inside their homes in the northern West Bank, repeatedly returning despite attempts by the military to remove them.
Iraqi daily oil exports in August highest since start of war
Iraq's average daily oil exports since the beginning of August are the highest since the outbreak of the Middle East war between Iran and the US, which has choked off the Strait of Hormuz, the oil ministry said.
Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair told a press conference that "exports since the beginning of the month have reached a rate of two million barrels" per day, for a total of around 26 million barrels, saying the daily rate was achieved "for the first time since the crisis began".
📸 In Qusra, Israeli and international activists try to gain access to occupied home
Israeli leftist activists gather as Palestinian residents and solidarity volunteers stand on the roof of a house besieged by Israeli settlers in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, on August 14, 2026. © Jaafar Ashtiyeh, AFP
Israeli leftist activists and solidarity volunteers gather in front of a besieged Palestinian house by Israeli settlers in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, on August 14, 2026. © Jaafar Ashtiyeh, AFP
Members of the Israeli security forces stand guard as Palestinian, Israeli and foreign activists try to approach a Palestinian house which was besieged by Israeli settlers, in Qusra, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 14, 2026. © Ali Sawafta, Reuters
In 2023, Palestinian villagers in Qusra said settler violence 'had already been going on for many years'
FRANCE 24's senior reporter Catherine Norris Trent recalls a trip she made to Qusra in 2023, when villagers told her that Israeli settlers were attacking them, preventing them from accessing their land and threatening to kill them if they tried to harvest their olives.
The attacks came amid a sharp increase in settler violence in the West Bank following the October 7 Hamas attack, although villagers said such violence had been going on for years and was already making their lives increasingly difficult by 2023.
Israeli army not ordered to stop violent settler siege in Qusra for political reasons
Israeli settlers are conducting a campaign of violence and intimidation against the Palestinian village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank. Families have had their electricity and water supplies cut off, in what residents say is an attempt to force them from their homes.
According to FRANCE 24 correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky, Israel’s Defence Minister is using settler violence for political propaganda, as the army could remove violent settlers if they wanted to, but is not ordered to do so due to far-right political pressure.
"If it wished to, the Israeli army could remove these violent settlers who are acting completely illegally under international law and under Israeli law, within 10 minutes, the mayor of Qusra said," reported Tarnopolsky.
The situation is expected to remain unchanged, with the army standing by as armed Jewish settlers intimidate Palestinians.
France urges Israel to arrest, prosecute settlers besieging Qusra in West Bank
France on Friday called on Israel to arrest and prosecute rogue settlers blockading Palestinian homes at Qusra in the occupied West Bank and to protect the civilian population.
"France strongly condemns the occupation of several Palestinian homes in the village of Qusra in the West Bank by Israeli settlers, as well as the acts of violence committed against Palestinian civilians," the foreign ministry said.
Activists try to get supplies to Palestinians besieged by settlers
Activists attempted to deliver supplies to Palestinians under an almost week-long settler siege in the West Bank on Friday, with the Israeli military again deployed at the flashpoint site.
Rogue Israeli settlers at Qusra near Nablus began blockading Palestinian homes on Sunday and have defied attempts by the military to remove them, with residents saying they have been cut off from food and other supplies.
An AFP journalist reported seeing settlers at the site early on Friday, but they appeared to have dispersed from the immediate vicinity by later in the morning.
A few dozen activists led a march towards the blockaded houses on Friday holding a Palestinian flag, signs reading "Justice for All" and donations for the families, the AFP journalist said.
The donated supplies, which included water, drinks and snacks, were dropped near the gates of one of the houses where heavily armed Israeli security forces were stationed.
The military said they would check the supplies before allowing them into the house, where residents could be seen looking down from a balcony.
Tanker struck by drone in Strait of Hormuz, UK maritime agency says
A tanker was struck by an uncrewed aerial vehicle while making an outbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said on Friday, citing military authorities.
The vessel sustained minor damage, while all crew were reported safe and accounted for, with no environmental impact reported.
US sailors report dire conditions as replacement carrier heads to Middle East
Reports of declining mental health and supply issues have been flagged by US sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln deployed to the Middle East, with some attempting to throw themselves into the sea. The ship has so far spent a record 260 uninterrupted days at sea as it supports the war in Iran, and is expected to be replaced by the Pacific-based USS George Washington en route to the area.
Conditions aboard US aircraft carrier in Middle East reach tipping point
Some sailors have reportedly tried throwing themselves into the sea, basic supplies can run short and sanitation is going awry – life on the giant USS Lincoln aircraft carrier is increasingly difficult as the Iran war drags on.
The ship – now in its ninth month of deployment – is expected to be replaced in the Middle East by another carrier, the George Washington, in a move sure to be welcomed by the Lincoln's crew and their loved ones.
The USS Lincoln's deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 260 days.
Several Democratic lawmakers are pressing for accountability from the Pentagon over conditions aboard the carrier, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said were “completely misrepresented”.
Kushner to travel to Middle East to advance Gaza ceasefire plans
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and negotiator Jared Kushner will travel to the Middle East next week to try to advance plans for an end to the conflict in Gaza after a deal recently announced by the Trump administration ran into Israeli opposition.
An official with the Board of Peace, the body Trump established to oversee the fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, said Kushner, board high representative Nickolay Mladenov, and executive board member and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would arrive in Israel on Sunday.
The group will then travel to Cairo, where meetings of a Palestinian technocratic group set to assume control of Gaza under a US-brokered ceasefire deal have been taking place for the past several months, the official said. The trip was reported earlier by Axios.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
