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French navy boards alleged Russian shadow fleet tanker in Mediterranean – Europe live

Meanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron has confirmed the seizure of the tanker, which he said belonged to the Russian shadow fleet.

In a strongly worded post on X, he said:

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Russian oil tanker heading to Cuba amid US economic blockade

Hundreds of thousands of barrels of Russian oil are heading to Cuba, according to maritime tracking data, as the communist island suffers blackouts under a US economic blockade and Donald Trump threatens to take it over.

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First Thing: Trump says US does not need Nato after strait of Hormuz rebuff

Donald Trump has said the US does not need Nato, after a number of the organization’s members rejected his call to send their warships to reopen the strait of Hormuz.

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Cory Booker calls both parties ‘feckless’ for ceding war powers to Trump

Democrat says Congress ‘doing nothing’ may embolden president to attack countries such as Cuba and North Korea

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All six crew members confirmed dead after US plane crash in Iraq – Middle East crisis live

All six crew members on board a US KC-135 military aerial refuelling plane that crashed in western Iraq yesterday have been confirmed dead, US Central Command said in an update Friday.

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Mojtaba Khamenei says strait of Hormuz will remain closed in first statement as supreme leader as Iranian attacks disrupt energy markets

In his first public remarks as Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei called for national unity and said that all US bases in the region should close or face attacks.

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Middle East crisis live: three ships hit in strait of Hormuz as Iran calls vessels belonging to US or allies ‘legitimate targets’

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Middle East crisis live: Hegseth says today will be the ‘most intense day of strikes’ in war against Iran

Hegseth adds that today will be “the most intense day of strikes”, while Iran has fired its lowest number of weapons in the past 24 hours.

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Middle East crisis live: Israel resumes strikes across Tehran and Beirut as Turkey and Qatar intercept Iranian missiles

The Israeli military announced strikes against infrastructure across Iran and a Hezbollah-linked group in Beirut while Iranian missiles targeting Turkey and Qatar were intercepted

Summary of the day so far