If you thought the new Resident Evil movie trailer would be safe from the PlayStation physical disc controversy, think again.
… %!s()
The latest teaser video for director Zach Cregger's live-action Resident Evil adaptation was immediately flooded with negative comments published on the PlayStation YouTube channel yesterday. It's the latest example in the weeks of outrage that have followed Sony's decision to kill support for physical discs in 2028.
While most gamers have directed the backlash to gaming-related announcements, Resident Evil's status as a film doesn't seem to have deterred angry fans hoping to make their voices heard. Of the 1,800 comments left below the PlayStation upload for the trailer, most of the "Top" messages reference the controversy in one way or another. Some are more clever than others.
"I cannot wait to get the physical version of this," one fan, echoing the comments left on other PlayStation videos, said.
"He’s transporting the last physical game copy in existence," another joked.
"Leon…. Where are the Physical Discs?" someone else said.
PlayStation social media accounts have served as a hub for fans to voice their…feelings about Sony's physical strategy since the company made its initial announcement July 1, 2026. The move will see it cease production for new physical video games starting January 2028, meaning titles launched after the cutoff date will be completely restricted to a digital release. Players, especially those who have spent the last 50ish years collecting and trading physical versions of games, aren't happy, to say the least.
After a short social media hiatus, PlayStation returned to X/Twitter and was immediately swarmed by angry comments. Every post since then has faced a similar level of backlash, with the outrage spreading to other sites, too. The Marvel's Wolverine game is the latest example of a game trailer to be flooded by those calling for change.
It's not too surprising to see the PlayStation upload for the Resident Evil trailer filled with comments. While the vast majority of the backlash seems to have stuck to PlayStation channels, even other comment sections aren't free from references to physical game discs.
The Resident Evil movie is only the latest to fall victim to the controversy, but it's not the first time it's found itself in the line of fire. Longtime fans were disappointed to see Cregger had taken some creative liberties when it comes to the Raccoon City Incident when they laid eyes on its first teaser in April, for example.
The Weapons director will bring his Resident Evil to theaters September 18, 2026. For more, you can read about some of the Easter Eggs tucked into the new trailer. You can also read about how Sony may have been prepared for the backlash, and why it's unlikely to U-turn.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).%!s()
Visit will be Netanyahu’s seventh to White House, underscoring US commitment amid war with Iran, genocide in Gaza.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House next Tuesday, the PM’s office said.
… %!s()
It added that the meeting coincides with Netanyahu’s visit for the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham. The Republican, who was one of the staunchest supporters of Israel in Washington, died suddenly last week.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 items
list 1 of 3US court affirms release of pro-Palestine scholar as legal battle continues
list 2 of 3Israel carries out blasts across south Lebanon despite ‘ceasefire’ deal
list 3 of 3Trillion dollar US defence bill would deepen military ties with Israel
end of list
“At President Trump’s invitation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will depart for Washington on Monday for an official visit,” the statement said.
“As part of the visit, the prime minister will meet with President Trump at the White House on Tuesday and will attend the funeral service for Senator Lindsey Graham.”
The visit will be Netanyahu’s seventh at the White House in Trump’s second term, far outpacing any other world leader and underscoring the administration’s continued commitment to Israel.
It comes as the US-Israeli war with Iran has again escalated following a breakdown earlier this month of a ceasefire reached as part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the US and Iran.
Israel had opposed the MoU, with its ongoing military operations in Lebanon repeatedly threatening to derail diplomatic overtures. The Trump administration has been overseeing talks between Lebanon and Israel aimed at ending the war that do not include Hezbollah.
Both Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a plan meant to turn over Israeli-occupied areas to the Lebanese military, although the facts on the ground have remained largely unchanged since March. In a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun earlier this week, Trump did not offer a timeline for Israel’s withdrawal.
Also on Friday, US Central Command said its forces completed their 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran. Iran has retaliated daily against US assets in the region, killing three US soldiers in a strike on a base in Jordan last week.
Washington has also increasingly shifted military assets to Israel, in what some analysts see as a sign of a larger escalation on the horizon.
The visit also comes as Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza goes on, with the Israeli military continuing to issue displacement orders and launching near daily attacks, despite the US-backed “ceasefire” that began last October.
An analysis from UN agencies has found that an estimated 1.4 million people, representing 67 percent of Gaza’s population, are still suffering “crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity”.
All told, at least 73,311 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to local health authorities, including 1,185 people since the current “ceasefire” began.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli raids have again escalated, with four Palestinians killed on Friday in an attack by Israeli forces and settlers southwest of Nablus, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Israeli health officials reported that an Israeli settler was killed and others injured in the area.
At least 86 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis across the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the year, including 21 shot by settlers.
Threats to arrest
The US visit comes as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has called on federal officials to arrest Netanyahu, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges related to war crimes committed in Gaza.
Mamdani had previously threatened to use the New York Police Department to arrest Netanyahu, but acknowledged earlier this week he did not have the “authority to do so”. Netanyahu is expected to travel to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly in September.
The US is not a signatory of the ICC’s founding document, the Rome Statute, and is therefore not subject to the court’s jurisdiction. The Trump administration has further taken an offensive approach against the court, vowing an “all-of government” campaign that has included sanctioning ICC officials and groups that support its investigations.
Trump has rejected the prospect of Netanyahu’s arrest while in the US.
“Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America,” he posted on Truth Social on Monday.
He instead hailed Israel’s role in fighting Iran. The US Congress is also currently considering a defence budget that would see the US and Israel integrate their militaries, in a major deepening of ties.
But public opinion polls have shown Israel’s standing in the US has plummeted amid the war in Gaza.
More recently, several influential right-wing figures have charged that Israel dragged the US into the war with Iran. The conflict has stretched on for five months with no end in sight. %!s()
If you use ChatGPT for your marketing (content ideas, outlines, copy, strategy), you’ve probably run into the same wall: the AI doesn’t know what’s actually ranking. It doesn’t know how competitive a keyword is. It doesn’t know whether 500 monthly searches is high or low for your industry. It doesn’t know if your competitors are already dominating a topic.
… %!s()
You could paste data in manually. But that means switching to Ubersuggest, pulling a report, copying the numbers, and going back. Every time. For every question.
That gap is now closed.
Ubersuggest is now an official app inside ChatGPT. When you use it, ChatGPT calls Ubersuggest in real time to fetch live SEO data (keyword volumes, difficulty scores, related keywords, SERP snapshots) and weaves the results directly into the conversation. You ask. ChatGPT fetches. You get an answer built on actual data.
The Ubersuggest ChatGPT app is a native integration built using OpenAI’s App platform and Model Context Protocol (MCP). Not a browser extension. Not a workaround. A first-party connection that lets ChatGPT call Ubersuggest’s APIs directly during your conversation.
What’s Live Right Now: Keyword Research
The first capability is live keyword research. When you ask ChatGPT a question that requires keyword data, the app fetches it in real time from Ubersuggest’s database of over 100 million keywords. This includes:
Search volume: actual monthly search data, not estimates based on training data
Keyword difficulty: a 0-100 score showing how competitive a keyword is to rank for
Related keywords: semantically related terms you might be missing
Keyword suggestions: variations and long-tail opportunities based on your seed keyword
SERP data: who’s currently ranking for a term and what types of content dominate the results
What’s Coming Next
The Ubersuggest ChatGPT app is launching in phases. Keyword research is live now. Coming soon:
Domain analysis: pull traffic estimates, top pages, and organic keyword counts for any domain
Backlink analysis: check referring domains, link authority, and new/lost link history
Site audit: surface technical SEO issues directly in your ChatGPT conversation
Content research: get content ideas and SEO scores without leaving the chat
Projects: access your rank tracking data and keyword position history
Utilities: SERP data, intent classification, and keyword expansion tools
Why This Is Different from Just Asking ChatGPT for Keywords
ChatGPT is excellent at reasoning, pattern recognition, and language. But it has a fundamental limitation when it comes to SEO data: it’s working from training data, not live search data.
When you ask ChatGPT what keywords to target, it’s generating plausible answers based on patterns in its training corpus. It’s not querying an actual keyword database. It doesn’t know current search volumes. It doesn’t know what’s ranking right now.
The Ubersuggest ChatGPT app solves this by making ChatGPT’s SEO answers data-grounded. ChatGPT still does the reasoning, strategy, and language. Ubersuggest provides the live facts it’s reasoning from. The combination is more useful than either alone.
A Real Example
Without the Ubersuggest app: You ask for long-tail keywords for your home cleaning service. ChatGPT gives you a list of logical-sounding phrases. No volume, no difficulty, no way to know if any have real traffic worth pursuing.
Stop wasting money and unlock the hidden potential of your advertising.
Discover the power of intentional advertising.
Reach your ideal target audience.
Maximize ad spend efficiency.
With the Ubersuggest app: ChatGPT queries Ubersuggest and presents real data in context: “‘house cleaning service Austin’ has 880 monthly searches with difficulty 32, achievable for a newer site. ‘One-time cleaning Austin’ has 480 searches with difficulty 19, a lower-competition entry point. Here’s the full breakdown…”
Same question. Completely different answer.
How Ubersuggest Compares to Semrush’s ChatGPT Integration
Semrush launched their ChatGPT integration in December 2025, available to Business, Pro, Plus, Guru, and Enterprise plan subscribers, at prices that put it out of reach for most solo operators and small teams.
Stop wasting money and unlock the hidden potential of your advertising.
Discover the power of intentional advertising.
Reach your ideal target audience.
Maximize ad spend efficiency.
The Ubersuggest ChatGPT app takes a different approach: available to any Ubersuggest user, on any plan, including free. You don’t need an enterprise license. You don’t need to upgrade. If you have a ChatGPT account and an Ubersuggest account, you’re set.
How to Set Up the Ubersuggest ChatGPT App
Setup takes under a minute:
Open the Ubersuggest app page at app.neilpatel.com/en/chatgpt-app
Sign in to ChatGPT. Free or paid account, any tier works.
Authorize the connection with your Ubersuggest credentials via OAuth.
Start your conversation. No special commands needed.
“What are the best long-tail keywords for [your topic] with under 40 difficulty and over 300 monthly searches?”
“What’s the search volume trend for [keyword] over the last 12 months? Growing or declining?”
“Compare the keyword difficulty for these 5 keywords. Which is the best entry point for a new blog?”
“Give me 20 related keywords for [seed keyword], sorted by lowest difficulty first.”
“What types of content are ranking on page 1 for [keyword]? Blog posts, product pages, or something else?”
“I’m writing a content plan for a [niche] site. Suggest 10 keywords with volume 200-2,000 and difficulty under 35.”
“What question-based keywords exist around [topic] that I could answer in a FAQ section?”
“I want to rank for [keyword]. How competitive is it, and what does my content need to beat the top results?”
“Give me a keyword cluster around [main topic]: one pillar keyword and 8 supporting long-tail variations.”
“What’s the CPC for [keyword]? Is there paid demand here that signals commercial intent?”
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Ubersuggest ChatGPT app free?
Yes. Connect it with a free Ubersuggest account and a free ChatGPT account. Data depth may vary by Ubersuggest plan tier.
Does this work on mobile ChatGPT?
The app works on web, mobile, and desktop ChatGPT, anywhere you access ChatGPT with your account.
Is my data secure?
Yes. The connection uses OAuth 2.0. No passwords are shared. Ubersuggest only receives the queries your session generates. No account data or personal information is exposed beyond what’s needed to answer your query.
When are domain analysis and backlink features launching?
The team is rolling out additional capabilities in phases. Check app.neilpatel.com/en/chatgpt-app for the latest.
Looking to take advantage of this functionality? You can add Ubersuggest to ChatGPT in under a minute on any plan, completely free to start. Follow the link here to add Ubersuggest to ChatGPT,
Built in 1875 and modelled on the Chapelle Saint-Marc in Lyon, the church was originally intended to be the chapel for St Joseph University, which was opened by French Jesuits as part of France’s colonial-era “civilising mission”.
… %!s()
Its pale stone facade rises above a busy Beirut street. Today, it remains under Jesuit stewardship, with Father Michael Petro leading the parish.
“It’s an interesting space, because it is on the edge of Ashrafieh, a predominantly Christian, francophone area, which has plenty of wealthy Lebanese people living in it. But it also has their domestic workers. From the start of the first waves of migrants in the 70s, this place became known as a place for them,” he tells Al Jazeera.
Every Sunday, during peacetime, the gravel car park is transformed into a cricket ground. Indian and Pakistani migrant workers play softball cricket while families sit on the sidelines sharing home-cooked food, catching up with friends and enjoying one of their few days away from work.
Today, the atmosphere is very different.
Instead of the crack of a plastic bat and Bollywood music spilling across the church grounds, rows of mattresses line the floors, and laundry hangs from railings. Men slouch on plastic chairs littered around the church, scrolling through their phones. Women carry blankets and washed clothes in plastic tubs. Only the children seem able to break the subdued mood, darting between adults and filling the space with bursts of laughter.
“When the war escalated, we immediately had large groups of Sudanese and South Sudanese come here,” Father Michael says. “They showed up because they would ask community leaders what to do, and were told to come here, as it is the first place they trusted.
"On one hand, that's very beautiful, because people thought they would be welcome here, and they were."
However, the strain of being a first port of call for so many displaced migrants is beginning to show.
Supplies are low, and tensions occasionally flare among those sheltering at the church. Father Michael says the church reached its capacity of 250 people on just the second day of the war.
"We've turned away more than 100 people in the last few days,” he says. “It's a disaster.”
Mohammad says daily life has become increasingly difficult, particularly since the arrival of their son.
“We do not have enough clothes, especially now that the baby is growing. Also, my wife's nutrition is not great. Sometimes she gets constipated, and then the baby becomes ill. We need more protein and vegetables. The diet is a huge concern.”
Living in crowded conditions, surrounded by uncertainty, has taken a toll on people’s mental wellbeing, Rufaida says.
“Because of the atmosphere and mental health problems, small problems become big ones. I said good morning to someone, and they didn’t like it. There are no big fights, but there is an underlying tension.”
Both say they understand why tempers sometimes fray. Many of those sheltering at the church have fled war, lost homes and spent months or years living with uncertainty.
Small problems become big ones.
by RUFAIDA, DISPLACED SUDANESE MOTHER
Their gratitude is rooted partly in what happened when Rufaida sought maternity care.
At Karatina Hospital, they say they were repeatedly overlooked by doctors in favour of Lebanese patients. “We were there to get papers so she could give birth in that hospital, but we were ignored, and Lebanese people were allowed into consultations first,” Mohammad says.
After waiting for three hours, a worker from the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), who had accompanied them to the hospital, intervened and helped ensure they were seen.
Through support coordinated by JRS and partner organisations, the entire cost of Rufaida’s pregnancy was covered, including prenatal care, the cesarean delivery and Ahmad’s vaccinations.
“It gave me comfort and peace that I was able to deliver in a safe environment,” Rufaida says.
Their experience is increasingly common among Sudanese migrants in Lebanon, many of whom have found themselves uprooted more than once — first by war in Sudan and then by conflict in Lebanon.
Rufaida’s story is far from unique. According to figures published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in August 2025, there are 164,097 migrants living in Lebanon, of which 14,854 are Sudanese nationals.
That number represents only a small fraction of the 4.4 million Sudanese who have fled their country since the outbreak of civil war in April 2023.
Some, like Rufaida, arrived on tourist visas. Others found jobs as concierges or domestic workers, under Lebanon's kafala sponsorship system, which ties a migrant worker's legal residency to their employer.
About 3,800 Sudanese have also found asylum in Lebanon as registered refugees with the UN Refugee Agency.
For refugees in Lebanon, a UNHCR registration card can mean far more than a piece of paper. It offers a measure of protection from detention or deportation, can unlock access to aid and education where services exist, and, for many, represents their best hope of one day being resettled in another country.
US missiles struck targets across Iran on Friday after Donald Trump vowed “major military punishment” for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen for extending the Middle East war to a second major shipping chokepoint, the mouth of the Red Sea. US Central Command said it targeted Iranian military command centres, communication networks, drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites and maritime capabilities.
…
Iranian armed forces responded by firing a wave of retaliatory attacks on at US bases in neighbouring Arab countries and warning people there that they may strike non-military buildings used by US personnel. The Iranian army said it used drones to target facilities in Bahrain and Jordan, with attacks also reported in Kuwait and Iraq. The IRGC warned civilians in the Middle East to stay away from US forces, state media reported.
The head of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central military command, Ali Abdollahi, threatened US military personnel in the region on Friday, saying Iran had “prepared free, one-way tickets to hell for you”. “For every proud citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran who is martyred, one American service member will be sent to hell,” he was quoted as saying by the state broadcaster.
Iranpushed back on a New York Times (paywall) report from Thursday that Tehran had rejected a US ceasefire deal presented by the Iraqi prime minister, calling the report “completely diversionary and misleading,” according to state media IRNA. The NYT reported that the proposal was the only one on the table, and Tehran was not interested in a temporary deal which left the question of control of the strait of Hormuz unresolved, citing Iranian officials. Baghdad has also denied the NYT report.
Trumpsaid that in recent meetings with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, both leaders assured the US president separately that they would not sell weapons toIran. The US president added: “Two major countries that people speak of often in terms of Iran are, in my opinion, not participating. If they did, it would be very bad for them – certainly not in their best interests.”
Key events
15m ago
The day so far
20m ago
Head of Iran's top joint military command says it will kill one member of US forces for every Iranian killed
1h ago
Trump says China and Russia gave assurances they would not sell weapons to Iran
3h ago
Iran pushes back on report that it rejected US ceasefire proposal sent via Iraq
3h ago
US carries out strikes across Iran as Tehran targets American bases in region
As we put the blog on pause for the time being, here is our full report on the latest attacks the US has launched against Iran and Donald Trump’s warning to Tehran:
The day so far
US missiles struck targets across Iran on Friday after Donald Trump vowed “major military punishment” for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen for extending the Middle East war to a second major shipping chokepoint, the mouth of the Red Sea. US Central Command said it targeted Iranian military command centres, communication networks, drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites and maritime capabilities.
Iranian armed forces responded by firing a wave of retaliatory attacks on at US bases in neighbouring Arab countries and warning people there that they may strike non-military buildings used by US personnel. The Iranian army said it used drones to target facilities in Bahrain and Jordan, with attacks also reported in Kuwait and Iraq. The IRGC warned civilians in the Middle East to stay away from US forces, state media reported.
The head of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central military command, Ali Abdollahi, threatened US military personnel in the region on Friday, saying Iran had “prepared free, one-way tickets to hell for you”. “For every proud citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran who is martyred, one American service member will be sent to hell,” he was quoted as saying by the state broadcaster.
Iranpushed back on a New York Times (paywall) report from Thursday that Tehran had rejected a US ceasefire deal presented by the Iraqi prime minister, calling the report “completely diversionary and misleading,” according to state media IRNA. The NYT reported that the proposal was the only one on the table, and Tehran was not interested in a temporary deal which left the question of control of the strait of Hormuz unresolved, citing Iranian officials. Baghdad has also denied the NYT report.
Trumpsaid that in recent meetings with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, both leaders assured the US president separately that they would not sell weapons toIran. The US president added: “Two major countries that people speak of often in terms of Iran are, in my opinion, not participating. If they did, it would be very bad for them – certainly not in their best interests.”
As we reported earlier, Iran’s military said on Friday that it carried out attacks targeting US military assets in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait in retaliation for Washington’s latest strikes on the Islamic republic.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corp, meanwhile, said they had targeted a data centre in Bahrain belonging to Amazon, according to state media, though neither the US tech giant nor Bahrain have commented on the claim.
There was also no confirmation from the US of any targeting of its facilities or personnel.
“This morning, the fuel tanks, large equipment warehouses and silos, and the barracks of the US terrorist army forces at the Isa Air Base in Bahrain were targeted by Arash kamikaze drones,” the Iranian army said in a statement carried by state TV.
An AFP journalist in Bahrain reported an explosion and warning sirens Friday, though it was not immediately clear if the two events were linked.
Bahrain later said it intercepted and destroyed “a number of Iranian aerial aggressions”, accusing Tehran of targeting civilians.
The Iranian army also claimed drone attacks against Jordan, targeting “aircraft hangars, aviation maintenance hangars and a barracks” at Al-Azraq base.
Jordan’s military said it intercepted seven missiles and six drones launched by Iran on Friday, adding the operation “resulted in no casualties or material damage”.
In a separate statement, the Iranian army said it had also launched drones at US equipment warehouses at Camp Udairi and the site of American military personnel at Camp Doha and Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.
The IRGC said they had targeted the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, claiming to have destroyed an ammunition depot and inflicted casualties among US personnel.
They also claimed attacks on equipment storage silos at Camp Udairi in Kuwait, as well as a US Fifth Fleet watchtower in Bahrain.
Head of Iran's top joint military command says it will kill one member of US forces for every Iranian killed
The head of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central military command, Ali Abdollahi, threatened US military personnel in the region on Friday, saying Iran had “prepared free, one-way tickets to hell for you”.
“For every proud citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran who is martyred, one American service member will be sent to hell,” he was quoted as saying by the state broadcaster.
Trump says China and Russia gave assurances they would not sell weapons to Iran
Shrai Popat
Donald Trump said that in recent meetings with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, both leaders assured the US president separately that they would not sell weapons to Iran.
“Considering our relationship, I take him at his word,” Trump said of the Chinese leader. Meanwhile, the US president said that the Kremlin made the same guarantees, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine. Putin understands that the US does not sell weapons to Ukraine, “but to Nato countries”, Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday. “They pay full price, and how those weapons are distributed, I have no idea.”
The US president added: “Two major countries that people speak of often in terms of Iran are, in my opinion, not participating. If they did, it would be very bad for them – certainly not in their best interests.”
The US embassy in Amman has warned Americans that US military bases in Jordan should be avoided and asked Americans to follow local government and embassy travel advisories and guidance. It comes after three US service members were killed last week after Iran targeted a military base in Jordan.
In a statement on X the embassy in the Jordanian capital added: “Due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation.
“US diplomatic facilities, including outside the Middle East, have been targeted. Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other US interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world, including US businesses and other institutions.”
It urged Americans to reconsider travelling to and through the Middle East, and to “exercise caution and heightened vigilance and should be prepared for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions”.
An Omani delegation has arrived in Iran to discuss a framework “to establish appropriate mechanisms for managing ship traffic in the strait of Hormuz,” Iranian state news agency IRNA reports.
Tehran has maintained that it’s open to managing the strait in coordination with Oman, though the US and Gulf states have rejected the idea.
BenjaminNetanyahu will meet Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister’s office said.
“As part of the visit, the prime minister will meet with President Trump at the White House on Tuesday and attend the funeral service for Senator Lindsey Graham, a friend of Israel,” Netanyahu’s office said, adding that he will depart for Washington on Monday.
Netanyahu’s visit comes at a time when tensions have mounted between the two leaders over the handling of the war with Iran and as Trump threatens to escalate US military action.
Since Trump’s return to the White House last year, the two have already met six times, but this will be the first such meeting in five months. At the last one in February, Netanyahu made the case for the joint offensive against Iran that Trump launched with him weeks later.
Iran pushes back on report that it rejected US ceasefire proposal sent via Iraq
Iran has pushed back on a New York Times (paywall) report from Thursday that Tehran had rejected a US ceasefire deal presented by the Iraqi prime minister, calling the report “completely diversionary and misleading,” according to state media IRNA.
The NYT reported that the proposal was the only one on the table, and Tehran was not interested in a temporary deal which left the question of control of the strait of Hormuz unresolved, citing Iranian officials.
The IRNA report claimed the proposal was for a “temporary 10-day ceasefire”. Full details of the proposal have not been published.
“Iran has always regarded diplomacy as having intrinsic value,” an unnamed Iranian official said, according to IRNA. “The problem of the escalation of conflict in the region stems exclusively from the United States’ breach of its promises and violation of the commitments contained in the June 18 memorandum of understanding.”
Baghdad has also denied the NYT report. Ali al-Zaidi’s trip to Iran followed his recent visit to the White House where he met with Donald Trump.
The Iraqi prime minister’s media office said the “claims” in the report were “completely baseless and had no connection to reality”, according to a statement published by the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
The office urged media outlets “to verify information, rely on official sources and refrain from circulating unsubstantiated reports or claims attributed to anonymous sources”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps warned civilians in the Middle East on Friday to stay away from US forces, state media reported.
In an interview carried out by state TV, the IRGC said:
double quotation markWe warn the general public in countries where American soldiers are stationed to immediately stay out of a radius of 500 metres from the places where American soldiers are hiding, in order to be safe.
Jordan’s military said it intercepted seven missiles and six drones launched by Iran on Friday.
The military said the interceptions, performed by air defence systems and air force planes, “resulted in no casualties or material damage,” according to AFP.
Earlier on Friday, the Iranian army said it had launched drone attacks targeting US military personnel and military targets in Bahrain and Jordan after the US carried out its 13th consecutive night of strikes against Iran.
US carries out strikes across Iran as Tehran targets American bases in region
US missiles struck targets across Iran on Friday after Donald Trump vowed “major military punishment” for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen for extending the Middle East war to a second major shipping chokepoint, the mouth of the Red Sea.
The US Central Command said it targeted Iranian military command centres, communication networks, drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites and maritime capabilities.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported that explosions were reported in Khondab, Khorramabad, Konarak and Jask.
Meanwhile, as Reuters reports, Iranian armed forces responded by firing a wave of retaliatory attacks on at US bases in neighbouring Arab countries and warning people there that they may strike non-military buildings used by US personnel.
The Iranian army said it used drones to target facilities in Bahrain and Jordan, with attacks also reported in Kuwait and Iraq.
It said Trump’s threats only strengthened its resolve. %!s()
