Iran has expanded its retaliatory strikes across the Gulf region on the fourth day of war with the United States and Israel, with two drones hitting the United States embassy in Saudi Arabia. Tehran has also threatened to 'set fire' to any vessel passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil and gas shipping route. The escalation has driven the cost of hiring an oil supertanker from the Middle East to China to more than 400,000 dollars a day, the highest level on record.

In Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the 'hardest hits' on Iran are 'yet to come', while Vice President JD Vance maintained that the conflict would not last for years. As the administration defends its military action, voters in Texas shared their views on the decision to strike Iran.

Elsewhere, lawmakers released around nine hours of video testimony from Bill and Hillary Clinton related to Jeffrey Epstein. In cultural news, a long-lost painting by Rembrandt has been authenticated in Amsterdam, and Ethiopia has introduced Africa's first unmanned smart police station powered by artificial intelligence.