United News of Bangladesh

Israel’s military said Iran’s Intelligence Minister Khatib was killed in an overnight airstrike on Tehran, adding that other senior officials in the ministry were also “eliminated” during the operation. In a post on X, the army said the killing of Khatib was part of what it described as an ongoing “assassination sequence,” claiming that “dozens of senior commanders” in Iran have been killed as the campaign continues. Source- Al Jazeera Israel claims killing Iran intelligence chief as Middle East tensions surge

The Iranian government has reported extensive damage to civilian infrastructure since the start of the war on February 28, with tens of thousands of homes and public facilities affected by US-Israeli attacks. Fatemeh Mohajerani, spokeswoman for the Iranian government, said nearly 43,000 civilian units have been damaged, including 36,500 residential units. Around 10,000 units were hit in Tehran alone. Hamas urges Iran to avoid targeting neighbouring countries She added that 43 emergency units, 32 ambulances, and 120 schools have also been targeted. At least 223 women have been killed, while the number of students and teachers killed has risen to 206. Earlier reports, based on information from the Iranian Red Crescent Society, had noted that 36,500 residential units were damaged since the conflict began. Sources- Al Jazeera

Up to 3.2 million people have been forced to leave their homes in Iran since the outbreak of the Israel-US war on February 28, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported. The agency said the estimate comes from early assessments of displaced households across the country. “This number is expected to rise further as hostilities continue, signaling a concerning escalation in humanitarian needs,” the UNHCR said in a statement. Sources- Al Jazeera UN Security Council fails to adopt resolution calling for halt to Middle East crisis

Asian shares rose on Wednesday, though some benchmarks trimmed earlier gains, as investors closely monitored developments in the war with Iran. U.S. stock futures climbed while oil prices showed mixed movements. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 1.3% to 54,926.50, and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.6% to 5,562.40, after surging more than 3% earlier. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 8,743.50. Taiwan’s benchmark index jumped 4.1%, while Bangkok’s SET rose 1.3%. In contrast, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.2% to 25,921.02, and India’s Sensex fell 1.1%. Oil prices remained well below Monday’s peaks, which had rattled global markets due to fears that the conflict could block the flow of oil and gas. Brent crude dipped slightly to $87.78 per barrel, while U.S. crude rose to $83.98. Prices had plunged from nearly $120 per barrel after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the war could end soon, raising hopes of a return to normal energy flows. Despite optimism, tensions remain high. The U.S. targeted Iranian minelaying vessels, while Iran threatened to block oil exports. Trump warned that any attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz would face a “twenty times harder” response from the United States. In the U.S., the S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 6,781.48, the Dow dipped slightly, and the Nasdaq edged up. Oracle shares surged 12% in premarket trading after reporting stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue growth. Analysts say markets often rebound quickly from conflicts if oil prices remain steady. But prolonged high oil prices could strain household budgets and raise business costs, increasing the risk of “stagflation,” where economic growth slows while inflation stays high. Currency movements were modest, with the dollar rising to 158.08 Japanese yen, and the euro trading at $1.1638.

Asian markets bounced back Tuesday after steep losses the previous day, as investors bet the war with Iran might be short-lived. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 surged 2.9% to 54,248.39 following revised economic data showing Japan’s economy grew 1.3% annually in the last quarter of 2025, stronger than the initial 0.2% estimate. Analysts said solid business investment helped lift the economy. “Positive comments from President Trump overnight are giving markets hope that the conflict could ease,” said Neil Newman, managing director at Astris Advisory Japan. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.1% to 8,692.60, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 5.4% to 5,532.59, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 2.1% to 25,937.59, and Shanghai’s Composite index gained 0.6% to 4,120.45. The rebound followed a steep drop in oil prices, which had spiked near $120 per barrel amid Middle East tensions before falling to about $90. Benchmark U.S. crude dropped $5.78 to $88.99 a barrel, while Brent crude slipped $5.79 to $93.17. In the U.S., markets recovered from early losses. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% to 6,795.99, the Dow Jones added 239 points to 47,740.80, and the Nasdaq gained 1.4% to 22,695.95. Investors remain wary of prolonged oil price surges, which could strain household budgets and corporate costs, raising fears of global stagflation. Concerns center on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes. President Trump said he was considering “taking it over” if Iran disrupts the flow. In bonds, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to 4.10% from 4.15%, while currency markets saw the dollar edge slightly higher against the yen at 157.48.

US President Donald Trump has suggested that the ongoing conflict with Iran could end “pretty quickly,” while also stressing that the United States is seeking an “ultimate victory.”   Speaking to CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner, Trump said the US military campaign is “ahead of schedule.” He indicated that the conflict may be nearing its conclusion, noting that the war is “very complete, pretty much.” However, he also acknowledged that the US has “not won enough yet,” signalling that operations could continue to secure a decisive outcome.   Meanwhile, Israel said it had carried out a second wave of airstrikes on Tehran on Monday as tensions in the region escalated further.   Several countries in the region reported intercepting Iranian missiles. Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar said their defence systems had successfully intercepted projectiles, while Israeli authorities said additional attacks had been detected.   The conflict is also raising concerns about its global economic impact. UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves warned that the war in the Middle East could place “upward pressure on inflation,” following discussions at a meeting of G7 finance ministers.   Oil markets reacted sharply to the escalating tensions, with the global benchmark crude price rising above $100 a barrel on Monday for the first time since 2022.   In a separate development, UK Defence Secretary John Healey said a drone that struck a British military base in Cyprus last week likely originated from either Lebanon or Iraq, highlighting the widening security risks linked to the conflict.

An extraordinary surge of AI-generated misinformation linked to the US-Israel war with Iran is being exploited by online content creators who are using advanced generative AI tools to generate revenue, experts have told BBC Verify. Analysis by BBC Verify uncovered numerous instances of AI-created videos and manipulated satellite images being circulated online to support false or misleading claims about the conflict. Collectively, such content has drawn hundreds of millions of views across social media platforms. “The scale is deeply concerning and the current war has brought the issue into sharp focus,” said Timothy Graham, a digital media specialist at Queensland University of Technology. “What previously required professional video production teams can now be produced within minutes using AI tools. The barrier to creating convincing synthetic footage of conflict has effectively disappeared,” he added. The United States and Israel began launching military strikes on Iran on February 28. In response, Iran has carried out drone and missile attacks targeting Israel as well as several Gulf countries and US military assets across the region. As the conflict escalated rapidly over the past week, many people turned to social media platforms to follow developments, seek updates and share information about the unfolding situation. Social media platform X announced this week that it will temporarily remove creators from its monetisation programme if they share AI-generated videos of armed conflicts without clearly labelling them. Under the programme, eligible users receive payments when their posts attract large numbers of views, likes, shares and comments. Mahsa Alimardani, a researcher on Iran at the Oxford Internet Institute, said the decision signals that the platform recognises the scale of the problem. “It’s a significant indication that they understand this is a major issue,” she said. BBC Verify contacted TikTok and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to ask whether they plan to introduce similar measures. Neither company responded to requests for comment. One example of misleading AI-generated content identified by BBC Verify appears to show missiles hitting the Israeli city of Tel Aviv while explosions can be heard in the background. The clip has appeared in more than 300 separate posts and has been shared tens of thousands of times across multiple social media platforms. Some users on X asked the platform’s AI chatbot Grok to verify whether the footage was authentic. However, BBC Verify found that in several cases the chatbot incorrectly claimed the AI-generated footage was real. Another fabricated video, which has been viewed tens of millions of times, purports to show the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai engulfed in flames while crowds appear to run toward the building. The AI-generated clip circulated widely online during a period of heightened anxiety among residents and tourists following reports of drone and missile strikes targeting the city. According to Alimardani, such fabricated content damages public confidence in reliable information. “Videos like these undermine trust in verified information available online and make it far more difficult to document genuine evidence,” she said. BBC Verify also identified a new element emerging in the conflict: the spread of AI-generated satellite images. On the first day of the war, BBC Verify confirmed several authentic videos showing Iranian drones and missiles striking the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. However, a manipulated satellite image shared on X by the state-linked newspaper The Tehran Times began circulating the following day, claiming to show severe destruction at the military facility. The fabricated image appears to have been derived from a real satellite photo of a US naval base in Bahrain taken in February 2025, which is publicly available online. Google’s SynthID watermark detection system indicates that the altered image was generated or modified using a Google AI tool. Further examination shows that three vehicles parked outside the base appear in exactly the same positions in both the genuine satellite photo and the manipulated AI image, even though the pictures supposedly represent scenes captured a year apart. Google’s AI products, including the video-generation tool Veo, are among a growing number of widely used AI platforms. Others include OpenAI’s Sora model, the Chinese AI application Seedance, and Grok, which is integrated into X. Henry Ajder, a specialist in generative AI, said the range and accessibility of such tools has grown dramatically. “The number of tools now available to create highly realistic AI manipulations across different formats is unprecedented,” he said. “We have never seen these technologies so accessible, so simple to use and so inexpensive,” Ajder added. Victoire Rio, executive director of the technology policy non-profit What To Fix, said this has contributed to a sharp rise in AI-generated material online because the process of producing and distributing such content can now be largely automated. Meanwhile, X’s head of product said on Tuesday that about 99 percent of accounts sharing AI-generated war footage were attempting to “game monetisation” by posting content designed to attract high engagement and earn payments through the platform’s Creator Revenue Sharing programme. X does not disclose how many accounts participate in the programme or the amount of money creators can earn from it. However, Graham estimates that X may pay between eight and 12 dollars for every one million verified user impressions. To qualify for the programme, creators must generate at least five million organic impressions within three months and maintain an X Premium subscription, he said. “Once creators qualify, viral AI-generated content effectively becomes a money-making machine,” Graham added. “It has created the ultimate misinformation enterprise.” X did not respond to BBC Verify’s requests for comment or questions about the Creator Revenue Sharing programme. Experts told BBC Verify that although social media companies say they are attempting to improve moderation and detection systems to manage the rapid spread of AI-generated content, addressing the issue remains complex. “The deeper problem is that monetisation driven by engagement and the distribution of accurate information are fundamentally at odds,” Graham said. “No platform has fully solved that conflict, and perhaps none ever will.”

President Donald Trump said Friday that dealing with the war in Iran was “easy” compared with the complicated challenge of regulating college sports and controlling the rising salaries of football players — a remark he later appeared to reconsider. Trump hosted a roundtable discussion with several sports figures, including former Nick Saban, commissioner Greg Sankey, and Pete Bevacqua. During the meeting, participants spent more than an hour discussing how large payments to top athletes, along with newer developments like the transfer portal, have disrupted college athletics. US looking at potential leaders for Iran: White House Presidents often have to deal with numerous complex issues at the same time. However, the timing of this discussion stood out because the United States and Israel had launched military strikes on Iran just a week earlier. When a reporter began asking about Iran at the end of the event, Trump interrupted, saying the situation there was “an easy problem compared to what we’re doing here.” Another journalist asked about Trump’s decision to dismiss Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem the previous day. Trump responded with frustration, asking reporters to stay focused on the topic of college sports. Later, he acknowledged that the issue might seem minor compared with global conflicts. Nevertheless, he said college athletics mattered greatly to him and that he wanted to resolve its problems if possible. Trump says US evacuating ‘thousands’ from Middle East Trump briefly addressed the Iran situation later, rating U.S. military actions there extremely highly, saying they scored between “12 and 15” on a scale of 1 to 10. College athletics—especially football—remains hugely popular in the United States, but managing the system has become increasingly complicated. Trump has repeatedly criticized the growing salaries athletes receive under the NCAA’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules, arguing that the changes have harmed the traditional structure of college sports. According to Trump, major revenue sports such as football are putting pressure on smaller programs and women’s athletics. He also claimed that some universities are paying athletes so much that it could push institutions toward financial trouble. The roundtable followed several hours of private meetings with senior officials, during which Trump likely discussed Iran and other major matters. He later announced he had also met with defense contractors who agreed to expand weapons production. Despite those pressing global concerns, Trump — alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles — devoted considerable time to the college sports debate. During the meeting, Saban jokingly downplayed his role by saying he was “just a football coach.” Other participants, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Ron DeSantis, expressed their passion for college football and concern about its future. Former Urban Meyer and Randy Levine also contributed to the discussion, though no current college athletes were present. Trump assured attendees he was willing to spend as much time as necessary on the issue. The group also included former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who once served on the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. Ultimately, Trump urged lawmakers to pass the SCORE Act or similar legislation to impose new regulations on college sports. Critics argue the proposal mainly benefits the National Collegiate Athletic Association and its most powerful programs. When told the bill was unlikely to pass Congress, Trump said he might instead issue an executive order on college sports. “If this doesn’t work, colleges are going to be destroyed,” he warned. It remains unclear how such an order would differ from one he signed in July directing federal authorities to clarify whether college athletes should be classified as university employees. Trump also expressed nostalgia for the system that existed before NIL rules were introduced. At one point he asked whether it might be possible to return to the earlier scholarship-based model, while still allowing athletes to receive smaller forms of compensation.

The United States is reviewing potential candidates who could lead Iran, the White House said, a day after President Donald Trump suggested Washington should be involved in selecting the country’s next leader. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that US intelligence agencies and government officials were assessing possible figures who could take leadership in Iran, reports Al Jazeera. “I know there’s a number of people that our intelligence agencies and the United States government are looking at, but I won’t get any further on that,” Leavitt said. Her remarks came after Trump stated that the United States should play a role in determining Iran’s future leadership following the recent escalation of conflict in the region. Leavitt also addressed Trump’s earlier statement that there would be no deal with Iran except “unconditional surrender.” She said the president meant that Iran would effectively reach a state of unconditional surrender once it no longer posed a threat to the United States and once the objectives of the US military operation, named “Operation Epic Fury,” were fully achieved. “When the president, as commander-in-chief of the US armed forces, determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the United States of America and the goals of Operation Epic Fury have been fully realized, Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender, whether they say it themselves or not,” Leavitt added.

US officials on Wednesday claimed progress in their military campaign against Iran, vowing to crush Tehran’s government “without mercy” even as reports of civilian casualties continue to rise. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the US military is operating with “little restraint,” asserting that Iranian leaders face constant airstrikes from US and Israeli forces, according to Al Jazeera report. “We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be,” he said, describing jets “bringing death and destruction from the sky all day long.” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt echoed Hegseth, stating that the US will continue “raining missiles and weapons down on Iran” to hit targets deemed crucial by the Department of War. Iranian officials condemned the remarks, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei calling them an admission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He detailed strikes on schools, hospitals, residential buildings, street markets and medical centres, including a February 28 attack on a girls’ school in Minab that killed 165 people. US Senate backs Trump on expanding Iran war Leavitt said the Pentagon is investigating the Minab incident and maintained that US forces “do not target civilians.” Despite the strikes, the Iranian leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has been largely neutralised, yet the Islamic Republic system remains intact. The war has sparked regional tensions, with missiles and drones reportedly targeting Gulf civilian infrastructure. President Donald Trump hailed the campaign, rating its success “about 15” on a scale of 10, signalling continued US support for military operations in the region.