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The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Center has issued a warning to commercial vessels near the Strait of Hormuz after receiving a report of a vessel that was struck in its engine room while transiting outbound. The attack resulted in one casualty. The remaining crew are being assisted by the Omani Coast Guard.

Moldova’s General Inspectorate of Police have issued a statement reporting that they are responding to a possible explosion outside the village of Talmaza, roughly 13 miles from the border with Ukraine, likely caused by the impact of a Russian cruise missile that was detected earlier entering Moldovan Airspace from the direction of Ukraine.

Initial reports of a Russian cruise missile impact in Moldova.

The Admiral Makarov, an Admiral Grigorovich-class frigate and one of only two such frigates still operating with the Russian Black Sea Fleet, was seen burning this morning at the Port of Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, following a large-scale drone attack overnight against the ship and surrounding naval infrastructure by Ukraine.

Several students have been injured in an explosion outside of the Sham-e Hedayat Private School in the Dasht-e-Barchi Neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Defense News reports that U.S.-Ukraine intelligence cooperation has returned to a high level after the relationship was disrupted in early 2025. Sen. Mark Warner said the intelligence relationship has “improved,” while other lawmakers cited a connection between Ukraine’s recent battlefield successes and renewed access to U.S. intelligence. The cooperation is particularly significant for Ukraine’s expanding long range strike campaign. U.S. intelligence reportedly contributes to targeting packages for strikes against Russian forces in Ukraine and energy infrastructure inside Russia, while Ukraine continues to provide intelligence to Washington. The shift follows a period in which Kyiv’s increasingly effective drone and missile strikes have demonstrated an ability to impose significant costs deep inside Russia, particularly against its energy infrastructure. The reporting also highlights that the relationship is increasingly becoming two-way. Zelenskyy has said Ukraine possesses evidence that Russia has provided Iran with signals and electronic intelligence, including information obtained through Russian cooperation with Middle Eastern partners.

Following the downing of several “unidentified drones” over members of NATO in Eastern Europe over the past few weeks, none of which are confirmed yet to have originated from Russia, chances on Polymarket’s betting market that NATO will down another such drone by the end of August have skyrocketed, currently hovering at around 97%.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has officially denied claims made earlier today by U.S. President Donald J. Trump of backchannel negotiations between Iran and the United States, saying in a statement to the Iranian state-run Tasnim News Agency: “There are no ongoing talks between the IRGC and the Americans, and this lie of Trump’s is merely a fantasy that has afflicted him due to the illusions and nightmares resulting from defeat and despair in the war.”

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Center has issued an advisory after receiving a report that vessel has been hijacked by 8 armed individuals in Somali territorial waters near Mareeyo. Authorities are investigating the incident.

Iran will escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and across the Middle East if diplomacy ends up failing with the United States, a senior Iranian official has told Reuters.

Speaking this morning to FOX News, President Trump stated that there are indeed backchannels with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), saying that he’s currently in “no hurry” to achieve a peace deal to end the Iran War while warning, “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them.”

The Department of War announced a $22.9 billion Navy contract with Raytheon, an RTX business, to accelerate Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) production, framing it as part of the Pentagon’s broader effort to rapidly expand munitions output. The announcement comes after the Pentagon has been pressing defense contractors to expand production of critical munitions amid the demands of the Iran war and concerns over depleted inventories. Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey said the award is a response to that push, while Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao described it as an effort to accelerate Tomahawk deliveries at an “unprecedented speed.” Notably, the $22.9 billion figure is the value of the contract, but the announcement does not specify how many additional Tomahawks it will ultimately produce or how quickly those missiles will be delivered.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Iran’s leadership used the period following the June memorandum of understanding not to prepare for deescalation, but for a larger conflict with the United States. According to Iranian and Arab officials and intercepted communications cited by the Journal, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has expanded its control over Iran’s military, accelerated missile and drone production, and worked with allied groups in Iraq and Yemen to broaden the battlefield. That has included positioning missiles, naval weapons and drones around the Red Sea, providing Houthi forces with intelligence and target information, and preparing attacks against Saudi ports and energy infrastructure. Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have also targeted Saudi energy sites. The Journal also reports a broader shift inside Tehran toward an offensive posture. Recent senior security appointments have strengthened IRGC control over the regular military, while commanders have publicly called for operations against targets in countries hosting U.S. forces. The immediate effect has been a widening conflict: attacks on shipping in Hormuz, strikes against U.S. forces in Jordan and elsewhere, and increasing pressure on Gulf energy infrastructure.

A U.S. Marine assigned to Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion, Company B, Marine Corps Information Command, operates a first-person view drone aboard a UH-1Y Venom during Technology Operational Experimentation Event 26.1 near Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, on August 10, 2026.

In July, the U.S. Navy, working with teams from the Program Executive Office for Unmanned Small Combatants (PEO USC), completed the service’s first long-range mission - stretching over 1,000NM across the Eastern Pacific - utilizing the Boeing and Huntington Ingalls-built Orca Extra Large Uncrewed Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV), according to a statement published by Rear Admiral Chris Cavanaugh, the Commander of the U.S. Submarine Force’s Pacific Fleet.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump has announced that he has instructed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce any future joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, calling them “totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, who he claims has been “unthreatening and respectful.”

Major drone attack by Ukraine is currently underway against Moscow and other parts of Central and Southern Russia, including Russian-occupied Crimea.

Video footage published earlier today by the Yemeni Armed Forces, the military forces of the Republic of Yemen, showing a drone being used to drop bombs on Iranian-backed Houthi positions in the Al-Jawf Governorate, a previously unseen capability that has grown due to the Russia-Ukraine War.