"Additionally, there are new reports of another attack on a commercial vessel in the Red Sea by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
According to Bloomberg, the Houthis' armed forces' spokesman claimed rebel forces attacked the container ship "CMA CGM TAGE" after the vessel's captain ignored multiple warnings.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization reported a vessel that would've been in the same proximity of CMA CGM TAGE came under attack. French container shipping giant CMA CGM SA said the container ship "did not suffer any incident" and was sailing through the Red Sea area with a destination of Alexandria." ZH
"Russia and Ukraine have exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release of captives since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022.
Ukrainian officials said that 230 of its prisoners were released while Russia said 248 of its soldiers were returned after mediation by the United Arab Emirates." AJ
"Russia says its air defence systems destroyed 12 Ukraine-launched missiles over the Belgorod region along the border." AlJazeera
"Ukraine's defense forces have repelled enemy attacks in five sectors and advanced near Verbove, Zaporizhzhia region.Fifty-seven combat clashes took place in the past 24 hours. In total, the enemy launched 89 missile strikes, 72 air strikes, including Shahed-136/131 drone strikes and carried out 48 MLRS attacks on the positions of our troops and settlements. Unfortunately, due to Russian terrorist attacks, there are dead and over 130 wounded civilians, including children. Over 100 private residential and apartment buildings and other civilian and industrial infrastructure in the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa regions were destroyed and damaged,The enemy launched air strikes on Bilohorivka and Serebrianske Forestry in the Luhansk region, Avdiivka, Novomykhailivka and Heorhiivka in the Donetsk region, as well as Novodanylivka and Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region.
About 120 settlements in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions came under artillery fire." Ukrin
"The death toll in Kerman city has risen to at least 103 killed, and over 141 injured, with new details being revealed in state-backed IRNA news as follows: "The first blast took place 700 meters away from Martyr General Qassem Soleimani’s tomb and the second explosion happened one kilometer away from it." Other sources are saying there were well over 170 injuries in the aftermath. "The explosions dispersed mourners from Kerman’s cemetery and ambulances rushed to deliver the injured to hospitals in the city," the report continues. This was among the single deadliest attacks in all of Iranian history.
However, some top Iranian officials did quickly point the finger at Israel and the US. This prompted a quick rejection of the allegation by the Biden administration, which also sought to distance Israel from the mass casualty event too:
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the U.S. had no reason to believe that Israel was involved in the explosion, and added, “the United States was not involved in any way, and any suggestion to the contrary is ridiculous.”
Ayatollah Ali Ali Khamenei also did not specify any country potentially behind the major attack on the memorial event. "The enemies should know that, with God's permission, perpetrators of this tragedy will be met with a strong response," he posted to X." ZH
