Monday, March 16, 2026
Greece to Upgrade 38 F-16 Fighter Jets to 'Viper' Version
Greece's parliamentary committee has approved the upgrade of 38 F-16 fighter jets to the 'Viper' version, according to Jin10. This decision is part of Greece's ongoing efforts to modernize its military capabilities. The upgrade will enhance the operational capabilities of the F-16s, providing them with advanced avionics and weapon systems. This move is seen as a strategic step to bolster Greece's defense posture amid regional tensions. The 'Viper' version of the F-16 is known for its improved radar systems and enhanced combat capabilities, making it a significant upgrade from the current models in service. The decision reflects Greece's commitment to maintaining a robust defense infrastructure in the face of evolving security challenges.
Israel: Iran targets holy sites in Jerusalem
The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Monday accused Tehran of targeting the holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City.
In a post on the country's official profile managed by the ministry on X, Israel claimed that the Iranian forces targeted the Old City with a missile. "Its fragments fell on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Armenian Patriarchate, the Jewish Quarter and on the Temple Mount near the Al-Aqsa Mosque," the post read, stating that the Iranian regime endangers "Jews, Muslims and Christians alike."
"Israel, meanwhile, acts to protect worshippers of all faiths in its capital city," the post concluded.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Israel:-Iran-targets-holy-sites-in-Jerusalem/65881592
Trump says Hezbollah is being eliminated
United States President Donald Trump said on Monday during a press conference that Hezbollah has been a problem for a long time. Asked about the role of the militant group in the current war with Israel, the president added that the group is a "big problem" and that they are "being rapidly eliminated."
Before a lunch with the Trump Kennedy Center board members, Trump also gave his assessment of the energy prices and the impact of the war, adding that he did not need advisers to explain what would happen next. He declared that "when this is over," oil prices would go down "very, very rapidly," and that inflation and "everything else" would fall as well.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Trump-says-Hezbollah-is-being-eliminated/65881537
'Kallas: EU not ready to send ships to Strait of Hormuz'
European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said on Monday that the EU foreign ministers refused to send military warships to the Strait of Hormuz.
Following the foreign minister's meeting regarding the opening of the passage, Kallas declared that the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East is "not Europe's war, we did not start it."
"There is currently no appetite to change the mandate of the Aspides Mission," she stated, adding that nobody wants to "actively" engage in attacks against Iran.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Kallas:-EU-not-ready-to-send-ships-to-Strait-of-Hormuz/65881587
Gunfire at crowded Florida beach sends sunbathers scattering as violence erupts during spring break
Wild video has surfaced of thousands of terrified spring break beachgoers fleeing the sand in Florida as gunshots rang out over the weekend.
At least four shootings have been reported in Daytona Beach since Friday as scores of spring breakers descended on the city, WFTV9 reported.
In one of the chaotic incidents, footage shot from a hotel balcony captured the moment screaming, bikini-clad sunbathers scattered on the beach after a shot was fired on Saturday.
It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the shooting, or if anyone was injured.
Meanwhile, cops said one shot was fired after a fight erupted at the Joint Bar, just off the beach strip, on Friday.
No one was injured in that shooting, according to authorities.
An hour later, a person was shot outside a nearby Crunch Fitness.
Two shootings were reported beachside on Saturday, cops said.
Police are investigating if any of the shootings were directly tied to spring break.
It comes as beachgoers described chaotic scenes in the city over the weekend as spring break revelers descended.
“Twerking, dancing, stopping traffic, cussing people, flipping people off, stopping everyone, screaming. It was insane. Stopping traffic, you couldn’t move, you couldn’t go forward, back, nothing,” said Kissy Derito, who was in town with her family.
Trump briefed that Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is probably gay
President Trump was stunned to learn last week that US intelligence indicates new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei may be gay — and that his father, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, feared his suitability to rule the Islamic Republic for that reason, The Post can reveal.
Trump couldn’t contain his surprise and laughed aloud when he was briefed on the intel, according to sources.
Others in the room also found it “hilarious” and joined the president’s reaction, while one senior intelligence official “has not stopped laughing about it for days,” said one person familiar with the briefing.
The shocking claim was described to The Post by two intelligence community officials and a third person close to the White House.
All three sources say the implausible-sounding allegation is viewed as credible by US spy agencies, rather than false information intended to undermine Khamenei, 56, who was selected to replace his dead father as supreme leader on March 8.
Two of the sources said the intelligence indicated that Mojtaba, who earned the nickname “the power behind the robes” while serving as his aging dad’s gatekeeper, has had a long-term sexual relationship with his childhood tutor.
The third source said the intelligence indicated the affair was with a person who formerly worked for the Khamenei family.
Mojtaba, who is believed to have been wounded in the same Feb. 28 airstrike that killed his father and other members of his family, has made “aggressive” sexual overtures to men caring for him, possibly while under the influence of heavy medication, one of The Post’s sources said.
US spy agencies do not have photographic evidence of Mojtaba Khamenei’s alleged sexual attraction to men, but the sources insisted the tip is solid, with one saying it was “derived from one of the most protected sources that the government has.”
“The fact that this was elevated to the highest of high levels shows you there’s some confidence in this,” added a second source.
Mojtaba’s purported sexual orientation had been whispered about inside Iran since at least the May 2024 helicopter crash that killed then-President Ebrahim Raisi, Ali Khamenei’s presumed favorite to be the next supreme leader, sources said.
Within the US government, “it’s been a pretty closely held piece of information,” one insider said.
Trump previously dismissed Mojtaba Khamenei as a “lightweight” and an “unacceptable” choice to run Iran. The new supreme leader is widely considered to be someone who would not bend to US demands to abandon the nuclear and ballistic missile programs that prompted Operation Epic Fury.
Some elements of Mojtaba Khamenei’s sex life have been reported before and may lend credence to the allegation.
A classified US diplomatic cable from 2008, published by WikiLeaks, described Mojtaba being treated in the UK for impotence, though that report did not identify what may have caused the condition.
The State Department file says Mojtaba married “relatively late in life” — around age 30 — “reportedly due to an impotency problem treated and eventually resolved during three extended visits to the UK, at Wellington and Cromwell Hospitals, London.”
“Mojtaba was expected by his family to produce children quickly, but needed a fourth visit to the UK for medical treatment; after a stay of two months, his wife became pregnant,” the leaked file said.
Mojtaba’s wife, Zahra, and teenage son, Mohammad Bagher, reportedly died in the airstrike that killed his father. The new supreme leader has another son and a daughter.
The allegation of homosexuality was alluded to in a CBS News report on Sunday that said the elder Khamanei, who had ruled Iran since 1989, preferred a different successor in part because of unspecified “issues” in Mojtaba’s “personal life.”
“His father and others suspected he was gay and that was something that people were spreading to try to stop his ascension,” one of The Post’s sources explained.
Homosexual conduct is illegal in Iran, though the government does allow surgical sex change operations, which some gay men reportedly are pressured into undergoing to avoid criminal penalties.
Sodomy is a capital offense in the nation of 93 million people, with some gay Iranians infamously hanged from construction cranes as a warning to others.
“In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals,” former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is believed to be an ally of the younger Khamenei, claimed in 2007.
One of The Post’s sources said that although it’s generally frowned upon to out people against their will, there’s a clear case of hypocrisy to justify doing so against Mojtaba.
“If there was ever a time where it was OK to out somebody, it would be when it’s a leader of a repressive Islamic theocracy that hangs gay people by cranes,” this person said.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s current whereabouts and the status of his recovery from the Feb. 28 airstrikes remain murky.
The White House did not provide comment for this article.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)