First Thing: Iran escalates attacks on infrastructure and transport networks across the Gulf | US news

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Iran dramatically escalated its strategy of striking civilian infrastructure and transport networks across the Gulf on Wednesday, attacking commercial ships and targeting Dubai’s international airport as US and Israeli warplanes launched new waves of strikes.

Senior Iranian officials warned of a long “war of attrition” and a global economic crisis stemming from Tehran’s choking off of the region’s energy supplies, and oil prices on Thursday again topped $100 a barrel before dipping to $98. Violence continued across the Middle East, with Israel bombarding Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon after Hezbollah launched drones and rockets at northern Israel on Wednesday night.

As the conflict nears the two-week mark, multiple Israeli security sources have told the Guardian that Israel did not have a realistic plan for regime change when it attacked Iran, and that the expectation airstrikes could prompt a popular uprising was driven by “wishful thinking”, not hard intelligence.

• Who has borne most of Iran’s strikes? More than two-thirds of Iran’s attacks have been on the UAE. Dubai, a center of global finance and international tourism, is facing an existential threat as foreigners flee.

• What do we know about the US defense secretary’s attitude toward Iran? A Guardian review of Pete Hegseth’s books, speeches and broadcasts revealed he has voiced extreme antipathy towards Iran for years.

Trump hits back at Republican Senate majority leader over voter ID bill

Donald Trump has lashed out at Republican Senate majority leader, John Thune, over his refusal to change rules to force a vote on the Save America Act, a sprawling bill that would curtail voting access.

Trump gave a blunt message for Thune on Wednesday: “He’s got to be a leader.” The president has previously threatened to refuse to sign any bills until Congress passes the legislation, ahead of midterm elections expected to be bruising for the Republicans.

Former UK prime minister Gordon Brown calls for international criminal court for crimes against children

The former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has called for the creation of an international criminal court for crimes against children, saying “no child should ever become collateral damage in a conflict”.

Writing for the Guardian, Brown focused on the missile strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school at the start of the Iran conflict, which killed 168 people, primarily schoolgirls. A preliminary US military investigation has reportedly determined that Washington was responsible. Brown also discussed Israel’s killing of Palestinian schoolchildren in Gaza, where 18,069 have been killed, and the killing of more than 200 children by Iranian security forces.

Brown argued that “schools deserve the same moral status as hospitals – protected places – and the same protection under international law”.

• Doesn’t international law already prohibit assaults on schools and children? Yes, but Brown argues that as schools are “increasingly being drawn into war”, a dedicated international criminal court for crimes against children is needed to emphasize the seriousness of these crimes.

In other news …

• A judge in Afghanistan has rejected the divorce request of a woman who said her husband beat her with a cable wire, revealing the shocking level of physical violence against women permitted under the Taliban.

• Tech billionaires are bankrolling opposition to the state’s proposed tax on billionaires and pouring millions into California’s race for governor.

• The head chef and co-founder of Noma has resigned after allegations he physically abused his staff, with claims that René Redzepi had “punched employees in the face, jabbed them with kitchen implements and slammed them against walls”.

• Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has accused Ukrainians of plotting to attack his family, as an increasingly bitter standoff between Kyiv and Budapest continues.

Stat of the day: San Francisco cuts air pollution levels by more than 20% since 2010

San Francisco cut levels of two key air pollutants by more than 20% between 2010 and 2024. It was the only US city that reduced levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) by more than 20%, according to an analysis of nearly 100 cities around the world. Beijing and London were also among the 19 global cities to have achieved “remarkable reductions” in air pollution – notably, nearly half of the leading cities were in Central and east Asia.

The Filter recommends: the best sleep products

From mouth taping to the quirky potato bed trend, people seem willing to try anything to improve their sleep. But investing in your sleep does not always come cheap. This week, for sleep awareness week, many of the Filter US’s favorite brands are offering discounts. Here are the 11 best deals, from an affordable mattress on offer to the internet’s favorite way to wake up.

Don’t miss this: ‘Invasive’ AI-led mass surveillance in Africa violating freedoms, warn experts

AI-powered mass surveillance is being rapidly introduced across Africa in breach of citizens’ right to privacy, human rights experts have warned. At least $2bn has been spent by 11 African governments on Chinese-built surveillance technology that recognizes faces and tracks movements, with concerns that surveillance systems were used to monitor Ugandan activists and to crack down on gen Z-led protests in Kenya last summer.

Climate check: Australian governments subsidising fossil fuel use by more than $30,000 a minute, analysis finds

Australian federal and state government subsidies for planet-heating fossil fuels have risen by almost 10% and will reach $16.3bn this year, according to a new analysis. This amounts to governments paying or forgoing the equivalent of $31,020 each minute to subsidise companies producing and using coal, gas and especially oil.

Last Thing: ‘Sly stowaway’ – UK fox finds new home at Bronx zoo after illicit transatlantic trip

An English fox has wound up in Bronx zoo after it sneaked on to a cargo ship and traveled 3,400 miles from Southampton to New York, according to officials at the zoo. Keith Lovett, the zoo’s director of animal programs, said: “He seems to be settling in well. It’s gone through a lot.”

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