The opening of a new front in the conflict between Israel and Iran has brought geopolitical risk straight back into the foreign exchange calculus. After the Israeli strikes Friday morning, the dollar witnessed an element of the “flight-to-safety” characteristic traditionally associated with military escalation but as ING points out in its daily research note,

Plus, Sen. Alex Padilla disputes the White House and Kristi Noem's account of what happened before he was forcibly removed from a DHS event and handcuffed.

Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” the network of militias it has fostered in the Middle East to help it fight Israel, has become seriously degraded, experts say.

Tensions between Israel and Iran are escalating amid an already volatile Middle East, raising fears of a broader and more dangerous conflict.

Pakistan’s central bank is expected to hold its policy rate on Monday, a Reuters poll showed, as many analysts shifted their previous view of a cut in the wake of Israel's military strike on Iran, citing inflation risks from rising global commodity prices.

Israel’s strike on an Iranian-controlled compound in Syria in April 2024 prompted Tehran to fire a huge barrage of missiles at Israel. Iran launched a similar assault last fall after Israel assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, as he visited Iran last summer, and then killed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.

Rising tensions over Iran's nuclear program have escalated amid diplomatic breakdowns, military preparations, and threats of conflict across the Middle East.

The last time Israel hit Iranian targets, in October 2024, the White House expressed understanding and conveyed that the attack had been coordinated. This time, the statement issued by the U.S. secretary of state in the immediate aftermath of the attacks smacked of distancing.

OPERATION RISING LION: Claiming that Iran was on the verge of producing as many as nine nuclear bombs, Israel launched what it said would be a multiday campaign to degrade Iran’s nuclear facilities and eliminate key military leaders and nuclear scientists.