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House Speaker Offers to Host Netanyahu if Biden Doesn't Send an Invite

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in a Knesset session with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (EPA)
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in a Knesset session with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (EPA)
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House Speaker Offers to Host Netanyahu if Biden Doesn't Send an Invite

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in a Knesset session with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (EPA)
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in a Knesset session with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (EPA)

The US House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, voiced in Tel Aviv dissatisfaction with US President Joe Biden for failing to invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.

The Speaker said if Biden does not invite Netanyahu to Washington soon, he'll invite "the prime minister to come to meet with the House," reported Israel Hayom.

McCarthy, who represents the Republican Party, is considered one of the most influential figures in the US politics. He indicated that the exact visit date has yet to be determined.

"If that [a visit to the White House] doesn't happen, I'll invite the prime minister to meet with the House. He's a dear friend, as a prime minister of a country that we have our closest ties with," McCarthy said.

"President Biden hasn't talked to me about the debt ceiling for the last 80 some days, so I think he, the prime minister, might be in good company if he treats me the same way," he told the Israeli outlet.

McCarthy arrived in Israel Sunday at the invitation of the Israeli Speaker, Amir Ohana, who indicated upon his reception at the airport that the US guest chose the Knesset as the first parliament to visit since entering office.

He chaired a delegation of 16 additional bipartisan representatives, and Netanyahu hosted them for lunch at the David Hotel.

Later, the presidential office issued a statement announcing that the President, Isaac Herzog, discussed with the House Speaker the strong partnership between Israel and the United States.

The statement hailed the US as Israel's "very close ally."

McCarthy told Herzog that the bipartisan representation on the trip is meant to underscore "that there are no greater and deeper relations between countries than between ours."

In the evening, McCarthy addressed the Knesset, saying that the Abraham Accords were milestones and the administration "should get further behind the Abraham Accords and grow them even bigger."

Ohana hosted a dinner in honor of McCarthy on Sunday night. After the main course, songs were played.

During the song "Hotel California," Knesset Speaker took the stage with his electric guitar and played the Eagles' classic.

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World

OpenAI Disrupts 2 Influence Operations Linked to Russia and Iran

A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed OpenAI logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo
A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed OpenAI logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo
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OpenAI Disrupts 2 Influence Operations Linked to Russia and Iran

A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed OpenAI logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo
A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed OpenAI logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration//File Photo

OpenAI on Thursday said it shut down two influence operations -- from Russia and Iran -- that used ChatGPT to push fake journalist personas and run a “think-tank” to covertly peddle anti-Ukraine propaganda.

The American AI giant said it banned a cluster of ChatGPT accounts that originated in Russia and Iran and were used to support “false front” entities for geopolitical and conflict-related messaging, according to AFP.

The Iranian operation involved seven “journalist” profiles, each purporting to be from Western countries including the United States, that were used to plant long-form articles in media outlets around the world.

“We identified almost 100 articles published or syndicated under the operation's bylines across roughly a dozen online outlets around the world,” OpenAI said.

“These were small to medium outlets, generally focused on international affairs, geopolitics, and events in the Middle East.”

The earliest article identified by OpenAI was published in July 2025, and the latest in October 2026, with the frequency of reports increasing after the US-Iran war broke out earlier this year.
The operation also generated social media comments on topics related to the US-Iran war, it added.

One of the personas named Ervin B Hoskins, whose bio claimed to be “an American freelance writer,” had social media accounts across tech platforms including Elon Musk's X and Meta-owned Instagram.

X's transparency information showed the account was connected via a “West Asia android app” and Instagram's transparency information showed the account was based in Iran, according to screenshots provided by OpenAI.

Both accounts appeared to be suspended.

The Russian operation co-opted “unwitting people” in Latin America to run a “think-tank” -- called the Social Research Center (SRC) -- used for covert activities aimed at undermining Ukraine's reputation in the region and to influence local politics, the company said.

“The available evidence indicates that the SRC's employees in Latin America were not aware that they were working for a Russian group,” OpenAI said.

The SRC appears to have produced a majority of original content via its co-opted staff. “This stands out as the most complex attempt to run a front identity that we've disrupted over the past two and a half years,” it added.

World

Iran Guards Say Struck Tanker Transiting Strait of Hormuz

An aerial view shows ships anchored off the coast of Khasab in Oman's Musandam Governorate, near the Strait of Hormuz, on October 2, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
An aerial view shows ships anchored off the coast of Khasab in Oman's Musandam Governorate, near the Strait of Hormuz, on October 2, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
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Iran Guards Say Struck Tanker Transiting Strait of Hormuz

An aerial view shows ships anchored off the coast of Khasab in Oman's Musandam Governorate, near the Strait of Hormuz, on October 2, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
An aerial view shows ships anchored off the coast of Khasab in Oman's Musandam Governorate, near the Strait of Hormuz, on October 2, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that they had struck a tanker attempting to take an “illegal route” through the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has sought to blockade since the outset of the Middle East war.

Maritime trackers also reported on Friday that an unknown projectile sparked a fire aboard a ship off the UAE coast, but named a different vessel.

In a statement carried by official media, the Guards said its naval forces were acting in accordance with “the orders of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the Iranian people’s desire to exercise sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.”

“In carrying out this mission, a few hours ago, a giant LPG carrier named NV Sunshine, owned by NatWit, which was attempting to transit via the illegal route south of the Strait of Hormuz, was struck,” they added, according to AFP.

Iran has attempted to impose its control over the Hormuz over the course of the war, insisting that vessels seek its permission to cross via its preferred routes.

However, ships have increasingly been willing to risk transiting via an alternative route hugging the strait's southern coast.

Britain's UKMTO maritime agency said on Friday that a ship 13 nautical miles (24 kilometers) off the UAE's Al Jazeera Al Hamra, southwest of the strait, was struck by a projectile, which caused a fire on board.

“Status of the crew, damage assessment and environmental impact are unknown at present. Authorities are investigating,” UKMTO said in a statement.

British security firm Vanguard also reported the incident, and identified the vessel as the Panama-flagged crude tanker GEM NO2.

The incident comes days after a tanker was hit off Qatar, around 500 kilometers west of the vital strait.

Ships in the Gulf and those attempting to transit the strait -- the only maritime route in or out of the oil-rich region -- have come under repeated attack since the US and Israel sparked the Middle East war on February 28.

Iran has blockaded the strait ever since, though some vessels do manage to cross, and US media has reported on American military efforts to protect ships on the southern route.

The United States has set up its own counter-blockade of Iranian ports and occasionally fires on vessels linked to Tehran.

Hormuz is vital to the world economy, with around a fifth of the planet's oil and liquefied natural gas passing through the strait before the war began.

World

Police Official Killed in Roadside Bombing in Southeast Iran

Iranian people in a park, with Milad Tower in the background, in Tehran, Iran, October 6, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian people in a park, with Milad Tower in the background, in Tehran, Iran, October 6, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Police Official Killed in Roadside Bombing in Southeast Iran

Iranian people in a park, with Milad Tower in the background, in Tehran, Iran, October 6, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian people in a park, with Milad Tower in the background, in Tehran, Iran, October 6, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

A provincial police official was killed in a roadside bombing on Friday in southeastern Iran, the semi-official Fars ⁠news agency reported.

The ⁠police official had been travelling near ⁠Zahedan, capital of the impoverished Sistan-Baluchistan province, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan and is a drug trafficking route.

The incident follows ⁠clashes ⁠between security forces and armed groups including militants and separatists.

Gunmen attacked a vehicle carrying Iranian army personnel in Sistan-Baluchistan, killing one person and injuring three others on Thursday, state media reported.

"A minibus transporting personnel from a division stationed along the Makran coast... came under armed attack this morning," the official IRNA news agency said.

The agency gave the dead man's name, but did not specify whether he was army personnel.

In a separate incident in the same province, "a police patrol while carrying out its mission... came under a terrorist attack by armed outlaws," provincial police said in a statement on Thursday carried by IRNA.

"Several terrorists were wounded and fled the scene... while a police officer was martyred," it added.

Last week, Iran's Revolutionary Guards killed six members of a "terrorist" group in Zahedan, IRNA reported.

The IRNA report ⁠said security forces had discovered and confiscated explosive packages. It did not identify the six people killed and gave no further information on the incident.