Powerful Hurricane Erick made landfall in Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. The hurricane’s center was located about 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of Punta Maldonado. Its maximum sustained winds were clocked at 125 mph (205 kph). It was moving northwest at 9 mph (15 kph), the hurricane center said. The storm was downgraded slightly before making landfall, from a powerful Category 4 to a Category 3. While slightly reduced in power, Erick is still considered a major hurricane as a Category 3, which can carry winds of up to 129 mph (210 kph). The storm threaded the needle between the resorts of Acapulco and Puerto Escondido, tearing into a sparsely populated stretch of coastline near the border of Oaxaca and Guerrero states.

In an interview with Kan News on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu disclosed that Israel’s military offensive against Iran nearly didn’t go forward, with the mission being on the verge of cancellation at the last minute.
When asked whether Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, is a potential target, Netanyahu made it clear that no one in Iran is exempt. “I instructed that no one in Iran has immunity. It is inappropriate and unnecessary to add more than that. We need to let the actions speak more than the words.”

The White House has issued a stark warning about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, stating that the country could be mere weeks away from developing a nuclear bomb. This revelation comes as President Donald Trump continues to weigh the possibility of launching a military response against the Iranian regime.
“Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the supreme leader to do that, and it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the press, underscoring the immediacy of the threat.

{Matzav.com}

President Trump announced on Thursday that he would decide within two weeks whether to authorize military action against Iran, as he remains optimistic about a potential diplomatic breakthrough.
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, quoting Trump during her press briefing.
Speaking the day before, Trump mentioned that Iranian officials were expressing interest in meeting with him directly at the White House.
“If there’s a chance for diplomacy, he’s not afraid to grab it,” Leavitt said.

President Donald Trump says he will decide sometime in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will be “directly involved” in Israel’s campaign against Iran. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made the announcement during a Thursday press conference, reading a statement directly from Trump. “Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Leavitt quoted. PRESS SEC: “Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon.

PRESS SEC: “Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the Supreme Leader.” “Which would, of course, pose an existential threat not just to Israel, but to the United States and to the entire world.”

For years, Israel has targeted Iranian nuclear scientists, hoping to choke progress on Iran’s nuclear program by striking at the brains behind it. Now, with Iran and Israel in an open-ended direct conflict, scientists in Israel have found themselves in the crosshairs after an Iranian missile struck a premier research institute known for its work in life sciences and physics, among other fields. While no one was killed in the strike on the Weizmann Institute of Science early Sunday, it caused heavy damage to multiple labs on campus, snuffing out years of scientific research and sending a chilling message to Israeli scientists that they and their expertise are now targets in the escalating conflict with Iran.