News Roundup and Comment

Below are headlines from the first quarter hour of this week's broadcast. There's much more to follow when you listen in, including response from listeners. --The Trump administration has confirmed that a new oil company will drill across more than a dozen oil fields in Venezuela and the administration will take a 35% equity stake in that new company. --Five energy companies have now signed deals with Venezuela to rapidly increase oil and gas drilling with some new wells expected to begin as soon as this week. --Iran attacked American military positions across the Middle East Wednesday after the U.S. carried out its largest strikes against the Islamic republic since July, raising fears that the six month conflict is returning to full scale, regional warfare. --Iranian hackers are relentlessly trying to get into U.S. critical infrastructure. --More than a half-dozen commissaries on military bases in the continental U.S. reported refrigeration outages this week. --Russia has been secretly helping Iran develop advanced supersonic cruise missiles capable of threatening U.S. aircraft carriers and other warships in the Middle East. --Tuesday, Israeli forces captured a senior Hamas official during an operation to remove threats in the northern Gaza Strip. --Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Iran that should Tehran attack the country, Israel will respond with retaliatory strikes targeting energy and other infrastructure. --Israel Defense Forces said yesterday it had completed clearing a strategic Hezbollah underground facility in southern Lebanon, preparing the tunnel complex for demolition.