FOG OF CYBERWAR IN IRAN When it comes to military firepower, the US and Israel are not shy about how they are attacking Iran. With professional photos and slick videos, US Central Command has been posting every few hours on social media about the kinds of weapons, jets and ships being used. But the US and Israel are far more coy on what is happening in cyber-space. Over hours of press conferences, speeches and dozens of social media posts, mentions of cyber operations are vanishingly rare. However, Iranian hackers have claimed their first prominent cyber-attack on a US company during the conflict, on US medical tech firm, Stryker. And cyber is indeed playing a significant role in this war, as commander of the US Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper recently hinted in a press update. “We continue with strikes into Iran from seabed to space and cyber-space,” he said. Here is what we know about the types of cyber operations being carried out – and what it tells us about modern warfare. Before missiles were fired Cyber-espionage and hacking are known to play a large role in so-called “pre-positioning” for war. General Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff at the Pentagon, described in a press conference how the war was enabled by months, in some cases years, of planning that went into preparing the so called “target set” for strikes. US and Israeli hackers could have infiltrated key computer networks in Iran long before any actual strike was planned. Computer networks behind air defences or military communications would have been high-priority targets. The Financial Times was told by unnamed sources that CCTV and traffic cameras had been hacked by Israel to create an enormous surveillance network, in order to establish so called “patterns of life” of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his commanders in preparation for the strike that killed him. Internet-connected cameras have become a target in cyber warfare as they “offer real?time situational awareness of streets, facilities, and movement at very low cost,” said Sergey Shykevich, threat intelligence expert at cyber-security company Check Point. Commentators say this kind of information would be used alongside more traditional intelligence – such as that gathered from human spies. “Cyber isn’t usually the decisive weapon on its own; it’s a force multiplier that helps shape the information environment and supports operations happening on the ground,” said Tal Kollender, former Israeli military cyber-defence specialist and founder of cybersecurity platform Remedio. In a press conference given after the initial strikes, operatives in US Cyber Command and US Space Command were described by Gen Caine as the “first movers”, disrupting and “blinding Iran’s ability to see, communicate and respond”. Some commentators suggest mobile phone towers were jammed or shut off to prevent the Ayatollah’s security team from being warned about incoming jets, for example. This is not confirmed but we have seen this in other conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also boasted during a more recent press conference that members of the Iranian military “can’t talk or communicate, let alone mount a coordinated and sustained offensive”. The comments echo the words of President Trump when praising the success of the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “The lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have,” he said after that operation. It has not been confirmed if the president was referring to a cyber-attack, but in the newly-published US Cyber Strategy he went further in praising his cyber forces for that specific operation, saying that they rendered “our adversaries blind and uncomprehending during a flawless military operation”. Israel is also being accused of hacking a popular Iranian prayer-timing app called BadeSaba which has 5 million downloads. Reuters reported that a push notification was sent to users just as the bombs began to hit saying “help has arrived”. Secretary Hegseth spoke this week about the continuing operation of “hunting for more systems to kill” – and cyber may well play a role in this stage of the war with operatives using open source intelligence, satellite imagery analysis and cyber-espionage to locate military targets in Iran. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are probably being heavily employed in this work too. A possible hint of this came again from Hegseth who praised an intelligence operative he saw in action. “I was talking to a young colonel who’s iterating on how we target and how we find and fix different aspects of what the Iranians are trying to do,” he said, being careful not to give away too much detail. The US and Israel have a long history of carrying out significant cyber attacks against Iran and are famously secretive about them. For example, officials are still cagey about the infamous destructive Stuxnet hack on Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities in 2010. Israel has also been accused of causing a meltdown at steel plants in Iran in 2022 under the guise of hacktivist group Predatory Sparrow. “If a country openly describes its capabilities or specific operations, it risks revealing techniques, access points, or intelligence sources that could be shut down quickly by adversaries,” said Kollender. “In cyber, the value of a capability often depends on the other side not knowing exactly how it works,” she added. Despite this, Dr Louise Marie Hurel from the Royal United Services Institute has been pleasantly surprised by the information the US is disclosing. But she argues the war has shown that cyber should be talked about in the same way as conventional action to maintain rules of engagement. “This is an opportunity for us to have a more public debate regarding the support and strategic advantage cyber provides in broader military campaigns and crisis. “If cyber is openly acknowledged as integral to the strike package, it can help sharpen the questions about the laws of armed conflict, proportionality, and what counts as a use of force,” she said. A puzzling part of the ongoing war is that Iran has largely been visibly absent in the cyber domain. To date, the most notable attack linked to the nation has been the hacking of Stryker, a major US medical technology company, first reported on Wednesday. Iran has long been regarded as a capable cyber power and although the western cyber-security world is braced for attacks either from the state or hackers linked to the state, there has been little activity so far. The Stryker incident saw the company’s employee login defaced with a message claiming data had been erased in a ‘wiper’ attack by an Iran-backed group of activists and repeated by Iran’s state broadcaster. In an update on Thursday morning, Stryker said it was working to end the disruption and said its products were safe to use. It seems implausible that Iran is holding back in this war – so either they have been incapacitated by reported Israeli strikes, or they have been overestimated. Their reputation has been earned by past attacks like the 2012 hack of long-time rival Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco which used wiper malware to destroy 30,000 computers. On Wednesday it was reported that an Iranian-linked hacking group, Handala, had hit medical technology firm Stryker with a so-called wiper malware attack. As well as wiper attacks, Iran has been accused of attempting to meddle with critical national infrastructure to cause physical harm. Hurel cautions against writing off Iran’s ability to retaliate either directly or through vigilante hacker groups. “I wouldn’t jump to conclusions regarding Iran as we have seen considerable hacktivist activity, and public reporting has previously shown that patriotic hacker personas have sometimes been used as a facade for state-linked groups,” she said. 13th March,2026

US TEMPORARILY EASES RUSSIA OIL SANCTIONS The US has authorised countries to buy sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum that’s currently loaded on vessels at sea. US Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent said it was a temporary measure to “promote stability in global energy markets” during the war. The authorisation will last until 11 April. “This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government,” Bessent said. Oil prices climbed back above $100 a barrel on Thursday and stock markets fell after three more cargo vessels were hit in the Gulf and Iran’s new supreme leader vowed to keep blocking the Strait of Hormuz – a key shipping route through which about a fifth of the world’s oil usually passes. Bessent added: “The temporary increase in oil prices is a short-term and temporary disruption that will result in a massive benefit to our nation and economy in the long-term.” Earlier, Bessent said the US government would start escorting vessels through the Strait of Hormuz “as soon as it is militarily possible”. The possible need for a military escort “was always in our planning”, he told Sky News. Pressed on whether that could start in the coming days, Bessent said “as soon as it is possible to ensure safe passage we will do it 13th March,2026

FOUR KILLED AFTER US REFUELLING PLANE CRASHES Four of six crew aboard a US military refuelling aircraft have died after it crashed in Iraq, US Central Command (Centcom) says. Rescue efforts continue after the loss of the KC-135, it said, having earlier said neither hostile nor friendly fire were involved in the downing of the aircraft. The tanker had been involved in ongoing US operations against Iran, and was one of two aircraft involved in the incident, the military command unit said. The second landed safely, it added. The Boeing-manufactured aircraft are capable of refuelling planes midair and typically play a major role in US military operations. They were used extensively in the first Gulf War to extend the range of fighter jets and bombers. The KC-135 usually has a crew of at least a pilot, a co-pilot and a boom operator responsible for operating the refuelling arm of the aircraft. Centcom described the crash as happening over friendly airspace, but this is a region of Iraq where pro-Iranian militias operate. Iran’s military claimed on state TV that an allied group had targeted the plane with a missile. Since the outbreak of the US-Israel war with Iran, seven US soldiers have been confirmed as having been killed in the conflict. The US military has now lost at least four aircraft during the current war. Earlier this month, three F-15s were shot down in “an apparent friendly fire incident” over Kuwait, officials said. All six crew members were able to safely eject. Boeing manufactured the KC-135 Stratotanker for the US military in the 1950s and early 1960s. It has been a backbone to the US military’s air refuelling fleet, and allow combat aircraft to carry out longer missions without needing to land. 13th March,2026

US AND ISRAEL ENTERS DAY 13 INTENSIFIES ATTACKS The war between the United States, Israel, and Iran entered its thirteenth day on Thursday, March 12, 2026, with a significant expansion of hostilities into the commercial hubs of the Persian Gulf. Brent crude oil—the international pricing standard for global markets—briefly reclaimed the $100 (approx. 1,088 GHS) a-barrel threshold as markets reacted to systemic instability. Despite a record release of 400 million barrels by the International Energy Agency, supply anxieties persist. “Oil prices shot more than 9% higher as supply concerns worsened,” reflecting the gravity of the maritime disruption. U.S. benchmark crude also jumped to $95 (approx. 1,034 GHS) a barrel. Iranian drones struck the heart of the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait early Thursday, targeting civilian and logistics centers. Two drones hit Dubai, striking the al-Badaa neighborhood and a building on the 12-lane Sheikh Zayed Road. “The container ship was struck by [an] unknown projectile causing a small fire onboard,” reported the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center following a separate strike near Jebel Ali. In Kuwait, drones hit the international airport and a residential building. “The injured are currently receiving the necessary medical treatment,” confirmed Colonel Saud Abdulaziz Al-Atwan after the residential strike. The Joint Maritime Information Center confirmed that 19 commercial ships have been damaged since the start of the war. Iranian fire targeted vessels near the Iraqi port of Basra and off the coast of the UAE. In response, U.S. Central Command announced it had “eliminated 16 Iranian minelayers” and several naval vessels. The G7 is currently weighing the deployment of naval escorts for tankers. “It’s a cowardly act of sabotage,” stated Iraqi Lieutenant General Saad Maan after an attack in Iraqi waters killed one person and forced the rescue of 38 crew members. The human cost of the thirteen-day conflict has reached catastrophic proportions. Iranian officials report over 1,300 deaths, while the Pentagon confirmed seven U.S. service members have been killed. The first week of war cost the United States $11.3 billion (approx. 122.9 billion GHS). A U.S. strike on an Iranian elementary school, reportedly caused by outdated intelligence, killed 168 children. “It’s just a question of when, when do we stop?” President Trump asked reporters, even as he told supporters in Kentucky, “We won. The first hour, it was over.” This rhetoric has drawn sharp rebukes from lawmakers like Senator Lisa Murkowski, who criticized the administration’s “mixed messaging.” Diplomatic resolution remains elusive as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has yet to appear publicly since his succession. President Masoud Pezeshkian signaled that peace requires the world to “recognize Iran’s legitimate rights” and pay reparations. Meanwhile, the conflict has shifted into the digital realm. An Iranian-linked group claimed a cyberattack on Michigan-based medical firm Stryker. “Work and communications with colleagues [ground] to a standstill,” an employee noted, marking the first major state-aligned hack against a U.S. company during this war. The disruption of the Strait of Hormuz—through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes—is sending shockwaves through African markets. Nations such as Ghana and South Africa, which rely on refined petroleum imports, are facing immediate inflationary pressure. In Ghana, authorities were recently forced to pause gold exports to Dubai as regional flight paths became compromised. Analysts warn that if crude remains above $100 (approx. 1,088 GHS), the cost of transport and food across the continent will soar, straining government budgets and weakening local currencies against the dollar. As Bahrain sounded missile alerts over incoming fire, neighboring leaders sought to fortify alliances. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif traveled to Saudi Arabia on Thursday at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The leaders intend to review bilateral relations and regional security. This visit occurs as the FBI clarifies there is “no credible evidence of an imminent attack” on U.S. soil, despite raw intelligence suggesting Iranian aspirations for maritime drone launches off the American coast. As the U.S. and Israel war with Iran inches closer to its third week, the international community finds itself at a dangerous crossroads where military objectives and economic survival collide. While Washington speaks of total victory, the reality on the ground—and at sea—suggests a protracted war of attrition that threatens to reshape the global order. For emerging economies from Accra to Pretoria, the stakes are no longer merely diplomatic; they are a matter of domestic stability. With the Strait of Hormuz effectively a front line and diplomatic channels silent, the world waits to see if the coming days will bring a strategic de-escalation or a slide into an uncontrollable regional conflagration. 13th March,2026

PRIVACY IN MARRIAGES Private legal practitioner Maurice Ampaw has sparked controversy with comments about privacy in marriages, describing the act of checking a partner’s phone without consent as a “criminal act”. Speaking on GTV’s Breakfast Show on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, which celebrated Marriage Week—intended to celebrate the institution of marriage and foster stronger relationships—Mr. Ampaw attributed social media and breaches of privacy as significant threats to modern marriages. “One of the things causing us to lose our marriages is the social media craze,” he stated. “I nearly had one myself. How dare you take my phone and go through my phone? It’s a crime.” His remarks follow mixed reactions from the public, with some supporting his stance on privacy, while others argue that openness is essential for trust in relationships. But Mr. Ampaw argued that individuals have a right to privacy, even within a marriage, and condemned partners who secretly access their significant other’s devices. “There’s a law of confidentiality, law of privacy, your right to privacy. So, the men and women looking at their partners’ phones are criminals,” he declared. He added that such actions often lead to unnecessary conflicts, warning that people may discover things they would rather not see. 13th March,2026

STELLA ABA SEAL CHOOSES GARI Veteran gospel musician, Stella Aba Seal, is known for her soul-stirring hits like Okura Yen Mu, Ontonko, and Gyem Tata. But on GTV’s Breakfast Show, it wasn’t her music that caught viewers’ attention — it was her surprising choice of fast food. When asked about her “go-to food,” the multiple award-winning singer didn’t mention burgers, fries, or noodles. Instead, she turned to a staple that has nourished generations across West Africa: gari. “Peppers, soup, stew, garden egg… I mean, gari is my go-to fast food. Because it’s natural, derived from the earth. Yes, it’s good for the gut because it’s fermented. It’s better than rice,” Stella explained on Thursday, January 22, 2026. She added with a smile, “Well, I mean, if you have to choose a good carb and you are in a hurry, like fast food, I will choose gari. Yes. Gari is good.” For those unfamiliar, gari is a crispy, granular flour made from fermented, roasted cassava. Rich in carbohydrates, fiber, and minerals, it’s a versatile staple eaten across Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and other West African countries. Beyond being filling, fermented gari is believed to support gut health — something Stella clearly values. Stella also shared a lighthearted moment during the interview, discussing her career and lifestyle over breakfast. Her natural charm, combined with her candid love for gari, left viewers entertained and inspired. Whether stirred with water, served with soup or stew, or enjoyed with a dash of garden eggs and peppers, Stella Aba Seal’s “go-to fast food” proves that simplicity and tradition can beat fancy trends any day. For fans and foodies alike, it’s a reminder that even a gospel icon can have humble favorites and sometimes, the most ordinary foods can bring the biggest joy. 13th March,2026

SUPPORT SYSTEMS TO PROMOTE WOMEN’S CONTRIBUTIONS Accra-Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has called for stronger support systems and inclusive policies to recognise and promote the contributions of women across all sectors of national development. She made the call during a programme organised for women at the Presidency to commemorate International Women’s Day, celebrated globally on March 8. Professor Opoku-Agyemang emphasised the importance of mentorship, unity and equal opportunities to ensure that women are able to fully develop their talents and contribute meaningfully to national progress. “Recognising the contributions of women in every sphere of society is essential to building a more inclusive and equitable nation,” she said. The Vice President noted that women play significant roles in both the formal and informal sectors, including unpaid care work and community leadership, which often go unnoticed. She encouraged women in public service to support and mentor one another to help break long-standing barriers. “When women support and uplift one another, we create stronger pathways for leadership and opportunity,” she added. Professor Opoku-Agyemang also urged institutions to create enabling environments that allow women to realise their full potential and contribute to Ghana’s development. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief of Staff (Administration), Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, called for stronger collaboration, mentorship and inclusive workplace policies to promote more women into leadership positions. “Creating opportunities and supportive environments will enable more women to break barriers and contribute meaningfully to national development,” she noted. 13th March,2026

GHANA URGED TO PRIORITISE NATIONAL INTEREST A corporate governance expert and lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) Law School, Kweku Anane Gyinde, has urged Ghana to carefully balance its diplomatic language to protect the country’s national interest following tensions in the Middle East. Speaking on On the Headlines, on GTV Breakfast Show while discussing Ghana’s condemnation of a drone strike in Dubai that left two Ghanaian nationals injured, Dr Anane stressed that international diplomacy must always be guided by a country’s strategic interests rather than emotional reactions. According to him, while it is important for countries to speak out on global issues, foreign policy decisions must be weighed against their potential impact on national security, economic relations and international partnerships. Dr Anane explained that in international relations, nations do not act simply based on what is morally right but rather on what advances and protects their national interests. “In diplomacy, you ask yourself whether the position you are taking will promote and protect your national interest. That is the fundamental principle of international relations,” he said. His comments come amid debate over the tone of press statements issued by Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning the escalating tensions in the Middle East. Some critics argue that the wording of the statements could expose Ghana to unnecessary risks within the broader geopolitical conflict. Dr Anane noted that countries must also consider their global influence, military capacity and economic weight before making strong diplomatic pronouncements. “You do not just get up and make pronouncements because you think it is right. You must ask whether such statements will serve your national interest,” he added. The governance expert further referenced the structure of the United Nations, noting that global decisions on the use of force are often shaped by the interests of powerful nations with veto power in the United Nations Security Council. He mentioned that permanent members such as the United States, United Kingdom, China and France often determine whether international action is taken, highlighting the complexities smaller countries face in global diplomacy. Dr Anane concluded that Ghana must remain strategic in its responses to international crises, ensuring that its diplomatic stance aligns with the protection and promotion of its national interests. 13th March,2026