Oil prices surged on Thursday after a bombshell report said Donald Trump and Israel had developed plans for fresh attacks on Iran once the midterm elections conclude.

Brent crude climbed 2.68 percent to $111.74 a barrel on Thursday morning. The jump comes just 12 days before the November midterms, putting further pressure on the president as he races to bring down prices at the pump.

Rising gasoline costs have intensified the cost-of-living crisis, while Republicans face the growing possibility of losing control of both the House and Senate in less than two weeks.

According to The New York Times, American and Israeli commanders have outlined a “short but intensive” campaign against Iran’s nuclear facilities, energy infrastructure and missile and drone capabilities.

Trump has also discussed using the 22,000-pound GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb—known as the “Mother of All Bombs”—against Pickaxe Mountain, a nuclear facility buried deep beneath granite.

Officials say the president is privately drawn to the weapon in part because of its striking nickname.

Some US planners believe a three-day bombardment could push Iran’s already weakened economy to the brink and compel Tehran to abandon its nuclear program after almost eight months of war.

Trump said earlier this month that he would not launch an attack before the election. The full US military force, including three aircraft carriers and thousands of Marines, is not expected to be in position until early November.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to Israel this week to discuss the proposed strikes with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Even so, there is no certainty that the operation will proceed. Trump has repeatedly canceled planned combat missions, including one that was called off at the last minute earlier this month.

Tehran has vowed to respond with force, warning that it could expand its targets beyond oil tankers and energy facilities to regional data centers and undersea internet cables.

“Our attacks will be more fierce, creative and different,” said Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser to Iran’s chief negotiator.

Since the war began, Iran has caused severe disruption to global oil supplies by restricting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow waterway carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and has been targeted with speedboats, mines and explosive drones.

An analyst in Tehran said Iran could retaliate against any attack on Pickaxe Mountain by striking major Saudi refineries, including facilities operated by Aramco. Such action, the analyst said, would drive energy prices higher and put additional pressure on American voters.

The State Department ordered nonemergency government employees and their families to leave Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, pointing to a rise in attacks by Iran-backed Houthi militants against civilian targets.

The White House declined to comment on military planning, saying only that Trump was keeping all options open to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Some on Wall Street argue the hit to Americans’ wallets may be softer than in oil shocks of decades past.

‘$100 oil today is very different than $100 oil, you know, 20, 30 years ago,’ said David Wagner, head of equity at Aptus Capital Advisors.

He pointed to government figures showing gasoline swallowed roughly 5 percent of the average American’s disposable income a decade ago, around double its share today.

A 90-year-old astrophysics professor suffered multiple injuries, including broken bones, after he was violently pushed from a New York City subway train.

CG Wang was riding a southbound F train and tried to exit at Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan at about 1 p.m.

Wang told ABC 7 this week that he asked a man to move away from the subway door so he could leave the train and reach the station escalator. Instead, the man allegedly shoved him to the ground.

“I was pushed so hard, I flew out of the train,” Wang told ABC 7.

He landed on his hip and also struck or injured his shoulder and head in the fall.

“Boom, boom, boom,” Wang recalled, describing the October 6 incident.

The impact left Wang’s hip so badly damaged that he required a hip replacement, he told the outlet. He remains in recovery, with his health now a priority for his family.

Wang was taken to the hospital, where police told his son, Juin Wang, that his father had been assaulted.

“Who does this?” Juin asked. “Who would shove a 90-year-old, frail, visually impaired man?”

Before the subway attack, Wang told ABC 7 that he had never been hospitalized for his own injuries or experienced a serious assault.

“I have never had an accident. I have never been in hospital before for myself,” he said.

Despite being 90, Wang was still commuting to his Midtown office and conducting research before the incident.

His family is now seeking justice and hoping the person responsible is identified.

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The NYPD has appealed to the public for information and released a photograph of the suspect.

The man has not been located and remains at large.

“There are no updates. The investigation remains ongoing,” an NYPD spokesperson told the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Wang for comment. 

In August, Derrick Mills, who is accused of pushing an elderly person onto subway tracks in 2023, had an outburst in court. 

After a judge agreed with the prosecution’s recommendation for the case to be put to trial, Mills grew agitated and told the judge she ‘only saw one video.’ 

‘You can’t see what he’s doing,’ Mills said before claiming that the singular piece of security footage had been ‘duplicated about five times.’ 

As the suspect continued to raise his voice and argue with Lozano, the judge asked court officers to ‘take charge’ and Mills was removed from the courtroom. 

The homeless man is accused of shoving Trevor Crawford, 77, onto the subway train tracks after becoming ‘angry’ that the victim ‘stared in his direction.’

The 77-year-old had been on his way home from work at around 12.15am on September 12, 2023, when he reached the 68th Street-Hunter College subway station.

It was then that Mills allegedly attacked the elderly man.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers were able to pull Crawford to safety on the platform before a train approached. Mills fled after the attack.

Kim Kardashian celebrated her 46th birthday with a family night out in Beverly Hills this week, turning heads in a minidress that highlighted her famously youthful appearance.

Today, she is among the world’s most recognisable celebrities. But two decades ago, Kim worked as a closet organiser for her friend Paris Hilton, making only brief appearances in paparazzi photographs alongside the blonde heiress.

Drawing on the entrepreneurial spirit she says she inherited from her attorney father, Kim helped shape her family’s rise to fame. Their reality series launched in 2007, just months after the leak of her sex tape with singer Ray J.

In the early episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kim was portrayed as the pampered middle sister, often dressed in Juicy Couture tracksuits and flip-flops while occasionally turning up for shifts at the family’s Los Angeles clothing boutique, DASH.

Kim has never been afraid to reinvent her appearance. She has frequently changed her hair colour, including dramatic transformations timed around major events such as the Met Ball.

However, despite openly discussing her changing style, Kim has consistently rejected claims that she has undergone multiple plastic surgery procedures.

Across the past 20 years, the reality star has publicly acknowledged only regular Botox treatments and breast augmentation surgery.

Her figure has also fuelled widespread speculation, particularly after the Kardashian family’s famously curvaceous image was linked to the growing popularity of Brazilian butt lift procedures.

Kim has repeatedly denied having butt implants to enhance her well-known backside.

She was so determined to dismiss the claims that she underwent an X-ray during season six of Keeping Up With The Kardashians in an effort to prove her critics wrong.

Kim has also faced years of speculation over whether she has had a nose job. She has maintained that the skills of her glam team help conceal a “small bump” on her nose, which she has described as her “biggest insecurity”.

International plastic surgeon Dr Fadi Hamadani, who has not treated Kim, says ‘there’s no denying that her face has changed considerably’ over the past 20 years, but says that many of the changes could be due to small, and carefully considered tweakments rather than major surgery.

“Her features appear much more sculpted and refined, particularly around her cheeks, lips and lower face,” Dr Hamadani notes.

“Although she’s denied having facial fillers, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s had some carefully placed filler over the years.”

“Her cheeks appear fuller, her lips more defined, and her chin and jawline look noticeably more contoured.”

Kim’s insistence that she prefers a natural approach to beauty has also supported the success of her businesses, including her $4 billion shapewear company Skims and skincare brand SKKN by Kim. Both promote quick ways to enhance and sculpt the body or skin without surgery.

Although Kim continues to reject many plastic surgery allegations, the mother of four has been candid about some of the cosmetic treatments she has tried.

She has discussed her enthusiasm for Morpheus8, a treatment that combines radiofrequency energy with microneedling to lift and tighten the skin while improving firmness and texture.

She famously got Botox for the first time on season 5 of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and she also admitted to lasering the baby hairs off her forehead to re-sculpt her hairline.

Speaking of laser treatments, Kim openly experimented with having stretchmarks zapped off her cleavage in an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

Dr Hamadani says Kim’s skin is ‘particularly impressive at 46’. 

‘Her complexion looks incredibly smooth, with very few visible lines, and I suspect she’s had regular skin treatments alongside Botox to maintain that youthful appearance,’ the surgeon suggests.

In December 2022, the reality star told Gwyneth Paltrow that she has tried multiple non-invasive procedures while on the hunt for perfect skin.

‘I thought that I have learned so much in my journey and I have had the best facialists, the best aesthetician, tried every laser,’ she explained.

‘I’ve tried everything … and I wanted to bottle that up and take everything that I’ve learned and work with my favorite aesthetician… and develop products that are the next level.’

In 2025, Kim and her younger sister Khloe enjoyed a pilgrimage to South Korea where they tried out the latest in advanced regenerative and anti-ageing treatments.

She shared photos at the time of her platelet treatment, which uses a patient’s own platelets to promote skin rejuvenation and hair growth. 

A small portion of blood is drawn and spun down to concentrate the platelets before being injected into the desired areas of the skin. 

Whilst Kim has kept shtum about going under the knife, her family have recently sparked a trend for openly sharing their surgical procedures.

Kim’s little sister Kylie Jenner, 29, delighted fans when she shared her ‘boob job recipe’, responding to a fan comment with the exact details on her breast enlargement procedure, including the size, placement and doctor.

‘445 cc, moderate profile, half under the muscle!!!!!. Silicone!!! Garth Fisher!!! Hope this helps lol,’ she told the fan.

Kylie and Kim’s mum Kris Jenner, 70, meanwhile, proudly flaunted the results of her 2025 facelift, which was rumoured to cost her $100,000.

‘I want to be the best version of myself, and that makes me happy,’ she told Vogue at the time. ‘Just because you get older, it doesn’t mean you should give up on yourself.

‘If you feel comfortable in your skin and you want to age gracefully – meaning you don’t want to do anything – then don’t do anything. But for me, this is aging gracefully. It’s my version.’

It wasn’t the first time Kris went under the knife. In 2011 she documented her first facelift on an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, and in 2018 she let the cameras in when she got her earlobes reduced. 

Last year Khloe, 42, published a list of her facial procedures which include a nose job, skin lightening, Botox, filler, collagen injections and regular ‘salmon sperm facials’.

‘I want people to know, not that anyone thinks this is all natural, but it’s not,’ Khloe told fans. ‘There is maintenance involved. I’ve been in the public eye since I was 21.

‘And so age has something to do with it, weight loss for sure. But yes, I’ve had enhancements. I’ve had my nose done. I love any sort of laser or injectable.’ 

Khloe admitted that Kim shares her love of a non-invasive procedure, spilling that the sisters ‘go down these rabbit holes’.

‘I’ll see like it can be a stretch mark laser commercial, and when I send it to her, I’m like, “Do you think this is real?” and we’re like, “We need that”.’

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