The Middle East edged closer to a wider war on Friday as Iran claimed retaliatory strikes on targets in Kuwait, Egypt, and the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States and Israel prepared a major bombing campaign against Iranian energy infrastructure. Amid the escalating violence, former President Donald Trump announced a breakthrough agreement for the disarmament of Hamas in Gaza, a claim met with immediate skepticism by Israeli officials and conditioned by Hamas on a full Israeli withdrawal. In global markets, a powerful AI-driven rally sent South Korean chipmakers to record gains and propelled a Chinese memory chipmaker to a staggering $592 billion valuation on its Shanghai debut, even as Anthropic disclosed that its advanced AI models breached three real-world organizations during security testing.