What surprised me was not the situation in Iran, which I had expected.
On February 28, local time in the Middle East, the United States and Israel launched a joint strike against Iran, bombing multiple targets, including the offices of Supreme Leader Khamenei and President Pezechzian, in an attempt to carry out a "decapitation" operation. However, the strikes failed, and Iran confirmed that both men are currently safe.
It seems that after last year's confrontation, Iran's purge of internal traitors has been effective, and the tragedy of having its leaders wiped out at the outset has not occurred.
Iran retaliated immediately, targeting US military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, and Qatar. Some missiles were intercepted, while others hit their targets, resulting in a small number of casualties. Iran also launched several missiles at Israel; foreign media reports indicate that most were intercepted, but it has been confirmed that some missiles struck downtown Tel Aviv.
In the past, when Iran attacked US military bases, it would first consult with intermediaries to subtly suggest that the US military avoid the attack and prevent too many deaths from escalating tensions. This time, however, Iran is serious and is retaliating without warning.
One focal point of public opinion regarding this round of bombings is that Iranian media reported that a primary school was bombed, resulting in 40 deaths and 48 injuries. I checked a list of international media outlets, and Al Jazeera, Associated Press, and Reuters all reported on this incident, citing information from Iranian media.
The US and Israel will continue to strike Iran to force it to completely compromise on the nuclear issue, but Iran's current stance is tough and doesn't seem like it will surrender in the short term. I'm also very curious about how long this confrontation will last and how it will end.
That covers the general situation of the first day. There were also some peripheral impacts:
1. Although it is the weekend and there is no trading in crude oil and gold today, analysts believe that the military conflict could lead to a potential 2% increase in gold and a potential 4-5% increase in crude oil, which will likely be realized when the market opens on Monday.
2. The blockchain market has been hit hard, with BTC down 3% and ETH down 4% in the past 24 hours.
3. The Houthi rebels in Yemen have expressed their firm support for Iran and may resume attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, which would have a huge impact on international shipping.
Another piece of news that shocked me today is that a Bilibili program I frequently watch, "Sleep Before News," has run into trouble. They previously claimed that a certain tea brand had a high caffeine concentration, essentially "skirting the line" of drug use. This caused quite a stir at the time, with many people fiercely debating whether the wording was appropriate. I was thinking then that the tea company probably wouldn't let it go so easily, since it had indeed negatively impacted their brand image.
Today, I saw in the news that Shanghai police have taken criminal coercive measures against the suspect, Ren. Those familiar with the program might recognize that the anchor, Ma Dugong, is actually named Ren Chonghao, which is highly likely to be this Ren.
I was skeptical at first, but then I saw a clip on the news that showed police handcuffing "Ren". Even though it was just a side view, it looked like him, so I'm convinced now.
There are very few political commentary programs in China that I'm willing to watch, but "Bedtime News" is one of them. Although I don't agree with every viewpoint in every episode, the topics they discuss are generally insightful, and they are willing to think about solutions.
Many netizens call Ma Dugong "Ma the Rebel" because he frequently criticizes social issues, but nowadays, China has no shortage of media outlets that sing praises; rather, there are very few people willing to stand up and point out problems. Moreover, "Before Bedtime News" often offers suggestions for solutions while pointing out problems, which, in my view, demonstrates a sense of social responsibility as a citizen media outlet.
Their mishap this time won't affect my opinion of them. It just shows that too much talk leads to mistakes; no one who consistently produces content can guarantee they won't say anything wrong, especially in the highly risky field of online politics. I won't condemn a program based on one incident or one sentence. I've watched them for many years, and I know their true colors.
Hopefully, Ren Chonghao can get through this and continue making shows.
Finally, here's a lighthearted tidbit: A funny incident recently happened in South Korea. The National Tax Service conducted on-site searches of 124 people who were in arrears with taxes, seizing 8.1 billion won in assets. One of the tax defaulters had four wallets used to store cryptocurrency in his drawer, and the mnemonic phrases for these wallets were confiscated. You can think of a mnemonic phrase as similar to a bank card's account number and password; whoever has the mnemonic phrase essentially has control over the wallet.
As a result, the makeshift South Korean investigation team, in order to showcase their work, took photos of the seized items and showed them to the public, including mnemonic slips of paper, without blurring them out, and published them directly in the news.
The consequences were predictable: some quick-acting individuals used their mnemonic phrases to log into their wallets and transfer all $4.8 million in assets.
Hahaha, this is the most ridiculous thing I've heard so far in 2026. The Korean National Tax Service is being ridiculed by netizens as a bunch of idiots, and they've responded that they're investigating the matter. But with this kind of suicide attempt involving publicly revealing mnemonic phrases in the news, theoretically anyone could withdraw the money. Blockchain transfers are anonymous, so it's definitely irrecoverable.
The card in the picture on the left has already revealed the mnemonic phrase. You don't need to zoom in to see it; all the money has already been spent.
That's all for this weekend~
Original Article: View Chinese Version
