News when you want it with Bloomberg News now.

I'm Ed Kalegi.

We continue to follow the latest in the Middle East after the U.S.

and Israel launched strikes on Iran early Saturday morning.

U.S. Central Command says that following the initial wave of U.S.

and partner strikes, Centcom forces

successfully defended against hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.

Centcom adds there have been no reports of U.S.

casualties or combat related injuries.

Damage to U.S.

installations was minimal and has not impacted operations.

Iran state TV reports the strikes at Iran have killed 201

people so far, and have injured 747 more.

This citing a spokesperson for the Red Crescent.

The attacks covered 24 of Iran's 31 provinces and, for comparison,

the 12 day war back in June killed around 935 people in Iran.

That number also from Iran. State TV.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks

there are growing indications that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme

leader of Iran, may have been killed in a strike on his complex in Tehran.

There have been some questions about the president's

authority to attack Iran without congressional approval.

Former national security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations

John Bolton talked about it on Bloomberg's this weekend.

This is manifestly within

the president's constitutional commander in chief's authority.

The Gang of Eight were briefed on this on Tuesday.

And, if Congress doesn't like it, Congress can cut off appropriations.

That's where congressional power comes in.

Again, that was John Bolton on Bloomberg's this weekend.

And you can hear more of the show tomorrow at 7 a.m. eastern.

Reaction continues to pour in from all over the world.

Russia called the strikes unprovoked aggression.

China says it's highly concerned and called for a stop to the assault,

while Australia and Canada expressed support for the U.S..

France, Germany and Britain have also called for negotiations

to resume between the U.S.

and Iran following Iran's attacks on other countries.

This is UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

It is vital that we prevent further escalation

and return to a diplomatic process.

We want to see peace and security

and the protection of civilian life.

Iran can end this now.

They should refrain from further strikes,

give up their weapons programs

and cease the appalling violence

and repression against the Iranian people.

In those remarks, Starmer added that British aircraft are in the sky today

over the middle East on defensive operations and stressed

the UK played no part in the joint action today against Tehran.

Bloomberg's Germany says these strikes are very different from the US

strikes on Iran back in June, mostly because Iran responded right away.

This time around, they were ready to go

and they fired back at US bases dotted around the Gulf.

And here I'm talking about, Qatar, about the rain.

Kuwait's, Abu Dhabi, with explosions heard and various of those visas,

even citizens were receiving siren warnings,

alerts on their phones and notifying them that an attack was imminent.

U.S. officials have said the attacks could last days.

OPEC will consider a larger

supply increase when key members meet Sunday, following U.S.

and Israeli airstrikes and targets in Iran, Bloomberg's Monica Rix reports.

The group, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, was expected to resume

modest production increases from April after a three month supply freeze.

They'd added monthly increments of 137,000 barrels a day in the fourth quarter,

but these attacks could now escalate production increases.

Physical disruptions

are also a big concern, but for now, the Strait of Hormuz remains open.

That's a critical shipping lane for much of the world's crude supply.

Oil prices climbed, with Brant crude as high as $73 a barrel Friday,

but oil markets could be shaken up a bit come Monday.

Monica Rix, Bloomberg Radio.

And building on what Monica just said, oil and gas tankers are now increasingly

avoiding the Hormuz shipping strait that links the oil rich Persian Gulf

to the open seas with a large number of vessels

holding outside of the waterway, while some already transiting have turned back.

Ships reported hearing a radio broadcast purporting to come from the Iranian

Navy announcing the transit through the Strait of Hormuz was banned.

While there

hasn't been any official communication from Iran on the status of the waterway.

Most ship owners are taking a cautious approach.

The US earlier issued a warning

to shipping in the Middle East that vessels in the region should stay 30

nautical miles away from its military assets.

The Iran conflict has triggered a sharp risk off move across cryptocurrency seas.

Bitcoin fell as much as 3.8% to 63,038

before stabilizing near 64,000 in the early morning trading in New York.

Ether slid as much as 4.5% to 1836.

Roughly $128 billion was erased from the total

value of digital assets in the immediate aftermath.

This is according to CoinGecko data.

Silver led activity among perps for commodities on hyper liquid.

With over $400 million in trading volume over the past 24 hours.

Gold contracts saw nearly $140 million change hands.

U.S. equity linked indexes on the platform fell between 1 and 2%.

That's news when you want it with Bloomberg News now.

I'm Ed Kalegi. This is Bloomberg.