US

Iran says can fight for months as Israel strikes Beirut hotel

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • About 10 hours earlier, the military announced strikes on "infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in Tehran".
  • Here are the latest events in the Middle East war on Sunday: - Tehran oil facilities hit - An Iranian official said that overnight US-Israeli air strikes damaged several Tehran oil facilities.
  • About 10 hours earlier, the military announced strikes on "infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in Tehran".
Here are the latest events in the Middle East war on Sunday:

Tehran oil facilities hit

An Iranian official said that overnight US-Israeli air strikes damaged several Tehran oil facilities.
The reported targeting of Iran's oil infrastructure will deepen global markets' concerns about crude production and exports from the Gulf region, where shipping transport has been effectively halted.

Attacks on Gulf states

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain all reported new attacks
Kuwait's national oil company announced a "precautionary" cut to its crude production. The military said fuel tanks at Kuwait's international airport were targeted in a drone attack.
Saudi Arabia's defence ministry reported intercepting 15 drones, including an attempted attack in the diplomatic quarter of the capital Riyadh.
Bahrain said three people were wounded by falling missile debris and that a water desalination plant was damaged.

IRGC: we can fight six months

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the country's forces can fight an "intense war" for six months, with a spokesman saying more advanced missiles would be used in coming days.

Iran 'forced' to respond

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country "will be forced to respond" to any attack or invasion attempt from a neighbouring country.
"Responding does not mean we have disputes with that country or wish to harm its people -- we would be responding out of necessity," he said in remarks broadcast on state TV.
A day earlier, Pezeshkian apologised to neighbouring countries hosting US military bases for attacks on their territory.

Israel strikes 'across Iran'

The Israeli military said it conducted strikes "across Iran".
About 10 hours earlier, the military announced strikes on "infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in Tehran".
- Israel pounds Lebanon - 
Lebanon said an Israeli strike on a Beirut hotel killed four people.
The Israeli military said it carried out a "precise strike" in Beirut targeting commanders from the foreign operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the Quds Force.
In southern Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, the health ministry said eight people were killed in strikes on more than 20 towns and villages. 
- Trump blames Iran for school strike - 
US President Donald Trump blamed Iran for a deadly strike on an Iranian primary school that Iranian officials say killed at least 150 people.
"We think it was done by Iran. Because they are very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
A New York Times investigation has found the US military was most likely responsible.
AFP has not been able to access the site to verify the circumstances surrounding the incident or to independently confirm the toll.

Crew discharged from hospital

A Sri Lanka hospital discharged 22 Iranian crew members who survived the sinking of their warship by a US submarine, with another 10 still receiving treatment.
Sri Lanka recovered 84 bodies from where the ship went down after it was struck in international waters on Wednesday, and more than 60 people from it remain missing. A second Iranian warship took refuge in Sri Lanka's waters after the sub attack.
bur/rmb/smw

diplomacy

China FM urges US to manage differences in face of trade woes

BY DANAI HOWARD

  • - Taiwan 'red line' - The issue of self-ruled Taiwan, however, remains a red line which threatens to worsen China's relationship with the United States.
  • China's top diplomat urged the United States Sunday to iron out its differences with Beijing, as the world's two largest economies lock horns over trade tariffs and geopolitical issues.
  • - Taiwan 'red line' - The issue of self-ruled Taiwan, however, remains a red line which threatens to worsen China's relationship with the United States.
China's top diplomat urged the United States Sunday to iron out its differences with Beijing, as the world's two largest economies lock horns over trade tariffs and geopolitical issues.
Ties between China and the United States have been strained since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, followed by a trade war that saw the two countries impose tariffs on each other's products.
While the US-China trade war has uprooted the global economy, Beijing has sought to profit off Trump's mercurial policies by positioning itself as a reliable alternative partner.
"We observe a certain country erecting tariff barriers and pursuing decoupling and supply chain disruption," Wang told a press conference on Sunday.
"These actions are akin to trying to extinguish a fire with fuel. Ultimately, they will backfire."
He was speaking during China's annual political gathering, which began this week, known as the "Two Sessions".
The parallel meetings of China's parliament and political consultative body are closely watched for clues as to the priorities of China's leaders in the face of a precarious geopolitical landscape.
Wang addressed a range of issues, including the US-China relationship, tensions in the South China Sea, as well as wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
"This year is indeed a big year for Sino-US relations," Wang told reporters.
While China and the United States "cannot change each other", he said, adding "we can change the way we interact with each other".
Wang urged both sides to "manage existing differences and eliminate unnecessary interference".

Middle East war

But a wide range of disagreements remain.
Beijing has blasted US and Israeli military strikes on Iran, which sparked the war in the Middle East.
China has diplomatic and trade ties with Tehran, and has condemned the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Wang said on Sunday the war "should never have happened".
"A strong fist does not mean strong reason. The world cannot return to the law of the jungle," he told reporters.
At the same time, he maintained that China's relations with Moscow, which have been criticised by Western countries for sustaining the war in Ukraine, remained "steadfast and unshakeable".
Beijing has sought to position itself as a neutral player in the Ukraine war, but Western leaders say China is supporting Moscow through imports and by helping the Kremlin to avoid sanctions.

EU ties improving

Leaders from France, Canada, Finland and the United Kingdom, among others, have flocked to Beijing, recoiling from Trump's bid to seize Greenland and tariff threats against fellow NATO members.
Wang welcomed the visits, saying "more and more insightful Europeans agree that China is not a competitor, but a global partner".
Relations between China and the European Union had seen "a steady improvement" in the last year, he told reporters.
In the spirit of warming relations, China has doled out visa-free travel agreements to around 50 countries and reduced tariffs on exports from Canada and the United Kingdom, among others.

Taiwan 'red line'

The issue of self-ruled Taiwan, however, remains a red line which threatens to worsen China's relationship with the United States.
Beijing views democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force.
Trump has floated the idea of sending more US weapons to Taiwan despite warnings from China's leader Xi Jinping. 
The two leaders are due to meet in Beijing in April.
Wang reiterated on Sunday that Beijing "will never allow anyone or any force to separate Taiwan... from China once again".
The issue has also caused a rift between China and Japan after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on the island.
bur-dhw/fox

US

Sri Lanka hospital releases 22 rescued from torpedoed Iranian vessel

BY AMAL JAYASINGHE

  • He added that parts of a damaged life raft, an barrel of lubricants and footwear had washed ashore, and officials were trying to establish if they were from the sunk Dena. aj/pjm/hmn
  • Sri Lanka discharged 22 Iranian crew from hospital who were plucked from life rafts after their warship was sunk by a US submarine, officials said Sunday.
  • He added that parts of a damaged life raft, an barrel of lubricants and footwear had washed ashore, and officials were trying to establish if they were from the sunk Dena. aj/pjm/hmn
Sri Lanka discharged 22 Iranian crew from hospital who were plucked from life rafts after their warship was sunk by a US submarine, officials said Sunday.
The crew had been treated at Karapitiya Hospital in the southern port city of Galle since Wednesday after the IRIS Dena was torpedoed just outside Sri Lanka's territorial waters.
The attack on Dena was the first military strike far outside the Middle East since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran a week ago.
Those discharged overnight had been taken to a beach resort in the same district, as Sri Lanka's navy ended its search on Sunday for survivors from the vessel. Just over 60 people remain missing, according to an official Sri Lankan estimate.
"Another 10 are still undergoing treatment," a medical officer at the hospital told AFP. He said the bodies of 84 Iranians retrieved from the Indian Ocean were also at the hospital.
Sri Lanka has denied claims that it was under pressure from Washington to stop the Iranians from returning home, saying Colombo would be guided solely by international law and its own domestic legislation.
The survivors from the Dena were being handled according to international humanitarian law, and the government had contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross for assistance, officials said.
The island is also providing safe haven for another 219 Iranian sailors from a second ship, the IRIS Bushehr, which was allowed to enter Sri Lankan waters after the Dena was sunk.
The crew from the Bushehr have been moved to a Sri Lanka Navy camp at Welisara, just north of the capital Colombo, and their vessel has been taken over by Sri Lanka's navy.
Sri Lanka announced it was taking the Bushehr to the north-eastern port of Trincomalee, but an engine failure and other technical and administrative issues had delayed the movement, a navy spokesman said.

Pressure denied

A US State Department spokesperson said the disposition of the Bushehr personnel and Iranian crew rescued at sea was up to Sri Lanka.
"The United States, of course, respects and recognises Sri Lanka's sovereignty in the handling of this situation," the spokesperson told AFP in Washington.
India, meanwhile, said Saturday that it had allowed a third Iranian warship, the IRIS Lavan, to dock in one of its ports on "humane" grounds after it too reported engine problems.
"I think it was the humane thing to do, and I think we were guided by that principle," Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Saturday.
The three ships were part of a multinational naval exercise held by India before the war in the Middle East started last week.
The Lavan docked in the south-west Indian port of Kochi on Wednesday. "A lot of the people on board were young cadets. They have disembarked and are in a nearby facility," Jaishankar said.
Sri Lankan authorities meanwhile reported an oil slick at another nearby beach resort and said about 50 workers and volunteers had been deployed for a clean-up, while boats were being sent to check for more pollution.
"We saw a thin oil patch at Hikkaduwa beach yesterday," said Samantha Gunasekara, chairman of the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA).
He added that parts of a damaged life raft, an barrel of lubricants and footwear had washed ashore, and officials were trying to establish if they were from the sunk Dena.
aj/pjm/hmn

opposition

Turkey's jailed mayor says demand for change cannot be stopped

BY FULYA OZERKAN

  • Imamoglu said support for the opposition had been growing in a sign of  public demand for change and growing fatigue with Erdogan's rule -- a sentiment which the government will struggle to contain.
  • Political efforts to cripple Turkey's main opposition and lock up its presidential candidate will never stifle the people's frustration with the government and their growing demand for change, Istanbul's jailed mayor told AFP in an interview. 
  • Imamoglu said support for the opposition had been growing in a sign of  public demand for change and growing fatigue with Erdogan's rule -- a sentiment which the government will struggle to contain.
Political efforts to cripple Turkey's main opposition and lock up its presidential candidate will never stifle the people's frustration with the government and their growing demand for change, Istanbul's jailed mayor told AFP in an interview. 
"An irreversible process for a change in power has begun in Turkey and it won't stop until it is complete. I cannot stop it ... nor can the ruling party nor the judiciary," Ekrem Imamoglu said in a written response to AFP questions conveyed via lawyers from his prison cell in Silivri, west of Istanbul.
"Whatever is done to my party or me, we won't abandon this path (to democracy) we're walking on with the nation," said the 54-year-old. 
His remarks came just days before his trial on Monday in a massive corruption case that critics say is designed to block him from challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next election. 
His arrest nearly a year ago sparked some of Turkey's biggest street protests in over a decade and was followed by mounting legal pressure on the main opposition CHP, the party he was chosen to represent in the next presidential race. 
To date, 15 CHP mayors are behind bars. 
Imamoglu said support for the opposition had been growing in a sign of  public demand for change and growing fatigue with Erdogan's rule -- a sentiment which the government will struggle to contain.
"The ruling power must have thought that the nation's demand for change was a show of personal support for me, and that once they eliminated me, no obstacle would remain, so they took me hostage, but what happened?" he asked. 
"The nation's demand for change continues to grow day-by-day, getting stronger."

'Counting the days'

Imamoglu was jailed on the day he was named the CHP's presidential candidate. He is widely seen as one of the only politicians capable of defeating Erdogan at the ballot box. 
Although the mayor is facing a slew of legal cases, Monday's is by far the biggest, in which he is accused of a string of charges, notably running a criminal network.
"Judicial independence is struggling to survive," he told AFP, admitting he still had some hope for a fair trial, despite his experience over the past year which revealed "not a fair and independent judiciary but a group (of people) whose sole purpose was to detain me by manipulating the law".
In a separate case, Imamoglu is facing an even more significant legal obstacle: a lawsuit challenging the validity of his university degree -- a constitutional requirement for presidential candidates in Turkey.
Political observers say his chances of contesting the presidential race remain slim even if he is acquitted in the graft case. He expects CHP leader Ozgur Ozel to emerge as the likely candidate. 
"Everyone who wants this government to change will no longer focus on the identity of the candidate," Imamoglu said. 
"The government is now openly threatening people's right to choose. If you block every candidate that people elect or want, they will vote for whoever it takes to make you go. This is a reflex to protect democracy," he said. 
"One way or another, this government will change -- that's what matters. Our nation is counting the days."

'Strengthened'

Despite the ongoing "pressures and arrests" targeting CHP over the past year, the government's strategy was not working, he said. 
"Over the past year, my party has emerged not weakened, but strengthened," while the ruling side was "struggling in the swamp, wasting time," he said.
"If an election were held today, CHP would still be the number one party ... and those in power would be removed."
Imamoglu said he had quickly adapted to life behind bars -- an existence shared by "many politicians, journalists and citizens unjustly imprisoned for political reasons". 
"I have had no difficulty adapting to prison," he told AFP, saying he spends his time reading extensively, especially about Turkish political and intellectual life. 
But even inside, far from the multiple demands of political life, one thing has not changed. 
"Even before going to prison, I had a life where 24 hours were never enough -- and that is still the case."
fo/hmw/yad/rmb

justice

Venezuela frees more political prisoners under amnesty law

  • Venezuela's government claims that more than 7,000 people have been granted full freedom, including prisoners in jail and those on parole.
  • Venezuela released 17 political prisoners on Saturday from a jail in the capital, Caracas, an AFP journalist saw, as a new law granted amnesty for crimes historically used to lock up dissidents.
  • Venezuela's government claims that more than 7,000 people have been granted full freedom, including prisoners in jail and those on parole.
Venezuela released 17 political prisoners on Saturday from a jail in the capital, Caracas, an AFP journalist saw, as a new law granted amnesty for crimes historically used to lock up dissidents.
The landmark law, which was adopted last month, is one of the most significant reforms championed by Delcy Rodriguez, who succeeded autocratic leader Nicolas Maduro after his January 3 capture by US forces.
The NGO Foro Penal says more than 621 political prisoners have been released since Maduro's ouster, but that around 500 remain behind bars.
Family members have been clamoring for their release for weeks, including a group of women in Caracas who staged a nearly weeklong hunger strike.
Outside the capital's national police facility known as Zone 7, family members had chained themselves to prison gates, while some had spent weeks sleeping in tents.
"Get dressed; everyone's leaving," a guard told the freed detainees, according to Omar Torres, a political activist who spoke to reporters as he walked free.
"I feel very happy," he said.
"I don't think this is the time to blame anyone. I'm happy to be free."
Venezuela's government claims that more than 7,000 people have been granted full freedom, including prisoners in jail and those on parole.
But unlike prisoners from other jails who had their cases dismissed, Zone 7 detainees must appear in court to reinstate their full freedom.
"We will continue seeking improvement and freedom for the other political prisoners," said Brayan Orozco, son of former congressman Fernando Orozco, both of whom were released from Zone 7.
"Thanks to the people of Venezuela," he said, amid cries of "freedom, freedom", hugs and tears of joy.
afc/lb/cms/fox

US

Iran says can fight for months as Israel strikes Beirut hotel

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN, BEIRUT, JERUSALEM AND WASHINGTON

  • Despite the threat, the Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that the Islamic republic's forces could wage an "intense war" for six months at the current speed of fighting.
  • Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that the country's forces could fight an intense war for six months against the United States and Israel, which said it struck Tehran's commanders at a seaside hotel in the heart of Beirut.
  • Despite the threat, the Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that the Islamic republic's forces could wage an "intense war" for six months at the current speed of fighting.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that the country's forces could fight an intense war for six months against the United States and Israel, which said it struck Tehran's commanders at a seaside hotel in the heart of Beirut.
As the conflict spilled into its second week, the regional repercussions spiralled, with Saudi Arabia intercepting a wave of drones headed for targets including the diplomatic quarter in capital Riyadh and Kuwait saying an attack hit fuel tanks at its international airport.
The strike on Kuwait's aviation fuel storage compounded fears over energy supplies with the country's national oil company also announcing a cut in crude production over threats to the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world's oil and gas transit. 
Tehran accused the US and Israel of striking an oil depot in the Iranian capital on Saturday, the first reported assault on the Islamic republic's oil infrastructure as stock markets have slumped and crude prices surged.
The Israeli military said it struck "a number of fuel storage facilities in Tehran" that were used "to operate military infrastructure".
Israel's military also launched a new wave of strikes "across Tehran" on Sunday, after carrying out a precision strike targeting "key commanders" in the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, at a hotel in an area of central Beirut popular with tourists. 
Lebanon's health ministry said the strike killed at least four people at the hotel, where an AFP photographer saw shattered windows and charred walls.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press on with the war against Iran "with all our force", with a plan to eradicate the country's leadership after joint US-Israeli raids killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week, sparking the regional conflict.
Despite the threat, the Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that the Islamic republic's forces could wage an "intense war" for six months at the current speed of fighting.
Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said Iran had so far used "first and second generation" missiles, but will use "advanced and less-used long-range missiles" in the coming days. 

'Trapped'

The widening reach of the war and Iran's ability to inflict damage and harm were underscored by US President Donald Trump attending the return of six American service members killed in a drone strike on a US base in Kuwait last Sunday.
Iran's security chief Ali Larijani accused the Trump administration of seeking to replicate a scenario similar to Venezuela where it ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.
"Their perception was that it would be like Venezuela -- they would strike, take control and it would be over -- but now they are trapped," he said in a pre-recorded interview broadcast on state TV on Saturday.
Iran's hardline judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei also warned Middle East neighbours which are "openly and covertly at the disposal of the enemy" that "the heavy attacks on these targets will continue".
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday that Tehran "will be forced to respond" if a neighbouring country were to be used as a launchpad for any attack or invasion attempt.
Tehran had vowed to go after US assets in the region, and Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait on Sunday all reported new attacks.
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted more than a dozen drones while Qatar said Iran fired two cruise missiles and 10 ballistic missiles at the country on Saturday.
UAE forces were intercepting incoming missile and drones from Iran, the defence ministry said in a post on X. 
On Saturday, video footage showed one projectile crashing at Dubai airport, while AFP journalists heard blasts in Iraq's Baghdad and Erbil on Saturday evening.
Inside Iran, damage to infrastructure and residential areas is mounting as its people report growing anxiety and a heavy security presence.
"I don't think anyone who hasn't experienced war would understand it," a 26-year-old teacher told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Iran's health ministry said Friday at least 926 civilians had been killed and around 6,000 wounded -- figures AFP could not independently verify.

Air supremacy

Israel launched strikes on a Hezbollah bastion in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war this week when the militant group attacked Israel with rockets and drones in response to Khamenei's death.
Lebanon's health ministry said at least 294 people have died in Israeli air strikes over the past week, prompting Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to warn of a looming "humanitarian disaster".
The fresh Israeli strikes came after it launched some of its largest raids in Iran since the war began on Saturday, targeting a military academy, an underground command centre and missile storage sites.
Netanyahu said Israel had achieved almost total control of the skies over the Iranian capital.
Trump struck a similarly defiant tone, repeating the claim that Iran had been close to developing a nuclear weapon.
He also suggested US troops could eventually be needed to secure Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles.
Separately, he blamed Iran for what the country's authorities said was a deadly strike on an elementary school in Minab last Saturday that killed at least 150 people. Iran has blamed Washington for the strike.
Neither the US nor Israel has claimed responsibility for the attack and AFP could not independently verify the circumstances.

No clear way out

Analysts warn there is still no clear path to ending a conflict that US and Israeli officials say could last a month or longer.
Trump has suggested Iran's economy could be rebuilt if a leader "acceptable" to Washington replaces the late supreme leader, which Tehran has rejected.
China and Russia have largely stayed on the sidelines despite close ties with Tehran.
China's top diplomat Wang Yi said on Sunday that the war in the Middle East should "never have happened".
"This is a war that should never have happened," he told a press conference in Beijing, adding that "a strong fist does not mean strong reason. The world cannot return to the law of the jungle."
burs-jfx/hmn

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • The Kuwaiti military said it was intercepting "hostile missile and drone attacks", several hours after reporting fuel tanks at the nation's international airport were targeted by Iranian drones.
  • Here are the latest events in the Middle East war: - Iran unleashes barrage - Gulf states as well as Israel reported missile and drone attacks from Iran early Sunday.
  • The Kuwaiti military said it was intercepting "hostile missile and drone attacks", several hours after reporting fuel tanks at the nation's international airport were targeted by Iranian drones.
Here are the latest events in the Middle East war:

Iran unleashes barrage

Gulf states as well as Israel reported missile and drone attacks from Iran early Sunday.
The Kuwaiti military said it was intercepting "hostile missile and drone attacks", several hours after reporting fuel tanks at the nation's international airport were targeted by Iranian drones.
Kuwait's official news agency said a fire at the airport had been brought under control.
UAE authorities said air defences were responding to a missile and drone attack.
Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted a drone attack targeting the diplomatic quarter in the capital Riyadh, reporting no casualties or damage.

Israel striking targets 'across Iran'

The Israeli military said it launched a wave of strikes "across Iran", targeting "military infrastructure".
About 10 hours earlier, the military announced strikes on "infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in Tehran".

Iran says will keep fighting

Iran can fight an intense war against the United States and Israel for at least six months, the Revolutionary Guards said.
"The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran are capable of continuing at least a 6-month intense war at the current pace of operations," said Guards spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini, according to the Fars news agency.

China says no reason for war

China's top diplomat Wang Yi said the war in the Middle East should "never have happened".
"This is a war that should never have happened," he told a press conference in Beijing, adding that "a strong fist does not mean strong reason. The world cannot return to the law of the jungle."
- Israel pounds Lebanon - 
Lebanon's health ministry said Sunday an Israeli strike on a hotel in central Beirut killed at least four people, after sites across southern Lebanon were targeted.
The Israeli military said it carried out a "precise strike" in Beirut targeting commanders from Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
In southern Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Iran-backed group Hezbollah, the health ministry said eight people were killed in strikes on more than 20 towns and villages. 
- Trump blames Iran for school strike - 
US President Donald Trump blamed Iran for a deadly strike on an elementary school in the southern Iranian town of Minab, which Iranian officials say killed at least 150 people.
"We think it was done by Iran. Because they are very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
A New York Times investigation has found the US military was most likely responsible.

Kurdish offensive?

Trump also said he did not want Kurdish forces to launch an offensive against Iran, following speculation they might use the war as a chance to seize more autonomy.
"We're not looking to the Kurds going in," he said. "We don't want to make the war any more complex than it already is."
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said a potential civil war in Iran would be "the most dangerous scenario".

Netanyahu vows 'all our force'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue its war with Iran "with all our force" as part of "a systematic plan to eradicate the Iranian regime".
He added that US and Israeli air strikes had secured "almost complete control of the airspace" over Tehran.
Israel's military said it had carried out around 3,400 strikes on Iran since the start of the war on February 28.

Tehran oil depots hit

US and Israeli strikes hit an oil depot in Tehran, Iranian state media said, the first reported attack on Iran's oil infrastructure.
The depot was close to a key oil refinery but the ILNA news agency said the refinery's facilities were not damaged.
Strikes also hit a depot in northwestern Tehran, according to an AFP journalist who saw flames and smoke rising from the site. 
Israel said it had struck "a number of fuel storage facilities in Tehran" that were used "to operate military infrastructure".

Kuwait cuts crude production

Kuwait's national oil company on Saturday announced a cut to its production of crude due to Iranian attacks and threats to the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for Gulf hydrocarbons.
The "precautionary reduction in crude oil production and refining throughput" will be reviewed as the situation develops, it said. 
burs-ami/jfx

Israel

Kuwait airport, Saudi Arabia targeted as Iran presses Gulf attacks

  • The attacks came despite Iran's president apologising to Gulf countries for earlier strikes.
  • Gulf nations reported missile and drone attacks Sunday, while Iran vowed to press on with strikes against neighbouring countries as the regional war entered its second week.
  • The attacks came despite Iran's president apologising to Gulf countries for earlier strikes.
Gulf nations reported missile and drone attacks Sunday, while Iran vowed to press on with strikes against neighbouring countries as the regional war entered its second week.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait all reported new attacks, after loud explosions were heard in Dubai and Bahrain's Manama a day earlier.
Kuwait's national oil company announced a "precautionary" cut to its crude production, as the country's military said Sunday it had responded to several drone and missile attacks.
Fuel tanks at Kuwait's international airport were targeted in a drone attack, the military added.
The official Kuwait News Agency said a fire at the airport was brought under control, reporting no "significant injuries".
The military called the drone attack "a direct targeting of vital infrastructure".
A separate statement said "some civilian facilities sustained material damage as a result of falling fragments and debris from interception operations".
The Kuwaiti interior ministry said two border guards "were martyred... while performing their national duty", without elaborating. It was not clear whether their deaths were the result of an Iranian attack.
The UAE's defence ministry said air defences were responding to "incoming missile and drone threats from Iran", while Bahrain's interior ministry said air raid sirens were activated.
Qatar's defence ministry said on Sunday that the country was targeted a day earlier by 10 ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles fired from Iran, but most of them were intercepted and caused no casualties.
Saudi Arabia's defence ministry also reported intercepting and destroying 15 drones that entered the kingdom's airspace, including an attempted attack at the diplomatic quarter in the capital Riyadh.
The attacks came despite Iran's president apologising to Gulf countries for earlier strikes. He had said they would no longer be targeted unless strikes were launched from their territory first.
But hours later, Iran's judiciary chief said strikes would continue on sites in Gulf countries which were "at the disposal of the enemy".
UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a rare televised address that the Emirates were in "a period of war" and "will emerge stronger" from it.
Dubai authorities said Saturday that a a Pakistani national had been killed by debris from an "aerial interception".

Dubai airport

Dubai closed its main airport briefly on Saturday -- the world's busiest for international traffic -- after authorities said an unidentified object was intercepted nearby.
A witness told AFP of a loud explosion in the area followed by a cloud of smoke. Footage verified by AFP recorded the sound of a drone followed by a loud explosion and plumes of smoke close to an airport concourse.
The government said there had been "a minor incident resulting from the fall of debris after an interception", without directly mentioning the airport. It said there were no injuries.
The Flightradar24 tracking website earlier showed planes circling above the airport in an apparent holding pattern.
In a statement since deleted from X, Emirates, the largest airline in the Middle East, had announced it was suspending all flights to and from Dubai until further notice, but later said it had resumed operations.
The UAE, a US ally and home to American military installations, has been the most heavily targeted nation in the Gulf during the war.
The defence ministry said 221 ballistic missiles were detected since the war began on February 28, with the number of drones surpassing 1,300.
Iranian attacks have hit Abu Dhabi airport, the upmarket Palm Jumeirah development and the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel over the past week, while drone debris caused a fire at the US consulate in Dubai on Tuesday.

Saudi base

Elsewhere in the Gulf on Saturday, Bahrain said it has intercepted 92 missiles and 151 drones since the start of the "brutal Iranian aggression".
AFP journalists heard an explosion Saturday night in Manama, Bahrain's capital, as authorities said one person was injured after rocket shrapnel fell in a street.
In Saudi Arabia, the defence ministry said it had destroyed three ballistic missiles heading towards Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts American troops, as well as 17 drones over the Shaybah oil field in the southeast.
bur/jfx/ami/hmn

games

Sony faces $2.7 bn class action from UK PlayStation users

  • Under UK law, all potentially affected persons are included in this type of class action by default, and may benefit from possible compensation, unless they voluntarily opt out.
  • Japanese entertainment giant Sony will face a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) class action lawsuit starting Tuesday in London, accused of allegedly breaching competition law by overcharging millions of UK PlayStation users.
  • Under UK law, all potentially affected persons are included in this type of class action by default, and may benefit from possible compensation, unless they voluntarily opt out.
Japanese entertainment giant Sony will face a £2 billion ($2.7 billion) class action lawsuit starting Tuesday in London, accused of allegedly breaching competition law by overcharging millions of UK PlayStation users.
The claimants' website accuses Sony of "exploiting its UK customers" for nearly a decade by charging them "too much for PlayStation digital games and in-game content".
"This case seeks to bring that conduct to an end and to secure compensation for those affected," consumer campaigner Alex Neill, who brought the action on behalf of an estimated 12.2 million users, told AFP.
The PlayStation Store is the official digital platform where gamers can buy Sony classics like "Gran Turismo" and "God of War", as well as blockbuster titles like "Call of Duty", "GTA" and "Assassin's Creed" from other studios.
"Sony has a near monopoly on the sale of digital games" for its console, allowing it to dictate prices and charge a 30 percent sales commission to video game publishers, the claimants allege.
According to the claimants, PC game distribution platforms -- which face greater competition -- charge a lower commission of around 12 to 20 percent.
"Games are now designed to incentivise players to spend as much money as possible (including children)," the claimants' website alleges, including for players to "progress, unlock more features, or customise their experience with new characters or weapons".
Sony's prices "are out of all proportion to the costs of Sony providing these services to its customers", they said.
The trial is due to be heard at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London, and is expected to last around 10 weeks.
The lawsuit launched in 2022 is seeking £1.97 billion in damages, to be shared by anyone who purchased digital games or add-on content via the PlayStation store in the decade leading to February 2026, with some limited exceptions.
Under UK law, all potentially affected persons are included in this type of class action by default, and may benefit from possible compensation, unless they voluntarily opt out.
Sony did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment, but in its defence to the claim argued that its distribution model is justified. 
Last year, Apple lost a lawsuit in London for abusing its dominant position and charging excessive commissions on its in-house App Store.
The US tech giant, which has said it intends to appeal the decision, could be liable to reimburse millions of users.
ode/zap/kaf-aks/pdh/yad

vote

Nepal's rapper-led centrist party heads for poll landslide

  • Trends showed that Shah's RSP was also leading in 27 of the remaining 40 constituencies in the direct elections.
  • Nepal's centrist RSP party of rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah had secured a majority in the direct parliamentary elections, partial official results showed Sunday, and was heading for a landslide according to official trends. 
  • Trends showed that Shah's RSP was also leading in 27 of the remaining 40 constituencies in the direct elections.
Nepal's centrist RSP party of rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah had secured a majority in the direct parliamentary elections, partial official results showed Sunday, and was heading for a landslide according to official trends. 
The 35-year-old's Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was also leading in proportional representation vote, according to results declared and election commmision trends.
The vote was the first since deadly September 2025 youth anti-corruption protests toppled the government.
Shah himself had on Saturday defeated the veteran four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli -- whose Marxist-led government was ousted in the violence last year -- in his own seat.
His victory over the 74-year-old Oli, and his rise from the capital's mayor to potential prime minister, marks one of the most dramatic results in recent Nepali politics.
The September 2025 youth-led demonstrations, under a loose Gen Z banner, began over a brief social media ban but quickly tapped into broader grievances over corruption and a struggling economy.
Elections on Thursday chose a new 275-member House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament, with 185 seats chosen directly, and 110 by a proportional representation vote.
On Saturday morning, there were 125 of the direct elections declared: RSP dominating with 98, Nepali Congress 14, the Maxists of now-defeated Oli trailing with seven.
Former Maoist guerrilla commander Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a three-time prime minister, won his seat, with his party holding three in total.
Trends showed that Shah's RSP was also leading in 27 of the remaining 40 constituencies in the direct elections.
In the proportional representation vote, RSP were leading with nearly half of the counted votes -- but final results could take several more days.
Nepali Congress, the largest party in the past coalition government, also saw its new leader, Gagan Thapa, defeated by RSP.
"Counting is moving forward smoothly in all remaining constituencies," Election Commission spokesman Narayan Prasad Bhattarai told AFP. 
"Results of all direct votes are expected by end of today, the PR (proportional representation) votes will take a few days more."
The first-time parliamentary lawmaker Shah toured the streets of his new constituency on Saturday evening, wearing his signature dark sunglasses and waving from the sunroof of a car in a victory parade through cheering crowds who chanted "Balen" -- as he is better known.
Shah, who did not make a speech, won over three times more votes than Oli, who congratulated the winner, wishing him "a smooth and successful five-year tenure". 
pm/pjm/hmn

US

Explosion at US embassy in Oslo, no injuries

  • Police said they were in contact with the embassy about the incident, and said several hours after the blast that the area around the building was considered "safe" for residents and passersby.
  • The US embassy in Oslo was hit by an explosion in the early hours of Sunday but no one was injured, police in the Norwegian capital said, adding the cause was not immediately known.
  • Police said they were in contact with the embassy about the incident, and said several hours after the blast that the area around the building was considered "safe" for residents and passersby.
The US embassy in Oslo was hit by an explosion in the early hours of Sunday but no one was injured, police in the Norwegian capital said, adding the cause was not immediately known.
The blast occurred around 1:00 am local time (0000 GMT) and caused only "minor material damage" to one of the building's entrances, Oslo police said in a statement.
Investigators were examining the scene, while dogs, drones, and helicopters were involved in the search "for one or more potential perpetrators", it said.
"Police view such incidents in public spaces as very serious, and are investigating the case with substantial resources and high priority."
Police commander Michael Dellemyr told TV2 police would "not comment on anything related to the type of damage, what it is that has exploded and similar details, beyond the fact that there has been an explosion" because "it is very early in the investigation".
He later told TV2 that police "have an idea of the cause", adding: "It appears to us that this is an act carried out by someone."
He said investigators were talking to witnesses, and TV2 reported that a bomb squad was at the scene.
Police said they were in contact with the embassy about the incident, and said several hours after the blast that the area around the building was considered "safe" for residents and passersby.
Police urged the public to report any tips or unusual observations from the area between midnight and 2:00 am (2300 GMT and 0100 GMT).

Three 'bangs'

US embassies have been placed on high alert in the Middle East over American military operations in Iran and several have faced attacks as Tehran hits back at industrial and diplomatic targets.
But Dellemyr said there was no indication as yet that the incident at the embassy in Oslo was connected to the conflict.
"We're not connecting it to the conflict. It's far too early for that," he told TV2. 
Residents near the embassy described hearing the explosion.
A 16-year-old identified only as Edvard told TV2 that he was watching television when he heard the blast.
"My mother and I first thought it came from our house so we looked around a little, but then we saw the flashing lights outside the window and a ton of police," he said.
"There were police dogs and drones and police with automatic weapons and helicopters in the air," he said.
A group of three friends meanwhile told TV2 they were waiting for a taxi near the embassy when the explosion happened.
"We felt three 'bangs' that made the ground shake," Kristian Wendelborg Einung said.
Once in their taxi, they drove past the scene and saw the street in front of the embassy covered in smoke.
"We arrived before the police. The blanket of smoke was very strange. It was like thick fog," he said.
bur-po/hmn

US

Why have 1,000 ships at times lost their GPS in the Mideast?

BY IVAN COURONNE, WITH ISABEL MALSANG IN PARIS

  • Most cell phones now use two GPS frequency bands -- one that is older and fainter, and a second that is newer and stronger.
  • The global positioning system (GPS) capabilities of cargo ships, oil tankers and other vessels stuck in the Middle East because of the widening war are likely worse than those in your cell phone.
  • Most cell phones now use two GPS frequency bands -- one that is older and fainter, and a second that is newer and stronger.
The global positioning system (GPS) capabilities of cargo ships, oil tankers and other vessels stuck in the Middle East because of the widening war are likely worse than those in your cell phone.
Experts say this deficiency explains why since the start of US-Israeli strikes, the jamming of satellite navigation signals has left about 1,000 ships in the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman unable to determine their location, either momentarily or continuously.
Dimitris Ampatzidis, a senior risk and compliance analyst for the energy market intelligence firm Kpler, told AFP the number represents about half of the vessels in the area. 
The vast majority of those ships are located off the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
A satellite navigation system is made up of a constellation of satellites that send signals with the time to Earth, allowing the receiver to determine its precise location.
Modern smartphones receive signals from four groups of satellites: the American, European (Galileo), Russian (GLONASS) and Chinese (BeiDou) Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).
Most cell phones now use two GPS frequency bands -- one that is older and fainter, and a second that is newer and stronger.
But "many ships only listen to the original civilian GPS signal, which is called the L1 C/A signal. It's the one that's been around since the early 1990s for civilian use," Todd Humphreys, an engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told AFP.
Most ships are thus unable to rely on the BeiDou or Galileo systems in the event that a GPS is jammed.
The situation is even worse for airplanes, due to aviation regulations.
"You will not find any aircraft flying in the world today whose built-in GPS receiver is capable of tracking and interpreting signals other than the GPS L1 C/A. So it's out of date by 15 years," Humphreys said.

Spoofing

Jamming a GPS signal is "not that complicated," said Katherine Dunn, the author of an upcoming book of the history of GPS, "Little Blue Dot."
All one needs is "another radio transmitter that can broadcast on the same frequency, but louder," she said, which creates "a wall of mush."
Spoofing is more sophisticated -- and more dangerous, affecting a ship's Automatic Identification System, or AIS.
Every vessel transmits a message per second over a universal radio frequency that announces its identity, destination and position.
Spoofing manipulates that system, causing the affected ship to send a fake, or even nonsensical, location -- meaning that ships could appear to be on land in Iran or the Emirates.

Clocks

Today, GPS signals are not just used to determine location; they also power onboard clocks, radar systems and speed logs, Dunn said.
So even if the ships off the Emirates or Kuwait were protected from drone fire and escorted through the Strait of Hormuz, navigating without a GPS would be perilous.
"Given the size of the ships, electronic assistance has become necessary to steer them," said one merchant marine captain who has sailed on cargo ships around the world.
Crews must "resort to using 20th-century instruments -- radar or visible landmarks," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Defensive jamming

Signal jamming is undoubtedly being used both offensively and defensively. Gulf states are directing their systems towards their own shores to ward off Iran's satellite-guided Shahed drones -- at the cost, deemed acceptable, of disrupting their own lives.
Israel did the same thing in 2024, as did Iran after its 12 days of conflict with Israel last year.
"Even if their own air traffic or maritime traffic or their delivery drivers or their dating apps are affected by GPS jamming and spoofing, they'll do it, just like Israel did. Israel did it for a year in 2024," Humphreys said.
For air and sea navigation, start-ups are developing alternative technologies using Earth's magnetic field or inertial navigation.
But for ships today, navigating without a GPS is still far in the future.
ico-im/sst/js

media

US court voids mass layoffs at Voice of America parent

  • She soon announced funding and job cuts, including the dismissal of more than 500 employees of Voice of America, created in the wake of World War II as a key instrument of American soft power worldwide.
  • A federal judge ruled Saturday that President Donald Trump's pick to oversee mass layoffs at Voice of America and other government-funded media was unlawfully appointed, rendering the job cuts invalid.
  • She soon announced funding and job cuts, including the dismissal of more than 500 employees of Voice of America, created in the wake of World War II as a key instrument of American soft power worldwide.
A federal judge ruled Saturday that President Donald Trump's pick to oversee mass layoffs at Voice of America and other government-funded media was unlawfully appointed, rendering the job cuts invalid.
Kari Lake, a former TV anchor, was hired by Trump to head the US Agency for Global Media, part of his administration's efforts to clamp down on what he considers unfriendly journalism.
She soon announced funding and job cuts, including the dismissal of more than 500 employees of Voice of America, created in the wake of World War II as a key instrument of American soft power worldwide.
Employees sued Lake over the firings, which were temporarily halted last September pending judicial review.
In his ruling, US District Judge Royce Lamberth determined that Lake's appointment as senior advisor to the agency was made "in violation of the Appointments Clause and the Federal Vacancies Reform Act."
As a result, he wrote, "any actions taken by Lake during her asserted tenure as acting CEO between July 31 and November 19, 2025, including but not limited to the August 9 reduction-in-force efforts...are void."
The Agency for Global Media is an independent agency tasked with promoting democracy and countering propaganda overseas through entities that include VOA, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.
Trump frequently attacks media outlets and denounced the editorial firewall at VOA that prevents the government from intervening in its coverage.
Lake, a Republican, unsuccessfully ran to be a US Senator representing Arizona in 2024.
js/sla

politics

India's economy is booming, but uneven growth clouds ascent

BY ANUJ SRIVAS

  • He added that a "significant portion of India's workforce remains in relatively low-productivity and informal sectors".
  • For years India's economy was driven by its vast services sector that saw millions of people working away in low-cost back offices providing consultancy for predominantly western companies.
  • He added that a "significant portion of India's workforce remains in relatively low-productivity and informal sectors".
For years India's economy was driven by its vast services sector that saw millions of people working away in low-cost back offices providing consultancy for predominantly western companies.
But over the past decade they have given way to centres that allow firms to tap top-tier talent and technology, where white-collar staff perform tasks ranging from IT and data analytics to innovation and design.
Today, these centres are the shiniest parts of India's red-hot economy but not everyone has been able to enjoy the boom times as opportunities remain uneven.
Amazon's biggest office in the world is now located in southern India, and top financiers like JPMorgan have roughly 20 percent of their workforce scattered across Indian cities.
The government says the country is now home to about one-fifth of the world's chip design engineers, helped by hiring from firms like Qualcomm and MediaTek.
This has boosted services sector growth and helped make India the fastest-growing major economy -- a title it has firmly held onto since 2021.
Alouk Kumar, the head of an Indian consultancy that helps global giants set up offshore business centres, says his phone hasn't stopped buzzing in recent weeks.
"Demand and interest have been crazy... the number of calls I have got from European firms has soared," he said. "The way it is increasing, the next 10 years will belong to India."
The surge in growth saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government declare in December that India had overtaken Japan as the world's fourth-largest economy.
But figures last month indicate the announcement was premature, with the crossover unlikely to happen for at least another year.
Still, economists say the eventual switch will represent a landmark achievement -- less than three decades ago, Japan was the second-largest economy in the world, and India was still struggling to dismantle its quasi-socialist economic system.
Market reforms in the 1990s unlocked an eventual $283 billion software‑services industry, while a credit boom in the 2000s helped the country's biggest conglomerates expand globally.
And since 2014, a huge infrastructure drive -- new highways, airports and ports -- has underpinned swift growth.
"India's feat cannot be trivialised," said Dhiraj Nim, an economist at ANZ Research. 
Many countries, he noted, "failed to capitalise" on similar opportunities or "squandered them in the face of global shocks and imprudent policies".
This world-beating growth --- India's economy roughly doubles in size every decade, compared to Japan, which has basically flatlined -- has helped transform the country.
Poverty, for instance, has fallen.
The World Bank estimates the share of Indians living on $4.20 or less per day plunged from 57.7 percent in 2011–12, to 23.9 percent in 2022–23.
Slowly rising incomes have also led to the emergence of a middle class, estimated at over 300 million.
- 'Illusion' - 
But experts caution that the gains from rapid expansion remain wildly uneven.
"There are still a lot of youngsters who are left behind by the progress of our economy," said Amit Saxena of Ambe International.
The firm sends thousands of blue-collar workers overseas each year in search of regular, better paid work.
Nearly half of India's population also continues to rely on agriculture for subsistence.
That keeps GDP per capita far below that of other major economies -- it is 12 times smaller than Japan's and 20 times smaller than Germany's.
"India's economic growth is largely fuelled by demand from the top 100 million people," said Bhaskar Chakravorti, Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
He added that a "significant portion of India's workforce remains in relatively low-productivity and informal sectors".
Chakravorti traces the gaping wage hole to India's services-driven growth, which supports a "narrower slice" of the population, in contrast to China's manufacturing-led boom.
Most economists say India needs sustained eight percent annual growth for two decades to become a high‑income country. 
But in the near term, they warn, the priority is creating quality jobs for the millions entering the labour force each year.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley believe India will require an average GDP growth rate of 12.2 percent to truly tackle underemployment.
Shifting workers from farms to factories is central to that goal. 
While India has attracted firms like Apple to assemble iPhones, it is far from having become a manufacturing powerhouse.
In rural parts of Maharashtra state, the gulf between national headlines and reality feels stark.
Nitin Gaikwad, 32, supplements his meagre farm income by laying roads, under a government jobs scheme meant to provide guaranteed work at fixed wages.
"I don't see any progress anywhere. If they are saying this, it is only in the cities, where there are metros and flights," he said.
"It is an illusion that the country is progressing. The villages have remained untouched."
asv/pjm/dan

state

German state election a test for Chancellor Merz

BY LéA PERNELLE

  • The state was traditionally a CDU stronghold, and a poor showing would be an inauspicious start for Merz's party to a year of regional votes in which it hopes its tougher migration policy will win back AfD voters.
  • German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's centre-right CDU faces a regional election Sunday, the first of several this year in which it hopes to stem the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
  • The state was traditionally a CDU stronghold, and a poor showing would be an inauspicious start for Merz's party to a year of regional votes in which it hopes its tougher migration policy will win back AfD voters.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's centre-right CDU faces a regional election Sunday, the first of several this year in which it hopes to stem the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Voters will head to the polls in the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, a prosperous hub of Germany's flagship auto sector with a population of 11.2 million. 
The CDU, a year after winning national elections, hopes to snatch first place in Baden-Wuerttemberg back from the Greens, who have won the last two state elections.
Merz's party until recently enjoyed large poll leads in the state but these have shrunk in recent months. 
The most recent survey put the CDU and the Greens in a dead heat on 28 percent.
Leading the CDU into the poll is 37-year-old Manuel Hagel, a former bank branch manager whose campaign hit a rough patch over comments he made about female students during a school visit in 2018 which were judged sexist and inappropriate.
He has since apologised for the remarks.
The Greens' lead candidate is Cem Ozdemir, 60, who, if he wins, would become Germany's first state premier of Turkish heritage.
The AfD has been polling at 18 percent, which would be a record score for the anti-immigration party in Baden-Wuerttemberg but still short of its national poll figures of around 25 percent, similar to those of the CDU.
On Friday Merz attended the CDU's final campaign rally and said the vote would be watched outside Germany to answer the question: "Is the CDU still able to win elections, even when in government at such a turbulent time?"
The state was traditionally a CDU stronghold, and a poor showing would be an inauspicious start for Merz's party to a year of regional votes in which it hopes its tougher migration policy will win back AfD voters.
On March 22, it hopes to beat the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
In September will follow a series of regional votes in ex-communist eastern Germany, where the AfD can expect to perform well.

'Avoiding' key issues

Baden-Wuerttemberg is home to some of the biggest names of Germany's important but ailing car industry, such as Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.
Here, as elsewhere in Germany, the sector has been battling challenges ranging from high energy prices to increased competition from China.
Brian Fuerderer, 34, the head of a local company making surgical equipment, told AFP he found the electoral campaign "weak".
He said the parties were "avoiding the most essential issue... the economy" as well as the country's dependence on foreign energy supplies, thrown into stark relief by the Middle East war.
Merz says that boosting Germany's moribund economy is his key priority and to that end lobbied the EU to weaken its ban on new combustion-engine cars after 2035.
Even the Greens' Ozdemir has said there should be more flexibility in the transition to electric vehicles.
Ozdemir has a national profile in Germany, having become one of the first MPs of Turkish origin in 1994 and serving as agriculture minister under former SPD chancellor Olaf Scholz.
If the Greens do come out on top on Sunday, Ozdemir would be poised to take over from current state premier and party colleague Winfried Kretschmann, 77, who has led the state for 15 years.
Ozdemir comes from the Greens' "realist" tradition and has signalled his distance from more left-wing factions of his party.
"Not every idea that comes from my party is always correct," he recently told public broadcaster ZDF.
The AfD's lead candidate, Markus Frohnmaier, has attracted national attention with his links to Russia and US President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
Recently he approvingly posted on the X platform about a poll putting the party on 20 percent in Baden-Wuerttemberg.
Such a result would be "sensational" for the party, he said, and the best it had ever scored in a western German state. 
lep-jsk/fz/ach/jfx

Israel

Kuwait airport, Saudi Arabia targeted as Iran presses Gulf attacks

  • The attacks came despite Iran's president apologising to Gulf countries for earlier strikes.
  • Gulf nations reported on Sunday missiles and drone attacks, while Iran vowed to press on with strikes against neighbouring countries as the regional war entered its second week.
  • The attacks came despite Iran's president apologising to Gulf countries for earlier strikes.
Gulf nations reported on Sunday missiles and drone attacks, while Iran vowed to press on with strikes against neighbouring countries as the regional war entered its second week.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait all reported new attacks, after loud explosions were heard in Dubai and Bahrain's Manama a day earlier, and Kuwait's national oil company announced a "precautionary" cut to production.
Qatar's defence ministry said on Sunday that the country was targeted a day earlier by 10 ballistic missiles and two cruise missiles fired from Iran, but most of them were intercepted and caused no casualties.
Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said Sunday it had intercepted and destroyed 15 drones that entered the kingdom's airspace, including six east of capital Riyadh.
Kuwait's military also said Sunday that it had responded "to a wave of hostile drones that penetrated the country's airspace".
Fuel tanks at Kuwait's international airport were targeted in a drone attack, the military added.
It called the drone attack "a direct targeting of vital infrastructure".
A separate statement said "some civilian facilities sustained material damage as a result of falling fragments and debris from interception operations".
The attacks came despite Iran's president apologising to Gulf countries for earlier strikes. He had said they would no longer be targeted unless strikes were launched from their territory first.
But hours later, Iran's judiciary chief said strikes would continue on sites in Gulf countries which were "at the disposal of the enemy".
UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a rare televised address that the Emirates were in "a period of war" and "will emerge stronger" from it.
Dubai authorities said Saturday that a a Pakistani national had been killed by debris from an "aerial interception".

Dubai airport

Earlier in the day, Dubai closed its main airport -- the world's busiest for international traffic -- after authorities said an unidentified object was intercepted nearby.
The airport later partially resumed operations.
A witness told AFP of a loud explosion in the area followed by a cloud of smoke, while footage verified by AFP recorded the sound of a drone followed by a loud explosion and plumes of smoke close to an airport concourse.
The government said there had been "a minor incident resulting from the fall of debris after an interception", without directly mentioning the airport. It said there were no injuries.
The Flightradar24 tracking website earlier showed planes circling above the airport in an apparent holding pattern.
In a statement since deleted from X, Emirates, the largest airline in the Middle East, had announced it was suspending all flights to and from Dubai until further notice, but later said it had resumed operations.
The UAE, a US ally and home to American military installations, has been the most heavily targeted nation in the Gulf during the war.
The defence ministry said 221 ballistic missiles were detected since the war began on February 28, with the number of drones surpassing 1,300.
Iranian attacks have hit the Abu Dhabi airport, the upmarket Palm Jumeirah development and the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel over the past week, while drone debris caused a fire at the US consulate in Dubai on Tuesday.

Saudi base

Elsewhere in the Gulf on Saturday, Bahrain said it has intercepted 92 missiles and 151 drones since the start of the "brutal Iranian aggression".
AFP journalists heard an explosion Saturday night in Manama, Bahrain's capital, as authorities said one person was injured after rocket shrapnel fell in a street.
In Saudi Arabia, the defence ministry said it had destroyed three ballistic missiles heading towards Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts American troops, as well as 17 drones over the Shaybah oil field in the southeast.
Kuwait's national oil company also announced a "precautionary" cut to its production of crude due to Iranian attacks and threats to the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for Gulf hydrocarbons.
gc-th/cms/axn/bou/jj/jfx/ami

summit

Trump offers LatAm leaders US missile strikes to hit drug cartels

BY AURELIA END, WITH MATTHEW PENNINGTON IN WASHINGTON

  • He formally launched a 17-nation "counter cartel" coalition that the White House described as a pledge from governments to use "hard power" against security threats.
  • US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Latin American nations to use military power against the "cancer" of drug cartels, offering to support them with US missile strikes targeting narco kingpins.
  • He formally launched a 17-nation "counter cartel" coalition that the White House described as a pledge from governments to use "hard power" against security threats.
US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Latin American nations to use military power against the "cancer" of drug cartels, offering to support them with US missile strikes targeting narco kingpins.
Trump, currently waging a war with Iran, laid out a muscular position for advancing Washington's interests in the Western hemisphere, pronouncing that communist-led Cuba was "in its last moments of life".
He also advocated tough action by allies against organized crime blighting the region.
He formally launched a 17-nation "counter cartel" coalition that the White House described as a pledge from governments to use "hard power" against security threats.
"We're working with you to do whatever we have to do. We'll use missiles. You want us to use a missile? They're extremely accurate," Trump told a dozen right-wing leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean at his Doral golf club near Miami.
"'Piu,' right into the living room," he said, suggesting the sound of a missile in flight. "That's the end of that cartel person. But we'll do whatever you need."
Trump has already staked bold claims in Latin America with the ouster of Venezuela's authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro and working with his replacement, Delcy Rodriguez, to claim Venezuelan oil reserves for America.
Among the leaders attending the "Shield of the Americas" summit were Argentina's President Javier Milei, Ecuador's Daniel Noboa and El Salvador's Nayib Bukele, who has arrested tens of thousands of people in a crackdown on gangs.
All three leaders posted to social media photos of them standing beside Trump. Noboa wrote in Spanish: "For too long, organized crime believed that America was its territory. That they could cross borders, move drugs, weapons, and violence without consequences. That time is over for them."
But Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel posted on X that the "neocolonial" gathering of right-wing leaders "commits them to accepting the lethal use of US military force to solve internal problems."
Irene Mia, a Latin America expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said drug cartel violence had hit countries in the region that until recently were considered fairly safe, such as Ecuador and Chile.
The strained security situation has contributed to the right wing's recent string of electoral victories in Latin America and means the trend of US intervention has received less pushback than in the past, Mia told AFP.

'They have no money'

Trump urged regional leaders to use military force to stamp out criminal organizations, which he likened to a cancer, saying "We don't want it spreading."
"The only way to defeat these enemies is by unleashing the power of our militaries. We have to use our military," he said.
Trump also doubled down on his recent warnings toward Cuba, which he has implied could be "next" after taking out leaders in Venezuela and Iran.
"I'll take care of Cuba," Trump told the leaders.
"They have no money, they have no oil. They have a bad philosophy, they have a bad regime that's been bad for a long time," he said, adding, "Cuba's in its last moments of life."
That warning comes a week after Trump, with Israel, launched devastating strikes against Iran, sparking a regional conflict that has upended usually peaceful areas of the Gulf.
Also this week, the United States and Ecuador announced joint operations to combat drug trafficking and on Friday released video of a house exploding in a forested area of Ecuador, calling it a successful blow against "narcoterrorists."
In addition to Milei, Bukele and Noboa, Trump hosted the leaders of Bolivia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago -- as well as Jose Antonio Kast, the president-elect of Chile.
The analyst, Mia, pointed to some glaring absences: Mexico and Brazil, which are currently led by leftists Claudia Sheinbaum and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
"Without Mexico and Brazil, it's not going to be very successful in tackling those issues" of narcotrafficking and counterterrorism, she said, given that Mexican cartels play a key role in the trafficking supply chain and Brazil's ports are critical narco-trafficking routes to Europe.
gma-aue/jgc/msp/mlm/js

Israel

Turkey warns over 'dangerous' bid to stir civil war in Iran

  • - 'Be careful' - Fidan also issued a warning to Tehran after NATO intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran heading towards Turkey on Wednesday.
  • Turkey's foreign minister advised Saturday against efforts to cause a civil war inside Iran, while warning Tehran after NATO intercepted a Turkey-bound ballistic missile launched from Iran this week.
  • - 'Be careful' - Fidan also issued a warning to Tehran after NATO intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran heading towards Turkey on Wednesday.
Turkey's foreign minister advised Saturday against efforts to cause a civil war inside Iran, while warning Tehran after NATO intercepted a Turkey-bound ballistic missile launched from Iran this week.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said any effort to stir up a civil war inside Iran in a bid to bring about regime change would be a "historic" mistake.
"We are against all scenarios that aim to instigate a civil war in Iran, that target ethnic or religious fault lines," Fidan told journalists in Istanbul.
"This is the most dangerous scenario," he added. 
He was speaking after reports that Washington was looking to arm Kurdish guerrillas to infiltrate Iran, with US President Donald Trump expressing support for such an offensive.
However Trump said Saturday that "We're not looking to the Kurds going in". 
"We're very friendly with the Kurds, as you know, but we don't want to make the war any more complex than it already is," he told reporters in a briefing aboard Air Force One.
Fidan said he had raised the matter with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had denied any American involvement in such an issue.
"They stated they are not involved in such an effort and have no such intention," Fidan said after the pair spoke on Wednesday.
He pointed the finger instead at Israel's "strategy of using Kurdish groups in the region as proxies".
Such a move would raise hackles in Turkey, which has fought a decades-long bloody conflict with the Kurdish militant group PKK, which it is now seeking to end. 
"We are openly warning everyone... against this scenario," Fidan said.
"This will not only lead to more suffering and loss of life for innocent civilians in Iran, but it will also cause millions to be displaced and flee to neighbouring countries and beyond."
"After Iraq and Syria, a long period of uncertainty, war and turmoil in Iran is not in anyone's interest," he added.
"Any internal crisis there would have a ripple effect spreading throughout the region. That's why we're trying to stop it."

'Be careful'

Fidan also issued a warning to Tehran after NATO intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran heading towards Turkey on Wednesday.
"We are not a country that is easily provoked," Fidan said.
"We spoke with our friends in Iran and said if this was a missile that lost its way, that's one thing.
"But if this is going to continue... our advice is: be careful, don't let anyone in Iran embark on such an adventure," he said.
Spanish Defence Minister Margareta Robles on Thursday said the missile had been spotted by Spanish troops manning a Patriot missile battery at the Incirlik air base, a key NATO facility in southern Turkey.
They had "detected and reported the missile attack", she said, though they were not the ones that shot it down. 
NATO "condemned Iran's targeting of Turkiye" and said it had strengthened its "ballistic missile defence posture" as Iran stepped up its strikes across the Middle East in retaliation for the US-Israeli strikes. 
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US

US starts using UK bases for 'defensive' Iran operations

  • "The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East," he posted.
  • The United States has started using British bases for certain operations against Iran during the Middle East war, the UK government announced Saturday.
  • "The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East," he posted.
The United States has started using British bases for certain operations against Iran during the Middle East war, the UK government announced Saturday.
Britain's defence ministry said the US had begun using the military sites for "specific defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles into the region".
Later Saturday, US President Donald Trump rejected what he said were British plans to possibly send two aircraft carriers to the region -- hours after having mocked Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his initial reluctance to get involved in the conflict. 
Starmer annoyed Trump for initially refusing to have any role in the US-Israeli war with Iran, which began on February 28.
He later agreed to a US request to use two British military bases for a "specific and limited defensive purpose".
Those bases are Fairford in Gloucestershire, southwestern England, and the UK-US Diego Garcia base on the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.
A US Air Force B-1 Lancer bomber landed at Fairford on Saturday, an AFP photographer saw.
An American C-5 Galaxy plane could also be seen on the runway of the base, as anti-war protesters demonstrated outside.

Trump's broadside

Earlier in the week, Trump had said he was "not happy with the UK" and mocked Starmer, saying "this is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with".
Then in a post late Saturday on his Truth Social platform he dismissed what he said were British plans to possibly send two aircraft carriers to the region.
"The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East," he posted.
"That's OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don't need them any longer -- But we will remember," he said.
"We don't need people that join Wars after we've already won!"
Earlier Saturday, the BBC and other UK media speculated that the HMS Prince of Wales, one of Britain's two aircraft carriers, could be deployed to the Mediterranean, though the reports said no decision had yet been taken. 
A defence ministry spokesperson said: "HMS Prince of Wales has always been on very high readiness and we are increasing the preparedness of the carrier, reducing the time it would take to set sail for any deployment."
Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, has defended his initial decision by saying any British action "must always have a lawful basis and a viable, thought-through plan".
He has also insisted he was right to change that position because Iran's retaliation with missiles and drones to the US-Israeli strikes had threatened British interests and allies in the region.
Lawmakers in Starmer's ruling Labour party remain haunted by former prime minister Tony Blair's disastrous support for the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A Survation poll of 1,045 Britons published Friday found that 56 percent of respondents believed Starmer was right not to involve Britain in the initial strikes. Only 27 percent said he was wrong.
Several thousand people, many waving Iranian flags, marched through central London to the US embassy on Saturday to protest against the war.
Some demonstrators waved placards with slogans including "Stop Trump's Wars" and "Stop Arming Israel".
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US

As Iran conflict spills over, Iraq's Kurds say 'this war is not mine'

BY ANNE CHAON

  • The rumble of jets and hum of drones "come from everywhere.
  • On a deserted road not too far from the border between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan, Satar Barsirini looked up at the sky, now streaked with jets and drones.
  • The rumble of jets and hum of drones "come from everywhere.
On a deserted road not too far from the border between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan, Satar Barsirini looked up at the sky, now streaked with jets and drones.
Iraq's Kurdish region has found itself caught in the crossfire of a regional war triggered by US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic republic.
Dressed like the Kurdish fighters he once served alongside, Barsirini still wears the khaki shalwar, fitted jacket and scarf wrapped around his waist.
Though recently retired, he refuses to give up his peshmerga uniform as he tills his small plot of land.
The rumble of jets and hum of drones "come from everywhere. Especially at night", he told AFP in the hamlet of Barsirini, dozens of kilometres from the border.
He described the "shiver in our flesh" as the drones hit the ground outside.
"I feel bad for the people, because we have paid a lot in blood to liberate Kurdistan... We just want to live."
Erbil, the autonomous region's capital, and the valleys leading to the border have been targeted by Tehran and the Iraqi armed groups it supports.
American bases there have come under fire, as have positions held by Iranian Kurdish parties -- the same ones US President Donald Trump said it would be "wonderful" to see storm Iran.
But Iran warned on Friday it would target facilities in Iraqi Kurdistan if fighters crossed into its territory.
"This isn't my war," said 58-year-old Barsirini.
He recalled the brutal repression and flight into the snowy mountains after the 1991 Kurdish uprising that followed the first Gulf War.

'Dangerous people'

The uprising was repressed, leading to an exodus of two million Kurds to Iran and Turkey.
"When we fled the cities for our lives, we went to Iran. They helped us, they gave us shelter and food," he said.
The Kurds would not forget that, Barsirini stressed, adding that they could not just "turn against them" now to support the US and Israel.
"I don't trust (Americans). They are dangerous people," he said.
The Kurds, an ethnic minority with a distinct culture and language, are rooted in the mountainous region spread across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.
They have long fought for their own homeland, but for decades suffered defeats on the battlefield and massacres in their hometowns.
They make up one of Iran's most important non-Persian ethnic minority groups.
A week of war has gripped daily life in Iraqi Kurdistan, residents told AFP.
"People are afraid," said Nasr al-Din, a 42-year-old policeman who, as a child, lived through the 1991 exodus -- "thrown on a donkey's back with my sister".
"This generation is different from the older ones" that have seen "seen fighting".
Now, he said, you could be "sitting down in your home... and all of a sudden a drone hits your house".
"We may have to go into town or somewhere safer," said Issa Diayri, 31, a truck driver waiting in a roadside garage, his lorry idle for lack of deliveries from Iran.

'Shouldn't get involved'

Soran, a small town of 3,000 people about 65 kilometres (40 miles) from the border, was hit Thursday by a drone that fell in the middle of a street.
There, baker Yussef Ramazan, 42, and his three apprentices, hurriedly made bread before breaking their fast.
But, living so close to the Iranian border, he said "people are afraid to come and buy it".
He told AFP he did not think it was a good idea "for the Kurdish region to get involved in this war".
"We are not even an independent country yet. We would like to become one, but we are nothing for now, so we shouldn't get involved in these situations."
Across the street, Hajji watched from his empty dry cleaning shop as the road cleared.
Before the war, the town was crowded as evening fell, he said, declining to give his full name.
"But after the drone explosion, no one was here. In five minutes, everyone left the street and no one was out."
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