conflict

Afghan govt says 'around 400' killed in Pakistani strike on Kabul rehab clinic

US

War in the Middle East: latest developments

  • It said weapons, camera drones and communication devices were seized.
  • Here are the latest developments Tuesday in the Middle East war: - Ukrainian anti-drone experts - Some 201 Ukrainian anti-drone military experts were in several Middle East countries to help defend against Iranian-designed drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
  • It said weapons, camera drones and communication devices were seized.
Here are the latest developments Tuesday in the Middle East war:

Ukrainian anti-drone experts

Some 201 Ukrainian anti-drone military experts were in several Middle East countries to help defend against Iranian-designed drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

US embassy struck

The US embassy in Baghdad was the target of a drone and rocket attack, a security official said.
The strike sparked a fire on embassy grounds, the source said, while a witness reported seeing the fire from her balcony.

Crowds gather in Iran

Crowds gathered in Iranian cities after authorities called for nationwide rallies to defy enemy "plots", state television said.
The rallies come on a night usually marked by Persian new year (Nowruz) festivities, with the authorities apparently keen to prevent any anti-government dissent at a time when people traditionally take to the streets.

Mexico ready to host Iran team

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that her country was prepared to host Iran's first-round matches at the 2026 World Cup if needed.
Earlier, Iran's football federation said it was negotiating with FIFA to relocate the country's World Cup first-round matches to Mexico from the United States because of the war.

NATO, Britain 'mistakes'

US President Donald Trump said that NATO was making a "foolish mistake" on Iran, after the military alliance's members largely rebuffed his calls to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic.
Trump also said he was disappointed with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's response, telling reporters: "He hasn't been supportive, and I think it's a big mistake... I'm disappointed with Keir -- I like him, I think he's a nice man, but I'm disappointed."

Israel says striking Basij

Israel's military said it was striking positions of Iran's Basij paramilitary force around Tehran, after announcing it had killed the volunteer militia's top commander.

US doesn't 'need' help

Trump said "we no longer need" help reopening the Strait of Hormuz, after his request for allies to quickly send warships was snubbed.
"We have had such Military Success, we no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries' assistance -- WE NEVER DID!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!"

Israel says Larijani killed

Israeli said Iran's powerful national security chief Ali Larijani was "eliminated" in a night-time strike. 
Iran has not been confirmed the death.

US counterterrorism official quits

A top US counterterrorism official, Joseph Kent, resigned to protest the war. "I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran," Kent, who was appointed by Trump, said in his resignation letter.
Trump said Kent was "weak on security" and it was a "good thing" he quit.

Lebanese troops killed

Lebanon's military said that three soldiers were killed in Israeli air strikes in the country's south.
Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli attacks have killed 912 people in the country since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict erupted on March 2, raising a previous toll of 886 a day earlier.

Hezbollah denial

Hezbollah denied it had any members in Kuwait after the Gulf country announced the arrest of 14 Kuwaitis and two Lebanese nationals allegedly affiliated with the group over a "sabotage plot".
Kuwait's interior ministry said Monday that the group "aimed to destabilise the country's security and recruit individuals to join the terrorist organisation". It said weapons, camera drones and communication devices were seized.

France to help when 'calmer'

France is ready to help escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz but only once the crisis is "calmer", President Emmanuel Macron said. 
"We are not a party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the current context," Macron said following Trump's weekend demand that allies help secure the waterway.

Iraq seeks Hormuz passage

Iraq said it was in contact with Iran to try to arrange passage for some of its oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
"Communications are underway with the relevant authorities to authorise the passage of certain oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, in order that we can resume our exports," Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani told local television.
burs/yad/giv

US

Trump blasts 'foolish' NATO on Iran, says US needs no help

BY DANNY KEMP

  • But Trump insisted that Washington was ready to go it alone against Iran, saying that even NATO allies had agreed that the Islamic republic needed to be confronted over its nuclear program.
  • US President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday at "foolish" NATO over Iran, saying the United States needs no help after allies rebuffed his calls to join efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
  • But Trump insisted that Washington was ready to go it alone against Iran, saying that even NATO allies had agreed that the Islamic republic needed to be confronted over its nuclear program.
US President Donald Trump lashed out Tuesday at "foolish" NATO over Iran, saying the United States needs no help after allies rebuffed his calls to join efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said most US allies had rejected his push to escort ships through the crucial waterway, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying his country would "never" do so until the situation was calmer.
"I think NATO is making a very foolish mistake," Trump told reporters as he hosted Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin in the Oval Office. 
"I've long said that I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So this was a great test."
But Trump insisted that Washington was ready to go it alone against Iran, saying that even NATO allies had agreed that the Islamic republic needed to be confronted over its nuclear program.
"We don't need too much help. We don't need any help," Trump said.
Minutes before the meeting, Trump made a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform saying US forces "no longer need" military help in the Iran war.
Trump said that "most" NATO allies had said they did not want to get involved, along with Japan, Australia and South Korea, describing the decades-old military alliance as a "one way street."
"Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries' assistance -- WE NEVER DID!"
The 79-year-old Republican has long criticized NATO, and since returning to power in January 2025 he has pushed its members into increasing their defense spending.
Asked if he would reconsider the US relationship with NATO as he has suggested in the past, Trump said it was "certainly something that we should think about" but added: "I have nothing currently in mind."

'Big mistake'

But he repeated his criticisms of foreign counterparts over the issue, saying British Prime Minister Keir Starmer "hasn't been supportive, and I think it's a big mistake."
Of Macron, he merely said that "he'll be out of office soon."
The US leader had suggested on Monday that both Paris and London would be ready to help, and said other countries he did not name were already on board.
But Macron insisted Tuesday that France would not participate in operations to open the strait in the current context, but once the situation becomes "calmer" it could participate in an "escort system" alongside other nations.
Britain has also waved off Washington's request for assistance.
Iran has targeted the energy facilities of its crude-producing neighbors and attacked and threatened tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, all but closing the vital waterway through which one fifth of global crude oil passes.
Trump meanwhile kept up his mixed messaging about the length and goals of the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has expanded dramatically across the Middle East and caused global oil prices to surge.
He said that Iran's "actual top leader was killed yesterday," in an apparent reference to Israel's claim that it had killed powerful national security chief Ali Larijani.
Iran was "just a military operation to me" and "we'll be leaving in pretty much the very near future," Trump said, but he remained vague about his political plan for the country after the war.
"We're going to try to get people that are going to run it well," he said.
US-Israeli strikes on February 28 killed ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the republic's long-serving supreme leader, and Iran has named his son Mojtaba Khamenei to replace him, despite reports he is injured.
dk/mlm

conflict

In Ukraine, Sean Penn gifted Oscar made from train carriage hit by Russia

  • "This Oscar was made of the metal of a railway car" damaged in a Russian attack, it said, calling the statuette "a symbol of resilience".
  • US actor Sean Penn, who skipped Sunday's Oscars ceremony to visit Ukraine, has been gifted a symbolic version of the famous statuette made from the damaged metal of a train carriage hit in a Russian strike.
  • "This Oscar was made of the metal of a railway car" damaged in a Russian attack, it said, calling the statuette "a symbol of resilience".
US actor Sean Penn, who skipped Sunday's Oscars ceremony to visit Ukraine, has been gifted a symbolic version of the famous statuette made from the damaged metal of a train carriage hit in a Russian strike.
Penn, a staunch backer of Kyiv, scooped the best supporting actor award at the glitzy Hollywood ceremony for his role in dystopian dramedy "One Battle After Another" but chose to visit Ukraine instead of receiving the award in person.
Penn is a vocal advocate for Ukraine and has visited the country several times since Russia invaded, including to co-direct a documentary about President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he calls a friend.
Ukraine's state rail group said Tuesday it wanted to make sure the star got his hands on the award -- in one form or another -- despite his trip to Kyiv.
"Sean Penn came to Ukraine and missed the Academy Awards -- so Ukrainian railway gave him one of his own," Ukrainian railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) said on X.
The company posted a video of its CEO gifting Penn a silver statue in the shape of an Oscar carved from a flat piece of metal.
"This Oscar was made of the metal of a railway car" damaged in a Russian attack, it said, calling the statuette "a symbol of resilience".
Penn had in 2022 gifted Zelensky one of his real Oscar statues during a visit to Ukraine.
The actor had won two previous awards for his roles in "Mystic River" and "Milk".
Zelensky told AFP in February that Penn's "One Battle After Another" was one of his most recently watched films.
bur-mmp/jc/rmb

electricity

White House piles pressure on Cuba as island fights power cut

  • Cuba's authorities are under increasingly crushing pressure, with Washington openly stating it wants to end the nearly seven-decades-old US standoff with the one-party communist state.
  • Washington piled pressure on Cuba's communist authorities Tuesday to allow free market reforms as the impoverished island scrambled to recover from a nationwide electricity blackout.
  • Cuba's authorities are under increasingly crushing pressure, with Washington openly stating it wants to end the nearly seven-decades-old US standoff with the one-party communist state.
Washington piled pressure on Cuba's communist authorities Tuesday to allow free market reforms as the impoverished island scrambled to recover from a nationwide electricity blackout.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Cuba's decision announced this week to let exiles invest and own businesses did not go far enough.
"What they announced yesterday is not dramatic enough. It's not going to fix it. So they've got some big decisions to make," Rubio, a Cuban-American and vociferous critic of the island's ruling party, told reporters at the White House.
President Donald Trump, who just Monday had said he would "take" Cuba, added: "We'll be doing something with Cuba very soon."
Cuba's authorities are under increasingly crushing pressure, with Washington openly stating it wants to end the nearly seven-decades-old US standoff with the one-party communist state.
A total electricity breakdown on Monday underscored the parlous state of the economy. Cuba lost Venezuela as its chief regional ally and oil supplier this January after a US military operation to topple Venezuela's socialist leader Nicolas Maduro.
Power was restored to two-thirds of the country early Tuesday, including to 45 percent of the capital Havana, which is home to 1.7 million people.
"What we fear all the time is that the blackout will drag on and we will lose the little bit that we have in the fridge, because everything is so expensive," said Olga Suarez, a 64-year-old retiree.
"Otherwise we are used to it because here almost all the time you go to bed and wake up without electricity," she told AFP.
Adding another scare, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Cuba early Tuesday. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Trump to 'take' Cuba

Cuba's ageing electricity generation system is in shambles, with daily power outages of up to 20 hours the norm in parts of the island, which lacks the fuel needed to generate power.
But since the US ouster of Maduro on January 3, the island's economy has been further hammered by a de facto US oil blockade.
No oil has been imported to the island since January 9, hitting the power sector while also forcing airlines to curtail flights to the island, a blow to the all-important tourism sector.
And Trump is explicitly saying he wants the Cuban government to fall.
"You know, all my life I've been hearing about the United States and Cuba. When will the United States do it?" Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
"I do believe I'll be...having the honor of taking Cuba," Trump said.
"Whether I free it, take it -- think I could do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth. They're a very weakened nation right now."
burs-sms/msp

diplomacy

Trump says to make delayed China trip in 'five or six weeks'

  • Trump suggested earlier that his trip, which was supposed to run from March 31-April 2, would depend on whether China helped Washington to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital maritime waterway that has been effectively closed by Iran in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes.
  • US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he expected to travel to China in a bit over one month, after postponing the trip slated for the end of March due to his war on Iran.
  • Trump suggested earlier that his trip, which was supposed to run from March 31-April 2, would depend on whether China helped Washington to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital maritime waterway that has been effectively closed by Iran in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he expected to travel to China in a bit over one month, after postponing the trip slated for the end of March due to his war on Iran.
"We have a very good working relationship with China, so we're making it in about five or six weeks," Trump told reporters in the White House.
Trump sought to play down the significance of the delay and said he had a strong relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"We're working with China. They were fine with it," Trump said of the delay.
"I look forward to seeing President Xi; he looks forward to seeing me, I think."
Trump said that China "has become, economically for us, very good, very good," in what he called a shift for the United States.
Trump has repeatedly hailed his trade negotiations with China, saying that a better relationship can benefit the United States. 
It marks a contrast with Trump's tone before returning to office, in which he cast China as a major adversary and vowed to focus the United States on countering the Asian power.
Trump on February 28 launched a war on Iran alongside Israel, despite the president's earlier criticism of US intervention in the Middle East.
Trump suggested earlier that his trip, which was supposed to run from March 31-April 2, would depend on whether China helped Washington to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital maritime waterway that has been effectively closed by Iran in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes.
In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said earlier Tuesday that it noted that the United States has "has publicly clarified these false reports."
The trip, Lin said, "has nothing to do with the issue of the open navigation of the Strait of Hormuz."
aue-sct/msp

US

Larijani: Iran power player who rose then fell on winds of war

  • - 'Canny operator' - "Larijani is a true insider, a canny operator, familiar with how the system operates," Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group's project director for Iran, said before the Middle East war began.
  • When Israeli and US strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the Middle East war, Iran's security chief Ali Larijani briefly became even more powerful than he had been for decades.
  • - 'Canny operator' - "Larijani is a true insider, a canny operator, familiar with how the system operates," Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group's project director for Iran, said before the Middle East war began.
When Israeli and US strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the Middle East war, Iran's security chief Ali Larijani briefly became even more powerful than he had been for decades.
Last June's 12-day Israeli air assault boosted the long-time insider's profile. And in January he was deeply implicated in the Islamic republic's brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.     
During the first two weeks of the current war, Larijani played a far more visible role than Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since he was appointed to replace his slain father.
In a telling contrast, the security chief was seen walking with crowds at a pro-government rally last week in Tehran, a sign of defiance against Israel and the United States.
But Larijani's return to prominence as a key figure seen in Tehran as capable of navigating both ideology and diplomacy seems now to have come to a sudden end. 
Israeli leaders said on Tuesday that he had been killed -- and he has yet to appear in public to prove otherwise. 
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on television to announce the death, and to argue that Larijani's downfall could give the Iranian people an opening to rise up and overthrow their clerical rulers.
Such a revolt would not succeed overnight, as even Netanyahu conceded, but experts agree that Larijani was a key figure in the Islamic republic's battle for survival and the right-hand man of the late former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.    
"Larijani has been the central player in maintaining the continuity of the Iranian government for several months, and in particular since June 2025," said David Khalfa, co-director of the Middle East Observatory at the Jean Jaures Foundation think tank. 
"He has effectively been the figure in charge of the regime's survival, its regional policy and its defence strategy. This assassination also sends a message to the Iranian population. Larijani played an absolutely central role in the repression in January." 

Pragmatist

Adept at balancing ideological loyalty with pragmatic statecraft, Larijani led Iran's nuclear policy and strategic diplomacy.
Bespectacled and known for his measured tone, the 68-year-old was believed to enjoy the confidence of the late Khamenei after a long career in the military, media and legislature.
In June 2025, after Iran's war with Israel and the US, he was appointed head of Iran's top security body, the Supreme National Security Council -- a position he had held nearly two decades earlier -- coordinating defence strategies and overseeing nuclear policy.
He later became increasingly visible in the diplomatic arena, travelling to Gulf states such as Oman and Qatar as Tehran cautiously engaged in negotiations that were ultimately scuppered by the war.

'Canny operator'

"Larijani is a true insider, a canny operator, familiar with how the system operates," Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group's project director for Iran, said before the Middle East war began.
Born in Najaf, Iraq in 1957 to a prominent Shia cleric who was close to the Islamic republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Larijani's family has been influential within Iran's political system for decades.
Some of his relatives have been the targets of corruption allegations, which they denied. 
He earned a PhD in Western philosophy from the University of Tehran.
A veteran of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the Iran-Iraq war, Larijani later headed state broadcaster IRIB for a decade from 1994 before serving as parliamentary speaker from 2008 to 2020.
In 1996, he was appointed as Khamenei's representative to the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). He later became secretary of the SNSC and chief nuclear negotiator, leading talks with Britain, France, Germany and Russia between 2005 and 2007. 
He ran in the 2005 presidential elections, losing to populist candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with whom he later had disagreements over nuclear diplomacy. Larijani was then disqualified from running for president in both 2021 and 2024.
Observers viewed his return as the head of the SNSC as reflecting his reputation for being a conservative capable of combining ideological commitment with pragmatism.
Larijani supported the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that unravelled three years later after President Donald Trump withdrew US support for the agreement.

Violent repression

In March 2025, Larijani warned that external pressure could force Iran to drop its promise not to develop nuclear weapons.
"We are not moving towards weapons, but if you do something wrong in the Iranian nuclear issue, you will force Iran to move towards that because it has to defend itself," he told state television.
Larijani repeatedly insisted negotiations with Washington should remain confined to nuclear policy, and he defended uranium enrichment as Iran's sovereign right.
Larijani was among the officials sanctioned by the US in January over what Washington described as "violently repressing the Iranian people" following nationwide protests that had erupted weeks earlier against the rising cost of living.
According to rights groups, thousands of people were killed in the government's brutal crackdown of the protests.
bur/ser/dc/smw

conflict

EU to help reopen blocked oil pipeline in Ukraine

  • Landlocked Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of deliberately delaying reopening the Druzhba pipeline, which Kyiv says was damaged by Russian strikes in January.
  • EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday the bloc will help reopen a damaged pipeline that pumps Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary -- after Budapest accused Kyiv of stalling on repairs in an escalating row.
  • Landlocked Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of deliberately delaying reopening the Druzhba pipeline, which Kyiv says was damaged by Russian strikes in January.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday the bloc will help reopen a damaged pipeline that pumps Russian oil through Ukraine to Hungary -- after Budapest accused Kyiv of stalling on repairs in an escalating row.
Tensions have ratcheted up between the neighbours over the pipeline. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban invoked the issue to block a 90-billion-euro ($104 billion) loan to Ukraine as well as new sanctions on Russia.
Writing to President Volodymyr Zelensky, von der Leyen and European Council head Antonio Costa voiced hope the pipeline's "rapid repair" would allow the bloc to move forward "in a timely manner" with the EU loan and sanctions package.
"The EU has offered Ukraine technical support and funding. The Ukrainians have welcomed and accepted this offer," she said in a statement, released with the letter and Zelensky's reply.
"European experts are available immediately," she said.

'No oil, no money'

Orban said his position remained unchanged, adding he had spoken with Costa and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, whose country also received supplies through the pipeline.
"If President Zelensky wants to get his money from Brussels, then the Druzhba pipeline must be reopened," Orban said in a Facebook video. "No oil, no money," he added.
Landlocked Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of deliberately delaying reopening the Druzhba pipeline, which Kyiv says was damaged by Russian strikes in January.
Ukraine had been resisting the EU offer to help get oil flowing again. Zelensky called it "blackmail" to link the pipeline issue with support for its war effort against Russia's invasion.
But the letters published Tuesday showed the Ukrainian leader relenting, as the EU dialed up pressure for a resolution.
Zelensky said he accepted the "necessary technical support and funding to be able to conclude the repair work" on the pipeline, and would ask the chief of Ukraine's state oil and gas firm Naftogaz to "take this forward" with the EU.
EU leaders are to hold a summit on Thursday.
The Middle East war has seen countries worldwide search for for ways to release more oil supplies onto the market to ease prices.
Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in the EU, has urged the 27-nation bloc to suspend sanctions on Russian oil and gas to counter rising prices.
The pipeline dispute has also come as the nationalist Hungarian leader ramps up political attacks on Ukraine ahead of a closely fought legislative election on April 12.
ec/ub-mg-jza/tw

research

New particle discovered by Large Hadron Collider

  • To chase them down, the Large Hadron Collider sends particles whizzing around an underground ring at phenomenal speeds until they smash into each other.
  • The Large Hadron Collider has discovered a new particle, the 80th identified so far by the world's most powerful particle smasher, Europe's CERN physics laboratory announced Tuesday.
  • To chase them down, the Large Hadron Collider sends particles whizzing around an underground ring at phenomenal speeds until they smash into each other.
The Large Hadron Collider has discovered a new particle, the 80th identified so far by the world's most powerful particle smasher, Europe's CERN physics laboratory announced Tuesday.
The new particle has been named "Xi-cc-plus".  Scientists hope the particle -- which is similar to a proton but four times heavier -- will reveal more about the strange behaviour of quantum mechanics.
All the matter around us -- including the protons and neutrons that make up the nucleus of atoms -- are made of baryons. 
These common particles are composed of three quarks, which are fundamental building blocks of matter.
Quarks come in six "flavours": up, down, charm, strange, top and bottom. Each has varying mass, electric charge and quantum properties.
In theory, there could be many different types of baryons that mix these flavours -- however most are extremely difficult to observe. 
To chase them down, the Large Hadron Collider sends particles whizzing around an underground ring at phenomenal speeds until they smash into each other.
This gives scientists a brief chance to measure how the more stable elements decay, then deduce the properties of the original particle.
The newly discovered "Xi-cc-plus" contains two "charm" quarks and one "down" quark.
Normal protons have two "up" quarks and one "down" quark. Because the new particle has two heavier "charm" quarks instead of "up" ones, it has a much greater mass.
Vincenzo Vagnoni, spokesman for the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) experiment, said it was "only the second time a baryon with two heavy quarks has been observed".
It is also "the first new particle identified after the upgrades to the LHCb detector that were completed in 2023," he said in a statement.
"The result will help theorists test models of quantum chromodynamics, the theory of the strong force that binds quarks into not only conventional baryons and mesons but also more exotic hadrons such as tetraquarks and pentaquarks."
In 2017, the LHCb experiment announced that it had discovered a similar particle, made of two "charmed" quarks and one "up" quark. 
The new particle has an expected lifetime six times shorter than this earlier one, making it far more tricky to spot, CERN said.
The Large Hadron Collider is a 27-kilometre (17 mile) long proton-smashing ring running about 100 metres below France and Switzerland. Mostly famously, it proved the existence of the Higgs boson -- known as the "God particle" -- in 2012.
The latest discovery comes as CERN plans to build an even bigger particle smasher, the Future Circular Collider, to continue probing the mysteries of the universe.
ber-dl/tw

US

Israel says killed Iran's security chief Larijani

BY AFP TEAMS IN JERUSALEM, TEHRAN, BEIRUT AND WASHINGTON

  • "This morning we eliminated Ali Larijani, the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, which is the gang of gangsters that actually runs Iran," Netanyahu said in a televised statement.
  • Israel said Tuesday it had killed Iran's powerful national security chief, Ali Larijani, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling him the leader of "the gang of gangsters" that runs the Islamic republic.
  • "This morning we eliminated Ali Larijani, the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, which is the gang of gangsters that actually runs Iran," Netanyahu said in a televised statement.
Israel said Tuesday it had killed Iran's powerful national security chief, Ali Larijani, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling him the leader of "the gang of gangsters" that runs the Islamic republic.
Larijani's death would be a massive blow to Iran just weeks after US-Israeli strikes on February 28 killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the republic's long-serving supreme leader, throwing the Middle East into war and upending global markets.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Larijani was "eliminated last night", although this has not been confirmed by Iran. 
"This morning we eliminated Ali Larijani, the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, which is the gang of gangsters that actually runs Iran," Netanyahu said in a televised statement.
He said the overthrow of Iran's authorities by the people "will not happen all at once, it will not happen easily. But if we persist in this -- we will give them a chance to take their fate into their own hands."
An AFP reporter had earlier Tuesday reported blasts in Tehran, and the reported assassination comes as strikes shook countries across the Middle East from the Gulf to Iraq and Lebanon.
Iranian authorities called on people to rally nationwide on Tuesday to defy enemy "plots" on a night usually marked by Persian new year celebrations.

'Right hand man'

Larijani, 68, has been described as a key pillar in the ruling system, close to the late ayatollah and central to the government's nuclear policy and strategic diplomacy over decades.
After the war broke out, he became even more powerful. 
While the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in public since he was appointed to replace his slain father, Larijani walked with crowds at a pro-government rally last week in Tehran.
"He has effectively been the figure in charge of the regime's survival, its regional policy and its defence strategy," David Khalfa, co-founder of the Atlantic Middle East Forum, told AFP.
"It's the supreme leader who gives the order, but he is the one who carries it out. He is the right-hand man."
Shortly after Israel said it had killed him, Larijani's official social media profiles posted a handwritten note by him paying tribute to Iranian sailors killed in a US submarine attack this month. 
The note was not dated, nor did the post address the claim of his death.
Israel also said Tuesday it had killed Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, in a strike in Tehran.
And it said it had targeted Akram al-Ajouri, head of the military wing of the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a strike in Iran, though he was not confirmed dead.
Israel has since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas pursued what analysts have described as a policy of decapitation, targeting the leaders of its enemies.
The whereabouts of Iran's new supreme leader is the subject of much speculation. US President Donald Trump said Monday that "we don't know... if he's dead or not".

Trump appeals

Iran has retaliated by targeting US interests, energy facilities and civilian infrastructure of its energy-rich neighbours, and all but closed the Strait of Hormuz through which a fifth of global crude oil passes. 
Oil prices surged Tuesday after several countries pushed back on Trump's demand they help secure the strait by sending warships to escort tankers.
After warning that it would be "very bad" for the future of the NATO military alliance if countries refused to help, Trump said the US no longer needed assistance in reopening the strait.
"Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries' assistance -- WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea," Trump posted on his Truth Social network, adding: "WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!"
His comments came moments after President Emmanuel Macron said France was ready to help once the situation was calmer but stressed his country was "not a party to the conflict".
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also said Monday the war was "not a matter for NATO", while EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels indicated no appetite to join the conflict.
Some countries have negotiated safe passage for some of their ships, including India, while Iraq said it was in contact with Iran over the issue.
A top US counterterrorism official resigned Tuesday to protest the war, saying Iran posed no imminent threat to the United States.

Asking for shelter

The war has also drawn in Lebanon, after Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants struck Israel over Khamenei's killing.
Israel has stepped up strikes and deployed ground troops to its northern neighbour, including targeting Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday, and later, conducting an air strike near the city's airport.
The Lebanese military said on Tuesday that three of its soldiers were killed in two Israeli air strikes in the country's south.
More than a million people have been displaced across Lebanon, while Israeli strikes have killed 886 people since March 2, Lebanon's health ministry says.
In the southern city of Sidon, far from the border, displaced people were sleeping in their cars parked along the seafront corniche, according to an AFP team on the ground.
"Lots of people are coming every day to ask for shelter but we don't have space anymore, we can't accept them," said Jihan Kaisi, the director of an NGO that runs a school-turned-shelter, where more than 1,100 people are crammed together.
burs-np/ser

US

Lebanon says Israeli strikes kill soldiers, as shelters overflow

  • The Lebanese military said three of its soldiers were killed in two Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon, while the Israeli army maintained its operations were not directed "against the Lebanese army" and said at least one of them was "under review".
  • Three Lebanese soldiers were killed in Israeli strikes on Tuesday, the Lebanese army said, as Israel carried out new raids and again ordered residents of vast parts of southern Lebanon to evacuate. 
  • The Lebanese military said three of its soldiers were killed in two Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon, while the Israeli army maintained its operations were not directed "against the Lebanese army" and said at least one of them was "under review".
Three Lebanese soldiers were killed in Israeli strikes on Tuesday, the Lebanese army said, as Israel carried out new raids and again ordered residents of vast parts of southern Lebanon to evacuate. 
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when pro-Iran Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel in response to US-Israeli strikes that killed Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 
Israel has responded with intense strikes in multiple Lebanese regions and ground operations in the south, with its finance minister saying this month that Beirut's suburbs would soon "resemble" the badly-damaged Gazan city of Khan Yunis.
From Geneva, the UN rights office said Tuesday that threats by Israeli officials "to impose the same level of destruction on Lebanon as inflicted in Gaza are wholly unacceptable".

Overcrowded centres

In the southern city of Sidon, far from the border, displaced people were sleeping in their cars parked along the seafront corniche, according to an AFP team there.
The city "is full, we have no more capacity", said Jihan Kaisi, the director of an NGO that runs a school-turned-shelter, where more than 1,100 people are crammed together.
"Lots of people are coming every day to ask for shelter but we don't have space anymore, we can't accept them," she continued, adding that the road from the south was blocked on Monday with people fleeing north following evacuation warnings.
The Lebanese military said three of its soldiers were killed in two Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon, while the Israeli army maintained its operations were not directed "against the Lebanese army" and said at least one of them was "under review".
Lebanon's army has tried to stay out of the war, but three of its soldiers were killed by Israeli shelling earlier this month during a failed Israeli commando operation in eastern Lebanon.
Israel conducted an air strike near Beirut's airport in the city's southern suburbs on Tuesday, killing one person and wounding nine, according to the health ministry.
The Lebanese civil aviation authority said in a statement that the airport continued to operate normally and that the road leading to it remained passable.
Hezbollah announced a series of attacks Tuesday, including several on Israeli troops near the border inside south Lebanon.
Early Tuesday morning Israeli aircraft bombed two neighbourhoods of Beirut's southern suburbs, state media said, and also struck Doha Aramoun, south of the capital, wounding an Ethiopian woman.
Israel confirmed the Tuesday strikes, saying it was targeting Hezbollah, as it has since the start of the conflict, a day after announcing "limited" ground operations were underway in southern Lebanon.
Israeli strikes have killed 912 people, including 111 children, since March 2, Lebanon's health ministry said on Tuesday.
Around 14 percent of Lebanese territory is under Israeli evacuation warnings, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Lebanese authorities said more than one million people had registered as displaced since March 2 -- more than a sixth of the country's population -- with more than 130,000 staying in official shelters.
These displaced people "will not return to their homes" in the south as long as the security of residents in northern Israel is not guaranteed, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said this week.

Ground incursion

Alongside its massive bombardment campaign, Israel has said it is carrying out ground incursions in the south with troops and armoured vehicles.
On Tuesday the Israeli military said "additional... troops have been deployed in Lebanon, continuing efforts to establish a forward defence posture in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel against Hezbollah's threat".
Israel's military chief of staff Eyal Zamir said on Monday that "more than 400 terrorists have been eliminated so far".
On Monday evening, the leaders of Germany, Canada, France, Italy and the United Kingdom warned that a large-scale Israeli ground operation in Lebanon "would have devastating humanitarian consequences and could lead to a protracted conflict".
lk-at-ris/smw

health

Argentina withdraws from World Health Organization

  • "Argentina will continue to promote international cooperation in health through bilateral agreements and regional forums, while fully preserving its sovereignty and its capacity to make decisions regarding health policies," Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said on X. Last year, Argentina had declared that "the WHO's recommendations are ineffective because they are not based on science, but on political interests."
  • Argentina formally withdrew from the World Health Organization on Tuesday, the foreign minister said, following in the path of the United States which took the same step earlier this year.
  • "Argentina will continue to promote international cooperation in health through bilateral agreements and regional forums, while fully preserving its sovereignty and its capacity to make decisions regarding health policies," Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said on X. Last year, Argentina had declared that "the WHO's recommendations are ineffective because they are not based on science, but on political interests."
Argentina formally withdrew from the World Health Organization on Tuesday, the foreign minister said, following in the path of the United States which took the same step earlier this year.
The government of President Javier Milei, a close ally of President Donald Trump, had announced its intention to leave the UN health body a year ago, criticizing the WHO's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. 
The Foreign Ministry said Argentina has now completed the withdrawal process within the timeframe stipulated by international treaties.
"Argentina will continue to promote international cooperation in health through bilateral agreements and regional forums, while fully preserving its sovereignty and its capacity to make decisions regarding health policies," Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said on X.
Last year, Argentina had declared that "the WHO's recommendations are ineffective because they are not based on science, but on political interests."
The United States formalized its WHO withdrawal in January, a year after Trump signed an executive order to exit the multinational grouping on his return to the White House.
WHO has played a role in eradicating smallpox and tackling public health threats like polio, HIV, Ebola and tuberculosis.
In January, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he deeply regretted the move, saying it would make the United States and the rest of the world unsafe.
sa/mel/ial/msp/sms

blackout

Cuba scrambles to restore power as Trump threatens takeover

  • No oil has been imported to the island since January 9, hitting the power sector while also forcing airlines to curtail flights to the island, a blow to the all-important tourism sector.
  • Cuba scrambled Tuesday to restore power after a nationwide blackout that hit the communist-run island just as US President Donald Trump proclaimed he will "take" it over.
  • No oil has been imported to the island since January 9, hitting the power sector while also forcing airlines to curtail flights to the island, a blow to the all-important tourism sector.
Cuba scrambled Tuesday to restore power after a nationwide blackout that hit the communist-run island just as US President Donald Trump proclaimed he will "take" it over.
The government did not specify what caused the latest of Cuba's frequent power outages but said that as of Tuesday morning two-thirds of the country had electricity again.
Adding another scare, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Cuba early Tuesday. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
After nearly seven decades defying the United States, Havana's communist authorities are under massive pressure from a Trump administration determined to make history.
"You know, all my life I've been hearing about the United States and Cuba. When will the United States do it?" Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
"I do believe I'll be...having the honor of taking Cuba," Trump said.
"Whether I free it, take it -- think I could do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth. They're a very weakened nation right now."
It was one of Trump's most explicit threats yet against the island nation just 90 miles (150 km) off the coast of Florida.
The more immediate concern in Havana Tuesday was getting the lights back on.
In Havana, which is home to 1.7 million people, some neighborhoods had power.
"What we fear all the time is that the blackout will drag on and we will lose the little bit that we have in the fridge, because everything is so expensive," said Olga Suarez, a 64-year-old retiree.
"Otherwise we are used to it because here almost all the time you go to bed and wake up without electricity," she told AFP.
Cuba's ageing electricity generation system is in shambles, with daily power outages of up to 20 hours the norm in parts of the island, which lacks the fuel needed to generate power.
But since the US ouster of Cuba's top ally, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, on January 3, the island's economy has been hammered further as Trump maintains a de facto oil blockade.
No oil has been imported to the island since January 9, hitting the power sector while also forcing airlines to curtail flights to the island, a blow to the all-important tourism sector.
In a bid to relieve economic pressure -- and meet US demands -- a senior economic official in Cuba announced Monday that Cuban exiles would now be able to invest and own businesses there.
jb-rd/vmt/dw/msp

US

Senior US counterterrorism official resigns to protest Iran war

  • Kent is the first senior US official to resign from the Trump administration to protest the war against Iran.
  • A senior US counterterrorism official resigned on Tuesday to protest the US-Israeli war against Iran and said the Islamic Republic posed no imminent threat to the United States.
  • Kent is the first senior US official to resign from the Trump administration to protest the war against Iran.
A senior US counterterrorism official resigned on Tuesday to protest the US-Israeli war against Iran and said the Islamic Republic posed no imminent threat to the United States.
"I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran," Joseph Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said in his resignation letter to President Donald Trump.
Kent -- a former member of the Green Beret special forces who served multiple combat tours -- said "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."
Kent is the first senior US official to resign from the Trump administration to protest the war against Iran.
"Until June of 2025, you understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation," Kent said in his letter to Trump.
"Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran," he said.
"This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory," he said.
"This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women," Kent said.
"I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives," he added.
cl/sms

conflict

In shadow of Iran war, Gazans prepare for Eid

  • "Gaza is now forgotten and the world ignores the suffering of its people," Raeda Abu Diya said.
  • For the first time since war began in Gaza, Raeda Abu Diya has bought special clothes for her daughter for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
  • "Gaza is now forgotten and the world ignores the suffering of its people," Raeda Abu Diya said.
For the first time since war began in Gaza, Raeda Abu Diya has bought special clothes for her daughter for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Bu while a fragile ceasefire now holds in the Israel-Hamas war, Palestinians in Gaza fear the Iran war will make the world forget their suffering, and lead to prolonged shortages of crucial aid. 
"This year I decided that my children and I would be happy and celebrate with what is available to us," 38-year-old Abu Diya, who lives with her daughter and husband in a tent after their home was destroyed, told AFP. 
"The shelling is much less than before."
Her 15-year-daughter Fidaa is thrilled, proudly detailing the new jeans, T-shirt and jacket her mother got her to mark the holiday. 
She still misses her old room filled with all her belongings. 
But she hopes the upcoming celebration will mark the "beginning of the return of the sweet life to Gaza".
While the family hopes to make the most of the Eid al-Fitr, which should come either Thursday or Friday depending on the moon, her mother is worried that the US-Israeli war with Iran has drawn focus away from their plight.
With nearly all of Gaza's 2.2 million residents forced from their homes during over two years of war sparked by Hamas's attacks on Israel, many people still live in tents or makeshift shelters in enormous camps, facing shortages as well as persistent fear and uncertainty.
"Gaza is now forgotten and the world ignores the suffering of its people," Raeda Abu Diya said.
Each day she is glued to the latest news of the Middle East conflict from local radio stations that recently resumed broadcasting.
It is not just the current events that weigh upon her: the memory of relatives -- including her brother -- killed by Israeli strikes, is always with her. 
"We are trying to create a little joy, but sadness does not leave us," she said.
The truce in place since October between Israel and Hamas has seen the level of violence drop in Gaza -- even though there are still regular reports of Israeli strikes and deaths. 
The Israeli army, which under the terms of the ceasefire still controls about half of the Gaza Strip including all border areas, reported its troops killed three Palestinian fighters in one strike and one firefight in Gaza Saturday.
It reported killing six more Hamas fighters in a single strike in central Gaza Sunday.

'Tired of war'

For other Gazans, the upcoming holiday only compounds the difficulties they're already facing.
Ammar al-Buhaisi, who lives in Deir al-Balah, is struggling to get enough food, let alone new clothes for his children -- and has been avoiding their expectant questions. 
As the US-Israeli conflict with Iran engulfs the region, he said any "optimism for an improvement in the situation is diminishing". 
Hussein Duwaima, whose original clothes shop was destroyed, said life was coming back "gradually" in Gaza and demand has picked up ahead of the holiday as crowds of shoppers pack makeshift markets. 
Due to a lack of supply caused by the closure of Gaza's borders and steep transportation costs, the prices are high.
A child's shirt for example costs the equivalent of between $15 to $30, while a kilo of chocolates can be even pricier. 
Israeli forces completely or partially destroyed most of Gaza's markets during the war, though the market in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood has been partly restored already.
Imad al-Bahtimi plays Eid chants on a loudspeaker at his stall to help "attract children and spread joy among the people". 
Hamas police officers have deployed again at markets and on the streets of Gaza since the start of the ceasefire. 
"It increases a sense of security," Bahtimi said.
Hossam al-Shafa received Eid clothes and sweets for his three children from a local charity. 
He said that Israel still bombs eastern areas of nearby Khan Younis on a regular basis, demolishing homes.
"We are tired of war and destruction," he said. 
Despite the ongoing dangers he and his wife are  trying their best to create a festive atmosphere, gathering firewood to bake cakes on their stove. 
"These are the best days we have had since the war began," he said. 
str-az/del/lba/ser

US

Southern Lebanon paramedics risk deadly Israeli strikes to do their work

BY LAURE AL KHOURY

  • The head of the Lebanese Red Cross, Georges Kettaneh, told AFP that their teams operate in southern Lebanon only after notifying the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers, and stressed the need to secure safe access for their paramedics on the ground. 
  • Youssef Assaf was in a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance when it was targeted by an Israeli strike near Tyre, in southern Lebanon.
  • The head of the Lebanese Red Cross, Georges Kettaneh, told AFP that their teams operate in southern Lebanon only after notifying the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers, and stressed the need to secure safe access for their paramedics on the ground. 
Youssef Assaf was in a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance when it was targeted by an Israeli strike near Tyre, in southern Lebanon. The 35-year-old paramedic died of his wounds two days later.
"I was called around 10:30 pm and told that he was wounded and in the hospital," his wife, Jeanne d'Arc Boutros, told AFP from northern Lebanon, where she had fled to a relative's home. 
"I knew my husband is strong and can endure. I didn't react at all -- I just kept praying and repeating in my heart that nothing bad would happen to him," the 32-year-old schoolteacher said.
But Assaf died within two days. He was one of 38 Lebanese healthcare workers killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the current war on March 2, according to the health ministry. 
The ministry said he died from wounds caused by an Israeli strike on their ambulance "as they were carrying out a rescue mission" after a strike. 
Boutros said that when she heard the news of his death "I don't know what happened to me. I collapsed on the ground and was convulsing".
"How can they wound or kill paramedics who are saving people? They are neither armed nor affiliated with any party," the mother of three children, including a four-month-old girl, said. 
The head of the Lebanese Red Cross, Georges Kettaneh, told AFP that their teams operate in southern Lebanon only after notifying the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers, and stressed the need to secure safe access for their paramedics on the ground. 
He said the Red Cross had sent a letter to the foreign ministry to contact the UN "regarding the protection of medical teams" and securing safe access routes. 
– 'They are not a target' –
The repeated strikes on healthcare workers have become a source of fear and anxiety for many of them, including Mona Abou Zeid, 59, who runs a hospital in the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon.
"The situation is very difficult… There is continuous shelling," she said.
"We are afraid for our paramedics who move around to transport the wounded," she added.
The fears of healthcare workers intensified after 12 were killed on Saturday in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a medical centre in the town of Bourj Qalawiyah in southern Lebanon. 
The centre belonged to the Islamic Health Authority (IHA), a civil defence organisation affiliated with Hezbollah, the organisation said.
It is not uncommon for Lebanese political parties and religious institutions to sponsor ambulance and healthcare associations.
Fatima Shoumar's husband, a nurse, was among those killed. 
She said those killed were not "military people... these people were doctors, nurses, they help children".
The Israeli military has accused Hezbollah of "extensively using ambulances for military purposes," an accusation the Lebanese health ministry described as "a justification" for crimes "against humanity".
Ramzi Kaiss, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the Israeli military had not provided evidence that healthcare facilities or ambulances it attacked were being used for military purposes.
Kaiss told AFP that if the Israelis have evidence that ambulances are being misused, they "must issue a warning to cease this misuse and only attack after this warning goes unheeded".
Since March 2, the health ministry has said, there have been 53 attacks on paramedics, 13 on medical centres and 30 on ambulances.
"The pattern we're seeing today is eerily similar to what we saw unfold between October 2023 and November 2024," Kaiss said, "a period during which over 220 health workers were killed".
– 'No more red lines' –
Nasser Ajram, a paramedic for a local NGO in Sidon, was gripped by anxiety despite his determination to continue his humanitarian mission.
"The day before yesterday, they struck a centre. They killed doctors and nurses… there are no more red lines," he said. 
Ajram, 57, has barely seen his family and grandchildren for two weeks. 
"It seems there is no protection." 
For Boutros, the loss was irreparable, and her four-year-old son was asking still when his father would come home. 
"I always dreamed about how we would grow old together. I would tell him how he would become an old man and I would grow old too. 
"He loved basketball, skiing, hunting and the sea. He loved helping people... he did a lot in his life, and then he left."
lk/ris/dcp

Deighton

Len Deighton, spy novelist who created the anti-Bond

  • But the anti-hero was baptised Harry Palmer for the hugely successful film version of the "Ipcress File" (the acronym changed to lower-case) starring Caine, which brought Deighton to a wider audience.
  • British writer Len Deighton, who has died at 97, created the sardonic working-class spy played by Michael Caine in the 1965 Cold War film "The Ipcress File".
  • But the anti-hero was baptised Harry Palmer for the hugely successful film version of the "Ipcress File" (the acronym changed to lower-case) starring Caine, which brought Deighton to a wider audience.
British writer Len Deighton, who has died at 97, created the sardonic working-class spy played by Michael Caine in the 1965 Cold War film "The Ipcress File".
Deighton "passed away peacefully on Sunday", his literary agent said, calling him "one of the greatest spy and thriller writers of the twentieth century".
Deighton's thick-bespectacled agent provided an antidote to the debonair Navy officer James Bond created by Ian Fleming. The character's rough edges also set him apart from gentleman spy George Smiley featured in books by John Le Carre.
Deighton's spy was anonymous in his first book, "The IPCRESS File" (1962), and its sequels "Horse Under Water" (1963), "Funeral in Berlin" (1964) and "Billion-Dollar Brain" (1966).
But the anti-hero was baptised Harry Palmer for the hugely successful film version of the "Ipcress File" (the acronym changed to lower-case) starring Caine, which brought Deighton to a wider audience.
Deighton, who like his spy also wore thick spectacles, lived life out of the limelight, rarely giving interviews.
Yet he sold millions of books in the English-speaking world and was translated into 20 languages over a career spanning half a century.

'Blunt instrument'

Reflecting on Deighton's legacy in 2021, the Financial Times newspaper mused that "The IPCRESS File" had "a plot that was impossible to follow, and a title that was an impenetrable acronym".
"Yet its appearance marked a sea change in the cold war spy novel and today the first edition is a collector's item," it said.
In an afterword to the 2009 edition of the book, Deighton recalled the enthusiastic reviews it garnered when it published in 1962.
"The critics were using me as a blunt instrument to batter Ian Fleming about the head," he wrote.
IPCRESS stands for "Induction of Psychoneuroses by Conditioned Reflex under Stress", the brainwashing to which a group of abducted British scientists are subjected in the novel.
The role of Harry Palmer helped propel Caine, a porter's son from gritty east London, to Hollywood glory.
Caine later praised writers like Deighton for giving him his big break.
"They started writing for working-class people, and it made all the difference," he said in 2017.
At the height of the Cold War in the 1980s, years before the Berlin Wall fell, Deighton produced what was widely considered his masterpiece: a set of three trilogies, largely based in his second home, Berlin, as well as in London.
Starting with "Berlin Game" (1983), "Mexico Set" (1984) and "London Match" (1985), he introduced another working-class spy: Bernard Samson, middle aged and jaded; and his defector wife Fiona.
"My whole Bernard Samson series was based on the belief that the Berlin Wall would fall before the end of the century," Deighton was quoted as saying in 2021, in Britain's New Statesman magazine.
Deighton also gained renown for his works on World War II military technology and techniques.
An inveterate foodie he also penned five cookery books, including "Len Deighton's Action Cook Book" (1965), that were based on cartoon strips, and worked in the 1960s as a travel writer for "Playboy".

Pastry chef

Deighton was born in Marylebone, London, on February 18, 1929 to parents in the employment of the gentry -- his father a chauffeur and his mother a cook.
He did his military service in the Royal Air Force, shortly after World War II, and was trained as a photographer.
He then studied art and, after stints as an air steward and assistant pastry chef, became an illustrator and graphic designer for publishing and advertising firms in the UK and United States.
He designed the UK first edition dust jacket of Jack Kerouac's beatnik novel "On the Road".
Deighton's interest in spy fiction was inspired by witnessing, as an 11-year-old boy, the arrest of a neighbour of White Russian descent, Anna Wolkoff, who turned out to be a Nazi spy.
In 1969 he left England to live in southern California, later moving to a number of other locations, including Ireland, Germany, Austria and Portugal before settling on the Channel island of Guernsey.
He married his Dutch wife Ysabele de Ranitz, a graphic designer, in 1980. They had two sons.
After the success of the Samson trilogies, he continued writing for a time, but his star waned and he largely retired from publishing.
jmy-am/aks/rmb

US

War threatens Gulf's dugongs, turtles and birds

BY DELPHINE PAYSANT

  • In total, more than 2,000 marine species have been recorded in the warm Gulf waters, including over 500 fish species and five types of sea turtles, among them the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle.
  • From sea turtles to birds and the gentle dugong, the Persian Gulf's diverse but fragile marine life is threatened by the bombs and oil of the war in the Middle East.
  • In total, more than 2,000 marine species have been recorded in the warm Gulf waters, including over 500 fish species and five types of sea turtles, among them the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle.
From sea turtles to birds and the gentle dugong, the Persian Gulf's diverse but fragile marine life is threatened by the bombs and oil of the war in the Middle East.
The ecosystem was already under pressure from climate change and maritime traffic before the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran at the end of February, leading to Tehran's region-wide retaliation.
More than 300 incidents involving environmental risks -- including attacks on oil tankers -- have been recorded in the region since the conflict broke out, according to a March 10 report by the Conflict and Environment Observatory, a UK non-governmental organisation.
The geography of the Gulf makes its ecosystem particularly vulnerable.
A semi-enclosed and shallow sea about 50 metres (165 feet) deep on average, it is connected to the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz. Its slow water renewal -- every two to five years -- limits the dispersion of oil or other pollutants. 
The region hosts the world's second-largest population of dugongs -- herbivorous marine mammals known as "sea cows" that are listed as vulnerable -- with an estimated 5,000 to 7,500 individuals. 
About a dozen species of marine mammals are also found there, including humpback whales and whale sharks.
In total, more than 2,000 marine species have been recorded in the warm Gulf waters, including over 500 fish species and five types of sea turtles, among them the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle.
There are also about 100 species of corals which, together with mangroves and seagrass beds, form essential breeding and nursery grounds for fish and crustaceans.

'Time bomb'

Greenpeace warned last week that dozens of tankers carrying around 21 billion litres (5.5 billion gallons) of oil were trapped in the Persian Gulf.
"This is an ecological ticking time bomb," said Nina Noelle, of Greenpeace Germany, who has been mapping oil tankers in the region.
Since March 1, nine incidents involving oil tankers, including attacks,have been reported to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO), eight of which were later confirmed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). 
Three additional attacks were claimed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, though these have not been confirmed by international bodies.
On land, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that Israeli strikes on Tehran fuel depots constituted "ecocide", contaminating soil and groundwater and causing long-term risks to people's health.

Past experiences

"The wars in the 1980s and 1990s demonstrate how exposed the ecosystems of the Persian Gulf are to conflict pollution, whether this is from damage to on- or offshore oil facilities or through spills from attacks on shipping," CEOBS director Doug Weir told AFP.
The Gulf War in 1991 triggered one of the largest marine oil spills linked to armed conflict, when retreating Iraqi forces deliberately opened oil valves in Kuwait and destroyed oil infrastructure. 
It took decades to recover: up to 11 million barrels of oil (1.75 billion litres) were released, contaminating 640 kilometres of Saudi coastline and killing more than 30,000 seabirds, according to several studies.
The studies, however, "largely showed minimal impacts on coral reefs", said John Burt, biology professor at the Mubadala Arabian Center for Climate and Environmental Sciences at New York University Abu Dhabi.
"This is largely because oil floats, so the dispersal of oil remains on the surface and doesn't really interact with corals except in the most shallow areas," Burt said.
"However, the same cannot be said for intertidal systems" such as salt marshes and mudflats that line the coast and are exposed at low tide, he added.
"Here, oil spills can have significant and medium-term impacts, if the spills become coastal," Burt said.
Seabirds are especially at risk because oil destroyed the waterproofing of their feathers, leading to hypothermia and drowning.

Bomb noise

Bombs are also a threat to the area's birds.
Their migration could be disrupted by the noise of explosions and by plumes of toxic smoke, as the Arabian Peninsula sits at the crossroads of major migratory routes linking Europe, Central Asia, Africa and South Asia.
"Sea mines and other explosive devices can cause acoustic disturbance impacting sea mammals and other animals, and blast damage to natural undersea structures such as reefs," Weir said.
In 2003 and 2020, two studies published in Nature and in a journal of the Royal Society found links between the use of mid-frequency military sonar and whale strandings.
dep/jmi/lt/rmb

Ramadan

Millions of Indonesians in Eid travel exodus

  • Holiday-goers have flocked to major train stations and seaports in recent days, and the navy has deployed two warships to help transport travellers for what is one of the world's largest annual mass migrations of people.
  • Tens of millions of Indonesians are travelling by motorcycle, car, plane or boat to their hometowns in an annual exodus for the Eid holiday that begins in the world's largest Muslim-majority country on Wednesday. 
  • Holiday-goers have flocked to major train stations and seaports in recent days, and the navy has deployed two warships to help transport travellers for what is one of the world's largest annual mass migrations of people.
Tens of millions of Indonesians are travelling by motorcycle, car, plane or boat to their hometowns in an annual exodus for the Eid holiday that begins in the world's largest Muslim-majority country on Wednesday. 
Like China's Lunar New Year holiday or Christmas elsewhere, the mass movement kicks off an extended holiday as many in the Southeast Asian archipelago celebrate the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan with family.
Holiday-goers have flocked to major train stations and seaports in recent days, and the navy has deployed two warships to help transport travellers for what is one of the world's largest annual mass migrations of people.
Nearly 144 million Indonesians are expected to take part in this year's exodus, known locally as "mudik", senior infrastructure minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono told a press conference last week.
The projection was slightly down from last year's figure of more than 154 million voyagers.
The Indonesian navy on Tuesday sent its KRI Banda Aceh warship packed with holiday-goers from Jakarta to the Javan cities of Semarang and Surabaya, while another travelled from the capital to the Bangka Belitung islands off Sumatra.
The free service has become an annual tradition, and more than 1,400 people signed up to travel by warship this year.
"Hopefully next year we can add more routes," Navy chief of staff Muhammad Ali said in a statement. The military has not said how much is budgeted for providing the service.
The government has declared seven days of public holidays for the Eid season, urging revellers to not all travel on the same day.
It is also allowing civil servants to work remotely for five days over the period in a bid to ease traffic congestion.
On the island of Bali, Eid coincides this year with an annual Day of Silence to be marked by Hindus on Thursday, when locals and tourists alike will be expected to stay at home for 24 hours and refrain from working, travelling, or using electricity.
Long queues have formed at the resort island's Gilimanuk port, forcing travellers leaving Bali to wait for hours to cross the strait to Java island, according to media reports.
Authorities have deployed more ferries and sped up loading and unloading procedures try and ease the congestion, the transport ministry said Monday.
mrc/mlr/abs

US

Strikes shake Tehran as Trump presses allies to help in Mideast war

BY AFP TEAMS IN TEHRAN, JERUSALEM, BEIRUT AND WASHINGTON

  • "They weren't supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East.
  • Loud explosions shook Tehran Tuesday after a night of bombing, as US President Donald Trump pressed allies to help in the war that has engulfed the Middle East and sparked global economic turmoil.
  • "They weren't supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East.
Loud explosions shook Tehran Tuesday after a night of bombing, as US President Donald Trump pressed allies to help in the war that has engulfed the Middle East and sparked global economic turmoil.
Oil prices rose more than five percent Tuesday after several countries pushed back on Trump's demand they help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is key to the transit of crude and liquefied natural gas.
The war, now in its third week, has killed hundreds and seen Iran launch retaliatory strikes against Israel and Gulf nations, as well as a front opening in Lebanon with Israel battling Hezbollah.
Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, has also been drawn in, with a drone and rocket attack targeting the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday.
Blasts were heard in Iran's capital Tehran, an AFP journalist said, after a night of heavy bombardment mixed with thunder and rain.
It was not immediate clear what the targets were, but Israel's army said earlier it had launched a wave of strikes "against Iranian terror regime infrastructure across Tehran", as well as strikes in Lebanon.
Lebanese state media reported Tuesday that Israeli strikes at dawn hit a residential building in Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
An AFP photographer saw firefighters tackling a blaze at the site of a strike, while rubble and debris were strewn across the road.
Millions of people have been displaced because of the war, notably in Lebanon and Iran, but the war also has also hit the world economy as oil prices surge.
Iran has targeted the energy facilities of its crude-producing neighbours, while its threats against tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz all but closing the vital waterway.
A fifth of global crude oil passes through the Strait and Trump has called on world powers, including US allies, to send warships to escort tankers -- so far in vain.
- Armada to Hormuz  - 
On Monday, Trump demanded US allies join quickly and with "great enthusiasm" an armada to escort tankers through the strait.
He has warned that it would be "very bad" for the future of the NATO military alliance if the allies refused to help.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London was working with allies to craft a "viable" plan to reopen the strait, but ruled out a NATO mission.
Berlin also said it "has been clear at all times that this war is not a matter for NATO".
Japan, Australia, Poland, Spain, Greece and Sweden also distanced themselves from any military involvement in the Strait of Hormuz.
EU foreign ministers discussed the war in Brussels on Monday but showed "no appetite" for extending their Red Sea naval mission to help reopen Hormuz, the bloc's top diplomat said.
Analysts said it was not surprising that America's partners were unenthusiastic about joining a war they were not consulted on, after a year of tensions with Washington on everything from tariffs to Greenland.
The United States had "launched a war without consulting allies, expecting them to mop up the mess, and that's not going fly", said Erwan Lagadec of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs.

Defiant tone

Trump on Monday admitted he was "shocked" at Iran's response to the US-Israel attacks.
"They weren't supposed to go after all these other countries in the Middle East. Those missiles were set to go after them," he said.
"So, they hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shocked."
The oil-rich Gulf has borne the brunt of Iran's attacks in response to US-Israeli strikes, with Tehran targeting US assets but also civilian infrastructure.
Falling debris from a missile intercept killed one person on Tuesday in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi.
More than 1,200 Iranians have been killed by US and Israeli strikes, according to the last toll from Iran's health ministry on March 8, which could not be independently verified.
But Iran's foreign minister struck a defiant tone on Monday. 
"By now they have... understood what kind of nation they are dealing with," Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Tehran.
Iran, he said, "does not hesitate to defend itself and is ready to continue the war wherever it may lead, and take it as far as necessary".

Iraq drawn in

Western allies Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom also urged Israel to show restraint in Lebanon, where it has announced "limited" ground operations against Hezbollah.
But Israel's President Isaac Herzog told AFP that Europe should support "any effort to eradicate Hezbollah now".
Authorities in Lebanon have said more than one million people have registered as displaced since March 2, with more than 130,000 people staying in upwards of 600 collective shelters.
Lebanon was drawn into the war when Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants struck Israel over the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the conflict.
Iraq is also increasingly being pulled in.
A drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday, while a strike killed four people at a house reportedly hosting Iranian advisors, security officials said.
An AFP journalist reported seeing black smoke rising after an explosion in the embassy complex, as well as air defences intercepting another drone.
burs-ar/ser

conflict

'Many dead': Wounded survivor escaped Kabul clinic strike

BY QUBAD WALI

  • Momand said there were 2,000 beds at the centre, which treated patients addicted to marijuana, amphetamines or other synthetic drugs.
  • Azmat Ali Momand had just finished his rounds, checking patients at the "Camp Omid" drug rehabilitation centre in the Afghan capital, Kabul, when the explosion erupted.
  • Momand said there were 2,000 beds at the centre, which treated patients addicted to marijuana, amphetamines or other synthetic drugs.
Azmat Ali Momand had just finished his rounds, checking patients at the "Camp Omid" drug rehabilitation centre in the Afghan capital, Kabul, when the explosion erupted.
"The room collapsed on me," the 30-year-old doctor, who has worked at the centre for two years, told AFP on Tuesday. "I got two stitches on my head and my leg was also injured."
Momand was knocked out by the blast but after coming to, he went to the emergency ward where others wounded in the strike were arriving.
"I gave them first aid. They were severely injured and then transferred them to the relevant hospitals," he added.
"There are many dead, but we don't know how many," he said at the scene of the blast, which left the building in ruins, blackened and still smouldering in the daylight.
An AFP team at the scene soon after the centre was hit on Monday night saw at least 30 dead bodies and dozens of wounded being taken away.
The Afghan authorities, who said Pakistan deliberately targeted civilians, indicated that several hundred people may have been killed but the exact toll was not yet known.
Pakistan maintains that it carried out precision strikes on "military installations and terrorist support infrastructure" in its battle with the Taliban government, which it accuses of harbouring extremists who have targeted its border regions.

No information

Rescuers carried the dead and wounded from the devastated building on blankets due to a lack of stretchers and dozens of ambulances took turns for much of the night taking casualties to hospitals.
The search for survivors carried on into Tuesday, when daylight showed the extent of the damage: a collapsed roof, shattered chairs and pieces of hospital beds as well as blankets and even human remains.
"All the people have not been pulled out yet from under the rubble," said interior ministry official Sheikh Abdul Rahman Munir.
At the scene, nurses wept in a corner: "What has happened to our colleagues?"
Momand said there were 2,000 beds at the centre, which treated patients addicted to marijuana, amphetamines or other synthetic drugs.
"They were in different buildings, 200 to 300 in each," he said, adding that four of the five buildings had been destroyed.
Crowds of men and women gathered in front of the centre, trying to get news of their loved ones.
"My brother was here in the camp," said Mohammad Daud, 28. "I wanted to check on him. We came at 12:00 am and were here until 3:00 am.
"They do not give us any information and do not let us go further either."
Daud's brother had been at the centre for more than a month but believed he was in a building where fire did not break out. 
"I think he is OK," he added.
qb-ash-iw/phz/jm