Author: ALJAZEERA

EXPLAINERIran deployed air defence batteries to intercept and destroy three drones over the city of Isfahan, but downplayed the incident.Iran’s air defence systems were deployed in multiple parts of the country early Friday morning after reports of explosions near the airport in Isfahan province, amid rapidly escalating tensions with Israel, according to state media. On Friday, there were also reported explosions in Iraq and Syria. Here is what we know so far: What happened and when? Iran fired air defence batteries in multiple provinces and shot down three small drones over the central city of Isfahan, according to state media reports.…

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French prosecutors say no explosives found on suspect or at the consulate in Paris.French police have detained a man who threatened to blow himself up at Iran’s consulate in Paris. Police found no explosives at the consulate or on the suspect who was detained there on Friday, French prosecutors said, after the consulate reported a man had entered with ammunition. Police arrested the suspect, born in 1963 in Iran, when he exited of his own accord after appearing to have “threatened violent action” inside, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency quoted the Paris prosecutor’s office as saying. “No explosive materials…

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An Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah killed at least 10 people, including six children, hospital authorities said, as Israel pursues its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory. Funerals were held on Saturday for those killed in the deadly strike on Rafah’s western Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood the night before, according to Gaza’s civil defence. At al-Najjar Hospital, the site of the area’s main morgue, relatives sobbed and hugged white-shrouded children’s bodies. “Hamza my beloved. Your hair looks so pretty,” a mourning grandmother said. The fatalities included Abdel-Fattah Sobhi Radwan, his wife Najlaa…

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The Democratic-majority Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week, sending it to President Joe Biden to sign into law.The United States House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support has passed a $95bn legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, despite bitter objections from Republican hardliners. The legislation proceeded on Saturday to the Democratic-majority Senate, which passed a similar measure more than two months ago. US leaders from Democratic President Joe Biden to top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell had been urging embattled Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring it up for a vote. The…

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Lawmakers say Hemedti’s and the RSF’s activities and abuses make them deserving of sanctions from the United States.United States senators have written an open letter to US President Joe Biden, calling on him to recognise Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its leader, General Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, as violators of human rights. The letter, dated Friday, follows the one-year anniversary of the war in Sudan between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), two rival military factions fighting for control of the country after a coup in 2021. The lawmakers cite the US’s Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability…

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The ‘strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity’, Turkish president says.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Palestinians to unite amid Israel’s war in Gaza, following hours-long talks with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul, according to his office. Ankara has repeatedly slammed Israel’s incursion into Gaza amid its failed attempts to stop the conflict, which has roiled the Middle East since October 7 last year. Tensions in the region are running high as Gaza braces for a new Israeli offensive on the southernmost city of Rafah and after a reported Israeli attack…

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