Author: CNN

CNN  —  Here’s a look at Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Since 2003, worldwide concern over Iran’s nuclear program has increased as Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) spar over investigation and details of Iran’s program. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has repeatedly denied Iran is building a bomb and says weapons of mass destruction are forbidden under Islam. 1957 – The United States signs a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Iran. 1958 – Iran joins the IAEA. 1967 – The Tehran Nuclear Research Center, which includes a small reactor supplied by the United States, opens. 1968 – Iran signs…

Displaced Palestinians cook in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip. CNNLittle children in sandals wrinkle their faces under the Gaza sun. Others wander barefoot through a sprawling schoolyard in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. CNN footage shows clothes on clotheslines and dusty plastic tents flapping in the wind. Muhammad Shabat, a displaced Palestinian, says: “Our lives are full of suffering. There is no drinking water, and no suitable place to live.” “There is no health, no education. How will these children live? How will they study? We had Covid, and now we have war. We are mentally exhausted. “I…

Displaced Palestinians receive cooked food rations at a donation point in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on April 19. Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/ShutterstockIsrael has consistently denied aid convoys to northern Gaza, according to the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA). Food shortages are worst in northern Gaza, where Israel concentrated its military offensive in the early days of the war.Israeli authorities vetoed at least 27 out of 81 aid missions that require coordination in the north and south of the strip, between April 1 and April 19, UNRWA said in a report. The last time UNRWA was able to deliver food supplies to the…

An independent review of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has said the agency’s neutrality must be strengthened. Earlier this year, Israel accused at least 12 UNRWA staffers of being involved in Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks and has alleged that about 12% of the agency’s 13,000 staffers are members of Hamas or other Palestinian militant groups. The review, which was led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and published Monday, was not tasked with addressing Israel’s allegations, but had a broader mandate to “assess whether UNRWA is doing everything…

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority president strongly condemned the US House of Representatives’ approval Saturday of a $26 billion aid package for Israel.The aid will directly correlate to the increasing number of Palestinian casualties, said the spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, according to a statement published by the Palestinian official news agency WAFA.Abu Rudeineh labeled the aid package a “dangerous escalation” and an act of aggression against the Palestinian people. He said the support gives Israel the green light to broaden its war across the region, and undermines the prospects for regional and global stability.The aid package passed by the…

The European Union imposed sanctions on “extremist settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem,” the European Council announced on Friday, listing four people and two entities.According to the statement, the entities Lehava, a “radical right-wing Jewish supremacist group,” and Hilltop Youth, a “radical youth group consisting of members known for violent acts against Palestinians and their villages in the West Bank,” were added to the EU sanctions regime alongside two leading figures of Hilltop Youth, Meir Ettinger and Elisha Yered.Neria Ben Pazi, who the EU’s governing body said has been “accused of repeatedly attacking Palestinians,” and Yinon Levi, who the…

The attack on Iran early Friday was likely intended as both a retaliatory measure and a cautionary message, a retired US Army Major General told CNN’s Michael Holmes. For days, Israel has been weighing its response to unprecedented weekend strikes from Iran, which were launched in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria earlier this month. A US official told CNN that Friday’s attack was an Israeli strike. Israel has declined to comment on it. “Israel must maintain its vigilance” in case Iran decides to respond with another show of force, retired Major General Mark…

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks to the press on February 5, 2024, in Jerusalem. Amir Levy/Getty ImagesIsrael’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said that Israel’s response to Iran’s attack should inflict a “disproportionate toll” and “rock Tehran” to deter Iran from future strikes.Smotrich said Israel’s response to Iran’s missile and drone attack should make Tehran “regret the moment they even thought about firing” and be “fierce, severe and inflict a disproportionate toll.”Smotrich, who is technically also a minister in Israel’s defense ministry due to a deal struck in coalition agreements, told Israel’s Army Radio (GLZ) that the nature of Israel’s response…

CNN  —  Here’s a look at the life of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Birth date: May 6, 1953 Birth place: Edinburgh, Scotland Birth name: Anthony Charles Lynton Blair Father: Leo Charles Blair, lawyer Mother: Hazel (Corscadden) Blair Marriage: Cherie (Booth) Blair (1980-present) Children: Leo, Kathryn, Nicholas and Euan Education: St. John’s College, Oxford, B.A., 1975 Religion: Roman Catholic Although born in Scotland, Blair spent most of his childhood in Durham, England. His son, Leo, was the first baby born to a serving prime minister in 150 years. In his youth, acted in plays and sang in a rock…

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech on July 5, 2023. Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images/FileIsrael, aided by its allies, dodged a bullet Sunday.To be more precise, 60 tons of explosives aboard more than 350 Iranian projectiles, some bigger than a family car, failed to dodge Israel’s defenses.Yet Israel, in defiance of US President Joe Biden’s warnings to “take the win” and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s threat of a “severe, extensive and painful” response to any retaliation, is contemplating just that.Deterrence, shorthand for “meanest S.O.B. in the room,” Israel believes, is the cornerstone of its survival. Iran is stealing that brick.When…