Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian marches across Europe

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched in European cities calling for an end to the war in Gaza, hours before President Donald Trump said the US military had attacked three Iranian nuclear sites Sunday.In London, AFP journalists saw tens of thousands of protesters, who waved Palestinian flags as they marched through the British capital clad in keffiyeh scarves.In Berlin, more than 10,000 people gathered in the centre of the city in support of Gaza, according to police figures.And in the Swiss capital Bern, march organisers estimated that 20,000 people rallied in front of the national parliament, urging the government to back a ceasefire.Thousands also gathered outside a French trade fair near Paris attended by Israeli defence firms, calling for an end to war profiteering and Israel’s offensive in Gaza.There have been monthly protests in the British capital since the start of the 20-month-long war between Israel and Hamas, which has ravaged Gaza.This Saturday, protesters there carried signs including “Stop arming Israel” and “No war on Iran” as they marched in the sweltering heat.”It’s important to remember that people are suffering in Gaza. I fear all the focus will be on Iran now,” said 34-year-old Harry Baker.”I don’t have great love for the Iranian regime, but we are now in a dangerous situation,” he said, adding that this was his third pro-Palestinian protest.- Regional fears -Saturday’s marches came after Trump announced on social media that the US military had carried out a “very successful attack” on three Iranian nuclear sites.The US president added that after the strikes Iran “must now agree to end this war”.Tehran had said Saturday that more than 400 people had been killed in Iran since Israel launched strikes last week claiming its arch-foe was close to acquiring a nuclear weapon — which Iran denies.Some 25 people have been killed in Israel, according to official figures.One marcher in London, a 31-year-old Iranian student who did not want to share her name, told AFP she had family in Iran and was “scared”.”I’m worried about my country. I know the regime is not good but it’s still my country,” she said.Gaza is suffering from famine-like conditions according to UN agencies in the region following an Israeli aid blockade.Gaza’s civil defence agency has reported that hundreds have been killed by Israeli forces while trying to reach the US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution sites.”People need to keep their eyes on Gaza. That’s where the genocide is happening,” said 60-year-old protester Nicky Marcus.- ‘Scared’ -In Berlin, demonstrators gathered mid-afternoon close to the parliament, some chanting “Germany finances, Israel bombs”.”You can’t sit on the sofa and be silent. Now is the time when we all need to speak up,” said protester Gundula, who did not want to give her second name.For Marwan Radwan, the point of the protest was to bring attention to the “genocide currently taking place” and the “dirty work” being done by the German government.In Bern, demonstrators carried banners calling on the federal government to intervene in the war in Gaza, expressing solidarity with Palestinians.The rally there was called by organisations including Amnesty International, the Social Democratic Party, the Greens and the Swiss Trade Union Federation.Slogans included “Stop the occupation”, “Stop the starvation, stop the violence”, and “Right to self-determination”.Some marchers chanted: “We are all the children of Gaza”.The overall death toll in Gaza since the war broke out has reached at least 55,637 people, according to the health ministry.Israel has denied it is carrying out a genocide and says it aims to wipe out Hamas after the Islamist group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people.

Trump’s remarks in full after US strikes on Iran

President Donald Trump delivered brief remarks from the White House late Saturday after the US military carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Here is what Trump said in full:”A short time ago the US military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.”Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. “Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror. “Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. “Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater and a lot easier. “For 40 years, Iran has been saying, ‘Death to America, Death to Israel.'”They have been killing our people, blowing off their arms, blowing off their legs, with roadside bombs. That was their specialty, we lost over 1,000 people. “And hundreds of thousands throughout the Middle East and around the world have died as a direct result of their hate, in particular, so many were killed by their general Qasem Soleimani. “I decided a long time ago that I would not let this happen. It will not continue. “I want to thank and congratulate Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. We worked as a team like perhaps no team has ever worked before, and we’ve gone a long way to erasing this horrible threat to Israel. “I want to thank the Israeli military for the wonderful job they’ve done. “And most importantly, I want to congratulate the great American patriots who flew those magnificent machines tonight and all of the United States military on an operation the likes of which the world has not seen in many, many decades.”Hopefully we will no longer need their services in this capacity. I hope that’s so. “I also want to congratulate the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan ‘Razin’ Caine, spectacular general, and all of the brilliant military minds involved in this attack. “With all of that being said, this cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. “Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight’s was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. “But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. “There’s no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight, not even close. There has never been a military that could do what took place just a little while ago.”Tomorrow, General Caine, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, will have a press conference at 8 am at the Pentagon. “And I want to just thank everybody, and in particular, God. I want to just say we love you, God, and we love our great military, protect them. “God bless the Middle East, God bless Israel, and God bless America. Thank you very much. Thank you.”

Trump says US bombs Iran nuclear sites, joining Israeli campaign

President Donald Trump said the US military launched a “very successful attack” Sunday on three Iranian nuclear sites including the Fordo uranium enrichment plant, as Washington joined Israel’s air campaign against Tehran.Trump said a “full payload of BOMBS” was dropped on the underground facility at Fordo and he was set to address the nation at 10:00 pm on Saturday Washington time (0200 GMT Sunday) following his surprise announcement of the strikes.The fresh US military entanglement in the Middle East comes despite Trump’s promises to avoid another of his country’s “forever wars” in the region. Iran had vowed to retaliate against US forces in the region if Washington got involved. “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.”A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.”Trump added that “all planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors.” Iranian media confirmed that part of the Fordo plant as well as the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites were attacked.Trump spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the attacks, while the United States also gave key ally Israel a “heads up” before the strikes, a senior White House official told AFP.In a second post announcing his address to the nation from the White House, Trump said that “IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR.”He described it as a “historic” moment for the United States, Israel and the world.Earlier Saturday there were reports that US B-2 bombers — which carry so-called “bunker buster” bombs — were headed out of the United States across the Pacific.Trump did not say what kind of US planes or munitions were involved.- ‘More devastating’ -Trump said on Thursday that he would decide “within two weeks” whether to join Israel’s campaign — but the decision came far sooner.The US president had also stepped up his rhetoric against Iran in recent days, repeating his insistence that it could never have a nuclear weapon.Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian had warned earlier Saturday of a “more devastating” retaliation should Israel’s nine-day bombing campaign continue, saying the Islamic republic would not halt its nuclear program “under any circumstances.”Israel and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since Israel launched its aerial campaign on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.On Saturday, Israel said it had attacked Isfahan for a second time, with the UN nuclear watchdog reporting that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop had been hit.Later Saturday Iran’s Mehr news agency said Israel had hit the southern city of Shiraz, which hosts military bases.Iran’s Revolutionary Guard meanwhile announced early Sunday that “suicide drones” had been launched against “strategic targets” across Israel.Iran denies seeking an atomic bomb, and on Saturday Pezeshkian said its right to pursue a civilian nuclear program “cannot be taken away… by threats or war.”- ‘Continued aggression’ -In a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Pezeshkian said “we do not agree to reduce nuclear activities to zero under any circumstances,” he added, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Istanbul on Saturday for a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the conflict.Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany had met Araghchi in Geneva on Friday and urged him to resume nuclear talks with the United States that had been derailed by the war.Iran’s Huthi allies in Yemen on Saturday threatened to resume their attacks on US vessels in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war, despite a recent ceasefire agreement.The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Friday that, based on its sources and media reports, at least 657 people had been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians.Iran’s health ministry on Saturday gave a toll of more than 400 people killed in the Israeli strikes.Iran’s retaliatory strikes have killed at least 25 people in Israel, according to official figures.Leading US Democrat Hakeem Jeffries said Trump risked US “entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East,” while the Israeli army has raised its alert level, permitting only essential activities until further notice.

Trump says US bombs Iran nuclear sites, joining Israeli campaign

President Donald Trump said the US military launched a “very successful attack” Sunday on three Iranian nuclear sites including the Fordo uranium enrichment plant, as Washington joined Israel’s air campaign against Tehran.Trump said a “full payload of BOMBS” was dropped on the underground facility at Fordo and he was set to address the nation at 10:00 pm on Saturday Washington time (0200 GMT Sunday) following his surprise announcement of the strikes.The fresh US military entanglement in the Middle East comes despite Trump’s promises to avoid another of his country’s “forever wars” in the region. Iran had vowed to retaliate against US forces in the region if Washington got involved. “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.”A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.”Trump added that “all planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors.” Iranian media confirmed that part of the Fordo plant as well as the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites were attacked.Trump spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the attacks, while the United States also gave key ally Israel a “heads up” before the strikes, a senior White House official told AFP.In a second post announcing his address to the nation from the White House, Trump said that “IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR.”He described it as a “historic” moment for the United States, Israel and the world.Earlier Saturday there were reports that US B-2 bombers — which carry so-called “bunker buster” bombs — were headed out of the United States across the Pacific.Trump did not say what kind of US planes or munitions were involved.- ‘More devastating’ -Trump said on Thursday that he would decide “within two weeks” whether to join Israel’s campaign — but the decision came far sooner.The US president had also stepped up his rhetoric against Iran in recent days, repeating his insistence that it could never have a nuclear weapon.Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian had warned earlier Saturday of a “more devastating” retaliation should Israel’s nine-day bombing campaign continue, saying the Islamic republic would not halt its nuclear program “under any circumstances.”Israel and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since Israel launched its aerial campaign on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.On Saturday, Israel said it had attacked Isfahan for a second time, with the UN nuclear watchdog reporting that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop had been hit.Later Saturday Iran’s Mehr news agency said Israel had hit the southern city of Shiraz, which hosts military bases.Iran’s Revolutionary Guard meanwhile announced early Sunday that “suicide drones” had been launched against “strategic targets” across Israel.Iran denies seeking an atomic bomb, and on Saturday Pezeshkian said its right to pursue a civilian nuclear program “cannot be taken away… by threats or war.”- ‘Continued aggression’ -In a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Pezeshkian said “we do not agree to reduce nuclear activities to zero under any circumstances,” he added, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Istanbul on Saturday for a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the conflict.Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany had met Araghchi in Geneva on Friday and urged him to resume nuclear talks with the United States that had been derailed by the war.Iran’s Huthi allies in Yemen on Saturday threatened to resume their attacks on US vessels in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war, despite a recent ceasefire agreement.The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said Friday that, based on its sources and media reports, at least 657 people had been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians.Iran’s health ministry on Saturday gave a toll of more than 400 people killed in the Israeli strikes.Iran’s retaliatory strikes have killed at least 25 people in Israel, according to official figures.Leading US Democrat Hakeem Jeffries said Trump risked US “entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East,” while the Israeli army has raised its alert level, permitting only essential activities until further notice.

Ex-members of secret US abortion group fear return to dark era

They were once part of an underground network that helped an estimated 11,000 women get abortions before the US Supreme Court established a constitutional right to the procedure in 1973.More than 50 years on, former members of the “Jane Collective” are watching in disbelief as America slides back toward the era they risked everything to end.”I was crushed,” recalls Abby Pariser, speaking to AFP ahead of the third anniversary on June 24 of the landmark Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v Wade and erased the federal right to terminate a pregnancy.”I was infuriated that they could do this to women,” adds the 80-year-old Pariser at her home in Huntington, a suburb of New York City, wearing a T-shirt declaring “Bold Women. Change History.”Like many of the now-retired women, Pariser devoted her life to defending reproductive rights at a time when abortion was widely illegal in the United States.The story began in Chicago in the late 1960s.Students, mothers, and young professionals — “ordinary women,” as they describe themselves — came together, helping others access clandestine abortions. They risked prison as they negotiated prices with doctors willing to perform the procedures — and some even learned to do them themselves.”It was just unbelievable that this would occur in this time and era, that we would go back to something this devastating,” says a fellow ex-Jane, Sakinah Ahad Shannon, her voice breaking with emotion.The seismic reversal — and the release of the HBO documentary “The Janes” — brought renewed attention to their story. Several former members have since spoken out, recounting the hardships women faced before the Roe ruling.- Mobsters and back-alley surgeries -At the time, access to contraception was severely limited, and the very notion of abortion was steeped in taboo, recalls Laura Kaplan, a former Jane and author of a book on the subject, who now lives in the iconic New York village of Woodstock.Out of public view, women resorted to desperate measures to end unwanted pregnancies — from ingesting poison to seeking help from underground abortionists.The illicit trade was dominated by corrupt doctors and Mafia intermediaries, who charged exorbitant fees. Abortions typically cost around $500, Kaplan remembers.”You could rent a decent one-bedroom apartment in Chicago for $150 a month at the time,” she says. “Just to give you a sense of how expensive abortions were.”Beyond the financial burden, women were often subjected to sexual assault, humiliation, or medical malpractice. Some did not survive.”There were wards in every major city’s public hospitals for women suffering the effects of illegal abortions — whether self-induced or performed by someone else — and they were dying,” Kaplan adds.The Jane network emerged in response to this grim reality, aligned with the broader women’s liberation movement of the time. They adopted pseudonyms, opened a phone hotline, and raised funds to help women who could not afford the procedure. Some later trained to perform dilation and curettage procedures themselves.- Hope -“Women paid $10, $50 — whatever they had in their pockets,” says Kaplan.But in the spring of 1972, seven members of the collective, including Pariser, were arrested during a police raid.”It was scary,” she recalls, describing a night in jail and the disbelief of officers who had stumbled upon an all-female clandestine network.Still, the others pressed on. “We knew what we were doing was committing multiple felonies every day we worked,” Kaplan adds with a smile. “We were well aware of that.”Had Roe not been decided, they could all have spent their lives behind bars — a prospect that, today, no longer feels remote.Since the federal right to abortion was overturned, more than 20 states have banned or sharply curtailed access to the procedure, forcing women to travel across state lines or resort — once again — to illegal means.Such restrictions have already led to multiple preventable deaths from delayed miscarriage care, according to reporting by ProPublica.Access could shrink further with the return to power of President Donald Trump, who takes credit for reshaping the Supreme Court during his first term and paving the way for its reversal on abortion. Observers are closely watching for moves to restrict access to abortion pills, which now account for the majority of terminations.”I think we were very naive,” reflects Pariser, believing the battles of their youth had secured lasting progress.”The people who were shooting doctors and killing them in clinics or churches on Sunday — these are maniacs. These are terrible people.” Just this month, a gunman suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker was reportedly found with a hit list targeting abortion providers, activists and politicians who support access to abortion.Even so, the Janes believe today’s generation of women are better informed, with higher reproductive health literacy and broad access to online resources.”Just like we said no 50 years ago, they’re saying no today — and that’s what gives me hope,” says Ahad Shannon.