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Thousands marched on Saturday outside a French trade fair, calling for an end to war profiteering and Israel’s offensive in Gaza in the latest demonstration to hit the event.The long-planned protest at the Paris Air Show outside the French capital also comes as Israel’s war with Iran drags on into a ninth day, with Tehran threatening to hit back in force at Israel’s offensive against its arch-rival.The presence of Israeli defence firms at the show has already become a bone of contention, with the French government on Monday sealing off the booths of five Israeli firms on the grounds that they were displaying offensive weapons that could be used in Gaza.”Their wars, their profits, our deaths, stop the genocide in Palestine,” read the banner at the head of the march, which organisers claimed drew more than 4,000 protesters.”As we speak, people are dying and our governments are not doing anything to stop it,” Nora, 29, told AFP at the protest. Draped in a Palestinian flag, the project leader in the pharmaceutical industry said that she felt “rage” at the footage coming out of Gaza, including that of “mothers kissing their dead children” in the besieged Palestinian territory.Police have arrested seven people aiming to disrupt the trade fair, the Paris public prosecutor office said, with officers discovering a helium canister and nearly 200 balloons during the searches.Six of the arrests were made on Friday and the other on Saturday, the prosecutor’s office added.Drawing some 100,000 visitors a day, the Paris Air Show at the Le Bourget airfield, nine kilometres (five miles) to the north of the capital, is usually dominated by displays of the aerospace industry’s latest cutting-edge planes. But Monday’s shuttering of the stands of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael, UVision and Elbit, as well as Aeronautics, which make drones and guided bombs and missiles, sparked a row with Israel.Israel’s President Isaac Herzog branded Paris’s closure of the Israeli firms’ booths “outrageous”, comparing it to “creating an Israeli ghetto”.It came days after Israel, claiming Iran was on the verge of obtaining a nuclear bomb, launched a surprise barrage on June 13 which killed top Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists.Tehran immediately hit back with a flurry of missiles, with the two countries trading wave after wave of devastating strikes since.

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched in London and Berlin on Saturday calling for an end to the war in Gaza, amid concerns that the Iran-Israel conflict could spark wider regional devastation.Protesters in the British capital waved Palestinian flags, donned keffiyeh scarves and 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, attending his third pro-Palestinian protest.”I don’t have great love for the Iranian regime, but we are now in a dangerous situation,” he added.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.Saturday’s march comes amid heightened global tensions as the United States mulls joining Israel’s strikes against Iran.Cries of “Palestine will be free” rang out as protesters carried signs saying “Hands off Gaza” or “Stop starving Gaza”.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.”I feel frustrated, angry because of what’s happening in Gaza,” said 31-year-old data analyst Jose Diaz.”It’s in everyone’s eyes. It’s still on after so many months,” Diaz added.- ‘Scared’ -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 1,219 people were killed in Israel by the Islamist group’s October 7, 2023, attack.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. I’m scared,” she said.Tehran said over 400 people have 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.In Berlin, more than 10,000 people gathered in the centre of the city in support of Gaza, according to police figures.”You can’t sit on the sofa and be silent. Now is the time when we all need to speak up,” said protestor Gundula, who did not want to give her second name.”Germany finances, Israel bombs” was among the chants from the crowd, which gathered mid-afternoon close to the German parliament.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.

Israel said Saturday it had killed three more Iranian commanders in its unprecedented bombing campaign against the Islamic republic, which Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed had delayed Tehran’s alleged progress towards a nuclear weapon by two years.Israel’s military said a strike in Qom south of Tehran successfully targeted top Iranian official Saeed Izadi, in charge of coordination with Palestinian militant group Hamas, adding two other commanders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were also killed overnight.As Israel continued to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities and military targets, Saar said in an interview that by his country’s own assessment, it had “already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb”.”We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat,” Saar told German newspaper Bild, asserting Israel’s onslaught would continue.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 — an accusation the Islamic republic has denied.Israel said it had attacked Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site for a second time after its air force announced it had also launched salvos against missile storage and launch sites in the centre of the country.The army later said it was striking military infrastructure in southwest Iran.US President Donald Trump warned on Friday that Tehran had a “maximum” of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes, as Washington weighs whether to join Israel’s campaign.- ‘Not prepared to negotiate’ -Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Istanbul on Saturday for a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the conflict.Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met Araghchi in Geneva on Friday, and urged him to resume talks with the United States that had been derailed by Israel’s attacks.But Araghchi told NBC News after the meeting that “we’re not prepared to negotiate with them (the United States) anymore, as long as the aggression continues”. Trump, dismissive of European diplomatic efforts, also said he was unlikely to ask Israel to stop its attacks to get Iran back to the table.”If somebody’s winning, it’s a little bit harder to do,” he said. Any US involvement would likely feature powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses to destroy an underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordo.A US-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, said on Friday that based on its sources and media reports at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians.Iran’s health ministry on Saturday gave a toll of more than 400 people killed and 3,056 in the Israeli strikes.Nasrin, 39, who was receiving treatment at Hazrat Rasool hospital in Tehran and who gave only her first name, said she had been thrown across a room in her home by an Israeli strike on the Iranian capital”I just hit the wall. I don’t know how long I was unconscious. When I woke up, I was covered in blood from head to toe,” she told AFP from her hospital bed. – ‘Pure speculation’ -Traffic police and the Fars news agency reported congestion on roads heading into Tehran on Saturday, indicating some inhabitants were returning to the capital. Internet access remained highly unstable and limited in Tehran, with slow connections and many sites still inaccessible, according to AFP journalists.Iran’s retaliatory strikes have killed at least 25 people in Israel, according to official figures.Overnight, Iran said it targeted central Israel with drones and missiles. Israeli rescuers said there were no casualties after an Iranian drone struck a residential building in Beit She’an.At the site of the strike in the north of Israel, mounds of soil had been gouged from the ground and the wall of a ground-floor room was destroyed.Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate said more than 450 missiles have been fired at the country so far, along with about 400 drones.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted military sites and air force bases.In Tel Aviv, where residents have faced regular Iranian strikes for nine days, some expressed growing fatigue under the constant threat from Iran.”In the middle of the night, we have to wake the children and take them to the shelter,” Omer, who gave only his first name, told AFP. “They are tired all day after that,” he added, explaining he still supported Israel’s war aim of denying Iran a nuclear weapon. Western powers have repeatedly expressed concerns about the expansion of Iran’s nuclear programme, questioning in particular the country’s accelerated uranium enrichment.International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi has said Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons to enrich uranium to 60 percent.However, he added that there was no evidence Tehran had all the components to make a functioning nuclear warhead.Grossi told CNN it was “pure speculation” to say how long it would take Iran to develop weapons.burs-csp/smw

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli fire killed at least 12 people on Saturday, including eight who had gathered near aid distribution sites in the Palestinian territory suffering severe food shortages.Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that three people were killed by gunfire from Israeli forces while waiting to collect aid in the southern Gaza Strip.In a separate incident, Bassal said five people were killed in a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations.The Israeli army told AFP it was “looking into” both incidents, which according to the civil defence agency occurred near distribution centres run by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.Its operations began at the end of May — when Israel eased a total aid blockade that lasted more than two months — but have been marred by chaotic scenes and neutrality concerns.UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said on Saturday that 450 people had been killed and 3,466 others injured while seeking aid in near-daily incidents since late May.The Israeli blockade imposed in early March amid an impasse in truce negotiations had produced famine-like conditions across Gaza, according to rights groups.Israel’s military has pressed its operations across Gaza more than 20 months since an unprecedented Hamas attack triggered the devastating war, and even as attention has shifted to the war with Iran since June 13.Bassal told AFP that three people were killed on Saturday in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City in the north, and one more in another strike on the southern city of Khan Yunis.Israeli forces also demolished more than 10 houses in Gaza City “by detonating them with explosives”, he added.Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities.Earlier this week, the UN’s World Health Organization warned that Gaza’s health system was at a “breaking point”, pleading for fuel to be allowed into the territory to keep its remaining hospitals running.The Hamas attack in October 2023 that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 55,908 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry. The UN considers these figures reliable.

Israel’s rescue services said Saturday that an Iranian drone had struck a residential building in the north of the country following a wave of attacks reported by the military.”A drone strike hit a two-storey residential building in northern Israel”, the Magen David Adom said in a statement, referring to an impact site in the Beit She’an valley by the northeastern border with Jordan.Israel’s sophisticated air defences have intercepted more than 450 missiles fired at the country by Iran, along with around 400 drones, since the start of the war on June 13, according to official figures.  The locations of strikes in Israel are subject to strict military censorship rules and are not always provided in detail to the public.  The National Public Diplomacy Directorate, which is overseen by Israel’s prime minister, has acknowleged 50 impact sites.At least 19 people were injured in Haifa on Friday following a strike on a building by the city’s docks.The northern Israeli port has been frequently targeted along with coastal hub Tel Aviv and southern Beersheba. AFP photographs from the scene of the drone strike in Beit She’an on Saturday showed a hole torn in the side of the building next to a crater and mounds of earth that appeared to have been thrown up by the drone’s explosives. Magen David Adom said its rescue teams found no visible casualties as they arrived at the scene.In separate statements, the Israeli military reported several drones had been sighted and intercepted at locations in northern Israel mid-morning on Saturday after a barrage of 40 drones overnight.A total of 25 people have been killed in Israel since the start of the war, according to official figures. 

Water levels at Iraq’s vast Dukan Dam reservoir have plummeted as a result of dwindling rains and further damming upstream, hitting millions of inhabitants already impacted by drought with stricter water rationing.Amid these conditions, visible cracks have emerged in the retreating shoreline of the artificial lake, which lies in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region and was created in the 1950s.Dukan Lake has been left three quarters empty, with its director Kochar Jamal Tawfeeq explaining its reserves currently stand at around 1.6 billion cubic metres of water out of a possible seven billion. That is “about 24 percent” of its capacity, the official said, adding that the level of water in the lake had not been so low in roughly 20 years. Satellite imagery analysed by AFP shows the lake’s surface area shrank by 56 percent between the end of May 2019, the last year it was completely full, and the beginning of June 2025.Tawfeeq blamed climate change and a “shortage of rainfall” explaining that the timing of the rains had also become irregular.Over the winter season, Tawfeeq said the Dukan region received 220 millimetres (8.7 inches) of rain, compared to a typical 600 millimetres.- ‘Harvest failed’ -Upstream damming of the Little Zab River, which flows through Iran and feeds Dukan, was a secondary cause of the falling water levels, Tawfeeq explained. Also buffeted by drought, Iran has built dozens of structures on the river to increase its own water reserves. Baghdad has criticised these kinds of dams, built both by Iran and neighbouring Turkey, accusing them of significantly restricting water flow into Iraq via the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.Iraq, and its 46 million inhabitants, have been intensely impacted by the effects of climate change, experiencing rising temperatures, year-on-year droughts and rampant desertification.At the end of May, the country’s total water reserves were at their lowest level in 80 years.On the slopes above Dukan lies the village of Sarsian, where Hussein Khader Sheikhah, 57, was planting a summer crop on a hectare of land.The farmer said he hoped a short-term summer crop of the kind typically planted in the area for an autumn harvest — cucumbers, melons, chickpeas, sunflower seeds and beans — would help him offset some of the losses over the winter caused by drought.In winter, in another area near the village, he planted 13 hectares mainly of wheat.”The harvest failed because of the lack of rain,” he explained, adding that he lost an equivalent of almost $5,700 to the poor yield.”I can’t make up for the loss of 13 hectares with just one hectare near the river,” he added.- ‘Stricter rationing’ – The water shortage at Dukan has affected around four million people downstream in the neighbouring Sulaimaniyah and Kirkuk governorates, including their access to drinking water.For more than a month, water treatment plants in Kirkuk have been trying to mitigate a sudden, 40 percent drop in the supplies reaching them, according to local water resource official Zaki Karim.In a country ravaged by decades of conflict, with crumbling infrastructure and floundering public policies, residents already receive water intermittently.The latest shortages are forcing even “stricter rationing” and more infrequent water distributions, Karim said.In addition to going door-to-door to raise awareness about water waste, the authorities were also cracking down on illegal access to the water networkIn the province of roughly two million inhabitants, the aim is to minimise the impact on the provincial capital of Kirkuk.”If some treatment plants experience supply difficulties, we will ensure that there are no total interruptions, so everyone can receive their share,” Karim said.burx-str-tgg/feb/csp/tc/jsa

Israel claimed on Saturday it has already set back Iran’s presumed nuclear programme by at least two years, a day after US President Donald Trump warned that Tehran has a “maximum” of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes.Trump has been mulling whether to involve the United States in Israel’s bombing campaign, indicating in his latest comments that he could take a decision before the two week deadline he set this week.Israel said Saturday its air force had launched fresh air strikes against missile storage and launch sites in central Iran, as it kept up a wave of attacks it says are aimed at preventing its rival from developing nuclear weapons — an ambition Tehran has denied.”According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb,” Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar said in an interview published Saturday.Saar said Israel’s week-long onslaught would continue. “We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat,” he told German newspaper Bild.Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday and urged him to resume talks with the United States that had been derailed by Israel’s attacks.French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said “we invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for.”But Araghchi told NBC News after the meeting that “we’re not prepared to negotiate with them (the United States) anymore, as long as the aggression continues.” Trump was dismissive of European diplomacy efforts, telling reporters, “Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this.”Trump also said he’s unlikely to ask Israel to stop its attacks to get Iran back to the table.”If somebody’s winning, it’s a little bit harder to do,” he said. Any US involvement would likely feature powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses to destroy an underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordo.On the streets of Tehran, many shops were closed and normally busting markets largely abandoned on Friday.- 450 missiles – A US-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, said on Friday based on its sources and media reports that at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians.Iran has not updated its tolls since Sunday, when it said that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.Since Israel launched its offensive on June 13, targeting nuclear and military sites but also hitting residential areas, Iran has responded with barrages which Israeli authorities say have killed at least 25 people.A hospital in the Israeli port of Haifa reported 19 wounded, including one person in a serious condition, after the latest Iranian salvo.Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate said more than 450 missiles have been fired at the country so far, along with about 400 drones.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted military sites and air force bases.- ‘Madness’ -Western powers have repeatedly expressed concerns about the rapid expansion of Iran’s nuclear programme, questioning in particular the country’s accelerated uranium enrichment. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons to enrich uranium to 60 percent.However, it added that there was no evidence it had all the components to make a functioning nuclear warhead.The agency’s chief Rafael Grossi told CNN it was “pure speculation” to say how long it would take Iran to develop weapons.Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the conflict was at a “perilous moment” and it was “hugely important that we don’t see regional escalation”.Araghchi arrived in Istanbul on Saturday according to the Tasnim news agency, for a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the Iran-Israel conflict.Switzerland announced it was temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran, adding that it would continue to fulfil its role representing US interests in Iran.burs-ser/ami/kir/gv/acb/tc/mtp

Israel’s war with Iran has entered its second week with the Israeli military chief warning of a “prolonged campaign”.Here are the latest developments:- Delayed by ‘two or three years’ -Israel’s foreign minister said its strikes on Iran have delayed Tehran’s potential to develop a nuclear weapon by at least two or three years.”According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in an interview.Western powers have repeatedly expressed concerns about the rapid expansion of Iran’s nuclear programme, questioning in particular the country’s accelerated uranium enrichment.The International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons to enrich uranium to 60 percent.However, it added that there was no evidence it had all the components to make a functioning nuclear warhead.- ‘Prolonged campaign’ -Israel’s armed forces chief Eyal Zamir warned that his country should be “ready for a prolonged campaign” against Iran.”We have embarked on the most complex campaign in our history to remove a threat of such magnitude, against such an enemy. We must be ready for a prolonged campaign,” Zamir said in a video statement to Israelis.Israel launched attacks against Iran on June 13 which have combined targeted assassinations of key military personnel with strikes on Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities.He said Israelis needed to brace for more difficulties, as the country comes under daily attack from Iranian ballistic missiles.In an interview with German publication Bild, Israel’s top diplomat Gideon Saar said Israel believes it has set back Iran’s nuclear programme by “two to three years” but said the strikes would continue in order “to remove this threat.” – Geneva meeting -As US President Donald Trump mulls the prospect of entering the war, top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met with their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva.Referring to nuclear negotiations with Washington that had been derailed by the war, Araghchi said Iran is ready to consider diplomacy “once the aggression is stopped”.Tehran did “support the continuation of discussion with” the European countries and was willing “to meet again in the near future”, Araghchi told reporters.French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot urged Iran to resume negotiations with all sides “without awaiting the cessation of strikes”.- Trump says Iran wants talks -Trump said the Europeans were “not going to be able to help” end the war.”Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us,” he said.He also said Iran had a “maximum” of two weeks to avoid possible US air strikes, indicating he could take a decision before the fortnight deadline he set a day earlier.- New day of strikes  -Israel said Saturday it’s air force had launched fresh airstrikes against missile storage and launch sites in central Iran.A US-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, put the death toll in Iran at 657 people including at least 263 civilians, citing Iranian sources and reports.Iran said Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. Authorities have not issued an updated toll since.Iran launched two salvoes of missiles at Israel on Friday. At least 19 people were injured in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, a local hospital said.At least 25 people have been killed in Israel since the war began, according to Israeli authorities.- Diplomats quit Tehran -Britain said it had withdrawn its embassy staff from Iran, while Switzerland announced the temporary closure of its embassy.”Our embassy continues to operate remotely,” the British foreign ministry said.Switzerland cited the “highly unstable situation on the ground” for its decision. It said it would continue to fulfil its role representing US interests in Iran.burs-kir/ami/gv/acb/tc