04-04 00:02 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Trump says downing of F-15 will not affect talks as Iranian forces say they also struck an A-10 aircraft near Hormuz.
Iranian forces have said they struck down two fighter jets belonging to the United States military, one over the southwest part of the country and another around the Strait of Hormuz.
A spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said on Friday that air defences completely destroyed one F-15 jet. Later in the day, the Iranian military said it targeted an A-10 US aircraft that crashed into the Gulf.
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The New York Times had cited unidentified officials as saying that the A10’s pilot was safe after the crash.
But the fate of at least one pilot from the downed F-15 crew is unknown. Several US media outlets reported that one crew member of the jet was located and rescued by US forces, but the other remains missing.
US President Donald Trump told NBC News on Friday that the downing of the jet will not affect the prospect of talks with Tehran. “No, not at all. No, it’s war. We’re in war,” he said.
State media outlets in Iran showed photos of the wreckage of the F-15 jet and what appears to be an ejection seat with an attached parachute.
After the jet was downed, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf mocked Trump’s repeated claims of victory in the war.
“After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from ‘regime change’ to ‘Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?'” Ghalibaf wrote in a social media post.
There was no immediate comment on the incident from the Pentagon and US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees military operations in the Middle East and much of Asia.
After past Iranian claims of downing US jets, CENTCOM has been quick to deny the reports.
Iranian officials called on civilians to be on the lookout for survivors. The governor of Iran’s Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province said whoever captured the crew “would be specially commended”, according to the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA.
Several US politicians acknowledged reports of the downed jet and expressed support for the US military.
“I’m praying for the safe return of the crew aboard the fighter jet and all of those working to rescue them in these dangerous conditions,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the social media platform X.
Since the start of the war on February 28, the US has lost three F-15 fighter jets in what it said was a friendly fire incident over Kuwait. A US military refuelling aircraft also fell over Iraq last month, killing all six crew members.
In addition, Iran has claimed to have struck down dozens of US drones over the country.
Trump and his top aides have repeatedly asserted that the US destroyed all of Iran’s air defences since the war began.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem said Iranian officials offered a reward for the downed pilots and called for locals to join in the search.
“The Iranians over the past days, since the March 19, been saying that they’ve introduced a new system that they developed after the 12 day war,” Hashem said.
Myles Caggins, a retired US Army colonel and non-resident senior fellow at New Lines Institute, a foreign policy think tank, called the downing of the jet a “significant event” for the US military.
“Iran’s primary air defence weapons were destroyed in the first days of the war through airstrikes or taken offline through sophisticated cyber attacks, but there are still manned portable air defence systems, and possibly that is the type of system that’s carried by one person that could have shot down this F-15,” Caggins said.
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04-04 00:02 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
The crew were about 100,000 miles (160,000 kilometres) from Earth and were quickly closing in on the moon.
NASA has released the first images taken from inside the Artemis II Orion spacecraft, where four astronauts are currently travelling on a mission around the moon.
In a photograph shared on Friday, mission commander Reid Wiseman captured a view of Earth through the capsule’s window. The image shows the planet veiled in sweeping cloud formations, appearing to rise beyond the spacecraft as the crew continues its journey.
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A different image shows the entire globe with the oceans. A green aurora even glows.
As of midmorning Friday, Wiseman and his crew were 100,000 miles (160,000 kilometres) from Earth and were quickly closing in on the moon with another 160,000 miles (258,000km) to go. They should reach their destination on Monday.
The three American astronauts and one Canadian will fly around the moon in the Orion capsule before looping back toward Earth without landing. The spacecraft was set on its course after the crew fired Orion’s main engine on Thursday night.
“I knew that that is what we would see,” mission specialist Christina Koch, the first woman to journey around the moon told ABC News in a video call on Thursday night.
“But there’s nothing that prepares you for the breathtaking aspect of seeing your home planet both lit up bright as day and also the moon glow on it at night with a beautiful beam of the sunset and knowing that we’re going to get similar views of the moon. I’m really excited for that. And then, of course, heading home,” she added.
‘You look beautiful’
The mission is now on its third day out of a planned 10-day flight.
On the sixth day of the mission is the day the crew fly by the moon. The spacecraft reaches its closest approach, approximately 4,000-6,000 miles (6,450-9,650km) above the lunar surface.
The astronauts will travel around the far side of the moon, the first humans to journey that far into deep space in more than 50 years. Before that phase, the crew are rehearsing the scientific observations they plan to carry out during the lunar flyby.
A flyby is when a spacecraft flies around a planet or the moon without landing, using the object’s gravity to change direction and head back the way it came.
After looping around the moon, the spacecraft will use its gravity to return to Earth, with splashdown expected in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on April 11 at about 00:06 GMT (8:06pm ET, on April 10).
For the astronauts, the journey is not only a technical mission but also a personal one. Seeing Earth from deep space is a reminder of humanity’s shared identity, said Victor Glover, the first Black astronaut to make the journey beyond low-Earth orbit.
“Trust us, you look amazing. You look beautiful,” Glover told ABC, describing the view of Earth from space. “From up here, you look like one thing. Homo sapiens is all of us – no matter where you’re from or what you look like. We’re all one people.
“We call amazing things that humans do ‘moonshots’ for a reason. This mission brought us together and showed us what we can do … when we bring our differences together and use all the strengths to accomplish something great.”
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04-04 00:02 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Water plant hit in Kuwait as Iran warns to expand attacks if Trump follows through on threats to escalate strikes.
A US fighter jet has been shot down over Iran, state media says, adding that the US military is trying to conduct a search and rescue operation in central Iran. An unnamed US official has confirmed the news with Reuters.
Iran later said it shot down a US A-10 aircraft near the Strait of Hormuz.
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04-04 00:02 · 中东,局势,BBC,中东
The White House says it is making the entire region safer by eliminating short and long-term threats.
International law experts allege violations in Iran war
More than 100 experts on international law have signed an open letter expressing "profound concern" about what they see as serious violations of international law by the US, Israel and Iran in the Middle East war.
They say the US-Israeli decision to attack on Iran was a clear breach of the United Nations Charter, which prohibits the use of force outside of self-defence or when authorised by the UN Security Council.
The experts point to "alarming rhetoric" being used by officials, including US President Donald Trump's threats to "obliterate" Iran's power plants.
In response, the White House said Trump was making the entire region safer and dismissed what it described as "so-called experts".
In the letter, the experts also took issue with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's statement that "no quarter" should be given for enemies.
Denial of quarter in conflict means refusing to spare the life of anybody, even those who surrender or are wounded.
In international law, say the signatories, it was "especially forbidden" to declare that no quarter will be given, a prohibition also set out in the Department of Defense's own law of war manual.
The signatories include:
- Jonathan Tracy, a former US Army judge advocate
- Harold Hongju Koh, a former legal adviser at the US state department
- Oona A Hathaway, a professor of international law at the Yale Law School and president-elect of the American Society of International Law
They say: "We are gravely concerned that the conduct and threats outlined here are causing serious harm to civilians... and that they risk degrading the rule of law and fundamental norms that protect every nation's civilians.
"Public statements by senior officials indicate an alarming disrespect for the rules of international humanitarian law accepted by states, and which protect both civilians and members of the armed forces."
The White House accused the Iranian authorities of "maiming and killing Americans, acting as the primary state sponsor of terror and brutally murdering its own people for merely speaking out against its oppressive rule" for the past 47 years.
Trump, it insisted, was "making the entire region safer and more stable by eliminating Iran's short- and long-term threats to the United States and our allies".
The war is reported to have claimed thousands of lives:
- The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says that 1,606 civilians, including at least 244 children, have been killed in Iran since the start of the conflict
- Lebanon's health ministry has said 1,345 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since 2 March
- Missile attacks on Israel launched from Iran and Lebanon have killed 19 civilians since the start of the war, according to Israeli emergency services
- In the Gulf states that have come under Iranian attack, local authorities have reported at least 24 people killed, most of them security personnel or foreign workers - including 12 in the UAE, seven in Kuwait, two each in Oman, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and one in Bahrain
Tom Fletcher, the UN's humanitarian chief, told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday that "somewhere along the way" international law had been "thrown aside".
"The rules are very clear and very strong," he added, but the problem was "enforcement". He described the war as "reckless".
The US Department of Defense has said it was investigating the attack, which a growing body of evidence has suggested was probably the result of a US strike.
One theory believed to be part of the investigation is that the school, next to an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps base, could have been hit as a result of outdated intelligence.
The experts' letter says the strike "likely violates international humanitarian law, and if evidence is found that those responsible were reckless, it could also be a war crime".
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04-04 00:02 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Officials say the hip-hop star was forced to sign papers releasing a rapper known as Pooh Shiesty from his record contract.
Rapper Gucci Mane kidnapped and robbed by fellow artist, prosecutors say
Rapper Gucci Mane was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint in Dallas earlier this year, leading to the arrests of eight men, including a fellow artist signed to his label, officials say.
Prosecutors allege rapper Pooh Shiesty, born Lontrell Williams Jr, led the ambush under the guise of a meeting, holding Mane captive inside a recording studio and forcing him to sign papers releasing him from his contract.
Mane is an Atlanta-based artist who has collaborated with Usher, Doja Cat, Drake and other stars. He founded his label, 1017 Records, in 2007 and Williams Jr signed as an artist in 2020.
The defendants, who are yet to enter their pleas, could face life in prison if convicted.
Eight of the nine defendants were arrested on Wednesday in Dallas, Memphis and Nashville, and charged in federal court with kidnapping and armed robbery.
One suspect remains at large, and investigators are working with authorities in the state of Georgia to locate him, US Attorney Ryan Raybould told a news conference on Thursday.
The incident took place on 10 January, a federal complaint says, when Williams Jr was supposed to be under house arrest for a previous firearms conspiracy conviction.
He was allegedly joined by eight co-defendants, including his father, Lontrell Williams Sr, all of whom are accused of participating in the crime.
A sworn statement from the FBI says Williams Jr pointed a "black AK-style pistol" at Mane and forced him to sign the papers. He also allegedly stole Mane's wedding ring, watch, earrings and cash.
The other suspects allegedly brandished pistols as well, demanding property from additional victims in the room, identified in the complaint only by initials.
One of the victims was choked and injured, and had his Rolex watch, Louis Vuitton bag, AirPods and wallet stolen from him, according to the complaint.
"Within hours of leaving the Dallas studio, a number of the defendants were on social media displaying some of the items that appeared to be the jewellery that had been robbed from the victims," Raybould said.
Prosecutors say the rapper and the other victims believed "they were going to be executed" before the defendants ordered them to leave the building and go to their cars.
Representatives for Williams Jr and Mane did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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04-04 00:02 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
The Paris police department had argued that the four-day gathering was a security threat because it could be a target of terrorism.
France's Muslim gathering ban overturned by courts
A major gathering of Muslims in northern Paris is going ahead as planned after a French court overturned a government bid to ban it.
The Paris police department argued that the four-day Annual Encounter of Muslims of France was a security threat because it could be a target of terrorism.
But the organisers – the Muslims of France (MF) association – sought an emergency injunction to let the event go ahead, arguing that a ban would be a breach of basic liberties.
The administrative court agreed and overturned the government decree, just two hours before the planned 14:00 (13:00 BST) opening.
The court said in its ruling that elements provided by police "did not establish the risk of counter-demonstrations, or that the gathering would be targeted by far-right groups".
It also dismissed the argument that the event would pose an unacceptable strain on police resources, noting that the organisers had themselves assured extra security.
Part cultural and religious conference, part trade fair, the gathering used to be an annual event, but has not been held since 2019. Before that it regularly drew tens of thousands of people from across Europe.
The Muslims of France association - France's biggest Muslim body - is said by critics to be close to the international Muslim Brotherhood, though it denies that.
Earlier, in justifying the ban, the Paris police department said that in "an international and national context which is particularly tense", the gathering was "exposed to an important terrorist risk toward the Muslim community".
"In a context of political agitation and a heavy polarisation of debate" it was possible that "small far-right groups could mobilise with a view to disrupting the event", it said.
It also claimed that actions against the gathering could be "conducted remotely by foreign influences".
France has regularly accused Russia, as well as Iran, of stirring up dissension by paying proxies to carry out small-scale acts of provocation or sabotage.
The ban came as France announced plans for a new "anti-separatism" law, aimed mainly at Muslim structures promoting ideas deemed contrary to the principles of the republic.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the aim was to complement a previous similar law, passed five years ago, which allowed the government to close associations accused of promoting Islamic separatism.
"There are still some structures which we have been unable to reach," he told a radio station. "One issue is how we control collective childcare. We need to be able to control it, but right now we can't.
"More generally, we want to be able to ban publications which carry appeals to hate, violence or discrimination."
The MF's lawyer Sefen Guez Guez told the injunction hearing that banning the event was a "manifest breach of the right to assemble" and clearly aimed at "promoting the [government's] new law".
But a police lawyer said the sole reason was to preserve public order. "This is not an anti-Muslim or anti-Islam decree," he said.
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04-04 00:02 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
It appears to be the first ship owned by a major European firm to go through the strait since the conflict began.
French-owned ship passes through Strait of Hormuz
A French-owned ship has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, more than a month after the US-Israeli war with Iran effectively closed the vital transport route.
The Malta-flagged container ship owned by French company CMA CGM crossed the strait, media organisation BFM TV - which is owned by the shipping company - confirmed on Friday. CMA CGM declined to comment.
It is the first ship owned by a major Western European firm to go through the strait since the conflict began, shipping analysts Kpler confirmed.
Tracking data showed the French-owned ship passed close to the coast of Oman on the opposite side of the waterway to Iran. It is unclear what the ship was carrying.
A Japanese ship carrying natural gas also made it out of the Strait of Hormuz, Japanese shipping giant MOL confirmed.
"The safety of the vessel and all crew members have been confirmed," MOL said. "We will continue to place the highest priority on ensuring the safety of our crew, cargo, and vessels as operations proceed."
US President Donald Trump has said the US could reopen the strait, but has expressed frustrations with allies for not providing assistance in doing so.
"With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE," he wrote on Truth Social. "IT WOULD BE A 'GUSHER' FOR THE WORLD???"
About a fifth of the world's oil and liquid natural gas is transported through the Strait of Hormuz from the Gulf countries.
But when the conflict began in late February, shipping was suspended, leaving about 200 vessels stranded in the surrounding waters according to Lloyd's List.
While traffic is down about 95% compared to before the conflict, shipping through the narrow waterway has not stopped altogether.
Roughly a third of those ships had links to Iran, Verify confirmed, while other vessels were linked to countries such as Pakistan and India.
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04-04 00:02 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Capt Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in 2023, says democratic rule would not work for his country.
Burkina Faso must 'forget' about democracy, military leader says
Democracy "kills" and the people of Burkina Faso must "forget" it, the country's military ruler has said in an interview aired on state television.
Capt Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in a coup three years ago, suggested most Africans do not want the system of democracy and that Burkina Faso had its own, alternative approach, without giving details.
Traoré initially pledged to restore democratic rule to the West African country by July 2024, but two months before this deadline, the junta announced it would extend its rule for another five years.
In January, the authorities announced a ban on all political parties as part of a plan to "rebuild the state".
In Thursday night's interview, Traoré said: "People need to forget about the issue of democracy. Democracy is not for us.
"Look at Libya, this is an example close to us," said the 38-year-old, who casts himself as a revolutionary leader standing up to Western imperialism.
Libya was ruled autocratically for four decades by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who oversaw a brutal regime while also providing Libyans with subsidised housing, free education and free healthcare.
He was killed during a rebellion assisted by Western military intervention. The north African country has since failed to hold elections and is split between two rival administrations, along with numerous armed groups.
"Wherever they [Western powers] try to establish democracy in the world, it's always accompanied by bloodshed," Traoré said in his interview.
While there has been a spate of military takeovers in recent years, most African countries do still hold regular elections, even if some are criticised as being rigged in favour of incumbents. Two military leaders - in Gabon and Guinea - have organised elections which they have gone on to win.
Traoré also addressed the dissolution of political parties, saying he considered them to be divisive, dangerous and incompatible with the revolutionary protect.
"The truth is, politics in Africa – or at least what we've experienced in Burkina - is that a real politician is someone who embodies every vice: a liar, a sycophant, a smooth-talker," he said.
The junta leader did not propose an alternative system, but said: "We have our own approach. We're not even trying to copy anyone else. We're here to completely change the way things are done."
He emphasised building a new system rooted in sovereignty, patriotism and revolutionary mobilisation, with traditional leaders and grassroots structures playing a central role.
In a wide-ranging interview, he also emphasised the importance of economic and military self-reliance, as well as hard work, saying that working six- or eight-hour days would not enable Burkina Faso to catch up with richer countries.
Traoré has suppressed dissent during his rule, cracking down on the opposition, media and civil society groups. His government has even been accused of punishing critics by sending them to the front-lines of the war against Islamist militants.
Despite this, Traoré has gained a huge following across the continent for his pan-Africanist vision and criticism of Western influence.
Burkina Faso, like its junta-led neighbours Mali and Niger, has moved away from working with Western countries, especially France, in its fight against Islamist militants, which have waged a decade-long insurgency in the region.
All three have instead turned towards Russia for military assistance, but the violence has continued unabated.
The publication attributes two-thirds of the killings to the military and allied militias, with the rest blamed on Islamist militants.
Additional reporting by Omega Rakotomalala
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04-04 00:02 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
The snap was taken aboard the Orion capsule by its commander, Reid Wiseman, as the crew head towards the Moon.
Artemis II crew take 'spectacular' image of Earth
Nasa has shared the first high-resolution images of the Earth taken by the Artemis II crew as they head on their trip around the Moon.
The mission's commander, Reid Wiseman, took the "spectacular" images, Nasa says, after the crew completed a final engine burn that set them on a trajectory towards our closest celestial neighbour.
The first image, called Hello, World, shows the vast expanse of blue that is the Atlantic Ocean, framed by a thin glow of the atmosphere as the Earth eclipses the Sun and green auroras at either pole.
The Earth appears to us as upside down, with the western Sahara and Iberian peninsula visible to the left and the eastern portion of South America to the right.
Nasa identified the bright planet to the bottom right as Venus.
The images were taken after the crew successfully completed a trans-lunar injection burn in the early hours of Friday.
The burn took the Orion spacecraft out of Earth orbit as the four astronauts aboard aim to travel the more than 200,000 miles to the Moon.
Artemis II is now on a looping path that will carry the crew around the far side of the Moon and back again. It is the first time since 1972 that humans have travelled outside of the Earth's orbit.
The crew should pass around the far side of the Moon on 6 April and return to Earth on 10 April.
After the burn was completed, the crew were "glued to the windows" taking pictures, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen told mission control in Houston.
"We are getting a beautiful view of the dark side of the Earth, lit by the Moon," he said.
Wiseman later called back down to mission control in Houston to ask how to clean the windows, as the astronauts' enthusiasm to see into space had left them dirty.
The commander had initially found it difficult to take pictures of our planet from the spacecraft, saying taking photos at such a distance made it hard to adjust exposure settings.
"It's like walking out back at your house, trying to take a picture of the moon," he told mission control. "That's what it feels like right now."
But that is no longer an issue.
Another view captured by Wiseman shows the Earth divided by night and day. That frontier between light and darkness is known as the terminator.
Later, Nasa published another image showing the Earth in near-complete darkness, with the electric lights of humankind twinkling in the nighttime.
It also produced a side-by-side comparison of 2026's view of the Earth and a similar one taken by the Apollo 17 team in 1972 - the last time humans set foot on the Moon.
"We've come so far in the last 54 years, but one thing hasn't changed: our home looks gorgeous from space!" it wrote.
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04-04 00:02 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Air force pararescue units who specialise in CSAR missions are among the most highly trained in the US military.
How elite US teams tackle combat rescue missions
Early reports indicate that the pilot of a US F-15 fighter aircraft downed over Iran was rescued - which, if confirmed, would be the latest in the long history of US combat search-and-rescue missions over decades.
The search operation is ongoing deep inside Iran for a second crew member, according to CBS, the BBC's US partner.
Combat search and rescue, or CSAR, missions are considered among the most complex, time-sensitive operations that US and allied militaries prepare for.
In the US, elite units of the air force are specially trained for CSAR missions and are often pre-emptively deployed near conflict areas where aircraft could be lost.
What is Combat Search and Rescue?
Put simply, CSAR missions are military operations aimed at finding, aiding and potentially rescuing personnel in need, including downed pilots and isolated troops.
In contrast to conventional search-and-rescue efforts - which could take place during humanitarian operations or after disasters - CSAR missions occur in hostile or contested environments.
In some cases - as in Friday's reported recovery effort in Iran - the operations may happen deep in enemy territory.
The missions are extremely time-sensitive, as enemy forces would likely be deployed in the same area to try and locate the same US personnel the CSAR teams are trying to rescue.
In modern times, CSAR missions are often conducted by helicopters, with refuelling aircraft in support and other military aircraft on hand to conduct strikes and patrol the area.
Notably, verified video that emerged from Iran on Friday appeared to show US military helicopters and at least one refuelling aircraft operating over Iran's Khuzestan province.
The history of CSAR missions
Airborne, wartime rescue missions have a long history, dating back to World War One pilots conducting impromptu landings in France to rescue downed colleagues.
The US military's pararescue units trace their lineage back to a 1943 mission in which two combat surgeons parachuted into then-Burma - now Myanmar - to help wounded soldiers.
The world's first helicopter rescue took place a year later, when a US lieutenant rescued four soldiers from behind Japanese lines, according to Smithsonians Air & Space Magazine. The incident also marked the first operational use of a helicopter in combat.
Formal search-and rescue units were first established in the US in the immediate aftermath of the conflict. But modern CSAR began during the Vietnam War.
One mission, known as Bat 21, led to the loss of several aircraft and multiple US casualties while attempting to recover the pilot of an aircraft shot down behind North Vietnamese lines.
The war required a vast expansion of CSAR missions with increased scope and complexity. The experience helped the military refine tactics and procedures that have helped form the foundation of rescue operations since.
The US Air Force's pararescue teams
While each US military branch has their own limited CSAR capabilities, the US Air Force has the primary responsibility for finding and rescuing military personnel.
This work is primarily conducted by what are known as pararescuemen, part of the military's broader special-operations community.
The official pararescue motto is "These Things We Do, That Others May Live", and their work is considered part of a broader promise to US service members that they will not be left behind.
These personnel are highly trained as both combatants and paramedics, and go through what is widely considered one of the hardest selection and training pipelines in the US military.
The selection-and-training process - which takes approximately two years from start to finish - includes parachute and dive training, as well as basic underwater demolition, survival, resistance and escape training, and a full civilian paramedic course.
They also received specialised courses in battlefield medicine, complex recovery operations and weapons.
Historically, about 80% of potential pararescuemen wash out of the course, although it is often more, according to military news site Sofrep.
On the ground, these teams are led by specialised Combat Rescue Officers, who are fully trained pararescue operators responsible for planning, co-ordinating and executing the recovery missions.
Recent US rescue missions
Pararescue teams deployed extensively throughout the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conducting thousands of missions to rescue US and allied troops that were wounded or required extraction.
In 2005, for example, air force pararescue teams were involved to recover a US Navy Seal who was wounded and seeking shelter in an Afghan village after his team was ambushed and its other three members killed - an incident later made into the film Lone Survivor.
Missions to recover downed US pilots have been rare in recent decades.
In 1999, the pilot of an F-117 stealth fighter shot down over Serbia was found and recovered by pararescuemen.
In an highly publicised in
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