04-02 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
The mission is a major step in NASA’s plan to return humans to the moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars.
The Artemis II space mission has blasted off from the US state of Florida, sending four astronauts on a historic journey around the moon and marking the first time humans have travelled beyond low-Earth orbit in more than 50 years.
The mission, which launched on Wednesday, is a major step in the United States space agency NASA’s plan to return humans to the moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars.
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list of 1 itemend of listThe 32-storey rocket rose from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, where tens of thousands gathered to witness the liftoff.
The Artemis II crew – NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen – are set for a nearly 10-day journey around the moon and back, taking them farther into space than humans have travelled in decades.
“On this historic mission, you take with you the heart of this Artemis team, the daring spirit of the American people and our partners across the globe, and the hopes and dreams of a new generation,” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, the launch director. “Good luck, Godspeed Artemis II. Let’s go.”
Five minutes into the flight, Wiseman, the commander, saw the team’s target: “We have a beautiful moonrise, we’re headed right at it,” he said from the capsule.
Tensions high in the hours leading up to launch
Tensions were high in the hours leading up to the launch as hydrogen fuel began flowing into the rocket, a critical phase that had caused a dangerous leak during a countdown test earlier this year and forced a lengthy delay.
To NASA’s relief, no significant hydrogen leaks were detected this time. The launch team successfully loaded more than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million litres) of fuel into the Space Launch System rocket on the pad, a smooth operation that set the stage for the Artemis II crew to board.
NASA also had to resolve several technical issues ahead of liftoff, but was able to clear them without delaying the launch. One issue involved commands not getting through to the rocket’s flight-termination system, which is designed to send a self-destruct signal if the rocket veers off course and threatens populated areas.
That issue was quickly resolved, according to NASA. Engineers also troubleshot a battery in the Orion capsule’s launch-abort system after its temperature readings fell outside the expected range, but the problem was fixed and did not prevent the launch from going ahead.
What happens next?
The astronauts will spend the first one to two days in high Earth orbit carrying out extensive systems checks, including testing Orion’s life-support, propulsion, navigation and communications systems to make sure the spacecraft is ready for deep space.
Once those checks are complete, Orion will perform a critical engine burn known as translunar injection, which will send the spacecraft out of Earth’s orbit and onto a trajectory towards the moon.
The journey will take several days, during which the crew will continue monitoring spacecraft systems as they travel farther from Earth.
Orion will then fly behind the moon on a free-return trajectory, a path that naturally swings the spacecraft back towards Earth using the gravity of both the moon and Earth, with minimal fuel required. During this phase, the spacecraft will reach its greatest distance from Earth.
After the lunar flyby, the crew will spend several days travelling back to Earth while carrying out additional deep-space tests on power systems, thermal controls and crew operations.
As Orion approaches Earth, the capsule will re-enter the atmosphere at speeds of about 40,233km per hour (25,000 miles per hour), before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, where recovery teams will retrieve the crew.
With half the world’s population not yet born when NASA’s Apollo astronauts last walked on the moon, Artemis is being presented as a new generation’s moon mission.
“There are a lot of people who don’t remember Apollo. There are generations who weren’t alive when Apollo launched. This is their Apollo,” NASA science mission chief Nicky Fox said earlier this week.
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04-02 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Before talks with 35 countries, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says reopening strait ‘will not be easy’.
The United Kingdom will convene talks with dozens of countries on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced, as the US-Israeli war on Iran has effectively shuttered the critical Gulf waterway.
Speaking during a news conference on Wednesday, Starmer said UK Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper would host a virtual meeting of 35 countries on Thursday to assess measures to reopen the strait “after the fighting has stopped”.
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The meeting will “assess all viable diplomatic and political measures that we can take to restore freedom of navigation, guarantee the safety of trapped ships and seafarers and resume the movement of vital commodities”, the UK prime minister said.
“Following that meeting, we will also convene our military planners to look at how we can marshal our capabilities and make the strait accessible and safe after the fighting has stopped,” Starmer added.
Countries around the world have raised serious concerns about Iran’s effective closure of the strait, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas supplies transit, amid US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Iranian attacks on targets across the Middle East.
The closure has sent global energy prices soaring and pushed nations to announce that they would release some of their strategic oil and gas reserves in an effort to lessen the crisis.
Starmer said on Wednesday that countries that recently signed a statement saying they were ready “to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz” would take part in this week’s talks.
In addition to the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands are among the countries to have signed it.
“I do have to level with people on this. This [reopening] will not be easy,” Starmer said.
The UK and other European countries have faced condemnation from US President Donald Trump, who has accused them of both failing to take action to reopen the strait and not providing sufficient support to Washington in its war effort.
On Tuesday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that “all those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom” should either buy from the US or “build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT”.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” Trump said.
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04-02 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Officials, government supporters take to streets to mark Islamic Republic Day, even as US, Israel continue bombing.
Tehran, Iran – Government supporters have taken to the streets in Iran to celebrate the anniversary of a referendum nearly half a century ago that solidified the Islamic Republic’s hold on power, even as the United States and Israel continued their attacks on the country.
President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were among officials who joined pro-establishment rallies on the streets of Tehran on Tuesday night to mark Islamic Republic Day, when the nascent theocratic system in 1979 announced it had garnered 98.2 percent of the popular vote shortly after an Islamic revolution.
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Shortly after and in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Washington bombed the site of the former US embassy in Tehran, in an apparent move tied to the symbolism of Islamic Republic Day. Footage from state media showed destruction and debris and smoke in the area, which is guarded by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
On Wednesday afternoon, authorities hoisted what they said was Iran’s tallest and heaviest flag at 150 metres (492 feet) and 300kg (660 pounds) in an area of downtown Tehran.
Festivities began on Tuesday night, and more gatherings are expected on Wednesday night, as political, military and religious leaders say followers must ensure security on the streets, backed by armed forces, to fend off any local dissent and incitement towards regime change from opponents.
Araghchi, Tehran’s top diplomat, who told Al Jazeera in an interview on Tuesday that he has been exchanging messages with Washington but has not responded to requests for negotiations, told state television that he joined supporters to “gain spirit” and encouragement. The president was seen taking selfie photos with people on the streets while flanked by masked bodyguards.
Hassan Khomeini, the son of Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the 1979 revolution and became the first supreme leader before his death in 1989, said it was incumbent upon them from an Islamic standpoint to remain on the streets every night until the war is over, no matter how long it takes.
“The enemy might make a thousand plots in order to cut off our communication, but our trenches are the mosques, alleys, squares and streets,” he said.
People shown by state media in various cities chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” in addition to a series of religious slogans.
The authorities issued calls to action for people to participate in group marches while waving flags. Religious singers and eulogists also performed religious songs that drew on the influence of revered figures in Shia Islam.
The paramilitary Basij forces of the IRGC, as well as other armed forces, patrolled the streets and set up checkpoints and roadblocks across the city.
But they were not the only forces present.
Hamid al-Hosseini, a senior clerical and paramilitary figure affiliated with the IRGC and Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) of Iran-aligned fighters, confirmed that Iraqi nationals were widely situated on the streets of the Iranian capital.
While surrounded by those attending state-run festivities in downtown Tehran, he told the IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency that Iraqi “mokebs” or religious food and services stations are now located around “various squares” in order to “offer a little help to the Iranian people and learn resilience from them”.
This comes days after Hashd al-Shaabi fighters, while wearing military attire and in some cases, clerical turbans, proudly marched the streets of cities in southwestern Iran’s Khuzestan in dozens of pick-up trucks while delivering what they called “humanitarian assistance”. Pezeshkian later thanked them in a post online.
There were reports that they had already been spotted in Tehran, but there was no official confirmation from Iranian authorities. Opponents and human rights organisations have for years accused the Islamic Republic of systematically using fighters from Iraq and other aligned armed forces to crack down against local dissent, a claim the authorities have rejected.
‘We are waiting for you’
The Iranian state has remained defiant as Washington signals that it may soon deploy thousands of soldiers to the country.
Amid speculation that a ground fight could be aimed at occupying parts of Iran’s southern islands on the Strait of Hormuz, taking over oil and gas facilities, or even extracting highly enriched uranium from bombed nuclear facilities, Tehran says its defences are prepared.
Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, the head of the Iranian army’s research centre, said the armed forces have been drilling for the scenario of a US invasion since 2001, so any aggression will be met with “heavy casualties”.
The general staff of th
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04-02 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
In open letter, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian urges Americans to see beyond ‘flood of distortions’ as war rages.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged people in the United States to look beyond “a flood of distortions and manufactured narratives” and ask whose interests are being served by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
In an open letter addressed to the US public and shared by Iran’s state-run broadcaster PressTV, Pezeshkian on Wednesday questioned whether President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy is “truly among the priorities of the US government today”.
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“Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war?” the Iranian leader wrote.
“Does the massacre of innocent children, the destruction of cancer-treatment pharmaceutical facilities, or boasting about bombing a country ‘back to the stone ages’ serve any purpose other than further damaging the United States’ global standing?”
Pezeshkian also rejected portrayals of Tehran as a threat, noting that Iran had twice been attacked while its negotiators were taking part in multilateral nuclear talks – once when Israel launched a 12-day war in June 2025, with the US briefly joining the campaign, and again at the end of February this year.
“Attacking Iran’s vital infrastructure – including energy and industrial facilities – directly targets the Iranian people. Beyond constituting a war crime, such actions carry consequences that extend far beyond Iran’s borders,” he said.
“They generate instability, increase human and economic costs, and perpetuate cycles of tension, planting seeds of resentment that will endure for years. This is not a demonstration of strength; it is a sign of strategic bewilderment and an inability to achieve a sustainable solution.”
The Iranian president’s letter comes just hours after Trump issued his latest threat against Tehran, writing on social media that the US would continue “blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!” unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.
The US president also said Iran’s “new regime president” had requested a ceasefire to end the war – a claim Iranian officials denied.
Reporting from the Iranian capital Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem noted on Wednesday evening that the US and Iranian governments have been fighting a “war of narratives” amid the deadly conflict.
Against that backdrop, Hashem explained that a key component of Pezeshkian’s letter was that the country maintains the right to defend itself from US-Israeli attacks. The Iranian president also stressed that Iran holds “no enmity” towards other nations or the American people.
Trump, for his part, is set to deliver a speech at 9pm local time in Washington, DC, on Wednesday (01:00 GMT on Thursday) to share what the White House said will be “an important update on Iran”.
“While the American administration is trying to push forward its narrative of victory, the Iranian establishment is trying to push its narrative of being under attack,” Hashem said.
Israel’s influence
Meanwhile, in his letter, the Iranian president also questioned whether the Trump administration was “manipulated” by the US’s top Middle East ally, Israel, in launching the war against Iran on February 28.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing the US to attack Iran for decades while also seeking to derail diplomacy between Washington and Tehran, according to experts.
Since the war began last month, the Israeli military has also claimed responsibility for several strikes against critical Iranian infrastructure, further escalating the conflict.
“Is it not also the case that America has entered this aggression as a proxy for Israel, influenced and manipulated by that regime?” Pezeshkian said in Wednesday’s letter.
He also asked whether, by “manufacturing an Iranian threat”, Israel is seeking “to divert global attention away from its crimes toward the Palestinians”.
“Is it not evident that Israel now aims to fight Iran to the last American soldier and the last American taxpayer dollar — shifting the burden of its delusions onto Iran, the region, and the United States itself in pursuit of illegitimate interests?” he wrote.
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04-02 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Trump says he is considering a NATO exit as allies resist cooperation in US-Israel war on Iran.
United States President Donald Trump’s already fraught relationship with NATO allies is fraying further as the US-Israel war on Iran is in its second month. A growing number of partners are resisting Washington’s requests for support in the conflict, deepening a transatlantic rift.
From the deployment of naval forces to the Strait of Hormuz to the use of military bases in Europe, Trump wants more support from US allies. But their responses remain lukewarm and so does the Trump administration’s enthusiasm for them.
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“I always knew they were a paper tiger,” Trump lashed out in an interview published on Wednesday in The Telegraph newspaper, saying he was strongly considering pulling out of NATO.
The same sense of disdain towards the allies was echoed a day earlier by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who told Al Jazeera that if the transatlantic alliance was “just about defending Europe” but not the other way around, that’s “not a very good arrangement”. That, Rubio said, is going “to have to be re-examined”.
Let’s get into the details of the growing rift.
What allies have denied access to their military bases?
- Spain, the most vocal European opponent of the war, said on Monday that the country’s airspace is closed to US military planes involved in the conflict. “I think everyone knows Spain’s position. It’s very clear,” Defence Minister Margarita Robles said. Spain said last month that the US could not use jointly operated military bases in the war, which Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has described as “unjustifiable” and “dangerous”. In response to that, Trump threatened to cut trade with Madrid.
- On Tuesday, Italy’s newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the Italian government denied US bombers the use of a military base in Sicily. The Italian government, though, rushed to make it clear there were no tensions with Washington and that each US request would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- The United Kingdom has allowed US bombers to use military bases on its territory but only for defensive missions, such as striking Iranian military sites involved in attacks on British interests. On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in an address to the nation: “This is not our war. We will not be drawn into the conflict. That is not in our national interest.”
- The US president has also hit out at France, saying it was “VERY UNHELPFUL” after Paris refused to allow planes “loaded up with military supplies” and “headed to Israel” to fly over French territory. Sources told the Reuters news agency the refusal was made as Israel wanted to use France’s airspace to transport US weapons to be used in the war against Iran.
- And Poland‘s defence minister, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, said on Tuesday that his country, which borders Ukraine, had “no plans” to relocate its Patriot air defence systems to the Middle East. “Poland’s security is an absolute priority,” he wrote on X.
The split over the Strait of Hormuz
Reluctance in joining the war efforts among US allies was also evident after Trump’s repeated requests to help Washington in securing the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which about a fifth of global oil and gas exports pass. Thanks to its geography, Iran has been able to bring traffic through the narrow chokepoint to a near-total halt by carrying out relatively few attacks on vessels there.
Italy, the UK, France, Greece and other countries have all responded with a flat no to the request of joining a naval coalition to open the strait. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius gave his country’s reasoning behind such a position: “This is not our war. We have not started it.”
“Does … Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz what the powerful US Navy cannot do?”
Still, some countries do have the capacity to help, such as support in minesweeping. Starmer said London was discussing with other allies the possibility of using its mine-hunting drones already in the region.
But that’s not what Trump wants.
“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account this week.
Experts warned that comments from Trump and his cabinet members suggest mounting anger that could also take hold of the followers of the president’s Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement.
“These things can accumulate momentum in Trump’s mind within the MAGA community,” Samir
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04-02 00:00 · 中东,局势,BBC,中东
Attacks have continued as Israel has announced its intention to control swathes of south Lebanon.
Israel intensifies Lebanon attacks and hits areas not in Hezbollah's control
Israel has intensified its attacks on Lebanon this week, hitting areas outside of Hezbollah's control on Tuesday.
Strikes without warning hit a vehicle north of Beirut and the Jnah neighbourhood in the heart of the capital.
Attacks also continued in the city's southern suburbs and the country's south, both where Hezbollah has a strong presence.
A building was destroyed on the road to Beirut's airport after an evacuation order, and in the south, a strike hit a health facility, killing a paramedic, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
Israel's military said it had hit Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut and killed a senior commander and another senior figure from the Iran-backed armed group.
Hezbollah joined the ongoing regional war on 2 March, sending missiles towards Israel, after the US and Israel attacked the armed group's ally Iran on 28 February.
Israeli attacks have kept bombarding Lebanon as its troops have moved into the country's south.
On Tuesday, a vehicle was targeted in the Mansourieh area, a predominantly Christian residential neighbourhood north of Beirut.
Meanwhile, the Jnah neighbourhood in the heart of the capital was attacked after midnight. The Lebanese health ministry said the Al-Zahraa Hospital had received and treated "a number of those injured in the air strike".
Hassan Jalwan, who lives near Jnah, told AFP he heard several "big explosions" overnight.
"Nobody knows what's happening," he said, adding that "displaced people have been sleeping in the open" in the area.
The Dahieh neighbourhood to the south of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, continues to be a target. A building was destroyed on Tuesday in Ghobeiry on the road to the airport following an evacuation order.
Also on Tuesday, Lebanon's health ministry said at least seven people had been killed by Israeli strikes in the country's south, including the paramedic.
The number of health workers who have been killed since the start of the war has now reached 53.
Earlier, the Lebanese army cleared its last positions in the south, pulling out from Ain Ibel and Rmeish villages a day after an army checkpoint was hit and a soldier was killed by an Israeli air strike, according to the Lebanese Armed Forces. The Israeli military has not appeared to have commented yet on the reported death.
However, some residents of the villages refuse to leave.
In the predominantly Christian village of Rmeish, Father Najib Al Amil appeared in a video on social media, where he said: "There is grass and soil. We rely on God and will stay in our village. We either all die together and lose our land or live and our villages will live with us."
Israel has announced its decision to control large swathes of land in southern Lebanon - up to the Litani River, about 30km from the border with Israel - to create a buffer security zone.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would keep security control over the territory even after the end of the current war against Hezbollah. The plan has drawn criticism from the UN.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave the south, but there are still tens of thousands who have refused to go.
Supply lines to the south have been cut by Israel targeting bridges and infrastructure, making villages in the south uninhabitable.
Katz said more than 600,000 displaced Lebanese residents would be "completely prohibited" from returning to that area until the safety of residents of northern Israel was guaranteed.
The Israeli defence minister also said all houses in villages near the border in Lebanon will be destroyed "according to the model of Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza".
In total, 1,268 people in Lebanon have been killed since the beginning of the attacks, the country's health ministry said on Tuesday.
More than one million people have been displaced, the UN reported.
This is critical time for Lebanon and the residents of the south. Many see Israel's strategy in the south mimicking that of Gaza - destruction, depopulation and occupation.
The government said earlier that this constitutes a violation of the country's sovereignty.
South Lebanon previously lived under Israeli occupation for nearly 18 years, between 1982 and 2000.
Some Lebanese have lived the displacement and loss of land generation after generation.
Many in Lebanon believe that Israel is more powerful than Hezbollah and capable of destroying the south with its advanced missiles and drones. At the same time, if Israel is to stay in the south, Hezbollah is more powerful on the ground and can engage in a guerrilla war to wear out the Israelis and prevent them from staying put.
In short, for the hundreds of thousands who have been forced out of their homes, this war is not ending anytime soon.
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04-02 00:00 · 中东,局势,BBC,中东
The war with Iran has not yet resolved any of Israel's regional conflicts in the way its prime minister suggested it would.
Israel's perpetual war with Iran may be hard to win with military might alone
On the highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, American flags now hang alongside Israeli ones – a public sign of appreciation for US involvement in fighting Iran.
"We used to beg American administrations only to recognise a Credible Military Threat [from Iran]," said Israel's former National Security Advisor, Tzachi Hangebi, who left office four months before this war began.
"The fact that both Israel and the US are working day in, day out to diminish the capabilities of Iran, that's beyond my most utopian fantasies."
America's decision to jointly wage war on Iran opened-up possibilities for Israel to attack its old enemy in new ways – officials here talk of dividing up targets with their US counterparts according to their respective capabilities.
But this war has so far not resolved any of Israel's regional conflicts in the way its prime minister suggested it would.
As US president Donald Trump talks of winding up the joint offensive in Iran, Israeli forces are still holding territory in Gaza and Syria, with new instructions from their defence minister to take a large swathe of southern Lebanon as a "buffer zone" against Iran's ally Hezbollah.
Some 600,000 people living inside this new 'security zone' have been told they will not be allowed back to their homes until Israel deems its northern communities safe from Hezbollah attacks. Mr Katz has ordered the destruction of all houses in Lebanese villages near the border, in the same way his forces razed communities in Gaza.
Tzachi Hanegbi says Israel will continue its direct confrontation with regional enemies like Hezbollah, even if Washington forces an end to military action in Iran.
"Donald Trump might make a decision that there are no more [Iranian] targets relevant to the nuclear capabilities, and that he would like some kind of ceasefire, and whatever he will do, we will accept," Hangebi told me.
"[But] we'll go forward in Lebanon. We'll keep on doing it, and I'm sure America won't tell us, 'No'."
More than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of Israel's most recent campaign, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
And Iran's government says almost 2,000 people have been killed by US-Israeli attacks there since the war in Iran began.
Israel's military strategy in the region changed after the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023, from a policy of 'containing' its enemies with occasional operations, to one of pre-empting attacks.
That shift has pulled Israel into direct confrontation with Iran, but also led to a policy of creating so-called 'buffer zones' in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon – wide areas of territory that Israel has seized from its neighbours for what it terms security reasons; the result of a repeated failure to turn military might into sustainable peace.
On Tuesday, just before the Jewish holiday of Passover, Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel had inflicted 10 "plagues" on the regime in Tehran, including the establishment of "deep security belts beyond our borders – in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon".
"The buffer zone approach is seen as an insurance policy that gives Israel flexibility and buys it time, linked to the wider change in Israel's security doctrine since the 7 Oct attacks," said Burcu Ozcelik, a specialist in Middle East strategy at UK's Royal United Services Institute (Rusi).
But, she says, there are political fractures within Israel over the purpose of this approach.
"Some think the buffer zones will eventually lead to permanent occupation or the expansion of Israel's borders – an ideological point of view, long championed by the far-right," she said.
"More pragmatic voices argue that what's happening now in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria is a security-driven approach that may be removed once Israel feels safer."
For the past two and a half years, Benjamin Netanyahu has led his country in a continuous rolling conflict with Iran and its allies around the region, each time promising that the next war would restore Israel's security and vanquish its enemies.
Just nine months ago, after Israel's last war on Iran, Netanyahu told his nation they had achieved "a historic victory that will stand for generations", removing the "existential threats" from Iran's nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
Despite the rhetoric of imminent victory accompanying every fresh conflict, the reality for many Israelis is a new state of 'perma-war'.
"The grandiose promises of destroying Hezbollah and Hamas and Iran are not coming true," said Dahlia Scheindlin, a political analyst in Israel.
And Netanyahu's promise that the war on Iran will lead to new regional alliances for Israel hasn't materialised either, she says, leaving Arab States – including current or potential Israeli allies – worried.
"It never happens because Israel is behaving like an unpredictable warmongering actor that might snatch territory," Scheindlin said. "Israel's attack on Iran and Lebanon, and its encroachm
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04-02 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Azzurri fans and management alike are pondering what went wrong after Italy fail to qualify for third World Cup in a row.
Devastated Italians reckon with 'third apocalypse' of World Cup failure
Leaning against a wall near a news-stand in central Rome, Tommaso Silvestri, 65, scans the morning's front pages, their headlines swinging between "apocalypse," "scandal" and "disaster" after Italy's latest footballing collapse.
"We've made a real mess of it," he says, shaking his head. "We had players who couldn't even find the target."
"The golden days of Italian football are well and truly gone."
On Tuesday night in Zenica, four-time World Cup winners Italy failed to qualify for the tournament for a third consecutive time, losing 4-1 on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina after being reduced to 10 men before halftime.
Since winning the World Cup in 2006, the Azzurri have largely disappointed in international tournaments - with the exception of their surprise victory at the Euros in 2021 against England at Wembley.
"We are what our results say we are," Silvestri said. "When you shoot and can't even hit the goal, you're not going to go far. When it comes to taking the game home, Italy just doesn't get there anymore."
Last night's defeat drew swift and emotional reactions across Italian politics and society.
"Everything has a limit," lamented Ignazio La Russa, president of the Senate and a senior figure in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party.
In a post on X, he wrote: "We're not going to the World Cup. We supported them, we hoped, we even railed against a couple of questionable refereeing decisions... but deep down we feared it. In fact, we knew it."
Gomorrah author and anti-mafia writer Roberto Saviano also weighed in, pointing to deeper structural failures in Italian football, from governance to youth development.
"Clubs are corrupt and at the mercy of criminal organisations. True laundering vaults. No investment in young players, no care for second-generation talent. It's easier to buy foreign players than to develop new athletes," he said in a post on Instagram.
Across Italy, a legendary football nation with a rich history of producing world-class talent, many are wondering what went wrong. Giovanni Colli, 71, rolling his eyes while sipping an espresso at a café near the Pantheon, says he feels "betrayed."
"Not going to the World Cup three times in a row, how on earth did it happen? What a huge disappointment. Everyone should resign. Give the young players a chance," he says.
Italy's World Cup heartbreak was crystallised in the tear-streaked face of coach Rino Gattuso, who struggled to hold back his emotions after the national team's defeat.
"We don't deserve this, it's not fair. I'm sorry I couldn't make it happen," Gattuso said, eyes glistening, before retreating to the dressing room.
The legendary 2006 World Cup-winning midfielder was only given the job of coach last June.
Despite the disappointment, Gattuso expressed pride in his players: "I'm proud of my boys and what they gave on the pitch."
The match, decided on penalties after Italy were reduced to 10 men following Alessandro Bastoni's early red card, gave a brief moment of hope to Italians with Moise Kean's goal, only for it to end in dismay.
Gattuso admitted the team's shortcomings: "When you have chances and don't take them, football punishes you."
Reflecting on their elimination, he added: "This hurts. We gave everything we could. It's a real shock."
Sport journalist Elisabetta Esposito of La Gazzetta dello Sport told the BBC that Italian football was facing a difficult period - one that would take time to overcome, during which loyalty to individual clubs was outweighing support for the national team.
"The risk is that this third consecutive failure to qualify will deepen young people's disengagement from the Azzurri," she said.
"The disappointment is profound, but the country is not only disappointed but almost disillusioned. It's as if a new generation no longer knows what it means to cheer for their country."
Reflecting on Tuesday's match, Esposito added: "From a technical standpoint, everything went wrong. The team hasn't worked together enough. Rebuilding will require a long-term strategy, chasing immediate wins with rushed decisions won't succeed."
On a busy street in central Rome, 56-year-old Teresa is walking her dog among tourists and commuters rushing to work.
"Oh, we are not going to the World Cup?" she asks. "I don't know much about football, but that's a bit of disaster, isn't it?"
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04-02 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Baidu has not responded to a request for comment about the outage, which affected at least 100 cars.
Mass robotaxi malfunction halts traffic in Chinese city
A mass robotaxi outage in the Chinese city of Wuhan caused at least a hundred self-driving cars to stop mid-traffic, sparking renewed debate around the safety of driverless vehicles.
Local police said initial findings suggested a "system malfunction" caused multiple vehicles to stop in the middle of the road on Tuesday.
Videos on social media have documented the outage, with one appearing to show it resulting in a highway collision, although police said no injuries had been reported and passengers exited their vehicles safely.
Baidu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the police statement, posted on social media site Weibo, the cause of the incident is still under further investigation.
However, both still need approval from regulators before they can begin the pilot programmes.
Jack Stilgoe, professor of science and technology policy at University College London said while driverless tech "may be safer on average" than human drivers, this incident showed it could "still go wrong in completely new ways".
"If we're going to make good choices about this technology, we need to understand entirely new types of risk," he told BBC News.
The outage is not the first time self-driving cars have faced technical difficulties.
Meanwhile in August 2025, an Apollo Go robotaxi carrying a passenger in Chongqing fell into a construction pit.
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04-02 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Magyar represents the biggest threat to Viktor Orban's rule in Hungary since he won the first of four consecutive victories in 2010.
Peter Magyar, the former Orban ally vying for power in Hungary
"Now or never," Peter Magyar has been telling Hungarians, in a breathless campaign across the country in the run-up to 12 April elections that opinion polls suggest he can win.
This 45-year-old former Fidesz party insider represents the biggest threat to Viktor Orban's rule in Hungary since he won the first of four consecutive victories in 2010.
Magyar's slogan dates back to a revolutionary poet's 19th Century rallying cry to rise up for the homeland.
After more than 100 campaign stops his message has been shortened to "Now": the words "or never" have been crossed out, adding to the urgency.
He is on course to visit all of Hungary's 106 constituencies, and he has given four, five, even six speeches a day. Magyar has built a powerful support base in more than two years of touring the country, even in the small towns and villages were Fidesz traditionally dominates.
Last year he walked 300km (185 miles) from Budapest to the Romanian border in a campaign to "reunite" the nation, in a bid to bring natural Fidesz voters to his side.
Magyar promises to tackle corruption, improve the economy and he has sought to woo Hungary's disadvantaged Roma community. He has also promised to unlock billions of euros in EU funds, frozen largely because of concerns over Hungary's rule of law.
But Orban has depicted him as a "puppet" of the EU and Ukraine, and he has been wary of getting too close to Brussels and has promised voters "we are the real party of peace".
His self-confidence stems from a deep understanding of the rival he faces.
Until February 2024, Magyar was very much part of the Fidesz family.
He joined the party at university and married one of its rising stars in Judit Varga, with whom he had three children.
Then Magyar stunned Hungarians with a live appearance on a pro-opposition YouTube Channel called Partizán.
In a country of 9.6 million people, a million watched as a solemn Peter Magyar explained why he had had enough of his own party.
"Everyone warned me against it, friends, family people I know," he told presenter Márton Gulyás. "Obviously I've been in this system, in this circle, for a very long time."
Hungary was in the midst of a scandal in which President Katalin Novak had granted a pardon to a man who had helped cover up sexual abuse in a Hungarian state-run children's home.
She resigned, and so did Magyar's ex-wife. Varga had been justice minister and had co-signed the pardon. Two leading Fidesz women were left to carry the can. Varga had been destined for big things in Fidesz, having left her job as minister to spearhead Fidesz European election campaign. That career was over.
Now she was no longer part of the Fidesz machine, Peter Magyar sensed this was his moment.
"I do not want to be part of a system in which the real people in charge hide behind women's skirts," he wrote on Facebook.
Towards the end of his Partizán interview Magyar spoke of his hope for political change, while realising it would be very difficult while Orban was still in power.
The current opposition was totally inept, he complained, so change would have to come from within. But one day there would be change and when it did happen it could be fast, he predicted.
His YouTube appearance went viral.
"It was not a planned move," he later told the BBC. "My mother called me not to go, but I did the opposite. Everybody knew the situation in Hungary - it's not very safe to go against this government."
Peter Magyar's high-profile party marriage had fallen apart in 2023 but he was still an important figure in Fidesz even if he was little known to the wider public.
He was a natural fit for Orban's social conservatives.
The son of two lawyers - his mother was as senior judge - Peter Magyar also counts a former Hungarian president as his godfather, and he was very interested in politics from an early age.
Magyar went to an elite Catholic boys' high school near the centre of Budapest before studying law at a Catholic university in Budapest while Orban was serving his first term as prime minister from 1998-2002.
Magyar joined the party after Orban's election defeat, and the woman he married, Judit Varga, was destined for Fidesz success, becoming justice minister in 2019, nine years after Orban's return to office.
Magyar himself became a diplomat at Hungary's permanent mission in Brussels, later running Orban's team working with the European Parliament. He went on to serve on the boards of state-owned companies.
His disaffection with the party was gradual.
"After a while I became more and more critical, openly and just among friends. I can tell you that the Fidesz we see today is very very different from the one I joined in 2002."
"I was always told by the politicians it's necessary to keep power - I accepted it for a time. But of course the turning point was in 2024," he told the BBC's Budapest correspondent Nick Thorpe.
For a while, Magyar worried if he had made a mistake: "I have t
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