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Israel strikes Beirut hotel as toll rises
BEIRUT (AFP) -- Israel struck a hotel in central Beirut Sunday, the first attack on the city centre since the start of the new war with Hezbollah, as Lebanon said nearly 400 people were killed over the past week. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war Monday, when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes. Israel, which has kept up strikes targeting Hezbollah despite a 2024 ceasef
March 9, 2026 -
Police in Norway investigate an explosion outside the US Embassy in Oslo
Police in Norway were investigating an explosion early Sunday outside the US Embassy in Oslo, the capital of the Scandinavian country, officials said. No injuries were reported. Police received reports of a “loud bang” or explosion around 1 a.m., Oslo police said in a news release. The explosion was caused by some sort of incendiary device, according to Frode Larsen, leader of the Oslo police joint unit for investigation and intelligence. Investigators believe the embassy was the target and are
March 9, 2026 -
Israeli settler attack in West Bank kills three Palestinians
Palestinian authorities and the Israeli military said Sunday that three Palestinians were killed during an Israeli settler attack in the occupied West Bank, taking to 4 the number reported dead in such incidents over two days. Agence France-Presse journalists witnessed the funerals of the four men where relatives wept as mourners carried the bodies and chanted slogans. The spate of killings is the latest bloodshed as a result of violence that has soared in the West Bank since the start of the Ga
March 9, 2026 -
German state election deals blow to Merz: exit polls
The German Greens on Sunday beat Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU in a state poll, exit polls showed, marking a blow for the chancellor ahead of elections this year as polls show the far right surging. Almost 32 percent of voters opted for the Greens led by Cem Ozdemir, according to exit polls by broadcasters ARD and ZDF, edging out the CDU with around 30 percent. Updated exit polls for both broadcasters showed the far-right Alternative for Germany almost doubling its result compared with 2021
March 9, 2026 -
Global arms exports soar on European demand: study
STOCKHOLM (AFP) -- Global weapons flows grew by almost 10 percent in the past five years, with Europe more than tripling imports, a report showed Monday. The surge in European countries can be explained, in part at least, by the fact they are buying in weapons to supply to Ukraine and because they are seeking to boost their own military capabilities against a perceived threat from Russia, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said. The volume of worldwide arms flows grew by 9.2 pe
March 9, 2026 -
US marks 61st anniversary of Bloody Sunday
SELMA, Alabama (AP) -- Sixty-one years after state troopers attacked Civil Rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, thousands gathered in the Alabama city amid new concerns about the future of the Voting Rights Act. The March 7, 1965, violence that became known as Bloody Sunday shocked the nation and helped spur passage of the landmark legislation that dismantled barriers to voting for Black Americans in the Jim Crow South. The anniversary was celebrated in this southern city, that
March 9, 2026 -
Thousands march for women's rights and against Mideast war
PARIS, France (AFP) -- Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities across the world Sunday to mark International Women's Day and denounce the war in the Middle East. From Rio in Brazil, Caracas in Venezuela and cities across France, Spain, Turkey and other European countries, demonstrators marched to demand women's rights across a range of issues. Thousands marched in cities across Spain to protest gender-based violence and call for an end to the war in the Middle East. Rape
March 9, 2026 -
Crude oil prices surpass $100 a barrel as Iran war impedes production
CHICAGO (AP) — Oil prices eclipsed $100 per barrel for the first time in more than three and a half years Sunday as the Iran war hinders production and shipping in the Middle East. The price for a barrel of Brent Crude, the international standard, was at $107.97 after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, up 16.5 percent from its Friday closing price of $92.69. West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, was selling for about $106.22 a barrel.
March 9, 2026 -
Flash floods in Nairobi kill 23
NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) -- At least 23 people have been killed in flash flooding in Nairobi, police said Saturday, as search and rescue operations continued amid widespread devastation. Torrential rains lashed the Kenyan capital late Friday, turning major streets into rivers and flooding thousands of homes and businesses. Rescue teams were still pulling out bodies and rescuing trapped residents on Saturday, while Agence France-Presse reporters saw heavily damaged roads and infrastructure from the c
March 8, 2026 -
Iranian clerics seek swift naming of new supreme leader
Hard-line clerics have called for the swift selection of a new supreme leader to help guide Iran, Iranian media reported on Saturday, as the Islamic Republic reels under a new wave of US and Israeli strikes. The calls suggest some in the clerical establishment may be uncomfortable leaving power in the hands of the three-man council put in charge temporarily after the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had the final say in all matters of state. US President Donald Trump has
March 8, 2026 -
Protesters come out amid war in Iran
PARIS, France (AFP) -- Lion-emblazoned flags of pre-revolution Iran fluttered in cities across the world on Saturday as demonstrators took to the streets a week after the start of the war in the Middle East. Some protesters came out in support of Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of the country's late shah, while others denounced the option. Others demonstrated against the war and some in support of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the first US-Israeli strikes of the confl
March 8, 2026 -
At least 10 killed in Ukraine's Kharkiv
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Two children were among at least 10 people killed on Saturday in a Russian missile that hit a five-story residential building in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, officials said. Sixteen others were wounded. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack and called for an international response. He said that Russia struck Ukraine overnight with 29 missiles and 480 drones, targeting energy facilities in Kyiv and other central regions and with damage reported in at l
March 8, 2026 -
Tehran residents keep up semblance of normality
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) -- For a moment Tehran resembled a city at peace, with birdsong, joggers and tranquil views of the snow-capped Alborz mountains in the distance. Then the sound of another explosion ripped through the air. A week ago, opening strikes by the US and Israel killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, upended residents' lives and transformed the city streets into a battleground. In Tehran's west, a block that belonged to the security forces had been blasted apart, and the
March 8, 2026 -
Iran's president apologizes for strikes on neighbors
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's president apologized Saturday for attacks on “neighboring countries," even as its missiles and drones flew toward Gulf Arab states and hard-liners asserted that Tehran's war strategy wouldn't budge. A rift between more pragmatic politicians looking to deescalate the weekold war and others committed to battling the US and Israel could complicate efforts to end the fighting. Conflicting statements involved two of the three members of the leadership council
March 8, 2026 -
Former US presidents attend Jesse Jackson memorial in Chicago
CHICAGO (Reuters) -- Former US Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton joined thousands of mourners at a public memorial service for Jesse Jackson in Chicago to honor the longtime civil-rights activist and Democratic political leader. Jackson, who died last month at the age of 84, was a leading advocate for voting rights and desegregation. The memorial on Friday at the House of Hope, a 10,000-seat venue on Chicago's South Side, was celebratory, with a choir performing rousing gospel
March 8, 2026