Foreign
Attack on Israel: “Iran made a fatal error – Netanyahu reacts
The Israeli military has vowed to retaliate to a missile attack from Iran, which Iran said was a “rational and legitimate response” to previous Israeli fire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against Iran for its missile attack on Israel on Tuesday evening, which he called a “big mistake.”
He added that Iran would pay for the attack, in which the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said 180 missiles hit Israel causing air raid sirens to sound across the country.
“Whoever attacks us. We attack them,” Netanyahu said as he gathered his Security Cabinet for a late-night meeting.
He called the attack a “failure” and suggested that Iran could face the same fate as Gaza and Lebanon.
Iran issues warnings against retaliation
Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations argued the strike was “legal, rational and legitimate” indicating it was in response to Israeli strikes on the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The country’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, is warning Israel that its response to any acts of aggression against Tehran “will be swift, decisive and stronger than before.”
He pointed to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on 31 July, the detonation of pagers in Lebanon in September, and the assassinations of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian General Abbas Nilforoushan in Beirut.
Iravani said the Security Council’s inaction “has allowed Israel to flagrantly breach all red lines and violate the core principles of international law.”
He reiterated Iran’s calls for the council “to urgently and decisively intervene to halt Israel’s continued aggression and war crimes against Lebanon, Gaza and Syria and to prevent the situation from escalating into a full-scale regional war.”
The UN Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting on the escalating situation in the Middle East for Wednesday, at the request of France and Israel.
World leaders express widespread condemnation
US President Joe Biden said that the US had anticipated Iran’s “brazen” missile attack on Israel in a statement given to reporters at the White House.
Biden added that “intensive planning” had gone into anticipating and defending against the attack, adding that the US and Israel had worked together to defend Israel from the missile barrage which occurred on Tuesday evening.
He reiterated his support for Israel and said that the US was in “constant contact” with its Israeli counterparts.
Biden joins other figures around the world in condemning Iran’s actions. The EU’S foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said “an immediate ceasefire across the region is needed,” in a post on X.
The UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer also had harsh words for Iran over the incident, saying he condemned the attack during a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, echoing the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who urged Iran against escalating the conflict further.
The IDF said the missiles led to air raid sirens sounding across Israel before concluding that very few citizens had been injured in the attack, with multiple missiles intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system.
By Francesca Hangeior
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a new rule requiring all foreign nationals who stay in the country for more than 30 days to register with the federal government.
The directive, introduced this week, is one of the strictest immigration measures in recent years.
In a post titled “Message to Illegal Aliens” and tagged to President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the agency stated,
“Foreign nationals present in the U.S. longer than 30 days must register with the federal government. Failure to comply is a crime punishable by fines and imprisonment. @POTUS Trump and @Sec_Noem have a clear message to Illegal aliens: LEAVE NOW and self-deport.”
Foreign nationals present in the U.S. longer than 30 days must register with the federal government. Failure to comply is a crime punishable by fines and imprisonment. @POTUS Trump and @Sec_Noem have a clear message to Illegal aliens: LEAVE NOW and self-deport. pic.twitter.com/FrsAQtUA7H
Non-compliance could lead to daily fines of $998, heavier penalties for those who promise to leave but don’t, imprisonment, and permanent bans from re-entry.
DHS warned that delaying registration will increase penalties and reduce the chances of returning legally.
“The longer you wait, the higher the penalty, and the slimmer your chances of returning,” the department said.
The agency also introduced a “safe exit” provision for undocumented individuals who choose to leave voluntarily.
Those who self-deport may be allowed to select their departure flight, keep their earnings if they haven’t committed any crimes, apply for subsidized travel if they can’t afford it, and stay eligible for future immigration pathways.
While the rule doesn’t currently apply to individuals on valid visas like H-1B or F-1, DHS emphasized that once a visa becomes invalid—due to expiration, job loss, or program termination—the individual is considered “unlawfully present” and subject to the same penalties.
Maintaining legal status, the agency noted, is more critical than ever.
By Francesca Hangeior
A Swiss citizen has been kidnapped in Niger, Switzerland’s foreign ministry told AFP, confirming information published by a Nigerien media outlet.
The foreign ministry said it had been “informed of the kidnapping of a Swiss citizen in Niger.
“The Swiss diplomatic mission in Niamey is in contact with the local authorities. Clarifications are under way.”
The governor of the Nigerien state of Agadez, General Ibra Boulama Issa, said the abduction happened in Agadez city, where an Austrian woman was kidnapped three months ago.
The general said “a foreign woman… of Swiss nationality” had been taken from her home there late Sunday.
In a statement, he also referenced the January 11 kidnapping of the Austrian.
By Francesca Hangeior
The United States President Donald Trump has said a Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy that killed at least 34 people was “a horrible thing.”
“I think it was terrible. And I was told they made a mistake. But I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One while headed back to Washington.
Asked to clarify what he meant by a “mistake,” Trump said that “they made a mistake… you’re gonna ask them” — without specifying who or what he meant.
The American leader’s National Security Council (NSC) had earlier Sunday called the Russian strike “a clear and stark reminder of why President Donald Trump’s efforts to try and end this terrible war comes at a crucial time.”
Neither Trump nor the White House named Moscow as the perpetrator of the attack, though Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier offered condolences to the “victims of today’s horrifying Russian missile attack on Sumy.”
The Sumy strike came two days after US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin and push Trump’s efforts to end the war.
Zelensky on Sunday urged the US president to visit his country to better understand the devastation wrought by Russia’s invasion.
“Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” the Ukrainian leader said in an interview broadcast on US network CBS.
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