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Israel Launches New Spy Satellite 

Israel launches new spy satellite. (Reuters)
Israel launches new spy satellite. (Reuters)
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Israel Launches New Spy Satellite 

Israel launches new spy satellite. (Reuters)
Israel launches new spy satellite. (Reuters)

SpaceX successfully launched an Israeli spy satellite into space.  

The EROS C-3 satellite mission was the 61st and final launch of the year for US-based spacecraft engineering corporation headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk.  

The advanced observation satellite from Israel-based remote sensing company ImageSat International (ISI) would be used for military intelligence and security purposes and is considered another significant step forward for Israel's place in the global space industry.  

According to foreign sources, the company published images of Iranian nuclear facilities or traces of destruction in Syrian sites, which Western reports attribute to Israeli strikes or follows the movements of aircraft carrying out secret missions.  

The company explained that the "very advanced" satellite was produced by the Israeli aerospace industry for surveillance, adding that it has amazing imaging capabilities and provides high-resolution images.  

The sources asserted that Israel uses satellites for 80 percent of its intelligence, and only 20 percent comes from traditional intelligence.  

The EROS C-3 is part of a group of spy satellites that Israel promoted to sell privately, especially after the war in Ukraine and geopolitical tensions in Southeast Asia and the Middle East increased demand for satellite services.  

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Israeli imaging satellite.  

According to security sources in Tel Aviv, Israel officially entered the space field in 1988 by launching its first satellite, Ofek 1, from an Israeli mobile launch platform.  

Israel does not release information about its space activities, and any discussion about them is subject to strict security restrictions.  

However, some sources believe Israel entered the space and satellite programs in the late fifties and early sixties, parallel with its nuclear program's launch.  

Israel started the idea of launching a satellite when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space in 1954.  

Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion established in 1960 the National Committee for Space Research, and four years later, Tel Aviv asked the United States and France to help set up a satellite monitoring station.  

In 1966, it established the Space Research Institute, affiliated with the Israeli Space Agency in 1983, and signed an agreement with the US to participate in the Strategic Defense Initiative. 

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World

Russian Attacks Knock Out Power for Thousands in Ukraine’s North

A woman is holding a Ukrainian flag and crying after the buses with released Ukrainian prisoners of war (POW) drove by in the Chernihiv region on March 6, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
A woman is holding a Ukrainian flag and crying after the buses with released Ukrainian prisoners of war (POW) drove by in the Chernihiv region on March 6, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Russian Attacks Knock Out Power for Thousands in Ukraine’s North

A woman is holding a Ukrainian flag and crying after the buses with released Ukrainian prisoners of war (POW) drove by in the Chernihiv region on March 6, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
A woman is holding a Ukrainian flag and crying after the buses with released Ukrainian prisoners of war (POW) drove by in the Chernihiv region on March 6, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

Russian attacks damaged two energy facilities in Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region, leaving close to 212,000 consumers without power, a regional electricity distribution company said on Wednesday.

Chernihivoblenergo said nearly 150,000 consumers in the city of Chernihiv and the surrounding district were without power after a Russian attack damaged an energy ‌facility in ‌the Chernihiv district.

It later added ‌that ⁠close to another ⁠62,000 consumers were left without power in three other districts in the region after an attack on an energy facility in the Nizhynskyi district.

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 147 drones ⁠at the country overnight, of which ‌121 were downed ‌or neutralized.

Russia has been targeting Ukrainian energy ‌facilities throughout the war, causing regular, hours-long ‌blackouts across the country. Ukraine has also targeted Russia's energy system, particularly oil refineries, depots and transport terminals.

Chernihiv was badly hit by ‌power outages over the winter as Russia carried out its biggest ⁠bombing ⁠campaign of the four-year war against Ukraine's electricity grid.

An earlier attack left much of the region without power on Saturday.

Close to 21,000 residents of the town of Slavutych, which lies in the neighboring Kyiv region, were also temporarily without power after a morning attack, the regional governor said on Telegram.

Critical infrastructure has been switched to backup power supplies, the governor added.

World

UK Police Arrest 2 Men over Arson Attack on Jewish Charity Ambulances

A member (L) of the Jewish community views the scene of an antisemitic arson attack through a makeshift fence in the Golders Green neighbourhood of north London, on March 24, 2026, a day after volunteer ambulances run by a Jewish organisation were set on fire. (Photo by Henry NICHOLLS / AFP)
A member (L) of the Jewish community views the scene of an antisemitic arson attack through a makeshift fence in the Golders Green neighbourhood of north London, on March 24, 2026, a day after volunteer ambulances run by a Jewish organisation were set on fire. (Photo by Henry NICHOLLS / AFP)
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UK Police Arrest 2 Men over Arson Attack on Jewish Charity Ambulances

A member (L) of the Jewish community views the scene of an antisemitic arson attack through a makeshift fence in the Golders Green neighbourhood of north London, on March 24, 2026, a day after volunteer ambulances run by a Jewish organisation were set on fire. (Photo by Henry NICHOLLS / AFP)
A member (L) of the Jewish community views the scene of an antisemitic arson attack through a makeshift fence in the Golders Green neighbourhood of north London, on March 24, 2026, a day after volunteer ambulances run by a Jewish organisation were set on fire. (Photo by Henry NICHOLLS / AFP)

British police said they arrested two men in connection with the suspected antisemitic arson attack on four Jewish community ambulances in north London earlier this week.

Police said on Wednesday the men, aged 47 and 45, were arrested at addresses in north west London and central ⁠London respectively, and were ⁠being held in custody.

The ambulances were set on fire in the early hours of Monday morning in an attack which British Prime Minister Keir ⁠Starmer called a "deeply shocking antisemitic arson". No injuries were reported.

Police, who had previously said they were looking into a possible link to Iran, said the investigation continued, as CCTV footage had suggested there were at least three people involved.

An enhanced police presence remained in place ⁠around ⁠the affected communities in north London as a precaution, the police statement added.

In Britain, concern has mounted about rising levels of antisemitism, while authorities have also warned of the threat posed by Iran, including the surveillance or targeting of Jewish sites. Tehran has denied such accusations.

World

Tehran Rejects Trump's Talk of Negotiation, as Israel and Iran Launch Airstrikes

This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage after airstrikes targeting Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, March 7, 2026. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage after airstrikes targeting Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, March 7, 2026. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
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Tehran Rejects Trump's Talk of Negotiation, as Israel and Iran Launch Airstrikes

This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage after airstrikes targeting Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, March 7, 2026. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows damage after airstrikes targeting Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, March 7, 2026. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Israel and Iran exchanged airstrikes on Wednesday, as Iran's military rejected President Donald Trump's claim Washington was in negotiations to end to the war, saying the US is negotiating with itself.

The rejection of negotiations by the unified command of the Iranian Armed Forces, which is dominated by the Revolutionary Guards, comes amid reports the US has sent a 15-point plan for discussion to Tehran.

"Has the level of your inner struggle reached the stage of you (Trump) negotiating with yourself?" the top spokesperson for Iran's joint military command, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, said on Iranian state TV.

"People like us can never get along with people like you."

"As we have always said... no one like us will make a deal with you. Not now. Not ever."

Iran's leadership has previously said it cannot negotiate with the US as it has attacked the country twice during high level negotiations in the past two years.

Four weeks into the war that has killed thousands, created the worst energy shock in history and sparked global inflation fears, there was no letup in airstrikes from Iran and Israel on Wednesday.

The Israeli Defense Forces said in a Telegram post it had launched a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure across Tehran. The semi-official Iranian SNN News Agency said the strikes hit a residential ⁠area in the ⁠city, with rescuers searching the rubble.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said it had launched a new wave of attacks against locations in Israel including Tel Aviv and Kiryat Shmona, as well as U.S. bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain, Iranian state media reported.

Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday the US was in "negotiations" with "the right people" in Iran to end the war, adding the Iranians wanted to reach a deal very badly.

Stocks rose and oil prices fell on Wednesday on reports the US is seeking a month-long ceasefire and had sent a 15-point plan to Iran for discussion, raising hopes for a ⁠resumption of oil exports out of the Arabian Gulf.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Washington sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war in the Middle East. Israel's Channel 12, quoting three sources, said the US was seeking a month-long ceasefire to discuss the 15-point plan.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed that the US had sent a plan to Iran but provided no further details.

The Israeli media outlet said the plan would include the dismantling of Iran's nuclear program, ceasing support for proxy groups, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

The US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 after saying they had failed to make enough headway in talks aimed at ending Iran's nuclear program, although mediator Oman said significant progress had been made.

The US struck Iran's nuclear facilities in June 2025.

Since the start of "Operation Epic Fury" by the US in February, Iran has attacked countries that host US bases, struck Gulf energy infrastructure and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.