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Israel Defense Minister Says Will Use ‘Force’ Against Iran if It Prevents Lebanon Deal Implementation

A car with Iranian and Hezbollah flags attached to it as displaced people make their way back to their homes in southern Lebanon following an interim deal between the US and Iran, in Sidon, Lebanon, June 24, 2026. (Reuters)
A car with Iranian and Hezbollah flags attached to it as displaced people make their way back to their homes in southern Lebanon following an interim deal between the US and Iran, in Sidon, Lebanon, June 24, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israel Defense Minister Says Will Use ‘Force’ Against Iran if It Prevents Lebanon Deal Implementation

A car with Iranian and Hezbollah flags attached to it as displaced people make their way back to their homes in southern Lebanon following an interim deal between the US and Iran, in Sidon, Lebanon, June 24, 2026. (Reuters)
A car with Iranian and Hezbollah flags attached to it as displaced people make their way back to their homes in southern Lebanon following an interim deal between the US and Iran, in Sidon, Lebanon, June 24, 2026. (Reuters)

Israeli defense minister vowed on Saturday to respond with "great force" if Iran attacked Israel in an attempt to prevent the implementation of an agreement with Lebanon aimed at securing peace between the two countries. 

"If Iran tries to attack Israel to prevent the implementation of the agreement, we will act against it with great force," Israel Katz said in a video statement, adding that the agreement with Lebanon had dealt a "strategic blow to the Iranian axis". 

Lebanon and Israel, under US sponsorship, signed an agreement on Friday hoping to end hostilities between them, but experts say it does not guarantee Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and its implementation depends on Hezbollah and its backer Iran. 

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem condemned the agreement on Saturday, accusing the government of surrendering Lebanese sovereignty and declaring the agreement null and void. 

Lebanon took the historic step of negotiating directly with Israel despite them having no diplomatic relations, as a reaction to Tehran-backed Hezbollah drawing the country into the Middle East war on March 2. 

Israel said it will not leave occupied Lebanese territory unless the group is disarmed. 

Katz added on Saturday that Israeli forces had been ordered to prepare for an extended stay in the so-called occupied security zone in southern Lebanon, after Israel and Lebanon agreed on the framework to end hostilities. 

"The prime minister and I have instructed the army to prepare for an extended stay in the security zone," Israel Katz said in a video statement, referring to an area up to 10 kilometers (six miles) inside the Lebanese territory. 

"The important principle established in the agreement is that there will be no redeployment by Israel in southern Lebanon, no withdrawal, as long as the terrorist organization Hezbollah is not disarmed throughout Lebanon," he said. 

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World

Fighter Jet Crashes in Eastern France, At Least 1 Dead

This handout photograph taken by the Armee de l'Air Francaise (French Air force) on March 13, 2018 and released on October 21, 2026 shows a Dassault Mirage 2000D jet fighter of the BA133 Nancy-Ochey military base in flight. (Photo by Anthony JEULAND / FRENCH AIR FORCE / AFP)
This handout photograph taken by the Armee de l'Air Francaise (French Air force) on March 13, 2018 and released on October 21, 2026 shows a Dassault Mirage 2000D jet fighter of the BA133 Nancy-Ochey military base in flight. (Photo by Anthony JEULAND / FRENCH AIR FORCE / AFP)
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Fighter Jet Crashes in Eastern France, At Least 1 Dead

This handout photograph taken by the Armee de l'Air Francaise (French Air force) on March 13, 2018 and released on October 21, 2026 shows a Dassault Mirage 2000D jet fighter of the BA133 Nancy-Ochey military base in flight. (Photo by Anthony JEULAND / FRENCH AIR FORCE / AFP)
This handout photograph taken by the Armee de l'Air Francaise (French Air force) on March 13, 2018 and released on October 21, 2026 shows a Dassault Mirage 2000D jet fighter of the BA133 Nancy-Ochey military base in flight. (Photo by Anthony JEULAND / FRENCH AIR FORCE / AFP)

A fighter jet crashed in eastern France, leaving at least one person dead, the French armed forces said on Wednesday.

The Mirage 2000D combat aircraft was returning from a mission when it crashed late Tuesday evening, according to the armed forces ministry.

The plane's crew consisted of a fighter pilot and a weapons systems officer from the French Air and Space Force. One body has been recovered and a search for the second crew member is ongoing.

The accident happened near the town of Rogeville, about 18 kilometers (11 miles) northwest of the city of Nancy. Local prefect Yves Seguy told reporters that a wooded area where the plane crashed was searched overnight in adverse weather.

An investigation into the cause of the crash has been opened, The Associated Press reported.

The plane was attached to the nearby 133 Nancy-Ochey air base. Col. Ludovic Humbert, the base commandant, said the weapons systems officer was a seasoned soldier who was teaming up with a young pilot. The plane had begun its final approach as it returned to base from a night training mission when the crash happened.

The Mirage 2000D specializes in ground-attack missions. A two-seat aircraft, it is designed to operate in complex environments, the ministry said. It supports conventional air operations and power-projection missions.

World

Several Killed in Ukraine in Latest Russian Strikes

Burnt-out hypermarket following an overnight Ukrainian drone strike, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, a Russian-controlled city of Ukraine, on August 16, 2026. Alexander Ermochenko, Reuters
Burnt-out hypermarket following an overnight Ukrainian drone strike, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, a Russian-controlled city of Ukraine, on August 16, 2026. Alexander Ermochenko, Reuters
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Several Killed in Ukraine in Latest Russian Strikes

Burnt-out hypermarket following an overnight Ukrainian drone strike, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, a Russian-controlled city of Ukraine, on August 16, 2026. Alexander Ermochenko, Reuters
Burnt-out hypermarket following an overnight Ukrainian drone strike, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, a Russian-controlled city of Ukraine, on August 16, 2026. Alexander Ermochenko, Reuters

Four people were killed in a wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine on Wednesday, the government said, as US envoy Steve Witkoff headed to Saint Petersburg for talks.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky said two people were killed when a drone hit a 24-storey building in the capital, Kyiv, while two others were killed in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

The head of the Kharkiv regional state administration, Oleg Synegubov, said the victims were an elderly couple, aged 81 and 83. Emergency services found their bodies under the rubble after their house was destroyed.

The latest attacks came as Witkoff on Tuesday wrapped up talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway before heading to Russia on Wednesday to meet President Vladimir Putin.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the talks as "positive", after rising tensions between Kyiv and Washington in recent weeks over the course of the nearly five-year war.

Koretsky wrote on Telegram that Russian forces had struck energy infrastructure, railways, shopping centers and residential buildings "continuously" since Tuesday night.

Further strikes included one on a university building in the central city of Kremenchuk, and attacks on energy facilities in Kyiv, Volyn in the northwest, and Odesa and Mykolaiv in the south.

Koretsky also said a drone attacked a merchant vessel in the Black Sea.

Power company DTEK said emergency power outages were imposed on three parts of Kyiv alongside planned power cuts elsewhere in the city.

World

North Korea Says ‘New Firepower Units’ in Place After Border Threat

A North Korean guard post (C) and a giant loudspeaker (R) on the North side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas, are seen from the border city of Paju on October 20, 2026. (AFP)
A North Korean guard post (C) and a giant loudspeaker (R) on the North side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas, are seen from the border city of Paju on October 20, 2026. (AFP)
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North Korea Says ‘New Firepower Units’ in Place After Border Threat

A North Korean guard post (C) and a giant loudspeaker (R) on the North side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas, are seen from the border city of Paju on October 20, 2026. (AFP)
A North Korean guard post (C) and a giant loudspeaker (R) on the North side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas, are seen from the border city of Paju on October 20, 2026. (AFP)

North Korea has moved new units into "firing positions", the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un said Wednesday, days after Pyongyang warned it was considering deploying additional strike means to its border with South Korea. 

Tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang have soared since the South last month blamed an explosion inside the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two countries on landmines laid by North Korea, an accusation it has rejected. 

"Our military leadership underlined the need to make those rogues aware that our new firepower units have taken their firing positions," Kim Yo Jong said, according to state media. 

Her statement came a day after Seoul warned of a "firm" response to further North Korean provocations. 

She added that Kim Jong Un had "issued an order to fortify the border with an enemy state to be eternally impregnable". 

The statement came as the Korea Central News Agency said the armed forces' Marshal Pak Jong Chon had inspected "pivotal positions" on the border, stressing to troops it was "time to organize the firepower strong enough to strike terror into the enemy's heart". 

"If the enemy troops make a provocation actually threatening the safety of our service personnel... The border forces of the DPRK must take very proficient, specialized and overwhelming military action," he said, using the acronym for the North's official name. 

Seoul's military accused Pyongyang on Tuesday of attempting to shift the blame for escalating military tensions, while confirming it had used both loudspeakers and warning shots as "legitimate defensive measures to prevent North Korean troops from crossing the MDL (Military Demarcation Line) and to drive back troops that have crossed it". 

Jin Yong-sung, chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, ordered the military to "respond with firm resolve" should North Korea use Seoul's actions as a pretext for aggressive action, while the defense ministry warned they would be met with "resolute" punishment. 

North Korea has separately tested a slew of weapons recently, including a "new-type" precision-guided torpedo system and an intermediate-range hypersonic missile, both of which were said to employ AI technology.