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Iran FM Accuses ‘Serpent’ Netanyahu of Tricking US into War

16 March 2018, Austria, Vienna: Abbas Araghchi, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, gives an interview in Vienna. (dpa)
16 March 2018, Austria, Vienna: Abbas Araghchi, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, gives an interview in Vienna. (dpa)
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Iran FM Accuses ‘Serpent’ Netanyahu of Tricking US into War

16 March 2018, Austria, Vienna: Abbas Araghchi, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, gives an interview in Vienna. (dpa)
16 March 2018, Austria, Vienna: Abbas Araghchi, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, gives an interview in Vienna. (dpa)

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "serpent", accusing him of tricking Washington into going to war with the country.

"In Hebrew, Netanyahu openly crows that he suckered the US Administration into a war on Iran on behalf of Israel. Netanyahu explicitly laughs about how he 'influenced' America through 1,000 hours of airtime on US networks," Araghchi said in a post on X.

"In English, he praises POTUS' leadership. Serpent," he added.

War broke out between Iran and the United States on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei along with senior military officials.

Iran retaliated with attacks across the region as the conflict continued to spread.

An April ceasefire put an end to the most intense fighting, but sporadic attacks mainly near the Strait of Hormuz have dimmed prospects for a final peace agreement, and the US recently shifted toward a campaign of what it calls "economic asphyxiation" of Iran.

The US struck the Iranian island of Larak late Sunday, its first such attack in a month.

In response, Iran says it launched attacks on Jordan and the UAE.

Last week, Netanyahu dismissed any prospect of an Iran-US deal and called Iran's leaders "savages".

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World

Russian Defense Minister Hails ‘Unprecedented’ Beijing Ties on China Visit

A Russian and Chinese national flag flutter near Tiananmen Gate, in Beijing, China, May 16, 2024. (AP)
A Russian and Chinese national flag flutter near Tiananmen Gate, in Beijing, China, May 16, 2024. (AP)
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Russian Defense Minister Hails ‘Unprecedented’ Beijing Ties on China Visit

A Russian and Chinese national flag flutter near Tiananmen Gate, in Beijing, China, May 16, 2024. (AP)
A Russian and Chinese national flag flutter near Tiananmen Gate, in Beijing, China, May 16, 2024. (AP)

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said Moscow's strategic partnership with Beijing has reached "an unprecedentedly high level" as he visited China for talks, his ministry said Tuesday.

Russia has sought closer ties with China since its assault on Ukraine launched in 2022 that Beijing, insisting it is a neutral party, has never denounced, calling for peace talks instead.

The Chinese and Russian militaries have held regular joint exercises in recent years, a partnership that Western and some other governments view with suspicion as Moscow's war on Ukraine grinds on.

Belousov, during his China visit, said that "the strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China has reached an unprecedentedly high level," according to a statement by his ministry.

He also said the partnership was "grounded in the personal contacts" between Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping.

In China, Belousov met with Zhang Shengmin, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the body headed by Xi that directs the armed forces.

The meeting comes before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Chinese city of Shenzhen on November 18-19.

Putin has said he intends to be at the summit, which US President Donald Trump has also said he will try to attend.

The Kremlin said in September that Putin and Trump had discussed the idea of holding a trilateral meeting with Xi at the summit.

World

Bomb Threat Alert Forces Passenger Plane from London to Make Unplanned Landing in Poland

File photo: A plane prepares ahead of taking-off, after radar failure led to the suspension of outbound flights across the UK, at Heathrow Airport in Hounslow, London, Britain, July 30, 2025. (Reuters)
File photo: A plane prepares ahead of taking-off, after radar failure led to the suspension of outbound flights across the UK, at Heathrow Airport in Hounslow, London, Britain, July 30, 2025. (Reuters)
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Bomb Threat Alert Forces Passenger Plane from London to Make Unplanned Landing in Poland

File photo: A plane prepares ahead of taking-off, after radar failure led to the suspension of outbound flights across the UK, at Heathrow Airport in Hounslow, London, Britain, July 30, 2025. (Reuters)
File photo: A plane prepares ahead of taking-off, after radar failure led to the suspension of outbound flights across the UK, at Heathrow Airport in Hounslow, London, Britain, July 30, 2025. (Reuters)

A passenger plane from London made an unscheduled landing at Warsaw-Modlin airport in Poland after a bomb threat alert on Tuesday, forcing the airport to close until further notice, the airport ‌said in ‌a statement according to Reuters.

Security services ‌were ⁠verifying the reported ⁠threat, it added.

"At 9:54 a.m., a bomb threat alert was announced on board an aircraft operating a flight on ⁠the route London Heathrow (LHR) – Warsaw ‌Chopin ‌Airport (WAW). At 10:01 a.m., a ‌Boeing 737 MAX aircraft landed ‌at Warsaw/Modlin Airport," it said.

"Due to the situation, Warsaw/Modlin Airport remains closed until further ‌notice. The services are underway to verify ⁠the reported ⁠threat and ensure the safety of all people present at the airport."

There are 181 people aboard the plane, it said. A spokesperson for Polish airlines LOT confirmed it was a LOT flight.

World

Gunmen Kill Two Police Officers Escorting Polio Workers in Pakistan

FILED - 28 February 2026, Afghanistan, Torkham: FILE PHOTO - A Taliban fighter checks his weapon next to an armoured vehicle at a checkpoint near Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Photo: Sami Jan/dpa
FILED - 28 February 2026, Afghanistan, Torkham: FILE PHOTO - A Taliban fighter checks his weapon next to an armoured vehicle at a checkpoint near Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Photo: Sami Jan/dpa
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Gunmen Kill Two Police Officers Escorting Polio Workers in Pakistan

FILED - 28 February 2026, Afghanistan, Torkham: FILE PHOTO - A Taliban fighter checks his weapon next to an armoured vehicle at a checkpoint near Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Photo: Sami Jan/dpa
FILED - 28 February 2026, Afghanistan, Torkham: FILE PHOTO - A Taliban fighter checks his weapon next to an armoured vehicle at a checkpoint near Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Photo: Sami Jan/dpa

Gunmen attacked a police vehicle assigned to protect a polio vaccination team, killing two officers and wounding another in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday, a police official told AFP.

Militants opened fire on the officers' vehicle while it was travelling near the Afghan border in Mohmand district, police official Ali Rehman Khan said, without specifying which group they believed was behind the attack.

"Two police personnel were martyred and another was injured in the attack. However, no polio vaccination staff were present in the police vehicle," he said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the shooting in the border province where security forces are battling an intensifying militancy they say emanates from Afghanistan -- an accusation its Taliban government denies.

In a separate incident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Tank district, four police officers on their way to provide security for a polio vaccination team were abducted on Monday and efforts were underway to recover them, district police official Abdul Samad told AFP.

Pakistan is one of two countries, along with Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic, but militants have killed hundreds of police officers and health workers over the past decade as part of a campaign against the Pakistani state.

Polio, a highly infectious disease mainly affecting children under five, can result in lifelong paralysis but is easily prevented by the oral administration of a few drops of a vaccine.

Misinformation about the vaccine is widespread in rural Pakistan, including false claims that it is part of a CIA plot to prevent Muslims from having children.

Attacks on polio vaccination workers and their police escorts have previously been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups it is linked to.