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Iran Supreme Leader Calls for Cutting Ties with Israel ‘for Limited Period’

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is seen at a military exhibition. (Supreme Leader's website)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is seen at a military exhibition. (Supreme Leader's website)
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Iran Supreme Leader Calls for Cutting Ties with Israel ‘for Limited Period’

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is seen at a military exhibition. (Supreme Leader's website)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is seen at a military exhibition. (Supreme Leader's website)

Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei urged regional countries to sever their "political relationship with the Zionist [Israeli] regime at least for a limited period."

Khamenei said Israel's "defeat" in its war against the Hamas movement is "a reality" and reveals the "failure" of Western countries.

During a visit to the Ashura Aerospace University of Science and Technology, Khamenei toured an exhibition showing the latest achievements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force.

During the visit, officials unveiled the "Fattah 2" hypersonic cruise missile, the "Mehran" mobile defense system, the upgraded "9th of Dey" system, and the "Shahed 147" drone.

"Some Islamic governments have condemned Israeli crimes in assemblies while some have not. This is unacceptable," Khamenei said, reiterating that the main task of Islamic governments should be to cut off Israel from energy and goods, reported Reuters.

He made similar remarks weeks ago.

Khamenei added: "Islamic governments should at least cut off political ties to Israel for a limited time."

His website quoted him as saying that the events in Gaza revealed "many hidden facts", including the support of the heads of Western countries for "racial discrimination".

"Despite the massive bombings in Gaza, the Zionist regime has so far failed in its action because they said from the beginning that their goal is to destroy and cripple Hamas and the Resistance, but after more than 40 days and after using all their military power, they have not yet been able to do this," he said.

He noted that the "savage bombardment of hospitals, women, and children in Gaza is a sign that the Zionist leaders are enraged by their defeat."

"The Zionist regime's defeat in Gaza is a fact. Advancing and entering hospitals or people's homes is not a victory because victory means defeating the other side, which is something that the Zionist regime has not been able to achieve so far, nor will it be able to do in the future," he added.

Khamenei accused the leaders of the US, Germany, France and the UK of being racist because of their support and help to the "racist" Israeli regime.

"The Zionists consider themselves as a superior race and consider the rest of the human race to be inferior. That is why they have killed several thousand children without any remorse," he added.

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World

Macron Urges 'Calm' ahead of Tense Rally for Slain Far-right Activist

French police secure the area after a bomb threat at the headquarters of France's hard-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) and its evacuation in Paris, France, February 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
French police secure the area after a bomb threat at the headquarters of France's hard-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) and its evacuation in Paris, France, February 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
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Macron Urges 'Calm' ahead of Tense Rally for Slain Far-right Activist

French police secure the area after a bomb threat at the headquarters of France's hard-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) and its evacuation in Paris, France, February 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
French police secure the area after a bomb threat at the headquarters of France's hard-left party La France Insoumise (France Unbowed - LFI) and its evacuation in Paris, France, February 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

French President Emmanuel Macron appealed on Saturday for cooler heads to prevail ahead of a rally for a far-right activist whose killing, blamed on the hard left, has put the country on edge.

Macron also said his government would hold a meeting next week to discuss "violent action groups" in the wake of the fatal beating of Quentin Deranque, which has ignited tensions between the left and right ahead of the 2027 presidential vote.

The 23-year-old died from head injuries following clashes between radical left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a demonstration against a politician from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party in the southeastern city of Lyon last week.

A rally, widely publicized online by ultra-nationalist and far-right groups, is expected to be attended by 2,000 to 3,000 people, with the authorities fearing further clashes with left-wing protesters.

Speaking at a farming trade fair in Paris, Macron urged "everyone to remain" calm ahead of the rally for Deranque in Lyon, which is set to go ahead under high security later on Saturday despite Lyon's left-wing green mayor asking the state to ban it.

"In the Republic, no violence is legitimate," said Macron, who will be unable to contest next year's election after hitting the two-term limit. "There is no place for militias, no matter where they come from."

- 'Over 1,000 neo-Nazis' -

Ahead of the Lyon rally, some residents living near the march's planned route had barricaded the ground floor windows of their apartments, fearing unrest.

"At my age, I'm not going to play the tough guy. If I have to go out somewhere, I'll avoid the places where they're marching," said Lyon local Jean Echeverria, 87.

"They'll just keep fighting each other, it'll never end. Between the extreme of this and the extreme of that, it's non-stop," he added.

Two friends of Deranque's were behind the official call to march in his honor.

But according to the Deranque family's lawyer, Fabien Rajon, his parents will not take part in the rally, which they have urged to go ahead "without violence" and "without political statements".

Several ultra-right-wing groups, including Deranque's nationalist Allobroges Bourgoin faction, have nonetheless heavily publicized the march on social media.

The authorities fear that far-right and hard-left activists from elsewhere in Europe might travel to France for the event, stoking concerns of further unrest.

Jordan Bardella, the head of the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) party -- which senses its best chance ever of scoring the presidency in next year's vote -- has urged supporters not to go.

"We ask you, except in very specific and strictly supervised local situations not to attend these gatherings nor to associate the National Rally with them," he wrote in a message sent to party officials and seen by AFP.

LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard backed the Lyon mayor's call for a ban, warning on X that the march would be a "fascist demonstration" which "over 1,000 neo-Nazis from all over Europe" were expected to attend.

But Interior Minister Laurent Nunez declined to ban the rally, arguing that he had to "strike a balance between maintaining public order and freedom of expression" and pledging an "extremely large police deployment".

- 'Wound' -

Deranque's death has provoked a reaction from US President Donald Trump's administration, with state department official Sarah Rogers on Friday branding the killing "terrorism" and claiming that "violent radical leftism is on the rise".

Likewise, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday called Deranque's death "a wound for all Europe", prompting Macron to urge the far-right leader to stay out of French matters.

Six men suspected of involvement in the fatal assault have been charged over the killing, while a parliamentary assistant to a radical left-wing MP has also been charged with complicity.

A far-right collective called Nemesis, which claims to "defend Western women" from the violence allegedly wrought by immigrants, said Deranque had been at the protest in Lyon to protect its members when he was assaulted by "anti-fascist" activists.

Having urged both the far right and hard left to clean up their acts, Macron said his administration would hold a meeting next week "take stock of violent action groups which are active and have links with political parties of any description".

World

US Military Strikes Another Alleged Drug Boat in Eastern Pacific, Killing 3

A shot of a boat targeted by a US raid in the Caribbean (archive - Reuters)
A shot of a boat targeted by a US raid in the Caribbean (archive - Reuters)
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US Military Strikes Another Alleged Drug Boat in Eastern Pacific, Killing 3

A shot of a boat targeted by a US raid in the Caribbean (archive - Reuters)
A shot of a boat targeted by a US raid in the Caribbean (archive - Reuters)

The US military said Friday that it has carried out another deadly strike on a vessel accused of trafficking drugs in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

US Southern Command said on social media that the boat “was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” It said the strike killed three people. A video linked to the post shows a boat floating in the water before bursting into flames.

Friday’s attack raises the death toll from the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats to at least 148 people in at least 43 attacks carried out since early September in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

President Donald Trump has said the US is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics have questioned the overall legality of the strikes as well as their effectiveness, in part because the fentanyl behind many fatal overdoses is typically trafficked to the US over land from Mexico.

World

Afghanistan Quake Causes No ‘Serious’ Damage, Injuries, Says Official

Afghan men prepare meals during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
Afghan men prepare meals during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
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Afghanistan Quake Causes No ‘Serious’ Damage, Injuries, Says Official

Afghan men prepare meals during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 February 2026. (EPA)
Afghan men prepare meals during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan, 19 February 2026. (EPA)

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked eastern Afghanistan including the capital Kabul has resulted in only minor damage and one reported injury, a disaster official told AFP on Saturday.

The quake hit on Friday just as people in the Muslim-majority country were sitting down to break their Ramadan fast.

The epicenter was near several remote villages around 130 kilometers (80 miles) northeast of Kabul, the United States Geological Survey said.

"There aren't any serious casualties or damages after yesterday's earthquake," said Mohammad Yousuf Hamad, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority.

He added that one person had sustained "a minor injury in Takhar", in Afghanistan's north, "and three houses had minor damage in Laghman" province.

Zilgay Talabi, a resident of Khenj district near the epicenter, said the tremor was "very strong, it went on for almost 30 seconds".

Earthquakes are common in Afghanistan, particularly along the Hindu Kush mountain range, near where the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates meet.

In August last year, a shallow 6.0-magnitude quake in the country's east wiped out mountainside villages and killed more than 2,200 people.

Weeks later, a 6.3-magnitude quake in northern Afghanistan killed 27 people.

Large tremors in western Herat, near the Iranian border, in 2023, and in Nangarhar province in 2022, killed hundreds and destroyed thousands of homes.

Many homes in the predominantly rural country, which has been devastated by decades of war, are shoddily built.

Poor communication networks and infrastructure in mountainous Afghanistan have hampered disaster responses in the past, preventing authorities from reaching far-flung villages for hours or even days before they could assess the extent of the damage.