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Activists Protest Escalating Middle East Crisis outside UK Base in Cyprus

A view of the security gate of RAF Akrotiri, a British military base in Cyprus, September 25, 2024.(Reuters)
A view of the security gate of RAF Akrotiri, a British military base in Cyprus, September 25, 2024.(Reuters)
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Activists Protest Escalating Middle East Crisis outside UK Base in Cyprus

A view of the security gate of RAF Akrotiri, a British military base in Cyprus, September 25, 2024.(Reuters)
A view of the security gate of RAF Akrotiri, a British military base in Cyprus, September 25, 2024.(Reuters)

Pro-Palestinian campaigners protested at the gates of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus on Sunday, accusing Britain of offering tacit support to Israel's ongoing operations in Gaza and elsewhere.

Chanting "Out with the bases of death" a couple of hundred people holding Palestinian and Cypriot flags peacefully protested outside the locked gates of the facility, Britain's largest in the Middle East.

Britain last week sent additional troops to Cyprus to be in position to assist any potential evacuation of nationals trapped in Lebanon, which is reeling from a barrage of Israeli air strikes which culminated in the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday evening.

The UK has two military bases on Cyprus, a former British colony. RAF Akrotiri has been used in the past as a staging point for airstrikes against Houthi militias in Yemen in retaliation for attacks on Red Sea shipping that the Iran-backed group says is a response to the war in Gaza.

"This is an issue of independence and sovereignty for Cyprus," said Peter Iosif, a member of the Cyprus Peace Council, an organizer of Sunday's demonstration. "At this time it becomes even more obvious how the British bases are acting against the will of the Cyprus people," he said.

In response to the protests, a British bases spokesperson said: "No RAF flights have transported lethal cargo to the Israeli Defense Forces."

"In addition, it is standard practice for the UK Ministry of Defense to routinely authorize requests for (a) limited number of allies and partners to access the UK's air bases. Such activity must be in line with UK policy for evacuation and humanitarian purposes only."

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World

Iran Says No Country Can Deprive it of Enrichment Rights

A handout photo made available by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepahnews on 17 February 2026 shows IRGC conducting a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Arabian gulf, southern Iran. EPA/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepahnews on 17 February 2026 shows IRGC conducting a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Arabian gulf, southern Iran. EPA/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT
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Iran Says No Country Can Deprive it of Enrichment Rights

A handout photo made available by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepahnews on 17 February 2026 shows IRGC conducting a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Arabian gulf, southern Iran. EPA/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepahnews on 17 February 2026 shows IRGC conducting a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Arabian gulf, southern Iran. EPA/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT

Iran's atomic energy chief Mohammad Eslami said no country can deprive the Iranian republic of its right to nuclear enrichment, after US President Donald Trump again hinted at military action following talks in Geneva.

"The basis of the nuclear industry is enrichment. Whatever you want to do in the nuclear process, you need nuclear fuel," said Eslami, according to a video published by Etemad daily on Thursday.

"Iran's nuclear program is proceeding according to the rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and no country can deprive Iran of the right to peacefully benefit from this technology."

The comments follow the second round of Oman-mediated talks between Tehran and Washington in Geneva on Tuesday.

The two foes had held an initial round of discussions on February 6 in Oman, the first since previous talks collapsed during the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June.

The United States briefly joined the war alongside Israel, striking Iranian nuclear facilities.

On Wednesday, Trump again suggested the United States might strike Iran in a post on his Truth Social site.

He warned Britain against giving up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, saying that the archipelago's Diego Garcia airbase might be needed were Iran not to agree a deal, "in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime".

Washington has repeatedly called for zero enrichment, but has also sought to address Iran's ballistic missile program and its support for militant groups in the region -- issues which Israel has pushed to include in the talks.

Western countries accuse the Iranian republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies having such military ambitions but insists on its right to this technology for civilian purposes.

Trump, who has ratcheted up pressure on Iran to reach an agreement, has deployed a significant naval force to the region, which he has described as an "armada".

After sending the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and escort battleships to the Gulf in January, he recently indicated that a second aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford, would depart "very soon" for the Middle East.

Separately, the Iranian and Russian navies were conducting joint drills in the Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean on Thursday.

World

Karachi Building Collapse after Blast Kills 16

Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
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Karachi Building Collapse after Blast Kills 16

Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN

A building collapse caused by an explosion in Pakistan's southern megacity of Karachi killed at least 16 people on Thursday, including children, officials said.

More than a dozen people were injured in the incident in the Soldier Bazaar neighborhood of Karachi at around 4:00 am, when Muslim families start preparing Sehri, the pre-sunrise meal eaten during Ramadan.

World

Australian Police Investigate Threatening Letter to Country's Largest Mosque

FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
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Australian Police Investigate Threatening Letter to Country's Largest Mosque

FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo

Australian police said on Thursday they had launched an investigation after a threatening letter was sent to the country’s largest mosque, the third such incident in the lead-up to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The letter sent to Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s west on Wednesday contained a drawing of a pig and a threat to kill the "Muslim race", local media reported. Police said they had taken the letter for forensic testing, and would continue to patrol ‌religious sites including ‌the mosque, as well as community events.

The latest letter ‌comes ⁠weeks after a ⁠similar message was mailed to the mosque, depicting Muslim people inside a mosque on fire.

Police have also arrested and charged a 70-year-old man in connection with a third threatening letter sent to Lakemba Mosque's staff in January.

The Lebanese Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) it had written to the government to request more funding for additional security guards and ⁠CCTV cameras.

Some 5,000 people are expected to attend ‌the mosque each night during Ramadan. More ‌than 60% of residents in the suburb of Lakemba identify as Muslim, according to ‌the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Bilal El-Hayek, mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown council, where Lakemba ‌is located, said the community was feeling "very anxious".

"I've heard first-hand from people saying that they won't be sending their kids to practice this Ramadan because they're very concerned about things that might happen in local mosques," AFP quoted him as saying.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ‌condemned the recent string of threats.

"It is outrageous that people just going about commemorating their faith, particularly during the ⁠holy month ⁠for Muslims of Ramadan, are subject to this sort of intimidation," he told ABC radio.

"I have said repeatedly we need to turn down the temperature of political discourse in this country, and we certainly need to do that."

Anti-Muslim sentiment has been growing in Australia since the war in Gaza War in late 2023, according to a recent report commissioned by the government.

The Islamophobia Register Australia has also documented a 740% rise in reports following the Bondi mass shooting on December 14, where authorities allege two gunmen inspired by ISIS killed 15 people attending a Jewish holiday celebration.

"There's been a massive increase post-Bondi," Mayor El-Hayek said. "Without a doubt, this is the worst I have ever seen it. There's a lot of tension out there."