Netanyahu Says Attack on Iran ‘Achieved All Its Goals’

 26 October 2024, Iran, Tehran: People go about their daily lives after the Israeli strike in Iran. (dpa)
26 October 2024, Iran, Tehran: People go about their daily lives after the Israeli strike in Iran. (dpa)
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Netanyahu Says Attack on Iran ‘Achieved All Its Goals’

 26 October 2024, Iran, Tehran: People go about their daily lives after the Israeli strike in Iran. (dpa)
26 October 2024, Iran, Tehran: People go about their daily lives after the Israeli strike in Iran. (dpa)

Israel hit hard Iran's ability to defend itself and to produce missiles when its air force struck two nights ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

"The air force attacked throughout Iran. We hit hard Iran's defense capabilities and its ability to produce missiles that are aimed at us," Netanyahu said in a speech.

"The attack in Iran was precise and powerful, and it achieved all its objectives," he said.

He spoke a day after Israeli warplanes hit several military targets in Iran in retaliation for an Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel earlier this month.  

Earlier on Sunday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said Iranian officials should determine how best to demonstrate Tehran’s power to Israel after the attack, Iran's official IRNA news agency cited him as saying.  

"The evil committed by the Zionist regime (Israel) two nights ago should neither be downplayed nor exaggerated," he added.  

Iran on Saturday played down Israel's overnight air attack, saying it caused only limited damage, as US President Joe Biden called for a halt to escalation that has raised fears of an all-out conflagration in the Middle East.    

Scores of Israeli jets completed three waves of strikes before dawn against missile factories and other sites near Tehran and in western Iran, Israel's military said.   

Khamenei said Iran's power should be demonstrated to Israel, adding that the way to do so should be "determined by the officials and that which is in the best interest of the people and the country should take place".

Iran reserves the right to respond to Israel's "criminal aggression", Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told the United Nations Secretary-General in a letter calling for an urgent Security Council meeting, Iran's foreign ministry said on Sunday.



New Storm Bears Down on Philippines after Deadly Trami

 In this photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Communications Office, a view of a damaged bridge caused by Tropical Storm Trami, in Laurel, Batangas province, Philippines on Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Malacanang Presidential Communications Office via AP)
In this photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Communications Office, a view of a damaged bridge caused by Tropical Storm Trami, in Laurel, Batangas province, Philippines on Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Malacanang Presidential Communications Office via AP)
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New Storm Bears Down on Philippines after Deadly Trami

 In this photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Communications Office, a view of a damaged bridge caused by Tropical Storm Trami, in Laurel, Batangas province, Philippines on Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Malacanang Presidential Communications Office via AP)
In this photo provided by the Malacanang Presidential Communications Office, a view of a damaged bridge caused by Tropical Storm Trami, in Laurel, Batangas province, Philippines on Friday Oct. 25, 2024. (Malacanang Presidential Communications Office via AP)

The Philippines raised a fresh weather alert on Monday, days more than 100 people were killed by the worst storm of the year.

Nearly a million people are still sheltering at evacuation centers or with relatives after losing their homes or being driven out by floodwaters brought by Severe Tropical Storm Trami, which struck from October 22.

Now the national weather agency says Tropical Storm Kong-rey will bring heavy rain and severe wind to land in coming hours, and cause rough seas off the east coast.

Kong-rey will strengthen into a typhoon by Tuesday and pass close to small Philippine islands in the north as early as Wednesday, the weather service said in a bulletin. The lowest of a five-stage storm alert is in place on the country's northeast coast.

Trami, by contrast, struck some of the country's most populous areas.

The government's disaster agency put the death toll from Trami at 116, with 39 missing.

"Considering the current movement, a further westward shift in forecast track is not ruled out," it said of the latest storm, which would bring it closer to the country than earlier forecast.

It expects Kong-rey to smash into Taiwan at typhoon strength early Friday.

About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Philippines or its surrounding waters each year, damaging homes and infrastructure and killing dozens of people.