عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Blasts Heard, Sirens in Jerusalem after Iran Missile Alerts

An Israeli Orthodox Jew inspects the site of an Iranian missile strike in Arad on March 22, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP) /
An Israeli Orthodox Jew inspects the site of an Iranian missile strike in Arad on March 22, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP) /
TT
TT

Blasts Heard, Sirens in Jerusalem after Iran Missile Alerts

An Israeli Orthodox Jew inspects the site of an Iranian missile strike in Arad on March 22, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP) /
An Israeli Orthodox Jew inspects the site of an Iranian missile strike in Arad on March 22, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP) /

Blasts were heard and air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem on Sunday, AFP journalists said, after the Israeli military warned of incoming missile fire from Iran.

The army issued several alerts saying it had identified that "missiles were launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel".

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency medical service said after the first warning that there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israel's military said personnel were attending "impact sites" in central Israel, with local media showing images of light damage by a road in the city of Holon near Tel Aviv.

The latest alerts come after Iranian missiles struck two towns in southern Israel on Saturday evening.

The Soroka medical center said it had received and treated 175 people, and 10 were in serious condition, including at least one child.

The blasts in the towns of Dimona and Arad tore open residential buildings and gouged craters in the ground.

Iranian state TV said the strike in Dimona, which houses a nuclear facility, was in response to an earlier strike on its own Natanz nuclear site.

The Israeli military said it was investigating how air defense systems had failed to intercept the incoming missiles.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Taiwan Security Chief: China Deployed 'Over 100 Vessels' in Regional Waters

People walk past the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Ann Wang
People walk past the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Ann Wang
TT
TT

Taiwan Security Chief: China Deployed 'Over 100 Vessels' in Regional Waters

People walk past the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Ann Wang
People walk past the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Ann Wang

Taiwan's security chief said Saturday that China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in regional waters stretching from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and Western Pacific.

The deployment happened in the past few days after US President Donald Trump's meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing, National Security Council chief Joseph Wu said on X.

"In this part of the world,#China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability," Wu said in the post.

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.

Wu's remarks came after Trump on Wednesday referred to "the Taiwan problem" when asked if he would speak to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te about arms sales to the democratic island.

"I'll speak to him. I speak to everybody," Trump said, adding that he had a great meeting with Xi during his state visit.

"We'll work on that, the Taiwan problem," Trump said.

A Taiwan security official told AFP on the condition of anonymity that Chinese vessels had been detected before the summit in Beijing, but that the numbers went above 100 in recent days.

Meanwhile, a source said US arms sales to Taiwan take years to process and are unrelated to the war with Iran, after a senior US official suggested there was a pause due to the need to have enough arms for the conflict.

Taiwan has been waiting for the US to approve an arms sale that Reuters reported could be worth up to $14 billion.

On Thursday, ⁠acting US Navy ⁠Secretary Hung Cao told a Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing that there was a pause on arms sales to Taiwan to make sure the US had the munitions needed for the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran.

The source familiar with the matter noted that Trump has said he would decide on the Taiwan arms sales soon.

"These sales take years to process and are unrelated to Operation Epic Fury," the source ⁠said, referring to the war the US and Israel launched in February. "The United States military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles to serve all of President Trump's strategic goals and beyond."

World

Magnitude 6 Quake Strikes Hawaii’s Big Island

FILE - Cars pass in front of the federal building housing the US District Court in Honolulu on March 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, File)
FILE - Cars pass in front of the federal building housing the US District Court in Honolulu on March 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, File)
TT
TT

Magnitude 6 Quake Strikes Hawaii’s Big Island

FILE - Cars pass in front of the federal building housing the US District Court in Honolulu on March 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, File)
FILE - Cars pass in front of the federal building housing the US District Court in Honolulu on March 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, File)

An earthquake of magnitude 6.0 struck near Honaunau-Napoopoo on the Big Island of Hawaii late on Friday and the state's volcano observatory was assessing the Kilauea volcano, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Kilauea, one of the ⁠world's most active ⁠volcanoes, is located on Hawaii's Big Island.

The volcano has been erupting episodically since December 23, 2024.

In an update earlier on ⁠Friday, the USGS' Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) said the next eruption would occur sometime between May 24 and May 27, citing forecast models.

The earthquake was felt widely on the islands of Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu and was ⁠at ⁠a depth of about 23 km (14 miles), according to USGS.

A tsunami was not expected from the quake, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, and there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

World

Governor: 10 Dead in Ukrainian Strike on College in Russian-occupied Town

22 May 2026, Ukraine, Starobelsk: Emergency workers search through the rubble of the dormitory of the Starobelsk Professional College, part of the Lugansk State Pedagogical University, which was hit and destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike on Starobelsk. Photo: Alexander Reka/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
22 May 2026, Ukraine, Starobelsk: Emergency workers search through the rubble of the dormitory of the Starobelsk Professional College, part of the Lugansk State Pedagogical University, which was hit and destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike on Starobelsk. Photo: Alexander Reka/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
TT
TT

Governor: 10 Dead in Ukrainian Strike on College in Russian-occupied Town

22 May 2026, Ukraine, Starobelsk: Emergency workers search through the rubble of the dormitory of the Starobelsk Professional College, part of the Lugansk State Pedagogical University, which was hit and destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike on Starobelsk. Photo: Alexander Reka/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
22 May 2026, Ukraine, Starobelsk: Emergency workers search through the rubble of the dormitory of the Starobelsk Professional College, part of the Lugansk State Pedagogical University, which was hit and destroyed in a Ukrainian drone strike on Starobelsk. Photo: Alexander Reka/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa

The death toll from a Ukrainian strike on a college in a Russian-occupied town in eastern Ukraine has risen to 10, local Moscow-backed authorities said on Saturday.

A total of 38 people were wounded and 11 teenage students were missing, said Leonid Pasechnik, governor of the occupied Lugansk region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the drone barrage that hit the college dormitory in Starobilsk overnight on Thursday to Friday and ordered the army to prepare a response.

"Rescuers worked through the night clearing the rubble in Starobelsk. Unfortunately, hopes were not fulfilled -- the death toll has risen to 10," Pasechnik wrote on Telegram, using a Russian spelling for the town.

According to AFP, he said search and rescue operations were continuing.

Ukraine denied targeting civilians and said it had hit a Russian drone unit stationed in the Starobilsk area.

Russia's foreign ministry said on Friday that those responsible would face "inevitable and severe punishment.”

Ukraine regularly targets Russian-controlled areas of the country with drones, saying the strikes are retaliation for Russian attacks.

Starobilsk is located about 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the front line in east Ukraine.

Russian forces captured the town in 2022, shortly after launching their full-scale offensive.

The Lugansk region is almost entirely occupied by Russia, which claims it as its own.