Iran war: Trump vows response after US embassy in Riyadh hittt
Explosions were reported at the US embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after a drone attack. Meanwhile, Israel said it conducted strikes on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon. DW has the latest.
Israeli military say soldiers active in southern Lebanon
The Israeli military has said its soldiers are “operating in southern Lebanon” as Israel continues strikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in the neighboring country.
It said troops had been deployed at several locations near the border to help increase security for residents of border areas in northern Israel.
The announcement comes as Hezbollah has said it has targeted three Israeli military bases with drone or rocket strikes in reponse to Israel’s “criminal” attacks on its strongholds in Lebanon, including in Beirut.
It said its fighters had attacked the Ramat David air base and the Meron base in northern Israel with drones, and a a base in the occupied Golan Heights with rockets.
Picking new supreme leader ‘won’t take long’ — Iranian source
A new Iranian supreme leader will be chosen in the very near future, according to the clerical body tasked with electing someone to the position.
Choosing a successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on Saturday amid the US-Israeli offensive, “won’t take long,” said a member of the Assembly of Experts, cited by the ISNA news agency.
Iran’s supreme leader possesses the highest religious and political authority in the country, above the president.
Only two people have so far held the position since the Islamic Republic of Iran was founded in 1979 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who was the first to take the office.
German police warn of airline hotline scams amid Mideast conflict
German police have warned travellers affected by the Iran war to be wary of fraudulent airline service hotlines when trying to rebook flights amid disruption caused by the conflict.
The warning comes after a women from the southern state of Bavaria was tricked into paying €2,500 ($2,920) for what she thought was a valid booking.
Bavaria’s State Criminal Police Office (BLKA) urged consumers to obtain hotline numbers only from the official website of their booking portal or airline and not to rely on paid search engine advertisements.
It said booking changes should be made exclusively through official customer accounts and called on people to report cases suspected fraud to authorities without delay.
The German Travel Association has said that as many as 30,000 people from Germany might be stranded in the Middle Eastamid the widening conflict triggered by the US-Israeli offensive against Iran.
The wife of US President Donald Trump, Melania Trump, has chaired a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York that focused on children, technology and educationin conflict situations.
The meeting came after unconfirmed reports that dozens of children have been killed at a girl’s school in southern Iran amid Israeli and US strikes, while several schools across the Middle East have been closed amid the widening conflict, with pupils moving to remote learning.
Although Melania Trump did not mention the US-Israeli offensive launched on Saturday against Iran,she offered her condolences to the “families who have lost their heroes, who sacrificed their lives for freedom” as she opened the session.
“The US stands with all of the children throughout the world. I hope soon, peace will be yours,” she said.
In her remarks, the US first lady stressed that education was vital for preventing conflict, saying that if countries make it a priority, it “leads to something powerful — to greater understanding, moral reasoning — and tolerance of others. Peace.”
“I implore you to build a future generation of leaders who embrace peace through education,” she told council members.
It was the first time the spouse of a world leader has chaired a Security Council meeting.
President Trump and his administration have often criticized the UN as ineffective and corrupt.
