Saturday, June 21, 2025
🔴 Al Jazeera English | Live
Trump says US has attacked nuclear sites in Iran including Fordow
US has struck three Iranian nuclear sites, Trump says
President Donald Trump said Saturday that the US military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel ’s effort to destroy the country’s nuclear program in a risky gambit to weaken a longtime foe amid Tehran’s threat of reprisals that could spark a wider regional conflict.
The decision to directly involve the US comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country’s air defences and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. But US and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and a 30,000-lb. bunker buster bomb they alone can carry offered the best chance of destroying heavily-fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear program buried deep underground.
Six In The Morning Saturday 21 June 2025
Iran FM warns US involvement in conflict would be 'very dangerous' as Israel targets commanders
Summary
Iran's foreign minister said US involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict would be "very very dangerous"
Blasts have been heard in southwestern Iran as IDF says it is "targeting military infrastructure"
Earlier, Israel's military said they killed Iranian commander Saeed Izadi in a targeted attack overnight - here's what we know about him
These strikes highlight serious vulnerabilities within Iran's intelligence services, writes BBC's Jiyar Gol
Police in Cyprus say a man has been arrested on suspicion of espionage, as Cyprus's ANT1 news agency reports he was believed to be carrying out surveillance of a British RAF air base
Elsewhere, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard changes her tune, saying Iran could produce nuclear weapons "within weeks"
Iran confirms death of tenth nuclear scientist
Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Persian, World Service reporter
Iranian media has acknowledged that another nuclear scientist has died in Israeli strikes on the country, rising the official death toll announced to 10.
The death of the scientist named Isar Tabatabei Ghomsheh was first announced by the newsletter of Tehran’s Sharif University, where he was an alumni.
The newsletter of the university said that he was killed “late last week in his home” alongside his wife, Mansoureh Hajisalem.
Banned from home for 40 years: deportations are Russia’s latest move to ‘cleanse’ Ukraine
A deal freezing frontlines would be unacceptable for Serhiy Serdiuk, who was taken to Georgia in handcuffs with his family after refusing to teach the Russian curriculum
Sat 21 Jun 2025 05.00 BST
Earlier this year, Serhiy Serdiuk was deported from Russia, along with his wife and daughter. He was given a 40-year ban from re-entering the country.
Serdiuk’s home town of Komysh-Zoria, in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, was part of the territory occupied in the first weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion in spring 2022. According to Moscow, it is now part of Russia. And because Serdiuk, the headteacher of a local school, refused to work for the new authorities, they decided he had no place living there.
East German cities offer free stays to fight depopulation
Towns and cities in eastern German states are inviting people to come and stay in the hope of encouraging more people to move there long-term.
"There's no problem finding affordable accommodation, there are no traffic jams, there's no rush hour, and I've never had trouble finding a parking space," beams Anika Franze from behind her desk in the center of the small city of Guben.
The 38-year-old was born in East Berlin in the former German Democratic Republic and lived most of her life before and after the fall of the Wall in the same district of the capital. But she says the hustle and bustle, a sense of helplessness about growing inequality, not to mention the dire housing situation, long made her want to leave.
The woman raising 98 children with disabilities
At her 'Home of Hope', Edith Lukabwe cares for children abandoned by their families.
On a muddy, uneven and unnamed road on the outskirts of the eastern city of Jinja, children laugh and play in a compound surrounded by green hills and sugarcane plantations.
A child hurtles his wheelchair down the driveway at breakneck speed towards a heavy gate manned by a friendly security guard. On the worn concrete veranda, a young boy with hydrocephalus - a condition in which fluid enlarges the skull - laughs loudly as he plays checkers with two friends.
The cheerful atmosphere belies the difficult backgrounds of the 98 children - aged six months to 18 years - who live on the compound. All were abandoned. Most were babies when their parents left them. Some were left at the compound gate, others at hospital after they were born while one three-year-old boy was rescued from his home days after his parents disappeared.
Apologies issued to falsely accused firm; but too late, says president
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
June 21, 2025 at 17:41 JST
High-ranking law enforcement officials in Tokyo apologized to past and current executives of a company that manufactures spray dryers for dragging them through an investigation that a high court concluded was illegal.
Tetsuro Kamata, deputy superintendent-general of the Metropolitan Police Department, was joined by Hirohide Mori, head of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office’s public security division, in the June 20 mission to set matters straight.
How South Korea Became a Cultural Powerhouse, and What’s Next
With BTS poised to reunite, “Squid Game” returning and a Broadway show winning awards, the Korean cultural wave keeps on rolling.
A Tony Award-winning play on Broadway. The finale of a record-breaking Netflix show. And a reunion of arguably the world’s biggest pop band.
South Korean culture is having a moment. Again.
Friday, June 20, 2025
Six In The Morning Friday 20 June 2025
UK to withdraw embassy staff from Tehran as Iran launches new strikes on Israel
Summary
The UK Foreign Office says it is taking the "precautionary measure" of withdrawing staff from its embassy in Iran
It comes as the exchange of fire between Israel and Iran has continued, with Israel hit by a new round of Iranian strikes this afternoon
Earlier the Israeli military said it attacked dozens of targets, including what it called missile manufacturing sites in Tehran
Meanwhile UK, French and German foreign ministers are holding talks with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva today as part of efforts to ease the Israel-Iran conflict
It comes after the White House says Donald Trump will decide in the next fortnight whether to take direct US action - read more on the timeline here
'Trust gap' in talks over Iran's nuclear programme, UN secretary-general says
Delivering his opening remarks at a meeting of the UN Security Council, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warns that with the continuation of the conflict between Israel and Iran the world is "racing towards" a crisis.
"The expansion of this conflict could light a fire that no one can control," he says.
Children suffered record levels of violence in conflict zones in 2024, UN report shows
Surge in violations to more than 40,000 – the highest since records began in 1996 – must serve as a ‘wake-up call’
Fri 20 Jun 2025 14.07 BST
A record number of children were subjected to acts of violence in conflict zones in 2024, with the number of incidents recorded rising by 25%, according to a UN report.
The UN security council’s annual report on children and armed conflict found 22,495 children in 2024 were killed, wounded, denied humanitarian support or recruited for conflict.
It highlighted a 44% rise in attacks on schools and 35% rise in sexual violence against children.
UNHCR reports record displacement in West and Central Africa
Nearly 13 million people have been uprooted from their homes in West and Central Africa. The UN Refugee Agency blames migration trends and conflict for creating a "perfect storm" of mass displacement.
There are about 12.7 million forcibly displaced and stateless people in West and Central Africa, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). This figure reflects a 48% increase since 2020, when the number stood at 8.6 million, underscoring a worsening forced displacement crisis.
"From conflict to climate shocks, protection risks are rising — particularly for women and children, who represent 80% of the the forcibly displaced," said Abdouraouf Gnon-Konde, the UNHCR's regional bureau director for West and Central Africa. Gnon-Konde said the UN's data also showed that displaced people are "returning home in increasing numbers where conditions allow."
Bukele’s El Salvador: Popularity, power, and the price of security
Nayib Bukele came to power in El Salvador in 2019, winning outright in the first round of presidential elections. Since then, he has steadily consolidated his control. Bukele’s party has dominated the National Assembly since 2021. In 2022, he declared a state of emergency, which remains in effect to this day.
Survey shows Japanese have harsh views toward refugees
By GAKUSHI FUJIWARA/ Correspondent
June 20, 2025 at 17:46 JST
Japanese have a much harsher view of refugees than citizens in other countries and have done the least individually to help people who have fled their homelands, an international survey showed.
Ipsos, a market research company headquartered in Paris, released the results of its survey of 23,000 people from 29 countries on June 20, which is World Refugee Day.
In one question in the survey, respondents were asked if they agree or disagree with the statement, “Most refugees who come to my country will successfully integrate into their new society.”
At least 35 killed in new Israeli attack on Gaza aid seekers
At least 35 Palestinians have been killed and several others wounded by Israeli fire while waiting for humanitarian aid near the Netzarim Corridor, in the central Gaza Strip, sources at al-Awda Hospital told Al Jazeera.
Israeli jets also bombed a house west of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, killing at least eight people and injuring more.
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Israel’s planned to attack Iran for years, so why now?
Israel has been making plans to attack Iran for years, so why is it happening now?
Six In The Morning Thursday 19 June 2025
US joining Israeli strikes would cause hell, Iranian minister tells BBC
Summary
Israel's defence minister says Iran's supreme leader "can no longer be allowed to exist" after the Soroka hospital was hit during an Iranian missile attack, AFP and local media report
Iranian state media reports that the missile strike targeted a military site next to the hospital in southern Israel, and not the facility itself - BBC Verify has analysed the footage
Israel says 271 people have been injured across the country after Iran fired a barrage of missiles overnight
In Iran, Israel's military says it targeted nuclear sites including the "inactive" Arak heavy water reactor and Natanz facility - there have been no reports of radiation threats or injuries overnight
The attacks this morning come at a critical time, as Donald Trump considers the possibility of direct US involvement in Israel's campaign, writes Hugo Bachega
Trump has reportedly approved plans to attack Iran, but has not made a final decision - Iran's supreme leader warned of "irreparable harm" if the US intervenes
Damage and debris after strike hits Israeli hospital
Arye Myers, an emergency paramedic, arrived at the Soroka hospital in southern Israel at 09:00 local time (07:00 BST) to help evacuate patients after it was hit by a missile.
He tells me that cancer patients “came out in wheelchairs and hospital gowns very stressed".
India illegally deporting Muslim citizens at gunpoint to Bangladesh, say rights groups
There are fears the crackdown against ‘outsiders’ is driving widespread persecution as expelled Indians are returned by Bangladesh border guards
Thu 19 Jun 2025 08.00 BST
The Indian government has been accused of illegally deporting Indian Muslims to Bangladesh, prompting fears of an escalating campaign of persecution.
Thousands of people, largely Muslims suspected of being illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, have been rounded up by police across India in recent weeks, according to human rights groups, with many of them deprived of due legal process and sent over the border to neighbouring Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
'Crunch time' for climate action, scientists warn
The world is on course to crash through a dangerous warming threshold with key climate indicators shifting at an alarming rate, more than 60 top UN scientists have warned.
Bill Hare, CEO of think tank Climate Analytics, said Thursday it was "inevitable" that the world would breach the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) limit in around five years "unless emissions are reduced quickly."
"If emissions are reduced quickly, rapidly, as we know they can be, there is still a likelihood of exceeding a low overshoot of the 1.5 limit, and by low overshoot, I mean 1.6 degrees," he said during a press briefing at the UN interim climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany.
Putin says NATO’s increased defence spending poses no 'threat' to Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that NATO's push to ramp up defence spending was not a "threat" to Russia, days before the alliance was set to sign-off on a plan to boost its military capacity across Europe.
In a late-night press conference, the Russian leader also said his troops would not stop pushing forward in Ukraine and sought to undermine his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
Thai government in crisis amid fallout from PM’s leaked phone call
Backlash over Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s leaked call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen threatens to topple her government.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government has been rocked after a major coalition partner quit amid mounting public anger over a leaked phone call she had with a former Cambodian leader.
Paetongtarn faced growing calls to resign on Thursday as the kingdom was racked by renewed political instability, with fears that an ongoing border dispute with Cambodia could trigger military clashes.
Huge Roman 'jigsaw' reveals 2,000-year-old wall paintings
Archaeologists have pieced together thousands of fragments of 2,000-year-old wall plaster to reveal remarkable frescoes that decorated a luxurious Roman villa.
The shattered plaster was discovered in 2021 at a site in central London that's being redeveloped, but it's taken until now to reconstruct this colossal jigsaw puzzle.
The frescoes are from at least 20 walls of the building, with beautifully painted details of musical instruments, birds, flowers and fruit.