Who is choosing Iran’s next Supreme Leader?
NewsFeed Iran’s Assembly of Experts is now tasked with choosing the next Supreme Leader. It elected Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 1989. Published On 5 Mar 20265 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Canada PM Carney says unable to rule out military role in Iran war
Canadian leader also said the US-Israeli attacks on Iran appear to be ‘inconsistent with international law’. Listen to this article Listen to this article | 3 mins info Published On 5 Mar 20265 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that he could not rule out his country’s military participation in the escalating war in the Middle East, after earlier saying that the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were “inconsistent with international law”. Speaking alongside Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra on Thursday, Carney was asked whether there was a situation in which Canada would get involved. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “One can never categorically rule out participation,” Carney said, noting the question was “hypothetical”. “We will stand by our allies,” he said, adding that “we will always defend Canadians”. Carney said earlier that he supported the strikes on Iran “with some regret” as they represented an extreme example of a rupturing world order. The Canadian prime minister also stressed that his country was not informed in advance of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, in his first remarks since the war was launched on Saturday. “We were not informed in advance, we were not asked to participate,” Carney told reporters travelling with him in Australia on Wednesday. “Prima facie, it appears that these actions are inconsistent with international law,” he said. “The United States and Israel have acted without engaging the United Nations or consulting with allies, including Canada,” he added, according to Australia’s SBS News, while also condemning strikes on civilians in Iran and calling for “all parties … to respect the rules of international engagement”. Whether the US and Israeli attacks on Iran had broken international law was “a judgement for others to make”, he added. Advertisement Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said on Wednesday that efforts were under way to help more than 2,000 Canadians who have requested assistance from the government to leave the Middle East region since the war broke out on Saturday. Anand said about half of all inquiries for help were from Canadians in the United Arab Emirates, more than 230 from Qatar, at least 160 from Lebanon, more than 90 from Israel and 74 from Iran. Canada’s Foreign Ministry has been instructed to contract charter flights out of the UAE in the coming days, contingent on approval from the UAE government to use its airspace, the minister said. Commercial air traffic remains largely absent across much of the region, with major Gulf hubs – including Dubai, the world’s busiest airport for international passengers – largely shut amid the conflict, in the biggest travel disruption since the COVID pandemic. Repatriation flights chartered by foreign governments, including Britain and France, were due to leave on Wednesday and Thursday, while the UAE opened safe air corridors to allow some citizens to return home. Under normal circumstances, thousands of commercial flights would depart the region each day. Adblock test (Why?)
North Korea’s Kim oversees cruise missile tests from new naval destroyer
Kim Jong Un supervised the launch of sea-to-surface ‘strategic cruise missiles’ from country’s new naval destroyer. Listen to this article Listen to this article | 3 mins info Published On 5 Mar 20265 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen the test-firing of “strategic cruise missiles” from a new 5,000-tonne naval destroyer before the vessel’s official commissioning, according to state media. Kim supervised the launch of sea-to-surface missiles from the destroyer Choe Hyon on Wednesday, assessing the test as a “core” element of the new warship’s capabilities, which he described as a “new symbol of sea defence” for his country. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Calling for the production of more warships of a similar class or better, Kim said his navy’s adoption of nuclear weapons was making progress. “Our Navy’s forces for attacking from under and above water will grow rapidly. The arming of the Navy with nuclear weapons is making satisfactory progress,” Kim said at the Nampo Shipyard in the west of the country, according to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). “All these successes constitute a radical change in defending our maritime sovereignty, something that we have not achieved for half a century,” he said. South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency noted that North Korea uses references to “strategic” weapons to indicate they could have nuclear capabilities. According to KCNA, over a two-day visit to the shipyard, spanning Tuesday and Wednesday, Kim inspected the Choe Hyon, the lead vessel in a new series of 5,000-tonne “Choe Hyon-class” destroyers currently under construction in North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversees a missile test launch conducted by the Choe Hyon naval destroyer during his visit to inspect the vessel at the Nampo Shipyard, in North Korea, on March 4, 2026 [KCNA via Reuters] ‘Wage a more active and persistent struggle’ In May 2025, North Korea’s ambitious naval modernisation programme suffered a major setback when a second Choe Hyon-class destroyer capsized during a botched side-launch ceremony at Chongjin Shipyard, an incident witnessed by the Korean leader. Advertisement Later, and in a rare admission of failure, KCNA reported that a launch mechanism malfunction caused the stern of the 5,000-tonne destroyer to slide prematurely into the water. The accident crushed parts of the hull and left the bow stranded on the shipway. At the time, Kim characterised the launch failure as a “criminal act”, blaming the incident on “absolute carelessness” and “irresponsibility” across multiple state institutions. This week’s missile tests come after the North Korean leader pledged in late February to lift living standards as he opened a rare congress of the governing Workers’ Party, held once every five years. Kim told the congress that the ruling party was “faced with heavy and urgent historic tasks of boosting economic construction and the people’s standard of living”. “This requires us to wage a more active and persistent struggle without allowing even a moment’s standstill or stagnation,” he said. North Korea has prioritised nuclear weapons development and military strength above all else, claiming that it must be militarily strong to resist pressure from the United States and its ally, South Korea. Since taking power in late 2011, Kim has maintained the military as a core priority while simultaneously emphasising economic strengthening to address the country’s chronic impoverishment. Adblock test (Why?)
Iran’s place in World Cup 2026 in doubt amid conflict, Trump’s dismissal
Among the wide-ranging ramifications of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Iran’s participation in the FIFA World Cup 2026 has become a key talking point, with the tournament less than 100 days away. The global sporting event will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States from June 11 to July 19, with Iran among the 48 nations expected to travel to North America at least a week prior to the opening game. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list US President Donald Trump says he doesn’t care if Iran participates in the World Cup or not. “I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They’re running on fumes,” Trump told the American news site Politico on Tuesday. The US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Saturday that have killed at least 1,045 people, including its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and sparked a regional conflict that has spread to 12 countries. Tehran responded by launching waves of missiles and drones at Israel and towards several military bases in the Middle East where US forces operate. Following the escalations, Iran’s spot at the World Cup has come under question, and officials from the Iranian football federation and FIFA have been noncommittal on the world’s 20th-ranked football nation’s participation. “After this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Mehdi Taj, president of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), told local sports portal Varzesh3 on Sunday. Iran were the first team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026, but their position in the tournament has been thrown into question amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East [File: Rula Rouhana/Reuters] Uncharted territory A leading expert on sports and geopolitics believes that Iran’s participation in the tournament is in serious doubt amid an armed conflict between one of the host nations and a participant. Advertisement “Ultimately, the diplomatic solution [will be] that Iran itself just steps aside and withdraws from the tournament,” Simon Chadwick, a professor of Afro-Eurasian sport at the Emlyon Business School in Shanghai, told Al Jazeera. Chadwick said it’s “very difficult” to see the US allowing players, backroom staff and officials to enter the country. “The US will not be keen to admit [Iranian] players, officials or medics – who normally travel alongside teams to tournaments. “Given that they [Iran] are going to have to play their games in the US, I find it unlikely that they will be there.” Despite the logistical quagmire and its unlikely resolution in a timely manner, Chadwick said withdrawal will not be an easy option for Iran, who will think “very long and hard before walking away”. The last time a team pulled out of a FIFA World Cup due to political reasons was in 1950, when Argentina withdrew, citing disagreements with the Brazilian Football Confederation. “We are in uncharted territory here,” Chadwick explained. “We tend to associate boycotts and countries not participating in sport mega-events with the Olympic Games, where mass boycotts were seen in 1980 and 1984 during the Cold War. “Typically, that doesn’t tend to happen in World Cups.” Chadwick, who has written several books on the economy and politics of sport, believes the impact of withdrawal will not just be political, but also financial. “On the one hand, we are living in very complex and sensitive times, and arguably there are reasons for a country either to withdraw or be banned,” he said. “But we’re [also] living in highly commercial times, and the financial consequences of unilaterally walking away from what is arguably the world’s biggest sport mega event is an act of self-harm. We also don’t know how FIFA might react if a nation were to unilaterally walk away from its qualifying spot.” Can sport diplomacy save the World Cup? Despite the tournament being spread across three host nations, all of Iran’s matches are allocated to venues on the US West Coast. This could largely be due to the presence of a sizeable Iranian community, especially in Los Angeles, where Team Melli will play two of their three Group G games. According to Chadwick, had Iran been playing games in Canada or Mexico, the team could have swayed their decision to participate. But the organisers are unlikely to move the games out of the US now. “It would be extremely unusual to take games to another country to accommodate one particular country, particularly when the president of FIFA and the president of the US seem to be very close,” he said, adding, “the relationship between the US and Canada, and the US and Mexico is somewhat complicated, too.” Advertisement While FIFA hasn’t made a clear statement on the issue, its Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom has said the world football governing body is monitoring the conflict and the situation emerging from it. “We had a meeting today, and it is premature to comment in detail, but we will monitor developments around all issues around the world,” he said last week. With the tournament a little more than three months away, FIFA said it will “continue to communicate with the host governments”. Chadwick believes that FIFA will try to avoid an outcome where Iran is excluded, as it would cause a logistical headache and set the wrong precedent. “What we’re more likely to see is sport diplomacy really kicking in,” he predicted. “The last thing that FIFA will want is for a country to be excluded or simply not turn up because that does set precedent and puts pressure on FIFA.” ‘Sport’s cold war’ With the conflict raging on for the fifth day and spreading further across the Middle East, it is unclear when the Iranian football officials will take a call on sending their team to the US. However, if Iran does opt to withdraw from the World Cup, it could lead to a sporting crisis. Chadwick thinks the consequences could be wide-ranging and long-term. “Politically, it would perhaps take us towards a new
Iraqi women’s rights activist Yanar Mohammed killing spurs call for justice
Listen to this article Listen to this article | 4 mins info The killing of prominent Iraqi women’s rights activist Yanar Mohammed has fuelled an outpouring of grief and calls for justice, with advocates from around the world remembering Mohammed as a “courageous” voice. Mohammed, 66, was killed earlier this week after unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire outside her home in the north of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “Despite being rushed to the hospital and attempts to save her life, she succumbed to her wounds,” the Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, a group that Mohammed co-founded, said in a statement shared on social media. “We at the Organisation for Women’s Freedom in Iraq condemn in the strongest terms this cowardly terrorist crime, which we consider a direct attack on the feminist struggle and the values of freedom and equality.” Several international rights groups also condemned Mohammed’s killing, with Amnesty International on Wednesday decrying the deadly attack as “brutal” and “a calculated assault to stifle human rights defenders, especially those defending women’s rights”. The organisation, which said Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al‑Sudani ordered an investigation into the killing, also called on the Iraqi authorities to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice. Yanar Mohammed speaks during a Women’s Day event in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2006 [Akram Saleh/Getty] “Yanar Mohammed … dedicated her life to defending women’s rights,” Amnesty’s Iraq researcher, Razaw Salihy, said in a statement. “The Iraqi authorities must stop this pattern of targeted attacks in their tracks, and take seriously the sustained smear campaigns designed to discredit and endanger activists.” Advertisement Mohammed was one of Iraq’s most prominent women’s rights activists, working since the early 2000s “to protect women facing gender-based violence, including domestic abuse, trafficking, and so-called ‘honour killings’”, Front Line Defenders said. Her work included the establishment of safe houses, which sheltered hundreds of women experiencing exploitation and abuse. In a 2022 interview with Al Jazeera, Mohammed described her organisation’s efforts to support Iraqi women who survived violence at the hands of ISIS (ISIL), which had seized control of large swathes of the country. “Muslim-Arab women who were enslaved by ISIL and have not found a place to go back to, they are still living in the shadows of the society,” she said at the time. “Not less than 10,000 women were the victims of ISIL attack[s], and this femicide is not really acknowledged by the international community or dealt with in a way that keeps the dignity or the respect [of], or compensates, those who were the victims.” [embedded content] Years of threats Mohammed had been the target of death threats for decades, “aimed at dissuading her from defending women’s rights”, Front Line Defenders said. “Yet she remained defiant in the face of threats from ISIS and other armed groups.” In 2016, she was awarded the Rafto Prize “for her tireless work for women’s rights in Iraq under extremely challenging conditions”. The Rafto Foundation, the Norway-based nonprofit group that administers the award, said it was “deeply shaken” by her killing. “We are deeply shocked by this brutal attack on one of the most courageous human rights defenders of our time,” the foundation said in a statement. “The assassination represents not only an attack on Yanar Mohammed as a person, but also on the fundamental values she dedicated her life to defending: women’s freedom, democracy, and universal human rights.” Other activists and human rights groups also paid tribute to Mohammed this week, with Human Rights Watch describing her as “one of Iraq’s most courageous advocates for women’s rights” for more than two decades. “Yanar was a dear colleague and friend to so many of us in the women’s rights and feminist community, one of our icons. She spent her life standing up for women’s rights in the most dangerous environment,” said Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International. “She faced constant threats, but she never stopped. And today we cry and mourn her energy, her commitment, her profound humanity, her amazing courage.” Mohammed speaks to reporters in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2005 [File: Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty] Adblock test (Why?)
Formula One teams on edge as new regulations face first test in Australia
F1’s technical changes pose challenges for drivers and engineers alike while raising concerns about the quality of racing. Listen to this article Listen to this article | 3 mins info By Reuters Published On 4 Mar 20264 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Formula One’s new era starts at this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, where teams will leap into the unknown and grapple with sweeping technical changes under race conditions for the first time. F1 has simultaneously overhauled chassis and power unit regulations for the first time in decades, posing a challenge for drivers and engineers while raising concerns about the quality of racing. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list With near-parity between electrical and combustion engines and cars running on 100 percent advanced sustainable fuel, drivers gained some insight into the changes during winter testing. But all are in the dark about how the reset will play out when going wheel-to-wheel on race day. “I’m certainly more comfortable now than I was a couple of months ago with how to drive these cars and how to try and get the most out of them,” McLaren’s Oscar Piastri told reporters on Wednesday. “But I think there’s still the saying of ‘You don’t know what you don’t know.’” Australian Piastri said McLaren thought they had the cars worked out two months ago, only to find they had “a whole bunch of stuff” they did not understand during winter testing. With more power generated by electricity than last year’s engines, there is more emphasis on drivers needing to be tactical with energy deployment and regeneration. The old drag reduction system has been replaced by a new overtake mode, giving extra power for overtaking. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen described the changes as “like Formula E on steroids” and “anti-racing”. Advertisement Formula One Chief Executive Stefano Domenicali defended them and assured fans there will still be plenty of thrills. The changes may have different effects at different circuits, leaving all teams to learn on the fly, week by week. Piastri said Sunday’s race at Albert Park, a suburb of Melbourne, would probably showcase the more “unnatural” parts of driving. “You know, a lot more lift and coast, a lot more kind of just driving to maximise the power unit,” he said. “You’ve got power units that are reducing in power down the straights at different points. And there’s a lot of unknowns, a lot of challenges in there.” The new regulations raised hopes of a more open championship and the prospect of a disruptor team emerging to force change at the top. But preseason testing in Bahrain hinted at a familiar top four, with Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren all performing well. Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley said the gap between the “best and the rest” might only widen. “I think it’s going to be a very different year in terms of the competitiveness in the sport,” he told the Reuters news agency. “We’re already seeing the gap between the fastest teams and the slowest teams but larger than it’s been in the last few years.” Whatever the pecking order, F1 race tracks will be more crowded with the addition of the new Cadillac team although there may be more breathing room at Albert Park, given Aston Martin’s preseason troubles. Despite the technical guidance of Adrian Newey, who joined from Red Bull, the Honda-powered team completed few laps during winter testing and have reliability problems. The AMR26 cars will be in Australia – something of a relief for F1 management – but may only race for a few laps before retiring. Adblock test (Why?)
US senators fear ‘boots on the ground’ after Iran war briefing
NewsFeed Democratic senators voiced alarm after a classified briefing on the US‑Israeli war with Iran, warning the Trump administration lacks clear objectives as lawmakers say they fear it could lead to a prolonged conflict and US ground troops. Published On 4 Mar 20264 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
US Commerce Secretary Lutnick to testify before Congress about Epstein ties
Lutnick’s relationship with the late financier and sex offender has come under scrutiny after files revealed closer ties than previously known. Listen to this article Listen to this article | 2 mins info Published On 4 Mar 20264 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has agreed to give testimony to lawmakers about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the head of a committee investigating the late sex offender has said. Lutnick, who lived next door to Epstein in New York for more than a decade, “proactively agreed” to provide a transcribed interview to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, panel chair James Comer said on Tuesday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “I commend his demonstrated commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to engage with the Committee. I look forward to his testimony,” Comer, a Kentucky Republican, said on X. Axios, which first reported the commerce secretary’s intention to testify, quoted Lutnick as saying he had done nothing wrong and he wished to “set the record straight”. Lutnick’s relationship with Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges, has come under mounting scrutiny after he appeared to misrepresent the extent of his associations with the notorious financier. In a podcast interview last year, Lutnick said he decided to “never be in the room” with Epstein again following an uncomfortable encounter at the sex offender’s Manhattan penthouse in 2005. But files released by the Justice Department earlier this year showed that Lutnick met and communicated with Epstein for years after the reported 2005 encounter, and the commerce secretary later acknowledged that he visited the financier’s private island of Little Saint James in 2012. Comer said on Tuesday that he had also sent letters to seven individuals seeking written testimony about their knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, including Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, private equity investor Leon Black, and top Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler. Advertisement Gates, Black and Ruemmler have repeatedly denied wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, or having knowledge of his abuse of women and girls. The committee’s requests for testimony come after former US President Bill Clinton and his wife, ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, appeared before lawmakers last week to answer questions about their ties to Epstein. Bill Clinton told the committee he did nothing wrong and “saw nothing that ever gave me pause” while interacting with Epstein. Hillary Clinton told lawmakers she had no recollection of encountering Epstein and that she never “flew on his plane or visited his island home or offices”. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia, China raise diplomatic voices against US-Israeli attacks on Iran
China’s foreign minister tells Israel to end attacks; Russian FM Lavrov says no sign Tehran seeking nuclear bomb. Listen to this article Listen to this article | 4 mins info Russia and China have criticised the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, with Moscow saying it had seen no evidence that Tehran was developing nuclear weapons, and Beijing demanding an immediate halt to the joint attacks. Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi told his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, on Tuesday that the attack on Iran came as negotiations between Washington and Tehran had “made significant progress, including addressing Israel’s security concerns”, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “Regrettably, this process has been interrupted by military action. China opposes any military strikes launched by Israel and the US against Iran,” Wang told the Israeli foreign minister during a phone call, according to the ministry. “China calls for an immediate cessation of military operations to prevent the further escalation and loss of control of the conflict,” Wang said. “Force cannot truly solve problems; instead, it will bring new problems and serious long-term consequences,” he added. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Saar agreed to a request from Wang to take “concrete measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and institutions” in Iran. The call on Tuesday with Israel and Beijing’s apparent efforts to stabilise the spiralling regional situation followed calls Wang made on Monday to discuss the conflict with the foreign ministers of Iran, Oman and France. ‘US doesn’t attack those who have nuclear bombs’ Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also criticised the US and Israel on Tuesday, saying their war on Iran could lead to the very outcome they claimed they wanted to prevent: nuclear proliferation. Advertisement Lavrov told a news conference that the logical consequence of the US and Israel’s actions could be that “forces will emerge in Iran… in favour of doing exactly what the Americans want to avoid – acquiring a nuclear bomb”. “Because the US doesn’t attack those who have nuclear bombs,” Lavrov said. Lavrov also said that Arab countries could now join the race to acquire nuclear weapons, given the experience of recent days and “the nuclear proliferation problem will begin to spiral out of control”. Israel is widely seen as the Middle East region’s only nuclear-armed state, which it neither confirms nor denies. “The seemingly paradoxical declared noble goal of starting a war to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons could stimulate completely opposite trends,” he said. Lavrov, who said that Moscow had still seen no evidence that Iran was developing nuclear weapons, spoke with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, on Tuesday, and said that Russia stood ready to help find a diplomatic solution to the conflict, while rejecting the US and Israel’s use of “unprovoked military aggression” in the region. As the US and Israel launched their first strikes on Iran on Saturday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the close allies of carrying out a “premeditated and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state”. The two countries had hidden their true intention of regime change in Tehran “under the cover” of negotiations to normalise relations with Iran, the ministry said. The US and Israel were “swiftly pushing the region toward a humanitarian, economic, and potentially even radiological disaster”, the ministry warned. “Responsibility for the negative consequences of this manmade crisis, including an unpredictable chain reaction and spiralling violence, lies entirely with them,” the statement added. Russia has faced its own accusations of aggression against a sovereign state after it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a war now in its fifth year. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel launches strikes on Beirut as troops advance into southern Lebanon
NewsFeed Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reports from the site of an Israeli attack in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which Israel says targeted a ‘Hezbollah area’. Israeli forces have taken more land inside Lebanon, expanding a de facto buffer zone that has already displaced tens of thousands of people. Published On 3 Mar 20263 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)