Read the daily news to learn English

Middle East crisis live: Yemen’s Houthis claim first attack on Israel since outbreak of Iran war and warn ‘operations will continue’

The official Abu Dhabi Media Office has provided an update on the missile attack this morning in the UAE capital, saying six people were injured, increasing an earlier casualty toll of five. Authorities said a missile interception led to debris falling near the Khalifa Economic Zone in Abu Dhabi, close to Khalifa Port. In a statement, the media office said: “Authorities further confirmed an additional injury as a result of the incident, to a Pakistani national, bringing the total number of injured individuals to six, with injuries ranging from minor to moderate.” It did not say where the attack was launched from, but the country’s defence ministry said earlier that its forces were intercepting missile and drone attacks from Iran.

‘It was bonkers’: Samba the runaway capybara inspires a wild rodent hunt

Barely 24 hours after nine-month-old capybaras Samba and Tango were brought to Marwell zoo near Winchester, they had made a break for it through a hole in their temporary enclosure. The siblings were transferred to Hampshire from Jimmy’s farm and wildlife park in Suffolk on 16 March after being outshone by other capybaras. Tango was quickly found, but her sister Samba remains at large, and the mission to find her has attracted national and international coverage. “We have deployed search teams including the use of specialist dog units used to track her scent, and thermal drones,” said Laura Read, the chief executive of Marwell zoo. So far Samba has reportedly been sighted in a pub beer garden and basking on a riverbank. Emma Smith, the manager of the Ship Inn in Owslebury, about 2 miles from the zoo, said search dogs and drones had turned up when the capybara was spotted at the pub two days after her escape. “It’s been proper crazy,” Smith said. “It’s just a little village, you know?” Capybaras are native to South America and are well adapted to evading capture. They are fast, with a top running speed of 22mph. They are also excellent swimmers, with webbed feet and the ability to hold their breath for up to five minutes. Capybaras are technically the world’s largest rodent species and at the upper end of the spectrum they can grow to 5ft long and weigh 66kg. But Samba is just a pup, which makes her harder to spot. Dr Mark Pickering, a member of the University of Southampton’s engineering department who has been using thermal imaging drones in the search for Samba, has found the process challenging. “The technology is similar to what’s commonly used in search and rescue by emergency services, but this capybara is quite a small animal, in a large habitat,” he said. With no natural predators in the UK, the urgency surrounding Samba’s escape is not because she is in a huge amount of danger, but the zoo is concerned about the separation of two sister pups. “Capybaras are social animals and our focus is on retrieving Samba safely and reuniting her with her sister Tango back at Marwell zoo,” said Read. Claudie Paddick filmed Samba taking a dip in the River Itchen as she was walking her dogs Growler and Patsy near her house last Sunday. In the video, Samba is seen sunbathing on the riverbank in Twyford. Then Growler, a black labrador, barks in curiosity. Immediately the capybara dives into the water and does not resurface. “It was bonkers,” said Paddick, a family lawyer. “I didn’t even know what a capybara was.” She showed the video to her neighbours, Lindsay and Luke, who immediately recognised it as the zoo’s missing animal. “Luke came running down with one of his fishing nets to try and catch it,” she said. Soon volunteers had come out to help search the area, including Read, the zoo’s chief executive, who spotted Samba in the water. Paddick was on her paddleboard with a net trying to flush the capybara out. Eliza Holland heard about Samba from relatives living nearby and came straight to Winchester on Friday, hoping to catch a glimpse of the animal and aid the search effort. Without drones in her toolkit she has been walking along the River Itchen trying to imagine what Samba may be thinking in order to figure out where she has gone. “We’ve seen Samba sunbathing already. So I think she’s a lady of leisure,” said Holland. While she ha not glimpsed the capybara, she has enjoyed trading theories with passersby. “There’s instantly a connection you make with people walking along the riverbank and you say, have you seen a capybara here? They’re very inviting.” While the trail has gone cold for now, excitement is bubbling away online. AI-generated images have flooded local Facebook groups, featuring Samba in various local spots. Pictures of Samba at the hairdressers getting a trim, sipping a pint at the Cricketer’s Arms or delivering pizzas. As of Friday afternoon, no new information has come to light about Samba’s whereabouts, but search teams have reported that they are closing in. If you see Samba, please do not reveal her location immediately. Instead, contact the zoo on a dedicated 24-hour hotline at 07436 167401.

Pope Leo heads to Monaco 488 years after the last papal visit

Pope Leo will travel to Monaco, the semi-enclave famous for casinos and superyachts, on Saturday on his first European trip since being elected pontiff, causing bemusement among some Vatican observers, not least because it comes 488 years after the last papal visit. Leo will travel from the Vatican by helicopter for the one-day trip, and will be greeted at Monaco’s heliport by Prince Albert and his wife, Princess Charlene, before being taken to the palace, which has been the residence of the Grimaldi dynasty since the 13th century. It is the first time a pontiff has visited Monaco since Pope Paul III in 1538. Matteo Bruni, the Vatican’s spokesperson, said Monaco was a “small country with big horizons” and would provide Leo, who was elected as the Catholic church’s first US pope in May last year, with his first opportunity to talk to all of Europe. Speaking to journalists before the trip, Bruni recalled the biblical image of “the small playing a significant role”, while describing Monaco – the second-smallest state in the world after the Vatican – as a “laboratory of peace” owing to its “responsible” use of wealth and influence. After a private meeting with Albert, Leo will head to Monaco’s cathedral in the popemobile before celebrating mass at the Stade Louis-II. Monaco may be very wealthy, but it is also very Catholic. It is one of the few European countries where Catholicism is the official state religion, and the number of Catholic churches – five – outnumbers casinos by one, alongside the cathedral. Albert recently refused a proposal to legalise abortion, citing the important role Catholicism plays in Monaco. Bruni said “the defence of life” would be one of the themes of the pope’s visit, while emphasising Leo’s focus would be on the wider context of defending all life, including in wars. About 15,000 Catholics are expected to congregate for the mass, many flocking across the border from Italy. Although entrance to the stadium for the mass is free, attenders have had to pre-book. Nice-Matin, a French regional daily, reported long queues of people waiting in the rain to collect their wristbands for the event. The anticipation of Leo’s arrival goes “beyond mere curiosity”, the newspaper wrote, adding that “residents hope for a rare and deeply personal moment of communion with the pontiff”. Albert invited Leo to Monaco when he visited the Vatican in January. “Nobody has really been able to understand why he chose Monaco – it’s the Vatican’s best-kept secret,” said Marco Politi, a Vatican journalist. “But it’s probably a gesture of delicacy towards very small European countries. So maybe we can expect him to go to Andorra and Liechtenstein too.” Severina Bartonitschek, the Vatican correspondent for KNA, a Catholic news agency in Germany, said Monaco was an unusual choice, especially given trips made by his predecessor Francis, known as “the pope of the peripheries”, tended to focus on marginalised, neglected areas. “Monaco is the exact opposite,” she added. But along with heading the two smallest states in the world, Leo and Albert share a few things in common. “They are both very Catholic, very pro-life and they both like sport,” said Bartonitschek. “Monaco is a small state but with an international community and lots of Catholics. Plus, it is doable in a day.” Leo’s first overseas trip was to Turkey and Lebanon in November and in April he will make a 10-day visit to Africa. He received an invitation to the White House from the US president, Donald Trump, soon after being elected pope, but has not yet taken it up. “He will eventually go, but he doesn’t want to give the impression of giving precedence to his own country, so he will prioritise other countries,” said Politi.

Yemen’s Houthis launch first attack on Israel since outbreak of conflict, as Rubio says war to end in ‘weeks’

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have confirmed that they launched an attack on Israel for the first time since the outbreak of the Israel-US war on Iran, marking their entry to the conflict just hours after Marco Rubio said the US expected to conclude military operations within “weeks, not months”. While Israel was again hitting targets across Iran’s capital on Saturday, it identified what it said was a missile launched from Yemen. The Houthis said the attack came after continued targeting of infrastructure in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories, adding that their operations would continue until the “aggression” on all fronts ends. Houthi involvement in the war could risk broadening the conflict, given their ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and disrupt shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, which they had done in support of Hamas in Gaza after the 7 October attacks on Israel. Speaking to reporters on Friday, after meeting G7 foreign ministers in France, Rubio – the US secretary of state – said of Iran: “When we are done with them here in the next couple weeks, they will be weaker than they’ve been in recent history.” But soon after, US media reported an Iranian attack on a base in Saudi Arabia wounded at least 12 American soldiers, two of them seriously. The attack on the Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia included at least one missile and several drones, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified officials. The soldiers were inside a building at the base when it was struck, according to reports. Several aerial refuelling planes also suffered damage in the attack. US officials have given conflicting signals about how long they anticipate continuing their joint offensive with Israel against Iran, which began with a surprise strike on 28 February that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Iran remains defiant, and has denied Donald Trump’s claims that talks are “going well”, saying no negotiations are taking place. Meanwhile Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Friday: “We think there will be meetings [with Iran] this week. We’re certainly hopeful for it.” Trump later claimed Iran sent the US 10 oil ships “to make up for their misstatement” about not being involved in negotiations. In the Lebanese capital, Beirut, a pre-dawn Israeli strike killed two people, according to local authorities, while barrages of Iranian missiles and drones targeted Israel. “Despite the warnings, the firing continues,” Israel Katz, the Israeli defence minister, said. “And therefore attacks in Iran will escalate and expand to additional targets and areas that assist the regime in building and operating weapons against Israeli citizens.” Israel’s most recent strikes targeted nuclear facilities in Iran on Friday, possibly in an attempt to hit what are seen as strategically important targets before the White House forces Israel to halt or reduce sorties. With stock markets reeling and economic fallout from the war extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure. It is caused by Iran’s continuing chokehold on the strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is usually shipped. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had turned back three ships trying to transit the strait, adding that all shipping “to and from ports of allies and supporters of the Israeli-American enemies” was prohibited from passing. “This morning, following the lies of the corrupt US president claiming that the strait of Hormuz was open, three container ships of different nationalities … were turned back after a warning from the IRGC navy,” the Guards said on their Sepah News website. Rubio said ensuring the strait remained open to shipping was likely to pose an “immediate challenge” even after the US accomplished its military objectives in Iran. He said Iran may seek to set up a toll on the strait, which he said could cause economic damage to many countries. “Not only is this illegal, it’s unacceptable … and it’s important that the world have a plan,” Rubio said. Rubio said the UK was taking a “prominent role” in efforts to reopen the strait, after Trump dismissed the British aircraft carriers as “toys” on Thursday. The US has ordered thousands of US marines and elite airborne troops to the region, possibly in preparation for a military effort to forcibly reopen the waterway by seizing one of the many islands in the Gulf, or Kharg Island, which is Iran’s principal oil export hub. On Friday, Esmael Saghab Esfahani, one of Iran’s vice-presidents, threatened to attack Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu, as well as the vast coastal Fujairah oil complex in the United Arab Emirates, should any ground invasion take place. “Step on to Iranian soil, and $150 becomes the floor for oil,” Esfahani wrote on X. Trump has also issued Iran with an ultimatum, saying that if it does not allow free passage of shipping through the strait by 6 April, he will order the destruction of Iran’s energy plants. The US president pushed back the deadline of a previous ultimatum that he had set for last Monday. Israel targeted a range of sites associated with Iran’s nuclear programme on Friday, including a heavy-water plant and a yellowcake production plant, according to the official Iranian news agency. Yellowcake is a concentrated form of uranium after impurities are removed from the raw ore. Heavy water is used as a moderator in nuclear reactors. Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said the Shahid Khondab heavy-water complex in Arak and the Ardakan yellowcake production plant in Yazd province were targeted, the agency said. The strikes did not cause any casualties and there was no risk of contamination, it said. Other US and Israeli strikes continued to target Iran’s missile stockpile and launchers. Israel’s military said its attacks on Friday hit sites “in the heart of Tehran” where ballistic missiles and other weapons were produced. It said it also hit missile launchers and storage sites in western Iran. Reuters reported that the US could only confirm that about a third of Iran’s missile arsenal had been destroyed, according to five people familiar with the US intelligence. One source said the intelligence on Iran’s drone capability was similar, with about a third probably destroyed. Iranian missiles and drones strikes have continued at a roughly consistent level, with between 10 and 20 targeting Israel daily, which experts say does not suggest significant shortages. On Friday, attacks targeted the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and two major ports in Kuwait as Tehran gave no direct sign that it was ready for negotiation or compromise. Casualties around the Middle East continue to mount. Nineteen people have died in Israel, while four Israeli soldiers have also been killed in Lebanon. Thirteen US military members have died, as well as civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region. In Iran, more than 1,900 people had been killed and at least 20,000 injured, said Maria Martinez of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Others estimate lower numbers. In Lebanon, the Israeli military operation in the south has displaced a fifth of Lebanon’s population, triggering a humanitarian crisis. Nearly 1,100 people in Lebanon have been killed in the Israeli offensive. It follows attacks on Israel by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Islamist militant movement. Both Israel and the US say they want to ensure that Iran can no longer threaten Israel with ballistic missiles or its nuclear programme, which Iran says is purely civilian, or through allied organisations, such as Hezbollah. The more ambitious aim of regime change has been played down by officials in both countries in recent days. New data from ACLED, the independent global conflict monitor, shows there have been more than 850 pro-regime demonstrations and protests in Iran since the beginning of the war, which, experts said, suggested Iran’s leaders could still organise and mobilise large numbers of people despite significant losses. There is little clarity over the exact status of any contacts between mediators such as Pakistan or Turkey and Iran and the US. Rubio said Iran had sent “messages” but not a response to Washington’s 15-point proposal, which Pakistan passed on to Iran earlier this week. The US proposal included demands ranging from the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear programme to the curbing of its missile development and effectively the handing over of control of the strait of Hormuz, according to sources and reports. An Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday that senior Iranian officials had reviewed the proposal and felt it served only US and Israeli interests. But they said diplomacy had not ended. On Thursday, Trump said that talks were continuing “despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others” and were “going very well”. In a joint statement, the G7 foreign ministers “reiterated the absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll-free freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz” and called for “an immediate cessation of attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure”. UK officials viewed the statement as having moved events on relatively little, with one saying: “The joint statement doesn’t say much, but there was speculation beforehand that we might not even get a joint statement at all – so it is something.” Trump said he was “very disappointed” in Nato for not helping the US with the Iran war, adding the organisation was making a “big mistake”. US and other media reported an apparent deployment of mines by the US in southern Iran. Three experts told the Bellingcat investigative news website the munitions were air-delivered US-made Gator anti-tank mines.

KP Sharma Oli: Nepal’s former prime minister arrested over alleged role in deadly protest crackdown

Nepal’s former prime minister KP Sharma Oli was arrested early on Saturday morning over his role in the deaths of dozens of people who took part in the gen Z protest that toppled his government last year. Police detained the three-time former prime minister at his residence in the capital Kathmandu, and also arrested his former home affairs minister Ramesh Lekhak. The arrests came less than 24 hours after Nepal’s new prime minister, Balendra Shah, and his cabinet were sworn into office. Shah, a former rapper turned politician known widely as Balen, won a landslide victory this month with a campaign that promised justice for the killings that took place during the gen Z uprising last year and to crack down on corruption. There were 19 protesters killed when police opened fire on youth-led protests that erupted in September last year, in response to a social media ban and rising frustration over corruption and nepotism in politics. The unrest spread nationwide the following day as parliament and government offices were set ablaze, killing dozens more and resulting in the government’s collapse. In the aftermath, there has been growing pressure for Oli and his home affairs minister, who are alleged to have ordered the police crackdown, to be held responsible for the deaths. Newly appointed home affairs minister Sudan Gurung announced their arrests on social media. “No one is above the law. We have taken former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and former home minister Ramesh Lekhak under control,” Gurung said. “This is not revenge against anyone, it is just the beginning of justice.” Several trucks of police officers in riot gear conducted the arrests at the men’s homes before taking them to the Kathmandu district police office. Oli, who is 74 and suffers from kidney issues, was reported to have been taken to a hospital after his arrest. His lawyer, Tikaram Bhattara, told Reuters that the arrest was not in compliance with legal standards. “They have said it is for investigation. It is illegal and improper because there is no risk of him fleeing or avoiding questioning,” he said. Their detention comes after a government-backed report into the deadly uprising was leaked. The investigation had recommended that Oli, Lekhak and the chief of police at the time of the protests face a punishment of 10 years in prison for their alleged role in the crackdown. The report said that it was “not established that there was an order to shoot”, but alleged that “no effort was made to stop or control the firing and, due to their negligent conduct, even minors lost their lives”. Police spokesperson, Om Adhikari, confirmed the arrests were as a result of the report. “We have arrested them as per the recommendations made by the investigation commission,” he said. Shah’s election as prime minister, which saw him resoundingly defeat Nepal’s veteran leaders, was seen as a triumph of the gen Z protests and a rejection of the old political establishment, which had become tarnished with allegations of corruption. The former rapper, who is a sharp dresser and rarely seen without his sunglasses, had released a new track on the eve of his inaugurations, in which he pledged to bring “unity” to Nepal. “My heart is full of courage, my red blood is boiling; my brothers stand with me, this time we will rise,” rapped Shah, in a video that was viewed more than two million times in its first 24 hours. “May my breath not run out, I will run like a leopard.”

Gulf countries warn of rising threat from Iran-backed militias and proxies

Gulf countries have raised concerns over the prospect of attacks by Iran-backed militias and proxy armed groups in the region, which they fear could destabilise their regimes and escalate the war in the Middle East. In a joint statement this week, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Jordan condemned Iranian attacks on their soil, both as strikes carried out directly from Iran and “through their proxies and armed factions they support in the region”. On Wednesday, Kuwait said it had foiled a plot to kill state leaders, and arrested six suspects believed to be associated with Iran’s most powerful proxy group, Hezbollah. For decades, Iran has used proxy militias as a pillar of its foreign and security policy, as a means to export its revolution, expand its regional influence and destabilise enemy countries. The most prominent examples are Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen but other brutal and influential Iran-backed militias also operate in Iraq and Syria. While relations between Iran and countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar went through a period of growing cooperation and rapprochement in recent years, these proxy groups largely remained quiet in the Gulf, keeping out of the internal turmoil seen in neighbouring Iraq. However, since the US and Israel began bombing Iran at the end of February, the brunt of Iran’s retaliation has been towards the Gulf states, which have close ties to Washington and host several American military bases. As well as an onslaught of thousands of missiles and drones fired from Iran, there have also been a growing number of internal incidents in the region linked to armed groups and militias known as proxy groups of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stoking fears that Iran may start activating sleeper cells as weapons of war in the Gulf. There are growing signs of Gulf countries trying to crack down on any Iranian proxy activity. In early March, Qatar said it had arrested two cells, involving more than 10 people, linked to the Iranian regime. Bahrain then arrested several people it accused of being involved in espionage for Iran, while Kuwait said this week it had foiled a large Hezbollah-linked cell involved in plots to target national security. In the joint statement on Thursday, the Gulf states said a number of attacks had been carried out against them by Iran-backed militias usually known to operate out of Iraq, where they have proved devastating to the country’s security. The statement added: “We call on the Iraqi government to take the necessary measures to immediately halt the attacks launched by factions, militias, and armed groups from Iraqi territory toward neighbouring countries, in order to preserve brotherly relations and avoid further escalation.” The threat of these groups is seen as particularly worrying for countries such as Saudi Arabia, which has a history of the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah al-Hejaz carrying out violent attacks in the country, and Bahrain, which has long accused Iran of planting proxy cells in the country. Saudi Arabia is also still engaged in conflict with another Iranian proxy, the Houthis, in Yemen. So far, the Houthis have said they will stay out of the US-Israeli war with Iran. Analysts emphasised that the presence and danger of Iranian proxy groups in the Gulf had not reached levels anything close to those during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, when militant cells attacked Kuwait and were active in Saudi Arabia, but warned that the threat remained greater the longer the conflict with Iran dragged on. Bilal Saab, the senior managing director of the Trends US thinktank and a former Pentagon official in the first Trump administration, said: “If this war escalates, the worst-case scenario for the Gulf countries is Iran activating their sleeper cells and these Shia militia movements in the region. “We haven’t seen them act on the threat fully yet, but there are some signs of dormant cells becoming active and getting arrested in states like Kuwait and the UAE. We could see a whole lot more if things really escalate.” Saab said concerns over Iran’s Revolutionary Guards activating these networks were also a key consideration for Gulf countries as they considered whether to take a more offensive approach to Iran’s attacks, which would risk provoking the regime in Tehran even more. The greatest fear among leaders in the Gulf was a situation similar to Iraq, where Iran’s proxy groups have now become so strong and deeply embedded that they operate almost as a “state within a state”. “I think this is the number one existential threat for the Gulf states,” said Saab. “They are already dealing with the external threat of Iran’s missiles and drones, but things really fall apart when they also have to fight an internal foe. Then they are faced with a battle on two fronts.”

UAE targeted with missiles and drones – as it happened

We’re closing this blog now but our coverage continues on a new liveblog here, including a recap of the latest developments. Thanks for following along.

Ukraine war briefing: Rubio stridently denies US is demanding Kyiv give up eastern Donbas to Russia

US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, rejected Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s assertion that the Trump administration is demanding Kyiv hand over its eastern Donbas region to Russia to receive US security guarantees in any ceasefire plan. Speaking on Friday, Rubio disputed Zelenskyy’s recent comments and said the US has made no such stipulation in its talks with Ukraine. “That’s a lie,” Rubio said. “And I saw him say that. And it’s unfortunate he would say that because he knows that’s not true and that’s not what he was told.” Zelenskyy this week told Reuters the US was making its offer of security guarantees for Ukraine contingent on the ceding of the Donbas region, the industrial heartland long coveted by Russian President Vladimir Putin. French public television came under severe criticism on Friday for airing a prime-time interview with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. The France 2 television channel aired 10 minutes of the pre-recorded interview during its Thursday evening news, while the full hour-long version was posted online. More than four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion on Ukraine, Lavrov on France 2 claimed Moscow was intent on defending “international law”. Lavrov said US-Israeli strikes on Iran that sparked the Middle East war had breached these rules. But he rejected any notion of Russia breaking international law in Ukraine, claiming its forces never targeted “exclusively civilian” targets. Ukraine’s ambassador to France, Vadym Omelchenko, said on X people must be wondering why French television had given a platform to “a war criminal”. And the French foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, responded by saying Russia does not defend international law either in Ukraine or Iran with its actions. “Mr Lavrov was able to calmly spread his propaganda last night on a French television channel … You do not defend international law by launching a war of aggression,” Barrot told reporters on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in France. Meanwhile, Moscow has denied reports that Vladimir Putin asked Russian oligarchs to donate to fund the Ukraine war, as covered earlier by Nadeem Badshah. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said one of the businessmen at a closed-door meeting on 26 March proposed donating money to the state, and Putin welcomed this initiative. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said the US still has a critical role to play in ending the war with Russia, adding that he had met Rubio on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in France. “Ukraine’s proposals are realistic and doable. Pressure on Russia is key to make Moscow end the war,” Sybiha posted to X on Friday. “We also spoke about the developments in the Middle East. Ukraine’s position is that the regimes in Moscow and Tehran work together to prolong the war.” There are fears the US-Israeli war on Iran has diverted attention away from finding peace in Ukraine.