Category: Global

Qatar Airways and Emirates have suspended flights on Saturday after several Gulf countries temporarily closed their airspace, following the Israeli attack on Iran.

Qatar Airways announced the suspension of all flights to and from Doha after Qatari authorities closed the country’s airspace as a precautionary measure amid the escalating conflict involving Israel, the United States (US), and Iran.

“The airline is working closely with government stakeholders and the relevant authorities to support impacted passengers and will resume operations when the airspace re-opens. Once usual operations resume, we anticipate delays to our flight schedule,” Qatar Airways said in a statement.

The airline said it deployed additional ground staff at Hamad International Airport and other key airports to assist affected passengers. “The safety of our passengers and employees is always our highest priority, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused,” the statement added.

Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority earlier confirmed the temporary suspension of air traffic in Qatari airspace, describing the move as a precaution in response to developments in the region.

Emirates also temporarily halted flights to and from Dubai due to airspace disruptions. The airline advised passengers to check the latest flight updates on its official website before heading to the airport. Emirates said affected passengers could choose options including rebooking, refunds, or alternative travel arrangements.

At Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport, several flights were cancelled or delayed because of partial airspace restrictions.

Other Gulf countries, including Kuwait and Iraq, also announced temporary airspace measures as the situation continued to unfold.

Airspace closures followed Israeli attacks on Iran, with foreign media reporting explosions in Tehran, including areas near University Street and the Jomhouri district. 

Reports also suggested retaliatory activity targeting northern Israel, though it remained unclear whether these involved direct impacts or interceptions.

Iran also targted US military bases in several countries, including Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Unconfirmed claims of explosions in Dubai also circulated on social media, but authorities issued no official confirmation at the time of reporting.

Talks between the United States and Iran are scheduled to resume on Thursday in Geneva, with hopes of advancing a deal, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on Sunday. He described the talks as having “a positive push to go the extra mile towards finalising the deal.”

Iranian officials expressed cautious optimism that a diplomatic solution could prevent renewed conflict, despite a significant build-up of US military forces in the Middle East. Speaking to an international media outlet, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a draft proposal for a possible agreement was being prepared ahead of the resumed talks.

“If the US attacks us, then we have every right to defend ourselves,” Araghchi said, referring to American interests in the region. He added, “there is a good chance to have a diplomatic solution.”

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian echoed this view on social media, stating that previous discussions “yielded encouraging signals.” Araghchi told an international media outlet, “I believe that when we meet, probably this Thursday in Geneva again, we can work on those elements and prepare a good text and come to a fast deal.”

Axios reported that, according to a senior US official, Washington DC is ready to meet later this week for detailed negotiations if Iran submits its proposal within 48 hours.

The US has deployed two aircraft carriers to the region in recent weeks, along with additional jets and ships, while strengthening air defences to support its warnings of possible military intervention. 

Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s chief Middle East negotiator, said in an interview that the administration was questioning why Iran had not yet “capitulated.” He said, “He’s curious as to why they haven’t… I don’t want to use the word ‘capitulated’, but why they haven’t capitulated.”

On Sunday, Iranian students held both pro- and anti-government rallies, following similar gatherings the day before. Some participants waved flags of Iran’s former monarchy, while others chanted “death to the Shah.” 

These protests come after demonstrations last year over economic conditions and the high cost of living, which expanded into nationwide anti-government rallies and a crackdown that rights groups say killed thousands.

Former UK ambassador to the US, Lord Mandelson, has been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the Metropolitan Police has said.

Police said he was released pending further investigation following his arrest on Monday. Lord Mandelson was arrested at an address in Camden, North London, and taken to a police station for an interview. He was later seen returning to his London home.

The Metropolitan Police said the arrest followed an investigation launched earlier this month into allegations that, while serving as a government minister, Lord Mandelson passed on market-sensitive government information to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

Officers executed search warrants at two addresses in Wiltshire and Camden as part of the inquiry. The arrest was carried out by officers from the Met’s central specialist crime division. Consultations between police and the Crown Prosecution Service are ongoing.

Lord Mandelson has not commented publicly in recent weeks on the documents linked to Epstein. 

He was appointed British ambassador to the United States in February 2025 but was removed from the role in September after Downing Street said new information had emerged about the extent of his relationship with Epstein. 

The government has said it expects to release the first documents relating to his appointment in early March.

The allegations emerged after the US Department of Justice released a tranche of documents last month, including emails between Lord Mandelson and Epstein. An email from 2009 appears to show Lord Mandelson sharing an assessment by an adviser to then prime minister Gordon Brown about proposed policy measures, including an asset sales plan. Other correspondence appears to show discussion of a tax on bankers’ bonuses and confirmation of a eurozone bailout package a day before it was publicly announced in 2010.

The government has said it is continuing discussions with police over which documents linked to Lord Mandelson’s appointment can be published. It has previously indicated that publication is intended to support UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s claim that Lord Mandelson gave inaccurate information during the vetting process.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones told MPs that records of follow-up questions asked during due diligence would not be included in the first tranche because of police interest.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the arrest as “the defining moment” of Keir’s premiership.

Lord Mandelson has also been urged by US politicians to answer questions as part of a congressional investigation into Epstein. He began working for the Labour Party in the 1980s and played a senior role during the New Labour period leading up to the party’s 1997 election victory.

United Kingdom (UK)-based protest group Everyone Hates Elon on Sunday briefly displayed in the Louvre in Paris a photograph of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor leaving a Norfolk police station after his arrest.

The image, captured by Reuters, shows Mountbatten-Windsor seated in the back of a Range Rover after being released from custody after 11 hours. 

The group mounted the framed photograph on a gallery wall and titled it “He’s Sweating No”, referencing a newspaper frontpage published after his arrest.

A video of the demonstration shared on Instagram showed members of the group putting up the photograph, with the post stating: “They say ‘hang it in the Louvre’. So, we did.” 

Footage from visitors at the museum also showed people pausing to look at the display, some photographing the image before the museum staff removed it approximately 15 minutes later.

The group said the display was intended to show “how the world will remember him” and added that its mission was to take symbolic actions against billionaires.

Prince Andrew was arrested on February 19, his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The arrest followed the release of documents by the United States (US) government related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

Among the released material were emails allegedly showing Mountbatten-Windsor sharing information while serving as a British trade envoy. He has denied wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and previously said he regretted their friendship.

An 18-year-old British Pakistani teenager named Zeeshan Afzal has been killed in a knife attack outside Oldbury Jamia Masjid in Smethwick, England, on Friday evening.

According to reports, the attack took place while worshippers were performing Taraweeh prayers inside the mosque.

Two other young men, aged 19 and 22, were also injured in the attack and are being treated in a local hospital. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening.

Worshippers leaving the mosque said they were stunned to see heavy police and paramedic presence outside.

The attack happened in the mosque car park. Police cordoned off the area while worshippers were asked to return inside for about 40 minutes. When allowed to leave, they could not take away their vehicles as the area had become a crime scene.

West Midlands Police has stated that members of the public reported a disturbance in the car park of Jamia Masjid Chashma-e-Rahmat on Oldbury Road. Officers found Zeeshan Afzal with stab wounds. Paramedics tried to save him, but he died at the scene.

Police have launched a murder investigation and are working to determine the circumstances of the attack and identify those responsible.

Mexican authorities have confirmed that Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, widely known as “El Mencho,” the leader of the Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) cartel, was killed during a security operation. The defence ministry said he died on Sunday while being transferred to Mexico City, after sustaining serious injuries in clashes between his supporters and the army.

Four CJNG members were also killed in Tapalpa, in Jalisco state, while three army personnel were injured. The US provided intelligence that assisted Mexican forces in the operation, the ministry said. 

The statement added that several armoured vehicles and weapons, including rocket launchers, were seized, while the operation involved Mexico’s special forces, the Air Force, and the National Guard.

The killing of El Mencho triggered immediate unrest across the region he controlled. CJNG fighters carried out attacks in at least eight states, including Jalisco, Guanajuato, Nayarit, Michoacán, Colima, Guerrero, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas. 

Roadblocks made from burning cars, buses, and trucks were reported, while videos showed plumes of smoke rising over Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. 

In Guadalajara, passengers at the airport were seen running for cover as armed men were filmed setting fire to vehicles and a petrol station. 

Governor of Jalisco, Pablo Lemus Navarro, instructed residents to stay home under a code red alert and suspended public transportation. Schools were cancelled on Monday in several states.

The unrest also affected air travel. US carriers United Airlines and American Airlines, as well as Air Canada, cancelled flights to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. A Delta Airlines flight to Guadalajara from Atlanta was diverted to Austin.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo praised the country’s security forces and urged calm. In a post on X, she wrote, “In most parts of the country, activities are proceeding normally,” and added that there was “absolute coordination with the governments of all states.”

El Mencho, 59, a former police officer, had led the CJNG cartel, which trafficked cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the US. The US State Department had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture. 

The CJNG cartel, which originated in Jalisco in 2010, has expanded across Mexico and is considered a rival to the Sinaloa cartel. It is a major supplier of fentanyl to the US, where nearly all intercepted shipments enter through the southwest border with Mexico. 

Since October 2024, US Customs and Border Patrol has seized more than 9,200 pounds of fentanyl, with 96% coming from the southern border.

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, told journalist Tucker Carlson that Israel could legitimately take over large portions of the Middle East, citing biblical promises to Abraham. “It would be fine if they took it all,” Huckabee said during an interview posted on Friday, stirring controversy globally.

Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and Trump administration appointee, spoke with Carlson about interpretations of Old Testament scripture within the US Christian nationalist movement.

The conversation focused on a verse in which God promises Abraham’s descendants land “from the wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates – the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

Carlson noted that the area described in the Bible would encompass “like, basically the entire Middle East.” He added: “The Levant … Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon – it’d also be big parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq.” Huckabee responded: “I’m not sure it would go that far, but it would be a big piece of land.”

He went on to say, “Israel is a land that God gave, through Abraham, to a people that he chose. It was a people, a place and a purpose.” When Carlson pressed him on whether Israel has the right to that land, Huckabee reiterated, “It would be fine if they took it all.”

The interview took place in Israel during a visit that drew attention after Carlson, who has a critical view of Israel, said he faced “bizarre” treatment at Ben Gurion airport. Israeli and US officials, however, said Carlson underwent standard security questioning. Huckabee later clarified on X, “EVERYONE who comes in/out of Israel (every country for that matter) has passports checked & routinely asked security questions.” The Israel Airports Authority also stated that “Tucker Carlson and his entourage were not detained, delayed, or interrogated.”

The remarks sparked strong reactions online. One user wrote, “What is built on falsehood is itself false. The Zionist entity is defying God’s commands, and therefore its end will be near.” Another asked sarcastically, “You saying he is a diplomat? An ambassador?”

Critics dismissed Huckabee’s statements as extreme. “Utterly nonsensical claims. This guy is simply an ignorant moron, he is trying to inflate the egoes of defeated, rejected and ostracized tribe of Middle East because so and so deity tells so,” said one commentator. Others questioned his intentions: “This individual exhibits unusual behavior and seems to act in a confusing manner. Moreover, he appears to be misleading both Israel and the United States by claiming to do so in the name of the Bible, which raises concerns about his intentions.”

Some reactions were scathing. “Huckabee has been handled by people in Israel and he’s being taught by those people,” one person wrote. Another joked, “It would be fine for Huckabee to take over a prison cell because Justice demands it. It would be fine if he stayed there for the remainder of his life.”

Others highlighted the risks of mixing religion and politics. “Saying ‘God gave them the land’ like it’s a real estate deed in 2026 is wild. This is how you light the whole region on fire,” one user said, while another added, “Religious beliefs are deeply personal, but turning ancient texts into modern geopolitical maps feels like a recipe for endless conflict.”

Carlson, who has increasingly questioned US support for Israel, is moving toward the fringe of the Make America Great Again movement, while Huckabee maintains a more traditional pro-Israel stance. Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett criticized Carlson’s airport claims, writing on X: “Next time he talks about Israel as if he’s some expert, just remember this guy is a phony!”