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?)
‘US president has the authority to act for imminent threats against the US’
Former US defense official Michael Mulroy breaks down the US justification for striking Iran, while some US officials say there were no immediate threats. Published On 3 Mar 20263 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
‘Russian oil will be sought’: What are Moscow’s gains from the war in Iran?
Moscow for decades has been Iran’s main international backer, shielding it from United Nations resolutions while trying to soften Western sanctions and selling weaponry worth billions of dollars to Tehran. Russian President Vladimir Putin lambasted the killing on Saturday of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a “cynical violation of all norms of human morals and the international law”. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Putin’s former prime minister and one-time successor Dmitry Medvedev sardonically called United States President Donald Trump a “peacekeeper who showed his real face”. Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly, compared the war to what he alleged were the collective West’s attempts to destabilise Russia in the 1990s, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said US-Iranian talks about Tehran’s nuclear programme “degraded to direct aggression”. But as US and Israeli air strikes on Iran raged on for a fourth day on Tuesday, Russia appeared poised to benefit far more from the war than it looked to lose. Moscow’s most immediate gain is a boost in its oil revenues. The price of Russia’s Urals crude plunged to a new low in late February at $40 per barrel because of deep discounts caused by Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine. But as the price of the international benchmark Brent crude jumped by 13 percent by Monday, reaching $82 per barrel, Urals was traded at $57. ‘Russian oil will be sought after’ Russia, Iran and Venezuela are the world’s top producers of heavy crude that is exported to dozens of nations to be processed by their refineries. Advertisement Venezuela’s exports stalled after US special forces captured President Nicolas Maduro on January 3 and the White House gained control of Caracas’s oil trade. The suspension of Iran’s exports means that oil refineries designed to process heavy crude will have to rely on the Urals oil from Russia. “It means that Russian oil will be sought after because the rebuilding of technological processes of oil refineries takes long and costs a lot,” Igar Tyshkevych, a political analyst based in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, told Al Jazeera. “It means that the discounts for Russian oil will change.” If oil prices rise further, the Kremlin may propose to increase supply in exchange for Washington’s decision to partially lift the sanctions. Russia’s higher oil production would decrease petrol prices in the US before the midterm elections in November, he said. A second, longer-term gain could be Moscow’s attempt to act as a mediator in peace talks between Tehran and Washington. “It has been tried several times during conflicts between the US and Iran,” Tyshkevych said. “It didn’t always work, but Russia can try.” In March 2025, Putin offered to mediate US-Iranian negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme and three months later repeated the proposal while US and Israeli strikes were hitting Iran during a 12-day war. Washington ignored its offer both times. The conflicts with Iran have distracted Trump from trying to reach a US-brokered settlement of the Russia-Ukraine war, which entered its fifth year on February 24. The talks have stalled as Moscow has kept urging Ukraine to leave the Kyiv-controlled part of the Donetsk region in southeastern Ukraine. Washington will continue pressing both sides to settle, turning the talks into a “who blinks first” game, Tyshkevych said. “No one wants to say ‘no’ first but tries to create conditions for the opponent to loudly say ‘no’ and slam the door loudly,” he said. And as the attention of Washington and other Western powers is turned towards the war in Iran, Russia gets several weeks to come up with a new agenda for Trump, he said. Meanwhile, Ukraine could face a shortage of US-supplied missiles for Patriot air defence systems, which can shoot down Russian ballistic missiles, analysts warned. Patriot missiles are being redirected to Washington’s allies in the Middle East. “We felt a serious deficit before the war, and there is a high probability that the situation will only get worse,” Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy chief of the Ukrainian military’s General Staff, told Al Jazeera. Advertisement Patriot missiles “are manufactured in very low numbers. Americans have tried to change it, but with such demand, it can’t be done fast,” he said. However, Putin faces a tough choice between Washington and Tehran, according to a Russian expert on Iran. “Moscow has to choose, and for Putin, it’s a very tough choice because on the one hand, he doesn’t want to have a falling-out with Trump, but on the other hand, the regime in Tehran is one of the few serious foreign partners for the Kremlin for now,” Ruslan Suleymanov, an associate fellow at the New Eurasian Strategies Center, a US-British think tank, told Al Jazeera. “Besides, there is the heaviest choice between Iran and Israel,” he said. The Kremlin has tried to maintain a pragmatic partnership with Israel. “If we’re talking about immediate gains, then, yes, Russian propaganda can spin this episode with the killing of Khamenei as [an example of] Western treachery as in ‘Why can they do it and we can’t,’” Suleymanov said, referring to Khamenei’s killing and Moscow’s failed attempts to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “In any case, this situation is a blow to Putin’s image that yet again shows that he is incapable of really helping his partners, his allies,” Suleymanov added. Putin has already lost two key allies. In November 2024, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow, and Maduro’s abduction to the United States put an end to Moscow’s alliance with Venezuela. The Iran war has further ruined the authority of international law, according to a London-based expert on Central Asia. “The main argument against the Russian aggression in Ukraine so far has been the rude violation of international law and Ukraine’s sovereignty,” Alisher Ilkhamov, head of the Central Asia Due Diligence think tank, told Al Jazeera. The Kremlin may also use Khamenei’s killing as a way to persuade men of fighting age in the
Lebanese civilians flee amid deadly Israeli strikes on Beirut suburbs
Published On 2 Mar 20262 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Lebanese civilians have fled southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs as a deadly escalation erupts between Israel and Hezbollah. Many are seeking sanctuary in makeshift shelters across Lebanon’s capital. At least 31 people were killed and 149 wounded in overnight Israeli strikes on Beirut’s suburbs and southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Highways became gridlocked as people evacuated following Israel’s deadliest assault on Lebanon in over a year. The strikes came shortly after Hezbollah fired missiles into Israel for the first time in more than 12 months. “I don’t know how long it will take us to reach Beirut,” said Ali Hamdan, who had been travelling for seven hours on what should have been a 30-minute journey from his village to Sidon. “I’m headed towards Beirut, but I don’t know where yet. We don’t have a place to stay.” In Beirut, public schools transformed into emergency shelters. Families arrived with mattresses and belongings, while volunteers registered names as classrooms and courtyards filled with displaced people. Hussein Abu Ali, who fled with his family from a southern Beirut suburb, recounted the strikes: “My son began shaking and crying. Where are you supposed to go? I stepped outside, then back in because I was afraid of shooting in the air. I gathered my children and went down to the street.” Nadia al-Salman, displaced from Majdal Zoun in the south, declared: “They do not intimidate or frighten us, and they will not make us retreat even an inch from the path of resistance.” Advertisement During the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war, over one million Lebanese were displaced. Many remain unable to return to their destroyed border villages. Hezbollah stated Monday’s attacks were retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and “repeated Israeli aggressions”, calling them “a legitimate defensive response”. The Israeli military warned residents in approximately 50 communities across southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate. Military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin stated Israel is considering “all options,” including a potential ground invasion, warning that “Hezbollah will pay a very heavy price”. He added that Israel has mobilised over 100,000 reservists since the war with Iran began on Saturday. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Speed, surprise, and violence of action’: how US launched attack on Iran
NewsFeed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US General Dan Caine detailed how American forces launched a “massive, overwhelming attack across all domains of warfare” targeting Iran. Published On 2 Mar 20262 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)