Iran launched a predawn barrage of missiles at the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa on Monday, leaving eight dead in the fourth day of open warfare between the countries.
Israel, meanwhile, said it had achieved “aerial superiority” over its foe and could fly over Tehran without facing major threats, after destroying a third of Iran's surface-to-surface missile launchers.
In Tel Aviv, footage showed several missiles shooting through the sky, along with explosions, while blasts could also be heard in Jerusalem. A number of residential buildings in a densely populated Tel Aviv neighbourhood were destroyed.
In the coastal city of Haifa, search and rescue operations were under way after the Iranian attack. British maritime security firm Ambrey said a fire broke out at a power plant. It said it had seen footage of the Israeli military intercepting a projectile, followed by the impact of two hypersonic missiles.
Eight people were killed in the salvo against the two Israeli cities, with 92 injured, the Magen David Adom emergency service said. Iranian missiles have killed at least 24 people since Friday, the Israeli prime ministerial office added.
One missile on Monday landed near a branch of the US diplomatic mission in Tel Aviv, causing minor damage, the American ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said on X. The consulate will remain closed for the day, he added. No injuries were reported.
Several projectiles also struck near Shuk HaCarmel, a popular Tel Aviv market that typically draws large crowds buying fresh fruits and vegetables. A residential street in the nearby city of Petah Tikva and a school in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish city of Bnei Brak were also hit.
Iran vowed to follow up with more attacks. "Effective, targeted and more devastating operations against the vital targets" in Israel "will continue until its complete destruction", Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement carried by official news agency Irna.
The IRGC said its latest strikes were a new method of attack that caused Israel's multilayered defence systems to target each other.
"The initiatives and capabilities used in this operation, despite the comprehensive support of the United States and western powers, and the possession of the most up-to-date and newest defence technology, led to the successful and maximum hitting of the missiles on the targets," it said.
Israeli officials have repeatedly said the country's air defence systems are not 100 per cent reliable and have warned of tough days ahead.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that residents of Tehran would "pay the price, and soon", for the latest strikes. But he later said Israel had no intention of deliberately harming ordinary citizens in the Iranian capital.
"I wish to clarify the obvious: there is no intention to physically harm the residents of Tehran, as the murderous dictator does to the residents of Israel," Mr Katz said. "The residents of Tehran will have to pay the price of dictatorship and evacuate their homes from areas where it will be necessary to attack regime targets and security infrastructure."
In the latest strikes on Iran, the Israeli military said it hit command centres in Tehran belonging to the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the IRGC. It said it had taken out 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers that had been protecting Iran's capital.
“Now we can say that we have achieved full air supremacy in the Tehran airspace,” said military spokesman Brig Gen Effie Defrin.
Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported that Israeli attacks on Monday struck a hospital in the western city of Kermanshah, injuring several patients. There was no comment from Israel about the attack, but the military said its strikes on Sunday eliminated four senior Iranian intelligence officials, including the IRGC’s head of intelligence Mohammad Kazemi and its deputy Hassan Mohaqiq.
The chief of the Quds Force's intelligence department, Mohsen Bakri, and his deputy, Abu Al Fadl Nikouei, were also killed, the Israeli army said. It added that those officials played a central role in "planning terrorist attacks against Israel, the West and countries in the Middle East".
The death toll in Iran has reached at least 224 since Israel launched a surprise attack on Friday on Iranian nuclear and military sites. Israel says it is acting to prevent Iran from advancing a nuclear weapons programme, which Tehran says it has no intention of doing.
Army of the Dead
Director: Zack Snyder
Stars: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
Company profile
Company name: Dharma
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The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
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MATCH INFO
Wales 1 (Bale 45 3')
Croatia 1 (Vlasic 09')
PRIMERA LIGA FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
Atletico Madrid v Sevilla (3pm)
Alaves v Real Madrid (6.15pm)
Malaga v Athletic Bilbao (8.30pm)
Girona v Barcelona (10.45pm)
Sunday
Espanyol v Deportivo la Coruna (2pm)
Getafe v Villarreal (6.15pm)
Eibar v Celta Vigo (8.30pm)
Las Palmas v Leganes (8.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Valencia (10.45pm)
Monday
Real Betis v Levante (11.pm)