DEN HAAG (ANP) - De Iraanse ambassade in Den Haag schrijft op X dat Amerika "voor de tweede keer in minder dan een jaar heeft laten zien dat zijn diplomatie nep is". Volgens de ambassade vallen Israël en Amerika Iran aan "vlak na het aanbieden van een deal".
"Dit gaat niet over massavernietigingswapens, maar over Amerikaans-Israëlische controle over de regio", vervolgt de ambassade. "Iran zal zich verzetten tegen alle agressors en standvastig blijven."
JERUZALEM (ANP/AFP/RTR) - De Israëlische premier Benjamin Netanyahu heeft gezegd dat de aanvallen die zijn land en de Verenigde Staten op Iran uitvoeren, "de voorwaarden kunnen scheppen voor het moedige Iraanse volk om het lot in eigen hand te nemen".
Het is volgens Netanyahu "tijd voor alle geledingen in de Iraanse samenleving het juk van de tyrannie van het regime af te werpen". Het land wordt sinds 1979 geregeerd door de conservatieve sjiitische geestelijkheid die fel anti-Amerikaans en anti-Israëlisch is.
De premier herhaalde dat Iran niet mag worden toegestaan kernwapens te bemachtigen. Israëlische functionarissen hebben de aanvallen "preventief" genoemd. Iran ontkent al decennia een nucleair wapen te willen hebben.
DEN HAAG (ANP) - Na de aanval op Iran roept "Nederland alle partijen op om terughoudendheid te betrachten en verdere escalatie te voorkomen", laat minister Tom Berendsen (Buitenlandse Zaken, CDA) in een reactie aan het ANP weten. "Stabiliteit in de regio is essentieel."
Hij laat verder weten dat het kabinet de situatie in Iran, Israël en de bredere regio nauwgezet volgt en in contact staat met de ambassades in de regio.
Butter, her novel about a female serial killer, was a global hit. As Asako Yuzuki’s second book is published in English, she talks about criticism at home – and why she’ll be writing darker stories in the future
The next time Japanese novelist Asako Yuzuki comes to the UK, she would like to bake some traditional Japanese muffins for Paul Hollywood on The Great British Bake Off, she says when we meet over video call. It is evening in Tokyo, where she lives with her partner and eight-year-old son. “I’ve had my bath and am ready for bed,” she explains, via translator Bethan Jones, apologising for being in her pyjamas. She thinks the Bake Off judge would be particularly impressed by “marubouro” muffins, from Nagasaki. “Kazuo Ishiguro also comes from Nagasaki and British people love Ishiguro, so they are bound to love these muffins,” she continues. “They go very well with tea.”
As anyone who has read Yuzuki’s international bestseller Butter will know, Yuzuki is all about food. Based on the 2009 real-life “Konkatsu Killer” case (konkatsu means marriage hunting), in which 35-year-old Kanae Kijima was convicted of poisoning three men, Butter follows the relationship between journalist Rika Machida and Manako Kajii, a serial killer and gourmet cook, through a succession of interviews in Tokyo Detention Centre. Yuzuki even signed up for the high-class cookery school in Tokyo that Kijima attended as research. The result is an irresistible mix of social satire and feminist thriller, dripping with descriptions of buttery rice and soy sauce.
Continue reading...Legendary nightclub Le Palace, where Serge Gainsbourg and Prince also performed, to rise again
In the late 1970s, Le Palace in Paris’s busy theatre district was one of continental Europe’s most famous nightclubs.
On the opening night on 1 March 1978, Grace Jones stunned VIP guests with her rendition of Edith Piaf’s classic La Vie en Rose. Later, Serge Gainsbourg and Prince came to perform, Bob Marley was photographed there and Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol and Karl Lagerfeld were part of a glittering cast of international celebrities, politicians, designers and models who came to drink and dance.
Continue reading...The US and Israel have launched an attack on Iran, with Trump calling the US operation ‘massive and ongoing’. This is what we know so far
The US has launched “major combat operations” in Iran, designed to eliminate “imminent threats” from the country’s regime, Donald Trump announced on Saturday.
The operation is “massive and ongoing”, the US president said in a video on social media, pledging to use “overwhelming strength and devastating force” to destroy Iranian missiles and ensure it cannot develop a nuclear weapon.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks aimed to “remove the existential threat” posed by the Iranian regime, as he urged the people of Iran to topple the government.
A short time beforehand, Israel said it had launched “preventative” strikes on Iran.
The IDF said Iran had fired back a “barrage of missiles” and it was working to intercept them. Israel has closed its airspace.
Explosions were heard in Tehran, the Iranian capital, where smoke could be seen rising on the skyline, and several other cities. Iran has closed its airspace.
“The hour of your freedom is at hand,” Trump told Iranian citizens, urging them to “take over your government” once the operation is over.
Talks between the US and Iran on Tehran’s nuclear programme ended inconclusively on Friday, with a suggestion that further discussions would be held next week. Trump had said he was “not happy” with the progress of discussions.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not in Tehran, and has been transferred to a secure location, an official told Reuters on Saturday.
Continue reading...News, discussion and buildup before the day’s action
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Speaking of the Champions League, the draw for the last 16 was made yesterday so our man Jonathan Wilson has sifted through the ties and decided who is going to win each one. So you don’t even need to watch Real Madrid v Manchester City for the 1,836th time.
Bundesliga: There are four 2.30pm (GMT) kick-offs in the German top flight today but the headline acts comes later on in the shape of Der Klassiker. It’s a game that could kill off the title race – if there ever was one – once and for all, given Bayern Munich lead Borussia Dortmund by eight points before kick-off. A home win at Signal Iduna Park, however, could spice things up, though whether Dortmund will be weather-beaten by their Champions League collapse against Atalanta remains to be seen.
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