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Protesters took to the streets across the world Saturday to mark International Women’s Day, demanding equal pay, political representation and an end to gender-based violence while voicing fears of rising repression.In eastern Ukraine, scores of demonstrators held a minute’s silence to honour women killed defending the country from Russia’s invasion. Many carried banners bearing the faces of the deceased.”Women are half of our society and we need to talk about what they do, what they are like, how they protect and what they do to make our country free and independent,” activist Iryna Lysykova told AFP in Kharkiv.Many of the women marking on the streets in European capitals including Paris, Berlin and Madrid said they feared the growing strength of reactionary political forces, including a resurgent far right. “It is coming now and we’re taking backwards steps,” said Dori Martinez Monroy, 63, in the Spanish capital. “We have to reclaim what has already been won, because women are the first to be targeted.”In Jakarta, one activist, Ajeng, accused the Indonesian government of budget cuts that were “making women lose their rights.”Women are killed, impoverished, criminalised,” she said, as nearby protesters held up placards reading “This body belongs to me” and “Glory to the women of the working class”. “Indonesian woman are fighting against the state for these reasons,” he said.- ‘Not over’ -Some demonstrators their directed ire at US President Donald Trump.In Paris, women from the Femen activist group marched topless with either the US or the Russian national flag, marked with a swastika, painted on their chests.Dozens of women have alleged the Republican sexually abused them, and his administration has been accused of pushing through anti-women policies.”This is a battle, it’s not over,” said 49-year-old Sabine, who was marching with her seven-year-old son in Paris, where organisers put turnout at around 250,000. Police gave a figure of 47,000.”We’re going in the right direction: Trump, the masculinists, they make lots of noise but they’re not as strong as we are,” she told AFP.At the Berlin protest, some protesters held placards bearing messages including “Burn the patriarchy not the planet”.One marcher, Steff Voigt, expressed her fears for the future.”I find it quite frightening how certain developments are reversing, how women’s rights could simply be moving backward again, so to speak, because of the right. Especially in the USA,” she said.At the rally in Istanbul, Cigdem Ozdemir took aim at male violence against women and the Turkish authorities’ declaration of 2025 as “The Year of the Family”.”Since 2025 was declared ‘The Year of The Family’, we as women have been confined to our homes,” the psychologist lamented, adding that LGBTQ people like her were “criminalised”.”Today, we are here to make our struggle visible, to defend our lives against male violence, to defend our place in society and our rights.”Iran’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi said it would be women who would overthrow the Islamic republic established after the 1979 revolution.”Women have risen up against the Islamic republic in such a way that the regime no longer has the power to suppress them,” Mohammadi said in a video message where she was, as usual, not wearing the headscarf obligatory for all Iranian women.Mohammadi, 52, who won the 2023 Nobel prize in recognition of her years-long fight for human rights in Iran, is currently on temporary release from a prison term for health reasons.Her lawyers fear she could be sent back to prison at any time.burs-afptv-sbk/jj

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday slammed what he described as bullying tactics a day after US President Donald Trump threatened military action.”Some bully governments — I really don’t know of any more appropriate term for some foreign figures and leaders than the word bullying — insist on negotiations,” Khamenei told officials after Trump threatened military action if Iran refuses to engage in talks on its nuclear programme.”Their negotiations are not aimed at solving problems, they aim at domination,” Khamenei said. On Friday, Trump said he had written to Iran’s supreme leader, urging new talks on the country’s nuclear programme but warning of possible military action if it refuses.Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran had yet to receive any letter from the US president by Saturday.”We have heard of it (the letter) but we haven’t received anything,” he told state television.Khamenei accused the bullying powers of deliberately setting new conditions they did not expect Iran to meet.”They are setting new expectations that they think will definitely not be met by Iran,” he said, without naming the United States or referring to Trump’s comments.On Friday, Araghchi told AFP in an interview that Iran would not negotiate under “maximum pressure”.The policy, reinstated by Trump on his return to the White House in January, saw him reimpose sweeping sanctions on Tehran during his first term after abandoning the nuclear accord formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Struck between Tehran and major powers in 2015, the deal had offered relief from sanctions in exchange for limits on Iran’s nuclear activities.Tehran has in recent months engaged in diplomatic efforts with the three European parties to the deal — Britain, France and Germany — aimed at resolving issues surrounding its nuclear ambitions.However on Saturday, Khamenei condemned the three governments for “declaring that Iran has not fulfilled its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA”.”You say that Iran has not fulfilled its commitments under the JCPOA. Okay, have you fulfilled your commitments under the JCPOA?” he asked.- Peaceful nature -Khamenei recalled that Tehran had abided by the terms of the JCPOA for a whole year after Trump abandoned it in 2018 before beginning to roll back on its own commitments.He said there had been “no other way” following legislation by the Iranian parliament.Iran has since sharply ramped up its enrichment of uranium far beyond the limits set by the JCPOA. US officials now estimate that Iran could produce a nuclear weapon within weeks if it chose to do so.Tehran has consistently denied pursuing a nuclear arsenal, emphasising the peaceful nature of its programme.Officials have always cited a religious decree issued by Khamenei that prohibits the development of such weapons.Last month, Khamenei reiterated his opposition to negotiations with the United States, calling the idea “unwise” after Trump called for a new nuclear deal.Khamenei charged that Washington “ruined, violated, and tore up” the 2015 agreement.In 2019, more than a year after Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, Japan’s then prime minister Shinzo Abe visited Iran in an attempt to mediate.But Khamenei firmly rejected the possibility of talks with Washington, saying he did not “consider Trump as a person worthy of exchanging messages with”.

US President Donald Trump’s prized Turnberry golf resort in Scotland has been vandalised by protesters who sprayed “GAZA IS NOT 4 SALE” in huge white letters on the lawn.The activists also damaged greens and sprayed blood-red paint over the luxury resort’s clubhouse overnight on Saturday.The Palestine Action group said it was a “direct response to the US administration’s stated intent to ethnically cleanse Gaza”.Trump sparked outrage last month when he suggested the US “take over” Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, while forcing its Palestinian inhabitants to relocate to Egypt or Jordan.The activists cited an AI-generated video the US president shared online last week, which showed the razed Palestinian territory rebuilt as a Trump-branded seaside resort.One scene showed Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sipping cocktails in swimsuits by a pool.”Whilst Trump attempts to treat Gaza as his property, he should know his own property is within reach,” Palestine Action said on social media.Police Scotland told AFP it was investigating after receiving a report of damage at around 0440 GMT on Saturday.Last week, the United States said it had approved the sale of more than $3 billion in munitions, bulldozers and related equipment to Israel, which has used American-made weapons to devastating effect in Gaza.The Turnberry property in southwest Scotland is one of two resorts that Trump owns in the country, his mother’s ancestral home.A spokesman for Trump Turnberry said: “This was a childish, criminal act but the incredible team at Trump Turnberry will ensure it does not impact business.”Turnberry is a national treasure and will continue to be the number one beacon of luxury and excellence in the world of golf.”

Hamas accused Israel Saturday of “committing the war crime of collective punishment” by halting aid to Gaza for a seventh day, saying it also impacted Israeli hostages still held there.On Sunday, Israel announced it was blocking aid deliveries to Gaza until Palestinian militants accepted its terms for an extension of the ceasefire which had largely halted more than 15 months of fighting.The first phase of the truce, which ended on March 1, had enabled the entry of vital food, shelter and medical assistance.Under the first phase, Gaza militants handed over 25 living hostages and eight bodies in exchange for the release of about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.Of the 251 captives taken during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 58 remain in the Palestinian territory, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.While Israel has said it wants to extend the first phase until mid-April, Hamas has insisted on a transition to the second phase intended to lead to a permanent end to the war.On Saturday, a Hamas statement said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was “committing the war crime of collective punishment against over two million Palestinian civilians through starvation and the deprivation of basic life necessities for the seventh consecutive day.””The repercussions of such crime extend beyond our people in Gaza to include the occupation’s prisoners (hostages) held by the resistance, who are also affected by the lack of food, medicine and healthcare.”The Palestinian Islamist movement said Netanyahu “bears full responsibility” for the consequences of the aid block and accused him of “indifference” towards the hostages held in Gaza.A group of UN human rights experts has said that Israel is again “weaponising starvation” in Gaza by blocking the entry of humanitarian aid.”As the occupying power, Israel is always obliged to ensure sufficient food, medical supplies and other relief services,” the experts said on Thursday.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani has warned that an attack on Iran’s Gulf coast nuclear facilities would leave countries across the region without water.In an interview with right-wing United States media personality Tucker Carlson, who is close to US President Donald Trump, the premier said Doha had simulated the effects of an attack,The sea would be “entirely contaminated” and Qatar would “run out of water in three days”, he said.The construction of reservoirs since then had increased water capacity, he added, but the risk remained for “all of us” in the region. “No water, no fish, nothing… no life,” Sheikh Mohammed added in the interview published on Friday, the same day that Trump said he had invited Iran to nuclear talks.Alluding to military action, Trump said he would “rather see a peace deal” but that “the other will solve the problem”. Qatar, which sits 190 kilometres (120 miles) south of Iran, relies heavily on desalination for its water supply, as do other Gulf Arab countries in the arid desert region. Iran has a nuclear power plant at Bushehr on the Gulf coast, though its uranium enrichment facilities, key to building atomic weapons, are located hundreds of kilometres (miles) inland.Referring to sites “on the other side of the coast”, Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar had “not only military concerns, but also security and… safety concerns”.He said Qatar opposed military action against Iran and that it would “not give up until we see a diplomatic solution between the US and Iran”.Tehran was “willing to engage”, he said. “They are willing to get to a level that creates comforts for everybody. And most importantly, they are focused on mending their relationship with the region, and that’s something in itself.”Western powers have long accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, which it denies. In 2015, it signed a deal to lift sanctions in exchange for reining in its nuclear programme, but Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 during his first term.

International support grew on Saturday for an Arab counterproposal to US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and displace its residents, with Islamic nations endorsing it and European governments giving their backing.Unlike the Trump plan, the Arab proposal aims to rebuild Gaza without displacing the territory’s 2.4 million inhabitants, who endured more than 15 months of devastating conflict before a fragile ceasefire took effect on January 19.The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation formally adopted the counterproposal at an emergency meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, three days after the Arab League ratified it at a summit in Cairo.Britain, France, Germany and Italy gave their backing in a joint statement by their foreign ministers, hailing it as a “realistic path” for rebuilding war-torn Gaza without uprooting its Palestinian inhabitants.The OIC “adopts the plan… on the early recovery and reconstruction of Gaza”, the Islamic bloc said in a statement.It urged “the international community and international and regional funding institutions to swiftly provide the necessary support”.Trump triggered global outrage when he suggested the US “take over” Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, while forcing its Palestinian inhabitants to relocate to Egypt or Jordan.Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty welcomed the OIC endorsement and said he now hoped to gain support from the wider international community, including the US.”The next step is for the plan to become an international plan through adoption by the European Union and international parties such as Japan, Russia, China and others,” Abdelatty said.”This is what we will seek and we have contact with all parties, including the American party.”The four European governments welcomed the plan’s proposal for Gaza to return to the control of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority after nearly two decades of Hamas rule.”We are clear that Hamas must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel any more,” they said in their statement.”We commend the serious efforts of all involved stakeholders and appreciate the important signal the Arab states have sent by jointly developing this recovery and reconstruction plan,” they added.However, the Egyptian proposal has already been cold-shouldered by Israel and the United States.It “does not meet the expectations” of Washington, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters on Thursday.Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff gave a more positive reaction, however, calling the plan a “good-faith first step from the Egyptians”.

Women will overthrow the Islamic system established in Iran after the 1979 revolution even if the authorities survive a military conflict, Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi said in a message Saturday marking international women’s day.Mohammadi, 52, who won the 2023 Nobel prize in recognition of her years-long fight for human rights in Iran, is currently on temporary release from a prison term for health reasons. Her lawyers fear she could be sent back to prison any time.Even behind bars, she was a strong supporter of the 2022-2023 protests that erupted across Iran following the September 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini.An Iranian-Kurdish woman, Amini, 22, had been arrested for allegedly violating the Islamic republic’s strict dress rules for women.The protests shook Iranian authorities and remain a rallying cause even after petering out in the face of a fierce crackdown.”Women have risen up against the Islamic republic in such a way that the regime no longer has the power to suppress them,” said Mohammadi in the Persian video message from Iran published on her social media channels. As usual, she was not wearing the headscarf that is obligatory for women in Iran.”I am convinced that if the Islamic republic survives any war it will not survive resistance from women,” she said, in apparent reference to the risk of armed conflict between Iran and Israel or the United States.”The glass vessel that holds the life of the Islamic republic will be smashed by women,” she said.Mohammadi charged that Iranian women had been subjected to “gender apartheid” since the inception of the Islamic republic.”I hope women will continue to lead the struggle against religious tyranny,” whose defeat will be “our day of victory”.Her release in December from Evin prison marked the first time Mohammadi, who spent much of the past decade behind bars, has been free since her arrest in November 2021.She also paid tribute to three women — Sharifeh Mohammadi, Verisheh Moradi and Pakhshan Azizi — who have been sentenced to death by Iran on charges of “rebellion”. Mohammadi said the verdicts were “revenge” for their support of the protests.  

A Syria war monitor reported on Saturday that government and allied forces killed more than 300 civilians from the Alawite minority in recent days, as authorities clash with militants loyal to ousted president Bashar al-Assad.The clashes that broke out on Thursday were the fiercest since Assad — himself an Alawite — was toppled in a lightning rebel offensive in December, and came after days of tensions in Latakia province that forms part of the heartland of the religious minority.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Saturday that “340 Alawite civilians were killed in the coastal regions of Syria and the Latakia mountains by security forces and allied groups” since then.The Britain-based Observatory said they were killed in “executions” carried out by security personnel or pro-government fighters” and accompanied by “looting of homes and properties”.The civilian deaths bring the overall toll to 553 people, including 93 members of the new government’s security forces and 120 pro-Assad fighters, data from the Observatory shows.The killings followed clashes sparked by the arrest of a wanted individual by security forces in a predominantly Alawite village, the Observatory reported. The monitor said there had been a “relative return to calm” in the region on Saturday, but that security forces were continuing sweeping operations and deploying reinforcements.Early on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported that the security forces had repelled an “attack by remnants of the ousted regime” on the national hospital in the coastal city of Latakia.A defence ministry source later told SANA that forces had blocked the roads leading to the western coastal area to prevent “violations”, without specifying who was committing them.The news agency also reported that security forces were deployed in the city of Latakia, as well as Jableh and Banias further south, to restore order.- Call to surrender -In an address on Friday, Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa urged the insurgents to “lay down your weapons and surrender before it’s too late”.On Saturday the security director of Latakia province Mustafa Kneifati called on civilians “not to be drawn into incitement”, in remarks to SANA.Western powers and Syria’s neighbours have emphasised the need for unity in the new Syria, which is seeking funds for reconstructing a nation ravaged by years of civil war under Assad.The coastal region has been gripped by fears of reprisals against Alawites for the Assad family’s brutal rule, which included widespread torture and disappearances.Social media users have shared posts documenting the killing of their Alawite friends and family members, with one user saying her mother and brothers were all “slaughtered” in their home.AFP could not independently verify these accounts.The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, has reported multiple “massacres” in recent days, with women and children among the dead.”The vast majority of the victims were summarily executed by elements affiliated to the Ministry of Defence and the Interior,” the monitor said on Friday.The Observatory and activists released footage showing dozens of bodies in civilian clothing piled outside a house, with blood stains nearby and women wailing.Other videos appeared to show men in military garb shooting people at close range.AFP could not independently verify the images.The United Nations envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, decried “very troubling reports of civilian casualties”.He called on all sides to refrain from actions which could “destabilise Syria, and jeopardise a credible and inclusive political transition”.Aron Lund of the Century International think tank said the violence was “a bad omen”. The new government lacks the tools, incentives and local base of support to engage with disgruntled Alawites, he said.”All they have is repressive power, and a lot of that… is made up of jihadist zealots who think Alawites are enemies of God.”