Fetterman and McCormick back Mullin to lead DHS

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Islamabad talks offer -

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Islamabad is prepared to host negotiations to stop the US-Israeli war with Iran, after mounting speculation it could act as a mediator.

- G7 war discussion -

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet G7 counterparts in France on Friday to discuss the war, the State Department said.

While all G7 nations are close US allies, none has unambiguously offered support for the offensive on Iran, angering President Donald Trump. 

Trump has since announced his government is speaking with Iran, a claim denied by Tehran.

- Iran arrests - 

Iranian authorities said that 466 people have been arrested, accused of seeking to destabilise the country through their online activity. 

The exact nature of the online activity nor the dates of the arrests were provided. Internet has been shut down in Iran since the start of the war on February 28.

- Iran security chief -

Iran named a former Revolutionary Guards commander, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, as head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, succeeding Ali Larijani, who was killed last week in an Israeli strike.

- Gulf 'breakdown' -

The Gulf states will need to re-evaluate their shared security after the war, which has resulted in a "breakdown of the security system," a Qatar foreign ministry spokesman said.

- Iran envoy out -

Lebanon withdrew the accreditation of Iran's ambassador and gave him until Sunday to leave the country.

The move came after Beirut accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards of commanding the operations of the Tehran-backed Hezbollah in its war against Israel.

- Isfahan strikes -

Israel's military said that it had completed a "large wave of strikes in Isfahan". 

- 'Security zone' - 

Israel said it military will seize control of an area 30 kilometres (20 miles) into Lebanon a "security zone", as it presses its fight against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told AFP that Israel should "refrain" from that measure, warning it would have "major humanitarian consequences".

- UN rights meet -

The UN Human Rights Council said it will hold an urgent meeting on Wednesday on Iran's strikes on countries in the Gulf region.

- Iran energy sites hit -

Iranian media reported on Tuesday that Israeli-US strikes targeted two gas facilities and a pipeline, hours after US President Donald Trump stepped back from his threat to attack power infrastructure.

In an interview with state TV, Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi said that Iran was less vulnerable to attacks on energy infrastructure because it was spread out, with 150 power plants across the country. 

- Iraqi Kurdistan targeted - 

A rocket attack in Iraq's north killed six fighters from the Peshmerga armed forces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, officials said. 

The region's armed forces ministry blamed Tehran, saying "six Iranian ballistic missiles targeted" the troops in two attacks.

- Wounded in Tel Aviv - 

Four people were wounded in Tel Aviv, where police reported several impact sites after the military warned of incoming missiles from Iran.

The city's mayor said the hit in an upscale neighbourhood in the north was a "direct strike".

Iran's Revolutionary Guards threatened to conduct "heavy missile and drone strikes" in what it said was support for Palestinian and Lebanese civilians hit by Israeli fire.

- Two killed near Beirut -

An Israeli strike on Bshamoun, a town south of Beirut which lies outside the traditional strongholds of Iran-backed Hezbollah, killed at least two people, Lebanon's health ministry said.

- Iraq deaths -

A strike in western Iraq on Tuesday killed 15 fighters, including Saad Dawai al-Baiji, provincial commander and head of operations in Anbar for the former paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF).

The PMF is now part of Iraq's regular army but also includes some pro-Iranian groups. It has blamed the attack on the United States.

burs/rmb

Survivors who escaped the massive blaze that killed 168 people at a Hong Kong housing estate last year told a public hearing Tuesday they still blame themselves for failing to save their neighbours.

The November 26 fire at Wang Fuk Court, a high-rise complex in the financial hub's Tai Po district, was the world's deadliest residential building fire since 1980 and Hong Kong's worst since 1948.

The inferno swept through seven of the estate's eight towers, which were under renovation and wrapped in bamboo scaffolding, netting and foam boards -- materials that may have accelerated the spread of flames.

Three residents delivered emotional testimonies before an independent committee of investigators, saying they did not hear any fire alarms that day.

Tse Yuk-wa, who lived on the third floor near where the fire is believed to have started, said smoke wafted into her kitchen but she initially assumed it was dust from the construction.

A member of the building's management staff knocked on her door to warn her. 

"I thought that it can't be," she said. "I didn't hear the fire alarm."

She managed to flee with her two cats, but when she turned back she saw smoke rising above the complex. "The roof was like a stove," she said.

"I blame myself because I wasn't able to go back up and warn (my neighbours)," she added, breaking into tears. "I could only stay there and watch the fire burn."

Tse's account moved reporters to tears, with some wiping their faces as she spoke.

Fire alarms in seven of the estate's eight blocks had been turned off, the committee's counsel said in opening remarks.

Another resident, Ko Yee‑lui, said she escaped by lift after spotting smoke in her building. 

Ko said she felt "lucky" she was able to escape.

"I can't imagine how helpless people must have been," she said between heavy sighs, adding: "I really regret that I didn't knock on a single door."

And resident Leung Ho-hin said he saw two neighbours try to use a fire hose, but "no water" came out.

Judge David Lok, the committee's chair, urged the survivors not to "overly blame yourself". "A lot of things happened in an instant," he said. 

The government's counsel, Jenkin Suen, told the inquiry that authorities would not shirk responsibility and pledged "systemic reforms".

Evidence presented at hearings last week showed that government departments failed to effectively address residents' complaints about construction workers smoking on site and the use of combustible building materials during renovations.

cla/mya/abs

(The Center Square) – American voters are split right down the middle when asked to compare the last year of former President Joe Biden’s presidency with the first year of President Donald Trump’s return to office on the issues of foreign policy and the economy, according to new polling.

The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll results show that exactly half the country feels Trump fared better on both issues, and the other half feels Biden fared better. 

The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights between March 2-5, 2026. The poll sample included 2,659 respondents, comprised of 952 Republicans, 934 Democrats, and 773 Independents, of which 330 are True Independents, which Noble Predictive refers to as independents who, when asked if they leaned toward one of the major parties, chose neither. It is among the most comprehensive tracking polls in the country.

Fifty percent of voters believe Trump has done a better job handling foreign policy during his first year back in office, while the same number believe Biden did a better job.

Eighty-five percent of Republicans think Trump has handled foreign affairs better, while 86% of Democrats believe Biden did a better job in his last year in office. However, independents favored Biden’s handling of the matter, with 53% supporting Biden compared to 47% for Trump.

The figures were nearly identical on the two leaders’ handling of economic policy – an even 50% split between Biden and Trump.

Eighty-five percent of Republicans believe Trump has done a better job, while 85% of Democrats think Biden fared better during his last year. Independents give Biden a slight edge over Trump, 52% to 48%.

The final year of Biden’s presidency was marred by high inflation rates, with rates averaging above 3%. Inflation began a steep climb in January 2021, peaking at 9.1% in June 2022.

Since Trump took office in January 2025, inflation has ranged from 3% to 2.3%, climbing back up to 3% in September, then back down to 2.4% in February.

During Trump’s first year back in office, he relied heavily on imposing tariffs on foreign countries to advance his administration’s economic and foreign policy agenda – facing backlash and legal challenges from Democrats and Republicans alike, eventually getting most struck down by a February Supreme Court ruling. Despite the ruling, the president modified the tariffs.

Trump has been extremely active in his foreign policy agenda beyond the tariffs, helping to negotiate several foreign pease agreements, removing former Venezuela dictator Nicolás Maduro from office in an overnight January raid and unsealing an indictment charging him with narcoterrorism; destroying Iran's nuclear sites last summer before restarting bombings earlier this year.

The poll has a margin of error of +/-1.9%. 

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke on Tuesday of a "deep rift" with traditional ally the United States and said the US-Israeli war on Iran was a "breach of international law".

In unusually strong comments, the German head of state said that just as there was no going back from Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, "there will be no going back to before January 20, 2025", when US President Donald Trump entered the White House for a second time.

"The rift is too deep and the trust in American power politics has been lost, not only among our allies but... worldwide," he said at an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the German foreign ministry.

Although Steinmeier's role is largely ceremonial, his words carry weight in Germany, which has not officially condemned the war against Iran.

Steinmeier, a former foreign minister, said: "Our foreign policy does not become any more convincing simply because we do not call a breach of international law a breach of international law."

He stressed that the US-Israel war on Iran was, "in my view, in breach of international law".

"There is little doubt that, in any case, the justification of an imminent attack on the US does not hold water," he added.

Germany's head of government, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, has harshly criticised Iran's leadership and backed several key US-Israeli war goals.

But he has also stated that, had Berlin been consulted in advance, it "would have advised against" the war.

- 'Den of thieves' -

Steinmeier called the military campaign "a politically disastrous mistake" and "a truly avoidable, unnecessary war".

"Realism means we must be pragmatic in our dealings with this US administration and focus on our core interests," he said. 

"But realism also means we must not compromise our own principles." 

He added: "The US government has a different world view to ours, one that shows no regard for established rules, partnership or hard-won trust. 

"We cannot change that. We must deal with it. But this is my conviction: we have no reason to align ourselves with this world view."

Volker Beck, president of the German-Israeli Society, labelled Steinmeier's comments on the war "grossly inappropriate" and said they displayed a "smug know-it-all attitude".

"The mullah regime has been threatening and waging war against Israel's very existence for years," he claimed, accusing Steinmeier of turning a "blind eye to these dangers".

Tuesday's comments were not the first time the German president has criticised the United States.

In January, shortly after the US intervention in Venezuela, Steinmeier spoke of a "breakdown of values" in the United States and insisted the world must not be allowed to turn into a "den of thieves".

fec/fz/gil

The health of a humpback whale stranded on Germany's Baltic Sea coast is deteriorating, conservationists said Tuesday, as efforts to free the animal continued.

The 10-metre (33-foot) long whale was first spotted stuck in shallow water close to Niendorf near the city of Luebeck early on Monday.

Rescuers have been trying since to get it back into deeper water, so far without success.

Carsten Manheimer of the marine conservation group Sea Shepherd told AFP that the whale had developed a skin condition resembling barnacles due to the water's low salinity.

"It is impossible to pull the whale out to sea," Manheimer said, adding that the animal was weak and that such an operation may do more harm than good.

On Monday, boats were used to generate waves in an effort to help the whale return to deeper water, without success.

However, rescuers did manage to partially free the whale from the netting that had become wrapped around its body.

Police said they had erected fencing on the beach to ensure the whale is not disturbed by onlookers.

Further discussions about possible rescue options for the animal were expected for Tuesday. 

Manheimer said his group was "on standby in case the experts still see a way" to help the whale.

It is possible that the stranded animal is the same whale that became entangled in a fishing net further east along Germany's Baltic Sea coast earlier this month. 

A week before that, a whale had likewise been sighted in the Baltic port of Wismar.

wik-jsk/fz/rmb

(The Center Square) – On Monday evening, U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin received confirmation to lead the Department of Homeland Security from his fellow lawmakers on the chamber floor.

And Pennsylvania played a key role in securing the position for the freshman Republican senator of Oklahoma, whose nomination stirred controversy on both sides of the aisle.

John Fetterman and Dave McCormick, the commonwealth’s respective Democrat and Republican senators, were among 54 others to confirm Mullin. Aside from Fetterman, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico was the only Democrat to support the nomination, while Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky joined the other 44 in opposition.

Neither McCormick nor Fetterman released any statements immediately following the confirmation.

Mullin takes over the role previously held by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who was fired on March 5 by President Donald Trump. Noem, who became the first Cabinet leader to leave their position during Trump’s current term, faced increased criticism from lawmakers over her leadership of the department following the shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis.

Fetterman and McCormick both supported Noem’s confirmation to lead DHS in January 2025. However, Fetterman called on Trump to fire Noem in late January following the shooting deaths of Pretti and Good. McCormick did not call for Noem to step down from her role, although at least two Republican Senators did. 

On the same day Trump fired Noem, Fetterman and McCormick issued their support for Mullin to head DHS.

Although Mullin was confirmed on Monday evening, he didn’t cruise through the process.

On March 19, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs voted 8-7 to advance Mullin’s nomination. Fetterman, being the only Democrat to support his nomination through the committee, was viewed as the deciding vote.

Throughout the process, Democrats, including Pennsylvania U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle and Chrissy Houlahan urged Fetterman to vote against Mullin.

Mullin’s tenure as DHS secretary begins amid an ongoing partial government shutdown that began on Feb. 14. Democrats and Republicans in Congress remain at odds over a funding plan for the agency. 

U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., said last week that he was planning to introduce a bipartisan compromise proposal to end the DHS partial shutdown that would fund the agency, while including reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE.

Reports surfaced on Monday that the Trump administration is planning to deploy ICE agents to 14 airports amid the ongoing partial shutdown. Transportation Security Administration, TSA, officials are not being paid as a result of the standoff in Congress and callouts have increased in recent days.

Philadelphia International Airport and Pittsburgh International Airport were included in the list of airports where ICE agents are expected.

The first boat of a flotilla carrying medical supplies, food and solar panels reached Cuba on Tuesday to aid the island as a US fuel blockade deepens its energy crisis.

The Maguro shrimp fishing boat docked in Havana three days later than hoped after battling strong winds, currents and a pesky battery, with two other ships due to follow.

As they approached the port and its colonial-era fortification, activists stood on the cabin roof of the boat -- symbolically renamed "Granma 2.0" as a tribute to the yacht used by Fidel Castro's guerrilla fighters to launch their revolution in 1956.

The first shipments arrived by plane from Europe and the United States last week as part of an air and sea mission, dubbed Our America Convoy, to bring some 50 tonnes of aid to Cuba.

The activists say the effort, which had the support of the government, aims to bring relief to Cubans in the wake of a US oil blockade that President Donald Trump launched in January.

The country has suffered seven nationwide blackouts since 2024 -- two of them only this past week -- due to an aging thermoelectric plants and a shortage of oil.

The situation has deteriorated since Trump ordered a military operation to capture Cuba's chief regional ally, Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolas Maduro, in January -- depriving the country of its main oil supplier.

Trump subsequently threatened to slap tariffs on any country that ships oil to Cuba.

bur-lt/des

Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi announced a dip in quarterly profit on Tuesday after slower smartphone sales, while electric vehicles drove a modest surge in annual revenue.

The Beijing-based firm, one of the world's largest smartphone makers, has expanded rapidly since its launch in 2011 to produce home appliances and electric vehicles and is now eyeing the artificial intelligence market.

Its performance is considered a bellwether for consumer sentiment in China, where authorities are seeking to make domestic spending the main driver of economic growth.

Xiaomi's total revenue last year was 457 billion yuan ($66 billion), up 25 percent from the previous year, according to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Adjusted annual net profit reached 39 billion yuan, up 43.8 percent compared to 2024.

However, adjusted net profit was down 23.7 percent on-year in the last three months of 2025, the first quarterly decline since mid-2024 and the biggest drop since the same period in 2022.

Xiaomi said "headwinds" at the end of last year had hurt its business but defended its economic strength.

"In the fourth quarter of 2025, despite headwinds such as significantly increased memory (chip) costs and intensifying industry competition, we maintained resilience across all business segments," the company said in the statement.

Electric vehicles were a bright spot.

Xiaomi entered China's highly competitive EV market in 2024, aiming to win over buyers with a range of high-tech features.

It reached 411,082 vehicle deliveries in 2025 -- surpassing a goal of 350,000 -- to notch 106.1 billion yuan in revenue from its business segment covering smart EVs and AI.

"In 2026, we will strive to achieve the target of delivering 550,000 vehicles for the entire year," Xiaomi said in the statement.

Its business segment that includes smartphones, the company's traditional strength, still accounted for the bulk of sales, with revenue reaching 351.2 billion yuan last year.

However, sales have slowed.

Revenue from smartphones alone in 2025 was 186.4 billion yuan, down 2.8 percent from 191.8 billion yuan in 2024.

Fourth-quarter smartphone revenue was 44.3 billion yuan, down 13.6 percent on-year. 

mya/pbt/abs

He is, according to President Donald Trump, a "top person" in the Iranian system who is "most respected" and is in an unenviable position.

But who is the senior figure talking with the United States on the future of Iran after over three weeks of the Israeli-US war against the Islamic republic? 

The individual, said Trump, is not supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei who succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei, after the killing of the ex-number one at the start of the war on February 28.

After the killing of national security chief Ali Larijani in an Israeli strike last week, attention has focused on parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has survived the war so far. 

But Trump gave no names, saying: "I don't want him to be killed."

Here are five possible figures.

- Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf

Ghalibaf has been pinpointed by several analysts as the de-facto wartime leader of Iran following the killings of Khamenei and Larijani and the failure of Mojtaba Khamenei to make any public appearance.

During three decades at the centre of the Iranian system he has held posts straddling civilian and military life, as commander of the aerospace forces of the Revolutionary Guards, Tehran police chief, Tehran mayor and now parliament speaker.

Regarded as deeply ambitious, he stood for president on three occasions but was never successful. After a report in Israeli media said he was the interlocutor of the US, he posted on X that "no negotiations have been held with the US" and denounced "fakenews".

- President Masoud Pezeshkian

President since 2024 after an election held following the death of former president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, Pezeshkian is seen as belonging to the more moderate wing of politics in the Islamic republic.

However his position as president in no way makes him Iran's number one, with the supreme leader having the final say on all key matters, although how the power structures work in the post-Ali Khamenei era remains unclear.

Seeking to promote himself as an ordinary man of the people, Pezeshkian took to the streets earlier this month for a mass pro-government rally in favour of the Palestinian cause, taking selfies with well-wishers. Larijani also took part in the same event, only to be killed days later.

- Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi

A veteran diplomat, Araghchi has held the post since 2024 following the death of former foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian in the same helicopter crash that killed Raisi.

He acted as Iran's representative in talks last month with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Oman that were mediated by the Gulf sultanate and failed to stop the march to war.

The New York Times said Tuesday, citing US and Iranian officials, that Araghchi and Witkoff had "direct communication" in recent days which according to Iranian officials amounted to "essentially probes on how to de-escalate the conflict".

Araghchi, who holds a doctorate in political thought from the University of Kent in England, has vigorously defended Iran's position in TV interviews including with American media. But his position as foreign minister seems unlikely to equate to that of a "top person".

- Revolutionary Guards Commander-in-Chief Ahmad Vahidi  

A former interior and defence minister, Vahidi is the third commander-in-chief of Iran's ideological army in less than a year after his predecessor Mohammad Pakpour was killed on the first day of the war and Hossein Salami was killed during Israel's 12-day war against Iran in June 2025.

Possibly for this reason, Vahidi has kept a very low profile in this war, making no public appearance.

Only one statement has been issued in his name as commander on March 19, expressing his condolences for the killing of the commander of the Guards' Basij militia, Gholamreza Soleimani, in an airstrike.

- Quds force commander Esmail Ghaani

An extremely shadowy figure, Ghaani became commander of the force responsible for the external operations of the Revolutionary Guards after the killing of Qassem Soleimani in a US strike in Iraq in 2020.

Ghaani was reportedly killed in the June 2025 war but then later re-emerged in public. Intense speculation has since surrounded his whereabouts and standing, amid reports he has come under pressure due to alleged intelligence lapses including the 2024 killing in Lebanon by Israel of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

On March 20, Iranian state media issued the first, and so far only, message in Ghaani's name of the war, predicting that Iran would "soon witness the shameful defeat" of its enemies in the war.

sjw/sw/ser

At an archaeological site in southern Lebanon's Tyre, small signs bearing a blue and white emblem provide a symbolic shield, meant to protect the ancient ruins from bombardment.

One of the oldest cities on the Mediterranean coast, Tyre is located around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Israeli border, and has been the target of several strikes since Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war by Hezbollah's March 2 rocket attack on Israel.

The Al-Bass site is centred on a necropolis that dates back three millennia to Tyre's time as a major Phoenician city and was still in use until the Arab conquests of the 7h Century.

An organisation linked to UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural heritage agency, launched the signs initiative near the site, part of a push that covers more than 30 locations across the country. 

It is a reminder that the 1954 Hague Convention obliges warring parties to protect cultural property.

On March 6, an Israeli strike hit just a few metres away, killing eight people according to Lebanon's health ministry.

The target, a family home, is now a pile of rubble.

"They were our neighbours... They thought that being close to an archaeological site protected them, that because this is a World Heritage site it would not be struck," said Nader Saqlawi, director of archaeological excavations in the south for Lebanon's culture ministry.

- Human remains -

The team from the ministry that came to inspect possible damage to the monuments found human remains -- "a hand and pieces of flesh" -- on the roof of the site's museum, which is still under construction, he said.

The museum suffered damage, its windows were blown out, but the explosion did not reach the necropolis nor the Roman-era triumphal arch, aqueducts and hippodrome that are also part of the site.

In antiquity, the city of Tyre was at various times Phoenician, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine. 

While many of its inhabitants have fled the latest war, others remain alongside the city's precious relics. 

Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salame condemned what he called Israel's aggression.

"The archaeological sites do not contain any military or security presence. Therefore, this argument cannot be used to justify their bombing," he said.

There was no immediate comment in response to AFP's request from the Israeli army, which usually says it is targeting Hezbollah sites or operatives with its attacks.

"Lebanon is full of archaeological riches... and the Beirut depots do not have the capacity to accommodate all these threatened objects," said David Sassine, an expert at the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage.

- 'No one cares' -

There is also no guarantee that the objects would be safer in the capital, which is itself regularly bombed by Israel, and transporting the items from the south of the country, even under military escort, "remains risky", Sassine said.

During the previous Israel-Hezbollah conflict in 2024, gold coins, millennia-old amphorae and valuable sarcophagi were transferred to Beirut, where they have remained.

Tyre was heavily damaged by Israeli strikes during that war, while much of the population evacuated at the time.

Closer to the border, the citadel in the village of Shamaa was also partly destroyed by the Israeli military.

Saqlawi of the culture ministry said he believed attacks on historic sites were intentional.

"The Israelis know everything. They know your shoe size... and they know very well this is an archaeological site," he said.

Mustapha Najdi, a guard at the archaeological sites, was at the Al-Bass site when the March 6 strike hit.

"I heard a very violent impact. I fled and alerted the authorities," he said.

"No one cares about us", Najdi lamented, calling on "everyone who can to exert pressure to stop this barbarity".

"This civilisation represents history, represents us all, Lebanese and non-Lebanese."

cl/nad/dcp/lg/ser