Latest news with #civilians
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
UN warns of ‘disastrous consequences' of escalating Sudan fighting
GENEVA: The United Nations' rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday that escalating fighting in Sudan's west and center risks aggravating harm to civilians and abuses, more than two years into the country's war. Turk in a statement warned of 'the disastrous consequences stemming from ongoing and escalating hostilities' in North Darfur and Kordofan states, 'amid a pervasive culture of impunity for human rights violations.'
Washington Post
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Iran's internet blackout leaves public in dark and creates an uneven picture of the war with Israel
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — As the war between Israel and Iran hits the one-week mark, Iranians have spent nearly half of the conflict in a near-communication blackout, unable to connect not only with the outside world but also with their neighbors and loved ones across the country. Civilians are left unaware of when and where Israel will strike next, despite Israeli forces issuing warnings through their Persian-language online channels. When the missiles land, disconnected phone and web services mean not knowing for hours or days if their family or friends are among the victims. That's left many scrambling on various social media apps to see what's happening — again, only a glimpse of life able to reach the internet in a nation of over 80 million people.
The Standard
8 hours ago
- The Standard
China will assist citizens in Israel to evacuate to Egypt from Friday
People take cover inside a cable car tunnel following a missile attack from Iran on Israel, at Haifa, Israel June 17, 2025. (Reuters)
LBCI
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- LBCI
TikTok turns Iran-Israel war into viral trend as young people document conflict online
Report by Ghida Fayad, English adaptation by Mariella Succar As the conflict between Iran and Israel escalates, its impact is no longer confined to the battlefield. On platforms like TikTok, the war has taken on a new dimension—becoming a source of viral content for a generation that documents everything in real time. Despite government warnings in both countries against filming and posting during wartime, social media is flooded with firsthand footage. In Israel and Iran, civilians are using their phones to turn life under fire into daily vlogs, offering raw, often unsettling views of missile strikes, shelter conditions, and scenes of displacement. Many of these clips show the kind of destruction and fear that traditional media rarely captures. Some videos circulating from Israel depict moments when foreign workers and others were denied access to bomb shelters due to overcrowding. From Iran, others show families fleeing targeted areas, giving viewers an unfiltered look at life during wartime. The trend is not limited to the countries directly involved. In Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria—countries over which many of the missiles pass—audiences have begun tracking the timing of Iranian strikes. In some areas, the sight of missiles overhead has become a daily event. In Lebanon, the experience has taken on an almost surreal tone. Many residents, witnessing the conflict from a distance, have described it as the first time they feel like spectators to a war unfolding around them. Videos of missiles streaking across the night sky have appeared above rooftop parties and bustling nightlife scenes. Some restaurants and bars even leaned into the moment, adding menu items jokingly labeled 'sky missiles view,' referring to the view of incoming rockets from their outdoor terraces. Across cities from Beirut to Damascus, Baghdad, and Amman, social media users have begun incorporating war footage into romantic or stylized posts—using missile imagery in videos to express affection or flirtation. The online phenomenon underscores a generational shift in how wars are witnessed and narrated.
CNN
19 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
In Iran, daily life is ‘filled with constant fear and distrust'
After days of tit-for-tat strikes between Israel and Iran, for the civilians caught up in Israel's bombing campaign, life is filled with uncertainty. 'This is war,' one 58-year-old father of two in the capital, Tehran, told CNN, adding, 'no one really understands what that means.' A week into the conflict, Iranians' contact with the outside world is difficult, hampered by sporadic internet and phone coverage. Some – typically wealthy activists – have access to Starlink terminals providing independent internet access. Speaking through voice recordings, messages and occasional calls, all the people interviewed asked CNN not to reveal their full names for fear of retribution from Iran's authorities. Life has found a new wartime rhythm, they said, with local shops still open but some accepting payment on credit, the father of two told CNN. Unable to withdraw money from Iran's Sepah Bank, this credit has become a lifeline. 'We have electricity but gasoline is useless to us because we have nowhere to go outside Tehran,' he said, after long lines of traffic departing the capital were seen in recent days. Glued to the TV watching an outlawed Iranian broadcaster based in London, he said his family hadn't left their house in recent days. 'Daily life is filled with constant fear and distrust,' he said. From Shiraz in southern Iran, a 55-year-old English teacher described a 'huge group of people waiting' to withdraw cash at a bank branch in the city center. 'The workers were completely overwhelmed and said they just cannot process all these requests for cash. I wouldn't say it was chaotic, but I do feel there is an underlying feeling of panic,' he said. 'It feels like a missile is following me. I go to Karaj and they bomb there. I come to Tehran and they bomb here,' a 27-year-old conscript soldier told CNN. Posted in Tehran, he was able to visit family in Karaj at the weekend, but in the capital is prohibited by military rules from using his phone or other devices. 'We can't even check the news.' A hairdresser from Shiraz lamented the destruction being inflicted: 'I don't even know what to say. You watch the videos, the photos. People are being killed, our country is being looted, falling apart like this.' 'Israel and the US don't care about the Iranian people,' she said. 'You want to hit the real target, but it's surrounded by ordinary people. They're destroying the country.' 'Rebuilding all this may take decades, if not longer, and in the end it's we the people who will have to bear the cost,' a 22-year-old janitor of an apartment building in Tehran told CNN. More than 200 people have been killed in Iran, according to Tehran, with Israel's strikes taking out much of the key leadership in the country's military and nuclear program. But Iran has accused Israel of also targeting its energy and digital infrastructure. 'We are paying the price for a dictatorship and its arrogance,' shared a nurse from Mashad, northeast Iran, whose father was a decorated war veteran. 'But now that all its forces (in the region) have been destroyed, it seems that its own turn has come,' she added. Watching the attacks on a deeply unpopular regime, some Iranians confessed to welcoming the strikes, even as civilians were caught up in the bombings. 'I want to say what I truly feel,' a student from Shiraz told CNN, 'I don't know what I'll be judged for, what I'll be accused of. 'Still, I'll say it, I'm genuinely happy. Really, deeply happy!' she added. 'I believe it's worth it, for the sake of future generations.' But a week into the fighting, even as diplomatic channels for peace start to coalesce, there's still no sign of an end to the bombings. Uncertainty has only been fueled by US President Donald Trump teasing the possibility of US aircraft joining the bombing campaign. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has slammed Trump's call for surrender, warning that America's involvement in Israel's military campaign would '100% be at their loss.' Other Iranians share his defiance. 'The mood in Iran is starting to morph into an environment of nationalism,' according to a 69-year-old Iranian-American woman visiting Tehran. 'I saw a lot of cars waving the Islamic Republic flag from their windows as we drove out of town.' 'I lost a son during the Iran-Iraq War and will be happy to fight America and the Zionists again,' a 78-year-old mosque caretaker from Isfahan told CNN, 'Those who love martyrdom cannot be defeated.' The prospects of peace look slim, one engineering student from Mashad told CNN. 'Now that Trump has come this far, he will see it through to the end. They don't let a wounded bear go free,' she said.
