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Caracas has two avenues known as “Cotas”: Cota Mil, also known as Boyacá Avenue, which borders the Waraira Repano national park from East to West on the North edge of the capital. And Cota 905, or Guzmán Blanco Avenue, which heads south. In both cases, the name refers to their altitude above sea level.

Cota 905 was inaugurated by Marcos Pérez Jiménez in 1953. Years later, Venezuelan families began building informal settlements around it. By the late 1970s, it had become a complex area, with difficult access that to some extent isolated it from the rest of the city. 

Between 2014 and 2021, armed gangs took control of the area, turning it into the city’s most dangerous barrio, terrorizing 300,000 residents and ensuring that not even the garbage collection service dared to enter. Every day we heard news of clashes with police forces or even of the “occupied territory” expanding into nearby areas.

Over these years, the government alternated between attempts to negotiate with the gangs –in an effort to turn the neighborhood into a “peace zone” –and a “heavy-handed” crackdown on crime. There were police operations as part of the so-called “Operation Liberation of the People” (OLP), followed by raids by the elite FAES unit. Finally, the massive “Operation Gran Cacique Indio Guaicaipuro” was launched in 2021, with the establishment of 34 checkpoints in what appeared to be an invasion of enemy territory by security forces.

Although no one questioned the need for the government to regain control of Cota 905, Operation Cacique Guaicaipuro sparked strong criticism of police actions, including the arrest of dozens of young people who were later proven to have no connection to criminal gangs. The barrio’s kingpin, Carlos Luis Revete, alias “El Koki,” escaped the operation but was killed months later in a shootout near Caracas. 

Since then, residents of the area have noted a decline in crime and drug trafficking. However, they complain that the government should follow up its intervention by addressing other basic needs: street cleaning, improving services, replacing damaged roofs, creating decent spaces for education, culture, sports, and recreation, generating local employment. Above all, there was also the issue of lifting the stigma after all those years. Making people understand that Cota 905 produces more than just criminals.

Still, in Venezuela, whenever the state takes a step back, organized communities step forward. One initiative I had the chance to get to know was “The Cota 905 Tour: A Thousand Stories, Over a Hundred Murals, One Route,” a community-led cultural tour that transforms the neighborhood into an open-air art gallery.

This project was conceived by Jefferson Cárdenas, a young man known as “Gorra,” who spent a couple of years in prison for theft and weapons possession until another group came to his rescue: Free Convict, a Venezuelan hip-hop group made up of former inmates and prisoners who use music as a tool for social reintegration and personal transformation. In fact, many of these rappers have joined him in this new social initiative. 

Jefferson recruited a couple of neighbors and began taking out trash, clearing brush, sweeping, and installing light bulbs. Little by little, other neighbors started donating small amounts of cement or paint they had stored at home. Some neighbors –who are currently out of the country –also did their part. So did some small business owners in the neighborhood: from the owner of a 30-year-old bodega that is a neighborhood institution, to newer ventures like a pizzeria (which I highly recommend!) and a bakery. Meanwhile, graffiti artists and muralists also decided to contribute their art for free.

To begin the tour, it takes some effort to go up an endless amount of painted staircases that are a testament to urban creativity. Then, amid its labyrinthine streets, we witness murals on walls and house façades. Over a dozen artists and collectives contributed more than 100 artworks.

The key word if self-management. The initiative has relied on grassroots organizations in the barrio and also helped them reactivate.

But the tour isn’t just about taking in the views. Visitors are joined by local historians, and there are impromptu concerts, theater plays designed to raise awareness, traditional games, local cuisine, and even souvenirs for sale featuring positive messages about Cota 905. Given its success, the organizers are considering new possibilities, such as tours at sunrise or sunset.

The Venezuelan government, which in recent years has launched various initiatives in Cota 905 but without much consistency, has acknowledged the tour success. The Ministry of Tourism has officially recognized it, and even groups of foreign tourists have come to experience it.

Jefferson’s team has helped redefine the Cota 905 territory. Artists and musicians now come here to shoot music videos, taking advantage of the incredible views. The most breathtaking photos are taken from the so-called “Eye of God,” a spot that lives up to its name, reaching a height of 1,200 meters. Once used by criminals to maintain control over the city, it is now a local attraction.

To those who might be reluctant to visit Cota 905, Jefferson responds clearly: “I didn’t agree with the police operations –there were too many clashes between law enforcement and gangs. It was a war, but ultimately the state had to do something. This neighborhood was a problem for all of Venezuela, but today we want to be part of the solution. We need these initiatives to work because there are still many kids waiting for opportunities: before, they were given radios, drugs, and weapons; today we want to give them paint, balls, and microphones, so they’re seen in the media as an example and not as a tragedy.” 

The group, which tries to stay away from strong political or religious stances, wants to grow food, introduce horseback rides, and more. “This mountain was hurt,” Jefferson continues. “My brother was killed but my son was born here. We have plenty of reasons to commit to this barrio. Hopefully authorities could give us a helicopter ride so we could point out from above everything that needs fixing. But until then, we’ll continue with our work.”

The story of Cota 905 is not unique, nor is it a novelty. The barrios in the major Venezuelan cities, Caracas above all, have always had to overcome marginalization. When Chávez came to power, many of them remained as “green spaces” in local maps, even though they were home to hundreds of thousands of families in piled-up hillside houses. And if they were classified as green areas, it meant they had no public services nor were they part of public policies. But that never stopped the people from organizing to defend their rights, resist against state violence, and build a future together.Venezuelan barrios can be precarious, hostile, violent. But if we are willing to walk and listen to them, we realize that they are also spaces of profound beauty and solidarity. The struggle continues.

Most Angelenos know Frank Gehry as the rebel architect whose deconstructivist buildings reinvigorated L.A. amid its late-century identity crisis.

Fewer know him as the sentimental sculptor celebrated in Gagosian Beverly Hills’ upcoming “Frank Gehry” exhibition, the first to showcase Gehry’s work since his death in December. Curated by those who worked with and loved the famous architect, the show, scheduled to open May 14 and run through June 27, is equal parts tribute and art presentation. It will feature several of Gehry’s animal-themed sculptures, including a rarely seen stainless steel bear figure, on loan from the artist’s family.

The exhibition will also include the first public screening of Gehry’s entry in Gagosian Premieres, a series of videos by the gallery showcasing new art exhibitions through a mix of intimate artist interviews, studio visits and specialized musical performances.

By spotlighting Gehry’s artistic practice rather than his design ouevre — which includes Walt Disney Concert Hall, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and Fondation Louis Vuitton — the exhibition reveals a different side of the late visionary, said Deborah McLeod, senior director at Gagosian Beverly Hills.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a retrospective, but it is a chance to stand in the room and be with him,” McLeod said, adding that she “wouldn’t have the hubris to say this is going to offer anybody closure,” but that she hopes it will help people — especially those who worked closest with Gehry — to process his loss.

“Everybody is kind of raw and missing Frank, and it’s just a chance to come together and do this again as his team,” she said.

McLeod curated the exhibition alongside Meaghan Lloyd, chief of staff and partner at Gehry Partners, whom the director said “really speaks for Frank.” Gehry‘s studio will design the show, which was realized in collaboration with the artist’s family.

“We didn’t get a chance to put one in the gallery proper. Every time we’d make one, it would get sold,” Deborah McLeod said about Frank Gehry’s bear sculptures.

(© Frank O. Gehry. Photo: Benjamin Lee Ritchie Handler / Courtesy Gogosian)

The highlight of the Gagosian exhibition is an artist proof of “Bear with Us” (2014), which the gallery lifted out of Gehry’s wife Berta Aguilera’s garden with a crane. Another edition of the bear sculpture is on view at the New Orleans Museum of Art, but at Gagosian, the work for the first time will be on view as part of an exhibition.

The stainless steel figure has a crumpled appearance that many believe is the result of Gehry balling up a piece of paper and seeing the bear in the crumple, although McLeod said Gehry told her himself that wasn’t true. The director added that the bear’s form gives the illusion of something “coming into being or dissolving.” The sculpture will likely have the Gagosian’s north gallery completely to itself.

“We’re really going to give him his due,” McLeod said. It was only right for a piece that, to her, reads as Gehry’s “self-portrait.”

A handful of other animal-themed sculptures will populate the south gallery, including a glowing black crocodile, gouache-painted papier-mâché snake lamps, and “Fish on Fire” (2023), the last of Gehry’s fish sculptures to be rendered in copper. Illuminated within the darkened gallery, the pieces will have a “magical” flair, McLeod said.

The first fish sculptures Gehry made in the ’80s were contained, even still. But when he returned to the fish form 30 years later, Mcleod said, “they started to become actually Baroque, so that’s kind of neat to see that evolution.”

Rounding out the exhibition are a series of ink, watercolor and acrylic works on paper that “express the energetic motion of fish in networks of black line and clouds of color,” a news release said.

A portion of the pieces in the exhibition will be available for purchase, with a detailed checklist to come.

The first Frank Gehry Fish Lamps were exhibited in 1984 at Gagosian in Los Angeles.

(© Frank O. Gehry. Photo: Robert McKeever / Courtesy Gagosian)

Gehry’s designs breathed life into the city’s core, but he didn’t get to finish a number of his most exciting plans, including one to transform the 51-mile-long L.A. River.

And while his architecture was his great gift to his adoptive hometown — his art was his gift to himself.

“As one of the busiest architects in the world, imagine the math and the minutiae that you have to go through,” McLeod said, noting the enormous pressure from clients that Gehry must have felt in his daily practice.

“For him, just to make something the shape he wants to make it, plug it in … I know it was a huge relief for him,” she said. “I know how much he loved doing it, and I loved being a part of that part of his life.”

The late Argentinian football legend’s childhood home has been converted into a soup kitchen serving those affected by President Javier Milei’s austerity measures.

At 523 Amazor street in Fiorito, a Buenos Aires suburb where the “Golden Boy” experienced extreme poverty growing up, locals can now receive meals and clothing assistance.

This neighbourhood of about 50,000 residents living in modest brick homes features numerous murals commemorating the career of the iconic number 10, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 60.

As a criminal negligence trial begins on Tuesday against the seven-member medical team responsible for Maradona’s final care following brain surgery, his childhood community continues his legacy of compassion.

Neighbours visit “Diego’s house” carrying containers that volunteers fill with chicken stew and other meals prepared in large cauldrons in the yard, while cumbia music – Maradona’s preferred genre – plays in the background.

“Diego would say there is a lot of hunger and we have to help, because the need is so great,” explained Diego Gavilan, who benefits from the kitchen’s services.

Gavilan, who collects cardboard and scrap metal, began visiting the soup kitchen after Milei implemented radical free-market reforms following his December 2023 election.

“You can’t make ends meet,” Gavilan noted.

Despite statistics showing poverty reduction under Milei, primarily due to decreasing inflation, family finances remain in crisis, according to Central Bank reports. Increased imports and plummeting consumption have resulted in more than 20,000 business closures.

Gavilan appreciates receiving assistance from Maradona’s former home: “He suffered so much hunger here as a child. For the people of the neighbourhood to receive a plate of food is special.”

The facility operates without dining accommodations. Volunteers prepare food over open fires in the yard, distributing it in bags to those waiting at the entrance.

Maradona frequently referenced his humble origins in an area without running water or paved streets. Sixty-six years after his birth, hardship remains visible on the faces of those queueing for food.

“People are going hungry,” said Maria Torres, one of the centre’s cooks, who believes Maradona would approve of his childhood home’s charitable repurposing.

The California Science Center announced Monday that construction has been completed on its new Samuel Oschin Air & Space Center, bringing the highly anticipated expansion one step closer to its public debut.

The culmination of a master project plan adopted in 1993, the sleek 20-story, 200,000-square-foot new building rising over Exposition Park will nearly double the museum’s exhibit space and anchor a $450-million campaign to permanently house the retired space shuttle Endeavour.

“I keep saying this, and it sounds cliché,” said Jeffrey Rudolph, the Science Center’s president and chief executive. “But it’s better than we ever dreamed.”

The Samuel Oschin Air & Space Center will be split into three galleries — air, space and shuttle — containing aerospace artifacts and hands-on exhibits demonstrating scientific principles.

At the heart of the new addition is Endeavour itself, displayed in a vertical “ready-to-launch” configuration that’s never been replicated with real hardware outside of a NASA or Air Force facility. The display includes rocket boosters from manufacturer Northrop Grumman and a massive external fuel tank from NASA.

Artifact installation is underway at the new Samuel Oschin Air & Space Center.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

A veteran of 25 missions from 1992 to 2011, Endeavour arrived in L.A. in 2012 during a widely watched journey atop a modified Boeing 747, followed by a slow procession through city streets. For over a decade, the retired orbiter was exhibited horizontally in a temporary, tent-like structure known as the Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion.

In early 2024, Angelenos watched as the shuttle was carefully lifted and placed into its final upright position in an intensive overnight operation.

With several observation areas spanning the nearly 200-foot tall shuttle stack, Rudolph said the new installation will offer visitors “views that almost no one’s ever seen.”

A cutting-edge building design by architectural firm ZGF Architects contributes to that awe-inspiring experience with a 2,000-ton curved structural framework of diagonally intersecting steel beams called a diagrid, which eliminates interior columns and allows visitors unobstructed views of the shuttle stack.

The idea is that “you don’t have a sense there’s a building at all,” said Ted Hyman, partner at ZGF Architects. Instead, you’re meant to feel like you’re standing on a launch pad outside. The dimness of the shuttle gallery also assists in the immersive fantasy, both as an artistic choice and a practical one due to the shuttle’s sensitivity to light.

Yet while the structure is designed to be undetectable from the inside, it’s a full-blown metallic colossus on the outside — visible from the surrounding L.A. freeways. Its colors are most magnificent at sunset.

When asked whether he’d had any doubts about the feasibility of the intricately choreographed construction project, Hyman replied, “I think up until about last week.”

Nonetheless, he said, “you forget about the challenges when you see the building done.”

Lynda Oschin, wife of the new air and space center’s titular philanthropist Samuel, called the project a “dream come true.”

“This space shuttle is everything rolled into one that my husband loved: astronomy, innovation, exploration, science, math and especially children,” Oschin said. “What this is going to do for the children is just incredible.”

The donor said her husband, whose picture is in the cockpit of the Endeavour, would have been very proud — if a little embarrassed — that his name is on the new building.

The Samuel Oschin Air & Space Center is 20 stories tall.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

With the construction phase in the rearview, Rudolph said the center is now focused on completing installation of the galleries’ artifacts and hands-on installations. The Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, which houses the Endeavour shuttle stack, is nearest to completion. In the two others, artifact installation is well underway.

The Korean Air Aviation Gallery explores the mechanics of flight and will display approximately 25 aircraft, from historical relics like the WWII “Vampire” jet to modern supersonic jet fighters. The Kent Kresa Space Gallery will feature a wide array of spacecraft, planetary probes, telescopes and more. Rudolph was especially excited about acquiring a SpaceX Cargo Dragon, which will further the air and space center’s goal to “show people that this isn’t all history.”

“There’s a lot of amazing things going on in aviation and space, and a lot of it happening in California,” the executive said.

The interactive installations complementing the artifacts include a 747 flight simulation and a 45-foot-long slide carrying visitors down to the bottom of the shuttle stack, which Rudolph himself has already ridden. His goal with these novelties was to both educate visitors about scientific principles and get children excited about the subject, which can get flattened in the traditional school system.

“Kids get turned off to science very early,” Rudolph said, but when they come to the science center, it’s like a whole new world opens up to them.

Rudolph said he expects to announce an opening date for the Samuel Oschin Air & Space Center this summer. He added that while it’s his intention to open by the 2028 L.A. Olympics, “we’re not really building this for a two-week athletic event.”

“We’re building this for the next 50 years to serve our community and inspire people,” he said.

As Rudolph made his way across the science center campus in March, he chuckled at the children bumping into him on their way to the exhibits.

“Future scientists, right?” he said.

Music. Art. Fashion. Fun. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival returns to the Empire Polo Club in Indio for its 25th anniversary, with a sold-out crowd for its twin weekends and millions of people watching the livestream from home.

Our team is in the field to capture what it’s really like to be at Coachella, from the biggest stars on stage to the only-at-the-festival vibes of the field.

Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G headline, but there are more than 100 acts on the bill, including the Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize collaboration Nine Inch Noize, girl groups including Katseye and Bini, rock royalty like Iggy Pop and David Byrne and more.

We’ll be updating our gallery all weekend long with images of the performances, iconic art installations, the people, the fashion and more.

If you want to see what Coachella used to look like, take a trip down memory lane with our gallery of photos going back to 1999.

Sabrina Carpenter performs at the Coachella Stage.

Sabrina Carpenter performs at the Coachella Stage.

Fans watch Katseye perform at the Sahara stage.

Turnstile performs at the Outdoor Theatre.

Fans scream as BINI performs at the Mojave stage.

Brendan Yates, lead vocalist of Turnstile, performs during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Festival goers walk past tents blown down by the wind.

Ava Acuesta dances as DJ Fifi plays at the DoLab.

Dijon performs on the Outdoor Theatre.

Natalie Villegas, 27, from the District of Columbia, poses for a photos inside the SPECTRA.

Festival goers walk near the SPECTRA and Ferris Wheel.

Bob Baker Marionette performs at the Gobi Stage.

Festival goers react to Bob Baker Marionette’s performance.

Victoria Aular, 29, from Miami takes photographs inside an art installation.

Katseye performs at the Sahara stage.

Katseye performs at the Sahara stage.

The gates are open at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Teddy Swims performs at the Coachella stage.

Festival goers climb up the SPECTRA.

One of L.A.’s most unique art galleries is closing up shop.

Gallery 1988, which opened in 2004 and proclaimed itself “the first pop culture-focused art gallery in the world,” will cease operations at the end of April. In a post on Instagram, gallery owner Katie Sutton said that while the gallery had been forced to close its physical space on Melrose a few years back, she had “really tried to keep things going [online], especially for our amazing artists.” Unfortunately, she wrote, “the [art] market is the worst I’ve seen it in over two decades,” and the decision to close became inevitable.

A launching pad for artists whose work paid tribute to television, film, video games and more, Gallery 1988 was renowned for shows like the annual “Crazy 4 Cult,” which showcased pieces celebrating underground classics from across the entertainment space. It also specialized in single-focus shows like “Weird Al,” which celebrated the career of the oddball recording artist “Weird Al” Yankovic, and “You’re the Very Best, Like No One Ever Was,” which paid tribute to the world of Pokémon.

Exhibitions at Gallery 1988, which is closing after 20 years, often featured lines around the block, with fans who camped out for a chance to score a prized piece.

(Courtesy of Gallery 1988)

Perhaps most famously, the gallery collaborated with studios to create art-focused campaigns around properties such as “The Avengers” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” while also launching solo shows from artists like Scott C, Luke Chueh and Tom Whalen.

Gallery 1988 was renowned for selling work that ranged in price from $10 into the thousands, enabling customers from around the world to buy pieces that spoke to them, whether a postcard-sized digital print or a large oil-on-canvas painting.

A number of other galleries have closed in recent months across Los Angeles, including Blum, Nino Mier Gallery, Clearing, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery and L.A. Louver. Sutton says that she’s heard through the gallery grapevine that “even galleries that haven’t closed are struggling,” adding that “it’s a hard time for everybody.”

Though there’s never one reason a business closes, some industry observers and art fans have cited the rise in AI-generated content potentially devaluing original art overall. It’s especially true in the pop culture space, with consumer activity down not just at places like Gallery 1988 but also at events such as WonderCon in Anaheim, where artists could often expect to make a good chunk of change.

Jensen Karp, who co-founded Gallery 1988 with Sutton but stepped back after a health scare nearly two years ago, says that while he certainly sees a “malaise in culture because of AI” that’s indicative of the population “losing the understanding of what true art is,” he wouldn’t attribute the collapse of Gallery 1988 solely to that one thing.

Kristin Tercek “Rejoice” 2015 for the “Force Awakens” show with Disney, LucasFilm and Unicef at Gallery 1988.

(© Kristin Tercek / courtesy of Gallery 1988)

“Our customer base was the people who looked up release dates and who went to the Arclight, and that sense of community is just not there anymore post-pandemic,” Karp says. With the entertainment industry struggling in L.A. as well, that means less disposable income floating around for things like art — especially from the kinds of people who might be inclined to buy a portrait of, say, Steve Martin in the movie “The Jerk.”

Greg Simkins, a California based artist who often sold through Gallery 1988 under the name “CRAOLA,” says he’s felt the impact of the entertainment industry’s contraction firsthand. “People like directors, producers and actors were some of our biggest clients,” Simkins says. “All of the sudden they’re leaving, going to places like Atlanta and Canada. AI is screwing up the movie industry too, and those are the kinds of people who had expendable money to buy original art so it trickles down.”

It doesn’t help that there’s more pop culture-centered art floating around now, and not just on sites like Instagram and Etsy. Though Gallery 1988 was a frontrunner in celebrating popular culture through art when it opened, even hosting a “Rick and Morty”-themed show before the Adult Swim series had a lick of merchandise, it also became a proof of concept for companies including Disney and Netflix, which have started selling their own artist-created material inspired by their properties.

And with Hollywood releasing fewer movies into theaters, the base of what Gallery 1988 artists could pay tribute to also began to contract. Frequent gallery contributor Whalen says that when Gallery 1988 opened, it was filling a niche and “creating fresh content for movies that spoke to” people in their 20s and 30s. Over time, though, art that celebrated properties like “Ghostbusters,” “Back to the Future” and “The Goonies” started to overwhelm the market, causing “a lot of the 1970s and ‘80s movies to become stale,” Whalen says.

Scott C’s “Breaking Bad Upon the Mount,” 2012, for the “Breaking Bad Art Project: With Sony and Vince Gilligan” at Gallery 1988.

(© Scott C. / courtesy of Gallery 1988)

While Sutton and Karp both say they’re beyond grateful that they got to open Gallery 1988 in the first place, let alone keep it open for more than 20 years, they’re worried about what closing the gallery will mean to some of their contributing artists.

“There are so many incredible artists out there and there are so many more places for them to show their work now and that’s amazing,” Sutton says. “But with that bombardment of media from everywhere, it’s hard to really see stuff because it’s coming at you from all directions. So many artists are out there trying to make a living and support their families and that’s just becoming harder and harder.”

“So many of the artists we showed never expected to have an art gallery email them,” Karp says. “I’m so proud of all the artists we worked with and what we were able to do, but I also know that [Gallery 1988 shutting down] closes up an avenue for all of them too and that sucks.”

Israeli air raids on Lebanon have killed more than 1,450 people, including 126 children, and displaced some 1.2 million residents since March 2, according to Lebanese authorities. The bombardment has wounded more than 4,400 individuals.

In southern Lebanon’s Kfar Hatta, an Israeli attack killed seven people, including a four-year-old girl and a Lebanese soldier, the Ministry of Public Health reported on Sunday. The Israeli military had ordered the forced evacuation of the town the previous evening, an area where many displaced Lebanese had sought refuge.

As invasion expands deeper into southern Lebanon, leaving devastated villages behind, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has intensified calls for negotiation. “Why don’t we negotiate … until we can at least save the homes that have not yet been destroyed?” he pleaded in a televised address on Sunday, hoping to prevent destruction comparable to Israel’s Gaza operation.

In Toul village in the Nabatieh district, a couple were killed while their children, aged 15 and nine, were injured. Multiple bombardments have wiped out entire families in single attacks. Officials report that approximately 25 percent of all victims are women, children and medical workers.

On March 12, the Israeli military expanded its forced evacuation orders for southern Lebanon residents – from the Litani River to north of the Zahrani River, about 40km (25 miles) north of the Israeli border.

The massive displacement has overwhelmed the country’s shelter capacity. Many families are unable to find accommodation, spending nights in streets, vehicles, or public spaces as collective shelters reach maximum capacity. For many, this represents repeated trauma.

Between October 2023 and November 2024, amid cross-border fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, hundreds of thousands of residents of southern Lebanon’s border villages suffered the worst of the violence.

At its height, 899,725 people were forcibly displaced by Israeli forces back then. Most had returned by last October, only to be forced to flee again.

Israeli attacks during those 14 months inflicted extensive damage to homes and infrastructure. The World Bank estimated damage to residential buildings alone at approximately $2.8bn. About 99,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, preventing many families from returning even after the ceasefire.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada Sadr’s supporters rallied across Baghdad and other cities on Saturday, protesting against the US-Israel war on Iran.

Iraq has been unwillingly drawn into the regional tension, suffering attacks targeting both US interests and pro-Iranian factions within its territory.

In Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, enormous crowds, including some women, filled the streets, brandishing Iraqi flags and shouting: “No, no to Israel” and “No, no to America”.

“What America and Israel are doing in their aggression against the countries of the region is not a war of a military nature, but a senseless war,” said Dhirgham Samir, a demonstrator in his 40s.

“Today’s demonstration is an expression of rejection of aggression, arrogance, and injustice throughout the world, not just in Iraq,” he told the AFP news agency, adding that “this is a senseless war, targeting civilians”.

The ongoing war has resulted in thousands of casualties throughout the region since it began.

Sadr had issued calls for peaceful demonstrations “to condemn the Zionist-American aggression and to establish peace in the region”.

Beneath Baghdad’s Freedom Monument, which honours Iraq’s independence declaration, protesters denounced what they characterised as US and Israeli meddling in regional matters.

“They violate the rights of all the peoples of the region first, and then the world,” Muslim leader Ali al-Fartousi told AFP. “Humanity must speak out against these people and stop them. The time has come for the entire world to stand united against global Zionist-American arrogance.”

Sadr commands a loyal following of millions within Iraq’s Shia majority and has consistently demonstrated his ability to mobilise large crowds. Though he has opposed various governments over the years, his influence extends into Iraqi ministries and official institutions through his representatives.

As Christians gathered in churches across Lebanon on Palm Sunday to commemorate Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah cast a sombre shadow over the celebrations.

A Maronite Catholic church near Dahiyeh in Beirut’s southern suburbs was filled to capacity, despite its proximity to the once-bustling district – now largely deserted following Israeli evacuation orders and ongoing air strikes. In the coastal city of Tyre in southern Lebanon, nearly cut off from the rest of the country by Israeli bombings that destroyed nearby bridges, church bells tolled, and choral music filled the air.

Worshippers prayed earnestly for peace, even as Lebanon’s history of sectarian tensions, rooted in the 1975–1990 civil war between Christians and Muslims, remained a poignant backdrop. Today, congregants underscore that all Lebanese people are enduring the consequences of the intensifying Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

“There’s no bombing here right now, but no one is safe from this—not the Christians, not anyone,” said Mahia Jamus, a 20-year-old university student in Beirut. “No one is spared from its effects.”

In Tyre, where many residents have stayed despite Israeli evacuation orders, Christians sought solace in preserving their sacred traditions amid the devastation surrounding them.

“Amid the wars, the tragedies, and the destruction happening around us, we remain on our land,” said Roseth Katra, 41, speaking from the centuries-old stone church in Tyre. “Today is Palm Sunday, and we are celebrating.”

According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, at least 1,238 people have been killed and more than 3,500 wounded in Israeli attacks since March 2 amid the rapidly widening regional conflict now entering a second month.

Israeli troops have launched a ground invasion, advancing towards the Litani River. Hezbollah has claimed dozens of operations against Israeli forces in the past 24 hours.

Iran has launched a round of missiles targeting Israel, causing damage and injuries in Tel Aviv, as uncertainty swirled over possible talks to end the three-week US-Israel war on Iran.

The missiles triggered air raid sirens in Israel on Tuesday, including in Tel Aviv, where gaping holes were torn through a multistorey apartment building. It was not immediately clear whether the damage was caused by a direct hit or debris from an interception.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said: “Six people were lightly injured at four different sites.”

Police in Tel Aviv said they were dealing with “several impact sites of munitions”.

Israel’s National Fire and Rescue Authority said the search was on for people trapped in one building in Tel Aviv, adding that civilians were found in a shelter in another damaged building.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said on Tuesday that its jets carried out a wave of strikes in central Tehran on Monday, targeting key command centres, including facilities associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence arm and the Iranian Intelligence Ministry. It said more than 50 additional targets were hit overnight, including ballistic missile storage and launch sites.

Iranian missiles struck two communities in southern Israel, leaving buildings shattered and dozens injured in dual attacks not far from Israel’s main nuclear research centre.

The Iranian strikes late on Saturday came after Tehran’s main nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz was hit earlier in the day. Israel denied responsibility for the strike on Natanz, nearly 220km (135 miles) southeast of Tehran.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the strike on Natanz, which was also hit during the first week of the war and the 12-day war last June. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova said such strikes posed a “real risk of catastrophic disaster throughout the Middle East”.

Iran retaliated hours later.

Israel’s military said it was not able to intercept missiles that hit the southern cities of Dimona and Arad, the largest near the centre in Israel’s sparsely populated Negev desert. It was the first time Iranian missiles had penetrated Israel’s air defence systems in the area around the nuclear site.

The Israeli Ministry of Health said at least 180 people were wounded in the missile attacks on the southern city of Dimona and nearby Arad.

Dimona is about 20km (12 miles) west of the nuclear research centre, and Arad is around 35km (22 miles) to the north.

Israel is believed to be the only Middle East nation with nuclear weapons, though its leaders refuse to confirm or deny their existence. The UN nuclear watchdog said on X it had not received reports of damage to the Israeli centre or abnormal radiation levels.

Tens of thousands of people have gathered around the world for al-Quds Day, an annual event on the final Friday of Ramadan demonstrating solidarity with Palestine and opposition to Israeli occupation.

Rallies took place across numerous countries, including Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, Kashmir and Yemen. In Tehran, thousands marched, chanting “death to Israel” and “death to America” as the United States-Israeli military campaign entered its 14th day of conflict.

The event has long been associated with Iran, and was established by the country’s first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1979.

This year’s observance coincided with the US-Israel attack on Iran that has killed at least 1,444 people, including the Iranian supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

Crowds turned out in Tehran and other cities, despite ongoing US and Israeli strikes in the region during the commemoration, state media reported.

Demonstrators worldwide expressed solidarity with both Palestinians and Iranians. In Kashmir, protesters burned mock coffins bearing images of US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while shouting slogans against the United States and Israel.

For the first time in 40 years, the United Kingdom banned London’s al-Quds Day march, citing risks of public disorder related to the “volatile situation in the Middle East” and potential confrontations between opposing groups. This marks the first protest ban since 2012, when authorities prohibited marches by the far-right English Defence League.

According to Iran’s Health Ministry, another 18,551 people have been injured in US-Israeli attacks on Iran since February 28.

Multiple explosions have been reported across Iran’s capital, Tehran, and other cities as United States-Israeli attacks and Iranian retaliation continue.

As the conflict saw its 13th day on Thursday, Iran’s representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said at least 1,348 civilians have been killed.

The humanitarian toll continues to mount with more than 17,000 injured in Iran since the US and Israel launched their war on February 28. UNICEF described the situation as “catastrophic”, noting that more than 1,100 children have been reported injured or killed.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that up to 3.2 million people have been displaced within Iran since the conflict began. “This figure is likely to continue rising as hostilities persist, marking a worrying escalation in humanitarian needs,” UNHCR said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed at least 687 people, including 98 children, according to Information Minister Paul Morcos.