Thousands flock to Oxford Street in Darlinghurst to participate in the 48th Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras or to watch the parade roll past

With more than 170 floats and 10,000 marchers, the 48th Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras celebration was an explosion of colour.

Joint operation prompts Tehran to retaliate with missile attacks on bases across Middle East

• Full report

• US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates

• A visual guide to US-Israeli strikes on Iran – and Tehran’s response

The US and Israel have launched a joint military operation against Iran, prompting Tehran to fire retaliatory strikes against Israeli and US bases across the Middle East.

Explosions rocked the Iranian capital, Tehran, with satellite imagery showing extensive damage at the secure compound of the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In a televised address, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, indicated that the strikes had killed Khamenei. Iran’s leader has not been heard from since the strikes began. “There are many signs that [Khamenei] is no longer alive,” Netanyahu said on Saturday evening. Netanyahu said that Israeli strikes had also killed “several leaders” involved in the Iranian nuclear programme and that strikes against sites linked to the programme would continue in the coming days. The remarks, which stopped short of confirming Khamenei’s death, were the strongest official indication yet that the missing leader is dead.

Dozens of students were reportedly killed in a strike on a primary school in the south-east. Iranian media is reporting at least 201 people have been killed in total and 747 injured.

Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister who has been leading the nuclear talks for the Iranian delegation, promised that Iran’s army would “teach aggressors the lesson they deserve”.

Further explosions were reported in Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, all of which host US military bases. One person was killed by shrapnel from an Iranian missile in Abu Dhabi, UAE officials said.

The US president, Donald Trump, described the US military campaign as “massive and ongoing” as he called on the people of Iran to “take over your government”. In a speech posted on Truth Social, he said the US would “raze their [Iran’s] missile industry to the ground” and claimed Tehran had refused to reach a deal with the US that would have averted war.

Netanyahu said the US-Israeli attack could “create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands”.

Brigitte, 27, an admissions officer for a nursery group, meets Jack, 30, a teacher

What were you hoping for?
Great food, great company and hopefully an evening that could be the beginning of something.

France suspects Russian ‘provocation’ amid worries Moscow will interfere in European elections as part of broader strategy against Ukraine. What we know on day 1,466

The Swedish military confirmed on Friday that a drone it jammed near a French aircraft carrier this week was Russian, amid concerns Moscow is deploying hybrid war tactics against European nations that have backed Kyiv. On Thursday a Swedish navy vessel jammed the drone 13km (eight miles) from France’s flagship, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, while it was in the Oresund stretch of water, between Denmark and Sweden. French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot told journalists on the Charles de Gaulle on Friday that if Russian involvement was confirmed, “the only conclusion I would draw is that it would be a ridiculous provocation”. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Barrot’s was “quite an absurd statement”. The Oresund incident follows a decision by Romania on Thursday to scramble fighter jets when a drone breached its national airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine. Nato’s easternmost countries have reported numerous drone sightings in recent months, with some blaming Russia.

Denmark’s intelligence service warned Friday that a foreign power may try to sway voters in the country’s general election on 24 March and that it was a priority target for Russia because of its support for Ukraine. Denmark’s police and military intelligence services said in a joint statement the Scandinavian country’s election campaign could be marked by disinformation and cyber-attacks. Prime minister Mette Frederiksen called the election on Thursday saying the shadow cast by Russia was one of Denmark’s biggest threats.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, who lags in most polls, is using Ukraine as a distraction from the country’s fraying social services, rising cost of living and economic stagnation as Hungary heads to an election in April, policy analysts say. Orbán’s rightwing, populist government has used AI to generate billboard posters showing Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU officials with their hands outstretched. “Our message to Brussels: We won’t pay!” the taxpayer-funded advert reads, echoing the messaging woven through spots on radio, television and social media.

The leaders of Ukraine and Slovakia agreed on Friday to hold a face-to-face meeting as they wrangle over a blocked pipeline that takes Russian oil to Slovakia and Hungary, officials said. Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán have accused Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of using “blackmail” over the pipeline through Ukrainian territory. Ukraine said the Druzhba pipeline was damaged in Russian airstrikes on 27 January. Slovakia and Hungary have since insisted that it has been repaired again. Orban has blocked an EU emergency loan to Ukraine as the dispute escalates.

The International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday said it had negotiated a temporary local ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, allowing restoration for a backup power supply to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. It is the fifth local ceasefire negotiated by the IAEA between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, said Rafael Grossi, director general of the agency.

At least 55 Ghanaians have been killed in Russia’s war with Ukraine after being “lured into battle”, Ghana’s foreign minister said after a visit to Kyiv in which officials raised the issue of Russian recruitment of African people. The foreign minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said in a post on X on Thursday: “We were informed that 272 Ghanaians are believed to have been lured into battle since 2022 for which an estimated 55 have been killed and 2 captured as prisoners of war.” Reports of African men being attracted to Russia by promises of jobs and ending up on Ukraine’s frontlines have become more frequent in recent months, creating tensions between Moscow and some of the countries involved. Russian authorities have denied illegally recruiting African citizens to fight in Ukraine. Ukraine says more than 1,780 Africans from 36 countries are fighting in the Russian army.

Actor, originally charged on two counts, also accused of shouting homophobic slurs during attacks on 17 February

Shia LaBeouf surrendered to New Orleans police after they obtained a new warrant Friday to arrest him again in connection with a case that had already left him facing two counts of battery.

The new warrant brought the number of people whom the Transformers film franchise star is accused of battering to three. He turned himself over to police in advance of a bail hearing on Saturday afternoon, after which he posted a $5,000 bond to continue out of authorities’ custody while awaiting the outcome of the case.