Archaeologists have assembled the “world’s most difficult jigsaw puzzle” to reveal huge frescoes that once adorned a luxury villa in Roman London.

Fragments of shattered wall plaster, which were discovered during excavations by experts from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), have been meticulously pieced together to reveal frescoes that covered about 20 internal walls of the building.

The significance of the plaster pieces was not immediately apparent when they were first unearthed at a site in Southwark. Thousands of fragments were found dumped in a large pit, probably as a result of Roman demolition work carried out prior to 200 AD, MOLA said.

Han Li, senior building material specialist at MOLA, spent three months painstakingly laying out the fragments in order to restore the massive artwork, which has not been seen for more than 1,800 years.

It features painted images of fruit, flowers, birds, candelabras and stringed musical instruments popular at the time.

Countries are evacuating their nationals from Israel and Iran by air, land and sea as conflict rages between the bitter rivals.

Days of attacks and reprisals by the two enemies have shuttered airspace across the Middle East, severely disrupting commercial flights and leaving people unable to get in or out of the region easily.

Some governments are using land borders to get their citizens out by road to countries where airports remain open.

Thousands of foreigners have already left since the conflict started last Friday when Israel launched surprise missile strikes on Iran.
Bulgaria

Bulgaria has moved all its diplomats from Tehran to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, the Balkan country’s prime minister said Thursday.

“We are not closing the embassy, ​​but moving it to Baku until the danger passes,” said Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.

A group of 89 Bulgarians was evacuated from Israel by plane to Sofia, along with 59 nationals from Slovenia, the U.S., Belgium, Albania, Kosovo and Romania.

They left from the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh, where they had been transferred by bus across the border from Israel.

He said the government had urged all Bulgarians willing to join the convoy to do so. They set off in 11 vehicles on Wednesday morning.

“There were alternatives. They could travel via Turkey, but eventually we decided that they should go via Azerbaijan,” Zhelyazkov added.
China

China said it has evacuated more than 1,600 nationals from Iran and “several hundred others” from Israel.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing would continue to do its “utmost to assist in the safe transfer and evacuation of Chinese citizens.”

Aell Huang, who was in the Iranian city of Isfahan, said he didn’t feel safe during the conflict. “I heard explosions from time to time. Civilians got hurt too. I got more prepared mentally once I saw the embassy’s warning.”

He and some friends hired a car and headed to Azerbaijan, waiting at border control for almost 12 hours, where he saw as many as 60 other Chinese nationals.

The Chinese Embassy said it would organize group evacuations by bus from Israel starting Friday.

A notice posted on the embassy’s WeChat social media account said citizens would be taken out through the Taba border crossing to Egypt. It asked them to register online and said they would be notified of the evacuation time.

People carrying Chinese, Hong Kong, and Macao passports were eligible, the notice said.
European Union

The European Union has helped evacuate some 400 people from Israel via Jordan and Egypt as part of its efforts to coordinate an emergency response within the 27-nation bloc.

“Member states coordinate the list and we co-finance these flights up to 75 per cent of the transport costs,” European Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova told a regular press conference in Brussels on Wednesday.

Hrncirova said the E.U. was fielding requests by Slovakia, Lithuania, Greece, and Poland for assistance with Middle East evacuations.
France

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Thursday it was helping nationals who want to leave Iran and Israel to do so through neighboring countries where commercial flights were still available.

Barrot said people in Iran could travel to Armenia and Turkey without a visa. Those unable to reach the border on their own would be “transported by convoy by the end of the week” so they could take commercial flights to France.

French nationals wanting to leave Israel can go via Jordan and Egypt. From Friday morning, some buses will carry passengers from the Israeli border to Amman and Sharm el-Sheikh airports.
Germany

Germany flew 171 people out of Amman on a special flight on Wednesday. A further 174 people returned on Thursday and another flight is planned this weekend.

Passenger Daniel Halav, who was stuck in Tel Aviv, said he had “never been so glad to be home” after landing in Frankfurt, the German news agency dpa reported.

But, he said, “we had to take care of ourselves of how we got to Amman. From my point of view, we were left a bit alone there.”

The German Foreign Ministry said officials had decided against organizing convoys to get people to Amman, arguing this move could have created a security risk and that those wishing to leave were scattered across Israel.
Greece

Greece’s Foreign Ministry said 141 Greeks and other nationals have been evacuated from Israel via Egypt.

The group included citizens from Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.S.

They were flown to Athens early Wednesday from Sharm el-Sheikh aboard two military transport planes.
India

India said it evacuated 110 students by road from northern Iran to the Armenian capital, Yerevan. They left on a special flight on June 18.

The Indian Embassy in Iran has been helping nationals to move from areas experiencing increased hostilities to relatively safer areas within the country, subsequently evacuating them, according to the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
Israel

As of Thursday, some 22,000 holidaymakers had asked the Israeli Tourism Ministry to help them leave the country. There are around 38,000 tourists in Israel.

The Transport Ministry said thousands of Israelis have returned daily in the past few days, with 21 planes bringing back nationals stranded abroad since the start of the aerial campaign against Iran.

The Population, Immigration, and Border Authority said 38,250 Israelis entered the country between June 13 and 19, and 21,456 left during the same period.

The majority of arrivals and departures were by land.
Middle East and North Africa

Oman said Thursday it had evacuated 245 of its citizens and nationals from other countries via the Iranian coastal city of Bandar Abbas.

Ten buses transported Omani citizens from Iran’s north into Turkey. A further three buses crossed into Iraq.
Indonesia

The Indonesian government on Thursday decided to evacuate its nationals from Iran.

“Our citizens are at risk,” Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sugiono said. “Over the past two days, Israel’s attacks have grown more intense, not only targeting the military, but also civilians.”

He said about 386 Indonesians, mostly students, were in Iran, primarily in the city of Qom. The ministry earlier said some 194 Indonesians were in Israel, mostly student interns in the southern city of Rafah.

Sugiono did not give a timeframe for evacuations, but said Iran has promised to help with the process.
Japan

Japan is sending two military aircraft to Djibouti to stand by for the possible airlifting of Japanese nationals from Iran.

Defence Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters he had issued an order to send two C-2 transport aircraft, along with 120 armed forces personnel, to the Horn of Africa nation, where Japan has a military base. An advance team of servicemembers left Japan earlier Thursday.

Chief of the Self-Defence Forces Joint Staff Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida said the C-2 dispatch was to secure multiple options for evacuation when necessary.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the embassy in Iran was preparing to evacuate an unspecified number of Japanese nationals by bus.

Some 280 Japanese are in Iran, and 1,000 are in Israel.
Poland

Deputy Foreign Minister Henryka Moscicka-Dendys said a group would depart from Amman by military aircraft on Thursday, following road transportation from Israel to the Jordanian border.

Some 160 Poles arrived in Warsaw on Wednesday morning from Israel via Egypt, the Polish news agency PAP reported.

The deputy minister said while there were no plans to evacuate citizens from Iran, Warsaw was helping with the departure of non-essential personnel from the embassy in Tehran.

The staff, along with seven Polish citizens, left the Iranian capital on Wednesday morning for the Azerbaijan border.
South Korea

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry says 18 South Korean nationals and two Iranian family members were evacuated from Iran and arrived in Turkmenistan late Wednesday by land.

The ministry described the evacuation as a preemptive move to protect citizens as the closure of airspace would have otherwise made it difficult for them to leave.

It urged South Koreans in Iran and Israel to promptly depart in line with embassy instructions and advised travelers to cancel or postpone trips to the region.

Twenty-five nationals and one Israeli family member were escorted out of Israel by embassy staff and arrived in Jordan on Thursday morning.
Thailand

Thai nationals have been advised to leave Tehran at the earliest opportunity and avoid traveling to affected areas, although there is no immediate plan for an evacuation from Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said Wednesday.

He said there are about 350 Thais in Iran and only five had expressed a wish to return to Thailand.

The embassy in Tehran has set up a temporary shelter for Thais in Amol and has temporarily relocated its office to Kordan to ensure the safety of those needing to travel for the services.

The embassy has also prepared the land routes for Thais to travel to Iran’s neighbors, Nikorndej said.
U.S.

The State Department is planning to evacuate Americans from Israel by air and on cruise ships, according to the U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. Huckabee said Americans interested in leaving Israel should enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program for updates.

There are some 700,000 Americans, many of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, in Israel and thousands more in other Mideast countries, including Iran.

Associated Press writers from around the world contributed to this report.

It is claimed that two #Chinese electronic intelligence ships, the 855 and the 815A, are in the Persian Gulf.

Iran strikes Israel’s cyber command headquarters — IRNA
According to the news agency, thousands of servicemen responsible for intelligence data processing and cyber operations were stationed there

TEHRAN, June 19. The Israeli army’s C4I cyber command headquarters and the military intelligence center in the Gav-Yam hi-tech park were targeted by Iranian missile strikes on Thursday morning, IRNA reported.

According to the news agency, thousands of servicemen responsible for intelligence data processing and cyber operations were stationed there.

The Gav-Yam intelligence center is situated near Soroka hospital in southern Israel’s Beersheba which suffered no serios damage as it was exposed to a blast wave, while the military infrastructure was hit in a precision strike, the news agency said.

#IRAN'S AYATOLLAH KHAMENEI WARNS TRUMP:

"War will be met with war, bombing with bombing, and strike with strike. Iran WILL NOT SUBMIT to any demands or dictates."

ALLEGED NEW IRANIAN MISSILE DANCES IN THE SKY

#Iranian media report that Iran may have unleashed a new generation of missiles in a fresh wave of attacks on #Israel.

About 400 ballistic #missiles have been launched at #Israel from Iranian territory since June 13. Over the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, both sides of the conflict reported to have seized control of each other’s airspace, with Iranian authorities reporting the downing of an Israeli F-35 fighter jet.

TASS has compiled the key developments in the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Airspace control

· On the night of June 18, the Iranian Air Force reported to have seized control of Israeli airspace, IRNA reported, citing a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

· The same morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dismissed Iran’s statement, saying that Iranian forces had not gained control over Israeli skies.
Casualties

· Since the beginning of Iran’s retaliatory strikes, "about 400 ballistic missiles have been fired at Israel, along with hundreds of drones and approximately 40 munition drops," said Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, on June 18.

· A total of 24 civilians have been killed and 804 injured. Nearly 3,800 residents have been evacuated from their homes.

· The Israel Tax Authority has received 18,766 compensation requests, including 15,861 for building damage, 1,272 for vehicles, and 1,633 for other property damage.

· According to Israel’s Health Ministry, 94 people were hospitalized overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday as a result of Iranian shelling.

· Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi reported at least 1,800 people wounded since the conflict began: "As a result of the Zionist regime’s attacks, we have at least 1,800 wounded. The dead and injured are mostly civilians."
New strikes

· On Wednesday morning, 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck Iranian facilities used in the production of uranium enrichment centrifuges.

· The strikes also targeted multiple weapons manufacturing sites. "The targeted weapons factories included the production facility for ground-to-ground missile components, which are used by the Iranian regime to attack the State of Israel," the IDF said.

· Additionally, Israeli forces hit 12 missile launchers and depots in Iran.

· Iran has yet to launch a large-scale operation against Israel, instead issuing limited retaliatory warnings. "We have restricted ourselves to a certain kind of deterrent warning," said Abdulrahim Mousavi, head of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff.

· Iranian air defenses shot down an Israeli F-35 over the city of Varamin, according to city spokesman Hosein Abbasi. It is the fifth F-35 Iran asserts to have downed.
US reaction

· A closed-door meeting at the White House on Tuesday night ended without a decision on launching strikes against Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

· US officials told ABC News that the next 24-48 hours will be crucial, as a decision may be made soon on whether Washington will join Israel’s military operation.

· If the US enters the conflict on Israel’s side, Iran is prepared to target American military bases in the region, The New York Times reported, citing sources.

· The US Navy has reportedly withdrawn its warships from its base in Bahrain — home to the Fifth Fleet — in what the Associated Press described, based on satellite imagery, as a precautionary dispersal in response to the rising threat level.
Third-party Involvement

· Yemen’s Houthi Ansar Allah movement has pledged to join the conflict. "We will support Iran in repelling Zionist attacks, just as we supported our brothers in Gaza," said politburo member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti in an interview with Al Jazeera.

· According to The Daily Telegraph, China diverted at least three Boeing 747 cargo planes to Iran using concealed flight routes. The first flight occurred the day after the Israeli operation began, with two more arriving later that day.

· "We are carrying out military strikes today," US Republican Senator Ted Cruz told journalist Tucker Carlson, suggesting that Washington is already actively assisting Israel in its campaign against Iran.

TEHRAN, June 18. Iranian air defense systems have taken down an Israeli F-35 fighter plane over the city of Varamin southeast of Tehran, the IRNA news agency reported citing a representative of municipal authorities.

"The army air defenses have shot down and eliminated an enemy F-35 fighter plane of the Zionist regime in the Javadabad area of the Varamin municipal district," the agency quoted him as saying.

This F-35 is the fifth Israeli fighter plane taken down since the onset of the Iranian-Israeli escalation on June 13.

Overnight into June 13, Israel kicked off Operation Rising Lion, aimed at Iran’s nuclear program. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that 200 fighter jets attacked more than 100 targets in Iran, including nuclear facilities.

On the evening of June 13, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that Iran retaliated by attacking dozens of targets in Israel with missiles, including military facilities and air bases, striking, in particular, the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. In the following days, Israel and Iran exchanged more strikes. Both sides reported casualties and fatalities as a result of these attacks and admitted that some targets were hit but claimed that the damage was limited.

NEW YORK, June 17. Tehran is preparing to strike US military bases in the Middle East if Washington joins Israel's military campaign against Iran, the New York Times reported, citing sources.

According to the report, the Islamic Republic has "prepared missiles and other military equipment" and plans to start with US bases in Iraq.

Tehran would be ready to strike any American bases in Arab countries, the newspaper said. Iran could also start to mine the Strait of Hormuz to pin US warships in the Persian Gulf.

US officials said Iran would not need lengthy preparations to attack US bases. The US military in the Middle East has been put on high alert. The US has more than 40,000 troops deployed in the Middle East.

Israel and Iran have continued to exchange strikes for five consecutive days, each saying they demolished strategically important enemy targets, nuclear ones included, and used cutting-edge weapons and interception systems.

TASS has compiled the main targets reported as eliminated and destroyed by the two parties.
Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities

- Israeli strikes on June 13 partially damaged Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said: "The above-ground part of the pilot fuel enrichment plant, where Iran was producing uranium enriched up to 60% U-235, has been destroyed."

- Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, confirmed minor radioactive leaks but said no contamination has spread to the outside environment: "The damage at Natanz is primarily superficial because the core section of this facility is underground. A minor containment breach occurred within the complex, but no radioactive contamination has escaped into the external environment."

- On June 14, the Israeli armed forces continued to attack nuclear facilities: Iran intercepted an Israeli drone near the nuclear plant in Natanz, the Tasnim news agency reported. Israel also expanded strikes to Isfahan and Fordow nuclear sites.

- On June 16, Iranian air defenses destroyed more Israeli projectiles headed for targets including Natanz, where a nuclear facility is located.

- Due to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s failure to condemn Israel’s strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Iran said it would no longer notify the IAEA about its activities for nuclear program implementation.
Oil refinery strikes

- On June 14, Israel attacked the territory near an oil refinery in Tabriz in the northwest of Iran, the Mehr news agency reported.

- That same night, fires erupted at Fajr Jam gas facility in the Bushehr province where the South Pars gas field is located.

- On June 17, Haifa’s Bazan Group refinery halted operations after an Iranian missile damaged its power plant.
Strikes on military targets

- In the early hours of June 13, more than 200 Israeli jets hit more than 100 Iranian targets, including senior Iranian leadership bunkers, the IDF reported.

- In retaliation, Iran launched a large-scale massive attack against Israel with the use of ballistic missiles and drones, the IRNA news agency said. More than 150 Israeli targets were hit, including air bases hosting F-35, F-16 and F-15 fighter jets.

- On June 15, the IDF reported conducting strikes against ballistic missile production facilities, radar stations, and missile launch sites in Tehran.

- That same day, Iran attacked Israeli "facilities producing fuel for fighter jets and adversary’s power supply centers were attacked with the use of a large number of drones and missiles".

- On June 16, Israeli forces reported having destroyed one-third of Iran's ground-to-ground missile launchers. "Since the beginning of the operation, more than 120 missile launchers — constituting one-third of the Iranian regime’s total launchers — have been destroyed," the army reported.

- On June 17, Iran launched attacks against Tel Aviv, Haifa, and other Israeli military targets using "novel weapons" along with hundreds of combat drones, Iran’s Army Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Kiumars Heidari announced. Iranian state media outlets. The strikes successfully hit the Israeli military’s Glilot base and a Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv, SNN television and Tasnim news agency reported.
Civilian impact

- At least 1,800 people have received wounds and injuries after Israel’s attacks on Iran, Iranian Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi stated on June 17. "At least 1,800 civilians have been wounded and injured as a result of the Zionist regime’s (Israeli — TASS) attacks," he said.

- On June 13, Iranian media had claimed Israel targeted and killed several of the country’s nuclear scientists.

- On June 16, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck "a communications center" in Tehran - the headquarters of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). The attack occurred during a live broadcast, with Mehr news agency reporting three fatalities.

- In Israel hospitals admitted 287 patients with various injuries following overnight Iranian missile strikes on June 16, health authorities reported.
Missile strike tally

- Iran has conducted "550 operations using drones and continuously attacked Israeli territory" since the start of the direct conflict, Fars news agency reported, citing a source.

- Iran has launched "about 400 missiles and hundreds of drones" at Israel during the recent escalation, Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister, said in a bulletin published June 17.
Cutting-edge weapons

- Israel used the Iron Ray laser air defense system to intercept Iranian missiles and drones for the first time in combat conditions, a representative of the Israeli embassy in Moscow told TASS. It is designed to intercept ultra-short-range missiles, as well as mortar and artillery shells with a laser beam. It is assumed that the system can destroy ultra-short-range missiles, mortar and artillery shells, as well as small drones.

- The Iranian Defense Ministry reported hitting Israel with a cutting-edge missile, which the Israeli military "did not notice at all before it hit."
Unproven claims of Iranian nuclear weapons

- US intelligence has concluded that Tehran was "not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon", CNN reported on June 17, citing sources. Israel justified its strikes against Iran by citing concerns over the potential development of Iranian nuclear weapons.

- Grossi also said that he cannot confirm Israeli intelligence data on Iran’s nuclear program. "Well, I would not judge Israel’s intelligence readings. This is their evaluation of the situation, and I’m not familiar with the internal reports or information that they may have," Grossi pointed out.

- Former UK Ambassador to Tehran (2003-2006) Richard Dalton told Sky News that there is no reliable evidence indicating that Iran is on the brink of nuclear weaponization like Israel suggests: "There is no evidence to that effect in the public domain. <...> We are entitled to disbelieve [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s claims that there was some recent change in Iranian policy and behavior."