Egypt instructed all of its airlines to avoid Iranian airspace for three hours in the early morning on Thursday amid tension between Israel and Iran.

The NOTAM, a safety notice provided to pilots on Wednesday, said the instruction would be in effect from 0100 to 0400 GMT. It provided no further details as to why the notice was issued.

ISRAEL CONSIDERS PREEMPTIVE STRIKE ON IRAN AS TENSIONS ESCALATE: REPORT

“All Egyptian carriers shall avoid overflying Tehran (Flight Information Region). No flight plan will be accepted overflying such territory,” the notice said, referring to the three-hour period specified.

Egypt’s civil aviation ministry later confirmed on Wednesday the notice was intended to reduce flight-safety risks in light of a notification it received from Iranian authorities.

“Military exercises will be conducted over Iranian airspace on Aug. 7 from 11:30 to 14:30 and from 4:30 to 7:30 on Aug. 8 Tehran time,” the statement said.

The ministry’s press statement followed an unnamed source quoted by the state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV as saying that Iranian authorities had said to avoid flying in Iranian airspace because of “military exercises.”

Many airlines are revising their schedules to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace while also calling off flights to Israel and Lebanon as many fear a possible broader conflict after the killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

“Such a NOTAM from Egypt is very unusual. It is possible that this is an indicator of an Iranian response to Israel, and in turn a potentially large set of airspace disruptions – at the same time, there may be another reason,” OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight-risk information, said.

On Sunday, Jordanian authorities asked all airlines landing at its airports to carry 45 minutes’ worth of extra fuel.

Countries in the region, including Jordan, closed their airspace earlier this year amidst aerial attacks on Israel.

PodcastPodcast, The Take

Why Kamala Harris has sparked a Democratic revival.

Kamala Harris has breathed new life into the Democratic Party, serving as a much-needed jolt after US President Joe Biden’s exit from the race. With her new vice president pick, Tim Walz, by her side, on top of strong grassroots support and viral social media presence, Harris’s campaign is resonating. But can the duo turn the political momentum into votes in November?

In this episode: 

• Carri Twigg (@carritwigg), Culture House co-founder and former Obama staffer

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Chloe K. Li, Tamara Khandaker, and Sonia Bhagat with Manahil Naveed, Doha Mosaad, Veronique Ishaya, and our host, Malika Bilal

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Munera Al Dosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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PARIS (AP) — The mystery French street artist known only as “Invader” has struck Paris again — this time to celebrate the Olympics.

Invader has been cementing his quirky mosaics to Paris walls since the 1990s, usually at night and without permission. He’s become France’s most international, invasive and intriguing contemporary street artist. His works dot all corners of the City of Light and his fans have a lot of fun hunting them down.

And now there’s a new, Olympic-themed one for them to find.

Invader cemented it to a wall on one of the River Seine’s embankments sometime between Tuesday and Wednesday. Using tiles to create the mosaic, it shows one of his signature Space Invader figures running. The work’s colors evoke the shades of blue that Paris Games organizers have used to decorate the city for the Olympics.

A representative for artist — who, like him, maintains anonymity — said by email to The Associated Press that “Invader told me to say that he wanted to celebrate the Olympics in Paris with this mosaic. The space invader is running and he wears some of the colors of the Olympics signage.”

The artist’s admirers can download his app, called “Flash Invaders,” and then use it to take photos of any of his works that they find.

When they do, the app awards them points. The more works they find and “flash,” the more points they get.

It’s addictive: The app has nearly 400,000 players.

The new mosaic is the 1,512th that Invader has glued up in Paris. Players get 50 points when they flash it with his app. Since the first catalogued mosaic of a blue Space Invader went up on a Paris street in 1998, numbered PA_01, Invader has colonized the world. There are now more than 4,000 of his mosaics in cities and towns on all continents except Antartica.

On Instagram, the artist posted a photo Wednesday of the new work and the words “Special Olympic Games Paris 2024,” with a jogger running past.

That and a video post by the artist alerted admirers that there was a new work for them to find.

A small group of them quickly tracked it down, took its photo with the app, got their points, and spent time together admiring the work.

Super fan André Lavigne, a 64-year-old retired chemical engineer, was among the first to find and flash it. He is currently ranked in the top 100 players on the app, having tracked down 2,718 of the artist’s works in France and overseas.

In just the first few hours, the work was already generated buzz.

“I’ve seen many people coming and flashing and asking, ‘It’s a new one?’ And I say, ‘Yes, it has been put (up) last night.’ (They reply) ‘Oh, well, that’s extraordinary,” Lavigne said.

Another admirer, Gema Calero, rolled up on her bike and celebrated with a fist pump when she got her 50 points.

“It’s all fresh, it still smells of glue,” she said.

She says searching high and low across Paris for the works has taught her lots about the city and the value of looking around.

“It allows you to look at life differently. You hunt around. You look up a little bit. Because normally when we walk we look at what’s in front of us,” she said. “It’s super.”

Like Banksy, the British street artist he is sometimes likened to, Invader is elusive, fiercely protective of his anonymity and operating on the margins of illegality. He comes, glues, and disappears into the night, leaving behind his signature pixelated mosaics made mostly with small ceramic and glass tiles.

Most resemble the aliens from the Space Invaders arcade game. Others are wonderfully elaborate, such as still lives of fruit or, in New York, portraits of Lou Reed and Andy Warhol. Some reference pop culture — Spiderman, Star Wars, Bugs Bunny, Ninja Turtles, pizza and the like.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games