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Category: FOREIGN

  • Turkey arrests 67 after mob attacks Syrian properties

    Turkey arrests 67 after mob attacks Syrian properties

    Turkish police were holding 67 people Monday after a mob went on the rampage in a central Anatolian city after a Syrian man was accused of harassing a child.

    A group of men targeted Syrian businesses and properties in Kayseri on Sunday evening, with videos on social media showing a grocery store being set on fire.

    President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the latest bout of violence against Turkey’s large community of Syrian refugees.

    “No matter who they are, setting streets and people’s houses on fire is unacceptable,” he said, warning that hate speech should not be used for political gains.

    Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the Syrian national, identified only by his initials as I.A., was caught by Turkish citizens and delivered to the police.

    Yerlikaya said on X that the Syrian man was suspected of harassing a Syrian girl, who was his relative.

    He said Turks who gathered in the area acted “illegally” and in a manner “that does not suit our human values”, damaging houses, shops and cars belonging to Syrians.

    Sixty-seven people were detained after the attacks, he said.

    “Turkey is a state of law and order. Our security forces continue their fight against all crimes and criminals today, as they did yesterday.”

    In one of the videos a Turkish man was heard shouting: “We don’t want any more Syrians! We don’t want any more foreigners.”

    Local authorities called for calm and revealed the victim was a five-year-old Syrian national.

    Turkey, which hosts some 3.2 million Syrian refugees, has been shaken several times by bouts of xenophobic violence in recent years, often triggered by rumours spreading on social media and instant messaging applications.

    In August 2021, groups of men targeted businesses and homes occupied by Syrians in the capital Ankara, after a brawl which cost the life of a 18-year-old man.

    The fate of Syrian refugees is also a burning issue in Turkish politics, with Erdogan’s opponents in last year’s election promising to send them back to Syria.

  • Turkiye airport workers refuse to refuel Israeli airplane

    Turkiye airport workers refuse to refuel Israeli airplane

    Israel’s national carrier, El Al, said Sunday that its Warsaw to Tel Aviv flight was not allowed to refuel at Antalya airport after making an emergency landing to evacuate a passenger for medical reasons.

    Turkish workers at Antalya airport refused to refuel flight LY5102 before it could take off for Israel, El Al said in a statement.

    “Local workers refused to refuel the company’s plane even though it was a medical case,” it said, adding that the passenger was evacuated.

    The plane then took off to Rhodes in Greece, where “it will refuel before taking off to Israel”, the airline said.

    Relations between Turkey and Israel have deteriorated since October 7, with all direct flights between the two countries cancelled since.

    Turkish diplomatic sources confirmed the plane was allowed to make an emergency landing to evacuate a sick passenger.

    “Fuel was to be provided to the plane due to humanitarian considerations, but as the relevant procedure was about to be completed, the captain decided to leave of his own accord,” a Turkish diplomatic source said.

    Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel said the plane was on the tarmac at Antalya for several hours before it took off for Rhodes.

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a vocal critic of Israel’s blistering military operations in Gaza and has often expressed support for Hamas as defenders of their homeland.

    Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 37,877 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

  • Iran warns Israel of ‘obliterating’ war if Lebanon attacked

    Iran warns Israel of ‘obliterating’ war if Lebanon attacked

    Iran on Saturday warned that “all Resistance Fronts”, a grouping of Iran and its regional allies, would confront Israel if it attacks Lebanon.

    The comment from Iran’s mission to New York comes with fears of a wider regional war involving Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement. The two sides have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire since the genocide in Gaza began.

    Such exchanges have escalated this month, alongside bellicose rhetoric from both sides. Israel’s military said plans for a Lebanon offensive had been “approved and validated”, prompting Hezbollah to respond that none of Israel would be spared in a full-blown conflict.

    In a post on social media platform X, the Iranian mission said it “deems as psychological warfare the Zionist regime’s propaganda about intending to attack Lebanon”.

    But, it added, “should it embark on full-scale military aggression, an obliterating war will ensue. All options, incl. the full involvement of all Resistance Fronts, are on the table.”

    Alongside Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel, Houthi rebels in Yemen have repeatedly struck commercial ships in the Red Sea area in what they say are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.

    The Islamic Republic of Iran has not recognised Israel since the 1979 revolution that toppled Iran’s United States-backed Shah.

    Fears of regional war also soared in April, after an air strike that levelled Iran’s consulate in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.

    Iran hit back with an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel on April 13-14.

    Iran’s state media later reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan as US media quoted American officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on its arch-rival.

    Tehran downplayed the reported Israeli raid.

  • At least 30 killed in Kenya anti-government protests: HRW

    At least 30 killed in Kenya anti-government protests: HRW

    At least 30 people died in protests in Kenya this week sparked by a government drive to substantially raise taxes in the East African country, Human Rights Watch said Saturday.

    “Kenyan security forces shot directly into crowds of protesters on (Tuesday) June 25, 2024, including protesters who were fleeing,” the NGO said in a statement.

    “Although there is no confirmation on the exact number of people killed in Nairobi and other towns, Human Rights Watch found that at least 30 people had been killed on that day based on witness accounts, publicly available information, hospital and mortuary records in Nairobi as well as witness accounts,” the statement said.

    “Shooting directly into crowds without justification, including as protesters try to flee, is completely unacceptable under Kenyan and international law,” said Otsieno Namwaya, associate Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

    “The Kenyan authorities need to make clear to their forces that they should be protecting peaceful protesters and that impunity for police violence can no longer be tolerated,” Namwaya added.

    The largely peaceful rallies turned violent on Tuesday when lawmakers passed the deeply unpopular tax increases following pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    After the announcement of the vote, crowds stormed the parliament complex and a fire broke out in clashes unprecedented in the history of the country since its independence from Britain in 1963.

    President William Ruto’s administration ultimately withdrew the bill.

    – IMF pressure –

    The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said it had recorded 22 deaths and 300 injured victims, adding it would open an investigation.

    “Eight military officers came out and just opened fire on people. They killed several people, including those who were not part of the protests,” HRW quoted a rights activist in Nairobi as saying.

    “Kenya’s international partners should continue to actively monitor the situation… and further urge Kenyan authorities to speedily but credibly and transparently investigate abuses by the security forces,” the rights watchdog said.

    Ruto had already rolled back some tax measures after the protests began, prompting the treasury to warn of a gaping budget shortfall of 200 billion shillings ($1.6 billion).

    The cash-strapped government had said previously that the increases were necessary to service Kenya’s massive debt of some 10 trillion shillings ($78 billion), equal to roughly 70 percent of GDP.

    The Washington-based IMF has urged the country to implement fiscal reforms in order to access crucial funding from the international lender.

    “The bill was  expected to raise an additional $2.3 billion in the next fiscal year, in part to meet IMF requirements to increase revenues,” HRW said.

    “Widespread outrage should be a wake-up call to the Kenyan government and the IMF that they cannot sacrifice rights in the name of economic recovery,” Namwaya said.

    “Economic sustainability can only be achieved by building a new social contract that raises revenues fairly, manages them responsibly, and funds services and programs that protect everyone’s rights.”

    sva/ach/smw

    © Agence France-Presse

  • BJP leader caught on camera threatening to slaughter ‘200,000 Muslims’

    BJP leader caught on camera threatening to slaughter ‘200,000 Muslims’

    Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) member Karnell Singh was caught on camera threatening Muslims after an incident involving a cow’s head near a Hindu temple in New Delhi.

    In a viral video circulating online, Singh is seen issuing a chilling threat to “slaughter 200,000 Muslims” in the vicinity if the culprits are not arrested. He can be seen warning an officer that he (the officer) has 48 hours only to solve the issue, or else he “will hand a sword in the hands of Hindus”, and Muslims will not be spared.

    His comments have escalated tensions amidst communal sensitivities, drawing widespread condemnation from various quarters.

    The incident underscores ongoing communal tensions in India, where issues related to cows, considered sacred in Hinduism, often ignite debates and occasionally lead to violent riots.

  • World ‘failing’ to meet development goals: UN chief

    World ‘failing’ to meet development goals: UN chief

    War and funding shortfalls have hampered progress toward the United Nations’ flagship development goals which include action to combat climate change, the organization’s Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday.

    In 2015, UN member states adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, 17 targets to transform the world by 2030 including by completely ending extreme poverty and eliminating hunger.

    But Guterres said Friday that “the world is getting a failing grade.”

    “Our failure to secure peace, to confront climate change, and to boost international finance is undermining development,” he told a briefing in New York, unveiling the latest progress check on the targets.

    “We must accelerate action for the sustainable development goals, and we don’t have a moment to lose — only 17 percent of the targets (are) on track.”

    Efforts to devote money and attention to the goals have been repeatedly set back, including by the Covid-19 pandemic, the wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan, worsening climate catastrophes and sharp increases in the cost of living.

    While countries were lagging on progress in many areas, there were glimmers of hope in the reduction of new HIV infections, growing internet access, and the “booming” use of renewables, Guterres said.

    But “the denial of basic needs for so many is outrageous and inexcusable,” he said.

    Guterres said action to bring peace to the major conflicts raging globally coupled with efforts towards a green transition were needed.

    “It means multiplying the lending capacity of multilateral development banks to provide more resources for climate action and sustainable development,” he added.

    gw/mlm

    © Agence France-Presse

  • ‘I know how to do this job’: Biden seeks to repair debate damage with fiery speech

    ‘I know how to do this job’: Biden seeks to repair debate damage with fiery speech

    A fired-up Joe Biden came out swinging on Friday as he tried to make up for a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, insisting he was the right man to win November’s US presidential election.

    Biden’s appearance at a campaign rally in the battleground state of North Carolina came amid rumblings in his alarmed Democratic Party about replacing the 81-year-old as their nominee — and shortly before the nation’s most influential newspaper urged him to step aside.

    “I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden admitted to supporters in unusually confessional remarks.

    “But I know how to tell the truth. I know how to do this job,” he said to huge cheers, vowing “when you get knocked down, you get back up”.

    Biden’s team was in damage-control mode after Thursday’s debate when he often hesitated, tripped over words and lost his train of thought — exacerbating fears about his ability to serve another term.

    He had hoped to allay qualms about his advanced age, and to expose Trump as a habitual liar.

    But the president failed to counter his bombastic rival, who offered up a largely unchallenged reel of false or misleading statements about everything from the economy to immigration.

    On Friday, Biden delivered the lines Democrats wished they had heard in the televised debate.

    “Did you see Trump last night? My guess is he set — and I mean this sincerely — a new record for the most lies told in a single debate,” Biden said.

    “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation. He’s a threat to our freedom. He’s a threat to our democracy. He’s literally a threat for everything America stands for.”

    Trump also returned to the campaign trail on Friday, speaking at a rally in Virginia and launching his familiar attacks on Biden in a rambling speech.

    “It’s not his age, it’s his competence,” Trump said.

    “The question every voter should be asking themselves today is not whether Joe Biden can survive a 90-minute debate performance, but whether America can survive four more years of crooked Joe Biden.”

    A new Democrat?

    Trump addressed the chances of Biden being replaced by another candidate, saying, “I don’t really believe that because he does better in polls than any of the (other) Democrats.”

    So far, no senior Democratic figure has publicly called on Biden to withdraw, with most toeing a party line about sticking with the existing ticket.

    “I will never turn my back on President Biden,” California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has figured prominently on lists of possible replacement candidates, said immediately after the debate.

    Forcing a change in the ticket would be politically fraught, and Biden would have to decide himself to withdraw to make way for another nominee before the party convention next month.

    Biden overwhelmingly won the primary votes, and the party’s 3,900 delegates heading to the convention in Chicago are beholden to him.

    If he exits, the delegates would have to find a replacement.

    “Bad debate nights happen,” Biden’s former boss, Barack Obama, wrote on X. But the election is “still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself”.

    A logical — but not automatic — candidate to take Biden’s place would be his vice president, Kamala Harris, who also loyally defended his debate performance.

    The show of Democratic loyalty and Biden’s defiance in North Carolina were not enough for The New York Times, however.

    The daily newspaper slammed Biden’s campaign as a “reckless gamble” in the face of the threat posed by Trump, with its editorial board — which is separate from the newsroom — calling for the president to stand aside.

    The “greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election,” it said.

    Many election bettors, too, abandoned Biden, preferring to bet on Trump or other Democratic leaders.

    Before the debate, bettors on the platform Smarkets were giving Biden a 35 per cent chance of winning in November, but on Friday that figure dropped to below 20pc.

  • UK PM ‘hurt’ after being called ‘f***ing Paki’

    UK PM ‘hurt’ after being called ‘f***ing Paki’

    United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was hurt and angry that a supporter of the right-wing Reform UK party passed a racial slur about him.

    Sunak, Britain’s first ethnic-minority prime minister, currently campaigning for the July 4 national election that his Conservative Party is tipped to lose after 14 years in power, was responding to the comments broadcast by a man identified as Andrew Parker, calling Sunak a “f***ing Paki” – a British racial slur for people of South Asian descent.

    “My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an effing Paki. It hurts and it makes me angry, and I think he has some questions to answer,” Sunak told reporters.


    “I don’t repeat those words lightly, I do so deliberately because this is too important not to call out clearly for what it is,” he added.


    Nigel Farage, the leader of right wing Reform party initially said he was dismayed by the language when the comments were first broadcast on Thursday. But on Friday he suggested, without providing evidence, that Parker was an actor involved in “a political setup” to undermine Reform during the election.
    Asked during a television debate when he would accept some responsibility, Farage said: “I am not going to apologise […] it is a setup, a deliberate attempt to smear us.”

  • 7.2 magnitude earthquake strikes off Peru, tsunami threat over: USGS

    7.2 magnitude earthquake strikes off Peru, tsunami threat over: USGS

    A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck off the coast of central Peru on Friday, the United States Geological Survey said, but a tsunami threat from the tremor has passed.

    The USGS said the tremor hit 8.8 kilometers (5.5 miles) from Atiquipa district.

    The quake was felt in Lima and a large part of the southern and central coast of Peru.

    The mayor of Yauca, Juan Aranguren, told local media that walls came down in his town.

    A major highway running through the area also suffered cracks, he said.

    “The children were crying, the earthquake was felt strongly,” said a villager from the area.

    Speaking to RPP radio, Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen: “I want to convey tranquility. The earthquake has passed, we are making the first evaluations, and so far there are no fatalities to lament.”

    The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre had earlier said “hazardous tsunami waves are forecast for some coasts” but later said the threat had passed.

    Peru, with some 33 million inhabitants, lies on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a vast area of intense seismic activity that runs along the west coast of the Americas.

    Peru is hit by hundreds of detectable quakes every year.

  • Biden seeks reset after debate flop rocks campaign

    Biden seeks reset after debate flop rocks campaign

    A badly wounded Joe Biden looked to get his reelection campaign back on track Friday after a debate performance that unnerved supporters and left allies of Donald Trump unable to conceal their glee.

    Democrats had hoped to see the president defiantly answering critics who say he is too old for a second term while hammering Trump on his criminal record and the threat they say he poses to democracy.

    Instead, many acknowledged, they got a faltering display from a candidate who sounded hoarse for much of the showdown, stumbled over words, pulled punches, often stared open-mouthed and looked confused.

    “There are no two ways about it — that was not a good debate for Joe Biden,” Democratic former White House communications chief Kate Bedingfield told host network CNN as the curtain came down on the match-up.

    David Axelrod, a senior advisor in Barack Obama’s administration, said Biden’s performance had “confirmed people’s fears” about an 81-year-old being too old for the Oval Office.

    The president, who had spent days in mock debates at his Camp David retreat, was scheduled to begin the clean-up Friday with his largest event of the campaign, in the battleground state of North Carolina.

    Facing tough questions over his performance and immediate future, he told reporters he had done “well” as he stopped off at an Atlanta Waffle House with First Lady Jill Biden after coming off stage.

    He added that he was croaking because of a “sore throat” and that, in any case, it is “hard to debate a liar.”

    Although Biden managed to pin down Trump on abortion rights and his role in the violence that marred the 2021 handover, he waited bafflingly long — almost 45 minutes — to bring up Trump’s felony convictions and other legal woes in any detail.

    He spoke under his breath and appeared at times to lose focus, pausing for several seconds after stumbling in the opening stages.

    Trump’s performance was far from accomplished — his verbal fusillades were littered with falsehoods and he dodged several times when asked what he would do about the opioid crisis ravaging middle-class families.

    He also refused to clearly commit to accepting the results of November’s election, playing into the narrative that he has little respect for democracy or the rule of law.

    CNN reported that while Biden made nine false or misleading statements, Trump made a staggering 30, including “egregious” falsehoods on abortion, the US Capitol insurrection, health care and NATO.

    But the Republican — who is countering Biden’s rally with an appearance of his own in Virginia on Friday — largely avoided the rhetorical landmines that exploded under Biden.

    At one point, the president bizarrely declared that “we finally beat Medicare,” as the discussion turned to funding the health insurance program for seniors.

    As the disappointment of Biden’s showing registered with Democrats, there was even talk of finding a new candidate before the Democratic convention in August.

    “There’s been a lot of chatter in our circles about Newsom,” one party strategist told political outlet The Hill — although California governor Gavin Newsom quickly shut down suggestions that he could take Biden’s place.

    In the Trump corner, pundits reveled at how the night turned out.

    Keith Nahigian, a Republican veteran of six campaigns who helped prepare multiple election candidates including John McCain for debates, told AFP that Biden’s performance was “the worst I’ve ever seen.”

    “Biden called for this debate a few months ago. He pushed for this debate. I think he just sunk his presidency,” he added.

    Ralph Reed, chairman of the conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition, compared the debate to a prize fight “that should have been stopped in the early rounds.”