French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot waits for the arrival of newly appointed German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul before a meeting at the Quai d’Orsay, France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. REUTERS
PARIS, May 20 – Israel’s easing of humanitarian aid access to Gaza is insufficient, French foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday.
“It is totally insufficient… Immediate and massive aid is needed,” Barrot told France Inter radio.
He said Israel needed to ensure massive, immediate aid without any hindrance by Israel.
The leaders of Britain, Canada and France on Monday threatened sanctions against Israel if it does not stop a renewed military offensive in Gaza and lift aid restrictions, piling further pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands, in Budapest, Hungary, April 3, 2025. REUTERS
May 20 – Hungary’s parliament approved a bill on Tuesday that will start the country’s year-long withdrawal process from the International Criminal Court (ICC) as Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government claims the court has become “political”.
Orban’s government announced the move on April 3, shortly after Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Hungary for a state visit in a rare trip abroad in defiance of an ICC arrest warrant.
LANZHOU, May 20 – Three people went missing in a coal mine accident in Pingchuan District of Baiyin City, northwest China’s Gansu Province, local authorities said on Tuesday morning.
The accident took place at 7:43 p.m. Monday when a water inrush occurred at a coal mine in the city. Among the 133 workers operating at the worksite, 130 were safely evacuated, while three remain unaccounted for as of 8:10 a.m. Tuesday.
Local authorities have promptly activated emergency response following the accident. The on-site emergency rescue and relief efforts are still underway.
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, May 19, 2025. AP
TEL AVIV, Israel – The first few aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday following nearly three months of Israel’s blockade of food, medicine and other supplies, Israel and the United Nations said, as Israel acknowledged growing pressure from allies including the United States.
Five trucks carrying baby food and other desperately needed aid entered the territory of over 2 million Palestinians via the Kerem Shalom crossing, according to the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, COGAT.
The U.N. humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, called it a “welcome development” but described the trucks as a “drop in the ocean of what is urgently needed.” Food security experts last week warned of famine in Gaza. During the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March, some 600 aid trucks entered Gaza each day.
Fletcher said an additional four U.N. trucks were cleared to enter Gaza. Those trucks may enter Tuesday, COGAT said. Fletcher added that given the chaotic situation on the ground, the U.N. expects the aid could be looted or stolen, a growing problem as resources became increasingly scarce.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his decision to resume “minimal” aid to Gaza came after allies said they couldn’t support Israel’s new military offensive if there are “images of hunger” coming from the Palestinian territory.
Shortly after Israel announced the first trucks entered Gaza, the U.K., France and Canada issued a sharply worded joint statement calling the aid “wholly inadequate.” They threatened “concrete actions” against Israel, including sanctions, for its activities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and called on Israel to stop its “egregious” new military actions in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the joint statement and called it “a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7.”
Israel over the weekend launched a new wave of air and ground operations across Gaza, and the army ordered the evacuation of its second-largest city, Khan Younis, where a massive operation earlier in the 19-month war left much of the area in ruins.
Israel says it is pressuring Hamas to release the remaining hostages abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war. Hamas has said it will only release them in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.
Netanyahu repeated Monday that Israel plans on “taking control of all of Gaza.” He has said Israel will encourage what he describes as the voluntary emigration of much of Gaza’s population to other countries — something that Palestinians have rejected.
ALLIES PRESSURE ISRAEL
In a video statement, Netanyahu said Israel’s “greatest friends in the world” had told him, “We cannot accept images of hunger, mass hunger. We cannot stand that. We will not be able to support you.”
Palestinians line up for donated food at a community kitchen in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Monday, May 19, 2025. AP
The Trump administration, which has voiced full support for Israel’s actions and blames Hamas for deaths in Gaza, has expressed growing concern over the hunger crisis. President Donald Trump — who skipped Israel on his trip to the region last week — voiced concern, as did Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Netanyahu’s video statement appeared aimed at pacifying anger in his nationalist base at the decision to resume aid. Two far-right governing partners have pressed Netanyahu not to allow aid into Gaza.
Aid into Gaza would be “minimal,” Netanyahu said, and would act as a bridge toward the launch of a new aid system in Gaza. A U.S.-backed organization will distribute assistance in hubs that will be secured by the Israeli military.
Israel says the plan is meant to prevent Hamas from accessing aid, which Israel says it uses to bolster its rule in Gaza.
U.N. agencies and aid groups have rejected the plan, saying it won’t reach enough people and would weaponize aid in contravention of humanitarian principles. They have refused to take part.
According to aid officials familiar with the plan, it will involve setting up distribution points mostly in southern Gaza, forcing many Palestinians to move south once again. The recent ceasefire saw hundreds of thousands return to homes in the north.
THREAT OF SANCTIONS
The statement by France, Canada and the U.K. marked one of their most significant criticisms of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank.
“We oppose any attempt to expand settlements in the West Bank,” the three countries said, calling them illegal.
Displaced Palestinians flee from Khan Younis, Gaza, amid the ongoing Israeli military offensive in the area, on Monday, May 19, 2025. AP
The countries said they have always supported Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism but called the military escalation in Gaza disproportionate. The countries earlier criticized the new U.S.-backed proposal for aid delivery in Gaza, saying it would not align with humanitarian law.
Canada has already imposed a series of sanctions against Israel over the last two years regarding settler violence in the West Bank. It was unclear how much France can act unilaterally given that it is a member of the European Union.
In a separate, letter Monday, the foreign ministers of Germany, Italy, Japan and 18 other countries — not including the United States — called for Israel to fully reopen humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza by the U.N. and non-governmental organizations.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others. The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
The war has displaced around 90% of its population, most of them multiple times.
SAO PAULO, May 19 – Three construction workers died on Monday when the forklift elevator they were in plummeted 17 floors at a building site in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Fire Department reported.
According to the report, the three victims, aged 20, 26 and 43, were riding the forklift elevator installed on the outside of a residential building under construction in the city’s Butanta neighborhood at the time of the incident.
The construction company told local media it will wait for the results of police investigation to clear up what happened.
The mayor of Sao Paulo, South America’s largest city, lamented the deaths and verified that the construction project had corresponding permits.
JERUSALEM, May 19 – An Israeli soldier was killed during combat in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, the military said, marking the first Israeli fatality since the launch of a major ground operation over the weekend.
The military identified the soldier as Sergeant Yosef Yehuda Chirak, 22, from the West Bank settlement of Harasha. He served in the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion. No further details were provided on the circumstances of his death.
Chirak’s death comes as Israel intensifies its offensive in Gaza under “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” which began on Saturday.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has struck 160 targets across the enclave on Monday, including militant positions, anti-tank missile launchers, weapons depots, and military infrastructure. It also reported the destruction of a tunnel in southern Gaza and an airstrike on a building in Nuseirat, which it described as a Hamas command and control center.
TRIPOLI, May 19 – Libyan authorities said on Monday they had discovered 58 unidentified bodies stored for an extended period inside a morgue at Abu-Saleem Hospital in southern Tripoli, a facility under the control of a powerful armed group.
In a statement published on Facebook, the Interior Ministry said the morgue was controlled by the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA), a militia aligned with the Tripoli-based Presidency Council. The ministry said the bodies had been kept “for a long time without notifying the judiciary or relevant police departments.” Forensic sampling and legal procedures are now underway.
The discovery comes amid rising tensions in the capital following days of armed clashes between the SSA and the 444 Brigade, a militia loyal to Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah. Fighting erupted last week after an SSA commander was reportedly killed in a facility controlled by the 444 Brigade.
On Sunday, the 444 Brigade reported uncovering a mass grave south of Tripoli containing 10 bodies, which it alleged had been killed by the SSA. The claim could not be independently verified.
Libya has remained fractured and unstable since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed Muammar Gaddafi. The country is divided between two rival administrations: the internationally recognized Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli, and an eastern-based government backed by the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by commander Khalifa Haftar.
Armed groups continue to operate with relative impunity across territory held by the GNU, particularly in Tripoli, where rival factions frequently clash over power and resources.
ISLAMABAD, May 19 – Three terrorists were killed in two separate operations conducted by security forces in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, the military said on Monday.
The intelligence-based operations were conducted in Awaran and Kech districts on Saturday, and Sunday respectively, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement.
In the Gishkur area of Awaran district, one terrorist was killed, while two others were injured during an exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists on Saturday.
In a separate operation on Sunday in Turbat city, located in the Kech district, two terrorists were neutralized during a fierce gun battle.
The military added that weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the killed terrorists, who were involved in multiple terrorist activities against law enforcement agencies and civilians.
The ISPR said that clearance operations have been launched to eliminate any remaining terrorists in the area, adding that the security forces of Pakistan remain determined to thwart any attempt to sabotage peace, stability, and progress in Balochistan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the annual ceremony at the eve of Israel’s Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers (Yom HaZikaron) at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (AFP/File)
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday hit back at condemnation of his country’s military offensive in Gaza by the leaders of France, Canada and Britain saying they had given a “huge prize” to Hamas.
“By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the October 2023 attack that set off the Gaza war.
This picture shows a view of the Israeli port city of Haifa on November 27, 2024. (AFP/File)
SANAA – Yemen’s Houthis said Monday that they would target Haifa port in Israel as part of a “naval blockade” in response to Israeli escalation in the Gaza war.
The Houthis would “begin working to enforce a naval blockade of the port of Haifa,” said military spokesman Yehya Saree.
“All companies with ships present in or heading to this port are hereby notified that, as of the time of this announcement, the aforementioned port has been included in the target bank,” the Houthi spokesman added.
The move was “in response to the Israeli enemy’s escalation of its brutal aggression against our people and in Gaza,” he said, adding their attacks on Israel would “cease once the aggression on Gaza ends and the blockade is lifted.”
Earlier on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country will “take control” of the whole of Gaza, as rescuers reported dozens killed in a newly intensified offensive.
Smoke billows to the north as Palestinians move with their belogings through Jabalia while fleeing the northern Gaza Strip towards Gaza City on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
GAZA CITY – A Gaza civil defense official said that 91 people were killed in strikes and attacks throughout Monday as Israel steps up an offensive in the Palestinian territory.
The deaths had been recorded since the early hours of Monday, according to Mohammed Al-Mughayyir, an official in the civil defense agency of the Hamas-run territory. The department had earlier given a toll of 52 dead.
Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee their homes after the Israeli military issued orders for evacuation from eastern Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 19, 2025. AN-REUTERS
PARIS – The leaders of Britain, France and Canada on Monday condemned Israel’s “egregious actions” in Gaza, opposed its expanded offensive, and slammed Israeli ministers for threatening the mass displacement of civilians.
“We will not stand by” while the government of Benjamin Netanyahu pursues those actions, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a joint statement.
“We are committed to recognizing a Palestinian state as a contribution to achieving a two-state solution and are prepared to work with others to this end,” they said.
The statement coincided with a joint demand by 22 countries — including Britain, France and Canada — for Israel to immediately “allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza,” noting that the territory’s population “faces starvation.”
Israel has kept Gaza in a total aid blockade since March 2, but announced on Monday it would allow a limited number of supply trucks.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said the limited aid access was because “images of mass starvation” in Gaza could hurt the legitimacy of his country’s war.
The statement by Britain, France and Canada said that Israel’s “denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching international humanitarian law.”
It also slammed “abhorrent language used recently by members of the Israeli government, threatening that, in their despair at the destruction of Gaza, civilians will start to relocate.”
The leaders said that “permanent forced displacement is a breach of international humanitarian law.”
Israel’s military has stepped up an offensive in Gaza as part of its prolonged response to Hamas’s October 2023 attack that triggered the war and resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Gaza’s health ministry said on Monday at least 3,340 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,486.
Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, May 19, 2025. REUTERS
JERUSALEM/CAIRO, May 19 – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Israel would control the whole of Gaza despite mounting international pressure that pushed it to lift a blockade on aid supplies in the face of warnings of looming famine.
The Israeli military, which announced the start of a new operation on Friday, warned residents of the southern city of Khan Younis on Monday to evacuate to the coast immediately as it prepared “an unprecedented attack”.
Netanyahu said in a video message Israel would achieve “complete victory” with both the release of the 58 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza and the destruction of the Palestinian militant group.
Even as the military warned of the attack, Reuters reporters saw aid trucks heading towards northern Gaza after increasing global alarm forced Netanyahu to lift a blockade imposed in March.
Israel has said aid was being stolen by Hamas, a charge Hamas denies. European countries including France, Germany and Britain have said the situation in Gaza is intolerable, and even U.S. support appeared to be wavering.
Netanyahu said U.S. senators he has known for years as supporters of Israel, “our best friends in the world”, were telling him the scenes of hunger were draining vital support and bringing Israel close to a “red line, to a point where we might lose control”.
“It is for that reason, in order to achieve victory, we have to somehow solve the problem,” he said, in a message apparently addressed to far-right hardliners in his government who have insisted aid be denied to Gaza.
The United Nations has long said Gaza needs at least 500 trucks of aid and commercial goods every day. The World Food Programme has said more than 116,000 metric tonnes of food – enough to feed one million people for up to four months – was standing ready to be brought in.
However it remained unclear how much aid would be allowed in and how it would be distributed before the launch of a U.S.-sponsored plan to employ private contractors to distribute aid, which the United Nations and other aid groups have rejected.
The Israeli military said five trucks had entered Gaza on Monday, although U.N. aid officials said nine trucks had been cleared to enter, a quantity U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher described as “a drop in the ocean”.
Under a heavily-criticized U.S.-backed plan to get aid to Palestinians, a newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aims to start work in Gaza by the end of May. U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher has said that time should not be wasted on the alternative plan.
A source familiar with the plan said the foundation has already received more than $100 million in commitments. It was not immediately clear where the money was coming from.
Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said it would take time to create a situation where hundreds of trucks were able to enter daily but added: “I think that’s also a decision for the political echelon of how many will come in,” he told reporters.
May 19 – Russia’s prosecutor general said on Monday it had banned human rights group Amnesty International Limited as an “undesirable organisation”, accusing it of backing Ukraine against Russia.
Founded in 1961 and headquartered in London, Amnesty International campaigns for human rights across the world, including on behalf of those it designates prisoners of conscience.
In its statement, Russia’s prosecutor general said that Amnesty International Limited’s London office was a “centre for the preparation of global Russophobic projects”, and accused it of advocating of behalf of Ukraine, with which Russia is at war.
It accused Amnesty of: “doing everything possible to intensify the military confrontation in the region. They justify the crimes of Ukrainian neo-Nazis, call for an increase in their funding, and insist on the political and economic isolation of our country.”
Russian officials regularly accuse Ukraine of being dominated by “neo-Nazis”, an accusation seen in Ukraine, the West and other countries as baseless propaganda.
Amnesty did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Russia regularly designates organisations it says undermine its national security as “undesirable”. The designation mandates penalties of up to five years in prison for Russian citizens working with or funding designated groups.
Organisations previously banned as undesirable include U.S. government-funded broadcaster RFE/RL and international environmental organisation Greenpeace.
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes, as seen from a tent camp sheltering displaced Palestinians, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, May 19, 2025. AN-REUTERS
DUBAI – Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday strongly condemned the Israeli military’s intensified operations in both northern and southern Gaza, denouncing what it described as an expansion of the occupation of large parts of the territory.
In an official statement, the Kingdom said the actions “contradict the will of the international community, violate human rights law and United Nations charters, and obstruct efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region.”
The ministry renewed Saudi Arabia’s firm denunciation of all ground operations conducted by Israeli forces, warning that such actions threaten the lives of Palestinian civilians and further aggravate the already dire humanitarian conditions in the besieged enclave.
The statement also cautioned against the continuation of “flagrant and unjustified violations,” emphasizing that they constitute a breach of international law and a direct assault on the rights of the Palestinian people.
Displaced Palestinians gather to collect portions of cooked food at a charity distribution in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
JERUSALEM – Israel says it will allow a limited amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza. It says it doesn’t want a “starvation crisis” jeopardizing its new military offensive in the territory of over 2 million Palestinians.
Despite the announcement, no aid had entered Gaza by mid-afternoon Monday. Aid trucks that were briefly parked on the Israeli side of a border crossing turned back and drove away.
Global experts have warned of famine in Gaza after nearly three months of an Israeli blockade. Israel cut off all food, medicine and other supplies to the territory to pressure Hamas over ceasefire terms.
Israeli official says flour, baby food, medical supplies will enter Gaza
An Israeli official says a shipment of flour, baby food and medical supplies will be allowed into Gaza.
Eden Bar Tal, the Foreign Ministry’s director general, said the baby food had started entering, but there was no sign of any aid on the Gaza side of the border. He did not say how much aid would enter, where it would enter or when.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would allow some aid to enter Gaza for the first time in nearly three months under pressure from Israel’s allies.
Aid groups say hunger is widespread and have warned of famine if Israel does not lift its blockade on Gaza’s 2 million Palestinians.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says 136 died in Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours
The ministry says 136 bodies were brought to Gaza hospitals over the past 24 hours. The hospitals also received 364 wounded, according to the ministry’s daily report.
The overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war is now at 53,486, said the ministry. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because the militants operate in densely populated areas.
Hamas says there’s been no progress in ceasefire talks hosted by Qatar
A senior Hamas official says Israel insists on a partial deal to release some hostages without committing to ending the war.
Hamas will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The official was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A Palestinian boy holds on to his bicycle over debris in the courtyard of an UNRWA school which received a direct hit during Israeli airstrikes on the central Gaza Strip refugee camp of Nuseirat, May 19, 2025. (AFP)
LONDON – Five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike overnight in a school-turned-humanitarian shelter in the central Gaza Strip after Israel launched an extensive military operation to occupy the coastal enclave.
Medical sources reported that at least five people were killed and several others injured, mostly children, in an Israeli airstrike on Al-Hasayna School, which had been converted into a shelter for displaced families.
The school west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza has stopped offering full-time education, and it belongs to the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which was spared from extensive destruction or damage from the war.
According to Wafa news agency, 28 Palestinians have been killed due to Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since dawn on Monday, including 16 in Khan Yunis.
Since late 2023, the war in Gaza has displaced around 1.9 million Palestinians — about 90 percent of the population — with many facing multiple displacements. According to a UN report, schools have suffered severe damage due to Israeli actions, with 501 out of 564 schools requiring either full reconstruction or significant rehabilitation to be functional again.
In early May, an Israeli airstrike targeted a UN-run school in Al-Bureij, central Gaza, killing at least 30 people who were sheltering there. The facility had accommodated 2,000 displaced individuals.
ATHENS, May 19 – Schools in a region of Greece’s Evia Island were closed on Monday as authorities took precautionary measures after a series of earthquakes shook the area over the weekend.
According to the National Observatory of Athens, at least three tremors — ranging in magnitude from 4.1 to 4.5 on the Richter scale — were recorded since Sunday, followed by numerous aftershocks. The epicenter was located in central Evia, near the village of Prokopi.
The strongest quake, a 4.5-magnitude tremor in the early hours of Monday, was felt in the Greek capital, Athens, approximately 80 km to the south.
At least 20 houses, shops, and a monastery sustained damage, according to Giorgos Tsapourniotis, mayor of the Mantoudi-Limni-Agia Anna municipality. All schools in the municipality were closed on Monday as inspection teams assessed the safety of buildings.
Authorities remained on alert, recalling that the same area registered a 5.1-magnitude earthquake in 2023.
Greece is one of the most seismically active countries in Europe. Although this particular area of Evia is not typically known for large, destructive quakes, seismic activity there can persist for days or even weeks, said Efthymios Lekkas, president of Greece’s Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization, in an interview with national broadcaster ERT.
A waiter carries two cups of Turkish coffee at a coffee shop in Istanbul October 19, 2007. REUTERS
MUMBAI, May 19 – Small Indian grocery shops and major online fashion retailers are boycotting Turkish products ranging from chocolates, coffee, jams and cosmetics to clothing amid growing anger at Turkey’s support for Pakistan in a confrontation with India.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan expressed public solidarity with Pakistan, another majority-Muslim country, after India conducted military strikes in response to an attack in Indian Kashmir by Islamist assailants. Cross-border fighting continued for four days before a ceasefire was declared.
On Monday, the All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF), which supplies 13 million mom-and-pop grocery stores, said it was launching an “indefinite and total boycott” of all Turkish-origin goods, which would affect chocolates, wafers, jams, biscuits and skincare products.
Indian fashion websites owned by Walmart-backed Flipkart and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance have removed numerous Turkish apparel brands, according to three sources and a review of their websites.
Flipkart’s fashion website Myntra removed listings of Turkish brands including Trendyol, known for women’s clothing, street and casual wear brand LC Waikiki and jeans producer Mavi, said one source with direct knowledge.
Myntra removed the brands “in the national interest” without Walmart’s involvement, a second source with direct knowledge said.
Reliance’s fashion website AJIO also removed Turkish brands including Trendyol, Koton, LC Waikiki from its app, and many of those listings were shown as out of stock on Monday. A source cited “national sentiments” as a reason.
Flipkart, Reliance Retail and the Turkish brands Trendyol, LC Waikiki, Koton and Mavi did not respond to requests for comment.
India has not ordered companies to boycott Turkey, and India’s annual $2.7 billion in goods imports from Turkey are dominated by mineral fuels and precious metals.
But a consumer boycott could still be significant. AICPDF said its ban would affect around 20 billion rupees ($234 million) of food products. Apparel imports were worth $81 million last year, according to the Trading Economics reference website.
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, one of India’s biggest apple-growing states, said on Monday he would ask for a ban on apple imports from Turkey, which were worth around $60 million last year.
Moreover, last week Flipkart said it was suspending flight, hotel and holiday package bookings to Turkey “in solidarity with India’s national interest and sovereignty”.
Indians have been cancelling holidays to Turkey and New Delhi has cancelled the security clearance of the Turkish-based aviation ground handling firm Celebi.
HONG KONG, May 19 – Heavy weekend rains in China’s southern Guangdong and Guangxi provinces killed at least six people and disrupted trains and power supply, state media said, with alerts issued for severe flooding and geological disasters in parts of the country.
China’s National Meteorological Centre issued multiple heavy rain warnings in the Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangxi and Guangdong regions and the northwestern province of Xinjiang from Sunday to Monday, the official Xinhua news agency said.
It said a yellow alert was issued in parts of Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, indicating a relatively high risk of mountain flooding.
At least 10 railway lines connecting the southern city of Shenzhen with other cities halted operations on Monday due to heavy rainfall, according to Shenzhen railway authorities.
More than 620,000 households in Guangxi lost power in recent days due to rain, state media reported. Local power supplier had since restored electricity for some 600,000 households as of Monday morning.
China has a four-tier weather warning system with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Chinese meteorological data show 2024 was the warmest year for the country since comparable records began over six decades ago, the second straight year in which milestones were broken.
Last year’s warmer weather was accompanied by stronger storms and higher rainfall and led to spikes in power consumption in China, the world’s second-largest economy.
State broadcaster CCTV said heavy rain was also expected from Monday to Tuesday in areas including the far western region of Xinjiang along the Tianshan Mountains.
