Sayidina

NEWS

  • 4 arrested in Türkiye for publishing cartoon of Prophet Muhammad, insulting religious values

    ISTANBUL – Four people were arrested Wednesday in Türkiye as part of an ongoing investigation into the publication of controversial caricatures depicting Prophet Mohammad and Prophet Moses in Leman magazine.

    ​​​​​​​The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office promptly launched the inquiry following the satirical magazine’s recent release of the caricatures, which were considered deeply offensive to religious values.

    The cartoon, featured in the June 26 edition of satirical magazine Leman, alluded to the recent Israel-Iran conflict and portrayed the Prophet Muhammad and the Prophet Moses shaking hands over a city reduced to rubble.

    Those detained include Zafer Aknar, editor-in-chief of Leman magazine; graphic designer Cebrail Okcu; cartoonist Dogan Pehlevan; and institution director Ali Yavuz. They have been referred to the court on charges of “publicly insulting religious values” and “inciting hatred and hostility among the public.”

    The prosecution also filed charges against Pehlevan for “insulting the president” alongside “inciting hatred,” while Aknar, Okcu, and Yavuz face similar allegations related to spreading hostility and humiliation.

    Islamic tradition strictly forbids visual representations of the prophets, including Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Moses, who is also revered in Judaism and Christianity. The publication of the cartoons provoked widespread concern across the country.

    In response, protesters gathered outside the Leman magazine office in Istanbul, reflecting the strong societal demand for protecting religious respect and unity.

    ANADOLU, 2.7.2025

  • Israel restricts baby formula, medical access into Gaza amid child hunger crisis: Report

    ISTANBUL – Israeli authorities are facing renewed accusations of using hunger as a weapon of war after seizing cans of baby formula from a US doctor en route to Gaza, according to a report published Wednesday.

    The accusations come as aid groups and medical professionals report mounting child deaths from malnutrition in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

    In late June, an American doctor preparing to enter Gaza on a humanitarian mission had packed powdered baby formula, gauze, and medical supplies. But after arriving at the Allenby Bridge crossing from Jordan to the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces confiscated the formula, Le Monde reported.

    “The baby formula was confiscated,” Palestinian-German surgeon Diana Nazzal, who coordinated the convoy, told the daily.

    “What other explanation is there if it’s not that hunger is being used as a weapon of war in the ongoing genocide in Gaza?” Nazzal said in an exclusive interview with Le Monde.

    Local health workers say baby formula, especially specialized types for premature or lactose-intolerant infants, remains critically scarce in Gaza, where widespread malnutrition has made it impossible for many mothers to breastfeed.

    The Israeli army’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said it has facilitated the delivery of over 1,000 metric tons of baby food since May 19, when a full blockade was marginally eased. However, doctors on the ground warn that supplies remain insufficient.

    Ahmad al-Farra, head of pediatrics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, said in June that stocks of specialized formula were nearly depleted.

    While limited shipments have since arrived from US-based NGO Rahma, two babies died at the hospital in late June due to hunger and lack of care, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

    Between March and mid-May, 57 children died from malnutrition, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, a figure echoed by the World Health Organization.

    Access for foreign doctors has also tightened. British orthopedic surgeon Graeme Groom said that in May, he was “not allowed to bring anything with him” for the first time in two years, including critical surgical tools. “I saw babies who were just skin and bones,” he said.

    American physician Thaer Ahmad, who has faced repeated refusals from COGAT despite WHO-approved applications, said the Israeli restrictions were contributing to the “unraveling of Palestinian health and education institutions.”

    “Speaking out means risking not being able to return to Gaza,” said French general practitioner Catherine Le Scolan-Quere. “But staying silent means letting Gazans be killed in silence.”

    ANADOLU, 2.7.2025

  • Euro-Med Monitor accuses Israel of using evacuation orders to forcibly depopulate Gaza

    GENEVA – Israel is continuing its campaign of forced displacement in Gaza through successive evacuation orders, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor warned Wednesday, calling the pattern part of a broader plan to erase the Palestinian presence.

    Between June 28 and 30, Israeli forces issued three new evacuation orders affecting large areas of Gaza City and the north, displacing tens of thousands, the rights group said in a statement.

    Since March 18, when Israel withdrew from a temporary ceasefire, the army has issued 51 such orders, covering over 85% of the territory.

    “These practices have driven residents into an area comprising less than 15 percent of the enclave,” Euro-Med Monitor said, warning that displacement has become an open objective, not tied to military necessity.

    Residents described fleeing under bombardment with nowhere safe to go, it noted. “Every place said to be safe is being bombed. There is nowhere to hide except under the open sky,” said Mohammed Hillis of Shuja’iyya.

    Another survivor, Maram Abdel Aal, said: “Entire families were killed in their tents. Not a single neighboring family survived.”

    The group said Israel’s actions meet the legal threshold for “war crimes and genocide,” citing mass displacement, starvation, and the targeting of shelters.

    It urged states to impose sanctions, halt arms transfers, and enforce International Criminal Court arrest warrants, adding: “There is no immunity for international crimes.”

    ANADOLU, 2.7.2025

  • Lawmaker wants ban on Israeli military companies accessing EU funds over Gaza

    ​​​​​​​ISTANBUL – A Spanish member of the European Parliament said Wednesday he wants the European Commission to ban Israeli military companies from accessing EU funds, citing their potential use in the war in the Gaza Strip.

    Nacho Sanchez Amor, a socialist MEP and member of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, said the EU must avoid “double standards” in addressing human rights violations.

    “The EU cannot fall under double standards when it comes to HumanRightsViolations & it cannot be accessory to Netanyahu genocidal actions,” Amor wrote on X, referencing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has pursued a war of genocide against the Palestinian population in Gaza since late 2023.

    The lawmaker said he made the demand, along with Spanish MEP Sandra Gomez, tagging the European Commission in the appeal.

    “With @SanGomezLopez we ask @EU_Commission to bar Israeli military companies from accessing EU funds that can be used in #Gaza,” he added.

    ANADOLU, 2.7.2025

  • 5 killed, 6 injured in Ugandan military helicopter crash in Somalia

    KAMPALA/MOGADISHU, July 2 – Five people were killed and six others injured when a Ugandan military helicopter crashed Wednesday in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, according to a statement issued by the Ugandan military.

    The statement said the helicopter was carrying eight personnel, including six crew members. The pilot, co-pilot, and flight engineer survived but sustained serious injuries and severe burns. The other passengers were killed, while three civilians on the ground were also injured.

    The Mi-24 helicopter went down about 200 meters east of the North Ramp at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, triggering a detonation of onboard munitions and causing damage to nearby structures, the statement added.

    All the injured, both crew members and civilians, were evacuated to a nearby African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) hospital for treatment.

    A joint emergency response team comprising firefighters from Mogadishu airport and the United Nations, along with ATMIS explosive ordnance disposal personnel responded to the scene and is supporting rescue operations.

    According to Ugandan military spokesperson Felix Kulayigye, a team will soon be dispatched to Mogadishu to investigate the cause of the crash. The helicopter was returning from a routine escort mission at the time of the incident.

    The Ugandan military has ruled out the possibility of an external attack, with Kulayigye saying that Mogadishu has largely been cleared of the al-Shabab militant group, making it unlikely that the Mi-24 helicopter was shot down.

    “Being an attack helicopter, it was loaded with rockets, so the rockets caused the fire. If it was an external action, we would not be talking about investigations because we would have known the cause,” he said.

    “Of course it (the crash) does affect the proficiency of escort duties for those convoys that carry logistics. When one helicopter is out of action, you certainly feel the pinch. But it will not stop the work that is being done,” Kulayigye added.

    The African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) confirmed the accident, saying that the helicopter, operated by the Uganda Peoples’ Defense Forces contingent, crash-landed at around 7:30 a.m. local time (0430 GMT) after departing from Baledogle Airfield, about 90 kilometers northwest of the Somali capital.

    “Three of the eight passengers on board were immediately rescued and rushed to the AUSSOM Level II hospital in Mogadishu for medical attention,” AUSSOM said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.

    Ahmed Macallin Hassan, director general of the Somali Civil Aviation Authority, said flight operations at the airport were continuing as normal, although a section of the runway has been temporarily closed due to debris from the crash.

    Last September, the Ugandan military lost a transport helicopter while flying from Mogadishu to Baledogle Airfield. All four peacekeepers on board survived that incident, according to the military.

    Uganda has been one of the key troop-contributing countries to the African Union peacekeeping mission in the Horn of Africa since 2007.

    XINHUA, 2.7.2025

  • Fuel tanker explosion kills 7 in central Syria

    DAMASCUS, July 2 – At least seven people were killed and several others injured on Wednesday in a fuel tanker explosion in the town of Jibrin in Syria’s central Hama province, state media reported.

    The explosion, which occurred when a fuel tanker caught fire, resulted in the deaths of civilians and left an undetermined number of others injured, Syrian state broadcaster al-Ikhbariya reported.

    Emergency response teams, including civil defense and ambulance units, rushed to the scene to assist with the rescue operations and extinguish the blaze.

    No immediate cause was given for the fire that triggered the blast. Authorities are investigating the incident.

    Separately, a series of explosions were reported near the town of Al Fu’ah in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, reportedly caused by the detonation of an ammunition depot due to high summer temperatures, al-Ikhbariya said in a separate report.

    There were no immediate reports of casualties from the Idlib blasts.

    Both areas have witnessed varying degrees of instability throughout Syria’s years-long conflict, though it remains unclear whether Wednesday’s incidents were linked to military activity.

    XINHUA, 2.7.2025

  • Pezeshkian announces suspension of cooperation with IAEA

    TEHRAN, Jul. 02 – Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian announced the suspension of Tehran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

    Earlier on June 25, Iran’s parliament (Majlis) approved a bill to suspend Tehran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following its politically-motivated resolution against the Islamic Republic.

    The general and specific provisions of the bill to suspend cooperation with the IAEA have been approved by lawmakers, said Alireza Salimi, a member of the parliament’s presiding board, on Wednesday.

    According to the parliament’s resolution, IAEA inspectors will not be permitted to enter Iran unless the security of the country’s nuclear facilities and that of peaceful nuclear activities is guaranteed, which is subject to the approval of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

    MEHR

  • At least 4 die in barge capsizing in Gulf of Suez

    CAIRO, July 2 – At least four people were killed and another 22 injured after a barge capsized in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt’s health ministry said Wednesday.

    The injured have been rushed to local hospitals while rescue is still going on, the ministry said in a statement.

    Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Osama Rabie said on Wednesday that the capsizing occurred in an area called Gabel El-Zeit, a prominent Egyptian oil production site around 209 km south of the Suez Canal.

    He said traffic movement remains regular and has not been impacted as the accident happened outside the course of the Suez Canal, adding that the SCA is prepared to cooperate with concerned agencies to provide necessary help.

    The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources confirmed on Tuesday that the offshore barge “Adam Marine 12,” owned by the Offshore Shukheir Oil Company, capsized earlier in the day in the Gulf of Suez.

    XINHUA

  • Trump threatens Musk with deportation amid ongoing feud

    WASHINGTON, July 1 – U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday the White House will have to examine the possibility of deporting Elon Musk, after the billionaire entrepreneur blasted the president’s tax and spending bill.

    Musk, who originally hails from South Africa and is now a U.S. citizen, posted several posts of criticism over the weekend on social media aimed at Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

    The tech titan lambasted the bill for what he said was adding to the U.S. debt.

    Trump jabbed back on Tuesday, posting on social media that Musk, who is the CEO of electric vehicle company Tesla, was upset that the legislation eliminated tax credits for electric vehicles.

    This is the latest in a row between the two billionaires, with the two in a tit-for-tat war of words.

    Trump’s sweeping bill, which passed the Senate on Tuesday, includes increased spending for defense, energy production and border security.

    XINHUA

  • 2 killed in training aircraft crash in southeast Brazil

    SAO PAULO, July 1 – A training aircraft crashed in southeast Brazil’s Sao Paulo state on Tuesday, killing both people on board, the fire department reported.

    The small aircraft fell into an uninhabited area of the city of Sao Jose do Rio Preto after taking off from a local airport.

    Brazil’s Globo news network cited a fire department report that both occupants of the aircraft, which was used for pilot training, were killed in the incident.

    Local police and the Brazilian Air Force’s Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center are looking into the cause of the crash.

    XINHUA