Turkey intensified its crackdown on anti-government protests on Friday, arresting the lawyer of the jailed Istanbul mayor and targeting more journalists, as the country faces its biggest wave of unrest in more than a decade.Nine days after the arrest and subsequent jailing of Istanbul's popular opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, demonstrators were again out on the streets on Thursday night, despite a growing sense of fear.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: More arrests as Turkey escalates crackdown over protests
Erdogan turns sights on opposition CHP with his main rival in jail
With the jailing of Istanbul's mayor on corruption charges, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan has got rid of his most powerful opponent. Now his sights are set on the main opposition CHP, analysts say."When the big fishes are exposed, they won't dare to look their own families in the eye, let alone the nation," the president warned this week, hinting at a fresh legal action targeting the Republican People's Party (CHP).
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Erdogan turns sights on opposition CHP with his main rival in jail
US, Turkey to begin technical talks on CAATSA sanctions, F-35 acquisition
The Turkish and US sides aim to initiate interagency talks on sanctions removal as soon as possible, a Turkish official told Al-Monitor.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: US, Turkey to begin technical talks on CAATSA sanctions, F-35 acquisition
Israel flouting international law with forced evacuations in Gaza, UN says
Over half of northern Gaza appears to be under evacuation orders.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel flouting international law with forced evacuations in Gaza, UN says
AFP journalist Yasin Akgul leaves jail, but lawyer says charges remain
AFP photographer Yasin Akgul, who was arrested this week covering Turkey's worst unrest in more than a decade, was freed Thursday from an Istanbul jail, AFP correspondents said, though his lawyer said the charges against him remain.Akgul was detained in a pre-dawn raid at his home Monday and remanded in custody by an Istanbul court a day later. He was charged with "taking part in illegal rallies and marches", drawing outrage from rights groups and the Paris-based news agency.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: AFP journalist Yasin Akgul leaves jail, but lawyer says charges remain
After 45 year, will the Kurdish-Turkish conflict in Iraq come to an end?
The jailed founder of a Kurdish nationalist group has called for the movement to lay down its arms, but Kurdish forces seem unwilling to as long as Turkish strikes continue.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: After 45 year, will the Kurdish-Turkish conflict in Iraq come to an end?
Anti-Hamas chants at new protests in Gaza: witnesses
Palestinians on Wednesday staged protests in the Gaza Strip against the territory's Hamas rulers for the second consecutive day, calling for an end to the war with Israel, witnesses said.Demonstrators carrying banners reading "Hamas does not represent us" were seen marching in Gaza City and the town of Beit Lahia to the north, just over a week after Israel resumed its bombing campaign following nearly two months of a truce."We do not want Hamas! We are tired," said protester Muayed Zahir, who took part in the rally in Gaza City.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Anti-Hamas chants at new protests in Gaza: witnesses
US VP Vance lands in Greenland as new government calls for unity
Trump reiterated his desire to take over Greenland as recently as Wednesday, saying the US needs the strategically located island for security.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: US VP Vance lands in Greenland as new government calls for unity
Nearly a quarter of Americans raised Jewish have left the religion, survey says
The study surveyed "religious switching" around the world, and found that significant percentages of people raised in religious homes in the US and internationally are now not religious.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Nearly a quarter of Americans raised Jewish have left the religion, survey says
Top US senators demand probe into chat scandal
Senior Republican and Democratic US senators issued a bipartisan call Thursday for a probe into a scandal over an accidentally leaked chat between top officials on Yemen air strikes that has engulfed Donald Trump's White House.Republican Senator Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and ranking Democrat Jack Reed wrote to a Pentagon watchdog asking it to "conduct an inquiry" into the incident.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Top US senators demand probe into chat scandal