UN: Deeply concerned about widespread arrests in Turkey
NNA - The United Nations expressed concern on Tuesday over Turkey's use of mass arrests amid nationwide protests against the detention of Istanbul's opposition mayor, urging authorities to investigate allegations of unlawful use of force against demonstrators, according to Agence France-Presse.
"We are deeply concerned that Turkish authorities have arrested at least 92 people over the past week, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, the democratically elected mayor of Istanbul," said Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Office, in a statement.
She noted that more than 1,000 people, including journalists, have been detained during the protests.
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Nahar Net
15 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Israel diverts Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg
by Naharnet Newsdesk 09 June 2025, 12:51 Israeli forces intercepted a Gaza-bound aid boat on Monday, preventing the activists on board -- including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg -- from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory. The Madleen set sail from Italy on June 1 to raise awareness of food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has called the "hungriest place on Earth". After 21 months of war, the UN warns the entire population is at risk of famine. At around 4:02 am (0102 GMT), Israeli forces "forcibly intercepted" the vessel in international waters as it was approaching Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said. "If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters," Thunberg said in a pre-recorded video shared by the coalition. Footage from the group shows the activists with their hands up as Israeli forces boarded the vessel, with one of them saying nobody was injured prior to the interception. Israel's foreign ministry wrote on social media, "all the passengers of the 'selfie yacht' are safe and unharmed," adding that it expected the activists to return to their home countries. Turkey condemned the interception of the Madleen as a "heinous attack" in international waters. Iran also denounced it as "a form of piracy", citing the same grounds. In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported it was struck by drones in an attack the group blamed on Israel. In 2010, a commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt to breach Israel's naval blockade, left 10 civilians dead. On Sunday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said the blockade, in place since years before the Israel-Hamas war, was needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons. - 'Risked their lives' for food - The boat was intercepted about 185 kilometers (115 miles) west of the coast of Gaza, according to coordinates provided by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies. It recently allowed some humanitarian deliveries to resume after barring them for more than two months and began working with the newly formed, U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. But humanitarian agencies have criticized the GHF and the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality. Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to Gaza's civil defense agency. It said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday, including five civilians hit by gunfire near an aid distribution center. Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal and witnesses said the civilians had been heading to a GHF-run site west of Rafah, in southern Gaza. Abdallah Nour al-Din, a witness, said "the Israeli army opened fire" on people who had started gathering at the site in the early morning. The Israeli military said it fired on people who "continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers" despite warnings. - Sinwar - The GHF said there had been no incidents "at any of our three sites" on Sunday. Outside Nasser Hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body bags. "I can't see you like this," said Lin al-Daghma by her father's body. She spoke of the struggle to access food aid after the two-months Israeli blockade, despite the recent easing. At a charity kitchen in Gaza City, displaced Palestinian Umm Ghassan told AFP she had been unable to collect aid from a GHF site "because there were so many people, and there was a lot of shooting. I was afraid to go in, but there were people who risked their lives for their children and families". Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had located and identified the body of Mohammed Sinwar, presumed Hamas leader in Gaza, in an "underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis", in southern Gaza. The military, which until Sunday had not confirmed his death, said Israeli forces killed Sinwar on May 13. Sinwar was the younger brother of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, accused by Israel of masterminding the 2023 attack that triggered the war. The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 54,880 people, the majority civilians, have been killed in the territory since the start of the war. The U.N. considers these figures reliable. After the deaths of several Hamas leaders, Mohammed Sinwar was thought to be at the heart of decisions on indirect negotiations with Israel. The military said that alongside Sinwar's body, forces had found "additional intelligence" at the Khan Yunis site "underneath the hospital, right under the emergency room."
MTV Lebanon
17 hours ago
- MTV Lebanon
Guterres Urges World Leaders: Don't Let Deep Sea Become the ‘Wild West'
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday the world could not let the deepest oceans "become the wild west", at the start in France of a global summit on the seas. World leaders are attending the UN Ocean Conference in Nice as nations tussle over contentious rules on mining the seabed for critical minerals and the terms of a global treaty on plastic pollution. US President Donald Trump has brought urgency to the debate around deep-sea mining, moving to fast-track US exploration in international waters and sidestepping global efforts to regulate the nascent sector. The International Seabed Authority, which has jurisdiction over the ocean floor outside national waters, is meeting in July to discuss a global mining code to regulate mining in the ocean depths. Guterres said he supported these negotiations and urged caution as countries navigate these "new waters on seabed mining". "The deep sea cannot become the wild west," he said, to applause from the plenary floor. Many countries oppose seabed mining, and France is hoping more nations in Nice will join a moratorium until more is known about the ecological impacts of the practice. French President Emmanuel Macron said a moratorium on deep-sea mining was "an international necessity". "I think it's madness to launch predatory economic action that will disrupt the deep seabed, disrupt biodiversity, destroy it and release irrecoverable carbon sinks when we know nothing about it," the French president said. The deep sea, Greenland and Antarctica were "not for sale", he said in follow up remarks to thunderous applause. Macron said a global treaty to govern the high seas had received enough ratifications to enter into force and was "a done deal", without specifying a timeline. The agreement struck in 2023 required ratifications from 60 signatory countries to become international law and Macron said the numbers "had been reached, which allows us to say that the high seas treaty will be implemented." Other commitments on ocean conservation are expected on Monday in Nice, where around 60 heads of state and government will join thousands of business leaders, scientists and civil society activists. On Monday, the United Kingdom is expected to announce a partial ban on bottom trawling in half its marine protected areas, putting the destructive fishing method squarely on the summit agenda. Bottom trawling sees huge fishing nets dragged across the ocean floor, sweeping up everything in their path, a process shockingly captured in a recent documentary by British naturalist David Attenborough. Greenpeace welcomed the UK announcement on trawling but said in a statement it was "long overdue". Macron said on Saturday that France would restrict trawling in some of its marine protected areas but was criticised by environment groups for not going far enough. French environment minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told reporters on Sunday that other countries would make "important announcements" about the creation of new marine protected areas. Samoa led the way this past week, announcing that 30 percent of its national waters would be under protection with the creation of nine marine parks. Just eight percent of global oceans are designated for marine conservation, despite a globally agreed target to achieve 30 percent coverage by 2030. But even fewer are considered truly protected, as some countries impose next to no rules on what is forbidden in marine zones or lack the finance to enforce any regulations. Nations will face calls to cough up the missing finance for ocean protection, which is the least funded of all the UN's 17 sustainable development goals. Small island states are expected in numbers at the summit to demand money and political support to combat rising seas, marine trash and the plunder of fish stocks. The summit will not produce a legally binding agreement at its close like a climate COP or treaty negotiation. But diplomats and other observers said it could mark a much-needed turning point in global ocean conservation if leaders rose to the occasion. "The UN Ocean Conference gives us all an opportunity to turn words into bold and ambitious action," said Enric Sala, founder of ocean conservation group Pristine Seas.
MTV Lebanon
2 days ago
- MTV Lebanon
Paris calls on Israel to "withdraw from Lebanon as soon as possible"
France condemned on Friday the recent Israeli raids on Beirut's southern suburbs and called on Israel to "withdraw as quickly as possible from all Lebanese territory," according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry, as reported by Agence France-Presse. The French Foreign Ministry said: "Paris calls on all parties to respect the ceasefire agreement." It stressed that "France reaffirms that the monitoring mechanism under the ceasefire agreement is in place to help the parties confront threats and prevent any escalation that could harm the security and stability of Lebanon and Israel." The French Foreign Ministry affirmed that "the dismantling of unauthorized military positions on Lebanese territory is primarily the responsibility of the Lebanese Armed Forces, with support from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)."
