Gaza Strip: 55 Palestinians killed while protesting US embassy in Jerusalem

At least 55 Palestinians were killed and 2,771 were injured on Monday as Israeli troops fired on demonstrators along the Gaza-Israel boundary protesting the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, making it the deadliest day of violence since the 2014 Gaza war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today accused Israel of "state terror" and "genocide" after Israeli forces killed at least 55 Palestinians on the Gaza border.

In one of his most vehement broadsides ever against the Jewish state, Erdogan also announced three days of national mourning over the deaths, as well as a giant protest in Istanbul on Friday.

US blocks call for independent Gaza inquiry at UN

Despite the bloodshed, Trump hailed the move in a video message. He told the dedication ceremony that it had been a "long time coming", adding: "Israel is a sovereign nation with the right to determine its own capital but for many years we failed to acknowledge the obvious."

As missiles hit Syria, here's a rundown of who the major players are

In the days since an alleged chemical attack outside Damascus, the pressure in Syria has risen dramatically. With outside powers launching missile strikes on Syrian ground targets as the Assad government’s backers warned them against it, here’s a rundown of who the major players are.

Bashar al-Assad

Scott Lucas, University of Birmingham

Among those glancing at Syria’s seven-year conflict, a simple but misleading declaration is circulating: “Assad is winning”. But the Assad regime has only survived because of the political, economic and military life support it’s had from Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. It is now entirely dependent on them.

And that’s for rule over just a part of Syria. The opposition, though very dependent on Turkish protection, holds much of the north-west, and it also – for now – controls territory in the south along the Jordanian border. Kurdish groups have taken much of northern and eastern Syria after pushing back the so-called Islamic State (IS).

Turkey criticises France, US for commenting on 30-days Syria ceasefire

Turkey today sharply criticised France and the United States for arguing a ceasefire in Syria should apply to its military operation against Kurdish militia, as new tensions mounted between Ankara and its NATO allies.
The United Nations Security Council, crucially including regime ally Russia, has agreed on a 30-day nationwide ceasefire in Syria although this has yet to be implemented or end the violence in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta.
Turkey has welcomed the ceasefire but repeatedly insisted any truce will not affect its over the month-long operation in the Afrin region against Kurdish militia Ankara believes to be terrorists.
French President Emmanuel Macron told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in telephone talks Monday the ceasefire must be applied across the country "including in Afrin," the French presidency said.

Russia, Iran, Turkey together to end six-yr Syrian civil war: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that his Iranian and Turkish counterparts have agreed to hold a "congress" in Russia in a bid to end the six-year civil war in Syria.

Putin made the announcement after talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

However, no date for the proposed congress has been announced.

The three leaders have issued a joint statement aimed at continuing the Syrian peace talks and finding a sustainable solution for the post-conflict period by convening a "Syrian National Congress of Dialogue," reported CNN, citing Putin as saying.

In a joint statement they urged the Syrian government and opposition to "participate constructively".

"The congress will look at the key questions on Syria's national agenda including working out a political organisation and the endorsement of a new constitution" and "the organisation of the new elections under the auspices of the UN", Putin added.

This came days after he hosted his Syrian ally, President Bashar al-Assad.

Bashar al-Assad, during a visit to Sochi earlier this week, stated that he was "totally committed" to a peaceful solution.

Putin told Assad that the military campaign was "wrapping up", but there was still "a long way to go".
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12 Turkish police officers wounded in bus explosion

A bomb exploded as a bus carrying police was passing by in a southern Turkish city on Tuesday, wounding a dozen officers, officials said.

The blast occurred on a main road in the Mediterranean coastal city of Mersin, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Mersin chief prosecutor told Anadolu that at least 12 officers were wounded in the attack. Three prosecutors were assigned to investigate, he told Anadolu.

Several police officers, ambulances and firefighters were sent to the scene, the agency reported earlier.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a three-decade long insurgency in southeast Turkey, has targeted police in similar attacks in the past. The group is designated as a terror organisation by Turkey and its allies.

Left-wing militants and members of the Islamic State group have also carried out deadly attacks in the country.
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Turkey condemns violence against Rohingya, offers help via 1k tonnes of aid

Turkey will send 1,000 tonnes of aid to Myanmar to help Rohingya Muslims after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with the Asian country's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a spokesman said.

Erdogan had condemned escalating human rights violations against the Rohingya minority during the phone call earlier in the day, Turkish presidential sources said.

"After the president's conversation with his Myanmar counterpart... Permission was given for 1,000 tonnes of aid to be sent initially," Erdogan spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a statement.

The United Nations said 123,600 Rohingya had crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh in the past 11 days following a spike in fighting between militants and Myanmar's military in strife-torn western Rakhine state, which raised fears of a humanitarian disaster.

The latest violence, which began last October when a small Rohingya militant group ambushed border posts, is the worst Rakhine has witnessed in years, with Erdogan last week accusing Myanmar of "genocide" against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Unverifiable testimony from those who have fled Myanmar has alleged tit-for-tat mass killings and villages being torched by the army, Buddhist mobs and Rohingya militants.
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Russian detained in Turkey over planned drone attack on US warplane

Turkish authorities on Thursday detained a Russian suspected member of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group for allegedly plotting a drone attack on an American warplane at a US base in southern Turkey.

State-run Anadolu news agency said that Renat Bakiev is accused of seeking to stage an attack at "the Incirlik airbase or a plane stationed there".

Quoting local police, it said that "for this purpose, he worked to obtain a drone".

Dogan news agency added that Bakiev is suspected of seeking to "stage a bomb attack aiming to bring down a US plane using a drone" at the Incirlik airbase.

He allegedly carried out reconnaissance work for the plot, both reports said, without giving further details on how the plan would have been put in place.

Anadolu further reported the suspect had asked fellow IS members through the Telegram messaging app for 2,800 lira ($790) in order to buy the drone.

The Russian embassy in Ankara said in a statement it was "carrying out the necessary work to understand what happened and make clear the circumstances"
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Earthquake: 6.7-magnitude quake kills 2 in Greece, could trigger Tsunami

Two people were killed today on the Greek island of Kos after a strong 6.7 magnitude quake hit the region, the ANA news agency reported.

The quake caused injury and damage, the agency cited the island's mayor as saying.

It struck at 1:31 am (local time), with an epicentre approximately 10.3 kilometers south of Bodrum, Turkey and 16.2 kilometers east of Kos.

It had a depth of 10 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.''

Greece's fire service said it had rescued three injured persons from a damaged building.

The chairman of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), Mehmet Halis Bilden, warned citizens about incoming aftershocks, and added there were no casualties or major damage in Turkey.

The European quake agency EMSC said a small tsunami could be caused by the quake, but Turkish broadcasters cited officials saying large waves were more likely.
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Mosul is 'liberated', but the fight against IS and its ideology continues

After an offensive lasting nearly nine months, the Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, walked through the streets of Mosul on July 9 after Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition airstrikes “liberated” the city from so-called Islamic State (IS). Abadi was there to congratulate security forces for the victory.

Iraqis have been waiting for this moment for three years, since IS captured the country’s second city and other key areas in 2014.

Since the announcement of the recapture of Mosul’s iconic al-Nuri mosque, destroyed by IS in late June, social media has been buzzing with Arabic hashatags such as #thestateofmythhasfallen, #Mosulisbeingliberated, and #tweetforpeace.

The general reaction in Iraq and on social media to the recapture of Mosul has been one of joy and celebration, yet for many, the feelings are mixed. Although it is a huge blow for IS, the victory does not mean that IS has been defeated across Iraq. Battles are still awaiting in Tel Afar in the north-west, to Hawija and other areas in Anbar Province in western Iraq. And even when these are retaken, IS will continue its regional and global insurgency.

IS’s territorial caliphate is falling, but its ideology – which argues that its members follow the “true Islam”, fighting heretics and unbelievers – is not.

For Iraqis, smiles are mixed with tears, and optimism mixed with fears. Many thousands of lives have been lost and too much blood shed in the battle against IS. Many more thousands have been displaced and the destruction has been widespread. Iraqis rightfully ask whether all of this could have been avoided and whether those responsible will ever be held accountable. They are aware of the massive challenges ahead, politically, economically, and socially. These include the conflicting interests of the forces fighting on the ground, as well as those of countries such as Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the US, whose interventions are often seen as destabilising to the Iraqi state.
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