TURKEY
Iran, Arab League talk
Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi arrived in Istanbul yesterday for a meeting with Arab League diplomats to discuss Tehran’s escalating conflict with Israel, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported. About 40 diplomats were slated to join the weekend gathering of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as Israel and Iran continue to exchange missile strikes. “The Foreign Minister arrived in Istanbul this morning to participate in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ meeting,” Tasnim reported. It comes after Araghchi met with his counterparts from the UK, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday.
Photo: AFP
LEBANON
IDF says it struck Hezbollah
Israel’s military yesterday said its navy hit a Hezbollah “infrastructure site” near the southern Lebanese city of Naqoura, a day after Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar warned the Lebanese armed group against entering the Iran-Israel war. “Overnight, an Israeli Navy vessel struck a Hezbollah ‘Radwan Force’ terrorist infrastructure site in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon,” the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) said in a statement. The site was used by Hezbollah “to advance terror attacks against Israeli civilians,” it said. In a separate statement yesterday, the IDF said it had “struck and eliminated” a Hezbollah militant in south Lebanon the previous day, despite an ongoing ceasefire between both sides. The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health on Friday said that one person was killed in a “strike carried out by an Israeli enemy drone on a motorcycle” in the same south Lebanon village.
South korea
Suga completes service
K-pop group BTS member Suga was discharged from the South Korean military yesterday, the seventh and final member to complete the country’s mandatory national service. Suga finished his military tenure as a social service agent yesterday with little fanfare as fans looked forward to his reunion with the rest of the band, a K-pop sensation since it was founded in 2013. Unlike with his BTS bandmates, there was no public event planned to mark Suga’s release because of overcrowding concerns. The seven members of the group put their global music careers on hold in 2022 to begin their military service, starting with Jin in December that year. The group is expected to hold its largest-ever world tour next year, an NH Securities entertainment analyst said in a report.
india
Yoga day celebrated
Tens of thousands of people across India stretched in public parks and on sandy beaches yesterday to mark the 11th International Day of Yoga. The mass yoga sessions were held in many Indian states. Indian military personnel also performed yoga in the icy heights of Siachen Glacier in the Himalayas and on naval ships anchored in the Bay of Bengal. Similar sessions were planned in countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia. Yoga is one of India’s most successful cultural exports after Bollywood. It has also been enlisted for diplomacy by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has harnessed it for cultural soft power as the country takes on a larger role in world affairs. Modi persuaded the UN to designate the annual International Day of Yoga in 2014. The theme this year was “Yoga for One Earth, One Health.” Modi performed yoga among a seaside crowd in the southern city of Visakhapatnam. “Yoga leads us on a journey toward oneness with the world,” he said.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
The tale of a middle-aged Chinese man, or “uncle,” who disguised himself as a woman to secretly film and share videos of his hookups with more than 1,000 men shook China’s social media, spurring fears for public health, privacy and marital fidelity. The hashtag “red uncle” was the top trending item on China’s popular microblog Sina Weibo yesterday, drawing at least 200 million views as users expressed incredulity and shock. The online posts told of how the man in the eastern city of Nanjing had lured 1,691 heterosexual men into sexual encounters at his home that he then recorded and distributed online. The
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
RSS