Istanbul top prize as Turkiye votes in local polls

Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, mayoral candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), cheer during a rally ahead of the local elections in Istanbul, Turkey March 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 31 March 2024
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Istanbul top prize as Turkiye votes in local polls

  • The race is on for key cities as Turkey holds local elections in test of Erdogan's popularity

ISTANBUL: Turks were voting on Sunday in municipal elections, with all eyes on Istanbul, the national “jewel” that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes to pry away from the opposition.
But there appeared no excess of enthusiasm at polling stations, AFP correspondents reported, to a backdrop of raging inflation and massive devaluation.
“Everyone is worried about the day to day,” said Guler Kaya, admitting she had had to stop going out.
“The crisis is swallowing up the middle class, we have had to change all our habits,” said the 43-year-old.
“If Erdogan wins, it will get even worse,” she added.
In the capital Ankara, Meliha Sonmez sounded a warning as she prepared to vote: “This election is not just municipal.”
“If Erdogan loses the ballot, he will be weakened,” said the retired woman in her 60s who lost 32 relatives in the devastating February 2023 earthquake in Hatay.
Erdogan may not be a candidate in the municipal vote, but his name has dominated from campaigning to voting day.
His road to power in Turkiye began in Istanbul when he was elected mayor of the mythic city straddling Europe and Asia in 1994.
His allies held the city until Ekrem Imamoglu of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) wrested control five years ago, generating international headlines.
As soon as Erdogan clinched re-election as president last May — he has held the position since 2014 — he launched the battle to reclaim the city of 16 million people.
“Istanbul is the jewel, the treasure and the apple of our country’s eye,” the 70-year-old leader said at a recent rally in the city.
“Whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkiye,” Erman Bakirci, a pollster from Konda Research and Consultancy, recalled Erdogan once saying.
Armed clashes were reported from a village in Turkiye’s Kurdish-majority southeast with voting underway, leaving one dead and 12 wounded, a local official told AFP.
The Turkish president has named former environment minister Murat Kurum as his candidate.
Polls gave Imamoglu a slight lead, but analysts caution that opinion polls in Turkiye have been wrong before and that the outcome is far from certain.
The 2019 vote was controversially annulled, but Imamoglu won the re-run vote by an even greater margin, which turned him into an instant hero for Turkiye’s notoriously fractured opposition and a formidable foe for Erdogan.
If Imamoglu manages to retain the Istanbul mayor’s seat, he’ll likely be the main challenger to the ruling party in the next presidential elections, set for 2028.
The election is being held with inflation at a whopping 67 percent and with a massive devaluation of the lira, which slid from 19 to a dollar to 31 to a dollar in one year. Analysts say this could work in favor of the opposition.
Erdogan threw all his energy into campaigning for his candidate.
On Saturday, he appeared at three campaign rallies in Istanbul, pressing his message that Imamoglu, whose name he never mentions, is a “part-time mayor” consumed by presidential ambitions.
“Istanbul has been left to its own devices these past five years. We hope to save it from disaster,” he said.
Imamoglu focused his campaign on local issues and defended his achievements in office.
“Every vote you give to the CHP will mean more metros, creches, green spaces, social benefits and investment,” he has promised.
Some 61 million voters are picking mayors across Turkiye’s 81 provinces, as well as provincial council members and other local officials.
The opposition has been fractured ahead of the polls, in contrast with the local elections five years ago.
This time around the main opposition party, the social democrat CHP, has failed to rally support behind a single candidate.
And the pro-Kurdish DEM party, the third largest in the 600-seat parliament, is fielding two candidates for Istanbul mayor, whereas in the 2019 race it agreed to stay out of the vote to implicitly support the opposition.
Polls opened at 0400 GMT in the east of the country and were due to close at 1400 GMT in the west, including Istanbul.
The first estimates are expected to be released late on Sunday.


Video shows Palestinians caught in gunfire near GHF aid hub in Gaza

Updated 5 sec ago
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Video shows Palestinians caught in gunfire near GHF aid hub in Gaza

  • Red Cross says field hospital nearby received 132 patients, most with gunshot wounds
  • 875 people have been killed trying to reach aid sites in past 6 weeks, UN says

LONDON: A video shared on social media captured the moment terrified Palestinians were caught in gunfire as they tried to reach an aid hub in Gaza at the weekend.

The footage shows a large number of people packed into an area near a sand dune when gunshots fly over their heads. They drop to the floor in panic as the bullets hit the dune just meters from a group trying to take cover.

The video was filmed on Saturday near a distribution site run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah in the south of the territory, according to BBC fact-checkers.

The Israeli- and US-run organization began aid distribution operations in the territory in May. It has been widely condemned for the high number of civilian deaths near to its sites.

The UN said on Tuesday that at least 875 people had been killed near aid points in Gaza in the past six weeks, mostly at those run by the GHF.

Reports from the weekend said at least 31 Palestinians were shot dead on Saturday as they tried to access a GHF hub near Rafah. The Red Cross said its field hospital nearby received 132 patients, with the overwhelming majority suffering from gunshot wounds. The wounded told hospital staff they had been trying to reach food aid.

“Since the establishment of new food distribution sites on May 27, the field hospital has treated over 3,400 weapon-wounded patients and recorded more than 250 fatalities,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

“This figure exceeds all mass casualty cases treated at the hospital in the 12 months preceding May 27. This situation is unacceptable. The alarming frequency and scale of these mass casualty incidents underscore the horrific conditions civilians in Gaza are enduring.”

BBC Verify said it was unable to ascertain if the deaths took place at the exact scene of the video but said the images were taken 750 meters from the GHF’s Secure Distribution Site 2.

Satellite images taken a day later showed crowds gathered at the same spot with Israeli military vehicles stationed 350 meters away. The broadcaster said it spoke to journalists in Gaza and studied images from Planet Labs PBC to help verify the footage.

An Instagram post shows a victim in hospital recovering after being at the scene where the video was shot. He said he arrived in the area at about 7:30 a.m. and after two hours Israeli tanks and drones opened fire on the crowd.

“The gunfire at us was random,” he said. “Everyone threw themselves to the ground to take cover as bodies fell around them.”

The GHF told the BBC the video was not taken “in the vicinity of our site” but it was “trying to determine if it was involving an actual queue to our site which could be 1.5-2 km away.”

Chris Doyle, director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding, told Arab News that the GHF hubs were “not food distribution centers but death traps.”

“That major international actors have not taken significant steps to stop this abomination in Gaza is an outrage,” he said.

Mustafa Barghouti, president of the Palestinian National Initiative, described the video as a “tragic scene.”

“The Israeli army shooting live ammunition at hungry Palestinians who were trying to get humanitarian aid from the so called ‘Gaza Humanitarian foundation center’,” he wrote on X.

The GHF started operating in Gaza after Israel imposed an 11-week blockade on humanitarian aid entering the territory, which has been decimated by an Israeli military campaign since October 2023.

The GHF system largely bypasses the traditional aid distribution mechanisms run by the UN.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described the GHF model as “inherently unsafe” and said it was killing people.


Lebanon’s central bank bans transactions with Hezbollah financial affiliate

Updated 15 July 2025
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Lebanon’s central bank bans transactions with Hezbollah financial affiliate

  • 12 people killed and several injured in series of surprise Israeli attacks on targets in Bekaa Valley
  • Members of the Lebanese parliament criticize government for delays in efforts to ensure possession of weapons is restricted to state forces

BEIRUT: Karim Souaid, the governor of Lebanon’s central bank, on Tuesday banned banks and other organizations from doing business with Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a financial institution affiliated with Hezbollah.

Seen as a major step by the Lebanese state, the move coincided with the launch by the Israeli army of more than 10 surprise raids on targets in western and eastern mountain ranges of the Bekaa Valley. The Lebanese Ministry of Health said six people were wounded in the strikes.

A subsequent raid struck a well-drilling machine in the border town of Wadi Faara, killing 12 people, including five Lebanese nationals and seven Syrians from the same family, and injuring several more. Israeli strikes also hit the towns of Bodai, Kasarnaba, Shmistar and Brital. One missile landed near Shmistar Secondary School while exams were taking place, shattering windows and causing panic and distress among students.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes sent a clear message to Hezbollah, as he accused the organization of attempting to rebuild its forces to threaten his country.

A resident of Shmistar told Arab News the areas targeted by the attacks were “abandoned sites.” The Israeli army said its fighter jets, “guided by the Intelligence Directorate and Northern Command,” had targeted military compounds in the Bekaa Valley affiliated with Hezbollah.

Avichay Adraee, a military spokesperson, said the strikes focused on camps that were used by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force to store weapons and train for attacks against Israeli forces. Hezbollah members and weapons depots were identified at the sites, he added, as he accused the militant group of violating the November 2024 ceasefire agreement.

Meanwhile, Banque du Liban, Lebanon’s central bank, said: “Lebanese financial institutions are banned from providing or facilitating financial, monetary or transfer services or brokerage services in favor of unlicensed institutions, companies and associations.”

The statement specifically identified “Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association, Tasheelat S.A.L., Al-Yusr for Finance and Investment, Bayt Al-Mal Lil Muslimin, and any entity listed on international sanctions lists.”

The ban also covers “establishing or implementing financing, leasing or lending arrangements, or facilitating access for such entities or their branches to the Lebanese banking system, in any currency.”

The central bank said the decision was part of “preventive measures aimed at protecting Lebanon’s financial and economic sectors from dealing with unlicensed or internationally sanctioned entities.”

It continued: “Violations of this decision will trigger strict legal action, which may include the suspension or revocation of licenses, freezing of accounts and assets, and referral to the Special Investigation Commission.”

The US Department of State designates Hezbollah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. It has imposed sanctions on Al-Qard Al-Hassan and affiliated officials, and accused them this month of facilitating attempts by Hezbollah to evade sanctions and enable Al-Qard Al-Hassan to conduct millions of dollars of transactions through “shadow” accounts. Israeli forces struck branches of the institution during the war against Hezbollah last year.

In other developments, during a plenary session, members of the Lebanese parliament criticized delays by the government in efforts to ensure possession of weapons is restricted to state forces; its failure to disclose a US proposal for a mechanism to implement the ceasefire agreement with Israel and UN Resolution 1701; for diluting the issue of recovery of depositors’ funds in Lebanese banks; and for failing to resolve the issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Resolution 1701 was adopted by the Security Council in 2006 with the aim of resolving the conflict that year between Israel and Hezbollah. It calls for an end to hostilities, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, the withdrawal of Hezbollah and other forces from parts of the country south of the Litani River, and the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups.

The criticisms from opposition MPs came during a discussion about the performance of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s government after its first 150 days in office.

Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan condemned “the government’s failure to set a timetable for dismantling and handing over weapons and imposing sovereignty.”

He added: “The government must move quickly to end the presence of military structures on Lebanese territory. No one can hope for the return of Arab and international relations to Lebanon if this is not done,” given that “the government is unable to protect the UNIFIL (the UN’s Interim Force in Lebanon peacekeeping mission) forces that support Lebanon.”

MP Gebran Bassil, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, said: “The current authority is acting as a bystander, neither starting to disarm nor to take possession of the weapons. What is happening is a process of buying time until a US-Iranian agreement takes place.

“The question is, if that does not happen, do we remain like this? Instead of taking the initiative to present a Lebanese paper to address this issue, we wait for the US paper and discuss what can be done with it.”

Independent MP Michel Moawad said: “Lebanon is facing a historic opportunity to address weapons and the military groups outside state control, rebuild the nation and break free from isolation.

“While the government’s stance is good, it lacks implementation. The opportunity is present now; failure to act will lead to further occupation, destruction and isolation, and ultimately everything will be lost.”

Fouad Makhzoumi, also an independent MP, expressed regret that “the government’s decision has devolved into negotiating with every weapon outside the state’s authority.”

He added: “What is required of those who carry weapons is to hand them over to the state. Those bearing arms are required to surrender them to the state, enabling it to defend itself against the threat of war, have the means to recover and liberate the five points from the renewed occupation (by Israeli forces), secure the return of prisoners, and initiate negotiations to delineate the Blue Line.”

He urged the government to “fully implement the ceasefire agreement, the Taif Agreement and Resolution 1701 in all its provisions, and to mandate the army to prevent any of the repeated and systematic attacks on UNIFIL.”

Hezbollah MP Ibrahim Al-Moussawi criticized what he described as a failure to provide the Lebanese army with “weapons to protect the homeland against the enemy.”

He said: “We are among the first advocates for a just Lebanese state for all its citizens but where is this state? We do not question anyone’s patriotism and the army is our army, but there is a foreign ‘veto’ that prevents arming the army.

“Lebanon has fully implemented all its obligations under the ceasefire agreement, while Israel has failed to implement a single clause.”

He warned that “whoever thinks they are dealing with others based on a political logic of victors and vanquished is a traitor to Lebanon,” and added: “What we are witnessing is an existential threat, and any understanding on any other basis will put us all in a circle of loss.”


14 million children did not receive a single vaccine in 2024, UN estimates

Updated 15 July 2025
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14 million children did not receive a single vaccine in 2024, UN estimates

  • WHO and UNICEF said about 89 percent of children under 1 year old got a first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine in 2024
  • About 85 percent completed the three-dose series, up from 84 percent in 2023

LONDON: More than 14 million children did not receive a single vaccine last year — about the same number as the year before — according to UN health officials. Nine countries accounted for more than half of those unprotected children.

In their annual estimate of global vaccine coverage, released Tuesday, the World Health Organization and UNICEF said about 89 percent of children under 1 year old got a first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine in 2024, the same as in 2023. About 85 percent completed the three-dose series, up from 84 percent in 2023.

Officials acknowledged, however, that the collapse of international aid this year will make it more difficult to reduce the number of unprotected children. In January, US President Trump withdrew the country from the WHO, froze nearly all humanitarian aid and later moved to close the US AID Agency. And last month, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it was pulling the billions of dollars the US had previously pledged to the vaccines alliance Gavi, saying the group had “ignored the science.”

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, has previously raised questions the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine — which has proven to be safe and effective after years of study and real-world use. Vaccines prevent 3.5 million to 5 million deaths a year, according to UN estimates.

“Drastic cuts in aid, coupled with misinformation about the safety of vaccines, threaten to unwind decades of progress,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

UN experts said that access to vaccines remained “deeply unequal” and that conflict and humanitarian crises quickly unraveled progress; Sudan had the lowest reported coverage against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. The data showed that nine countries accounted for 52 percent of all children who missed out on immunizations entirely: Nigeria, India, Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Angola.

WHO and UNICEF said coverage against measles rose slightly, with 76 percent of children worldwide receiving both vaccine doses. But experts say measles vaccine rates need to reach 95 percent to prevent outbreaks of the extremely contagious disease. WHO noted that 60 countries reported big measles outbreaks last year.

The US is now having its worst measles outbreak in more than three decades, while the disease has also surged across Europe, with 125,000 cases in 2024 — twice as many as the previous year, according to WHO.

Last week, British authorities reported a child died of measles in a Liverpool hospital. Health officials said that despite years of efforts to raise awareness, only about 84 percent of children in the UK are protected.

“It is hugely concerning, but not at all surprising, that we are continuing to see outbreaks of measles,” said Helen Bradford, a professor of children’s health at University College London. “The only way to stop measles spreading is with vaccination,” she said in a statement. “It is never too late to be vaccinated — even as an adult.”


Lebanon’s worst drought on record drains largest reservoir

Updated 51 min 52 sec ago
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Lebanon’s worst drought on record drains largest reservoir

  • The Litani River National Authority said inflows to Lake Qaraoun during this year’s wet season did not exceed 45 million cubic meters
  • Last year, the figure stood at 230 million

QARAOUN, Lebanon: Water levels at Lebanon’s largest reservoir on the Litani River have fallen to historic lows amid what experts describe as the country’s worst drought on record, threatening agriculture, electricity production, and domestic water supplies.

The Litani River National Authority said inflows to Lake Qaraoun during this year’s wet season did not exceed 45 million cubic meters, a fraction of the 350 million cubic meters annual average.

Last year, the figure stood at 230 million. The water currently available in Lake Qaraoun — around 61 million cubic meters — was unusable due to severe pollution, the authority said.

“There were dry years in 1989, 1990 and 1991, but this year is the driest,” said Sami Alawieh, head of the river authority. “We are facing a water scarcity problem across all Lebanese territories and water basins.”

Drone footage of Lake Qaraoun shows a dramatically receded shoreline, exposing cracked earth and dead vegetation.

Lebanon’s hydroelectric plants tied to the Litani basin have been shut down, Alawieh said, causing financial losses and intensifying electricity rationing by Electricite du Liban.

“We have two factors: the decline in rainfall and the pressure on groundwater,” he said.

A study by the authority found climate warming and shifting weather patterns have contributed to more frequent dry seasons and higher temperatures, exacerbating soil moisture loss and reducing the recharging of groundwater reservoirs.

The state utility has slashed supply in some areas from 20 hours a day to as little as 10.

In the fertile area around Qaraoun village, in the Bekaa Valley, farmers were already feeling the impact.

“I have never seen such drought or scarcity of rain as this year,” said Safa Issa. “We used to get snow up to a meter high. Now, it’s been 10 years since we’ve seen any.”

The strain has been compounded by erratic supply of electricity needed to run irrigation systems.

“You irrigate for three hours, then stop for three,” said Fayez Omais, another local farmer.

Suzy Hoayek, an adviser to the Ministry of Energy and Water in Beirut, said a nationwide awareness campaign to reduce consumption would be launched within 10 days.

“The most important thing is to manage demand,” she said.


Jordanian anti-narcotics authorities thwart smuggling attempt on border with Syria

Updated 15 July 2025
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Jordanian anti-narcotics authorities thwart smuggling attempt on border with Syria

  • Jordanian troops forced the smugglers to retreat into Syrian territory after they deployed rapid response patrols and applied rules of engagement
  • Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic reached an agreement to establish a joint security committee aimed at securing their border in January

LONDON: The Jordanian Armed Forces thwarted a drug smuggling attempt on their northeastern border with Syria on Tuesday morning as they intensified efforts to protect national security.

The Eastern Command, which includes units from Ar-Ramtha and Mafraq near the Iraqi and Syrian borders, thwarted an infiltration and smuggling attempt involving a large quantity of narcotics, in coordination with the Anti-Narcotics Department.

Jordanian troops forced the smugglers to retreat into Syrian territory after they deployed rapid response patrols and applied rules of engagement, according to the Petra news agency. A search of the area resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of narcotics by authorities.

Last week, Jordanian anti-narcotics authorities prevented an attempt to smuggle narcotics using a drone across the country’s western border.

In January, Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic reached an agreement to establish a joint security committee aimed at securing their border, combating arms and drug smuggling, and preventing the resurgence of the Daesh terror group.