Author: Anadolu Agency
At least five Palestinians, including a child, were killed and several others injured in fresh Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Thursday evening, a medical source said. Three people lost their lives, including a child, in a strike targeting a tent sheltering displaced civilians in the southern city of Khan Younis, the source said. Two more people were killed and others injured when Israeli forces shelled a group of civilians in Gaza City, he added. Gaza’s Civil Defense Service called the Israeli military escalation “clear insanity.” “We are no longer able to respond to all distress calls amid relentless…
Türkiye is determined to protect all “aggrieved groups” in Syria, the country’s foreign minister said on Thursday. “Whether it’s a majority or minority in Syria, whoever it may be — Nusayris, Alevis, Yazidis, Christians, anyone — Türkiye is their protector and guardian as it is for all the others in this new period,” Hakan Fidan told a joint news conference with his Belgian counterpart Bernard Quintin in Ankara. He said that during the oppression of the Assad regime, millions of Sunni Arabs were displaced, as well as ethnic Turks, and had to seek refuge in other countries. Fidan emphasized that…
Israeli warplanes launched an airstrike on Tel al-Shahem, southwest of the Syrian capital Damascus, on Thursday, local sources told Anadolu. The sources said the targeted site had been used as a military base by the Bashar al-Assad regime before its fall. Loud explosions were heard in Damascus during the strike, the sources added. Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963. The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters captured key cities in a lightning offensive…
Palestinian-American entrepreneur and art curator Faisal Saleh said after Israel decided to close its embassy in Dublin, he began efforts to lease the building and convert it into a Palestinian museum. “This will be a very powerful symbolic move where Palestinian art replaces the genocidal entity representation in Ireland,” Saleh told Anadolu. Saleh, the founder and director of the Palestine Museum US in Connecticut, spoke with Anadolu about his family’s forced displacement following the Nakba in 1948, the museum’s establishment in the US, and his initiative to convert Israel’s former embassy in Dublin into a museum. Born in 1951 in…
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) director-general on Thursday called on Israel to allow more medical evacuations from Gaza. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X that “the pace of evacuations remains excruciatingly slow.” He recalled that only “5,383 patients have been evacuated with support from WHO since October 2023, of which only 436 since the Rafah crossing was closed.” The WHO chief stressed that over “12,000 people still need medical evacuation.” “At this rate, it would take 5-10 years to evacuate all these critically ill patients, including thousands of children. In the meantime, their conditions get worse and some die,” he…
Spain set a new record for migrant arrivals in 2024, with 63,970 people entering Spanish territory irregularly by land or sea, according to Interior Ministry data released on Thursday. This marks the second consecutive year that Spain has broken its record for arrivals. In 2023, the total was 55,718 — almost double the number recorded in 2022. In 2024, the vast majority of irregular arrivals — 46,843 — made the treacherous journey by sea from northwest Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands. A report released in December by the NGO Caminando Fronteras estimated that an average of 30 people lost their…
Türkiye said on Wednesday that it is “deeply saddened” by the deadly attack that took place in New Orleans and hopes that the motive behind the attack in the U.S. state of Louisiana would be uncovered quickly. “We are deeply saddened by the attack that took place in New Orleans, USA,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The statement expressed hope that the motive for the attack would be revealed “as soon as possible” and extended condolences to the bereaved families and friends while wishing the injured a speedy recovery. “We extend our condolences to the families and friends…
At least five people died and hundreds were arrested during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Germany, which were marred by riots in several cities, according to media reports on Wednesday. The fatalities occurred as five men lost their lives handling pyrotechnics. Several others sustained injuries, some of which were life-threatening. In Berlin, police reported arresting 390 people. A preliminary assessment indicated that at least 13 police officers were injured, including one seriously. Emergency responders and police officers were attacked with firecrackers and New Year’s rockets. Despite the incidents, a police spokesperson stated that there was no major violence in the…
A 6.2 magnitude Richter earthquake struck a group of South Atlantic islands on Wednesday. The earthquake struck at a depth of 77.7 kilometers (48.2 miles) off the South Sandwich Islands, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. There were no reports of casualties or significant damage.
At least two people died, and 22 others were injured in a fireworks-related incident in Hawaii on New Year’s Day, local media reported. Emergency responders, including police, fire, and emergency medical services, are currently at the scene of the accident, which occurred in the Salt Lake-Aliamanu area of Honolulu, according to Hawaii News Now. Police called on the public to stay clear of the area as they work to provide care and maintain security at the scene.