Category: 2. World

Turkiye arrested three more opposition mayors early on Saturday as part of an investigation into alleged graft, officials from the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) said, denouncing it as a “political operation”.

The early morning arrests were the latest move targeting elected officials of the CHP as the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan puts increasing pressure on the party, which won a huge victory against his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the 2024 local elections and is rising in the polls.

The arrests were linked to an investigation into alleged graft which resulted in the removal in March of Istanbul’s powerful opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, whose jailing sparked mass protests in Turkiye’s worst street unrest since 2013.

Imamoglu is Erdogan’s biggest political rival and the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential race.

Earlier this week, police arrested more than 120 people as part of a probe into alleged graft in the opposition stronghold of Izmir, Turkiye’s third city.

The latest detainees were based in southern Turkiye: mayor of the southern city of Adana, Zeydan Karalar; mayor of the resort town of Antalya, Muhittin Bocek; and the mayor of Adiyaman in the southeast, Abdurrahman Tutdere.

“In a system where the law bends and sways according to politics, where justice is applied for one group and ignored for another, no one should expect us to trust in the rule of law or believe in justice,” wrote Mansur Yavas on X, opposition mayor of the capital Ankara.

“We will not bow to injustice, lawlessness, or political operations.”

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), the third largest in Turkiye’s parliament, also denounced the arrests in a strongly-worded statement.

‘Stop persecuting elected officials’

“This persecution of elected officials must stop,” wrote DEM co-president Tulay Hatimogullari on X.

“Not respecting the decisions of the people at the ballot box and not recognising the will of the people is causing deep rifts within society,” she wrote.

“These operations are not a solution, but block the road to a democratic Turkiye.”

DEM has in recent months been working closely with Erdogan’s government to facilitate moves to end the decades-long conflict with the Kurds, facilitating talks which in May saw Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels ending their bloody armed struggle in a conflict that cost nearly 40,000 lives.

Saturday’s arrests were the latest in a slew of legal manoeuvres targeting the CHP.

On Monday, an Ankara court began hearing a case against the party involving allegations of vote-buying at its 2023 leadership primary which could end up overturning the election of CHP’s popular leader Ozgur Ozel, who rose to prominence for his role in leading the March protests.

Anadolu news agency said the Adana and Adiyaman mayors were linked to a case opened by the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office into alleged tender rigging and bribery.

Police also arrested the deputy mayor of Istanbul’s Buyukcekmece district Ahmet Sahin as part of the same probe, BirGun news website said.

Antalya’s mayor was held over a separate investigation launched by the resort town’s chief public prosecutor into allegations of bribery, with police also arresting his son, it said.

At least 35 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Saturday, local hospital sources told Al Jazeera, as strikes intensified amid ongoing ceasefire negotiations. Among the dead were at least two civilians reportedly waiting for aid distribution, the sources said.

The Israeli military struck multiple areas, including the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, where at least two people were killed in an air raid on a family home. Another strike in Gaza’s az-Zarqa neighbourhood killed one person and injured others, according to Palestinian news agency.

A separate attack targeted a school sheltering displaced civilians in Gaza, killing at least five, while one of the deadliest strikes hit a makeshift tent in al-Mawasi, where seven members of a single family were killed.

The escalation comes as Hamas issued a positive response to a proposed ceasefire deal, in what observers describe as a familiar pattern of intensified bombardment ahead of potential truce agreements.

Meanwhile, in southern Lebanon, an Israeli drone strike hit the town of Shebaa, near the intersection of the Lebanese, Syrian, and Israeli-occupied Golan Heights borders. Casualty details were not immediately available.

Gaza ceasefire proposal

The draft ceasefire agreement includes a 60-day pause in hostilities, to be guaranteed by US President Donald Trump, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Moreover, as part of the ceasefire deal, Hamas has agreed to release 10 Israeli hostages alive and hand over the remains of 18 others, starting from the first day of the truce.

The proposal would also allow for the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid into Gaza, with food and supplies distributed through established mechanisms such as the United Nations and the Red Crescent.

Under the terms of the agreement, Israel would halt all offensive military actions across the territory. Military operations, including surveillance flights, would pause for 10 hours daily.

During the ceasefire, Israeli forces would be repositioned in northern Gaza, the Netzarim Corridor, and southern areas of the Strip. The plan further outlines that negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire would begin immediately once the temporary truce is in place.

Mass protests held in Yemen to express solidarity with Palestinians

Protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, shout slogans as they stand around a Palestinian flag during a rally to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Sanaa, Yemen, on July 4, 2025. Photo: Reuters

Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, Yemen’s Houthis have fired missiles and drones at Israel in what they say are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians. Photo: Reuters

Photo: Reuters

Israel’s war on Gaza

The Israeli army has launched a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing at least 57,012 Palestinians, including 134,592 children. More than 111,588 people have been injured, and over 14,222 are missing and presumed dead.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave. The proposed deal includes a pause in hostilities, increased humanitarian aid, and negotiations on the release of captives.

The Japanese government on Saturday warned of the possibility of additional strong earthquakes in the waters southwest of the country’s main islands, following recent seismic activity near Kyushu.

Authorities said that while the risk of further tremors remains, there is no scientific basis for widespread rumours predicting a major disaster.

That quake on Thursday, strong enough to make standing difficult, was one of more than 1,000 tremors in the islands of Kagoshima prefecture in the past two weeks that have fuelled rumours stemming from a comic book prediction that a major disaster would befall the country this month.

“With our current scientific knowledge, it’s difficult to predict the exact time, place or scale of an earthquake,” said Ayataka Ebita, director of the Japan Meteorological Agency’s earthquake and tsunami monitoring division, after a 5.4-magnitude quake shook the area again on Saturday.

“We ask that people base their understanding on scientific evidence,” Ebita told a press conference.

The manga, which some have interpreted as predicting a catastrophic event on Saturday, has prompted some travellers to avoid Japan. Arrivals from Hong Kong, where the rumours have circulated widely, were down 11% in May from the same month last year, according to the latest data.

Japan has had record visitor numbers this year, with April setting a record monthly high of 3.9 million travellers.

Ryo Tatsuki, the artist behind the manga “The Future I Saw”, first published in 1999 and re-released in 2021, said she was “not a prophet”, in a statement issued by her publisher.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. It accounts for about one-fifth of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

GONDOMAR, Portugal: Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota and his brother were laid to rest on Saturday in their hometown, just days after the pair died in a car crash that shocked the football world.

Jota, 28, and Andre Silva, 25, were killed on Thursday after their vehicle veered off a motorway in northwestern Spain and became engulfed in flames, a week after the Portugal forward had got married.

Just hours before the accident, Jota had posted a video of his June 22 wedding to partner Rute Cardoso, with whom he shared three children.

Football stars joined family and friends at the funeral in his hometown of Gondomar, near Porto and conducted by the bishop of Porto.

A number of teammates from the national side, including Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Danilo Pereira and Joao Felix, as well as coach Roberto Martinez attended, though national skipper Cristiano Ronaldo was not present.

Liverpool Virgil van Dijk bore a garlanded wreath of red flowers in the form of a Liverpool shirt bearing Jota’s number 20.

Friday evening had seen Van Dijk, several players including Liverpool’s Uruguay international Darwin Nunez and Liverpool coach Arne Slot meet with Jota’s family and attend a wake for the deceased brothers.

Among those who came to offer their condolences were a childhood friend, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, Jota’s agent Jorge Mendes and Porto club president Andre Villas-Boas.

Jota formerly played with Porto.

“Football is truly in mourning. Diogo was an icon of the talent Portuguese football represents,” said football federation chief Pedro Proenca.

Close family and friends including the parents paid their respects at Friday’s wake first, with the grandfather aided by two others to help him enter the chapel.

Friday night, British rock band Oasis played their song “Live Forever” in tribute to Jota at a concert in Cardiff marking a return to touring after 16 years.

Mourners arrived carrying wreaths of flowers, some sobbing audibly, before the wake was opened to members of the public.

The death of the Portugal international and his brother has triggered an outpouring of emotion in football, and beyond.

Liverpool opened a book of condolences and lowered flags to half-mast, with dozens of supporters laying a sea of flowers, balloons, Jota shirts, and scarves with the message “Rest in peace Diogo Jota,” outside Anfield.

At the Diogo Jota football academy, close to Gondomar SC where the ex-Porto and Atletico Madrid player took his first steps in the game, well-wishers created a memorial with flowers, scarves, candles and shirts.

“Thank you, Diogo Jota,” read a child’s handwritten message.

Pedro Neves, who was friends with Jota at school in Gondomar, said he “will remember him as someone who was very friendly, very courteous, who loved everyone, who always had a smile on his face.”

“He left us too young, it’s not fair. But that’s how life is sometimes,” Neves, 31, told AFP.

Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who brought Jota to the Reds in 2020, has said he was “heartbroken” while the club spoke of an “unimaginable loss.”

Slot, who succeeded Klopp last year at Anfield, said everyone associated with the club owed it to Jota to “stand together and be there for one another.”

Jota was remembered at the Club World Cup in the United States on Friday, with a one-minute silence held at the quarter-final between Brazil’s Fluminense and Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in Orlando.

A minute’s silence was similarly held at women’s Euro 25 matches.

Portuguese and UK media reported Jota was driving to the northern Spanish port of Santander to take a ferry to England where Liverpool were due to start training on Friday, avoiding a flight on medical advice after a recent lung operation.

Liverpool’s Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah said the death of his teammate had left him “frightened” to return to the club as the Premier League champions postponed the return of some players for pre-season training.

GONDOMAR, Portugal (AP) — Liverpool players joined family and friends for the funeral of their teammate Diogo Jota and his brother on Saturday, two days after the siblings died in a car crash in Spain.

The service will be held at Igreja Matriz church in the Portuguese town of Gondomar, where Jota had a home.

Portugal’s national team coach Roberto Martínez and several top Portuguese players also attended, including Manchester City duo Bernardo Silva and Rúben Dias and Manchester United’s Bruno Fernándes.

Jota, 28, and his brother, André Silva, 25, were found dead near Zamora in northwestern Spain early Thursday after the Lamborghini they were driving crashed on an isolated stretch of highway just after midnight on Thursday and burst into flames.

The brothers were reportedly heading to catch a boat from northern Spain to go to England where Jota was to rejoin with Liverpool after a summer break.

Spanish police are investigating the cause of the crash, which did not involve another vehicle, they said. They said they believe it could have been caused by a blown tire.

Their bodies were repatriated to Portugal after being identified by the family. A wake was held for them on Friday.

Jota’s death occurred two weeks after he married long-time partner Rute Cardoso while on vacation from a long season where he helped Liverpool win the Premier League. The couple had three children, the youngest born last year.

Jota was born in Porto but started his playing career as a child on nearby Gondomar.

Silva played for Portuguese club Penafiel in the lower divisions.

Their loss led to an outpouring of condolences from the soccer world and Portuguese officials.

___

Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

The iconic River Seine has reopened to swimmers in Paris, allowing people to take a dip in the French capital’s waterway for the first time in at least a century after a more than billion-euro cleanup project that made it suitable for Olympic competitions last year.

A few dozen people arrived ahead of the 8am (06:00 GMT) opening on Saturday at the Bras Marie zone in the city’s historic centre, diving into the water for the long-awaited moment under the watchful eyes of lifeguards wearing fluorescent yellow T-shirts and carrying whistles.

It was also a welcome respite from the scorching heat enveloping the city this week. Parisians and tourists alike, looking to cool off this summer, can dive in – weather permitting – at three bathing sites: one close to Paris’s Notre-Dame cathedral, another near the Eiffel Tower and a third in eastern Paris.

The swimming zones are equipped with changing rooms, showers and beach-style furniture, offering space for 150 to 300 swimmers.

The seasonal opening of the Seine for swimming is seen as a key legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympics, when open-water swimmers and triathletes competed in its waters, which were specially cleaned for the event.

“It’s a childhood dream to have people swimming in the Seine,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who visited the bras Marie site on Saturday morning.

But officials reminded swimmers of potential dangers, including strong currents, boat traffic and an average depth of 3.5 metres (11 feet).

“The Seine remains a dangerous environment,” said local official Elise Lavielle earlier this week.

To mitigate that risk, lifeguards will assess visitors’ swimming abilities before allowing independent access, while a decree issued in late June introduced fines for anyone swimming outside designated areas.

The promise to lift the swimming ban dates back to 1988, when then-mayor of Paris and future President Jacques Chirac first advocated for its reversal, about 65 years after the practice was banned in 1923.

“One of my predecessors (Chirac), then mayor of Paris, dreamed of a Seine where everyone could swim,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, describing the move as the result of a “collective effort” and a moment of “pride” for France.

L’un de mes prédécesseurs, alors Maire de Paris, a rêvé d’une Seine où chacun pourrait nager. Demain sa promesse sera tenue.

C’est un héritage des Jeux olympiques et paralympiques de Paris après 100 ans d’interdiction, un travail collectif, une fierté pour le pays.

Merci… pic.twitter.com/KhymFPgIy1

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 4, 2025

Ahead of the Olympic Games, authorities invested approximately 1.4 billion euros ($1.6bn) to improve the Seine’s water quality.

Since then, work carried out upstream, including 2,000 new connections to the sewage system, promises even better water quality – with an unappetising catch.

On rainy days, the mid-19th-century Parisian sewage system often overflows, causing rain and wastewater to pour into the river.

Flags will inform bathers about pollution levels in the water every day, and if it rains, the sites will likely close the day after, said Paris city official Pierre Rabadan.

The presence of the faecal bacteria Escherichia coli (E coli) and enterococci in the Seine will be assessed daily using live sensors and samples.

A refuge from the hot weather

Varying weather conditions will be a critical factor. Swimmers may be in luck this year, though, with temperatures predicted to be drier than the record rainfall during the games, which had led to the cancellation of six of the 11 competitions held on the river.

With record-breaking heat hitting Europe, including France’s second warmest June since records began in 1900, authorities said they expect Parisians to embrace the relief of a refreshing swim.

Some scepticism about the water quality remains, however.

Dan Angelescu, founder and CEO of Fluidion, a Paris and Los Angeles-based water monitoring tech company, has routinely and independently tested bacterial levels in the Seine for several years. Despite being in line with current regulations, the official water-testing methodology has limitations and undercounts the bacteria, he said.

“What we see is that the water quality in the Seine is highly variable,” Angelescu said. “There are only a few days in a swimming season where I would say water quality is acceptable for swimming.”

Some Parisians are also hesitant about the idea of swimming in the Seine. The feeling is often reinforced by the water’s murky colour, floating litter and multiple tourist boats in some places.

Hidalgo, who took an inaugural swim last year, said that cleaning up the Seine for the Olympics was not the final goal but part of a broader effort to adapt the city to climate change and enhance quality of life.

The swimming spots will be open for free until August 31 at scheduled times to anyone with a minimum age of 10 or 14 years, depending on the location.

Liverpool players and staff joined the family and friends of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva for their funeral in the siblings’ hometown of Gondomar. People lined the streets as mourners arrived from across the globe.

Jota’s widow, Rute Cardoso, who married the footballer 11 days before his death, and the brothers’ parents, Joaquim and Isabel, were comforted by family throughout.

The Liverpool head coach, Arne Slot, the captain, Virgil van Dijk, the defender Andrew Robertson, the midfielder Alexis Mac Allister and former teammates Jordan Henderson and James Milner all attended the service in Portugal. Van Dijk and Robertson carried floral tributes in the shape of red football shirts, one bearing Jota’s No 20 squad number and Silva’s No 30, as they led the Liverpool players and officials into the church.

Jota’s international colleagues Manchester City’s Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva, and the Manchester United duo Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, attended with the Portugal head coach, Roberto Martínez, and Nottingham Forest’s Nuno Espírito Santo, who managed Jota at Wolves. Al-Hilal’s João Cancelo and Rúben Neves joined the congregation, less than 12 hours after losing to Fluminense in the Club World Cup in America.

“They are [have been] really sad days, as you can imagine, but today we have shown we are a very large, but close family,” Martínez told Sky Sports News. “We are Portugal, and it was essential for us that [with] André Silva and Diogo Jota, we are together and we will always be together and their spirit will be with us forever. Thank you very much for your messages, for your support and everything that we have received [from] all over the world. It means a lot and today we are all one football family.”

Attendees were handed orders of service that had photographs of the brothers on the front, Jota’s taken from playing for Liverpool, celebrating a goal by making a heart shape with his hands.

There was applause from the crowds when the bell tolled as the coffins made the journey into the church. Neves, who played with Jota for Porto, Wolves and Portugal, was one of the pallbearers. Jota’s widow walked behind Jota’s coffin in tears, being held by her sister for support, a scene replicated by Silva’s wife, Maria Rodrigues, as she followed his coffin.

Silva played in the second division for Penafiel, whose squad attended the funeral. The club was well-represented at the church, too. An image of Silva held in front of his coffin carried the message “Para Sempre Um De Nos” (For ever one of us). A contingent from Gondomar’s team, which the brothers represented, arrived in the club’s yellow and blue colours.

The bishop Manuel Linda addressed a homily to Jota’s three children Dinis, Duarte and Mafalda. Van Dijk was one of many who returned outside looking visibly upset; Henderson could be seen wiping away tears. Once the service was over, the coffins were taken to a local ceremony for a private burial for close family and friends.

While the funeral procession entered the church, thousands waited behind barriers watching on through the church gates. Many were wearing Porto football shirts, a club the two brothers had both represented, and the club’s president, André Villas-Boas, was in attendance.

The funeral came after a public wake on Friday at the Capela da Ressurreição in Gondomar, attended by the Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the prime minister, Luís Montenegro.

Outside Gondomar’s ground, locals left scarves, shirts, flowers and mementos to remember the brothers, who began playing at the club as children; the academy is named in Jota’s honour. Silva returned to represent the team as an adult before embarking on a career in the Portuguese second division.

The collection of tributes at Anfield continued to grow on Saturday, covering a large area outside the stadium.

Jota and Silva died in the early hours of Thursday morning after their car left the road and burst into flames in Zamora, north-west Spain, while driving towards Santander to catch a ferry back to England. Jota had been advised not to fly after treatment for a collapsed lung.