GENEVA, Feb 13 (Reuters) - A U.N. human rights spokesperson said on Friday she was very worried about attacks on independent U.N. experts after European governments criticised Francesca Albanese who is mandated to report on human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
By Daren Butler
ISTANBUL, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Almost one year after he was jailed, Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has told Reuters that Tayyip Erdogan should call elections "now" and predicted that the president would lose if he ran again.
Imamoglu has emerged in recent years as Erdogan’s main rival, with polls suggesting he could indeed defeat Turkey's leader of more than two decades if he is able to run.
MUNICH, Feb 13 (Reuters) - About 3,000 Islamic State detainees have so far been transferred from Syrian prisons to Iraq and the process is continuing, Iraq's foreign minister said on Friday, adding that Baghdad was in discussions with some countries to repatriate them soon.
Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Fuad Hussein said Baghdad would need more financial assistance to deal with the influx, and warned that there had been a recent uptick in Islamic State activity in Syria.
ANKARA, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Turkey detained 16 people and seized assets worth about 300 million lira ($6.9 million) on Friday in an investigation into alleged money laundering linked to content shared on the OnlyFans platform, prosecutors said.
The probe, led by a department investigating terrorism financing and money laundering crimes, targeted 25 suspects and two companies in operations across eight provinces, including Istanbul, Ankara and Antalya, the Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office said.
Feb 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. is sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East amid tensions with Iran, U.S. media outlets reported late on Thursday.
The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its escort ships will be sent to the Middle East from the Caribbean, the New York Times, which first reported the news, said, citing U.S. officials.
The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment outside of regular business hours.
An Iranian teenager who took part in nationwide protests in January is facing execution after being convicted on charges of killing a policeman during the demonstrations, an NGO said on Thursday.
Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said that Saleh Mohammadi, 18, had already been sentenced to death, although the Iranian judiciary said no final and "enforceable" verdict had been issued in the case.
According to IHR, the court had also ordered that the hanging of Mohammadi take place in public at the scene of the alleged crime in the central city of Qom.
WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should receive a pardon for corruption charges, saying Israeli President Isaac Herzog should be "ashamed of himself" for not granting one.
Here are the details:
Iran and the United States have yet to set a date for a new round of talks after an initial encounter last week on the contested Iranian nuclear programme but, for now, US President Donald Trump is not rushing to launch military action against the Islamic republic.
AFP looks at a critical juncture in the modern history of Iran in the wake of the crackdown on the biggest protests in years in January that according to rights groups has left thousands dead.
- Where is diplomacy? -
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will announce a multi-billion dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and detail plans for a U.N.-authorized stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave at the first formal meeting of his Board of Peace next week, two senior U.S. officials said on Thursday.
Delegations from at least 20 countries, including many heads of state, are expected to attend the meeting in Washington, D.C., which Trump will chair on February 19, the officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The broadcast by Iranian state-controlled television of interviews with several women not wearing the Muslim headscarf during a rally commemorating the Islamic revolution has angered critics of the clerical system who accused authorities of hypocrisy.
Since shortly after the 1979 revolution, it has been obligatory for women to cover their heads in public, although in recent months there has been growing evidence of women openly flouting the rule, especially in the capital Tehran.
