Motorbike Explodes in front of Jordan's Military Office in Paris

Police officers stand next to a burnt scooter outside the office of Jordan's military attache in Paris CREDIT: THIBAULT CAMUS/AP
Police officers stand next to a burnt scooter outside the office of Jordan's military attache in Paris CREDIT: THIBAULT CAMUS/AP
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Motorbike Explodes in front of Jordan's Military Office in Paris

Police officers stand next to a burnt scooter outside the office of Jordan's military attache in Paris CREDIT: THIBAULT CAMUS/AP
Police officers stand next to a burnt scooter outside the office of Jordan's military attache in Paris CREDIT: THIBAULT CAMUS/AP

A motorbike explosion outside the office of Jordan's military attache in western Paris did not appear to intentionally target Jordan, an embassy official said on Wednesday.

According to local police and Jordan's foreign ministry, the scooter caught fire, setting off a small explosion in front of the building.

“A motorbike exploded in front of the building where the military attache’s office is. The police are investigating,” an embassy official said. “It doesn’t seem to be an intentional act that targets Jordan.”

The fire caused minor damage, but no injuries and police are investigating whether the fire was accidental.

According to the Paris police department the fire spread to a diplomatic vehicle early in the morning, but there was nothing that “corresponded to an explosion.”

An official at the nearby Jordanian embassy told Reuters he did not believe the explosion was intentionally targeting Jordan.

The Jordanian embassy and the office of the military attache are in separate areas of Paris.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted by the Jordanian state-run Petra news agency earlier saying that a motorbike exploded in front of Jordan’s military mission, but that no staff were injured in the explosion.

The Paris police department said an investigation had been opened, but there was nothing to suggest the incident was related to terrorism.



Japan Leukaemia Survivor Ikee to Swim at Paris Olympics

Rikako Ikee celebrates a bronze medal for the women's 50m butterfly at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year. Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP
Rikako Ikee celebrates a bronze medal for the women's 50m butterfly at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year. Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP
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Japan Leukaemia Survivor Ikee to Swim at Paris Olympics

Rikako Ikee celebrates a bronze medal for the women's 50m butterfly at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year. Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP
Rikako Ikee celebrates a bronze medal for the women's 50m butterfly at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year. Manan VATSYAYANA / AFP

Leukaemia survivor Rikako Ikee will compete for Japan in the 100m butterfly at the Paris Olympics after missing out on an individual place at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
Three-time world champion Daiya Seto will swim the men's individual medley after Japan's 27-member team for the Paris Games was announced by the country's Swimming Federation on Wednesday.
An 18-year-old Ikee was named MVP of the 2018 Asian Games after claiming six golds and two silvers, and was expected to be one of the stars of the Tokyo Olympics, said AFP.
In early 2019, a few months after those triumphs, she was diagnosed with leukemia and spent around 10 months in hospital.
She only returned to competition in August 2020 and completed an incredible comeback by winning the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly at the 2021 Olympic trials.
Her times were not fast enough to qualify for the individual events in Tokyo but the performances gained her selection for both freestyle and medley relay teams at her home Olympics.
Now 23, Ikee secured her place in the 100m butterfly by just 0.01sec at Japan's trials earlier this month as she held off the fast-finishing Matsumoto Shiho to finish second in 57.34sec.
"In the end I think it was my long arms that won the touch," Ikee was quoted as saying by Olympics.com.
"I think God was on my side today."
The race was won in an impressive 56.91sec by 17-year-old Haiari Mazuki, one of several talented Japanese teenagers in the team.
Also heading to Paris are Mio Narita, 17, in the women's individual medley and Tomoyuki Matsushita, 18, who swims the same event for men.
"I'm glad lots of veterans and young talent made it to the national team this time," Daichi Suzuki, the swimming federation chief, was reported as saying by Japan media.
"I hope to see them on the podium with Japan's national flag on their shoulders in Paris," he added.


FIFA Series 2024 Concludes in Jeddah

The FIFA Series 2024 Saudi Arabia wrapped up its friendly matches in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - SPA
The FIFA Series 2024 Saudi Arabia wrapped up its friendly matches in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - SPA
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FIFA Series 2024 Concludes in Jeddah

The FIFA Series 2024 Saudi Arabia wrapped up its friendly matches in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - SPA
The FIFA Series 2024 Saudi Arabia wrapped up its friendly matches in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - SPA

The FIFA Series 2024 Saudi Arabia wrapped up its friendly matches in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, marking the first time the Kingdom played host during the international FIFA days, featuring eight national teams. Held in Jeddah, the matches took place in two venues -- the auxiliary stadiums of King Abdullah Sports City and Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City -- from March 21 to March 26 of this year, Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) President Yasser Al Misehal said in a news release, SPA reported.
The first group featured teams from Cape Verde (Confederation of African Football), Cambodia (Asian Football Confederation), Equatorial Guinea (Confederation of African Football), and Guyana (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football), while the second group included Bermuda (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football), Brunei Darussalam (Asian Football Confederation), Guinea (Confederation of African Football), and Vanuatu (Oceania Football Confederation).
The SAFF president hailed the event as a "success" and emphasized the role of Saudi talents in showcasing Saudi Arabia's capacity to host global events.

"This tournament is seen as a collaborative effort between FIFA and the Saudi Federation to develop international football, aligning with FIFA's goals, particularly in developing national teams and creating more opportunities for their growth” he said.
Saudi Arabia recently has hosted numerous high-profile events, establishing itself as a global sports powerhouse. Its recent hosting of the FIFA Club World Cup, Spanish and Italian Super Cups, and the West Asian Women's Championship, coupled with its hosting the 2027 Asian Cup, showcase its ambition.

The Kingdom's potential candidacy for the 2034 World Cup further demonstrates its commitment to major sporting events.


Liverpool 'Not The Right Option' For Alonso, Says Matthaeus

Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk and head coach Jurgen Klopp and teammates celebrate after winning the EFL Carabao Cup final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium in London, Britain, 25 February 2024. EPA/ANDY RAIN
Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk and head coach Jurgen Klopp and teammates celebrate after winning the EFL Carabao Cup final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium in London, Britain, 25 February 2024. EPA/ANDY RAIN
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Liverpool 'Not The Right Option' For Alonso, Says Matthaeus

Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk and head coach Jurgen Klopp and teammates celebrate after winning the EFL Carabao Cup final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium in London, Britain, 25 February 2024. EPA/ANDY RAIN
Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk and head coach Jurgen Klopp and teammates celebrate after winning the EFL Carabao Cup final match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Wembley Stadium in London, Britain, 25 February 2024. EPA/ANDY RAIN

Ballon d'Or winner Lothar Matthaeus said Wednesday a move to Liverpool in the summer was "not the right option" for in-demand Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso.

Alonso has been linked with moves to Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, clubs where he all spent time as a player, having so far done a stunning job at runaway Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen.

Alonso has the unbeaten side 10 points clear of Bayern Munich and on track for a first-ever German title with eight games remaining this season.

In an interview with AFP and other media on Wednesday, Matthaeus said following outgoing manager Jurgen Klopp would be difficult for any coach and that the in-demand Alonso should stay with Leverkusen.

"Liverpool is not the right option for Xabi Alonso after this season. He has better options."

Matthaeus spent the majority of his career at Bayern and said he would welcome Alonso as the replacement for outgoing coach Thomas Tuchel in the summer but admitted in Munich "(Alonso) would have to build a new team for the future, with new players".

Leverkusen have won 34 and drawn four of 38 games this season. With the club in the final four of the German Cup and the quarter-finals of the Europa League, Alonso has Leverkusen on course for a treble.

"Why move to Liverpool? Why should he leave this beautiful team which makes us happy with their beautiful football, like Barcelona 12 years ago?"

Klopp shocked the football world in January by announcing he would leave Liverpool at the end of the season after nine years at the Reds, citing exhaustion.

Matthaeus said Klopp's success at Liverpool made him a hard act to follow.

"To coach at Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp is not easy because Jurgen is a hero, he's fantastic. What he was doing is great and what could you do that was much better?"

The 1990 World Cup winning captain praised current Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann and said the side was "on the right path" after returning to form with wins over France and the Netherlands in the last week.

However, Matthaeus did add: "In Germany, our dream and wish was that Jurgen Klopp would be the next national coach."


French Parliament Calls for Commemorating Assassination of Algerians 63 Years Ago in Paris

A number of Algerians were arrested in Puteaux, west of Paris, during the protests of October 17, 1967 (AFP)
A number of Algerians were arrested in Puteaux, west of Paris, during the protests of October 17, 1967 (AFP)
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French Parliament Calls for Commemorating Assassination of Algerians 63 Years Ago in Paris

A number of Algerians were arrested in Puteaux, west of Paris, during the protests of October 17, 1967 (AFP)
A number of Algerians were arrested in Puteaux, west of Paris, during the protests of October 17, 1967 (AFP)

Sixty-three years ago, 30,000 Algerians who came to demonstrate peacefully in Paris were subjected to violent repression, leaving many people dead and injured.

Historians say “at least dozens” of people were killed as a result of police violence. The French Parliament is scheduled to discuss, on Thursday, a draft resolution supported by President Emmanuel Macron’s party, demanding that the government allocate a day to commemorate this massacre.

On Oct. 17, 1967, six months before the Evian Accords established Algeria’s independence from France, the “French-Algerian Muslims,” as they were called at the time, flocked from poor neighborhoods in the suburbs and popular neighborhoods in Paris, where they lived.

At the invitation of the French branch of the National Liberation Front, an Algerian political party, they defied a ban imposed by police director Maurice Papon, who was later convicted in 1998 of complicity in crimes against humanity for his role in the deportation of Jews between 1942 and 1944.

These demonstrators faced the most fatal repression in Western Europe since 1945, according to historian Emmanuel Blanchard. On that day, the police arrested about 12,000 demonstrators. Bodies with multiple bullet wounds or signs of beating were recovered from the Seine River in the following days. In 1988, an advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office during the Algerian War estimated that police “attacks” had killed about 100 people, while a government report in 1998 counted 48 deaths.

In a declassified archive, published by the French website Mediapart in 2022, a memorandum from a high-ranking official, who worked as an advisor to Charles de Gaulle, dated October 28, 1961, states that there were 54 dead. The toll presented by historians over the years ranged between 30 and more than 200 deceased.

Blanchard recalls that as soon as the first demonstrators began arriving at Neuilly Bridge, west of Paris, security forces fatally shot a quiet crowd, which included families. The violence of police officers increased when they heard radio messages published by the police falsely announcing that officers had been shot dead. Shooting operations also occurred in several places in the capital.

These violations were not recognized until 2012, when then-French President François Hollande, commemorated for the first time the “memory of the victims of the bloody repression” to which they were subjected while they were demonstrating for the “right to independence.” In 2021, Emmanuel Macron spoke of “unforgiveable crimes” committed “under the authority of Maurice Papon.”


Battles, Bombardment in Gaza as Israel Reschedules Talks with US

US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Anderson told AFP if a parachute failed to open they tried to make sure it ends up in the water - AFP
US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Anderson told AFP if a parachute failed to open they tried to make sure it ends up in the water - AFP
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Battles, Bombardment in Gaza as Israel Reschedules Talks with US

US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Anderson told AFP if a parachute failed to open they tried to make sure it ends up in the water - AFP
US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Anderson told AFP if a parachute failed to open they tried to make sure it ends up in the water - AFP

Battles and bombardment pounded the Gaza Strip on Thursday, after Washington said Israel agreed to reschedule cancelled talks with tensions worsening between the allies.

United States criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has mounted over Gaza's civilian death toll, dire food shortages, and Israeli plans to push its ground offensive against Hamas militants into the far-southern city of Rafah, which is packed with displaced civilians.

World leaders have warned against a Rafah offensive which they fear would worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation for the Palestinian territory's 2.4 million residents.

The United Nations reported late Wednesday that famine "is ever closer to becoming a reality in northern Gaza," and said the territory's health system is collapsing "due to ongoing hostilities and access constraints."

Bombardment and fighting have continued despite a binding United Nations Security Council resolution passed on Monday demanding an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza and the release of hostages held by militants.

Netanyahu scrapped an Israeli visit to Washington to discuss the Rafah plan, in protest of the UN ceasefire resolution from which the United States abstained, allowing it to pass.

Netanyahu's government has since backtracked and agreed "to reschedule the meeting dedicated to Rafah", according to White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.

She added that they were working to find a "convenient date".

US officials say they plan to present Israel with an alternative for Rafah, focused on striking Hamas targets while limiting the civilian toll.

The health ministry, in a preliminary toll issued early on Thursday, said 66 people were killed overnight.

Fighting continued around three of the Strip's hospitals, raising fears for patients, medical staff and displaced people inside them.

The Al-Amal hospital in Khan Yunis, near Rafah, "has ceased to function completely", the Palestine Red Crescent said earlier this week, following the evacuation of civilians from the medical center.

Israel's military accuses Hamas of hiding in medical facilities and using civilians as shields.

Early on Thursday, the army said militants had been firing on troops "from within and outside the emergency ward at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

Troops began raiding Al-Shifa early last week, and on Wednesday night carried out an airstrike on the emergency ward "while avoiding harm to civilians, patients, and medical teams," the army said.

The UN has reported "intensive exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and armed Palestinians". It cited the health ministry as saying the army has confined medical staff and patients to one building, not allowing them to leave.

Israel's army said troops had evacuated civilians, patients and staff "to alternative medical facilities" it set up.

Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles have also massed around the Nasser Hospital, the health ministry said, adding that shots were fired but no raid had yet been launched.

The Red Crescent warned that thousands were trapped inside.

Gaza has endured almost six months of war and a siege that has cut off most food, water, fuel and other supplies.

Israel denies it is blocking food trucks but aid entering the Gaza Strip by land is far below pre-war levels -- around 150 vehicles a day compared with at least 500 before the war, according to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

With limited ground access, several nations have begun aid airdrops, and a sea corridor from Cyprus delivered its first cargo of food.

But UN agencies said these are no substitute for land deliveries.

Desperate crowds have rushed towards aid packages drifting down on parachutes, and Hamas on Tuesday said 18 people drowned or died in stampedes trying to recover airdropped aid.

Talks in Qatar towards a truce and hostage release deal, involving US and Egyptian mediators, have brought no result so far, halfway through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, before meeting visiting Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, stressed that "the number of civilian casualties is far too high, and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low" in Gaza.

US criticism has mounted but President Joe Biden has made clear he will not use his key point of leverage -- cutting US military assistance to Israel, which amounts to billions of dollars.

Netanyahu, who leads a coalition including religious and ultra-nationalist parties, faces ongoing protests at home over his failure to bring home all of the hostages.

Alongside the bloodiest-ever Gaza war, violence has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where medics and the army said three people were wounded in a gun attack Thursday that targeted a school bus.

The war has raised fears of wider regional conflict, particularly along the Israeli-Lebanon border.

Lebanon's Hezbollah movement on Wednesday announced the deaths of eight of its members after a day of cross-border fire with Israel that left at least 16 people dead.

Israeli first responders said they pronounced a man dead in an Israeli border town, after Hezbollah rocket fire followed an Israeli strike on what its military called a "military compound" in southern Lebanon.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Thursday that at least 32,552 people have been killed in the territory during more than five months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants.

The toll includes at least 62 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 74,980 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.


German Mail Service Stops Using Domestic Flights to Transport Letters after Nearly 63 Years

WISAG employees load a Eurowings Airbus A320-214 bound for Stuttgart with plastic boxes full of mail, at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, in Schönefeld, Germany, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (Soeren Stache/dpa via AP)
WISAG employees load a Eurowings Airbus A320-214 bound for Stuttgart with plastic boxes full of mail, at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, in Schönefeld, Germany, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (Soeren Stache/dpa via AP)
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German Mail Service Stops Using Domestic Flights to Transport Letters after Nearly 63 Years

WISAG employees load a Eurowings Airbus A320-214 bound for Stuttgart with plastic boxes full of mail, at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, in Schönefeld, Germany, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (Soeren Stache/dpa via AP)
WISAG employees load a Eurowings Airbus A320-214 bound for Stuttgart with plastic boxes full of mail, at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, in Schönefeld, Germany, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (Soeren Stache/dpa via AP)

Germany's main national postal carrier on Thursday stopped using domestic flights to transport letters after nearly 63 years, a move that reflects the declining significance of letter mail and allows it to improve its climate footprint.
Deutsche Post said the last planes carrying letters between northern and southern Germany, operated by Lufthansa unit Eurowings and Tui Fly, flew overnight on the Stuttgart-Berlin, Hannover-Munich and Hannover-Stuttgart routes, the Associated Press said.
The company said letters between those destinations will now be transported by road, allowing the company to reduce transport-related carbon dioxide emissions on the routes by over 80%.
“In times of climate change, airmail for domestic letters within Germany can no longer be justified — also because there is no longer the same urgency associated with letter mail as in decades past,” Marc Hitschfeld, chief operations officer of parent company DHL Group's German mail and parcel division, said in a statement.
Draft legislation approved by the German Cabinet in December, which still needs parliamentary approval, is set to reduce pressure on Deutsche Post to deliver letters quickly, allowing it to cut costs.
At present, the mail service is supposed to deliver at least 80% of letters on the working day after they are mailed. Under the planned new rules, it will have to deliver 95% by the third working day.
German domestic mail flights started in September 1961. Both the volume of mail carried by air and the number of destinations served have declined drastically since the mid-1990s.


Ramadan Traditions in Northern Saudi Arabia Reflect a Time of Community, Sharing, and Faith

Saleh Al-Mutlaq, an 82-year-old resident of Hail, paints a vivid picture of Ramadan in his youth. (SPA)
Saleh Al-Mutlaq, an 82-year-old resident of Hail, paints a vivid picture of Ramadan in his youth. (SPA)
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Ramadan Traditions in Northern Saudi Arabia Reflect a Time of Community, Sharing, and Faith

Saleh Al-Mutlaq, an 82-year-old resident of Hail, paints a vivid picture of Ramadan in his youth. (SPA)
Saleh Al-Mutlaq, an 82-year-old resident of Hail, paints a vivid picture of Ramadan in his youth. (SPA)

Saleh Al-Mutlaq, an 82-year-old resident of Hail, paints a vivid picture of Ramadan in his youth. His memories highlight the importance of community, sharing, and faith that permeated the holy month, the Saudi Press Agency said on Thursday.
One tradition involved gathering near the neighborhood mosque every Friday night for a potluck meal. This custom, fostering a spirit of togetherness, ensured that everyone shared in the bounty of Ramadan.
The "dinner of the parents," held on the 27th night of Ramadan, exemplifies the emphasis placed on family bonds. This tradition, passed down from Al-Mutlaq's father, highlights the importance of strengthening connections within the community.
Checking on neighbors, especially those in need, was another custom. People readily offered food and financial assistance, reinforcing a sense of mutual support and compassion.
Before the advent of radio, the booming cannon from A'arif Fort announced the start of Ramadan with nine shots. This unique tradition added a special touch to the beginning and end of the holy month, with nine shots marking Eid al-Fitr as well.
Religious practices were central to the Ramadan experience. People gathered at mosques for Quran recitation, lectures, and night prayers.
Mornings were spent working on farms or at the markets, showcasing the dedication to faith alongside daily routines.
Al-Mutlaq's memories serve as a valuable reminder of the rich tapestry of traditions that once defined Ramadan in Hail. These cherished practices are a vital part of the country's heritage, to be passed onto future generations.


Türkiye Opposition Aims to Hit Back at Erdogan in Local Elections

Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a speech during a campaign rally ahead of nationwide municipality elections, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Sunday, March 24, 2024. (AP)
Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a speech during a campaign rally ahead of nationwide municipality elections, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Sunday, March 24, 2024. (AP)
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Türkiye Opposition Aims to Hit Back at Erdogan in Local Elections

Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a speech during a campaign rally ahead of nationwide municipality elections, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Sunday, March 24, 2024. (AP)
Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a speech during a campaign rally ahead of nationwide municipality elections, in Istanbul, Türkiye, Sunday, March 24, 2024. (AP)

Bruised and fractured by Tayyip Erdogan's victory in 2023 general elections, Türkiye’s opposition aims to land a blow in Sunday's local polls, with the future of its biggest hope, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, tied to the outcome.
The nationwide municipal votes on March 31 could reinforce President Erdogan's control after two decades running Türkiye, or signal change in the NATO member's deeply divided political landscape.
The results are likely to be shaped in part by economic woes driven by rampant inflation, and by Kurdish and Islamist voters weighing up the government's performance and their hopes for political change, Reuters said.
Opposition hopes of transformation were fuelled by local election results in 2019 when they defeated Erdogan's AK Party in the main two cities, Istanbul and Ankara, which had been run by the AKP and its Islamist predecessors for 25 years. But Erdogan bounced back last year, retaining the presidency and winning a parliamentary majority with nationalist allies despite voters' concerns about a cost-of-living crisis. In response, a broad opposition alliance splintered. Polls show Imamoglu and the AKP candidate, former minister Murat Kurum, in a close race in Istanbul, a city of 16 million, where Erdogan made his name as mayor in the 1990s. The incumbent opposition mayor leads in the capital Ankara. Erdogan has been seeking a bigger role for Türkiye on the world stage and sought to repair frayed ties with many nations in recent years, including in the Middle East. But during campaigning he said Turks should vote for the AKP to defend against unspecified enemies.
"Those who cannot stomach Türkiye’s increasing power in the region and world, or its principled and fair stance, are currently waiting in ambush," he said on Monday at a rally in the northern province of Tokat.
"In 2019 when Erdogan and AK Party lost Istanbul, it was a big blow and it was a scratch on Erdogan's reputation. Up until then he was unbeatable, invincible," said Yetkin Report analyst Murat Yetkin, describing a win in Istanbul as vital for Erdogan.
"If he does so, that means that he will be able to extend and endorse his power to local administrations," he said, with analysts saying Erdogan may then bid to change the constitution to enable him to stand as president again in 2028.
An Imamoglu victory would however revitalize the opposition, said political analyst Berk Esen of Sabanci University.
"If the opposition candidate can win in Istanbul then at least the main opposition party will be able to gain sufficient strength to challenge Erdogan in the coming years," he said.
It was a message that Imamoglu sought to convey.
"Türkiye’s destiny is in your hands," Imamoglu said in an appeal to young Turks in Istanbul. "You can change what is going wrong in Türkiye with one vote."
"The playing field is tilted in favor of the ruling alliance," said Esen. "Imamoglu is basically fighting alone."
ECONOMY, GAZA SWAYING VOTERS
Erdogan's prospects appear to have been dented by a rise in support for the Islamist New Welfare Party due to its hardline stance against Israel over the Gaza conflict and dissatisfaction with the Islamist-rooted AKP's handling of the economy. Erdogan's rhetoric against Israel has been harsh but Ankara has maintained commercial ties with Israel, drawing criticism from Welfare, which has tapped into anger among Turks who want the government to be more active in supporting Palestinians.
"If we, the Welfare Party, were in power, Israel would not be able to attack Gaza," the party's deputy leader Mehmet Altinoz told Reuters, calling for a trade embargo on Israel.
Polls indicate Welfare's support may have doubled to some 5%, eating into votes that may otherwise have gone to the AKP.
"They have a more radical, anti-Israeli stance and this makes them popular among radical Islamists," said Yetkin. Erdogan's prospects of winning back Istanbul may also depend on Kurdish voters, many of whom are expected to put aside party loyalty and back Imamoglu, according to pollsters.
For other voters, the local elections offer an opportunity to give their verdict on the government's economic performance. Turks have been struggling with soaring prices for years, with annual inflation still near 70% despite a major U-turn in economic policy after last year's elections that lifted the key interest rate a massive 4,150 basis points to 50%.
While the economy may be a key factor influencing voters nationwide, the focus of attention will be on Istanbul and the message it gives on the direction that Türkiye is taking.
"If he loses this election, the legend of Ekrem Imamoglu would be in great trouble," said MAK Research head Mehmet Ali Kulat. But victory for him will change the picture.
"Imamoglu would become an important actor in Turkish politics for the next 20 years and very likely be a candidate in the next presidential election."


Beyonce Goes Cowboycore with New Album Heavy on Texas Roots

Beyonce is embracing her Texas roots with her new album, 'Cowboy Carter'. Theo Wargo / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Beyonce is embracing her Texas roots with her new album, 'Cowboy Carter'. Theo Wargo / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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Beyonce Goes Cowboycore with New Album Heavy on Texas Roots

Beyonce is embracing her Texas roots with her new album, 'Cowboy Carter'. Theo Wargo / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
Beyonce is embracing her Texas roots with her new album, 'Cowboy Carter'. Theo Wargo / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

Beyonce has been a showbiz fixture for nearly three decades, shapeshifting from girl group lead and pop empress to Hollywood actor and business mogul.
But for all the caps she's worn, the Houston-bred megastar's cowboy hat has stayed within reach: Queen Bey has always been country.
Now she's firmly entering her yeehaw era: "Cowboy Carter," the second act of her "Renaissance" project, is set to drop Friday at midnight (0400 GMT), AFP said.
From the vocal harmonies of Destiny's Child to the outlaw twang of 2016's "Daddy Lessons," Beyonce has long paid homage to her southern heritage, incorporating country influences into her music, style and visual art.
A Texan raised by a mother from Louisiana and father from Alabama, the singer -- who has repeatedly rewritten music's marketing playbook -- has made clear she will fully celebrate her roots on her new project.
She has already topped the charts with the first two singles off the album -- "Texas Hold 'Em" and "16 Carriages," dropped during February's Super Bowl.
Nevertheless, her popularity and influence -- she has more Grammy wins than any other artist in the business -- have brushed up against the overwhelmingly white, male gatekeepers of country music, who have long dictated the genre's boundaries.
She notably received racist comments after performing what was then her most country song to date, "Daddy Lessons," at the 2016 Country Music Association Awards alongside The Chicks.
But Bey is not backing down.
"The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me," she said on Instagram recently.
"act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work."
Black artists have always been instrumental to the genre, but backlash is frequent.
Lil Nas X -- the overnight sensation whose infectious, record-breaking "Old Town Road" paired banjo twangs with thumping bass -- was scrapped from Billboard's country chart, triggering criticism he was dubbed hip-hop because he is Black.
"Whenever a Black artist puts out a country song, the judgment, comments, and opinions come thick and fast," the Grammy-winning Rhiannon Giddens, who features on "Texas Hold 'Em," wrote in a recent column in The Guardian.
"Let's stop pretending that the outrage surrounding this latest single is about anything other than people trying to protect their nostalgia for a pure ethnically white tradition that never was," Giddens said.
'Policing the borders'
For Charles Hughes, author of the book "Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South," Beyonce's country era is "claiming of part of her musical identity and part of her Houstonness."
And yet "Black and brown artists are required by a white-dominated music industry, and a white-dominated understanding of country music... to prove their bona fides," he said.
"It has nothing to do with the music they're making."
In the last 15 years in particular, Beyonce "has really embraced and engaged with her Texanness," Hughes told AFP. "Anybody paying attention can't be too surprised here."
"Yet it still provoked this huge reckoning, once again, where you had people saying, 'Oh, she can't be country,'" he said, describing the reaction as an old refrain in Nashville "used as a mechanism of policing the borders around the music."
Holly G, who founded the Black Opry to showcase Black artists in country three years ago, told AFP "country music fans typically like to think of themselves as traditionalists, which is a bit ironic because Black people invented country music."
"There's always that pushback when there's something new or something different coming into the space," she continued. "Unfortunately for them, she's much more powerful than they are."
In 2022 Beyonce released Act I of "Renaissance," a pulsating collection of club tracks rooted in disco history, which highlighted the Black, queer and working-class communities who molded electronic dance and house.
Hughes said she clearly made efforts to understand the history of that scene, and her choice of collaborators for Act II shows a similar sensibility.
And no matter how Nashville reacts to "Cowboy Carter," Beyonce has made it clear she'll have the last word.
"This ain't a Country album," she posted recently. "This is a 'Beyonce' album."


Doctors Visiting a Gaza Hospital are Stunned by the War's Toll on Palestinian Children

A man assists another to carry an intravenous solution bag for him as they walk outside the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on March 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)
A man assists another to carry an intravenous solution bag for him as they walk outside the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on March 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)
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Doctors Visiting a Gaza Hospital are Stunned by the War's Toll on Palestinian Children

A man assists another to carry an intravenous solution bag for him as they walk outside the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on March 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)
A man assists another to carry an intravenous solution bag for him as they walk outside the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza City on March 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)

An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
One toddler died from a brain injury caused by an Israeli strike that fractured his skull. His cousin, an infant, is still fighting for her life with part of her face blown off by the same strike.
An unrelated 10-year-old boy screamed out in pain for his parents, not knowing that they were killed in the strike. Beside him was his sister, but he didn’t recognize her because burns covered almost her entire body.
These gut-wrenching casualties were described to The Associated Press by Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive-care doctor from Jordan, following a 10-hour overnight shift at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah.
Haj-Hassan, who has extensive experience in Gaza and regularly speaks out about the war’s devastating effects, was part of a team that recently finished a two-week stint there.
After nearly six months of war, Gaza’s health sector has been decimated. Roughly a dozen of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are only partially functioning. The rest have either shut down or are barely functioning after they ran out of fuel and medicine, were surrounded and raided by Israeli troops, or were damaged in fighting.
That leaves hospitals such as Al-Aqsa Martyrs caring for an overwhelming number of patients with limited supplies and staff. The majority of its intensive care unit beds are occupied by children, including infants wrapped in bandages and wearing oxygen masks.
“I spend most of my time here resuscitating children,” Haj-Hassan said after a recent shift. “What does that tell you about every other hospital in the Gaza Strip?”
A different team of international doctors working at Al-Aqsa Martyrs in January stayed at a nearby guesthouse. But because of a recent surge of Israeli Israel strikes nearby, Haj-Hassan and her co-workers stayed in the hospital itself.
That gave them a painfully vivid look at the strain the hospital has come under as the number of patients keeps rising, said Arvind Das, the team leader in Gaza for the International Rescue Committee. His organization and Medical Aid for Palestinians organized the visit by Haj-Hassan and others.
Mustafa Abu Qassim, a nurse from Jordan who was part of the visiting team, said he was shocked by the overcrowding.
“When we look for patients, there are no rooms,” he said. “They are in the corridors on a bed, a mattress, or on a blanket on the floor.”
Before the war, the hospital had a capacity of around 160 beds, according to the World Health Organization. Now there are some 800 patients, yet many of the hospital's 120 staff members are no longer able to come to work.
Health care workers face the same daily struggle as others in Gaza in finding food for their families and trying to ensure some safety for them. Many bring their children with them to the hospital to keep them close, Abu Qassim said.
“It’s just miserable,” he said.
Thousands of people driven from their homes by the war are also living in the hospital grounds, hoping it will be safe. Hospitals have special protections under international law, though those protections can be removed if combatants use them for military purposes.
Israel has alleged that hospitals serve as command centers, weapons storage facilities and hideouts for Hamas, but has presented little visual evidence. Hamas has denied the allegations. Israel has been carrying out a large-scale operation in Gaza's largest hospital, Shifa, for the past week.
Israeli troops have not raided or besieged Al-Aqsa Martyrs but have attacked surrounding areas, sometimes striking close to the hospital. In January, many doctors, patients, and displaced Palestinians fled the hospital after a flurry of strikes.
Israel’s bombardment and offensive in Gaza have killed more than 32,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 75,000 more in the territory of 2.3 million people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The count does not differentiate between combatants and civilians, but the ministry says about two-thirds of those killed have been women and children.
Roughly half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are 17 or younger, the UN’s agency for children estimates.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for non-combatants' deaths and injuries because the group in Gaza operates from within civilian areas. It says over one-third of the dead are Hamas, though it has not backed up the claim with evidence.
The war was triggered on Oct. 7 by Hamas and other militants who attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages. The Israeli government believes around 100 hostages being held in Gaza are still alive.
In the early stages of the war, Israel severely limited the entry of food, fuel and medical supplies into Gaza. While the flow of aid has increased — and Israel says there are no longer any limits — the international community has called on Israel to let in more.
Aid groups say complicated inspection procedures at the border, continued fighting, and a breakdown in public order have caused massive slowdowns in convoys. Israel accuses the UN of disorganization.
The result has been catastrophic, with hospital staff struggling to cope with a shortage of spare parts to maintain medical equipment. Al-Aqsa Martyrs has also been short on anesthetics, meaning surgeries and other procedures are frequently performed without painkillers.
Haj-Hassan says there is only one way to end Gaza’s health care crisis.
“They need the war to stop,” she said.