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Erdogan Lashes out at Israel on Visit to Pakistan, Laments Gaza's Tragedy

Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - The AP news.
Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - The AP news.
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Erdogan Lashes out at Israel on Visit to Pakistan, Laments Gaza's Tragedy

Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - The AP news.
Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - The AP news.

Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at Israel during a visit to Pakistan on Thursday, speaking up in defense of Palestinians in Gaza and condemning ideas to forcibly displace them from their land.

Speaking at a business forum, Erdogan accused Israel of failing to keep to a ceasefire agreement, warning that the region was being dragged “toward blood and tears again.”

Erdogan reiterated his opposition to President Donald Trump's proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza.

“Gaza belongs to our Gazan brothers and sisters and will remain so forever,” he said in a televised speech at a business forum in the capital, Islamabad. Erdogan arrived on a two-day visit on Wednesday night, The AP reported.

“The homeland for which the Palestinians have sacrificed tens of thousands of their children is not up for bargaining," he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Erdogan held talks on Gaza and bilateral Türkiye-Pakistani trade and cooperation with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The two leaders also jointly chaired strategic cooperation talks between their countries and witnessed the signing of 24 agreements and a memorandums of understanding on boosting economic and defense ties.

At the business forum, Sharif said the two nations would try to increase the volume of their annual bilateral trade to $5 billion, from the current $1 billion.

“Alongside Pakistan, we strive to provide every effort possible to support to the just cause of our Palestinian brothers, both within the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other platforms," Erdogan also said.

“We must strengthen this determined stance, especially at a time when there are unlawful and morally unacceptable proposals such as tearing our Gazan brothers from their homeland,” he added.

Erdogan was earlier welcomed by people in traditional Turkish and Pakistani dress who lined a key city road decorated with Turkish and Pakistani flags. Erdogan was accompanied on the trip by his wife, Emine Erdogan.

The Turkish leader also to also meet with his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari.

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World

Pope Leo Summons World's Cardinals for Key Assembly to Help him Govern the Church

A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV presiding over the Jubilee Audience in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, 20 December 2025. EPA/VATICAN MEDIA HANDOUT
A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV presiding over the Jubilee Audience in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, 20 December 2025. EPA/VATICAN MEDIA HANDOUT
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Pope Leo Summons World's Cardinals for Key Assembly to Help him Govern the Church

A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV presiding over the Jubilee Audience in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, 20 December 2025. EPA/VATICAN MEDIA HANDOUT
A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV presiding over the Jubilee Audience in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, 20 December 2025. EPA/VATICAN MEDIA HANDOUT

Pope Leo XIV has summoned the world’s cardinals for two days of meetings to help him govern the church, the Vatican said Saturday, in the clearest sign yet that the new year will signal the unofficial start of his pontificate.

The consistory, as such gatherings are called, will be held Jan. 7-8, immediately following the Jan. 6 conclusion of the 2025 Holy Year, a once-every-quarter century celebration of Christianity.

Leo’s first few months as pope have been dominated by fulfilling the weekly Holy Year obligations of meeting with pilgrimage groups and celebrating special Jubilee audiences and Masses. Additionally, much of his time has been spent wrapping up the outstanding matters of Pope Francis' pontificate.

As a result, the January consistory in many ways will mark the first time that Leo can look ahead to his own agenda following his May 8 election as the first American pope. It is significant that he has summoned all the world’s cardinals to Rome, The Associated Press reported.

Francis had largely eschewed the consistory tradition as a means of governance. He had instead relied on a small group of eight or nine hand-picked cardinal advisers to help him govern and make key decisions.

The Vatican said Saturday that Leo’s first consistory “will be oriented toward fostering common discernment and offering support and advice to the Holy Father in the exercise of his high and grave responsibility in the government of the universal Church.”

Other types of consistories include the formal installation of new cardinals. But no new cardinals will be made at this meeting, which is purely consultative.

World

Iran, UK Foreign Ministers in Rare Direct Contact

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gestures during a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at Zinaida Morozova's Mansion in Moscow, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Ramil Sitdikov/Pool Photo via AP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gestures during a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at Zinaida Morozova's Mansion in Moscow, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Ramil Sitdikov/Pool Photo via AP)
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Iran, UK Foreign Ministers in Rare Direct Contact

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gestures during a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at Zinaida Morozova's Mansion in Moscow, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Ramil Sitdikov/Pool Photo via AP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gestures during a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at Zinaida Morozova's Mansion in Moscow, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Ramil Sitdikov/Pool Photo via AP)

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has spoken by phone with his British counterpart Yvette Cooper, an Iranian foreign ministry statement said on Saturday, in a rare case of direct contact between the two countries.

The ministry said that in Friday's call the ministers "stressed the need to continue consultations at various levels to strengthen mutual understanding and pursue issues of mutual interest."

According to AFP, a UK government source said Cooper "emphasized the need for a diplomatic solution on Iran's nuclear program and raised a number of other issues."

The source in London said Cooper raised the case of Lindsay and Craig Foreman, a British couple detained in Iran for nearly a year on suspicion of espionage.

The Iranian ministry statement did not mention the case of the two Britons.

It said Araghchi criticized "the irresponsible approach of the three European countries towards the Iranian nuclear issue", referring to Britain, France and Germany.

The three countries at the end of September initiated the reinstatement of UN sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear program.

The Foremans, both in their early fifties, were seized in January as they passed through Kerman, in central Iran, while on a round-the-world motorbike trip.

Iran accuses the couple of entering the country pretending to be tourists so as to gather information for foreign intelligence services, an allegation the couple's family rejects.

Before Friday's call, the last exchange between the two ministers was in October.

World

Netanyahu Plans to Brief Trump on Possible New Iran Strikes, NBC News Reports

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the plenum of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, November 10, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the plenum of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, November 10, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
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Netanyahu Plans to Brief Trump on Possible New Iran Strikes, NBC News Reports

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the plenum of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, November 10, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the plenum of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, November 10, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo

US President Donald Trump is ​set to be briefed by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any expansion ‌of ‌Iran's ‌ballistic ⁠missile ​program ‌poses a threat that could necessitate swift action, NBC News reported on Saturday.

Israeli ⁠officials are ‌concerned that Iran ‍is ‍reconstituting nuclear enrichment ‍sites the US bombed in June, and ​are preparing to brief Trump for options ⁠on attacking the missile program again, the NBC report added.

Reuters could not verify the report.

New satellite imagery shows recent activity at the Natanz nuclear facility that was damaged during June's 12-day war with Israel, according to the US-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS).

During the June conflict, the IAEA confirmed Israeli strikes hit Iran's Natanz underground enrichment plant.

The think tank said the satellite imagery from December 13 show panels placed on top of the remaining anti-drone structure at the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), providing cover for the damaged facility.

It suggested the new covering allows Iran to examine or retrieve materials from the rubble while limiting external observation.

The Natanz uranium enrichment facility, located some 250 km south of the Iranian capital Tehran, is one of Iran's most important and most controversial nuclear facilities in the Middle East.