ISTANBUL: Turkey will send 1,000 tons of aid to Myanmar to help Rohingya Muslims after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with the Asian country’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a spokesman said.
Erdogan had condemned escalating human rights violations against the Rohingya minority during the phone call earlier in the day, Turkish presidential sources said.
“After the president’s conversation with his Myanmar counterpart... permission was given for 1,000 tons of aid to be sent initially,” Erdogan spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a statement.
The United Nations said 123,600 Rohingya had crossed into neighboring Bangladesh in the past 11 days following a spike in fighting between militants and Myanmar’s military in strife-torn western Rakhine state, which raised fears of a humanitarian disaster.
The latest violence, which began last October when a small Rohingya militant group ambushed border posts, is the worst Rakhine has witnessed in years, with Erdogan last week accusing Myanmar of “genocide” against the Rohingya Muslim minority.
Unverifiable testimony from those who have fled Myanmar has alleged tit-for-tat mass killings and villages being torched by the army, Buddhist mobs and Rohingya militants.
The Rohingya are reviled in Myanmar, where the roughly one million-strong community are accused of being illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Kalin said Turkey’s international aid body known as the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) would provide rice, dried fish and clothing working with the Rakhine administration, as well as medicine and health products..
The spokesman said TIKA would be the first foreign aid agency to access the region since the violence began.
“At the first stage, 100,000 (Rohingya) families on both sides of the (Myanmar-Bangladesh) border will receive aid,” Kalin said, adding military helicopters would be used because of concerns over safety.
Erdogan has stepped up diplomacy and spoken on the phone with Muslim leaders and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres seeking ways to solve the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.
In his phone call with Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner of Myanmar’s junta, Erdogan said growing human rights violations against the Rohingya “deeply concerned” the entire world, sources from his office said.
Suu Kyi has come under fire over her perceived unwillingness to speak out against the treatment of the Rohingya or chastise the military.
Erdogan said Turkey “condemns terror and operations against innocent civilians,” adding that the developments in Myanmar had turned into a “serious humanitarian crisis which caused worry and resentment.”
The Turkish leader had previously said he would bring up the issue at the next UN General Assembly in New York later this month.
A delegation led by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu with the head of TIKA is expected to visit on Thursday the Bangladeshi border town of Cox’s Bazar to visit camps and surrounding areas where Rohingya Muslims have fled, the spokesman said.
Turkey to send 1,000 tons of aid to Rohingya
Turkey to send 1,000 tons of aid to Rohingya
German spy agency pauses ‘extremist’ classification for AfD party
The extremist classification allows the Cologne-based spy agency to step up monitoring of the AfD
BERLIN: Germany’s domestic spy agency BfV has paused its classification of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as an extremist organization in what the AfD on Thursday called a partial victory for its challenge against the decision.
The agency would not publicly refer to the AfD as a “confirmed right-wing extremist movement” until an administrative court in the western city of Cologne has ruled on an AfD bid for an injunction, a court statement said.
The BfV’s move last week to classify the far-right AfD as extremist produced sharp reactions along the fault lines of German politics, with some lawmakers calling for the AfD to be banned and the AfD casting it as an attack on democracy.
It also sparked strong criticism from US President Donald Trump’s administration, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on the German authorities to reverse their decision.
The extremist classification allows the Cologne-based spy agency to step up monitoring of the AfD, for example by recruiting informants and intercepting party communications.
“The measures associated with the classification will also be suspended,” a court spokesperson said without elaborating.
The agency’s 1,100-page experts’ report, which will not be released to the public, found the AfD to be a racist and anti-Muslim organization.
Founded in 2013, the AfD has surged to become Germany’s second biggest party but other parties have shunned it as toxic.
The AfD says its designation is a politically motivated attempt to discredit and criminalize it.
Its leadership welcomed the decision by the BfV, which the court said was not acknowledging any legal obligation.
“This is a first important step toward our actual exoneration and thus countering the accusation of right-wing extremism,” party leaders Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel said in a joint statement.
The BfV did not immediately comment.
The agency’s decision to pause the AfD’s classification does not mean the BfV has revised its assessment of the party.
The AfD has previously lost a legal challenge when its now-defunct youth organization was classified as right-wing extremist.
On Wednesday, the Republican chairman of the US Senate intelligence committee called for American spy agencies to “pause” intelligence sharing with the BfV, whose mission includes counter-terrorism.
Senator Tom Cotton called for the pause until Germany’s government “treats the AfD as a legitimate opposition party,” according to a letter to Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of National Intelligence.
Diners Club International® Announces $750,000 Donation for World Central Kitchen
- “Diners Club is proud to collaborate with World Central Kitchen as part of our 75th Anniversary celebration,” said Leite
- WCK halted on Wednesday its work in the Gaza Strip, saying it had run out of supplies as it had been prevented by Israel from bringing in aid
RIVERWOODS, USA: Diners Club International announced on Thursday a donation of $750,000 to World Central Kitchen to aid communities impacted by natural disasters and humanitarian crises worldwide.
For every purchase made with a Diners Club card globally on May 7, 2025, the company provided one meal, up to a total of $750,000.
Diners Club’s $750K donation to World Central Kitchen will provide approximately 150,000 meals to impacted communities worldwide.
This contribution is part of its 75th-anniversary celebrations that began in February. Through this collaboration, Club members will have a direct role in providing comforting meals to survivors of natural disasters and humanitarian causes.
“Diners Club is proud to collaborate with World Central Kitchen as part of our 75th Anniversary celebration,” said Ricardo Leite, president of Diners Club International.
As part of Diners Club’s Together for Change program, this global initiative empowers Diners Club Issuers and Club members to support causes that matter most in their communities. For over 20 years, Diners Club has supported various causes, with a focus on sustainability, health care, education and disaster relief.
Meanwhile, US-based World Central Kitchen charity halted on Wednesday its work in the Gaza Strip, saying it had run out of supplies as it had been prevented by Israel from bringing in aid.
“After serving more than 130 million total meals and 26 million loaves of bread over the past 18 months, World Central Kitchen no longer has the supplies to cook meals or bake bread in Gaza,” it said in a post on X.
The charity said it would continue to support Palestinian families by distributing critically needed potable water where possible, but vital food distribution cannot resume until Israel allows aid back into the enclave.
Bill Gates to give away fortune by 2045, $200bn for world’s poorest
- Microsoft co-founder said It’s unclear whether world’s richest countries will continue to stand up for the poorest people amid widespread aid and development funding cuts
- Gates Foundation has given away $100 billion in its first 25 years, saving millions of lives
LONDON: Bill Gates pledged on Thursday to give away almost his entire personal wealth in the next two decades and said the world’s poorest would receive some $200 billion via his foundation at a time when governments worldwide are slashing international aid.
The 69-year-old billionaire Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist said he was speeding up plans to divest his fortune and close the Gates Foundation on Dec. 31, 2045.
“People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that ‘he died rich’ will not be one of them,” Gates wrote in a post on his website.
“There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.”
In an implicit rebuke to President Donald Trump’s slashing of aid from the world’s biggest donor the United States, Gates’ statement said he wanted to help stop newborn babies, children and mothers dying of preventable causes, end diseases like polio, malaria and measles, and reduce poverty.
“It’s unclear whether the world’s richest countries will continue to stand up for its poorest people,” he added, noting cuts from major donors also including the UK and France.
Gates said that despite the foundation’s deep pockets, progress would not be possible without government support.
He praised the response to aid cuts in Africa, where some governments have reallocated budgets, but said that as an example polio would not be eradicated without US funding.
Gates made the announcement on the foundation’s 25th anniversary. He set up the organization with his then-wife Melinda French Gates in 2000, and they were later joined by investor Warren Buffett.
“I have come a long way since I was just a kid starting a software company with my friend from middle school,” he said.
Since inception, the foundation has given away $100 billion, helping to save millions of lives and backing initiatives like the vaccine group Gavi and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
It will close after it spends around 99 percent of his personal fortune, Gates said. The founders originally expected the foundation to wrap up in the decades after their deaths.
Gates, who is valued at around $108 billion today, expects the foundation to spend around $200 billion by 2045, with the final figure dependent on markets and inflation.
The foundation is already a huge player in global health, with an annual budget that will reach $9 billion by 2026.
It has faced criticism for its outsize power and influence in the field without the requisite accountability, including at the World Health Organization.
Gates himself was also subject to conspiracy theories, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gates has also spoken to US President Donald Trump several times in recent months on the importance of continued investment in global health.
“I hope other wealthy people consider how much they can accelerate progress for the world’s poorest if they increased the pace and scale of their giving, because it is such a profoundly impactful way to give back to society,” Gates wrote.
Ambani’s Reliance pulls trademark application for codename of Pakistan strikes
- Ambani’s film studio withdraws application to trademark codename ‘Operation Sindhor’ against Pakistan after public and political uproar
- Reliance says phrase “Operation Sindoor” was “now a part of the national consciousness as an evocative symbol of Indian bravery“
NEW DELHI: Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani’s film studio has withdrawn an application to trademark the codename for India’s military strikes against Pakistan after a public and political uproar on social media against the move.
In a statement, billionaire Ambani’s conglomerate Reliance said the trademark application was filed inadvertently by a junior person at Jio Studios without authorization, adding that the phrase “Operation Sindoor” was “now a part of the national consciousness as an evocative symbol of Indian bravery.”
India said it hit “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir earlier this week after militants killed 26 men, mostly Hindu, in Indian Kashmir. Sindoor, which refers to the red vermilion powder worn by married Hindu women, was an apparent reference to the widows left by the attack.
Reliance’s statement came hours after some social media users posted screenshots of the Indian government website showing some individuals and Reliance had filed applications for trademark registration.
“This isn’t branding, it’s blatant mockery ... It’s disturbing to see something so serious being reduced to a joke,” posted an X user who identified herself as Archana Pawar.
Aniruddh Sharma, a spokesperson for India’s main opposition Congress party, questioned why Ambani was trying to register the trademark for his business gains.
In its application, Reliance said it was for “provision of entertainment; production, presentation and distribution of audio, video.”
Bollywood films on India’s previous military operations have been huge hits. In 2019, “Uri,” based on India’s previous “surgical strikes” on alleged Islamist militant launchpads in Pakistani territory, was released in 16 countries including India.
Islamabad said at the time there had been no Indian incursion into its territory and there was no retaliation by Pakistani forces.
Reliance last year merged its Indian media assets with Walt Disney to create a $8.5 billion entertainment empire, which runs several channels and a streaming platform.
Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia hold first committee meeting on defense cooperation
- Joint meeting follows Bangladeshi chief of air staff’s visit to Riyadh in February
- Talks open up ‘new horizon’ to boost defense ties, Bangladeshi military official says
DHAKA: Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh held the first meeting of their Joint Committee on Defense Cooperation, as Dhaka seeks to strengthen its security ties with the Kingdom.
Maj. Gen. Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Khalidi, assistant chief of training and development of the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, was in Dhaka to lead a Saudi delegation for the three-day talks, which concluded on Thursday.
The Bangladeshi side was led by Lt. Gen. S.M. Kamrul Hassan, principal staff officer of Bangladesh’s Armed Forces Division during the discussion.
“This is ... the first time that Bangladesh held a Joint Committee Defense Cooperation meeting with Saudi Arabia,” Lt. Colonel Sami-Ud-Dowla Chowdhury, director of Bangladeshi military’s media wing ISPR, told Arab News.
“Both countries have signed a protocol on Thursday aimed at proceeding further with the discussions held on Tuesday in Dhaka.”
The Saudi-Bangladesh defense cooperation covers several areas, including joint exercises, arms procurement, indigenous production capability and expertise sharing, Chowdhury said.
“With this, Bangladesh developed a defense-to-defense relation with one of our very trusted friends, Saudi Arabia. And definitely, it will open up a new horizon for increased defence cooperation.”
Bangladesh is ready to contribute its operational knowledge with Saudi Arabia, he added, pointing to the military’s experience in various locations around the world, including as one of the highest contributors of UN peacekeepers.
The country ranks third in the top troop-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions, with more than 5,600 personnel as of February this year.
“(This) operational knowledge could be helpful for Saudi Arabia for a better doctrine of military understanding. (The meeting) can be described as an elevation in terms of defense cooperation between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia,” Chowdhury said.
The joint meeting comes after Bangladesh’s Air Force chief, Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan, visited the Kingdom in February.
Dhaka and Riyadh signed in 2019 an agreement to further their military cooperation, which has served as a basis for their collaborations in the field.
Stronger defense ties with Saudi Arabia would be beneficial for Bangladesh, especially if it entails more joint exercises between the two countries, said Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, a defense expert and retired air officer of Bangladesh’s Air Force.
“This is a very good idea,” he told Arab News.
“We don’t have deserts in our country. If our officers and soldiers take part in joint exercises with Saudi Arabia’s forces, our forces members will get acquainted with desert warfare. On the other hand, Saudi defense personnel can have experiences from Bangladesh over the riverine warfare tactics, jungle warfare, etc.”
Both nations have opportunities to scale up collaborations across different areas, he added. With the assistance of Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh can develop its ordnance factories, and further its defense equipment and logistics production capabilities.
“It’s a field of endless opportunities,” Choudhury said.
