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ISTANBUL: The executive director of Amnesty International in the US said Wednesday that their research reveals that Israeli troops are committing war crimes against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip "using US-made munitions." "That's why we have been calling on the US to stop sending #weaponsforwarcrimes," said Paul O'Brien in a post on X. O'Brien thanked "the 37 members of Congress who voted NO on the Israel arms bill." The US Senate approved a $95-billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan on Tuesday. The chamber passed the bill in a bipartisan 79-18 vote, sending it to President Joe Biden's desk for his signature. The bill was approved by the US House of Representatives on April 20. Source: Anadolu Agency

Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos will pay a working visit to Saudi Arabia on Thursday. A press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that during his stay in the capital Riyadh, Kombos will meet with his counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. Bilateral relations , the Cyprus issue, relations between Saudi Arabia and the EU, as well as EU relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council will be on the agenda of the consultations. The two officials will also exchange views on important regional issues. Cyprus Minister will also meet with Deemah AlYahya, Secretary General of the International Organization for Digital Cooperation (IODC), which is based in Riyadh. Source: Cyprus News Agency

ANKARA: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday condemned the Israeli war crimes committed against Palestinians following the discovery of mass graves in the courtyard of the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. In a statement, the kingdom's Foreign Ministry expressed "condemnation of the continued and unchecked heinous war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces, the latest of which is the mass graves discovered in the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Younis." It also said the international community's failure to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law "will only result in more violations and exacerbation of humanitarian tragedies and destruction." The statement reiterated Saudi Arabia's call for the international community to assume "its responsibility to stop the Israeli occupation's attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip." Over 300 bodies have been recovered so far from the mass grave at Nasser Medical Complex after the Israeli army withdrew from the city on April 7 following a four-month ground offensive, according to Gaza's civil defense agency. Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people. More than 34,180 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 77,000 others injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities. The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN. Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza. Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Lawmakers in the US state of Tennessee passed a bill on Tuesday that allows school staff and teachers to carry concealed handguns on school grounds, amid a protest from the gallery. "I believe that this is a method by which we can do that, because what you're doing is you're creating a deterrent," Republican state representative Ryan Williams said on the House floor, according to NBC News. According to him, the bill would prop up school safety. The move came a year after a shooter opened fire and killed six people at the state's Nashville school. The bill was passed in a 68-28 vote in the Republican-majority Tennessee House. Also Republican-dominated, the State Senate approved the bill earlier this month. The House's approval came amid protests from the gallery, with the protesters chanting "Blood on your hands.' Under the legislation, faculty and staff members wishing to carry a concealed handgun on school grounds are required to complete a minimum of 40 hours of approved training specific to school policing each year, according to NBC News. Tennessee is not the only state to pass legislation allowing teachers to carry guns. According to the Giffords Law Center, a gun violence prevention group, no less than 26 states have laws allowing teachers or other school staff to possess guns on school grounds, with some exceptions. Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares reaffirmed Wednesday Spain's intention to recognize the Palestinian state, citing it as a step towards securing a two-state solution and ensuring lasting peace in the Middle East. "We want to recognize the Palestinian state to make the two-state solution irreversible, which is the same as making peace in the Middle East irreversible," said Albares during his address in the Spanish parliament, challenging opposition members on various aspects of the government's policies. The minister stressed the government's commitment to "humanitarian aid" in Gaza, defending the increase in "voluntary donations to UNRWA," aimed at aiding Palestinians in need. "That is what you rejected in this Chamber yesterday, supporting food and education for boys and girls," he also criticized opposition members for rejecting initiatives providing food and education for children, underscoring the vital importance of such assistance. Furthermore, Albares questioned parliament's d isagreement with the government's endeavors, ranging from fostering robust neighborly relations to supporting international "peace" initiatives. He emphasized the importance of maintaining strong ties with neighboring countries, particularly those "sharing a border" with Spain. Albares also advocated for continued "support to Ukraine" and stressed the significance of diplomatic efforts for global peace. Addressing concerns over citizen protection, he also cited recent successful interventions, including the repatriation of a sick Spanish national from Thailand and the release of unjustly detained individuals in Iran. Albares concluded by asserting Spain's stature as a significant global player, despite perceptions of its size and strength. He underscored that the government's actions align with values that define Spain's position in the world. Source: Anadolu Agency

ANKARA: South Korea on Wednesday launched its nanosatellite into orbit as part of its project to create a satellite constellation by 2027, local media reported. The Earth observation satellite lifted off aboard Rocket Lab's Electron rocket from a spaceport in Mahia, New Zealand, Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported, citing a Ministry of Science and ICT statement. The satellite, named NEONSAT-1, was deployed into space at an altitude of 520 kilometers (323 miles), about 50 minutes after the rocket's launch, according to the report. The satellite developed by the state-run Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) for mass production, NEONSAT-1 weighs less than 100 kilograms and has a resolution of 1 meter. Seoul plans to launch five more nanosatellites into space in June 2026 and five more in September 2027 to better monitor the Korean Peninsula and its surrounding regions. Earlier, this month, South Korea also "successfully" launched its second indigenous spy satellite on a SpaceX Fal con 9 rocket. South Korea launched its first spy satellites in December last year after North Korea placed its first military spy satellite into orbit in November and vowed to launch three more spy satellites this year. *Writing by Islamuddin Sajid Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the country's leader Kim Jong-un, denounced on Wednesday joint military exercises between South Korea and the US as "provocative" and "dangerous." Also a high-level official at the Central Committee of the country's ruling Workers' Party, Kim said the US has staged more than 80 rounds of military drills "with its lackeys" and those individually staged by South Korea have exceeded 60, in a statement in Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the party. The statement accused the US of escalating tensions through exercises like the "joint marine corps drill," winter joint drill," and "joint air drill." Kim criticized the exercises, labeling them as "dangerous" to regional stability. "We will continue to build up our overwhelming and most powerful military muscle to defend our sovereignty and security and regional peace," she said. Kim also warned that it would defend its sovereignty and regional peace against any perceived threats. "If they attempt armed count eraction against North Korea counting on their master, they will be immediately annihilated," Kim threatened South Korea. South Korea and the US commenced a two-week air force exercise on April 12, involving around 100 fighter jets, aimed at bolstering readiness against North Korea's military threats. North Korea reported conducting its own exercise featuring multiple rocket launches and a simulated nuclear counter-attack on enemy targets on Tuesday. Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: The Israeli army executed hundreds of displaced, sick and injured people during a raid on the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip during a ground operation that lasted for four months, the Gaza Media Office said Wednesday. 'The depth of the mass graves we found (in Nasser Hospital) confirms that they were dug using large machinery such as Israeli occupation bulldozers and other vehicles,' the head of the media office, Ismail Al-Thawabteh, told Anadolu. 'The Israeli army abducted nine doctors from the Nasser Medical Complex to an unknown location and committed the crime of enforced disappearance against them,' Al-Thawabteh added. The head of the Gaza media office identified some of the doctors abducted as Ahmad Mousa, Bayan Shurrab, Iyad Shaqoura, Mahmoud Shehada, Ahmad Al-Smairi, Nahed Abu Taima, Khalid Al-Ser, and Alaa Barbakh. 'Some of the martyrs who were identified were alive when the occupation army stormed the Nasser Medical Complex, and when they ( Israeli army) came out, the governmental teams found them buried, and this was confirmed by the families of the martyrs who were in contact with their sons before the hospital was stormed,' he said. 'The Israeli army threatened pregnant women, prevented them from receiving medical care and hindered access to doctors for them. They also bombed some sections inside the Nasser Medical Complex, set some on fire and killed some of the wounded who were inside the complex,' he added. Al-Thawabteh said the Israeli army 'stormed the Nasser Medical Complex with tanks, threatened medical staff, patients and the injured, prevented them from receiving treatment and confined them in an old and narrow building within the complex.' 'There are many missing members of medical teams whose fate the occupation (forces) have refused to declare. We believe that they have been executed and buried, and the process of recovering the bodies is still ongoing, and we expect to find some of them,' added the official. 'It is not strang e for the occupation (forces) to commit such crimes and massacres, as it repeated the same crime in the Al-Shifa Medical Complex (in western Gaza City), where government teams found two mass graves from which dozens of martyrs, including medical personnel, displaced persons, patients, and wounded, who were executed by the occupation, were recovered. Among them were women and children with clear signs of execution,' Al-Thawabteh said. 'The occupation (forces) also committed the same crime in the Kamal Adwan Hospital (in northern Gaza), where it established a mass grave, burying dozens of bodies with bulldozers,' he added. On April 7, the Israeli army withdrew from Khan Younis after four months of launching a ground operation there, which included the storming of the Nasser Medical Complex. The operation aimed to retrieve Israeli captives held by the Palestinian group Hamas, but the army left the city without achieving its objectives. Israel has launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-bor der attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people. More than 34,200 Palestinians have since been killed and 77,200 others injured amid a tight siege imposed by Israel which left the entire population, especially residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation. More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave's population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN. Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza. Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Wednesday that Russia is seeking to "disrupt" the Global Peace Summit on his 10-point peace formula scheduled for June in Switzerland. 'We have precise intelligence information --specific data -- that Russia not only wants to disrupt the Peace Summit, but also has a specific plan, how to do it, how to reduce the number of participating countries, how to act to ensure that there is no peace for even longer,' he said during a meeting in Kyiv with foreign and Ukrainian ambassadors. Expressing that Ukraine will share 'specific plans and specific points' of Russia's plans at the diplomatic and intelligence level, Zelenskyy said: 'Together we must counteract this, we must work in unity for a just peace.' 'I am grateful to everyone who is helping and will help,' he said, expressing it is important that the world majority attends the summit as the more active the world is in restoring peace in Ukraine, the more likely 'similar aggressions' do not take place elsewhere. 'It is not brute force that should determine the world order, but the UN Charter, and in unity we can force Russia to comply with international law. In June, at the summit, we will start agreeing on the first foundations of peace and put forward a shared global vision of how peace should work,' he said. Zelenskyy also said there are no state borders or natural barriers to prevent the 'spread of radiation,' as well as no nation that would 'simply put up with the captivity or deportation of people by a hostile state.' 'There is no nation that would accept that someone is turning its cities into ruins. The peace formula must work for everyone, and I ask all of you to help ensure that the world is truly united at the summit in Switzerland,' he added. Zelenskyy's 10-point formula was laid out at the 2022 G20 summit in Indonesia, with its final step being the signing of a peace accord. It also focuses on issues such as nuclear safety, and food and energy security. Source: Anadolu Agency