Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza ceasefire and return of hostages
Israel and Hamas said they had agreed to a long-awaited ceasefire and hostage deal, the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to end a war...
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has announced on Tuesday that 234 senior members of transnational crime networks were detained in an operation covering five countries. The operation is being hailed as one of the most significant anti-organized crime crackdowns in recent years.
“This morning, we have conducted a major operation targeting high-level members of organized crime groups involved in national and international drug trafficking, as well as money laundering,” said Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
Of the suspects detained, 225 were arrested in Türkiye, while 9 were apprehended abroad. Ten of the individuals were wanted under the Interpol Red Notices.
He added that the operation, codenamed ORKİNOS-BULUT, was carried out simultaneously with police departments in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and Belgium, under the coordination of Turkey’s General Directorate of Security.
In addition, as part of the operation, information and documents were shared with law enforcement authorities in France, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, Greece, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Brazil, and Iran.
Apart from drug trafficking and money laundering, authorities identified a range of serious offenses committed by these criminal organizations, including deliberate murder, firearm assaults, kidnapping, unlawful deprivation of liberty and torture, intimidation through shootings targeting businesses and vehicles, and blackmail.
According to Minister Yerlikaya, the criminal syndicates were involved in large-scale drug smuggling operations, trafficking into Türkiye and across broader Europe:
- Cocaine from South America,
- Heroin from Iran and Afghanistan,
- Skunk cannabis via the Balkans, and
“We have seized the assets of these international crime organizations, identified so far by Türkiye’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK),” Yerlikaya said.
“This include 681 real estate properties, 127 vehicles, partnership shares in 113 companies, and multiple bank accounts belonging to the suspects—altogether valued at approximately 13 billion Turkish Liras.”
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected as “incorrect” the report by a Kuwaiti newspaper on recent contacts between Tehran and Washington and also condemned President Trump's threats of renewed attacks if Iran resumed nuclear enrichment.
Georgia’s Foreign Minister, Maka Bochorishvili sought to reassure the public that there is “no danger” to Georgia’s status as the European Union’s revised visa rules include Georgia.
Dushanbe enters one of its busiest diplomatic weeks in recent times as it gears up to host the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) heads of state and a Central Asia – Russia meeting. Both events are set to hold from 8 - 12 October in Tajikistan.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev welcomed a Croatian delegation led by Gordan Jandroković, Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, marking his first official visit to Azerbaijan.
A new stage of economic transformation is under way in Karakalpakstan, where authorities have announced 27 large-scale projects worth nearly $2 billion with an aim to boost growth in the region.
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