Tokyo [Japan], July 3, (ANI): Japanese currency yen pulled back from record lows and was trading at 161. 2 levels on Friday. The currency had touched a record low of 162.
When flames appeared over the Zagros, local residents again climbed toward the fire with shovels, branches and bottles of water, exposing a recurring failure: Iran’s largest oak landscape is burning faster than the state can protect it.
Child killed in Israeli strike while searching for water in Gaza A Palestinian child was killed in Gaza and another wounded by an Israeli drone that dropped an explosive device as they collected water. “An Israeli quadcopter drone dropped a bomb on them as they were filling water behind Al-Omari Mosque east of Gaza City,” Gaza’s civil defence agency said in a statement.
Outrage after Turkish stand-up comedian arrested for 'insulting' Erdogan Submitted by Alex MacDonald on Fri, 07/03/2026 - 13:08 Deniz Goktas appeared in court on Friday after show containing jokes on Quran and Turkish politicians went viral A clip from Deniz Goktas's show 'Olu Deniz' that was posted on YouTube (screengrab) Off Authorities have arrested a popular Turkish comedian after he was accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and "insulting religious values". Deniz Goktas was apprehended at Istanbul Airport on Thursday, the Istanbul public prosecutors' office said in a statement, as he arrived home from holiday, before being formally arrested. The allegations relate to a stand-up performance he gave in Istanbul on 1 June, which was posted on YouTube and has since been viewed nearly nine million times.
A Tehran Revolutionary Court judge has sentenced political prisoner Mehdi Nazer and his fiancée, Mahnaz Chardouli, to death and also 10 years in prison, according to information received by Iran International.
The body of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was laid in state in Tehran on July 3 as authorities began a week of funeral processions for the slain cleric amid mixed reactions among Iranians over a man whose more than three decades in power was marked by oppression and the death of tens of thousands of Iranians through crackdowns and executions.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said Iran's enemies will never realize their dream of seeing the Iranian nation surrender, stressing that the martyrdom of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution would become a turning point in the victory of Islam.
UK Islamic finance sector worth £6bn and drives Gulf investment, report says Submitted by Imran Mulla on Fri, 07/03/2026 - 10:43 The five Islamic banks in Britain all have shareholders based in the Gulf and primarily serve wealthy clients there A raven rests outside its enclosure at the Tower of London, backdropped by The Shard (AFP) Off A new report by the British think tank Equi has revealed the Britain's Islamic finance sector is worth an estimated £6bn and "could generate £2. 5bn a year for the UK government". The report, published this week, shows that Islamic finance is facilitating significant Gulf investment in Britain.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran is consulting neighboring countries, including Iraq, on the management of the Strait of Hormuz under the recently signed memorandum of understanding with the US, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reaffirmed their commitment to expanding bilateral relations and safeguarding them from external interference during a meeting in Tehran.
Funeral spending for former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has fueled public anger, with messages to Iran International saying authorities are forcing businesses and state employees to fund ceremonies, provide services or attend events before his burial.
Settler project for 'Greater Israel' sets its eyes on Syria Submitted by Reem Aouir on Thu, 07/02/2026 - 10:46 As Israel deepens its hold in southern Syria, settlers want to transform the occupied territory into a new frontier Israeli settlers gather along the fence separating the occupied Golan Heights from southern Syria on 17 May (X/HaluzeyHabashan) Off A group of Israeli settler activists gathered along the fence separating the occupied Golan Heights from southern Syria in mid-May. Some chained themselves to the barrier while at least ten crossed into Syrian territory near the town of Majdal Shams, at the foot of Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh). Organised by Halutzei HaBashan (Pioneers of Bashan), the act was the latest in a series of provocations demanding that Israel authorise Jewish settlements beyond the 1974 ceasefire line.
WASHINGTON -- As Washington debates whether the recent cease-fire with Iran reflects strategic restraint or strategic drift, retired US Colonel David Des Roches says the broader trajectory of the conflict tells a different story. Des Roches, the former director of Arabian Peninsula Policy at the Pentagon and now a professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, D. C.
Targets hit include ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear sites, and naval bases.
Grooming gangs report: How Rupert Lowe turned child abuse into anti-Muslim propaganda Submitted by Faisal Hanif on Wed, 07/01/2026 - 17:06 Far from protecting children, the report exploits the suffering of abuse survivors to portray British Muslims as an existential threat and legitimise their exclusion from national life Rupert Lowe of Restore Britain campaigns during the Makerfield by-election in Wigan on 18 June 2026 (Reuters/Temilade Adelaja) On Rupert Lowe's "rape gangs inquiry" report is anti-Muslim propaganda . It is not commentary that went too far or an inquiry that lost its way. It is propaganda produced with a predetermined conclusion, designed to fix in the public mind the image of Muslims as so morally deviant, so irredeemably alien and so dangerous to the social fabric that their removal becomes not merely justifiable but necessary.
Vatican City, July 3 (ANI): Pope Leo XIV will mark the 250th anniversary of US Independence by visiting Lampedusa on July 4, where he is scheduled to meet migrants, honour those who died crossing the Mediterranean and celebrate an open-air Mass, CNN reported.
Iran president pays respects at Khamenei's remains: state TV Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian paid his respects on Friday before the remains of Ali Khamenei, accompanied by government officials including the Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. State television footage showed Masoud Pezeshkian praying before the former Supreme Leader's coffin, upon which a black turban rests.
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s top state officials, including the heads of the three branches of government and the chairman of the Expediency Council, paid their final respects to the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei during a farewell ceremony on Friday.
Citizen Vigilante: Complaint written to UK regulator over anti-migrant film Submitted by MEE staff on Fri, 07/03/2026 - 11:07 Movie, which depicts killing of unarmed Muslim family, promoted on X by Elon Musk Citizen Vigilante stars Armie Hammer, who plays a wealthy businessman who becomes a vigilante (Citizen Vigilante/Screengrab) Off An NGO that tackles Islamophobia has written to the UK media regulator Ofcom over the promotion by billionaire Elon Musk on his platform X of a film that has been widely criticised as anti-migrant and anti-Muslim. The complaint sent by Mend (Muslim Engagement and Development) concerns Citizen Vigilante , a film directed by Uwe Boll and starring Armie Hammer. It depicts a wealthy US landlord in a non-specified European country becoming a vigilante, targeting criminals, rapists and officials, and becoming an unlikely public hero as a result.
Foreign dignitaries from China, Russia, Pakistan and elsewhere are set to pay respects to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday as days of ceremonies get underway.
