The European Union has concrete plans to combat Islamophobia, Marion Lalisse, the new EU coordinator on combating anti-Muslim hatred, said Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Lisse, who was appointed to the position on 2 February, held a press conference in Brussels and answered questions from journalists.

She highlighted that the Muslim community in Europe is the largest religious minority, with diverse numbers, percentages and origins among member countries of the Union.

"However, the key point is that the Muslim community in the EU is an integral part of our society," said Lisse. "We proposed the preparation of a document by mapping the phenomenon of hatred against Muslims."

Asked about concrete plans to combat Islamophobia, referring to the Quran burning incidents in Sweden, she said that "firstly, we will mainstream policies to combat anti-Muslim hatred in various sectors such as education, security, migration and many employment areas."

"We will maintain dialogue with various institutions, civil society, actors, citizens and international organisations. We will implement evidence-based policies and raise awareness among citizens and institutions about the phenomenon of Islamophobia," she added./MEM

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized the need for collective action Saturday to address escalating Islamophobia and xenophobia in Western nations.

“The vile attack on our sacred book, the Quran, in Sweden on the first day of Eid al-Adha reveals the terrifying dimensions of Islamophobia,” he said in a video sent to the Gala Dinner of the 46th Annual Convention of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA).

Erdogan emphasized the responsibility of all Muslims to prevent a recurrence.

“All of us, all Muslims, have a great responsibility to ensure that such acts, to which we react very strongly in Türkiye, do not recur. If we act as one heart and one wrist, no one in the world dare to attack the sanctities of Muslims,” he said,

Erdogan also acknowledged the strong bond between Türkiye and Pakistan as two brotherly nations, highlighting exceptional relations between the two countries./aa

UN Security Council will hold its first-ever discussion on artificial intelligence (AI) later this month, the UK envoy announced on Monday.  

Permanent Representative to the UN Barbara Woodward, whose country assumed the presidency for the month of July, said the UK is "very excited about the first ever Security Council discussion of AI". 

At a press briefing, she said UK Foreign Secretary James cleverly will chair a meeting of the Security Council on July 18 with briefings from international AI experts and from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Woodward said the UK aims to examine the potential threats posed by AI to international peace and security, as well as its potential benefits and utility. 

Noting that AI is not itself an actor, she said that humans are the ones who can deploy it, direct it, and can see its risk.  

"So that's why we need to have a debate in the Security Council," she said.

The Turkish Coast Guard has rescued 84 irregular migrants pushed back by Greek authorities off the northwestern province of Çanakkale.

The teams initiated an operation after receiving information that a group of irregular migrants was drifting off Çanakkale’s Ayvacık district.

A total of 84 migrants were pulled from life rafts and inflatable boats after being pushed back by Greek forces into Turkish territorial waters.

Greece has long been under fire for its illegal, often inhumane and sometimes deadly practice of pushbacks – summary deportations of migrants without allowing them to apply for asylum.

The Greek government denies all allegations, despite claims to the contrary from alleged victims, rights groups, Turkish drones and even the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants.

Recently, at least 81 people lost their lives as a result of a shipwreck off southern Greece.

The suspect who allegedly shot and killed four people in Kellogg, Idaho, on Father’s Day is a neighbor of the victims, according to police.

Idaho State Police said Monday the 31-year-old man accused of carrying out the quadruple homicide was detained at the scene Sunday evening and has since been booked into the Shoshone County Jail on probable cause for murder.

“This is a tragic situation that will affect the Kellogg community. Detectives continue working to establish a timeline and what led to the shooting,” Idaho State Police Lieutenant Paul Berger, who is investigating the case, said in the news release.

Sunday’s shooting in Kellogg happened about 70 miles from a quadruple homicide in Moscow, where suspect Bryan Kohberger, 28, is accused of killing four undergraduates at the University of Idaho in November.

The Shoshone County Coroner’s Office has not yet released the identities of the victims or the manner of their deaths.

On Monday, Idaho State Police released a statement updating the public on the shooting.

“Investigators are releasing that the suspect is the neighbour of the victims,” state police said. “However, neither the relationships between the parties nor the suspect’s motive will be confirmed by law enforcement until after the initial court appearance when records become available through the courts. Detectives are confident all parties in this homicide have been identified and do not believe there is an ongoing danger to the community.”

On Father’s Day, the Shoshone County dispatch center received a 911 call at about 7:20 p.m. saying multiple people had been killed inside a residence on West Brown Ave in Kellogg, police said.

Law enforcement personnel responded to the scene, where they found four victims dead, each with gunshot wounds. A 31-year-old male suspect was swiftly arrested./Fox

After US pressure, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will hold phone talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov next week, according to a US news website.
The two ministers will speak over the phone early next week to discuss “non-lethal assistance to Ukraine,” Axios said, citing two senior Israeli defense officials.
The idea of the phone call came during a meeting between Gallant and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Brussels on the sidelines of the meeting of NATO defense ministers.
If confirmed, the contact will be the first between the Israeli and Ukrainian defense ministers since Gallant took office last December.
“Plans for the call came after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Thursday asked Gallant if he would speak to his Ukrainian counterpart and do more to help Ukraine,” the Israeli officials said.
According to the news portal, Gallant presented Israel’s policy about military assistance to Ukraine during his meeting with Austin.
“Israel will not provide to Ukraine any lethal weapons,” Gallant said.
The Israeli government has pursued a careful approach to the Russian war in Ukraine in an effort to avoid tension with Moscow.
The US, however, has piled pressure on Israel to do more to help Ukraine, Axios said.
Israeli-Ukrainian relations have been marred by tension over the past months.
Last year, Russia launched a war on Ukraine, which was met with international outrage, with the European Union, G-7, US, and UK among others imposing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.
However, Israel's pro-Kyiv policies did not go beyond a declaration of support for Ukraine against the Russian offensive, rejecting a referendum in the regions annexed by Russia, and the provision of humanitarian aid in the war.
Nonetheless, Ukraine considered these steps insufficient./AA