World
Thousands mourn Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at funeral prayer
Doha, Qatar – Thousands of people on Friday attended the funeral prayer for the late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at Doha’s grand mosque amid tight security.
Haniyeh’s funeral prayer was attended by various Palestinian factions, diaspora groups, diplomatic dignitaries and nationals from many countries. He was laid to rest at Lusail royal cemetery north of the capital Doha on Friday afternoon.
Symbolic funeral prayers for Haniyeh have been organised in several Muslim countries, including Yemen, Jordan and Turkey.
Streams of mourners started to arrive at the Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Mosque at about 9am, more than two hours before the Friday prayer, to bid farewell to the Hamas political chief who was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Men and women, many of them wearing the keffiyeh, the traditional Palestinian scarf, and carrying Palestinian flags, came to attend the funeral prayers despite Doha’s punishing heat, which hovered around 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
His body was brought to Doha on Thursday after a memorial event in Tehran, which was attended by thousands of people and where funeral prayers were led by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranians waved Palestinian flags and carried pictures of the 62-year-old Hamas leader as they took part in the funeral procession.
Haniyeh, who was the diplomatic face of Hamas based in Qatar, was assassinated in his accommodation in Tehran. He was in the Iranian capital to attend the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not publicly claimed responsibility. Fuad Shukr, a senior commander with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, was also killed by Israel hours before Haniyeh’s assassination.
Tributes
Hassan Abu Dhr, who lost his leg and hand in an Israeli bombing on Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp in November, came to the funeral prayer to pay tribute to Haniyeh.
“We are in grief. We feel so sad because of his killing. He was like our father,” the 24-year-old, who was evacuated to Qatar for medical treatment, told Al Jazeera. “Ismail Haniyeh was the pride of Gaza. We trusted him, he was the best leader for Gaza.”
Syed Ziaullah, a Pakistani national, also attended the funeral prayers.
“I came here for him; it’s a relationship of brotherhood among Muslims,” Ziaullah told Al Jazeera. “He is a martyr and a patriot who struggled to free Palestine from Israeli occupation.”
Others who were in attendance were from different countries including Sudan, India and Bangladesh.
Many people Al Jazeera spoke to expressed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, who have been facing Israeli bombardment for the past 10 months. Vast swaths of Gaza have been flattened and nearly 40,000 people have been killed since October 7, when Israel launched its military offensive in the wake of a Hamas-led attack inside its territory. At least 1,100 people were killed during the attack in southern Israel.
“I am here in support of Palestine and in support of our people who are facing genocide for the past 300 days. I am here I because am sad for the death of Ismail Haniyeh and for the death of [Al Jazeera’s] Ismail al-Ghoul and his colleague Rami al-Rifi,” 32-year-old Sara Abdelshafy told Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi were killed in an Israeli attack in northern Gaza on Wednesday.
‘Down to earth’
Haniyeh was a prominent figure and considered accessible and approachable by many in Gaza.
Haniyeh’s popularity partly came from the fact that he embodied a typical Palestinian in the Gaza Strip, said Fathi Nimer, a Palestine policy fellow at Al-Shabaka, a think tank based in the occupied West Bank.
“He was a refugee born in the Shati refugee camp … most Palestinians are refugees, especially those in Gaza. His family was ethnically cleansed from Asqalan [Ashkelon, in present-day Israel]. What made him very relatable to people is that he went to a UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East] school and worked to support his family,” Nimer told Al Jazeera.
“People talk about him about being very humble and a very down-to-earth person,” he added.
Haniyeh joined Hamas as a student and rose through the ranks to become Palestine’s only democratically elected prime minister in 2006 at the age of 44.
Despite living outside of Gaza since 2019, he was not shielded from the devastation of Israel’s war. About 60 members of his family have been killed, including three of his sons in April, as well as his grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
“Through the blood of the martyrs and the pain of the injured, we create hope, we create the future, we create independence and freedom for our people and our nation,” he said in April.
Haniyeh was a top negotiator in the efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Haniyeh was described as a moderate and a pragmatist — someone who could plan for the long term and someone who could negotiate and deal with nuances of negotiations,” Nimer said.
Haniyeh’s killing, he added, “will have undoubtedly negative consequences for the [ceasefire] negotiations”.
Israel has assassinated numerous leaders from Hamas, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, and other Palestinian groups in the past. Haniyeh had himself escaped an Israeli assassination attempt in 2003 along with his mentor Sheikh Ahmed Yasin, the Hamas spiritual leader and founder.
Nimer said the recent assassinations could backfire on Israel. “Whenever someone is assassinated, instead of killing their memory, they make them into a martyr – a hero for all the people,” he told Al Jazeera.
World
‘Criminal Minds’ Star Paget Brewster Tells TV Journalist to ‘Work at a Shelter’ After Mixed Review, Sparking Outrage From Other Critics
“Criminal Minds” star Paget Brewster lashed out at ScreenRant staffer Shealyn Scott over X on Saturday afternoon for her story lamenting the changes Paramount+ has brought to the long-running procedural drama.
“Hello critic Shealynn Scott,” Brewster wrote in the since-deleted post. “You’re young. You don’t know that bad pics and bad reviews can lead to 350 people losing their jobs. Sell vintage. Work at a shelter. Do something better than what you do now. Because right now you suck.”
Film and TV critics were quick to hit back in the replies. David Rooney, chief film critic at The Hollywood Reporter, wrote in his response to Brewster, “This is a very bad look. An actor on a long-running show attacking a young reviewer who contextualizes her respectful criticisms with obvious knowledge of the material — says way more about u being thin-skinned than it does about her professionalism. ‘Work at a shelter,’ really?!”
Senior ScreenRant writer Andy Behbakht also came to the defense of Scott, writing, “This is disgusting behavior on your part, and really tragic to see you tearing down a young female journalist whom you are literally telling that she ‘sucks’ and that she shouldn’t be in the field that she is in. I stand by my colleague, and you owe her an apology.”
Brewster released an apology for the post on Sunday. She wrote on X, “Hi guys, I was mean to Shealyn Scott last night and I profoundly regret it. Shame on me for insulting a human being for doing their job. I’m very sorry, Shealyn. And I’m sorry to those who follow me that you saw me behave like that. Turns out, last night, I sucked.”
“Criminal Minds” premiered its 15th and final season on CBS in 2020, and then was revived for Paramount+ in 2022 under the title “Criminal Minds: Evolution.” Scott’s piece discussed the changes “Criminal Minds” underwent when it went from linear to streaming.
“From details as small as a ratings change to TV-MA— which allows David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) and Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) the occasional heated expletive— to new main cast members like Tyler Green (Ryan-James Hatanaka), there’s no doubt that ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ has its own unique identity,” Scott wrote in her story. “Plenty of the continuation’s changes have been received warmly, and ‘Criminal Minds’ unquestionably still works as a gripping crime drama, but there are just as many tweaks that feel more like downgrades— including the new 10-episode season structure. Though logical in theory, the shortened seasons are unfortunately working against ‘Criminal Minds’’ greatest strengths.”
World
Meloni’s spat with Trump is calculated strategy to boost her approval ratings: expert
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s escalating feud with President Donald Trump is nothing but a calculated political strategy aimed at boosting her standing at home, a leading Italian political analyst told Fox News Digital on Sunday.
After the row between Trump and Meloni escalated on June 20, analysts also said the Italian leader may see little downside in confronting Trump, particularly as she faces declining approval ratings ahead of Italy’s 2027 general election.
The diplomatic dispute had reached a boiling point after Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced June 19 that he was scrapping a trip to Washington, where he had been scheduled to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“Giorgia Meloni must have calculated that a public row with Trump yields no tangible consequences, other than an increase in her domestic and international standing,” Mattia Diletti, a political science lecturer at Sapienza University of Rome, said.
TRUMP SAYS MELONI ‘WANTS TO BE FRIENDS AGAIN’ AFTER ITALY REFUSED TO HELP US AMID IRAN WAR
Giorgia Meloni said President Trump’s statements were “completely made up” and that “neither I nor Italy ever beg.” (Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP via Getty Images; Bastien Ohier / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images))
Giovanni Orsina, a political scientist at Rome’s Luiss University, also told the Financial Times that the row would offer a “positive image” for Meloni and a “silver lining” to a confrontation she had “desperately tried to avoid.”
The friction between Trump and Meloni intensified after an interview broadcast by Italy’s La7 television network, where the president claimed she had asked for a photograph with him at the G7 summit and that he agreed only out of pity.
“She begged me to take a picture with her,” Trump said. “She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.”
RUBIO MEETS MELONI AS TRUMP–POPE CLASH CLASH ESCALATES US STRAINS WITH KEY EUROPEAN ALLY
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends her annual press conference in Rome on Jan. 9, 2026, addressing government priorities and policy challenges for the year ahead. (Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Meloni fired back, releasing a video statement on X rejecting the president’s narrative.
“I am frankly stunned,” Meloni said in the video message. “I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his own allies. But there’s one thing he must remember: Neither I nor Italy ever beg.”
Trump doubled down on Truth Social and tied the row directly to Meloni’s political fortunes.
“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America… when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a nuclear weapon … She wouldn’t even let us use Italy’s landing strips or runways, a great logistical inconvenience … Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her ‘numbers up.’ No thanks!!!”
Within hours, Meloni responded on social media: “As for my popularity, being your friend certainly has not helped it … My popularity depends on my ability to defend Italy’s national interest… In any case, my popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on yours.”
TRUMP ‘RIGHT TO BE OUTRAGED’ BY EUROPE’S BETRAYAL ON IRAN, SAYS FORMER THATCHER ADVISOR
Rubio will travel to Italy on Wednesday for meetings with Pope Leo and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. (Maria Grazia Picciarella/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The back-and-forth marks a reversal for two leaders who once enjoyed a close political alignment.
When Meloni first came to power, she positioned herself as a bridge between Washington and Brussels while pushing ties with Trump based on shared nationalism and stances on immigration.
“Politically, Trump has favored Meloni,” Diletti noted, pointing out that she had previously visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in 2025. She was the only European Union leader to attend his second inauguration.
The cracks also appeared in April when Trump criticized Meloni for siding with Pope Leo XIV’s condemnation of the U.S. conflict with Iran.
On Sunday, Trump also criticized Italy and Giorgia Meloni over their approach to Iran, accusing the NATO ally of failing to help confront Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
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“As the 2027 Italian general election approaches, Meloni is facing a decline in approval ratings for the first time,” Diletti explained.
“The opportunity to counter a President so unpopular in Europe and Italy helps bolster her approval ratings and allows her to build European solidarity,” he claimed.
World
Mourners gather to remember Lebanese conservationist killed by Israel
Renowned turtle conservationist Mona Khalil had been wounded in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon.
Published On 21 Jun 2026
Mourners have gathered in Beirut to pay their respects to a much-loved Lebanese conservationist who died from wounds caused by an Israeli strike on her home on the country’s southern coast.
Mona Khalil, 77, who spent more than two decades protecting sea turtles along Lebanon’s coastline, was critically injured in the attack in the village of al-Mansouri in Tyre province on June 4 and succumbed to her wounds more than two weeks later, on Friday.
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News of her death triggered an outpouring of grief among environmentalists and those who volunteered and worked with her over the years, many of whom gathered in Beirut on Sunday.
The Orange House Project, which Khalil helped build into a small conservation hub and ecotourism site in al-Mansouri, became a refuge for endangered loggerhead and green sea turtles and a training ground for volunteers documenting nesting activity along the coast.
Khalil was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1949. She held Dutch as well as Lebanese citizenship, having lived in the Netherlands before returning to Lebanon and settling in what had once been her grandmother’s home – the building that would later become known as the Orange House.
At the heart of Khalil’s work was a narrow stretch of coastline, al-Mansouri beach, where a fleeting encounter with a turtle that had emerged from the ocean to lay its eggs in 1999 propelled her on a lifelong journey devoted to animals.
Each nesting season, Khalil and volunteers would patrol the beach at night, marking fresh tracks in the sand and carefully relocating vulnerable nests away from human activity and coastal light pollution.
Journalist and environmental activist Fadia Jomaa first met Khalil in 2016 while researching sea turtles in Lebanon and then decided to volunteer with her project.
During the previous war between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in 2024, Khalil initially refused to leave al-Mansouri beach, Jomaa said. The Lebanese army ultimately persuaded her to evacuate for her safety.
“She was the last one to leave the area,” Jomaa noted.
“She had an awful time in Beirut,” the journalist said, adding that Khalil longed to return to the south, to the Orange House and the beach she had spent years protecting.
“She used to say, ‘My soul will stay here,’” Jomaa said, recalling conversations in which Khalil would point to an olive tree or a small hill overlooking al-Mansouri beach. “She used to say, ‘This is where you will bury me.’”
Where Khalil will ultimately be buried remains uncertain and is tied to the security situation in the area, Jomaa said.
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