World
Turkish authorities arrest key rival of Erdogan; critics say it's 'no coincidence'
Students clash with police over detention of Istanbul mayor
Reuters reports that Turkey has detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on charges of corruption and aiding a terrorist group in what the main opposition party called “a coup.” (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is facing criticism over what critics say is a crackdown on opposition political figures after police detained his main rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, on charges of corruption and links to terrorism.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued detention orders for İmamoğlu and 106 other prominent political figures. The suspects are alleged to have committed offenses including bribery, embezzlement, bid rigging, aggravated fraud and unlawful acquisition of personal data.
İmamoğlu was accused of collaborating with the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a Kurdish nationalist group that has led an insurgency against the Turkish state and is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.
BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION SEEKS TO REIN IN ERDOĞAN’S TURKEY OVER TIES TO US FOES
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu (Aziz Karimov/Getty Images/File)
Critics remain suspicious of the arrest of a prominent opposition figure, especially at a time when Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party has suffered losses in local elections in the past year.
“İmamoğlu’s arrest is no coincidence. He is Erdoğan’s political nemesis, and his likely candidacy to run against him for the presidency has been weighing on Erdoğan’s mind,” Sinan Ciddi, nonresident senior fellow on Turkey at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.
People protest the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in Istanbul on March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Ciddi warned that the detention of political adversaries represents the end point of Turkey as a democracy, claiming that free and fair elections as well as peaceful transfer of power are no longer possible.
Turkish officials pushed back on accusations that the wave of arrests was politically motivated.
TURKEY’S CONFRONTATIONAL FOREIGN POLICY CHALLENGES GREECE, EUROPEAN UNION AMID RISING MARITIME TENSIONS
A spokesperson from the Turkish Embassy in Washington referred Fox News Digital to a statement from the Justice Ministry.
“Attempting to associate judicial investigations and cases with our President is, to say the least, an act of audacity and irresponsibility,” wrote Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç.
People protest the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in Istanbul on March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
“In our country, the separation of powers—legislative, executive, and judicial—is a fundamental principle. The judiciary does not take orders from anyone,” the statement added.
İmamoğlu thanked global leaders and members of the European Parliament in a post on X and vowed to continue fighting for Turkey’s democracy.
“I stand resolute, entrusting myself not only to the 16 million residents of Istanbul but to the 86 million citizens of Türkiye and all who uphold democracy and justice worldwide. I stand firm in my fight for the fundamental rights and freedoms.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (AP/Emrah Gurel/File)
İmamoğlu, member of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP), was elected mayor of Istanbul in 2019 and re-elected in 2023. In both elections, he defeated Erdoğan-backed AKP opponents. He was seen as the likely nominee of the CHP to face Erdoğan in the next presidential election scheduled for 2028, or sooner if elections are called early.
Authorities placed a ban on public demonstrations for four days in an attempt to quell any growing backlash to the arrests. Özgür Özel, chair of the CHP, Turkey’s main opposition party, addressed large demonstrations gathered in Istanbul and called for mass protest to oppose what the opposition sees as a flagrant violation of democratic norms.
In response to the arrest, Istanbul University annulled İmamoğlu’s diploma, a move that would bar him from running for president, according to Turkish law, which requires the president to have a university degree. İmamoğlu said the act was beyond the university’s authority and a troubling sign of political interference in academia.
Soner Cagaptay, senior fellow at the Washington Institute, said in a post on X that Erdoğan was originally catapulted into political stardom as then-mayor of Istanbul in 1999 when he was imprisoned on charges of inciting religious hatred, only to see his popularity rise and become leader of Turkey since 2003.
World
Stocks fall and oil prices gain after Trump warns the Iran ‘clock is ticking’
HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks mostly retreated and oil prices jumped on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tehran that the “clock is ticking” as U.S.-Iran negotiations over a permanent end to the war stall.
U.S. futures fell and markets in Japan and South Korea pulled further back from their records. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 1% to 60,815.95, a decline led by technology-related stocks. It reached all-time intraday high levels last week above 63,000.
The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond surged to as high as 2.8%, its highest level since the late 1990s, part of a shift toward higher yields as the Bank of Japan gradually raises interest rates and higher energy costs raise expectations of rising inflation. That’s up from around 2.55% just one week ago.
Seoul’s Kospi climbed 0.3% to 7,516.04 after trading lower earlier in the day. It crossed the 8,000 mark for the first time on Friday, supported by buying of technology shares driven by the boom in artificial intelligence, but later declined partly on profit-taking by investors.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.4% to 25,596.68. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% lower to 4,131.53, after China reported weaker-than-expected retail data for April.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.5% to 8,505.30.
Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 0.7%, while India’s Sensex fell 0.1%.
Oil prices rose after Trump warned Iran in a social media post that “the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them” following a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump has set deadlines for Iran and then backed off, so investors have remained cautious about the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and how it is impacting global energy flows, including oil and gas. The strait is still mostly closed, and the U.S. has also imposed its own sea blockade on Iranian ports since last month.
A drone strike over the weekend on a United Arab Emirates’ nuclear power plant added to worries over a potential escalation in the conflict.
Brent crude, the international standard, gained 0.7% to $110.02 per barrel. It was trading at roughly $70 a barrel in late February before the start of the Iran war. Benchmark U.S. crude was trading 0.8% higher to $106.31 per barrel.
“Re-escalation risks are increasing,” ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a research note. While there has also been a pick up on shipping activities over the past week around the strait, they said, “this can change quickly.”
The pair also noted that the oil market was reacting to the lack of tangible results on the Iran war after last week’s widely-watched summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, even as the White House said both the U.S. and China had agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open.
U.S. officials had hoped that Beijing could use its influence, given its economic ties with Iran, to help broker a peace agreement and reopen the strait. Trump said last week in an interview that Xi told him China “would like to be of help” in negotiating an end to the war. So far it’s been unclear how Beijing might do that.
The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury was at around 4.60%, up from 4.47% last Thursday and sharply higher than the nearly 4% level it was holding at before the Iran war.
On Friday, the benchmark S&P 500 dropped 1.2% from the record it set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 1.5%.
In other dealings early Monday, the U.S. dollar rose to 158.86 Japanese yen from 158.62 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1635, up from $1.1622.
World
Canada confirms hantavirus case linked to cruise ship outbreak that has killed three passengers
Hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship sparks concern as passengers return to US
Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel discusses the Hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, where three deaths occurred. Siegel explains that while human-to-human spread is rare, it’s not impossible. The segment highlights the return of passengers to the U.S. from locations like Tenerife and Praia, raising new public health concerns and emphasizing the need for containment.
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Canadian health officials on Sunday confirmed that one of four Canadians who returned from the MV Hondius cruise ship, the subject of an international Andes hantavirus outbreak, tested positive for hantavirus. Three people connected to the outbreak have died.
The Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed the positive test after British Columbia’s top public health officer previously described the case as a “presumptive positive.”
“One individual’s sample was confirmed positive for hantavirus,” the agency said in a statement.
Officials said additional testing will be conducted at a national laboratory. It was not immediately clear whether that testing was for confirmation, strain characterization or another purpose.
CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER DESCRIBES UNCERTAINTY AFTER 3 DEATHS AMID HANTAVIRUS PROBE
Experts say cruise outbreaks get more attention due to public reporting rules, but many travelers still plan to sail as booked. (Myloupe/Universal Images Group)
The development comes as global health officials continue monitoring the rare hantavirus outbreak tied to the MV Hondius, which has sickened multiple passengers.
As of May 13, the World Health Organization said 11 cases had been identified in connection with the cruise outbreak, including eight confirmed cases, two probable cases and one inconclusive case. Those figures included three deaths. The Associated Press later reported that the Canadian confirmation brought the number of people from the ship who had tested positive to 10.
Canadian health officials said four Canadians returned home from the MV Hondius, though only one has tested positive for the virus.
RARE HANTAVIRUS HUMAN-TO-HUMAN TRANSMISSION SUSPECTED ON LUXURY CRUISE SHIP WHERE 3 HAVE DIED
The rare Andes virus, which was linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak, is the only known hantavirus strain that has the capability to spread from person to person, usually through prolonged close contact. (Andres Gutierrez/Anadolu)
The confirmed patient and a traveling companion — identified as a Yukon couple in their 70s — returned from the cruise together. The companion later tested negative, officials said.
A third person in their 70s from Vancouver Island remains in isolation, along with a British Columbia resident in their 50s.
So far, no confirmed U.S. cases tied to the cruise ship have been reported, though WHO said as of May 13 that one U.S.-repatriated passenger had inconclusive laboratory results and was undergoing retesting.
HANTAVIRUS DEATHS ON CRUISE SHIP HIGHLIGHT DANGERS OF RODENT-BORNE DISEASE
Pictured is the MV Hondius, the cruise ship tied to a hantavirus outbreak after a stop in Argentina that left three passengers dead. (Europa Press Canarias via Getty Images)
Last week, however, health officials in Ontario County, New York, announced they were investigating a suspected locally acquired hantavirus case unrelated to the cruise ship.
The Ontario County Public Health Department said there was no risk to the general public. Officials also said the strain typically seen in the United States is not known to spread from person to person.
The outbreak linked to the MV Hondius began after the Dutch cruise ship, carrying 147 passengers and crew members, departed Argentina on April 1 for a South Atlantic voyage.
TRAPPED CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER SHARES UPDATE ON CLEANLINESS OF SHIP AMID DEADLY HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK
The outbreak has prompted heightened precautions internationally, including in the Netherlands, where Radboud University Medical Center quarantined 12 staff members after officials said a hantavirus patient’s blood and urine were not handled under the strictest protocols recommended for the virus strain.
The outbreak has also sparked comparisons to the coronavirus pandemic. However, Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel previously told Fox News Digital there is “no comparison.”
He noted hantavirus is difficult to spread.
Passengers evacuated from the hantavirus-stricken Hondius cruise ship walk with their belongings after disembarking at Eindhoven Air Base, Netherlands, on May 12. (Piroschka van de Wouw)
“It’s not airborne … in terms of respiratory droplets hanging in the air,” he said. “It’s very difficult to transmit.”
While coronavirus “moved in the direction of humans in a significant way,” hantavirus has not, except for “very rare” cases of human-to-human transmission, he added.
The World Health Organization has assessed the risk to the global population as low, while noting that current evidence suggests subsequent human-to-human transmission may have occurred on board. Andes virus is the only hantavirus known to have documented person-to-person transmission, though such spread is considered rare.
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Siegel also noted hantavirus cases have been reported in the United States for decades, though they remain “very rare.”
Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller and Angelica Stabile, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
World
Moment of collision between two Navy jets at Idaho air show
Two US Navy jets collided during an air show at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, sending both aircraft crashing to the ground in front of spectators. All four crew members ejected safely before impact.
Published On 18 May 2026
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