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Trump announced on Tuesday at the NATO summit in Ankara that he would lift U.S. sanctions on Turkey and is considering selling the country F-35 fighter jets. Trump made the comment following a lavish state dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom he praised as a "great leader." The mayor of Istanbul and other Turkish politicians, civil society figures and journalists remain jailed on politically motivated charges.
"Here in Ankara, and in Turkey more broadly, this NATO summit is not taking place in a climate of freedom. We saw, in the two weeks leading up to this summit happening, authorities in Ankara arrested over 200 people in dawn raids," says Ruth Michaelson, a journalist based in Istanbul. "There has also been a protest ban enforced in Ankara, and that is a protest ban that extends even to leafleting."
Repression from the Turkish state has not been addressed during the summit; instead, "something that we've been hearing throughout the summit is that Turkey has this indispensable place in NATO," says Michaelson.
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Maine's Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner has yet to drop out of the race despite losing all major endorsements after a rape allegation by an ex-girlfriend, Jenny Racicot, who says Platner assaulted her in 2021. Platner has denied the claim.
"There's no way to force Platner off the ballot; he has to make the decision," says Amy Fried, professor emerita of political science at the University of Maine. Platner would have to drop out of the race by Monday, "and then there's two weeks for the Maine Democratic Party to pick someone else."
Fried discusses potential Democratic candidates to replace Platner and the legacy of Republican Maine Senator Susan Collins, against whom they would be running in November.
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The former Chicago mayor, a Democrat exploring a 2028 presidential run, delivered a speech in Tel Aviv that was sharply critical of Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Mr. Sanders was one of the last remaining prominent allies of Graham Platner, the Maine Senate Democratic nominee, to call for him to drop out after a rape allegation.
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The Reform UK leader says he wants an "establishment versus the people by-election" but Labour calls it a "circus".
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Israel continues to ignore international calls to free the director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, from over 18 months of Israeli detention without charge. After seeing Dr. Abu Safiya on July 2, his attorney Nasser Odeh says the doctor faces "tangible danger to his life" from torture and medical neglect. For more, we speak to Tirza Leibowitz, the deputy director of Physicians for Human Rights Israel, about Abu Safiya's case and efforts to secure his release. The group has filed an appeal in the Israeli courts requesting the release of Abu Safiya and 13 other Palestinian doctors who were captured in Gaza and imprisoned by the Israeli military.
We also hear from Dr. Thaer Ahmad, a Chicago-based emergency room physician and former colleague of Hussam Abu Safiya. Ahmad volunteered as a medical practitioner in Gaza in 2024. He says Abu Safiya has become a "symbol of Palestinian resilience" and, in particular, Israel's systematic targeting of Gaza's healthcare system, which continues to this day. "The necessary aid is not entering, the bombing still persists, people are still dying on a regular basis, and these hospitals don't have the supplies that they need to be able to treat their patients," says Ahmad.
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Graham Platner, the Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, called the allegation false but said he would "reflect" on his political path forward, as many allies rescinded their endorsements.
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