Turkey's president calls war in Gaza 'ecocide' at UN climate summit

The Korea Times - Nov 12, 2026

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called for the world to recognize the environmental impacts of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and asked the Israeli government to grant more aid access to the Palestinian territory. Erdogan was speaking at the U.N. climate summit, known as COP31, in Antalya, Turkey. “What has taken place in Gaza is not only a genocide, but it is also an ecocide,” Erdogan said to applause by world leaders and other climate envoys. A U.N.-backed panel of independent experts concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies the allegations and has accused the panel of antisemitism. “Centuries old olive trees have been cut down. The soil and water have been polluted in Gaza, and cities in Gaza have been turned into enormous piles of rubble,” Erdogan said. “With Gaza’s destroyed infrastructure, compounded by torrential rain and by flooding, tens of thousands of tents and shelters have been inundated.” Israel's Foreign Ministry responded in a post on X, accusing Erdogan of “using an international forum to pu

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Iran president accuses US, Israel of causing environmental damage during war
Nov 12, 2026
Iran president accuses US, Israel of causing environmental damage during war

TEHRAN — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States and Israel of inflicting severe environmental damage during attacks on the Islamic republic, in his speech on Wednesday at the UN Climate Change Conference in Turkey. "The recent criminal and illegal aggression against Iran by America and the Zionist regime... has inflicted severe damage on the environment, releasing massive quantities of pollutants and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere," Pezeshkian said. He said that attacks on fuel facilities on a major gas field in Iran's south "resulted in the emission of approximately 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide." "The deliberate strike on fuel depots near Tehran led to the release of another one million tonnes," he added, calling for mechanisms to hold the U.S. and Israel accountable. While the specifics of the accusations could not be independently verified, several oil spills have been detected off the coasts of Gulf countries. Iran's foreign ministry has previously blamed the pollution on U.S. military operations in the region, though both countries have targeted tan

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Nov 12, 2026
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Nov 12, 2026
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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump used a U.S. Veterans Day commemoration Wednesday to defend the war against Iran — an increasingly unpopular conflict that helped trigger a Democratic takeover of Congress in last week's midterm elections. "The bravery and skill of our amazing American warriors has absolutely been incredible," Trump said in an address at Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington. "When this conflict is over, and it will be soon, the entire world will be a much safer and better place, more peaceful place, and a place without the kind of danger that we had to suffer." The war, which began on February 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, has so far cost the lives of 23 U.S. service members and wounded several hundred more, according to the latest Pentagon figures. Trump said in his remarks that the conflict was started not by Washington but by Tehran, which "has been waging war on America since 1979." He stressed that U.S. forces were acting in order to halt Iran's capacity to build a nuclear weapon. During his speech before troops, veterans and top

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Nov 12, 2026
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World leaders urge stronger, faster action at UN climate talks over inadequate response
Nov 12, 2026
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ANTALYA, Turkey — World leaders called for urgent and decisive action on global warming Wednesday as formal talks began at the United Nations climate conference in Turkey, saying the crisis is disproportionately harming some of the world’s most vulnerable countries. “You might as well bomb us. That might have been easier than watching climate change tear apart our homes piece by piece,” said Surangel Whipps Jr., president of the island nation of Palau. “We are at war with a crisis we did not create. A war no peace treaty can end, only urgent action can.” The annual summit follows a year of deadly floods, heat waves and other disasters. Leaders said geopolitical conflicts had diverted attention from climate change. Leaders of the world’s three biggest polluting nations — China, the United States and India, which together account for more than half of global carbon dioxide emissions — skipped the summit at COP31. Their absence left a handful of national leaders and U.N. officials to press for action as a new report warned of a widening gap between countries’ climate ple

Mississippi elects Democrat Scott Colom as state's first Black US senator since Reconstruction
Nov 12, 2026
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JACKSON, Miss. — Democratic nominee Scott Colom has defeated Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's closely contested U.S. Senate race after a prolonged ballot counting process, giving the state its first Black U.S. senator since post-Civil War Reconstruction. Colom's narrow victory is a seismic shift in Mississippi, which has been controlled mostly by white conservatives for generations, and it will echo through the country as well. The outcome adds to a decisive midterm rebuke of President Donald Trump, whose party suffered defeats in several Republican-controlled states, and it will bolster some Democrats' argument that their future runs through the American South. The Associated Press called the contest Wednesday in Colom's favor after local elections officials spent several days processing absentee and provisional ballots, called affidavit ballots in Mississippi. The last time Mississippi chose a new Democratic senator was 1947, and the winner then was a staunch segregationist. Colom, a 43 year-old local prosecutor, capitalized on the state’s large Black population,

Firefighters dig through rubble after NYC building collapse kills 1 and traps people in wreckage
Nov 12, 2026
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Pope Leo returns to national party in his second homeland of Peru
Nov 12, 2026
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LIMA, Peru — Pope Leo XIV arrived in his second homeland of Peru on Wednesday, returning to the place that he credits with teaching him how to be a pastor and where a nationwide party awaits to welcome their beloved “Padre Robert” home. The visit to Peru marks the final leg of Leo’s three-nation South America tour and its emotional highlight, given the more than two decades that the former Robert Prevost spent in Peru as a missionary priest and later bishop. As a dual citizen of the United States and Peru, he’s the first pope from each country. Leo’s charter plane touched down at a Lima-area air base, where he was welcomed by President Keiko Fujimori. Leo seemed genuinely moved as he emerged from his Aerolineas Argentinas charter plane, smiling broadly as he greeted Fujimori and embracing two children who brought him flowers. He plunged into the crowd of well wishers on the tarmac who waved flags of Peru and the Vatican and stopped to hold a baby and listen to a children's choir. The elation over the pope's return was felt across Peru. “My heart is so excited that it makes

Nvidia is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang, WSJ reports
Nov 12, 2026
Nvidia is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang, WSJ reports

Nvidia's board is preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang after he had two extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The board is preparing to meet as soon as Wednesday to determine his future, the report added. Earlier in the day, the New York Times reported that Huang had an extramarital affair with a company executive who reported to him. The relationship was with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare, the New York Times said, citing five people who worked at the company. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the reports. The reports on Wednesday come days after Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife, as Nvidia's board investigates whether he was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. The latest revelation escalates a controversy that has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers, investors and Nvidia's board over Huang's conduct and his relationship with Alice Huang, a woman who U.S. intelligence has s

World leaders urge stronger and faster action at UN climate talks over inadequate response
Nov 12, 2026
World leaders urge stronger and faster action at UN climate talks over inadequate response

ANTALYA, Turkey — It's time to act decisively and urgently to curb global warming, which is wreaking havoc with deadly floods, heat waves and other disasters, the United Nations chief told world leaders Wednesday as formal talks began at the U.N. climate conference in Turkey. “We know the truth. Now we must act on it because climate action is more than a fight over a number or a thermometer," U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in an opening speech. “We are in the fight for our lives and our children’s future." But top leaders of the world’s three biggest polluting nations — China, the United States and India, together responsible for more than half of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions — skipped the summit, known as COP31. Their absence left a handful of national leaders and U.N. officials to press for action as a new report warned of a widening gap between countries’ climate pledges and actual emissions cuts. Scientists say global warming is likely to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. Limiting warming to that t

Chủ tịch Hội đồng Liên bang Nga đến Hà Nội, bắt đầu thăm chính thức Việt Nam
Nov 12, 2026
Chủ tịch Hội đồng Liên bang Nga đến Hà Nội, bắt đầu thăm chính thức Việt Nam

Đây là chuyến thăm chính thức Việt Nam lần thứ ba của Chủ tịch Hội đồng Liên bang Nga Valentina Matviyenko, sau các chuyến thăm năm 2012 và 2017.

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