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Gulen, the powerful cleric accused of orchestrating a Turkish coup, dies

Herkul, a website which publishes Gulen’s sermons, said on its X account that Gulen had died on Sunday evening in the U.S. hospital where he was being treated.

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The U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who built a powerful Islamic movement in Turkey and beyond but spent his later years mired in accusations of orchestrating an attempted coup against Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan, has died. He was 83, Reuters reported.

Herkul, a website which publishes Gulen’s sermons, said on its X account that Gulen had died on Sunday evening in the U.S. hospital where he was being treated.

Gulen was a one-time ally of Erdogan but they fell out spectacularly, and Erdogan held him responsible for the 2016 attempted coup in which rogue soldiers commandeered warplanes, tanks and helicopters. Some 250 people were killed in the bid to seize power.

Gulen, who had lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, denied involvement in the putsch.

According to its followers, Gulen’s movement – known as “Hizmet” which means “service” in Turkish – seeks to spread a moderate brand of Islam that promotes Western-style education, free markets and interfaith communication.

Since the failed coup, his movement has been systematically dismantled in Turkey and its influence has declined internationally, read the report.

Known to his supporters as Hodjaefendi, or respected teacher, Gulen was born in a village in the eastern Turkish province of Erzurum in 1941. The son of an imam, or Islamic preacher, he studied the Koran from infancy.

In 1959, Gulen was appointed as a mosque imam in the northwestern city of Edirne and began to come to prominence as a preacher in the 1960s in the western province of Izmir, where he set up student dormitories and would go to tea houses to preach.

These student houses marked the start of an informal network which would spread over the following decades through education, business, media and state institutions, giving his supporters extensive influence.

This influence also spread beyond Turkey’s borders to the Turkic republics of Central Asia, the Balkans, Africa and the West through a network of schools.

Gulen had been a close ally of Erdogan and his AK Party, but growing tensions in their relationship exploded in December 2013 when corruption investigations targeting ministers and officials close to Erdogan came to light, Reuters reported.

Prosecutors and police from Gulen’s Hizmet movement were widely believed to be behind the investigations and an arrest warrant was issued for Gulen in 2014, with his movement designated as a terrorist group two years later.

Soon after the 2016 coup, Erdogan described Gulen’s network as traitors and “like a cancer”, vowing to root them out wherever they are. Hundreds of schools, companies, media outlets and associations linked to him were shut down and assets seized.

Gulen condemned the coup attempt “in the strongest terms”.

“As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt,” he said in a statement.

In a crackdown after the failed putsch, which the government said targeted Gulen’s followers, at least 77,000 people were arrested and 150,000 state workers including teachers, judges and soldiers suspended under emergency rule, read the report.

Companies and media outlets regarded as linked to Gulen were seized by the state or closed down. The Turkish government said its actions were justified by the gravity of the threat posed to the state by the coup.

Gulen also became an isolated figure within Turkey, reviled by Erdogan’s supporters and shunned by the opposition which saw his network as having conspired over decades to undermine the secular foundations of the republic.

Ankara long sought to have him extradited from the United States.

Speaking in his gated compound in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, Gulen said in a 2017 Reuters interview he had no plans to flee the United States to avoid extradition. Even then, he appeared frail, walking with a shuffle and keeping his longtime doctor close at hand.

Gulen had travelled to the United States for medical treatment but remained there as he faced a criminal investigation in Turkey.

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US imposes sanctions on 13 tied to Iran weapons procurement

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Treasury will not tolerate any support to ​the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s ⁠enablers.”

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The US government announced fresh sanctions on Tuesday against 13 individuals and entities, including some based in Russia, China, Hong Kong ​and Pakistan, saying they helped Iran procure weapons and components.

The sanctions announced by the ‌Treasury and State departments are part of the Trump administration’s effort to isolate Iran economically and force it to negotiate an end to the war that began with a US-Israeli strike on Iran ​on February 28.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Treasury will not tolerate any support to ​the regime and will continue to identify, expose, and isolate Iran’s ⁠enablers.”

Treasury said the sanctions were aimed at degrading Tehran’s ability to reconstitute its ​weapons programs, while increasing the costs for those who supported its procurement efforts.

Those targeted ​in Tuesday’s sanctions announcements include:

Seyyed Asghar Alizadeh Tabatabai, a Beijing-based representative of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics agency, who Treasury said had coordinated the procurement of finished weapons systems ​and dual-use components in China on Iran’s behalf.

Iran-based Kavoshcom Asia R and D ​Group, which Treasury said had procured electronics including connectors for Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company.

Hong Kong-based ‌EC ⁠Mojo Technology Co Limited, which Treasury said had provided electronic components in support of Kavoshcom’s procurement efforts, and EC Mojo’s China-based representative Li Fen.

Pakistan-based Waseem Pasha Tajammal, who serves as chairman of Cavalier Group, a privately owned defense company with locations in ​Pakistan and internationally.

Joint Stock ​Company Experimental Design ⁠Bureau Named After A.S. Yakovlev, a Russia-based aircraft manufacturer.

MG-Flot LLC, a Russia-based shipping company whose vessels transport weapons for the Russian ​government.

Saha Airlines, an Iran-based airline affiliated with the country’s air ​force.

Brett Erickson, ⁠managing principal with Obsidian Risk Advisors, said the latest sanctions action would do little to impede Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones in the Strait of Hormuz. “This is ⁠optics ​management for the Trump administration to claim ‘We’re hammering ​them,’ when the reality is we’re poking them with a toothpick,” he said.

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US, Iran separately talk with mediators in latest bid to end war

US officials separately ​spoke with mediators on Monday, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House, without giving further details.

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US and Iranian officials spoke separately with mediators on Monday as part ‌of a renewed effort to end seven months of war, according to officials of both countries, Reuters reported.

Any further talks are expected to focus on an amended version of a seven-day proposal that Iran presented last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, ​an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.

The war began in late February with US and Israeli ​attacks on Iran, killing thousands of people over seven months and shocking global markets ⁠as vital waterways for oil remained choked. The US and Iran have twice previously agreed to ceasefires in ​mediated peace talks, in April and June. Those agreements quickly unraveled.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who remained in New ​York after attending the General Assembly, said Iran expected to receive the US response to its latest ceasefire proposals and its conditions for restoring passage of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, according to state news agency IRNA.

“If the Americans claim ​they are seeking an agreement or a peaceful solution, we have presented that solution,” Araqchi said.

US officials separately ​spoke with mediators on Monday, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House, without giving further details.

Iran’s seven-day plan envisages an end to all hostilities in Iran and Lebanon, the unfreezing of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian assets, an end to sanctions on Iranian oil and the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian ports.

Iran would then allow the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for ​oil tankers, and the two ​sides would also resume ⁠talks on Iran’s nuclear program and Trump’s wish to seize or eliminate its highly enriched uranium, read the report.

Trump said on Saturday he had rejected Iran’s proposal, saying Iran wanted a swift ​agreement because of the crippling economic pressure it is under. However, he also told ​Axios on ⁠Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in further talks this week.

Araqchi said on Sunday that mediators had not formally conveyed a US rejection, and that Iran was awaiting Washington’s definitive position before deciding its next steps.

“Our conditions are ⁠clear, and ​any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on ​these conditions being met,” he said on Sunday, adding that only a negotiated solution could resolve the impasse.

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Floods, landslides kill 56 in India and 14 in Nepal

In India, the Central Water Commission said 30 river-monitoring stations across seven states indicated a “severe situation”.

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Heavy rain and storms have triggered floods and landslides that killed 56 people in India, while in Nepal, 14 have died and another 11 are missing, with authorities there warning on Sunday ​that more flash floods are possible, Reuters reported.

India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh recorded 66.5 mm of ​rain between September 25 and the morning of September 27, compared with a ⁠normal 7.6 mm for the period, Hrishikesh Bhaskar Yashod, the state’s relief commissioner, said on Sunday.

Authorities are ​carrying out rescue operations in waterlogged areas and distributing relief, while officials have been told to assess ​crop damage and provide compensation.

In addition to the 56 deaths, 46 people have been injured and more than 1,000 houses have been damaged.

Nepali authorities warned of possible flash floods in 49 of the country’s 77 districts, with more than half ​facing high flood or flash-flood risks as water levels in major rivers and tributaries continued to rise.

Shanti ​Mahat, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, said Rasuwa and Nuwakot, areas hit by ‌last month’s deadly ⁠floods that killed more than 1,450 people and left thousands still missing, should remain “alert” but were not currently considered high-risk areas.

Power supply has been completely disrupted in the Manang, Mustang, Myagdi and Baglung districts, with authorities working to restore electricity, energy ministry officials said.

Flooding of the Rahuganga River damaged the structure and ​transmission-line towers of a ​40-megawatt hydropower project, Water ⁠Resources and Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said.

In India, the Central Water Commission said 30 river-monitoring stations across seven states indicated a “severe situation”.

Several major rivers, including ​the Ganga, Gandak, Kosi, Bagmati and Narmada, were above danger levels, read the report.

Floods and ​landslides also disrupted ⁠telecommunications in parts of Nepal after damage to optical fibres and power supplies, Communications Minister Bikram Timilsinha said.

In a separate incident in Nepal, 10 local workers were also missing after an avalanche buried the base camp ⁠of the ​7,126-metre (23,379-ft) Himlung Himal in the northern Manang district, hiking officials ​said.

The workers had been setting up tents for foreign climbers, who were not present when the avalanche struck.

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