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Turkey arrests journalists over alleged cartoon of Prophet Muhammad

Published

7 months ago

2025/07/1

Priyan

Four employees of a satirical magazine in Turkey have been arrested for publishing a cartoon that appears to show the Prophet Muhammad – a sacred religious figure whose depiction is forbidden in Islam.

Turkey’s interior minister Ali Yerlikaya condemned LeMan magazine’s drawing as “shameless”, announcing that its editor-in-chief, graphic designer, institutional director and cartoonist had been detained.

In a post on the social media site X, LeMan denied its cartoon was a caricature of Muhammad, saying “the work does not refer to the Prophet Muhammed in any way”.

Riot police were deployed in Istanbul on Monday as hundreds of people protested against the publication.

Protesters gathered outside LeMan’s offices chanting slogans such as “tooth for tooth, blood for blood, revenge, revenge”.

A correspondent for the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency reported seeing rubber bullets and tear gas being fired to disperse the crowd.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images Protesters clash with Turkish anti riot police officers as they gather to protests Leman cartoon magazine in Istanbul — *Police could be seen firing a substance towards protesters [BBC]*

Turkey’s minister of justice said an investigation had been initiated by the chief public prosecutor’s office for “publicly insulting religious values”.

“The caricature or any form of visual representation of our Prophet not only harms our religious values but also damages societal peace,” Yilmaz Tunc wrote on X.

“Necessary legal steps will be taken without delay” against LeMan’s journalists, he added.

Yerlikaya also shared videos of the four employees being arrested over the “vile drawing”.

Arrest warrants have also been issued for other members of the magazine’s senior management.

Images of the cartoon have appeared on social media, which show two characters with wings floating in the sky over a city under siege.

One of the characters is pictured saying “Peace be upon you, I’m Muhammed”, and the other replying, “Peace be upon you, I’m Musa”.

LeMan apologised to “well-intentioned readers who feel hurt” but defended its work and rejected allegations that the cartoon was a depiction of Muhammad.

“The cartoonist wanted to portray the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel, and he never intended to insult religious values,” it said in a statement on X.

“We do not accept the stain that is cast on us because there is no depiction of our Prophet. You have to be very malicious to interpret the cartoon in this way.”

LeMan’s editor-in-chief Tuncay Akgun, who is currently in Paris, told AFP the work had been misinterpreted and the magazine would “never take such a risk”.

He added that the backlash draws “similarities with Charlie Hebdo” which is “very intentional and very worrying”, referencing the 2015 attack on the French satirical magazine after it published a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.

Charlie Hebdo’s offices were stormed by gunmen who killed 12 people and was one of the worst security crises in France’s history.

***[BBC]***

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The RAPP sheet: Steve Smith, Daryl Mitchell, Umesh Yadav among over 1300 players

Published

5 hours ago

2026/01/28

Priyan

Smith headlines a star-studded overseas list available to come in as replacements if needed [Cricbuzz]

RAPP may not exactly be a popular term in the Indian Premier League (IPL) lexicon, but it is a seminal one in the post-auction activity for the franchises. The Registered Available Player Pool or RAPP is a list from which franchises can pick replacement players.

The BCCI recently shared a long list of 1,307 players with the franchises. The list includes players who had enrolled for the auction and did not withdraw from the process – in short, this is the list of players who remained unsold at the December 16 auction in Abu Dhabi.

Steve Smith, Reece Topley, Jamie Smith and Jonny Bairstow are among the names who could be available as replacements for franchises. Even Daryl Mitchell, a perennial tormentor of the Indian team in the internationals, features on the list – No 98 on the sheet, with a base price of Rs 2 crore. He was the Player of the Series in the recent ODI series between India and New Zealand.

The capped Indians include Mayank Agarwal, KS Bharat, Deepak Hooda, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya, Sandeep Warrier and Umesh Yadav – all with a base price of Rs 75 lakh each.

As per BCCI instructions, a franchise cannot sign a player from the RAPP for less than his auction reserve price. Normally, franchises call upon players from the RAPP as net bowlers, and the BCCI has made it clear that a franchise will have no rights over a player should another franchise wish to recruit him.

ALL ABOUT THE RAPP

The RAPP list contains the names of Players who were registered for the Player Auction for the relevant Season subject to the player
(a) not having been taken in the Player Auction and
(b) not having withdrawn from the Player Auction process.

To act as a Replacement Player the player’s name must have been included on the RAPP list for the relevant Season and his League Fee for the full Season – assuming 100% availability – must not be less than the reserve price set by the Player as documented on the RAPP list.

Franchisees who separately contract with players on the RAPP list to act as net bowlers during the Season shall have no prior call on that player if another Franchisee wishes to take that player as a replacement pursuant to this paragraph 6 and must immediately release him if he agrees terms to be a Replacement Player for another Franchisee.

[Cricbuzz]

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U19 World Cup: Pakistan overcome New Zealand by 8 wickets

Published

6 hours ago

2026/01/28

Priyan

Abdul Subhan wrecked New Zealand [Cricinfo]

New Zealand continued to remain winless in the Super Six after getting swatted aside by Pakistan in Harare. In a contest that lasted less than 50 overs combined, New Zealand ended up losing by 8 wickets that kept Pakistan’s semifinal hopes alive ahead of their next clash against arch-rivals India.

New Zealand began in a poor manner losing Marco Alpe for just 2. However, the second wicket partnership carried them to 59/1 inside 8 overs to give New Zealand an excellent platform. From thereon, New Zealand lost their last 9 wickets for just 51 runs in quite an extraordinary manner. The well-set Hugo Bogue’s dismissal triggered the collapse as Abdul Subhan and Ali Raza tormented New Zealand. The duo combined to pick seven wickets as the New Zealand innings came to an end as early as in the 29th over.

Chasing just 111, Pakistan were always in command despite losing their opener Hamza Zahoor for just 8. Sameer Minhas starred once again by doing the bulk of the scoring. He hammered a couple of sixes and 10 fours in his unbeaten 76 as the Asian champions took just 17.1 overs to wipe out the target.

Brief scores:
New Zealand Under 19s 110 in 28.3 overs (Hugo Bogue 39; Abdul Subhan 4/11, Ali Raza 3/36) lost to Pakistan Under 19s 112/2 in 17.1 overs (Sameer Minhas 76*; Mason Clarke 1/34) by 8 wickets

[Cricbuzz]

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U19 World Cup: Vihaan Malhotra ton headlines India’s massive win

Published

6 hours ago

2026/01/28

Priyan

Vihaan Malhotra celebrates his hundred against Zimbabwe U19 [Cricbuzz]

A brilliant century from Vihaan Malhotra headlined India’s massive 204-run win over hosts Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in their Super Six fixture of the U19 World Cup. India’s openers, Aaron George and Vaibhav Suryavanshi, raced to 44/0 in the first four overs before the partnership was broken. But Suryavanshi continued to make merry to bring up a quickfire half-century. Zimbabwe then picked up three quick wickets, including that of Sooryavanshi, to reduce India to 130/4 but couldn’t capitalise from that point.

Malhotra joined forces with Abhigyan Kundu to resurrect India with a century stand. While Kundu hit a half-century, Malhotra batted deep into the innings alongside the lower order. Eventually, he finished unbeaten on 109 but it was Khilan Patel’s 12-ball 30 that actually helped India breach 350 to set a daunting target for the Zimbabweans.

While Zimbabwe were never really expected to mount a challenge, losing an opener off just the second ball only compounded matters. Three out of the top four failed to cross double digits as RS Ambrish and Henil Patel made early inroads. Leeroy Chiwaula stood tall with a fighting half-century but apart from him, only two more batters managed to touch double digits. Even skipper Ayush Mhatre had a great time with the ball as he picked three wickets before Udhav Mohan’s double strike put Zimbabwe out of their misery in the 38th over.

Brief scores:
India Under 19s 352/8 in 50 overs (Vihaan Malhotra 109*, Vaibhav Sooriyawanshi 52, Abhigyan Kundu 61; Panashe Mazai 2-86, Tatenda Chimugoro 3/49, Simbarashe Mudzengerere 2-51) beat Zimbabwe Under 19s 148 in 37.4 overs (Leeroy Chiwaula 62; RS Ambrish 2-19. Ayush Mhatre 3-14, Udhav Mohan 3-20) by 204 runs[Cricbuzz]