The Telegraph reports that hundreds of pro-democracy protestors were arrested last night in Istanbul. Protests have been ongoing for over a month, but this week they focused on the appointment of Melihu Bulu as the new rector of Boğaziçi University. Bulu was appointed in early January without any consultation with the university’s faculty or administration, which caused anger across the student population. Some students suggested Bulu is responsible for the escalation in violence towards the protestors. This week protestors were hit with plastic bullets and pepper spray. The Independent reports that Turkey’s Interior Minister called the protesting students “LGBT perverts” on his twitter, prompting the company to limit access to his profile.

The Times reports that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the country should consider introducing a new constitution. This comes just over two years after the current constitution granted him sweeping new powers. Critics believe the new constitution would further cement his authority. Erdoğan made the announcement as his approval ratings hit an all-time low whilst the country is facing a deteriorating economic crisis.

The Guardian reports that Australia has pressed Qatar for a report on the “non-consensual intimate medical examination” of 18 women during a Sydney bound flight last October. The women were forced to undergo the exam after a newborn baby was found dumped at the airport in Qatar. Qatari authorities later apologised to the women and added that those responsible would be brought to justice, with legal proceedings beginning this month. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade expressed its “disappointment that the government of Qatar has so far not provided the Australian government with a report into the incident at Hamad International Airport”.

BBC News and The Associated Press report that Iran has released the crew of the South-Korean flagged tanker it seized last month. South Korea requested the crew be released, and a statement yesterday from Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the 19 crewmembers would be freed on humanitarian grounds. Iran apprehended the tanker in the Gulf over “environmental pollution,” a claim denied by the tanker’s operator. Reports suggested that Iran seized the South Korean tanker because of $7 billion (£5 billion) of frozen Iranian funds in South Korean banks. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Seoul was trying to unfreeze the money, while a spokesman from South Korea’s foreign ministry said the move would help “restore trust”.

The Guardian reports that a British-Iranian national has managed to escape prison in Iran and is now living in London. Kameel Ahmady was sentenced to nine years in prison for cooperation with “a hostile state power” in November 2020. In an interview with the paper, Ahmady explains that after spending 100 days in Evin prison he faced “a choice of whether I would stay and not see my family and four-year-old child until he was 14, or to risk fleeing”. He escaped by “crossing the border through snow 1.5 metres deep and fog, evading Iranian border patrols”.

The Associated Press reports on Hamas and the upcoming Palestinian elections. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s luxurious lifestyle split between Qatar and Turkey will hamper the group’s election campaign as a “scrappy underdog that is above trading its principles for material comforts”. The report notes that “Hamas’ image among many Palestinians, even onetime supporters, has suffered since 2007. Since then, Hamas has established its own quasi-state with its own civil service and security forces. But it has struggled to provide even basic services with Gaza’s economy devastated by three wars with Israel and a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has confined the territory’s 2 million people to what Palestinians often refer to as the world’s largest open-air prison. That some of its leaders have left Gaza has not helped.”

All the Israeli media continue to cover the aftermath of the shooting incident in the Israeli Arab town of Tamra, where an innocent nursing student Ahmad Hijazi was killed during an exchange of gunfire between police and criminals. A second man was also injured in the crossfire. In addition, one of the criminals was also shot dead, a second sustained serious injuries and the third fled the scene. The third suspect was captured last night, and he was taken into custody. Maariv quotes Northern District Police Commander Shimon Lavi who expressed regret for the death of Hijazi and support for the policemen: “In the past month and a half there have been three incidents of shooting between police officers and criminals. Anyone who raises a gun at police officers needs to die. It’s that simple. I praise the policemen’s conduct, with a caveat on account of the death of a civilian in the incident. Unfortunately, two innocent civilians who apparently had come out of their homes due to curiosity after hearing the gunshots, were caught in those exchanges of fire. One of them was killed and the other sustained light injuries. Currently, it is impossible to tell whether the two of them were hit by shots that were fired by the police or by the criminals. The Police Internal Investigations Department is investigating that.” The paper notes that more than 2,000 people protested in Tamra last night against what they decried as “the racist policies of the government and the police against Arab society”.