A cargo vessel carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid en route for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip left a Turkish port yesterday. [...] In recent years, Turkey stepped up its international humanitarian outreach, making it onto a list of most generous countries in 2015 and 2016 as it spent $6.5 billion on humanitarian aid, a high figure compared to the country's gross national income. During the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Turkish aid agencies reached millions of people across the world with food aid.

The ambassadors of countries with embassies in Turkey attended an iftar (fast-breaking) dinner Tuesday evening hosted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the capital Ankara. [...] Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Turkey, whose country spearheaded efforts to isolate Qatar over what it calls support for extremists, was seated near Qatari Ambassador as both envoys briefly engaged in a warm conversation, according to a journalist from Hürriyet daily who attended the dinner.

Ramadan is usually a time for fasting, prayer and renewal of religious devotion. For some local Muslims, this year’s Ramadan will also be a time to organize and send some relief to those facing hunger and famine. From Toronto to Ottawa and Calgary, members of the International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) are teaming up with students and Muslim volunteers to prepare and pack about 1,500 supply kits to be delivered to thousands of families in Somalia.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has declined a request to host an event to mark Islam's holy month of Ramadan, two U.S. officials said, apparently breaking with a bipartisan tradition in place with few exceptions for nearly 20 years. Members of Congress, Muslim civil society and community leaders, diplomats from Muslim countries and senior U.S. officials usually attend the State Department Ramadan event, a symbol of the U.S. government's diplomatic efforts with Muslim countries and people.

Israel has announced a series of goodwill gestures for Palestinians ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan a day after it warned Gaza's already meager electricity supply could be further reduced following a spat between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas. Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai of the Israeli defense body said in a statement Friday the goodwill measures include access for 100 Gaza residents to attend prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem each Friday throughout Ramadan. West Bank crossings will open longer it also said.

The Kinara Festival, organised by Love & Etiquette and Super Slow Way, is one of the first of its kind to take place in the UK and will bring diverse artists together to form the first comprehensive UK festival celebrating Islamic and South Asian arts and culture in time to celebrate Eid and the end of Ramadan.

Turkey's Jewish community is using the occasion of Ramadan to highlight unity with the Muslim faith by hosting an outdoor iftar (fast-breaking meal) at a synagogue in Edirne, reported the Daily Sabah on Friday. The feast was held outside the Great Edirne Synagogue, recently restored by the government, which stands in remembrance of the Jewish community that was forced from the city during the Thrace pogroms of the 1930s.