Morning Briefing: Aug. 27, 2024

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) - Here’s a rundown of all the news that you need to start your Tuesday with, including the UN warning that remarks by Israel’s national security minister about building a synagogue inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound could further inflame tensions, a TRT Arabi cameraman being injured in southern Gaza in shelling by Israel, 74 people being killed in multiple terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Israel receiving its 500th US military supply plane since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 7 last year.

TOP STORIES

• Israeli minister's synagogue proposal inside Al-Aqsa Mosque risks further inflaming tensions, UN warns
  

The UN denounced Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's recent remarks on building a synagogue inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, saying they were "highly counterproductive."

"These types of statements are highly counterproductive, to say the least. They risk inflaming a situation which is already bone dry," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at a news conference.

Highlighting the sensitivity surrounding the status of holy sites in Jerusalem, Dujarric said "there is a status quo agreed to the parties for the holy sites in Jerusalem that must be respected by all."

• TRT Arabi cameraman injured in southern Gaza shelling by Israel

A cameraman for TRT Arabi, the Arabic television channel of Turkish public broadcaster TRT, was injured in an Israeli shelling attack in the southern Gaza Strip.

Mohammad al-Zeineen sustained an eye injury from a piece of shrapnel after the Israeli army targeted a car beside a tent for journalists near Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis.

The TRT Arabi team had been attacked by the Israeli army previously in April while on duty in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, causing a severe injury to crew member Sami Shehadeh that led to the amputation of his right leg.

• 74 killed in multiple terrorist attacks in Pakistan

At least 74 people, including 21 terrorists and 14 security personnel, were killed in multiple clashes and attacks that lasted several hours in southwest and northwest Pakistan, officials and local media reported.

Terrorists carried out coordinated attacks on the army in Musakhel, Qalat and Lasbela districts, in which 21 militants and 10 paramilitary troops were killed, the army said in a statement.

Another four personnel of law enforcement agencies were also killed in the clashes, it added.

• Israel receives 500th US military supply plane since start of Gaza war on Oct. 7

Israel said it received its 500th US military supply plane since the start of its war on the Gaza Strip last Oct. 7.

“The 500th aircraft in the joint airlift operation has landed in Israel,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It said the new supply plane was “part of a large-scale logistical effort that began with the outbreak of the recent war.”

NEWS IN BRIEF

• Belarus dismissed demands by Ukraine that Minsk withdraw its forces from the border between the two countries.
• Britain condemned Russia's missile and drone attacks on energy infrastructure across Ukraine, calling the strikes a "flagrant violation of international law."
• The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) issued a warning over the "degrading" conditions for people across the Gaza Strip, describing the situation on the ground as "catastrophic."
• Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani discussed with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi efforts to reach a cease-fire in Gaza, along with tensions across the region.
• Some 20 rockets and three drones were fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel, igniting a fire at a targeted area, Israeli media reported.
• The reason behind the temporary increase in security at the NATO air force base in the western town of Geilenkirchen was intelligence information about a possible threat from a Russian act of sabotage.
• The recent arrest of Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the encrypted messaging app Telegram, by French law enforcement has sparked heated debate across the world, including in Russian media.
• Türkiye “strongly condemned” the terror attack in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
• A landslide in the northern Gondar zone of Ethiopia's Amhara region has claimed the lives of 23 people and left eight others injured.
• French President Emmanuel Macron said the arrest of Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the encrypted messaging app Telegram, is not a political decision.
• Ukraine said that at least five people were killed and 30 injured as 15 regions were affected by Russian airstrikes that targeted the country's energy infrastructure.
• A 45-story tower block has been engulfed by a fire in East London as dozens of firefighters are battling to curb the flames.
• The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that he will personally lead a mission that will inspect the situation at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, which Russia claimed Ukraine tried targeting in a drone attack last week.
• The Kremlin said the topic of negotiations with Ukraine has “lost its relevance.”
• Germany backed Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, saying it had “the right to self-defense.”
• Poland scrambled jets amid intensive Russian air attacks on many Ukrainian cities, including those close to Poland.
• At least 60 people were reported dead as a dam collapsed in eastern Sudan amid torrential rains, according to local media.
• A British safety adviser for Reuters was killed and two journalists were injured when a Russian missile struck a hotel in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine.
• At least 15 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in Israeli strikes targeting homes and a school sheltering displaced civilians in the Gaza Strip.

SPORTS

• Former England, Lazio boss Sven-Goran Eriksson dies at 76

Former England and Lazio head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson from Sweden died at the age of 76.

"Sven-Goran Eriksson has passed away. After a long illness, SGE died during the morning at home surrounded by family," his family said in a statement.

"The closest mourners are daughter Lina, son Johan with wife Amana and granddaughter Sky, father Sven, girlfriend Yanisette with son Alcides, brother Lars-Erik with wife Jumnong. The family asks for respect for their wish to mourn in private and not be contacted," the statement said.

• New York Yankees legend Babe Ruth's match-worn baseball jersey sold for $24M

The New York Yankees jersey worn by Major League Baseball (MLB) legend Babe Ruth during the 1932 championship was sold at auction for over $24 million.

Following the nearly six-hour auction, Ruth's jersey was sold for over $24 million, making it the most expensive sports collectible ever sold.

“92 years after the legendary fifth-inning home run during Game 3 of the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs, the one where Babe Ruth ‘called the shot,’ the jersey from that historic game was sold at our Summer Platinum Sports auction,” Heritage Auctions said in a statement.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Canada to impose 100% tariff on imports of Chinese EVs, 25% on aluminum, steel

Canada will slap 100% tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles and will impose further duties on steel and aluminum, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

The announcement came a day after the US urged Canada to enact the tariffs already put in place by President Joe Biden’s government in May.

“Shortly we will be introducing…a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and a 25% tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum,” Trudeau said at a news conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia.