Morning Briefing: May 14, 2024

By Rabia Ali

ISTANBUL (AA) - Here is a rundown of all the news that you need to start your Tuesday with, including Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's visit to Türkiye, the US looking into abuse against Palestinian detainees, and the Israeli army targeting foreign employees and aid workers in Gaza.

TOP STORIES

• Türkiye, Greece strengthening mutual understanding on fighting terrorism: President Erdogan

Türkiye and Greece are strengthening their mutual understanding on fighting terrorism, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

"We agree there is no place for terrorist groups in our region's future," Erdogan said in a news conference in the Turkish capital Ankara with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Erdogan also said Ankara and Athens are committed to resolving issues between them via "cordial dialogue, good neighborly ties, and international law" as outlined in last year's Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighborliness.

• US ‘looking into’ allegations of abuse against Palestinian detainees

The US on Monday said it is "looking into" reports of violations committed by Israel against Palestinians in a secret detention center in the Negev Desert, urging Tel Aviv to "thoroughly" investigate the allegations.

"We’ve seen those reports and we're concerned about them," the State Department's deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, told reporters when asked about CNN’s investigation into the alleged human rights violations.

Patel urged Israel to treat all detainees "humanely with dignity in accordance with international law."

• WHO driver killed, foreign employee injured by Israeli fire in Gaza’s Rafah

A Palestinian driver with the World Health Organization (WHO) was killed and a foreign employee injured in an Israeli attack in Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, medical sources told Anadolu on Monday.

A WHO vehicle came under fire from Israeli forces in eastern Rafah, the sources said, adding that the injured foreign employee was rushed to the European Hospital in Khan Younis city in southern Gaza for medical attention.

There was no comment from the Israeli army on the report.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over renewed clashes in El Fasher city in Sudan’s North Darfur region, his deputy spokesman said Monday.
  
  
• Improvement of bilateral relations with Türkiye is yielding concrete and positive results, Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis said on Monday.
  
  
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday renewed his call on Israel to refrain from a large-scale military offensive on the southern Gazan city of Rafah.
  
  
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday condemned all attacks on United Nations personnel and called for a full investigation into the killing of a staff member in the Gaza Strip.
  
  
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Tuesday to reaffirm Washington’s "unwavering support" for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
  
  
• Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip is leaving more than 150,000 pregnant women struggling with terrible sanitary conditions and health risks, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned on Monday.
  
  
• The US has assessed that Israel has amassed enough troops on the edge of the city of Rafah for a large-scale military offensive in the coming days, CNN reported Monday.
  
  
• US President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill on Monday prohibiting Russian imports of enriched uranium.

SPORTS

• Arsenal beat Man United to take title race

The Premier League title race will go to the last day of the 2023-24 season after Arsenal returned to the top of the table with a narrow win over Manchester United.

Leandro Trossard's right-footed shot from close range in the 20th minute brought victory to the visitors at Old Trafford.

Manchester City thrashed Fulham 4-0 in London's Craven Cottage.

• Ex-Barcelona player accused of having twin to play in his stead

Dinamo Bucharest player Edgar le has been accused of having his twin brother play in his place during matches.

Romanian media reports alleged that, Ie, who was transferred to Dinamo Bucharest during the break, later started sending his twin brother Edelino to the team instead of playing himself.

Ie, 30, who has received little playing time in recent weeks due to poor performance despite being the club's highest-paid footballer, has been subject to criticism in the country.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Türkiye introducing new measures to curb persistent inflation

Turkish finance minister on Monday said Türkiye is introducing a series of measures to "discipline public spending" with increasing effectiveness in a bid to tackle persistent inflation.

The most important priority of “the savings and efficiency package in the public sector” is to eliminate the cost of living and reduce inflation to single digits, Türkiye's Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek told a news conference.

• Russia’s oil, gas budget revenues up by 82.2%

Russia’s federal budget revenues from the oil and gas industry showed a significant increase to 4.2 trillion rubles ($45.7 billion) in the January-April 2024 period, 82.2% higher than in the same period last year, the country’s Finance Ministry announced on Monday.

The country's non-oil and natural gas revenues increased by 36.8%, reaching 7.5 trillion rubles during the same period, the ministry said in a statement.