Morning Briefing: Sept. 2, 2024

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) - Here’s a rundown of all the news that you need to start your Monday with, including Israel’s main labor union calling a general strike to push for a prisoner swap with Palestinians, a German far-right party being poised to win a state election for the first time, and Russia saying it will change its nuclear doctrine due to the West’s actions amid the Ukraine war.

TOP STORIES

• Israel’s main labor union calls general strike to push for prisoner swap with Palestinians

Israel’s largest labor union has called a general strike on Monday to pressure the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a prisoner swap deal with Palestinian factions.

The call came hours after the Israeli army said it had recovered the bodies of six hostages from the southern Gaza Strip.

“We are getting body bags instead of a deal. I have come to the conclusion that only our intervention might move those who need to be moved,” Histadrut Labor Federation chief Arnon Bar-David said Sunday evening.

• German far right set to win state election for first time: Exit polls

Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was on track to win a state election for the first time, according to exit polls by public broadcaster ARD.

The anti-immigrant AfD was seen winning 30.5% of the vote in the eastern state of Thuringia, about 6% ahead of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU).

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) were predicted to win only 7% in one of their worst ever election results in this state. Their coalition partners – the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats – were below the 5% threshold necessary for entry into the state parliament.

• Russia says it will change its nuclear doctrine due to West’s actions amid Ukraine war

Russia said it will change its nuclear doctrine due to the West’s actions regarding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told state news agency TASS that work on the country’s nuclear doctrine is at an “advanced stage,” further saying that there is a “clear directive to make adjustments.”

According to Ryabkov, these adjustments are conditioned by the study and analysis of Russia’s experience of conflict in recent years, including “everything related to the escalation course of our Western opponents.”

NEWS IN BRIEF

• A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea's Bougainville Island, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
• At least 20 civilians were killed in the city of Sennar and in Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur State, in clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
• At least 11 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City, according to a medical source.
• The final report of the commission investigating the helicopter crash that killed Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi in May has concluded that it was caused by adverse weather conditions.
• Pope Francis said that ongoing Gaza cease-fire negotiations should not be halted
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will not compromise on keeping troops in the Philadelphi Corridor, located on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
• Türkiye slammed the upcoming television series Famagusta, set to air on a digital platform, saying it serves the propaganda of the Greek Cypriot administration by “distorting historical facts.”
• One person was killed and two others were injured in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, the Health Ministry said.
• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and halting Israeli military escalation in the West Bank.
• Israel’s main international airport will halt all arrivals and departures on Monday amid a general strike to pressure the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a prisoner swap deal with Palestinians.
• Egypt strongly condemned Israeli military escalation in the occupied West Bank and Tel Aviv’s “scorched earth” policy.
• The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) launched a polio vaccination campaign for children under the age of 10 in the central Gaza Strip.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed Israel's ongoing genocide in Palestinian territories as well as other global and regional issues in a phone call.
• At least 47 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, bringing the overall death toll since last Oct. 7 to 40,738, the Health Ministry in the enclave said.
• Turkish security forces “neutralized” a total of 17 PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Iraq and northern Syria, said the country’s National Defense Ministry.
• Three Israeli police officers were killed in a shooting near Hebron, a city in the southern occupied West Bank.
• The Indonesia-Africa Parliamentary Forum (IAPF) 2024 opened in the tourist resort of Bali, with representatives and parliamentary chairpersons from 22 countries in attendance, according to state-run media outlet Antara News.
• China and the Philippines blamed each other for the latest collision of their ships in the disputed South China Sea.
• A senior Hamas official said the six Israeli hostages recently found in Gaza were killed as a result of ongoing Israeli airstrikes, challenging the Israeli army's claim that Hamas executed the hostages while they were in captivity.
• The Israeli army announced that the bodies of six individuals who were taken hostage on Oct. 7 were found and recovered late Saturday from Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip.

SPORTS

• Luis Diaz scores double as Liverpool beat Man Utd 3-0 at Old Trafford

Colombian forward Luis Diaz scored twice as Liverpool beat Manchester United 3-0 in an English Premier League match at Manchester's Old Trafford Stadium.

Diaz scored the opener via a header at the far post in the 35th minute. He made it 2-0 in the 42nd minute, scoring a low shot in the area.

Liverpool's Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, who assisted twice in the first half at Old Trafford, added a third goal in the 56th minute right after the visitors pressured Man Utd for a mistake in the midfield.