Morning Briefing: Sept. 28, 2024

By Alperen Aktas

ISTANBUL (AA) - Here is a rundown of all the news you need to start your Saturday, including 2 million people remain displaced after devastating floods in Nigeria; Israeli army carrying out heavy airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs; Turkish delegation and many others walking out of UN General Assembly in protest of Israeli Premier Netanyahu and Belarus saying it will use nuclear weapons in case of an attack by the West.

TOP STORIES

• 2M people remain displaced after devastating floods in Nigeria

About two million people are still displaced days after devastating floods struck Nigeria's northeast Maiduguri city, according to an official.

Babagana Zulum, governor of northeastern Borno State, said victims of the Sept.10-11 massive floods are still in displaced persons camps established by the government in the wake of the disaster.

"Most of our people are still displaced and many infrastructure damaged by the flood," Zulum told officials at a Nigerian bank, which donated N1 billion ($600 million) to help rehabilitate infrastructure destroyed by the floods and resettle victims.

• Israeli army carries out heavy airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs

The Israeli army carried out heavy and unprecedented airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs area, claiming to have attacked the main headquarters of the Lebanese resistance group, Hezbollah.

An Anadolu correspondent on the ground said warplanes launched 10 airstrikes on the area, which is a Hezbollah stronghold, with a large smoke plume rising above the area.

Shortly after the strikes, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the attack targeted Hezbollah's main headquarters, which he claimed was built underneath civilian buildings.

• Turkish delegation, others walk out of UN General Assembly in protest of Israeli premier

The Turkish delegation and many others walked out of the UN General Assembly in protest ahead of a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu entered the hall and approached the podium to address the 79th session of the General Assembly.

Led by Türkiye's UN envoy Ahmet Yildiz the delegation left the hall before Netanyahu began his address.

• Belarus says will use nuclear weapons in case of an attack
  
  President Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus will use nuclear weapons as soon as it is attacked by the West. During a meeting with university students in Minsk, Lukashenko discussed circumstances under which nuclear weapons could be used to protect Belarus and Russia. He emphasized that NATO forces, including US and Polish troops, are positioned along Belarus' western borders. "We will use nuclear weapons the moment they attack us," he said.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government's attacks against Palestine.
  
  
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his address to the UN General Assembly, displayed two maps, which did not identify the West Bank nor the Gaza Strip, but showed all territory as part of Israel.
  
  
• Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short his trip to New York following an unprecedented airstrike by his army on the Lebanese capital.
  
  
• Israeli media reported that the official assessment by authorities was that Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese resistance group, Hezbollah, was wounded earlier in an airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs.
  
  
• Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati cut short his visit to New York amid developments following a devastating Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs.
  
  
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of the escalating violence in the Middle East, saying "Gaza is key to ending it."
  
  
• The UN expressed "great alarm" about developments in Beirut following the latest heavy Israeli bombardment.
  
  
• The US did not have "advanced warning" of recent Israeli strikes in Beirut, according to the Pentagon.
  
  
• Five people were killed and 10 injured in an explosion at a gas station in the city of Makhachkala, the administrative center of Russia's Dagestan region, according to the country's Emergency Situations Ministry.
  
  
• The head of Bangladesh's transitional government appealed for continued international assistance in hosting Rohingya refugees, uprooted from neighboring Myanmar since 2017.
  
  
• Former US President Donald Trump said he would work with Russia and Ukraine to settle the war in Ukraine ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy.
  
  
• Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus highlighted Ankara's growing international influence, calling for a new global system during his return flight from Russia.
  
  
• Two climate activists, who threw soup at Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting in 2022, have been jailed in a London court.
  
  
• Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob urged Israel to halt military operations and end the occupation of Palestinian territories.
  
  
• Five Syrian soldiers were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a military site on the Syrian-Lebanese border at dawn, according to Syria’s state-run news agency SANA.
  
  
• Three Palestinians were killed and several injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a tent sheltering displaced people at a hospital in the central Gaza Strip and a home in Gaza City.
  
  
• An Israeli airstrike killed an entire family of nine people in southern Lebanon.
  
  
• A former Japanese defense minister won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) leadership race and is now set to become the country’s 101st prime minister.
  
  
• The Israeli military said that it intercepted a ballistic missile from Yemen that was targeting Tel Aviv.
  
  
• Kuwait raised alarms about the "serious escalation" of Israeli aggression against Lebanon, emphasizing the need for a "genuine political commitment to reform the United Nations Security Council in order to avert global instability."

SPORTS

• Manchester City midfielder Rodri to miss rest of season with major knee injury

Manchester City midfielder Rodri underwent knee surgery and will miss the rest of the season, the English Premier League club confirmed.

"He had surgery this morning - ACL and some meniscus, so next season he will be here. This season is over (for Rodri)," Man City manager Pep Guardiola said in a news conference before a fixture Saturday at Newcastle.

"What he gives us we don't have a similar player, but the other players all together can replace what Rodri has given us since he arrived to us," said Guardiola.

• Bayern Munich to face reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen in Saturday's German Bundesliga duel

German Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich will play defending champions Bayer Leverkusen in a Saturday league match at home.

Vincent Kompany's Bayern Munich has four wins in four league matches to remain at the top of the standings with 12 points.

They scored 16 goals but conceded three in the German league.

• Atletico Madrid to take on Real Madrid in Sunday's La Liga derby

Atletico Madrid will take on Real Madrid in Sunday's Spanish LaLiga derby.

Carlo Ancelotti’s Los Merengues wants to extend their unbeaten run in 39 matches, and they are also undefeated in their last 50 matches across the La Liga and the Champions League combined.

LaLiga's longest unbeaten run record of 43 matches is held by Barcelona, a team which included Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jr. (nicknamed MSN), between April 2017 and May 2018.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Economists expect decline in Türkiye's annual inflation in September

Türkiye's annual inflation is expected to drop to 48.11% in September, from 51.97% in August, according to an Anadolu survey.

Seventeen economists' monthly inflation forecast was also at 2.09%, down from 2.47% from a month ago.

Their year-end inflation expectation was at 43.23% for 2024.

French train maker Alstom to continue investing 'significantly' in Türkiye: CEO

• French train manufacturer Alstom SA will continue investing in Türkiye “significantly,” with its CEO telling Anadolu that the nation, which connects Europe to Asia, represents an incredible market opportunity for the company.

“Now that we have a neutral base (in the northwestern Turkish province of Bursa), we are going to invest in capacity and capabilities to move from bogie frames to car body shells, to large trains, and to entire trains. That, of course, will link the success of the Turkish market and the investment of the Turkish railway and the expansion of this base,” said Henri Poupart-Lafarge.

Poupart-Lafarge noted that Turkish firms in the sector are “excellent” collaborators, saying he sees working with Türkiye “not only as a market, but (for) a number of partnerships for supplies, as there is a very large industrial footprint for many trains in Europe.”​​​​​​​