Morning Briefing: Sept. 6, 2023

By Rabia Ali

ISTANBUL (AA) - Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Wednesday, including the US warning to North Korea, Saudi envoy's visit to Iran and sentencing of Proud boys leader in the US.

TOP STORIES

• North Korea 'will pay a price' if it sells arms to Russia, warns US

The US warned North Korea on Tuesday and told Pyongyang it will "pay a price" if it opts to sell arms to Russia.

"Providing weapons to Russia for use on the battlefield to attack grain silos and the heating infrastructure of major cities as we head into winter… this is not going to reflect well on North Korea," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters.

Sullivan said the US has worked in public and behind closed doors to ensure that North Korea knows it should not sell any weapons to Moscow.

• Saudi envoy arrives in Tehran after 7-year hiatus

Saudi Arabia’s first ambassador to Iran since relations improved arrived in Tehran to assume official duties, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The move came hours after Iranian Ambassador Alireza Enayati said he was due to travel to Riyadh to begin his diplomatic mission.

Iran and Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties in 2016 after the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad were stormed by angry mobs following execution of a Saudi Shia cleric.

The two countries resumed diplomatic ties earlier this year.

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• Former Proud Boys leader sentenced to 22 years in prison

The former leader of the right-wing Proud Boys group, Enrique Tarrio, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the breach of the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Tarrio's sentence is the longest so far related to the Jan. 6 attack on Congress. Over the past week, four members of the Proud Boys received sentences.

On May 4 this year, a jury found Tarrio and three other co-defendants guilty of multiple felonies including seditious conspiracy for their actions before and during the breach of the Capitol on Jan 6.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• The number of displaced civilians in Sudan has almost doubled since the outbreak of clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group in April, according to the UN migration agency.

• Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday discussed over phone revival of the Black Sea grain deal, Turkish diplomatic sources said.

• The British government is set to declare the Russian mercenary group Wagner a "terrorist organization," according to media reports Tuesday. A draft order will be presented in Parliament which proscribes the private military group as a terrorist group and will allow its assets to be categorized as terrorist property and seized.

• Türkiye is striving for a solution based on the demographic realities of Syria's territorial integrity, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday in the wake of recent regional strife, urging influential regional actors to do the same.
  
  

• Top French court will deliver its verdict in the next 48 hours on an appeal against the government's abaya dress ban in schools. A lawyer for the Muslim Rights Action (ADM) filed an appeal Friday with the Council of State to seek the suspension of the ban on the abaya.

• Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Tuesday decried Israel’s deduction of tax money as a “piracy.” Israeli Finance Ministry said Tuesday it will deduct money from funds Tel Aviv collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to pay Palestinian electricity debts for Israel Electric Corp (IEC).

• Leaders of the East African Community (EAC) voted Tuesday to extend the mandate of their regional military force which had been deployed to quell violence in the troubled eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

• Chinese rocket developer Galactic Energy on Tuesday accomplished its first sea launch in the Yellow Sea off the coast of China, deploying four satellites into orbit.

SPORTS

• Djokovic, Gauff qualify for 2023 US Open semifinals

- Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff secured spots in the 2023 US Open semifinals on Tuesday.

The Serbian second seed, Djokovic, defeated his US opponent, Taylor Fritz, with a score of 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in a men's quarterfinal match. Meanwhile, US sixth seed, Coco Gauff, eliminated Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in the women's quarterfinals.

• Spain fires women's football team coach Jorge Vilda

The Spanish football body sacked women's football team head coach Jorge Vilda on Tuesday, days after FIFA suspended the federation’s president for kissing a national team player on the mouth. Vilda was replaced by Montse Tome, first woman to coach Spain.

Spain won their first Women's World Cup title on Aug. 20 after beating England 1-0 in Sydney.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Germany to put 15M electric cars on the road by 2030: Chancellor Olaf

Germany plans to put 15 million electric cars on the roads by 2030, said the German chancellor.

He also announced a push to expand charging stations for e-cars.

With regard to the competition from China, Scholz firmly rejected any fears that the German automotive industry could be left behind.

• Saudi Arabia, Russia extend voluntary oil output cuts for rest of 2023

Saudi Arabia and Russia announced on Tuesday their plan to extend existing output cuts until the end of 2023, with possible monthly revisions.

OPEC group’s swing producer Saudi Arabia said it extended its production cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for another three months.

With the latest cut, the total production of the world’s largest exporter of crude oil will be approximately 9 million bpd in October, November and December.​​​​​​​