ISTANBUL (AA) - Here is a rundown of all the news that you need to start your Friday with, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailing a "historic day" after signing a 10-year security agreement with the US, a G7 agreement on a $50 billion loan for Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets, and a report by the UN Refugee Agency on the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide surging for the 12th consecutive year, hitting 120 million in 2023.
TOP STORIES
- 'Historic day': Ukrainian president says after signing 10-year security agreement with US
After signing a landmark 10-year bilateral security agreement with the US during the G7 summit in Italy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this a "historic day."
Zelenskyy and US President Joe Biden held a joint press conference after signing the deal, marking a significant step in ongoing efforts to bolster Ukraine's defense capabilities amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
Calling Russia a "real global threat," Zelenskyy said: "This is an agreement on steps to guarantee sustainable peace, and therefore it benefits everyone in the world."
- G7 agrees on $50B loan for Ukraine backed by frozen Russian assets, says German chancellor
G7 states have reached a deal to give Ukraine a $50 billion loan backed by frozen Russian assets, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced.
Speaking to reporters after meeting his G7 counterparts in Italy, Scholz said they have finally reached an agreement on this issue after weeks-long intensive discussions.
“Today’s decision is certainly a very historic step and a historic decision. The next step will be just to create the technical conditions for implementation in the shortest possible time,” he said.
- Number of forcibly displaced people worldwide surges for 12th consecutive year, hitting 120M in 2023: UN Refugee Agency
The number of people forcibly displaced worldwide reached 120 million in 2023, rising sharply for the 12th consecutive year, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said.
Underlining that the new figure represents "historic new levels," the UNHCR said in a report that it reflects both new and mutating conflicts and a "failure to resolve longstanding" crises.
"The figure would make the global displaced population equivalent to the 12th largest country in the world, around the size of Japan," it said.
The agency pointed to the conflict in Sudan as "a key factor driving the figures higher, as since April 2023, more than 7.1 million new displacements were recorded in the country, with another 1.9 million outside.”
NEWS IN BRIEF
- The Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had conducted training launches during exercises of non-strategic nuclear forces.
- South Australia’s premier has announced plans to ban political donations from state elections.
- Italy's prime minister kicked off a G7 summit in the southern region of Puglia to discuss global issues, including the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
- Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira has stated that Brazil strongly advocates for an end to the violence in Gaza.
- Contracts have been signed between Ankara and Washington for the procurement of F-16s from the US, and work on the details is ongoing between respective delegations, Turkish National Defense Ministry sources said.
- The Palestinian group Hamas has accused US Secretary of State Antony Blinken of seeking to exonerate Israel from obstructing a cease-fire.
- The Israeli army reported heavy rocket fire from southern Lebanon, shortly after airstrikes on Hezbollah targets amid growing border tensions.
- The US military's V-22 Osprey transport aircraft will remain grounded until at least 2025 due to ongoing safety and performance evaluations.
- The Japanese parliament adopted a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Palestinian besieged enclave of Gaza.
- The Spanish prime minister said his country and Türkiye share the "urgent and imperative" need to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza.
- China indicated that it is taking countermeasures against a hike of tariffs by the European Commission on electric vehicle (EV) imports from the world’s second largest economy.
- Ukraine and Japan signed a bilateral security agreement during the 50th G7 summit being held in Italy.
- Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that another "American, Anglo-Saxon veto" in the UN Security Council on any document aimed at ending the killing of civilians in Gaza and bringing peace to the region "will simply be a bloody crime."
- Some Apple employees and shareholders have accused the tech company of sending employee donations to organizations that have ties to the Israeli army and illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
- Indonesia announced that it will evacuate 1,000 victims of the ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza for medical treatment in the Southeast Asian country.
- The election results of the EU Parliament show that the majority of people rejected their respective countries' rulers for their policies, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, urging European citizens to wake up and realize where their governments' policies have brought them.
- At least 11 Israeli soldiers have been injured in the past 24 hours in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army reported.
- Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's decision to transfer $35 million in Palestinian tax revenues to victims of Palestinian attacks is "extraordinarily wrongheaded" and should be reversed, the State Department said.
- Israel must conduct its military operations "consistent with international humanitarian law," the State Department said in response to Anadolu's questions about an ongoing raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
- UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba pushed back against criticisms about the "relative silence" over the crisis in the Gaza Strip, asserting that she has "publicly spoken" about it several times.
- The Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad, said it launched rockets against cities and settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip for “crimes committed by the Zionist enemy against our Palestinian people.”
- President Joe Biden said the US would continue to push for a cease-fire proposal he announced for the conflict in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 37,000 people.
SPORTS
- France looking for 3rd championship title at EURO 2024
The French squad is targeting a third European championship as Les Bleus will face Austria, the Netherlands and Poland to qualify for the knockout phase in EURO 2024.
Group D of the EURO 2024 has a clear favorite in France, which won the 1984 and 2000 tournaments and was the runner-up in 2016 with arguably their strongest squad ever, spearheaded by Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe.
Didier Deschamps' men, who are the standouts of the tournament, are expected to breeze through the group stage.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
- Nasdaq, S&P 500 close at record highs for 4th straight day
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed at record highs for the fourth straight trading day.
The S&P 500 rose 12 points, or 0.23%, to finish the session at 5,433 and the Nasdaq added 59 points, or 0.34%, to end the day at 17,667.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, on the other hand, fell 65 points, or 0.17%, to end the session at 38,647, marking the third consecutive daily loss for the blue-chip index.