Morning Briefing: Dec. 14, 2023
Anadolu’s recap of top stories from around the globe
ISTANBUL
Here is a rundown of all the news that you need to start your Thursday, including the detention of thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails, US’ concerns about prosecution of Israeli military campaign in Gaza, Israel vowing to continue war without international support, and an agreement of moving away from fossil fuels at conclusion of COP28.
TOP STORIES
The Israeli army has detained more than 4,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since Oct. 7, Palestinian human rights groups said.
In a joint statement, the rights groups, including the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the Palestinian Prisoner Society and the Jerusalem-based Wadi Hilweh Information Center, said among the detained Palestinians were 150 women and more than 255 children.
It also said that currently there are more than 7,800 Palestinians in Israeli jails, including 2,870 people with no trial or charge under the Israeli administrative detention policy.
The US has conveyed its concerns to Israel about the military campaign on Gaza, the White House said.
"We have had concerns and we have expressed those concerns about the prosecution of this military campaign, even while acknowledging that it's Hamas that started this, and it's Hamas that is continuing," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at a press briefing.
Washington's support for Tel Aviv is not diminished adding that the US president was expressing concern about civilian casualties in Gaza.
Israel will continue the Gaza war “with or without international support,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Wednesday.
Speaking during a meeting with Australian Deputy Foreign Minister Tim Watts in West Jerusalem, Cohen said a cease-fire in Gaza will be a gift to Hamas, “and will allow it to return and threaten the residents of Israel.”
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said Israel is losing support around the world and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "has to strengthen and change" his government.
Negotiators at the COP28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday agreed on a final draft agreement, urging nations to move away from fossil fuels to avert the worst impacts of climate change.
“Representatives from 197 countries, in addition to the European Union, at the COP28 on Wednesday approved the historic "UAE Consensus" on climate change,” UAE state news agency WAM said.
The draft agreement, described as a historic deal, is expected to mark for the first time that nations agree at a UN climate summit to explicitly address fossil fuels and the need to move away from oil, natural gas, and coal to limit global warming.
NEWS IN BRIEF
- UN agency for Palestinian refugees urges partners "not to act on distorted facts," as entire humanitarian response in Gaza 'heavily relies' on UN agency’s capacity which is now on "verge of collapse," UNRWA chief said at Global Refugee Forum.
- Türkiye stands against all sorts of discrimination, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday as he marked Hanukkah, a Jewish festival that lasts eight days.
- Israel’s Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely ruled out the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in an interview with Sky News on Wednesday.
- The Gaza Health Ministry said on Wednesday that it has run out of vaccinations for children in the Gaza Strip, warning it can have catastrophic health consequences for the children and will cause diseases to spread.
- At least 87 journalists have been killed in the ongoing Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, the government media office in the besieged Palestinian enclave said.
- Turkish security forces “neutralized” more than 2,000 terrorists since the beginning of 2023, National Defense Minister Yasar Guler in his address to parliament.
- Russia cannot recognize Israel’s methods against Hamas as "acceptable" as Israel is razing neighborhoods in Gaza Strip to the ground and that the situation is terrible, the Russian foreign minister said.
- UN commissioner for refugees Filippo Grandi opened Global Refugee Forum with call for ‘humanitarian cease-fire’ in Gaza, saying that current conflict not only leads to more civilian deaths and suffering but also further displacement that threatens region
- The Israeli army remains tight-lipped over recent reports that it has begun pumping seawater into a tunnel network in Gaza allegedly used by the Palestinian group Hamas.
SPORTS
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) were handed a 1-1 draw in a Wednesday UEFA Champions League group match against already-qualified Borussia Dortmund to bag a Round of 16 ticket.
German forward Karim Adeyemi gave a 1-0 lead to Dortmund in the 51st minute as the 21-year-old performed a clean finish in the box after his teammate Niclas Fullkrug found him.
PSG leveled the showdown five minutes later as the visitors' teen forward Warren Zaire-Emery sent a vicious low strike to beat Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel.
Defending champions Manchester City finished the UEFA Champions League group stage Wednesday in a perfect way as the English club won all six of their matches.
Pep Guardiola's team, who have already won Group G, beat their Serbian opponents Crvena zvezda 3-2 at Belgrade's Rajko Mitic Stadium.
Micah Hamilton, Oscar Bobb and Kalvin Phillips scored their first Manchester City goals. Crvena zvezda's South Korean midfielder Inbeom Hwang and Aleksandar Katai from Serbia scored late goals to stay in the game.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
The US Federal Reserve skipped an interest rate hike Wednesday, as widely expected, and kept its federal funds rate unchanged between the 5.25% - 5.5% target range.
"Recent indicators suggest that growth of economic activity has slowed from its strong pace in the third quarter," it said in a statement at the end of its last two-day meeting for 2023. The statement replaced "economic activity expanded at a strong pace" in its Nov. 1 statement.
The World Bank said Wednesday that developing countries paid a record $443.5 billion in 2022 to service their public debt due to the biggest increase in global interest rates in four decades.
Debt-service payments, increased by 5% over the previous year for all developing countries.
The 75 countries that are eligible to borrow from the World Bank’s International Development Association, which supports the poorest countries, paid a record $88.9 billion in debt-servicing costs in 2022, it noted.
