ISTANBUL

Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Thursday, including US President Donald Trump vowing 'very severe consequences' if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn't agree to end the Ukraine war; UN experts accusing Israel of committing 'medicide' in Gaza, and South Sudan denying reports that it is holding talks with Israel to relocate Palestinians from Gaza.

TOP STORIES

• Trump vows 'very severe consequences' if Putin doesn't agree to end war

US President Donald Trump threatened his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin with "very severe consequences" if he does not agree to end the war in Ukraine during their upcoming summit in Alaska.

The remarks came just hours after Trump took part in a virtual meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders, which the US president said was "very good."

Trump is preparing to sit down with Putin for the first time in his second term. He said the face-to-face summit, slated to take place in Alaska's most populous city of Anchorage, is likely to result in the establishment of a trilateral summit with Putin, Zelenskyy and himself.

• UN experts accuse Israel of committing 'medicide' in Gaza

Israeli forces are deliberately destroying Gaza's health care system in what amounts to "medicide," UN experts said, accusing Israel of targeting and starving health care workers to wipe out medical services in the besieged enclave.

"In addition to bearing witness to an ongoing genocide, we are also bearing witness to a 'medicide,' a sinister component of the intentional creation of conditions calculated to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, which constitutes an act of genocide," they said.

The experts said health workers have been "continuously targeted, detained, tortured and are now, like the rest of the population, being starved."

The UN has reported medical staff fainting from hunger, undermining their ability to treat patients.

• South Sudan denies talks with Israel on Palestinian resettlement, refutes Israeli media reports

South Sudan denied reports that it is holding talks with Israel to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, saying it “firmly refutes” recent claims in Israeli media suggesting such plans.

The ministry said the claims are “baseless and do not reflect the official position or policy” of the South Sudanese government.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• At least 61,722 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, the Health Ministry said.

• France, Germany and the UK could reinstate global sanctions on Iran if it continues to violate its nuclear obligations, the French foreign minister confirmed.

• Russia denounced Israel's plans to expand its military operation and occupy the entire Gaza Strip, warning that it would have far-reaching consequences for the Middle East region.

• At least 20 people died when a migrant boat capsized off the coast of Italy's Lampedusa Island in the Mediterranean.

• More than 100 children have died of malnutrition and hunger in the besieged Gaza Strip amid a choking Israeli siege on the enclave, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said.

• South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in their first phone conversation.

• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stressed that European and Ukrainian interests must be safeguarded at the upcoming summit between the US and Russian presidents in Alaska.

• Territorial issues cannot be discussed without Ukraine and no serious exchange plans are currently on the table, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

• Artificial intelligence-powered humanoid robots played the world’s first fully autonomous 5v5 soccer match during the preliminaries of the World Humanoid Robot Games in China.

• US President Donald Trump said he is all but certain to extend the 30-day window under which he has taken control of local police in the nation's capital, suggesting he may use his executive powers to circumvent Congress.

• Several Arab countries denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments that he is attached to the vision of “Greater Israel,” calling them a “threat” to the sovereignty of states.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Trump’s tariffs generate billions for US budget

US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies have generated a total of $135.7 billion as of July, the 10th month of the fiscal year, according to data released by the US Treasury Department.

When Trump took office in January, monthly net tariff revenue stood at $7.3 billion, dipping to $7.2 billion in February before rising to $8.2 billion in March.

April saw a sharp jump to $15.6 billion generated from tariff revenue, followed by $22.2 billion in May, $26.6 billion in June and $27.7 billion in July — a 287.9% increase from the previous year.

• Türkiye targeting $2B-plus in exports to Syria

Türkiye is aiming to reach over $2 billion in exports to neighboring Syria after signing a new comprehensive partnership agreement, the chair of the Syrian board of the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM) said in a statement.

“Our ministry is trying to replace the free trade agreement between Türkiye and Syria that has not been implemented since 2011 (when the civil war began) with a much more comprehensive agreement,” he said.

“Turkish exports to Syria rose 49.3% to over $1.2 billion in the first seven months of the year.”

• Turkish businesspeople invest $2.3B, employ 35,000 workers in Africa

Turkish businesspeople have invested $2.3 billion and employed 35,000 people in Africa, while the country’s construction business has been actively working on the continent with over 2,300 projects under its belt, the Turkish trade minister said.

Speaking at the Türkiye-Africa business event, the World Cooperation Industries (WCI) Forum, in Istanbul, Omer Bolat said Turkish construction projects on the continent totaled $97.5 billion, accounting for 18% of the construction businesses' overseas projects.