Rabia Ali
15 February 2024•Update: 15 February 2024
ISTANBUL
Here is a rundown of all the news that you need to start your Thursday, including Turkish President Erdogan's visit to Egypt and a joint declaration on cooperation, Israel`s attack on Nasser Hospital in Gaza, a shooting incident after a Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City, US, and Hezbollah`s warning to Israel.
TOP STORIES
Türkiye and Egypt signed a joint declaration on Wednesday, pledging to cooperate in a wide range of areas, including politics, security, trade, and culture.
The joint declaration on the restructuring of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meetings between the two countries was signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.
The declaration stressed the commitment of Ankara and Cairo to enhance solidarity and cooperation to promote peace, stability, and prosperity both in their regions and beyond.
At least one person was killed and many others were injured in an attack by Israeli forces on Nasser Hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, a Palestinian news agency said Wednesday.
The attack was carried out on the hospital’s orthopedics section, WAFA reported.
The report noted that the hospital has been under a blockade by Israeli forces for the last 25 days.
The Israeli army on Wednesday forced thousands of Palestinians who were seeking refuge in Nasser Hospital to leave.
At least one person was killed and up to 22 others injured in a shooting in Kansas City in the US state of Missouri following a Super Bowl victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs, police said Wednesday.
"This is still an active investigation," Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said during a press briefing.
Graves said police have recovered firearms but did not disclose how many or their caliber.
"We do have three persons detained and under investigation for today's incident," she said.
Lebanese group Hezbollah vowed on Wednesday that Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon “will not go unanswered.”
At least four people, including two children, were killed and nine others injured in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, according to the country’s civil defense agency.
The attacks came after a barrage of rockets from southern Lebanon on a military base in Safad in northern Israel killed one person and injured seven others.
"Today’s aggression, which killed several civilians and children, will not go unanswered,” Hashem Safieddine, a Hezbollah leader, said.
NEWS IN BRIEF
- Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a news conference with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday attempts to exile people of Gaza from their lands are “null and void.”
- Egypt opening new page in relations with Türkiye, said Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, and added that Egypt eyes $15B in trade with Türkiye at a joint news conference with Turkish President Erdogan.
- Prabowo Subianto, a former Indonesian military general, in President Joko Widodo's Cabinet, gave a victory speech on Wednesday, as quick vote count results indicated his win in the presidential election.
- Regarding reports on Israel’s planned military operation in Rafah, the prime ministers of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand said on Wednesday that this would be “catastrophic” while urging Tel Aviv “not to go down this path.”
- Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was sentenced to six months of jail in an appeal for a corruption case, also known as the "Bygmalion affair," according to media reports.
- US and British forces have targeted Yemen with 403 airstrikes since January, Yemen’s Houthi spokesperson Dhaifallah Al-Shami said in a statement.
- House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner warned Wednesday of a "serious national security threat," and demanded that US President Joe Biden publicly release all information about it.
- Türkiye has evacuated over 1,300 Turkish and Turkish Cypriot nationals with their relatives from Gaza since the beginning of the Israeli attacks, the country’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
- Worldwide, 1.4 billion children aged under 16 lack any form of social protection, leaving them vulnerable to disease, poor nutrition, and poverty, said two UN agencies and Save the Children.
- Approximately half of the Amazon forest system is in danger of extinction by 2050 due to high exposure to “unprecedented stress from warming temperatures, extreme droughts, deforestation and fires,” says a new study.
SPORTS
Lazio sealed a narrow win over a 10-man Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg on Wednesday.
Neither team was able to produce a goal in the first half, but a penalty awarded to Lazio led Ciro Immobile to convert it successfully, and the last-16 game ended in favor of the Italian club.
Turkish wrestlers Selcuk Can and Alperen Berber bagged gold medals at the 2024 European Wrestling Championships on Wednesday.
Nineteen-year-old Berber beat Islam Ismailovich Aliev, an individual neutral athlete, 4-3 in the men's 82 kg Greco-Roman category at the Polyvalent Hall in Bucharest.
Can, 28, defeated Azerbaijan's Ulvi Ganizade 2-0 in the men's 72 kg Greco-Roman category.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Sanctions were imposed on three individuals and four entities for violating US export restrictions, said the Treasury Department.
The goods and technology included classified items subject to national security and anti-terrorism controls by the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, it added.
European NATO allies will invest a total of $380 billion in 2024, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced Wednesday.
Stoltenberg said he expects 18 allies to spend 2% of the GDP on defense this year.
A six-fold increase from 2014, in 2024, NATO allies in Europe will invest a combined total of $380 billion. "For the first time, this amounts to 2% of the combined GDP," NATO chief told a news conference.
