Alperen Aktaş
09 March 2024•Update: 09 March 2024
ISTANBUL
Here is a rundown of all the news that you need to start your Saturday, including US President Joe Biden's remarks on the Israel's ongoing war on the besieged Gaza Strip, African Union's urging cease-fire in Sudan during Ramadan, and North Korea's border military drill from an area in striking range of South Korea's capital Seoul.
TOP STORIES
US President Joe Biden acknowledged the unprecedented nature of Israel's ongoing war on the besieged Gaza Strip during his State of the Union address Thursday evening.
Biden accepted that the conflict has led to over 30,000 Palestinian deaths in the coastal enclave, saying the war has "taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous wars in Gaza combined."
He said "most" of the dead "are not Hamas" and that "thousands and thousands" of those who have been killed are "innocents, women and children, girls and boys."
"Nearly 2 million Palestinians are under bombardment or displacement. Homes destroyed, neighborhoods in rubble, cities in ruin. Families without food, water, medicine. It's heartbreaking," Biden told a joint session of Congress.
The head of the African Union Commission (AUC) called for a cease-fire in conflict-torn Sudan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
"Moussa Faki Mahamat calls upon the Sudanese parties to observe a total cease-fire across the whole national territory throughout the holy month of Ramadan," the African Union said in a statement.
Fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023. A central cause of tension was the integration of the RSF into the armed forces.
A day after ordering the North Korean military to step up "practical actual-war drills," the country's leader Kim Jong-un "guided" border drills from an area in "striking range" of the south's capital Seoul, state-run media has reported.
Kim inspected "large combined units" of the Korean People's Army as they fired long-range artillery as part of a drill near the border on Thursday, Pyongyang-based KCNA News reported.
This comes after South Korea and the US launched 11 days of military exercises on the Korean Peninsula earlier this week.
NEWS IN BRIEF
- At least 78 Palestinians were killed and 104 others injured in the last 24 hours as Israel continued its onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip, the territory's Health Ministry said on Friday.
- The Israeli army reported seven rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel.
- Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Friday that a permanent cease-fire has to be reached in the Gaza Strip and the door should be opened to a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel.
- Azerbaijan rejected the French remarks on the “targeting of freedom of expression and press” and “arbitrary arrests” in the Caucasian country.
- New Delhi deported the first batch of Myanmar nationals who had crossed into India amid the ongoing ethnic conflict in Myanmar, according to officials.
- Five people were killed as aid boxes dropped from a plane fell on them in Gaza City, the Civil Defense Service in the besieged Palestinian enclave said
- More than 9,000 women have been killed in the Gaza Strip in the five-month-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, and "this must stop," the executive director of UN Women said.
- Rallies were held Friday in Morocco, Tunisia, and Mauritania in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who have been subjected to a devastating Israeli onslaught for more than five month.
- France condemned Israel's approval of additional settlement units in the occupied West Bank.
- Several people were killed and injured by airdropped aid boxes in Gaza City, as several parachutes failed to deploy properly.
- China's national oil giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) made an oilfield discovery with a volume of 100 million tons in the eastern South China Sea.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that his country achieved “serious humanitarian results” on the rescue of nationals in Russian captivity thanks to Türkiye’s efforts.
SPORTS
Ferrari's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz, 29, will miss Saturday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix because of appendicitis.
"Carlos Sainz has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will require surgery. As from FP3 and for the rest of this weekend, he will be replaced by reserve driver Oliver Bearman," Scuderia Ferrari said in a statement.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Bitcoin was hovering around its all-time high but failing to surpass its resistance level.
The price of Bitcoin was trading around $67,930 at 10.45 a.m. EDT for a daily gain of 1%, while it increased 10.5% last week, according to data from CoinMarketCap, a digital asset price-tracking website.
The world's biggest cryptocurrency saw its price climbing to $68,990 on Tuesday -- the highest level in its 15-year history.
- US adds 275,000 jobs in February, unemployment rises to 3.9% from 3.7%
The US economy added 275,000 jobs in February, much higher than market estimates, the Labor Department announced.
The market expectation for nonfarm payrolls was to show a gain of 198,000 last month.
Job additions for January, on the other hand, were significantly revised down by 124,000 from 353,000 to 229,000, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
