ISTANBUL

Here is a rundown of all the news you need to start your Friday, including US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announcing a mission to remove “narco-terrorists from our hemisphere,” Syria’s foreign minister saying the full lifting of Caesar sanctions is “only a matter of time,” and Hamas transferring the remains of another Israeli hostage under the Gaza ceasefire deal.

TOP STORIES

• US defense chief announces mission to remove 'narco-terrorists from our hemisphere'

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the US would embark on a new mission dubbed "Operation Southern Spear" to remove "narco-terrorists from our hemisphere."

"President (Donald) Trump ordered action — and the Department of War is delivering," Hegseth said on the US social media company X’s platform.

"Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people. The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it," he added.

• Syrian foreign minister says complete removal of Caesar sanctions ‘matter of time’

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said the complete removal of US Caesar Act sanctions is now “a matter of time.”

Speaking during a panel discussion at Chatham House in London, Shaibani said Damascus believes it has shifted global perceptions over the past year.

“In 11 months, we changed the world’s view of Syria and removed the fears that once existed,” he said.

Syria is “exhausted and in a transitional phase,” the minister said, adding the country needs time to “express itself” after years of conflict.

Shaibani said the government’s goal is for Syria to become “a state its people believe in, and not one distant from them.”

• Hamas transfers remains of another Israeli hostage under Gaza ceasefire deal

The Palestinian group Hamas returned the remains of another Israeli hostage under a Gaza ceasefire agreement, the army said.

An Israeli military statement said the body was transferred to Red Cross teams in southern Gaza and was on its way to Israeli forces inside the enclave.

Hamas said earlier that it will hand over the body Thursday evening in the Morag area north of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

It has already released 20 Israeli captives alive and handed over the remains of 26 out of 28, most of them Israelis, since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. Israel, however, claimed that one of the received bodies did not match any of its listed captives.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• The wreckage of a firefighting plane belonging to Türkiye’s General Directorate of Forestry that went missing in Croatia has been found, and the pilot has died, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said.
• Türkiye said the body of the 20th soldier who perished in a military cargo plane crash along the Azerbaijan-Georgia border earlier this week had been recovered, meaning all the crash victims are accounted for.
• China rejected accusations by the foreign ministers of the G7 countries, calling on the bloc to "stop stirring up disputes, heightening tensions, and undermining regional peace under the pretext of maritime issues."
• Türkiye believes the most realistic solution to the Cyprus issue lies in the coexistence of the two states on the island, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a joint news conference with Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus President Tufan Erhurman, who was paying his first visit to Türkiye after having been elected.
• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned an attack by illegal Israeli settlers on a mosque in the occupied West Bank.
• The US government shutdown likely resulted in significant private-sector job losses, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said.
• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended her government’s controversial plan to process migrants in Albania, saying delays were caused by those who “worked to slow it down or block it.”
• Germany condemned an attack by extremist Israeli settlers on a mosque in the West Bank amid a surge in settler violence in occupied Palestinian territories.
• The BBC has apologized to US President Donald Trump for airing a documentary on its Panorama program that spliced together two separate lines from his Jan. 6, 2021 speech but said it will not pay compensation or accept his claim of defamation.
• Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into claims that several Italian nationals travelled to Bosnia during the 1992-95 war to join Serb sniper units and fire on civilians for “entertainment,” local media reported.
• The US Justice Department sued the state of California to block a new congressional map overwhelmingly approved by voters that is intended to flip five seats in the House of Representatives for Democrats.
• Nearly 400 Syrian refugees left Lebanon and returned to their villages as part of the ninth phase of the country’s voluntary return plan, according to Lebanese media.
• Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), warned that a severe funding shortfall threatens essential services for millions across the region.
• More than 900,000 displaced civilians are at risk of flooding in southern Gaza as a severe weather system approaches amid worsening humanitarian conditions and widespread destruction from Israel’s two-year war, municipal authorities warned.
• More than 99,000 Sudanese civilians have been displaced from El-Fasher in western Sudan since the city’s takeover by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) last month, said the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
• Sami Hamdi, a British journalist who returned to London after more than two weeks in US detention, said that targeting people for their activism over Palestine is an attack on civil liberties, freedoms and the US Constitution.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Blue Origin scores breakthrough as New Glenn rocket completes 2nd successful flight

Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin made a big breakthrough after its New Glenn rocket launched successfully and its booster safely landed on a platform at sea in a significant technological step forward for the firm.

The more than 320-foot (98-meter) tall rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida on Thursday afternoon, completing a smooth stage separation. The launch is an important step for Blue Origin as it tries to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which dominates the launch industry and has already carried out 11 test flights of its much larger Starship rocket.

• US stocks end sharply lower as valuation concerns drive selloff

US stocks ended with sharp declines as investors continued to exit technology stocks amid concerns over high valuations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.65%, or 797.60 points, to close at 47,457.22.

The Nasdaq decreased sharply by 2.29%, or 536.10 points, to 22,870.36, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.66%, or 113.43 points, to 6,737.49.

The Volatility Index (VIX), also known as the "fear index," rose by 14.22% to 20.00.

Investors have been shifting away from technology and artificial intelligence (AI) companies in particular toward more resilient sectors such as health care, materials and finance, and this shift intensified Thursday.

• US strikes trade frameworks with Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala

The US announced new reciprocal trade framework agreements with four Latin American countries that it said are intended to increase access for US exporters and strengthen trade rules, particularly around intellectual property.

Under the agreements, the tariff rate for Ecuador will remain at 15%, while Argentina, Guatemala and El Salvador will remain at 10%, a senior administration official told reporters on a conference call. Specific goods and resources not produced by the US will be granted targeted relief from President Donald Trump's tariffs.