ISTANBUL

Here is a rundown of all the news you need to start your Thursday, including Israeli forces attacking a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and detaining activists, the US Senate failing once again to end the government shutdown, and Russia warning that it will respond if the US supplies Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.

TOP STORIES

• Israeli Navy attacks Gaza aid flotilla, detains activists

Israeli naval forces attacked an international aid flotilla bound for the besieged Gaza Strip and detained activists on board, its organizers said.

The Global Sumud Flotilla said Israeli forces surrounded the vessels as they sailed toward Gaza to challenge a years-long Israeli blockade. Activists reported signal jamming and communication being cut aboard most of the boats.

The International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza (ICBSG) confirmed that Israeli forces raided six ships, including the Alma, Sirius, Adara and Deir Yassin. Several activists posted videos on social media showing Israeli naval boats approaching the convoy and ordering them to change course.

“We are being attacked right now by the Zionist (Israeli) army,” the ICBSG said on the US social media company X's platform. “Some ships have already been intercepted and a state of emergency has been declared aboard all vessels,” it added.

• Senate again fails to pass bills to end government shutdown on first day

The US Senate failed for a second straight day to advance funding bills, prolonging a government shutdown that began at midnight.

Lawmakers held two procedural votes that mirrored Tuesday’s failed attempts. The Democratic proposal, which included health care provisions, was blocked 53-47, with Republicans united in opposition. A separate vote on a Republican stop-gap funding measure that passed the House of Representatives also fell short, 55-45, as Democrats opposed it.

Negotiators had until midnight Tuesday to reach an understanding, but the deadline came and went with major differences persisting.

Democrats have sought to include health care reforms as part of any budget bill, including a reversal of part of President Donald Trump's signature tax law that established cuts to Medicaid funding, as well as an extension of subsidies under the US's quasi-universal health care law known as the Affordable Care Act.

• Russia says it will 'find a response’ if US supplies Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine

Russia will find a way to respond if the US decides to supply Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, Moscow’s envoy to the UN said.

“I am confident that, if necessary, we will find a response to this step if it happens,” Russia’s UN Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzya told reporters at a press conference marking the start of Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council in October.

Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that if Tomahawks are deployed in Ukraine, they will not change the course of the conflict.

Moscow has repeatedly warned Western countries that continued arms supplies to Ukraine risk further escalating the war. The US has not officially announced plans to provide Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• Power supply has been fully restored at the decommissioned Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant following a Russian strike on energy infrastructure in the city of Slavutych, Ukraine’s energy minister said.
• The recent head of a company slated to play a key role in the management of TikTok's US operations, following its $14 billion forced divestiture from China-based parent company ByteDance, privately expressed concern about growing anti-Israeli sentiment.
• Belgian, French, Spanis,h and Finnish authorities expressed concern and urged Israeli authorities to ensure the safety of those participating in the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla following its interception by Israeli forces.
• Qatar welcomed an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump affirming that any attack on the country’s security and sovereignty would be considered a threat to US security.
• Astronomers have for the first time directly imaged a young gas giant forming inside a ring-shaped gap in a protoplanetary disk, confirming a longstanding theory about how massive planets emerge, NASA said.
• Vice President JD Vance predicted that a US government shutdown will be short-lived despite little evidence that either the White House or congressional Democrats are willing to budge.
• US President Donald Trump announced that the National Guard was officially deployed in the state of Oregon to confront what he described as a continued breakdown of law and order.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the EU to open the “Fundamentals” cluster of accession negotiations, stressing that Kyiv had completed its internal screening process for EU legislation faster than any previous candidate.
• The foreign minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has criticized the UN Security Council, accusing the body of having “stolen 60 years from the Turkish Cypriot people” despite decades of negotiations on the Cyprus issue.
• The president of the UN General Assembly criticized the US's latest use of its veto on a resolution for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, warning that it undermines the organization's credibility.
• The US Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump from immediately firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook and declined to intervene while her lawsuit continues.
• At least 30 people were killed and more than 200 were injured when a wooden scaffolding platform collapsed at a church construction site in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, local media reported.
• The Red Cross said it has suspended its operations in Gaza City and relocated staff to its offices in southern Gaza due to intensified military operations.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• US dollar falls amid federal government shutdown, on pace for largest annual decline in 22 years

The US dollar declined more than 0.27% after Congress failed to reach an agreement on a temporary budget, resulting in a shutdown of the federal government.

The dollar index, which compares the performance of the dollar to six other currencies such as the euro and the Japanese yen, fell to 97.19 as of 1335GMT (9.35 am EDT).

The decline resulted in a 10% overall drop for 2025. It is the largest yearly decline in the value of the dollar since 2003, when it dropped 14.6%.

• Trump says he will meet China's Xi 'in four weeks,' discuss soybeans

US President Donald Trump announced that soybeans will be a key agenda item during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which is set to take place "in four weeks."

"I’ll be meeting with President Xi, of China, in four weeks, and Soybeans will be a major topic of discussion," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He pledged support for American soybean farmers, blaming China for halting agricultural purchases.