ISTANBUL

Here is a rundown of all the news you need to start your Saturday, including US President Donald Trump urging Israel to halt bombing Gaza as Hamas responds positively to his ceasefire plan; the US launching a deadly strike on a suspected “narco-trafficking vessel” off the Venezuelan coast, and Israel forcing Global Sumud Flotilla activists to kneel with their hands zip-tied for hours.

TOP STORIES

• Hamas 'ready for a lasting peace,' Israel 'must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza': Trump

US President Donald Trump welcomed Hamas' response to his ceasefire and prisoner-exchange proposal, saying he believes the Palestinian group is "ready for a lasting peace."

"Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!" he said on his Truth Social platform. "Right now, it’s far too dangerous to do that. We are already in discussions on details to be worked out. This is not about Gaza alone, this is about long sought PEACE in the Middle East."

The US president separately issued a video thanking Türkiye, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan "and so many others, so many people fought so hard."

"This is a big day. We'll see how it all turns out. We have to get the final word down in concrete," he said.

• US carries out strike against 'narco-trafficking vessel' off coast of Venezuela, 4 killed: Pentagon

The US carried out another strike that targeted "a narco-trafficking vessel" off the coast of Venezuela, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said.

"Earlier this morning, on President (Donald) Trump's orders, I directed a lethal, kinetic strike on a narco-trafficking vessel affiliated with Designated Terrorist Organizations in the USSOUTHCOM (US Southern Command) area of responsibility.

"Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, and no U.S. forces were harmed in the operation," Hegseth said on the US social media company X.

The strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting "substantial amounts of narcotics - headed to America to poison our people," he added.

• Israel forces Global Sumud Flotilla activists to kneel, zip-tied for hours after attack, says rights group

The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Adalah, said Global Sumud Flotilla participants were forced to kneel with their hands zip-tied for at least five hours, denouncing the treatment as part of Israel’s unlawful detention practices following the flotilla’s interception in international waters.

Adalah confirmed its attorneys met with the detainees in the past 24 hours, though some were processed without legal consultation after Israeli police initially blocked lawyers’ access. Hearings before Israeli immigration authorities are underway.

The group described the entire process as “unlawful from start to finish,” stressing that the interception amounted to abduction in international waters and violated international law.

It said Israel’s justification of its actions through enforcement of the Gaza blockade “cannot stand, as the blockade itself is illegal, constitutes collective punishment, and serves as a central tool of the ongoing genocide, including the deliberate use of starvation as a method of warfare.”

NEWS IN BRIEF

• A US judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) of providing funding that enabled Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border raid on Israel.
• French President Emmanuel Macron sharply criticized US and Chinese social media platforms for undermining democracies in Europe and renewed his call for stronger regulation of online platforms.
• The International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza said nine new ships have reached the northern coast of Egypt in their journey toward the Gaza Strip to challenge Israel’s blockade.
• South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung urged Pyongyang to resume contacts between divided Korean families, separated since the war in the 1950s.
• Astronomers have discovered a rogue planet devouring gas and dust at an unprecedented rate, about 6 billion tons every second, in what researchers are calling the strongest growth spurt ever recorded for a planetary object.
• Indonesia froze TikTok's operation license for non-compliance with the country's regulation requirements by not providing adequate data on its livestream activities during recent protests.
• Israel's cessation of its attacks is crucial for efforts to establish peace in the region, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his US counterpart, Donald Trump, in a call.
• Sudan is facing a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis marked by surging food prices, water shortages and deadly disease outbreaks, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the country warned.
• Egypt accused Ethiopia of acting "recklessly and irresponsibly" in managing the Nile flood through unilateral dam operations, saying the moves have exacerbated flooding in Sudan and pose a threat to Egyptian land and lives amid a long-running dispute about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
• A preliminary report showed the "unprecedented nature" of the massive blackout in Spain and Portugal in April.
• The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said the Israeli army dropped grenades near its forces in the southern town of Maroun al-Ras, calling it a “serious violation” of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
• French photojournalist Antoni Lallican was killed by a drone in eastern Ukraine, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) announced.
• Two people were killed and five injured in a shooting in Nice, a French city in the southeastern Alpes-Maritimes department.
• Approximately 200 Oregon Army National Guard troops were activated under federal command to support the protection of federal property and personnel in the city of Portland, the US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) said.
• Germany’s Munich Airport suspended flight operations for a second consecutive day after multiple drone sightings forced air traffic control to cancel or divert dozens of flights, according to the airport.

SPORTS

• Spain's Athletic Club to show solidarity with Palestine before La Liga match against RCD Mallorca

Athletic Club will show solidarity with Palestine ahead of their La Liga match against RCD Mallorca, the Spanish football club announced.

“Honey Thaljieh, Athletic Club 125th anniversary ambassador, a group of Palestinian refugees in the Basque Country, and representatives from UNRWA (UN agency for Palestinian refugees) will receive a show of support at San Mames before Athletic Club vs RCD Mallorca kicks odd,” the club said in a statement.

According to the statement, on Sept. 21, the Athletic Club Foundation launched a project in collaboration with UNRWA Euskadi, which began in October and aims to support Palestinian refugee children in Syria.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• US Senate blocks Republican spending bill to end government shutdown

The US Senate rejected a House-passed Republican stopgap funding bill to end a government shutdown.

By a vote of 54-44, the Senate did not invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the continuing resolution, as the federal government remains shuttered for a third day.

Senators voting in favor included Democrats Catherine Cortez Masto and John Fetterman, as well as Independent Angus King. Democrat Chris Coons and Republican Jerry Moran did not vote. Rand Paul was the only Republican to vote against.

Earlier, the Senate rejected a Democrat bill to extend government funding by a vote of 46-52.

• US stocks close week mixed amid federal government shutdown

The New York Stock Exchange ended the week with a mixed course as the federal government shutdown is on its third day.

The Dow was up 0.51%, or 238.56 points, to close at 46,758.28, and the S&P 500 added 0.01%, or 0.44 points, to 6,715.79.

On the other hand, the Nasdaq dropped 0.28%, or 63.54 points, to close at 22,780.51 points.

Despite the federal government shutdown, expectations for further interest rate cuts persisted, leading to a mixed course in the markets.