ISTANBUL

Here’s a rundown of all the news that you need to start your Saturday, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspending 2024 the White House bid and endorsing Donald Trump, no progress in Egyptian-Israeli talks seeking Gaza cease-fire and prisoner exchange and Kamala Harris formally accepting Democratic nomination for the US president

TOP STORIES

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspends 2024 White House bid, endorses Donald Trump

Independent US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy announced he is ending his long-shot campaign for the 2024 presidential race, pledging his support to Republican nominee Donald Trump.

"I throw my support behind Donald Trump," Kennedy said in an address to the nation from Phoenix, Arizona in the US Southwest.

"I no longer believe that I have a realistic path to electoral victory in the face of this relentless, systematic censorship and media control," he said.

• Egyptian-Israeli talks in Cairo seeking Gaza cease-fire, prisoner exchange stall

Thursday's negotiations between Egyptian and Israeli delegations in Cairo seeking a Gaza cease-fire and a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas failed to progress, reported Israeli media on Friday.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported that the talks, which were aimed at securing a cease-fire in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hamas, “made no progress,” leaving the situation at a standstill.

The latest round of mediated negotiations ended on Aug. 16 in Doha, Qatar with the US presenting the parties with what the White House described as a "final bridging proposal" that it put on the table for Israel and Hamas, claiming it is consistent with the principles supported by Biden on May 31.

• Kamala Harris formally accepts Democratic nomination for US president

US Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, vowing to be a “president of all Americans.”

“I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations,” Harris said during her speech on the final night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois.

"A president who leads and listens, who is realistic, practical and has common sense and always fights for the American people," she said.

NEWS IN BRIEFING

• US President Joe Biden said that he will be sending Ukraine a new military aid package as the embattled nation prepares to mark its Independence Day.
• Putting Secret Service agents on leave after last month's assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump was not enough, said the US House speaker.
• At least eight people, including a child, were killed in Israeli airstrikes targeting six towns in southern Lebanon, according to an official source.
• Illegal Israeli settlers kidnapped two Palestinian youths in the city of Jericho, eastern occupied West Bank, Wafa news agency reported.
• The Biden administration has appointed a senior diplomat seen as a proponent of weapons transfers to Israel to a new role in shaping US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a US media report, citing sources familiar with the matter.
• As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, the two countries signed four cooperation agreements.
• A boat with 174 irregular migrants on board reached the island of El Hierro amid the ongoing irregular migrant flow toward the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain, press reports said.
• Palestine called for international pressure on Israel to help ensure President Mahmoud Abbas's planned visit to the Gaza Strip.
• US national security adviser Jake Sullivan will depart for China next week for talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, in what a senior US administration official said will be a visit aimed at "responsibly managing competition and tensions."
• Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed over the phone issues related to the normalization of the Caucasus nation's ties with neighboring Azerbaijan, the Kremlin said.
• Pushing back criticism over India's "silence" on Russia’s war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said New Delhi “supports territorial integrity and sovereignty” of Ukraine.
• The Israeli Army reported that 695 soldiers have been killed since the onset of its campaign in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.
• Rosenergoatom, the nuclear power plant operating division of Russia's State Nuclear Power Corporation Rosatom, announced that the fourth unit at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) will be disconnected from the grid for scheduled maintenance.
• The number of heat-related illnesses in South Korea has surged past 3,000 this year, with 28 deaths reported amid relentless heat waves sweeping the country, health authorities announced
• Nicaragua has shuttered an additional 151 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including the local affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce, as part of an ongoing crackdown by President Daniel Ortega’s government.
• Israeli foreign minister said that Israel will not permit the establishment of a Palestinian state, claiming that such a state would pose a security threat to Israel.
• Eight soldiers, including both active-duty and retired personnel, have been sentenced to up to 13 years in prison by Taiwanese judicial authorities for spying on behalf of mainland China.

SPORTS

• Formula 1 fever set to hit Netherlands this weekend

Round 15 of the 2024 Formula One World Championship will take place in the Netherlands this Sunday.

The Dutch Grand Prix will be held at Circuit Zandvoort, a 4.2-kilometer (nearly 2.5-mile) track located near the North Sea coastline. The race will consist of 72 laps.

Qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix will begin on Saturday at 1300 GMT, with the race scheduled for the same time on Sunday.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• The Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey said it is too early to declare victory against inflation.
  

"Recent experience leads me to be cautiously optimistic that inflation expectations are better anchored as a result of the regimes we have in place," he told the annual Jackson Hole symposium in the US state of Wyoming. "The second round inflation effects appear to be smaller than we expected."

Consumer inflation in the UK annually rose 2.2% in July, accelerating from a 2% year-on-year gain recorded in June, which is also the central bank's target.

• US Fed chair signals upcoming interest rate cut, saying 'time has come' for adjustment in monetary policy

In much-anticipated remarks, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled a coming interest rate cut, saying the "time has come" for an adjustment in monetary policy.

"The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks," he told the annual Jackson Hole symposium in the US state of Wyoming.

"We will do everything we can to support a strong labor market as we make further progress toward price stability," he said. "With an appropriate dialing back of policy restraint, there is good reason to think that the economy will get back to 2 percent inflation while maintaining a strong labor market."