Serdar Dincel
07 July 2025•Update: 07 July 2025
ISTANBUL
Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Monday with, including US President Donald Trump saying that a Gaza ceasefire between Palestinian group Hamas and Israel could be reached this week, the BRICS summit condemning military strikes against Iran, and the 17th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization concluding with setting new goals for regional cooperation.
TOP STORIES
- Trump says Gaza ceasefire deal could be reached this week
US President Donald Trump said Sunday that a Gaza ceasefire deal could be reached with the Palestinian group Hamas this week.
"I think there's a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week pertaining to quite a few of the hostages … We've gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out. We think we'll have that done this week," Trump told reporters in Morristown, New Jersey.
His remarks came ahead of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Netanyahu left Tel Aviv for Washington, DC to meet Trump for talks on regional issues, including a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement.
- BRICS summit condemns military strikes against Iran
The BRICS summit on Sunday condemned recent Israeli and US military strikes against Iran, calling them a violation of international law and the UN Charter.
“We condemn the military strikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran since June 13, 2025, which constitute a violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, and express grave concern over the subsequent escalation of the security situation in the Middle East,” the joint declaration read.
The statement also emphasized the necessity to uphold nuclear safeguards and security to protect people and the environment, expressing concern over the attacks against “civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities under full safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).”
- Economic Cooperation Organization sets new goals for regional cooperation
The 17th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization concluded with setting new goals for regional cooperation.
Held in Khankendi, Azerbaijan, the summit adopted a joint statement, praising Azerbaijan’s large-scale reconstruction and development efforts in the liberated Karabakh and East Zangezur economic regions.
The statement said that the ECO members agreed that economic sustainability and climate resilience should be placed at the center of the future agenda, and that joint steps should be taken on issues such as increasing renewable energy capacity, climate-friendly agriculture, water management, and biodiversity conservation.
NEWS IN BRIEF
- Pro-Palestinian groups gathered Sunday outside the White House in Washington, DC to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit.
- Flash floods killed 82 people, including 28 children, in the US state of Texas, according to the latest death toll.
- Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh said his government is continuing with its security plan and will not back down from eliminating militias and armed formations.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov condemned Israeli-US strikes against Iran during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes late Sunday on towns in northern, eastern and southern Lebanon in yet another violation of the November ceasefire.
- The BRICS countries condemned the attacks on Iran, terrorism in Syria, and Israel's occupation of Syrian territory, and called Gaza an "inseparable" part of Palestine.
- New York City-based Columbia University’s board of trustees met Sunday to discuss the terms of a potential agreement with the Trump administration to restore at least part of the institution’s federal funding, said people familiar with the matter.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the BRICS bloc of developing economies seeks to create “a more stable global economic architecture."
- A fire swept through an apartment complex in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City, killing at least eight people, including two children.
- At least nine people were killed and four injured in an attack by Boko Haram terrorists on the Malam Fatori community in Borno state in northeastern Nigeria.
- Trump warned that any country that aligns itself "with the anti-American policies” of the BRICS economic bloc will face an additional 10% tariff.
