July 25, 2024

*) Israeli opposition leaders slam Netanyahu's speech to US Congress Israeli opposition leaders sharply criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the US Congress. Yair Lapid, the leader of the There Is a Future Party, accused the prime minister of failing to address a prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas. Lapid called the address "disgraceful” and said, “An hour of talking without uttering the single sentence: 'There will be a kidnapping deal.” *) Türkiye says could be part of mechanism in case of two-state solution deal Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned that without the immediate implementation of the two-state solution, a fourth Gaza war is inevitable. In an interview with Sky News Arabia, Fidan said that if an agreement on a two-state solution is reached in Gaza, Türkiye can participate in the guarantor mechanism that Ankara proposed. *) US Senator Bob Menendez steps down following corruption conviction US Senator Bob Menendez submitted his resignation in the aftermath of his conviction on corruption charges including bribery and acting as an agent for a foreign government, bowing to pressure from fellow Democrats to give up the job. Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy will appoint a replacement for Menendez, who has served in the Senate since 2006 and was the Foreign Relations Committee chairman until charged last year. *) Several dead, over 150 missing after boat capsizes off Mauritania: IOM The International Organization for Migration said at least 15 people have been killed and more than 150 missing after a boat carrying 300 passengers capsized near Mauritania's capital Nouakchott on Wednesday. The organisation said the Mauritanian coastguard rescued 120 people and that 10 of them were taken to hospitals while efforts to locate the missing continued. *) Brazil's Lula launches global effort to end hunger, poverty at G20 summit Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has kicked off a global effort to end hunger and extreme poverty, aiming to make it a hallmark of Brazil's G20 presidency as he seeks to restore the country's soft power on the world stage. Lula said "Nothing is as absurd and unacceptable in the 21st century as the persistence of hunger and poverty, when we have so much abundance and so many scientific and technological resources at our disposal.”