ISTANBUL (AA) –
Here is a rundown of all the news you need to start your Friday, including the end of pandemic-era border curbs in the US, Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, political developments in Pakistan, and the latest on the Sudan conflict.
TOP STORIES
- Migrant surge at US-Mexico border as Title 42 ends
People are racing to enter the US from Mexico as pandemic-related asylum restrictions, known as Title 42, expired.
US officials are expecting thousands will try to cross the border before new rules set out by President Joe Biden’s administration kick in.
Title 42 was enforced by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 and has allowed the US to expel migrants nearly 2.7 million times, according to government figures.
US officials have warned that people entering the country illegally will be “ineligible” for asylum.
- Israel kills at least 28 Palestinians as mediation efforts fail
Israel continued its airstrikes on Gaza, with the latest overnight attack killing an Islamic Jihad commander.
At least 28 Palestinians have been killed and another 86 injured in the recent wave of Israeli air attacks, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Those killed include five senior figures of the Islamic Jihad. Palestinian factions have responded by firing rockets at Israel, killing one person and injuring five.
Egypt announced efforts for a truce have stalled as the international community seeks to halt the latest escalation.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered the immediate release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, declaring that his arrest earlier this week was illegal.
Khan, 70, was arrested by the country’s anti-graft agency in a corruption case, sparking violent countrywide protests.
Several leaders of Khan’s party and dozens of his supporters have been arrested, while the unrest has forced the government to call in the army to maintain law and order.
Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have signed an agreement to protect civilians and resume flow of humanitarian assistance, according to the US State Department.
The two sides have been engaged in a violent conflict that has killed over 600 people and injured thousands more since April 15.
They signed a declaration after a week of talks in Saudi Arabia, the State Department said.
The negotiations are also focusing on “proposed arrangements for subsequent talks” on a “permanent cessation of hostilities,” it added.
NEWS IN BRIEF
- South Africa has said it will conduct an independent inquiry led by a retired judge to probe allegations by the US ambassador that it supplied weapons to Russia.
- Daniel Penny, a former US Marine, will be charged with second-degree manslaughter for choking Jordan Neely, a homeless Black man, to death on a subway train.
- Muharrem Ince, one of the four candidates running for president in Türkiye’s May 14 elections, has dropped out of the race.
- Talks between Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine on the Black Sea grain deal are being held in Istanbul. Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Ankara is pushing for an extension of the agreement, which is set to expire next week.
- The death toll in Kenya’s starvation cult case has risen to 150 after five more bodies were unearthed.
- The US approved a potential military sale to Germany, which includes CH-47F Chinook helicopters and related equipment with an approximate value of $8.5 billion.
SPORTS
- Europa League: Roma win, Juventus snatch late draw against Sevilla
Edoardo Bove’s second-half strike gave Roma a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in their Europa League semifinal first leg at the Stadio Olimpico.
Over in Turin, a last-gasp Federico Gatti header earned Juventus a 1-1 draw against record six-time champions Sevilla.
- UEFA Conference League: West Ham, Basel take semifinal edge
Goals from Said Benrahma and Michail Antonio helped West Ham come from behind in a 2-1 victory over AZ Alkmaar to take a slender advantage in their UEFA Conference League semifinal.
For Swiss side Basel, Andy Diouf and Zeki Amdouni scored in the second half to secure a 2-1 away win against Fiorentina.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
- Elon Musk says he has found new boss for Twitter
Elon Musk announced he has found a new chief executive for Twitter, but did not name the person who will succeed him.
“Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!” Musk tweeted, adding that he will transition to the role of chief technology officer.
- Google unveils new AI tools
Google has unveiled its new artificial intelligence tools, chatbot, mobile devices and other innovations.
These include a new general-purpose language model, named PaLM 2, which can respond to human inputs by generating human-like texts.
It is also upgrading its Bard AI chatbot, which is in competition with Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
- Bank of England raises interest rates to 15-year peak
The Bank of England hiked interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to 4.5%, raising borrowing costs to the highest level since 2008.
The UK’s yearly inflation rate reached 10.1% in March, five times the central bank’s 2% target. The bank said the economy has been subject to “a sequence of very large and overlapping shocks.”
