Morning Briefing: May 18, 2023

By Rabia Ali

ISTANBUL (AA) - Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Thursday, including Ukraine’s grain deal stretched for two months, conflict in Sudan displaces hundreds of thousands of people, and US President Biden hopeful that a deal will avert the looming default disaster in the country.

TOP STORIES

• Black Sea grain deal extended for two months, says Erdogan

The Ukraine grain deal, which allows the country to export millions of tons of grain through the Black Sea, has been extended for 60 days, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday.

The deal signed last July by UN, Türkiye, Ukraine, and Russia to resume stalled grain exports since the Ukraine-Russia conflict broke out in Feb. 2022 has previously been extended two times. Its latest deadline was set for today.

More than 30.2 million tons of grains have so far been transported as part of the deal. The UN and the US welcomed the extension.

• US aims to normalize Israeli-Saudi relations

The US administration is working to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, said US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides in a television interview.

The ambassador said the Biden administration is working to expand the Abraham Accords between Israel and Arab countries.

In September 2020, the US brokered an agreement known as the Abraham Accords, which paved the way for Israel to establish ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

• Sudan conflict: over 843,000 people internally displaced

The ongoing violent conflict between the Sudanese Army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has resulted in internal displacement of over 843,000 people, UN’s refugee agency said.

Nearly 259,000 people have already fled Sudan to neighboring countries.

The International Organization for Migration fears that if the war continues, 1.8 million more people will be internally displaced.

Before the conflict erupted on April 15, the country was hosting some 1.1 million refugees and 3.8 million internally displaced people, it added.

• Biden 'confident' America will avert default as deadline looms

US President Joe Biden is optimistic about reaching an agreement with Congress to raise the debt ceiling, which is required to prevent the country from defaulting on its national debt.

Before leaving for the G-7 summit, Biden said in latest negotiations with Republicans, both parties understood the consequences of not paying bills.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the US could default as early as June 1, for the first time in its history.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• Two Turkish journalists, Ismail Erel and Cemil Albay, of daily Sabah, who were released several hours after their arrest in Germany, said that they will seek their legal rights as they were treated like "terrorists" by German police.

• Attacks by armed groups over past two months have claimed lives of more than 500 civilians and displaced more than a million in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, an official said.

• Montana became the first state in the US to ban the popular Chinese-owned app TikTok as Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill into law.

• The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina deserve to be part of the European Union said the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement.

• Global temperatures will likely surge to record levels in the next five years, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned Wednesday.

• Heavy rains and floods causing 21 rivers to overflow, have killed eight people and made thousands of others homeless in northern Italian region of Emilia Romagna.

• Trial of five suspected members of the United Patriots group accused of planning to overthrow the government began on Wednesday in Germany.

• At least 31 Yemenis have been killed by heavy rains and flooding in the war-torn country, the United Nations said.

• UK's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were involved in a "near catastrophic car chase," involving paparazzi photographers in the US, according to media reports.

SPORTS

• Champions League: Sublime City crush Madrid for final spot

Bernardo Silva bagged a brace as a rampant Manchester City outclassed Real Madrid in their Champions League semifinal second leg.

An Eder Militao own goal and a late Julian Alvarez strike gave City a 4-0 win on the night, and a resounding 5-1 aggregate victory over the defending champions, setting up a final against Inter Milan in Istanbul next month.

• Heavy floods in northern Italy postpone Formula 1

Severe flooding and torrential rains in northern Italy led to the cancellation of this weekend's Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, announced Formula 1 and local authorities in a statement.

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, round 6 of the 2023 F1 season, was due to be held on coming Sunday.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

• Around 11 million adults in the UK struggle to pay bills

Nearly 11 million adults in Britain are struggling to pay their bills and debt, according to new official figures released on Wednesday that revealed a marked rise in people facing financial difficulties.

According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), over 3.1 million people are encountering such difficulties in January compared to May last year, when the figure was 7.8 million.

• Eurozone inflation surges to 7% in April

Annual consumer inflation in the eurozone rose to 7% in April, from 6.9% in March, according to official data released Wednesday.

"In April, the highest contribution to the annual euro area inflation rate came from food, alcohol & tobacco (2.75 percentage points), followed by services (2.21 percentage points), non-energy industrial goods (1.62 percentage points) and energy (0.38 percentage points)," Eurostat said.