ANKARA, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Emojis have become an integral part of Turks' daily social media chats and have made their way into digital texting of all kinds. The Turkish people, especially the younger generation, love using them.

Sending emojis is a way to liven up digital messages and conversations for Ayten Sermen and Tunc Bozok, two students majoring in history at Hacettepe University in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin courted leaders from Africa at a summit on Friday, hailing the continent’s growing role in global affairs and offering to expand political and business ties.

Addressing the two-day Russia-Africa summit, Putin said Moscow will closely analyze a peace proposal for Ukraine that African leaders have sought to pursue.

“This is an acute issue, and we aren’t evading its consideration,” Putin said, emphasizing that Russia is treating the African initiative with respect and “looking at it attentively.”

MOSCOW, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Russian forces have thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack targeting facilities in the Moscow region, the country's defense ministry said Friday.

"This morning, the country's forces thwarted an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack with the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle on facilities in the Moscow region," the defense ministry said in a Telegram post.

It added that there were no casualties or damage following the attack.

UNITED NATIONS, July 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Nations Security Council relaxed the arms embargo on the Central African Republic, allowing weaponry to flow to government forces, though Bangui still called the decision an “affront.”

The Council said the situation in the country “continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region” and extended the arms embargo — in place since the 2013 civil war — to July 31, 2024.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was joined by senior Russian and Chinese delegates as he displayed his most powerful nuclear-capable missiles in a military parade marking a major war anniversary with a show of defiance against the United States and deepening ties with Moscow as tensions on the peninsula are at their highest point in years.

July 28 (Reuters) - The chair of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, said on Friday that proposals by Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide grain to Africa were not sufficient, and that a ceasefire in Ukraine was needed.

In a closing address to a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, he also said Putin had shown readiness to negotiate with Ukraine, and that "the other side" now needed to be persuaded.

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — The general who led a coup in Niger took to state television Friday to ask for support for the takeover, two days after members of the military detained the democratically elected president and set off political chaos that could set back the nation’s fight against jihadists and increase Russia’s influence in West Africa.

As Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani spoke, Niger state television identified him as the leader of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country, the group of soldiers who said they staged the coup.

July 28 (Reuters) - African leaders pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to move ahead with their peace plan to end the Ukraine conflict and to renew a deal on the safe wartime export of Ukrainian grain that Moscow tore up last week.

While not directly critical of Russia, their interventions on the second day of a summit were more concerted and forceful than those that African countries have voiced until now.

They served as reminders of the depth of African concern at the consequences of the war, especially rising food prices.

ST. PETERSBURG, July 28. /TASS/: TASS has signed memorandums of cooperation with the leading news agencies of the Republic of the Congo and Senegal on the sidelines of the Second Russia-Africa summit.

TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov inked cooperation memorandums with Director General of the ACI news agency of the Republic of the Congo Olga Rachelle Mangouandza and Director General of the APS Senegalese News Agency Thierno Amadou Sy.

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government defended its dealings with Russia as “normal economic and trade cooperation” Friday after a United States intelligence report said Beijing possibly provided equipment used in Ukraine that might have military applications.

RIYADH, Jul 28 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi Arabia, yesterday, condemned the incursion into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, by Israeli National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and a group of settlers.

In a statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry denounced the Israeli “systematic practices” as “a flagrant infringement of all international norms and covenants” that provoke the feelings of Muslims worldwide.

NEW YORK (AP) — The day after Jan. 6, 2021, then-President Donald Trump denounced the rioters who violently stormed the Capitol building, breaking through barricades, battling law enforcement and sending members of Congress — who were set to formally certify his reelection loss — running for their lives.

“Like all Americans, I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem,” he said in a video, condemning what he called a “heinous attack.”