07 July 2023; MEMO: Turkiye expects Gulf countries to make direct investments of about $10 billion initially in domestic assets as part of President Tayyip Erdogan's trip to the region in two weeks, according to two senior Turkish officials, Reuters reports.

According to the report, Erdogan is scheduled to visit leaders in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on 17-19 July, in part to drum up foreign funding that would boost Turkiye's strained economy after his re-election in May.

ISTANBUL/WASHINGTON, July 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden expressed a desire to see Sweden join NATO "as soon as possible" in a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in which they discussed Sweden's bid to become a member of the Western alliance, the White House said on Sunday.

Turkey, along with Hungary, has been a stumbling block to Sweden's bid, which requires unanimous approval by all NATO members.

NEW YORK (AP) — A scooter-riding gunman killed an 87-year-old man and wounded three others in a string of random shootings that stretched across two New York City boroughs, police said Saturday.

A 25-year-old man was taken into custody without incident and his identity was not revealed by police, Assistant Police Chief Joseph Kenny said at a news conference. A 9 mm handgun with an extended magazine and a scooter were recovered.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the 500th day of the war Saturday by hailing the country’s soldiers in a video from a Black Sea island that became the symbol of Ukraine’s resilience in the face of the Russian invasion.

Speaking from Snake Island, Zelenskyy honored the Ukrainian soldiers who fought for the island and all other defenders of the country, saying that reclaiming control of the island “is a great proof that Ukraine will regain every bit of its territory.”

ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 9. /TASS/: The air defense forces in the Rostov Region have shot down a Ukrainian missile in the area between Rostov’s Donetsk and Kamensk, the region’s governor Vasily Golubev reported on Sunday, adding that no casualties were reported.

"Our air defense system worked swiftly today around midday. A Ukrainian missile was shot down in the area between Kamensk and Donetsk. No casualties. Fragments partially damaged the roofs of several buildings," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

08 July 2023; MEMO: The Syrian pound has recorded a historic collapse against the US dollar, as its exchange rate reached 10,000 Syrian pounds for $1. This is the lowest level ever reached by the value of the Syrian pound.

Economic website Syrian Pound Today reported that the exchange rate in Damascus reached 9,750 pounds per dollar.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s anti-government protest movement gained new momentum on Saturday night as tens of thousands of people spilled into the streets of cities across the country to oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious plan to overhaul the judicial system.

The grassroots movement has staged protests for over six months since Netanyahu’s government unveiled the overhaul plan. But in recent weeks, the protests had shown signs of weakening.

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/: A delegation of the Federal Assembly headed by Speaker of the Russian parliament’s upper chamber Valentina Matviyenko is heading to China with a visit, the press service of the Federation Council said in a statement on Sunday.

"A delegation of the Federal Assembly headed by Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko is heading to the People’s Republic of China with a visit at the invitation of the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China Zhao Leji," the statement reads.

QUITO, July 9 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gustavo Manrique revealed that Ecuador is negotiating the construction of a migrant center to attend people who want to travel to the United States.    

Manrique affirmed he has held conversations with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, so that the South American nation may be part of the initiative and have an office here.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Four militants attacked a police station in southeastern Iran and killed two security forces, state TV reported Saturday.

The assault took place in Zahedan, a city in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border with Pakistan. It triggered a shootout that left two security forces were killed, the report said.

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard said in a statement that the four militants were killed.

JERUSALEM, July 9 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet on Sunday decided that Israel would work to prevent the collapse of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA), but did not offer any concrete steps to do so.

Israel has been stepping up military operations against armed groups in the occupied West Bank, where the PA has limited autonomy.

The volatility has laid bare the weakness of the PA in the face of hundreds of Palestinian militants and the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

July 9 (Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey spoke by telephone on Sunday, a day after Ankara angered Moscow by sending five Ukrainian commanders home with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in what Russia called a violation of a prisoner exchange agreement.

The Russian and Turkish foreign ministries said Sergei Lavrov and Hakan Fidan discussed the situation in Ukraine, as well as a Black Sea grain export agreement that lifted a Russian de facto blockade of Ukrainian ports last year.