US President Donald Trump said he would be "honored" to meet Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei if a deal is reached between the two countries.
"I don’t want to meet, but if I did meet, I’d be honored to meet him," Trump said when asked about a possible sit-down with the Iranian leader, whose father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, was killed at the beginning of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
At least a dozen people were killed and several others were injured in Israeli airstrikes in eastern and southern Lebanon, despite a renewed ceasefire agreement.
The strikes came one day after Lebanon and Israel agreed to renew their fragile ceasefire and establish “pilot zones” placing the Lebanese army in exclusive territorial control, with all non-state actors excluded.
Hezbollah rejected the ceasefire deal, with its chief, Naim Qassem, saying the settlements in northern Israel “will not be safe” as long as Lebanese villages remain under attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in direct talks to end the war, arguing continued fighting is affecting Russia's resources and its international standing.
In an open letter published on the presidency's official website, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had withstood more than four years of full-scale war despite Moscow's expectations that the country would quickly collapse.
Türkiye and Niger agreed to deepen cooperation in defense, security and economic sectors during Nigerien President Abdourahamane Tchiani’s visit to Ankara.
“We continue to develop our relations with African countries on the basis of equal partnership, mutual respect and win-win principles,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a joint news conference with Tchiani.
Fitch Ratings downgraded its global economic growth expectation for 2026 to 2.4% from 2.6%, stating that the oil crisis triggered by the US-Iran war negatively affects the global economic growth outlook.
The agency noted in the report that it downgraded the global economic growth forecast for this year by 0.2 points to 2.4% due to rising oil prices, and it expected the world economy to grow by 2.5% next year.
US President Donald Trump announced a $700 million investment to protect coal plants and mines across the country, aiming to secure jobs and lower electricity costs.
Speaking at an event Thursday, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to save 13 coal plants across multiple states, including West Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina.
"As a result of the $700 million investment that I am announcing today, we will protect 14 coal plants and 42 coal mines," he stated.
Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek called for a stronger role for Islamic finance in channeling capital toward development priorities, saying global capital flows are increasingly detached from the real economy.
Speaking at the Global Islamic Economy Summit in Istanbul, Simsek said global foreign direct investment figures may appear to be rising, but much of the increase is linked to flows between financial centers rather than productive investment.