GAZA -- Hamas on Thursday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's recent threats against the group, saying they complicate matters regarding the Gaza ceasefire agreement and encourage Israel not to implement its terms.

"There is an agreement that was signed, and Washington was the mediator in it," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement, adding that the deal "includes the release of all (hostages and) prisoners in three stages. Hamas has implemented what it was required to do in the first stage, while Israel is evading the second stage." (Hamas-Condemn-Trump Threats)

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DAMASCUS -- At least 16 security personnel were killed in coordinated attacks by armed groups in Syria's coastal Latakia governorate Thursday, marking the deadliest assault on the new government's forces since the fall of the previous government, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

According to the Britain-based observatory, the casualties, mostly from the northwestern Idlib province, included members of the General Security Directorate and the Ministry of Defense, who were ambushed in the cities of Jableh and Latakia by militants allegedly backed by a regional power and remnants of the former government. (Syria-Clash-Casualty)

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KHARTOUM -- The Sudanese government on Thursday welcomed a statement by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) rejecting efforts to create a parallel authority in the country.

"The government of Sudan welcomes the UNSC's statement rejecting the signing of a charter aimed at creating a parallel ruling authority in the country," Khalid Ali Aleisir, Sudan's minister of information and government spokesperson, said in a statement. (Sudan-Rejection-Parallel Authority)

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ANKARA -- Türkiye's central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate by 250 basis points to 42.5 percent, the second rate cut this year, following a decreasing underlying trend of inflation in February.

"Although domestic demand was above projections in the fourth quarter of 2024, it remained at disinflationary levels. Leading indicators suggest that domestic demand remains disinflationary in the first quarter of this year," the bank's Monetary Policy Committee said in a statement. (Türkiye-Interest Rate Cut-Inflation) Enditem

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