Morning Briefing: July 2, 2023

ANKARA 

Here is a rundown of all the news you need to start your Sunday, including France trying to quell protests, the Dutch king’s apology for colonial slavery, a limit on viewing Twitter posts to combat data scraping and Russian diplomatic evacuation in Bucharest amidst EU airspace closure.

TOP STORIES

Protests in France after the police killing of a teen earlier this week, entered a fifth straight night Saturday with clashes between protesters and police, and allegations of involvement by far-right groups.

As the iconic Champs-Elysees Avenue once again became crowded with protesters following a recent evacuation, the heightened presence of police forces drew attention.

France mobilized 45,000 police and gendarmes for a second straight night amid the violent protests, the country’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced.

President Emmanuel Macron postponed a visit to Germany.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander apologized for his country’s role in colonial-era slavery and its lingering effects.

“Today I’m standing here in front of you as your king and as part of the government. Today I am apologizing myself,” Willem-Alexander said at an event marking 150 years since the end of slavery in Dutch colonies.

Twitter owner Elon Musk announced the company was temporarily restricting the daily number of tweets users could see because of concerns about “data scrapers and system manipulation” — much to the chagrin of users.

“To address extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation, we’ve applied the following temporary limits: Verified accounts are limited to reading 6000 posts/day, unverified accounts to 600 posts/day, new unverified accounts to 300/day,” he wrote in a tweet, drawing fire from users.

A Russian plane landed at the Henri Coanda Airport in Romania’s capital of Bucharest to evacuate diplomats for the first time since the EU closed its airspace to Russian planes because of Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Bucharest made an exception and allowed the aircraft to pick up its embassy staff. A total of 40 personnel at the Russian Embassy will leave Romania with their families on a civilian plane, the Romanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• At least 25 people died and several injured when a passenger bus caught fire in western India, according to police.

• The UK issued a travel warning to its nationals who may be flying to France after nationwide unrest in response to the killing of a teen by police.

• Israel conducted airstrikes on military positions in the western Syrian province of Homs, according to the Syrian state news agency.

• Türkiye assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) organization, according to its Foreign Ministry.

SPORTS

Inter Milan signed French forward Marcus Thuram, the Italian club announced.

“Marcus Thuram signs for Inter. The forward, who was born in 1997, joins the Nerazzurri following four seasons with Borussia Monchengladbach,” it said.

British cyclist Adam Yates won the opening stage of the 2023 Tour de France in Spain’s Bilbao.

UAE Team Emirates’ rider beat his twin brother, Simon, of Team Jayco AlUla, to take the yellow jersey after completing the 182-kilometer (113-mile) Stage 1 in four hours, 22 minutes and 49 seconds.

Former World Cup champion Cesc Fabregas retired from football at the age of 36.

“It is with great sadness that the time has come for me to hang up my playing boots,” Fabregas wrote on Twitter.

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