Stock Markets
Biden meets Netanyahu on Gaza ceasefire
By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held White House talks on Thursday on an elusive ceasefire to the 9-month-old Gaza war, with Vice President Kamala Harris due to meet the Israeli leader later in the day.
It was the first face-to-face talks for the two men since Biden traveled to Israel days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, hugged Netanyahu and pledged American support.
The visit coincides with a shift in American politics. On Sunday, Biden stepped aside from the U.S. presidential race under pressure from fellow Democrats and endorsed Harris for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination.
“We’ve got a lot to talk about,” Biden said when he welcomed Netanyahu to the Oval Office.
“I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel,” Netanyahu told Biden, citing the president’s half-century of public service.
In the late afternoon, Harris will meet the Israeli leader in her ceremonial office at the White House.
The meeting will be closely watched for signs of how Harris, who was the first top U.S. official to call for a ceasefire, could shift U.S. policy toward Israel if she becomes president.
Harris was expected to closely track the administration line in the meeting, a U.S. official said, focusing on the plight of Palestinians while also supporting Israel’s right to self-defense.
Biden and Netanyahu later will meet together with the families of American hostages held by Hamas. The two leaders have had strained relations for months over Israel’s attacks on Gaza, which have killed more than 39,000 people, according to health officials in the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, and sparked a humanitarian crisis.
The U.S. is a major arms supplier to Israel and has protected the country from critical United Nations votes.
Netanyahu’s visit, his first to Israel’s most important international ally since returning for a record sixth term as prime minister at the end of 2022, comes on the heels of Biden’s dramatic decision not to seek reelection.
Whether Biden, who is now a “lame duck” president, a term used for officials who won’t serve another term, or Harris, who is tied in many election polls with Republican Donald Trump, can have any influence on Netanyahu remains to be seen.
Both Biden and Harris are eager for a ceasefire. Harris has been aligned with Biden on Israel but has struck a tougher tone.
The conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel from Gaza, killing 1,200 people. Israel launched a retaliatory assault.
Hamas-led fighters took 250 captives on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies. Some 120 hostages are still being held though Israel believes one in three are dead.
The White House is ringed with extra security fencing to protect against protesters on Thursday.
CLOSING STAGES
Negotiations on a long-sought ceasefire-for-hostages deal in the Gaza conflict appear to be in their closing stages, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.
The official, briefing reporters ahead of the talks, said the remaining obstacles are bridgeable and there will be more meetings aimed at reaching a deal between Israel and Hamas over the next week.
U.S. officials have made similar pledges before about a ceasefire which evaporated under last-minute differences.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu gave a defiant speech to the U.S. Congress in which he defended Israel’s attacks on Gaza, saying anti-Israel protesters “should be ashamed of themselves.”
On Friday, he travels to Florida to meet Trump.
The Gaza conflict has splintered the Democratic Party, and sparked months of protests at Biden events. A drop in support among Arab-Americans could hurt Democratic chances in Michigan, one of a handful of states likely to decide the Nov. 5 election.
Biden’s desire for unity in the party in the drive to defeat Trump was cited on Wednesday night in an Oval Office address as a main reason why he decided not to seek reelection but to instead support Harris for the 2024 race.
(Reuters) -Private equity firm Insight Partners is on the brink of closing a new $10 billion-plus fund, roughly half the amount originally targeted, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing five people with knowledge of its plans.
Insight will not formally close its 13th fund until early next year, the report said, adding that the final figure may be closer to $12 billion.
Insight Partners declined to comment on the report.
The report said Insight is using a private equity-style structure to sell more than $1 billion worth of stakes in start-ups and to free up cash to return to investors.
One of the start-ups is Israeli cybersecurity firm Wiz, which had called off a $23 billion deal with Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:) in July, the report said.
New York-based Insight raised $20 billion for its 12th flagship fund in 2022, aiming to ramp up investments in software and technology companies.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would inflict a “heavy price” on the Iran-aligned Houthis who control northern Yemen, after they reached central Israel with a missile on Sunday for the first time.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group struck with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that travelled 2,040 km (1270 miles) in just 11 1/2 minutes.
After initially saying the missile had fallen in an open area, Israel’s military later said it had probably fragmented in the air, and that pieces of interceptors had landed in fields and near a railway station. Nobody was reported hurt.
Air raid sirens had sounded in Tel Aviv and across central Israel moments before the impact at around 6:35 a.m. local time (0335 GMT), sending residents running for shelter. Loud booms were heard.
Reuters saw smoke billowing in an open field in central Israel.
At a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the Houthis should have known that Israel would exact a “heavy price” for attacks on Israel.
“Whoever needs a reminder of that is invited to visit the Hodeida port,” Netanyahu said, referring to an Israeli retaliatory air strike against Yemen in July for a Houthi drone that hit Tel Aviv.
The Houthis have fired missiles and drones at Israel repeatedly in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians, since the Gaza war began with a Hamas attack on Israel in October.
The drone that hit Tel Aviv for the first time in July killed a man and wounded four people. Israeli air strikes in response on Houthi military targets near the port of Hodeidah killed six and wounded 80.
Previously, Houthi missiles have not penetrated deep into Israeli air space, with the only one reported to have hit Israeli territory falling in an open area near the Red Sea port of Eilat in March.
Israel should expect more strikes in the future “as we approach the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 operation, including responding to its aggression on the city of Hodeidah,” Sarea said.
The deputy head of the Houthi’s media office, Nasruddin Amer, said in a post on X on Sunday that the missile had reached Israel after “20 missiles failed to intercept” it, describing it as the “beginning”.
The Israeli military also said that 40 projectiles were fired towards Israel from Lebanon on Sunday and were either intercepted or landed in open areas.
“No injuries were reported,” the military said.
PARIS (Reuters) – Eight people have died trying to cross the Channel from France to England, French authorities said on Sunday, confirming earlier media reports.
This latest incident follows the deaths of 12 people earlier this month when their boat capsized in the Channel on its way to Britain and highlights the pressure on the British and French governments to find ways to tackle the boat crossings.
Jacques Billant, the Prefect of the Pas-de-Calais region, said that rescue crews were alerted that a boat with 59 people onboard was in difficulty in waters off the coast of Ambleteuse in the Pas-de-Calais area.
“A new drama took place around one in the morning and we deplore the death of eight people,” he told a news conference, adding that the other 51 onboard were now in the care of rescue and medical crews.
The dead were men from Eritrea, Sudan, Syria, Egypt, Iran and Afghanistan, he added.
The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and currents are strong, which makes crossing on small boats dangerous.
The latest incident brings to 46 the number of people who have died trying to cross the Channel from France since the start of the year, Billant said.
On September 14 alone there were eight attempts to cross the Channel from France and some 200 migrants were rescued, he said.
Forex2 years agoForex Today: the dollar is gaining strength amid gloomy sentiment at the start of the Fed’s week
- Forex2 years ago
How is the Australian dollar doing today?
- Forex2 years ago
Dollar to pound sterling exchange rate today: Pound plummeted to its lowest since 1985
- Forex2 years ago
Unbiased review of Pocket Option broker
- Cryptocurrency2 years ago
What happened in the crypto market – current events today
- World2 years ago
Why are modern video games an art form?
- Commodities2 years ago
Copper continues to fall in price on expectations of lower demand in China
- Stock Markets2 years ago
Morgan Stanley: bear market rally to continue
