Stock Markets

Gaza population down by 6% since start of war – Palestinian statistics bureau

Published

3 days ago

January 2, 2025

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The population of Gaza has fallen 6% since the war with Israel began nearly 15 months ago as about 100,000 Palestinians left the enclave while more than 55,000 are presumed dead, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

Around 45,500 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, have been killed since the war began but another 11,000 are missing, the bureau said, citing numbers from the Palestinian Health Ministry.

As such, the population of Gaza has declined by about 160,000 during the course of the war to 2.1 million, with more than a million or 47% of the total children under the age of 18, the PCBS said.

It added that Israel has “raged a brutal aggression against Gaza targeting all kinds of life there; humans, buildings and vital infrastructure… entire families were erased from the civil register. There are catastrophic human and material losses.”

Israel’s foreign ministry said the PCBS data was “fabricated, inflated, and manipulated in order to vilify Israel”.

Israel has faced accusations of genocide in Gaza because of the scale of death and destruction.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ highest legal body, ruled last January that Israel must prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians, while Pope Francis has suggested the global community should study whether Israel’s Gaza campaign constitutes genocide.

Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations of genocide, saying it abides by international law and has a right to defend itself after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023 killed 1,200 Israelis and precipitated the current war.

The PCBS said some 22% of Gaza’s population currently faces catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, according to the criteria of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a global monitor.

Included in that 22% are some 3,500 children at risk of death due to malnutrition and lack of food, the bureau said.

Stock Markets

Oil heads for weekly gains on colder weather, Chinese policy support

Published

15 hours ago

January 4, 2025

By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil prices edged higher on Friday and were on track for weekly gains as cold weather in Europe and the U.S. as well as additional economic stimulus flagged by China helped push prices in the previous session to their highest in more than two months.

futures were up 69 cents, or 0.9%, at $76.62 a barrel by 12:49 p.m. ET (1749 GMT) after settling on Thursday at the highest level since Oct. 25. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained $1.11, or 1.5%, to $74.24.

Brent was on track for a 3.3% weekly gain, while WTI was set for a 5% increase.

Signs of Chinese economic fragility heightened expectations of policy measures to boost growth in the world’s top oil importer.

“China just is unceasing at this point in terms of their announcements about trying to stoke economic activity, and the market’s taking note of that,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York.

Worries about Chinese demand were a factor in bearish demand assumptions last year, he added.

China announced a couple of new measures to boost growth this week with a surprise move to raise wages for government workers and the announcement of a sharp increase in funding from ultra-long treasury bonds.

The additional funding is to be used to spur business investment and consumer-boosting initiatives.

Oil is likely to have gained some price support from expected increased demand for after forecasts for colder weather in some regions.

“Oil demand is likely benefiting from cold temperatures across Europe and the U.S.,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

Also supporting prices, stockpiles dropped by 1.2 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels last week, EIA data showed.

Meanwhile U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories jumped as refineries ramped up output, though fuel demand hit a two-year low.

Holding back prices however, the dollar was on track for its best week in about two months, even as it dipped on Friday, on expectations that the U.S. economy will continue to outperform its peers globally this year and that U.S. interest rates will stay relatively higher.

Higher rates increase borrowing costs, which can cut economic growth and demand for oil.

Stock Markets

QNB Corp director Kenneth Brown buys shares for $3,968

Published

15 hours ago

January 4, 2025

Following this purchase, Brown holds a total of 150,714 shares in QNB Corp. The company trades at a P/E ratio of 12.6 and has maintained dividend payments for 28 consecutive years. InvestingPro subscribers can access 6 additional key insights about QNBC’s valuation and growth prospects. The company trades at a P/E ratio of 12.6 and has maintained dividend payments for 28 consecutive years. InvestingPro subscribers can access 6 additional key insights about QNBC’s valuation and growth prospects. Following this purchase, Brown holds a total of 150,714 shares in QNB Corp.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Stock Markets

US data center electricity and water use to increase significantly by 2028: report

Published

15 hours ago

January 4, 2025

Investing.com — U.S. data centers are expected to significantly increase their electricity and water usage by 2028, driven by the rising adoption of AI technology, according to a U.S. Department of Energy report.

The report forecasts data center electricity demand to rise by 13-27% annually, reaching 325-580 terawatt-hours (TWh), or 6.7-12% of total U.S. demand, by 2028.

This marks a sharp increase from 176 TWh in 2023, with AI servers accounting for much of the growth. demand from AI servers alone is expected to grow 4-8 times, surpassing conventional servers by 2028.

Water usage, primarily for cooling, is projected to increase even faster, by 17-33% annually, reaching 145-275 billion liters by 2028. The study highlights a shift towards water-cooled chillers to accommodate the higher energy density of AI-driven data centers.

The DOE study, conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, underscores the rapid transformation in data center infrastructure, with substantial implications for energy and resource planning in the U.S.