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☆ Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Rafah crossing, bombings, Gaza ceasefire deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Displaced Palestinians are arriving in Khan Yunis with their belongings after leaving Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip due to an evacuation order by the Israeli army, in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on May 7. Majdi Fathi/NURPHO/APThe United States paused a shipment of bombs to Israel amid concerns over their potential use in a Rafah incursion, according to a US official. The shipment, which was held back last week, includes 1,800 bombs weighing 2,000 pounds and 1,700 bombs weighing 500 pounds. CNN reported over the weekend that one shipment of ammunition to Israel had been paused, but the reason was unclear. Israeli leaders have warned for weeks that an invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah will occur at some point in the future, even as the US and others have publicly stated that such a ground operation should not occur.

Persons: Majdi, Biden Organizations: United, CNN Locations: Khan Yunis, Rafah, Gaza, Israel

☆ In Serbia, Xi Underlines Close Ties With Ally That Shares Wariness of U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Andrew Higgins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China and Serbia on Wednesday proclaimed an “ironclad friendship” during a visit to Belgrade by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, underlining the close political and economic ties between two countries that share a wariness of the United States. Mr. Xi arrived in Serbia late Tuesday — the 25th anniversary of a mistaken 1999 airstrike involving the U.S. Air Force during the Kosovo war that destroyed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, the Serbian capital. Three Chinese journalists were killed in the strike. “This we should never forget,” Mr. Xi said in a statement published on Tuesday by Politika, a Serbian newspaper, recalling that “25 years ago today, NATO flagrantly bombed the Chinese Embassy.” He said that China’s friendship with Serbia had been “forged with the blood of our compatriots” and “will stay in the shared memory of the Chinese and Serbian peoples.”Mr. Xi appeared briefly on Wednesday morning with the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, before a cheering crowd gathered in front of the Palace of Serbia, the former headquarters of the now defunct government of Yugoslavia that now houses Serbian government offices.

Persons: Xi, Mr, ”, “, Aleksandar Vucic Organizations: Wednesday, U.S . Air Force, Embassy, Politika, NATO flagrantly, Serbian Locations: China, Serbia, Belgrade, United States, Kosovo, Serbian, Yugoslavia

☆ Microsoft to build AI hub on previously-owned Foxconn land in Wisconsin
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | Samantha Waldenberg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Microsoft said it is pouring $3.3 billion into building a data hub in Wisconsin that aims to train employees and manufacturers on how to best use artificial intelligence. The new center aims to create 2,300 union construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs over time, according to Microsoft. In his remarks Wednesday, Biden plans to directly point his finger at Trump for the failed project, according to a White House official. The White House also introduced an order in 2023 to require AI system developers to share results of their safety tests with the federal government before they are released to the public. Beyond AI, Wisconsin is seeing a spate of funding toward futuristic industries.

Persons: Joe Biden, Trump, Satya Nadella, Biden, Microsoft’s Organizations: CNN, Microsoft, University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin -, Trump, White, Infrastructure Law, Badger Locations: Wisconsin, Mount Pleasant , Wisconsin, America, Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, United States, Racine –

☆ China Is Way Ahead in Green Energy. Here’s Why That’s Risky for the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Somini Sengupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The world’s two most powerful countries, the United States and China, are meeting this week in Washington to talk about climate change. In an ideal world, where the clean energy transition was the top priority, they would be on friendlier terms. Maybe affordable Chinese-made electric vehicles would be widely sold in America, instead of being viewed as an economic threat. Instead, in the not-ideal real world, the United States is balancing two competing goals. Its concern is that Chinese dominance of the global market for these essential technologies would harm the U.S. economy and national security.

Persons: Biden, John Podesta, Liu Zhenmin Locations: United States, China, Washington, America, Nevada, Beijing

☆ Opinion | Why Conservative and Liberal Catholics Can’t Escape One Another
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A college of supposedly conservative cardinals elected a surprisingly liberal pope. It seemed as though liberal Catholicism had been merely hibernating, awaiting a new pope, a new spring. But lately, in both Rome and the United States, I’ve had conversations with well-informed Catholics in which the old conservative confidence has made a comeback. The fear that the next pope might be another liberalizer, younger and more ambitious than Francis, has largely receded. This new confidence reflects a specific reading of the waning years (or what are probably the waning years) of the Francis pontificate.

Persons: Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, I’ve, Francis Locations: Rome, United States

☆ Opinion | Iran and Israel Weren’t Always Enemies
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Karim Sadjadpour | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“History is littered,” the British writer and politician Enoch Powell said, “with the wars which everybody knew would never happen.”A full-blown conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel once seemed implausible. Iran and Israel are not natural adversaries. In contrast to other modern conflicts — between Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine, China and Taiwan — Iran and Israel have no bilateral land or resource disputes. Their national strengths — Iran is an energy titan and Israel is a tech innovator — are more complementary than competitive. Iran was the second Muslim nation, after Turkey, to recognize Israel after its founding in 1948.

Persons: Enoch Powell, specter, King Cyrus the Great Locations: Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, United States, Iran, Palestine, Russia, Ukraine, China, Taiwan, Turkey

☆ For Bulgarian Voters, It’s Groundhog Day, Again
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Andrew Higgins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For citizens of the United States, Britain, India and dozens of other countries around the world, 2024 is a big, high-stakes election year. For Dimitar Naydenov, a Bulgarian member of Parliament and restaurant owner, it offers only yet another Groundhog Day: Bulgaria in June holds its sixth general election in three years with a vote for a new Parliament. The total number of elections in those years is even higher — eight — if those for president and European Parliament are included. “I’ve done this so many times people have started to feel pity for me,” he said. But pity Bulgarian voters, too.

Persons: Dimitar Naydenov, “, Mr, Naydenov, shuddering, ” Locations: United States, Britain, India, Bulgarian, Bulgaria, Burgas

At least one person was killed on Wednesday as strong storms moved through Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee on Wednesday afternoon, bringing heavy rain, strong winds and hail in some areas. The severe weather arrived a day after widespread storms pummeled the Midwest, with tornadoes that tore through Michigan. As storms continued to move through a swath of the Midwest and the Eastern United States on Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a string of tornado warnings in cities across Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. More severe storms were expected through the evening, according to forecasters. About 18 million people were under either an enhanced or moderate risk of severe weather — the third and fourth levels of intensity, out of five — on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center.

Organizations: Midwest, Eastern, National Weather Service, Prediction Locations: Missouri , Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Claiborne County, Eastern United States, Missouri , Kentucky

Rob Holmes is a private investigator. Holmes speaks with Business Insider about how counterfeits are made in factories overseas. He also examines a genuine Rolex and gives tips on how to spot a genuine watch. Holmes began investigating counterfeits during his childhood: His father, Rob Sr., was a renowned counterfeit investigator in New York in the 1980s. Holmes describes his dad's encounters with Chinatown gangs and tells Business Insider how he and his brother are carrying on their father's legacy through their investigations business, MI:33.

Persons: Rob Holmes, Holmes, counterfeits, Rob Sr Organizations: Business Locations: United States, New York, MI

An Israeli tank near the border with Gaza. The United States paused an arms shipment to Israel last week out of concern that the weapons might be used in a threatened assault on Rafah, Gaza, officials said. Credit... Tsafrir Abayov/Associated Press

Persons: Tsafrir Organizations: United, Associated Locations: Gaza, United States, Israel, Rafah

☆ Boeing’s Starliner launch delayed for valve replacement
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Ashley Strickland | Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The long-awaited first crewed mission of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will be delayed for more than a week after engineers identified an issue that halted launch preparations on Monday. Starliner’s next opportunity to lift off on its maiden voyage from NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida is at 6:16 p.m. Veteran NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore had already taken their seats aboard the Starliner capsule when the operations team called for a scrub Monday night about two hours before launch. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, right, and Suni Williams will remain in quarantine until the launch. Terry Renna/APWilliams and Wilmore have each ventured to space on two previous journeys aboard the NASA space shuttle and Russian Soyuz missions.

Persons: Starliner’s, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Tory Bruno, Bruno, Williams, Wilmore, SpaceX’s, Terry Renna, Bill Nelson, “, Butch, Suni, Nelson, —, ” Williams Organizations: CNN, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Veteran NASA, United Launch Alliance, Atlas V, NASA, Cape Canaveral Space Force, Kennedy Space Center, Boeing, International Space Station, Russian Soyuz, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo Locations: Florida, Russian, United States

If and when Israel and Hamas reach a deal for a cease-fire, the United States will immediately turn to a different set of negotiations over a grand diplomatic bargain that it believes could rebuild Gaza and remake the Middle East. Michael Crowley, who covers the State Department and U.S. foreign policy for The Times, explains why those involved in this plan believe they have so little time left to get it done.

Persons: Michael Crowley Organizations: Hamas, State Department, The Times Locations: Israel, United States, Gaza

☆ FTX bankruptcy plan: collapsed firm says it can pay most creditors back in full
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —FTX has recovered enough assets to pay most of its creditors back in full, the failed crypto exchange said late Tuesday as it unveiled a proposed reorganization plan. “The plan contemplates payment in full of all non-governmental creditors based on the value of their claims as determined by the (relevant) bankruptcy court,” FTX said in a statement. Ray, a restructuring specialist, took over as CEO in November 2022 to shepherd what was left of the firm through bankruptcy. “We are pleased to be in a position to propose a Chapter 11 (bankruptcy) plan that contemplates the return of 100% of bankruptcy claim amounts plus interest for non-governmental creditors,” John J. Ray III, FTX CEO and chief restructuring officer, said in Tuesday’s statement. If his plan is approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District Court of Delaware, FTX expects that 98% of its creditors will receive approximately 118% of the amount of their allowed claims, FTX said.

Persons: London CNN — FTX, ” FTX, FTX, Sam Bankman, Fried, ” John J, Ray III Organizations: London CNN, Alameda Research, Enron, United States Locations: Alameda, Delaware

☆ Prince Harry won’t see King Charles during UK trip for Invictus celebrations
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Lauren Said-Moorhouse | Max Foster | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Harry is back in the UK for the 10th anniversary of his Invictus Games. Chris Jackson/Getty Images for The Invictus Games FoundationBuckingham Palace has not commented on the duke’s visit. The inaugural Invictus Games, an international sporting competition for wounded veterans and members of the military, was held in London in 2014. Following the Invictus celebrations in London, Harry and Meghan will head to Nigeria at the invitation of the Nigerian Defence Headquarters. The next Invictus Games will be held in Vancouver and Whistler in Canada in February 2025.

Persons: Duke, Sussex, King Charles III, Prince Harry, Harry, Chris Jackson, Meghan, Prince William, Duchess, Prince Archie, Charles, ”, Catherine , Princess of Wales, Damian Lewis Organizations: London CNN, Invictus, Invictus Games, Getty, Buckingham, CNN’s Royal, Nigerian Defence Headquarters Locations: United Kingdom, United States, London’s St, Paul’s, London, Nigeria, Vancouver, Whistler, Canada, Birmingham, Washington, DC

☆ Huawei: US revokes some export licenses for selling semiconductors to Chinese company
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

A fourth person said some of the companies were notified on Tuesday that their licenses were revoked effective immediately. The U.S. Commerce Department earlier in the day confirmed it had revoked some licenses but stopped short of naming the companies. “We have revoked certain licenses for exports to Huawei,” the Commerce Department said in a statement, declining to specify which ones it had withdrawn. The move could hurt Huawei, which still relies on Intel chips to power its laptops, and could hurt US suppliers that do business with the company. In a regulatory filing earlier this month, Qualcomm said it did not expect to receive more chip revenue from Huawei beyond this year.

Persons: Biden, Elise Stefanik, Trump, Critics, SMIC Organizations: Singapore Reuters, Intel, Qualcomm, Huawei Technologies, U.S . Commerce Department, Huawei, Republican, Commerce Department, “, Reuters, US Locations: Washington, Singapore, United States, Republican China, American, Communist, Qualcomm’s

☆ Biden Looks to Thwart Surge of Chinese Imports
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Jim Tankersley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden is warning that a new surge of cheap Chinese products poses a threat to American factories. China’s lavish subsidies, including loans from state-run banks, have helped sustain companies that might otherwise have folded in a struggling domestic economy. The result is, in many cases, a significant cost advantage for Chinese manufactured goods like steel and electric cars. The U.S. solar industry is already struggling to compete with those Chinese exports. Chinese exports are washing over the continent, to the chagrin of political leaders and business executives.

Persons: Biden Locations: United States, China, Europe, U.S

☆ G.M. Will Retire the Chevrolet Malibu to Make More Electric Cars
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

General Motors said on Wednesday that it would stop making the Chevrolet Malibu, the last affordable sedan in its U.S. model lineup and a venerable nameplate that was introduced in the 1960s when the company was a dominant force in the U.S. economy. For years, American drivers have been gravitating toward sport utility vehicles and away from sedans, compacts and hatchbacks. G.M.’s two Detroit rivals, Stellantis and Ford Motor, have also largely wiped their slates clean of cars in the United States. Last month, Subaru, a Japanese automaker, said it would stop making its Legacy sedan next year. produces the Malibu at a plant in Fairfax, Kan., and will continue to manufacture the car until later this year, when it plans to retool the factory to make a new version of the Chevrolet Bolt, an electric car, and the Cadillac XT4, a luxury S.U.V.

Persons: Motors, Chevrolet Organizations: Chevrolet Malibu, Detroit, Ford Motor, Foreign, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Subaru Locations: U.S, United States, Japanese, Fairfax, Kan

☆ The US dollar is so strong that China's central bank, among others, just keeps loading up on gold
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Central banks are on a gold-buying spree, contributing to record-high spot gold prices. Other central banks are also snapping up gold to diversify their assets on the back of a strong greenback. Other central banks are also loading up on gold. Emerging market central banks that bought gold in the first quarter of the year include Kazakhstan, Oman, Kyrgyzstan, and Poland. There are political motivations for central banks to diversify their assets, too.

Persons: —, it's, bode Organizations: Service, People's Bank of China, greenback, Gold, JPMorgan, Allianz Locations: China, Turkey, India, Kazakhstan, Oman, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, United States

☆ Billions in Chips Grants Are Expected to Fuel Industry Growth, Report Finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Madeleine Ngo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Billions in federal subsidies for semiconductor manufacturers are expected to help reverse a decades-long decline in America’s share of global chip manufacturing. As a result, America’s share of world chip manufacturing is expected to rise for the first time in decades, to 14 percent by 2032, up from about 10 percent today. The report found that much of the industry’s growth would be fueled by the bipartisan CHIPS Act, which gave the Commerce Department $39 billion to encourage semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. Absent that legislation, America’s share of global chip manufacturing would have fallen to 8 percent by 2032, according to the report. The United States is also expected to see a substantial boost in the domestic production of advanced logic chips, which are used in artificial intelligence, smartphones and autonomous vehicles.

Persons: Biden Organizations: Semiconductor Industry Association, Boston Consulting Group, Commerce Department Locations: United States

☆ With a Gaza Cease-Fire in the Balance, Netanyahu Maneuvers to Keep Power
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Steven Erlanger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, is known as a man who likes to play for time and postpone big decisions. But he may not be able to do that much longer. Domestically, his coalition partners on the far right threaten to break up the government if he agrees to a cease-fire and does not try to clear Hamas out of Rafah, in southern Gaza. Militarily, the strategic logic is to complete the dismantling of Hamas by taking Rafah and controlling the border with Egypt. But diplomatically, his allies, especially the United States, are pushing him to agree on a cease-fire, and skip Rafah and the potential civilian casualties a large-scale operation would cause.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Locations: Rafah, Gaza, Egypt, United States

CNN —The world has passed a clean energy milestone, as a boom in wind and solar meant a record-breaking 30% of the world’s electricity was produced by renewables last year, new data shows. The planet is reaching “a crucial turning point” toward clean energy, according to the Global Electricity Review published Wednesday by climate think tank Ember. Record-breaking renewablesIn 2000, renewables made up less than 19% of the global energy mix. It made up nearly twice as much new electricity generation as coal last year. Electricity demand is set to soar from 2024 onward, Ember’s analysis found.

Persons: It’s, Dave Jones, Ember, ” Jones, “ We’re, Jones, “, ”, Niklas Höhne, Nancy Haegel Organizations: CNN, Global, NewClimate Institute, European Union, EU, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Locations: China, India, Chile, Australia, Netherlands, California, United States

☆ ‘World’s largest’ plant to suck carbon out of the air and turn it into stone opens in Iceland
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Direct air capture, or DAC, is a technology designed to suck in air and strip out the carbon using chemicals. Climeworks plans to transport the carbon underground where it will be naturally transformed into stone, locking up the carbon permanently. ClimeworksClimeworks' Mammoth plant will eventually be able to capture 36,000 tons of carbon from the air. It will increase the size of equipment to capture carbon pollution. It’s this kind of process that makes some critics concerned carbon removal technologies could be used to prolong production of fossil fuels.

Persons: ”, Lili Fuhr, Haukur, Climeworks Climeworks, Stuart Haszeldine, it’s, Jan Wurzbacher Organizations: CNN, Climeworks, Center for International Environmental Law, Mammoth, University of Edinburgh, International Energy Agency, Stratos, Occidental Locations: Iceland, Swiss, Texas, Occidental, Kenya, United States

☆ Britain to Expel Russian Defense Attaché and Close Some Diplomatic Sites
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Britain’s diplomatic feud with Russia escalated on Wednesday after the British government announced it would expel a senior Russian diplomat who officials claim is an “undeclared” military intelligence officer, and also shut down several Russian diplomatic facilities in the country. The government accused Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., of a pattern of “malign activity” in Britain and Europe, including hacking and leaking trade documents relating to the United States, and targeting of British lawmakers through malicious email campaigns. James Cleverly, the British home secretary, told Parliament that the government was announcing the retaliatory measures “to make clear to Russia that we will not tolerate such apparent escalations.”Britain’s action came two days after the Russian Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the British ambassador to Moscow to lodge a “strong protest” over remarks the British foreign secretary, David Cameron, had made about Ukraine’s using weapons supplied by Britain to strike Russian territory.

Persons: James, ”, David Cameron Organizations: Federal Security Service, Russian Foreign Ministry Locations: Russia, British, Russian, Britain, Europe, United States, Moscow

☆ A US ally is forging ties with China's air force but probably won't get its J-20 stealth fighter
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Paul Iddon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The UAE is boosting ties with China's air force. Major General Saleh Mohammed bin Mejren Al Ameri, commander of the UAE's Joint Operations, met with the commander of China's People's Liberation Army Air Force on April 23 to promote closer air force cooperation. Another even speculated Abu Dhabi may eventually seek China's premier stealth fighter: the fifth-generation J-20 Mighty Dragon. I don't see this relationship developing into something similar to what the UAE Air Force has with France or even Russia anytime soon." Furthermore, the Emirati air force fighter fleet is already large for such a small country, making it unlikely the L-15s will serve any combat role.

Persons: —, General Saleh Mohammed bin Mejren Al Ameri, China's, Abu Dhabi, Abu, Abu Dhabi's, Ahmed Aboudouh, Aboudouh, Washington's hesitance, Fred Tanneau, Sebastien Roblin, Roblin, haven't, Russia's Su, Robin Organizations: Service, United, Liberation Army Air Force, Dassault Rafales, Chatham House, China Studies Unit, Emirates Policy Center, Rafale, Dassault Aviation, UAE Air Force, UAE, China hasn't, FC, Korea's KF, UAE . The Emirates, KF Locations: UAE, Washington, Beijing, United Arab Emirates, China, United States, Abu Dhabi, UAE's, France, Abu, Russia, Saudi, Pakistan, Ukraine

☆ Opinion: Russia can lose this war
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Opinion Timothy Snyder | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

And far too many of us, during Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, have believed that. Of its three most consequential foreign wars, the Red Army lost two. And the Russian army of today is not the Red Army. It was disproportionately Ukrainians who fought their war to Berlin in the uniform of the Red Army. Russia can lose this war, and should, for the sake of Russians themselves.

Persons: Timothy Snyder, Richard C, Levin, “, ”, Read, Leonid Brezhnev, Putin, Alexander Nemenov, Brezhnev, Vladimir Putin, Robert Nickelsberg Organizations: Global Affairs, Yale University, CNN, Russia, Getty, Red, Red Army, Soviet, Lease, Russian Empire, Russo, Fascism Locations: Nazi Germany, Russia, Ukraine, AFP, Poland, Afghanistan, USSR, Soviet Ukraine, Berlin, United States, Russian, Crimean, Japanese, Europe, Pacific, Kabul, Soviet Union, Crimea, Japan, Soviet, Ukrainian

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