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☆ Israel Called Them ‘Precision’ Strikes. But Civilian Homes Were Hit, Too.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Raja Abdulrahim | Samar Abu Elouf | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As the Khoswan family slept, the Israeli military dropped three GBU-39 bombs into their sixth-floor apartment. One of the bombs exploded just outside the parents’ bedroom, leaving the apartment looking as if a tornado had swept through, killing three family members. But they were not the stated target of the attack earlier this month. The Israeli military had dropped the bombs into their home to assassinate a commander of the Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad who lived in the apartment below. “But to target the commander and those around him, honestly this is something we didn’t expect.”

Persons: Jamal Khoswan, Mirvat, Tareq Izzeldeen, Menna Organizations: Palestinian, Islamic, “

☆ Major central banks were expected to pause rate hikes soon. Now it's not so clear cut
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Brendan McDermid | ReutersThe market has long been pricing in interest rate cuts from major central banks toward the end of 2023, but sticky core inflation, tight labor markets and a surprisingly resilient global economy are leading some economists to reassess. Economic resilience and persistent labor market tightness could exert upward pressure on wages and inflation, which is in danger of becoming entrenched. The Bank of England The U.K. faces a much tougher inflation challenge than the U.S. and the euro zone, and the U.K. consumer price inflation rate fell by less than expected in April. Meanwhile core inflation jumped to 6.8% from 6.2% in March, which will be of greater concern to the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee. Risk management considerations will, we think, force the MPC to push rates higher and further than previously intended."

To be sure, the April inflation data hit the UK debt market like a thunderbolt. While the headline consumer price inflation rate dropped to 8.7% from 10.1% in March, as energy prices ebbed, that was still far higher than forecast and core inflation rates hit their highest in 31 years at just under 7%. And a chief concern for many households is ongoing annual food price inflation still near 20%. Sterling and real yield spreadsNew UK gilt shock? Using 5-year real yields from the index-linked bond market, that premium jumped almost 40bp this week to its highest since last October.

☆ Hundreds rally in Pakistan-ruled Kashmir against India G20 meet
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Abu Arqam Naqash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, May 22 (Reuters) - Hundreds of people rallied in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Monday to protest arch rival India's decision to host a G20 tourism meeting in its part of the disputed Himalayan region, said a government official. Several protesters demonstrated in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and other cities, chanting: "Go India go back and boycott, boycott G20 boycott!" He termed the G20 gathering as illegal, and an attempt by India to seek legitimacy over its control of the disputed region. The G20 tourism working group meeting is the first international event in the region since the conversion. India at present holds it presidency, and is set to host its annual summit in New Delhi in September.

☆ France summons brother, assistant of Lebanon central bank boss in fraud probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Central bank chief Riad Salameh, his brother Raja Salameh, and his assistant Marianne Hoayek are being investigated in Lebanon, France and other countries for allegedly taking hundreds of millions in funds from the central bank. France has set a hearing in Paris for his brother Raja on May 31 and for Hoayek on June 13, a source close to the matter told Reuters. A Lebanese judicial source confirmed to Reuters that Lebanon's judiciary had received the summons and was working to deliver them. France last week issued an arrest warrant for Salameh, 72, after he failed to attend his own hearing in Paris. The Salameh brothers and Hoayek have already been charged in two separate cases in Lebanon related to embezzlement and other financial crimes.

☆ Lebanon’s central bank boss urged to resign after French arrest warrant
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Lebanon's deputy PM says Salameh should quitCentral bank head under investigation for fraudFrench prosecutors issue arrest warrantBEIRUT, May 18 (Reuters) - Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Saadeh al-Shami called on Thursday for Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh to resign following France’s issuing of an arrest warrant against him as part of a fraud investigation. He plans to appeal against the French warrant, which he told Al-Hadath violated principles of a Lebanese-French agreement without giving more details. A Lebanese judge overseeing a local case against Salameh has rejected his lawyers' defence arguments, clearing the way for a June 15 hearing, a senior judicial source told Reuters. The judicial source told Reuters a new hearing date for Raja Salameh had also been set for June 15. French prosecutors' warrant for Riad Salameh, issued on Tuesday, was the first from any of the foreign probes into him.

☆ The Long Isolation of Syria’s al-Assad Is Over
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Vivian Nereim | Raja Abdulrahim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When a devastating earthquake struck in February, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria spotted opportunity in disaster. He called for an end to international sanctions on his country and within days, some were suspended. Other Middle Eastern states sent planeloads of aid and senior officials from those countries soon followed for the first high-level visits in years. In the three months since, Mr. al-Assad has made a remarkable comeback, going from more than a decade of near-total global isolation after a series of atrocities, to being welcomed back into the Arab fold with virtually no strings attached. Mr. Assad was shunned for brutally suppressing his country’s Arab Spring uprising in 2011, which morphed into a civil war that has ground to a standstill, but has still not ended.

☆ Rep. Mike Gallagher on China's rising economic aggression: We have a shared sense of the threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRep. Mike Gallagher on China's rising economic aggression: We have a shared sense of the threatHouse Select Committee on China Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Ranking Member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) join 'Squawk Box' to discuss the committee's hearing Wednesday on countering the Chinese Communist Party's economic aggression.

☆ Rep. Matt Gaetz says younger members of Congress are on board with bipartisan stock trading ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRep. Matt Gaetz says younger members of Congress are on board with bipartisan stock trading banRep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) join 'Last Call' to discuss the bipartisan team that is pushing to ban stock ownership and trading for lawmakers.

☆ Bank of England set for 12th straight interest rate hike, but the outlook remains murky
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

People walk outside the Bank of England in the City of London financial district, in London, Britain, January 26, 2023. "All this, and updated projections, should be consistent with our call for a final 25bp hike at the June meeting to a terminal rate of 4.75%." Updated forecasts Alongside the rate decision, the MPC will update its forecasts on Thursday. "Thus, while our base case remains for a final hike in June, we see risks that they skip this meeting and deliver the final hike in August," Ardagno's team said. Deutsche Bank Senior Economist Sanjay Raja echoed the projections for a 7-2 split in favor of a 25 basis point hike on Thursday, followed by another quarter-point in June.

☆ What Is Islamic Jihad and Why Is Israel Targeting It?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Raja Abdulrahim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an armed group based in Gaza, was the target of Israeli airstrikes early Tuesday, and was at the center of a flare-up in violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip last summer. What is Islamic Jihad? The second-largest Palestinian armed resistance group in Gaza, Islamic Jihad has often been eclipsed by the larger Hamas movement, which has controlled and governed Gaza since 2007. Islamic Jihad was founded in the 1980s in the Gaza Strip to fight the Israeli occupation and maintains a presence in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Iran supports both groups with funding and weapons, and Israel and the United States list both as terrorist organizations.

☆ Palestinians Demand Israel Hand Over Body of Prominent Prisoner
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Raja Abdulrahim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since his death on Tuesday, Israel has not returned his body to his family and the government won’t say whether it intends to do so. “It’s collective punishment,” said Hassan Jabareen, the director of Adalah, a Palestinian human rights organization and legal center. Many other Palestinians along with international human rights groups have echoed this criticism, saying the withholding of bodies punishes the families of the dead collectively and could violate international law. Since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, Israeli authorities have retained the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians who either died in prison or were killed during security incidents. They keep some in freezers for years at the National Center of Forensic Medicine, or bury them in graves with no headstones in what Palestinians call “the cemetery of numbers,” according to the Jerusalem Legal Aid & Human Rights Center.

☆ Lebanon central bank chief's brother questioned at European fraud probe hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In a nearly five-hour session in which Raja was questioned about his brother's wealth, he told investigators that Forry was solely owned by him. He said $155 million in funds he amassed came from investment profits made over ten years from accrued interest and foreign exchange transactions. The documents say prosecutors suspect Riad used fake banking documents in Raja's name to cover up illicit sources of wealth. The European investigators are also set on Friday to question caretaker finance minister Youssef el-Khalil , who still serves as the central bank's head of financial operations. French prosecutors have informed Riad that they intend to press charges of fraud and aggravated money laundering during a planned hearing in France on May 16.

☆ House China committee targets top clothing brands in forced labor inquiry
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A shopper carries a bag of Nike merchandise along the Magnificent Mile shopping district on December 21, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. WASHINGTON — A House committee examining the U.S. government's economic relationship with China is asking some of the world's largest clothing companies for information about the use of forced labor during production — a potential violation of U.S. trade law. Lawmakers asked retailers Temu, Shein, Nike and Adidas North America about the use of materials and labor sourced from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region of China, according to letters sent to company leaders on Tuesday. Such practices would constitute violations of the 2021 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, according to the lawmakers. The inquiries also follow a March hearing of the committee that included an expert assessment finding that U.S. companies finance "state-sponsored forced labor programs in the Uyghur region."

☆ AOC and Matt Gaetz introduce a bipartisan bill to ban Congress members from trading individual stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban Congress members from trading individual stocks. Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul Pelosi has long been scrutinized for his extensive history of trading stocks. The Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act would prohibit Congress members and their spouses and any dependents from trading individual stocks. The bill would prevent Congressional lawmakers and their spouses and dependents from trading individual stocks. Instead of owning individual stocks, Congress members would be allowed to buy and sell baskets of stocks via mutual funds or ETFs, as well as Treasury securities.

☆ Palestinian Detainee Dies in Israeli Prison After Hunger Strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Raja Abdulrahim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Khader Adnan, a Palestinian prisoner who had been on a hunger strike in an Israeli prison for 87 days to protest his detention, died early Tuesday, according to his lawyer and Palestinian and Israeli officials. It was Mr. Adnan, 44, who helped usher in the practice of individual hunger strikes by Palestinian prisoners, conducting a 66-day strike in 2011 that inspired others to use it as a means of protesting Israel’s incarceration of Palestinians, especially the practice of administrative detention. This time, Mr. Adnan had been on a hunger strike since his arrest on Feb. 5. In recent days, Israeli doctors had warned that his death was “imminent” and called for him to be transferred to a hospital. Israel had accused Mr. Adnan of being affiliated with Islamic Jihad, an armed Palestinian resistance group, and he was arrested on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization, support for terrorism and incitement.

The bodies were found at a property in Henryetta, a city about 90 miles from Oklahoma City, authorities said. The bodies were found “not in the residence, but just on the property,” Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Gerald Davidson told reporters Monday. “Our hearts are hurting, and we have considered what would be best for our students in the coming days,” the school system said. The school system added that classes would not be canceled and that students would have access to mental health professionals and faith-based clergy. “Please continue to keep these families in your thoughts and prayers.”A vigil for the “families affected by this tragedy” was scheduled for Monday evening, the school system said on Facebook.

☆ Fan death, crowd trouble mar CAF Champions league ties in North Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 30 (Reuters) - Casablanca authorities have opened an investigation after a fan died outside the gates of the Stade Mohammed V before Raja's match against Al-Ahly in the CAF Champions League quarter-finals on Saturday. Another CAF Champions League quarter-final between Esperance and Algeria's JS Kabylie in Tunis on Saturday was marred by crowd trouble, which caused a 40-minute delay to the second half. Esperance fans clashed with Tunisian security forces and lit fireworks on the terraces at halftime of the tie at Rades Stadium. They will face Al-Ahly over two legs for a place in the final after the Cairo club held Raja to a 0-0 draw in Casablanca. Raja's city rivals Wydad, the reigning champions, will face South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns in the other semi-final next month.

☆ Texas: 5 people fatally shot, including 8-year-old, suspect at large, San Jacinto County Sheriff says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Raja Razek | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

CNN —A suspect is at large after five people, including an 8-year-old, were fatally shot in a Cleveland, Texas, home, according to San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers. Authorities found the victims Friday night after receiving a harassment report about 11:30 p.m. local time, the sheriff told CNN affiliate KHOU. Multiple people were shot around the residence, Capers said. There were 10 people inside the home at the time of the shooting, according to the sheriff. The victims range in age from 8 years old to about 40, Capers told reporters early Saturday morning.

☆ European investigators question Lebanon c.bank chief's assistant in fraud probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIRUT, April 27 (Reuters) - European investigators in Beirut questioned an assistant to Lebanon's central bank governor on Thursday as part of a probe into whether the governor embezzled and laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds, local media and a judicial source said. Marianne Houayek, 42 and a longtime assistant to the governor, was scheduled to be questioned as a suspect, according to a schedule for the European investigators seen by Reuters. A French court document seen by Reuters says up to $5 million euros from the central bank ultimately went to Houayek via accounts in Switzerland and Luxembourg. The European investigators questioned the governor in Beirut in March and returned on Monday for further hearings. The European investigators are also set to question caretaker finance minister Youssef el-Khalil, who still serves as the central bank's head of financial operations, as well as other top officials of the bank.

CNN —A woman delivering for DoorDash in Florida was attacked and kidnapped before being rescued by her family members, police say, and a male suspect has been arrested. Family members then called police, and officers were dispatched to the hotel. The victim’s family, who had been tracking her phone, arrived at her location and rescued her from the car, authorities said. Joseph Killins has been charged with armed kidnapping, robbery with a firearm, armed sexual battery and aggravated battery with a weapon, authorities said. Killins was then arrested late Friday night and charged with the DoorDash delivery driver’s kidnapping and battery, among others.

☆ Disney employee accused of taking videos up park guests’ dresses and skirts for years is fired and arrested
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Raja Razek | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Then-employee Jorge Diaz Vega, 26, allegedly told authorities in an interview that he had “been taking videos up the dresses/skirts of unknown females in the Disney World theme parks for approximately six years,” according to the affidavit. Diaz Vega, who worked at the lightsaber store, told authorities he had what he estimated to be over 500 such videos on his phone and showed “multiple examples of the videos” to detectives, according to the affidavit. “The videos were of multiple females who all appeared to not know they were being video recorded,” the affidavit states. She “was not aware at the time the incident took place, and she was not told of the identity of the male,” authorities say in the affidavit. CNN has attempted to reach Diaz Vega directly for comment.

CNN —The Texas Senate passed a bill Thursday requiring each public school classroom to display a copy of the Ten Commandments, a move that drew backlash from civil liberty advocates who say lawmakers should not dictate what religious materials students are exposed to. The legislation, which passed the state Senate on a 17-12 vote, will now head to the state’s House of Representatives. “This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school year,” the bill reads. Senate Bill 1396 also passed with a 17-12 vote. “Parents should be able to decide what religious materials their child should learn, not the (Texas legislature),” the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said in a statement.

☆ Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens are married
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Raja Razek | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —USA Gymnastics star and world champion Simone Biles and NFL player Jonathan Owens are married. Both shared images on social media Saturday announcing their marriage, and Biles now includes “Owens” in her full name on Instagram and Twitter. “I do,” Biles wrote on social media Saturday. “Officially Owens.”“My person, forever,” Owens wrote in a post of his own. Owens told Texas Monthly in 2021 that the Covid-19 shutdown created time for them to get to know each other better.

☆ French prosecutors accuse Lebanon central bank chief of hiding fraud
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BEIRUT/PARIS, April 21 (Reuters) - French prosecutors have told Lebanon's central bank governor Riad Salameh they plan to press preliminary fraud and money laundering charges against him, partly based on allegedly forged bank statements used to conceal his wealth, according to French court documents seen by Reuters. During that hearing, French prosecutors intend to press the preliminary charges and formally name him a suspect. As part of his response to accusations, Salameh sent French prosecutors a 65-page memo supplied by Marwan Kheireddine, the chairman of Lebanon's AM Bank. But according to the French court documents seen by Reuters, French investigators have reached the conclusion the bank statements were fake. Salameh "used fake records of bank accounts at AM Bank… provided by Marwan Kheireddine, to justify in a deceitful manner the origin of his properties or revenues," French prosecutors say in the court documents.

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