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☆ Microsoft introduces its own chips for AI, with eye on cost
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Microsoft said it does not plan to sell the chips but instead will use them to power its own subscription software offerings and as part of its Azure cloud computing service. Microsoft and other tech giants such as Alphabet are grappling with the high cost of delivering AI services, which can be 10 times greater than for traditional services such as search engines. The Maia chip, they said, is optimized for that work. Microsoft also said that next year it will offer its Azure customers cloud services that run on the newest flagship chips from Nvidia (NVDA.O) and Advanced Micro Devices. He said the Maia chip would allow Microsoft to sell AI services in the cloud until personal computers and phones are powerful enough to handle them.

Persons: Maia, OpenAI, Scott Guthrie, Ben Bajarin, Bajarin, Microsoft's Guthrie, Guthrie, Rani Borkar, Borkar, Stephen Nellis, Edmund Klamann Organizations: Reuters, Microsoft, REUTERS Acquire, Wednesday, Ignite, Nvidia, Devices, Amazon Web Services, Arm Holdings, Amazon, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Thomson Locations: Redmond , Washington, Seattle, San Francisco

The Gaza Strip has been under a total Israeli blockade since Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7. An Israeli ground incursion since then has brought fighting to streets around the hospital in the centre of Gaza City in the north of the strip. "Luckily they are still 36, we didn’t lose any of them overnight," Dr Ahmed El Mokhatallali, a surgeon, told Reuters by telephone from Al Shifa. 'NO CLEAR MECHANISM'The military did not say what steps it would take to make an evacuation possible, amid intense air strikes and ongoing fighting in the vicinity of Al Shifa hospital. What we care most is about the wellbeing and the lives of those babies," Gaza health ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said, speaking by telephone from the hospital.

Persons: Gaza's Al Shifa, Dr Ahmed El Mokhatallali, Al Shifa, Shani Sasson, Arthur Edelman, Ashraf Al, Qidra, Israel, Al Shifa's Mokhatallali, Nidal al, Dan Williams, Abir Al, Estelle Shirbon, Andrew Heavens, Edmund Blair Organizations: Hamas, REUTERS, Israel, Al, Gaza's, Reuters, Israeli Defence Ministry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, West Bank, Medical, Israel's Coordination, Administration, Al Shifa Hospital, Thomson Locations: Gaza's Al, Israel, Palestinian, Gaza City, Gaza, GAZA, JERUSALEM, Al Shifa, Israeli, Al, Egypt, Jerusalem, Abir Al Ahmar, Dubai

☆ Morning Bid: Frail yen teeters as US CPI looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Economists polled by Reuters expect headline U.S. consumer price inflation to slow to 3.3% in October from 3.7% in September, with the core inflation rate that strips out volatile components seen unchanged from September at 4.1%. If the battered currency breaks through last year's trough of 151.94, it would mark a 33-year low. In the corporate world, investors will keep an eye on Europe's most valuable company, Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO). Shares of the Danish drugmaker rose on Monday after data showed that the heart-protective benefits of its popular obesity drug Wegovy are not solely due to weight loss. Key developments that could influence markets on Tuesday:Economic events: UK average weekly earnings for September, Euro Zone Q3 flash GDP, Euro Zone employment flash Q3Reporting by Ankur Banerjee; Editing by Edmund KlamannOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ankur Banerjee, David Cameron's, Jerome Powell, Shunichi Suzuki, Edmund Klamann Organizations: U.S, Japan, Ankur, Reuters, Federal Reserve, Japanese Finance, Novo Nordisk, Walmart, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan, Britain, Danish

☆ Lebanon front with Israel heats up, stoking fears of wider war
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Israeli strikes killed two people in south Lebanon on Monday, according to a first-responder organisation affiliated to the Hezbollah-allied Amal Movement. Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israeli forces since its Palestinian ally Hamas went to war with Israel on Oct. 7. The exchanges mark the deadliest violence at the border since Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006. So far, more than 70 Hezbollah fighters and 10 civilians have been killed in Lebanon, and 10 people including seven troops have been killed in Israel. The 2006 war killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Persons: Israel, Hamas, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Nasrallah, Najib Mikati, Al, Lloyd Austin, Mohanad Hage Ali, Phil Stewart, Crispian Balmer, Dan Williams, Edmund Blair Organizations: Amal, Israel Electric Company, Hezbollah, United, Israeli, U.S . Defense, Carnegie Middle East Center, Thomson Locations: Israel, BEIRUT, JERUSALEM, Lebanese, Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, United States, Beirut, Al Jazeera, Israel's, Seoul, U.S, Jerusalem

☆ Morning Bid: Chip stocks cheered while the rest retreat
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, October 30, 2023. Monthly retail sales data is due on Wednesday but the country's Singles Day shopping extraganza over the weekend - equivalent to Black Friday sales elsewhere - recorded only meagre growth. A sub-index of tech shares remained firmly positive but another of mainland property developers slumped more than 1%. U.S. retail sales data is also due on Wednesday, preceded by CPI a day earlier. ECB President Christine Lagarde last week said that rates will stay restrictive at least for several quarters.

Persons: Kevin Buckland Chip, Christine Lagarde, Luis de Guindos, Catherine L, Mann, Huw Pill, BoE's Mann, Sweden SEB, Kevin Buckland, Edmund Klamann Organizations: REUTERS, Staff, Wall, Reuters, Nikkei, CPI, Federal Reserve, Finance, Bank of England, New York Fed, Thomson Locations: Frankfurt, Germany, China, Hong Kong, Elswhere, Sweden

The capacity payments will be calculated based on fixed costs of 330 yuan ($45.25) per kilowatt per year for coal plants. Analysts said the move was important to ensure the financial viability of seldom-utilised, backup coal power, which is used for demand peaks or when renewable power generation is insufficient. However, observers also cautioned that the policy could risk entrenching inefficient coal power in China's energy system, despite its rapid expansion of renewable power generation capacity. "Capacity-based electricity pricing for coal power will further incentivise state-owned enterprises in China to build new coal power projects in the short term. Capacity payments should be for all power producers, not only for coal power," said Zhang Kai, deputy program director for Greenpeace East Asia in Beijing.

Persons: David Fishman, Xuewan Chen, Group's Fishman, Zhang Kai, Colleen Howe, Andrew Hayley, Edmund Klamann, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Kim Coghill Organizations: National Development, Reform Commission, Reuters, Analysts, Lantau, LSEG, Jinneng Holding, Power Co, Centre for Research, Energy, Clean, Greenpeace East, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Shanghai, Beijing, Shanxi, Jiangxi Ganneng, Hunan, Greenpeace East Asia

☆ HonestReporting accepts news groups had no prior warning of Oct. 7 Hamas attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

HonestReporting's Gil Hoffman told Reuters his organisation had not claimed to know that there had been any prior knowledge by the news groups of the Hamas attack. "I was so relieved when all four of the media organisations said they didn't have prior knowledge," Hoffman said in an interview by telephone about the article. "I still very much think that the questions were legitimate and the answers were adequate from the media organisations themselves." Reacting to the HonestReporting article posted on X, the Israeli Foreign Ministry had described the use of the various images by the four news groups as "a serious violation of journalistic ethics." Despite HonestReporting's suggestions that the Palestinian photojournalists had secured their images in coordination with Hamas, he said he was "happy" their pictures had been published.

Persons: Esa Alexander, HonestReporting, HonestReporting's Gil Hoffman, Hoffman, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Danny Danon, photojournalists, Crispian Balmer, Edmund Blair Organizations: Hamas, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Associated Press, CNN, The New York Times, Palestinian, Israeli Foreign Ministry, Likud, United Nations, AP, Jerusalem Post, HonestReporting, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, Beirut, Lebanon, Israeli

☆ Morning Bid: 'Not confident' Powell drags markets lower
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Since the Fed left rates unchanged last week, markets had increasingly grown confident that the peak in U.S. rates was in sight. But up stepped Powell to squash any hopes of an impending rate cut. "[The Fed] is committed to achieving a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to 2% over time," Powell said. That led stocks lower, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) skidding 1% to their lowest in a week. The rise in yields boosted the dollar, which is headed for its best week against the yen in three months.

Persons: Jerome Powell, Kevin Lamarque, Ankur Banerjee, Powell, Christine Lagarde, Walt Disney, policymaker Joachim Nagel, SNB's Thomas Moser, Edmund Klamann Organizations: Monetary Fund's, REUTERS, Ankur, European bourses, Treasury, Industrial, Commercial Bank of China's, U.S . Treasury, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Asia, Pacific, Japan, European, U.S, Commercial Bank of China's U.S, Norway, Sweden

☆ Want 8% yield? Buy 'fallen angels' in the U.S. bond market, BNP Paribas says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The bond bear market is the worst in more than 200 years, according to BNP Paribas' global chief investment officer. "This represents the biggest US bond bear market in over 200 years," Shing said. But, he said, one corner of the bond market is an opportunity for investors: U.S. "fallen angels" in the high-yield credit segment. "So actually, you can still capture 8% plus gross yield of these fallen angels, but at a much lower default risk at a time when the economy is slowing." Those keen on investing in "fallen angel" bonds can consider exchange-traded funds and funds that have been specifically developed to focus on such bonds.

Persons: Edmund Shing, CNBC's, They've, there're, Shing Organizations: BNP, Treasury, U.S, U.S . Federal, U.S ., Morningstar Locations: U.S

☆ Reuters denies any suggestion it had prior knowledge of Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Smoke is seen in the Rehovot area as rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip, in Israel October 7, 2023. REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - International news organisation Reuters denied on Thursday any suggestion it had prior knowledge of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians and soldiers, in a statement responding to a report by media advocacy group HonestReporting. "We are aware of a report by HonestReporting and accusations made against two freelance photographers who contributed to Reuters coverage of the Oct. 7 attack," Reuters said. "Reuters categorically denies that it had prior knowledge of the attack or that we embedded journalists with Hamas on Oct 7. The photographs published by Reuters were taken two hours after Hamas fired rockets across southern Israel and more than 45 minutes after Israel said gunmen had crossed the border.

Persons: Ilan Rosenberg, HonestReporting, Israel, Mark Bendeich, Edmund Blair Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel

☆ ‘The Killer’ Review: He’s a Deadly Bore
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Manohla Dargis | More About Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

In Hobbesian terms, life in a Fincher film tends to be solitary and poor, nasty and brutish, if not necessarily short. That’s the case again in his most recent movie, “The Killer,” about a nameless hit man — played by Michael Fassbender — a chatty loner first seen waiting for a victim to show up. In time, the mark appears, the Killer shoots but misses, and spends the remainder of the story trying to clean up the mess. “The Killer” is based on a French comic book with the same title written by Alexis Nolent (who goes by Matz) and illustrated by Luc Jacamon. What makes him ostensibly interesting isn’t his job or body count; what’s intriguing, at least before your eyes finally glaze over, is that he’s dull.

Persons: David Fincher can’t, Fincher, ”, Edmund Kemper, “ Mindhunter ”, “, —, Michael Fassbender —, Alexis Nolent, Matz, Luc Jacamon, Christ Organizations: Netflix

☆ Morning Bid: Waiting for word from the Fed chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell answers a question at a press conference following a closed two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy at the Federal Reserve in Washington, U.S., November 1, 2023. Last week's surprisingly soft jobs data heightened expectations that interest rates had peaked, but Fed commentary since then has warned against complacency in the fight against inflation. For now, investors have dialled up wagers on near-term rate cuts, with the Fed funds rate showing better than 50/50 odds for one as early as May. In Asia time, long-term Treasury yields are stuck around 4.58% and the dollar is biding its time around $1.07 per euro. While the Fed outlook dominates investors' attention, there is plenty of central bank speak in store from Europe as well.

Persons: Jerome Powell, Kevin Lamarque, Kevin Buckland, Jay Powell, Christine Lagarde, Philip Lane, Joachim Nagel, Pablo Hernandez de Cos, Andrew Bailey, Fed's Powell, Lagarde, BoE's Bailey, Edmund Klamann Organizations: Federal, Committee, Federal Reserve, REUTERS, Kevin, Kevin Buckland Markets, Reuters Graphics, Bank of Spain, Bank of England, Adidas, Airbus, Bayer, Continental, Credit Agricole, Federal Reserve Division of Research, Statistics, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Asia, Europe, Germany, Brussels, Irish

☆ Ping An loses $2.1 billion in market value, China property rallies on Country Garden rescue report
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Company logo of Ping An Insurance Group is shown at a news conference following the company's announcement of its annual results in Hong Kong, China March 16, 2016. Ping An's Hong Kong-listed shares tumbled 5.4%, their sharpest daily fall in more than a year, wiping out almost $2.1 billion in market capitalisation. "Such a move should mitigate or control the risks in the market," said Lu Wenxi, analyst at property agency Centaline. "This move is a big boost to market confidence, because now the whole real estate market, especially some major real estate enterprises are under pretty big pressure, and their bankruptcy risks triggering a chain reaction." Reporting by Anne Marie Roantree in Hong Kong.

Persons: Bobby Yip, Ping, Lu Wenxi, Anne Marie Roantree, Tom Westbrook, Edmund Klamann, Kim Coghill Organizations: Ping An Insurance, REUTERS, Ping, Ping An Insurance Group, Reuters, HK, Ping An, China, Sunac China Holdings, Wanda, Thomson Locations: Hong Kong, China, HONG KONG, Singapore

☆ SoftBank's WeWork, once most valuable US startup, succumbs to bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WeWork had office space available at 777 locations worldwide as of the end of June. In a filing with the New Jersey bankruptcy court, WeWork listed assets of $15.06 billion and liabilities of $18.66 billion as of June 30. Under its founder Adam Neumann, WeWork grew to be the most valuable U.S. startup worth $47 billion. WeWork engaged in debt restructurings, yet this was not enough to stave off its bankruptcy. Shortly before WeWork filed for bankruptcy, Neumann said in a statement, "I believe that, with the right strategy and team, a reorganization will enable WeWork to emerge successfully."

Persons: WeWork, SoftBank, Cadwalader, Taft, Kate Munsch, Adam Neumann, Sandeep Mathrani, Mathrani, David Tolley, Neumann, Greg Roumeliotis, Mrinmay Dey, Arun Koyyur, Rashmi Aich, Jamie Freed, Edmund Klamann Organizations: SoftBank, New, REUTERS, JPMorgan Chase, Intelsat, Thomson Locations: Canada, New Jersey, Wickersham, San Francisco , California, U.S, WeWork, SoftBank, Tokyo, New York, Bengaluru

Tuesday data showing a larger-than-expected fall in German industrial production in September contributed to the euro's weakness, said Fiona Cincotta, senior financial market analyst at City Index. The euro, like most other currencies, gained sharply on the dollar last week as a series of data points - most notably U.S. data from Friday showing job growth slowed in October - sent the U.S. unit lower. The dollar fell 1.4% last week, its steepest decline since mid-July, a sharp reversal after a recent run higher. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said on Monday the U.S. central bank likely has more work ahead to control inflation. The yen softened to 151.74 per dollar last week, edging closer to October 2022 lows that spurred several rounds of dollar-selling intervention.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Fiona Cincotta, Chester Ntonifor, Neel Kashkari, Jerome Powell, Carol Kong, Kong, Ankur Banerjee, Alun John, Sam Holmes, Miral Fahmy, Edmund Klamann, Kim Coghill, Emelia Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, PMI, Federal, Treasury, BCA Research, Fed, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, U.S, Bank, Australian, Commonwealth Bank of, Aussie, Thomson Locations: Rights SINGAPORE, LONDON, U.S, Australia, Tokyo, Singapore, London

☆ IMF upgrades China's 2023, 2024 GDP growth forecasts
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

People wait to board trains at the Shanghai Hongqiao railway station ahead of the National Day holiday, in Shanghai, China September 28, 2023. GDP growth could slow to 4.6% in 2024 because of continued weakness in China's property sector and subdued external demand, the IMF said in a press release, albeit better than its October expectation of 4.2% in the IMF's World Economic Outlook (WEO). The combination of the downturn in the property sector and local government debt crunch could wipe out much of China's long-term growth potential, economists say. Local debt has reached 92 trillion yuan ($12.6 trillion), or 76% of China's economic output in 2022, up from 62.2% in 2019. China should also develop a comprehensive restructuring strategy to reduce the debt level of local government financing vehicles (LGFVs), she said.

Persons: Aly, IMF's, Gita Gopinath, Gopinath, LGFVs, Joe Cash, Ryan Woo, Edmund Klamann, Christopher Cushing Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Monetary Fund, China's, Communist Party, Thomson Locations: Shanghai Hongqiao, Shanghai, China, Rights BEIJING, Gopinath

☆ EUROPE Australia hikes but tempers its outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Two women walk next to the Reserve Bank of Australia headquarters in central Sydney, Australia February 6, 2018. The Aussie dollar fell more than 0.8% and Australian government bonds rallied because the 25 basis point hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia came with a softening of language on whether further hikes would be needed. It was an otherwise quiet session in the absence of major updates that might have consequences for the interest rate outlook. Last week's chaos in Chinese money markets has subsided but it left behind a glimpse of financial pressures beneath the surface and the challenges around China's uneven recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. British house prices, German industrial output and European producer prices are due later on Tuesday, as are earnings from UBS (UBSG.S).

Persons: Daniel Munoz, Tom Westbrook, Read, SoftBank, Benjamin Netanyahu, Fed's Waller, Logan, Schmid, ECB's de, Edmund Klamann Organizations: Reserve Bank of Australia, REUTERS, Bond, South, Read Reuters, UBS, 163rd Melbourne, NY, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Asia, Japan, British, Gaza

☆ Jordan fears the crossfire if Gaza war pulls Iran into wider conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/3] Jordanians gather during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Amman, Jordan, October 27, 2023. Jordan neighbours Syria and Iraq - both states where Iranian proxies operate - and also sits next door to Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A Jordanian army spokesperson said on Sunday that Amman had requested that U.S. Patriot missiles be deployed in Jordan. He said Jordan's military and security forces were determined "to prevent any party in these Iranian militias from exploiting the Gaza war to achieve a security breakthrough". Iranian-backed militias hold sway on Syria's southern border with Jordan and Amman blames them and Iran for running a thriving drugs smuggling business.

Persons: Al Sukhni, Jordan, King Abdullah, Abu Nuwar, Amman, Jordan . Washington, Washington, Al Maitah, Maitah, Saddam Hussein, Asad, Bashar al, Assad, Israel, Saud Al Sharafat, Suleiman Al, Phil Stewart, Edmund Blair, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Hamas, REUTERS, West Bank, Reuters, U.S . Patriot, East, Washington, U.S, Embassy, Area Defense, Patriots, Pentagon, Patriot, Hezbollah, Jordan's General Intelligence, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Amman, Jordan, Jordan's, Jordanian, AMMAN, Washington, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Palestinian, U.S, Jordan ., United States, Ain, Lebanese, Red Sea, Eilat, Aqaba, Yemen, Khalidi

☆ Israel-Hamas war in Gaza: What is the history of the conflict?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/3]Smoke rises after Israeli strikes on the seaport of Gaza City, in Gaza, October 10. Two-state solution: An agreement that would create a state for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel. Israel has said a Palestinian state must be demilitarized so as not to threaten its security. Refugees: Today about 5.6 million Palestinian refugees - mainly descendants of those who fled in 1948 - live in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. Israel says any resettlement of Palestinian refugees must occur outside of its borders.

Persons: David Ben, Gurion, Israel, Yasser Arafat, Mohammed Salem, Yitzhak Rabin, Arafat, Bill Clinton, Ehud Barak, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Trump, Edmund Blair, Stephen Farrell, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Israel, West Bank, Palestinian, REUTERS, Palestine Liberation Organization, Oslo Accords, Arab League, U.S, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Israel, kibbutzes, Gaza, East, British, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, East Jerusalem, U.S, Egypt, Suez, Golan, Lebanon's Iran, Gaza City, Oslo, Israeli, Arab, Palestinian, Washington, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Jerusalem

☆ Sigrid Nunez’s Art of Noticing
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Wyatt Mason | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Growing up on Staten Island, Nunez was an outsider to the literary world. Her father immigrated to the United States illegally at some point — facts on his life are scant, according to Nunez — working in a hospital kitchen and Chinese restaurants. Home difficulties aside, Nunez was an avid reader and a strong student, which earned her the scholarship to Barnard. Auden and Susan Sontag (who later hired Nunez as a typist, a period memorialized in Nunez’s one memoir, “Sempre Susan”). Silvers was notorious for yelling at his staff or barely noticing them, for expecting them to stay until all hours, as he would.

Persons: Nunez, Nunez —, ”, Barnard, Virginia Woolf, Nunez’s, “, Hardwick, — Hardwick, Robert Silvers, Barbara, Jason Epstein —, Mary McCarthy, Truman Capote, Edmund Wilson, Saul Bellow, W.H, Auden, Susan Sontag, Susan ”, — Martin Scorsese, ” Nunez, Silvers, Barbara Epstein Organizations: Army, Putnam, The New York, New York City, New York Locations: Staten, United States, Lowell, New York

Members of Hezbollah carry the coffin of Hezbollah member Abbas Shuman, who was killed in southern Lebanon amidst tension between Israel and Hezbollah, during his funeral in Baalbek, Lebanon, October 23, 2023. With most of its fighters killed in Israeli drone strikes, Hezbollah has unveiled its surface-to-air missile capability for the first time, declaring on Sunday it downed an Israeli drone. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel would unleash devastation on Lebanon if a war did start. Hezbollah lost 263 fighters in the 2006 war, when Israel hit sites all over Lebanon during a more than month-long conflict. The war erupted after Hezbollah launched a raid into Israel and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers.

Persons: Abbas Shuman, Amr Alfiky, Israel, Sunday's, Yoav Gallant, Benjamin Netanyahu, Jama'a, Bashar al, Assad, Nabil Boumonsef, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Laila Bassam, Tom Perry, Ari Rabinovitch, Edmund Blair Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Israeli, FORCE Hezbollah, Lebanon's, Hezbollah, Thomson Locations: Lebanon, Israel, Baalbek, BEIRUT, Lebanese, Iran, Lebanon's, Hamas, Israeli, Gaza, Tehran's, Syria, Jabal Safi, Jerusalem, Beirut

☆ Lebanon's Hezbollah: What weapons does it have?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here is an overview of some of Hezbollah's most significant weapons, based on Hezbollah statements, security sources, weapons experts and academic reports. Hezbollah says it has rockets that can hit all areas of Israel. Last year, he said Hezbollah had the ability within Lebanon to retrofit thousands of rockets with guidance systems to make them precision missiles. Hezbollah has posted videos of what it says are direct hits on Israeli tanks and other military vehicles since Oct. 7. Hezbollah has since broadcast videos that it says show more of the same weapons that were used in 2006.

Persons: Amr Alfiky, Israel, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Nasrallah, Maya Gebeily, Timour Azhari, Tom Perry, Edmund Blair, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Hamas, REUTERS, Palestinian, Raad, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, Beirut, Lebanon, Iran, Islamic Republic, Iraq, Syria, Dawn, Haifa

☆ Israel stops missile from Lebanon, Beirut takes airport precautions
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

With tension climbing again, the Lebanese authorities issued precautionary guidance for evacuating the airport and surrounding installations in case of emergency. Israel's military said on Saturday it had "thwarted a surface-to-air missile that was fired from Lebanon" towards an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). It also said one its drones had hit a "terrorist cell" in Lebanon which had tried to launch an anti-tank missile at Israel. Sources have previously said Hezbollah's attacks on Israel were designed to keep Israel's army occupied without provoking a major war. Israel has said it has no interest in waging war and that if Hezbollah is restrained it will maintain the status quo.

Persons: Lebanon's, Riham, Edmund Blair, Giles Elgood Organizations: Lebanese, Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport, Hamas, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, JERUSALEM, Lebanon, Beirut, Gaza, Beirut Rafic, Israel, Naqoura, Dhayra, Jerusalem

☆ Despite Biden's doubts, humanitarian agencies consider Gaza toll reliable
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

U.N. and other international agencies say there can be small discrepancies between the final casualty numbers and those reported by the Gaza health ministry straight after attacks, but that they broadly trust them. The figures are initially reported in Gaza, and updated in Ramallah after they have been checked, but discrepancies are generally minimal, he said. In a report published on its website on Nov. 3, 2015, the Palestinian health ministry said the number of people killed in the July-August 2014 conflict in Gaza was 2,322. ISRAELI CONCERNIsrael has been attacking Gaza since cross-border raids in which it said 1,400 people were killed by Hamas in southern Israel. An Israeli military spokesman said this week the Gaza health ministry "continuously inflates the number of civilian casualties" and "has been caught lying in the past".

Persons: Biden, Joe Biden, Mike Ryan, Omar Shakir, Khan Younis, Abu Mustafa, Israel, Gabrielle Tétrault, Farber, James Mackenzie, Edmund Blair, Washington newsroooms, Timothy Heritage, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Palestinian, Reuters, Humanitarian Affairs, Health, Rights Watch, Palestine, Human Rights, Health Organization, Palestinian Authority, West Bank, Hamas, REUTERS, Fatah, Israeli Foreign Ministry, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Arabi, Thomson Locations: GENEVA, Gaza, Israel, Geneva, York, Palestinian, Ramallah, Israeli, Al, Ahli, Jerusalem, Beirut, Washington

[1/7] Khadjeh Chehadeh Abu Stateh, 84, left, a Palestinian refugee who fled the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and her daughter, Zahra Ahmed Abu Stateh, 51, sit at their residence in Bourj al-Barajneh Refugee Camp in Beirut, Lebanon, October 25, 2023. 'BATTLE OF THE WHOLE NATION'Many of the Palestinians who arrived in Lebanon and their descendants still live in 12 refugee camps around the country, which now hosts about 174,000 Palestinian refugees. The walls in Burj al-Barajneh, like other camps, are covered in graffiti backing Palestinian factions, which are effectively in control. Security and governance is in the hands of Popular Committees and Palestinian factions, the United Nations Palestinian refugees agency UNRWA says. Meanwhile, many in Gaza, a narrow strip of land just 40 km (25 miles) long where 2.3 million people live, most of them also Palestinian refugees from what is now Israel, have been displaced again.

Persons: Abu Stateh, Zahra Ahmed Abu Stateh, Amr Alfiky, Gazans, Bidur Al Habet, Kayyal, Zahra Steitiyeh, Khadijeh Astateh, Riham Alkousaa, Edmund Blair, Giles Elgood Organizations: REUTERS, Hamas, Popular Committees, United Nations Palestinian, UNRWA, Israel, West Bank, Thomson Locations: Bourj, Beirut, Lebanon, Burj, BURJ, Gaza, British, Palestine, Israel, Acre, Palestinian, Asylos, Burj al, Lebanese, Al Aqsa, Jordan, Egypt, Safed

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