Reports: Iranian missiles destroy 9 buildings in Tel Aviv suburb
Hundreds of flats were evacuated when a missile struck one building, the newspaper Haaretz reported.
At least 63 people have been injured so far, two of them seriously, according to the news portal ynet.
The Tel Aviv region is densely populated. During Iran's counter-attack, missile alarms were triggered across large parts of Israel.
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New York Post
11 minutes ago
- New York Post
SOS — Save Our Shipping: Trump must break China's chokehold on global trade
A high-stakes deal that would give an American company a major role in running dozens of strategically crucial global ports is now in limbo — as China aggressively demands a stake. The United States cannot let that happen. US asset manager BlackRock and its partners are vying for 43 of the world's most important shipping ports, including the two that straddle the Panama Canal. The seller is C.K. Hutchison, a major Hong Kong operator that is one of China's 'big three' port giants — and the only one not owned outright by the Chinese government. Prying these ports from China's oversight is a critical move for both US national security and the global economy. Now the Chinese Communist Party is trying to block the deal, unless its state-owned COSCO joins the buyers' group and gains veto rights over port operations. Alarmingly, all three main parties are reportedly open to letting that happen, apparently thinking that a compromised deal is better than no deal at all. But with all that's at stake, President Donald Trump should use every tool available — starting with the ongoing US-China trade talks — to push the original deal through and keep COSCO out. The 43 ports that Hutchison seeks to sell would launch a global liberation from oppressive Chinese surveillance and control. If the plan falls through — or if it's altered to add COSCO to the ownership group — China could tighten its grip on the global shipping system, by replacing a Beijing-influenced company with a Beijing-controlled one. While the media has dubbed this the 'Panama Canal deal,' it's actually much bigger. The canal, a vital artery that runs through the center of the western hemisphere, is certainly critical — but many of the other ports involved in the deal are equally so. For example, this deal would include a port inside the Malacca Strait, the only direct maritime pathway between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It sees 90,000 ships and $3.5 trillion worth of global trade every year. Hutchison is also looking to sell five ports that it owns on both sides of the Suez Canal, the preferred maritime commercial route between the Asian and European markets. About 12% of global trade, $1 trillion a year, passes through Suez. As China's purchases of sanctioned Iranian oil draw greater US scrutiny, Hutchison's four ports on the southern side of the Strait of Hormuz are also critical. Nearly all Iranian oil must pass through the strait, along with oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar. In Europe, Hutchison controls 13 ports that act as a key entry point for Chinese goods into the European Union. The original deal would reduce China's port foothold on the continent — and the geopolitical influence that comes with it. Keep up with today's most important news Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Like all major commercial deals, this one is complicated. Apart from the two Panama Canal ports, BlackRock would retain 20% ownership of the remaining facilities; its partner, Europe-based Mediterranean Shipping Corp., would control 70%, with Singapore's Sovereign Wealth Fund owning the rest. Meanwhile, China's power in global shipping is massive. China produces 95% of world shipping containers and all of the refrigerated ones. Ports around the world are plugged into China's logistical software platform, LOGINK, which tracks sensitive trade, market, maritime and passenger data. Huawei's 'Smart Port' 5G telecommunication towers provide Wi-Fi — and ready surveillance capacity — at ports worldwide. A Chinese state-owned company makes more than 70% of the world's ship-to-shore cranes (and 80% of the cranes used in America) — a major risk, according to the House Homeland Security Committee, which has alleged those cranes may be engaging in covert surveillance on behalf of the CCP. Adding state-owned COSCO to ports deal would give the CCP the power to veto any attempts to replace Huawei towers, LOGINK systems, Chinese cranes or other tools that may already be spying on behalf of the state. With BlackRock's minority interest in the vast bulk of these ports, replacing a private Chinese company with a state-owned one is even worse for the United States than the status quo. Breaking China's maritime monopoly is urgent. At the same time, America's economic leverage has never been higher. As Beijing trumps up patently absurd anti-monopoly investigations to stall or scuttle the BlackRock-MSC deal, the United States should Trump right back. He must make the choice clear: Access to American markets cannot continue unless Beijing releases its maritime monopoly. Elaine Dezenski heads the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Susan Soh is a research associate.
Hamilton Spectator
12 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Mark Carney, Palestinian Authority aligned on conditions for statehood, but ‘it won't happen overnight,' PA diplomat says
OTTAWA — Canada has no specific demands for the Palestinian Authority to meet in order to recognize the State of Palestine at September's UN General Assembly, the PA's most recent top official in Ottawa says, but reforms to achieve statehood are 'not going to happen overnight.' Echoing Prime Minister Mark Carney's remarks Wednesday , Mona Abuamara, the PA's Ambassador to Italy and formerly the chief representative in Canada for the last four years, told the Star in an interview that the conditions laid out by Ottawa to recognize a Palestinian state are in fact the goals of the Palestinian Authority that were communicated to Canada and other nations. Mona Abuamara, the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to Italy and formerly the chief representative in Canada for the last four years. 'It's not that it's asked of us and pushed on us,' Abuamara told the Star Thursday. 'Those are things that we want to have, because we want to build a state that's independent and viable, democratic, and we want to be able to have our people choose their leadership.' 'It wasn't preconditioned recognition. It was mutual agreement on the things that we're on the same page.' In making those comments, Abuamara shed further light on the process leading up to Canada's decision this week to recognize a Palestinian state, but she also laid bare the challenges ahead to actually achieve a viable Palestinian state in the face of Israeli and Hamas resistance. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Carney expressed little doubt Ottawa would follow through in September, saying Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas repeatedly committed to elections in 2026, the exclusion of Hamas and the demilitarization of a future Palestinian state. But Abuamara, who said the Canadians don't expect any results by September, acknowledged following through on those reforms will be an uphill climb, and will require a massive international effort. 'It's not going to happen overnight,' Abuamara said. 'We have Gaza that has been levelled to the ground, and we have a Jerusalem that's occupied. So those things we will need to have been resolved by the international community, so we would be able to have an election in Palestine.' In announcing Canada's plan to recognize a Palestinian state, Carney on Wednesday spoke of how prospects of a negotiated two-state solution have increasingly dimmed amid Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank, the Hamas attacks on Israel and Israel's ensuing invasion of Gaza. Since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, which killed more than 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages, Israel's military response has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza. On top of those conditions, the Palestinian Authority, the main alternative leadership to Hamas, has been rife with allegations of corruption and deep mistrust among Palestinians, dampening its international reputation. But amid little progress on a ceasefire and escalating outrage over the mounting death toll, the mass starvation and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, several nations are attempting to revive momentum for a two-state solution. That's what compelled France and Saudi Arabia to hold a joint UN conference on the topic, and what later led Paris, the U.K., Ottawa and others to announce plans to recognize a Palestinian state led by the PA. The current Israeli government, however, rejects a two-state solution. Declaring 'Israel will not bow to the distorted campaign of international pressure against it,' Iddo Moed, Israel's ambassador to Canada, said Wednesday there is no reason to trust the Palestinian Authority and argued the move will harden Hamas during ceasefire and hostage negotiations, a view shared by the United States. 'President Abbas's latest vision for the future sharply contrasts with the Palestinian Authority's long-standing record; thus, it is hard to see his new-found 'commitments' as more than a thinly veiled strategy to maintain the status quo with the sympathy and support of the international community,' Moed said. 'Canada and its allies should not be under an illusion otherwise.' Thomas Juneau, a University of Ottawa professor who specialized in the Middle East, said that without a change in government in Israel, it's unlikely the conditions for a two-state solution will be met. 'Everybody is careful in talking about that, because ... Canada and other countries don't want to be seen as directly intervening in Israeli affairs,' Juneau said. 'But everybody knows that this current government, given its makeup, is not interested in a two state solution.' Likewise, purging Hamas, which rules Gaza, out of Palestinian society is also a tall order, said Louise Blais, a former Canadian representative to the UN. 'Hamas is an idea, as well,' Blais said. 'And it's going to live on in the people.'
Boston Globe
41 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Arab states call for Hamas to disarm amid push for a Palestinian state
The declaration called for the deployment of 'a temporary international stabilization mission,' invited by the Palestinian Authority, which administers part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and 'under the aegis of the United Nations.' Advertisement Many Arab leaders have working relations with Hamas and rule over populations that are deeply committed to the Palestinian cause. That has made them reluctant to break publicly with the group and to normalize relations with Israel, despite pressure from Western allies like the United States. It remains unclear whether Hamas would heed the call of the Arab League. Hamas has so far demonstrated no willingness to voluntarily surrender its weapons or give up control over Gaza. Its initial response to the declaration was mixed but did not suggest a significant shift. Advertisement 'Any effort made at the international level to support our Palestinian people and their legitimate rights is appreciated and welcomed,' the group said in a statement Thursday demanding 'unconditional international recognition' of an independent Palestinian state. Hamas called for reforms of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which represents Palestinians internationally and is led by the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas. It also demanded presidential, legislative and other elections 'based on national and democratic foundations without any preconditions.' At the United Nations, the high-level conference on a two-state solution, cosponsored by France and Saudi Arabia, unfolded as reports of starvation in Gaza continued to arrive. This article originally appeared in .
