Norway Wealth Fund's Investment in Israeli Company Sparks Backlash
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, speaking on a political talk show on Tuesday, said he was 'very worried' after a report by the Aftenposten newspaper about holdings by Norway's $1.9 trillion wealth fund in Bet Shemesh Engines Holdings, which the paper said is servicing fighter jets used in the attacks in Gaza. It also prompted Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg to pledge a follow-up of investments in Israeli companies with the fund.
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New York Times
39 minutes ago
- New York Times
Huckabee Says U.S.-Backed Aid Sites in Gaza Will ‘Scale Up'
As the hunger in Gaza draws increasing international condemnation, Mike Huckabee, the United States ambassador to Israel, said on Wednesday that an American-backed aid initiative in the enclave would soon 'scale up.' The initiative, called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (G.H.F.) and conceived by Israelis, is run by American contractors and has the diplomatic and financial support of the United States. Currently, the G.H.F. runs four distribution sites, mostly in southern Gaza. That figure could soon quadruple, Mr. Huckabee said. 'The immediate plan is to scale up the number of sites up to 16 and begin to operate them as much as 24 hours a day,' he said in a Fox News interview, responding to questions about whether and how the United States planned to get more involved in aid distribution in Gaza. The G.H.F. did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the plans to run up to 16 sites around the clock. Mr. Huckabee and Steve Witkoff, President Trump's envoy for peace missions, visited a G.H.F. aid distribution site in Gaza last week. Mr. Huckabee's statement comes as aid groups say Gaza is in the grip of a hunger crisis, with Palestinians there facing famine. The World Food Program, an arm of the United Nations, has also said that the crisis in Gaza had reached 'new and astonishing levels of desperation, with a third of the population not eating for multiple days in a row.' The foundation has also been boycotted by the United Nations, which led a network of hundreds aid sites in Gaza. The U.N. says that the G.H.F.'s methods fly in the face of established principles of humanitarian law and that there are not enough distribution sites. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Russian drones hunt civilians as Putin zeroes in on Ukraine's Kherson
Russia War in UkraineFacebookTweetLink Follow Russia has launched a new bid to exert control over the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson by threatening key access roads with its drones and trying to split it in two by striking a vital bridge. On Sunday, a wave of airstrikes damaged a key bridge between Kherson's island, Korabel, and the main city, sparking a widespread effort to evacuate the estimated 1,800 Ukrainian civilians who still live there. Russian forces appear not to have targeted the evacuation effort over the past three days, according to locals and rescuers, a rare moment of respite from the daily barbaric drone strikes on civilians across the city of recent months. Later Wednesday, videos posted online showed significant Russian strikes had resumed near the bridge and on the island, where some Ukrainain military are also thought to be based. Russian military bloggers have also warned Kherson residents the main access road to the city, from the north, would now be targeted by longer-range drones. It was unclear how impactful the threats had been Wednesday when CNN witnessed traveling along the road significant freight and civilian traffic, including a large group of cyclists, at times protected by netting hung above the asphalt to block drones. The capture of Kherson city and region – seized in the opening days of the war and then freed by a swift Ukrainian counter-offensive in November 2022 – remains one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's main goals for the conflict, and the renewed pressure to separate Korabel from the rest of the city has raised concerns Russian forces might seek to bombard and then land upon the flat terrain in the weeks ahead. Evacuations from Korabel continued Wednesday, with rescuers telling CNN of calm when they collected some of the 925 people removed by the end of the day from the island. Shelling continued apace on the peninsula, locals reported, but drones appeared to leave the evacuation convoys alone. Exhausted locals wept both relief and anxiety for their future when they reached an aid point. Nadiya, sat in the back of the armored van that whisked her out, said: 'They are hitting so hard since the morning. When is all of this going to be over? We already went crazy from all of this. When will they ever come to their senses? Causing such horror, killing everyone for the 'peace'?' She said drones had been 'whizzing' that day, but not reached her area. 'We are already tired of this. When Trump is going to come, or someone … we don't deserve such old age year as we have here.' She said she had heard of the deadline set by US President Donald Trump for a peace deal with Russia, but it had changed nothing for her. Most of the elderly evacuees had been promised lodging elsewhere in the city, but had few other options. Nina, 85, was exhausted in the 35 degree Celsius (95 degree Fahrenheit) heat, grasping her crutch, already separated from her bags by rescuers. 'There is no plan, I will live where they put me,' she said. 'I am on one leg. I am so tired of this shooting that my nerves can't take it anymore.' Local Ukrainian officials stressed any Russian pause in drone attacks on the evacuation convoy paled into insignificance after months of repeated strikes on civilian targets. 'They absolutely do not care what the targets are,' said Yaroslav Shanko, head of Kherson city military administration. 'Talking about any humanity from the Russians is absolutely pointless. Strikes on the community and the city are constant.' Civilians are regularly hunted by Russian drones, whose operators flaunt their ruthless strikes in online posts. Kherson's main hospital contained 25 patients from shelling or drone injuries, three new that morning and another two that afternoon, according to health workers there. Oleh, 62, was hit at 4 a.m. Wednesday when he ran outside to help after a drone strike set fire to his neighbors' home. Then another 'double-tap' drone attacked. He fell backwards over a fence, but his legs dangled over its top, protecting his torso and not his legs. Ankle bandages hid the shrapnel damage to his feet. 'It's dangerous there, you have to listen carefully,' Oleh said of detecting drones. 'A double tap. That's how they operate. They destroy a house, it burns. A minute later, another one comes, checking whether the house is burning or someone is trying to extinguish it. And then they kill and destroy further.' Oleh is one of many patients who live alone and cannot quickly be released from hospital as he is unable to walk, swelling occupancy on the ward. Three drones hovered over the facility during CNN's visit, according to local officials. The crackle of gunfire and the buzz of their engines carried through the hospital's window netting.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
SoftBank's AI investment spree to be in focus on at Q1 earnings
By Anton Bridge TOKYO (Reuters) -When Japan's SoftBank Group reports earnings on Thursday, its mammoth investments in artificial intelligence companies are set to take the spotlight. Analysts and investors are keen for updates on how they will be financed, the timeline for returns to materialise and whether assets will be sold to fund the new projects. SoftBank has embarked on its biggest spending spree since the launch of its Vision Funds in 2017 and 2019. It is leading a $40 billion funding round for ChatGPT maker OpenAI. SoftBank has until the end of the year to fund its $22.5 billion portion, although the remainder has been subscribed, according to a source familiar with the matter. It is also leading the financing for the Stargate project - a $500 billion scheme to develop data centres in the United States, part of its effort to position itself as the "organiser of the industry," founder Masayoshi Son said in June. SoftBank has yet to release details on what kinds of returns its financing of the Stargate project could generate. The extent of third-party investment will determine what other financing tools, such as bank loans and debt issuance, it may have to deploy. In July, SoftBank raised $4.8 billion by selling off a portion of its holding in T-Mobile. "If other sources of capital are less supportive, SoftBank could look to asset-backed finance, which is collateralised by equity in other holdings," Macquarie analyst Paul Golding said. The Japanese conglomerate is expected to post a net profit of 127.6 billion yen ($865 million) in the April-June quarter, according to the average estimate of three analysts polled by LSEG. That would mark SoftBank's second consecutive quarter of profit and follow its first annual profit in four years when it was helped by a strong performance by its telecom holdings and higher valuations for its later-stage startups. Its results are, however, typically very volatile and difficult to estimate due to manifold investments, many of which are not listed. SoftBank's performance in exiting from investments and distributing profits has been patchy of late. The Vision Funds had made a cumulative investment loss of $475 million as of end-March. That said, 13 of 18 analysts have a "buy" or "strong buy" rating for SoftBank's stock, according to LSEG. Although there is some concern in the market that AI-related valuations have become bubbly, they continue to climb. OpenAI is in early-stage discussions about a stock sale that would allow employees to cash out and could value the company at about $500 billion, according to the source - a huge jump from its current valuation of $300 billion. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
