Gaza rescuers say 42 killed in Israeli strikes

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 42 people Friday in the Palestinian territory, devastated by war and under a total Israeli aid blockade for two months.Israel resumed its military campaign in the Gaza Strip on March 18 after the collapse of a ceasefire that had largely halted the fighting.Nine people were killed when an Israeli air strike hit a home in Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir told AFP.AFP footage in the aftermath of a strike on Bureij camp showed Palestinians searching for casualties in the rubble of a flattened building.”They gave us no warning, no phone call -— we woke up at midnight to smoke, rubble, stones, and shrapnel raining down on us”, said Mohammed al-Sheikh, standing amongst collapsed concrete slabs.”We pulled out martyrs — bodies and limbs from under the rubble.”Another six people were killed in a strike targeting the Al-Masri family home in the northern city of Beit Lahia, civil defence official Mughayyir added.In Gaza City, a strike on a community kitchen claimed the lives of six more, the civil defence agency reported.Across the Gaza Strip, at least 21 other deaths were reported in similar attacks, the agency said.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Thursday that at least 2,326 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in Gaza, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,418.The war erupted after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. That attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.Militants also abducted 251 people, 58 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.The Israeli government says its renewed campaign aims to force Hamas to free the remaining captives, although critics charge it puts them in mortal danger.Israel halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, days before the collapse of the ceasefire which had come into effect on January 19. The United Nations has repeatedly warned of the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe on the ground, with famine again looming.On Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said the humanitarian response in Gaza was on the “verge of total collapse”.”This situation must not — and cannot — be allowed to escalate further,” its deputy director of operations, Pascal Hundt, said in a statement.

Lower profits at US oil giants amid fall in crude prices

US oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron reported lower profits Friday, reflecting the hit from falling crude prices amid global economic uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s tariffs.The results showed the companies remained highly profitable in the first quarter despite about a 20 percent decline in crude prices since Trump’s January return to the White House, a drop also spurred by the moves of Saudi Arabia and other crude exporters to boost output.But the environment marks a change from the surge in profits after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent oil prices skyrocketing. Both ExxonMobil and Chevron also cited weak refining margins as a negative factor in the first quarter.ExxonMobil reported profits of $7.7 billion, down 6.2 percent from the year-ago level. Revenues were essentially flat at $83.1 billion.The 2024 purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources for around $60 billion lifted ExxonMobil’s volumes from the Permian Basin, a fast-growing petroleum region in the southwestern United States.ExxonMobil also saw petroleum production growth in Guyana, which helped to compensate for headwinds in the first quarter, including “significantly weaker” refining margins, the company said in a press release.ExxonMobil said it is on track to start up 10 “advantaged projects” across its businesses in 2025.From this group, the company has already started and is ramping production at an “enormous” chemical complex in China that will serve the domestic market and will be “protected from tariff impacts,” according to prepared remarks for the company’s earnings conference call.ExxonMobil has also launched an advanced recycling unit in Baytown, Texas. Chief Executive Darren Woods said ExxonMobil’s progress in weeding out inefficient, high-cost projects means the company can “excel in any environment,” according to the earnings press release.During Friday’s conference call with analysts, Woods confirmed that ExxonMobil plans to continue to repurchase shares at a fast clip after buying back $4.8 billion last quarter.Such repurchases reduce the dividend burden after ExxonMobil’s all-stock purchase of Pioneer.”Our stock price is heavily correlated with crude and crude prices… and so it moves down with crude prices,” Woods said. “In my mind, that’s a great buying opportunity.”- Chevron tempers buybacks -At Chevron, profits dropped 36 percent to $3.5 billion, while revenues dipped 2.3 percent to $47.6 billion.The company pointed to recent production increases in Kazakhstan, the Permian Basin and in the Gulf of Mexico.Chevron plans to temper its share repurchases in the second quarter to between $2.5 billion and $3 billion after spending $3.9 billion in the first quarter.Chief Executive Mike Wirth said the moderation comes off an extremely robust pace of buybacks in 2023 and 2024.”The rate at which we’re buying shares back now is higher than at any point in our history,” Wirth said on a conference call, noting that slowing those purchases makes sense now the crude was moving to the “lower part” of the expected trading range.The oil giant could make other adjustments if the business conditions worsen, executives said.”The trade and tariff situation has been dynamic and we need to see how that manifests itself over time,” said Wirth, who pointed to the shift in oil exporters as another watch item, while adding “We’re very well prepared.” Shares of ExxonMobil dipped 0.1 percent in early-afternoon trading, while Chevron gained 1.3 percent.

US asks judge to break up Google’s ad tech business

Google on Friday faced a demand by the US government to break up its hugely profitable ad technology business after a judge found the tech giant was commanding an illegal monopoly.”We have a defendant who has found ways to defy” the law, US government lawyer Julia Tarver Wood told a federal court in Virginia, as she urged the judge to dismiss Google’s assurance that it would change its behavior.”Leaving a recidivist monopolist” intact is not appropriate to solve the issue, she added.The demand is the second such request by the US government, which is also calling for the divestment of the company’s Chrome browser in a separate case over Google’s world-leading search engine business.The US government specifically alleged that Google controls the market for publishing banner ads on websites, including those of many creators and small news providers.The hearing in a Virginia courtroom was set to plan out the second phase of the trial, set for September 22, in which the parties will argue over how to fix the ad market to satisfy the judge’s ruling.The plaintiffs argued in the first phase of the trial last year that the vast majority of websites use Google ad software products which, combined, leave no way for publishers to escape Google’s advertising technology and pricing.District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema agreed with most of that reasoning, ruling last month that Google built an illegal monopoly over ad software and tools used by publishers, but partially dismissed the argument related to tools used by advertisers.- ‘Not sufficient’ -The US government said it would use the trial to recommend that Google should spin off its ad publisher and exchange operations, as Google could not be trusted to change its ways.”Behavioral remedies are not sufficient because you can’t prevent Google from finding a new way to dominate,” Tarver Wood said.Google countered that it would recommend that it agree to a binding commitment that it would share information with advertisers and publishers on its ad tech platforms.Google lawyer Karen Dunn did acknowledge the “trust issues” raised in the case and said the company would accept monitoring to guarantee any pledges made to satisfy the judge.Google is also arguing that calls for divestment are not appropriate in this case, which Brinkema swiftly refused as an argument.The company also said breaking up Google’s control of the ad platforms would pose a data security risk for publishers and advertisers.The judge urged both sides to mediate, stressing that coming to a compromise solution would be cost-effective and more efficient than running a weeks-long trial.The business in question at the trial is just a portion of Google’s colossal online advertising revenue, which is the driving engine of its fortune and pays for its free-to-use online services such as Maps, Gmail, and search.Money pouring into Google’s coffers also allows the Silicon Valley company to spend billions of dollars on its artificial intelligence efforts.

‘Deadly blockade’ leaves Gaza aid work on verge of collapse

Humanitarians on Friday described horrific scenes of starving, bloodied children and fights over water in Gaza, two months into Israel’s full blockade on aid, with dire warnings that aid operations are on the brink of total collapse.The Norwegian Refugee Council’s humanitarian access manager in Gaza, Gavin Kelleher, said “thousands of people will die” if nothing is done, as other aid agencies called for urgent international action.”The humanitarian response in Gaza is on the verge of total collapse,” the International Committee of the Red Cross warned.”Without immediate action, Gaza will descend further into chaos that humanitarian efforts will not be able to mitigate.”Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, days before the collapse of a ceasefire that had significantly reduced hostilities after 15 months of war.Since the start of the blockade, the United Nations has repeatedly warned of the humanitarian catastrophe on the ground, with famine again looming.The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said last week that it had sent out its “last remaining food stocks” to kitchens, and the 25 bakeries it supports in Gaza have closed due to a lack of flour and fuel.- ‘Deadly’ blockade -“Food stocks have now mainly run out,” Olga Cherevko, a spokeswoman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, told reporters in Geneva Friday via video link from Gaza City.”Community kitchens have begun to shut down (and) more people are going hungry,” she said, pointing to reports of children and other very vulnerable people who have died from malnutrition and … from the lack of food”.”The blockade is deadly.”Water access was also “becoming impossible”, Cherevko warned. “There’s a water truck that has just arrived, and people are killing each other over water,” she said, describing a scene below her window.One friend described that the situation had deteriorated so much that there was no water to save “people burning … because of the explosions” while hospitals were running out of blood, even as mass casualties arrived.”Gaza lies in ruins, Rubble fills the streets… Many nights, blood-curdling screams of the injured pierce the skies following the deafening sound of another explosion,” she added. The NRC’s Kelleher meanwhile described an increase in “needs-based looting across Gaza” and condemned what he said was a “manufactured breakdown of civil order”.”Israel is not only preventing food from entering Gaza but it has also engineered a situation in which Palestinians cannot grow their own food, they cannot fish for their own food and they continue to attack or deny access to the little left food stocks in Gaza,” he added.- ‘Abomination’ -Humanitarians also decried the mass displacement, with nearly the entire Gaza population being forced to shift multiple times before the brief ceasefire.Since the resumption of hostilities, Cherevko said more than 420,000 people have been forced to flee again, many “with only the clothes on their backs” and were shot at as they tried to reach overcrowded shelters.Pascal Hundt, the ICRC’s deputy head of operations, said civilians were facing “an overwhelming daily struggle to survive” the hostilities, as well as repeated displacement and lack of humanitarian aid.The World Health Organization’s emergencies director Mike Ryan called the situation an “abomination”.”We are breaking the bodies and the minds of the children of Gaza. We are starving the children of Gaza,” he told reporters on Thursday.Cherevko slammed decision-makers who “have watched in silence the endless scenes of bloodied children, of severed limbs, of grieving parents move swiftly across their screens, month after month after month”. “How much more blood must be spilled before enough become enough?”

Grand Theft Auto VI release postponed to May 2026

The creative team behind the popular Grand Theft Auto video game series postponed the launch of the latest installment by several months to May 2026, hitting shares of parent Take-Two Interactive.Grand Theft Auto VI was originally due to be released later this year, with a trailer having shown that it would be set in Miami-like Vice City and would feature a playable female protagonist for the first time.”We are very sorry that this is later than you expected,” publisher Rockstar Games said in a statement.”With every game we have released, the goal has always been to try and exceed your expectations, and Grand Theft Auto VI is no exception,” it said.”We hope you understand that we need this extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve.”Its predecessor, GTA V, was released in 2013 and sold more than 200 million copies.Beyond just Rockstar Games, the whole industry is laser focused on the GTA launch at a time when the sector has been experiencing stalled growth after riding high on the covid-related confinements to break sales records.Strauss Zelnick, chief executive of Take-Two, supported the move in a statement released by the parent company.”While we take the movement of our titles seriously and appreciate the vast and deep global anticipation for Grand Theft Auto VI, we remain steadfast in our commitment to excellence,” Zelnick said.The first trailer for GTA VI appeared in December 2023 and has been seen more than 250 million times on Rockstar’s YouTube channel.Analysts mostly agreed that the delay was not a surprise and welcomed that an actual release date was now on the books.”While some investors may view this as a delay from the previously suggested ‘fall 2025’ window, the announcement aligns closely with our expectations and should not come as a surprise,” said analyst Mike Hickey of Benchmark.”Consistent with Rockstar’s track record, this timing reinforces their commitment to product quality over deadline adherence,” he added.Set to the Tom Petty song “Love Is A Long Road,” it opens with a female character named Lucia being released from prison in what appears to be a fictionalized version of Florida.Near the close of the one-minute-and-30-second clip, she tells her male partner in crime: “The only way we are going to get through this is by sticking together, being a team.”The pair go on to burst into a store with pistols drawn and bandanas covering the lower halves of their faces.Fans saw the scene as confirmation that rumors of a “Bonnie and Clyde” type crime couple are coming true.Along with its wild success, the GTA series has faced criticism over its violent content.Critics have from the beginning accused Grand Theft Auto of glorifying violence and encouraging players to engage in criminal behavior –- allegations rejected by New York-based Take-Two Interactive.GTA players sell drugs, fight, rob, go on car rampages and more. Gameplay options also included assaulting sex workers and going to strip clubs, raising the ire of activists.Near 1630 GMT, Take-Two shares were down 6.0 percent.”The stock shouldn’t be down much on that, but people remain uncertain about whether there will be further delays,” said Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Securities.

Le gouvernement américain demande à une juge de démanteler l’activité publicitaire de Google

Le gouvernement américain a réclamé vendredi le démantelement de l’activité de Google dans la publicité en ligne à la juge fédérale chargée de déterminer le sort du groupe, après l’avoir reconnu coupable de monopole.La représentante du ministère de la Justice Julia Tarver Wood a fait valoir, lors d’une audience à Alexandria (Virginie), que la filiale d’Alphabet avait déjà “trouvé des moyens de se soustraire à la loi”.Laisser intact “un monopoliste récidiviste” ne permettrait donc pas, selon le ministère public, de régler le problème posé par la position dominante de Google sur le marché de la publicité numérique.L’audience de vendredi était une étape avant un nouveau procès pour déterminer la peine infligée à Google, qui doit se tenir fin septembre.La juge Leonie Brinkema a estimé, dans sa décision rendue mi-avril, que le groupe de Mountain View (Californie) était bien en situation de monopole dans le domaine des logiciels de placement de publicités sur des sites en ligne ainsi que pour les plateformes mettant en relation annonceurs et éditeurs de site.Le gouvernement souhaite que Google se sépare de ces deux outils.Dans un autre dossier, le juge fédéral de Washington Amit Mehta a déterminé que Google était en situation d’abus de position dominante pour la recherche sur internet.Un procès se tient actuellement pour déterminer la peine imposée au groupe. Dans cette affaire, le gouvernement demande, entre autres, la cession par Google de son navigateur Chrome.”Des modifications de comportement ne seraient pas suffisantes”, a fait valoir Julia Tarver Wood, concernant la publicité, “car cela n’empêcherait pas Google de trouver d’autres moyens de s’assurer une position dominante”.Google a suggéré lui de prendre des engagements consistant à partager, avec annonceurs et éditeurs, des données relatives à ses plateformes.L’avocate du groupe, Karen Dunn, a pris acte des “questions de crédibilité” visant Google dans le dossier et indiqué que l’entreprise accepterait que la mise en oeuvre de ces engagements fasse l’objet d’une supervision.La juge Brinkema a recommandé aux parties de s’accorder avant le procès, pour éviter des coûts et des délais supplémentaires.