Elon Musk’s Tesla and German auto giant BMW have challenged EU import tariffs on China-made electric vehicles at the bloc’s top court, the European Commission said Monday.The carmakers — which both manufacture EVs in China — followed challenges filed with the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) by Chinese automakers BYD, Geely and …
Tesla, BMW take EU to court over China EV tariffs Read More »
Fears of upheaval in the AI gold rush rocked Wall Street on Monday following the emergence of a popular ChatGPT-like model from China, triggering predictions of turmoil for Silicon Valley and accusations of cheating.Last week’s release of the latest DeepSeek model initially received limited attention, overshadowed by the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on …
US chip-maker Nvidia led a rout in tech stocks Monday after the emergence of a low-cost Chinese generative AI model that could threaten American dominance in the fast-growing industry.The chatbot developed by DeepSeek, a startup based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, has apparently shown the ability to match the capacity of US AI …
Nvidia loses nearly $600 bn in value as Chinese AI firm jolts tech shares Read More »
Israel’s president attacked the UN General Assembly in a speech on Monday marking the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust, accusing the body of exhibiting “moral bankruptcy” and failing to confront anti-Semitism.Isaac Herzog addressed the forum during worldwide commemorations of the Holocaust in which six million Jews were murdered.”Today, we find ourselves yet again at a dangerous crossroads in the history of this institution,” Herzog said at the New York headquarters of the United Nations which Israel has repeatedly condemned since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023.”Rather than fulfilling its purpose and fighting courageously against a global epidemic of jihadists, murderers, and abhorrent terror, time and again this assembly has exhibited moral bankruptcy.”UN bodies like the International Criminal Court, which issued a warrant for the arrest of Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, “opt for outrageous hypocrisy and protection of the perpetrators of the atrocities.””How is it possible that international institutions, which began as an anti-Nazi alliance, are allowing anti-Semitic genocidal doctrines to flourish uninterrupted in the wake of the largest massacre of Jews since World War II?” he added referring to the October 7 attacks.Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 47,317 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.- ‘We must stand up’ -Ahead of Herzog’s denunciation of the UN, its Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the “appalling October 7 terror attacks by Hamas” — as well as the rising tide of anti-Semitism globally.”Today, our world is fractured and dangerous. Eighty years since the Holocaust’s end, anti-Semitism is still with us — fueled by the same lies and loathing that made the Nazi genocide possible. And it is rising,” he said on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp and International Holocaust Remembrance Day.”Indisputable historical facts are being distorted, diminished, and dismissed. Efforts are being made to recast and rehabilitate Nazis and their collaborators. We must stand up to these outrages.”The history of the Holocaust shows us what can happen when people choose not to see and not to act.”
Israel gave a grim account Monday of seven freed hostages’ health, saying that despite a “show” by Hamas to present them as healthy and smiling, they faced a long recovery from their ordeal.The seven women freed so far under Israel’s ceasefire deal with the Palestinian militant group were all malnourished, exposed to psychological suffering and wounded in various ways, said the deputy chief of the Israeli army’s medical corps, Colonel Avi Benov.Images of four Israeli soldiers — aged 19 and 20 — released in Gaza on Saturday by Hamas showed them looking healthy and smiling. They greeted people around them and clutched parting gifts in paper bags as they were handed over to the Red Cross.But Benov said there was more to the story.”They were given more food in the days before (their release), they were allowed to shower, they were given (new) clothes,” he said in a video call open to the media.”This is part of the show organised by Hamas.”Since the deal took effect on January 19, the militants have freed a total of seven Israeli hostages in exchange for 290 prisoners, all Palestinians except for one Jordanian.But despite the hostages’ joy and relief at being reunited with their families, it “will take time” for them to recover, said Benov.Hospitalised after their release, the women have been diagnosed with physical health problems including malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies and a metabolic system “in bad shape”, he said.- Invisible wounds -Some of the hostages had been held for the past eight months in tunnels, Benov said.”For them it’s more complicated because light, sun and to be able to talk with someone are essential elements to be physically and mentally healthy,” he said, without naming them or giving further details.All the hostages were “wounded one way or the other” when they were captured on October 7, 2023 in the Hamas attack that ignited the ensuing war, Benov said.Their wounds were poorly treated in captivity, or not at all, he added.Hostages who were freed during a previous truce in November 2023 have said some wounded captives were operated on with no anaesthesia.But the most “complicated” wounds are psychological, said Benov.”Even if they look happy, a fear remains. It’s hard for them to believe that this time around they’re in good hands, that it’s not another show organised by Hamas,” he said.Benov declined to answer a question on whether the hostages had been victims of physical abuse, torture or sexual violence, saying it was important to “protect their privacy”.”They will tell what they went through, if they want to, in a few weeks or a few months,” he said.An Israeli health ministry report sent in December to the United Nations special rapporteur on torture said the hostages released in November 2023 had suffered various forms of physical and psychological violence.It said freed hostages had reported being branded with hot irons, beaten, sexually assaulted, held in isolation and deprived of food.Numerous ex-hostages showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and survivor’s guilt, the report said.Benov said hostages set for release in the coming weeks would likely be in even worse health.Under the deal, they include captive men over 50 or in poor health.”We are expecting that the next hostages to be released, who are older, with some of them already ill when they were kidnapped, will come back in worse condition,” he said.
The Israeli military on Monday said it had “eliminated over 15 terrorists” and arrested 40 wanted people during a major raid that began last week in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.The raid began two days after a truce took hold in the Gaza Strip, seeking to put an end to more than 15 months of the Israel-Hamas war that ravaged the Palestinian coastal territory.The military said in a statement that during the Jenin operation troops seized dozens of weapons and “located an explosive device hidden inside a washing machine in one of the buildings in Jenin”.Soldiers “also dismantled dozens of explosives planted beneath roads intended to attack troops”, it said.During another operation, “an observation command centre was located, containing gas canisters intended for manufacturing explosive devices”, it said.Backed by bulldozers and warplanes, the military launched last Tuesday its “Iron Wall” operation in Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp, militant strongholds frequently targeted in Israeli raids.AFP images on Monday showed Israeli troops still in the area, and black smoke rising over the camp.Salim al-Saadi, a member of the Jenin camp’s management committee, told AFP that 80 percent of its residents had fled since the raid began.The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on its website that more than 24,000 refugees were registered in the camp in 2023, though the actual population is not known.AFP pictures on Thursday showed rows of women, men and children filing out of the camp, some of them carrying their belongings in bags, accompanied by Palestine Red Crescent ambulances.A number of Palestinian officials reported that Israel had ordered residents to leave the camp, but the military denied this.The Palestinian health ministry had earlier reported that the Israeli operation killed at least 12 Palestinians and injured 40 more around Jenin.Violence has soared throughout the West Bank since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out in Gaza on October 7, 2023.Israeli troops or settlers have killed more than 860 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the health ministry.At least 29 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
Masses of displaced Palestinians streamed into the north of war-ravaged Gaza on Monday after Israel and Hamas reached a deal for the release of another six hostages.Also on Monday, the Israeli government said eight of the hostages held in Gaza who were due for release in the truce’s first phase are dead.The fragile ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas is intended to bring an end to more than 15 months of war that began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.Israel had prevented Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the terms of the truce, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said late Sunday they would be allowed to pass after a new agreement was reached.Hamas had said blocking the returns amounted to a truce violation.A sea of humanity moved through the now-open Netzarim Corridor into the north, watched over by Israeli tanks. Some pulled carts weighed down with mattresses and other essentials. Others carried what belongings they could.Late Monday the Hamas government in Gaza said “more than 300,000 displaced” had returned during the day “to the governorates of the north”, an area of Gaza severely battered by the war.After reaching the area, men embraced each other.”Welcome to Gaza,” read a newly-erected banner hanging above a dirt road in front of a collapsed building in Gaza City.”This is the happiest day of my life,” said Lamees al-Iwady, a 22-year-old who returned to Gaza City after being displaced several times.”I feel as though my soul and life have returned to me,” she said. “We will rebuild our homes, even if it’s with mud and sand.”With the joy of return came shock at the extent of destruction wrought by more than a year of war.According to the Hamas-run government’s media office, 135,000 tents and caravans are needed in Gaza City and the north to shelter returning families.Still, Hamas called the return “a victory” for Palestinians that “signals the failure and defeat of the plans for occupation and displacement”.The comments came after US President Donald Trump floated an idea to “clean out” Gaza and resettle Palestinians in Jordan and Egypt, drawing condemnation from regional leaders.President Mahmud Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority is based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, issued a “strong rejection and condemnation of any projects” aimed at displacing Palestinians from Gaza, his office said.- Dark memories -For Palestinians, any attempt to move them from Gaza would evoke dark memories of what the Arab world calls the “Nakba”, or catastrophe — the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel’s creation in 1948.”We say to Trump and the whole world: we will not leave Palestine or Gaza, no matter what happens,” said displaced Gaza resident Rashad al-Naji.Moving Gaza’s inhabitants — who number 2.4 million — could be done “temporarily or could be long term”, Trump said on Saturday.Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called Trump’s suggestion “a great idea”.The Arab League warned against “attempts to uproot the Palestinian people from their land”, and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi issued a “firm” rejection of Palestinian displacement.”Jordan is for Jordanians and Palestine is for Palestinians,” Safadi said.Egypt’s foreign ministry said it rejected any infringement of Palestinians’ “inalienable rights”.- Visibly distraught -Israel had said it would prevent Palestinians’ passage to the north until the release of Arbel Yehud, a civilian woman hostage who it maintained should have been freed on Saturday.But Netanyahu’s office later said a deal had been reached for the release of three hostages on Thursday, including Yehud, as well as another three on Saturday.Hamas confirmed the agreement in its own statement Monday.Later, another Gaza militant group, Islamic Jihad, released video footage of a visibly distressed Yehud.She called on Netanyahu to do everything in his power to secure the release of the remaining hostages.In southern Gaza, the European Union agreed on Monday to restart a monitoring mission at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Italy said the main aim “is to coordinate and facilitate the daily transit of up to 300 wounded and sick”.During the first phase of the truce which began on January 19, 33 hostages are supposed to be freed in staggered releases over six weeks in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held by the Israelis.The second such swap, on Saturday, saw four Israeli women hostages, all soldiers, exchanged for 200 prisoners, all Palestinians except for one Jordanian.On Monday, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said eight of the hostages due for release in the first phase are dead.”The families have been informed of the situation of their relatives,” he said, without disclosing their names.Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, 87 remain in Gaza, including 34 Israel says are dead.Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 47,317 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.burs-ser/it/jsa
Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli fire killed two people Monday and wounded 17 others in the south, in a second day of violence as residents tried again to return to border villages.The bloodshed, which one analyst said was unlikely to re-spark war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, came hours after the extension of a Sunday deadline for Israeli forces to withdraw from south Lebanon under a November ceasefire deal.The ministry said Israeli fire killed 24 returnees on Sunday.”Israeli enemy attacks as citizens attempt to return to their towns that are still occupied have led… to two dead and 17 wounded,” the health ministry said Monday in a statement, updating an earlier toll of one dead.It said the wounded included a child and a rescuer from the Risala Scouts association, affiliated with Hezbollah ally the Amal movement.Under the ceasefire deal that took effect on November 27, the Lebanese military was to deploy in the south alongside United Nations peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period, which ended on Sunday.Hezbollah was also to pull back its forces north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said earlier Monday that Lebanon had agreed to an extension of the ceasefire deal between Hezbollah and Israel until February 18, after the Israeli military missed Sunday’s deadline to withdraw.In south Lebanon, residents accompanied by the army were again trying to return to their villages, official media and AFP correspondents reported.In the village of Burj al-Muluk, an AFP photographer saw dozens of men, women and children gathering in the morning behind a dirt barrier, some holding yellow Hezbollah flags, hoping to reach the border town of Kfar Kila, where the Israeli military is still deployed.- ‘Bullets don’t scare us’ -In the city of Bint Jbeil, an access point for many border villages, Hezbollah supporters distributed sweets, water and images of former chief Hassan Nasrallah, who an Israeli air strike killed in September.Others handed out stickers celebrating the “victory from God” as women held pictures of slain Hezbollah fighters.”They think they are scaring us with their bullets, but we lived under the bombing and bullets don’t scare us,” said Mona Bazzi in Bint Jbeil.The official National News Agency (NNA) said Lebanese “army reinforcements” had arrived near the border town of Mais al-Jabal, where people had started to gather at “the entrance of the town” in preparation for entering alongside the military.It said the Israeli army had “opened fire in the direction of the Lebanese army” near the town, without reporting casualties there.”We waited in a long line for hours, but couldn’t enter,” said Mohammed Choukeir, 33, from Mais al-Jabal, adding that Israeli troops “were opening fire from time to time on civilians gathered at the entrance of the town”.In nearby Hula, the NNA said residents entered “after the deployment of the army in several neighbourhoods”.The truce has been marked by accusations of violations from both sides. It came after more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war.- ‘Israel must withdraw’ -A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that “seven fighters from Hezbollah were taken prisoner” by Israel before the truce, while four other people were apprehended by the Israeli military on Sunday in south Lebanon border villages.In a televised speech later on Monday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem reiterated calls for the Israeli military to withdraw from the south.”Israel must withdraw… any consequences of a delay in the withdrawal rests on the United Nations, the United States, France and the Israeli entity,” Qassem said.The US and France are part of a mechanism that deals with any violations of the ceasefire.Qassem called for pressure on Israel to adhere to the original terms of the deal, hailing French President Emmanuel Macron’s appeal before the latest extension.Macron’s office on Saturday said he had called on all parties to honour their commitment to the ceasefire as soon as possible.Qassem warned that, “We are facing an occupation that is aggressive and refuses to withdraw, and the resistance has the right to act as it sees fit.” Hilal Khashan, professor of political science at the American University of Beirut, said he did not expect a return to major violence.”Hezbollah no longer wants any further confrontation with Israel. Its goal is to protect its achievements in Lebanon,” he told AFP.Lebanon’s army said Sunday that it had entered several border areas including Dhayra, Maroun al-Ras and Aita al-Shaab.Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee on Monday called again for south Lebanon residents to “wait” before returning.
The Israeli military and Hamas said Monday that an air strike killed two fighters from the Palestinian Islamist movement in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem.In a statement, the military said that “in a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet (internal security agency), an air force aircraft launched an attack” in the Tulkarem area.Violence has soared throughout the West Bank since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out in Gaza on October 7, 2023.The official Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the two killed as Ramez Damiri and Ihab Abu Atwi, both residents of the Nur Shams refugee camp in the Tukaram area.According to the Israeli military, Abu Atwi was “the Hamas chief in Tulkarem”, responsible for “numerous armed attacks”.Hamas said two members of its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, were killed “after the enemy blew up a vehicle they were in” in Nur Shams refugee camp.Hamas did not say whether Abu Atwi was its leader in Tulkarem.The Palestinian health ministry said earlier that two dead and three injured arrived at Tulkarem’s Governmental Hospital “following the occupation’s targeting of a vehicle in Nur Shams refugee camp”.The health ministry also announced the death of a young man killed Sunday night by Israeli forces in Qalandia refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.The ministry reported one dead and two injured “by (Israeli) bullets near Qalandia camp”.Wafa identified the man killed as Adam Sab Laban, saying he was shot by Israeli forces who were stationed at a military tower by the Qalandia checkpoint into Jerusalem, and who “opened fire at a group of citizens”.Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 861 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the health ministry.At least 29 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
Saudi Arabia on Monday said foreigners are from now on allowed to invest in Saudi-listed companies that own property in Mecca and Medina, Islam’s two holiest cities.The decision “aims to stimulate investment, enhance the attractiveness and efficiency of the capital market, and strengthen its regional and international competitiveness while supporting the local economy,” the kingdom’s Capital Market Authority said in a statement.It said foreign investment “in companies owning real estate within the boundaries of Mecca and Madinah will be limited to shares of these Saudi companies listed on the Saudi capital market, convertible debt instruments, or both.”However, non-Saudi ownership cannot exceed 49 percent, the authority said.Saudi Arabia is the Middle East’s largest economy and the world’s biggest exporter of crude oil.It has for years been engaged in a vast reform agenda aimed at diversifying the economy with tourism and investment.Mecca already receives millions of Muslim pilgrims each year but the city is undergoing massive development aimed at drawing 30 million faithful by 2030.A project dubbed Masar, financed by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, foresees 40,000 new hotel rooms in Mecca.The annual hajj and umrah pilgrimages brought in an estimated $12 million in revenue in 2019.Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter the holy cities.
