34 Palestinians and 1 soldier killed in Gaza as hopes for imminent truce fade
The fighting in Gaza has shown no sign of slowing as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Donald Trump in Washington this week to work on a U.S.-led ceasefire plan. Hopes for an agreement in the near term appeared to be fading as Netanyahu prepared to return to Israel.
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CNBC
39 minutes ago
- CNBC
Global week ahead: Trade tensions cloud earnings and the G20 heads south
Earnings season always seems to roll around with alarming frequency. The newsroom approaches each quarter with a nervous energy, but this summer it feels especially heightened. Recent market records in both the U.S. and Europe, alongside an unpredictable economic environment, paint a complicated picture for the second half. It all kicks off on Tuesday with America's banking behemoths, as attention switches from the White House back to Wall Street. But U.S. President Donald Trump's policies still loom large, with Goldman Sachs predicting that, this quarter, U.S. earnings will start to show the impact of the tariffs. The investment bank's economists see "conflicting messages on the margin outlook" as companies have only announced modest price increases, despite the cost hikes associated with higher tariffs. Earnings-per-share growth is also set to come under pressure, with Goldman suggesting, "the consensus estimate among analysts sees S&P 500 companies' earnings-per-share growth decelerating to 4% this quarter relative to the same quarter last year — down from 12% in the first quarter." With the banks set to dominate next week — JPMorgan, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are all reporting within just two days — maybe Europe can provide some optimism. As reported by CNBC's Jenni Reid, European banks just recorded their best first half since 1997. Gains were driven by strong investment banking returns — something their U.S. counterparts are also likely to capitalize on — as well as stock rallies based on both deal speculation and actual M&A. As someone who grew up in Cape Town, seeing this year's G20 meetings take place in South Africa makes me pine for the sunshine of the Southern hemisphere. Next week's meeting in Durban between finance ministers and central bank governors comes at an interesting time for the country. An Oval Office meeting between South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Trump went spectacularly wrong back in May, when the latter, flanked by his South African (now former) right-hand man Elon Musk, made false claims of a "white genocide." It seems tensions have not abated. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will skip the meeting altogether, opting to head to Japan instead, according to Reuters. South Africa is also subject to a new 30% tariff rate, the only country in sub-Saharan Africa to be singled out in the latest round of announcements. It does not bode well for the G20 Leaders meeting, due to be held in Gauteng on Nov. 22-23. It remains to be seen if Trump will attend. In May, South Africa's golfing greats — who traveled to the White House with Ramaphosa — failed to win over Trump. But maybe the lure of some of the best courses in the world, along with a South African summer, could see a seasonal change in his mood toward the country later this year.
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
US aid cuts halt HIV vaccine research in South Africa, with global impact
But the $46 million from the U.S. for the project was disappearing, part of the dismantling of foreign aid by the world's biggest donor earlier this year as President Donald Trump announced a focus on priorities at home. Advertisement South Africa hit hard by aid cuts South Africa has been hit especially hard because of Trump's baseless claims about the targeting of the country's white Afrikaner minority. The country had been receiving about $400 million a year via USAID and the HIV-focused PEPFAR. Now that's gone. Glenda Grey, who heads the Brilliant program, said the African continent has been vital to the development of HIV medication, and the U.S. cuts threaten its capability to do such work in the future. Significant advances have included clinical trials for lenacapavir, the world's only twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV, recently approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. One study to show its efficacy involved young South Africans. 'We do the trials better, faster and cheaper than anywhere else in the world, and so without South Africa as part of these programs, the world, in my opinion, is much poorer,' Gray said. Advertisement She noted that during the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa played a crucial role by testing the Johnson & Johnson and Novavax vaccines, and South African scientists' genomic surveillance led to the identification of an important variant. Labs empty and thousands are laid off A team of researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand has been part of the unit developing the HIV vaccines for the trials. Inside the Wits laboratory, technician Nozipho Mlotshwa was among the young people in white gowns working on samples, but she may soon be out of a job. Her position is grant-funded. She uses her salary to support her family and fund her studies in a country where youth unemployment hovers around 46%. 'It's very sad and devastating, honestly,' she said of the U.S. cuts and overall uncertainty. 'We'll also miss out collaborating with other scientists across the continent.' Professor Abdullah Ely leads the team of researchers. He said the work had promising results indicating that the vaccines were producing an immune response. But now that momentum, he said, has 'all kind of had to come to a halt.' The BRILLIANT program is scrambling to find money to save the project. The purchase of key equipment has stopped. South Africa's health department says about 100 researchers for that program and others related to HIV have been laid off. Funding for postdoctoral students involved in experiments for the projects is at risk. South Africa's government has estimated that universities and science councils could lose about $107 million in U.S. research funding over the next five years due to the aid cuts, which affect not only work on HIV but also tuberculosis — another disease with a high number of cases in the country. Advertisement Less money, and less data on what's affected South Africa's government has said it will be very difficult to find funding to replace the U.S. support. And now the number of HIV infections will grow. Medication is more difficult to obtain. At least 8,000 health workers in South Africa's HIV program have already been laid off, the government has said. Also gone are the data collectors who tracked patients and their care, as well as HIV counselors who could reach vulnerable patients in rural communities. For researchers, Universities South Africa, an umbrella body, has applied to the national treasury for over $110 million for projects at some of the largest schools. During a visit to South Africa in June, UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima was well aware of the stakes, and the lives at risk, as research and health care struggle in South Africa and across Africa at large. Other countries that were highly dependent on U.S. funding including Zambia, Nigeria, Burundi and Ivory Coast are already increasing their own resources, she said. 'But let's be clear, what they are putting down will not be funding in the same way that the American resources were funding,' Byanyima said. Associated Press writer Michelle Gumede in Johannesburg contributed to this report.
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Iran says it would resume nuclear talks with US if guaranteed no further attacks
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Following the strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors. Advertisement Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency's request for cooperation 'case by case,' based on Iran's interests. He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran's 'security' concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors. 'The risk of proliferation of radioactive ingredients and an explosion of ammunition that remains from the war in the attacked nuclear sites is serious,' he said. He also reiterated Iran's position on the need to continue enriching uranium on its soil. U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that cannot happen. Advertisement Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon. U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the U.S. airstrikes so badly damaged his country's nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.
