Only US can engage Israel and Iran in discussions, Greek PM says
"Europe alone does not have the necessary influence to bring the parties concerned to the (negotiation) table. Only the United States can do that. So I think it is up to the President of the United States to decide which path to take," Mitsotakis said in an interview on the sidelines of an energy conference in Athens.
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva, a German diplomatic source told Reuters.
"We are all very concerned about any factor that will push inflation up and significantly disrupt energy markets," Mitsotakis said.
He said Greece was also very worried about the safety of around 180 Greek-flagged and Greek-owned ships that sailed in the wider Persian Gulf region when Israel first attacked Iran last week.
Greek owners control the world's largest fleet of oil tankers. Commercial ships are being advised by maritime agencies to avoid Iran's waters around the Strait of Hormuz, shipping sources said on Wednesday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Elon Musk has a simple solution for Tesla's problems in Europe
Elon Musk's time in Washington, D.C., leading the Department of Government Efficiency may have been short, but he seems to have learned a lot from the experience. As an unofficial member of President Donald Trump's cabinet, Musk was only allowed to serve in government for 130 days. Once his time was up, his relationship with Trump disintegrated, leading to a war of words and online threats that have continued to this week. Related: Tesla is set to deliver dismal sales, but here's why investors don't care While Musk promised investors he would spend more time at Tesla HQ in Austin once his time in D.C. ended, he has flirted with starting his own political party and spends much of his social media bandwidth commenting on government concerns. But his political interests aren't just confined to the U.S.; Musk has also commented on the nonexistent white genocide he believes is happening in South Africa. Musk has also publicly endorsed the AfD, a German right-wing party that some view as extremist, and he was accused of doing a Nazi salute on stage. Coincidentally, Germany is also one of the many European countries where Tesla sales have fallen sharply since Musk embarked on his far-right political journey. Just a couple of years after it spent billions to build a European hub in Germany, Tesla's future on the mainland appears to be worse than ever. Tesla sales in Europe were down nearly 40% from January to April compared to the previous year. In June, sales dropped another 39%. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, Tesla's first-half sales were down 44% in Europe. Image source: Leong/Washington Post via Getty Images Months ago, Musk seemingly acknowledged that his political activities have played a part in his company's decline. After sales in Germany reportedly fell 62%, and numbers in Norway, the UK, and France weren't much better, Musk said that any politically left-leaning buyers who abandoned the company have been replaced by people who align better with his politics. Perhaps his time in Washington has made him more diplomatic, because he wasn't so flippant when talking to investors this week. During his second-quarter earnings call, he detailed how Tesla would win back customers. "It's worth noting that we do not actually yet have approval for supervised FSD in Europe. So our sales in Europe, we think, will improve significantly once we are able to give customers the same experience that they have in the U.S.," Musk said. Related: Tesla driver gives damning testimony in fatal Autopilot crash trial "[FSD] really is the single biggest demand driver." But that doesn't explain why the company reported six months of falling market share. January YouGov polls showing 71% unfavorability ratings in Germany and the UK may explain the decline a bit more. One reason investors may have trouble swallowing Musk's assertion that a lack of FSD is the reason for falling European sales is the company's recent C-suite shakeup. Tesla reportedly fired Omead Afshar, its head of North American and European operations, in June following a massive drop in European EV deliveries. Afshar, who joined Tesla in 2017, was just promoted to the position in November. The Wall Street Journal described Afshar as one of Musk's closest confidants at the company. Tesla shares closed the week down about 4%, rallying sharply after the steep decline immediately following its earnings release. Related: Tesla fires longtime insider as Europe slump deepens The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Israel allows more Gaza aid amid international outcry over growing hunger
That's seen world anger toward Israel's government on the rise amid increasing reports and images of emaciated babies, children crammed into soup queues, and men tussling over bags of flour. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke by phone on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing 'deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza' and urging 'further substantial steps,' according to a readout from his office. While continuing to deny accusations that it's deliberately starving Gazans, Israel has now begun parachuting in food supplies. That's a delivery mechanism tried by several foreign air forces a year ago but abandoned, at the time, amid concerns about scale and safety. Advertisement 'There's a campaign full of lies under way' that's created 'a mistaken impression of famine in Gaza,' Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, told Tel Aviv radio station 103 FM. 'Therefore the cabinet decided yesterday to bring in aid, in order to show the world that we are heeding the claims, even if we disagree about the facts.' Advertisement Gaza on Sunday, July 27. BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images Sunday's decision was announced by the military without comment from Netanyahu or Defense Minister Israel Katz. It marked a de facto reversal of Israel's cut-off of UN-led humanitarian relief in March after the previous Gaza ceasefire expired, a tactic Netanyahu aides had said would deprive Hamas of a means of controlling the populace while feeding its own fighters. Mahmoud Mardawi, a senior Hamas official, described the about-face on Telegram as 'not a solution, but rather, a belated and twisted confession of a crime having been committed.' Negotiations in Doha on a new truce faltered last week, with Israel and the US accusing Hamas of stonewalling and hinting that a further escalation in the more than 21-month-old war could follow. 'I think they want to die, and it's very, very bad,' US President Donald Trump said of the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamist fighters on Friday. 'It got to a point where you're going to have to finish the job.' Eli Cohen, a minister in Netanyahu's security cabinet, said plans for the next stage of the war had been approved. Interviewed on Israel's Army Radio, he gave no details. He did, however, reiterate that Israel doesn't consider Hamas leaders abroad to have 'immunity' from its attacks. Israeli troops and tanks have already overrun 75% of the Gaza Strip, skirting areas where Hamas is believed to be holding 50 hostages. The proposed truce would have returned half of them in exchange for hundreds of jailed Palestinians, and boosted aid for Gaza, over a period of 60 days. Recovering the remaining hostages, however, would have required Israel commit to ending the war and fully withdrawing, Hamas said. Israel has ruled that out so long as Hamas, which is on terrorism blacklists in much of the West, retains weaponry and rules in Gaza. Advertisement Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right member of Netanyahu's coalition government, said he was excluded from the decision to restore UN aid. His ideological kinsman, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also opposes pausing the assault on Hamas and wants a total Gaza takeover — even if that poses a risk to the 20 hostages believed to be still alive. Humanitarian aid was airdropped to Palestinians in Gaza City on Sunday, July 27. Jehad Alshrafi/Associated Press Netanyahu on Friday said Israel and the US were 'considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas's terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region.' That followed a threat by Katz that the 'gates of hell will open' if Hamas didn't free the hostages soon. Asked on 103 FM if Israel what such statements might presage, Danon said: 'I'm not aware of any inventions that haven't already been tried.' More than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel launched the offensive in retaliation for a Hamas cross-border raid on Oct. 7, 2023 in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 kidnapped. It has lost 455 soldiers in Gaza combat, including three over the weekend. Aid convoys from Jordan and Egypt rolled into Gaza on Sunday. The Israeli military said 'humanitarian corridors,' around which it would hold fire, were being established in coordination with the UN for deliveries to areas where ground forces aren't active. Construction of a UAE-initiated water pipeline from Egypt to Gaza would commence in the coming days, it added. When it sidelined the UN relief network earlier in the year, Israel set up a US-backed alternative, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, with the aim of excluding Hamas. Advertisement The foundation says it's distributed enough food staples for more than 90 million meals, yet has acknowledged not being able to reach all of Gaza's population. It's also been dogged by allegations that hundreds of Palestinians aid-seekers have been shot dead near its distribution points — incidents for which the GHF and IDF have denied responsibility. Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, told Al Araby TV on Saturday that as part of the truce talks, Israel had agreed to disband the GHF. Israeli officials have neither confirmed nor denied that. With assistance from Fadwa Hodali and Alexander Weber.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nvidia AI Chip Repairs Soar In China
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) chips keep China's repair shops busy despite U.S. export bans. Reuters reports that about a dozen boutique firms in Shenzhen have quietly built businesses fixing advanced Nvidia AI chipsH100s, A100s and morethat shouldn't even be in the country. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with NVDA. One repair shop spun off a new unit late last year and now handles up to 500 GPUs a month, underscoring really significant repair demand, says a co?owner who's been tuning Nvidia gaming cards for 15 years. Meanwhile the Financial Times notes that nearly $1 billion of Nvidia AI chips still flowed into China in the three months after tighter U.S. export curbs, highlighting gaps in enforcement and the lengths firms will go to fuel AI projects. Analysts say these repair services not only keep existing hardware alive but also chip away at the impact of export restrictions meant to slow China's AI push. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. 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
