Israel begins clearing of Rafah, southern Gaza city

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The Israeli military has instructed tens of thousands of Palestinians to leave the southern Gaza city of Rafah as Israel's defense minister warned of an impending military “operation.”

An Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson told reporters that at least 100,000 civilians from Rafah would be moved to what Israel calls a humanitarian zone in the Mediterranean Sea in a “limited scope” operation as part of a “phased plan.” He said it should be done.

The evacuation order was issued a day after three Israeli soldiers were killed in mortar fire by the Israeli side of the evacuation area near the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which is important for delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant yesterday told troops in Gaza that there were “worrying signs” that negotiations with the militant group Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage exchange were stalled. “This means that there will be operations in Rafah and across the Gaza Strip in the very near future,” he said. “We are one step closer to action.” Here is the latest news from Israel.

Here's what else I'm focusing on today:

• market: Wall Street stocks are expected to edge higher after hitting a two-month high on Friday after the release of key jobs data that was weaker than expected.

• Company: Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Tyson Foods will report results before the market opens. Coty and Palantir plan to report after the transaction closes.

• Financial policy: Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin speaks at the Columbia Rotary Club in South Carolina. New York Fed President John Williams will participate in a conversation moderated by Financial Times reporter Brooke Masters at the Milken Institute's 27th Annual World Conference.

• Relations between France and China: President Xi Jinping and President Emmanuel Macron are scheduled to meet in Paris today, with trade tensions becoming a central theme of the Chinese president's first trip to Europe in five years.

5 more top articles

1. Panama is moving toward electing conservative Jose Raúl Mulino as president. That came after he replaced a popular former president who was convicted of money laundering, according to preliminary results. Mulino won 34% of the vote yesterday evening with 92% of votes counted, followed by outsider anti-corruption candidate Ricardo Lombana in second place with 25%. Here's the latest information on the highly unusual vote.

2. A US crackdown on banks financing trade in goods for President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is making it more difficult to get money into and out of Russia. According to Western officials and Russian financial officials. Moscow's trade volumes with key partners such as Turkey and China slumped in the first quarter of this year as lenders were encouraged to exclude Russian trading partners. “The logical end point of this is to turn Russia into Iran,” said a senior Russian investor.

3. Warren Buffett said Greg Abel should make the final decision on investing in Berkshire Hathaway. He handed over responsibility to his successor for how hundreds of billions of dollars are allocated. “I think the blame should rest entirely on Greg,” Buffett said from the stage at CHI Health Center in downtown Omaha. Eric Platt and Michela Tindera report on Saturday's annual meeting.

4. Specialty banks' profits are soaring as high interest rates force more companies to seek advice on how to restructure debt and take advantage of new liquidity. Advisory fees at five of the six largest publicly traded independent investment banks (Evercore, Lazard, Moelis, Perera Weinberg, and PJT Partners) rose a combined 21% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to a year ago. . I have summarized the results for independents.

5. 777 Partners is being accused by one of its lenders of hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud. In the latest setback in the attempted takeover of Everton Football Club by a Miami-based investment company. According to the complaint, 777 owes more than $600 million to London-based asset management firm Leadenhall Capital and affiliated investment firm Leadenhall Life. Read more about the lawsuit filed Friday.

big reading today

Goldman Sachs' IPO in May 1999 was a landmark moment for the then 130-year-old investment bank and its 221 strong partnerships. But being a Goldman partner in 2024 no longer means what it used to mean. Lloyd Blankfein, Hank Paulson, David Solomon and others spoke to the FT about how a quarter-century of public ownership has changed Wall Street banks.

I'm also reading. . .

• sale: Protests calling for universities to divest from Israel-affiliated organizations should serve as a wake-up call to institutional investors about the need for transparency, writes Brooke Masters.

• Long corona: Four years after the pandemic first began, measuring the impact of the condition on health systems and the workforce is still proving difficult.

• The $9 trillion question: How will we pay for the green transition? Achieving climate change goals will be costly.

• US real estate market: Robin Wigglesworth reviews recent government documents regarding the “lock-in effect” that is distorting the US residential real estate market.

chart of the day

The 2024 US presidential election is shaping up to be an unusually close race, similar to the 2020 election that gave Biden victory with just 43,000 votes out of 155 million cast. With six months left, the race is here.

Take a break from the news

What do Michelin stars tell us about the world? Janan Ganesh explores the similarities between geopolitics and fine dining, and how the West's relative loss of power is reflected in restaurant guides. I will explain.

With Tee Zhuo benjamin wilhelm