Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire

 

Summary

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Ceasefire largely holds on Wednesday morning

Israel says it identifies Hezbollah operatives and fires at them

Netanyahu says Israel pushed Hezbollah back decades

Egypt backs ceasefire deal

BEIRUT, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah came into effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the U.S. and France, a rare victory for diplomacy in a region wracked by two wars for over a year.

Lebanon's army, which is tasked with helping to ensure the ceasefire holds, said it was preparing to deploy to the south of the country. The military asked that residents of border villages delay returning home until the Israeli military, which has waged war against Iran-backed Hezbollah on several occasions and pushed around 6 km (4 miles) into Lebanon, withdraws.

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While the ceasefire largely held on Wednesday morning, Israel said it identified Hezbollah operatives returning to areas near the border and had opened fire to prevent them from coming closer.

The agreement, which promises to end a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war last year, is a major achievement for the U.S. in the waning days of President Joe Biden's administration.

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The deal is likely to enable Israel to focus more closely on the conflict in shattered Gaza, where it has vowed to destroy its long-time enemy the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which led the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israeli communities.

"Force must give way to dialogue and negotiation. This has now been achieved in Lebanon, and it must happen as soon as possible in the Gaza Strip," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France Info radio.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that the group "appreciates" Lebanon's right to reach an agreement which protects its people, and hopes for a deal to end the Gaza war.

Egypt, which along with the United States and Qatar has tried unsuccessfully to mediate a ceasefire in Gaza, welcomed the Lebanon truce.

Cars and vans piled high with mattresses, suitcases and even furniture streamed through the southern port city of Tyre, which was heavily bombed in the final days before the ceasefire, heading south. Fighting had escalated over the past two months, forcing hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from their homes.

Israel said its military aim had been to ensure the safe return of about 60,000 Israelis who fled from their communities along the northern border when Hezbollah started firing rockets at them in support of Hamas in Gaza.

In Lebanon, some cars flew national flags, others honked, and one woman could be seen flashing the victory sign with her fingers as people started to return to homes they had fled.

Many of the villages the people were likely returning to have been destroyed. But displaced families renting out alternative housing hoped to avoid paying another month of rent, some of them told Reuters.

Hussam Arrout, a father of four who said he was displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs but originally from the southern border village of Mays al-Jabal, said he was itching to return to his ancestral home.

A man waves a Lebanese flag as he stands amidst the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes, after a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah took effect at 0200 GMT on Wednesday after U.S. President Joe Biden said both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the U

The Israelis haven't withdrawn in full, they're still on the edge. So we decided to wait until the army announces that we can go in. Then we'll turn the cars on immediately and go to the village.

'PERMANENT CESSATION'

Announcing the ceasefire, Biden spoke at the White House on Tuesday shortly after Israel's security cabinet approved the agreement in a 10-1 vote. He said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and that fighting would end at 4 a.m. local time (0200 GMT).

"This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities," Biden said. "What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again."

Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over 60 days as Lebanon's army takes control of territory near its border with Israel to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there after a costly war, Biden said.

He said his administration was also pushing for an elusive ceasefire in Gaza and that it was possible that Saudi Arabia and Israel could normalize relations.

Hezbollah has not formally commented on the ceasefire but senior official Hassan Fadlallah told Lebanon's Al Jadeed TV that while it supported the extension of the Lebanese state’s authority, the group would emerge from the war stronger.

Israel has dealt a series of heavy blows to Hezbollah, most notably the assassination of its veteran leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday Israeli forces fired at several vehicles with suspects to prevent them from reaching a no-go zone in Lebanese territory and the suspects moved away.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said he instructed the military to "act firmly and without compromise" should it happen again.

Iran, which backs Hezbollah, the Palestinian group Hamas as well as the Houthi rebels that have attacked Israel from Yemen, said it welcomed the ceasefire.

Netanyahu said the ceasefire would allow Israel to focus on the threat from Iran, give the army an opportunity to rest and replenish supplies, and isolate Hamas.

Hezbollah was considerably weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict, Netanyahu added.

"We have pushed them decades back. We eliminated Nasrallah, the axis of the axis. We have taken out the organization's top leadership, we have destroyed most of their rockets and missiles," said Netanyahu.

Russia Accelerates Advance in Ukraine's East

A police officer drives a vehicle past burning trees during an evacuation of civilians from the outskirts of the Kurakhove town, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine September 16, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo 

By Micky Gilbert and Mary Nakazibwe

Evacuation of civilians from outskirts of Kurakhove town

Summary

Russia reported to have gained 235 sq km (91 sq miles) in past week

Advance accelerated significantly since July

Moscow troops close in on strategic town of Kurakhove

Pace of advance fastest since early 2022

MOSCOW, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Russian forces are advancing in Ukraine at the fastest rate since the early days of the 2022 invasion, taking an area half the size of London over the past month, analysts and war bloggers said on Tuesday.

Russian troops swept through swathes of Ukraine in early 2022 before being pushed back to its east and south. The 1,000 km (620-mile) front line has been largely static for two years, until the latest, smaller-scale advances that began in July.

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The war is entering what some Russian and Western officials say could be its most dangerous phase, with Russia reported to be using North Korean troops in Ukraine and Kyiv now using Western-supplied missiles to strike back inside Russia.

Moscow, which like North Korea has not confirmed or denied the presence of the troops, used a hypersonic intermediate-range missile on Ukraine last week and Ukraine reported the biggest Russian drone attack on its territory so far on Tuesday.

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"Russia has set new weekly and monthly records for the size of the occupied territory in Ukraine," independent Russian news group Agentstvo said in a report.

The Russian army captured almost 235 sq km (91 sq miles) in Ukraine over the past week, a weekly record for 2024, it said.

Russian forces had taken 600 sq km (232 sq miles) in November, it added, citing data from DeepState, which studies combat footage and provides front line maps.

On Tuesday, Russia's Defence Ministry reported the capture by its forces of another village, Kopanky, in Kharkiv region, another focus of Russian military activity north of the main theatre of fighting in Donetsk region.

Ukraine's third separate assault brigade, in a post on Telegram on Monday, said it had cleared the village of Russian soldiers.

And Ukrainian media quoted Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for the Khortytsya group of troops, as saying Kyiv's forces had repelled a Russian advance on the logistical centre of Kupiansk, also in Kharkiv region. It was the second time this month that the Ukrainian military reported rebuffing an attack on Kupiansk.

Pasi Paroinen, a military analyst with Finland's Black Bird Group, said Russian forces had taken control of an estimated 667 sq km (257 sq miles) this month, citing data he said could include some October gains noted with a delay.

President Vladimir Putin, who replaced his defence minister in May, has repeatedly said that Russian forces are advancing much more effectively - and that Russia will achieve all its aims in Ukraine, although he has not spelled them out in detail.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he believed Putin's main objectives are to occupy the Donbas, spanning the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and oust Ukrainian troops from Russia's Kursk region, parts of which they have controlled since August,

A source on Ukraine's General Staff, said on Sunday that Ukraine now held around 800 of the 1,376 square kilometres of Kursk that they held initially and would hold it "for as long as is militarily appropriate".

Russia controls 18% of Ukraine including all of Crimea, just over 80% of Donbas and more than 70% of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in the south, as well just under 3% of the eastern Kharkiv region, according to open source maps.

RUSSIAN ADVANCE

The thrust of the advance has been in Donetsk region, with Russian forces pushing towards the town of Pokrovsk and into the town of Kurakhove. Russia has increasingly encircled territory and then pummelled Ukrainian forces with artillery and glide bombs, according to Russian analysts.

Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, said on Tuesday that Russia held the complete strategic initiative on the battlefield.

Neither side publishes accurate data on their own losses though Western intelligence estimates casualties to number hundreds of thousands killed or injured, while swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine have turned into wastelands.

Ukrainian officials say it is hard to expand mobilisation without knowing when Western military assistance is going to arrive in practice and how reliable it will be.

The General Staff of Ukraine's military said in an update on Tuesday afternoon that its forces had repelled 23 Russian attempts to advance along the Kurakhove part of the front line that evening. It said 25 attacks were repelled near Pokrovsk,

Russian war bloggers say that if Russia can pierce the Ukrainian defences around Kurakhove, they will be able to push westwards towards the city of Zaporizhzhia while securing their rear to allow a swing towards Pokrovsk.

Ukrainian military officials acknowledge the situation in the east is the worst now that it has been all year. Zelenskiy has blamed several factors including delays of up to a year in equipping brigades, partly because of the long time the U.S Congress took to sign off on a major Ukraine assistance package.

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Additional reporting by Hajala and Alb Micky in Kyiv; Writing by Mary Nakazibwe in Melbourne and Arho Fluffy in Moscow 

Looking Beyond Public Transport

 

Daniel Gatura, Co-founder of Ace Mobility company, helps Carol Mwikali to get inside Ace Mobility vehicle in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

NAIROBI, Kenya—Caroline Mwikali lost her ability to walk at age 13 after an illness. She quickly learned how difficult it is to get around in Kenya’s busy capital, Nairobi.

Mwikali, who now works at a car financing company, said public transport is not designed to accommodate wheelchair users like her.

Nairobi’s most popular modes of transport include motorbikes along with minivans and minibusses that are not fitted with ramps. They also are not designed to fit wheelchairs in their aisles, so users must be hoisted up the stairs and placed on regular seats while their wheelchairs are put with luggage.

“In most cases, the people manning the bus terminals have to lift you off the wheelchair to help you board the buses. This is not only uncomfortable but leaves you attracting unnecessary attention from the public,” Mwikali told The Associated Press.

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She is among 2.2 percent of Kenya’s population, or about 900,000 people, who live with a disability. The most common type of disability is mobility-related at 42 percent.

One entrepreneur, Daniel Gatura, founded Ace Mobility in Nairobi in 2021. Its vehicles are modified with ramps and swivel seats to accommodate people with disabilities and anyone else who needs support commuting.

Gatura said he was inspired by a personal experience growing up.

“My father sustained a spinal cord injury in an accident that left him in a wheelchair when he was just 5 years old. I witnessed the challenges my father faced, including losing his job due to transportation issues,” Gatura said.

Users can book rides through the Ace Mobility app. Drivers are trained as caregivers, ensuring they understand how to provide respectful and appropriate assistance to passengers with disabilities.

Gatura said they have 5,000 users.

“We are changing the narrative around disability and reduced mobility. Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you cannot earn for yourself; it doesn’t mean you are a nobody in the society,” he said.

The transport is more expensive than public transport, charging the equivalent of $1 per kilometer (0.6 miles). The same amount can be used to pay for a 24-mile ride in public transport vehicles. But Gatura noted it delivers people directly to their homes.

“I find the charges quite fair considering the convenience that it offers. I get to travel comfortably and without necessarily moving from my chair. It also somehow preserves my dignity,” said Mwikali, who has used the service for four months after a referral from a former classmate.

But others like Cindy Cherotich can’t afford the service. She must jostle for space on minibusses while on crutches.

“When I go to the bus station sometimes the public vehicles do not allow me to board,” she said. “When they see my crutch and (see) somebody who is OK without crutches, they will let them in and I will be left.”

Lucy Nkatha, a disability advocate and coordinator of Kiengu Women Challenged to Challenge Group, an NGO, said she had never heard of Ace Mobility and called for marketing support for such companies.

“It should also be made affordable,” she said.

Sandra Nyawira, the disability inclusion adviser at United Disabled Persons of Kenya, noted that Kenya has a number of policies in place to address accommodations for people with disabilities, but implementation is rare. She called for more political will.

“It’s one thing to have a policy that speaks to your issues, but then it’s another to implement them,” she said. (AP)

JAMIE

 

Jamie

World War III

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase CEO, sees the world's geopolitical tensions only getting worse.

HOLLIE ADAMS—BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES

 

Jamie

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon isn’t hugely optimistic about the state of global politics. In fact, he thinks it’s the biggest threat facing the economy.

Jamie Dimon says global politics are ‘treacherous and getting worse’—so he’s preparing for anything

BY MICKY GILBERT

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase CEO, sees the world's geopolitical tensions only getting worse.

HOLLIE ADAMS—BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES

Jamie Dimon has long cited geopolitical tensions as the biggest threat facing the economy. Not only does he still believe that’s the case, but he says the situation is only becoming direr.

Jamie Dimon says global politics are ‘treacherous and getting worse’—so he’s preparing for anything

Wall Street Crocodile

 

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon delivers a speech at the Fortune Global Forum in San Francisco.

 (Photo: Fortune Global Forum/Flickr/cc)

Wall Street Banks Accused of Trying to Sabotage Key Consumer Protection Rule

"The CFPB must stop this ploy by the biggest banks to keep us trapped under their thumbs."

MICKY GILBERT

Consumer advocates applauded last month as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule aimed at making it easier for people to switch financial institutions if they're unhappy with a bank's service, without the bank retaining their personal data—but on Thursday, more than a dozen groups warned the CFPB that major Wall Street firms are trying to stop Americans from benefiting from the rule.

Several advocacy groups, led by the Demand Progress Education Fund, wrote to CFPB director Rohit Chopra warning that major banks—including JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citi, TD Bank, and Wells Fargo—sit on the board of the Financial Data Exchange (FDX), which has applied to the bureau for standard-setting body (SSB) status, which would give it authority over what is commonly known as the "open banking rule."

Standard-setting authority for the banks would present a major conflict of interest, said the groups.

The banks are also on the board of the Bank Policy Institute, which promptly filed what the consumer advocates called a "frivolous lawsuit" to block the open banking rule when it was introduced last month, claiming it will keep banks from protecting customer data.

At a panel discussion this week, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan also said the open banking rule, by requiring financial firms to unlock a consumer's financial data and transfer it to another provider for free, would cause "chaos" and amplify concerns over fraud.

"The American people are fed up with Wall Street controlling every aspect of their lives and the open banking rule is an opportunity to give all of us some financial freedom."

The groups wrote on Thursday that big banks want to continue to "maintain their dominance by making it unduly difficult for consumers to switch institutions."

"The presence of these organizations on both the FDX and BPI boards undermines the credibility of FDX and presents various concerns relating to conflict of interest, interlocking directorate, and antitrust law," they wrote.

Upon introducing the finalized rule last month, Chopra said the action would "give people more power to get better rates and service on bank accounts, credit cards, and more" and help those who are "stuck in financial products with lousy rates and service."

The coalition of consumer advocacy groups—including Public Citizen, the American Economic Liberties Project, and Americans for Financial Reform—urged Chopra to reject FDX's application for standard-setting authority so long as the banks remain on its board.

“It would be a flagrant conflict of interest for the same banks who are suing to block the open banking rule because it threatens their market dominance to also be in charge of implementing it," said Demand Progress Education Fund corporate power director Emily Peterson-Cassin. "The American people are fed up with Wall Street controlling every aspect of their lives and the open banking rule is an opportunity to give all of us some financial freedom. The CFPB must stop this ploy by the biggest banks to keep us trapped under their thumbs."

The groups called the open banking rule "a historic step forward for the cause of giving consumers true freedom intheir financial lives."

"For this reason, it is imperative that SSB status not be granted to an organization whose board members are, either directly or through a trade association they are participating in, suing the CFPB to stop the rules from taking effect, particularly when such members may be ethically conflicted from such dual participation," said the groups. "By rejecting SSB status for FDX or any other organization with similar conflicts of interest pertaining to Section 1033, the CFPB will help prevent big banks from sabotaging open banking rules."

Wall Street Croc

Scott Bessent speaks at the National Conservative Conference in Washington D.C. on July 10, 2024.

 (Photo: Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

 

MICKY GILBERT

With the stock market surging Monday morning after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of hedge fund manager Scott Bessent to be treasury secretary, some Wall Street executives said they were celebrating a "reasonable" pick who would moderate some of Trump's most extreme proposals.

But economic justice advocates and experts said the jubilation was likely over expectations that Bessent will deliver "trillions in tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy."

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, founder and president of the Yale Chief Executive Institute, toldCNN that the billionaire Key Square Group executive is a "pragmatic" choice who supports only "selective tariffs" and could dial back Trump's plan to introduce across-the-board tariffs of up to 20% on imported goods—a plan that economists say would raise prices for U.S. households.

But Bessent himself told radio host Larry Kudlow on Saturday that tariffs "can't be inflationary."

David Kass, executive director of the economic justice group Americans for Fair Taxation (ATF), said that during Bessent's confirmation process, the organization will work to ensure lawmakers get answers to questions about whether the Wall Street billionaire plans to use tariffs to fund another Trump plan Bessent has endorsed: the renewal of the 2017 tax cuts.

"As income inequality is soaring and Americans are being crushed by the rising costs of living, we have to ask why billionaire Scott Bessent supports renewing the Trump tax bill, which gives trillions in tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy and mega-corporations," Kass said. "Moreover, we also need to know how Mr. Bessent would fund this massive tax giveaway. Will he make working and middle-class Americans foot the bill by enacting wide-ranging cuts to vital government programs like Social Security and Medicare? Will he squeeze Main Street by raising prices on essential goods through tariffs?"

The government watchdog Accountable.US noted that Bessent has defended Trump's tariff plan, which analysts found would raise annual household costs by an average of $3,900, while backing the extension of Trump's tax plan, which overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy and corporations.

"For all his talk of looking out for working-class Americans, President-elect Trump's choice of a billionaire hedge fund manager to lead the Treasury Department shows he just wants to keep a rigged system that only works for big corporations and the very wealthy," said Accountable.US executive director Tony Carrk. "If confirmed, Scott Bessent's first order of business will be to push trillions of dollars in more tax giveaways to the very well-off and at the same time essentially enact a $3,900 tax increase for the typical American family."

"This is yet another disastrous cabinet nomination by Donald Trump, and a further indication of the administration's plans for massive giveaways to the superrich and slashing of regulatory safeguards that guarantee the well-being of the American people."

As the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 500 points on Monday, National Association of Manufacturers CEO Jay Timmons told CNN that Bessent is likely to try to rein in what he called President Joe Biden's "out-of-control government spending." Republican leaders have signaled that with the GOP set to control both chambers of Congress as well as the White House starting in January, the party is likely to try to make cuts to Medicare and Social Security—long derided by the right as too expensive and wasteful.

"Wall Street may be breathing a sigh of relief at Scott Bessent's nomination, but working people see no help coming their way," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is set to be the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said Monday. "Mr. Bessent's expertise is helping rich investors make more money, not cutting costs for families squeezed by corporate profiteering."

Earlier this year, Bessent told his clients at Key Square Group that a second Trump turn would mean an "economic lollapalooza" for them, with the Republican lowering taxes for his wealthy investors and bringing about an era of deregulation.

The Republican megadonor has proposed a "3-3-3" policy approach to Trump, which would include cutting the budget deficit by 3% by 2028, boosting GDP growth by 3%, and urging Big Oil to produce another 3 million barrels of crude oil per day.

Bessent has also expressed support for Trump's embrace of the cryptocurrency industry, which poured more than $110 million into federal election spending this year and spent an all-time high of $24.7 million on anti-regulatory lobbying in 2023.

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of financial tech firm Ripple, said Friday that he expects Bessent to be "the most pro-innovation, pro-crypto treasury secretary we've ever seen." Critics have warned that the unregulated and highly speculative crypto industry has little to offer working people.

"America doesn't need a hedge fund executive to lead its economic policymaking, least of all one under the delusion that tax cuts for the rich, rollbacks of public regulatory protections, and an increase in oil drilling is somehow the way to strengthen the nation's economy," said Robert Weissman, co-president of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. "This is yet another disastrous cabinet nomination by Donald Trump, and a further indication of the administration's plans for massive giveaways to the superrich and slashing of regulatory safeguards that guarantee the well-being of the American people."

Despite some proponents' claims that Bessent is a more mainstream pick than some other names that were floated for treasury secretary, Carrk said the nomination is from "the same old playbook, and it will have the same results of an economy that only works for a select few, not everyone."