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The Israeli military has told tens of thousands of Palestinians to leave the southern Gazan city of Rafah as Israel’s defence minister warned of an imminent military “operation”.
At least 100,000 civilians in Rafah should move to what Israel calls a humanitarian zone on the Mediterranean, an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told reporters, in “a limited scope” operation as part of a “gradual plan”.
The evacuation order came a day after three Israeli soldiers were killed in a mortar attack on the Israeli side of the area being evacuated, near the Kerem Shalom border crossing that is crucial for humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza.
Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, told troops in Gaza yesterday that there were “worrying signs” that negotiations over a ceasefire and a hostage swap with militant group Hamas were stalling. “The implication of this is an operation in Rafah and all of the Gaza Strip in the very near future,” he said. “We are a moment before action.” Here’s the latest from Israel.
Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:
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Markets: Shares on Wall Street are expected to make small gains at the open after recording their best day in two months on Friday, following the release of a critical jobs report that undershot expectations.
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Companies: Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Tyson Foods report results before the market opens. Coty and Palantir will report after the close.
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Monetary policy: Richmond Fed president Tom Barkin will deliver a speech at the Columbia Rotary Club in South Carolina. New York Fed president John Williams will participate in a conversation moderated by Financial Times journalist Brooke Masters at the Milken Institute’s 27th annual Global Conference.
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France-China relations: Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron are set to hold talks in Paris today, with trade tensions shaping up to be a central theme of the Chinese president’s first trip to Europe in five years.
Five more top stories
1. Panama is on track to elect conservative José Raúl Mulino to the presidency, according to preliminary results, after he stood in for a popular ex-president convicted of money laundering. Mulino held 34 per cent of the vote yesterday evening with 92 per cent of the ballots counted, while Ricardo Lombana, an outsider anti-corruption candidate, was in second place with 25 per cent. Here’s the latest on the highly unusual vote.
2. A US crackdown on banks financing trade in goods for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has made it much more difficult to move money in and out of Russia, according to senior western officials and Russian financiers. Moscow’s trade volumes with key partners such as Turkey and China slumped in the first quarter of this year as lenders were prompted to drop Russian counterparties. “The logical endpoint of this is turning Russia into Iran,” said a senior Russian investor.
3. Warren Buffett said Greg Abel should have the final decision on investments at Berkshire Hathaway, handing his successor responsibility for how hundreds of billions of dollars are allocated. “I think the responsibility ought to be entirely with Greg,” Buffett said from the stage at the CHI Health Center in downtown Omaha. Eric Platt and Michela Tindera report on Saturday’s annual meeting.
4. Revenues at boutique banks are surging as high interest rates force more companies to seek advice on how to restructure debt and tap fresh liquidity. Advisory fees at five of the six major listed independent investment banks — Evercore, Lazard, Moelis, Perella Weinberg and PJT Partners — together jumped 21 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, relative to a year ago. Here’s a round-up of the independents’ results.
5. 777 Partners has been accused by one of its lenders of a fraud running into hundreds of millions of dollars, in the latest setback for the Miami-based investment firm’s attempted takeover of Everton Football Club. According to the lawsuit, 777 owes more than $600mn in debt to London asset manager Leadenhall Capital and Leadenhall Life, a related investment company. Read more on the lawsuit that was filed on Friday.
Today’s big read
Goldman Sachs’ IPO in May 1999 was a seminal moment for the then 130-year-old investment bank, and its 221-strong partnership. But being a Goldman partner in 2024 no longer means what it once did. Lloyd Blankfein, Hank Paulson, David Solomon and others talk to the FT about how a quarter of a century of public ownership has changed the Wall Street bank.
We’re also reading . . .
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Divestment: Protests demanding that universities divest from Israel-linked groups should be a wake-up call for institutional investors about the need for transparency, writes Brooke Masters.
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Long Covid: The impact of the condition on health systems and the workforce is still proving difficult to measure four years after the pandemic first emerged.
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The $9tn question: How to pay for the green transition? The bill for meeting climate goals will be immense.
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US property market: Robin Wigglesworth reviews a recent government paper on the “lock-in effect” that is distorting the US residential property market.
Chart of the day
The 2024 US presidential election is shaping up to be an exceptionally close rematch of the 2020 race, when just 43,000 votes out of 155mn cast delivered victory for Biden. With six months to go, here is where the race stands.
Take a break from the news
What can Michelin stars tell us about the world? Janan Ganesh explains what geopolitics and fine dining have in common, and how the west’s relative loss of power is reflected in the restaurant guide.
Additional contributions from Tee Zhuo and Benjamin Wilhelm
