World Biz
World leaders urge restraint as Israel says it will respond to Iran’s attack
Israel’s military chief said Monday that the country will respond after Iran launched an attack involving hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. World leaders are urging Israel not to retaliate.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says “all sides must show restraint” to avoid a rising spiral of violence in the Middle East. French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris will try to “convince Israel that we must not respond by escalating.”
The Iranian attack on Saturday marked the first time Iran has launched a direct military assault on Israel, despite decades of enmity dating back to the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. The attack happened less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria that killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building.
An Israeli military spokesman said that 99% of the drones and missiles launched by Iran were intercepted.
Israel and Iran have been on a collision course throughout Israel’s six-month war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. The war erupted after Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a devastating cross-border attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others.
An Israeli offensive in Gaza has caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,700 people, according to local health officials.
Israel’s military chief says the country will respond to Iran’s missile strike over the weekend.
Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Monday that Israel is still considering its steps. But he said the Iranian strike of missiles and attack drones “will be met with a response.”
Halevi spoke during a visit to the Nevatim air base, which Israel says suffered light damage in the Iranian attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been huddling with top officials to discuss a possible response
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked a freeway leading to three Chicago O’Hare International Airport terminals Monday morning, temporarily stopping vehicle traffic into one of the nation’s busiest airports and causing headaches for travelers.
Protesters linked arms and blocked lanes of Interstate 190 around 7 a.m., a demonstration they said was part of a global “economic blockade to free Palestine,” according to Rifqa Falaneh, one of the organizers. Similar demonstrations blocking a freeway in California’s Bay Area also took place Monday.
O’Hare warned travelers on the social platform X to take alternative forms of transportation with car travel “substantially delayed this morning due to protest activity.”
A United Nations Security Council meeting on Yemen on Monday touched on the risk of escalation after Iran’s attack on Israel.
Diplomats are calling this “a particularly dangerous moment in the Middle East,” as U.N. special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said.
“The need for broader regional de-escalation is acute,” he added. “I share the secretary-general’s alarm about the very real danger of regionwide escalation and his urging to all parties for maximum restraint.”
A U.N. Security Council emergency meeting Sunday to discuss the attack ended without any action taken.
“Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said. “Now is the time for maximum restraint.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says “all sides must show restraint” to avoid a rising spiral of violence in the Middle East.
Sunak on Monday condemned Iran’s attack on Israel as “a reckless and dangerous escalation.” He said he would speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express the U.K.’s solidarity with Israel “and to discuss how we can prevent further escalation.”
Britain is urging Israel to refrain from a retaliatory strike. Sunak told lawmakers in the House of Commons that “we want to see calmer heads prevail.”
He said Israel’s security is “non-negotiable,” but added that the conflict in Gaza must be brought to an end, and the world “must invest more deeply in the two-state solution.”
Iran had about 150 ballistic missiles capable of reaching Israel from Iranian territory, and appears to have used up most of that current stockpile in its weekend attack, retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former head of U.S. CENTCOM said Monday.
McKenzie discussed the attack in a panel discussion with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, a Washington-based think tank and lobbying group.
McKenzie argued that Iran’s expenditure of those 150 long-range missiles, out of a total ballistic missile stockpile of about 3,000, showed that Iran’s barrage on Israel “was a maximum effort. It was an indiscriminate effort.”
The U.S. and its partners in the region are easily able to track when Iran brings its ballistic missiles out of storage and positions them on launch pads, he said.
When Iran launches, deep space sensors detect that immediately, he said. Radars in the region then catch when any missiles break the radar plane, he said.
Especially given the distance involved, “it is hard for Iran to generate a bolt from the blue against Israel,” McKenzie said.
The Kremlin is “extremely concerned” about the situation in the Middle East, its spokesman said Monday.
Dmitry Peskov told his daily conference call with reporters that Moscow urges “all countries in the region to show restraint.”
“Further escalation is in no one’s interests. Therefore, of course, we advocate that all disagreements be resolved exclusively by political and diplomatic methods,” Peskov said.
AUSTRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CONDEMNS IRAN’S ATTACK
Austria’s foreign minister has spoken with his Iranian counterpart to condemn Tehran’s attack on Israel and call on Iran to rein in its proxies in the Middle East.
Alexander Schallenberg said in a statement he told Iran’s Hossein Amirabdollahian on Monday that “we cannot afford another front in the Middle East. There would only be losers, in the region and beyond.”
Schallenberg said he also urged Amirabdollahian to “exercise Iran’s influence on proxies in the region.”
Austria hosted talks on Iran’s nuclear agreement with world powers in 2015.
Amirabdollahian already spoke on Sunday with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. A spokesperson for Baerbock, Christian Wagner, said Iran’s ambassador to Germany was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Berlin on Monday.
OIL PRICES FALL AFTER IRAN’S STRIKE ON ISRAEL IS THWARTED
Oil prices fell Monday after Iran’s missile and drone strike failed to cause widespread damage in Israel and the U.S. administration made it clear it did not support a wider war with Iran.
Analysts say the chief risk to oil prices from the Israel-Hamas war is if the conflict escalates and disrupts oil supplies from Iran and Persian Gulf producers through the Strait of Hormuz choke point.
The stance taken by Iran, which said the matter “can be deemed concluded” with the retaliatory strikes, and the U.S. position reassured oil traders, who sent the price of international benchmark Brent crude 0.7% lower to $89.82 per barrel in Monday morning trading. That is below the levels just above $90 per barrel seen on Friday before the weekend attacks.
Risks that could send prices higher include any Israeli strike against Iranian oil facilities or tougher enforcement of sanctions against Iran by the U.S. “Any retaliation by Israel … especially one that targets Iran’s oil facilities, will have major implications for energy markets,” said analysts at S&P Global.
Tougher sanctions enforcement against Iranian oil shipments by the U.S. could raise oil prices but would risk higher inflation and pump prices for U.S. motorists in an election year.
4 ISRAELI SOLDIERS WOUNDED IN A BLAST ALONG THE BORDER WITH LEBANON
The Israeli military says four soldiers were wounded by an explosion along the northern border with Lebanon.
The military said that the source of the explosion, which occurred overnight, was still unclear. It left one soldier severely wounded, two moderately wounded, and one with light injuries.
The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said Monday that mines they set up in southern Lebanon near the border detonated after Israeli ground troops encroached on Lebanese territory, incurring casualties.
The incident comes as tensions in the region soared after an Iranian air assault was thwarted by Israel and its allies. Israel has not said whether it will respond.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on Oct. 7, concerns have grown that near-daily clashes along the border between Israel and Hezbollah could escalate into a full-scale war.
GERMAN CHANCELLOR CALLS ON ISRAEL TO CONTRIBUTE TO DE-ESCALATION
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is calling on Israel to “contribute to de-escalation” in the Middle East following Iran’s attack on the country.
Scholz told reporters in Shanghai on Monday that “Iran must stop this aggression.”
Asked whether he will attempt to dissuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from a military response to Saturday night’s attack, he said there’s widespread agreement that Israel’s success in largely repelling the attack with allies’ help was “really impressive.”
He added that “this is a success that perhaps also should not be thrown away. Hence also our advice to contribute to de-escalation themselves.”
Germany is a staunch ally of Israel.
AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS URGE ISRAEL, IRAN TO AVOID ESCALATION
Some African governments are urging Israel and Iran to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
While Iran’s attack on Israel “represents a real and present threat to international peace and security,” Israel should “show utmost restraint” in its response, President William Ruto of Kenya said in a statement posted on social platform X.
The warring parties “must exercise the utmost restraint and avoid any act that would escalate tensions in a particularly fragile region,” South Africa’s government said in a statement Sunday.
Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry urged Israel and Iran to “reflect on the universal commitment to peaceful resolution of conflicts.”
GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY REPORTS 68 DEAD IN LAST 24 HOURS
The Health Ministry in Gaza on Monday said the bodies of 68 people killed in Israel’s bombardment have been brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours. Another 94 were wounded, it said.
The fresh fatalities brought the death toll in the strip to 33,797 since the war began on Oct. 7, it said. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants, but said two thirds of the dead are children and women.
Another 76,456 were wounded in the war, the ministry said.
The ministry said many casualties remain under the rubble and first responders have been unable to retrieve them amid the relentless bombing.
Israel launched its war on Hamas after the militant group’s complex attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israeli authorities say 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and roughly 250 people taken hostage in the attack. Israel says it has killed 12,000 militants in its offensive, without providing evidence.
ISRAELI MILITARY WARNS PALESTINIANS NOT TO RETURN TO NORTHERN GAZA
The Israeli military renewed warnings on Monday for Palestinians in Gaza not to return to the embattled territory’s north, a day after five people were killed trying to reach their homes in the war-torn area.
The military said Palestinians should stay in southern Gaza where they have been told to shelter because the north is a “dangerous combat zone,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on social platform X.
On Sunday, hundreds of Palestinians sheltering in central Gaza headed north in an attempt to return to their homes. Throngs of people were seen crowding a seaside road.
Hospital authorities in Gaza said five people were shot by Israeli forces while trying to head north. The Israeli military had no immediate comment and the precise circumstances behind the deaths were not immediately clear.
The returnees said they were prompted to make the journey north because they were fed up with the difficult conditions they are forced to live under while displaced.
Northern Gaza was an early target in Israel’s war against Hamas, which it launched in response to the militant group’s deadly Oct. 7 attack. The military is still operating in the north in a bid to stamp out militants that have regrouped.
Vast parts of northern Gaza have been flattened by Israel’s offensive and much of its population displaced.
BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY URGES ISRAEL TO AVOID STRIKING BACK AT IRAN
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has urged Israel “to be smart as well as tough” and avoid striking back at Iran in response to its drone and missile barrage.
Cameron told the BBC that the U.K. does not support a retaliatory strike. The U.K.’s top diplomat said the attack had been a defeat for Iran and echoed President Joe Biden, who urged Israel to “take the win.”
Cameron said Britain’s message to Israel is: “Now is the time to be smart as well as tough, to think with head as well as heart.”
He said British fighter jets had played an “important part” in shooting down some of the more than 300 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones fired at Israel from Iran, but did not provide details.
MACRON SAYS IRAN’S ATTACK ON ISRAEL WAS A ‘DISPROPORTIONATE RESPONSE’
French President Emmanuel Macron said Iran’s attack on Israel was a “disproportionate response” to the bombing of its consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Firing a barrage of missiles and drones on Israel was an “unprecedented, very dangerous” act in the volatile Middle East, Macron said of Saturday’s attacks.
Speaking to French media BFMTV and RMC on Monday, Macron said that France had carried out “interceptions” of missiles that Iran aimed at Israel at the request of Jordan.
“We have condemned, we have intervened, we will do everything to avoid an escalation, an inferno,” Macron said.
He said France will try to “convince Israel that we must not respond by escalating.”
Instead of retaliating by attacking Tehran, France will work to “isolate Iran, increase sanctions and find a path to peace in the region,” Macron said.
GERMAN FM TELLS IRANIAN COUNTERPART NOT TO FURTHER ESCALATE TENSIONS
Germany’s foreign minister says she has made “unmistakably” clear to her Iranian counterpart that Tehran must not further escalate tensions in the Middle East.
Annalena Baerbock spoke by phone Sunday with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, following a previous conversation last week before Iran’s attack on Israel. She said she “warned him unmistakably against a further escalation.”
She said at a news conference in Paris on Monday that “Iran is isolated.” She added that “Israel won in a defensive way” thanks to its strong air defense and the intervention of the U.S., Britain and Arab countries.
Baerbock said that “it is now important to secure this defensive victory diplomatically” and prevent a regional confrontation.
Asked whether Israel has the right to strike back against Iran, Baerbock said that “the right to self-defense means fending off an attack; retaliation is not a category in international law.” She said she had made that point to Amirabdollahian last week.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday addressed the nation for the first time since dropping his reelection bid, saying he decided to forgo personal ambition to save democracy in a sedate Oval Office speech that contrasted with the rough-and-tumble campaign.
Shortly before his speech, Republican Donald Trump laid into Democratic rival Kamala Harris in his first rally since she replaced Biden atop the ticket, signalling a bare-knuckled campaign ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Trump branded Harris a “radical left lunatic” after she had dominated the campaign the two previous days with withering attacks on Trump that pointedly raised his felony convictions, his liability for sexual abuse, and fraud judgments against his business, charitable foundation and private university.
Biden said he believed he deserved to be reelected based on his record during his first term, but his love of country led him to step aside.
“I decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That is the best way to unite our nation,” Biden said, after previously resisting calls from within the party that he quit the race following his poor showing in a June 27 debate with Trump.
Biden, at 81 the oldest president in U.S. history, was greeted by cheers, applause and music in the Rose Garden after the address, as his staff had converged on the White House for a viewing party.
Trump was less kind, saying in a post on his Truth Social platform that Biden’s speech was “barely understandable and sooo bad!”
After spending much of the campaign attacking Biden as old and feeble, Trump, 78, now faces a younger candidate in Harris, 59, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president.
Energising many Democrats as potentially the first woman to take the White House, Harris quickly consolidated the party behind her, as her campaign said it had raised $126 million since Sunday, with 64% of donors making their first contribution of the 2024 campaign.
With nobody stepping up to challenge her for the nomination, she won the backing of party delegates on Monday, a day after Biden’s announcement.
The next highly anticipated development will be Harris’ choice of a vice presidential candidate to counter Trump’s selection of Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. Among the names being mentioned are Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The Democratic National Committee’s rules committee agreed on Wednesday on a plan to formally nominate Harris as soon as Aug. 1 – before the party’s Aug. 19-22 convention in Chicago – with Harris picking a running mate by Aug. 7.
Biden praised Harris as a strong leader who would make an effective president.
“She’s experienced, she’s tough, she’s capable. She’s been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country. Now the choice is up to you the American people,” he said.
Trump tried to quash some of her momentum in an aggressive speech at a campaign rally.
“I’m not gonna be nice!” he told his cheering supporters in Charlotte, North Carolina, a battleground state where voting preferences can swing to either side.
Harris on Tuesday showed her willingness to throw a punch, contrasting her background as a prosecutor to his record as a convicted felon.
“Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?,” she asked during the speech in Milwaukee.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Tuesday showed Harris with a two-percentage-point lead over Trump, 44% to 42%. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS showed Trump leading Harris, 49% to 46%. Both findings were within the polls’ margins of error.
Donald Trump was shot in the right ear during a campaign rally on Saturday, sparking panic in the crowd and spattering the Republican presidential candidate’s blood across his face, before he emerged and pumped his fist in the air appearing to mouth the words “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
The shooter was dead, one rally attendee was killed and two other spectators were injured, the Secret Service said in a statement.
“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “Much bleeding took place.”
As the shots rang out, Trump grabbed his right ear with his right hand, then brought his hand down to look at it before dropping to his knees behind the podium before Secret Service agents swarmed and covered him. He emerged about a minute later, his red “Make America Great Again” hat knocked off and could be heard saying “wait, wait,” before agents ushered him into a waiting vehicle.
The Secret Service and the former president’s campaign said Trump was safe following the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Pittsburgh.
The shooter’s identity and motive were not immediately clear. Leading Republicans and Democrats quickly condemned the violence.
The shots appeared to come from outside the area secured by the Secret Service, the agency said.
An audience member was also dead, and another person was in critical condition, a Washington Post reporter said on social media, citing the Butler County district attorney.
The shooting occurred less than four months before the Nov. 5 election, when Trump faces an election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
“President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act. He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility. More details will follow,” spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Trump had just started his speech when gunshots erupted and Trump and other rally attendees hit the deck. Secret Service agents swarmed around him and Trump disappeared behind the podium for about one minute before he was rushed to the waiting vehicle.
Trump and Biden are locked in a close election rematch, with most opinion polls including those by Reuters/Ipsos showing the two evenly matched.
Biden said in a statement: “There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”
Ron Moose, a Trump supporter who was in the crowd, described the chaos: “I heard about four shots and I saw the crowd go down and then Trump ducked also real quick. Then the Secret Service all jumped and protected him as soon as they could. We are talking within a second they were all protecting him.”
Moose said he then saw a man running and being chased by officers in military uniforms. He said he heard additional shots, but was unsure who fired them. He noted that by then snipers had set up on the roof of a warehouse behind the stage.
The BBC interviewed a man who described himself as an eyewitness, saying he saw a man armed with a rifle crawling up a roof near the event. The person, who the BBC did not identify, said he and the people he was with started pointing at the man, trying to alert security.
“I am thinking to myself, why is Trump still speaking. Why have they not pulled him off stage,” said the man, who was wearing a red Trump hat. “Next thing you know, five shots rang out.”
REPUBLICANS, DEMOCRATS DECRY VIOLENCE
Trump is due to receive his party’s formal nomination at the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Milwaukee on Monday.
“This horrific act of political violence at a peaceful campaign rally has no place in this country and should be unanimously and forcefully condemned,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said on social media.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was horrified by what happened and was relieved Trump was safe. “Political violence has no place in our country,” he said.
A Secret Service spokesperson said on social media: “The Secret Service has implemented protective measures and the former president is safe … This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available.”
CNN reported that Trump was injured, but gave no other details. It was not clear how or what injuries he may have sustained.
The venue was abandoned with chairs knocked over and yellow police tape around the stage. A helicopter flew above and law enforcement officers walked through the area, the video feed showed. Armed law enforcement officers were also seen on a roof near the stage where Trump was standing.
Biden’s campaign was working to pause its television ads and halting all other outbound communication, a campaign official said on Saturday.
Trump, who served as president from 2017-2021, easily bested his rivals for the Republican nomination early in the campaign and has largely unified around him the party that had briefly wavered in support after his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The businessman and former reality television star entered the year facing a raft of legal worries, including four separate criminal prosecutions. He was found guilty in late May of trying to cover up hush money payments to a porn star, but the other three prosecutions he faces — including two for his attempts to overturn his defeat — have been ground to a halt by various factors including a Supreme Court decision early this month that found him to be partly immune to prosecution.
Biden spoke to Trump after rally shooting: White House
US President Joe Biden has spoken to his election rival Donald Trump, a White House official said, after the Republican was injured in an apparent assassination attempt at a campaign event in Pennsylvania.
“This evening, President Biden spoke to former President Trump,” the official said, adding that the US incumbent would receive an updated briefing from law enforcement officials on the incident on Sunday morning.
Asian stocks on Thursday tagged along with a Wall Street rally that saw another round of record highs as bets on a September interest rate hike surged following comments by Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell.
The advances also saw Hong Kong and Shanghai push higher after struggling in recent weeks over worries about the Chinese economy, with investors awaiting a key Communist Party meeting next week.
On a second day of testimony to lawmakers, Powell said decision-makers would not wait until inflation had hit the bank’s two percent target before loosening monetary policy, adding: “If you waited that long, you’ve probably waited too long.”
His remarks came before the release of the latest consumer price index reading on Thursday, which is expected to show a further slowdown.
Traders ramped up bets on the Fed reducing borrowing costs in two months’ time, with analysts saying Powell was telegraphing to markets that the decision had been made.
The comments soothed recent fears among investors that officials might keep rates at their two-decade high for some time owing to a still strong labour market and inflation staying stubbornly above two percent.
The S&P 500 ended with a sixth straight record, while the Nasdaq also finished at an all-time peak.
And the upbeat mood filtered through to Asia, where Hong Kong jumped more than one percent, while Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Wellington also rose.
Eyes are also turning to the start of China’s Third Plenum gathering on Monday, where top officials including President Xi Jinping are expected to discuss ways to kickstart the world’s number two economy in the face of an ongoing property crisis and geopolitical issues.
However, while there is hope for some sort of major policy announcement, commentators remain cautious.
Andrew Batson, of Beijing-based consultancy Gavekal Dragonomics, told AFP he did not expect a “fundamental departure from the course Xi has already laid out”, in which technological self-sufficiency and national security outweigh economic growth.
Nomura’s Ting Lu added that the meeting was “intended to generate and discuss big, long-term ideas and structural reforms instead of making short-term policy adjustments”.
Economic growth in the first quarter of the year came in above forecasts and is tipped to top the government’s five percent goal for April-June, but the meeting comes amid ongoing concerns that officials are not providing enough support.
Taylor Nugent at National Australia Bank warned: “Further monetary policy easing is constrained by a reluctance to allow further depreciation in the renminbi, and expectations are low for any big policy shift at the Third Plenum.”
– Key figures around 0230 GMT –
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.8 percent at 42,179.84 (break)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.3 percent at 17,697.76
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 2,962.89
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0840 from $1.0833 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2862 from $1.2848
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 161.58 yen from 161.71 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.27 pence from 84.29 pence
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.8 percent at $82.79 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.9 percent at $85.81 per barrel
New York – Dow: UP 1.1 percent at 39,721.36 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 8,193.51 (close)
