tehmasnisdingin

A deal to provide further U.S. assistance to Ukraine by year-end appears to be increasingly out of reach for President Joe Biden. The impasse is deepening in Congress despite dire warnings from the White House about the consequences of inaction as Republicans insist on pairing the funding with changes to America’s immigration and border policies.

After the Democratic president said this week that he was willing to “make significant compromises on the border,” Republicans swiftly revived demands that they had earlier set aside, hardening their positions and attempting to shift the negotiations to the right, according to a person familiar with the talks and granted anonymity to discuss them.

The latest proposal, offered by lead GOP negotiator Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., during a meeting with a core group of senators before they departed Washington on Thursday afternoon, could force the White House to consider proposals that many Democrats will seriously oppose, creating new obstacles in the already fraught negotiation.

Read more about Russia’s war on Ukraine:

• Ukraine condemns plans for elections on occupied territory
• Putin says he will run for re-election in March
• U.S. aid hangs in balance after failed vote
• Russian missiles kill one, troops press on Avdiivka

Biden is facing the prospect of a cornerstone of his foreign policy — repelling Russia’s Vladimir Putin from overtaking Ukraine — crumbling as U.S. support for funding the war wanes, especially among Republicans. The White House says a failure to approve more aid by year’s end could have catastrophic consequences for Ukraine and its ability to fight.

To preserve U.S. support, the Biden administration has quietly engaged in Senate talks on border policy in recent weeks, providing assistance to the small group of senators trying to reach a deal and communicating what policy changes it would find acceptable.

The president is treading on delicate ground, trying to both satisfy GOP demands to cut the historic number of migrants arriving at the southern border while alleviating Democrats’ fears that legal immigration will be choked off with drastic measures.

As talks sputtered to a restart this week, Democrats warned their GOP counterparts that time for a deal was running short, with Congress scheduled to depart Washington in mid-December for a holiday break.

“Republicans need to show they are serious about reaching a compromise, not just throwing on the floor basically Donald Trump’s border policies,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday before Republicans made their counteroffer.

But the new Republican proposal doubled down on policy changes that had previously prompted Democrats to step back from the negotiations, according to the person familiar with the talks. The GOP offer calls for ending the humanitarian parole program that’s now in place for existing classes of migrants — Ukrainians, Afghans, Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Haitians — a policy idea that had been all but dashed before. Additionally, those groups of migrants would not be allowed to re-parole if the terms of their stay expire before their cases are adjudicated in immigration proceedings.

GOP senators also proposed monitoring systems like ankle bracelets for people detained at the border who are awaiting parole, including for children. Republicans want to ban people from applying for asylum if they have transited through a different country where they could have sought asylum instead, as well as revive executive authorities that would allow a president to shut down entries for wide-ranging reasons

Further, after migrant encounters at the border have recently hit historic numbers, the GOP proposal would set new metrics requiring the border to be essentially shut down if illegal crossings reach a certain limit.

Lankford, the lead GOP negotiator, declined to discuss specifics after the Thursday afternoon meeting, but said he was trying to “negotiate in good faith.” He added that the historic number of migrants at the border could not be ignored. The sheer number of people arriving at the border has swamped the asylum system, he said, making it impossible for authorities to adequately screen the people they allow in.

“Do you want large numbers of undocumented individuals and unscreened individuals without work permits, without access to the rest of the economy?” Lankford said.

The lead Democratic negotiator, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, did not quickly respond to the GOP proposal.

Senators had made some progress in the talks before Thursday, finding general agreement on raising the initial standard for migrants to enter the asylum system — part of what’s called the credible fear system. The Biden administration has communicated that it is amenable to that change and that it could agree to expand expedited removal to deport immigrants before they have a hearing with an immigration judge, according to two people briefed on the negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Immigration advocates and progressives in Congress have been alarmed by the direction of the talks, especially because they have not featured reforms aimed at expanding legal immigration.

Robyn Barnard, director of refugee advocacy with Human Rights First, called the current state of negotiations an “absolute crisis moment.” She warned that broadening the fast-track deportation authority could lead to a mass rounding up of immigrants around the country and compared it to the Trump administration. “Communities across the country would be living in fear,” she said.

But Senate Republicans, sensing that Biden wants to address the historic number of people coming to the border ahead of his reelection campaign, have taken an aggressive stance and tried to draw the president directly into negotiations.

“The White House is going to have to engage particularly if Senate Democrats are unwilling to do what we are suggesting be done,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., at a news conference Thursday.

The White House has so far declined to take a leading role in negotiations. White House press secretary Karine-Jean Pierre said Thursday: “Democrats have said that they want to compromise. Have that conversation.”

After every single Senate Republican this past week voted to block moving ahead with legislation to provide tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance for Ukraine, many in the chamber were left in a dour mood. Even those who held out hope for a deal acknowledged it would be difficult to push a package through the Senate during the remaining days in session.

Even if they reach a deal, the obstacles to passage in the House are considerable. Speaker Mike Johnson has signaled he will fight for sweeping changes to immigration policy that go beyond what is being discussed in the Senate. And broad support from House Democrats is far from guaranteed, as progressives and Hispanic lawmakers have raised alarm at curtailing access to asylum.

“Trading Ukrainian lives for the lives of asylum seekers is morally bankrupt and irresponsible,” Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, as part of a coordinated campaign by Hispanic Democrats.

The unwieldy nature of the issue left even Lankford, who was one of the few senators optimistic that a deal could be reached this year, acknowledging the difficulty of finding an agreement in the coming days.

“There’s just a whole lot of politics that have been bound up in this,” he said as he departed the Capitol for the week. “Thirty years it hasn’t been resolved because it’s incredibly complicated.”

In just one year, artificial intelligence has gone from being the stuff of science fiction movies to being used as a tool to help us polish our resumes and plan European getaways.

Given the rapid development of AI models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s newly released Gemini, some may wonder if these systems could eventually replace humans altogether.

But many tech experts don’t appear to be too worried about that happening any time soon.

“AI can certainly recognize your house cat, but it’s not going to solve world hunger,” Theo Omtzigt, chief technology officer at Lemurian Labs, tells CNBC Make It.

AI probably won’t replace humans because of math

One reason AI likely won’t replace people completely is both pretty simple and complex: math.

Large language models, a subset of generative AI, rely on powerful mathematical formulas to process and identify patterns in vast amounts of data to convert users’ prompts into new text, image, video or audio outputs.

But human intelligence goes far beyond pattern recognition. That’s why the mathematical models powering current generative AI systems are “relatively super simple,” Omtzigt says.

“Right now, the machine learns how to recognize a cat and what it will look like in different lighting,” he says. “We would have to progress a lot deeper in our understanding of creative thoughts, ethics and consciousness before we would even have the building blocks to think of how to create an AI that would be able to wipe out humanity.”

AI systems gain knowledge differently than humans

Another reason tech experts don’t believe AI will replace people is because it gains knowledge differently than humans.

“Generative AI and machine learning techniques are very heavily based on correlation, as opposed to causation,” Justin Lewis, BP’s vice president of incubation and engineering, said Thursday during a panel discussion at the AI Summit New York 2023.

After processing many images of rain, an AI model may learn to correlate rain with clouds because in every picture of rain, there are clouds. However, a human learns that clouds produce rain, says James Brusseau, a philosophy professor at Pace University who also teaches AI ethics at the University of Trento in Italy.

“AI and humans are both knowledge producers, just like the sculptor and painter are both artists,” he tells CNBC Make It. “But they will be forever, in my mind, be distinct and separated. One will never be better than the other so much as they will just be different.”

AI won’t replace humans, but people who can use it will

Fears about AI replacing humans aren’t completely unwarranted, but it won’t be the systems on their own that take over.

“There’s definitely going to be a difference between those that use AI and those that don’t,” Trevor Back, chief product officer at Speechmatics, said during Thursday’s panel discussion at the AI Summit New York 2023.

“If you don’t use AI, you are going to struggle since most roles will use some form of AI in the way that they act,” he said.

For example, many tech experts currently see AI being used as a tool that helps people boost their productivity. A software engineer may use AI to speed up the code review process and identify potential errors they or another human may have missed.

Since AI doesn’t seem to be disappearing any time soon, one of the best ways to fend off worries about being replaced by it is to explore how these systems work and how they can help you, Brusseau says.

“Curiosity is good,” he says. “You have to say ‘I’m not afraid of what the machine might do to me. I’m interested in what it can do for me.’”

DON’T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter!

Get CNBC’s free Warren Buffett Guide to Investing, which distills the billionaire’s No. 1 best piece of advice for regular investors, do’s and don’ts and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guidebook.

CHECK OUT: On ChatGPT’s one-year anniversary, it has more than 1.7 billion users—here’s what it may do next

McDonald’s executives painted a rosy portrait of the fast-food giant’s strength and ability to achieve long-term goals at its investor day, but the company faces some potential road bumps heading into 2024.

The event, held Wednesday, featured few surprises and some new long-term targets, and Wall Street’s reaction has been muted. Shares of McDonald’s have been roughly flat since the investor day presentations. Hit by concerns about the broader economy and fears over weight-loss drugs, McDonald’s stock has risen just 8.7% this year, trailing the S&P 500′s gains of 19%.

Those fears about the business have not stopped the fast-food powerhouse from setting ambitious goals.

McDonald’s plans to open nearly 9,000 new restaurants by 2027, including 900 locations in the U.S. Its larger global footprint will boost the company’s sales and help meet higher demand for its Big Macs and McNuggets, according to executives.

But those ambitious plans intersect with an uncertain global economy. China, McDonald’s second-largest market by number of locations, is still struggling to bounce back from the pandemic. Turmoil in the Middle East has hurt McDonald’s sales in that region — and some markets outside of it. And in its home market, recession predictions haven’t panned out yet, but some economists think a downturn may still come.

Here are the three top risks facing McDonald’s heading into 2024:

1) Weakened low-income consumer

In late January, CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company was predicting a “mild to moderate” recession in the U.S. and a “deeper and longer” downturn in Europe in 2023. But his predictions haven’t come true.

“Here we are a year later, and, boy, was I wrong,” Kempczinski said at the investor day. “So I’m a little leery to make any predictions about next year because I think we’re continuing to see that the consumer has been very resilient.”

Though a recession hasn’t hit, Kempczinski also reminded investors that McDonald’s saw low-income consumers pulling back on their spending last quarter. Other companies, such as Walmart, have also called out that trend.

While McDonald’s benefits from high- and middle-income consumers trading down to its Big Macs and french fries, low-income diners are still an important part of its business.

“We walked away from the investor day more concerned than before on the state of low income consumer,” Bernstein analyst Danilo Gargiulo wrote in a note to clients.

2) Rivals’ promotional spending

Ever since the pandemic, McDonald’s has shifted away from using limited-time menu items to draw in customers. Instead, its marketing has centered on the brand itself, like selling core menu items through promotions based on celebrities’ favorite orders. That approach has fueled strong same-store sales growth in recent years, even as inflation stretched diners’ wallets.

In general, the fast-food giant spends a lot of money on marketing and advertising to maintain its brand recognizability and affinity. McDonald’s spends over $4 billion every year on marketing investments, three to four times more than its nearest competitor, Kempczinski told investors on Wednesday.

But McDonald’s might find some of its competitors stepping up their promotional spending next year. Low-income consumers visiting restaurants less frequently means some fast-food chains will lean into deals and limited-time menu items to drive traffic.

McDonald’s may have to decide if boosting its short-term traffic is worth the potential long-term consequences.

“It will be interesting to see how [McDonald’s] adapts to a potentially more promotional environment, and if it is willing to sacrifice the short term to continue to drive the [long-term] brand positioning,” Citi Research analyst Jon Tower wrote in a note to clients.

3) Accelerated expansion plans

Much of Wednesday’s investor presentations focused on McDonald’s plans to accelerate new restaurant openings. The company aims to have a global footprint of at least 50,000 locations by 2027 in its fastest expansion ever.

But history shows that aggressive expansion typically doesn’t end well for McDonald’s. Sales often slide after new restaurants cannibalize existing locations’ customers, hurt franchisees’ profitability and distract from other parts of the business, such as menu innovation.

Investors are largely skeptical of restaurants with plans to expand in 2024 and beyond, given ongoing economic uncertainty and the shaky consumer, Barclays analyst Jeffrey Bernstein said in a note to clients. But he also noted that McDonald’s is coming from a position of strength and has spent recent years remodeling locations rather than building new ones.

Bernstein isn’t the only analyst with an optimistic view on McDonald’s expansion strategy.

“Growing units off of an already remodeled existing unit base, where core menu is driving high profitability, and towards only the best franchisees is a change vs prior regimes,” J.P. Morgan Securities analyst John Ivankoe wrote in a research note.

And executives reassured investors Wednesday.

“We’ve learned the lessons of quantity over quality … We’ve spent the last year, country by country, literally city by city, making sure we were confident about where we saw the growth opportunities and how we could actually have the teams out in the field to be able to go execute it,” Kempczinski said.

CNBC is now accepting nominations for the 2024 Disruptor 50 list — our annual look at the most innovative venture-backed companies using breakthrough technology to meet increasing economic and consumer challenges.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, Feb. 16 at 11:59 pm EST.

All independent, privately-owned companies founded after Jan. 1, 2009, are eligible, and any company founder or executive, investor in the company, or any of their communications representatives can access and submit an application.

The companies named to last year’s Disruptor 50 list continue to face a challenging environment as we head toward 2024, with high interest rates tightening the supply of venture capital and keeping the IPO window mostly closed for venture-backed startups for the second straight year. A notable past Disruptor 50 company that made it to the public market this year, Instacart, has failed to maintain its IPO pricing.

The third quarter was the lowest for venture deals in the last six years, according to PitchBook, with U.S. venture capital fundraising on pace to set a nine-year low in 2023. In addition, the number of “down rounds,” or instances when companies raise funds at a lower valuation compared to a previous round of funding, are at a ten-year high, with more than a quarter of fundraising rounds completed this year happening at a flat or reduced valuation.

Business failures, too, have occurred for formerly high-flying, high-profile backed Disruptor 50 companies, including Convoy and WeWork. But the tighter funding environment doesn’t seem to be stopping entrepreneurs from starting new companies. Business formation is on pace to set a new record in 2023, breaking the mark set in 2021. New business formation surged immediately after the Covid-19 pandemic, and as those businesses begin to mature, we expect to see more of them find their way into the ranks of the Disruptor 50.

This is especially true of companies involved in the booming AI hype cycle sparked by 2023′s top Disruptor 50 company, OpenAI, just over a year ago. New investment in biotech also continues to buck the tighter VC environment.

Nominees will be put through a comprehensive and rigorous process of researching and scoring across a wide range of quantitative and qualitative criteria, including scalability, revenue and user growth, use of breakthrough technology, as well as workforce diversity.

An advisory board made up of leading thinkers in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship will provide weighting for the quantitative criteria, while a team of CNBC editorial staff will read submissions and provide qualitative assessments of every single nominee.

2024 honorees will be notified in April, and the list will be released in May across CNBC’s TV and digital platforms.

DETROIT — As sales of all-electric vehicles grow more slowly than expected, major automakers are increasingly meeting their customers in the middle.

More and more companies are reconsidering the viability of hybrid cars and trucks to appease consumer demand and avoid costly penalties related to federal fuel economy and emissions standards.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/08/automakers-turn-to-hybrids-ev-transition.html

The shifting strategies run counterintuitively to industrywide EV messaging of recent years. Many auto companies have begun to invest billions of dollars in all-electric vehicles, and the Biden administration has made a push to get more EVs on U.S. roadways as quickly as possible.

But hybrid vehicles — those with traditional internal combustion engines combined with EV battery technologies — could help the automotive industry lower fuel consumption and emissions in the short-term, while easing consumers into vehicle electrification.

https://penganjallapar.comSales of traditional hybrid electric vehicles, or HEVs, such as the Toyota Prius, are outpacing those of all-electric vehicles in 2023, according to Edmunds. HEVs accounted for 8.3% of U.S. car sales, about 1.2 million vehicles sold, through November of this year. That share is up 2.8 percentage points compared with total sales last year.

EVs made up 6.9% of sales heading into December, or roughly 976,560 units, up 1.7 percentage points compared with total sales last year. Sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, accounted for only 1% of U.S. sales through November.

“There’s been so much talk over the past few years about the move toward electrification and sort of forgoing hybrids, but … hybrids are not dead,” said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds executive director of insights. “There’s a lot of consumers out there that are interested in electrification, maybe not ready to go fully electric.”

https://penganjallapar.comHybrids can also cost less and relieve many concerns typically associated with EVs such as range anxiety and lack of charging infrastructure. The average hybrid this year cost $42,381, according to Edmunds. That’s below the roughly $59,400 average for an EV; $60,700 for a PHEV; and $44,800 for a traditional vehicle.

Morgan Stanley earlier this month said Toyota Motor, Honda Motor and Hyundai Motor, including Kia, account for 9 out of 10 hybrid sales in the U.S. Representatives for those automakers said they are actively attempting to increase production and sales of hybrid vehicles in the U.S.

“While the transition to full battery electric transportation will take time, hybrids and plug-in hybrids will play an equally important role in Kia America’s near and mid-term goals,” Eric Watson, vice president of Kia America sales, said in a statement to CNBC.

And other companies, such as the Detroit automakers, are following suit.

Read more CNBC auto news

• Why experts say falling EV prices could actually hinder widespread adoption
• Ferrari’s $400,000 Purosangue is a dream to drive. Just don’t call it an SUV
• Stellantis resurrects small Fiat 500e EV for the U.S., starting at $34,095

Detroit Three automakers

The Detroit automakers have varying strategies for hybrid vehicles.

Ford Motor offers PHEVs but is leaning into HEVs, announcing plans in September to double sales of the V-6 hybrid model during the 2024 model year to roughly 20% in the U.S. It’s part of Ford CEO Jim Farley’s plans to quadruple the company’s production of gas-electric hybrids.

Ford’s hybrid sales through November of this year are up 23% over the same period in 2022 to more than 121,000 units, or 6.8% of its total sales through that point. In comparison, Ford’s EV sales are up 16.2% to roughly 62,500 units, accounting for 3.5% of its total sales.

Battery breakdown

Both hybrids and plug-in hybrids have a traditional engine combined with EV technologies. A traditional hybrid such as the Toyota Prius has electrified parts, including a small battery, to provide better fuel economy to assist the engine. PHEVs typically have a larger battery to provide for all-electric driving for a certain number of miles until an engine is needed to power the vehicle or electric motors.

Chrysler parent Stellantis, for its part, is leaning on PHEVs for its electrification strategy, before introducing a host of EVs starting next year. The company is the top seller of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the U.S., and the vehicles accounted for about 10% of the company’s third-quarter sales, led by Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee SUVs.

But General Motors isn’t ready just yet to alter its EV plans, which include a goal to exclusively offer all-electric vehicles by 2035.

https://penganjallapar.comGM led the way for plug-in electric vehicles with the Chevrolet Volt during the 2010s. The company discontinued the vehicle in early 2019, citing demand and cost concerns.

Since then, the automaker has not offered another hybrid vehicle in the U.S. other than the recently launched Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, a hybrid version of the famed sports car. GM does offer hybrids, including PHEVs, in China.

2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray hybrid sports car

GM

“We still have a plan in place that allows us to be all light-duty vehicles EV by 2035,” GM CEO Mary Barra said Monday during an Automotive Press Association meeting in Detroit. “We’ll adjust based on where the customer is and where demand is. It’s not going to be ‘if we build it they will come.’ We’re going to be led by the customer.”

Her comments come after GM President Mark Reuss told CNBC in August that he was “flexible” regarding hybrids as a way of meeting federal regulations.

“If it means we have to do that by law, then we have to do that by law,” he said. “If there’s regulations that get dealt on us, then we’re going to look at everything in our toolbox to meet them.”

Federal regulations

Major auto companies, including the Detroit automakers, were counting on EVs to assist in offsetting the emissions and low fuel economies of larger SUVs and trucks that can cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in fines by the federal government.

GM and Stellantis were forced to pay a combined $363.8 million in penalties for failing to meet federal fuel-economy standards for cars and trucks they produced in previous years, according to information published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in June.

Such fines would significantly increase under current proposals by the Biden administration to improve fuel efficiency of vehicles and move toward EVs, according to automaker lobbying groups.

The American Automotive Policy Council, a group representing the Detroit Three, earlier this year said the automakers would face more than $14 billion in noncompliance penalties between 2027 and 2032 barring significant changes to their fleets’ overall fuel efficiency. U.S. automakers have separately warned the fines would cost $6.5 billion for GM, $3 billion at Stellantis and $1 billion at Ford, according to Reuters.

NHTSA in July proposed boosting fuel efficiency requirements by 2% per year for passenger cars and 4% per year for pickup trucks and SUVs from 2027 through 2032, resulting in a fleetwide average fuel efficiency of 58 mpg.

With EVs playing a lesser role than anticipated to boost those fleetwide averages, hybrids could save automakers millions.

“Even without electric vehicles, there’s an expectation that electrification of an internal combustion engine is going to be necessary to meet regulations anyway,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at S&P Global Mobility.

Industry leader

The resurgence of hybrids is especially important for Toyota. The world’s largest automaker is considered the pioneer of traditional hybrids, with the Prius.

The company ironically became a target of environmental groups last year for its strategy to move forward with a mix of hybrids, PHEVs and EVs, which critics viewed as a lack of commitment to an all-electric future.

Toyota’s argument at the time, and still, is that it’s meeting consumer needs and planning for a more gradual global adoption that will naturally include some markets shifting to EVs sooner than others.

The company further says it takes into account the entire environmental impact of producing EVs compared with hybrid electrified vehicles, arguing it can produce eight 40-mile plug-in hybrids for every one 320-mile battery electric vehicle and save up to eight times the carbon emitted into the atmosphere.

“People are finally seeing reality,” Toyota Chairman and former CEO Akio Toyoda, who has been heavily criticized for the slower approach on EVs, said in October regarding EVs, according to The Wall Street Journal.

China and Japan accused each other of maritime incursions after a confrontation between their coast guards in waters around disputed islands in the East China Sea.

China’s coast guard said on Sunday that a Japanese fishing boat and several patrol vessels intruded the previous day into waters around the tiny islands, called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan.

The uninhabited islands are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China.

China’s coast guard said in a statement it had taken necessary measures in accordance with the law to warn away the Japanese vessels.

Japan’s coast guard said on Saturday that two Chinese maritime patrol boats left Japan’s territorial waters around the islands after receiving warnings. It said its patrol vessels were protecting a Japanese fishing boat that had been approached by the Chinese ships.

Similar incidents occurred in November and October.

Asian maritime disputes involving China have been escalating. China and the Philippines traded accusations on Sunday over a collision between their vessels in a part of the South China Sea each nation claims, marking the second confrontation in as many days.

 Israel’s military pushed ahead with its punishing air and ground offensive in Gaza on Saturday, bolstered by a U.S. veto derailing U.N. Security Council efforts to end the war and word that an emergency sale of $106 million worth of tank ammunition had been approved by Washington.

Unable to leave Gaza, a territory 25 miles (40 kilometers) long by about 7 miles (11 kilometers) wide, more than 2 million Palestinians faced more bombardment Saturday, even in areas that Israel had described as safe zones.

The sale of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition was announced a day after the U.S. vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, a measure that had wide international support.

The U.S. said Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined that “an emergency exists” in the national interest requiring the immediate sale, meaning it bypasses congressional review. Such a determination is rare.

A day after Israel confirmed it was rounding up Palestinian men for interrogation, some men released Saturday told The Associated Press they had been treated badly, providing the first accounts of the conditions from the detentions.

Osama Oula said Israeli troops had pulled men out of a building in the Shujaiyah area of Gaza City, ordering them to the street in their underwear. Oula said Israeli forces bound him and others with zip ties, beat them for several days and gave them little water to drink.

Ahmad Nimr Salman showed his hands, marked and swollen from the zip ties, and said older men with diabetes or high blood pressure were ignored when they asked soldiers to remove their ties.

He said the troops asked, ”‘Are you with Hamas?’ We say ‘no,’ then they would slap us or kick us.” He said his 17-year-old son Amjad is still held by the troops.The group was released after five days and told to walk south. Ten freed detainees arrived at a hospital in Deir al-Balah on Saturday after flagging down an ambulance.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment when asked about the alleged abuse.

With the war in its third month, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza has surpassed 17,700, the majority women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.

Two hospitals in central and southern Gaza received the bodies of 133 people from Israeli bombings over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said midday Saturday.

Israel holds the Hamas militants responsible for civilian casualties, accusing them of using civilians as human shields, and says it has made considerable efforts with evacuation orders to get civilians out of harm’s way. It says 97 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 hostages.

Hamas said Saturday that it continued its rocket fire into Israel.

In Gaza, residents reported airstrikes and shelling, including in the southern city of Rafah near the Egyptian border — one area where the Israeli army had told civilians to go. In a colorful classroom there, knee-high children’s tables were strewn with rubble.

“We now live in the Gaza Strip and are governed by the American law of the jungle. America has killed human rights,” said Rafah resident Abu Yasser al-Khatib.

In northern Gaza, Israel has been trying to secure the military’s hold, despite heavy resistance from Hamas. The military said that it found weapons inside a school in Shujaiyah, a densely populated neighborhood of Gaza City, and that, in a separate incident, militants shot at troops from a U.N.-run school in the northern town of Beit Hanoun.

More than 2,500 Palestinians have been killed since the Dec. 1 collapse of a weeklong truce, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The truce saw hostages and Palestinian prisoners released, but Israel says 137 hostages remain in Gaza.

On Saturday, a kibbutz that came under attack on Oct. 7 said 25-year-old hostage Sahar Baruch had died in captivity. His captors said Baruch was killed during a failed rescue mission by Israeli forces Friday. The Israeli military said Hamas killed him.

With no new cease-fire in sight and humanitarian aid reaching little of Gaza, residents reported severe food shortages. Nine of 10 people in northern Gaza reported spending at least one full day and night without food, according to a World Food Program assessment during the truce. Two of three people in the south said the same. The WFP called the situation “alarming.”

“I am very hungry,” said Mustafa al-Najjar, sheltering in a U.N.-run school in the devastated Jabaliya refugee camp in the north. “We are living on canned food and biscuits and this is not sufficient.”

While adults can cope, “it’s extremely difficult and painful when you see your young son or daughter crying because they are hungry,” he said.

Israelis who had been taken hostage also saw the food situation deteriorate, the recently freed Adina Moshe told a rally of thousands of people in Tel Aviv seeking the rapid return of all. “We ended up eating only rice,” said Moshe, who was held for 49 days.

The rally speakers accused Israel’s government of not doing enough to bring loved ones home. “How can I sleep at night? How can I protect my daughter?” asked Eli Albag, the father of 18-year-old hostage Liri Albag.

On Saturday, 100 trucks carrying unspecified aid entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, said Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority. That is still well below the daily average before the war.

Despite growing international pressure, President Joe Biden’s administration remains opposed to an open-ended cease-fire, arguing it would enable Hamas to continue posing a threat to Israel.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has argued that “a cease-fire is handing a prize to Hamas.”

Blinken continued to speak with counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and elsewhere amid open criticism of the U.S. stance.

“From now on, humanity won’t think the U.S.A. supports the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech.

Protesters at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai called for a cease-fire, despite restrictions on demonstrations.

Amid concerns about a wider conflict, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen threatened to prevent any ship heading to Israeli ports from passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea until food and medicine can enter Gaza freely. Spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said in a speech that all ships heading to Israel, no matter their nationality, will be a target.

The French navy said the frigate Languedoc in the Red Sea shot down two drones Saturday night coming “straight toward it” from a Houthi-held port city. The statement did not say whether the French navy assessed its frigate was the target of the drones.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group claimed responsibility for nine attacks on Saturday, saying one targeted an Israeli post near the town of Metula. The Israeli army said one of its fighter jets struck a Hezbollah operational command center in Lebanon. The U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said the tower of one of its bases along the border with Israel was hit during the skirmishes, with no injuries.

In southern Gaza, thousands were on the run after what residents called a night of heavy gunfire and shelling.

Israel has designated a narrow patch of barren southern coastline, Muwasi, as a safe zone. But Palestinians described desperately overcrowded conditions with scant shelter and no toilets. They faced an overnight temperature of around 11 degrees Celsius (52 degrees Fahrenheit).

“I am sleeping on the sand. It’s freezing,” said Soad Qarmoot, who described herself as a cancer patient forced to leave her home in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.

As she spoke, her children huddled around a fire.

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Gunung Merapi mengeluarkan awan panas guguran (APG) pada hari ini, Jumat (8/12) pukul 14.46 WIB.

Pantauan Balai Penyelidikan dan Pengembangan Teknologi Kebencanaan Geologi (BPPTKG) arah angin terdeteksi mengarah ke utara. Sebelumnya, BPPTKG melaporkan terjadi hujan dengan intensitas tinggi di wilayah puncak Gunung Merapi dan sekitarnya.

Hasil perekaman data seismogram BPPTKG, luncuran APG terjadi beberapa kali:

– mulai dari Pukul 14.49 durasi 360 detik, amplitudo maksimal (amak) 73 mm
– Pukul 14.56, durasi 120 detik, amak 75 mm
– Pukul 14.59, durasi 120 detik, amak 78 mm
– Pukul 15.06, durasi 137 detik, amak 69 mm
– Pukul 15.09, durasi 137 detik, amak 76 mm
– Pukul 15.32, durasi 106 detik, amax 75 mm
– Pukul 15.48, durasi 123 detik, amak72mm.

“Adapun jarak luncur terdeteksi hingga 3.500 meter arah Barat Daya (Kali Krasak),” kata Kepala Pusat Data, Informasi dan Komunikasi Kebencanaan BNPB Abdul Muhari dalam keterangan resmi.

Abdul mengutip laporan dari petugas Pos Babadan Yulianto kepada BNPB, secara visual APG berwarna kelabu pekat terpantau namun tertutup kabut putih.

Yulianto menambahkan, kondisi saat ini sedang terjadi hujan dan membawa abu vulkanik sampai ke wilayah Desa Krinjing dan Desa Paten di Kabupaten Magelang serta Desa Stabelan, Desa Klakah dan Desa Tlogolele di Kecamatan Tlogolele, Kabupaten Boyolali.

“Berdasarkan laporan tim yang sedang piket dari Pos Babadan melaporkan visual sementara tertutup kabut. Namun memang terpantau ada APG Gunung Merapi,” kata Yulianto, dalam keterangan tertulis BNPB.

“Hujan abu campur air terjadi di Desa Krinjing, Desa Paten, Desa Tlogolele, Desa Klakah. Hingga siaran pers ini diturunkan, belum ada laporan korban jiwa. Adapun proses kaji cepat lanjutan masih dilakukan oleh tim gabungan di lapangan, baik dari wilayah Boyolali maupun Magelang,” kata Abdul.

Baca: Tetap Waspada, Hari Ini Masih Ada Letusan Gunung Marapi

Banjir Lahar Dingin

Sementara itu, Kepala Pelaksana BPBD Kabupaten Magelang Edi Wasito mengatakan hujan air bercampur abu vulkanik dilaporkan di lima desa di Kecamatan Dukun dan Kecamatan Tlogolele. Tim BPBD Kabupaten Magelang sudah bersiaga di sejumlah titik lokasi yang dinilai paling rawan dan berpotensi terdampak paling parah.

“Kami sudah mengimbau dan melarang segala aktivitas masyarakat khususnya di sepanjang aliran Sungai Senowo, Sungai Bebeng dan Sungai Lamat. Karena bisa berpotensi terjadi banjir lahar dingin,” kata Edi.

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Presiden China Xi Jinping, memberi pernyataan tak enak soal ekonomi China. Ia mengatakan bahwa pemulihan ekonomi Tiongkok “masih berada pada tahap kritis”.

Hal ini dimuat stasiun televisi negara CCTV Jumat (8/12/2023). Aktivitas domestik yang lesu dan permasalahan sektor properti menyeret pemulihan pascapandemi.

PILIHAN REDAKSIBiden Sebut Alasan Mengapa Ibu Kota RI Harus Keluar dari JawaTusuk AS dari Belakang? Pangeran Arab MBS Bertemu PutinDetik-Detik Pos Militer Israel Meledak Dibombardir

“Saat ini, pemulihan ekonomi negara ini masih berada pada tahap kritis,” kata Xi pada pertemuan Politbiro Partai Komunis Tiongkok, badan pengambil keputusan utama negara tersebut, dikutip AFP.

Xi mendesak langkah-langkah untuk meningkatkan perekonomian. Menurutnya “situasi pembangunan yang dihadapi negara ini rumit, dengan meningkatnya faktor-faktor buruk dalam lingkungan politik dan ekonomi internasional“.

“Penting untuk fokus pada percepatan pembangunan sistem industri modern, memperluas permintaan domestik (dan) mencegah dan mengurangi risiko,” kata Xi.

Ditegaskannya sangat perlu memperkuat kemandirian di sektor-sektor utama, seperti ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi. Termasuk mempercepat pembangunan tata letak pembangunan baru.

Perlu diketahui China yang merupakan ekonomi terbesar kedua di dunia mengalami pertumbuhan moderat sebesar 4,9% pada kuartal ketiga (Q3) 2023. Ini sedikit di bawah target 5% yang ditetapkan Beijing, yang merupakan salah satu target terendah dalam beberapa tahun terakhir.

Para pejabat telah berjuang untuk mempertahankan pemulihan dari dampak pandemi Covid-19, bahkan setelah menghapus tindakan pembatasan yang kejam pada akhir tahun 2022. Ekspor meningkat pada bulan November untuk pertama kalinya dalam tujuh bulan, meskipun angka tersebut masih rendah dari tahun lalu ketika dampak kebijakan Covid paling terasa.

Dalam data AFP, ekspor China yang selama ini menjadi pendorong utama pertumbuhan, sebagian besar telah mengalami penurunan sejak Oktober lalu. Kecuali pemulihan jangka pendek pada bulan Maret dan April.

Penurunan impor yang mengejutkan di bulan November. Ini menunjukkan lemahnya aktivitas konsumen di dalam negeri.

Sebelumnya, lembaga pemeringkat Moody’s menurunkan prospek peringkat kredit negara tersebut menjadi negatif dari stabil. Alasan “risiko penurunan yang luas terhadap kekuatan fiskal, ekonomi dan kelembagaan China.

Kementerian Keuangan Beijing mengatakan kecewa dengan keputusan Moody’s. Bahkan, menambahkan bahwa kekhawatiran terhadap perekonomian China “tidak perlu”

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Impor gandum Indonesia diprediksi bakal meningkat lagi tembus 10 juta ton pada periode tahun 2023-2024 nanti. Setelah sempat menurun di periode tahun 2022-2023 akibat pelemahan ekonomi global. 

Ekspektasi kenaikan impor itu dengan asumsi perekonomian global membaik, pertumbuhan populasi, dan peningkatan permintaan akibat pemilu mendatang. Demikian data terbaru yang dirilis Departemen Pertanian AS, USDA.

Melansir WorldGrain, berdasarkan data USDA tersebut, impor gandum RI diperkirakan mencapai 10,5 juta ton, naik dari sebelumnya 9,446 juta ton pada tahun 2022-2023. Perlambatan ekonomi global dan tertekannya daya beli di pasar domestik mendorong turunnya permintaan produk gandum pada tahun 2022-2023.

Sementara itu, total konsumsi pangan pada tahun 2022-2023 akan turun 3,4% menjadi 8,5 juta ton setara gandum.

Baca: China Borong Gandum AS Besar-besaran, Ada Apa?

Dengan adanya pemilu tahun 2024, permintaan produk makanan berbahan dasar tepung terigu diperkirakan akan meningkat. Konsumsi gandum pada tahun 2023-2024 diperkirakan mencapai 8,6 juta ton setara gandum.

Selain itu, gandum juga banyak dikonsumsi di Indonesia sebagai bahan pakan. Asosiasi pabrik pakan memperkirakan produksi pakan pada tahun 2024 akan meningkat sebesar 5% menjadi 22,4 juta ton dari 21,3 juta ton yang diproduksi pada tahun 2023.

Peningkatan tersebut disebabkan karena pabrik pakan terus memasukkan gandum sebagai salah satu sumber energi dalam formulasi pakan. Konsumsi gandum untuk pakan pada tahun 2024 diperkirakan meningkat menjadi 1,2 juta ton dibandingkan dengan tahun sebelumnya yang sebesar 1,1 juta ton.

Baca: Ukraina Umumkan Situasi Darurat, Ada ‘Kiamat’ Apa?

Lebih lanjut, FAS mengatakan efek awal musim kemarau dan cuaca kering yang disebabkan oleh El Nino menyebabkan produksi padi Indonesia diperkirakan turun 2,05% menjadi 53,63 juta ton pada tahun 2022-2023.

Kemungkinan besar efek El Nino masih akan berlanjut dan menyebabkan penurunan produksi padi pada tahun 2023-2024. Dengan asumsi bahwa dampak El Nino akan mereda sebelum dimulainya siklus panen kedua pada tahun 2023-2024, luas panen diperkirakan akan sedikit meningkat.

Sebelumnya, impor gandum RI pernah menembus angka 11 juta ton. Dan sempat membuat Presiden Joko Widodo ‘murka’ dan memerintahkan percepatan substitusi impor.