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Scores of Palestinians were killed and injured on Thursday during an outbreak of violence in which Israeli troops opened fire in the vicinity of a convoy of food trucks attempting to deliver humanitarian aid in northern Gaza. Local officials blamed Israel for the bloodshed while Israel denied its forces shot at the crowd, saying most of the victims were trampled or hit as the trucks sought to escape the chaos. The Associated Press cited doctors and other witnesses who reported numerous gunshot wounds among the dead and injured. The incident helped push the Palestinian death toll since the start of the Israel-Hamas war beyond 30,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. Aid groups said it’s almost impossible to distribute food and medicine to Palestinians in Gaza and the United Nations warned earlier this week that half a million Palestinians there faced starvation. Almost five months after Hamas invaded Israel and killed 1,200 people while kidnapping hundreds more, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doubling down on his stated intent to eliminate the militant group by mounting an attack on Rafah in the south, where millions of Palestinians have sought refuge. The US, Egypt and Qatar are scrambling to secure a pause in fighting while international calls for a ceasefire continue. Negotiators were hopeful for a deal ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in March, but there’s no end in sight as Israel and Hamas remain far apart. —Margaret Sutherlin For decades, China’s capacity for growth seemed without end. People from rural regions poured into cities for work, helping expand the middle class and build an economic goliath. But times have certainly changed. A sprawling real estate crisis, deflationary pressures, unemployment and a stock market retreat are all signs that this success story may be at an end. And the consequences of that reality won’t be limited to China: The troubles of the world’s second-largest economy increasingly affect the rest of the world. In the Bloomberg Originals mini-documentary What China’s Slowdown Means for Us All, Bloomberg journalists analyze what China’s struggles—and those of its consumers—augur for the US, Europe and other countries, their industries and even you.
Watch What China’s Slowdown Means for Us All
Ukrainian officials are growing concerned that by summer Russia could gain significant momentum in its war unless Kyiv’s allies increase the supply of ammunition. Outside the US, its allies in Europe say it’s a wake up call to get aid to Ukraine now. Internal assessments of the situation on the battlefield are growing increasingly bleak as Ukrainian forces struggle to hold off Russian attacks while rationing the number of shells they can fire. The fall of Avdiivka and several nearby villages is fueling fears that Kyiv’s defenses may not be able to hold. Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has long indicated Russia plans to win in Ukraine by outlasting Ukraine’s allies. With Republicans continuing to block US aid, his strategy may be bearing fruit. The Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of underlying inflation rose in January at the fastest pace in nearly a year, a fact underscoring what policymakers have said time and again: the fight for lower inflation is going to be uneven, and it’s too soon to start cutting interest rates. The report was in line with expectations, and markets rose. Here’s your markets wrap. It’s never been so hard to get a car loan. Access to auto credit hit the lowest point since August 2020, with the approval rate for loans down 1.6 percentage points year-over-year. With borrowers struggling to make their monthly car payments, banks are responding by tightening credit standards. This state of affairs is freezing out buyers with lower credit scores who can’t afford a large down payment, while Americans with healthy finances are having more trouble than usual securing loans. And for dealers, it means many potential customers have struggled to get approved for loans in recent months, which is dragging down sales. Texas emergency crews are battling the worst wildfire in state history. Forecasters are predicting several more days of dry, windy weather, which will make getting fires under control even more difficult. At least one person has died and tens of thousands of cattle may have perished as entire ranches were wiped out. Winter storms bypassed the region this year, exacerbating a years-long drought.
The Smokehouse Creek fire in Texas covers a million acres. Photographer: Texas A&M Forest Service via Getty Images)
Donald Trump’s legal woes continue to mount. The former president said in a court filing he may soon need “to raise capital under exigent circumstances” to push ahead with an appeal of a $454 million civil fraud verdict. The brutal market for many commercial property owners means the Republican presidential candidate faces significant losses in his real estate empire if forced to sell. Meanwhile, an Illinois judge agreed to pause her decision barring Trump from the ballot there for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection until the Supreme Court rules on the issue. And come April, Trump’s legal team will be in front of the Supreme Court again: this time for arguments over his claim of immunity for alleged crimes committed while in office. Noah Feldman writes in Bloomberg Opinion that, despite the furor raised by the high court further delaying Trump’s trial over Jan. 6, it’s wrong to think the Republican-appointee dominated court is stonewalling for his benefit. Instead, Feldman says, the immunity question deserves a serious look. The future of artificial intelligence on the battlefield isn’t theoretical anymore: In the past several weeks, computer vision algorithms that form part of the US Department of Defense’s flagship AI effort have located rocket launchers in Yemen and surface vessels in the Red Sea. They have helped narrow targets for strikes in Iraq and Syria as well. A growing number of US military officers predict AI will transform the way America and its enemies make war, ranking it alongside the radio and machine gun in its potential to revolutionize combat.
- China bans a top fund in high-speed trading crackdown.
- The US House passes a stopgap funding bill to avoid a shutdown.
- A judge blocked a Texas law giving police power to arrest migrants.
- President Joe Biden has a big fundraising lead over Trump.
- Chocolate is disappearing from your chocolate bars.
- Happy Leap Day! Are you getting paid for an extra day of work?
- Where are all those humanoid robots we were promised?
Maria Sharapova has turned her laser focus to deal-making for her second act, and her biggest rule is that to win, you must know how to lose. “I can sip Champagne,” she says. “I know what that feeling is like. But when things aren’t going well, when you have a losing streak...who are the people in that process? What’s their mentality?” Sharapova is the first guest on the new Bloomberg Podcast-Bloomberg Originals series, The Deal with Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly. The former New York Yankees superstar and veteran Bloomberg correspondent talk to the biggest names about their best deals and the ones that got away.
Maria Sharapova Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg
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