The Roundup Media

  World in Brief The Economist Roundup April 1, 2024 The founder of  World Central Kitchen  accused  Israel  of targeting the charity’s workers “systematically, car by car” after Israeli missiles killed seven of them travelling in a convoy on Monday. José Andrés said Israeli forces knew of the workers’ movements and that the cars were well signed—it was not just “bad luck”. WCK and other aid groups have since  suspended operations  in Gaza. Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, acknowledged the “tragic event” but added “this happens in war”. Meanwhile, Benny Gantz, a member of the country’s war cabinet, called for early elections, piling more pressure on Mr Netanyahu. Google  is reportedly considering charging for new premium artificial-intelligence features on its search engine. According to the  Financial Times,  the tech giant is exploring adding AI-powered search into its current subscription service, which provides access to ...

  World in Brief The Economist Roundup April 1, 2024 Turkey’s  main opposition party swept to unexpected victories in local elections. The Republican People’s Party (CHP) secured control of the country’s biggest cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, by defeating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development (AK) party. The  results are a blow  to Mr Erdogan, who had hoped to use this election to consolidate power and introduce a new constitution, probably designed to give him at least another term. Israel’s  armed forces announced that they had concluded a two-week operation around  al-Shifa  hospital. Much of the hospital, which was Gaza City’s largest, has been destroyed. Israel claims Hamas was using it as a base. On Sunday tens of thousands of Israelis took part in protests in Jerusalem, calling for the resignation of  Binyamin Netanyahu , the prime minister, and an early election. Chinese  manufacturing activity  grew ...

World in Brief The Economist Roundup March 30, 2024 Three UN observers and a translator were injured by a shell in southern  Lebanon , drawing condemnation from António Guterres, the body’s secretary-general. The group had been patrolling the “Blue Line”, a buffer zone along the  Israel-Lebanon border . Lebanon said an Israeli drone had been responsible; Israel denied this. Meanwhile, Egyptian media reported that talks between Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire in Gaza would restart in Cairo on Sunday. Chinese  manufacturing activity grew in March, the first such rise in six months. The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index was 50.8 this month, compared with 49.1 in February (anything over 50 denotes expansion). An increase in export orders explains the rise. Despite the positive news,  China’s  statistics agency warned that firms still face “insufficient market demand”. Ukraine  said that Russia launched 16 missiles and 11 drones in an overnight attack. ...