Happy Wednesday and welcome to your wrap of the latest business and political headlines from around the world.
We begin in Gaza, where chaos erupted on the second day of aid operations by a US-backed group after it was overwhelmed by Palestinians desperate for food, according to the Associated Press.
They broke through fences, and nearby Israeli troops fired warning shots, sending people fleeing in a panic.
An AP journalist on the ground reported hearing tank and gunfire and saw a military helicopter firing flares. The Israeli military confirmed its troops fired the warning shots and that “control over the situation was established”.
At least three Palestinians were injured, according to the AP journalist.
The food distribution hub outside of Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah, was opened the day before by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is taking over aid operations. The United Nations and other aid groups say the new system won’t be able to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and allows Israel to use food as a weapon.
Israel imposed a humanitarian blockade on Gaza in March, which it has said previously was intended to pressure militant group Hamas into releasing hostages.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Germany has threatened to take measures against Israel and said Berlin would not export weapons used to break humanitarian law.
Germany has long supported Israel since the Hamas attack in 2023. But in an interview with a German broadcaster, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said its support of Israel must not be instrumentalised, as massive air strikes and food shortages had made the situation “unbearable”.
"We are now at a point where we have to think very carefully about what further steps to take," he said, without giving further details.
Johann Wadephul (Source: Wikimedia Commons).
To the United Kingdom, where a man has been arrested after driving a car into a crowd of Liverpool Football Club supporters who were part of the club’s Premier League victory parade.
The BBC reports that the 53-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and also faces drugs and dangerous driving charges. Local police said 11 people remained in hospital but were in a stable condition and more than 50 people received hospital treatment.
The suspect was able to follow an ambulance through the parade after a roadblock was lifted so a member of the public could be treated.
Turning to the United States, where the Trump Administration has taken another swipe at Harvard University.
CNN is reporting that the White House has directed federal agencies to cancel all remaining contracts with Harvard, which are worth about $100 million, CNN reports.
It comes as the school has refused to sign up to the White House’s list of policy demands such as reporting students to the federal government who are hostile to “American values”, ensuring academic departments are “viewpoint diverse”, hiring an external party to audit departments “that most fuel anti-Semitic research” and checking faculty staff for plagiarism.
The contract cancellation follows recent moves to prohibit Harvard from enrolling international students and the government freezing billions in federal funding.
Harvard University.
To China now, where the BBC reports a huge explosion has rocked a chemical plant in eastern Shandong province.
At least five people are dead. Nineteen others were injured and six were missing, according to local state media.
Social media footage shows thick columns of black smoke rising from the site.
More than 200 emergency workers were dispatched to Shandong Yudao Chemical factory, which produces pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and chemical intermediates.
Turning now to financial markets, Wall Street has rallied after Donald Trump agreed over the holiday weekend to delay tariffs of 50% on the European Union.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.7%, the broader S&P 500 was nearly 2% higher, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up by 2.3%. Today’s gains snap a four-day losing streak for the leading indices.
“It seems like the long holiday weekend only served to build up momentum for today’s whipsaw,” Sincerus Advisory managing partner Dann Ryan told CNBC.
“The trade tensions that had flared have already been extinguished, yet again, and now they’ll include an express lane.”
