Israel, Hamas begin indirect talks; new French PM quits

Mōrena and welcome to Tuesday's wrap of the international business and political headlines you need to know.

First up, delegations from Israel and Hamas have commenced indirect talks in Egypt that the United States hopes will bring a halt to the war in Gaza.

Both sides have endorsed the overall principles in US President Donald Trump's so-called ‘peace plan’, which would see fighting cease, hostages freed, and aid sent into Gaza. It is seen as the closest both sides have come to a deal since the war began.

Trump's plan has the backing of multiple Arab and Western states. Major sticking points, however, include details around how hostages would be released, Hamas's disarmament, the future governance of Gaza, and Israel's withdrawal. 

Trump has called for negotiations to take place swiftly towards a final deal.

“I am told that the first phase should be completed this week, and I am asking everyone to MOVE FAST,” he said in a social media post.

The talks also come as international activists, journalists, and lawyers who were deported from Israel after attempting to breach the maritime blockade of Gaza as part of a humanitarian flotilla alleged they were subjected to physical and verbal abuse by Israeli forces while detained. 

The Guardian reported the alleged abuses included sleep and medication deprivation, beatings, having automatic rifles pointed at their heads, dogs set upon them, having to sleep on the floor, being subjected to insults, and being made to watch footage of the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Moving to France now, where the country's prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, resigned just hours after the cabinet was appointed. Lecornu was only appointed 27 days ago, and becomes the country's third prime minister to quit in a year.

His resignation came after President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a largely unchanged cabinet lineup, with Lecornu blaming opposition political parties who, he said, did not want to compromise: "Each political party wanted the other political party to adopt its entire programme”, he claimed.

“It would not take much for it to work,” Lecornu added. “By being more selfless for many, by knowing how to show humility … One must always put one’s country before one’s party.”

Macron must now either appoint a new prime minister or dissolve the national assembly and call for fresh legislative elections. France is the EU's second biggest country. Macron has yet to comment on the latest political crisis.

Open AI and chipmaker AMD, meanwhile, have signed a multi-billion-dollar chip deal, which also gives OpenAI the opportunity to buy 10% in AMD. Shares in the latter surged more than 30%, adding about US$80 billion to its market capitalisation, following the deal.

AMD said it expected the deal to be worth tens of billions of dollars in revenue. OpenAI, the ChatGPT creator, is valued at about US$500b.

“We view this deal as certainly transformative, not just for AMD, but for the dynamics of the industry,” AMD executive vice-president Forrest Norrod said.

Chinese electric carmaker BYD sold 11,271 cars in the UK last month, representing year-on-year growth of 880% and making the UK the company's second-largest market outside of China. It has sold nearly 35,000 vehicles in the country over the past year.

BYD is known for producing more affordable EVs than its rivals, and has also reported a 200% increase in European sales. Overall, however, it recorded its first year-on-year decline in deliveries last week. Its share price was down 1.3% overnight.

Finally, the US Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Ghislaine Maxwell against her sex-trafficking conviction, the BBC reported. 

The court has declined to hear the former British socialite's appeal, meaning her 20-year sentence will remain in place. The court has not yet provided its reasons.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her role in luring underage girls for her former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein to exploit. Epstein died in prison in 2019.