And Vladimir Putin's peace demands have been laid bare.
Elon Musk.
Ata marie and happy Thursday. Here’s your wrap of the latest business and political headlines from around the world.
First up, the Associated Press reports that four people have died as hundreds of Palestinians stormed a United Nations food warehouse in Gaza overnight, in a desperate attempt to get something to eat.
A video from AP shows Palestinians, mainly men, shouting, shoving each other, and even ripping pieces off the building to try and get inside.
The four deaths came a day after a crowd was fired upon while overrunning a new aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah that was set up by an Israeli- and US-based foundation. At least one person was killed and 48 others were wounded, Gaza’s health ministry said.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said its military had “eliminated” Hamas Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar, according to the BBC.
He is one of Israel’s most wanted men and the brother of the group’s late leader, Yahya Sinwar.
Mohammed was reportedly the target of a massive Israeli strike on the surrounding area of the European hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis earlier this month. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his death.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
To the United States now, where one of Trump’s closest allies, Elon Musk, has criticised the US President’s “big beautiful bill” while speaking to CBS.
The legislation, which passed its first hurdle last week, includes a mixture of tax cuts and spending cuts, while ramping up spending on defence and funding for deportations.
Musk said the “massive spending bill” would increase the federal deficit and “undermines the work” of his Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
“I think a bill can be big or it could be beautiful,” Musk said. “But I don’t know if it could be both.”
Trump has defended the bill, talking about the politics involved with negotiating the legislation.
“I’m not happy about certain aspects of it, but I’m thrilled by other aspects of it,” he said in the Oval Office overnight.
Donald Trump.
Moving to the war in Ukraine, where Reuters has an exclusive story about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands for peace.
He is demanding that Western leaders pledge to stop expanding Nato eastwards; that Ukraine is prevented from ever joining the treaty organisation; and for a chunk of sanctions on Russia to be lifted.
The report was based on three Russian sources with knowledge of the negotiations.
Trump has long said he wants to end the conflict but has shown increasing frustration with Putin in recent days, warning the Russian leader that he was “playing with fire” by refusing to engage in ceasefire talks with Kyiv while his forces made advances on the battlefield.
In business news, the Financial Times reports that Christine Lagarde has discussed cutting short her term as European Central Bank president to become chair of the World Economic Forum.
Christine Lagarde.
That’s according to WEF founder Klaus Schwab, who left the organisation last month following misconduct allegations. Schwab told the FT practical arrangements had been made for Lagarde to take over before her tenure at the ECB ended in 2027. He said that Lagarde had been at the centre of a plan to replace him for years, and there was a conversation in April between him and Lagarde to discuss future leadership at the WEF.
The ECB said that Lagarde was determined to complete her term, while the WEF said it could not comment on possible confidential discussions that may have taken place.
Any move by Lagarde to leave Europe’s top monetary authority early could trigger a succession race.
Turning to Wall Street, where the three main indexes are down slightly as investors await AI bellwether Nvidia’s earnings and minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.
"How AI demand plays out has far-reaching implications for the US market as we head into June, and many will be waiting to see today's report before doubling into the May bounceback in risk," BNY head of markets macro strategy Bob Savage said.
