Hurricane Beryl: Caribbean residents are advised to seek refuge as airports close

 As a potentially catastrophic storm makes landfall in the Caribbean, businesses and airports have closed and people are being advised to seek shelter.

With its renewed intensity in the last few hours, Hurricane Beryl has prompted alerts on potentially fatal winds and hazardous storm surges.
Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tobago are under a hurricane warning.

As Beryl approached on Sunday night, dozens of flights were canceled throughout the area, and authorities urged people to heed warnings.  The prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, told the public, "It is not a joke," bringing up the destruction inflicted by earlier hurricanes in the Caribbean.
Speaking to the nation from his official home, Mr. Gonsalves announced that he was taking refuge in his basement.
"The roof—certainly the older portion of it—might not be able to withstand winds of 150 mph (241 km/h). I'm getting ready to head downstairs," he uttered.

Beryl has been erratic in her strength.
After previously weakening significantly, the hurricane was upgraded to a category four on Monday.
The NHC issued a warning that some areas of the Windward islands should brace for "potentially catastrophic wind damage" but acknowledging that strength variations were expected to persist.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines were mentioned as well as Grenada were at the highest risk of damage.

Additionally, Barbados' prime minister, Mia Mottley, asked people to exercise caution.
"We must be prepared. As you and I both know, it's important to prepare for the worse and hope for the best when these things occur," she remarked.
She continued, "Do not let your guard down."

It is unusual for a hurricane of this power to form this early in the year, according to meteorologists.
Hurricane specialist Michael Lowry wrote on X, then known as twitter, "Only five major (Category 3+) hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic before the first week of July."
"Beryl would be the sixth and earliest this far east in the tropical Atlantic," noted Mr. Lowry this year, the North Atlantic may see up to seven significant hurricanes, an increase from the season's typical three.

It stated that part of the problem was the record high sea surface temperatures.  Meteorologists have also noted Beryl's rapid development.
Within forty-two hours, the storm intensified from a tropical depression to a major hurricane (category three or higher), according to hurricane expert Sam Lillo, who spoke with the Associated Press news agency.
The majority of the area has heeded the alerts.

Stores are closed, and customers have piled high with goods and fuel.
A state of emergency was declared in Grenada, and St. Lucia implemented a "national shutdown" that required businesses and educational institutions to close.

Food waits inside Gaza's relief warehouse while Israel and the UN trade accusations.

 Hundreds of pallets of food, ranging from rice packets to banana bunches, are lying in the sun along the Israel-Gaza border, a short distance from Palestinian communities facing starvation.

Humanitarian organizations report that they are still having difficulty getting essential aid into southern Gaza, despite the fact that Israel's military has been maintaining a daytime ceasefire on a crucial stretch of road just past the main Kerem Shalom crossing point for the past week.
They claim that the increased lawlessness is to blame for why it is too risky to pick up and move items.

According to Georgios Petropoulos, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza, "the looting has become quite profound." According to his estimation, on Tuesday, seventy-five percent of the cargo on lorries arriving from the  Hundreds of pallets of food, ranging from rice packets to banana bunches, are lying in the sun along the Israel-Gaza border, a short distance from Palestinian communities facing starvation.
Humanitarian organizations report that they are still having difficulty getting essential aid into southern Gaza, despite the fact that Israel's military has been maintaining a daytime ceasefire on a crucial stretch of road just past the main Kerem Shalom crossing point for the past week.
They claim that the increased lawlessness is to blame for why it is too risky to pick up and move items.

According to Georgios Petropoulos, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza, "the looting has become quite profound." According to his estimation, on Tuesday, seventy-five percent of the cargo on lorries arriving from the  were taken by crossing.
According to UN officials, armed gangs, especially those smuggling cigarettes—which fetch outrageous prices on Gaza's underground market—systematically attack and stop the cars. Fuel-transporting lorries into Gaza have also been attacked lately.
Since the Hamas government in Gaza was overthrown by Israel's military campaign, there is currently no strategy in place to take over. The number of police officers remaining in the Palestinian region is quite low. It's unclear if organized crime groups have ties to Gazan tribes or Hamas.

According to Mr. Petropoulos, "meaningful decisions about what we will do for civil order in Gaza and who will take care of delivering that now have to be made."   The military organization in charge of running the crossings, Cogat, informed reporters that there was no cap on the quantity of aid that might enter Gaza. We were shown what was allegedly a backlog of over a thousand lorryloads of aid that were waiting to be collected from the Gaza side after passing through security checks.
According to Cogat spokesman Shimon Freedman, "international organizations have not taken sufficient steps to improve their distribution capacity," which is largely to blame for this.
He said that in addition to needing "to increase manpower, to extend working hours, to increase storage," and take other "logistical and organizational steps," the UN, which is the primary relief provider in Gaza, did not have enough trucks.
    

While touring Kerem Shalom with the media, the Israeli

According to North Korea, the Putin-Kim agreement calls for prompt military support in the event of conflict.

 South Korea's SEOUL (AP) — According to North Korean state media on Thursday, the presidents of Russia and North Korea established a new agreement at a summit in Pyongyang that mandates both nations utilize all available means to give quick military support in the case of conflict.

The agreement struck on Wednesday was hailed by Vladimir Putin of Russia and Kim Jong Un of North Korea as a significant improvement of bilateral relations encompassing trade, investment, security, and cultural and humanitarian links. According to outside experts, it might represent the closest relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow since the end of the Cold War.


The wording of the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement was released on Thursday by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. According to the agency, Article 4 of the contract stipulates that if one when one nation is attacked and declared a war zone, the other is obliged to use "all means at its disposal without delay" in order to offer "military and other assistance."

The U.S. and its allies expressed growing concern about a potential arms deal in which Pyongyang gives Moscow much-needed ammunition for its war in Ukraine in exchange for economic support and technology transfers that could increase the threat posed by Kim's nuclear weapons and missile program, which coincided with the summit between Kim and Putin. 

After the summit, Kim described the two nations' relationship as a “fiery friendship” and said the agreement was their “strongest-ever treaty,” elevating it to the status of an alliance. He promised to fully back Russia's offensive in Ukraine. Putin referred to it as a "breakthrough document," indicating a common goal to elevate relations.

Experts claim that a 1961 deal between North Korea and the former Soviet Union required Moscow to launch a military intervention in the event that the North was attacked. Following the fall of the USSR, the agreement was abandoned and was replaced in 2000 with a new one that provided less robust security guarantees.

After the Kim-Putin summit, South Korean officials stated that they were still analyzing the outcomes, particularly what Russia may do in the event that the North is attacked and whether the new agreement offers a comparable degree of security to the 1961 treaty. As of Thursday morning, South Korean officials had not responded to the North Korean report regarding the specifics of the agreement.

At a briefing, Lee Kyung-ho, a spokesman for Seoul's Defense Ministry, responded, "As of now, there is nothing specific we can tell you," when asked if the ministry believes that Russia has committed to an automatic military intervention on behalf of the North in times of conflict.


Putin struck the agreement while making his first visit to North Korea in 24  years, with Kim embracing Putin twice at the airport, their vehicle passing by enormous Russian flags and Putin images, and a welcoming ceremony at Pyongyang's main square that drew what looked to be tens of thousands of onlookers. The visit demonstrated their personal and strategic relations.

As to KCNA, the agreement further stipulates that Pyongyang and Moscow are prohibited from entering into agreements with third parties that violate the "core interests" of another party and are also prohibited from taking any action that jeopardizes such interests.

According to KCNA, the accords mandate that the nations take action to plan coordinated defense capabilities in order to avert conflict and safeguard regional and international peace and security. The agency did not say what those actions are or if integrated military training and other forms of collaboration would be part of them.

According to KCNA, the agreement also requires the nations to actively collaborate in attempts to create a "just and multipolar new world order," highlighting how the nations are standing together in the face of their individual, intensifying conflicts with the United States.


Kim has prioritized Russia in recent months as he pursues a foreign policy meant to deepen ties with nations that stand up to Washington, adopting the notion of a "new Cold War," and attempting to  to present a unified front in Putin's larger confrontations with Western powers.

As a result of the rapid escalation of Kim's weapon tests and joint military drills including the United States, South Korea, and Japan, tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years.

The Koreas have also waged psychological warfare akin to that of the Cold War, with North Korea using balloons to dump tons of trash on the South and the South using its loudspeakers to broadcast propaganda critical of North Korea.

IDF claims to be looking into reports of civilians being shot during the Jenin attack.

 According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), a man who had carried out a firearms attack had his house demolished as part of an operation on Tuesday in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, with the goal of combating terrorism in the area.

The Israeli military action in Jenin earlier on Tuesday resulted in the deaths of seven Palestinians and the injuries of nine others, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. One of the deceased, according to the government, was Dr. Usaid Kamal Jabarin, 50, who was assassinated while traveling to his place of employment.


The Shin Bet provided intelligence that led the IDF, Border Guard, and Shin Bet to "launch an operation to counter terrorism in the Jenin area " activity of armed terrorists connected to Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hamas terrorist groups. Security personnel engaged in gunfire with "armed terrorists" during the operation, it continued.

The IDF said in answer to a CNN query: "Terrorists were linked to hits." Not a single IDF injury was reported. There have apparently been hits on uninvolved parties during the gunfire in the vicinity. The claims are being examined by the IDF.


Ahmed Barkhat, who had carried out two shooting incidents, one of which resulted in the death of an Israeli citizen, had his residence demolished, according to the IDF. March saw the death of Barkhat.

 

Palestinians escape during the Gaza War as Israeli forces re-enter Palestine.

 In Gaza's northern Jabalia, there have been reports of fierce fighting following the Israeli military's return to areas where it claimed Hamas had regrouped.

Tanks are moving near Jabalia's refugee camp, which has been heavily bombarded since Saturday, according to evacuating residents.


Armed Palestinian factions claimed to be engaged in combat with camp forces.

In the meantime, the UN reports that since an offensive started a week ago, 360,000 Palestinians have left the southern city of Rafah.

With over a million Palestinians seeking safety in the eastern part of the city, the Israeli military has ordered its evacuation.A US Secretary of State Antony Blinken forewarned Israel on Sunday that launching a full-scale offensive in Rafah may lead to "anarchy" rather than the destruction of Hamas.

His remarks mirrored briefings given to Israeli media by unidentified senior Israeli military officials, who said that the absence of a clear Israeli government plan for the "day after" the war was the reason behind Hamas's revival in northern Gaza.


After claiming to have "dismantled" Hamas's battalions in the north, the military lowered its activity levels there in January. However, that created a void in authority that allowed the gang to grow again.

According to the chief of the World Food Programme, an estimated 300,000 people who are stranded in the damaged region are also going through a "full-blown famine" as a result of a lack of relief delivery.  When tanks moved into the region, locals who were captured on camera running away from Jabalia on foot on Monday morning stated they made the decision to evacuate.

"We have no idea where to go. We have been uprooted and relocated," a woman told the Reuters news agency. "We're sprinting through the streets. I was able to witness it myself. I observed the bulldozer and the tank."   The military arm of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, both of which are classified as terrorist organizations by the US, Israel, the UK, and other nations, reported that its members were using machine guns, anti-tank missiles, and mortars to target Israeli forces in and around the Jabalia camp.

The Safa news agency, which is connected with Hamas, also reported on fighting between Israeli tanks and Palestinian armed groups east of the Jabalia camp's market, close to a number of UN-run schools that people were using as shelters.

Meanwhile, two individuals were murdered in Israeli strikes on residences in Jabalia camp on Monday, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, and several more people were killed in a strike in Jabalia town.

Additionally, it quoted medical personnel stating that thus far, 20 civilians' bodies had been found in Jabalia and sent to the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia.


The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to information provided by the IDF on Sunday, forces had started their operation in Jabalia the night before "based on intelligence information regarding attempts by Hamas to reassemble its terrorist infrastructure and operatives in the area".

It happened after locals were instructed to flee to Gaza City's western region.Along with this, the IDF stated that it was conducting operations to "eliminate terrorists and dismantle terrorist infrastructure" in the Zeitoun region of eastern Gaza City.

According to Safa, Israeli shelling struck Zeitoun early on Monday.


The bombing and evacuation orders, according to UN agency Unrwa, "created more displacement and fear for thousands of families" in northern Gaza.

According to Unrwa, there was "nowhere safe to go" for the impacted population, including the approximately 360,000 people who had left Rafah in the last week.

Israel has maintained that it cannot win the war in Gaza without capturing Rafah and destroying the last few Hamas units. The conflict has lasted for seven months. However, the UN and Western nations have cautioned that a full-scale attack could result in a large number of civilian deaths and a humanitarian catastrophe.

Since the IDF announced last Monday that it was starting a "precise operation against Hamas" in eastern Rafah, there have been scenes of desperation in Rafah.

Flyers directing people to leave more eastern neighborhoods—including those near the city center—were dropped off on Saturday.


Based in western Rafah, Scott Anderson, deputy director of Unrwa for Gaza, told the BBC on Monday that the Israeli operation now covered the old town and reached "about a third of the way across Rafah."

He reported that the battle has disrupted the operations of hospitals and numerous Unrwa facilities in the Rafah refugee camp, including a primary healthcare center. He claimed to have heard explosions and air strikes. Four individuals, including a child, were reportedly murdered on Monday in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Brazil neighborhood, which is located directly southeast of the camp, according to Palestinian media.

Additionally, the military branch of Hamas claimed to have attacked Israeli forces east of Rafah.


Concerning the possibility that the Israeli operation would soon turn into a full-scale offensive, many of the individuals seeking sanctuary in central and western districts that are not under evacuation orders have also been departing.

Mother-of-two Ghada el-Kurd told the BBC on Monday that this was her eighth displacement during the conflict and that she had just gone to Deir al-Balah in Gaza's Middle Area.

The woman claimed that Deir al-Balah's streets were "full of sewage" and that the devastation of the infrastructure and housing were "huge, not like Rafah".  She continued: "I'm lucky enough to have a home, but most other people are living in tents and are [suffering from] the heat, a lack of water and a lack of food."

Deir al-Balah is included in the "extended humanitarian area" declared by the IDF, which extends northward from the al-Mawasi coastal strip to Khan Younis and the Middle Area of Gaza.


While field hospitals, tents, and relief supplies are what the IDF has promised the refugees to find there, Mr. Anderson of Unrwa claimed it lacks the requisite infrastructure.

He clarified that "everything that people have access to has to be trucked in... that includes food, water, and moving solid waste" in al-Mawasi.

"It's somewhat comparable for those who are moving to Khan Younis... That is still getting better from the recent Israeli operation a few months back."  Additionally, Mr. Anderson pleaded with Israel and Hamas to consent to the establishment of a "fixed corridor" that would enable UN trucks to enter and exit the neighboring Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel in a safe manner. This crossing is a crucial point of entry for aid.

Following a four-day closure due to rocket fire from Hamas that resulted in the deaths of four Israel troops, Israel said last Wednesday that the crossing was reopened. However, the UN claimed that because of the fighting in eastern Rafah, it was extremely risky to deliver aid.


Since Israeli forces fully seized control of the Palestinian side last Tuesday, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt has also been closed.

Hamas charged Israel of "escalating their brutal massacres in various areas of Palestine" in a statement released on Sunday the Gaza Strip.

In response to Hamas' cross-border raid on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in around 1,200 deaths and the kidnapping of 252 persons, Israel began a military campaign in Gaza to eliminate the organization.

More high-end phones are sold by Samsung than by any other Android competitor.

 More premium smartphones are sold by Samsung than by any other Android smartphone manufacturer. Even while Q1 2024 had its highest-ever average selling price (ASP) for smartphones, it still has a ways to go before surpassing Apple in terms of ASP and revenue. Samsung is the only Android OEM with three times the revenue from its smartphones.

More money is made by Samsung than by any other brand of Android smartphones.
The most recent report from Counterpoint Research claims that in the first quarter of 2024, Samsung held a 20% market share for smartphones worldwide. It overcame Apple, which topped the charts for smartphone shipments in Q4 2023. As a result of the Galaxy A54 and Galaxy S24's robust sales throughout the quarter, Samsung also achieved its highest-ever smartphone ASP. In Q1 2024, its ASP was $336, far below than Apple's ($900). The worldwide  the period's smartphone ASP was $370. Year over year, the revenue of the smartphone market as a whole grew by 7%.Apple had a 41% revenue share in the first quarter of the year, compared to 18% for Samsung. In that market, other smartphone brands, including as Xiaomi, Vivo, and OPPO, made 6% or less. With a 14% market share, Xiaomi outpaced OPPO and Vivo, with 8% and 7%, respectively. Vivo's revenue share for the quarter was 4%, while Xiaomi's and OPPO's were 6%.

Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint Research, stated that growth would likely be gradual but constant in the near future. But since the premiumization trend is likely to continue, revenues should climb more quickly. This is especially true given the emergence of additional form factors and capabilities like foldables and GenAI. Thus far, over ten OEMs have released over thirty smartphones with Gen AI capabilities by 2024, we predict that GenAI will account for 11% of all smartphone shipments.

Millions More Than Required to Reimburse Bankruptcy Victims: FTX

 The average payout for lower-ranking creditors is sometimes pennies on the dollar for their investment, but FTX benefited from a robust surge in cryptocurrencies, particularly Solana, a token that is strongly pushed by FTX founder and convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried. Numerous additional assets, including venture capital initiatives like an interest in the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, have also been sold by the corporation.

"This is just an amazing outcome in any bankruptcy," remarked John Ray, the Chief Executive Officer of FTX, who took over the company when it failed.


Cherokee Acquisition reports that the price of FTX claims increased on Wednesday morning to 101 cents on the dollar, up from 95 cents the previous week.

FTX will have up to $16.3 billion in cash to distribute after selling all of its properties, according to astatement from the corporation. It owes over $11 billion to other non-governmental creditors and more than 2 million consumers.

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The most recent data highlights the unexpected result for FTX, whose collapse prompted analogies to the collapse of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme and the fraud-driven demise of Enron Corp. The corporation had roughly $6.4 billion in cash at the beginning of the year.

In recent years, the majority of creditors in large company bankruptcy in the United States have received their whole investment back. A significant increase in the price of used cars led to the automobile rental firm Hertz's bankruptcy discharge in 2021, with funds remaining to compensate shareholders. The parent company of American Airlines Group Inc. also emerged from bankruptcy in 2013 with a plan to provide