May 10, 2024
ICYMI: News Round-Up for May 5-10, 2024
Here are just a few of the news events that took place this week:
- Israel rejected an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal this week, and launched incursions into Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where much of the region's population is now located. In response to the widely-criticised move, the U.S. paused shipment of high-payload munitions to Israel. PM Benjamin Netanyahu struck a defiant tone, stating, "If we need to ... we will stand alone."
- Legendary hedge fund founder Jim Simons died this week at 86 years old. Simons, who was a mathematician and Cold War code-breaker, went on to revolutionise investing earning him the nickname "Quant King." Simons' Renaissance Medallion Fund delivered average annual returns of over 60% over the course of three decades. At the time of his death, Simons had a net worth of more than $31 billion.
- The United Nations general assembly voted to back a Palestinian bid for full membership. The assembly voted 143 in a favour vs 9 against (with 25 abstentions). The results of the vote will provide upgrades to Palestine's observer status, but the path to full membership is still blocked by pre-existing 2990-era laws. Critics point out that Palestine doesn't currently meet the criteria for full membership.
- The personal information of thousands of military personnel in the UK is now in the hands of Chinese hackers, after the Ministry of Defence's payroll system was compromised.
- China launched its Chang'e-6 mission, which aims to be the first to collect samples from the far side of the moon. After the 53-day mission, researchers are keen to answer questions about why the moon's far side is so different from the one we see from Earth. This marks another step in China realising its ambitions in space. The country is hoping to also collect samples from Mars and Jupiter, as well as land astronauts on the surface of the moon by 2030.
- TikTok is now suing the U.S. government over a law that stands as an ultimatum for the popular video app – sell the company or face a ban in America. The company claims it has already spent over $2 billion addressing government concerns over personal data of U.S. citizens.