This week's world news has been a whirlwind of pivotal moments. On the political front, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continued to be in the spotlight, with violence in the West Bank raising international concern. In this regard, the last few hours have seen a new wave of condemnation after the Israeli army mistakenly killed three hostages in Gaza.
The trip to the region by White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is a sign that the Biden administration remains concerned about maintaining a difficult balance between its engagement with Tel Aviv and responding to international criticism. The adoption of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly for a cease-fire in Gaza, supported by 153 countries, was an example of the above.
Also, in politics, European leaders decided to open accession talks with Ukraine on Thursday. Still, according to a Politico report, it was after three hours of deadlocked discussions with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sent the Hungarian leader to "grab a coffee outside the room" to achieve the much-desired unanimity. Nevertheless, Orban struck back by later vetoing a €50 billion aid package to Kiev.
The finance world buzzed after the US Federal Reserve kept its main interest rates unchanged, which was followed by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. The news spread bullish sentiment in global markets, provoking new record highs in US and Europe. Nevertheless, at the end of the week, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams decided to cool down the optimism, commenting that the Fed is "not really talking about rate cuts" now and that it is "premature" to do so.
In other news, markets saw how Broadcom's shares jumped to an all-time high while AstraZeneca announced a billion-dollar acquisition of Icosavax. Pfizer also made headlines with its regulatory clearance to buy Seagen for $43 billion. Finally, in technology news, Meta's Zuckerberg announced the rollout of Threads to EU countries while Tesla grappled with challenges, recalling over 2 million units and unveiling upgrades to its Optimus Gen 2 robot.
