Inside Daily Brief

For April 29, 2024

Here’s your daily news briefing:

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas to accept Israel's hostage release and truce deal.
Donald Trump met with Ron DeSantis on Sunday to discuss fundraising.
Russian deputy defense minister Timur Ivanov was arrested for corruption last week.

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas on Monday to accept a hostage release and truce deal recently proposed by Israel. The international community is pushing for a truce ahead of a threatened Israeli assault on the southern Gazan city of Rafah.

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The deal would see Hamas release fewer than 40 of the roughly 130 hostages it still holds captive in exchange for Israel's release of imprisoned Palestinians.
The second phase would see a "period of sustained calm," which was Israel's compromise response to Hamas' demand for a ceasefire.
Blinken called Israel's phased truce proposal "extraordinarily generous."
Hamas negotiators were expected to provide a response to the proposal today.

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Blinken reiterated Washington's opposition to an Israeli ground assault in Rafah unless provisions are made to "ensure that civilians would not be harmed.

What the numbers say: The price of copper reached $4.59 per pound (lbs) last week after news broke that BHP, the world's largest mining firm, put in a bid to take control of London-listed miner Anglo American. The latest surge brought copper's price to two-year highs.

Demand for copper is rising due to its key role in electric vehicles, data centers, and energy grid infrastructure. Mining firms need to invest over $150B between 2025 and 2032 to meet rising demand amid an expected decline in production from existing mines. However, companies are failing to make sufficient investments to boost copper production, according to business intelligence firm CRU group. Copper prices have risen 16% this year as investors bet on future supply shortfalls. Prices for the metal would need to reach at least $12,000 per pound to justify large spending on new mines, according to Olivia Markham, who co-manages the BlackRock World Mining Fund.

Former U.S. president Donald Trump had a private meeting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday. Trump seeks access to his former rival's extensive donor network after DeSantis ended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in January.

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DeSantis reportedly felt mistreated by Trump and his team during the Republican primary.
DeSantis reportedly reached out to Trump through a shared contact to "bury the hatchet."
DeSantis agreed to help Trump after saying in April that he planned to help raise money for Trump's 2024 campaign.
DeSantis aims to bolster his political prospects by improving his relationship with Trump.

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President Joe Biden's campaign for re-election has a significant funding advantage over Trump's presidential effort.
DeSantis reportedly intends to make another bid for the White House in 2028.

Russian deputy defense minister Timur Ivanov was arrested for corruption last week. Russian President Vladimir Putin may be trying to rein in the power of Moscow's defense ministry, The Financial Times reports.

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Ivanov was detained and taken to court after a high-level meeting.
He was arrested on suspicion of accepting a bribe, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years in jail.
Ivanov had a relationship with Olimpcitystroi, a company that won military contracts to rebuild Mariupol after Russian forces took the city in 2022.
The arrest came as a blow to Ivanov's mentor, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

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Ivanov is the highest-ranking Russian official to be detained since 2016.

GOOD NEWS: The U.S. will reintroduce grizzly bears to Washington state's North Cascades mountain range. Returning the keystone species to its native habitat is expected to boost the resilience of the local ecosystem.

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The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seek to build a population of 200 bears in the North Cascades within 60 to 100 years.
They aim to release seven bears per year to build a "founder population" of 25 animals over the next five to 10 years.
Some ranchers and farmers opposed the move, arguing that bears may pose a threat to livestock and people.
The federal government classified the project as a "nonessential experimental population," which allows bears to be killed if they threaten humans.

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Thousands of grizzlies in the North Cascades were hunted for their fur and the species has not been spotted there with certainty since 1996.

Chinese companies are using unofficial channels to finance their operations in Russia as large Chinese banks increase their scrutiny of Russian-related transactions. Chinese banks are concerned about facing U.S. sanctions as Washington blames China for "powering" Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reports.

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Large Chinese banks are taking "months rather than days," to clear payments from Russia, reports Reuters citing an anonymous source.
Chinese companies are reportedly using banned cryptocurrency and money brokers to settle payments in Russia.
China Construction Bank, one of China's four largest banks, reported a 14% decline in its Russian subsidiary's assets last year and Agricultural Bank of China posted a 7% decline.
China's largest lender, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, posted a 43% increase in the assets of its Russian unit.

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced "serious concern" that China was supporting Russia's war against Ukraine when he met with China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Friday.

QUICK HITS:

At least four people were killed by several tornadoes that swept across Oklahoma on Saturday night.
Kyiv denied Moscow's' claims that Russian forces killed up to 300 Ukrainian soldiers with a so-called "vacuum bomb."
Haiti's transition council said on Saturday that it will vote for the country's new president on Tuesday.
Food relief nonprofit World Central Kitchen said that it will resume Gaza operations on Monday after an Israeli airstrike killed seven of its aid workers earlier this month.

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Flussbaulandschaft, by Paul Klee. 1924.

Gregory Bridgman

Writer / Editor

Gregory Bridgman is a politics and technology researcher with a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. He also holds a Master of Science from University College London and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Cape Town. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or drop him an email at gregory@inside.com.