There are breaking reports that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been ina helicopter crash in a remote northern area of the countryand that rescuers are trying to reach him and his crew.
State media is currently calling it a "hard landing" - suggesting that the president is alive and well, however no other details on the precise nature of the helicopter incident have been revealed. According to the NYT, 16 rescue teams have been dispatched to locate the helicopter, however inclement weather are hampering the effort, according to the reports. The teams have failed to locate the crash after nearly five hours. According to the latest via Al Jazeera citing state media:
Adverse weather conditions, including heavy fog, are hampering rescue efforts and the helicopter is still missing.
Iran’s Fars News Agency calls on Iranians to pray for President Raisi.
What is known is that Raisi's helicopter went down while in the country's East Azerbaijan province and that it happened near the border city of Jolfa, and up to three helicopters total made up the air convoy at the time.
"Given the complexities of the region, connection has been difficult, and we are hoping that the rescue teams reach the helicopter and can give us more information," said Iran's interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi on state television.
State-run IRNA news agency indicated that among the officials aboard the aircraft included Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.
The Associated Press has quoted at least one Iranian official to say it was a "crash" and that there's an urgent rescue mission currently underway in a forested area:
One local government official used the word “crash” to describe the incident, but he acknowledged to an Iranian newspaper that he had yet to reach the site himself.
Rescuers were attempting to reach the site, state TV said, but had been hampered by poor weather conditions. There had been heavy rain and fog reported with some wind. IRNA called the area a “forest.”
It appears Raisi was traveling in connection with a trip to Azerbaijan earlier in the day, where he had overseen the inauguration of a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev this morning. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency has stated on X Sunday:
"Some of the president’s companions on this helicopter were able to communicate with Central Headquarters, raising hopes that the incident could have ended without casualties."
Thus farinitial reports indicate that Raisi has survived the incident, but again the 'hard landing' appears to be significant - and possibly far worse - than what state media is letting on.
The fact that a rescue team has yet to even reach the location of the downed helicopter means this could be a potential casualty situation involving top officials.
Almost immediately, a number of online commenters raised the question of potential foreign involvement... "Israel?" some asked. However, it's also well understood that helicopters become more prone to incidents in foggy or inclement weather, and over mountainous difficult terrain. Iran's aviation industry has also long languished under Washington-led sanctions.
Deep divisions and apprehension on the campus of Morehouse College have presentedPresident Joe Bidenwith a delicate balancing act this weekend as he prepares to deliver the commencement address at the historically Black, all-male college.
There have been mixed reactions within the Morehouse community to Biden’s presence on campus as the school braces for enhanced security measures and potential pro-Palestinian protests amid the president’s stalwart support for Israel’s campaign against Hamas. The White House has been working for weeks to quell any concerns, and it hopes the address will give Biden an opportunity to better connect with young Black men, a group that has been increasingly moving away from the president, according to recent polls.
“There’s just an overwhelming sense of confusion and sort of disarray,” said Colin Royal, managing editor of the Maroon Tiger student newspaper and a junior at Morehouse, when asked about the atmosphere on campus. “Some think that it’s a tremendous opportunity to possibly bring a lot of well-needed attention to Morehouse, and some think the opposite.”
The president’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza has roiled college campuses across the country, leaving Biden facing a unique circumstance for a Democratic politician: avoiding the progressive college voters who are traditionally very friendly and enthusiastic about supporting the party. Instead, Biden has basically stopped visiting colleges and universities since a January speech during which he was interrupted several times by activists calling for a ceasefire.
While Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have made giving commencement speeches at historically Black colleges and universities a hallmark of their spring schedules, the Morehouse address is under the microscope as a potential litmus test for the president’s strength with young voters of color in the fall.
Aware of the difficult task at hand, Biden and his advisers have prepared for the speech in battleground Georgia for weeks. The president’s advisers say he’s intent on keeping the focus on the graduates even as the prospect of protests over Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza lingers over the event.
Cedric Richmond, a Morehouse alumnus and co-chair of Biden’s reelection campaign, said he also expects for Biden to talk about “overcoming adversity” and the importance of giving back to the community during his keynote address.
CNN spoke to 10 students and four faculty members at Morehouse College who had differing opinions on Biden speaking at their school.
A divided campus
Aylon Gipson, a graduating senior and a member of the Morehouse College Democrats who met with the Biden administration, said he was reassured Biden would deliver remarks “authentic to Morehouse College” and that the president “has something to say to us that would be impactful for our lives.”
Other students who spoke to CNN, however, expressed deep skepticism of the president’s motives for coming to their school.
Jalen Silas Burch, a 19-year-old freshman, told CNN that he feels the president’s speech is a move to “pander” to Black male voters. “I feel like it’s just a tactic just to get more and more Black voters because I feel like Biden knows that he has been losing a lot of support, especially this past year,” he said.
Enter your email to subscribe to the CNN Five Things Newsletter.
Some students said they want the president to use the speech to specifically address his support for Israel.
“I’m looking forward to Biden coming on campus in order to hear what his speech truly has to say,” said Calvin Bell, 22, a senior. “As someone who has felt very weird at this portion in time and history, with the tension in Gaza, I think it’s important for Biden to come with the intention of wrestling with the issues at hand, and reassuring students such as myself, as well as our family members, who are a part of the Black community.”
Morehouse extended the invitation to Biden to speak at the commencement in September, a month before the Israel-Hamas war started.
Biden will receive an honorary Morehouse degree, following a faculty vote earlier in the week. The college told CNN in an email that “it is imperative to clarify that the recent decision to convene to vote to award President Biden an honorary degree is not because of current political affairs.”
Since the announcement that Biden would deliver a commencement speech at the HBCU this spring, several student-led protests have taken place on and off the Morehouse campus. The Atlanta University Center Student Intercommunal Coordinating Committee (AUC SICC) has played an instrumental role in planning pro-Palestinian protests on and near Morehouse’s campus throughout the last few months. The committee recently released a letter of demands to the Morehouse Board of Trustees.
Among the committee’s demands is an “immediate divestment from Israeli companies and corporations” and that the college “sever all ties with Israel in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people.”
Michael Henry, a 22-year-old senior who attended an on-campus rally, told CNN that many students are frustrated with Biden and also with the college’s senior leadership for allowing the president to come to speak at the school.
“A lot of the administrators at Morehouse, particularly the president (of the college), would like to suggest that the student body is completely split … that there’s no plurality of views. But I can’t name one person off the top of my head who is really excited that Biden is coming here,” he told CNN.
Noah Collier, a senior, told CNN that his school needs to rescind Biden’s invitation because, he says, if the president speaks on his campus this weekend, it “shows our institution’s complicity in all of the injustices created by Biden’s Cabinet and the US government.”
Morehouse College President David A. Thomas told CNN on Thursday that he didn’t rescind Biden’s invitation speak because “we need some place in this country that can hold the tensions that threaten to divide us.”
While Thomas acknowledged he considered the president’s reelection effort a possible motivator when inviting him to speak, he said it wouldn’t be in Biden’s interest to “give a campaign stump speech.” He called on Biden to discuss what the school represents, lay out his vision for “a more inclusive economy” and address the Israel-Hamas war.
The school “will allow silent non-disruptive protest,” but Thomas said he would shut down commencement ceremonies “on the spot” if there are any big disruptions preventing attendees’ ability to “partake and enjoy.”
Senior faculty at Morehouse College are hoping to minimize disruptions at the ceremony by holding several meetings with faculty and students in the past few weeks to hear concerns about the president’s upcoming visit. The White House has also gone to campus, sending White House Director of the Office of Public Engagement Steve Benjamin to meet with members of the Morehouse College community this past weekend.
During the meeting, which lasted over two hours, some faculty and students told Benjamin that they did not want Biden to deliver a campaign speech during his keynote address at the graduation ceremony. Instead, they wanted him to focus on the students’ accomplishments, according to a person who attended the meeting, who spoke on a condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
Benjamin said Thursday that the meeting was an opportunity to “lean in with these young leaders to hear what they wanted to hear on their very special commencement day.”
Laying the groundwork for weeks
The president’s advisers have consulted Morehouse students, faculty and alumni, including Dr. Eddie Glaude, a Morehouse alumnus and Princeton professor of African American Studies, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Biden’s team is also expected to study Obama’s 2013 Morehouse address as they craft the speech, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Biden and Harris previously spoke at Morehouse College in 2022 as part of a major voting rights push with legislation stalled on Capitol Hill. They have alternated years speaking at graduation ceremonies at historically Black colleges and universities, with Biden delivering commencement addresses at South Carolina State University in late 2021 and Howard University in 2023. Harris spoke at Tennessee State University’s commencement exercises in 2022.
The White House has been preparing for the possibility of protests at Sunday’s event, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Heightened security presence
Morehouse College is also taking additional steps to increase security in response to Biden’s upcoming visit after protests on its campus.
Senior faculty advisers helping prepare for the graduation ceremony this weekend held a meeting with the Secret Service and are monitoring student protests that are expected to happen this week, according to a source familiar with these conversations.
Student volunteers assisting with the graduation ceremony at Morehouse College are also required this year to undergo a virtual de-escalation training with the Morehouse College Police Department before the graduation ceremony, according to an email obtained by CNN.
The de-escalation training is aimed at preparing these students to “address challenging situations that may arise” during the ceremony that could require them to intervene, according to the email.
The college has also cleared out academic buildings and student housing located near where the commencement speech is supposed to be held due to security reasons. This move has forced many students who are staying on campus after final exams to relocate to other buildings that are farther away from where the graduation ceremony is supposed to take place.
Stephane Dunn, a professor who has taught at the college for over 16 years, said that the Morehouse College faculty’s overall concern about Biden attending the graduation is that it will overshadow the event’s main purpose, which is to celebrate the nearly 500 students who are graduating.
“The number one conversation going on is that this graduation is not for President Biden. … The commencement at Morehouse on Sunday will be about the students primarily. It’s their story. It’s their chapter that is ending and about the other chapter that is beginning,” Dunn said.
Ivory Coast's Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) has suspended around 40 cooperatives they suspect were illegally hoarding cocoa beans in order to sell them at a higher price to exporters struggling to fulfil their contracts, two sources at the regulator said on Friday.
Exporters, who have been short of supply due to cocoa disease and adverse weather, are looking for ways to buy beans to honour their contractual obligations and some suppliers were taking advantage of the situation, the sources said.
Suspended cooperatives and independent buyers have stockpiled more than 60,000 metric tons of cocoa since the start of the mid-crop in early April, the sources from the CCC told Reuters.
While it is not illegal to stockpile beans it is illegal to stockpile to charge higher prices.
The suspension, ordered last week to block trading by some cooperatives and this week for others, is intended to prevent overpayment by smaller exporters who are trying to compete with multinational cocoa buyers.
While the farmgate price was set at 1,500 CFA francs ($2.50) per kg for the period between April to September, some cooperatives and other buyers were requesting multinationals pay between 1,600 and 1,800 CFA francs at the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro.
"We were forced to react vigorously and suspend around 40 cooperatives and buyers to put an end to this practice, which is destabilizing the domestic marketing system and putting some exporters in difficulty," said one of the CCC sources. Both requested anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
Exporters welcomed the regulator's decision and said if beans were not being stockpiled, weekly arrivals would be much higher than what they have been recording since the start of the mid-crop.
Cocoa arrivals at the ports in the world's top producer of the main ingredient in chocolate, are down 29.3% compared with the same period last year.
"Two of my suppliers are part of the suspended cooperatives. They offered me cocoa at 1700 CFA francs per kg last Thursday and this Monday. I didn't accept," a manager of an export company based in Abidjan, told Reuters. He also requested anonymity.
"This has to stop. There isn't enough cocoa this year, so we must avoid complicating the already complicated situation," said another San Pedro-based cocoa exporter.
The two sources at the CCC said that the regulator was carrying out an inventory of stocks.
"Cooperatives and buyers with delivery contracts will have to deliver quickly, otherwise we will direct them to other exporters ourselves," one of the sources at the cocoa regulator said.
According to a study, car manufacturers are doing little to sell new electric cars. In its market study for May, the Bochum-based CAR Institute reports that battery models, which are already significantly more expensive, are offered on average with lower discounts than equivalent combustion engines.
According to the study, the average discount granted for electric cars was only 12.7 percent, while combustion cars were offered with a discount of 16.7 percent on the list price. As recently as March, the discounts were roughly equal. In the spring, many manufacturers had borne the cost of the state purchase premium, which was canceled in December, on their own.
In a random sample of ten popular models in May, the e-cars were on average just under 12,000 euros more expensive than the respective car with a combustion engine. "The market for electric cars in Germany remains in sleep mode. VW's big discount campaign from January to March remains history," summarizes study director Ferdinand Dudenhoffer. The price gap between electric cars and combustion engines has grown in recent months and manufacturers are clearly calling for the sale of cars with conventional drive systems.
Thomas Pekruhn, Vice President of the industry association ZDK, also reports a shift in purchasing incentives. "Many manufacturers have taken the steam out of the electric sector when it comes to discounts and are shifting the premiums back towards combustion engines. They have realized that they can no longer push through the prices that have recently risen sharply there." Pekruhn emphasized: "There is an urgent need to stimulate the sale of electric cars."
Despite a sharp drop in registration figures, the US manufacturer Tesla has also only made subtle changes to its prices, CAR reports. While the list price of several models was reduced by 2,000 euros, it rose by up to 2,500 euros for another. On average, this resulted in a price reduction of 1.2 percent.
Dudenhoffer expects plug-in hybrids to make a comeback in the coming year as manufacturers seek to meet the EU's stricter CO2 fleet limits. There is little hope for an increase in sales of locally emission-free electric cars, says the automotive expert. The scrapping of the environmental bonus at the end of 2023 remains a major mistake by the German government. The requirement was abruptly canceled in the wake of the budget crisis.
The Federal Reserve and two other U.S. regulators are moving toward a new plan that would significantly reduce a nearly 20% mandated increase in capital for the country's biggest banks following lobbying efforts by industry CEOs like JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Top officials from all three agencies involved in the pending capital rules—the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)—are still discussing substantive and technical revisions and there is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached, the WSJ reported.
The Fed, the FDIC and the OCC did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.
The three bank regulators, led by the Fed, in July last year unveiled a proposal to overhaul how banks with more than $100 billion in assets calculate the cash they must set aside to absorb potential losses.
After a jarringly sudden announcement of its CEO's retirement,investment giant Vanguard has tapped its first outsider to serve as the firm's fifth CEO. On July 8, Blackrock veteran Salim Ramji will take over, facing customer service challenges, uneasiness about whether an outsider will preserve the firm's culture, and short-lived curiosity about whether he'd chart a new course for crypto.
In March, even the closest Vanguard watchers were taken by surprise when the Malvern, PA-headquartered company announced that Tim Buckley would be retiring. Unlike previous such departures, that announcement didn't center on a transition to a named successor, suggesting to some that there may have been some disenchantment on the part of Buckley and/or Vanguard.
Tuesday's Vanguard announcement touted the highlights of Ramji's BlackRock tenure:
Most recently, Mr. Ramji was Global Head of iShares & Index Investing, where he was responsible for managing a majority of the firm’s client assets and evolving the iShares platform to provide an even broader set of innovative low-cost products for investors globally.
His contributions led to expanded investment access for tens of millions of investors, a more central role for ETFs in retirement and wealth portfolios and a more efficient bond market with ETFs as an enabling technology. At BlackRock, he led the implementation of a voting choice platform, which democratizes client access to the proxy voting process.
Vanguard manages $9.3 trillion in assets for some 50 million investors. The diehards call themselves "Bogleheads" -- signaling their dedication to the investment philosophy of legendary founder Jack Bogle. At the center of that philosophy you'll find Vanguard's unique ownership structure, in which Vanguard funds own the firm, which drives a low-expense structure that's been essential to the firm's growth.
That ownership structure is also meant to instill an investor-first culture, but the firm's once-sterling reputation for customer service has been tarnished in recent years. Alongside perceptions of deteriorating call-center service, navigating the firm's website is often highly unintuitive and aggravating. Tell 'em, Arjun:
"I'm surprised that Vanguard went with an outside hire," Morningstar analyst Daniel Sotiroff told MarketWatch. "This is a departure from past hires, as previous CEOs came up through the ranks and were embedded in Vanguard's culture from early on in their careers."
With all that in mind, Bogleheads are doubt be uneasy that much of the early reporting on Ramji's selection -- and Ramji's statements too -- focus on asset and customer growth rather than righting the ship.
"I really do believe that there can be millions more people who can benefit from what Vanguard has to offer,” Ramji told the Financial Times. “Part of the opportunity over the next five years, 10 years and beyond is to scale that capability. Even with 50 million [customers], there are millions and millions more, even in this country.”
At the same time, Ramji has made an effort to reassure investors and employees that he won't overturn the firm's culture. “The mission and purpose started by Bogle and continued by his successors will continue under my leadership,” said Ramji. “I plan to pursue that with the zeal of a convert.”
Naval history enthusiast and investment-industry revolutionary Jack Bogle named his uniquely-structured firm after the HMS Vanguard, Admiral Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of the Nile in 1798
Historically, Vanguard has been judicious about launching new funds, with a wariness about aiding and abetting investors chasing trendsover a cliff. Consistent with that cautious philosophy, Vanguard in January announced it had no intention to launch a bitcoin ETF -- nor would it offer other firms' crypto ETFs on its brokerage platform. At that time, global ETF head Janel Jackson said:
"When deciding what investment products to offer, we consider a range of factors, including whether we believe they have enduring investment merit and meet our clients’ needs. While the discussion about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in general, has increased recently, we do not currently believe that there is an appropriate role for them to play in long-term portfolios."
Given Ramji led BlackRock's enormously successful spot bitcoin ETF launch, crypto-mongers were wondering if he'll persuade the Vanguard board that it's in investors' best interest after all:
However, after his selection, Ramji signaled that Vanguard would stay the no-Bitcoin course under his leadership, telling Barron's, "I have heard [chief investment officer] Greg Davis’ explanation and I think it is entirely consistent with Vanguard’s investment philosophy. It is a logical and consistent point of view.”
Vanguard investors who oppose ESG madness have reason to be encouraged, as the firm's announcement highlighted Ramji's Blackrock experience in leading "the implementation of a voting choice platform, which democratizes client access to the proxy voting process."
In some ways, Vanguard has been leading the Big Three indexing firms away from the ESG precipice. In December 2022, the company withdrew from the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, a coalition that once had 300 asset managers signed on to reduce greenhouse gases and lower the earth's temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. "[Vanguard is] not in the game of politics," CEO Tim Buckley told Financial Times at the time.
White House National Security AdviserJake Sullivan met with the Saudi crown prince over the weekend to discuss a security agreement between the two countries.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency said Sullivan and Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman talked about a “semi-final” version of a security agreement, The Associated Press (AP) reported. A security deal between the two countries was upended last year following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that prompted widespread war in the Gaza Strip.
“The semi-final version of the draft strategic agreements between the kingdom and the United States of America, which are almost being finalized — and what is being worked on between the two sides in the Palestinian issue to find a credible path — were discussed,” the statement released by Saudi state media reads, according to AP.
The AP noted that the Saudi Press Agency did not release any photos of the two officials speaking. There was no immediate statement released by the U.S. about the discussions as of Sunday morning.
Saudi Arabia stepped away from discussions about an agreement following the outbreak of the war in Gaza. However, Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to the country earlier this year and said the crown prince told him normalization was still possible.
“He and virtually every other leader I talked to supports moving forward with integration, normalization, whatever you want to call it,” Blinken said in an NBC interview. “But of course, the conflict in Gaza needs to end, and there has to be a pathway for Palestinian rights.”
The Biden administration announced that Sullivan would be traveling to Saudi Arabia on Saturday “to discuss bilateral and regional matters, including the war in Gaza and ongoing efforts to achieve a lasting peace and security in the region.”
He heads to Israel on Sunday where he will meet with senior Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to talk about the ongoing war and “ongoing negotiations” to release hostages being held by Hamas.
