PALESTINA – Israeli forces raided the occupied West Bank town of Az-Zawiya, west of Salfit, amid the firing of live ammunition and sound grenades, Wafa news agency reported.

During the raid, several Palestinian children and young men were briefly detained and assaulted by Israeli soldiers. A similar incident took place in Kafr Qalil, south of Nablus, where Israeli forces detained a Palestinian child during a military raid into the village. Wafa reported that Israeli troops raided the village, patrolling the streets before detaining the minor, who was beaten before being detained…[+]

UKRAINE – Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv early Monday morning, as the future of US aid to Ukraine hangs in the balance of the imminent US presidential election and as Russia continues to make small but steady gains on the battlefield. Austin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov while in Kyiv to discuss Ukraine’s weapons needs and how the US can continue to support the country’s military over the next year.

After their meeting, Zelensky wrote on X that he discussed expanding the use of long-range strike capabilities against Russian military targets. The secretary’s visit was also meant to serve as a moment for him to “step back” and look at the “arc” of the US-Ukraine relationship over the last two and a half years of war, a senior defense official said.

It was not a victory lap, however. The Ukrainians are in a “very tough” situation against the Russians heading into winter, the official noted. That is despite the heavy Western sanctions imposed on Russia’s economy in response to its invasion, billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment the US has surged to Ukraine, and the multinational coalitions that the Biden administration rallied from the earliest days of the war to help Ukrainian troops beat back Russian advances. (CNN)

Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomes US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin before their meeting in Kyiv. (CNN)…[+]

CHINA – China’s second-hand and grey markets for luxury goods are booming, as price hikes from luxury brands in a weak economy are prompting some shoppers to look for cheaper ways to buy them, deepening concerns for the likes of LVMH (LVMH.PA), opens new tab. LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury group, reported a 3% fall in quarterly sales last week, undershooting estimates in its first decline in quarterly sales since the pandemic as demand in China and Japan weakened.
Italy’s Salvatore Ferragamo (SFER.MI), opens new tab also reported a fall in quarterly revenue, hit by a slowdown in demand from China. “The elephant in the room is that, in China, as long as price gaps (between China and other countries) exist, there is the opportunity for price sensitive consumers to go to the grey market,” said Max Piero, CEO of luxury intelligence consultancy Re-Hub, which tracks grey market luxury purchases in China.
That market, estimated to be worth $57 billion a year, has been fuelled in recent years by the rise of platforms such as DeWu, where luxury products, often sourced overseas, are sold at discounts from 20% to over 50% to prices at Chinese flagship stores. Re-Hub estimates that sales across 48 brands on DeWu rose 19% year on year in the second quarter to more than 7 billion yuan ($984.4 million). China’s retail sales, a gauge of consumption, grew a subdued 3.2% in September and the weakness is a bad sign for global luxury giants as China accounts for around 25% of worldwide revenues for the sector.
Growing consumer interest in both the second-hand and grey markets is adding a headache to top-end brands seeking to defend their sales in China. “The rising prices of those luxury brands is definitely one of the reasons that more and more consumers are turning to the secondary market,” said Yi Kejie, a 28-year-old marketing content manager and luxury consumer. (Reuters)…[+]