Lebanon-Israel ceasefire, Trump’s economy pitch and Allbirds’ AI pivot

Hi, I'm Carmel Crimson Dublin. It's Friday, April 17th. Today, Israel and Lebanon agree

to a 10-day ceasefire. As gas prices bite, Trump refrains his messaging on the economy.

All birds wild AI pivot, can it chew horn itself into the tech world? Plus, brace yourself.

The train fare to a world cup game could sting.

This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in

10 minutes, seven days a week.

Celebratory gunfire in Beirut as Israel and Lebanon begin a 10-day ceasefire.

And President Trump says he'll continue working with both leaders to secure a longer term deal.

And they'll be meeting, probably coming to the White House over the next four or five days.

Happy at the end of the first time they've met in 44 years, which is pretty unneighbully,

which considering the neighboring. But there's a really good chance that that'll work out with Lebanon and Israel.

Maya Jabali is our bureau chief in Beirut.

Trump has been personally involved in his discussions with both

President Al-Safon in Lebanon and his really prime minister, Benvenin. And now,

who those conversations have been taking place separately. And so it seems like it took that

way and that seniority to get what we have now, which was a 10-day ceasefire.

Under the terms released by the State Department, Lebanon agrees to take steps to prevent

militant group Hezbollah from launching attacks on Israel during the ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it presents a historic opportunity.

Even so, Maya says history suggests ceasefires like this can be fragile.

Lebanon doesn't control Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.

One of the things that it's really important to remember is that this is not the first time

that a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese government on behalf of Allah,

essentially, is being agreed, which means that there's a lot of possible pitfalls.

As far as my colleagues in Israel have been reporting, the Israeli military does not intend to

withdraw from areas in southern Lebanon over the next 10 days, which is how long the ceasefire

is set to last. That's going to present a really big problem for the Lebanese government

because it won't be able to tell people to return safely back to their villages in the south.

So it's really, it's not just about these 10 days. It's about kind of what transpires

and what window opportunity these 10 days could give to all sides.

You know, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Israel, the U.S., even Iran.

So try to find a lasting solution that again can deal with all of these major challenges internally,

all these displaced, all these mourning families, all of this destruction

that they're going to have to grapple with for the months and years to come.

But for many Lebanese who've been displaced by Israel's strikes and living in tents on the streets

of Beirut, a 10-day pause isn't enough.

Ibrahim Suwadi says he fears the strikes will start back up at the end of the ceasefire

and wonders who will help him rebuild his destroyed home.

And across the border, a cautious optimism. Though Mani, like Yoav, a student at Tel Aviv University,

want the fighting to end, they express a similar distrust of the other side.

I am happy to go back to some kind of a normalcy, but at the same time I don't really believe.

And after an organization like Hezbollah will actually obey the rules of a ceasefire.

And if you want to hear more about living in and reporting from Lebanon during this moment in

history, then tune into our on-assignment podcast this weekend, as Jonah Green digs into its

complicated reality with Maya. That pod drops Saturday morning.

The ceasefire coincides with renewed optimism for an Iran deal.

A security source tells Reuters that a Pakistani mediator has made a breakthrough on sticky

issues in meetings with Iran. Though Tehran says the fate of its nuclear program remains

unresolved. Still, speaking to Reuters, President Trump struck an optimistic tone,

saying the next meeting between Washington and Tehran could take place as soon as this weekend.

With the weekend of diplomacy ahead, investors are playing it safe. A record-breaking rally

in global equities stalled in Asian hours. But overall, investors are betting that the worst

of the Middle East conflict has passed. And that market momentum is showing up in some unexpected

places. Shares in shoemaker Allbirds sort sky-high this week, more than 600 percent,

after announcing they're making an unusual pivot, from wool sneakers to artificial intelligence.

The stock price has fallen since, but the rally says a lot about the mood on Wall Street.

Here's Markets editor Colin Barr. A lot of people saw this move and said,

this is totally bonkers. And it just makes no sense. And the stock, you know, again, the stock

was worth more than billion dollars at one point after its IPO. And then before the rally

was down to 20 million. So everyone had deserted this thing. This thing was left for dead.

And then they say, I, I, and then all of a sudden, all kinds of people rush in there and I'm sure

many of them sold immediately after buying a lot of people who've talked about the idea that

there's an AI bubble. One of the problems with that idea right now is just that there's so many

companies legitimately making a lot of money on it. At the same time, like Allbirds does not seem

super well positioned to become one of those companies. So the stock market, you know, rewarding

them doesn't make sense to people. This is definitely something, right? Like what is it though?

That's the hard thing to figure out. And if you want more markets news, tune into our sister

pod morning bid available wherever you get your podcasts.

I will say the war and Iran is going along swimmingly.

President Trump is playing down the financial impact of the war in Iran. He's on the road,

pitching what he's calling an economic reset as concerns rise inside his party.

Republicans worry that high gas prices and the rising cost of living are drowning out the

White House's message on tax cuts and jobs. And with Democrats favor to retake the House in the

midterms, the stakes are rising. White House reporter Jared Renshaw is traveling with Trump.

The early on, he had a great economic message. Things weren't looking good. And even then in the

good times, he had, he would veer off and go into things that weren't necessarily germane to

the economy. Now it's probably doubly more important for him to kind of stay on economic message.

So I think this will be somewhat of a good preview of his ability to do that.

Over to Washington, where a White House renovation has turned into a serious test of presidential

power. A federal judge has again blocked Trump's plan to build a massive new ballroom.

Judge Richard Leon says the administration acted unlawfully by moving ahead without Congress's

approval, calling that decision, brazen. The White House says the ballroom is tied to security needs.

The acting head of ICE is stepping down at the end of May. Todd Lines is moving to the private

sector, according to the Department of Homeland Security. His resignation follows a turbulent year

leading President Trump's mass deportation agenda, which saw ICE's fatal shooting of two

U.S. citizens in Minnesota. Police say former Virginia lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax shot his

wife and then himself at their northern Virginia home. Authorities say the killing follows a domestic

dispute tied to their divorce and their teenage children were home, one called 911. Fairfax was once

a rising Democrat, later accused of sexual assault, allegations he denied.

And before we go, a turn to the World Cup. The games kick off June 12th, but there are still some

questions around how ticket holders will get there. Our administration inherited an agreement where

FIFA is providing zero dollars for transportation to the World Cup. Zero.

New Jersey governor Mikey Sherrill says trainfares to MetLife Stadium could exceed 100 dollars

each way per person. I won't stick New Jersey's commuters with that tab for years to come.

That's not been. And she's calling on FIFA to help cover the 48 million dollar bill to safely

transport 40,000 fans to the games. FIFA says transportation will not be subsidized.

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