China’s credit expanded more than expected in August after the central bank pushed lenders to boost loans and

Delegations from European Union member states and Middle Eastern and north African countries are meeting Monday in Barcelona, Spain, to discuss the crisis in Gaza, where a fragile pause in fighting is set to expire. Forty-two delegations are scheduled to gather at the event hosted by the Union for the Mediterranean, with many represented by their foreign ministers. The meeting is chaired by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. Israel is not attending the meeting, which in past years has largely become a forum for cooperation between the EU and the Arab world. Monday’s gathering was supposed to focus on the role of the union 15 years after its founding, but it has taken on new significance since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing war in the Gaza Strip. Borrell said he “regretted” the absence of Israel. He repeated his condemnation of the Hamas attack, while calling on Israel to permanently end its assault, which he said has claimed the lives of over 5,000 children. “One horror cannot justify another horror,” Borrell said. “Peace between Israel and Palestine has become a strategic imperative for the entire Euro-Mediterranean community and beyond." Jordan’s Safadi, who told The Associated Press on the eve of the event that he hopes the talks will help “bridge a gap” between Arab and European countries, urged the officials attending the meeting to back a two-state solution that would recognize a Palestinian state. “My friends, Europe has a crucial role to play,” Safadi said. “The two-state solution cannot remain a talking point.” Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has also been invited to the event. A small pro-Palestinian group rallied before the gathering at the art nouveau building that once housed Barcelona's Sant Pau Hospital. The pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas continued Sunday with a third day of releases of hostages and Palestinian prisoners. It was scheduled for four days and neither side has made fully clear what comes after Monday. Spain is one of the EU countries that has called for Israel to cease its assault, while also condemning the Hamas attack. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the time has come for the international community and the EU to recognize a Palestinian state during a trip with his Belgian counterpart to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Egypt last week. That prompted Israel to summon the Belgian and Spanish ambassadors. The Union for the Mediterranean is an intergovernmental organization formed by the 27 members of the EU and 16 from the southern and eastern Mediterranean including Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. The EU is the world’s biggest provider of assistance to the Palestinians. Almost 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) has been earmarked for 2021-2024. ___ This story has been corrected to show that Israel summoned the ambassadors of Spain and Belgium, not that it recalled its ambassadors to those countries. Read More Jordan's top diplomat wants to align Europeans behind a call for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza Israel summons Irish ambassador over tweet it alleges doesn't adequately condemn Hamas Why Finland is blaming Russia for a sudden influx of migrants on its eastern border Israel summons Spanish, Belgian ambassadors following criticism during visit to Rafah Slovak leader calls the war between Russia and Ukraine a frozen conflict Activists call on France to endorse a consent-based rape definition across the entire European Union

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Apple has unveiled the new iPhone 15 Pro, with an entirely new material. The new device will be made out of titanium, and rely on a host of new manufacturing processes. Its new material and design allows it to be the lightest Pro phone Apple has made, and includes the thinnest edges around the display. As well as the titanium, the new phone has the toughest glass-based material in the industry and an aluminium structure inside the phone, with the two materials joined in a new way that should make the phone extra strong, Apple said. The glass is now much easier to replace, Apple said. The iPhone 15 Pro comes at the same price as the previous pro model, at $999. The iPhone 15 Pro Max will be slightly more, starting at $1,199, though Apple stressed the price increase comes with more storage. :: Follow our coverage of the Apple event here. It comes in two sizes, 6.1-inches and 6.7-inches. And it comes in four new colours: black, white, blue and a natural titanium. The titanium itself is a “grade five” alloy, Apple said, the same material used on the Mars rover. The new material also brings a new look, with a brushed texture on the side of the phone. As well as the new material, the iPhone 15 Pro brings a new customisable “action button” on the side of the phone, and an improved “A17 Pro” chip inside it. The action button replaces the mute switch on the side of the phone, and does the same job by default. But it can be changed to start voice memos, open the camera – or to start complex processes, by using Apple’s Shortcuts app. The new chip has “next-level performance”, Apple said, with improvements including dramatically improved graphics performance. Apple claimed the device is a “new chapter in iPhone performance”, and it focused particularly on the gaming performance that the new chip will allow. The iPhone 15 Pro has “the equivalent of seven camera lenses”, Apple said, even though it retains the three visible lenses on the back of the phone. That is partly because the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 5x optical zoom, by using the extra space in the bigger device as well as a “tetra prism” design that bounces light around in the phone. The new camera also has a new coating to reduce lens flare, and better performance in low light. Like the normal iPhone 15, it has a 48 megapixel camera but offers the option to merge that down into a 24 megapixel image, which Apple said should allow for better quality and high resolution images. The iPhone 15 Pro is also able to stitch together images from two of the lenses to capture spatial video, which can later be viewed in the Vision Pro headset. At the time of the release of that headset, some had expressed concern that people would be forced to put those headsets on to take the new kinds of videos. Like its cheaper iPhone 15 sibling, the 15 Pro will also be the first phone to switch to a USB-C charging port to charge. In the Pro model, that allows for USB 3 speeds, Apple said. Read More Apple to stop using leather in all new products Apple is changing the plug on the bottom of your iPhone Here’s the new iPhone Pro, made out of an entirely new material Apple reveals when huge new iPhone update is coming Everything Apple just announced at its huge ‘Wonderlust’ event Here is the iPhone 15

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