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France Reports 2 Migrant Deaths in English Channel

(FILES) Migrants board a smuggler's boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel, on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on April 26, 2024. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP)
(FILES) Migrants board a smuggler's boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel, on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on April 26, 2024. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP)
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France Reports 2 Migrant Deaths in English Channel

(FILES) Migrants board a smuggler's boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel, on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on April 26, 2024. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP)
(FILES) Migrants board a smuggler's boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel, on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on April 26, 2024. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP)

French maritime authorities pulled the bodies of two migrants from the English Channel on Wednesday, pushing the count of dead and missing in French waters so far this year above 50.
Authorities said 46 other people were rescued, after a failed attempt to cross the treacherous waterway between France and England aboard a heavily overloaded inflatable boat.
This year is proving to be particularly deadly. The French maritime prefecture that oversees French waters in the channel had counted 49 dead or missing so far in 2024, before the latest incident, which pushed its new total to 51.
In a statement, the maritime prefecture said the search operation Wednesday was launched after a life vest was found at sea.

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Thiel’s Palantir Dumped by Norwegian Investor over Work for Israel

The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
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Thiel’s Palantir Dumped by Norwegian Investor over Work for Israel

The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)

One of the Nordic region's largest investors has sold its holdings in Palantir Technologies because of concerns that the US data firm's work for Israel might put the asset manager at risk of violating international humanitarian law and human rights.

Storebrand Asset Management disclosed this week that it had "excluded Palantir Technologies Inc. from our investments due (to) its sales of products and services to Israel for use in occupied Palestinian territories."

The investor, which manages about 1 trillion crowns ($91.53 billion) in assets, held around 262 million crowns ($24 million) in Palantir, a spokesperson told Reuters. A representative for Palantir, based in Denver, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Storebrand said Palantir had not replied to any of its requests for information, first lodged in April. The data analytics firm, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, provides militaries with artificial-intelligence models. Earlier this year, it agreed to a strategic partnership to supply technology to Israel to assist in the ongoing war in Gaza.

Palantir has previously defended its work for Israel. CEO Alex Karp said he was proud to have worked with the country following the Hamas attacks in October last year and in March told CNBC that Palantir had lost employees and that he expected to lose more over his public support for Israel.

Storebrand's exit follows a recommendation from Norway's government in March warning businesses about engaging in economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, the asset manager said in its third-quarter investment review published on Wednesday. The International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court, said in July that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories including the settlements was illegal.

Israel's foreign ministry rejected that opinion as "fundamentally wrong" and one-sided, and repeated its stance that a political settlement in the region can be reached only by negotiations.

Storebrand said its analysis indicated that Palantir provides products and services "including AI-based predictive policing systems" that support Israeli surveillance of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Palantir's systems are supposed "to identify individuals who are likely to launch 'lone wolf terrorist' attacks, facilitating their arrests preemptively before the strikes that it is projected they would carry out," Storebrand said.

It added that, according to the United Nations, Israeli authorities have a history of incarcerating Palestinians without charge or trial. A UN Special Rapporteur said in a 2023 report that "the occupied Palestinian territory had been transformed as a whole into a constantly surveilled open-air prison."

Israel rejected the UN's findings. In September Reuters reported that Norway's $1.7 trillion wealth fund may have to divest shares of companies that violate the fund watchdog's tougher interpretation of ethics standards for businesses that aid Israel's operations in the occupied Palestinian territories.