🇺🇸 - The ongoing Californian fire caused damages worth over USD 135 billion. Analysts say, anything up to 150 billion is very possible.

For comparison, the entire annual budget of Vietnam - a country inhabited precisely by 100 million people - amounts to USD 81 billion.

Colombia - 110 billion per year. Ukraine's pre-war budget was 106 billion annually.

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A California gas station owner says it's one of the last gas stations he can get "because the California-to-Nevada oil pipeline isn't working."

🇺🇸 - Five current and former IRS employees have been charged in a scheme to fraudulently collect COVID-19 aid.

According to court documents, the defendants tried to obtain a total of USD 1 million by submitting false applications.

According to the Department of Justice, the defendants used the money for cars, luxury goods and personal travel. Brian Saulsberry of Memphis obtained USD 171 400 and is accused of buying a Mercedes and cushioning a personal investment account.

Tina Humes, also of Memphis, received USD 123 612 according to the DOJ, and is accused of using it to buy jewelry and go on a trip to Las Vegas.

This is part of a larger effort to crack down on COVID-19 fraud schemes that has led to 150 prosecutions and the seizure of USD 75 million dollars.

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So what can we say this morning about the state of the negotiations?

Contrary to various reports throughout the day, the deal is not yet finalized. However, there is genuine optimism in Israel that an agreement could be reached in the near future. A political source commented last night: "We are in advanced stages but not yet at the final stages - the Hamas leadership in Gaza has not yet responded to the outline, and the list of hostages has not yet been received."

The outline, which is relatively detailed, was negotiated with the Hamas leadership in Qatar and discusses the release of 33 humanitarian hostages in the first phase of the deal. This definition includes all women, both civilian and military, children, men over the age of 50, men with serious injuries or medical conditions, as well as Abra Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who were kidnapped before the war.

Hamas has shown significant flexibility regarding the number of hostages - initially demanding about 12, gradually increasing to 15 and then 18, and now ...