Month: July 2025

LONDON: US tariffs unpredictability, trade tensions between Beijing and Washington as well as conflicts in Iran, Gaza and Ukraine pose risks to UK financial stability, the Bank of England warned Wednesday. “Risks and uncertainty associated with geopolitical tensions, global fragmentation of trade and financial markets, and pressures on sovereign debt markets are still elevated,“ the… Continue reading Trump tariffs, conflicts pose risks to UK economy: BoE

GENEVA: Lower-income countries will gain access to a “game-changing” HIV prevention drug with a new deal signed between with US pharmaceutical giant Gilead and the Global Fund, the health financing group said Wednesday. The group set up to battle AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, described the deal to procure lenacapavir for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)… Continue reading Poorer countries granted access to HIV prevention drug

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Wednesday its troops entered southern Lebanon as part of targeted operations to dismantle infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. “Following intelligence information and the identification of Hezbollah weapons and terrorist infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon, the soldiers launched special, targeted operations to dismantle them and prevent Hezbollah… Continue reading Israel army says launched ‘special, targeted operations’ in south Lebanon

LAGOS: Temporary-stay visas for Nigerian citizens visiting the United States are now limited to three months, the US embassy in the capital Abuja, has announced. It was the latest of a series of travel bans or restrictions announced by Washington, many of them affecting African countries. “Effective immediately, most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to… Continue reading US restricts temporary visas for Nigerians

WASHINGTON: Three people were killed by flash floods in the US state of New Mexico, officials said Tuesday, just days after a devastating deluge claimed more than 100 lives in neighboring Texas. The “historic” flash floods struck Ruidoso, a small town about 150 miles (240 kilometers) south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. “The Village of Ruidoso… Continue reading Flash floods kill three in New Mexico

LONDON: Hospital doctors in England will walk out for five days later this month, their union said Tuesday, ten months after they settled a long-running wave of strikes. The move comes after the doctors accepted a pay rise offer totalling 22.3 percent over two years last September, soon after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s new Labour… Continue reading Hospital doctors in England set to strike again over pay

PARIS: The leader of France’s National Rally said police seized documents from the far-right party’s headquarters Wednesday, a raid prosecutors said was linked to a French probe into alleged illegal campaign financing. The party of Marine Le Pen, the longtime standard bearer of the French far right, has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years.… Continue reading France police raid far-right party offices over campaign financing

FRANKFURT: Europe’s largest automaker Volkswagen said Wednesday that sales into the United States had taken a hit, underscoring the impact of President Donald Trump’s drastic trade measures. Total vehicle deliveries into North America fell almost seven percent in the first half of the year, the German group said, even as overall deliveries worldwide notched a… Continue reading Volkswagen US deliveries fall as Trump tariffs bite

DAMASCUS: A Kurdish military commander met with Syria’s leader in Damascus on Wednesday in the presence of a US envoy to discuss stalled efforts to integrate the country’s autonomous Kurdish administration into the Syrian state. Mazloum Abdi of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — the Kurdish administration’s de facto army — and interim President Ahmed… Continue reading Kurdish military chief meets with Syrian leader, US envoy

SEOUL: More than a thousand people have been affected by heat-related illnesses in South Korea, officials said Wednesday, as the country recorded its highest early July temperature since records began. A heatwave warning was in place and the Seoul city government on Wednesday said the extreme temperatures were a “disaster” that posed a threat to… Continue reading Record July temperatures as South Korea grapples with heatwave

ROME: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived Wednesday in Rome, where he is due to meet Pope Leo XIV and participate in an international conference on rebuilding his war-torn country. Zelensky is also expected to meet with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia, according to the… Continue reading Zelensky in Rome for pope talks, Ukraine recovery conference

WASHINGTON: Billionaire Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup on Wednesday removed posts made by its chatbot Grok on X after it came under fire for antisemitic content. “We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts,“ said a post attributed to the AI system on Musk’s social… Continue reading Musk’s AI firm deletes Grok posts after antisemitism criticism

AHMEDABAD: Indian forensic investigators have identified all 260 people killed in last month’s crash of a London-bound passenger plane, health authorities said Wednesday, ahead of a hugely anticipated preliminary report into what went wrong. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is leading the probe into one of the deadliest air disasters in decades — with an… Continue reading Toll of Air India disaster rests at 260 as focus turns to crash report