Author: News Desk

United States: McDonald’s has announced its first decline in global sales in more than three years as consumers who are weary of inflation cut back on eating out and look for less expensive options. The fast food behemoth McDonald’s said on Monday that its global sales decreased by 1 percent in the April–June quarter. This is the first decline since the final quarter of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic and governmental restrictions forced millions of people to stay at home and closed operations. Sales at licensee-run outlets in so-called international developmental licensed markets fell by 1.3 percent as a result…

Paris: The men’s triathlon at the Paris Olympics has been postponed due to high pollution levels in the Seine River, World Triathlon announced. The race, originally scheduled for Tuesday, will now take place on Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. (0845 GMT), immediately following the women’s triathlon, which is set for 8 a.m. on the same day. Organisers had expressed confidence that water quality would improve in time for the event after heavy rainfall last week caused significant contamination in the river. However, despite recent improvements, water quality readings at several points along the swim course still exceed acceptable limits. “Paris 2024…

Switzerland: The United Nations (UN) reports 86 percent of Gaza is under Israeli evacuation orders as 33 more Palestinians are killed amid ongoing attacks and displacement. Following further orders from the Israeli army to evacuate, thousands of Palestinians left the central Gaza refugee camps of Bureij and Nuseirat on Monday. According to Philippe Lazzarini, the director of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, 86 percent of the besieged enclave is under Israeli military orders to evacuate. Wearing black sunglasses, Kahder Baroud, a blind Palestinian man, said he got a call on Sunday from the Israeli army telling him to…

Caracas: President Nicolas Maduro has been declared the winner of the Venezuelan presidential election, securing a third six-year term with 51.2 percent of the vote, according to Elvis Amoroso, president of the National Electoral Council (CNE). Opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who led in opinion polls, received 44.2 percent of the vote. However, the announcement of the result has been widely opposed. Opposition representatives reported discrepancies between the tallies that they had collected from polling stations and the figures released by the CNE, which is controlled by Maduro loyalists. They alleged that their data reveals Gonzalez leading significantly over Maduro.…

Jordan: Jordan’s Umm al-Jimal village was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List and was praised by the tourism minister as a “great achievement.” UNESCO, hosting a World Heritage Committee meeting in New Delhi, announced on X that the oldest structures found at Umm al-Jimal date back to the 1st century AD, when the region was part of the Nabataean Kingdom. “Greek, Nabataean, Safaitic, Latin, and Arabic uncovered on the site… sheds light on the changes in its inhabitants’ religious beliefs,” it continued. The town, which is 86 kilometres (53 miles) north of Amman, the capital of Jordan, is close…

Tokyo: Foreign ministers from Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, collectively known as the ‘Quad,’ have gathered in Tokyo for high-stakes discussions centered on maritime security and bolstering cyber defences. The meeting featured Australia’s Penny Wong, India’s Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Japan’s Yoko Kamikawa, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The talks followed security discussions between Tokyo and Washington, where the allies identified China as the region’s ‘greatest strategic challenge.’ Wong opened the Quad discussions by acknowledging the transformative changes affecting the region and emphasised the need to safeguard peace, stability, and prosperity. Kamikawa underscored the importance of enhancing cybersecurity…

United Kingdom: Kemi Badenoch has joined the Conservative leadership race, pledging honesty to voters. The sixth candidate to stand is the shadow housing secretary, who was the previous government’s commerce and trade secretary. She enters the contest alongside Priti Patel, who announced her bid over the weekend, James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Robert Jenrick, and Mel Stride, who declared last week. Suella Braverman, who was also anticipated to run, announced that she has decided not participate, even though she secured the support of the ten MPs required prior to Monday’s 2.30 p.m. deadline. The former home secretary wrote in an article…

Tokyo: The defence chiefs from the United States, South Korea, and Japan have committed to bolstering their cooperation to counter ‘nuclear and missile threats’ from North Korea. The historic meeting, the first of its kind in 15 years, underscores the countries’ efforts to enhance coordination in an increasingly tense region. Trilateral meeting historical context The trilateral meeting took place nearly a year after a landmark summit at Camp David hosted by US President Joe Biden. The summit aimed to strengthen ties between the US and its key Asian allies in response to North Korean provocations and Chinese aggression. In a…

Northern California: The Park Fire in Northern California has scorched over 350,000 acres (141,640 hectares) approximately 90 miles north of Sacramento, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). Thousands of firefighters are battling a rapidly expanding wildfire, which has more than doubled in size within 24 hours. Cooler temperatures and increased humidity are forecasted for the region, potentially aiding the efforts to slow the fire’s progression. Despite these favourable weather conditions, the fire was only 10 percent contained till now. The Park Fire has already destroyed 134 structures, prompting widespread evacuation orders and warnings across…

United States: Data regulators are putting pressure on Elon Musk’s X platform after it was discovered that users are giving their authorisation for their postings to be utilised as a basis for artificial intelligence systems through an app default option. The data watchdogs in the UK and Ireland have stated that they have been in contact with X regarding the apparent attempt to obtain user consent for data harvesting without the users’ knowledge. An X user brought attention to the problem on Friday, pointing to an app setting that was activated by default and allowed posts made by the account…