Author: News Desk

United States: US President Joe Biden received an overwhelming amount of messages expressing gratitude and support following his unexpected statement on Sunday that he is withdrawing from the 2024 presidential run and supporting Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic contender. It was the second major event in US politics in less than a week, after the failed assassination attempt on US President Donald Trump on July 13 at a rally in Pennsylvania, which prompted world leaders to support him as the Republican nominee. During their meeting in Washington this month, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his respect for…

Shanghai: China has lowered a key short-term policy rate and its benchmark lending rates, aiming to stimulate growth in the world’s second-largest economy. The rate cuts follow weaker-than-expected second-quarter economic data and a recent plenum meeting of top Chinese leaders. Facing the risk of deflation, a prolonged property crisis, surging debt, and weak consumer and business sentiment, China is taking decisive action to bolster its economy amid rising global trade tensions. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced a reduction in the seven-day reverse repo rate from 1.8 percent to 1.7 percent, alongside improvements in the mechanism of open market…

Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Turkey is ready to build a naval base in Cyprus, 50 years after its forces invaded the now-divided island. The leader of Cyprus was quoted as saying on Sunday by Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency, “If necessary, we can construct a base and naval structures in the north.” Erdogan claimed that on Saturday, he visited Northern Cyprus and then took a plane back to Turkey to commemorate 50 years since Turkey’s invasion. In addition, he charged that competitor Greece intended to build a naval station in Cyprus, over which the two countries…

Farnborough: The Aviation leaders will meet for a summit outside London as the industry struggles with supply chain disruptions, aircraft delays, and faltering plans to reduce carbon emissions. Farnborough Airshow running from July 22-26 is a key event for top executives from airlines, aircraft manufacturers, and weapons makers. This year’s show is not expected to produce more orders as Airbus is struggling to meet production targets, and Boeing is maintaining a low profile following a safety incident in January involving a 737 MAX jet. Despite the unfavourable atmosphere, some deals are anticipated. Virgin Atlantic is close to placing an order…

United Kingdom: The UK’s Labour has pledged to introduce extensive reforms to the £2 trillion ($2.6 trillion) private pensions industry, aiming to increase investments, grow pension funds, and reduce inefficiency in the system. A group comprising ministers from the Treasury and the Department of Work and Pensions, along with executives from the industry, will suggest measures to reduce costs and enhance investment possibilities. This will enable retirement scheme managers to increase pension pots by up to £11,000 ($$14,410). The task force will also think about facilitating pension funds’ expansion into a greater proportion of UK firms as part of their…

Dissolved oxygen supplies in water bodies worldwide are quickly declining, and scientists consider this to be one of the biggest threats to Earth’s life support system. Dissolved oxygen (DO) in water is necessary for healthy aquatic ecosystems, whether freshwater or marine, much as atmospheric oxygen is for animals like us. The fact that freshwater and marine habitats provide food and money for billions of people makes it alarming that the oxygen levels in these ecosystems have been significantly and quickly dropping. The list of “planetary boundaries,” which in its most recent iteration outlines nine domains that impose thresholds “within which…

United States: Donald Trump strongly criticised Democratic rivals Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, marking his return to the campaign trail a week after surviving an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. At his first event since the horrific incident, as well as his first with Ohio senator JD Vance as his running mate, Trump took the stage with a smaller version of the noticeable white ear bandage he wore during the Republican National Convention. He described the attempted murder as a “horrific event” and claimed that he was only able to stand in front of…

Hague: The United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), has declared that the Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and the settlements are illegal and should be withdrawn immediately. In its strongest findings on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the advisory opinion by the ICJ, also known as the World Court, though non-binding, carries significant weight under international law and may diminish support for Israel. “Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law,” stated President Nawaf Salam, reading the findings of…

United States: Businesses and services worldwide are slowly recovering from a massive IT outage that caused significant disruptions on July 18th and 19th. The outage, triggered by a faulty software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, impacted computer systems across various sectors, including businesses, banks, hospitals, and airlines. CrowdStrike’s CEO, George Kurtz, issued an apology for the disruption and announced that a fix had been deployed. However, Kurtz acknowledged that it could take ‘some time’ before all systems are fully operational. The outage began at 19:00 GMT on July 18 and primarily affected Windows users running CrowdStrike Falcon software. The full…

Dhaka: The Bangladesh government has decided to impose a curfew across the country and deploy the army amid widening student-led protests against government job quotas said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s press secretary, Nayeemul Islam Khan. Telecommunications were disrupted, and television news channels went off the air, while authorities cut some mobile telephone services to neutralise the protests. Train services had been suspended nationwide as protesters blocked roads and threw bricks at security officials. The death toll had reached 105, according to hospital reports. The U.S. Embassy in Dhaka indicated over 40 deaths and ‘hundreds to possibly thousands’ of injuries across…