Author: ALJAZEERA

blinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, The World Health Organization and Gaza’s Health Ministry warn that a ceasefire is the only way to address the worsening health emergency in Gaza.

The United Kingdom’s new chancellor of the exchequer is accusing the previous government of covering up the dire state of the nation’s finances as she prepares to deliver a speech to Parliament that is widely expected to lay the groundwork for spending cuts and higher taxes. In extracts of her speech released late on Sunday, Rachel Reeves professed shock at the scale of the problems she discovered following a department-by-department review of public spending commissioned shortly after she took office three weeks ago. While the excerpts included no figures, Reeves is expected to outline a 20 billion-pound ($26bn) shortfall in…

Cancellations come amid fears of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah following rocket attack.Flights at Beirut airport have been cancelled or delayed with Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA) saying disruptions to its schedule were related to insurance risks, as tensions escalate between Israel and the armed political group Hezbollah. Lufthansa on Monday said it had suspended five routes to and from Beirut by the group’s carriers Swiss International Air Lines, Eurowings and Lufthansa up to and including July 30 “in an abundance of caution”. A rocket attack that killed 12 teenagers and children in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday has…

Bank of Canada governor said growth needs to pick up so inflation doesn’t fall too much.The Bank of Canada has trimmed its key policy rate by 25 basis points for the second month in a row, bringing it down to 4.5 percent, and said more cuts were likely if inflation continued to cool in line with forecasts. The Bank announced the rate cut on Wednesday. The bank had previously kept the rate at a two-decade high of 5 percent for almost a year in a bid to combat high inflation by suppressing economic growth. “We are increasingly confident that the…

Addressing a joint meeting of the United States Congress on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against international criticism that Israel has been committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, where approximately 40,000 people  – men, women, children and babies –  have been killed to date. He also doubled down on his government’s policy of genocide and extermination, refusing to signal that the bloodshed will stop soon. He received a standing ovation from some of America’s leading politicians. Had Satan and his minions descended on Earth and performed a ritual, even they would have been less…

Russia did not give any reason for the selection of the people it had banned.Japan’s government said it has protested against Russia’s announcement that it is permanently banning 13 Japanese citizens, mostly business leaders of prominent companies including Toyota Motor Corp, in retaliation for Tokyo’s sanctions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Wednesday the ban “limits Japanese companies’ legitimate activities [in Russia], and is absolutely not acceptable.” Hayashi said his government has lodged a protest against Russia over the entry ban. Hayashi was commenting on an announcement by Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs…

Petrol will cost up to 15 percent more from Friday.Egypt is raising fuel prices for the second time in four months, fulfilling an economic reform condition set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unlock hundreds of millions in new loans. Egypt’s official gazette reported an up to 15 percent price hike for petrol on Thursday, four days before the IMF is to review its $8bn loan programme, the next tranche of which is $820m. The new prices will take effect on Friday, said Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. Petrol prices jumped about 15 percent and will now…

The collapse at Delta is stunning for an outfit that was widely viewed as the best big US airline.United States regulators are investigating how Delta Air Lines is treating passengers affected by cancelled and delayed flights as the airline struggles to recover from a global technology outage. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the Delta investigation on the X social media platform on Tuesday “to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions”. “All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly, and I will make sure that right is upheld,”…

Average global temperature on Monday smashed Sunday’s record for the hottest day on Earth, EU climate monitor says.The European Union’s climate monitor says Monday was the world’s hottest day on record after it inched past Sunday’s high as swaths of Europe, Asia and North America experienced blistering temperatures. The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Wednesday that the global average surface air temperature on July 22 rose to 17.15 degrees Celsius (62.9 degrees Fahrenheit) – or 0.06 degrees Celsius higher than the record set just a day earlier. C3S has been tracking such patterns since 1940. “This is exactly…

Kim Beom-su is accused of conspiring to inflate SM Entertainment’s stock price to prevent takeover by rival agency.The founder of South Korea’s Kakao Corp has been arrested on suspicion of rigging the tech giant’s stock price during its acquisition of K-pop juggernaut SM Entertainment. Seoul Southern District Court issued the arrest warrant for Kim Beom-su on Tuesday, citing the possibility he could try to flee or destroy evidence. South Korean prosecutors have accused Kim, also known as Brian Kim, of colluding with a private equity fund to buy some 240 billion won ($173m) worth of shares to inflate SM Entertainment’s…