Author: ALJAZEERA

Medan, Indonesia – Nusantara, the new capital city of Indonesia, will host Independence Day celebrations on Saturday, as the country looks to a future without Jakarta as its capital. The country declared independence from the Dutch in 1945 with Jakarta as its seat of government and administrative centre. But the city in western Jave has grown into a heaving metropolis of at least 11 million people, and is plagued by some of the world’s worst traffic jams, thick smog and overcrowding. It is also reportedly sinking due to unregulated groundwater extraction, and Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency has warned…

The number of acutely malnourished children has increased by 34 percent compared with last year, a United Nations report says.Acute malnutrition is rapidly escalating in Yemen, with famine looming in four districts, United Nations experts have said. A report published on Sunday by the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Technical Group in Yemen, covering areas under government control, said the most critical cases are emerging along the war-torn country’s Red Sea coast. Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the Arabian Peninsula, has been ravaged by years of war between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthis.…

As Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris overtakes her Republican opponent Donald Trump in opinion polls – she is now leading in five crucial swing states – experts warn she will face “a heavy road” when it comes to passing economic legislation should she become the next president of the United States. The year 2025 will be one filled with political negotiations as several significant pieces of economic legislation are set to expire, including tax cuts for individuals under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the reinstatement of the nation’s debt limit, which was suspended last year. But with voters choosing…

Beirut, Lebanon – In 2014, the Syrian regime fired a missile that struck Alaa’s apartment building in Aleppo, Syria. Thirteen-year-old Alaa and his family – mother, father and two sisters – survived the blast and fled to Lebanon. Today, Alaa is a hairdresser in Beirut and worries about having to go through another war as tensions rise between the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel. “A war would affect everyone here: Lebanese and Syrian,” Alaa told Al Jazeera outside a barbershop in Hamra, a bustling neighbourhood in West Beirut. “If it happens, it happens. I live day by day.” Alaa is…

US Democratic presidential candidate presents plan to tackle food ‘price gouging’, child care and housing costs.Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has promised to “bring down costs and increase economic security for all Americans” in one of her first major policy speeches in the United States presidential campaign. The US vice president, who secured the Democratic nomination after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month, put forward a set of proposals on Friday that she said would help boost the economy and combat food “price gouging”. “I will be laser-focused on creating opportunities for the middle class,” Harris told…

Mediators announce a ‘bridging proposal’ that would set the path for regional de-escalation and ending the war.The United States, Qatar and Egypt have issued a joint statement saying the mediators have put forward a “bridging proposal” that would allow the “swift” implementation of a deal that would end the war in Gaza and see the release of Israeli captives. The three countries said on Friday that ceasefire negotiations in Doha were “serious and constructive”. The current round of talks started on Thursday amid growing fears of a regional war after Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut and Hamas’s…

Year-over-year inflation has reached its lowest level in more than three years in July, the latest sign that the worst price spike in four decades is fading and setting up the United States Federal Reserve for an interest rate cut in September. Wednesday’s report from the US Department of Labor showed that consumer prices rose just 0.2 percent from June to July after dropping slightly the previous month for the first time in four years. Measured from a year earlier, prices rose 2.9 percent, down from 3 percent in June. It was the mildest year-over-year inflation figure since March 2021. The…

Ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel are dragging on with few signs of a breakthrough that would bring relief to Gaza. Attempts at talks started in November with Hamas pushing for an end to all hostilities, the release of thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails and the return of displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza. Israel is baulking at those demands. In June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted he wants a “partial” deal to return Israeli captives but not end a devastating war that has killed more than 40,000 people, uprooted nearly all of Gaza’s population and…

M&M’s maker Mars is buying Kellanova, the maker of Cheez-It and Pop-Tarts, in an effort to broaden its snacking portfolio and expand globally in what is being termed the biggest deal of the sector. Mars Inc said Wednesday that it will pay $83.50 per share in cash. The company put the total value of the transaction at $35.9bn, including debt. Kellanova was created last year when the Kellogg Company split into two companies. Chicago-based Kellanova sells many of the former company’s most profitable brands, including Pringles, Eggo, Town House, MorningStar Farms and Rice Krispies Treats. It had net sales of…

Lawsuit says the Algerian Olympic gold medallist was subjected to ‘misogynist, racist and sexist campaign’ during the games.French prosecutors have opened a probe into a cyberbullying claim made by Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, who has filed a case alleging that several prominent figures had taken part in online harassment over her gender. Prosecutors on Wednesday said Harry Potter author JK Rowling, X owner Elon Musk, and former US President Donald Trump have been named in the complaint filed by Khelif’s lawyer Nabil Boudi. However, the claim was filed against social media platforms including X, and not against a specific…