Author: ALJAZEERA

Fears of new trade tensions with China drive main indexes lower.Wall Street’s top indices fell as a rebound in tech shares tumbled, adding to losses triggered by fears of new trade tensions. After a mixed day on European equity markets, losses on Wall Street were broad-based on Thursday, with energy the only one of 11 industrial sectors to advance in the S&P 500. The Dow, which had notched records the last three days, led major indices lower with a 1.3 percent drop. “It doesn’t take much of an excuse for markets to take some profits when they’ve had such a…

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Israel’s security minister toured a courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque in a provocative move that could threaten ceasefire talks.Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City. Tensions over the site in occupied East Jerusalem have fuelled past rounds of Israeli-Palestinian violence, and Ben-Gvir’s visit on Thursday threatens to disrupt sensitive talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire in Israel’s more-than-nine-month war on Gaza. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the visit as a “provocative intrusion” that endangered the fragile status quo regarding the Jerusalem compound. The mosque is situated in the…

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At least eight United Nations-run schools serving as shelters to displaced Palestinians have been hit by Israeli attacks in the last 10 days. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) say 120 of their educational institutions have been hit since Israel began its war on Gaza on October 7. Families living in disused classrooms face fatigue, trauma and the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions of shelters stretched far beyond capacity. Despite the difficult conditions and the risk of bombardment, many seek out the relative safety of UN schools, some guided by the memory of past wars where these spaces provided…

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Israeli government official calling Phillipe Lazzarini a ‘terrorist sympathiser’ also puts his safety at risk, UN says.The United Nations has denounced an Israeli government spokesperson for calling the head of its agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) a “terrorist sympathiser”. Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the comments by Israel’s David Mencer were “downright dangerous”. Mencer took aim at UNRWA head Phillipe Lazzarini in a videotaped speech on Wednesday, saying his agency had been deeply infiltrated by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. “Now if the UN was doing what it was designed to do, then Philippe Lazzarini…

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Israel’s parliament has passed a resolution that overwhelmingly rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state, Israeli media reported. The resolution passed in the Knesset with 68 votes in favour and just nine against it early on Thursday. It said that a Palestinian state would pose “an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilize the region”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition with far-right parties co-sponsored the resolution. Opposition leader Yair Lapid’s centre-left party left the session to avoid supporting the statement, despite previously saying he favoured a two-state solution, the Times of…

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After operating for fewer than 25 days, the US-built Gaza aid pier will be dismantled, marking the end of a costly mission marked by recurring weather and security challenges.The United States military has said its mission to install and operate a temporary, floating pier off the coast of Gaza to bring humanitarian aid to Palestinians has ended. The $230m trouble-prone pier had to be removed repeatedly from Gaza’s shore because of poor weather conditions since its initial installation in mid-May. US military officials said on Wednesday that the pier had achieved its mission despite United Nations estimates that 96 percent…

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