Author: ALJAZEERA

Ninety people have been killed and 300 wounded in an Israeli attack on the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, a supposed safe zone in the southern Gaza Strip. At least eight United Nations-run schools have been hit by Israel’s military in 10 days. Israeli attacks on Gaza have intensified recently despite ongoing ceasefire talks in Doha and Cairo. Reports said the talks were showing signs of progress towards a truce and return of Israeli captives held in Gaza before the attacks on Saturday. Discussions involving Arab mediators and the United States began in May but have faced stiff opposition from…

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East Asian country sees tourism burst past pre-pandemic levels as weak yen draws record visitors.Japan welcomed a record 17.78 million foreign visitors in the first half of 2024, the country’s tourism agency has said, as the weak yen helped drive tourist numbers above pre-pandemic levels. The January-June figure announced by the Japan National Tourism Organization on Friday is more than one million more people than the previous high of 16.63 million in 2019. Japan is experiencing a tourism boom as a slump in the yen boosts the spending power of foreigners who receive their earnings in stronger currencies. South Koreans…

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Israel’s military says it is investigating suspected drone attack and why the country’s defences failed to intercept the ‘aerial target’.Yemen’s Houthi fighters have claimed responsibility following a suspected drone attack on Israel’s Tel Aviv, which killed one person and injured at least 10, according to reports. A spokesperson for the Houthi armed forces said in a post on social media on Friday that the Yemen-based group had “targeted ‘Tel Aviv’ in occupied Palestine”. The Israeli military said it had opened an investigation into the large explosion near the United States Embassy office in the city and would determine why the…

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Taipei, Taiwan – The Wall Street Journal is embroiled in a controversy over press freedom after one of its reporters said she was fired for taking a leadership role in Hong Kong’s biggest media union amid deteriorating civil liberties in the Chinese territory. Selina Cheng, who until this week covered China’s electric vehicle market for the US newspaper, said she was let go on Wednesday after being informed that her role was being made redundant due to restructuring. Cheng said she believes the real reason she was fired was because she was elected president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association…

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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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