Author: ALJAZEERA

Withdrawal of two candidates comes ahead of snap election after death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.Two candidates in Iran’s presidential election have withdrawn from the race as campaigning ended a day ahead of the vote. Alireza Zakani, the mayor of the capital, Tehran, said on Thursday that he was backing away, in a post on X. The first to do so was Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, 53, who dropped his candidacy on Wednesday night and urged other candidates to do the same “so that the front of the revolution will be strengthened”, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.…

Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki says authorities watching currency’s slide with ‘sense of urgency’.Japan has signalled it may intervene to prop up the yen after the currency fell to a 38-year low against the US dollar. Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Thursday that authorities would take action as necessary to prevent damage to the economy. “Rapid, one-sided moves are undesirable. In particular, we’re deeply concerned about the effect on the economy,” Suzuki told reporters. “We are watching moves with a high sense of urgency, analysing the factors behind the moves, and will take necessary actions.” The Japanese finance…

Gallant says Israel can inflict ‘massive damage’ as UN humanitarian chief says war would be ‘potentially apocalyptic’.Israel has said it does not want war in Lebanon but could send its neighbour “back to the Stone Age”, as the United Nations humanitarian affairs chief warned such a conflict would be “potentially apocalyptic”. “We do not want war, but we are preparing for every scenario,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters on Wednesday in Washington, DC. “Hezbollah understands very well that we can inflict massive damage in Lebanon if a war is launched.” Israel was capable of taking “Lebanon back to…

blinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, Dozens of people killed in 24 hours as Israeli forces strike ‘densely-populated’ civilian areas of Gaza in attacks described as ‘bloody’ and ‘brutal’. Source link

PodcastPodcast, The TakeNetanyahu’s interview on Israeli television suggests changing priorities in the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country is ending the “intense” phase of the war on Gaza and signals a shift of focus to the simmering conflict on the country’s northern border with Lebanon. So, what will this mean on the ground? In this episode:  Daniel Levy – President of the US/Middle East Project, and a former Israeli peace negotiator Episode credits: This episode was produced by Sarí el-Khalili, Ashish Malhotra, and Sonia Bhagat, with Amy Walters, Mohammed Zain Shafi Khan, Duha Mosaad, Veronique Eshaya, and…

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The shopping section is Amazon’s most aggressive response to the growth of bargain sites like Temu and Shein.Amazon.com plans to launch a section on its shopping site featuring cheap items that ship directly to overseas consumers from warehouses in China, tech news site The Information has reported, citing slides shown to Chinese sellers. The new marketplace, Amazon’s most aggressive response to the growth of bargain sites like Temu and Shein, will offer unbranded fashion, home goods and daily necessities, according to the slides, and the products will be delivered between 9 to 11 days to customers, the report published on…

Israeli forces have continued to pound several areas across the besieged Gaza Strip, killing dozens of Palestinians, as residents reported overnight attacks in Rafah in the south of the enclave. Israeli attacks in Gaza killed 60 Palestinians and injured 140 in the latest 24-hour reporting period, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday. It said that many victims remained trapped under the rubble as ambulances and medics were unable to reach them. Residents said fighting intensified in the Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah, where tanks were also trying to force their way north amid heavy clashes. The armed wings of…

After 14 years of Conservative Party government, a person in the United Kingdom is much worse off than if the economy had continued to grow as fast as its pre-2010 trajectory. Britons had on average £10,200 ($12,950) less to spend or save in total during 2010-2022, when compared with 1998-2010 growth rates, according to an analysis of disposable incomes by the nonpartisan Centre for Cities research institute. The amount is equivalent to roughly 15 weeks of the average wage in Great Britain, or eight months of the average rent in England. It is a sobering snapshot of the state of…

EDITOR’S ANALYSISIsraeli defence minister’s visit comes a month before Netanyahu’s, and highlights his position as an alternative to the PM.Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has been on a mission in the past few days to shore up bipartisan support in the United States for Israel, in advance of what could potentially be all-out war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Gallant set the stage before he left for the US on Saturday, emphasising that ties between the two countries were “perhaps more important than ever”. After meetings with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin and other top officials, Gallant’s message was consistent: the…