Democrats flee Texas to block Republican redistricting map backed by Trump
The redistricting would create five new Republican-leaning seats in the US House of Representatives.
Plastic causing “disease and death from infancy to old age” that costs $1.5 trillion a year, report warns – CBS News
- Plastic causing "disease and death from infancy to old age" that costs $1.5 trillion a year, report warns CBS News
- Oil producer pressure, Trump rollbacks threaten global treaty on plastics pollution Reuters
- World in $1.5tn ‘plastics crisis’ hitting health from infancy to old age, report warns The Guardian
- Plastic crisis highlighted by Lancet ahead of Global Plastics Treaty NBC News
- Plastics a ‘grave’ danger to health, scientists warn before UN talks Financial Times
Palestinian women on hunger strike to demand body of slain activist
Palestinians in West Bank are unable to mourn 31-year-old Awdah, while the Israeli settler who shot him walks free.
Israeli forces kill at least 27 at food site while minister’s al-Aqsa visit causes outrage | First Thing
Six more people die from malnutrition, and Itamar Ben-Gvir is first minister to publicly pray at sensitive site. Plus, head of Google’s DeepMind on our AI future
Good morning.
At least 27 people were killed by Israeli forces while trying to get food and six others died from starvation or malnutrition in Gaza on Sunday, Palestinian officials said, amid a regional outcry over the visit by Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, to Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.
Where did Ben-Gvir visit and what was the reaction? Ben-Gvir led prayers at al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, provoking outrage among regional powers. The compound, which Jews call the Temple Mount, is a highly revered site – the holiest in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. The site is under Jordanian custodianship; under a decades-old agreement, Jews are allowed to visit but not pray there.
What do the Republicans want to do? Last week, Texas Republicans released a proposed new congressional map that would give the GOP a path to pick up five seats in next year’s midterm elections, typically when the governing party loses representation in Congress.
Continue reading...Trump contorting justice department into his ‘personal weapon’, experts warn
Critics say DoJ has been ‘politicized like never before’ and the main job requirement is now ‘loyalty to Donald Trump’
As Donald Trump’s Department of Justice expands investigations of his foes and ousts dozens of lawyers and staff who worked on cases targeting himself and his allies, scholars and ex-prosecutors say the rule of law is under siege in the US as the department morphs into Trump’s “personal weapon”.
The justice department’s politicization to please Trump was underscored by an announcement on 23 July of a new “ strike force” to investigate unsubstantiated charges that ex-president Barack Obama and top officials conspired to hurt Trump’s 2016 campaign and his presidency with inquiries into Russian influence operations to help Trump win, say critics.
Continue reading...Petting cafes to homes: Thailand’s soaring captive lion population
Lion ownership is rising in Thailand, prompting concerns over welfare, regulation, and illegal wildlife trade.
Fernandes labels Man Utd ‘lazy’ and calls for more signings
On eve of new Premier League season, captain Bruno Fernandes calls for 'more quality to get everyone to step up'.
‘On the precipice of defeat’: 19 former defense chiefs demand end to Gaza war – The Times of Israel
- ‘On the precipice of defeat’: 19 former defense chiefs demand end to Gaza war The Times of Israel
- Hundreds of Israeli ex-officials appeal to Trump to help end Gaza war BBC
- Former IDF Chiefs Call on Israel to End War in Gaza as Netanyahu Claims Starvation Is ‘Hamas Libel’ Time Magazine
- Hundreds of ex-Israeli security officials urge Trump to help end war in Gaza The Guardian
- Israel def. heads to Donald Trump: Force Benjamin Netanyahu to end Gaza war The Jerusalem Post
Hunger mounts, cemeteries grow in Sudan’s besieged al-Fashir – Reuters
- Hunger mounts, cemeteries grow in Sudan's besieged al-Fashir Reuters
- Sudan: Thousands resort to eating animal feed to survive in besieged Al Fashir Sky News
- Cholera spreads in North Darfur, 640,000 children under threat, UNICEF warns UN News
- ‘We’re suffering’: People in Sudan’s el-Fasher eat animal fodder to survive Al Jazeera
- El-Fasher: People in Sudan's besieged city face starvation, UN warns BBC
George Osborne says UK has been left behind in cryptocurrency boom
Ex-chancellor criticises hesitant approach to crypto and warns country in danger of missing next surge in market
The UK has been left behind in the cryptocurrency boom and is in danger of missing a second wave of demand, according to the former chancellor George Osborne.
Osborne, who has an advisory role at the crypto exchange firm Coinbase, said the country already missed out on the first generation of crypto because the formerly sceptical US had embraced digital currencies under Donald Trump.
Continue reading...Confused passengers evacuated from Brisbane domestic airport and told to re-screen after metal detector fault
Flights delayed after ‘technical fault with a single metal detector’ but airport says there is no safety or security threat
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Passengers have been evacuated from Brisbane domestic airport and flights have been delayed after a fault with a single metal detector prompted both travellers and staff to be re-screened by security.
Pictures on social media showed large crowds at the airport, with one person saying the “entire place has ground to a halt”.
Continue reading...Unprecedented water crisis in Gaza amid Israeli-induced starvation
Israel’s war has destroyed Gaza’s water supplies, forcing residents to struggle daily for safe drinking water.
Scoop: Gaza is fueling a growing push among Democrats for Palestinian statehood – Axios
- Scoop: Gaza is fueling a growing push among Democrats for Palestinian statehood Axios
- House Democrats sign on to letter urging Trump to recognise Palestinian statehood The Guardian
- Rep. Khanna, progressives push for U.S. recognition of Palestinian state Jewish Insider
- House democrats urge Trump administration to recognise Palestinian state, Axios reports Reuters
- House Democrats Renew Effort Calling for Palestinian Statehood The New York Times
Singapore tycoon pleads guilty in gifts scandal involving ex-minister – Financial Times
- Singapore tycoon pleads guilty in gifts scandal involving ex-minister Financial Times
- Tycoon who helped bring F1 to Singapore pleads guilty in rare graft case CNN
- Singapore: Ong Beng Seng pleads guilty to abetting obstruction of justice BBC
- Billionaire Pleads Guilty in Gift Scandal That Rattled Singapore Bloomberg.com
- Highlights: Ong Beng Seng convicted, sentencing set for Aug 15 CNA
Dozens dead, dozens more missing after migrant boat sinks off Yemen – CBS News
- Dozens dead, dozens more missing after migrant boat sinks off Yemen CBS News
- At least 54 migrants die as boat sinks off Yemen, dozens missing Reuters
- Faced with hardships at home, Ethiopians risk dangerous seas for a better life elsewhere AP News
- Migrant boat capsizes off Yemen, killing more than 60 BBC
- Pope Leo mourns migrants who died in shipwreck off Yemen Vatican News
Trump aide accuses India of financing Russia’s war in Ukraine
White House deputy chief Stephen Miller says it was 'not acceptable' for India to continue to buy Russian oil.
BP makes its biggest oil and gas discovery in 25 years off coast of Brazil
Company to carry out more tests on its Santos basin find as it continues shift from renewables back to fossil fuels
BP has made its largest oil and gas discovery of the past 25 years off the coast of Brazil as it continues to shift its focus away from renewables and back to fossil fuels.
The Santos basin oil and gas discovery, which is located in deep waters, is the company’s 10th oil discovery of the year and could be its largest since its discovery at the Shah Deniz gasfield in Azerbaijan in 1999.
Continue reading...Philippines, India hold first joint naval drill in disputed South China Sea
The exercise coincided with President Marcos’s trip to India, where he said he would look to deepen maritime ties.
‘They do not teach us what we need’: Inside the expansion of religious schools for girls across Afghanistan – CNN
- ‘They do not teach us what we need’: Inside the expansion of religious schools for girls across Afghanistan CNN
- Strengthening accountability to women and girls in Afghanistan, July 2025 ReliefWeb
- Rights Experts to Brief Press on Aid Cuts and Taliban Gender Persecution KabulNow
- Denied childhood, denied dreams: Afghanistan’s girls need the world to act Kuwait Times
- A Nation in Silence: The Escalating Violence Against Women in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan Hasht-e Subh Daily
South Korea removes loudspeakers on border with North – DW
- South Korea removes loudspeakers on border with North DW
- South Korea starts removing anti-North Korean loudspeakers on border Reuters
- South Korea begins removing border propaganda speakers in conciliatory gesture toward North AP News
- South Korea removes speakers used to blast K-pop music and propaganda across North Korea border Sky News
- K-pop, weather news, and scraping metal: Behind the sounds unleashed at the Korean border The Indian Express