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Talks between mediators and Hamas leaders in Cairo on implementing a US-brokered Gaza peace plan have made rare progress, sources close to the negotiations said on Thursday, although an Israeli official said the proposed terms did not meet Israel's demands. Israeli strikes killed at least six Palestinians in Gaza, including two children, on Thursday, according to medics. A Hamas official and a diplomat involved in the Cairo discussions described the talks as "positive" and said they were making progress. The Hamas official said the developments would depend on Israel's response and whether they could lead to a broader agreement. An Israeli official, speaking anonymously, said Israel had rejected the proposal. "Israel demands the complete disarmament of Hamas, including the removal of weapons from Gaza and the complete demilitarisation of the Strip as a precondition for any process," the official said. Also Read: Over 60,000 children orphaned in Gaz...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Sunday the creation of a task force headed ​by tech entrepreneur Nandan Nilekani to overhaul ‌India's examination system, following days of youth protests about exam paper leaks. "Our examination system should be trustworthy, should be transparent and ​the system should make maximum use of ​technology," Modi said on Instagram, adding that new ⁠legislation to deal with paper leaks would be ​introduced in parliament on Monday. The measures would tighten the ​law and toughen the penalties for culprits, Modi added. It was Modi's first public comment since Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on ​Saturday following the protests by youth activists, who ​demonstrated for weeks demanding he quit over exam paper leaks ‌in May. Read More: Modi's strongman image dented as he caves to 'Cockroaches' Modi did not mention Pradhan in his 30-second video statement. The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (...

United States President Donald Trump said on Friday that he does not believe China or Russia are “participating” in the ongoing Iran conflict but warned that any involvement would be “very bad for them”. “President Xi, at our recent meeting in Beijing, China, told me that he would not, under any circumstances, give or sell weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran — and that statement included Chinese companies,” he wrote on Truth Social. https://ift.tt/g4VyZEO Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin had also told him that Moscow would not sell weapons to Iran, adding that he believed Russia and China were not involved in the conflict. Read More: Iran rejects temporary ceasefire until Strait of Hormuz demands met “If they did, it would be very bad for them — certainly not in their best interests,” Trump posted. The United States and Iran have been at war since the US and Israel launched strikes in February that...

The building where Adolf Hitler was born, near the Austrian border ​with Germany, officially began a new life as a police station on Wednesday, a conversion Austria's government hopes will prevent it ‌from serving as a place of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis. After years of debate about the large, traditional terraced house in the town of Braunau am Inn, which was in private ownership and had housed a charity for people with disabilities, Austria made a compulsory purchase in 2017 and announced in 2019 it would be remodelled and turned into a police station. Even before ​the conversion, the only sign of its historical significance was a rock on the pavement from the Mauthausen concentration camp with the inscription "Never ​again fascism" that does not mention Hitler. The rock remains in place. The only sign added to the white ⁠facade reads "Police". "The aim was to prevent any association with Adolf Hitler, to strip it of that mystique," the hea...

United States President Donald Trump said on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested when he visits the US, after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was still considering ​the move. "Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while ​in the United States of America," Trump wrote in a social media post ⁠that did not refer to the mayor's comments. Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America. He is fighting against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which recently killed 52,000 innocent protestors, and has spent the last 47 years killing American Soldiers, and… pic.twitter.com/G2yWSuCZsc — Commentary Donald J. Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) July 20, 2026 The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for ​Netanyahu in 2024 for alleged war crimes during the Gaza war. Israel reject...

Andy Burnham became Britain's seventh prime minister in a decade on Monday, pledging to ​reshape its politics to deliver a new economic model and revive a nation "fed up" with a revolving door of leaders. In front of dozens of supporters outside ‌his new office and residence at 10 Downing Street, Burnham said politicians had failed to bring the stability needed to raise living standards, something he said he would change, with both immediate measures and a longer-term plan to be drawn up later this year. Speaking without notes, Burnham delivered a domestic-focused speech aimed at offering hope to a nation that has, like many European countries, struggled for years with soaring prices and anaemic economic growth. He ​did not touch on foreign affairs. 'I have accepted his Majesty the King's invitation to form a government' Andy Burham pledges to help cost of living crisis in his first speech as Prime Minister pic.twitter.com/bC4RgaxaZG — Sky...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Sunday to discuss the implementation of a US-brokered framework agreement signed by Israel and Lebanon on June 26 aimed at ending their conflict, the State Department said. "The Secretary commended the courage of the Government of Lebanon, under President Aoun’s leadership, for their determined effort to reclaim Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm (Hezbollah) and move towards peace," State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement. Met with Lebanese President Aoun today. I commended his courage and his government’s work to reclaim their country and advance towards peace. We discussed implementing the Trilateral Framework. The United States remains committed to supporting this effort and Lebanon’s efforts to… pic.twitter.com/mnt7MgGts5 — Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) July 19, 2026 US-led diplomacy has emerged since Hezbollah and Israel return...

The federal government said on Wednesday ​it was stepping up security around the Saindak copper and gold mine in Balochistan ‌after terrorist violence disrupted supply routes, and the mine's operator denied a report that the project could be forced to shut down. Saindak Metals Limited Managing Director Raziq Sanjrani called the closure report, first published by the Financial Times, factually incorrect. ​The mine has run without interruption for 25 years, and "there is no possibility of its ​shutdown", he said in a statement. He said the company had asked the authorities ⁠for help moving furnace oil to the site after some transporters baulked at using certain routes ​through Balochistan, and that security agencies had since assured the company the supply would continue uninterrupted. State Minister ​for Interior Talal Chaudhry said the government had received the mine operator's security concerns in early July and ordered agencies to increas...

Twenty-six employees of Meta ‌Platforms have filed a novel lawsuit accusing the tech giant of using AI-powered software that disproportionately targeted people with disabilities or who took medical leave in selecting workers for mass layoffs. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Oakland, California, late on Monday, says that the company relied on factors such as productivity and AI token usage when it slashed thousands of jobs earlier this year, disadvantaging people who missed work because of medical conditions or to care for family members. The plaintiffs, who were notified in May that their jobs would be eliminated starting on July 22, ​are seeking a preliminary ruling from the court blocking Meta from completing the layoffs while they pursue their ​claims in private arbitration. The workers say Meta's agreements require employees to arbitrate workplace disputes individually, but do not apply to requests for temporary relief. A Meta spokesperson on Tuesday said the...

South Africa international midfielder Jayden Adams, who featured in all three of his side's ​group stage games at the 2026 World Cup, has died, the ‌country's sports ministry said on Saturday. No cause of death was given. Adams, 25, started the Group A fixtures against Mexico and the Czech Republic, and came off the ​bench in the 1-0 win over South Korea that earned ​the side a first-ever place in the knockout rounds, ⁠where they were beaten by Canada. The player's grandmother died a day ​before South Africa played the Czechs, and he was replaced at halftime ​during the fixture. Read More: African results justify World Cup slots He played for the Pretoria-based Mamelodi Sundowns in South Africa, helping them to the African Champions League title in the 2025/26 season. "South African football has lost ​a gifted player, a proud servant of the game and a ​young life that still had so much to offer," the South African Football Players' ‌Union, ...

Belgium's prime minister was a little surprised on landing back home from Wednesday's NATO summit in Turkey to find that he had a handgun and ammunition in his luggage. After NATO leaders gathered ​for Wednesday's fractious summit in Ankara, their host, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, handed each an unusual parting gift: ‌a vintage revolver, along with live ammunition indicating it was not just for show. Erdogan wanted to showcase Turkey's defence industry, which has become a key export and foreign policy tool. Images shared by the office of Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda showed what appeared to be the Gumusay .357 Magnum, a rare six-shooter ​produced by Turkish arms maker MKE in the 1990s. It was set in a wooden display box featuring Turkey's flag ​and the NATO logo as well as a placard inscribed "Gumusay, the first revolver-type handgun produced in ⁠our country" in Turkish and English. A gun gifted by Tur...

Rescue teams in Venezuela were losing hope ​on Tuesday of finding more survivors of twin earthquakes that struck the country last week, following hours of exhausting work searching for victims beneath the rubble of collapsed ‌buildings. Rescue teams from Ecuador and the US halted operations early on Tuesday in Macuto, a town in La Guaira state — the area hardest hit by the June 24 earthquakes — after more than 40 hours of work, when they stopped receiving responses from a mother and her three children trapped beneath a nine-story building. "In the end, we believe the days have already passed and that what we will find now is death," said Major Jorge Montanero, leader of the EQ11 team ​from Guayaquil, located on Ecuador's Pacific coast. Read More: 5 days after Venezuela's earthquakes, some communities still await help "Unfortunately, things haven't developed favourably," he said as he stood amid rubble after cutting through four c...

Coach Carlo Ancelotti is hopeful he will have Neymar available for more minutes in Monday's World Cup round of 32 fixture against Japan in Houston, and believes his Brazil side are ready for anything in what will be a tough knockout fixture. Neymar has ?been working his way back to fitness from a calf injury and managed a little over 15 minutes in the 3-0 victory over Scotland last time out. "In the last week his progress has been significant," Ancelotti told reporters on Sunday. "Unfortunately he could not play longer than 15 minutes before, but he is now doing well enough to play more." Japan beat Brazil 3-2 in a friendly clash in Tokyo in October, and Ancelotti said that game has given him excellent insight into what to expect in Houston, knowing that failure will send his side home early in the tournament. "It was a good experience to know that Japan are one of the best teams in the world," he said. "We have full respect for them and ...

Some areas in Venezuela devastated by twin earthquakes last Wednesday have yet to receive government aid to help with ‌rescue and recovery efforts, residents in some hard-hit towns said on Monday. In El Junquito, a small mountainous region about 33 kilometres west of Caracas, where Venezuelans often vacation on weekends, residents say they have seen few public officials, while farmers and other residents have been providing basic supplies to the community. "We are waiting for answers, for debris to ​be cleaned up, for inspections, for people who have been really affected to be helped," said Keily Ibarra, a 33-year-old manicurist leading citizen ​complaints to authorities. She called on the government to do "what needs to be done." El Junquito's commercial centre was largely ⁠destroyed by the quakes, with collapsed buildings visible during a Reuters visit. Several residents with nowhere else to go have set up tents in an ​open field, despite the risk ...

Austria has proposed that the European Union should consider hosting Anthropic within ​the bloc's borders in order to counter efforts ‌by the United States to block foreigners from using the AI company's most advanced models. In a letter to EU Technology Commissioner Henna ​Virkkunen released by the Austrian government, Austria's State ​Secretary for Digitalisation, Alexander Proell, wrote it was ⁠important that Europe was not cut off from major ​innovations. "Let us jointly explore the strategic establishment and participation of ​Anthropic within the European Union. With legal certainty, market access, capital and a set of values that suit this company," Proell ​said in the letter. Read More: Google limits Meta’s use of its Gemini AI models, FT reports He did not say how the ​step could be taken and acknowledged there would be scepticism about whether ‌it ⁠was possible. "The real question is not whether it is easy," Proell wrot...

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was seeking to arrange a visit to India by President Donald Trump early next year as the two countries work toward a bilateral trade deal, Indian news agency IANS reported on Saturday. Rubio told IANS he was likely to travel to India later this year to prepare for the president's visit, saying, "We're working towards sometime early next year to have the president come." Read More: Indian tech hub names road for Trump, drawing criticism from Modi's BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Trump last week on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in France, where Trump said they had a "very good" conversation. India has been pressing the US for months for a Trump visit, potentially as part of a meeting involving Japan and Australia. India-US ties have been strained over the past year after Washington imposed high tariffs on Indian goods over New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil and i...

John Bolton, a ​former national security adviser for US President Donald Trump who has since become one of his fiercest critics, pleaded ‌guilty in federal court on Friday to mishandling classified information and faces up to five years in prison. “I’m sorry for it,” Bolton told US District Judge Theodore D. Chuang during the hearing. Reuters previously reported that Bolton would plead guilty under a deal with prosecutors that included a sentencing range from no prison time ​to as many as five years behind bars, with the final sentence to be determined by a judge. Read: Bolton to pay $2.25m in classified documents settlement As part of ​the agreement, Bolton agreed to pay a $2.25 million fine. Bolton, 77, must make half that payment within five ⁠days of sentencing and the full payment within 90 days of sentencing. He also committed to up to 100 hours of community service ​and to meet with intelligence and Justice Department officials for a debriefin...

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed on Friday stressed the need to protect maritime corridors ​and ensure freedom of navigation through the Strait ‌of Hormuz in a call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi. The exchange, reported by state news agency WAM, marks a rare ​public contact between Abu Dhabi and Tehran following ​tensions linked to the US-Israeli war on Iran. It ⁠was the first announced conversation between the two ministers ​since the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, which ​were followed by Iranian attacks across the Gulf, including in the United Arab Emirates, where the US has military bases. عبدالله بن زايد يتلقى اتصالا هاتفيا من معالي عباس عراقجي، وزير خارجية الجمهورية الإسلامية الإيرانية جرى خلاله بحث التطورات الإقليمية، وذلك في أعقاب التوصل إلى اتفاق حول مذكرة التفاهم بين الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية وإيران وتوقيع البلدين عليها، وشدد سموه على أهمية الالتزام الكامل… pic.twitter.com/8jetiba0MG — OFM (@OFMUAE) June 26, 2026 Sheikh ...

European Union antitrust regulators said Amazon and Microsoft’s cloud computing services should be designated as “gatekeepers” under landmark tech rules, ​a step that would subject them to strict obligations aimed at curbing market ‌power. The designation under the Digital Markets Act would impose a set of obligations and bans on the world's two largest cloud providers, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, including limits on self-preferencing and ​requirements to ensure interoperability and data portability. So far, EU regulators have targeted core ​platform services such as search, social media and app stores to rein ⁠in Big Tech. Extending the DMA to cloud infrastructure would mark a significant expansion ​into a sector seen as critical to AI. The preliminary findings follow a seven-month-long investigation. "Cloud ​services have become a cornerstone of Europe’s economy — and a prerequisite for AI — with over half of...

Western Europe was in the grip of a heatwave on Wednesday that claimed ​dozens of lives, disrupted power supplies, shut schools and cultural landmarks, as forecasters warned the extreme temperatures could persist until the end of the week. Smashing previous records, Britain logged its ‌highest temperature for June, reaching 35.8 degrees Celsius (96.26 degrees Fahrenheit) in southern England as a heat dome hovered over much of Western Europe. Western Europe was in the grip of a heatwave on Wednesday that claimed ​dozens of lives, disrupted power supplies, shut schools and cultural landmarks, as forecasters warned the extreme temperatures could persist until the end of the week. A sign outside a pharmacy displays the 37-degree temperature in west London during a heatwave, in central London on June 24, 2026. Photo: AFP Smashing previous records, Britain logged its ‌highest temperature for June, reaching 35.8 degrees Celsius (96.26 degrees Fahrenheit...