Author: By AFP

Benjamin Sesko’s arrival completes an overhaul of the Red Devils’ attack that failed to fire last season. Published Date: 2025-08-09 15:13:00 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

President Donald Trump (C) joins hands with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev (L) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (R) during a signing ceremony in the State Dining Room of the White House on August 8, 2025 in Washington, DC. [AFP] Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday hailed a “historic” peace deal with Azerbaijan after signing an agreement aimed at ending a decades-long conflict. Christian-majority Armenia and Muslim-majority Azerbaijan went to war twice over their border and the status of ethnic enclaves within each other’s territories. “What happened today is a historic event. For months, I have been saying that…

Manchester United have agreed a deal worth up to 85 million euros ($99 million, £74 million) to sign striker Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig on August 7, 2025. Published Date: 2025-08-09 13:47:10 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

A £50 million ($67 million) investment has been made to upgrade the Carrington training ground which has been United’s base since 2000. Published Date: 2025-08-08 17:26:45 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

An Afghan worker loads plastic bottles into a sack at a recycling yard in Kabul on August 5, 2025. [AFP] Negotiations aimed at forging a global treaty on plastic pollution are being blocked by oil-producing countries and getting bogged down in a “dialogue of the deaf”, sources in and around the talks told AFP. Ten days of talks on finalising an international, legally-binding instrument on plastic pollution opened on Tuesday with sunny optimism from the moderators that a deal could be done to tackle the scourge of plastic rubbish and microplastics trashing the planet. But by Thursday, after countries had…

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on August 6, 2025 in Washington, DC. [AFP] Higher US tariffs came into effect for dozens of economies Thursday, drastically raising the stakes in President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging efforts to reshape global trade. As an executive order signed last week by Trump took effect, US duties rose from 10 percent to levels between 15 percent and 41 percent for a list of trading partners. Many products from economies including the European Union, Japan and South Korea now face a 15-percent tariff, even with deals struck with Washington…

U.S. President Donald Trump displays a set of 1984 Los Angeles Olympic medals given to him during an executive order signing ceremony on August 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. [AFP] Stock markets edged higher Wednesday as traders assessed the latest corporate earnings and awaited President Donald Trump’s next wave of tariffs. The US president’s claim that Washington was “very close to a deal” to extend a China tariffs truce provided some optimism. But duties on dozens of economies were due to take effect on Thursday, and Trump also warned that he would soon hit the pharmaceutical and semiconductor sectors. Oil…

 An employee walks past a door bearing the logo of Novo Nordisk at the factory in Hilleroed on September 26, 2023.[AFP] Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk posted a sharp rise in second-quarter net profit Wednesday, but rising competition is weighing on sales of its diabetes and obesity treatments Ozempic and Wegovy in the United States. The group reported a net profit of 26.5 billion kroner ($4.1 billion), a 32 percent increase from the same period last year, while sales increased by 18 percent to 76 billion kroner. The drug maker lowered its annual earnings outlook last week, causing its share…

A Palestinian girl reacts to the destruction after an overnight strike on the Sheikh Radwan Health Centre run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the north of Gaza City on August 6, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP) Donald Trump’s sudden concern about starving Palestinians was a major shift for the US president, who had previously ignored the endless cries for help from aid groups. So what changed? In his words, it was images of emaciated children in Gaza that Trump saw on television — his main window into the world that…

US President Donald Trump waves before boarding Marine One at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on August 1, 2025, on his way to his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he spend the weekend. [AFP] US President Donald Trump signaled Tuesday that fresh tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals and semiconductors could be unveiled within the coming week, in his ongoing push to reshape global trade. Trump made his latest comments in an interview on CNBC days before a separate set of tariff hikes come into effect on dozens of economies later this week. His sweeping plans have sparked a…

 U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administor Bryan Bedford observe a Skydio X10 drone hover in the atrium of the Department of Transportation Headquarters on August 05, 2025 in Washington, DC. [AFP] The United States is rushing to put nuclear power reactors on the Moon and Mars, and hopes to launch the first system by the end of the decade. A new NASA directive — first reported by Politico and seen by AFP on Tuesday — calls for the appointment of a nuclear power czar to select two commercial proposals within six months, framing the push as crucial to…

This undated image courtesy of OceanGate Expeditions, shows their Titan submersible beginning a descent. Safety failures by the OceanGate company led to the deadly 2023 implosion of its Titan submersible, the US Coast Guard said in a final report published on August 5, 2025. [AFP] Multiple failures to follow standard safety protocol led to the deadly implosion of a private submersible visiting the Titanic wreckage in 2023, according to a final report published Tuesday. The US Coast Guard investigation outlined a litany of issues with operator OceanGate’s conduct, as well as design flaws in its Titan submersible, that contributed to…

U.S. President Donald Trump shouts answers to questions from reporters as he tours the roof of the West Wing of the White House on August 05, 2025 in Washington, DC.[AFP] A stock market rebound lost traction on Tuesday after data showed inflation gathering steam in the US, complicating the picture for interest rate cuts. Meanwhile oil prices retreated further after US President Donald Trump renewed his threat to raise tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian crude. Wall Street’s main stock indices had opened higher Tuesday before turning lower. European markets ended mixed, with Paris dipping into the red. Global…

A young Afghan child worker sorts recyclable plastic cans at a recycling yard on the outskirts of Kabul on August 5, 2025. [AFP The 184 countries gathering to forge a landmark treaty on combating plastic pollution were told Tuesday they must find a way to tackle a global crisis wrecking ecosystems and trashing the oceans. States should seize the chance to shape history, the man chairing the talks said as 10 days of negotiations kicked off at the United Nations in Geneva. “We are facing a global crisis,” Ecuadoran diplomat Luis Vayas Valdivieso told the more than 1,800 negotiators as…

Meta on Tuesday said it shut nearly seven million WhatsApp accounts linked to scammers in the first half of this year and is ramping up safeguards against such schemes. “Our team identified the accounts and disabled them before the criminal organizations that created them could use them,” WhatsApp external affairs director Clair Deevy said. Often run by organized gangs, the scams range from bogus cryptocurrency investments to get-rich-quick pyramid schemes, WhatsApp executives said in a briefing. Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp “There is always a catch and it should be a red flag for everyone: you have to pay…

Demonstrators during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages, outside the Israeli Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, on August 2, 2025. [AFP] Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared Tuesday to unveil an updated Gaza war plan designed to destroy Hamas and secure the release of dozens of hostages, with Israeli media reporting he would order the total occupation of the Palestinian territory. Netanyahu was expected to meet security chiefs in Jerusalem on Tuesday to discuss new orders, local media reported, even as Israel’s diplomats convened a UN Security Council meeting in New York…

Top candidate of German right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party for the European election Maximilian Krah speaks during a campaign event for the upcoming European elections in Dresden, eastern Germany on May 1, 2024. [AFP] A German court will on Tuesday launch the trial of two suspected spies for China, one of whom worked as an assistant to the far-right lawmaker Maximilian Krah. The German national, partially identified as Jian G., allegedly worked for Chinese intelligence from 2002, including while he was an aide to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) MEP Krah between 2019 and 2024. Jian G. is accused…

The empty dance floor of the Birmingham PRYZM nightclub is pictured in Birmingham, central England on September 5, 2020, due to government restrictions related to coronavirus. [AFP] Is the party over? UK nightclubs are famed around the world, but Covid and inflation have hit the sector hard, forcing businesses to reinvent themselves to attract new generations to the dance floor. Pryzm Kingston is a well-known club in southwest London popular with students, where artists like Billie Eilish, Rod Stewart, and Stormzy have performed. But the converted cinema closed its doors for renovation last month, with its owners saying it was…

Druze residents of the Israel-annexed Golan Hights participate in a blood drive in Masaadah village, for the benefit of members of their community in Syria’s southertn Sweida, on July 29, 2025. [AFP] Renewed sectarian clashes in southern Syria’s Druze-majority Sweida province killed at least four people on Sunday, a war monitor said, in the first deadly incident since a ceasefire last month. The province witnessed deadly clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouins in July that drew the intervention of government forces and tribal fighters who came to support the Bedouins. A ceasefire put an end to the week of…

A demonstrator lights a smoke flare during an anti-government protest calling for release of Israeli hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militants, outside the Israeli Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on August 2, 2025. [AFP] French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that Hamas showed “inhumanity without bounds” by releasing videos of two emaciated Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza. Hamas and its Islamic Jihad ally have recently released three clips showing captives Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, who were seized during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the…

US President Donald Trump with Rep Mike Conaway (R-TX) and farmers and ranchers from across the country in the Oval Office at the White House May 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. [AFP] Saudi Arabia, Russia and six key members of the OPEC+ alliance said Sunday they will increase production by 547,000 barrels a day in a move which analysts say aims to regain market share amid resilient crude prices. Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman, along with the Saudis and Russians — together nicknamed the Voluntary Eight (V8) — currently produce about 41-42 million barrels a day,…

KFF president Hussein Mohammed told AFP he was not responsible for ticketing. Published Date: 2025-08-03 12:27:44 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Shares in European pharmaceutical firms slumped on Friday following a threat by President Donald Trump to punish them if they don’t lower prices for medicines in the United States. Shares in Novo Nordisk, the Danish maker of the blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy, saw shares drop 4.5 per cent shortly after trading got under way in Copenhagen. Shares in Britain’s AstraZeneca fell 2.8 per cent in London, while Sanofi fell 1.1 per cent in Paris. Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp Meanwhile, shares in Novartis shed 0.9 per cent and Roche 1.0 per cent after Trump announced…

President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled a range of new tariffs Thursday due to take effect in one week on most US trading partners. [AFP] President Donald Trump’s administration unveiled a range of new tariffs Thursday due to take effect in one week on most US trading partners. The import levies ranged as high as 41 percent on Syria and included a hike on Canadian imports from the current 25 percent to 35 percent. AFP takes a look at the most recent developments: Africa Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp Trump said that the United States would raise tariffs on certain…

Former U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the National Bar Association’s annual convention on July 31, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.[AFP] A US plan to destroy women’s contraception products reportedly worth $9.7 million spurred growing outcry on Friday in France, where the products could be incinerated. The contraceptives which were intended for some of the world’s poorest countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa were purchased by the US foreign aid agency USAID under former president Joe Biden. His successor Donald Trump’s administration, which has slashed foreign aid and pursued anti-abortion policies, confirmed earlier this month that it plans to destroy the contraceptives,…

After severe delays in stadium renovations, east Africa is finally ready to co-host the much-awaited African Nations Championship (CHAN), kicking off on Saturday. Published Date: 2025-08-01 09:01:30 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

US theater director and visual artist Robert ‘Bob’ Wilson poses during a photo session in Paris on September 1, 2021. (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP) Celebrated US director Robert Wilson, who revolutionized stage and opera, died Thursday at the age of 83, his management said. “Robert Wilson died peacefully today in Water Mill, New York, at the age of 83, after a brief but acute illness,” said a statement issued on his website. It said he worked right up until the end. Wilson’s productions of original works as well as traditional repertoire pieces were hugely popular wherever they were…

German Stock Market Index DAX is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, on July 28, 2025. [AFP] Shares of Microsoft spiked Thursday following blowout quarterly results, lifting the tech giant into the previously unprecedented $4 trillion club along with Nvidia, another artificial intelligence standout. The landmark valuation is the latest sign of growing bullishness about an AI investment boom that market watchers believe is still in the early stages — even as companies like Microsoft plan $100 billion or more in annual capital spending to add new capacity. Microsoft reported profit of $27.2 billion on revenue of $76.4…

Demonstrators during an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv on July 31, 2025, calling for a stop to the war in Gaza, and for the release of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. [AFP] President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff held talks in Israel on Thursday ahead of a rare US visit to aid distribution sites in Gaza, where nearly 22 months of grinding war and dire food shortages have sparked an international outcry. Witkoff, who has been involved in months of stalled negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, met Prime Minister…

Demonstrators lift placards and chant slogans during an anti-government protest in Tel Aviv on July 31, 2025, calling for a stop to the war in Gaza. [AFP] The United States said Thursday it would deny visas to Palestinian Authority officials, as US allies move to recognize Palestinian statehood. The sanctions come after several states, including France and Canada, announced they would recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, infuriating Israel and the United States. The US visa denials could complicate attendance at the meeting by Palestinian leaders. France and Saudi Arabia sponsored this week a UN…

Myanmar’s junta chief military Min Aung Hlaing arrives to deliver a speech during a ceremony to mark the country’s Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw on March 27, 2024.  [AFP] Myanmar’s junta ended its state of emergency on Thursday, ramping up plans for a December election that opposition groups pledged to boycott and monitors said will be used to consolidate the military’s power. The military declared a state of emergency in February 2021 as it deposed the civilian government of democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a many-sided civil war that has claimed thousands of lives. The order gave junta…

Diaz only had a few weeks with Wirtz at Liverpool but revealed his advice encouraged him to move to the Bundesliga. Published Date: 2025-07-31 20:00:00 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta has been cleared of spot-fixing charges by an independent regulatory commission, the club announced on Thursday. Published Date: 2025-07-31 17:45:24 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Pape Matar Sarr scored from the halfway line as Tottenham punished a shaky performance by Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya to win the first north London derby staged outside the UK 1-0. Published Date: 2025-07-31 17:17:41 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Education university student money loan savings. [Courtesy/GettyImages] Australia passed laws Thursday to slash all student loan debts by 20 percent, clearing a combined US$10 billion of debt held by more than three million students. Many Australians use government loans to help pay for university courses or other tertiary study. But with university fees soaring — a basic degree can cost US$25,000 (about Aus$40,000) or more each year — students are increasingly saddled with hefty debts that can take decades to clear. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged to cut student loan debt as a key cost-of-living measure in a general election…

 A flood damaged car is seen following heavy rains over the past few days in Huairou district, on the outskirts of Beijing.[AFP] Beijing city officials admitted on Thursday they had not been prepared for heavy rains that soaked swathes of the capital, killing 44 people and leaving nine still missing. Swathes of northern China endured deadly rains and floods since last week that forced the evacuation of tens of thousands. The capital’s rural suburbs were hardest hit, officials said, raising the toll from the previously reported 30 announced on Tuesday. “As of midday on July 31, some 44 people have…

Different socks worn by the pop star on show at the Fashion Museum in Santiago, Chile in 2009. [MARTIN BERNETTI /AFP] A single glittery sock that late pop superstar Michael Jackson wore during a concert in France in the 1990s sold for more than $8,000 on Wednesday, a French auctioneer said. A technician found the used sock discarded near Jackson’s dressing room after the concert in the southern city of Nimes in July 1997, auctioneer Aurore Illy told AFP. The self-styled “King of Pop” wore white athletic socks adorned with rhinestones during his “HIStory World Tour” in 1997, according to…

This video grab from a handout footage released by the Joint Press Service of Courts of Bashkortostan Republic shows Olga Komleva, 46, previously volunteered for Navalny’s party, in Ufa City Court on July 29, 2025. [AFP] More than 200 Kremlin critics and former political prisoners have expressed outrage at the visit of a high-ranking Moscow delegation to Switzerland, accusing Europe of hosting “war criminals” despite the invasion of Ukraine. Opponents of Vladimir Putin fear that more than three years into Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine the West might be ready to start bringing Russia in from the cold and revive relations with…

People evacuated from areas near the coast, rest in a shelter in Fengxian district in Shanghai on July 30, 2025. [AFP] Shanghai had evacuated almost 283,000 people from vulnerable coastal and low-lying areas as Typhoon Co-May made landfall in the Chinese financial hub on Wednesday evening, bringing lashing rains and winds. The city’s meteorological observatory issued an orange rainstorm alert, the second-highest warning level, on Wednesday afternoon as sheets of water inundated the city. Almost a third of flights from Shanghai’s two international airports were cancelled, the city’s news service said, totalling around 640, with ferries and some train services…

A man walks past a rain damaged area in Huairou district, Beijing, on July 30, 2025. Heavy rain killed more than 30 people as swaths of northern China were lashed by torrential downpours that sparked landslides and flooding, on July 29, 2025. [AFP] Villager Hu Yuefang returned to her home on the rural outskirts of Beijing to pick up medicine for her elderly and disabled father, only to find it had been washed away by some of worst flooding to hit the Chinese capital in years. Swathes of northern China have endured deadly rains and floods this week that killed…

Palestinians crowd a coastal path west of Beit Lahia after managing to get aid parcels on July 29, 2025, following the entry of aid trucks to the Israel-besieged Gaza Strip from the northern Zikim border crossing. [AFP] Belgium will take part in a multi-country operation coordinated by Jordan to airdrop aid to Gaza, the government announced Wednesday, as UN agencies warn the Palestinian territory is slipping into famine. A Belgian plane carrying medical supplies and food worth some 600,000 euros ($690,000) will fly “soon” to Jordan, and will remain on stand-by to conduct air drops in coordination with Amman, the…

Arsenal will take on Tottenham on Thursday in the bitter rivals’ first clash outside of the UK. Published Date: 2025-07-30 16:50:45 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that imports from India will face 25 percent tariffs, while also announcing an unspecified “penalty” for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian weapons and energy. The measures will kick in on Friday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,” Trump said. Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp He also posted in…

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and US financier Jeffrey Epstein. [AFP] US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he fell out with Jeffrey Epstein because the convicted sex offender had poached staff from his club’s spa, including the woman at the center of an underage sex scandal involving Prince Andrew. The White House has said previously that Trump threw Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club two decades ago “for being a creep” and US media has reported that they became estranged over a Florida real estate deal. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One while flying home from Scotland, Trump gave…

 US President Donald Trump addresses journalists aboard Air Force One while returning from a trip to Scotland, on July 29, 2025. [AFP] A formidable new radar satellite jointly developed by the United States and India launched Wednesday, designed to track subtle changes in Earth’s land and ice surfaces and help predict both natural and human-caused hazards. Dubbed NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), the pickup truck-sized spacecraft blasted off around 5:40 pm (1210 GMT) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast, riding an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket. Livestream of the event showed excited schoolchildren brought to…

England’s Joe Root reacts as he walks back to the pavilion having lost his wicket for 104 on the second day of the third cricket test match between England and India at Lord’s cricket ground in London. [AFP] England captain Ben Stokes has been ruled out of the fifth and deciding Test against India with a shoulder injury in a devastating blow for the home side. The England and Wales Cricket Board said vice-captain Ollie Pope would lead the side in the match at The Oval starting Thursday, with England 2-1 up in the Five-Test series. All-rounder Stokes has struggled…

Luis Diaz has signed a contract with the Bundesliga champions until 2029. Published Date: 2025-07-30 12:29:25 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Road signs are pictured on a wildfire area in Arouca, northern Portugal.[AFP] Firefighters gained control over some of the dozens of wildfires scorching Portugal on Wednesday, as fears mounted that weather conditions could further fan the flames. Some 1,500 firefighters were deployed to four major fires in the north and centre of the country, while hundreds of others remained focused on controlling blazes that were “in the process of resolution that do not pose a risk of spreading”, according to the latest bulletin from the civil protection agency. A fire that started in the Peneda-Geres national park near Ponte da…

 Palestinians bring back aid parcels they managed to procure as they walk on a coastal path west of Beit Lahia.[AFP] The Gaza Strip, largely deprived of electricity by Israel since the start of the war, appears seven times less bright at night than before October 7, 2023, according to AFP analysis of NASA satellite data. Compared to the five months preceding the conflict, satellite images between January and May this year show a territory plunged into darkness. From above, the night time brightness of Gaza City has reduced by a factor of 16 in the intervening period. One power plant…

 U.S. President Donald Trump.[AFP] German sportswear giant Adidas said Wednesday it took a hit from US tariffs in the second quarter but did not indicate whether it would pass on rising costs to consumers. The world’s second-biggest sports outfitter said the levies introduced by US President Donald Trump had “a negative impact in the double-digit euro millions” between April and June, without giving a specific figure. US tariffs would also add around 200 million euros ($230 million) to Adidas’s costs in the second half of the year, it said. The company did not indicate whether it would pass on these…

Bev Priestman, new head coach for the Wellington Phoenix women’s football team, attends a press conference on her new appointment in Upper Hutt near Wellington. [AFP] Former Canada women’s football coach Bev Priestman said Wednesday she “didn’t feel safe” living in North America following her one-year ban for spying at the Paris Olympics. Wellington Phoenix announced Wednesday that Priestman would take over as head coach of its women’s team, returning to football in the country she was banned for spying on with a drone, New Zealand. She has signed a two-year contract. The 39-year-old was visibly emotional as she discussed…

Chinese and US officials held a fresh round of talks in Stockholm on July 28 [AFP] The United States is set to raise tariffs on dozens of trading partners Friday if they fail to reach accords with President Donald Trump to avert the higher rates, and this risks raising prices for consumers. Economists have warned that steeper US tariffs, paid for by importers of foreign products, could add to business costs and trickle down to households. The risk is a dampening of consumption, a key driver of the world’s biggest economy. Trump’s tariffs could impact everything from coffee beans and rice…

 Destroyed building of the Bilenkivska correctional colony following an air attack in Bilenke, Zaporizhzhia region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[AFP] A Russian strike on a military training camp killed at least three Ukrainian soldiers on Tuesday, following an overnight offensive in the south that killed a pregnant woman and a dozen prisoners. The Kremlin has come under intense pressure to end its war on Ukraine, now in its fourth year, with US President Donald Trump issuing a 10-day ultimatum to act or face sanctions. On social media, the Ukrainian army said a Russian missile hit one of the ground force’s…

 President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn of the White House after returning on Marine One on July 29, 2025 in Washington, DC.[AFP] US President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer was confirmed by the Senate Tuesday to become a federal appellate judge in a 50-49 partisan vote. The Republican-led Senate confirmed Emil Bove as a judge on the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals, a lifetime appointment, despite fiery opposition from Democrats, who walked out of a Senate committee meeting in protest earlier this month. Two GOP Senators, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Susan Collins voted against the nomination,…

This frame grab taken from video released by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations on July 30, 2025 shows rescuers inspecting a damaged kindergarten building in Russia’s Kamchatka region after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off far east coast. [AFP] One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia’s sparsely populated Far East early Wednesday, causing tsunamis up to four metres (12 feet) across the Pacific and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan. The magnitude 8.8 quake struck in the morning off Petropavlovsk on Russia’s remote Kamchatka peninsula and was one of the 10 biggest recorded, according to the USGS.…

Bryan Mbeumo says he is excited about linking up with Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes as he prepares for life at Old Trafford following his move from Brentford. Published Date: 2025-07-29 21:27:38 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Spotify’s Artificial Intelligence DJ announcer, Xavier X Jernigan’s shadow, is pictured as he attends the presentation of the latest Spotify tool in Mexico City on July 17, 2024. [AFP] A rising tide of artificial intelligence (AI) bands is ushering in a new era where work will be scarcer for musicians. Whether it’s Velvet Sundown’s 1970s-style rock or country music projects “Aventhis” and “The Devil Inside,” bands whose members are pure AI creations are seeing more than a million plays on streaming giant Spotify. No major streaming service clearly labels tracks that come entirely from AI, except France’s Deezer. Meanwhile, the…

A truck carrying parts for water line installation drives past people in the Palestinian side of Rafah on July 28, 2025, as aid trucks begin entering the Gaza Strip from Egypt. [AFP]  The humanitarian disaster in Gaza is reminiscent of last century’s famines in Ethiopia and Nigeria’s Biafra region which jointly claimed over two million lives, the UN food agency warned Tuesday. The World Food Programme joined warnings that famine is underway in the Gaza Strip. “This is unlike anything we have seen in this century,” WFP emergency director Ross Smith told reporters in Geneva. “It reminds us of previous…

World Rugby chairman Brett Robinson has pledged a “bigger, bolder and more accessible” World Cup than ever before when Australia hosts the men’s event in 2027. Published Date: 2025-07-29 12:17:57 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

A truck carrying parts for water line installation drives past people in the Palestinian side of Rafah on July 28, 2025, as aid trucks begin entering the Gaza Strip from Egypt.  [AFP] Gaza’s civil defence agency said Tuesday that Israeli air strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians, including women and children, in the central Nuseirat district. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the strikes were carried out overnight and into the morning and “targeted a number of citizens’ homes” in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The local Al-Awda hospital said it had received “the bodies of 30 martyrs, including 14 women…

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez gestures as he speaks during a biannual press conference at La Moncloa Palace in Madrid on July 28, 2025. [AFP] Spain said on Monday it would airdrop 12 tonnes of food into Gaza this week as the threat of famine stalks the Palestinian territory after 21 months of war. The operation is a rare example of a European nation joining Middle Eastern countries in sending aid by air. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of the most virulent critics of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, told a news conference the delivery would take place from Jordan…

This photograph shows interior of a burnt house during a wildfire in Kryoneri, near Athens on July 26, 2025.[AFP] Firefighters battled blazes across Turkey on Monday, as the country sweltered in a summer heatwave. According to officials, wildfires over the past week have led to at least 14 deaths in Turkey and sparked the evacuations of 19 villages and more than 3,500 people elsewhere from their homes. Turkey’s latest heatwave peaked with temperatures above 40C across much of the country last week and even reached a record 50.5C on Friday in the far southeast, in Silopi, near the Iraqi and Syrian…

 President Donald Trump.[AFP] The European Union became on Sunday the latest exporter to conclude a trade deal with the United States in a bid to limit damage from US tariffs taking effect on August 1. The levies, agreed by Britain, the EU, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippine and Vietnam are generally higher than the new base rate of 10 percent that the United States has applied to most countries since April. But they are lower than the levels of customs duty the administration of President Donald Trump threatened to impose on August 1 if no deal were reached. While many details…

Multiple world champions Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both accused race organisers of being overcautious when the start of the Belgian Grand Prix was delayed Published Date: 2025-07-28 13:13:47 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Chloe Kelly converted the decisive kick as England beat Spain 3-1 on penalties to lift the Women’s Euro 2025 trophy Published Date: 2025-07-28 13:08:43 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

A truck loaded with humanitarian aid drives toward the Gaza Strip through the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing on July 27, 2025.[AFP] Israel has said more than 120 truckloads of food aid were distributed by the UN and aid agencies in the Gaza Strip on the first day of a promised limited break in fighting. On Sunday, Israel declared a “tactical pause” in military operations in part of Gaza and promised to open secure routes for aid, urging humanitarian groups to step up food distribution. “Over 120 trucks were collected and distributed on Monday by the UN and international…

A donkey stands next to a boy by destroyed tents in the aftermath of overnight Israeli bombardment in the Japanese neighbourhood.[AFP] United Nations chief Antonio Guterres urged the international community on Monday to reject hunger as a weapon of war. UN agencies have been warning of life-threatening hunger in Gaza as aid supplies dried up, and international pressure has been building for a ceasefire to allow a massive relief operation. Israel’s government, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, furiously denies that it is using hunger as a weapon of war, and instead accuses the aid agencies of failing to pick up…

Palestinians chant slogans during a demonstration in support of palestinians in Gaza facing severe shortages of food and other essentials in the city of Ramallah.[AFP]  Israeli settlers attacked the Christian Palestinian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank, torching cars and spray-painting threatening graffiti, the Palestinian Authority said. “Israeli colonial settlers launched a terror attack tonight on the Christian Palestinian village of Taybeh (Ramallah), setting fire to Palestinian vehicles and spray-painting racist threats in Hebrew on homes and property”, the Ramallah-based authority wrote on Monday on X. A Taybeh resident, speaking anonymously for safety reasons, told AFP the attack…

 Revellers line dance during the International Cowboy Day at Ngong race course in Nairobi.[AFP] The party is in Kenya, but the vibe is distinctly Americana: a sea of cowboy hats and boots with a soundtrack of whisky-soaked tales about heartbreak and good ol’ boys. Kenya has become the unlikely home of a growing country music scene, possibly the biggest in Africa, as testified by the thousands line-dancing in a field in the capital Nairobi this weekend for International Cowboys and Cowgirls Day. The festival crowd went wild for the king of the local country scene, “Sir Elvis” Otieno, as his…

Flood-affected area after heavy rains at Xin’anzhuang village in Miyun district.[AFP] A landslide triggered by unusually heavy rain killed four people and left eight others missing in northern China’s Hebei province, as downpours force thousands to evacuate. The landslide in a village near Chengde City was “due to heavy rainfall”, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday. The national emergency management department said it dispatched a team to inspect the “severe” flooding in Hebei, which encircles the capital Beijing. Swathes of northern China have been inundated in recent days, with record rain in Hebei killing two people on Saturday, state media…

  Pedestrians walk in front of electronic quotation boards displaying the Japanese yen’s rate (R) against the US dollar and the Nikkei Stock Average (L) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in central Tokyo on July 23, 2025. [AFP] Dozens of economies, including India, Canada and Mexico, face threats of higher tariffs Friday if they fail to strike deals with Washington. Here is a summary of duties President Donald Trump has introduced in his second term as he pressures allies and competitors alike to reshape US trade relationships. Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp Global tariffs US “reciprocal” tariffs — imposed…

  A container ship sails past buildings in Qingdao, in China’s eastern Shandong province on July 25, 2025. [AFP] Top economic officials from the United States and China are set to renew negotiations Monday, with an extension of lower tariff levels on the cards, as President Donald Trump’s trade policy enters a critical week. Talks between the world’s top two economies are slated to happen over two days in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, and they come as other countries are also rushing to finalise deals with Washington. Follow The Standard channel on WhatsApp For dozens of trading partners, failing to…

US President Donald Trump played golf under tight security on the first full day of a visit to Scotland Saturday, as hundreds of protesters took to the streets in major cities. Published Date: 2025-07-26 17:00:00 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) meets with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 25, 2024. [AFP] France will formally recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday. The moves takes to at least 142 the number of countries that now recognise or plan to recognise Palestinian statehood, according to an AFP tally, defying strong opposition from Israel and the United States. France would become the most significant European power to recognise a Palestinian state, and the…

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti.[AFP] A months long standoff over Kosovo’s next parliamentary speaker is dragging the tiny Balkan nation toward an unparalleled crisis, experts warn, ahead of a deadline this weekend. After more than 50 attempts, Kosovo’s MPs now have just two days to meet a court mandate to pick their new speaker, a key step toward Albin Kurti’s possible return to office. “This is an unparalleled situation, an undefined vacuum and chaos,” law professor Mazllum Baraliu told AFP. Although Kurti’s Vetevendosje party topped the February elections, it did not win the seats needed to install its chosen speaker,…

An aerial view shows wooden boats docked along a flooded street in Calumpit town, Bulacan province, north of Manila.[AFP] Rescuers in the northern Philippine used boats to pick up residents stranded by flooding on Friday as Typhoon Co-May was downgraded to a tropical storm and the death toll from a week of monsoon rains edged higher. Schools remained closed and electricity was down in swathes of the archipelago nation’s largest island as the national disaster agency reported 25 dead and eight missing since last Friday. But those numbers did not account for three construction workers buried in a landslide as…

Javier Hernandez triggered uproar after comments in a TikTok video in which he accused women of “failing” and “eradicating masculinity”. Published Date: 2025-07-25 10:17:16 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

 President Donald Trump (R) delivers remarks alongside Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) .[AFP] President Donald Trump and US trade officials on Thursday welcomed Australia’s decision to ease restrictions on beef imported from the United States, which has been a sticking point for the US leader. “After many years Australia has agreed to accept American Beef!” Trump said on social media after threatening Canberra with tariffs on beef shipped to the United States, one of its largest red meat markets. While unveiling his “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, he singled out Australia, accusing the close ally of banning American meat while cashing…

Live Live Live Live Live Live Live Live Live Live Published Date: 2025-07-25 06:00:00 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Demonstrators gather to protest against the ongoing food shortages in the Gaza Strip at the Eindhoven Central Station in Eindhoven on July 24, 2025. [AFP] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel was still seeking a Gaza ceasefire despite recalling its negotiators and the US withdrawing, accusing Hamas of blocking an end to nearly two years of fighting. Mediators have been shuttling between Israeli and Hamas delegations in Qatar for more than two weeks but the indirect talks have so far failed to yield an elusive truce. International concern is growing about the plight of the more than two million…

US pro-wrestler Hulk Hogan is dead. [AFP] Hulk Hogan, the iconic face of professional wrestling in the 1980s who parlayed his prowess in the ring into an acting career, has died at the age of 71, US media reported Thursday. Hogan — a Hall of Fame talent known for his towering 6’7″ (two-meter) physique, bandana and distinctive blond handlebar mustache — died at his home in Florida, NBC News reported, citing his manager Chris Volo. TMZ also reported the news, citing unnamed sources and an emergency personnel dispatch call about a “cardiac arrest” at his home. Follow The Standard channel…

Alexander Isak has reportedly told Newcastle he wants to explore a move away as the club confirmed he was not part of the squad travelling to Asia for pre-season friendlies. Published Date: 2025-07-24 17:00:39 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Marcus Rashford said his new club Barcelona already “feels like home” after the Spanish champions loaned the attacker from Man United with a future purchase option. Published Date: 2025-07-24 16:55:53 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

A Palestinian woman carries a bag of aid on her head as she makes her way in the Mawasi area of Rafah on July 24, 2025.[AFP] International news agencies Agence France-Presse (AFP), Associated Press (AP) and Reuters as well as the BBC called on Israel on Thursday to allow journalists in and out of Gaza which is subject to a strict blockade. “We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families,” the media groups said in a joint statement. They added that “journalists endure many deprivations and hardships in war…

An Iranian bus drops off Afghan refugees at Zero Point on the Islam Qala border in Herat Province.[AFP] The United Nations said Thursday that Taliban authorities were committing human rights violations, including torture and arbitrary detention, against Afghans forced to return by Iran and Pakistan. Large-scale deportation campaigns launched by Iran and Pakistan have forced millions of Afghans to return to Afghanistan, including more than 1.9 million people so far in 2025, the overwhelming majority from Iran. “People returning to the country who were at particular risk of reprisals and other human rights violations by the de facto (Taliban) authorities…

 Kiribati’s President Anote Tong answers a question during an interview at the United Nations conference on climate change.[AFP] A founding father of the Pacific climate movement on Thursday welcomed an international court’s decision on global warming but said he fears for the future of his almost 30 grandchildren on low-lying Kiribati. Kiribati, a climate-threatened archipelago that is home to some 130,000 people, sits barely two metres (6.5 feet) above sea level, has little freshwater, no rivers and limited fertile land. The International Court of Justice in The Hague declared Wednesday that states are obliged under international law to tackle climate…

The logo of the French energy company TotalEnergies can be seen on a price board for petrol and diesel at a filling station. [AFP] TotalEnergies said Thursday its net profit plunged in the second quarter despite increased output as global oil and gas prices dropped. Despite the 29 percent year-on-year drop in net profit in the second quarter to $2.7 billion, the French firm called its performance “robust”. It kept its revenue drop to 7.6 percent, to $49.6 billion, below the 10 percent fall in the price of Brent crude oil, the international benchmark. That was thanks in part to…

TotalEnergies net profit drops as oil prices fall Published Date: 2025-07-24 11:16:50 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

 HYBE, the agency behind K-pop superstars BTS.[AFP] HYBE, the agency behind K-pop superstars BTS, was raided by police on Thursday in connection with alleged fraudulent trading involving its founder Bang Si-hyuk, investigators said. “We are conducting a search and seizure at HYBE’s headquarters in Yongsan District,” Seoul police said in a brief statement. Bang, the mastermind behind BTS, is under investigation over allegations that he misled early investors to reap illicit profits from the company’s 2020 initial public offering. He is accused of gaining around 200 billion won (US$146 million) through the process, according to local reports. Follow The Standard…

 A Palestinian woman chants slogans during a demonstration in support of palestinians in Gaza facing severe shortages of food.[AFP] Hamas said on Thursday that it has responded to an Israeli proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, after more than two weeks of indirect negotiations in Qatar failed to yield a truce. The Palestinian militant group said in a statement on Telegram that it has “just submitted its response and that of the Palestinian factions to the ceasefire proposal to the mediators”. A statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed it had received the response. “It…

. President Donald Trump [AFP] Europe’s new car market saw a sharp seven-percent year-on-year drop in June, with top economies Germany, France and Italy posting especially steep declines, according to automobile manufacturers’ figures published on Thursday. The continent’s car industry has laboured under an uncertain global economic outlook overshadowed by US President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs, as well as stiff competition from China, notably on the key electric vehicles market. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), European sales dipped two-percent in the first half of 2025, with petrol and diesel models posting sharp 21 and 28 percent…

American transgender women will no longer be able to compete in women’s events at the Olympics and Paralympics after a recent policy change by the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Published Date: 2025-07-23 17:49:42 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga (right) and Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar outside the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry before their meeting in Kyiv on July 23, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [AFP] Russia said it expected talks with Ukraine in Istanbul later Wednesday to be “difficult”, downplaying expectations of a breakthrough at a meeting between the two sides after nearly three and a half years of war. The two sides previously met in Istanbul in May and June, but managed to agree only on exchanges of prisoners and soldiers’ bodies. US President Donald Trump last week gave Russia “50…

Kenya coach Benni McCarthy said it was the right move to withdraw from pre-African Nations Championship (CHAN) football friendlies in Tanzania, citing the poor quality of the pitch. Published Date: 2025-07-23 17:25:04 Author: By AFP Source: The Standard

Protesters during a demonstration calling for the Ukrainian president to veto a law passed by parliament that reduces the powers of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) in Kyiv, on July 22, 2025. [AFP] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday defended legislative changes removing the independence of two key anti-corruption bodies, sparking the first major protests in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion. The bill passed on Tuesday is the latest in a series of moves criticised by Ukrainian anti-corruption activists. They warn that growing government pressure threatens Ukraine’s reforms and ambition to join…

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) and Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz (R). [AFP] The UK imposed sanctions Wednesday on more than two dozen people, groups and suppliers from the Balkans, the Middle East and China accused of helping migrants cross the Channel. In what it called a “landmark” first use of new powers, the move came as the government faces political pressure to stem migrant arrivals on small boats from northern France, at record levels. The asset freezes and travel bans announced target individuals and entities “driving irregular migration to the UK”, and include four “gangs” and “gangland bosses” operating in…

Cameron Green of Australia hits 6 during the second Twenty20 (T20) international cricket match between West Indies and Australia at Sabina Park in Kingston. [AFP] Andre Russell struck a sparkling 36 off 15 balls in his final innings before retirement on Tuesday but could not save the West Indies from losing the second Twenty20 international against Australia in Kingston. The 37-year-old all-rounder was unable to script a fairy tale farewell to his glittering T20 career, but departed to a standing ovation on his home Sabina Park ground after hitting four trademark sixes and two fours. Batting at number seven in…

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba explains the contents of the Japan-US tariff agreement.[AFP] China said Wednesday it will seek to “strengthen cooperation” with the United States at next week’s trade talks in Stockholm. “On the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit… we will enhance consensus, reduce misunderstandings, strengthen cooperation and promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of Sino-US relations,” foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday he would meet his Chinese counterparts in Stockholm next week for tariff talks, eyeing an extension to a mid-August deadline for levies to snap back…

Austria’s Chancellor Christian Stocker (L) and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni .[AFP] Italy’s UniCredit posted a sharp rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday despite lower revenues, a day after it withdrew its offer for smaller rival Banco BPM due to government interference. Late Tuesday, UniCredit said it was withdrawing its bid for Italy’s third-largest bank Banco BPM, blaming restrictions on the deal imposed by the Italian government while calling it a “missed opportunity” for shareholders. The country’s second-largest bank posted net profit of 3.3 billion euros ($3.9 billion) versus 2.68 billion euros in last year’s second quarter, a nearly 25 percent…

palestinians inspect the damage, including a destroyed ambulance, around a house hit in an Israeli strike [AFP] More than 100 aid organisations warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation” was spreading in Gaza ahead of the US top envoy’s visit to Europe for talks on a possible ceasefire and an aid corridor. Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than two million people face severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict, triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel. The UN said on Tuesday that Israeli forces had…