Netanyahu vs Starmer over Palestinian statehood
Starmer on Tuesday said Britain in September would recognise a Palestinian state unless Isreal takes steps to relieve suffering in Gaza and reaches a ceasefire with Hamas ending the nearly two-year-war. This warning was a result of the hunger monitor that said a worst-case of famine is unfolding in Gaza and needs to avoid widespread death with immediate action.
Prime Minister Netanyahu lashed out at his British counterpart and said in a post on X, “Starmer rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism & punishes its victims.” He added, “A jihadist state on Israel’s border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW.”
Thailand accuses Cambodia of second ceasefire violation
Thailand’s military has accused Cambodian forces of breaching the ceasefire agreement at three separate locations along the disputed border. They further warned that continued aggression will compel Thai forces to respond more decisively.
These allegations come less than two days after both governments agreed to a ceasefire that was brokered in Malaysia, and came into effect at midnight on Monday. The ceasefire was aimed to stop the fighting and prevent escalation of a conflict that went on for five days and killed at least 43 people, and displaced over 300,000 civilians on either side.
Powerful quake in Russia causes tsunami, evacuations in Hawaii & Japan
An 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, damaging buildings and bringing a tsunami of up to 4 metres leading to warnings and evacuations stretching across the Pacific Ocean.
Several people were injured in the remote Russian region, while much of Hawaii and Japan’s eastern seaboard, devastated by a powerful earthquake and tsunami in 2011, was ordered to evacuate.
Tesla signs $ 4.3 bn battery deal with LGES, reducing China reliance
South Korea’s LG Energy Solution (LGES) has signed a 4.3 billion dollar deal to supply Tesla with energy storage system batteries, said a person familiar with the matter, as the US company looks to reduce reliance on Chinese imports due to tariffs.
The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries will be supplied from LGES’s US factory in Michigan, the person said on condition of anonymity because the details were not public.
US, China tariff deal holds for now, Trump has final say
US and Chinese officials met in Stockholm and agreed to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce on Tuesday, following two days of what both sides described as constructive talks. No major breakthroughs were announced, and US officials said it was up to President Donald Trump to decide whether to extend the trade truce that expires on August 12.
NYC skyscraper shooter blamed NFL for brain disease
The man who shot four people dead with an assault-style rifle inside a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper was carrying a “suicide note” blaming the National Football League for a degenerative brain disease he claimed to have, New York City’s police commissioner said on Tuesday. Police have identified the gunman as Shane Tamura, 27, a Las Vegas casino security officer and former high school football player with a documented history of mental illness, reports Reuters.
Trump may skip G20 in South Africa, cites policy disapproval
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he might skip the upcoming G20 summit in South Africa in November and send a representative of the US instead, citing his disapproval of South African policies. Trump has raised concerns with South African domestic and foreign policies ranging from its land policy to its case accusing Israel of genocide in the US ally’s war in Gaza.
Trump signed an executive order in February to cut US financial assistance to South Africa. In May, Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with false claims of white genocide and land seizures during a White House meeting.
Australia extends teen social media ban to YouTube
Australia said it will add YouTube to sites covered by its world-first ban on social media for teenagers, reversing an earlier decision to exempt the Alphabet-owned video-sharing site and potentially setting up a legal challenge.
The decision came after the internet regulator urged the government last month to overturn the YouTube carve-out, citing a survey that found 37% of minors reported harmful content on the site, the worst showing for a social media platform.
Minnesota calls National Guard after St. Paul hit by ‘digital attack’
Minnesota has called in the National Guard after the city of St. Paul was slammed by what its mayor described as a “deliberate, coordinated, digital attack” carried out by sophisticated hackers.
The office of Governor Tim Walz said in a statement that he was deploying the Guard, which has a cyber protection component, because the attack had “exceeded the city’s response capacity.” In a press conference earlier on Tuesday, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said the city had “initiated a full shut down of our information systems as a defensive measure to contain the threat,” triggering WiFi outages across city buildings, disruptions to city libraries, and suspension of network resources.
Toyota global output sales hit record high in first six months
Toyota on Wednesday said its worldwide output and sales reached record highs for the first six months of the year, as a result of strong demand in markets including North America, Japan and China.
Its global sales for January-June grew 5.5% year-on-year to more than 5.1 million vehicles, coupled with demand for hybrid vehicles, which accounted for 43% of its worldwide sales over the same period.
Kasturi Walimbe is an alum of ThePrint School of Journalism, currently interning with ThePrint
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