International News

Gulf oil giants are spending billions to build alternative shipping routes

Gulf countries that have for decades produced much of the world's oil are now intent on breaking their dependence on the narrow waterway.

Zhu Rongji: Fmr premier who was the architect of economic overhaul in China

A young Communist star in the 1950s, Zhu was expelled from the party in one of Mao Zedong's ideological purification campaigns.

Meta faces biggest youth social media test yet as 29 US states go to trial

The seven-week trial will test claims that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to keep children hooked and misled users about the safety of its platforms.

6 killed in Houthi strikes on Red Sea ship, missile strike reported in Gulf

Four crew members and two rescuers were killed in a Houthi attack on a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb strait

Unitree's Shanghai IPO 5,526 times subscribed by retail investors

Unitree Robotics' Shanghai IPO has attracted massive retail demand, with investors placing orders worth about $1.2 trillion for shares in the humanoid robot maker.

Catering container to military jet: How Trump is said to have left Turkiye

US officials say Trump was secretly moved from a decoy Air Force One to a military jet after a credible Iran threat during the Nato summit in Turkiye.

Drone strike sparks blaze at Libya's Zawiya oil refinery overnight

Firefighters in western Libya fought Tuesday to extinguish the remnants of a massive fire caused by a drone strike on a oil facility, and a car bomb killed a senior military officer in the country's east, in the latest attacks in the chaos-stricken North African nation. The drone hit a gasoline tank at the Zawiya oil refinery in the Mediterranean town of Zawiya on Monday, about 47 kilometres west of capital Tripoli, the state-run National Oil Corporation said. The attack ignited a massive blaze at gasoline-storage tank that burned through the night into Tuesday morning, according to the Civil Defense, a first responders' agency. There were no reports of casualties, the health authorities said. No group has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on oil facilities in Zawiya, or the car car bomb in the eastern city of Benghazi on Monday. Footage aired by local media showed massive flames and fireballs erupting from the tank, with black and orange smoke rising in the sky as ..

Chinese users of AI companions bereft after government tightens regulations

The new regulation, which took effect July 15, bans AI platforms from generating content that could lead users to make questionable decisions due to manipulation of their feelings

Mohsen Rezaei appointed as chief of Iran's National Security Council

Iran has appointed former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaee to lead its top security body as Tehran says talks with Oman on restoring shipping through the Strait of Hormuz are nearing a deal.

Yemeni military says Houthi attack on Mocha killed 7, wounded 30

"Four members of the armed forces and three civilians have been killed, and 30 ​others injured," the Yemeni military ‌said in a statement

Cloudflare shares jump after forecast raise on higher AI-driven spending

The earnings follow Amazon.com's strongest ​cloud growth in more than four years. Amazon company noted that it won't have enough capacity to meet all demand this year.

6 killed, several injured after shooting at high school in Thailand

Police were responding to a shooting Friday at a high school in Thailand's Nonthaburi province where deaths and injuries were reported. Royal Thai Police spokesperson Trairong Piwpan confirmed with The Associated Press the shooting happened at the Debsirin Nonthaburi School in the province northwest of Bangkok. Arsit Sampantharat, permanent secretary for the Interior Ministry, told news station PPTV that the shooter was a student who remained inside the school. He said injuries and deaths have been reported. The officials did not share more information about the number of people hurt or other details. In February, a 17-year-old stole a gun from police and opened fire at a public high school in southern Thailand, briefly taking people hostage in a two-hour attack that killed one person and injured two others.

US drafting ban on Chinese data centre networking devices, says report

Reuters reported the Trump administration is preparing fresh curbs on Chinese data centre hardware, with optical transceivers emerging as the latest target

Anthropic appoints Mariano-Florentino Cuellar as first global affairs chief

Cuellar's appointment comes as Anthropic faces Pentagon restrictions, export controls and increasing global debate over AI governance and national security

Qatar says progress has been made toward US-Iran talks on ending war

Iran has halted most traffic through Hormuz while Washington maintains a blockade of Iran-related shipping and ports.

US has used virtually all long-range precision missiles in Iran war: Report

Officials familiar with internal data said the prolonged Iran conflict has sharply depleted key US missile stockpiles, prompting concerns over preparedness for other global flashpoints

Toyota unveils $6.3 billion buyback and lifts annual forecast; shares fall

After sharply revising down its average yen assumptions to 160 yen to the dollar from 150 yen, the Japanese automaker now expects 3.4 trillion yen ($21.6 billion) in operating profit for the year

Aramco Q2 net jumps 44% to $32.69 bn amid Strait of Hormuz crisis

The Saudi energy major posted robust quarterly earnings as higher prices offset conflict-related disruptions, while flagging continued risks to refining, shipping and global energy security

Hormuz Strait deal with Iran may happen in next two days: Bessent

Bessent said, "We're in talks with the Iranians and I think there is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the strait."

Iraq and Turkiye ink 1-year oil pipeline deal amid Hormuz tensions

Iraq and Turkiye signed a deal Saturday to increase oil exports through a pipeline to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, as Baghdad seeks to diversify its oil export routes and reduce reliance on Gulf shipping lanes. Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair al-Abadi said in a statement that the agreement will remain in effect for one year while the two countries finalise a broader framework agreement covering cooperation in the oil, electricity and water resources sectors. The agreement comes as Iraq moves to strengthen the resilience of its oil export infrastructure following disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Iran war began in February. Al-Abadi said the deal provides for a minimum export volume of 750,000 barrels of Iraqi crude per day through the pipeline, which runs from Kirkuk in northern Iraq to Ceyhan. The Iraq-Turkiye pipeline has been largely idle since 2023 after exports from Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region were halted followi