The blaze erupted late on Wednesday evening at the newly opened Hyper Mall, quickly engulfing the five-storey building that housed a supermarket and a restaurant. Civil defence officials reported that most of the victims died from smoke inhalation in the building’s bathrooms, with 14 of the bodies so severely burned they have yet to be identified. Heartbroken relatives gathered outside hospitals and the charred remains of the mall throughout the…

An Israeli strike has hit the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in Gaza, killing two people and injuring several others, including the parish priest, who was known for his close relationship with the late Pope Francis. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem confirmed in a statement: “Two persons were killed as a result of an apparent strike by the Israeli army that hit the Holy Family compound this morning.”…

In a blistering outburst on his social media platform, US President Donald Trump has branded some of his supporters “gullible weaklings” for demanding transparency over a secretive government inquiry into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The tirade marks a dramatic departure from Trump’s usual strategy of appeasing his fiercely loyal Make America Great Again (MAGA) base. It comes amid mounting suspicion among conservatives that Trump’s administration…

US President Donald Trump’s dramatic intervention in Brazil’s domestic affairs appears to be backfiring, triggering widespread outrage across the South American nation and unintentionally giving a political boost to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. On 9 July, Trump penned a letter to Lula demanding that criminal charges against Brazil’s far-right former leader, Jair Bolsonaro, be dropped. In an extraordinary move, Trump also declared a punitive 50% tariff on all…

The British government has unveiled plans to reduce the national voting age to 16, marking a historic shift that would make the UK one of the few countries globally to adopt such a low voting threshold. The announcement comes as part of a broader push by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour administration to overhaul the electoral process—a key campaign promise made before securing victory in last year’s general election. Starmer…

Donald Trump has announced plans to impose fresh tariffs on imported pharmaceutical products and semiconductors, marking a significant escalation in his administration’s ongoing global trade war. The new levies could come into effect as early as 1 August, coinciding with the expiry of a temporary pause on so-called “reciprocal” tariffs first unveiled in April. Speaking to reporters late on Tuesday, the US president said the tariffs on drug imports would…

A deportation flight carrying migrants removed from the United States has landed in the Kingdom of Eswatini, according to an announcement by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The operation follows a recent ruling by the US Supreme Court which lifted restrictions on deporting individuals to so-called “third countries.” In an online statement, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed that five individuals from Vietnam, Jamaica, Laos, Cuba, and Yemen were…

Arms dealers linked to Houthi militants in Yemen are using social media platforms X and WhatsApp to traffic weapons, including US-made arms, in apparent breach of both companies’ policies, according to a new report. The investigation, conducted by the Washington DC-based Tech Transparency Project (TTP), uncovered that more than 130 Yemen-based X accounts and 67 WhatsApp business accounts have been actively offering military-grade weapons, including high-powered rifles, grenade launchers, and US-manufactured…

In a rare show of defiance towards Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has publicly called on the US Department of Justice to release all documents related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, whose 2019 death in federal custody has long fuelled conspiracy theories across the political spectrum, particularly among Trump’s rightwing base. Speaking to conservative podcaster Benny Johnson in an interview released on Tuesday, the House Speaker broke…

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been accused of killing nearly 300 civilians in a series of violent attacks across villages in North Kordofan state, according to Sudanese human rights activists. The RSF, which has been engaged in a brutal civil war against the Sudanese army since April 2023, reportedly launched a series of coordinated raids on Saturday in areas surrounding the city of Bara, a key RSF stronghold.…

Donald Trump has declared that the Club World Cup trophy, which has become a regular feature in the Oval Office, will remain there permanently, following FIFA’s decision to create a duplicate version for Chelsea after their tournament win on Sunday. The president, now in his second term, attended the final match alongside several members of his cabinet and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Trump and Infantino jointly presented the trophy to…

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on Australia to remain committed to cooperation despite growing global instability and renewed trade threats from Donald Trump, during a high-level meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Beijing. In their second face-to-face meeting, held at the Great Hall of the People, Xi stressed that recent improvements in the bilateral relationship must not be derailed by international turbulence. “No matter how the international landscape…