Pensioner Marji Mansfield never imagined she would end up suspected of terrorism for protesting against the banning of a pro-Palestinian group.

But the British grandmother was arrested on July 5 for joining a demonstration in support of Palestine Action just days after it was added to the UK government's list of proscribed organisations.

"It's a terrible shock to be accused of potentially being a terrorist," said Mansfield, 68, who described herself as a "proud grandmother" of seven.

President Donald Trump's steeper global tariffs came into effect Thursday, leaving dozens of US partners scrambling to secure relief from soaring levies that are rewriting global trade practice.

Shortly before the new rates kicked in, Washington also announced it would double India tariffs to 50 percent and hit many semiconductor imports with a 100-percent duty.

Trump's trade policy is a demonstration of economic power that he hopes will revive domestic manufacturing, but many economists fear it could fuel inflation and lower growth.

ISLAM QALA, Afghanistan, August 7 (Reuters) -Habiba, an Afghan woman who fled Taliban rule to pursue a master's degree in engineering in Iran, was deported in July just before she was about to complete her studies.

The 31-year-old, who declined to give her family name for fear of repercussions, said she returned to her homeland with little more than her laptop and documents, the last traces of a future she nearly secured, one of hundreds of thousands forced to return in recent weeks as Iran ramped up expulsions of Afghans in the wake of its war with Israel.

By Charlotte Van Campenhout

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Last month was Earth's third warmest July since records began and included a record national temperature in Turkey of 50.5 degrees Celsius (122.9 Fahrenheit), scientists said on Thursday.

Last month continued a trend of extreme climate conditions that scientists attribute to man-made global warming, even though there was a pause in record-breaking temperatures for the planet.

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's administration has frozen $584 million in federal funding for the University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA said on Wednesday after the government reprimanded the university over pro-Palestinian protests.

The Trump administration has threatened to cut federal funds for universities over pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel's war in Gaza. The government alleges universities, including UCLA, allowed antisemitism during the protests.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. on Wednesday broughtfederal hate crime charges against the suspect accused of fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staffers outside a museum in Washingtonin May, court papers showed.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward. Editing by Scott Malone)

This image by AFP photojournalist Omar al-Qattaa shows a skeletal, underfed girl in Gaza, where Israel's blockade has fuelled fears of mass famine in the Palestinian territory.

But when social media users asked Grok where it came from, X boss Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot was certain that the photograph was taken in Yemen nearly seven years ago.

The AI bot's untrue response was widely shared online and a left-wing pro-Palestinian French lawmaker, Aymeric Caron, was accused of peddling disinformation on the Israel-Hamas war for posting the photo.

Sudan's air force has destroyed an Emirati aircraft carrying Colombian mercenaries as it landed at a paramilitary-controlled airport in Darfur, killing at least 40 people, the army-aligned state TV said Wednesday.

A military source, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the UAE plane "was bombed and completely destroyed" at Darfur's Nyala airport.

The airport has recently come under repeated air strikes by the Sudanese army, at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023.

CAIRO (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has banned Sudanese planes from landing at its airports, Sudan's state news agency quoted its Civil Aviation Authority as saying on Wednesday, in the latest sign of tension between the two countries.

The UAE also barred a Sudanese airliner from taking off from Abu Dhabi airport, the Sudanese authority said.

Sudan's authority voiced surprise at the reported decision and said it was following up with airlines to reprogramme reservations for passengers arriving in and departing from the Gulf country.

(Reuters) -Lebanon's cabinet has told the army to draw up a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms in a challenge to the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, which rejects calls to disarm.

WHY IS THERE A PUSH TO DISARM HEZBOLLAH NOW?

Israel pummelled Hezbollah last year in a war sparked by the conflict in Gaza, killing many of its top brass and 5,000 of its fighters before a November truce brokered by the United States.