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Indonesia readies island medical facility for 2,000 wounded Gazans

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia will convert a medical facility on its currently uninhabited island of Galang to treat about 2,000 wounded residents of Gaza, who will return home after recovery, a presidential spokesperson said on Thursday.

Muslim-majority Indonesia has sent humanitarian aid to Gaza after Israel started an offensive in October 2023 that Gaza health officials say has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, whether fighters or non-combatants.

A man carries a wounded Palestinian as people walk past the rubble of houses and buildings destroyed during the war, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Al-Bureij in the central Gaza Strip January 20, 2025. REUTERS/Khamis Saeed/File Photo

EU assessment finds significant obstructive factors undermine humanitarian operations in Gaza

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to be very severe, an EU official told Reuters after the EU's foreign policy and humanitarian arms updated member countries late on Wednesday on the status of an agreement reached with Israel last month on boosting humanitarian access to Gaza.

The official said on Thursday that there were some positive developments regarding fuel delivery, the reopening of some routes, and an upward trend in the number of daily trucks entering the enclave and the repair of some vital infrastructure.

People walk next to trucks carrying humanitarian aid near the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, August 6, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

UK pensioner, student arrested for backing Palestine Action

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.

Grandmother Marji Mansfield, 68, history student Zahra Ali, 18, and obstetrician Alice Clack, 49, are among those arrested for supporting Palestine Action

US partners seek relief as Trump tariffs upend global trade

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.

An order by US President Donald Trump raising tariffs on dozens of trading partners took effect on August 7, 2025

Returned and reeling: Afghans expelled from Iran struggle to start over

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.

Afghan nationals, who were deported from Iran, rest with their belongings at a camp set up for returning migrants near the Islam Qala border crossing in Herat province, Afghanistan, July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Sayed Hassib

July was Earth's third-hottest on record, included a record for Turkey, EU scientists say

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.

FILE PHOTO: A man cools his face with water mist from sprinklers during a heatwave in Baghdad, Iraq. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad/File Photo

UCLA says Trump administration froze $584 million of its federal funding

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.

FILE PHOTO: Law enforcement officers stand guard at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), during a pro-Palestinian protest, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 2, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

Grok, is that Gaza? AI image checks mislocate news photographs

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.

Grok falsely claimed this image of an emaciated Gazan girl by AFP photojournalist Omar al-Qattaa was from Yemen

Sudan says army destroys Emirati aircraft, killing 40 mercenaries

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.

Sudanese walk past shops in Khartoum's twin city Omdurman on July 29, 2025