Surge

WASHINGTON — The street, normally quiet, was abuzz. The block lit up with flashing police cruisers and officers in tactical vests. Some had covered their faces. Neighbors came out of homes. Some hurled insults at the police, telling them to leave — or worse. Dozens joined in a chant: “Shame on you.”

Aaron Goldstein approached two officers. “Can you tell me why you couldn’t do this at 10:30 or 9:30, and why you had to terrorize the children in our neighborhood?” the man asked the officers as they turned their gazes away from him. Both wore dark sunglasses against the morning sun.

They said nothing.

The arrest shattered the routine of the neighborhood around Bancroft Elementary School, a public school where more than 60% of students are Latino. It came on the third day of a new school year, and immigration fears had already left the neighborhood on edge. Groups of residents had started escorting students to school from two nearby apartment complexes.

It was just another morning in Washington, D.C., in Summer 2025 — the summer of President Trump’s federal law-enforcement intervention in the nation’s capital.

A confrontation that was one among many

Some interludes unfold calmly. During others, nothing happens at all. But the boil-over Wednesday morning was one among many that have erupted across the city since Trump’s police takeover, offering a glimpse into daily life in a city where emotions have been pulled taut. Sightings of police activity spread quickly, attracting residents who say the federal infusion is unwelcome.

Families and children had been making their way toward a bilingual elementary school in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood when federal and local police officers descended on an apartment building just blocks from the school. Neighbors had been on high alert amid fears of increased immigration enforcement.

Now officers were flooding the street, some in plainclothes and face coverings. Some carried rifles or riot shields. Neighbors gathered outside and began yelling at the police to leave. Blocks away, as word spread, an assistant principal waiting to greet students sprinted to the scene.

In an interview, Goldstein, the Mount Pleasant resident, said it felt like a violation of the neighborhood, which he described as a “peaceful mix of white professionals and migrant neighbors, with a lot of love in it.”

“People are on Signal chats and they’re absolutely terrified, and everyone is following this,” said Goldstein, 55, who had just dropped off his third-grade daughter at Bancroft. “It’s distressful. We feel invaded, and it’s really terrible.”

The standoff continued after police arrested a man who they said is accused of drug and firearm crimes. Dozens of residents trailed officers down a side street and continued the jeers. “Quit your jobs.” “Nobody wants you here.” “You’re ruining the country.”

Asked about the episode later at a news conference, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said it attracted “a significant number of protesters” but “we were able to maintain calm.” Said Bowser: “I know there’s a lot of anxiety in the District.”

One officer, in the middle of it all, tries to talk

The conflict was punctuated by a remarkably candid conversation led by a Metropolitan Police Department sergeant who took questions from neighbors in what he described as “not an official press conference.”

“This is just me talking to community members,” Sgt. Michael Millsaps said, leaning back against the rear bumper of a cruiser.

Millsaps said the city’s police department was carrying out a planned arrest of a “suspected drug dealer” with support from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The suspect was taken into custody and a search of his apartment uncovered narcotics and an illegal firearm, Millsaps said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers joined only as a distraction to prevent protesters from disrupting the operation, he said.

“The immigration folks were parked over there to get y’all to leave us alone,” he said. ICE officials did not immediately comment.

Residents told Millsaps that their trust of the city’s police had been broken. They said they felt less safe amid Trump’s crackdown. Millsaps said he was sorry to hear it. “I hear your frustrations. My job is to take it.”

Still, he described a different response from residents east of the Anacostia River, in some of the city’s highest crime areas. “I go on the other side of the river now, it’s the opposite. People come outside and thank us,” he said.

Mount Pleasant resident Nancy Petrovic was among those yelling at city and ATF officers after the arrest. Petrovic, a lifelong resident of the area, rushed out of her home when she heard yelling shortly after 8 a.m. She counted at least 10 police cars lined up across the block.

“Kids are going to school, they’re walking to school, and it’s frightening to them and their parents,” said Petrovic, who said the street is usually quiet and has no need for more police. “We want them to go away.”

Asked about the timing of the arrest, Millsaps said it was a planned operation similar to countless others.

“I’ve been doing this for 14 years, serving these warrants at the same time of day,” he said. “The only difference is you’ve got a big crowd here, which added even more police presence. But this was just a normal police operation.”

Binkley writes for the Associated Press.

Greece has suspended processing of asylum applications from people arriving by sea from North Africa since July.

More than 120 refugees and migrants have been intercepted off the island of Crete, according to Greek authorities, the latest in a series of arrivals of people making perilous journeys to Europe from North Africa despite a suspension of asylum claims and a concerted push for tougher detention rules.

Two boats, carrying 58 and 68 people and believed to have departed from Libya, were stopped on Monday, and their passengers were placed under guard at temporary shelters. More than 100 other refugees and migrants arrived on Crete over the weekend after strong winds eased.

Greece’s conservative government last month suspended all asylum claims for migrants arriving by sea from North Africa, a move it argued helped deter crossings that peaked in July at more than 2,500 in a single week.

The ban passed in parliament amid a surge in asylum seekers reaching Crete and after talks with Libya’s Benghazi-based government to stem the flow were cancelled acrimoniously in July.

It also marked a further hardening of Greece’s stance towards refugees and migrants under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s government, which has built a fence at its northern land borders and boosted sea patrols since it came to power in 2019.

The government remains at odds with regional authorities in Crete over a plan to build a permanent transit facility on the island. It is preparing draft legislation that would mandate imprisonment for people whose asylum claims are denied and require ankle monitors during a 30-day compliance period before deportation.

Earlier this month, at least 26 people died after two boats sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

That disaster, also involving people travelling from Libya, was the latest to befall refugees and migrants making the perilous Mediterranean crossing from Africa to Europe.

Rights groups and United Nations agencies have also documented systematic abuse against refugees and migrants in Libya, including torture, rape and extortion. In February, Libyan authorities uncovered nearly 50 bodies from two mass graves in the country’s southeastern desert, in the latest horror involving people seeking to make it to Europe through the North African country.

Since the beginning of this year, 675 people have died in the central Mediterranean while trying to make the crossing, Filippo Ungaro, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Italy, recently said.

After a wave of rushed buying, driven by looming tariffs, US car sales have started to slow, weighing on carmakers.

New car sales fell by 300,000 in June from 15.6 million to 15.3 million, according to data released by Cox Automotive last month.

“Now we’ve got sales slowing because [the pre-tariff buying] surge pretty much pulled ahead a lot of people that might have been in the market this year, who wanted to buy before tariffs hit,” Mark Schirmer, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, told Al Jazeera.

This will only get harder for carmakers, dealerships and shoppers down the road.

“Price rises together with demand destruction,” Sina Golara, assistant professor of supply chain management at Georgia State’s Robinson College of Business, told Al Jazeera. “If consumers don’t have the resilience to pay for those higher prices, they’ll take a step back.”

United States President Donald Trump’s erratic approach to tariffs, putting some in place and then taking them away, has made it difficult for businesses to plan. In April, car companies, including Stellantis, Ford and Volvo, suspended financial guidance as a result of the uncertainty.

Last month Volvo also said that tariffs will cost it $1.2bn in the second quarter. Ford then announced it expects a reduced annual profits to $3bn after taking an $800m hit from tariffs in the second quarter. GM announced that it expects a $5bn hit, and Toyota said it expects $9.5bn in tariff-driven blows to profits for the year.

In May, Ford also announced it would have to raise prices on some of its cars made in Mexico, including the Mustang Mach-E electric SUV, Maverick pick-up truck and Bronco Sport, in some cases by as much as $2,000, the Reuters news agency reported. Those cars began to reach lots last month.

As a result, consumers are overwhelmingly opting for used cars that are not subject to tariffs, including foreign-made ones, as they are already on US roads.

Used car sales are up 2.3 percent from this time last year, according to Used Car Index report, an auto industry insight platform by Edmunds.

In part, this is because of the limited supply of used cars. Edmunds’s report says that buyers, and sellers looking to upgrade but need the money from sale of a current car, are hesitant about undertaking expenses amid economic uncertainty.

The bigger impact of both those trends is of inventory piling up. On average, dealerships have 82 days worth of cars on the lot, a roughly 14 percent increase between May and June.

An expensive escalation

Cox forecasts prices could rise anywhere between 4 to 8 percent over the next six months as a result of the tariffs. The group expects new car sales of 13 million to 13.3 million this year.

“Tariffs will be inflationary on both the new and used vehicle market,” Schirmer said, adding, the main challenge right now is the unsold inventory that’s piling up.

Analysts believe that prices will continue to rise amid Trump’s tariffs, especially as companies try to move supply chains to the US, as demanded by Trump, an effort that is years in the making.

“The tariff ‘relief’ is like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound with US car companies now dealing with the repercussions moving forward as this Twilight Zone situation will change the paradigm for the US auto industry for years to come,” Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities, said in a note provided to Al Jazeera.

In the meantime, the cost to import a car is expected to increase by $1,000 this year to $5,700, according to Cox Automotive.

“The US imports a little less than half of the new vehicles sold, but dependence on imports varies substantially by segment. The most dependent segments are at the two ends of the price spectrum – the most affordable vehicles and luxury vehicles. Most of the vehicles priced under $30,000 would face added costs that would make them unaffordable,” Cox Automotive chief economist Jonathan Smoke said in a June conference call shared with Al Jazeera.

EVs hit hard

Trump’s new tax legislation – signed into law last month and which cut the EV tax credit of up to $7,500 – has already led to a significant pullback specifically for the electric vehicle marketplace as demand for the products begins to fall.

“Our forecast had been for approximately 10 percent of new vehicle sales this year to be EV. We slightly lowered that to 9 percent,” Schirmer added.

Volvo reported a 26 percent decline in sales for electric vehicles (12 percent overall). Ford EV sales tumbled by 31 percent. Rivian saw sales decline by 23 percent. Tesla saw a decline of 13.5 percent globally as CEO Elon Musk’s political involvement hindered the brand’s reputation. The cuts to the EV tax credit is expected to cost Tesla $1.2bn every year, JP Morgan forecast.

“Several dealers have also stated that these [EV tax credits] are the main drivers [for consumers]. So without those incentives, there would definitely be a significant hit through EV sales,” Golara added.

General Motors has been the exception to the rule. The Michigan-based auto giant doubled its EV sales in recent months.

Despite the dip in sales, Golora believes that the setback in the EV market is temporary.

“It’s [the EV market] still compelling in the long run because many manufacturers have already reached a decision that this is where the industry is going,” Golara said.

“Investment [in EV production] doesn’t look like a lost one. The payback period will be longer.”

Manufacturing strains

While US manufacturing ticked up overall in June, when it comes to motor vehicle and parts production, it is a different story. Production tumbled by 2.6 percent for the month as demand began to slow.

US auto manufacturing employment is also down. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in auto manufacturing in the United States has tumbled by 35.7 percent since this time last year and down 2.4 percent from this time last month.

Al Jazeera reached out to the United Auto Workers for comment about the effect on car manufacturing jobs, but the organisation did not respond.

“Demand was not growing as fast as needed, and many manufacturers were caught by surprise. That’s a problem, and it is kind of a longer-term, structural issue,” Golara said.

Bangkok, Thailand – A surge in rare earth mining in rebel-held pockets of Myanmar supplying Chinese processing plants is being blamed for toxic levels of heavy metals in Thai waterways, including the Mekong River.

China dominates the global refining of rare earth metals – key inputs in everything from wind turbines to advanced missile systems – but imports much of its raw material from neighbouring Myanmar, where the mines have been blamed for poisoning local communities.

Recent satellite images and water sample testing suggest the mines are spreading, along with the environmental damage they cause.

“Since the mining operation started, there is no protection for the local people,” Sai Hor Hseng, a spokesman at the Shan Human Rights Foundation, a local advocacy group based in eastern Myanmar’s Shan state, told Al Jazeera.

“They don’t care what happens to the environment,” he said, or those living downstream of the mines in Thailand.

An estimated 1,500 people rallied in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province in June, urging the Thai government and China to pressure the mining operators in Myanmar to stop polluting their rivers.

Villagers in Chiang Rai first noticed an odd orange-yellow tint to the Kok River – a tributary of the Mekong that enters Thailand from Myanmar – before the start of this year’s rainy season in May.

Repeated rounds of testing by Thai authorities since then have found levels of arsenic and lead in the river several times higher than what the World Health Organization (WHO) deems safe.

Thai authorities advised locals living along the Kok to not even touch the water, while tests have also found excess arsenic levels in the Sai River, another tributary of the Mekong that flows from Myanmar into Thailand, as well as in the Mekong’s mainstream.

Locals are now worried about the harm that contaminated water could do to their crops, their livestock and themselves.

Arsenic is infamously toxic.

Medical studies have linked long-term human exposure to high levels of the chemical to neurological disorders, organ failure and cancer.

“This needs to be solved right now; it cannot wait until the next generation, for the babies to be deformed or whatever,” Pianporn Deetes, Southeast Asia campaign director at the advocacy group International Rivers, told Al Jazeera.

“People are concerned also about the irrigation, because … [they are] now using the rivers – the water from the Kok River and the Sai River – for their rice paddies, and it’s an important crop for the population here,” Pianporn said.

“We learned from other areas already … that this kind of activity should not happen in the upstream of the water source of a million people,” she said.

‘A very good correlation’

Thai authorities blame upstream mining in Myanmar for the toxic rivers, but they have been vague about the exact source or sources.

Rights groups and environmental activists say the mine sites are nestled in pockets of Shan state under the control of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a well-armed, secretive rebel group that runs two semi-autonomous enclaves in the area, one bordering China and the other Thailand.

That makes the sites hard to access. Not even Myanmar’s military regime dares to send troops into UWSA-held territory.

While some have blamed the recent river pollution on the UWSA’s gold mines, the latest tests in Thailand lay most of the fault on the mining of rare earth minerals.

In a study commissioned by the Thai government, Tanapon Phenrat, an associate professor of civil engineering at Naresuan University, took seven water samples from the Kok and surrounding rivers in early June.

Tanapon told Al Jazeera that the samples collected closest to the border with Myanmar showed the highest levels of heavy metals and confirmed that the source of the contamination lay upstream of Thailand in Shan state.

Significantly, Tanapon said, the water samples contained the same “fingerprint” of heavy metals, and in roughly the same concentrations, as had earlier water samples from Myanmar’s Kachin State, north of Shan, where rare earth mining has been thriving for the past decade.

“We compared that with the concentrations we found in the Kok River, and we found that it has a very good correlation,” Tanapon said.

“Concentrations in the Kok River can be attributed about 60 to 70 percent … [to] rare earth mining,” he added.

The presence of rare earth mines along the Kok River in Myanmar was first exposed by the Shan Human Rights Foundation in May.

Satellite images available on Google Earth showed two new mine sites inside the UWSA’s enclave on the Thai border developed over the past one to two years – one on the western slope of the river, another on the east.

The foundation also used satellite images to identify what it said are another 26 rare earth mines inside the UWSA’s enclave next to China.

All but three of those mines were built over the past few years, and many are located at the headwaters of the Loei River, yet another tributary of the Mekong.

Researchers who have studied Myanmar’s rare earth mining industry say the large, round mineral collection pools visible in the satellite images give the sites away as rare earth mines.

The Shan Human Rights Foundation says villagers living near the new mines in Shan state have also told how workers there are scooping up a pasty white powder from the collection pools, just as they have seen in online videos of the rare earth mines further north in Kachin.

‘Zero environmental monitoring’

Patrick Meehan, a lecturer at the University of Manchester in the UK who has studied Myanmar’s rare earth mines, said reports emerging from Shan state fit with what he knows of similar operations in Kachin.

“The way companies tend to operate in Myanmar is that there is zero pre-mining environmental assessment, zero environmental monitoring, and there are none of those sorts of regulations or protections in place,” Meehan said.

The leaching process being used involves pumping chemicals into the hillsides to draw the rare earth metals out of the rock. That watery mixture of chemicals and minerals is then pumped out of the ground and into the collection pools, where the rare earths are then separated and gathered up.

Without careful attention to keeping everything contained at a mine, said Meehan, the risks of contaminating local rivers and groundwater could be high.

Rare earth mines are situated close to rivers because of the large volumes of water needed for pumping the extractive chemicals into the hills, he said.

The contaminated water is then often pumped back into the river, he added, while the groundwater polluted by the leaching can end up in the river as well.

“There is definitely scope for that,” said Meehan.

He and others have tracked the effect such mines have already had in Kachin – where hundreds of mining sites now dot the state’s border with China – from once-teeming streams now barren of fish to rice stalks yielding fewer grains and livestock falling ill and dying after drinking from local creeks.

In a 2024 report, the environmental group Global Witness called the fallout from Kachin’s mining boom “devastating”.

Ben Hardman, Mekong legal director for the US advocacy group EarthRights International, said locals in Kachin have also told his team about mineworkers dying in unusually high numbers.

The worry now, he adds, is that Shan state and the neighbouring countries into which Myanmar’s rivers flow will suffer the same fate as has Kachin, especially if the mine sites continue to multiply as global demand for rare earth minerals grows.

“There’s a long history of rare earth mining causing serious environmental harms that are very long-term, and with pretty egregious health implications for communities,” Hardman said.

“That was the case in China in the 2010s, and is the case in Kachin now. And it’s the same situation now evolving in Shan state, and so we can expect to see the same harms,” he added.

‘You need to stop it at the source’

Most, if not all, of the rare earths mined in Myanmar are sent to China to be refined, processed, and either exported or put to use in a range of green-energy and, increasingly, military hardware.

But, unlike China, neither Myanmar, Laos nor Thailand have the sophisticated processing plants that can transform raw ore into valuable material, according to SFA (Oxford), a critical minerals and metals consulting firm.

The Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar, a local think tank, says Chinese customs data also show that Myanmar has been China’s main source of rare earths from abroad since at least 2017, including a record $1.4bn-worth in 2023.

Myanmar’s exports of rare earth minerals were growing at the same time as China was placing tough new curbs on mining them at home, after witnessing the environmental damage it was doing to its own communities. Buying the minerals from Myanmar has allowed China to outsource much of the problem.

That is why many are blaming not only the mine operators and the UWSA for the environmental fallout from Myanmar’s mines, but China.

The UWSA could not be reached for comment, and neither China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor its embassy in Myanmar replied to Al Jazeera’s emails seeking a response.

In a June 8 Facebook post, reacting to reports of Chinese-run mines in Myanmar allegedly polluting Thai rivers, the Chinese embassy in Thailand said all Chinese companies operating abroad had to follow local laws and regulations.

The embassy also said China was open to cooperating with Mekong River countries to protect the local environment, but gave no details on what that might entail.

Thailand has said it is working with both China and Myanmar to solve the problem.

In a bid to tackle the problem, though, the Thai government has proposed building dams along the affected rivers in Chiang Rai province to filter their waters for pollutants.

Local politicians and environmentalists question whether such dams would work.

International Rivers’ Pianporn Deetes said there was no known precedent of dams working in such a manner in rivers on the scale of the Mekong and its tributaries.

“If it’s [a] limited area, a small creek or in a faraway standalone mining area, it could work. It’s not going to work with this international river,” she said.

Naresuan University’s Tanapon said he was building computer models to study whether a series of cascading weirs – small, dam-like barriers that are built across a river to control water flow – could help.

But he, too, said such efforts would only mitigate the problem at best.

Dams and weirs, Tanapon said, “can just slow down or reduce the impact”.

“You need to stop it at the source,” he added.

HEALTH officials have warned a surge of a “nasty disease” could be on the way if vaccination isn’t prioritised.

Cases still remain high, particularly in two areas of the UK.

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The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is urging patients to prioritise vaccine catch-up appointments this summer, with the latest data showing continued high levels of measles cases.

Fears have now been raised over a further surge once the new school term begins.

Measles activity has increased since April 2025, says the UKHSA.

The most recent figures show an additional 145 measles cases have been reported since the last report was published on July 3.

Cases continue to predominantly be in children under the age of 10 years, and London and the North West have been driving the increase most.

Since January 1, there have been 674 laboratory confirmed measles cases reported in England, with 48 per cent of these cases in London, 16 per cent in the North West, and 10 per cent in the East of England.

There’s also been a global increase in measles cases, including Europe, over the last year. 

The UKHSA has also stressed holiday travel and international visits to see family this summer could lead to rising measles cases in England when the new school term begins.

Dr Vanessa Saliba, UKHSA Consultant Epidemiologist, said: “The summer months offer parents an important opportunity to ensure their children’s vaccinations are up to date, giving them the best possible protection when the new school term begins.

“It is never too late to catch up. Do not put it off and regret it later.

“Measles spreads very easily and can be a nasty disease, leading to complications like ear and chest infections and inflammation of the brain with some children tragically ending up in hospital and suffering life-long consequences.

“Two doses of the MMR vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and your family from measles.

“Babies under the age of 1 and some people who have weakened immune systems cannot have the vaccine and are at risk of more serious complications if they get measles.

“They rely on the rest of us getting the vaccine to protect them.”

The first MMR vaccine is offered to infants when they turn one year old and the second dose to pre-school children when they are around three years and four months old. 

Around 99 per cent of those who have two doses will be protected against measles and rubella.

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Although mumps protection is slightly lower, cases in vaccinated people are much less severe. 

Anyone, whatever age, who has not had two doses can contact their GP surgery to book an appointment.

Dr Amanda Doyle, National Director for Primary Care and Community Services at NHS England, said: “The MMR vaccine is provided free by the NHS and I would urge all parents to check their child’s vaccination records before the new school year or summer travel, particularly as Europe is reporting the highest number of measles cases in 25 years.

“While the NHS delivered tens of thousands of additional MMR vaccinations last year, too many eligible children remain unvaccinated, and we are working with local authorities and the UK Health Security Agency to reach more youngsters, with enhanced vaccination offers in areas with higher cases, including vaccination buses and community catch-up sessions.”

Scores of civilians were killed during fierce confrontations between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) army and the Convention pour la Révolution Populaire (CRP) armed syndicate. The Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO), another rebel group, compounded the violence, launching a series of attacks in rural communities of the Djugu territory, particularly in Nizi and Lopa.

The attacks have grounded economic activities in the principal centres of Iga-Barriere, Lopa, and Jina, interrupting traffic on the Number 27 national highway.

“The security situation has been relatively calm since yesterday in Lopa, Nizi, Iga-Barriere and its environs. Right now, socio-economic activities have still not resumed, and there are ongoing negotiations for the resumption of activities after clashes between the Congo army and rebels of the Convention pour la Revolution Populaire, before the incursion of CODECO militia,” Freddy Lotsima, a civil society leader in Lopa, revealed.

Amid growing concerns regarding the handling of the security crisis in Ituri, the military has refused to respond to various claims of misconduct by its personnel. Gratien Iracan, a leader in the Bunia constituency, however, claimed that between July 13 and 21, over 30 civilians were killed in Djugu alone.

“Unarmed civilians murdered in cold blood without the protection of the army and the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO). Elements of the loyalist forces, as well as CODECO militia, have been accused by members of the local communities,” Lotsima added.

MONUSCO has condemned the attacks on civilian populations in the Djugu territory, as well as the looting and desecration of the Catholic parish of Lopa, which have been attributed to the CODECO armed group. The UN forces have been encouraging provincial authorities to promote dialogue among all communities in Ituri to help reduce tensions.

In the Masisi territory of North Kivu, intense fighting has been ongoing since 2 a.m. on Friday, July 25, between M23 rebels and the Wazalendo militia in the Luke area, part of the Nyamaboko 1 tribal group. Local sources revealed that the Wazalendo militia launched coordinated attacks on rebel positions to reclaim control of the area.

The sounds of heavy and light weapon detonations were heard in the combat areas. This situation has raised concerns among residents of nearby communities, who have been receiving displaced individuals from Luke and Katobotobo in the Katoy region.

The difference in price between breaks during the summer holidays and those when most state kids have to be in school has long been a sore point for parents

British families face forking out £388 more per person if they don’t break school rules and head away during term times.

The difference in price between breaks during the summer holidays and those when most state kids have to be in school has long been a sore point for parents.

New research has revealed just how big the price hike facing families still planning a getaway during the school summer holidays this year is. The figures reveal that summer holiday package prices rise by an average of 15% when compared to term-time travel – equal to an extra £338 per person.

According to the study, a family of four will pay an additional £716 on average if they travel during a school half-term or holidays across the year, compared to travelling in term time. It also finds that this number rises even further during the six-week summer break, when travel costs increase the most.

Do you take your kids on holidays during term time to save money? Email us at [email protected]

READ MORE: Schools to give pupils extra WEEK off so ‘families can go on cheaper holidays’

Go.Compare analysed package holiday prices for popular European family destinations, uncovering the cost to parents who want to travel during school holidays. The comparison site found that prices increase by 9% per person overall during school holidays.

The average price for term-time packages to family-favourite destinations like Spain, Italy and France is as low as £290 per person. Meanwhile, the lowest average package price during school breaks sits at £384 per person – close to £100 more per person.

Trips to Spain saw the largest spike in costs, with holidaymakers charged 27% more per person – an increase of £496 – if they travel during the summer break. But across all the school holidays, Greece was the most expensive destination, with a median price of £2,329 per person.

Package price increases for the summer holidays

(Destination; Summer increase (%); Summer increase (£ pp))

• Spain; 27%; £496
• Italy; 7%; £152
• France; 3%; £57
• Greece; 24%; £646

Due to rules around unauthorised absences, the sharp rise in prices is particularly concerning for parents who would otherwise be faced with fines for removing children from school to travel. Without authorisation, a family of four could be fined up to £640, depending on the rules for their council.

READ MORE: Grandparents can bag £6,600 boost for looking after grandkids over summer holidaysREAD MORE: Full list of places where kids can eat free or for £1 during the summer holidays

Despite these risks, more than two out of five (44%) parents and guardians said they have, or would consider taking their children out of school for a family holiday. More than half (53%) of these parents said the biggest reason for this was to help save on travel costs.[3]

Rhys Jones, travel insurance expert for Go.Compare, said: “The cost difference between term time and school holidays is stark, particularly during the summer holidays. For many families, it’s a choice between affordability and avoiding a fine or even further action.

“Although travelling outside school holidays can seem tempting to save money, it’s important to factor in if the trip might impact your child’s education. You’ll also need to consider the full cost of a trip, including insurance, local travel, food and entertainment.

“Travel insurance, in particular, shouldn’t be overlooked. Prices for cover can vary significantly based on timing, destination and the size of your group. Comparing policies early ensures families can get the right protection without adding unnecessary costs.”

July 23 (UPI) — At the United Nations Ocean Conference in June, Dominican President Luis Abinader issued an urgent call to recognize the scale of the environmental crisis posed by sargassum in the Caribbean.

He warned the phenomenon could deal “a significant blow to the GDP of island nations.”

Sargassum, a floating macroalgae, has shifted from a rare anomaly to a chronic threat, hitting the tourism industries of countries such as Mexico and the Dominican Republic, where tourism makes up 19% of GDP.

This season, sargassum levels could hit a record high, with up to 25 million metric tons estimated across the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The economic effect could surpass that of previous years.

Operating costs for sargassum removal could exceed $120 million a year in critical areas, including expenses for barriers, equipment and transportation.

Esteban Amaro, director of the Sargassum Monitoring Center in Mexico, warned that the state of Quintana Roo is facing one of its worst seasons yet. The most affected areas stretch from Tulum to Playa del Carmen, along with hotspots such as Xcalak, Mahahual and Cozumel. Nearly the entire coastline is under red alert.

Countries such as Barbados, Mexico and the Dominican Republic have reported hotel booking drops of 30% to 40% during peak sargassum periods, typically between May and August. Regional losses could reach $200 million per high season, based on historical patterns.

Puerto Rico and Cuba are among other Caribbean nations battling sargassum issues daily.

The spread of this invasive seaweed, worsened by global warming, threatens not only the economy but also public health and marine ecosystems, endangering key species such as fish, coral and sea turtles. Local fishers are seeing reduced catches and falling incomes, leaving many in a difficult financial position.

As sargassum decomposes, it produces a strong odor that affects quality of life in coastal communities. More concerning are the respiratory issues it can cause, especially among vulnerable individuals exposed to its toxic emissions.

In response to the worsening crisis, the region is seeking innovative solutions, with a focus on transforming sargassum into a useful resource.

The proposals are varied and promising — from using sargassum as fuel for biomass energy to harnessing its nutrients to enrich agricultural soil. There is also discussion of extracting compounds for use in cosmetics, food products and other goods.

Sos Carbón, a startup led by young Dominican entrepreneurs, has developed an offshore system to collect sargassum before it reaches the shore and begins to decompose, releasing toxic substances. The system already is in use in Mexico, Antigua and Barbuda and Puerto Rico.

María Ceballos, a member of the product development team at SOS Carbón-Biotech, said the company has begun producing agricultural biostimulants with promising results.

This month, the Dominican Republic and the European Union launched the first Working Group on Sargassum Valorization, aimed at developing viable value chains for processing sargassum.

According to the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the goal is to turn this massive challenge into an economic opportunity for the Caribbean.

Israeli forces killed at least 115 Palestinians across Gaza on Sunday, most as they waited for desperately needed food aid in one of the deadliest single incidents involving aid seekers since May.

Dozens more Palestinians have been wounded, according to health officials.

In northern Gaza, at least 67 people were killed near the Zikim crossing when an Israeli strike hit crowds gathering for aid. Another six people were killed near a separate distribution site in the south. The day before, 36 Palestinians were killed in similar circumstances.

The death toll brings the total number of people killed while trying to access food relief to more than 900 since May.

Ahmed Hassouna, who attempted to collect food from an aid site of the United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), described the moment Israeli forces opened fire.

“There was a young man with me, and they started firing gas at us. They killed us with the gas. We barely made it out to catch a breath,” he told Al Jazeera.

Another man, Rizeq Betaar, carried a wounded elderly man away from the gunfire.

“We were the ones who carried him on the bicycle… There are no ambulances, no food, no life, no way to live any more. We’re barely hanging on. May God relieve us,” he said.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said a convoy of 25 trucks carrying aid came under gunfire shortly after entering Gaza.

“WFP reiterates that any violence involving civilians seeking humanitarian aid is completely unacceptable,” the agency said in a statement.

Israel’s military said its forces fired “warning shots” at what it called “an immediate threat”, but denied deliberately targeting aid convoys.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Sunday the situation in Gaza has reached “catastrophic” levels, with children “wasting away” and some dying before aid reaches them.

“People are risking their lives just to find food,” OCHA said, calling the conditions “unconscionable”.

The US-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also denounced Israel’s continuous attacks on aid seekers.

“The escalating massacres of starving Palestinian women, children and men murdered with US-supplied weapons and with the complicity of our government as they desperately search for food to feed their families is not only a human tragedy, it is also an indictment of a Western political order that has enabled this genocide through inaction and indifference,” said Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national executive director, in a statement.

“Western governments cannot claim ignorance. They are watching in real time as innocent civilians are intentionally starved, forcibly displaced, and slaughtered – and are choosing to do nothing. History will long remember the Western world’s indifference to the forced starvation, ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza.”

Man-made starvation

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said staff in Gaza are sending desperate messages about the lack of food.

“All man-made, in total impunity. Food is available only a few kilometres away,” he wrote on X, adding that UNRWA has enough supplies at the border to feed Gaza for three months. But Israel has been blocking aid since March 2.

Dr Mohammed Abu Afash, the director of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society in Gaza, told Al Jazeera women and children are collapsing from hunger.

“We are heading into the unknown. Malnutrition among children has reached its highest levels,” he said, warning of a looming disaster if aid is not allowed in immediately.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health echoed that warning, saying hundreds of Palestinians suffering from malnutrition and dehydration could soon die.

“We warn that hundreds of people whose bodies have wasted away are at risk of imminent death due to hunger,” a spokesperson said.

Palestinian families say basic staples such as flour are impossible to find. The ministry said at least 71 children have died of malnutrition since the war began in 2023, while 60,000 others show signs of severe undernourishment.

On Sunday alone, it reported 18 deaths linked to hunger.

Food prices have soared beyond the reach of most people in Gaza, where 2.3 million are struggling to survive under siege conditions implemented by Israel.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from central Gaza, said a 35-day-old baby in Gaza City and a four-month-old child in Deir el-Balah had died of malnutrition at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

“The mother was touching her body, saying, ‘I am sorry I could not feed you,’” Khoudary said.

“Parents go to the GHF distribution sites to risk getting killed or leave their children starving. We met a mother who is giving her children water just to fill their stomachs. She can’t afford flour – and when she could, she couldn’t find it.”

More forced evacuations

Meanwhile, more Palestinians are being forced to flee. After Israel dropped leaflets containing evacuation threats over neighbourhoods in Deir el-Balah, residents reported air attacks on three homes in the area, prompting families to leave with what little they could carry.

Israel’s military said it had not yet entered those districts but promised to continue targeting what it called “terrorist infrastructure”.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said: “We are face to face with another misleading evacuation order. People are told to move to al-Mawasi, a so-called safe zone, but since day one, Palestinians have been killed there.

“This is not a safe zone. There is no safe zone in a war zone. Palestinians know that walking into al-Mawasi is like walking into a death trap – they’ll be killed in days, hours, or even minutes.”

July 16 (UPI) — Mexico recorded 7,399 missing persons cases in the first half of 2025, marking a nearly 18% increase from the same period last year, according to the National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons.

Between January and June, monthly reports consistently exceeded 1,000 cases, peaking in March at 1,279 and May at 1,377. The sustained trend reflects a steady escalation of the crisis nationwide.

Mexico City recorded the highest number of disappearances during that period, with 1,099 cases — an 88% increase from the same period in 2024.

It was followed by the State of Mexico, with 1,063 cases, and Sinaloa, with 519. Michoacán, Baja California, Sonora, Jalisco, Guanajuato and Nuevo León — states marked by high levels of violence and the presence of organized crime — each reported between 325 and 467 cases.

Disappearances in Mexico are part of a complex crisis that has developed over the past two decades. The issue is driven by a combination of factors, from organized criminal activity to systemic impunity, according to government reports, academic studies and human rights organizations.

According to the National Search Commission and international organizations, more than 98% of cases remain unresolved in court.

The systemic impunity has created an environment in which perpetrators know their actions carry no legal consequences, and families are forced to take on investigative roles. Search collectives have become the backbone of the fight against disappearances in Mexico, locating remains and demanding justice.

One of the most prominent search collectives is Madres Buscadoras de Sonora (Searching Mothers of Sonora), which has become a national and international symbol.

Just last weekend, the group discovered a suspected training camp believed to have been used by organized crime to train or hold new recruits hostage. Human remains and about 200 articles of clothing were found at the site, according to Univision.

Since its founding in May 2019, Madres Buscadoras de Sonora has located more than 1,200 sets of human remains or bodies in clandestine graves and has pressed state and federal authorities to respond to reports of new burial sites.

Young people ages 15 to 29 make up the majority of those who disappear in Mexico,- followed increasingly by girls, teenagers and migrants, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

In Jalisco, the state with the highest number of disappearances, authorities recorded a 63.6% increase in missing teenagers and a 72% rise in children ages 10 to 14 over the past two years, according to the University of Guadalajara.

Routes used for drug trafficking, human trafficking and contraband often overlap with major hotspots for disappearances in states such as Tamaulipas, Jalisco, Guanajuato and Guerrero, where criminal groups fight for territorial control.

In states like Zacatecas and Michoacán, authorities and search collectives have documented mass disappearances tied to violent clashes between criminal organizations.

In 2022, the total number of cases in the registry surpassed 100,000. The number increased by 7.3% in 2023 and 6.3% in 2024, and is projected to rise by 12% in 2025, according to a report by Red Lupa. Roughly 90% of all recorded disappearances in Mexico have occurred between 2000 and May 16.

When a group of armed, masked men was spotted dragging a woman into an SUV in the Fashion District last week, a witness called 911 to report a kidnapping.

But when Los Angeles Police Department officers arrived, instead of making arrests, they formed a line to protect the alleged abductors from an angry crowd of onlookers demanding the woman’s release.

The reported kidnappers, it turned out, were special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Police Chief Jim McDonnell defended the officers’ response, saying their first responsibility was to keep the peace and that they had no authority to interfere with the federal operation.

In political and activist circles, and across social media, critics blasted the LAPD for holding back the crowd instead of investigating why the agents were arresting the woman, who was later found to be a U.S. citizen.

“What happened downtown on Tuesday morning certainly looked and felt like LAPD was supporting ICE,” said Mike Bonin, a former City Council member who is now executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State L.A.

Kimberly Noriega, left, speaks with her aunt, Anita Neri Lozano, at Veterans Memorial Park in Culver City on Sunday. The family was attending a news conference regarding the arrest of a beloved street vendor, Ambrocio Lozano.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

The incident was one of more than half a dozen in recent weeks in which the LAPD responded to federal immigration enforcement actions that were called in as kidnappings.

The presence of local police officers at the scenes — even if they are not actively assisting ICE — has led some city leaders to question the department’s role in an ongoing White House crackdown that has swept up hundreds of immigrants and sown fear across Southern California.

Incidents of impostors masquerading as law enforcement have compounded the situation, along with rumors — so far unverified — that federal authorities have enlisted bounty hunters or private security contractors for immigration arrests.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called coverage of one reported kidnapping a “hoax” in a post Tuesday on X and said: “ICE does not employ bounty hunters to make arrests.”

In a letter to the Police Commission last week, City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said the LAPD should make sure federal agents who cover their faces and often use unmarked vehicles are who they claim to be.

“Our residents have a right to know who is operating in their neighborhoods and under what legal authority,” wrote Rodriguez, whose district includes the San Fernando Valley. “Allowing unidentified actors to forcibly detain individuals without oversight is not only reckless — it erodes public trust and undermines the very rule of law.”

She said that city leaders couldn’t allow “bounty-hunter-style tactics to take root in our city,” and urged the commission, the LAPD’s civilian policymaking body, to “develop proper legal and safe protocol that provide for officer safety, transparency and accountability to our communities.”

Residents stand behind a line of Vernon police officers after an immigration raid in the city of Bell on June 20.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

“This lack of identification is unacceptable. It creates an environment ripe for abuse and impersonation, enabling copycat vigilantes to pose as federal agents,” Rodriguez wrote.

State and local officials have proposed legislation to increase transparency around officer identification, but it’s unclear if the bills will become law — and whether they could actually be enforced against federal agents.

Police Commission President Erroll Southers said Tuesday that he and another commissioner met with City Council members to discuss the Police Department’s response to the Trump administration’s aggressive sweeps. Several commissioners questioned McDonnell about how LAPD officers are supposed to respond to reported kidnappings.

Los Angeles police officers stand guard as community members protest recent immigration raids in front of the Federal Building in downtown L.A. on June 18.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

McDonnell said the department created new guidelines that require a supervisor to respond and instruct LAPD officers to verify the purported ICE agents are legitimate, preserving a record of the interaction on body-worn cameras.

The chief said the top priority for officers is maintaining the safety of all those present, but ultimately officers have no authority to interfere with a federal operation.

According to a new poll from YouGov, a public opinion research firm, nearly three-quarters of Californians believe local police officers should arrest federal immigration agents who “act maliciously or knowingly exceed their authority under federal law.”

The same survey also found that a majority of state residents want to completely forbid California officials from collaborating with immigration enforcement and make it easier for citizens to file lawsuits when “authorities violate the due process rights of immigrants.”

The LAPD has long claimed that it has no role in civil immigration enforcement, but the department is now facing pressure from City Hall and beyond to go further and protect Angelenos who are undocumented.

A motion considered this week by the L.A. City Council would, among other things, limit the LAPD’s “support to agencies performing immigration enforcement.”

Eastside residents and others march in Boyle Heights on Tuesday as part of a series of “Reclaim Our Streets” actions being conducted in protest of federal immigration enforcement operations.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

LAPD officials say that the department has responded to at least seven calls in which people contacted 911 to report a kidnapping that turned out to be an ICE operation.

One emergency call came in when a group of masked federal Border Patrol agents was spotted staging near Dodgers Stadium last week, sparking a wave of speculation online about potential immigration enforcement at the ballpark. LAPD officers responded to the scene and again provided crowd control after a group of protesters showed up.

Several police supervisors said that in the past, it was customary for federal agents conducting surveillance in a given LAPD division to give the area’s watch commander a heads-up as a courtesy. But that longstanding practice has ended, leaving them largely left in the dark about the timing and location of planned immigration raids.

Cmdr. Lillian Carranza said it was irresponsible for people to describe the arrests as “kidnappings” and encourage people to call 911, saying that there is misinformation circulating online about how and when federal authorities can arrest someone. Authorities don’t need to present a warrant when encountering someone on the street, she said; all they need is probable cause.

“If people have concerns about the conduct of federal agents, they need to seek justice in court,” she said. “That is the place to litigate the case. Not the streets.”

In a testy exchange last month, McDonnell told the City Council that even if he knew about an immigration operation beforehand, he would not alert city leaders.

The LAPD’s relationship with ICE has been the subject of intense debate on social media platforms such as Reddit, where some commenters argued that the department’s focus on policing protesters was a tacit endorsement of the federal government.

Much of the discussion has fixated on an incident that occurred last week in downtown Los Angeles in which a woman named Andrea Guadalupe Velez was detained by agents clad in bulletproof vests with gaiters over their faces.

A livestream video showed a man, Luis Hipolito, who was later arrested, asking agents for their names and badge numbers.

“I’m calling 911 right now,” he told the agents.

“911, I want to report a crime. I want to report a crime,” Hipolito is heard saying on the phone.

“What are you reporting?” an operator is heard asking.

“They’re kidnapping kids, they’re kidnapping people on Nine and Main Street,” he is heard saying. “I need LAPD right here, right now. Nine and Main Street. They’re kidnapping, they’re kidnapping people.”

After several agents were seen piling on top of Hipolito, LAPD officers arrived at the scene. They formed a line between the agents and the angry crowd, members of whom were shouting to release Hipolito.

Homeland Security’s McLaughlin said Velez “was arrested for assaulting an ICE enforcement officer.”

Federal authorities said in court filings that Velez “abruptly” stepped into the path of an agent in “an apparent effort to prevent him from apprehending the male subject he was chasing.”

Velez, a Cal Poly Pomona graduate who is 4 feet 11, allegedly stood in the path of the agent with her arms extended. The agent couldn’t stop in time and was struck in his head and chest, federal authorities allege.

Velez’s mother, Margarita Flores, was watching in her rearview mirror, having just dropped her daughter off at the scene.

Flores said she saw a man running toward her daughter and then Velez falling to the ground. Flores said the men didn’t have identification or license plates on their car.

Fearing a kidnapping, she told her other daughter, Estrella Rosas, to call the police. When the LAPD arrived, Rosas said, her sister “went running to one of the police officers in hopes that they could help her.”

“But one of the ICE agents went back after her and fully [put] her in handcuffs,” Rosas said. “He physically had to carry her to put her inside the car and they drove away in the car that had no license plates.”

Velez spent two days in a federal detention facility. Charged with assaulting a federal officer, she made her initial court appearance last week and was released on $5,000 bail. She has not yet entered a plea and is due back in court July 17.

Times staff writer Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.

Stag dos have a rowdy reputation, and it appears the hard-drinking Brits have returned with a vengeance following the pandemic, with European cities now cracking down

Stag do hotspots are witnessing a rowdy resurgence of booze-fuelled Brits but cities are now clamping down on disorderly visitors after numbers spiked again.

While many of the go-to destinations in Europe got some respite during and after the pandemic, the amount of tourists heading over for a good time are on the up – and with it comes problems for locals. Now, some cities are fighting back as they look to restore order again.

“The bachelor parties dropped off sharply during Covid and now they are picking up again,” Budapest tour guide Daniel Seres divulged to The Telegraph, discussing the popular Hungarian destination. “We need the income from tourists, but these big party groups only go on the free guided city tours [rather than paid], and they keep locals awake as they sing, stumble around and are sick on the streets.”

Budapest has battled the disruption, banning “beer bikes” in 2017 over noise and safety issues. Come 2020, steps were taken to rein in the red light district, and by 2023, District VII escalated fines for noisy nights and indecent acts, distributing English leaflets at airports alerting tourists of the heftier penalties. That year also saw the power granted to establishments to reject bookings from large groups.

But it’s not just Budapest that’s tightening the reins; six additional European destinations have had their fill of misbehaving stag groups, reports the Express.

Amsterdam

In 2023, the Dutch capital banned boozy guided tours and cannabis smoking in its infamous Red Light District. In the same year, Amsterdam also launched its “Stay Away” digital campaign targeting young British men with warnings about fines and arrests. Restrictions were also introduced on short-term rentals and alcohol sales during specific hours.

Barcelona

The Spanish city’s actions against undesirable tourists include strict enforcement of noise and behaviour fines, cracking down on unlicensed party promoters and short-term rental properties, and implementing tighter restrictions on public drinking.

Prague

The iconic Czech city of Prague has also prohibited “beer bikes”, increased police presence in central areas and discouraged promotions related to sex tourism and stag parties, including stag tours.

Krakow

The Polish city of Krakow has strictly regulated advertisements for strip clubs and “gentlemen’s entertainment” and is discussing stricter curbs on alcohol sales. Smoking has also been restricted to designated areas in some venues.

Lisbon

Actions include tightening regulations on short-term rentals, particularly in popular nightlife districts like Bairro Alto and Alfama, and increasing police patrols on weekends.

Dublin

Many hotels and venues in the Irish capital have adopted policies to refuse bookings for stag and hen parties. Targeted messaging also promotes “cultural” tourism over alcohol-fueled excursions.

BIG names in fashion, including Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing, are making a major AI change and it could lead to surge pricing.

Debenhams Group brands are getting a tech makeover by using artificial intelligence to decide how much items will cost.

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Brands owned by the group are now letting AI set prices in real-time, reacting instantly to trends, demand and what rivals are charging.

The retail giant has teamed up with AI firm Peak to make it all happen.

They reckon this AI system will mean more targeted discounts, so you’re more likely to see deals on stuff you actually want.

It also means the brands can avoid having piles of unsold clothes hanging around.

Dan Finley, chief executive of Debenhams Group, said: “We’ve totally changed how we do pricing.”

“AI helps us make faster, smarter choices, so we can give our customers better value.”

But experts are wary, warning that shoppers could be at the mercy of surge pricing, where AI algorithms automatically raise prices during periods of high demand.

Consumer champion Martyn James warns that “corporate-speak” can obscure the real purpose of these changes.

While the company talks about “automated pricing” and targeted discounts, James points out that “there is also nothing to stop the business increasing prices on demand either.”

He fears that without proper oversight, shoppers could be vulnerable to AI-driven “surge pricing,” as has been seen with hotels and Uber.

Echoing these concerns, consumer expert Scott Dixon believes this is about protecting profits first and foremost.

He said: “The use of AI clearly benefits Debenhams as they can protect profit margins, cut waste and implement surge pricing in-line with increased demand.

“Debenhams needs to show AI is working for its customers, not just shareholders.” 

He also warns of potential price hikes during peak shopping periods like Black Friday and Christmas, stating that dynamic pricing is only fair if it works both ways.

Several retailers, including ASOS and Iconic London, are using AI to make online shopping more interactive.

One example is Nibble, an AI negotiation platform that lets shoppers haggle for discounts before adding items to their cart.

The technology enables a back-and-forth negotiation with a bot, and some users have reportedly secured discounts of up to 40% on ASOS Sample Sale purchases.

The option to negotiate only appears if it’s offered before adding an item to your cart.

In some cases, the feature is timed to pop up when a shopper hesitates over the buy button or seems ready to leave the site.

Published on
13/06/2025 – 7:57 GMT+2

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European indexes prepared to take a hit on Friday as Asian markets dropped on news that Israel had attacked Iran’s capital. The strikes came amid the ramping up of tensions over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

Oil prices, on the other hand, soared — linked to concerns that the conflict could restrict supply.

US benchmark crude oil rose 8.8%, to just under $74 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, increased by 8.28% to $75.10 per barrel.

In share trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.2% to 37,719.82 while the Kospi in Seoul edged 1.4% lower to 2,879.08.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 0.9% to 23,831.85 and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8% to 3,375.16.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 drifted 0.3% lower to 8,535.90.

An Israeli attack on Iran is in “our top ten of global risks”, but “Asian markets are expected to recover quickly as they have relatively limited exposure to the conflict and growing ties to unaffected Saudi Arabia and the UAE”, said Xu Tiachen of The Economist Intelligence.

Following the strikes on Iran, S&P 500 futures dropped 1.5%, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.7% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 1.4% by around 1.30am ET.

On Thursday, US stock indexes had ticked higher following another encouraging update on inflation across the country.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 6,045.26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2% to 42,967.62, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2% to 19,662.48.

Oracle pushed upward on the market after jumping 13.3%. The tech giant delivered stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and CEO Safra Catz said it expects revenue growth “will be dramatically higher” in its upcoming fiscal year.

That helped offset a 4.8% loss for Boeing after Air India said a London-bound flight crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday with 242 passengers and crew onboard. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a residential area near the airport five minutes after taking off.

Stocks broadly got some help from easing Treasury yields in the bond market following the latest update on inflation. Thursday’s update said inflation at the wholesale level wasn’t as bad last month as economists expected.

Wall Street took it as a signal that the Federal Reserve will have more leeway to cut interest rates later this year in order to give the economy a boost.

The Fed’s next meeting on interest rates is scheduled for next week, but the nearly unanimous expectation on Wall Street is that officials won’t cut.

In currency trading early Friday, the US dollar rose slightly to 143,67 Japanese yen. The euro fell about 0.5% against the US dollar, to $1.1528.

Jo Adell homered in a wild six-run sixth inning and the Angels overcame two homers by Brent Rooker to beat the Athletics 6-5 at Angel Stadium on Wednesday and sweep a three-game series.

Adell’s 13th homer was his sixth in nine games.

His two-run shot capped a rally that saw Athletics starter JP Sears ejected after giving way to reliever Grant Holman (4-2) with one out. Holman walked Mike Trout on a 3-2 pitch he believed was a strike to load the bases. Holman hit Taylor Ward to bring in a run and Jorge Soler followed with a two-run single. That’s when Sears was tossed after yelling animatedly from the dugout.

Osvaldo Bido relieved Holman and Travis d’Arnaud gave the Angels the lead with a sacrifice fly. Adell followed with his homer.

Rooker’s two-run homer in the seventh, his 15th this season, cut the Angels’ lead to 6-5. He had four hits, including a double. He scored three runs and drove in three.

Kyle Hendricks (4-6) pitched six innings and gave up three runs, two earned, and seven hits. Reid Detmers pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.

The A’s have lost 23 of 27 games.

The Athletics’ Jacob Wilson, second in the majors with a .366 average, missed his second consecutive game because of a sore hamstring.

Key moment

Soler’s two-run ground-ball single somehow evaded the Athletics’ diving middle infielders to tie the score and that’s when Sears, in line for a win, boiled over.

Key stat

The Angels swept a home series for the first time since June 24-26, 2024. That also came against the A’s.

Up next

The Angels’ Jack Kochanowicz (3-7, 5.61 ERA) will pitch against Charlie Morton (2-7, 6.59) at Baltimore on Friday.

India has reported a sudden rise in COVID cases, starting from late May. Authorities said the number of active cases of the disease has surpassed 5,000.

India is the latest of a number of countries to report an uptick in COVID cases this year as, more than five years after the virus was declared a global pandemic, waves of new strains continue to emerge.

Here is what we know about the new variant of COVID and where it has spread:

How many COVID cases are there in India?

As of Thursday this week, there are 5,364 active cases in India, according to India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Since January 1, more than 4,700 people have recovered from COVID in India, while 55 people have died from the virus.

Which variants are causing new cases and where?

The main coronavirus variant causing a new spread of the disease is known as NB.1.8.1. Cases caused by this variant have been reported in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Thailand, China and Hong Kong, among other countries. It is now the dominant variant in China and Hong Kong.

A second variant, LF.7, is also responsible for some of the cases in India.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it had recorded 13 cases of the NB.1.8.1 variant in England, with “small numbers” detected across the UK.

By late April, NB.1.8.1 comprised about 10.7 percent of submitted sequences globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This rose from just 2.5 percent one month before.

What do we know about the NB.1.8.1 variant?

The Omicron variant NB.1.8.1 was first detected in January this year.

It is a “recombinant” variant, which means it has arisen from the genetic mixing of two or more existing variants.

On May 23, 2025, the WHO declared the NB.1.8.1 strain a “variant under monitoring” (VUM).

According to a 2023 definition by the WHO, a VUM is a variant which has undergone genetic changes that scientists believe could potentially affect the behaviour of the virus; early data suggests that this variant can grow faster or spread more easily than others, but this has not yet been confirmed.

The evidence of the variant’s impact on health, immunity or transmission is still unclear.

Why are there so many new cases?

While the NB.1.8.1 strain is still being researched, the evidence so far suggests that the strain may spread more easily, virologist Lara Herrero wrote for The Conversation on May 28.

Researchers using lab-based models have found that of several variants tested, the new strain had the strongest ability to bind to human cell receptors. This suggests that the strain may “infect cells more efficiently than earlier strains”, Herrero wrote.

“It is more transmissible,” Subhash Verma, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, told CBS News.

What are the symptoms?

Common symptoms of the NB.1.8.1 strain include a sore throat, cough, muscle aches, fever and nasal congestion.

It can also cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea and diarrhoea.

Are COVID vaccines effective against the new strain?

Vaccines remain a powerful defence against COVID infections, severe sickness, hospitalisation and death, clinicians say.

However, virologist Herrero wrote that besides spreading more easily, NB.1.8.1 may “partially sidestep” immunity gained from the vaccines or prior infection.

For now, health authorities say current COVID jabs are expected to be effective against this coronavirus variant and protect people from severe illness.

Should we be concerned?

Health experts worldwide say there is no evidence that the new strain of the coronavirus is more severe or deadly than any previous strain. However, it does appear to spread more easily.

Since COVID spreads through airborne particles and droplets, the spread of the virus can be prevented by getting tested if symptoms show, wearing a mask and social distancing, clinicians have advised.

Artificial intelligence, cloud computing and data centres led to a spike in electricity demand between 2020 and 2023.

The United Nations’ digital agency says that operational carbon emissions for the world’s top tech companies rose an average of 150 percent between 2020 and 2023 as investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres drove up global electricity demand.

Operational emissions for Amazon grew 182 percent in 2023 against 2020 levels, while emissions for Microsoft grew 155 percent, Facebook and Instagram owner Meta grew 145 percent, and Google parent company Alphabet grew 138 percent over the same period, according to the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The figures include the emissions directly created by the companies’ operations as well as those from purchased energy consumption. They were included in a new report from ITU assessing the greenhouse gas emissions of the world’s top 200 digital companies between 2020 and 2023.

The UN agency linked the sharp uptick to recent breakthroughs in AI and the demand for digital services like cloud computing.

“Advances in digital innovation – especially AI – are driving up energy consumption and global emissions,” said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, who heads the ITU.

While these innovations mark dramatic technological breakthroughs, left unchecked, emissions from top-emitting AI systems could soon hit 102.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, the agency said.

“Currently, there are no standards or legislative requirements for companies to disclose their AI emissions or energy consumption, which makes understanding the impact of AI on company-level energy use less straightforward,” the report said.

“However, data from company reports show an increasing trend in operational emissions for companies with a high level of AI adoption.”

The AI and cloud computing boom has led to a similar spike in electricity demand from data centres, which help power digital services. Electricity consumption by data centres has grown 12 percent year-on-year since 2017, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Data centres alone consumed 415 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity – or 1.5 percent of global power demand. If the demand for data centres continues to grow at this pace, it will hit 945 TWh by 2030, surpassing Japan’s annual electricity consumption, according to the IEA.

Power-hungry digital companies, meanwhile, consumed an estimated 581 TWh of electricity in 2024, or roughly 2.1 percent of global demand, according to the report, although demand was highly concentrated among top firms.

According to data supplied by 164 out of 200 companies in the report, just 10 generated 51.9 percent of their electricity demand in 2023, the report said. They were China Mobile, Amazon, Samsung Electronics, China Telecom, Alphabet, Microsoft, TSMC, China Unicom, SK Hynix and Meta.

Publicly available emissions data for 166 out of the 200 companies revealed that they emitted 297 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year in 2023, the same as the combined emissions of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.

Numbers of children requiring hospitalisation for complications due to severe malnutrition rising as WHO warns ‘health system is collapsing’.

More than 2,700 children below the age of five in Gaza have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition, marking a steep increase in the number of children suffering from the serious medical condition since screening in February, the United Nations reports.

Of almost 47,000 under-fives screened for malnutrition in the second half of May, 5.8 percent (or 2,733 children) were found to be suffering from acute malnutrition, “almost triple the proportion of children diagnosed with malnutrition” three months earlier, the UN said on Thursday.

The number of children with severe acute malnutrition requiring admission to hospital also increased by around double in May compared with earlier months, according to the report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

According to data from the Nutrition Cluster cited by OCHA, more than 16,500 children below the age of five have been detected and treated for severe acute malnutrition in Gaza since January, including 141 children with complications requiring hospitalisation.

Despite the increase in children suffering serious malnutrition and requiring hospitalisation, “there are currently only four stabilisation centres for the treatment of [severe acute malnutrition] with medical complications in the Gaza Strip,” the OCHA report states.

“Stabilisation centres in North Gaza and Rafah have been forced to suspend operations, leaving children in these areas without access to lifesaving treatment,” it adds.

The UN’s latest warning on the health of young children in Gaza comes as the Palestinian territory’s entire population deals with starvation, and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the enclave’s “health system is collapsing”.

Issuing an appeal for the “urgent protection” of two of Gaza’s last remaining hospitals, the WHO said the “Nasser Medical Complex, the most important referral hospital left in Gaza, and Al-Amal Hospital are at risk of becoming non-functional”.

“The relentless and systematic decimation of hospitals in Gaza has been going on for too long. It must end immediately,” the WHO said in a statement.

“WHO calls for urgent protection of Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital to ensure they remain accessible, functional and safe from attacks and hostilities,” it said.

“Patients seeking refuge and care to save their lives must not risk losing them trying to reach hospitals.”

UN experts, medical officials in Gaza, as well as medical charities, have long accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting health workers and medical facilities in Gaza in what has been described as a deliberate attempt to make conditions of life unliveable for the Palestinian population in the Strip.

WHO calls for urgent protection of Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital in the Gaza Strip

WHO warns that the #Gaza Strip’s health system is collapsing, with Nasser Medical Complex, the most important referral hospital left in Gaza, and Al-Amal Hospital at risk of becoming… pic.twitter.com/Rd3ZjASuBp

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) June 5, 2025