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Reuters

  • US government restricts sports visas for transgender women

    US government restricts sports visas for transgender women

    The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on Monday it has updated its immigration policy to restrict visa eligibility for transgender women seeking to compete in women’s sports.

    Under the policy update, USCIS will consider “the fact that a male athlete has been competing against women” as a negative factor when evaluating visa petitions in categories such as O-1A for extraordinary ability, EB-1 and EB-2 green cards for highly skilled workers, and national interest waivers.

    “USCIS is closing the loophole for foreign male athletes whose only chance at winning elite sports is to change their gender identity and leverage their biological advantages against women,” said USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser.

    “It’s a matter of safety, fairness, respect, and truth that only female athletes receive a visa to come to the U.S. to participate in women’s sports.”

    The move aligns with broader efforts by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to regulate transgender participation in athletics and follows similar policies enacted at the state level across the country.

    Read More: World Athletics mandates gene test for female category eligibility

    The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee last month updated its policy to align with an executive order signed earlier this year by Trump barring transgender women from competing in women’s sports.

    Trump signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order in February, a directive that supporters said will restore fairness but critics argue infringes on the rights of a tiny minority of athletes.

  • Stokes remains upbeat despite England’s painful loss to India

    Stokes remains upbeat despite England’s painful loss to India

    England captain Ben Stokes tried to focus on the positives after his team’s agonising six-run loss to India in their riveting final India vs England Test at The Oval on Monday.

    Stokes, who did not play in the match due to injury, watched on as the hosts collapsed from 301-3 to 367 all out to give India a share of the series.

    “Credit both teams. The amount of effort from both teams to end up here 2-2 is incredible,” he told reporters.

    “The heart and passion and everything that was shown, especially in our second bowling innings, I thought was outstanding.”

    Ben Stokes, who scored a century and completed a five-wicket haul in the drawn fourth India vs England Test, said England had been well on top at various times in the final game under the captaincy of Ollie Pope.

    “We got ourselves into some good positions throughout the test match, not just the last innings,” he said.

    Read more: Brook regrets risky shot after England lose final Test

    “To come within seven runs of victory, it’s tough to look back and feel anything but disappointment.”

    Stokes felt the loss of Chris Woakes to a shoulder injury on the first day had been a crucial factor in the final India vs England Test.

    The all-rounder did come out to bat with a sling on to try to get England over the line but his absence along with that of Stokes and Jofra Archer left England with an inexperienced pace attack in the final India vs England Test.

    “Losing Woakesy early on in the game changed the whole responsibility on the bowlers in particular, the roles they were selected for,” added Stokes.

    “But you can look back on a test match that goes five days and pick out loads of moments as to why (you lost). For us, to come out here to try and chase that total down in the way that we did was outstanding.”

    Ben Stokes was not critical of the unorthodox or rash shots that caused the dismissals of several England batsmen as the tension mounted around the ground.

    Harry Brook made a brilliant 111 before playing a stroke so reckless his bat flew out of his hand, Jacob Bethell was bowled after charging down the pitch and Jamie Smith played three loose shots in a row at Mohammed Siraj, the last one nicking his bat.

    “That never-say-die, never-back-down attitude we’ve installed in the group nearly paid off for us,” Stokes said.

    “We couldn’t quite get over the line.”

  • Air taxi firm Joby to acquire Blade Air’s passenger business

    Air taxi firm Joby to acquire Blade Air’s passenger business

    August 4, 2025: Joby Aviation will acquire helicopter ride-share company Blade Air Mobility’s passenger business for up to $125 million, Joby said Monday, as it works to speed the deployment of electric air taxis for commercial passenger services.

    Blade’s medical organ transplant division is not part of the deal and will remain a separate public company rebranded as Strata Critical Medical, but will partner with Joby on medical transportation.

    Joby is working to win Federal Aviation Administration certification of its electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft or eVTOLs.

    Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt said the company is on track to begin FAA Type Inspection flight testing early next year, a key step before it can begin commercial service.

    Bevirt told Reuters the deal gives Joby existing customers, takeoff and landing locations and a decade of operating experience, which is a “launchpad, a catalyst to really grow the experience” that Blade has built. “We think that clean, quiet aircraft are going to unlock large numbers of new takeoff and landing locations,” Bevirt said.

    Blade Air flew more than 50,000 passengers in 2024 from 12 urban terminals including JFK Airport in New York and Newark Liberty Airport and several Manhattan locations. Blade passenger operations will continue and be led by Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Joby.

    “We fly more people by helicopter – vertical transportation – than any other company in the world. So with the combination of the infrastructure, the flyers, the routes, a globally recognized brand, it really is to the customer… more of an asset swap,” Wiesenthal said in an interview.

    Wiesenthal added there will be a transition phase where the combined company will operate helicopters and Joby aircraft. At some point over time, it will transition to operating only Joby electric air taxis.

    The acquisition includes all of Blade’s passenger business, including U.S. and European operations. Under the agreement, Joby will pay Blade up to $125 million, including $35 million tied to certain performance milestones and retention of certain key employees.

  • Shein hit with 1 million euro greenwashing fine

    Shein hit with 1 million euro greenwashing fine

    ROME, Aug 4: Italy’s competition authority (AGCM) imposed a 1 million euro ($1.16 million) fine on China-founded online fast fashion retailer Shein on Monday for misleading customers about the environmental impact of its products.

    It is Shein’s second financial sanction by a European competition authority in little more than a month, after France fined the company 40 million euros on July 3 over fake discounts and misleading environmental claims.

    The Italian fine was imposed on Infinite Styles Services Co. Limited, a Dublin-based company that operates Shein’s website in Europe, following an investigation by AGCM launched last September.

    In a statement, Shein said it has cooperated fully with AGCM and took immediate action to address the concerns raised.

    AGCM said the environmental sustainability and social responsibility messages on Shein’s website “were sometimes vague, generic, and/or overly emphatic, and in other cases omitted and misleading.”

    Shein’s claims on circular system design and product recyclability “were found to be false or at the very least confusing”, and the green credentials of its ‘evoluSHEIN by design’ collection were overstated, the regulator said.

    Shein promotes the ‘evoluSHEIN by design’ collection as clothes made using more sustainable and responsible manufacturing.

    AGCM said consumers could be misled to think that the collection was made with materials that are fully recyclable, “a fact that, considering the fibres used and currently existing recycling systems, is untrue”.

    Shein, in its statement, said: “We have strengthened our internal review processes and improved our website to ensure that all environmental claims are clear, verifiable, and compliant with regulations.”

    AGCM also took issue with Shein’s “vague and generic” commitments to cut greenhouse emissions by 25% by 2030 and to net zero by 2050, noting that Shein’s emissions increased in 2023 and 2024.

    The Italian regulator said its overall assessment was influenced by an “increased duty of care” falling on Shein, “because it operates in a highly polluting sector and with highly polluting methods”.

    AGCM is in charge of consumer protection as well as competition.

    ($1 = 0.8642 euros)

  • Trump says he will ‘substantially’ raise tariffs on India over Russian oil purchases

    Trump says he will ‘substantially’ raise tariffs on India over Russian oil purchases

    U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he will substantially raise tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil.

    “India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

    “Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA.”

    He did not elaborate on what the tariff would be. Trump last week said he would impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from India and added that the world’s fifth-largest economy would also face an unspecified penalty but gave no details.

    Over the weekend, two Indian government sources told Reuters that India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite U.S. Trump’s threats. The sources did not wish to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

  • More Gazans die seeking aid and from hunger, as burial shrouds in short supply

    More Gazans die seeking aid and from hunger, as burial shrouds in short supply

    GAZA: At least 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes on Gaza on Monday, including 10 seeking aid, health authorities said, adding another five had died of starvation in what humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine.

    The 10 died in two separate incidents near aid sites belonging to the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in central and southern Gaza, local medics said.

    The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in the enclave since the GHF began operating in May 2025, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites.

    “Everyone who goes there, comes back either with a bag of flour or carried back (on a wooden stretcher) as a martyr, or injured. No one comes back safe,” said 40-year-old Palestinian Bilal Thari.

    He was among mourners at Gaza City’s Al Shifa hospital on Monday who had gathered to collect the bodies of their loved ones killed a day earlier by Israeli fire as they sought aid, according to Gaza’s health officials.

    At least 13 Palestinians were killed on Sunday while waiting for the arrival of U.N. aid trucks at the Zikim crossing on the Israeli border with the northern Gaza Strip, the officials said.

    At the hospital, some bodies were wrapped in thick patterned blankets because white shrouds, which hold special significance in Islamic burials, were in short supply due to continued Israeli border restrictions and the mounting number of daily deaths, Palestinians said.

    “We don’t want war, we want peace, we want this misery to end. We are out on the streets, we all are hungry, we are all in bad shape, women are out there on the streets, we have nothing available for us to live a normal life like all human beings, there’s no life,” Thari told Reuters.

    There was no immediate comment by Israel on Sunday’s incident.
    The Israeli military said in a statement to Reuters that it had not fired earlier on Monday in the vicinity of the aid distribution centre in the southern Gaza Strip, but it did not elaborate further.

    Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza and says it is taking steps for more aid to reach its population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, air drops, and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would convene his security cabinet this week to discuss how the military should proceed in Gaza to meet all his government’s war goals, which include defeating Hamas and releasing the hostages.

    DEATHS FROM HUNGER

    Meanwhile, five more people died of starvation or malnutrition over the past 24 hours, Gaza’s health ministry said on Monday. The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from hunger to 180, including 93 children, since the war began.

    U.N. agencies have said that airdrops of food are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and quickly ease access to it.

    COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said that during the past week, over 23,000 tons of humanitarian aid in 1,200 trucks had entered Gaza but that hundreds had yet to be driven to aid distribution hubs by U.N. and other international organizations.

    Israel’s military later said 120 aid packages containing food had been dropped into Gaza “over the past few hours” by six different countries in collaboration with COGAT.

    The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said on Sunday that more than 600 aid trucks had arrived since Israel eased restrictions in late July. However, witnesses and Hamas sources said many of those trucks have been looted by desperate displaced people and armed gangs.

    Palestinian and U.N. officials said Gaza needs around 600 aid trucks to enter per day to meet the humanitarian requirements – the number Israel used to allow into Gaza before the war.

    Israel’s offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

  • India beat England in final test to avoid series defeat

    India beat England in final test to avoid series defeat

    India took the last four wickets in under an hour to bowl England out for 367 and win an astonishing final test by six runs to draw the series at The Oval on Monday.

    Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj was India’s hero, dismissing Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton before bowling Gus Atkinson to end the match.

    Chris Woakes had walked out to bat wearing a sling to protect his dislocated shoulder with 17 runs still needed, and Atkinson hit Siraj for six to give England hope.

    Atkinson tried to protect Woakes from the strike but Siraj produced another brilliant yorker to earn India a dramatic win.

  • Top Trump aide accuses India of financing Russia’s war in Ukraine

    Top Trump aide accuses India of financing Russia’s war in Ukraine

    A top aide to President Donald Trump on Sunday accused India of effectively financing Russia’s war in Ukraine by purchasing oil from Moscow, after the U.S. leader escalated pressure on New Delhi to stop buying Russian oil.

    “What he (Trump) said very clearly is that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia,” said Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House and one of Trump’s most influential aides.

    Miller’s criticism was some of the strongest yet by the Trump administration about one of the United States’ major partners in the Indo-Pacific.

    “People will be shocked to learn that India is basically tied with China in purchasing Russian oil. That’s an astonishing fact,” Miller said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

    The Indian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday that New Delhi will keep purchasing oil from Moscow despite U.S. threats.

    A 25% tariff on Indian products went into effect on Friday as a result of its purchase of military equipment and energy from Russia. Trump has also threatened 100% tariffs on U.S. imports from countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a major peace deal with Ukraine.

    Miller tempered his criticism by noting Trump’s relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which he described as “tremendous.”

  • Hamas says it will allow aid for hostages if Israel meets conditions

    Hamas says it will allow aid for hostages if Israel meets conditions

    Hamas said on Sunday it was prepared to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver aid to hostages it holds in Gaza, if Israel meets certain conditions, after a video it released showing an emaciated captive drew sharp criticism from Western powers.

    Hamas said any coordination with the Red Cross is contingent upon Israel permanently opening humanitarian corridors and halting airstrikes during the distribution of aid.

    According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Hamas, thus far, has barred humanitarian organizations from having any kind of access to the hostages and families have little or no details of their conditions.

    On Saturday, Hamas released its second video in two days of Israeli hostage Evyatar David. In it, David, skeletally thin, is shown digging a hole that, he says in the video, is for his own grave. The arm of the individual holding the camera, which can be seen in the frame, is a regular width.

    The video of David drew criticism from Western powers and horrified Israelis. France, Germany, the UK and the U.S. were among countries to express outrage and Israel’s foreign ministry announced that the UN Security Council will hold a special session on Tuesday morning on the issue of the situation of the hostages in Gaza.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had asked the Red Cross to give humanitarian assistance to the hostages during a conversation with the head of the Swiss-based ICRC’s local delegation.

    A statement from The Hostages Families Forum, which represents relatives of those being held in Gaza, said Hamas’ comments about the hostages cannot hide that it “has been holding innocent people in impossible conditions for over 660 days,” and demanded their immediate release.

    “Until their release,” said the statement, “Hamas has the obligation to provide them with everything they need. Hamas kidnapped them and they must care for them. Every hostage who dies will be on Hamas’s hands.”

    Six more people died of starvation or malnutrition in Gaza over the past 24 hours, its health ministry said on Sunday as Israel said it allowed a delivery of fuel to the enclave, in the throes of a humanitarian disaster after almost two years of war.

    The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from what international humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine to 175, including 93 children, since the war began, the ministry said.

    Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said two trucks carrying 107 tons of diesel were set to enter Gaza, months after Israel severely restricted aid access to the enclave before easing it somewhat as starvation began to spread.

    COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said later in the day that four tankers of U.N. fuel had entered to help in operations of hospitals, bakeries, public kitchens and other essential services.

    There was no immediate confirmation whether the two diesel fuel trucks had entered Gaza from Egypt.

    Gaza’s health ministry has said fuel shortages have severely impaired hospital services, forcing doctors to focus on treating only critically ill or injured patients.

    Fuel shipments have been rare since March, when Israel restricted the flow of aid into the enclave in what it said was pressure on Hamas militants to free the remaining hostages they took in their October 2023 attack on Israel.

    Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza but, in response to a rising international uproar, it announced steps last week to let more aid reach the population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, approving air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.

    U.N. agencies say airdrops are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and open up access to the territory to prevent starvation among its 2.2 million people, most of whom are displaced amidst vast swathes of rubble.

    COGAT said that during the past week over 23,000 tons of humanitarian aid in 1,200 trucks had entered Gaza but that hundreds of the trucks had yet to be driven to aid distribution hubs by U.N. and other international organisations.

    Meanwhile, Belgium’s air force dropped the first in a series of its aid packages into Gaza on Sunday in a joint operation with Jordan, the Belgian defence ministry said.

    France on Friday started to air-drop 40 tons of humanitarian aid.

    LOOTED AID TRUCKS

    The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said on Sunday that nearly 1,600 aid trucks had arrived since Israel eased restrictions late in July. However, witnesses and Hamas sources said many of those trucks have been looted by desperate displaced people and armed gangs.

    More than 700 trucks of fuel entered the Gaza Strip in January and February during a ceasefire before Israel broke it in March in a dispute over terms for extending it and resumed its major offensive.

    Palestinian local health authorities said at least 80 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes across the coastal enclave on Sunday. Deaths included persons trying to make their way to aid distribution points in southern and central areas of Gaza, Palestinian medics said.

    Among those killed was a staff member of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which said an Israeli strike at its headquarters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza ignited a fire on the first floor of the building.

    The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in a cross-border attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s air and ground war in densely populated Gaza has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to enclave health officials.

  • Oil slips as OPEC+ proceeds with September output hike

    Oil slips as OPEC+ proceeds with September output hike

    Oil prices extended declines on Monday after OPEC+ agreed to another large production hike in September, with concerns about a slowing economy in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil user, adding to the pressure.

    Brent crude futures fell 40 cents, or 0.57%, to $69.27 a barrel by 0115 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $66.96 a barrel, down 37 cents, or 0.55%, after both contracts closed about $2 a barrel lower on Friday.

    The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September, the latest in a series of accelerated output hikes to regain market share, citing a healthy economy and low stockpiles as reasons behind its decision.

    The move, in line with market expectations, marks a full and early reversal of OPEC+’s largest tranche of output cuts, plus a separate increase in output for the United Arab Emirates, amounting to about 2.5 million bpd, or about 2.4% of world demand.

    Analysts at Goldman Sachs expect that the actual increase in supply from the eight OPEC+ countries that have raised output since March will be 1.7 million bpd, or about 2/3 of what has been announced, because other members of the group have cut output after previously overproducing.

    Read more: Eight OPEC+ countries increase oil output in bid to regain market share

    “While OPEC+ policy remains flexible and the geopolitical outlook uncertain, we assume that OPEC+ keeps required production unchanged after September,” they said in a note, adding that solid growth in non-OPEC output would likely leave little room for extra OPEC+ barrels.

    RBC Capital Markets analyst Helima Croft said: “The bet that the market could absorb the additional barrels seems to have paid off for the holders of spare capacity this summer, with prices not that far off from pre-tariff Liberation Day levels.”

    Still, investors remain wary of further US sanctions on Iran and Russia that could disrupt supplies. US President Trump has threatened to impose 100% secondary tariffs on Russian crude buyers as he seeks to pressure Russia into halting its war in Ukraine.

    At least two vessels loaded with Russian oil bound for refiners in India have diverted to other destinations following new US sanctions, trade sources said on Friday, and LSEG trade flows showed.

    However, two Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday the country will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite Trump’s threats.

    Concerns about US tariffs impacting global economic growth and fuel consumption are also hanging over the market, especially after US economic data on jobs growth on Friday was below expectations.

    US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Sunday that the tariffs imposed last week on scores of countries are likely to stay in place rather than be cut as part of continuing negotiations.