Sky News: HSBC has agreed to pay $765m (£588m) to the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to settle a probe into the sale of mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis. It is the latest bank to settle claims of mis-selling toxic debt before the financial crisis. HSBC has paid a lot less…
The Guardian, UK: Indonesia’s maritime affairs minister has come up with an unconventional way to help preserve precious reefs from marine pollution: distribute boatloads of free goggles to children in the archipelago’s remote coastal regions. An avid snorkeler who is known for blowing up illegal fishing boats, minister Susi Pudijastuti said she wanted to give…
Sky News: A circular saw, 1,200 toilet rolls and a black, 2007 registered Volvo S80. These are just a few of the items for which diplomats at the US embassy in London apparently no longer have a use. But if you fancy giving them a good home, you can bid for them in an online…
Sky News: A zoo in Egypt has denied painting a donkey with black stripes in order to make it look like a zebra. Egyptian student Mahmoud Sarhan, 18, was visiting the International Garden in Nasr City, Cairo, when he spotted the suspiciously-striped creature. Mr Sarhan captured a photo of the animal that appears to show…
The Express Tribune: Prime Minister in-waiting Imran Khan’s dogs are getting their own Wikipedia page, the encyclopedia’s help desk confirmed. “Wikipedia articles cover notable topics. If a topic or subject receives significant coverage in reliable secondary sources (independent of the subject) such as newspapers, then the topic/subject is considered notable and can have its standalone…
Sky News: Wizz Air has been revealed as the airline with the worst punctuality record among those operating the most flights from UK airports. Departures run by the Hungarian carrier were an average of 23 minutes late in 2017 – enough time to watch half an episode of Game of Thrones while waiting at the…
The Inndependent, UK: A planet over 12 times bigger than Jupiter has been found drifting alone through space around 20 light years away from Earth. The rogue world is not attached to any star, and is the first object of its kind to be discovered using a radio telescope. Both its mass and the enormous…
The Guardian, UK: More than six million workers are worried their jobs could be replaced by machines over the next decade, according to a report urging trade unions and the government to provide more support for those at risk. The findings come as Yvette Cooper, the Labour chair of the Commons home affairs select committee,…
Jonathan Freedland, Guardian columnist/Gulf News Facebook and Twitter are changing our behaviour for the worse. This summer, when the time comes to pack your bags for a vacation, make sure to take sunscreen, a few novels — but no Twitter. It’s August, when the talk is of holidays looming or just gone — and yet…
Umer Beigh/WION News, India Besides political hurdles, the newly formed government in Pakistan will have to tackle the major economic challenge in the form of foreign exchange reserves that are depleting and the account deficit which are going high. The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on July 31 cautioned International Monetary Fund to reconsider…