Billionaire Leon Black sued the House Oversight Committee before failing to appear for a deposition under subpoena in the panel’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

Leon BlackHouse Oversight CommitteeEpstein probe

Billionaire investor Leon Black is suing the House committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein in an effort to block it from obtaining his non-disclosure agreements and testimony.

Leon BlackJeffrey EpsteinHouse committeelawsuit

Billionaire Leon Black has sued the US House committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein and his influential associates after skipping a scheduled deposition. Black’s lawyer called the inquiry an overreaching “fishing expedition”, while Representative Robert Garcia urged Congress to hold him in contempt for defying two subpoenas.

Leon BlackJeffrey EpsteinUS Congresssubpoenas

Leon Black has sued the House Oversight Committee to block subpoenas issued in its Epstein investigation. His attorneys say the nondisclosure agreements sought by the panel have nothing to do with Black’s dealings with notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and Black will not appear Thursday.

Leon BlackHouse Oversight CommitteeEpstein investigationsubpoenas

Leon Black sued the House committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein, asking a court to stop subpoenas issued to the Apollo Global Management co-founder. The subpoenas seek nondisclosure agreements involving women in Epstein’s orbit.

Leon BlackJeffrey EpsteinHouse committeesubpoenas

A Lebanese man detained by Israel has been released and transferred to Lebanon, the first handover of its kind since the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict began six months ago.

LebanonIsraelprisoner handover

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the body of former Bosnian Serb Army commander Ratko Mladic, who died in UN custody in The Hague, had been retrieved and would arrive in Belgrade late Thursday. His family will later announce funeral details, while Vucic said tens of thousands could attend the farewell ceremony.

Ratko MladicSerbiafuneralThe Hague

OpenAI has launched GPT-6 Astra, describing it as a “generational leap” for cybersecurity, professional work, software engineering, science, and computer use. President Greg Brockman said he believes the model may mark the arrival of the AGI era. The model is rolling out first to enterprise cybersecurity customers, followed by broader users, the API, and AWS.

OpenAIGPT-6 AstraAGIAI safety

OpenAI has begun rolling out its Astra model after warning about its advanced cybersecurity capabilities. Companies taking part in the application-based cybersecurity program will be the first to receive access.

OpenAIAstra modelcybersecurity

OpenAI has released a new model that the AI company says better follows user intent and crosses a critical threshold in cybersecurity capabilities, prompting internal security measures.

OpenAIartificial intelligencecybersecurity

Russian authorities detained Lida Moniava, head of the House with a Lighthouse children’s hospice, and charged her with spreading “fake” information about the military out of political hatred. The case concerns a 2023 Telegram post condemning the war and describing Ukrainian civilian deaths. She faces up to 10 years in prison, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for September 3.

RussiaLida Moniavamilitary “fakes”children’s hospice

US mortgage rates have surged to a new high for the year, nearing 7%.

United Statesmortgage rateshousing

Mortgage rates rose again this week, pushing the average rate on a long-term U.S. home loan to its highest level in more than a year.

US economymortgagesinterest rates

About 2,000 Indonesian students and teachers have developed suspected food poisoning after eating meals supplied by the government’s free school meals programme over the past three days. The latest incident affected 777 people at a high school in Central Java. Authorities are investigating several outbreaks, while food samples are being tested for contamination amid reports of slimy, undercooked and foul-smelling food.

Indonesiafood poisoningfree school mealspublic health

Russian strikes on Ukrainian warehouses and military bases have cut fuel supplies for the Ukrainian armed forces by half, a source in Russian defense circles told TASS. Damage to gas stations is being reported almost daily across Ukraine, while Kyiv is testing underground storage and seeking to expand and diversify supplies.

Russia-Ukraine conflictRussian militaryfuel supplies

Farmers in Gaza are working to preserve native crops by rebuilding a local seed bank destroyed during Israel’s war in the enclave. They are also encouraging Palestinians to cultivate the small amount of viable land that remains.

Gazaseed bankagricultureIsrael war

Syria has begun destroying chemical materials dating from the Assad era. A memorial event in Idlib marked the ninth anniversary of the chemical attack on April 4, 2026, and featured a painting.

Syriachemical materialsAssad era

Syria has started destroying remnants of a clandestine chemical weapons program from the Assad era that it recovered in May, according to a Syrian envoy and a United Nations representative. They said on Thursday that it was the first such destruction in a decade.

Syriachemical weaponsUnited Nations

Gloria Steinem, co-founder of Ms. Magazine and an internationally recognised feminist activist, has died at her home aged 92. She advocated legal abortion, same-sex marriage and equal pay, and was a vocal critic of Donald Trump, saying the United States had regressed on women’s rights. She began journalism in New York in the 1960s.

Gloria SteinemfeminismUS politics

Gloria Steinem, the feminist pioneer, writer and activist who helped shape the modern women’s movement in the United States, has died at 92. Some of her most memorable quotes are being revisited.

Gloria SteinemfeminismUS women's movementquotes

Gloria Steinem, the author and activist who became one of the most recognisable voices of the US women’s movement, has died at 92. The Ms. Magazine cofounder spent her life advocating for women’s rights, speaking at campuses, community centres, rallies and marches.

Gloria Steinemfeminismwomen's rights

Pioneering feminist and journalist Gloria Steinem has died at 92. She devoted her life to causes including reproductive freedom, preventing domestic violence and addressing gender inequality in the workplace, with activism that transformed women’s personal and professional lives.

Gloria Steinemfeminismsocial activismobituary

Gloria Steinem, the feminist trailblazer, writer and activist who helped shape the modern women’s movement in the United States, has died at the age of 92.

Gloria Steinemfeminismwomen's movement

Gloria Steinem, a feminist icon and founder of Ms. Magazine, has died at the age of 92.

Gloria SteinemfeminismMs. Magazine

Moroccan law enforcement says more than 4,000 people were arrested and expelled from Tangier over the past 20 days for planning to enter Spain’s autonomous city of Ceuta. Most were young people or minors, along with migrants from sub-Saharan African countries.

MoroccoCeutamigrationdeportations

Pedro Sánchez told parliament that Spain had no evidence Morocco planned or facilitated the mass crossing into Ceuta in late July, despite a police report alleging Moroccan border forces helped about 70,000 people cross. He acknowledged that Moroccan forces allowed crossings during a key 10-hour period, while as many as 141 people are thought to have died. Sánchez also defended treating migrants individually under Spanish, European and international law.

CeutaMoroccomigration crisisSpanish politics

Tens of thousands protested across Spain over the government’s handling of the mass migrant crossing from Morocco into Ceuta in July. Authorities said 50,000 people demonstrated in Madrid alone. Tensions continued in Ceuta after the rallies, with gunshots and explosions heard for hours. Protesters carried signs attacking Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and migrants.

SpainCeutamigration crisisprotests

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told parliament that no-one could have foreseen 72,000 migrants arriving in Ceuta and called it absurd to claim the government knew and did nothing. He said there was no evidence Morocco orchestrated the crossing and stressed close co-ordination between the countries. Tens of thousands protested Spain’s handling of the crisis, while about 5,000 migrants, including up to 1,400 children, remained in Ceuta.

Ceuta migration crisisSpanish politicsMoroccoprotests

Tens of thousands rallied across Spain in support of Ceuta, protesting the government’s handling of the migrant crisis and accusing Morocco of involvement in the surge at the border.

SpainCeutamigrant crisisprotests

Tom Gibson, a campaigner who has worked on the case of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia since her killing in a 2017 car bombing, said he was devastated by the not-guilty verdict.

MaltaDaphne Caruana Galiziamurder verdict

Hundreds demonstrated in Valletta after a wealthy businessman was acquitted of masterminding the 2017 car-bomb murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Maltese civil society groups and international media freedom organisations reacted with outrage. The opposition Nationalist Party is seeking a special parliamentary session to discuss the case.

MaltaDaphne Caruana Galiziacourt verdictmedia freedom

Outrage is growing in Malta after Yorgen Fenech was acquitted of conspiracy and complicity in the 2017 murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Maltajournalist murderacquittal

New US tariffs of up to 100% on drones and parts took effect on Thursday as Washington seeks to reduce its reliance on Chinese suppliers, led by DJI.

USChinadronestariffs

Nvidia is acquiring AI startup Hugging Face for nearly $13 billion as the chipmaker seeks to broaden its reach in artificial intelligence. Hugging Face was recently hacked by OpenAI.

NvidiaHugging Faceartificial intelligenceacquisition

Nvidia has agreed to acquire AI model platform Hugging Face for $13 billion. Hugging Face hosts millions of models and datasets and promotes open AI systems; it rejected a large Nvidia investment last year at a $7 billion valuation to remain independent. Nvidia says the deal will accelerate the spread of open models.

NvidiaHugging Faceartificial intelligenceopen models

Nvidia is set to acquire Hugging Face, an open-source platform used by millions of developers to build AI, for $12.9bn (€11.1bn). The deal would be Nvidia’s second-largest acquisition ever.

NvidiaHugging Faceartificial intelligenceacquisition

Nvidia says it will acquire AI software platform Hugging Face for $12.93 billion, or about €11.13 billion. The chipmaker says the platform will remain open while its infrastructure and access for developers and institutions worldwide are expanded.

NvidiaHugging Faceartificial intelligenceacquisition

The long-rumored $12.9 billion deal would give chip giant Nvidia access to a vast repository of open-source AI models and datasets, while helping it promote those resources.

NvidiaHugging Faceopen-source AI

Nvidia confirmed it will acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion. Nvidia said the platform hosts more than 3 million models and is used by over 18 million developers.

NvidiaHugging Faceartificial intelligence

Microsoft says Xbox Game Pass subscribers will face monthly Xbox Cloud Gaming limits from November: 15 hours for Ultimate, 10 for Premium, and 5 for Essential. Players can buy additional time through the Xbox Store, while Microsoft cites rising costs as usage increases. The company also plans to sell cloud playtime to people without Game Pass.

MicrosoftXbox Cloud GamingGame Pass

Microsoft says anyone will be able to use Xbox Cloud Gaming in November without an Xbox Game Pass subscription. Players can buy cloud playtime through the Xbox Store to stream eligible games they own, while Game Pass Ultimate subscribers face a 15-hour monthly limit. Microsoft is also testing free, ad-supported cloud gaming.

MicrosoftXbox Cloud Gamingpay-as-you-go