MyZA

News, Directory, Events and Other Stuff

You are here: Home / News / World News – 8 August 2025

World News – 8 August 2025

  • Israel’s political-security cabinet approved a plan to take control of Gaza City, a move expanding military operations despite intensifying criticism at home and abroad over the devastating, almost two-year-old war.
  • Over two days in April at a Singapore hotel, some 40 participants and observers in a war game simulated their responses to a Chinese military blockade of Taiwan. Eventually, a stark conclusion emerged: the Southeast Asian states needed a Singaporean airlift to have a chance of evacuating their people.
  • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is navigating one of the most challenging stretches of his 11 years in office. A contentious ceasefire with arch enemy Pakistan, renewed scrutiny over his age and a diplomatic chill with the US, have converged to test his leadership like never before. In the first concrete sign of discontent after Trump’s tariffs, New Delhi has put on hold its plans to procure new US weapons and aircraft.
  • US Vice President JD Vance kicked off a trip in the UK with a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, that will bring renewed scrutiny of Vance’s sharp criticism of Britain and its governing Labour Party.
  • Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is scrambling to save his country’s relationship with Mexico after it disintegrated late last year when Canadian officials suggested they’d be better off negotiating a trade deal with the Trump administration alone.
  • The US has doubled its reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to $50 million over allegations of drug trafficking and links to criminal groups, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced
  • The FBI has agreed to help track down Democratic Texas lawmakers who fled their state to thwart Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts, Republican US Senator John Cornyn said, but it was unclear whether federal agents would take action.
  • The FBI has asked local police to submit the names of people tied to drug cartels and gangs to the US government’s terrorist watch list created after 9/11, which could land more Americans on the list, according to law enforcement documents seen by Reuters.
  • Trump ordered the Commerce Department to begin work on a new census that excludes immigrants in the US illegally, revisiting a push from his first term that was later rejected by the courts and reversed by his successor.
  • Trump said he will nominate Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to serve out the final few months of a newly vacant seat at the Federal Reserve while the White House seeks a permanent addition to the central bank’s governing board and continues its search for a new Fed chair.
  • Trump also signed an executive order that aimed to allow more private equity, real estate, cryptocurrency, and other alternative assets in 401(k) retirement accounts – opening the way for alternative asset managers to tap a greater share of trillions of dollars in Americans’ retirement savings.
  • One year after taking the helm during Boeing’s deepest crisis in decades, CEO Kelly Ortberg has stopped the company’s freefall. Now, he faces new challenges: ramping up jet production, reviving a struggling defense and space division, and restoring profitability at the storied planemaker. In other news, Britain’s competition regulator has cleared Boeing’s planned acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems.
  • Paramount Global and Skydance Media completed their $8.4 billion merger, capping a drawn-out deal process marked by political scrutiny and shareholder concerns.
  • Trump demanded the immediate resignation of new Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, calling him “highly conflicted” due to his ties to Chinese firms and raising doubts about plans to turn around the struggling American chip icon. Max Cherney is one of the reporters who broke the news of Tan’s investments and joins the Reuters World News podcast to discuss this rare presidential intervention.
  • From punishing Brazil to trying to curb imports of fentanyl, Trump has wielded the threat of tariffs as an all-purpose foreign policy weapon. With a Friday deadline for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or have its oil customers face secondary tariffs, Trump has found a novel, but risky, use for his favorite trade tool.
  • The US government promised to amend a presidential executive order to remove overlapping tariffs on Japanese goods, Tokyo’s trade negotiator said, after talks in Washington to fix what he called a “regrettable” oversight.
  • Indian outsourcing giant Tata Consultancy Services’ decision to cut over 12,000 jobs signals the start of a broader AI-fueled trend that could end up eliminating around half a million jobs over the next two to three years from the $283 billion sector, experts said.
  • The market capitalisation of tokenised stocks reached R7-billion by the end of July, with a 220% monthly increase when excluding Exodus Movement shares. Binance Research suggests this growth is reminiscent of the “early DeFi boom” and could lead to a $1.3-trillion market opportunity if just 1% of global equities are tokenised.
  • Cardano’s core development team, Input Output Global (IOG), secured approval for 96 million ADA (about R140-million) from the Treasury to advance network upgrades. This 12-month plan aims to boost scalability, developer experience and interoperability, with funds being milestone-based and overseen by Intersect.
  • A Pantera Capital report reveals that the number of crypto professionals receiving salaries in digital assets tripled over the past year, with 9.6% now paid in stablecoins. Circle’s USDC accounted for 63% of all crypto payrolls, outpacing USDT despite the latter’s trading dominance.
  • France’s Rassemblement National (RN) political party is reportedly drafting a bill to use surplus energy from nuclear power plants for Bitcoin mining, viewing it as a way to convert wasted electricity into “secure and extremely profitable” digital assets.
  • Trump’s steep new tariffs on Indian imports have triggered panic among US buyers of Pearl Global, pushing the garment maker to shift production to Bangladesh, Vietnam, and others as clients demand alternatives to avoid the 50% levy.
  • As wildfires sweep southern France, farmers blame the loss of vineyards—once natural firebreaks—for the rapid spread. Declining wine demand and subsidies have led to mass vine uprooting, leaving parched land vulnerable. Growers warn recovery will require urgent government support.
  • Lower-income Americans are cutting back on essentials and dining out in favour of $1 to $3 (R17 to R53)  deals as Trump’s tariffs drive prices higher. Coca-Cola, and Chipotle report shrinking margins and cautious consumers.
  • Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel intends to take military control of all of Gaza, despite calls to end the assault on Gaza which has killed thousands.
  • The US has doubled its reward for information leading to the arrest of  Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro to $50-million. Maduro is facing allegations of drug trafficking and possible links to criminal groups.
  • The Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court to lift a ruling that prevents government agents from making immigration-related arrests in Los Angeles by alleged racial profiling tactics.
  • Construction on “Alligator Alcatraz” has been temporarily halted while a lawsuit over the environmental impact of construction at the immigration detention facility plays out.
  • Son Heung-Min joined Tottenham Hotspur as an exciting 23-year-old prospect. He left the club this week as the greatest Asian player ever.
  • Batter Haider Ali has been placed under criminal investigation by Greater Manchester Police following an undisclosed incident during the Pakistan A team’s tour of England.
  • Radiohead’s lyrics, “he buzzes like a fridge; he’s like a detuned radio”, could be Wallaby scrumhalf Nic White’s motto. He has made a career of being an irritant, and he is back to torment the Boks.
  • Japanese shares surged on Friday, while shares in other Asian markets were down.
  • Tech shares led rally amid strong US corporate earnings.
  • Gold futures climbed to a record high on Friday after a report that the United States had imposed tariffs on imports of 1kg gold bars, while spot gold stayed on track for a second straight weekly gain.
  • Oil prices were little changed in the early hours of Friday, but were headed for their steepest weekly losses since late June, as investors expressed concern over the impact on the global economy from tariffs that came into effect on Thursday.
  • Brazil’s government is mulling shifting about R98-billion ($5.54-billion) from a fund managed by state development bank to support local firms hit by steep 50% tariffs imposed by the US on Brazilian goods.
  • Britain’s homelessness minister Rushanara Ali resigned after reports she evicted tenants and raised rent significantly. Denying wrongdoing, she cited avoiding distraction. Her departure marks the fourth ministerial exit.
  • OpenAI launched GPT-5, promising stronger enterprise capabilities in coding, science, health, and finance for 700 million ChatGPT users. Despite impressive demos, early reviewers saw a smaller leap from GPT-4.
Category: Tag: ,

If you feel strongly about this article then feel free to send MyZA a ‘Letter to the Editor’ using the submission form below:

Letter to the Editor

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
If this is in response to an article please include that article title here or as the lead in for the first paragraph of your Letter below.

Separate tags with commas

Localise your letter by naming the city your words are about. Add relevant words describing your subject. Single comma separated words of no more than 5
Your Name(Required)
Your Name will be linked to the website below.
Your personal, business or social media web site
Choose NO to not set up a user account on MyZA. User Accounts will allow you to submit letters under your own Author Name

3 Latest Letters to the Editor:

  • Congratulations to the Lotto Winner

    Dear Editor Dear Editor, I was thrilled to hear about the R8.5 million Lotto win for the community of Gqeberha. Such life-changing news brings hope and excitement to everyone in the area. I congratulate the winner and wish them all the best with their prize. May this bring positive change to their life and the…

  • Opinion on Lotto Winner News

    Dear Editor Congratulations to the lucky winner! This is truly wonderful news for the community. Regards Marina Adams In Response to/From: Congratulations to the Lucky Winner

  • Regarding Lotto Winner Story

    Dear Editor Congratulations to the winner, this is wonderful news for the community. Wishing them the best for the future. Regards Willem Pieterse In Response to/From: Re: R8.5 Million Lotto Winner Claims Prize in Gqeberha

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. \”Reeeelly??\” says Van.

    \”Ja\”, says the larnie. \”Check, there\’s someone up front now, I\’ll show you!\”

    He starts steering towards the pedestrian, grinning from ear-to-ear, then at the last second he swerves back onto the road. But he hears a terrific \’thud\’, and he glances left to see Van closing the door.

    \”What the hell, man!\’ he shouts.

    \”Jirrah\” says Van, \”You need to get those sights adjusted, china, If I hadn\’t opened the door, you would have missed him completely!\”