Middle Eastern Politics Headlines at 2:29 p.m. GMT
Mediators hold new Gaza cease-fire talks and hope to head off a wider war
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South China Morning PostByteDance's Douyin emerges as fast-rising rival to e-commerce giants Alibaba, JD and PDD
ByteDance's Douyin, the domestic sibling of TikTok, has emerged as a rising contender in the Chinese e-commerce market once dominated by Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com, despite slowing growth. The Beijing-based short-video platform, which has been aggressively expanding into the online shopping business, increased gross merchandise volume (GMV) by 46 per cent year on year between August 2023 and July 2024, said Wei Wenwen, the president of Douyin's e-commerce unit, at a company event in Shangh
- Reuters
Salesforce expands local cloud platform to Israel
Cloud software firm Salesforce said on Tuesday its Hyperforce cloud platform was now available in Israel, which will allow sensitive government and companies' data to stay local. The platform, two years in the making, will initially run on Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure and possibly later on Google Cloud Platform, company officials said. Itai Margalit, head of sales at Salesforce in Israel, said having a cloud platform would benefit government entities and those firms "that are regulated and need to comply with privacy laws ... and cannot go out of the boundaries of Israel."
- The Telegraph
‘Trump debated three people and won’
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump went head-to-head in their first and possibly only debate on Tuesday night.
- LA Times
Sex tourism in Indonesia sells itself as Islamic temporary marriage
Saudi sex tourists are buying weeklong marriages to young women in Indonesia. It's an economic lifeline for villages. For the women, it's 'torture.'
- BuzzFeed
18 Awkward, Yikes, Or Otherwise Ridiculous Presidential Debate Moments
Trump telling Harris to stop laughing at him was a real thing that happened multiple times.
- HuffPost
'Holy S**t': Jon Stewart Nails Exact Moment Kamala Harris 'Crushed' Trump At Debate
The "Daily Show" host hit the former president for an "insanely false" claim at the debate.
- Cosmo
Suki Waterhouse is nearly naked in see-through lace dress under faux fur coat
Suki Waterhouse put a boho twist on naked dressing to attend Michael Kors's New York Fashion Week runway show in a see-through pink lace dress and faux fur coat
- The Guardian
Woman started crying and said ‘it was hurting’ when high-profile Sydney man allegedly raped her, court told
The man, who cannot be named, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges including six counts of rape
- The Independent
‘They need to know who saved them’: A man ran to rescue car crash survivors. He died hours later
Grant Fox Sr. saved several people from a smoking car that was ‘about to blow up’ before he had to be rushed to a North Las Vegas hospital, his fiancée said
- The Independent
Who won the presidential debate? Harris laughed, Trump spiraled
Former president repeated familiar falsehoods and gave rambling answers
- Associated Press
Personal assistant convicted of dismembering his boss is sentenced to 40 years to life
A personal assistant convicted of killing and dismembering his former tech entrepreneur boss after stealing about $400,000 from him was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years to life in prison, Manhattan's district attorney said. Tyrese Haspil, 25, was found guilty in June of murder, grand larceny and other charges in the 2020 death of his former boss, Fahim Saleh. Prosecutors said Haspil had been hired as an assistant for Saleh, whose ventures included a ride-hailing motorcycle startup in Nigeria, but quickly began to siphon money from Saleh's businesses.
- Hello!
Sydney Sweeney's plunge neck jumpsuit is a lesson in 'less is more' chic
The Euphoria actress stunned in Balmain to receive a prestigious award at the Toronto International Film Festival - see photos
- The Independent
George W Bush reveals his decision on 2024 endorsement after Cheney snubbed Trump
The 43rd president will not join his former vice president Dick Cheney, who said last week that he would vote for Democrat Kamala Harris
- HuffPost
Donald Trump's Attempt To Explain 'Kamabla' Insult For Kamala Harris Goes Awkwardly Awry
The former president reportedly "laughed a deflated kind of laugh" in the uncomfortable exchange.
- Associated Press
Pope lands in economic power Singapore after a joyous visit to impoverished, devout East Timor
Pope Francis flew to Singapore on Wednesday for the final leg of his trip through Asia, arriving in one of the world’s richest countries from one of its poorest after a record-setting final Mass in East Timor. After a brief farewell ceremony, Francis, the Vatican delegation and journalists traveling with him flew to Singapore aboard local carrier Aero Dili's only aircraft, an Airbus A320. It landed about three hours later in Singapore, where Francis had no public events scheduled for the rest of the day.
- CNN
Singaporean man ordered to repay tens of millions in debt to Australian casino
A Singaporean man has been ordered to repay more than 38 million Australian dollars ($25.7 million) after he lost big during a gambling spree at an Australian casino over the span of a few days.
- HuffPost
Kamala Harris' Campaign Strikes Rawest Of Nerves For Donald Trump In Mocking New Ad
One of Donald Trump's obsessions is lampooned in the spot — with some help from Barack Obama.
- People
Marathoner Stripped of Paralympic Medal After Helping Her Guide Who Cramped at Finish Line: ‘Devastated’
Elena Congost said it "seems so unfair" that she was disqualified after finishing in third place
- Reuters
Ukraine targets Moscow in biggest drone attack yet
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Ukraine targeted the Russian capital on Tuesday in its biggest drone attack so far, killing at least one and wrecking dozens of homes in the Moscow region and forcing around 50 flights to be diverted from airports around Moscow. Russia, the world's biggest nuclear power, said it had destroyed at least 20 Ukrainian attack drones as they swarmed over the Moscow region, which has a population of more than 21 million, and 124 more over eight other regions. At least one person was killed near Moscow, Russian authorities said.
- The Daily Beast
Trump Demands Government Shutdown Hours Before Debating Harris
Donald Trump spent the afternoon ahead of his debate against Kamala Harris by demanding Republican lawmakers pursue a government shutdown if they cannot attach a hardline voting bill to the budget.Trump’s demand, via a fiery post on Truth Social, was met with pushback from some establishment Republicans—but appeared to nudge some Trump allies, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, into backing Trump’s desire.“If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THE