Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province activated a red alert for rainstorms on Friday.

According to the Heilongjiang Meteorological Observatory, it is expected that some southern townships of the Mongolian Autonomous County of Dorbod, Heilongjiang, could receive accumulated precipitation of up to 100 mm within the space of just three hours.

At 5:50 a.m. on Friday, the provincial meteorological observatory issued a high-impact weather forecast, predicting short-term heavy rainfall in the provincial capital Harbin's main urban area and in cities such as Zhaodong, Wuchang and Shangzhi, within six hours after the issuing of the forecast.

Thunderstorms and strong winds are expected in some parts of the province, with gusts reaching a maximum force of level 7 to 8.

As torrential monsoon rains continue to batter Pakistan, another eight people died across the country in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 266, according to the latest report issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), local media reported on Friday.

Among the newly reported eight casualties, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa recorded three deaths and five injuries. While Islamabad and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan each reported two fatalities, another death was recorded in Sindh.

Since the beginning of the monsoon season in late June, a total of 266 people have lost their lives, including 94 men, 46 women, and 126 children. Additionally, 628 have sustained injuries nationwide in rain-triggered incidents, reported.

Global currency markets are undergoing a significant transition as the US dollar faces consistent downward pressure, driven by lingering uncertainties around US interest rates and the possibility of new trade tariffs, a report said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Euro and British Pound have gained ground, following timely and aggressive rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BOE), according to Emkay Wealth Management's latest report.

In the Asian context, the Indian Rupee has shown short-term strength, recovering from a recent high of Rs 87.

According to the report, this rebound in Indian currency is partly supported by improved trade data; its durability hinges on the return of foreign capital, expected once US interest rates begin to ease.

As the year unfolds, global markets will continue to track the Fed’s signals and geopolitical shifts.

A bank manager lost Rs 56 lakh after being "digitally arrested" by cyber fraudsters in Karnataka's Mandya district.

The police cracked the case after nine months and arrested three persons in connection with the crime.

According to police, the victim is a woman bank manager working at Bank of Baroda.

The cyber criminals, posing as officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), contacted her through a video call and accused her of being involved in money laundering and making threatening calls.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed various topical issues in a telephone conversation on Thursday, the Uzbek president's press service said.

During the telephone conversation, "President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin warmly congratulated President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on his birthday, wishing him good health, prosperity, and success in his public activities," said the press service in a statement.

The issues the two leaders discussed included the development and strengthening of the Uzbek-Russian comprehensive strategic partnership and alliance in the context of the practical implementation of agreements at the highest level, the statement said.

Regular exposure to air pollution, including that coming from car exhaust emissions, can increased your risk of dementia, according to an analysis of studies published on Friday.

Dementias such as Alzheimer's disease are estimated to affect more than 57.4 million people worldwide, a number that is expected to almost triple to 152.8 million cases by 2050.

The study, published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health, showed that for every 10 micrograms per cubic metre of PM2.5, an individual's relative risk of dementia would increase by 17 per cent.

For each 1 micrograms per cubic metre of soot as found in PM2.5, the relative risk for the cognitive condition increased by 13 per cent. Soot comes from sources such as vehicle exhaust emissions and burning wood.

"These findings underscore the need for an interdisciplinary approach to dementia prevention. Preventing dementia is not just the responsibility of health care: this study strengthens the case that urban planning, transport policy, and environmental regulation all have a significant role to play," said joint first author Dr. Christiaan Bredell from the University of Cambridge.

New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell has been named as a replacement for injured Glenn Phillips for the first Test against Zimbabwe.

Phillips suffered the injury during the Major League Cricket (MLC) final and was assessed on arrival in Zimbabwe and required a number of weeks to rehabilitate.

Bracewell, who was not considered in the original squad due to his commitments with The Hundred overlapping with the two-Test series in Bulawayo, set to make a return in the BlackCaps red-ball lineup for the first time since 2023.

The 34-year old, who last featured in a Test match during Sri Lanka’s tour of New Zealand in 2023, will depart Zimbabwe after the conclusion of the first Test and join the Southern Brave ahead of their first game.

Having made his debut in the longest format back in 2022, Bracewell has 24 wickets and 259 runs to his name from eight matches. New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said Bracewell is a strong replacement for Phillips.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed French President Emmanuel Macron’s move to officially recognise the state of Palestine, calling it a “reckless decision”.

“The United States strongly rejects Emmanuel Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly. This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7,” Rubio said on Friday in a post on X.

The remarks came after French President Macron announced France’s decision to recognise the Palestinian state.

“Consistent with its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the State of Palestine. I will make this solemn announcement before the United Nations General Assembly this coming September. The urgent priority today is to end the war in Gaza and to bring relief to the civilian population,” Macron stated in his social media post.

Investors of National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) were left surprised on Friday after the company announced its initial public offering (IPO) price band at a steep discount of 22 per cent from its prevailing unlisted market valuation.

The IPO price band at Rs 760–800 per share, looks disheartening to the investors who hold the stock now at its unlisted market price of Rs 1,025 per share. The shares of NSDL which were trading at Rs 1,025 in the unlisted market, have already witnessed a 20 per cent correction from their recent peak of Rs 1,275 seen on June 12, 2025.

NSDL’s IPO will open for subscription on July 30, 2025 and close on August 1, with anchor investor participation beginning on July 29. The issue, which is a pure offer for sale, aims to raise around Rs 4,011 crore.

If the NSDL shares get the cut-off price at the upper end of the IPO price band, the company’s market capitalisation will be around Rs 16,000 crore.

After facing a global outage for nearly 3 hours, Starlink announced on Friday that the network issue affecting its internet service has been resolved.

On Thursday night, Starlink’s satellite internet service experienced an outage affecting many users worldwide. The issue affected customers across multiple continents, with outage tracking sites showing spikes in North America, Europe, and parts of Asia.

“The network issue has been resolved, and Starlink service has been restored. We understand how important connectivity is and apologize for the disruption,” Starlink, owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, shared in a post on the social media platform X.

Musk was also quick to comment on the incident.

"Service will be restored shortly. Sorry for the outage," said Musk on X.

"SpaceX will remedy the root cause to ensure it doesn’t happen again," he added.