Qantas posts bumper profit

Wagner chief Prigozhin ‘among passengers’ on plane that crashed

• In June, Prigozhin led a short-lived rebellion against Russia's conventional army with thousands of mercenaries taking up weapons and marching from southern Russia towards Moscow.
• The mutiny ended with a deal, mediated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, under which Prigozhin was expected to move to neighborin Belarus with some of his men.

Vietnam shoemaker to cut 1200 jobs

• It announced in May almost 6,000 workers with permanent contracts would be laid off, after letting go almost 3,000 permanent staff in February.
• That came after PouYuen put 20,000 of its workers on paid leave in rotation last year.

Schools shut in Makkah region after heavy storms and downpour

• The storm brought gale force winds exceeding 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour, Hussein al-Qahtani, spokesman for the National Centre for Meteorology.
• The Makkah neighborhood of Al-Kakkiyah recorded 45 millimeters (1.8 inches) of rain within 24 hours, the meteorology center shared in a post on X.

Markets surge as traders await Powell speech, Nvidia results

• All eyes are on a planned speech Friday by Fed chief Jerome Powell, with dealers hoping for some clarity on its plans to keep inflation on a downward path.
• Investors are also awaiting earnings from Nvidia, which is tipped to post forecast-busting revenue in the second quarter thanks to the surge in demand for its processors.

India first nation to land spacecraft near Moon’s south pole

• The Chandrayaan-3 mission has captivated public attention since launching nearly six weeks ago in front of thousands of cheering spectators.
• Chandrayaan-3 took much longer to reach the Moon than the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s, which arrived in a matter of days.

Wildfire briefly halts marine traffic on Turkish strait

• The emergency response service said it had evacuated seven villages and was preparing to help people leave three more on Turkey's northwestern coast
• The good news is that the winds seem to blowing away from the city centre of Canakkale, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said

Ronaldo’s Al Nassr qualifies for Asian Champions League group stage

• Ronaldo, 38, left the pitch at half-time clearly frustrated and could be seen arguing with the referee
• The Portuguese star, the Nassr captain, believed he should have had two penalties in the first half

Divided border village at heart of Israel-Lebanon tensions

• According to municipal figures, the village is home to around 3,000 people, who took Israeli citizenship after Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria
• Lebanese authorities consider the expansion of Ghajar, with its pastel-coloured homes spreading to the north in recent decades, as an infringement on their land

Two civilians dead in Russian strikes in northwest Syria: rescuers

• Two strikes ONTuesday near Ain Shib hit the facility where displaced Syrians had been living
• Earlier Tuesday, Russian air strikes targeting a rebel base north of Idlib city killed three members of HTS