Submit your Article

US will permanently end the $800 tariff exemption on package shipments starting Friday, aiming to boost customs revenue and curb illegal goods like narcotics, Reuters reported.

A six-month transition allows postal services to charge a flat duty of $80–$200 per package based on the country of origin, with full value-based duties mandatory by February 28, 2026. The exemption, in place since 1938 and raised to $800 in 2015, had been heavily used for direct shipments from China and Hong Kong, which surged after earlier US tariff hikes.

US Customs and Border Protection reported that exempted packages grew from 139m in 2015 to 1.36bn in 2024. Express carriers like FedEx, UPS, and DHL will handle duties, while some foreign postal services have temporarily suspended shipments, though deliveries from Britain, Canada, and Ukraine continue, according to Reuters.

NASA’s InSight mission has detected giant fragments of rock from massive impacts 4.5bn years ago deep within Mars’ mantle, Xinhua reported.

Up to four kilometers across, these lumps reveal that Mars’ interior has evolved slowly, preserving ancient features that would have been erased on Earth. The impacts melted large areas of crust and mantle, embedding debris deep in the planet.

According to Xinhua, InSight recorded over 1,300 marsquakes, providing the detailed data behind this discovery.

The US State Department has approved a possible $825m sale of air-delivered munitions and related equipment to Ukraine. The package, with Zone 5 Technologies and CoAspire as the main contractors, is aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities amid the ongoing war.

Funding for the purchase will come from US foreign military financing as well as contributions from Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway. Washington noted that no offset agreements are connected to this potential sale, Xinhua reported.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday that Israel’s assault on Gaza City marks a “new and dangerous phase,” forcing exhausted civilians into deeper peril. He said famine is already unfolding, with people dying of hunger as food, water and healthcare systems collapse, Xinhua reported.

Guterres condemned Israeli strikes on hospitals and urged Israel to allow urgent humanitarian aid, protect civilians and stop obstructing relief efforts. He also voiced concern over rising violence and settlement expansion in the West Bank, calling new housing plans an “existential threat” to a two-state solution.

He appealed for an immediate ceasefire, release of hostages, and unimpeded aid. “Starvation must never be a weapon of war,” he said, according to Xinhua.

The United States has deployed a large naval force to the Southern Caribbean, saying the move targets Latin American drug cartels. President Donald Trump has made cartel crackdowns central to his security agenda, Reuters reported.

Seven US warships, a nuclear submarine, and thousands of Marines are part of the buildup, supported by surveillance flights. The White House said the mission aims to stop narcotics flows, claiming support from regional governments.

According to Reuters, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro condemned the deployment as a threat to his country’s sovereignty and filed a complaint with the UN. He has ordered 15,000 troops to Colombia’s border and urged citizens to prepare for civil defense, portraying US pressure as part of an “economic war.”

The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) remains in a heated standoff with the Trump administration after the White House announced she had been fired.

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) chief Susan Monarez has been fired just a month into the job after clashing with the Trump administration over vaccine policy, BBC reported.

Monarez, nominated by President Trump and confirmed in July, refused to endorse what she called “reckless, unscientific directives” from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The White House said she was removed for not aligning with the president’s agenda.

Her dismissal sparked a string of senior resignations at the CDC, including top vaccine and infectious disease officials, who accused Kennedy of politicising public health, according to BBC.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has dismissed Prime Minister Nadir Larbaoui and appointed Industry Minister Sifi Ghrieb as acting head of government, Reuters reported.

Larbaoui, a former diplomat, had been in office since 2023. No reason was given for his departure.

Algeria, a key gas supplier to Europe, has remained politically stable in recent years.

Pakistani drone strikes in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar and Khost provinces killed three civilians, including children, and wounded seven others, Afghan officials said.

The Taliban condemned the attacks as a breach of sovereignty and summoned Pakistan’s ambassador in Kabul to lodge a protest, according to Reuters.

Islamabad has yet to respond. The strikes come amid strained ties, despite recent pledges by Pakistan, Afghanistan and China to boost counter-terrorism cooperation.