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Israeli gunfire killed at least 30 Palestinianswaiting for humanitarian aid in northern Gaza on Wednesday, according to the Hamas-run civil defence agency, BBC reported.

A Gaza civil defence spokesperson told the AFP news agency that Israeli fire wounded around 300 more people. Israel said details of the incident "are still being examined".

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said they fired "warning shots" after Gazans gathered around aid trucks 3km southwest of the Zikim crossing, but they were "not aware of any casualties" from IDF gunfire.

Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said his facility had received 35 bodies following the incident, according to AFP.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire has said power of the Parliament rests on digital access and public trust. 

He said this in the 'Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments' organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland on July 29-31 today. 

Delivering his remarks on the topic 'What will be the role of parliamentarians in shaping our digital future?'Ghimire noted, "The strength of the Parliament today is not merely in the papers but rests on digital access and public trust". 

Highlighting the need of increasing budget in the technology sector, he said it has been of utmost importance to assure resources in digital infrastructure, cyber security, internet literacy and data protection. 

He argued that the Parliament should be developed as a leading institution rather than keeping itself behind in the era of digital transformation. 

"The parliamentarians have been successful in straightly holding dialogue with the citizens and receive their responses through social networking sites and digital media, as well as reflect the people's mandate in policy formulation", he shared. 

“However, the challenge of misusing technology for spreading misinformation and propaganda are on the rise. Parliaments have the responsibility to promote digital literacy along with the use of technology”, Ghimire mentioned. 

Speaker Ghimire expressed confidence that Parliaments can make their operations more effective by practicing technologies like machine learning, data centers, digitization, and speech-to-text technology, and that such technologies will strengthen the relationship between the parliament and the public. 

“I would like to inform you that a study is being conducted on the use of artificial intelligence in legislative management in the federal Parliament  of Nepal”, the Speaker shared, adding, “We are working on the artificial intelligence bill and the social media bill in the country. 

He informed that digital technology has provided an important opportunity to enhance the transparency, efficiency, and public participation in the functioning of the parliament. 

Technologies like online broadcasting, e-parliament systems, digital records, and electronic voting systems have contributed to the effective operations of the Parliament. 

Australia’s parliament on Thursday passed a law to cut student loans by 20%, wiping more than A$16 billion ($10.31 billion) in debt for 3 million people, and fulfilling a key election promise to help mitigate the rising cost of living, Reuters reported.

The law is the first passed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labor Party since being re-elected in May with one of the country's largest-ever majorities.

“We promised cutting student debt would be the first thing we did back in parliament – and that’s exactly what we've done,” Albanese said in a statement, according to Reuters.

“Getting an education shouldn't mean a lifetime of debt.”

Russia unleashed a combined missile and drone attack on Kyiv, killing at least six people, including a child, and wounding dozens more, local officials said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

A 6-year-old boy was among those killed, said city military administrator Tymur Tkachenko, who said the overnight attack had caused damage in 27 locations across four districts of the Ukrainian capital.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted a video of burning ruins, saying people were still trapped under the rubble of one residential building.

"It's a horrible morning in Kyiv. The brutal Russian strikes destroyed entire residential buildings and damaged schools and hospitals," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha posted on X with an image of a devastated block of apartments, according to Reuters.

The United States is suspending a "de minimis" exemption that allowed low-value commercial shipments to be shipped to the United States without facing tariffs, the White House said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, packages valued at or under $800 sent to the U.S. outside of the international postal network will now face "all applicable duties" starting on August 29, the White House said.

Trump earlier targeted packages from China and Hong Kong. The tax and spending bill recently signed by Trump repealed the legal basis for the de minimis exemption worldwide starting on July 1, 2027, according to Reuters.

President Donald Trump says the US will charge a 15% tariff on imports from South Korea, in what he called a "full and complete trade deal". 

It comes just a day before a 1 August deadline for countries to reach agreements with the US or be hit with higher tariffs. South Korea had been facing a 25% levy if it had not struck a deal, BBC reported.

Pressure on Seoul had been mounting after Japan, a key competitor in the car and manufacturing industries, secured a 15% tariff rate with the US this week.

The deal, which will also see Seoul invest $350bn (£264.1bn) in the US, has been touted as a success in South Korea - especially given the record trade surplus of at least $56bn with the US last year, according to BBC.

US officials said on Wednesday that they will sanction Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, accusing him of authorising "arbitrary pre-trial detentions" and suppressing "freedom of expression".

Judge Moraes has been leading the investigation into allegations that Brazil's former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro and his allies plotted a coup after he lost the 2022 election, BBC reported.

Bolsonaro has denied those allegations and has called Judge Moraes a "dictator".

Shortly after the sanctions were announced, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that raised tariffs on Brazil to 50%.

As Canada joins France and the UK in announcing plans to recognise a Palestinian state, the US is standing firmly with Israel - but does Trump have a long-term plan for Gaza's future?

Of all history's declarations about the Middle East, one that may be less prominent in the global collective memory was in Tokyo in November 2023.

Then-US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken laid out a series of principles for the "day after" the war in Gaza at a meeting of the G7, a group of the world's most powerful countries, BBC reported.

He travelled there from Tel Aviv, after meeting Israel's leadership a month after the Hamas attacks on October 7, during the ensuing Israeli offensive on Gaza.