Cairo, Aug 2 (IANS) Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud discussed the “serious regional escalation in the past few days” during a phone call on Friday.

The escalation was attributed to Israel’s “extremist policies” and “adopted assassination approach,” according to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

The two ministers emphasized the importance of halting the ongoing escalation and urged major countries, particularly the United States, to fulfill their responsibilities and help stop the wave of violence.

Egypt is committed to continuing coordination and consultation with Saudi Arabia to address international and regional challenges, the statement added, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Saudi foreign minister affirmed ongoing cooperation with Egypt on regional issues to achieve the interests of both nations and ensure regional stability and security.

–IANS

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Washington, Aug 2 (IANS) US Vice President Kamala Harris raised a record $310 million in July, her campaign announced on Friday, more than double of Trump campaign’s $139 million haul for the same month.

July was an extraordinary month. First, it saw an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump who was crowned the Republican nominee for President days after, before sitting President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid and endorsed his deputy Harris to take over the ticket.

July was also Harris’ first month as the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee for President. Her campaign’s announcement was replete with fundraising landmarks — $200 million of the July haul came in just a week after Biden ended his bid and endorsed Harris.

Harris has raised $1 billion already for this election cycle, the fastest a presidential campaign has crossed the $1 billion-mark in the history of presidential elections. Additionally, the campaign has $377 million cash in hand, which is the largest ever war chest for this point in a presidential cycle.

The Trump campaign had on Thursday announced raising $139 million in July, which is itself a massive haul. It was a significant month for the campaign with the assassination attempt on the former President at an election rally, which triggered a wave of sympathy for him across the country, and the convention to nominate him for President, which usually pushes up popularity numbers.

Neither campaign has given the breakdown of how much was raised by the campaign itself and how much came from the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee and allied groups.

Fund-raising numbers are closely watched for what they say about the state of the campaign. Prior to July 21, when Biden made way for Harris, donations had fallen as Democrats debated if he was up for a second term given his dreadful performance in the first and only presidential debate thus far.

His exit threw open the floodgates for the Harris campaign, with two-thirds of the $310 haul coming from first-time donors, the campaign said.

“This is a history-making haul for a candidate who will make history this November,” said Harris for President Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez.

“The tremendous outpouring of support we’ve seen in just a short time makes clear the Harris coalition is mobilised, growing, and ready to put in the work to defeat Trump this November.”

Harris stands to make history with a range of markers if she wins the presidential polls — the first American woman, the first black woman, the first Asian American, and the first Indian American to get elected to the White House. She already has a string of firsts in the bag.

Harris’ elevation to the top of the Democratic ticket has reshaped the presidential race which was earlier tilting in the direction of Trump, who was widening his lead over Biden in the battleground states.

Harris has closed the gap significantly and is within the margin of error behind Trump — she is at 46.5 per cent to Trump’s 47.7 per cent, separated by 1.2 percentage points, in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls.

–IANS

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Rome, Aug 2 (IANS) Global prices for grains and cereals dropped sharply in July, mitigating the impact of rising prices for vegetable oil, meat, and sugar, according to a report issued Friday by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The sub-index for grains and cereals declined by 3.8 percent in July, compared with the May index. However, compared to the previous year, the cereal price index fell by 12.0 per cent.

FAO attributed the decrease to the “quiet” trading for Indica and Japonica rice and strong wheat harvests in the Northern Hemisphere and corn in Argentina and Brazil. Barley and sorghum prices also fell in July, FAO said.

Meanwhile, other sub-indexes were mixed, with prices for vegetable oils and meat rising significantly, sugar prices slightly higher, and dairy prices unchanged, Xinhua news agency reported.

Vegetable oils showed the biggest month-on-month increase of 2.4 percent, reaching a peak in 18 months. FAO said the increase was widespread, including higher prices for palm, soy, sunflower, and rapeseed oils. Among those, the soy oils price index rose the most due to the demand in the biofuel sector in the Americas. “Deteriorating crop prospects” for sunflower and rapeseed oils were also a factor, FAO said.

Meat prices climbed by 1.2 per cent from the June level and were now slightly higher compared with the previous year.

Sugar prices, meanwhile, rose by 0.7 per cent, due in part to unusually weak production in Brazil in the first half of July.

Dairy prices were balanced compared to June as weakened demand balanced short-term production issues in Western Europe and Oceania.

Overall, lower prices for grains and cereals — the largest component in the overall FAO Food Price Index — were enough to balance out the increases of other sub-indexes. As such the overall index was virtually unchanged compared to June.

–IANS

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Xi’an (China), Aug 2 (IANS) Thirty-eight people have been confirmed dead and 24 remained missing two weeks after a highway bridge collapse triggered by flash flood in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, local authorities said Friday.

As of 6 pm Friday, 25 vehicles have been confirmed to have plunged into the Jinqian River on July 19 after the collapse of a 40-meter-long section of one side of a highway bridge in Zhashui County in the city of Shangluo. One person has been saved, according to the city government.

The 366-meter bridge spanning the Jinqian River is a part of the Danfeng-Ningshan expressway, Xinhua news agency reported.

Over 3,400 professional rescuers from ministries, the armed forces, fire brigades and non-government rescue teams have conducted several rounds of search operations stretching 100 km downstream.

In the rescue efforts, the rescuers have used boats, drones, detectors and underwater robots, braving the rushing river water and unfavorable weather and geographical conditions.

The rescue operation is still underway.

–IANS

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Cairo, Aug 2 (IANS) At least two people were killed and 25 injured when a truck rear-ended a passenger bus on a highway near Cairo on Friday, health sources said.

The bus, carrying holidaymakers, overturned after being hit at high speed in the morning, the sources at Matrouh Hospital told Xinhua news agency.

Some 20 ambulances transported the wounded to three hospitals, they added.

The public prosecutor has ordered an investigation into the accident and the truck driver has been detained for drug tests.

Road accidents are common in Egypt and often blamed on speeding, poor road conditions, and lax enforcement of traffic laws. The government has invested in upgrading the road network in recent years.

–IANS

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