Reuters

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran on Wednesday, the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said in separate statements. The Islamist faction mourned the death of Haniyeh, who it said was killed in “a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh

Hanieh attended Iran’s new president’s swearing in ceremony on Tuesday. “Early this morning, the residence of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was struck, resulting in his and one of his body guards’ martyrdom. The cause is under investigation and will be announced soon,” the Revolutionary Guards said.

Bank of Japan raises rates in a surprise move

Japan Times

 The Bank of Japan on Wednesday raised rates and introduced a plan to reduce its purchases of Japanese government bonds by half in a move that was a surprise to the markets.

At its two-day policy meeting, the BOJ voted to increase its short-term policy rate target to 0.25% from a range of 0% to 0.1%. Most BOJ watchers had expected that the central bank would wait until September or October to tighten in order to gather more data.

The yen strengthened to the ¥152 level against the dollar ahead of the announcement, as local media reported the possibility of a rate increase. The Japanese currency has staged a dramatic comeback from the nearly ¥162 level in early July.

Xi urges efforts to realize 2024 economic goals

Xinhua

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has called for striving to realize economic and social development goals in 2024.

The CPC Central Committee held a symposium on July 26 with non-CPC personages to seek opinions and suggestions on the country’s current economic situation and economic work for the second half of the year. Xi presided over the symposium and delivered an important speech.

To do the economic work well for the second half of the year, the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability should continue to be followed, Xi said.

Harris is close to picking her VP. Here are the frontrunners

BBC

Kamala Harris will begin a US tour with her new running mate next week, indicating that she is likely days away from announcing her choice.

The pool of candidates for Democratic vice-president has been narrowed to a group of five, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

A decision is required before the Democratic National Convention, which starts on 19 August in Chicago, preceding the November presidential election. Once Ms Harris’s running mate is announced, the two are expected to tour the US, visiting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Detroit, Michigan; Las Vegas, Nevada; Raleigh, North Carolina; Phoenix, Arizona; Savannah, Georgia; and western Wisconsin.