UAE reschedules Mars mission launch to between July 20 and 22

DUBAI (REUTERS) – The United Arab Emirates has rescheduled the launch of its mission to Mars to a preliminary window between July 20 and July 22, depending on weather conditions at the launch site in Japan, the government’s communications office said on Thursday (July 16).

The launch of the UAE’s Hope Probe from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Centre has been delayed twice due to unsettled weather.

The probe is set to make a seven-month journey to the Red Planet before orbiting it and sending back data about the atmosphere.

Trump administration distances itself from latest attack on Fauci

The US top infectious diseases expert is urging the White House to stop attacks on him and focus on the coronavirus.

The White House is distancing itself from a scathing attack made on the country’s top infectious diseases expert by a senior Trump adviser.

It follows an op-ed in the US media criticising Dr Anthony Fauci.

Trump says he has a good relationship with Fauci and the article was “unacceptable”.

Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna reports from Washington, DC.

Breakingviews – Viewsroom: Wall Street, Huawei, Chinese taxpayers

ZURICH (Reuters Breakingviews) – Investment bankers have had a very nice lockdown indeed, says U.S. Editor John Foley. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson backtracks on 5G, delivering his pal Donald Trump a tech victory against China. Meantime President Xi Jinping takes some unusual tax pointers from Uncle Sam.

Best Movies for Fans of Country Music

Country music is famous as a medium for sharing stories. Perhaps it’s for this reason that the genre itself has inspired numerous great movies over the years.

While fewer films cater directly to country fans than, for instance, rock ‘n’ roll fans — 2019 alone saw the release of numerous movies dealing with rock, such as “Rocketman,” “Yesterday,” and “Blinded by the Light” — there have been many exceptional movies made that relate to country in some manner that have become audience favorites. Some tell stories about real musicians, some feature country artists as actors, and some merely use the culture around the genre as a backdrop for their stories.

24/7 Tempo has identified the 24 best movies for fans of country music based on critic and user ratings on websites Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. Each film offers something special for music fans, especially those drawn to the narrative qualities of country and western.

Of course, nothing can replace the satisfaction brought about by listening to one’s favorite musician. These are the 100 most popular country music albums of all time.

Click here to see the best movies for fans of country music.

To determine the best movies for fans of country music, 24/7 Tempo created an index based on each film’s Rotten Tomatoes average critic rating, Rotten Tomatoes average audience rating, and Internet Movie Database average user rating. To be considered, each film needed to have some connection to country music, either thematically or with regard to the talent involved.

Gov't criticised for making cuts to India's school curriculum

Why some are questioning the government’s decision to remove contentious subjects from the syllabus.

The global coronavirus pandemic has shortened the academic year for schools and universities around the world.

In India, the government has taken action to reduce course load by asking high schools to cut their syllabi by 30 percent.

But many are now questioning its motives.

Al Jazeera’s Elizabeth Puranam reports from New Delhi.

China H1 FDI down 1.3% y/y in yuan terms

BEIJING, July 16 (Reuters) – Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China fell 1.3% in the first half of this year from a year earlier to 472.18 billion yuan ($67.47 billion), China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday.

In June alone, FDI rose 7.1% on year to 117.0 billion yuan, it said.

China’s non-financial outbound direct investment fell 0.7% in the January-June period from a year earlier to 362.14 billion yuan, it added. ($1 = 6.9983 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Xu Jing, Yawen Chen and Kevin Yao; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Trump makes u-turn on international students with online courses

In the face of widespread opposition, Trump administration backs down on plans to withdraw the visas of international students whose studies were moved entirely online.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has dropped its plans to deport international students whose courses move fully online because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision follows eight federal lawsuits and opposition from hundreds of universities.

International students have been a significant source of revenue for many US universities and colleges.

Al Jazeera’s Victoria Gatenby reports.

FTSE 100 LIVE: China’s economy rebounds but investors continue to hold off

The gross domestic product (GDP) data, as well as key June indicators, will be closely scrutinized around the world as many countries continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. To much surprise, even China has begun to restart its economy as they appear to be containing the outbreak.

GDP rose 3.2% in the second-quarter from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, faster than the 2.5% forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll, as lockdown measures ended and policymakers ramped up stimulus to combat the pandemic-led downturn. The bounce was still the weakest expansion on record, and followed a steep 6.8% slump in the first quarter, the first such contraction since at least 1992 when quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) records began.

FOLLOW OUR LATEST UPDATES HERE: