The Open Championship: Rory McIlroy returns to Northern Ireland

Fourteen years ago, then 16-year-old McIlroy carded the lowest round ever seen at Royal Portrush at the 2005 Northern Ireland championship.

Golf and the year’s final major – the Open Championship – gets underway in Northern Ireland on Thursday.

The Royal Portrush has not hosted the event since 1951, but for one of the favourites, the course does hold some more recent happy memories.

Al Jazeera’s Rahul Pathak reports.

Gold prices settle at a more than 6-year high

Gold futures climbed Wednesday to settle at their highest since May 2013, finding support from weakness in the dollar and expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut key interest rates later this month. "The dollar has eased back a little…allowing buck-denominated gold and silver to break further higher," said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at Forex.com. "As well as a weaker dollar, these precious metals have found support from safe haven flows amid weakness on Wall Street, where positive bank earnings have failed to keep the indices at record levels." Traders await the Fed’s Beige Book analysis of economic activity, due out shortly for further indications of the central bank’s plan for interest rates. August gold GCQ19, +0.95% rose $12.10, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,423.30 on Comex. That was the highest finish for a most-active contract since mid-May 2013, according to FactSet data.

FBI and Italian police arrest mafia suspects with ties to Gambino family

ROME (AP) — Italian police and FBI agents have cracked down on a Palermo-area Mafia clan with ties to the U.S.-based Gambino crime family.

Police said that around 200 officers including FBI agents fanned out in Sicily and in the New York area Wednesday, arresting 18 suspects in Italy and one in the United States.

Palermo Police Chief Renato Cortese told reporters that members of the Sicilian Passo di Rigano crime clan had settled in the U.S. in the 1980s after surviving a turf war with the Corleone crime clan, which emerged victorious over the Inzerillo crime family in the Palermo area.

Some survivors apparently returned to Italy after the weakening of the long-dominant Corleone crime family. Salvatore “Toto” Riina, the Corleone clan chieftain, died in an Italian prison in 2017.

France's Avignon Theatre Festival highlights refugee crisis

This year, festival organisers have chosen to focus on the contemporary issues of refugees, exile and exclusion.

One of the world’s most famous theatre festivals is under way in the French city of Avignon.

This year, organisers and participants are focusing on the contemporary issues of refugees, exile and exclusion.

Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler reports.

Fed's George hints she could be open to interest rate cuts

July 17 (Reuters) – Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George on Wednesday said she is prepared to adjust her views on interest rate policy if looming economic risks materialize, a sign she might be open to lowering borrowing costs.

George, a voting member this year on the Fed’s rate-setting committee, told a symposium on agriculture in Kansas City she has supported keeping rates steady at recent Fed meetings. “I’m also prepared to adjust those views should we realize some of these downside risks.” (Reporting by Jason Lange in Washington Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

5 things to watch for in the Stampeders game against the Argonauts

The Calgary Stampeders (2-2) don’t have a lot of time to nurse any physical or psychological wounds resulting from their Week 5 loss in Hamilton, as the Toronto Argonauts (0-4) come to town for a Thursday night game to kick-off Week 6.

Can the Stamps get back to winning ways? Here are 5 things to watch for:

Join me and the entire Calgary Stampeders broadcast crew as the Stamps take on the Argos on Thursday, July 18. Pregame show gets underway at 5:30 p.m. with kick-off at 7 p.m. on the radio home of the Calgary Stampeders — 770 CHQR.

EBay stock rises after earnings beat

EBay Inc. EBAY, -2.23% shares rose 3.6% in the extended session Wednesday after the company beat earnings expectations.

The company reported second-quarter net income of $402 million, or 46 cents a share, compared with $642 million, or 64 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for items such as stock-based compensation and tax effects, among other things, earnings were 68 cents a share. Revenue rose to $2.69 billion from $2.64 billion in the year-ago period.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated adjusted earnings of 62 cents a share on revenue of $2.68 billion.

For the third quarter, analysts model adjusted earnings of 63 cents a share on sales of $2.68 billion.

EBay said it expects third-quarter adjusted earnings of 62 cents to 65 cents a share on sales of $2.61 billion to $2.66 billion.

EBay stock has gained 39% this year, with the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.65%  rising 20%.

United Rentals stock drops after company tops views, trims guidance

Shares of United Rentals Inc. URI, -4.43% fell more than 5% in the extended session Wednesday after the company reported second-quarter profits above Wall Street expectations but trimmed the top of its guidance range for the year. United Rentals said it earned $270 million, or $3.44 a share, in the quarter, compared with $270 million, or $3.20 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, United earned $4.74 a share, it said. Revenue rose 21% to $2.3 billion, the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected United Rentals to report adjusted earnings of $4.42 a share on sales of $2.3 billion. United said it expects 2019 revenue between $9.15 billion and $9.45 billion, versus a prior guidance of $9.15 billion and $9.55 billion. The update reflects a "historically bad weather in several key regions this past quarter," the company said.