Archive July 31, 2025

Today’s horoscope for July 31 as Taurus’ conversations could easily escalate into conflict

One star sign will soon experience the rewards of hard work in today’s horoscope for July 31; however, another has the chance to make new connections.

Find out what’s written in the stars with our astrologer Russell Grant(Image: Daily Record/GettyImages)

One star sign’s conversations on Thursday, July 31, are likely to turn into disagreements.

There are 12 zodiac signs – Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces – and the horoscopes for each can give you the lowdown on what your future holds, be it in work, your love life, your friends and family or more.

These daily forecasts have been compiled by astrologer Russell Grant, who has been reading star signs for over 50 years. From Aries through to Pisces, here’s what today could bring for your horoscope – and what you can do to be prepared.

Aries (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Anything can happen in any situation, which is one of those days. Conversations will be sane, focused efforts will yield positive outcomes, and exciting changes will be reported in the news. Although the atmosphere is generally positive, there might still be issues or disagreements later, so be careful.

Taurus (Apr 21 – May 21)

More can be said about your work environment, which improves family relationships. Superiors and coworkers don’t understand each other. Keep things in the background, as conflict could easily arise. Your coworker’s behavior will surprise you.

Gemini (May 22 – June 21)

Although keeping up with paperwork may seem tedious and repetitive, it is also essential for professional development and advancement. Find no more excuses to put off this. Instead, take the task seriously. You’ll soon start to reap the rewards of your labor.

Cancer (June 22 – July 23)

Consideration should be given to an unanticipated offer or proposal. You’ll come away with the impression that your involvement will benefit your career after considering all the options. You might need to make alternative arrangements for your family’s immediate needs as you take advantage of this opportunity.

Leo (July 24 – Aug 23)

You aren’t sure how you really feel about this because the upcoming events indicate a significant change in your life. Your family’s life will be impacted by a new career. Your career may change as a result of a change in your family. There is plenty to celebrate despite the fact that some experiences may leave you with a bittersweet feeling.

Virgo (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

When you’re uncertain, trust your gut feeling. Master the art of interpreting the voices and tone of voice of those around you as well as hearing words. Spend more time contemplating communication because it might reveal something about a person.

Libra (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Avoid scheduling meetings, appointments, and other tasks that will keep you glued to the office if you aren’t really in the mood for work. Your family and friends’ company would be what you would really enjoy. Professional obligations could be changed without a doubt.

Scorpio (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

You put in a lot of effort to improve your skills and knowledge, and you have gained valuable experience as a result. The time has come to use what you’ve learned. No reason to be anxious, really. You can accomplish this, and you will always be admired for who you are.

Sagittarius (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

Accept a request for a get-together because it will give you the chance to make new connections. You might meet someone who will change your life forever, even while continuing your regular business.

Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

Think about your future in business. This is the ideal time to transition into a new position if you have been dreaming about doing so. In contrast, it’s crucial to consider how to advance your career if you want to stay in your current position.

Aquarius (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

Bring your thoughts back to the present when they start to wander. Take interest in conversations and express your opinions in a clear, open manner. Your words will make people want to hear them, and they will. Realizing one’s feelings will help you establish a solid friendship network.

Continue reading the article.

Pisces (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

You won’t want to admit it, but your actions have caused some conflicts and disagreements in a partnership. What causes this to occur? Could it be that you no longer feel as loved as you do? Is it worthwhile to maintain a relationship that causes you more pain than joy?

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US senator plans trip to Taiwan as Trump’s interest in island cools: Report

Apparently, a senior Republican lawmaker from the United States is planning to travel to Taiwan, where there are growing concerns that US President Donald Trump may prefer to establish diplomatic ties with China.

According to three people with knowledge of the situation, US Senator Roger Wicker from Mississippi will travel to Taiwan in August, according to a report from The Financial Times on Thursday.

According to the report, Wicker is “one of Taiwan’s biggest allies in Congress” and the Republican chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.

Washington’s de facto embassy in Taipei, Wicker’s office, and the American Institute in Taiwan, did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on the alleged trip.

US legislators regularly travel to Taiwan, an unofficial ally of Washington, but Wicker’s visit comes at a time when US-Taiwan relations are uncertain.

According to people with knowledge of the situation, Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te reportedly planned to travel to the US next month to meet with his allies in Latin America, but he canceled his travel plans after Trump canceled a layover in New York, according to the Financial Times.

Lai’s office never made the trip’s official announcement, but his office claimed the president had no plans to travel abroad as part of his ongoing negotiations with the US and typhoon cleanup.

President Lai’s cancelled visit was reportedly timing because it came after a separate announcement from Trump that he intended to travel to China at President Xi Jinping’s request as Beijing and Washington worked out a tariff deal.

Xi, who also leads the Chinese Communist Party, calls on Lai and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to annex Taiwan with force or through peace.

Beijing objectes to Taiwanese leaders making unofficial visits to the US.

Although Wicker’s trip may have been planned months in the past, according to experts, US lawmakers may still use it to sabotage concerns that the White House is no longer interested in Taiwan.

According to Lev Nachman, a political scientist at National Taiwan University in Taipei, “I’m sure many will hope for words of affirmation and commitment to the US-Taiwan relationship, which would have previously been normal,” but today will feel more important to assure both the DPP and Taiwanese citizens who have a declining view of the United States.”

There are strong skepticisms about the US that are permeating Taiwanese society, including the US, which is Taiwan’s security guarantor and has pledged to provide Taipei with the means to defend itself.

Since Trump took office last year, the issue has become more significant, with Trump threatening to impose a 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese exports after saying Taiwan should pay for its own defense.

Only 23.1 percent of Taiwanese voters voted for the US as either a “trustworthy” or “very trustworthy,” according to a survey conducted in April by Nachman and others, down from 33.6 percent in June 2024, when US President Joe Biden was still in office.

If Beijing tries to halt the trip, according to Liza Tobin, managing director of the geopolitical advisory group Garnaut Global.

According to Tobin, who previously served as China Director of the US National Security Council, Trump has already granted Beijing a number of concessions, including access to Nvidia’s H20 chip and refusing to grant Lai approval.

With the president attempting to negotiate a trade deal with China and a trip to Xi, China may try to pressure the administration to turn around and force Wicker to rescind the trip, she said. “Unilateral concessions are like catnip for Beijing to push for more concessions,” she said.

Ozzy Osbourne superfan ‘thought it was a prank’ when heavy metal legend died

As the Prince of Darkness made his final journey through his hometown, emotional Jen Butler and Ozzy Osbourne fans crowded the streets of Birmingham yesterday.

(Photo: SWNS/Anita Maric)

An Ozzy Osbourne superfan thought “it was a prank” when the the Prince of Darkness died.

Jen Butler was among thousands of mourners gathered in Birmingham city centre yesterday as Ozzy, the frontman of Black Sabbath, made his final journey through his home city. Jen arrived at 5.45am to pay her respects to the legendary heavy metal icon, who died aged 76 last week after a battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Jen, 46, initially believed she was being pranked, but it took her a week to accept the tragedy. Despite only having lived in Smethwick, West Midlands, about four miles away, she resisted spending days visiting the site of floral tributes on Broad Street in Birmingham.

Fighting the emotion as she spoke to a reporter at the scene of the funeral procession yesterday, Jen said: “Honestly, when he passed, I thought it was a prank, it’s only today that I’ve had enough courage to come down and see the memorial. It’s starting to sink in that he’s really gone.”

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Fans react during Ozzy Osbourne's cortège in Birmingham
Fans react during Ozzy Osbourne’s cortège in Birmingham(Image: Victoria Jones/Shutterstock)

The Black Sabbath Bridge, which has been transformed into a gigantic shrine with hundreds of flowers and tributes, was where the funeral procession went. Jen continued, “I became a fan when I was eight years old, by the bridge on Broad Street in the city center.” This man has literally been my life.

There were already many people present when we arrived, and it was at 5:30 am. I anticipated this level of cramming when I went to camp overnight. We rock fans, and we typically don’t rise until midday.

“I would get up that early for him,” he said. At the time, there were probably 30 or so people present, and things have gotten even worse.

Ozzy has provided us with such beautiful music over the years, and the least we could do was to visit him and take him off… I didn’t even attend the Queen’s funeral.

Jack, Sharon and Kelly Osbourne lay flowers at the Black Sabbath Bridge bench
Jack, Sharon and Kelly Osbourne lay flowers at the Black Sabbath Bridge bench(Image: PA)

Ozzy Ozzy Ozzy chants could be heard in city center bars blasting Black Sabbath hits. Bostin’ Brass, a brass band from Birmingham, performed music at the cortège that passed these bars.

Following the hearse through the city center, the Osbourne family followed the event and all associated costs. Kelly, Jack, Aimee, and Louis, the children of Ozzy’s wife Sharon, and their relatives also walked over the bridge to pay their respects to the star.

Continue reading the article.

Harry Potter fans just realising what Aunt Petunia is doing in kitchen scene

Only those who have read the book can possibly comprehend a secret passage from the first Harry Potter film about Aunt Petunia.

People have just realised what Aunt Petunia is doing by the stove (file)(Image: Warner Bros.)

Fans of the Harry Potter films are adoring them just as much now as they did almost 24 years ago, with many patiently awaiting the upcoming TV adaptation.

The films were based on JK Rowling’s book series of the same name, and follow 11-year-old orphan Harry Potter as he finds out he’s a wizard and starts attending the magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, The film series features a swathe of famous British and Irish actors – including Fiona Shaw playing Harry’s not-so-nice aunt Petunia Dursley, whom he lives with alongside his uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley, played by Richard Griffiths and Harry Melling respectively. Of course, Daniel Radcliffe plays the titular role.

The Dursleys have been a significant part of the plot since Harry has lived with them since he was just one year old, despite making only passing passing appearances in a few movies. However, it would be impossible to include all the crucial details from the books that reveal Harry and the Dursleys’ true relationship, as with any book-to-film adaptation.

Harry Potter’s birthday is today (July 31), as the film and the movies claim, and fans of the franchise have only recently discovered a plot line from the first film that only those who have read it will comprehend.

Harry carries his first acceptance letter from Hogwarts into the kitchen where Petunia can be seen standing in the background while stirring something in a large pot on the stove while wearing an apron.

Taking to Reddit, one user pointed out this small detail and said that it shows something that’s only every mentioned in the book.

Aunt Petunia appears in this scene in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorcerer’s) Stone, where Dudley is seen in the background. The Reddit user shared a photo from the movie scene, noting that this is only ever mentioned in the book.

Harry’s outfits are hand-me-downs from his cousin Dudley, according to the book. Additionally, Petunia dyes some of Dudley’s worn-out school uniform items because Harry will start a muggle program at the start of the new year.

Dudley was also getting ready to start his new independent school, Smeltings Academy, which his father also attended. In the same scene, he and Vernon are seen posing together at the kitchen table wearing the maroon uniform.

Many people took to the comments to express their shock that they hadn’t realized this.

One person acknowledged that she saw this when she was a child and believed she was making leather soup.

Continue reading the article.

“I’ve read the book once, absolutely loved it, and yet I didn’t even notice this,” I thought. That is actually really cool! I just wish Peeves had been kept in the movie!” a second author wrote.

However, a third person claimed that Harry inquires about the clothes in a deleted scene or other scene.

US says sanctions hit Iran ‘shipping empire’ linked to top Tehran official

In what it described as its “largest Iran-related action since 2018,” the Treasury Department and the Department of Commerce has announced new sanctions against more than 100 Iranian-linked individuals, businesses, and ocean-going vessels.

More than 50 vessels are targeted by the sanctions, which the Treasury Department described as belonging to Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani’s son, senior political adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is also the son of a senior political adviser to the country’s president, according to the Treasury Department.

The Treasury&nbsp, Department said in a statement that the sanctions package represents a “massive action” against an Iranian family network that “transports oil and petroleum products from Iran and Russia, as well as other cargo, to buyers around the world. It generates tens of billions of dollars in profit.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cited the Shamkhani family’s shipping empire as evidence of how the Iranian regime’s elites use their positions to control the country’s dangerous behavior.

The sanctions against 115 people, entities, and vessels, according to Bessent, are “the largest to-date since the Trump Administration implemented our campaign of maximum pressure on Iran.”

According to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the new sanctions “are a clear illustration of America’s hostility toward Iran,” according to a representative from Student News Network.

The Shamkhani family, which is the father of Hossein and an advisor to Supreme Leader Khamenei, owns exclusive properties all over the world and has obtained foreign passports, which allow them to “travel undetected” to conduct business overseas, as stated in a US Treasury statement.

The department claimed that “leaders of front companies with an innocent appearance and no obvious connection to Hossein’s network” make it possible for them to make sizable profits while avoiding being subjected to scrutiny outside.

According to the Reuters news agency, the new sanctions target 15 shipping companies, 52 vessels, 12 individuals, and 53 organizations involved in sanctions evasion in 17 nations, including Hong Kong, Italy, Panama, and Italy, respectively.

Iran’s sale of its oil would be “much more difficult,” a US official told the news agency, adding that the US administration did not anticipate any significant disruption to global oil markets.

Iran’s oil is most frequently purchased by China.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi predicted a strong response from any new aggression against Iran following the recent announcement of sanctions.

Araghchi responded to Donald Trump’s tweets on social media on Monday, warning that Iran would face new attacks if its nuclear program was restarted.

Iran, a country with a rich culture dating back to the seventh and a half centuries of civilization, will never use the language of intimidation and threat. Iranians have never bowed down in front of foreigners, only showing respect, according to Araghchi on X.

“Iran is fully aware of what occurred during the recent American-Israeli hostage situation, both internally and externally, as well as the severity of the censored blows that have been dealt. We won’t hesitate to act more decisively and covertly if the aggression is repeated,” he said.

No one in their right mind would ignore the benefits of significant investment in domestically developed, peaceful technology that is saving lives, he added, “pursuant to the demand for bullying from foreigners.”

Trump announces trade deal with South Korea, setting tariff at 15 percent

The most recent agreement, which was announced ahead of his&nbsp, August 1 deadline for the imposition of steep tariffs on dozens of nations, was Donald Trump’s announcement to a trade deal with South Korea.

Trump stated on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday that US exports will not be subject to duties under the “full and complete” trade agreement, while South Korean goods will be subject to a 15% tariff.

According to Trump, South Korea will pay $ 350 billion for US-owned and controlled investments as well as the purchase of $ 100 billion worth of liquefied natural gas and other energy products.

The East Asian nation also consented to the United States’ agreement to invest a “large sum” of money in its own investment projects, according to Trump, who will make the announcement “within the next two weeks” when South Korean President Lee Jae-myung makes a White House visit.

According to Trump, “It is also agreed that South Korea will be Totally Open to Trade with the US, and that they will accept American products, including agricultural products, cars and trucks, etc..”

After months of a leadership vacuum caused by impeached former president Yoon Suk-yeol’s brief-lived declaration of martial law, Lee, who took office in June, said the agreement “eliminated uncertainties” and made sure South Korea would pay tariffs at levels comparable to or lower than its rivals.

In a Facebook post, Lee stated that the secret is not to pursue unilateral benefits, but to obtain mutually beneficial outcomes.

This agreement is the result of balancing our desire to strengthen our businesses’ competitiveness with our commitment to revitalizing the US manufacturing sector. We anticipate that this will lead to further expansion of Korean-US industrial cooperation and the strengthening of the Korea-US alliance.

If there was no agreement, South Korea would be subject to a 25% tariff starting on August 1. This includes duties on cars and auto parts as well as steel, aluminum, and other products.

The benchmark stock index, which was up nearly 0.4 percent in early trading on Thursday, gave South Korea’s KOSPI a boost.