UK Prime Minister Burnham appoints Jo White as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office.

The Washington Post, citing current and former U.S. officials, reports the Trump administration is considering military action in Mali to target JNIM (Group for Support of Islam and Muslims), an al-Qaeda-linked group. If approved, Mali would be the eighth country in which Trump has ordered airstrikes in his second term. Senior U.S. officials are divided on striking the group; National Security Council counterterrorism director Sebastian Gorka is a prominent advocate for using force. A White House official declined to say whether the president intends to order strikes, and said the U.S. has been urging North and West African governments to purchase U.S. equipment and services to support counterterrorism operations.

HSI opened up 73.87 pts (0.3 pct) at 24,966.53 on July 23 (Thursday); Hang Seng Tech opened up 9.45 pts (0.2 pct) at 4,677.68; HSCEI opened up 15.54 pts (0.19 pct) at 8,266.61; Red Chip Index opened up 6.42 pts (0.16 pct) at 4,127.70.