Author: Gulf News Week

Alberta will hold a referendum on whether the province should remain in Canada or move ahead with a second binding vote on separation, marking the first significant test of the country’s unity in decades. Thursday’s announcement by Premier Danielle Smith comes after a citizen-led petition calling for separation gathered more than 300,000 signatures early this year and a separate petition advocating for Alberta to stay gathered more than 400,000.A restive independence movement has been growing in the oil-rich province, built on a long-held sense that Alberta is overlooked by decision-makers in Ottawa.Still, opinion polls suggest that the majority of Albertans…

The move was in coordination with relevant government authorities and applicable UAE tax regulations, operators notedDubai’s largest parking operator Parkin announced that a VAT of 5 per cent will be applied to all parking services provided by the operator starting June 1. This includes on-street and off-street parking, seasonal cards, permits, and reservations. The operator noted that the move, announced on Friday (May 22), was in coordination with relevant government authorities and applicable UAE tax regulations. To support a well-managed transition, customers are encouraged to refer to Parkin’s official communication channels for up-to-date information.On February 25 of this year, media reported…

SpaceX had spent months redesigning Starship after a streak of failures last year, culminating in the V3 design that was meant to launch on ThursdaySpaceX on Thursday scrubbed the launch of its 12th Starship rocket from Texas and said it will attempt the high-stakes test flight again on Friday, as Elon Musk’s space company nears a record-breaking public listing.Starship V3, uncrewed and featuring dozens of upgrades tailored for rapid Starlink satellite launches and NASA moon missions, was to be a key test for the vehicle following months of testing delays. It is also poised to affect investor confidence ahead of…

Two-time Nascar Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has died, aged 41.The sudden passing of the Nascar legend, who was ninth on the circuit’s all-time win list, was announced in a joint statement on Thursday by the Busch family, Richard Childress Racing and Nascar.They did not share a cause of death. Busch’s representatives had said earlier on Thursday that he had been sent to hospital with a severe illness.”A future Hall of Famer, Kyle was a rare talent, one who comes along once in a generation,” the statement reads. “He was fierce, he was passionate, he was immensely skilled and he…

Hundreds of Greenlanders gathered outside a new American consulate in the capital Nuuk on Friday to protest against Donald Trump’s ambition for greater influence over the island.The protest capped a week in which the US president’s special envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, made his first trip to the territory, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark.”Our government already told Donald Trump and his administration that Greenland is not for sale,” said Aqqalukkuluk Fontain, who organised the protest.The inauguration of the new consulate and Landry’s visit come amid efforts to ease diplomatic tensions after the US president’s demands to control the island because…

President Donald Trump has said the US will be sending an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, a week after the Pentagon cancelled a planned deployment of 4,000 troops to the country.Writing on Truth Social, Trump said the decision was based on the US’s relationship with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom he backed during presidential elections last year.The US president did not provide further details on whether the additional troops were part of the previous planned deployment or a different operation.The White House has signalled in recent weeks that it intends to reduce its overall troop levels in Europe as part…

Introduced to Dubai several decades ago, the flame tree has become a part of the city’s urban memory while providing shade and lowering temperaturesDubai’s iconic flame trees do more than just light up the city with its brilliant orange-red shade. They can cool the ground beneath them by up to 5ºC, a senior municipality official has revealed, as the city officially celebrates its first Flame Tree Season.Khawla Al Ali, Head of the Executive Team for Pioneering & Community Initiatives at Dubai Municipality’s Agriculture Department, said the tree’s broad canopy, which can reach up to 15 metres wide, provides meaningful environmental…

KT analysis found that travellers with flexible schedules as summer holidays approach may still save hundreds of dirhams by shifting departure datesWith the Eid Al Adha weekend starting on May 22 for some UAE residents, travellers are still weighing whether to book flights immediately or wait for a couple of days in hopes of lower fares, as air ticket prices fluctuate across key routes.A media review of one-way fares listed on flight booking websites on May 21 found that ticket prices on several popular routes varied by departure date, with some sectors showing drops on select travel dates.The analysis found…

Dr. Jamal Al Kaabi warns that no platform, not even a family WhatsApp group, is exempt from UAE media lawThe Secretary General of the UAE National Media Authority has issued a stark warning about the legal consequences of irresponsible social media use, citing a series of real cases in which individuals faced prosecution, account deletions, and imprisonment for content that violated the country’s media laws.Speaking at a recent address, Dr. Jamal Mohammed Al Kaabi stressed that even private family WhatsApp groups are considered media platforms under UAE law, meaning any content shared within them that violates regulations is subject to…

The deaths of these 11 children are included in the core charges of crimes against humanity that ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, Bato dela Rosa, and their co-conspirators are facing before the ICCA co-conspirator in the bloody war on drugs is likely to join soon former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention center at The Hague.The Philippine Supreme Court has rejected the appeals by Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa to save him from an ICC arrest order. He is back in hiding but Philippine authorities vowed on Thursday that they will arrest the fugitive senator wanted by…