Author: Gulf News Week

NEW YORK (news agencies) — The Los Angeles Dodgers will have three fan-elected starters in the All-Star Game, with first baseman Freddie Freeman and catcher Will Smith joining designated hitter Shohei Ohtani as winners in final ballot totals announced Wednesday.Detroit will have three fan-picked starters for the first time since 2007 after second baseman Gleyber Torres along with outfielders Riley Greene and Javier Báez were voted in at their positions for the July 15 game at Atlanta’s Truist Park.Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker of the Chicago Cubs were picked for the NL outfield along with Ronald Acuña Jr. of the…

Nearly 368,000 pounds of Oscar Mayer turkey bacon products are being recalled over possible contamination with listeria bacteria that can cause food poisoning, federal health officials said Wednesday. No illnesses have been confirmed to date, U.S. agriculture department officials said. Kraft Heinz Food Company of Newberry, South Carolina, announced the recall of the fully cooked turkey bacon that was produced from April 24 to June 11. The problem was discovered when the company’s laboratory testing indicated potential listeria contamination. The recall includes the following products, which were shipped to U.S. stores nationwide, as well as the British Virgin Islands and…

Pentagon says its intelligence assessments show that Iran’s nuclear sites were destroyed in ‘bold’ US attacks.Washington, DC – The Pentagon has announced that United States military strikes against Iran set back the country’s nuclear programme by one to two years, an assessment that follows President Donald Trump’s claims that the programme was “obliterated”. Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Wednesday that the three Iranian nuclear facilities targeted by Washington were destroyed, echoing the president’s remarks. He praised the strikes as a “bold operation”. “We have degraded their programme by one to two years at least,” Parnell told reporters. “Intel…

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — The government’s top vaccine official working under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently restricted the approval of two COVID-19 vaccines, disregarding recommendations from government scientists, according to federal documents released Wednesday.The new memos from the Food and Drug Administration show how the agency’s vaccine chief, Dr. Vinay Prasad, personally intervened to place restrictions on COVID shots from vaccine makers Novavax and Moderna.Both vaccines were approved by the FDA in May after months of analysis by rank-and-file FDA reviewers.But internal correspondence show Prasad disagreed with staffers who planned to approve the shots for everyone 12 and…

UNITED NATIONS (news agencies) — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres will bring the rival leaders of ethnically divided Cyprus together again this month following a “constructive atmosphere” at an earlier meeting aimed at reviving stalled peace talks, the United Nations spokesman said Wednesday.Stéphane Dujarric said the informal meeting on July 16-17 at U.N. headquarters in New York “will provide an opportunity to continue the dialogue and exchange views on the progress made since March.”At that meeting, Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar agreed to trust-building measures on issues like energy, environment, opening four new crossing points…

Nikolaj Ehlers remains unsigned 30 hours into NHL free agency, as the top player available weighed his options Wednesday and suitors awaited his decision that could be one of the final big moves of the offseason.Ehlers was already a rarity as a sought-after free agent who let the opening day of free agency go by without signing a contract, opting instead to sit back and consider his options. Carolina, Tampa Bay and Washington were considered among the teams interested in pursuing the 29-year-old from Denmark who played his first nine seasons with Winnipeg.“We’ve had talks with his agent,” Hurricanes general…

Talks lay groundwork for a summit between EU and Chinese leaders in Beijing on July 24 and 25.The European Union’s foreign policy chief has urged China to end restrictions on the export of rare earth elements and warned that Chinese firms’ support for Russia’s war in Ukraine posed a serious threat to European security. The statement from Kaja Kallas came on Wednesday after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Brussels. The EU is seeking to improve its relations with China amid United States President Donald Trump’s tariff war, which has rocked major trading powers. But instead of…

LOS ANGELES (news agencies) — Lights, camera, layup.The NBA Summer League is giving athletes another shot that takes place behind the camera. With assists from Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett and Hollywood power players Mark Wahlberg and Deon Taylor, the league is bringing back the Summer League Film Festival starting July 17 in Las Vegas.The three-day festival will bring big-screen storytelling through 34 selected projects, spotlighting stories produced by NBA stars past and present including Nikola Jokic, Luguentz Dort, Tony Allen, Nate Robinson, Cole Anthony, Keyon Dooling and Udonis Haslem.“We have a ton of NBA players who own production companies,”…

BEERSHEBA, Israel (news agencies) — American contractors guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food, according to accounts and videos obtained by media.Two U.S. contractors, speaking to the news agencies on condition of anonymity because they were revealing their employers’ internal operations, said they were coming forward because they were disturbed by what they considered dangerous and irresponsible practices. They said the security staff hired were often unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed and seemed to have an open license to do whatever they wished.They said their colleagues regularly lobbed stun…

Malik Beasley should be riding high right now, after a season where he became just the fifth player in NBA history to make at least 300 shots from 3-point range in a single season.Instead, his future seems very uncertain.He’s a free agent and facing some serious off-court issues — including being part of an investigation surrounding what’s believed to be unusual betting patterns on games and now some unrelated legal matters involving his personal finances.Beasley was a key part of the Detroit Pistons this past season, averaging 16.3 points per game for a team that made the playoffs and was…