Author: Gulf News Week
Four people have been killed and at least 30 injured in protests linked to Kenya’s nationwide transport strikes against recent increases in the cost of fuel, according to the interior minister.Thousands of commuters were left stranded, with key roads in the capital Nairobi largely empty as some businesses remained shut and schools asked students to stay at home. Protesters have been blocking roads and erecting burning barricades. Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen added that 348 people had been arrested.The strike comes days after the authorities raised petroleum prices to record levels, with costs increasing by more than 20%.Many passengers were stranded…
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was booed by students as he spoke about the rise of artificial intelligence during his speech at University of Arizona’s graduation ceremony, underscoring growing anxiety over AI’s impact on jobs.”I know what many of you are feeling about that. I can hear you,” Schmidt told graduates as jeers rang out at the venue during remarks comparing today’s AI boom to the rise of computers four decades ago.The reaction reflects a broader unease on campuses, where speakers who mention AI are increasingly being met with hostility from students.A recent poll suggests many students view AI as…
Pro-Palestinian activists say Israeli forces have intercepted a flotilla of more than 50 boats carrying aid for Gaza in international waters west of Cyprus.The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) said its fleet was boarded in what it called “another illegal, high-seas aggression” about 250 nautical miles (460km) from Gaza, which is under an Israeli maritime blockade. Its video stream showed commandos climbing onto several boats.Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the raid was “effectively neutralizing a malicious plan designed to break the isolation we have imposed on Hamas terrorists in Gaza”.Last month, Israeli forces intercepted 22 boats from the same flotilla…
The bodies of four Italian divers who went missing during a scuba diving accident in the Maldives last week have been located, officials have confirmed to the BBC.The Italians were found inside a 60-metre-deep (197ft) cave in Vaavu Atoll by a joint team of highly trained Finnish and Maldivian divers, the officials said.The body of a fifth Italian diver, a member of the group, had already been recovered shortly after Thursday’s accident.A Maldivian rescue diver also died on Saturday while searching for the bodies of the group.”Further dives [are] to be carried out in the coming days to recover the…
A Spanish court has ordered the country’s tax authority to refund €55m (£48m, $64m) to singer Shakira after ruling that the money was improperly collected in a dispute over her taxes.The national high court has acquitted the Colombian singer of tax fraud and ordered the Treasury to repay the money plus interest to her.It said tax authorities had failed to prove she spent 183 days in Spain in 2011 – the minimum required for residents to pay personal income tax there.Shakira said the court had “finally set the record straight” after she had spent eight years “enduring brutal public targeting,…
This is what it looks like to be on board the largest flotilla in history: the Global Sumud Flotilla.What is it actually like on board a flotilla to Gaza, knowing you’ll likely be targeted and imprisoned? Until now, it’s a story that’s been told mostly in fragments, one vertical video at a time. This is the inside story of what it is like on the Global Sumud Flotilla: the drone attacks, the safety drills, the calls home, and the Palestinians in Gaza waiting to see if civilians can break a siege backed by a superpower. This episode is part of…
MV Hondius, the Dutch cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, has docked at its final destination in Rotterdam.Only the ship’s crew were aboard for the last leg of the journey, as all passengers docked off the ship in the Canary Islands between 10 and 11 May. Rotterdam port harbour master René de Vries said 25 mobile homes kitted out with catering and satellite communications would be available for the crew to self-isolate in.Three people – a Dutch couple and a German woman – died after travelling on the ship, with two of them confirmed to have had the…
It has to choose stability or permanent war.One of the most dangerous ideas in today’s Middle East is the claim that Gulf states must choose between Iran and Israel. This framing is politically simple, but strategically misleading.It assumes that Gulf security can be reduced to alignment with one regional actor against another. The Gulf’s central interest is neither to defend Iran nor to serve Israel’s regional agenda. Its real interest is to prevent the region from becoming a battlefield.For Gulf states, escalation is a direct threat. Any confrontation involving Iran, Israel and the United States immediately affects Gulf airspace, shipping…
At least six Americans have been exposed to the Ebola virus during a deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sources have told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak as an international emergency, with the DR Congo’s health ministry reporting around 350 suspected cases and 91 deaths.One American is believed to have symptoms, with three others said to have faced a high-risk contact or exposure. It is unclear whether any have been infected.The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it was supporting the “safe withdrawal of a small…
LIVEStarmer says he’ll support by-election candidate ‘whoever they are’ in ‘fight’ to beat ReformEarlier, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told the BBC that it is time the party “gets back on the pitch after days of introspection and infighting”.