Author: Gulf News Week
Getty ImagesThe White House helipad and new ballroom extension under construction in Washington DC on 5 August 2026The Trump administration has been ordered to stop construction on President Donald Trump’s $400m (£297m) ballroom at the White House.A federal appeals court dealt the latest setback to the controversial project on Friday, testing Trump’s presidential authority. He has vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court.”Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” the panel’s majority said. The order upholds a preliminary injunction won by the National Trust for…
Getty ImagesAt least seven people have been killed and 23 injured after a 14-year-old boy opened fire at his home and school on the outskirts of Thailand’s capital, Bangkok.The gunman – a student at the Debsirin School in Nonthaburi – killed his grandparents and five teachers before taking his own life, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters. The attacker still had “more than 30 bullets left” when he turned the gun on himself, Anutin added.Nine of the injured people remain in a critical condition, authorities say.The shooting – the second at a school in Thailand this year – has…
Kiama CouncilA former apprentice stonemason who helped build the Houses of Parliament is thought to have borrowed the book in the late 1800sA book borrowed 150 years ago has finally been returned to an Australian library, with the culprit linked to the Houses of Parliament in London.Antiquities of Athens was borrowed from a local library in Kiama, a seaside town about 120km (75 miles) south of Sydney, some time in the mid-1870s.The book on classic Greek architecture was stored in a tea chest hidden behind a boarded-up fireplace for decades before it was recently discovered by a family member.Ross Simmons,…
ReutersTurkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistan’s Shehbaz Sharif signed the pact in MeccaSaudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have signed a joint defence agreement, saying an attack on one of them would be seen as an attack on all three.The pact was announced at a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the Saudi city of Mecca.After the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, Tehran and its allies struck targets in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states and disrupted traffic…
Dr. Stacy Norton was only 7 years old when her mother died of colon cancer, one of several family members struck by aggressive tumors at unusually young ages. Decades later, Norton rolled up her sleeve to help test if a new kind of vaccine might protect her and her own children from cancer.The Houston doctor is among an estimated 1 million Americans who have Lynch syndrome, a faulty gene passed from a parent that puts them at extremely high risk of colorectal cancer and more vulnerable to certain other cancers, too. They’re often urged to get yearly colonoscopies — far…
Getty ImagesHundreds of migrants were pictured lined up on a beach in Ceuta to collect aid Spain has threatened to impose counter-measures on Italy if it fails to lift border controls introduced following the mass crossing of migrants into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta.Roughly 78,000 migrants from neighbouring Morocco arrived in Ceuta by sea in a matter of hours on Thursday and Friday last week.In the wake of the crossings, which saw around 100 people die, Italy partially suspended its Schengen arrangement with Spain, which included the closure of maritime and air entry points as well as the reinforcement of…
Met PoliceLevy was found guilty of murdering Sheryl Wilkins (l), 39, and Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 54A serial sex offender who was being monitored by the Metropolitan Police has been found guilty of murdering two women and raping a third in London.Simon Levy killed Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, 53, in March 2025 and 39-year-old Sheryl Wilkins five months later.The 40-year-old also raped a third woman in January 2025, before the murders, in the same Tottenham car park where Ms Wilkins was later found dead.During his trial at the Old Bailey, jurors heard Levy had a string of convictions for attacking women dating back to…
Getty ImagesRepublican Senator Lisa Murkowski announced she would oppose President Donald Trump’s nominee for US attorney general, citing concerns over the “politicisation” of the Justice Department.Trump seeks to install Todd Blanche, his former personal defence attorney who is currently acting attorney general, to run the Justice Department on a permanent basis but he has faced opposition from a small number of Republicans.”The politicization – even weaponization – of the Department did not start with this administration but has accelerated during it,” Murkowski wrote on X.Without the Alaska senator’s vote, Blanche’s confirmation is now in jeopardy.Leavitt said Blanche was “exceptionally qualified”…
Getty ImagesGerman energy company RWE has said it will abandon its offshore wind projects in the US after reaching a $1.2bn (£892m) payout deal with President Donald Trump’s Department of the Interior (DoI).RWE said that it will now reinvest the sum into conventional gas projects, including $900m (£669m) in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal project in Louisiana.”After careful consideration, it was determined there is no path forward to permit these projects in the US for the foreseeable future,” the company said in a statement.RWE said it has agreed to relinquish its leases off the California and Louisiana coasts…
Jens Schlueter/Getty ImagesA special robot was sent to remove the detonator from the deviceAs Germany investigates how a drone loaded with explosives reached a runway at Leipzig airport, there is renewed talk in Europe of hybrid war.The interior minister is warning of a “new level of danger” from an attack that “may involve foreign powers”.There is no proof at this stage to link the flying bomb directly to Russia, which denies any role. But as well as the means and the motive, Moscow does have form.The BBC has seen details of the investigation into a plot in 2024 in which…