Author: Gulf News Week
LIVERed extreme weather warning in place for London and south-east England after record June heatA high of 36.7C provisionally recorded in Merryfield, Somerset on Thursday also makes it the hottest day of 2026 so far.
ANIThe Ram temple in Ayodhya has become one of India’s most important pilgrimage centresTwo-and-a-half years after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a grand temple to Hindu god Ram, the shrine is embroiled in an unsavoury row over allegations that donations from devotees worth tens of millions of rupees have been embezzled.The temple in the once-flashpoint city of Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh replaced a 16th-Century mosque torn down by Hindu mobs in 1992, sparking riots in which nearly 2,000 people died.Since its inauguration in January 2024, the three-storey temple spread over 2.7 acres has become one…
Getty ImagesThere’s a different kind of depth to the darkness at nighttime in the upscale Catalina Foothills neighbourhood of Tucson, Arizona.Lights are limited by both the county and the homeowners’ association; they must be shielded and can only face down, a deliberate effort to maintain Tuscon’s “dark sky” status – designed to minimise light pollution, reduce energy waste and protect astronomical research at nearby facilities.The result is a quiet, peaceful blackness making Catalina Foothills the perfect spot for stargazing – or for furtive criminal activities like kidnapping an elderly woman.That’s what happened overnight on 31 January, when 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie,…
Prayers and relief efforts after Venezuela’s earthquakesThe BBC’s Vanessa Silva reports from Caracas as the city faces the aftermath of back-to-back tremors.56 mins agoLatin America
LIVEAustralia and Paraguay look to seal last-32 spot at World CupFollow live updates as Paraguay take on Australia in Group D of the FIFA World Cup.
Getty ImagesRumours continue to swirl about whether pop queen Taylor Swift will marry NFL star Travis Kelce at New York City’s Madison Square Garden over the 4 July Independence Day weekend, after city officials confirmed someone applied for a street closure permit nearby. Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office, told the BBC a permit was filed in early June to close roads around Madison Square Garden from 2 to 4 July.The New York Times first reported the permit news and that several players on Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs team had booked hotel rooms nearby. Since Swift and Kelce…
ReutersThe UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) has paused the planned evacuation of more than 11,000 sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz after a cargo ship passing through the waterway was attacked.IMO chief Arsenio Dominguez said several boats had already been evacuated, but the agency wanted to ensure that “necessary safety guarantees” would continue to be in place.The British maritime security agency UKMTO reported on Thursday that a ship had been struck 7.5 nautical miles southeast of Oman’s port of Dahit by “an unknown projectile”. No casualties were reported.Maritime risk management firm Vanguard said the ship, Singapore-flagged Ever Lovely, continued…
Golden VillageThe Chinese movie Dear You was filmed almost entirely in Teochew, a dialect from China’s Chaoshan regionA nostalgic tale about family, hope and hardship, Dear You has swept the box office in China this summer – and opened an unexpected conversation about identity thousands of miles away in Singapore. The sleeper hit was filmed almost entirely in Teochew, a language from China’s Chaoshan region which is still spoken among older generations of Chinese in South East Asia.But when the movie hit Singaporean cinemas this month, many were dismayed to learn that most of the screenings would be dubbed into…
Getty ImagesThe King is the first British monarch to reveal their tax bill in modern timesKing Charles has disclosed he paid £12.9m in tax for 2024-2025 – becoming the first monarch to reveal their tax bill.The level of tax paid by the King puts him in the top 100 of UK taxpayers. The Prince of Wales declared he paid £7.76m tax over the same period, the figures in the annual royal report and accounts show. It has also been revealed the King and Queen Camilla will continue to live in Clarence House and not move into Buckingham Palace. Getty ImagesThe…
AFP via Getty ImagesEx-BBC producer Lisa Brinkworth claims she was sexually assaulted while working undercover to expose abuse in the fashion industryA group of women, who have alleged sexual assault or rape in France, are calling for the abolition of the statute of limitations which they say has prevented them seeking justice in criminal proceedings.It is the first time more than 50 women alleging sexual assault and rape by men, including Jeffrey Epstein, his former business partner and model agent Jean-Luc Brunel and billionaire businessman Mohammed Al Fayed, have come together collectively to demand the change to French law.Currently, there…