Author: Gulf News Week
The Proteas embrace favourites tag but face familiar knockout fears against a Black Caps side eyeing another upset LAHORE – Form guides and tournament statistics often go out the window when the knockout lights flicker on. South Africa, the only unbeaten side in the T20 World Cup, will put their flawless record on the line Wednesday when they face a battle-hardened New Zealand in the first semi-final at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. While India and England prepare for their marquee clash on Thursday, the Proteas find themselves in a familiar yet uncomfortable position: overwhelming favourites with everything to prove. Embracing the…
Everything you need to know about airport status, airline policies, refunds, and rebooking as 20,000+ passengers receive support SHARJAH – The UAE’s aviation sector is operating in a limited capacity as regional carriers focus on repatriating stranded passengers following the outbreak of military conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran. With thousands of residents and visitors awaiting clarity on their travel plans, authorities have released detailed guidelines on flight status, refunds, and rebooking. Here is the complete guide to navigating flight disruptions in the UAE. Airport Status: What’s Open? All major UAE airports have resumed limited operations, primarily facilitating repatriation…
Thousands of students remain stranded as authorities set up 24/7 aid camps at Taftan border following Israeli, US strikes SHARJAH – Pakistan has accelerated the repatriation of its citizens from Iran amid escalating regional tensions, with over 650 nationals evacuated in the last two days following sustained Israeli and US military strikes on Iranian cities. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has established round-the-clock immigration counters at the Taftan border crossing to process the influx of returnees, who face a grueling three-to-four-day journey covering nearly 1,800 km from the Iranian capital to the Pakistan border. Emergency Response at the Border Following…
WASHINGTON (news agencies) — The Food and Drug Administration’s top drug regulator, Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, is working to hire a researcher and friend who wants the agency to add new warnings to antidepressants about unproven pregnancy risks, media has learned.Dr. Adam Urato, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and critic of antidepressant safety, is pressing the FDA to add a boxed warning to SSRIs, the drugs most commonly prescribed for depression. Urato’s petition says the medications can cause pregnancy complications, including miscarriages and fetal brain abnormalities that may lead to autism and other disorders in children.That proposed labeling change has become…
NEW YORK (news agencies) — Fewer U.S. women died around the time of childbirth in 2024, a government analysis shows, and provisional data suggests the trend may have continued last year.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday reported that 649 mothers died in 2024 during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth. That is down from 669 deaths in 2023, and a continued drop from 2022 and 2021 — when it was the highest level in more than 50 years.Available preliminary data suggests the trend continued in 2025, said Eugene Declercq, a Boston University researcher who studies federal…
Technological frontiers are now more consequential than the geographic leverage. The real question is not whether artificial intelligence will redefine power, but who will shape its trajectory — and under what principles. By Ahmed Fawad Farooq In the first week of February this year, the skyline of Lahore was seen dotted with a plethora of colourfull kites, after a hiatus of almost two decades. The much-awaited official Basant festivity returned to the mega cultural metropolis as an officially-sanctioned three-day event, which had been suspended in 2007, largely due to safety hazards. Though the government remained upbeat from the announcement to the…
Prime Minister tells Fox News the campaign will be “quick and decisive,” aiming to calm fears of a protracted regional war following the strikes on Iran. WASHINGTON – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to calm fears of a protracted regional conflict on Monday, declaring that the ongoing US-Israeli military campaign against Iran will be “quick and decisive” and serve as a pathway to lasting stability in the Middle East. In an interview on Fox News’ “Hannity” program, Netanyahu pushed back against the notion that the recent escalation—sparked by the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and subsequent retaliatory strikes—could…
The mass evacuation order comes hours after Lebanon banned Hezbollah’s military activities and the group launched rockets at Israel in retaliation for Khamenei’s killing. JERUSALEM – The Israeli military has issued its most extensive evacuation warning in Lebanon to date, ordering civilians in 50 villages across the south and two neighborhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs to flee immediately ahead of imminent military action. The urgent alerts, broadcast on Tuesday by Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee via Telegram, signal a significant broadening of Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah following a deadly weekend of cross-border attacks. “Urgent warning to the residents of Lebanon, specifically in…
Manila urges Filipinos in conflict zones to shelter-in-place as closed airspace and the risk of misidentification ground evacuation efforts. MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government is facing a logistical nightmare as over 1,400 Filipino citizens across the Middle East have requested urgent repatriation, but ongoing U.S., Israeli, and Iranian hostilities have made evacuation routes impossible to access. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. revealed in a press briefing on Tuesday that 1,416 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have formally asked to return home. The breakdown of requests underscores the geographic spread of the crisis: 586 from Dubai, 297 from Israel, 270 from Abu…
From hopes of freedom to fears of a power vacuum, the international community is split as it grapples with the fallout of the unprecedented attack. TEHRAN, Iran – Global reaction poured in on Sunday following the confirmation of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death in coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes, exposing a deep geopolitical fault line between expressions of hope for Iran’s future and fierce condemnation of the attacks. State media confirmed the 86-year-old cleric was killed in the initial wave of strikes, as further attacks hit the country. The dramatic escalation has left the Middle East on a knife-edge,…