Author: Gulf News Week

New Zealand break with Oceania Football Confederation to withdraw Infantino supportNew Zealand break rank with Oceania’s football governing body to become the latest nation to withdraw support for Fifa president Gianni Infantino.3 hrs agoWorld Cup

LIVE’Survival has become the priority’: Afghan women speak to BBC after five years of Taliban ruleSince seizing power in 2021, the ultra-conservative rulers have severely restricted the freedoms of women and girls.

Watch: Record rainfall causes flooding in Japan’s Chiba regionAt least six people have died and five others are wounded in eastern Japan as record rainfall pummelled the Chiba prefecture near the capital Tokyo.The rains, which authorities have described as “unprecedented”, cut power to more than 20,000 households while 7,000 travellers were stranded overnight at Tokyo’s Narita airport.Local authorities issued a level five emergency warning, its highest alert, on Thursday. This was downgraded to a level four by Friday morning, but they continue to warn of landslide and flooding risks.The deluge comes after a series of storms swept through Japan and…

Getty ImagesThe airline said in a memo that the move would reassure passengers and stakeholdersAir India is to test all of its pilots for banned substances, starting immediately. It comes after an incident last week in which its Phuket to Delhi flight suddenly lost altitude, with a preliminary report saying the senior pilot had to retake their substance test. Reports say they had tested positive for marijuana.Pilots at the airline’s budget arm, Air India Express, will also be subject to the tests from Thursday.Existing rules require at least 10% of pilots to be tested at random.It is being investigated by…

ReutersMany scrambled to get hold of special solar eclipse glasses to protect their eyesMillions of us were treated to a stunning spectacle on Wednesday during mainland Europe’s first total solar eclipse for more than 25 years.And for some in the UK, it was a race against time to find a pair of eye-protecting eclipse glasses as shortages grew.If you did manage to grab some, you might be asking – what do I do with them now?”Eclipse glasses are a great example of our single-use culture,” says Dr Renee Tonkin, the founder of Science Owl, an environmental education organisation focused on…

LIVEFour dead as historic rainfall hits Japan, triggering landslides and power outagesJapan’s weather authority issued its highest-level heavy rain warning in Chiba for the first time.

GettyThe departure of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will create a major opening in President Donald Trump’s administration, and the guessing-game of who will replace her has already begun.So far, the White House has not announced who will succeed Leavitt, and sources within and close to the administration said no decision has yet been made. Leavitt has worked closely with Trump for years, and finding someone to take over could prove difficult. In announcing she would step down at the end of the month, Trump called Leavitt one of his “most trusted aides”.When Leavitt was on leave earlier this…

Getty ImagesCount Binface is standing against Nigel Farage in the Clacton by-election Count Binface, the self-styled intergalactic space warrior, has again taken centre stage in UK politics, wearing a giant silver rubbish bin on his head.The much-photographed election veteran is the main rival to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage in an election race caused by Farage resigning, only to run again – which sparked a mass boycott by the other main UK parties.With counting getting under way in Clacton, on the Essex coast, Binface is set to get his highest share of the vote yet, having lost to no fewer…

Getty ImagesA person has been fined for using a foghorn to wake a sleeping polar bear in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, a local official said.The incident happened earlier this month after someone sounded the alarm from onboard a vessel, which was sailing in a fjord in northwestern Svalbard – about 1,000 km (620 miles) from the North Pole.On Thursday, a person – who has not been named – was fined 50,000 kroner (£3,890) over the incident, the governor of the territory confirmed. Under local regulations in the region, “it is forbidden to needlessly disturb, attract or pursue a polar bear”, which…

Watch: Inside Ryanair plane flying with dislodged windowBroken engine fragments smashed a cabin window of a Ryanair plane last month causing a man’s head and right shoulder to be sucked into the hole, US investigators have said.In a preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said this happened after an engine fan blade broke shortly after takeoff on the 10 July flight from Greece to Germany.Serbian national Ljubisa Karović’s head and right shoulder were sucked out of the plane’s window, leaving him “seriously injured and in shock”.His wife Svetlana Grković Maksimović later told BBC Serbia that she and two…