Author: Gulf News Week

Government forces announce ceasefire after clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes kill dozens in the southern Syrian city.Israel has launched air strikes on Syria’s Suwayda after Syrian government forces entered the predominantly Druze city to end the deadly clashes with Bedouin tribes that have killed dozens of people. Shortly after the deployment of troops on Tuesday, Syria’s Defence Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra announced a ceasefire, saying an agreement has been reached with the city’s “notables and dignitaries”. “To all units operating within the city of Suwayda, we declare a complete ceasefire,” Abu Qasra posted on X. A curfew was…

Emergency Lawyers says paramilitary force set fire to villages, killing dozens, including children and pregnant women.A group of human rights lawyers in Sudan have accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of raiding and setting fire to villages in the state of North Kordofan and killing nearly 300 people, including children and pregnant women. The statement by Emergency Lawyers late on Monday came as fighting rages between the RSF and the Sudanese army in the western areas of the country. The two sides have been locked in a civil war since 2023, and the army has taken firm control of…

The attacks come amid a worsening hunger crisis as Israel severely restricts entry of food, fuel, water and medical supplies.Israeli forces have continued to pound the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 72 Palestinians, including several aid seekers, as ceasefire talks stall amid a deepening fuel and hunger crisis. An Israeli attack near an aid distribution point in Rafah in southern Gaza killed at least five people who were seeking aid on Monday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The killings raised the death toll of Palestinians killed near aid sites run by the controversial Israeli and US-backed Gaza…

An expanded Club World Cup marked by empty seats, slashed ticket prices, searing heat, weather-delayed matches and a criticized field surface ended in a surprise victory by Chelsea, the fourth-best team in the Premier League.Among the lasting lessons was FIFA’s decision to dramatically drop ticket costs as some kickoff times approached, which could impact decisions by fans thinking of attending next year’s World Cup. FIFA lowered the cost to attend the Chelsea-Fluminense semifinal at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to $13.40 from $473.90, then dropped the Chelsea-Paris Saint-Germain final from $330 to $199.60.There will be 104 matches at…

LONDON (news agencies) — A BBC documentary about children’s lives in Gaza breached editorial guidelines on accuracy because it failed to disclose that the program was narrated by the son of a Hamas official, according to a report published Monday.The broadcaster removed the program, “Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone,” from its streaming service in February after it emerged that the 13-year-old narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.A review found that the independent production company that made the program did not share the background information regarding the narrator’s father…

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (news agencies) — Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Monday killed at least 30 people, according to local hospitals. The Israeli military meanwhile said it killed a senior Hamas militant last month who had held a hostage in his home.The 21-month war triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack is raging on after two days of talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended last week with no sign of a breakthrough in negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release.Twelve people were killed by strikes in southern Gaza, including…

Our campuses may have been razed, but our universities continue to exist.We, the presidents of Gaza’s three non-profit universities— Al-Aqsa University, Al-Azhar University-Gaza, and the Islamic University of Gaza — together accounting for the vast majority of Gaza’s students and faculty members, issue this unified statement to the international academic community at a time of unprecedented devastation of higher education in Gaza. Israel’s ongoing genocidal war has brought about scholasticide—a systematic and deliberate attempt to eliminate our universities, their infrastructure, faculty, and students. This destruction is not collateral; it is part of a targeted effort to eradicate the foundations of…

Bitcoin continued its rapid climb and hit another all-time high Monday as U.S. lawmakers begin a week focused on passing pro-crypto legislation.Data from CoinMarketCap showed bitcoin climbed above $123,000 early Monday, up from about $108,000 only a week ago. The world’s oldest and most popular cryptocurrency is currently the fifth most valuable asset class in the world at $2.4 trillion, giving it a higher market cap than Amazon.The enthusiasm for bitcoin comes as the U.S. House is set to take up several pieces of cryptocurrency-related legislation in what’s been dubbed “crypto week” in Congress. Lawmakers have been under pressure from…

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 20-26:July 20: Bassist John Lodge of the Moody Blues is 82. Country singer T.G. Sheppard is 81. Singer Kim Carnes is 80. Guitarist Carlos Santana is 78. Guitarist Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister is 73. Drummer Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols is 69. Actor Donna Dixon (“Bosom Buddies”) is 68. Keyboardist Mick MacNeil of Simple Minds is 67. Country singer Radney Foster is 66. Actor Dean Winters (“30 Rock,” Mayhem in Allstate commercials) is 61. Guitarist Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam is 59. Actor Reed Diamond (“Judging Amy,” ″Homicide: Life on…

NEW YORK (news agencies) — At her kitchen stove, fashion designer Caroline Zimbalist looks like an alchemist at work as she stirs a pot full of corn starch and a thickener made from seaweed. The peppermint-scented mixture glitters as she carefully pours it into silicone molds of hearts and leaves.When the material hardens, Zimbalist will stitch it into unique, made-to-order dresses that she sells on her website. She hopes her designs, which have been worn by celebrities including Chappell Roan, will put a spotlight on materials that aren’t sourced from planet-polluting fossil fuels, such as oil. “It’s almost like a…