Author: Gulf News Week
JOHANNESBURG (news agencies) — Just a week had remained before scientists in South Africa were to begin clinical trials of an HIV vaccine, and hopes were high for another step toward limiting one of history’s deadliest pandemics. Then the email arrived.Stop all work, it said. The United States under the Trump administration was withdrawing all its funding.The news devastated the researchers, who live and work in a region where more people live with HIV than anywhere else in the world. Their research project, called BRILLIANT, was meant to be the latest to draw on the region’s genetic diversity and deep…
ATLANTA (news agencies) — The Washington Nationals selected Oklahoma high school shortstop Eli Willits on Sunday night with the No. 1 pick in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft in a selection seen by some as a surprise.The 17-year-old Willits is the youngest player taken No. 1 overall since Ken Griffey Jr. with Seattle in 1987. He’s the son of ex-big leaguer Reggie Willits, who played six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and also coached with the New York Yankees.The Willits pick kicked off a record total of 17 shortstops out of 32 first-round picks. According to Baseball America, the…
WASHINGTON (news agencies) — The Justice Department has fired additional lawyers and support staff who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutions of President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the matter.The overall number of terminations was not immediately clear but they cut across both the classified documents and election interference prosecutions brought by Smith, and included a handful of prosecutors who were detailed to the probes as well as Justice Department support staff and other non-lawyer personnel who aided them, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel moves that have not been…
LONDON (news agencies) — U.S. President Donald Trump will make an unprecedented second state visit to the U.K. between Sept. 17 and 19 when he will be hosted by King Charles II and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace said Monday.Trump, who is a big supporter of the royal family, particularly of the monarch, will be accompanied by his wife, Melania Trump during the three-day visit, the palace confirmed.No U.S. president has been invited for a second state visit. Trump previously enjoyed the pomp and pageantry of the state visit in 2019 during his first term when he was…
Israel blamed for deadly Gaza aid attacks as UN warns fuel must enter now or vital ‘lifelines will vanish’.The death toll in Israel’s war on Gaza passed the grim milestone of 58,000 on Sunday as relentless attacks killed nearly 100 Palestinians since dawn. An Israeli air raid hit a bustling market in Gaza City, killing 12 people. Among the victims was prominent medical consultant Ahmad Qandil, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported. The Israeli military has not commented on the strike. Gaza’s Government Media Office also accused Israel and security contractors working at aid distribution points of intentionally attacking civilians.…
LONDON (news agencies) — Carlos Alcaraz must do something he’s never been forced to before: He must figure out how to move past a loss in a Grand Slam final.Alcaraz was 5-0 in title matches at the majors until Sunday, when his reign at Wimbledon ended with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat against No. 1 Jannik Sinner.“It’s always a bad feeling losing matches,” the second-ranked Alcaraz said. “It’s a little bit even worse when you lose in a final.”Truth is, he isn’t used to coming out on the wrong end of the score much at all.Alcaraz had won 20…
EAST RUTHERFORD, N,J. (news agencies) — Cole Palmer scored twice and fed João Pedro for a goal as Chelsea overwhelmed Paris Saint-Germain in the first half and beat the European champions 3-0 on Sunday in the final of the first expanded Club World Cup.Palmer had almost identical left-footed goals from just inside the penalty area in the 22nd and 30th minutes, then sent a through pass that enabled João Pedro to chip goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 43d for his third goal in two starts with the Blues.A 23-year-old who joined Chelsea from Manchester City two years ago, Palmer scored…
LAGOS, Nigeria (news agencies) — Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who led the country twice as a military head of state and a democratic president, has died aged 82, his press secretary said Sunday.Buhari died Sunday in London, where he had been receiving medical treatment.He first took power in Africa’s most populous nation in 1983, after a military coup, running an authoritarian regime until fellow soldiers ousted him less than 20 months later. When he was elected in 2015 on his fourth attempt, he became the first opposition candidate to win a presidential election there.Buhari rode into power in that…
WASHINGTON (news agencies) — President Donald Trump was on stage at the Iowa State Fairgrounds earlier this month, kicking off the country’s 250th anniversary celebration, when he heard what sounded like fireworks in the distance. “Did I hear what I think I heard?” Trump remarked as he spoke from behind a wall of thick, bulletproof glass. “Don’t worry, it’s only fireworks. I hope. Famous last words,” he quipped, drawing laughs and cheers.“You always have to think positive,” he went on. “I didn’t like that sound, either.”The comments, just days before the first anniversary of Trump’s near-assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, served…
NORTH BERWICK, Scotland (news agencies) — Chris Gotterup came up with the clutch shots on the biggest stage he has faced Sunday, taking down crowd favorite Rory McIlroy with a 4-under 66 and a two-shot victory in the Scottish Open that gives him another week of links golf.Gotterup was one shot ahead of McIlroy when he hit his tee shot on the 196-yard 12th hole to 2 feet for birdie — McIlroy missed from 4 feet — to take command.Gotterup’s lead was down to one over McIlroy and England’s Marco Penge, but McIlroy missed a 12-foot birdie at the par-5…