Author: Gulf News Week
Rory McIlroy already has everything he wanted from golf.His dream was to be the best player in the game, which he fulfilled long ago by reaching No. 1 in the world nine times. The tallest mountain took 11 years to climb, and this was truly rarefied air when McIlroy won the Masters in April to complete the career Grand Slam.So joyous was that moment for McIlroy that he figured anything else he achieved in his career would be gravy.“That very well could be the highlight of my career,” McIlroy said of his Masters green jacket and all that came with…
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun says his country seeks peace with Israel, but is not ready to normalise ties.Lebanon’s president says his country wants peace but not normalisation with Israel, as health authorities said an Israeli air strike killed one person in the south of the country. As well as causing one death on Friday, the drone attack on a car in Nabatieh district wounded five other people, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health. It comes as Israel continues to launch regular strikes against sites in Lebanon, particularly in the south, despite a November 27 ceasefire agreement between it and the…
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (news agencies) — Iran’s security services have threatened the life of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi after her native country’s war with Israel, the Norwegian Nobel Committee and activists said Friday. Mohammadi said that the threats have come through both her lawyer and other indirect channels as she’s kept up public statements about the Islamic Republic’s theocracy, women’s rights and others issues, the committee said.“The clear message, in her own words, is that ‘I have been directly and indirectly threatened with ‘physical elimination’ by agents of the regime,’” the committee said in its announcement. The…
NEW ORLEANS (news agencies) — Democrats used a Louisiana town hall Thursday night to preview one of their main strategies for attempting to retake the U.S. House next year, ripping into the health care changes in the just-passed Republican tax and spending bill.The top House Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, said the event in the home state of House Speaker Mike Johnson was the first stop on a nationwide tour to educate voters about the bill, which he called “an all-out assault against the American people.” He also noted that Republicans had promised not to touch Medicaid, the government health insurance program…
LAS VEGAS (news agencies) — Cooper Flagg may not have been happy with his professional debut on Thursday night in the NBA Summer League, but he still drew some rave reviews after the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 87-85. “Super fun to play with, he’s a super unselfish guy,” teammate Ryan Nembhard said. “All he wants to do is win. Can guard five positions, can score the ball really well.”Flagg finished with 10 points on 5-for-21 shooting, including 0 for 5 from 3-point range. The rookie also had six rebounds, four assists, three steals and the biggest block…
KYIV, Ukraine (news agencies) — A Russian drone barrage targeted the center of Kharkiv on Friday, injuring nine people and damaging a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s second-largest city, officials said.Mothers with newborns were being evacuated to a different medical facility, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram. He didn’t say whether anyone at the hospital was among the injured.Russia’s recent escalation of long-range Shahed drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, which often also include ballistic and cruise missiles as well as powerful glide bombs, has brought renewed urgency to efforts to improve Ukraine’s air defenses after more than three years of…
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (news agencies) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed Friday to explore “areas of potential cooperation” between Washington and Beijing, and stressed the importance of managing differences, following their first in-person meeting as they wrapped up a two-day regional security forum in Malaysia.Rubio and Wang met Friday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, regional forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as tensions between the two global powers continue to rise over trade, security, and China’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.“Look, we’re two big, powerful…
LONDON (news agencies) — Play was stopped twice during the Wimbledon semifinal match between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz because two fans felt unwell in the heat on Friday.The temperature reached 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) at Centre Court when both delays took place — during the eighth game of the second set.Similar stoppages occurred during a women’s semifinal match on Thursday.Fritz grabbed a water bottle from his cooler and directed a ball boy to take it to the ill fan during the first delay. Alcaraz and Fritz then chatted briefly at the net during the second stoppage, which…
DAYTON, Tenn. (news agencies) — A small town in eastern Tennessee courted national publicity and attention a century ago when local leaders planned a test trial over the teaching of evolution in public schools. What they got from the eight-day Scopes trial was more than they bargained for.The trial of the century — and the first to be broadcast over the radio — inspired articles, books, plays and movies, including the popular “Inherit the Wind.”It also characterized Dayton as an uneducated town of strident Christian fundamentalists, a narrative locals have spent decades trying to rewrite.For over 30 years, people in…
WASHINGTON (news agencies) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington this week netted President Donald Trump another nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize he covets, but the ceasefire the U.S. leader sought for the war in Gaza didn’t emerge. Despite Trump throwing his weight behind a push for a 60-day truce between Israel and Hamas, no breakthrough was announced during Netanyahu’s visit, a disappointment for a president who wants to be known as a peacemaker and has hinged his reputation on being a dealmaker.“He prides himself or being able to make deals, so this is another test case,”…