Author: Gulf News Week

With the Belly Laughs Festival, an ambitious Asian American and Pacific Islander-centered comedy festival, the food is as important as the talent line-up. Every detail is intended to send a message of unabashed cultural pride.“It’s like we grew up kind of shying away and hiding our Asian-ness,” said Viv Wang, a volunteer festival producer with Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, or Cnews agenciesE, who helped conceive the idea for the event. “It just made a lot of sense to have comedy and food — these two ways that people can connect and just celebrate being Asian and having a…

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (news agencies) — Europe’s top human rights court is set to rule Wednesday on Russia’s actions in the conflict in Ukraine, including human rights violations during the full-scale invasion and the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. Judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will rule on four cases, brought by Ukraine and the Netherlands against Russia, marking the first time an international court will adjudicate Russian culpability for the wider conflict in Ukraine dating from 2014.Any decision will be largely symbolic. The complaints were brought before the court’s governing body expelled Moscow in…

Shares were mixed in Asia on Wednesday, following a choppy trading day on Wall Street as the Trump administration pressed its campaign to win more favorable trade deals with nations around the globe.Japan’s Nikkei 225 is up 0.2% to 39,764. 02, while South Korea’s Kospi added 0.5% to 3,132.02 as Tokyo and Seoul are working a trade deal with the U.S. before higher tariffs announced by Washington take effect on Aug. 1.“Sectoral carve-outs remain the thorniest terrain,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote in a commentary, adding that Korea and Japan are likely seeking relief for their car and…

FRISCO, Texas (news agencies) — BYU coach Kalani Sitake declined to address the status of Jake Retzlaff on Tuesday amid reports that the quarterback is transferring after being accused of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit that was dismissed.Retzlaff reportedly plans to enter the transfer portal rather than face a suspension for violating the honor code at the university, which is run by the Mormon church. Retzlaff acknowledged a consensual sexual relationship in his defense against the lawsuit.“I think it’ll be inappropriate for me to make a statement on his situation first,” Sitake said at Big 12 football media days.…

LOS ANGELES (news agencies) — Results from a union member vote on a tentative contract between video game performers and their employers are expected Wednesday evening.If ratified, the contract would formally end a nearly three-year-long effort from Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists negotiators to obtain a new contract for video game performers. The process, which included an 11-month strike against several major game makers, hinged on how artificial intelligence would affect performers in the industry.If approved, the agreement will deliver pay raises, control over performers’ likenesses and artificial intelligence protections. The contract was first reached in…

LONDON (news agencies) — It was almost midnight when a truck driver resting in his cab heard the crackling of flames at a warehouse in east London storing equipment for Ukraine. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and leapt out — but realized the blaze was too big and retreated.When police arrived, they banged on the doors of a nearby apartment building, shouting at residents to evacuate. Parents grabbed children and ran into the street.About 30 minutes after the fire started, Dylan Earl, a British man who admitted to organizing the arson, received a message from a man U.K. authorities say…

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (news agencies) — João Pedro had just scored on a 20-yard curling shot in his first start for Chelsea, putting his team ahead in a Club World Cup semifinal less than a week after signing with the London power. He took two steps to start to celebrate and then he stopped.He clasped his hands.He muted his joy.He would not exhibit excessive exuberance against the team that developed him from a boy into a professional.“When I was young, I didn’t have nothing. They gave everything to me,” he said after his two goals lifted Chelsea over Fluminense 2-0…

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (news agencies) — Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz, known more for delivering hard-hit homers than producing them in quantity, was added Tuesday to next week’s Home Run Derby in Atlanta.He is the fifth player named as a participant in Monday’s event at Truist Park, which hosts the All-Star Game a night later. Also competing are Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr., Minnesota’s Byron Buxton, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh and Washington’s James Wood.“I’m really, really happy just because that’s what I do,” Cruz said ahead of Tuesday night’s game at Kansas City. “I like to hit balls far. I think…

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — The government of El Salvador has acknowledged to United Nations investigators that the Trump administration maintains control of the Venezuelan men who were deported from the U.S. to a notorious Salvadoran prison, contradicting public statements by officials in both countries. The revelation was contained in court filings Monday by lawyers for more than 100 migrants who are seeking to challenge their deportations to El Salvador’s mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT.The case is among several challenging President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.“In this context, the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for these persons lie exclusively…

MARSEILLE, France (news agencies) — A wildfire spurred by hot summer winds reached France’s second-largest city Tuesday, grounding all flights to and from Marseille, injuring at least nine people and forcing many residents to evacuate or barricade themselves indoors as smoke choked the Mediterranean air.A big city hospital switched to generator power, train traffic was halted in most of the surrounding area, and some roads were closed and others tangled with logjams.More than 1,000 firefighters were deployed to tackle the fire, which broke out near the town of Les Pennes-Mirabeau before racing toward Marseille. Some 720 hectares (acres) were hit…