Author: Gulf News Week
Blazes break out in France, Greece, Turkiye and Syria, with several other nations on high alert amid warnings of scorching weather.Countries across the Mediterranean are battling fast-spreading wildfires and soaring temperatures as a heatwave sweeps through Southern Europe and parts of the Middle East, prompting evacuations and emergency alerts. Blazes broke out in Greece, Turkiye, France and Syria on Sunday, with several other nations on high alert as forecasters warned that the scorching weather would intensify in the coming days. From Spain to Italy, authorities urged residents to protect vulnerable people and avoid unnecessary travel during the region’s first severe…
ECAULT BEACH, France (news agencies) — Across the English Channel, the U.K.’s white cliffs beckon. On fine days, men and women with children in their arms and determination in their eyes can see the shoreline of what they believe will be a promised land as they attempt the perilous crossing clandestinely, ditching belongings to squeeze aboard flimsy inflatable boats that set to sea from northern France.In a flash, on one recent crossing attempt, French police swooped in with knives, wading into the water and slashing the boat’s thin rubber — literally deflating the migrants’ hopes and dreams.Some of the men…
CHICAGO (news agencies) — Shane van Gisbergen burned out his tires in celebration, sending white smoke into the air. He signed a rugby ball and punted it into the stands in downtown Chicago.It was a familiar scene.Van Gisbergen completed a Windy City sweep Sunday, winning the NASCAR Cup Series race on the tricky street course in downtown Chicago.“Epic weekend for us. I’m a lucky guy,” van Gisbergen said.A talented one, too.The 36-year-old New Zealand native became the second driver to sweep the Xfinity and Cup races in a single weekend from the pole, joining Kyle Busch at Indianapolis in 2016.…
US trade partners are racing to negotiate deals to avoid being slapped with steep tariffs from this week.The global economy is on tenterhooks in the run-up to United States President Donald Trump’s July 9 deadline for dozens of countries to reach trade deals or face sharply higher tariffs. Wednesday’s deadline comes after Trump announced in April a 90-day pause on his steepest tariffs after his “Liberation Day” plans sent markets into a tailspin. With billions of dollars in global trade at stake, US trade partners are racing to negotiate deals to avoid damage to their economies amid continuing uncertainty over Trump’s…
MELBOURNE, Australia (news agencies) — Australian woman Erin Patterson was Monday found guilty of murdering three of her estranged husband’s relatives by deliberately serving them poisonous mushrooms for lunch.The jury in the Supreme Court trial in Victoria state returned a verdict after six days of deliberations, following a nine-week trial that gripped Australia. Patterson faces life in prison and will be sentenced later, but a date for the hearing hasn’t yet been scheduled.Patterson, who sat in the dock between two prison officers, showed no emotion but blinked rapidly as the verdicts were read.Three of Patterson’s four lunch guests — her…
NEW YORK (news agencies) — Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw was picked for his 11th All-Star Game and Paul Skenes, James Wood and Elly De La Cruz boosted the 23-and-under group to five when they were picked Sunday for the July 15 showcase at Atlanta’s Truist Park.Wood at 22 is the youngest of the 65 All-Stars, while Skenes, De La Cruz and fan-elected starters Pete Crow-Armstrong and Jacob Wilson are all 23.Cal Raleigh and Yoshinobu Yamamoto joined Wood, Wilson and Crow-Armstrong among 19 first-time All-Stars. Wood was acquired by Washington in the August 2022 trade that sent outfielder Juan Soto to…
JAKARTA, Indonesia (news agencies) — Indonesia’s rumbling Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted Monday, sending a column of volcanic materials as high as 18 kilometers (11 miles) into the sky and depositing ash on villages.Indonesia’s Geology Agency said in a statement it recorded the volcano unleashing an avalanche of searing gas clouds down its slopes during the eruption. There were no immediate reports of casualties.The country’s volcano monitoring agency had increased the volcano’s alert status to the highest level after an eruption on June 18, and more than doubled an exclusion zone to a 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius since then as eruptions…
Prices are falling for the popular obesity treatments Wegovy and Zepbound, but steady access to the drugs remains challenging.The medications still amount to around $500 per month for those without insurance — out of reach for many patients. And even for people with insurance, coverage remains uneven.“The medications should be available, the question is at what price and can people sustain that,” said Matt Maciejewski, a Duke University professor who studies obesity treatment coverage. Doctors say the situation forces them to get creative in treating patients, but there’s hope that prices may fall more in the future. Wegovy and Zepbound…
TEL AVIV, Israel (news agencies) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump might look to take a victory lap on Monday after their recent joint strikes on Iran, hailed by both as an unmitigated success.But as they meet for the third time this year, the outwardly triumphant visit will be dogged by Israel’s 21-month war against Hamas in Gaza and questions over how hard Trump will push for an end to the conflict.Trump has made clear that following the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, he would like to see the Gaza conflict end soon. The…
WASHINGTON (news agencies) — Eight men deported from the United States in May and held under guard for weeks at an American military base in the African nation of Djibouti while their legal challenges played out in court have now reached the Trump administration’s intended destination, war-torn South Sudan, a country the State Department advises against travel to due to “crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict.”The immigrants from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and South Sudan arrived in South Sudan on Friday after a federal judge cleared the way for the Trump administration to relocate them in a case that had…