Author: Gulf News Week
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday put on administrative leave 139 employees who signed a “declaration of dissent” with its policies, accusing them of “unlawfully undermining” the Trump administration’s agenda.In a letter made public Monday, the employees wrote that the agency is no longer living up to its mission to protect human health and the environment. The letter represented rare public criticism from agency employees who knew they could face blowback for speaking out against a weakening of funding and federal support for climate, environmental and health science. In a statement Thursday, the EPA said it has a “zero-tolerance policy…
LONDON (news agencies) — This most unpredictable of Wimbledons delivered yet another surprise Friday when reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys, the No. 6 seed, was a lopsided loser in the third round, eliminated 6-3, 6-3 by 104th-ranked Laura Siegemund of Germany.Keys’ exit left just one of the top six women in the bracket before the end of Week 1: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who was scheduled to face 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu later in the day.No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 4 Jasmine Paolini and No. 5 Zheng Qinwen already were out. The men’s…
KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (news agencies) — A team of scientists from the University of Miami, the Florida Aquarium and Tela Marine in Honduras is working together to transplant crossbred coral fragments onto a reef off Miami’s coastline that was devastated by coral bleaching two years ago.They’re looking for ways to help reefs survive increased ocean temperatures caused by global warming and climate change.“It’s the end of a very long process,” Andrew Baker, professor of marine biology and ecology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School and director of the Coral Reef Futures Lab, said Tuesday as divers planted the corals…
WASHINGTON (news agencies) — There’s no filibuster in the House, but Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries essentially conducted one anyway.Jeffries held the House floor for more than eight hours Thursday, taking his “sweet time” with a marathon floor speech that delayed passage of Republicans’ massive tax and spending cuts legislation and gave his minority party a lengthy spotlight to excoriate what he called an “immoral” bill.As Democratic leader, Jeffries can speak for as long as he wants during debate on legislation — hence its nickname on Capitol Hill, the “magic minute,” that lasts as long as leaders are speaking.He began the…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (news agencies) — Matthew “Moose” Musquiz was working as a diesel mechanic in the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, when his physical therapist told him about a bar in Nashville, Tennessee, that he might like.Musquiz loves the Texas dance hall style of venues popular there, but he hadn’t really found a good one in Nashville, which is about an hour south of the U.S. Army installation. “He told me, ‘Tuesday night at the American Legion Post 82 is kind of like a dance hall,’” said Musquiz.In a dimly lit cinderblock building tucked away off…
DEIR al-BALAH, Gaza Strip (news agencies) — Israeli airstrikes killed 15 Palestinians in Gaza early on Friday, while a hospital said another 20 people died in shootings while waiting for aid.Meanwhile, the U.N. human rights office says it has recorded 613 killings within the span of a month in Gaza near humanitarian convoys and as Palestinians try to reach aid at distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization since it first began operations in late May. Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings. But she said “it is clear that…
As I anxiously waited to find out whether a friend in Gaza had survived another day of genocide, I was threatened with disciplinary action for having Palestinian symbols in my Teams background.It was a normal Teams meeting at the end of a busy week. Colleagues were discussing the hospital weekend plans. I was there too, nodding, half-present. My mind was elsewhere – on a message I’d sent earlier that morning to a friend in Gaza. I glanced at my phone. One tick. WhatsApp users know the signs: one tick means the message was sent. Two ticks mean it was received.…
The officials from the UN nuclear watchdog had remained in the capital throughout the recent 12 days of fighting.A team of inspectors from the UN’s nuclear watchdog have left Iran, following Tehran’s decision to suspend cooperation with the organisation after its 12-day conflict with Israel and the United States. In a statement posted on X on Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its employees would return to its headquarters in Vienna, Austria. IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi stressed “the crucial importance” of holding talks with Iran to resume its monitoring and verification work as soon as possible, the post…
LONDON (news agencies) — It might just be the best deal in all of major professional sports: Tennis fans can get a chance to watch stars such as Carlos Alcaraz compete on Centre Court at Wimbledon by forking over just 15 pounds — about $20 at the current exchange rate.That’s instead of Friday’s price of nearly $220 for the best seats at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament’s biggest stadium. Face value there rises as the event goes on, hitting nearly $370 by the end of Week 2, then going up again for the singles finals.The secret to saving so much…
An OHCHR spokesperson says the figure is as of June 27, adding that more incidents have taken place since then.The United Nations human rights office has said it recorded at least 613 killings of Palestinians, both at controversial aid points run by the Israeli and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and near humanitarian convoys. “This is a figure as of June 27. Since then … there have been further incidents,” Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva on Friday. The OHCHR said 509 of the 613…