Author: Gulf News Week

Trump and Netanyahu are harbouring the same illusions Saddam Hussein had in 1980 when he invaded Iran.When the United States and Israel launched their illegal war on Iran on February 28, they called on the Iranian people to rise up. They then proceeded to bomb not just military targets, but civilian housing, universities, schools, hospitals, commercial buildings and historical sites.In the sound of explosions today, many Iranians hear echoes from the past: from the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988.In the fall of 1980, when Iraq invaded Iran, I was a 20-year-old student at Tehran Polytechnic University and a member of an…

Al-Shabab tops team standings ahead of Mike Tyson Club and Al-Ittihad; tournament drew over 429 participants in preliminary rounds. RIYADH – The Kingdom’s Elite Belt boxing contest for men and women concluded Friday evening at the Mike Tyson Club in Boulevard City, Riyadh, crowning new champions across 20 weight categories. The final stage of the tournament saw boxers secure their gold belts after a journey that began with more than 429 participants in the preliminary rounds. A large crowd of spectators witnessed the presentation of belts and medals to the winners. Al-Shabab leads club standings In the final team standings, Al-Shabab…

Two seriously injured in explosion at UN facility near El Adeisse, just days after three fellow Indonesians were killed in separate attacks. JAKARTA / BEIRUT – Three Indonesian United Nations peacekeepers were wounded in an explosion inside a UN facility in southern Lebanon on Friday, UN officials confirmed, marking the latest casualties among international forces amid the widening Middle East conflict. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said the blast occurred near El Adeisse on Friday afternoon, injuring three peacekeepers who were rushed to a hospital. Two of them sustained serious wounds. The UN Information Center (UNIC) in Jakarta…

Engineer Hossam Sadiq Khalifa died while on duty at Habshan facilities; four others injured as regional conflict continues to threaten Gulf energy infrastructure. ABU DHABI / CAIRO – Egypt is mourning the loss of a senior engineer killed in a fire at Abu Dhabi’s Habshan gas facilities, after debris from a successful air defence interception sparked two separate blasts at the site. The Abu Dhabi Media Office confirmed that an Egyptian national tragically lost his life in the incident. Emergency response teams acted quickly to bring the fires under control, though authorities reported that the facilities sustained significant damage. Engineer identified…

Forget statement furniture. The next frontier in luxury residential design is invisible: air-purifying walls, circadian lighting, and storage that disappears into architecture. INTERNATIONAL – For decades, interior design has been driven by aesthetics. Colour palettes, statement furniture, curated objects, and visual identity have dominated residential architecture. Homes were styled to be seen, not measured. But a quieter, more consequential shift is now underway. In high-performance residential design, the home is being reimagined not as a display of taste, but as a biological system. Bio-optimised interiors and zero-object homes represent a decisive move away from decoration and toward performance. These environments are…

One crew member rescued by US special forces, second missing after first American fighter jet crashes inside Iran since war began; fresh strikes rock Tehran, Beirut, and Gulf states. TEHRAN/WASHINGTON – Iranian and American forces are engaged in a high-stakes race across central Iran to locate a missing crew member of a U.S. F-15 fighter jet – the first American warplane to go down inside Iranian territory since the outbreak of the wider Middle East war more than a month ago. Tehran claimed Saturday it shot down the aircraft using an advanced IRGC air defense system, while U.S. media reported that…

In the latest escalation in the Middle East, warring sides have demonstrated complete disregard for civilian life.For decades, leaders who were responsible for war crimes tended to plead ignorance or insist it was a mistake and their hands were clean. What has changed in the Middle East is the swaggering contempt we have seen from the United States, Israel and Iran as they instead dismiss, mock or flout the international laws protecting civilians. If the international community does not urgently reassert support for those norms, it may be acquiescing to their destruction.US President Donald Trump, who told The New York…

Filipino boxing legend says contract explicitly states professional bout, not an exhibition; Mayweather had claimed September clash at Las Vegas Sphere would be “not a real fight.” MANILA/LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao has publicly contradicted Floyd Mayweather Jr. over the nature of their planned September rematch, insisting he signed a contract for a professional fight and would refuse to step into the ring if it were merely an exhibition. The two boxing icons, now 47 and 49 respectively, announced last month that they would meet at the Sphere in Las Vegas in September, with the bout streaming globally on Netflix. But…

Cluster missile damages houses and cars as Israeli air defenses intercept most projectiles; Trump threatens Iranian bridges and power plants amid escalating war. JERUSALEM – Iran fired a fresh salvo of missiles at Israel on Friday, triggering air defense systems across the country, the Israeli military confirmed. While most projectiles were intercepted, an unintercepted cluster missile caused damage to houses and cars, emergency services reported. Israeli military radio added that a train station in Tel Aviv was damaged by shrapnel from the attack. No casualties have been reported so far. The missile barrage comes more than a month after the outbreak…

Second drone attack on major oil facility in less than a month as emergency teams work to contain blazes; KUNA confirms response plans activated. KUWAIT CITY – Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, one of the nation’s largest and most strategic oil processing plants, was hit by multiple drones in the early hours of the morning, triggering fires across several operational units, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported. Emergency response and firefighting teams were immediately deployed and have begun implementing pre-set response plans to contain the fires and prevent them from spreading to other critical areas of the facility, according to KUNA. No…