Author: Gulf News Week
Russia and Ukraine struck each other with hundreds of drones on Sunday, throwing Russian air travel in disarray, shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced deals with Western partners that would allow Kyiv to scale up drone production. Photos circulating on social media showed crowds huddling at Russian airports including key international hubs in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled due to Ukrainian drone strikes on Saturday and overnight, according to Russia’s Transport Ministry.The flight disruptions hit Moscow’s Sheremetyevo and St. Petersburg’s main Pulkovo airports. Other airports in western and central Russia also faced…
UK maritime agency says the Magic Seas is taking on water after being targeted with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades.Crew members onboard a Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned ship that was set ablaze in an attack in the Red Sea have abandoned the vessel and were rescued, according to a British maritime agency. The attack, which took place some 94km (51 nautical miles) southwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on Sunday, was the first such incident in the vital shipping corridor since April. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the bulk carrier Magic Seas was first “engaged by multiple small vessels”…
LONDON (news agencies) — A ball that clearly landed long in a match at Centre Court wasn’t called out Sunday because the electronic system that replaced line judges at Wimbledon this year was shut off.And, because the replay review procedure that used to be in place also has been scrapped, the chair umpire called for a do-over on the point at 4-all in the first set — much to the dismay of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the player who would have won the game if the proper call had been made originally.Pavlyuchenkova wound up getting broken there to trail Sonay Kartal of…
NEW YORK (news agencies) — Sean “Diddy” Combs got a standing ovation from fellow inmates when the music mogul returned to jail after winning acquittals on potential life-in-prison charges, providing what his lawyer says might have been the best thing he could do for Black incarcerated men in America.“They all said: ‘We never get to see anyone who beats the government,’” attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a weekend interview days after a jury acquitted Combs of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.Combs, 55, remains jailed after his Wednesday conviction on prostitution-related charges and could still face several years in prison…
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (news agencies) — A ship set ablaze by a series of attacks in the Red Sea began taking on water Sunday night as its crew prepared to abandon the vessel, the first serious assault in the vital corridor for trade after a monthslong campaign by Yemen’s Houthi rebels there. Suspicion for the attack immediately fell on the Houthis, particularly as a security firm said it appeared bomb-carrying drone boats hit the ship after it was targeted by small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The rebels’ media reported on the attack but did not claim it. It can…
Once a master of narrative warfare, Israel is now losing to smartphones, social media, and the digital archive.Since October 7, 2023, the war of images has eclipsed the war of weapons. From Gaza’s pulverised hospitals and starving infants to mass graves and desperate fathers digging through rubble, every pixel captured on a smartphone strikes deeper than a missile. These raw, unfiltered, and undeniable images have a far greater impact than any press conference or official speech. And for the first time in its history, Israel cannot delete them or drown them in propaganda. The horrifying images of the Israeli army…
ATLANTA (news agencies) — President Donald Trump and other Republicans have long criticized states that take weeks to count their ballots after Election Day. This year has seen a flurry of activity to address it.Part of Trump’s executive order on elections, signed in March but held up by lawsuits, takes aim at one of the main reasons for late vote counts: Many states allow mailed ballots to be counted even if they arrive after Election Day.The U.S. Supreme Court last month said it would consider whether a challenge in Illinois can proceed in a case that is among several Republican-backed…
LONDON (news agencies) — Successful as Novak Djokovic has been on the grass courts of Wimbledon — he’s won 100 matches and seven of his 24 Grand Slam trophies there — it’s not as if he grew up plying his talents on the surface. Indeed, he never competed or even practiced on it at all until 2005, when he entered the qualifying event held at the nearby Roehampton facility and won three matches there to earn the right to make his debut at the All England Club at age 18.“That was actually the first year I stepped out on the…
BANGKOK (news agencies) — China said Sunday that European medical device companies will be barred from selling to the Chinese government as a countermeasure for the European Union’s restrictions on the sale of similar products from China. European companies will be excluded if the budget for procurement is above 45 million yuan ($6.28 million), according to a notice from the Finance Ministry on Sunday with the restrictions in place the same day. The move will not apply to European companies that have invested in China and that manufacture goods in the country. China on Friday imposed anti-dumping duties on European…
Naim Qassem says his group will not surrender or lay down weapons in response to Israeli threats, despite pressure on the group to disarm.The Hezbollah chief says the Lebanese group remains open to peace, but it will not disarm or back down from confronting Israel until it ends its air raids and withdraws from southern Lebanon. “We cannot be asked to soften our stance or lay down arms while [Israeli] aggression continues,” Naim Qassem told thousands of supporters gathered in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday for Ashura, an important day in the Shia Muslim calendar. Ashura commemorates the 680 AD…