Author: Gulf News Week
PacemakerThe cannon was deployed at the Sandyknowes roundabout in County AntrimA water cannon has been deployed to disperse a large crowd after a second night of disorder in Northern Ireland following the Belfast knife attack.Riot police came under sustained attack from a group throwing bricks, bottles and pieces of wood at a major roundabout to the north-west of Belfast.Additional officers were drafted in but Wednesday’s disorder was not on the same scale as Tuesday’s violence.Public transport shut down across Northern Ireland and some schools closed early on Wednesday ahead of any disruption. Belfast city centre was deserted after many businesses…
Watch: ‘Miracle’ rescue after guide stranded on Everest for six daysA cleaning team was combing Mount Everest’s perilous upper slopes for rubbish last Thursday, after a busy climbing season, when they spotted a man in a bright blue summit suit crawling at the foot of the Khumbu Icefall, widely regarded as one of the most dangerous sections of the world’s highest peak.It was Hillary Dawa Sherpa, a climbing guide who got separated from his clients when descending the mountain six days earlier. He had been presumed dead – yet another life claimed by Everest’s treacherous slopes. By the time the…
AFP via Getty ImagesAn uneasy silence has blanketed major districts in Pakistan-administered KashmirAt least 15 people – 11 civilians and four security officers – have been killed in clashes between protesters and security forces in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, local authorities say.The Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) – a collective of activist groups – called on people to march to the regional capital Muzaffarabad to protest against the reservation of 12 seats for refugees in upcoming elections. Authorities responded by accusing the group of sedition, banning it and ordering action against its leaders. However, this has not deterred thousands of people from…
BBCA year ago, Air India flight 171 crashed less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in the western Indian state of Gujarat, en route for London. 260 people lost their lives. The official investigation that followed has sparked intense controversy, in India and beyond, with some questioning its integrity amid claims of conflicts of interest. It is not the first time such an investigation has proved contentious. So is it time for a different approach when investigating air crashes?It was a hot and dry afternoon on 12 June last year, when Flight 171 left the terminal at…
Fireworks illuminate Barcelona’s Sagrada Família during Pope visitPope Leo XIV says Barcelona’s iconic Sagrada Família is a masterpiece of “stones, colours and light” during his visit to Spain.3 hrs agoEurope
Getty ImagesBillionaire Bill Gates told a congressional committee on Wednesday that he never had a personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and cut ties with the convicted sex offender when he could not deliver on fundraising for the Microsoft founder’s philanthropic efforts.Gates appeared voluntarily in Washington at a closed-door hearing with the House Oversight Committee looking into Epstein and reportedly named powerful people Epstein approached for fundraising.He also shed light on his marital infidelities, saying Epstein had used them to pressure him. Panel members said the testimony showed Epstein was a “friend collector” and associated with people like Gates to “project…
Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty ImagesOne researcher said the size, depth and age of the discovery was “far beyond anything we had imagined” (file photo) An enormous whale graveyard around 1,200km (745 miles) long has been discovered in the south-eastern Indian Ocean.The site, which is 7km (four miles) deep, has been found in the Diamantina fracture zone, a range on the sea floor of ridges and trenches.But it is the age of the remains – some from 5.3 million years ago – that has prompted huge excitement in the scientific community.The underwater necropolis, which was discovered by a team of…
ReutersTwo people were reportedly killed in a strike on a car in the southern city of SidonIsraeli air strikes have killed at least 17 people in southern Lebanon, Lebanese media say.Nine people were killed in a series of strikes in the town of Tayr Debba, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).Meanwhile, the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah said it carried out more attacks on Israeli troops occupying parts of the country’s south.On Tuesday, 15 people were reportedly killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, as Israel rejected a warning from Iran not to continue its campaign against Hezbollah.Trump and Iran…
Capt Sumeet Sabharwal’s familyCapt Sumeet Sabharwal was the senior pilot on Air India Flight 171 which crashed seconds after take-off last JuneThe father of one of the pilots killed in last year’s Air India plane crash has said he will continue to defend his son’s reputation, days before investigators are expected to release an update on their findings.Pushkar Raj Sabharwal’s comments to the BBC come months after he rejected some media reports that suggested investigators were shifting focus to his son, Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, the senior pilot in the cockpit.”He is no more, but I have to protect his reputation,”…
CentcomCentcom posted what it said was footage of the strike on the ship’s engine room The US military has disabled an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that it accused of violating an American blockade by “attempting to transport oil from Iran”.In a post on X, US Central Command said an aircraft fired “precision munitions” into the engine room of the Palau-flagged Settebello “after the crew repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces”.India’s government said three Indian sailors were missing and 21 Indian crew members had been rescued after the attack on the Settebello off the coast…