Author: Gulf News Week

Getty ImagesUS prices in May rose at their fastest rate in three years, with inflation surging to 4.2%.The rise, from 3.8% a month earlier, was largely driven by rising energy costs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said.It marked the third month in a row the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has risen, with households increasingly feeling the strain of the US and Israel’s war in Iran.Higher inflation raises the likelihood of the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates in a bid to curtail spending.Overall energy bills including gas and electricity were almost a quarter higher in May than a year…

US official says banned referee had links with ‘terror organisations’Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry because of his “association with suspected members of terror organisations,” says a US official. Artan has told US media he has no knowledge of the al-Shabab group.37 mins agoWorld Cup

Getty ImagesBill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and one of the world’s most prominent philanthropists, is being questioned by a congressional committee about his past association with the late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.Gates, who has appeared voluntarily in Washington, said he welcomed the opportunity to answer questions about his relationship with the disgraced financier before the House Oversight Committee.”I hope my testimony is helpful to the work – important work – of the committee to find justice for the victims,” Gates told reporters as he walked into a hearing room, while avoiding further questions.Epstein killed himself in a jail…

Getty ImagesUS President Donald Trump and Iran’s senior officials have traded new threats of further action, after the two sides exchanged strikes.Trump said Tehran had taken “too long to negotiate a deal” and would now “have to pay the price”, without giving specific details. He said Iran had been “completely defeated” and was “all talk and no action”.It came after Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier warned his country would “leave no attack or threat unanswered”, saying that the US had suffered “defeats on the battlefield”.The US said it struck Iranian sites on Tuesday in response to the downing of…

ReutersThe blaze at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex was the deadliest the city had seen in more than 70 yearsHong Kong authorities have charged two companies and seven people over the devastating fire at the Wang Fuk housing complex last November.They were handed 25 charges including manslaughter, conspiracy to defraud, attempting to pervert the course of public justice, and tax evasion.The blaze, which killed 168 people, was the deadliest fire the city had seen in more than 70 years.Authorities said they had charged the project consultancy firm and the main contractor, as well as individuals involved in the renovation…

LIVESentencing under way for two men guilty of new offence of endangering lives in small boat crossingsAlnour Mohamed Ali, 27, and Mohammad Tajik, 32 – the first to be sentenced under the new law – were convicted separately.

ReutersA funeral in the occupied West Bank after three Palestinians were shot dead during an Israeli settler attack in June 2025The UK, Australia, Canada, France and Norway have imposed sanctions on what they call “networks” involved in financing and enabling attacks against Palestinian civilians by Jewish settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.The move is designed to “hold extremist settlers accountable for the horrific levels of settler violence”, the five countries said.France also barred far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country. He has wide authority over government policies on settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under…

Collect/PA Real LifeCaitlin Leggett and her twin sister Grace are trying to raise £500,000 for treatment abroad after Caitlin’s leukaemia returnedA woman given six months to live after her leukaemia returned says the thought of leaving her identical twin sister alone is “unthinkable”.Caitlin Leggett, 24, from Cardiff, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) – an aggressive cancer of the white blood cells – in April 2025, with a persistent rash the only sign that something was wrong.She went into remission after chemotherapy and later had a stem cell transplant, but was told in May the cancer had returned and…

Airbus Defence and Space 2022A visualisation of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) plane in the skyGermany has pulled the plug on a joint fighter jet programme with France, in a blow to European defence co-operation.The flagship project had been billed as an ambitious and unparalleled military partnership. Instead, it became a glaring example of discord between the two nations.The decision undermines efforts to show that Europe can act strategically and with common purpose. It also comes at a time of fraying ties with the US, and continued Russian aggression in Ukraine.The project was “conceived in a different world”, said…

Getty ImagesPolice say they have launched a manhunt for suspects (stock image)At least 12 people have been killed in a mass shooting in an area of Johannesburg, police in South Africa say.They say another nine people were injured in the attack at an informal settlement in Cleveland late on Tuesday, and a manhunt for suspects is under way.”It is alleged that more than 10 suspects were dropped off by a white Toyota Quantum near a petrol station in Cleveland,” the police said in a statement.”The suspects allegedly entered the informal settlement through both entrances and moved through the area, opening…