Author: Gulf News Week
PHILADELPHIA (news agencies) — As trash and tempers heat up across Philadelphia on Day 8 of a strike by blue-collar city workers Tuesday, some residents and small business owners are hiring pop-up hauling services to clear their blocks of garbage, even as they broadly support the union’s quest for higher pay. Mayor Cherelle Parker, a Democrat, is standing firm in her offer of raises of about 3% per year over a three-year contract, which comes on top of a 5% raise she gave as an olive branch to all four major city unions after taking office last year.“I do believe…
SAGAMIHARA, Japan (news agencies) — One is known as “The Monster,” the other “Big Bang.”The bout between champion boxers Naoya Inoue (30-0-0, 27 KOs) and Junto Nakatani (31-0-0, 24 KOs) is already being billed as Japan’s “fight of the century.” And the date hasn’t even been set. Sports pundits are hailing what’s happening these days as the golden age of Japanese boxing. And this is a nation that has produced its share of Hall of Famers.For a period last year, all four division bantamweight champions were Japanese. The Ring magazine’s latest Top Ten pound-for-pound ranking has three Japanese fighters, including…
PARIS (news agencies) — Stéphane Rolland went back to what he does best on Tuesday: unadulterated couture. This season at Paris Couture Week, Rolland stripped away gimmicks and let the clothes do the talking, unveiling a dazzling palette of ivory, black, and red — with giant spangles shimmering like stardust or cosmic fish scales.A live string orchestra set the mood as Rolland’s signature silhouettes reshaped the female form: mermaid gowns hugged the body, giant tulle trains trailed behind, and severe white dresses with razor-sharp shoulders brought a surreal, intergalactic edge. Space-age references ran throughout, from pointy shoulders to jewels worn…
JERUSALEM (news agencies) — Israel’s defense minister has outlined plans to pack hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into a closed zone of the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt, according to local media reports.It appears to be the latest version of plans by the Israeli government to maintain lasting control over the territory and relocate much of its population of some 2 million. Critics say that would amount to forcible displacement in violation of international law because Israel’s offensive and blockade have made Gaza largely uninhabitable.Israeli officials say the aim is to separate the civilian population from Hamas, which…
NEW YORK (news agencies) — Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier each have their draft strategy for the WNBA All-Star Game.The two captains chose their teams for the game that will be played on July 19 at Clark’s home arena in Indianapolis. The squads will be revealed Tuesday night.There’s intrigue whether Clark will draft Fever teammate Aliyah Boston with the No. 1 pick that the guard earned by getting the most fan votes. Or will she take three-time league MVP A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces. Clark also may try to draft All-Star reserve Kelsey Mitchell, who is another Indiana…
WASHINGTON (news agencies) — Filmmaker Peter Jackson owns one of the largest private collections of bones of an extinct New Zealand bird called the moa. His fascination with the flightless ostrich-like bird has led to an unusual partnership with a biotech company known for its grand and controversial plans to bring back lost species. On Tuesday, Colossal Biosciences announced an effort to genetically engineer living birds to resemble the extinct South Island giant moa – which once stood 12 feet (3.6 meters) tall – with $15 million in funding from Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh. The collaboration also includes…
Israel claims it targeted a ‘key figure’ from the Palestinian group Hamas near the coastal Lebanese city of Tripoli.An Israeli strike on a vehicle near the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli has killed at least three people and injured 13 others, Lebanon’s Health Ministry says, in the latest breach of a ceasefire between the two countries. The attack in the Ayrounieh area on Tuesday came as Israel intensifies its strikes in Lebanon amid Hezbollah’s weakened position, the Lebanese army’s inability to fight back and the international community’s failure to pressure Israel to abide by the truce. The strike near Lebanon’s…
PARIS (news agencies) — Only Chanel would call its legendary Rue Cambon salon “too small” — then rebuild it, supersized, in a palace.On Tuesday, as the house marked 110 years of its haute couture — a century and more of Coco Chanel’s revolution in how women dress — it blew up its atelier as a giant set inside the freshly restored Grand Palais, turning intimacy into spectacle for a nature-drenched show at Paris Couture Week.Chanel, whose founder banished corsets and reimagined luxury as liberation, showed just how far that legacy stretches — from the tiny salons of 1915 to its…
PORTLAND, Maine (news agencies) — Attorneys for the state of Maine and a conservative lawmaker who identified a transgender teen student athlete online now agree that the lawmaker’s appeal over her loss of voting rights for her post is now moot.Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby identified the athlete in a February social media post that went viral and called into question the student’s gender identity, bringing attention to the issue of transgender teens participating in sports. Maine’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives censured Libby for violating the House code of ethics and blocked her from speaking and voting on the floor.Libby…
LOS ANGELES (news agencies) — Real estate investors are snapping up a bigger share of U.S. homes on the market as rising prices and stubbornly high borrowing costs freeze out many other would-be homebuyers.Nearly 27% of all homes sold in the first three months of the year were bought by investors — the highest share in at least five years, according to a report by real estate data provider BatchData. Between 2020 and 2023, the share of homes bought by investors averaged 18.5%.All told, investors bought 265,000 homes in the January-March quarter, an increase of 1.2% from the same period…