Author: Gulf News Week

Some hospitals in the U.S. are without essential staff because international doctors who were set to start their medical training this week were delayed by the Trump administration’s travel and visa restrictions. It’s unclear exactly how many foreign medical residents were unable to start their assignments, but six medical residents interviewed by media say they’ve undergone years of training and work only to be stopped at the finish line by what is usually a procedural step.“I don’t want to give up,” said a permanent Canadian resident who matched to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Harrisburg but had her visa…

MOSCOW (news agencies) — Russia on Thursday became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban’s government in Afghanistan since it seized power in 2021, after Moscow r emoved the group from its list of outlawed organizations.The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it had received credentials from Afghanistan’s newly appointed Ambassador Gul Hassan Hassan. The official recognition of the Afghan government will foster “productive bilateral cooperation,” the ministry said in a statement.Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry called it a historic step, and quoted Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi as welcoming the decision as “a good example for other countries.”The Taliban took…

WINDSOR HEIGHTS, Iowa (news agencies) — It is big and it is beautiful, says President Donald Trump.But for many Democratic leaders, the tax break and spending cut package adopted by Trump’s Republican allies in Congress Thursday represents the key to the Democratic Party’s resurgence.Even before the final vote was tallied, Democratic officials were finalizing ambitious plans for rallies, voter registration drives, attack ads, bus tours and even a multiday vigil — all designed to highlight the most controversial elements of Trump’s “big beautiful” bill: the deep cuts to the nation’s safety net that will leave nearly 12 million more Americans…

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz is the subject of a Major League Baseball gambling investigation and was placed on non-disciplinary leave Thursday, two people with knowledge of the investigation told media.The people spoke to the news agencies on condition of anonymity due to the nature of the investigation.The investigation is related to in-game prop bets on two pitches thrown by Ortiz that received higher activity than usual during his starts at Seattle on June 15 and his recent outing against St. Louis on June 27. The gambling activity on the pitches was flagged by a betting-integrity firm and forwarded to…

NEW YORK (news agencies) — In rejecting Sean “Diddy” Combs’ release on bail, a federal judge confronted the hip-hop impresario with a disturbing aspect of his criminal case that his lawyers couldn’t deny: his history of violence.Combs’ defense lawyers claimed he is a changed man. But Judge Arun Subramanian on Wednesday let the Bad Boy Records founder know that his hopes for freedom soon are slim — even after the jury acquitted him on racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that could have put him in prison for life.Subramanian’s words signaled how he may approach sentencing Combs for his convictions…

BEIJING (news agencies) — The Chinese government is signaling enough is enough when it comes to the fierce competition in the country’s electric car market.China’s industrial policy has engineered a remarkable transformation to electric vehicles in what is the world’s largest auto market. In so doing, it has spawned far more makers than can possibly survive. Now, long-simmering concerns about oversupply and debilitating price wars are coming to the fore, even as the headline sales numbers soar to new heights.Market-leader BYD announced this week that its sales grew 31% in the first six months of the year to 2.1 million…

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear a case over state restrictions on which school sports teams transgender students can join.Just two weeks after upholding a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, the justices said they will review lower court rulings in favor of transgender athletes in Idaho and West Virginia. The case will be argued in the fall.The nationwide battle over the participation of transgender girls on girls sports teams has played out at both the state and federal levels as Republicans have leveraged the issue as a fight for athletic fairness for women…

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (news agencies) — A Missouri judge blocked many of the state’s abortion restrictions Thursday, reimposing a preliminary injunction against them just a little over a month after the state’s highest court had lifted a previous hold. The order by Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang said the abortion restrictions likely violate a state constitutional right to abortion that was approved by voters last year. Planned Parenthood said the order clears the way for it to again provide procedural abortions in Missouri. But Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said his office “will expeditiously appeal this ruling.”The court order…

The massive tax and spending cut bill that Congress passed Thursday ends federal tax incentives for electric vehicles. Buyers have until Sept. 30 to qualify for the federal tax credits on EVs before they are terminated. But experts say there are still strong financial reasons to consider buying the vehicles even without those incentives.Before the bill passed, new electric vehicles came with a $7,500 federal tax credit, and used EVs included up to $4,000. Those incentives were originally designed to help make the vehicles more affordable. According to the latest data from Kelley Blue Book, the average purchase price of…

JERUSALEM (news agencies) — The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American organization running a new aid program in Gaza, on Thursday denied a report by media that American contractors guarding the foundation’s aid sites inside Gaza were using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scrambled for food.news agencies’s story, released Wednesday, is based on accounts from two U.S. contractors who spoke anonymously because they were revealing internal operations of their employer. They said they were coming forward because they were disturbed by what they considered irresponsible and dangerous practices. It draws also on text messages, internal reports and…