Author: Gulf News Week
Record-setting driver and co-driver Timo Gottschalk aim for rally-raid supremacy as 7,994-km challenge unfolds across Saudi terrain. YANBU — Saudi motorsport history will again be in the making as Yazeed Al-Rajhi, the first Saudi to win the Dakar Rally’s elite Ultimate car class, begins his title defense Friday when the 2026 edition flags off from Yanbu. Fresh off his landmark 2025 victory, Al-Rajhi enters the 7,994-kilometer challenge with a dual mission: retain his Dakar crown and clinch the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), a title that has narrowly escaped him three times since 2022. “Winning the title was a historic moment, but…
Intelligence operation foils planned suicide attacks on celebrations as security forces engage bomber in checkpoint clash, highlighting persistent militant threat. DAMASCUS/ALEPPO — Syrian security forces have disrupted a Daesh (Islamic State) plan to conduct suicide attacks against churches and New Year celebrations across multiple provinces, the Interior Ministry announced Thursday. The ministry stated that intelligence gathered through coordinated counterterrorism monitoring revealed specific plots targeting civilian gathering areas, with churches in Aleppo being a primary focus. In response, authorities implemented heightened security measures including reinforced church protection, increased patrols, and strategic checkpoints. During one such operation at a checkpoint in Aleppo’s Bab…
A leak in the pipeline of India’s ‘cleanest city’ triggers a severe diarrhea outbreak, exposing vulnerabilities in urban water infrastructure despite top rankings. INDORE — A major public health emergency has unfolded in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, after contaminated municipal water led to a fatal diarrhea outbreak. Official reports confirm at least nine deaths, with over 200 residents hospitalized and hundreds more showing symptoms. The contamination originated in the Bhagirathpur area, where a leak in the drinking water pipeline allowed harmful bacteria to infiltrate the supply. Preliminary water tests confirmed bacterial presence, prompting a large-scale crisis response. “This is a grave incident,”…
Despite losing limbs and loved ones, Gaza’s Abdullah and Diaa hold onto hope for prosthetic limbs and a better future.Abdullah Nattat was once an energetic young man working as a singer and a performer, hosting wedding celebrations and entertaining children.The 30-year-old now sits in a wheelchair, both of his legs amputated.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Doctors fear ‘swamp fever’ spreading in flood-hit Gazalist 2 of 3Israel faces widespread condemnation as NGO ban comes into effectlist 3 of 3Who are the Palestine Action hunger strikers?end of list“At this time every year, I would usually be busy performing at…
STC separatists accuse Saudi Arabia of requiring flights to UAE to land in Jeddah; Saudi source rejects claim.Flights from Aden international airport in Yemen were halted on Thursday amid continuing tensions between the Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatist group and the Saudi Arabia-backed internationally recognised government in Yemen.Reuters news agency reported that all flights were suspended at the airport on Thursday, although further details of flight operations and possible resumptions remained unclear.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Saudi Arabia reveals details of Yemen bombing, as UAE set to withdrawlist 2 of 3What led to Saudi Arabia’s strike on…
Israel’s continued restrictions on aid deliveries leave Palestinian children particularly vulnerable, aid groups warn.Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian child in northern Gaza as hundreds of thousands of families across the bombarded enclave continue to reel from Israel’s continued restrictions on shelter supplies and other humanitarian aid.A medical source at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City told media on Thursday that the child – identified as Youssef Ahmed al-Shandaghli – was killed by Israeli forces in the Jabalia an-Nazla area in the north of the territory.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Doctors fear ‘swamp fever’ spreading in flood-hit Gazalist…
Iranian president seeks to calm tensions, acknowledging protesters’ ‘legitimate’ grievances over inflation.At least five people have been killed as demonstrations over the soaring cost of living in Iran spread to more parts of the country.At least three people were killed and 17 others were injured at protests in the city of Azna in Lorestan province, some 300km (185 miles) southwest of Tehran, Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency reported on Thursday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Iran warns of ‘severe’ response in wake of Trump’s new strikes threatlist 2 of 3Protests, strikes after Iran’s economic situation rapidly deteriorateslist 3…
Ban could cut hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza off from essential care, Doctors Without Borders warns.Israel faces mounting global condemnation as a ban on dozens of international aid organisations working to provide life-saving assistance to Palestinians in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip has come into effect.On Thursday, a group of 17 human rights and advocacy organisations in Israel condemned the prohibition, saying it “undermines principled humanitarian action, endangers staff and communities, and compromises effective aid delivery”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Palestinians in Gaza say ‘lives will be destroyed’ by Israel’s NGO banlist 2 of 3Israel’s NGO…
Thousands of families fleeing renewed fighting in Kordofan and Darfur arrive in the city of Kosti, only to find overcrowded camps and dwindling international support.On the outskirts of Kosti, a city in south-central Sudan that has transformed into a giant way station for the desperate, Aziza sits with her children on the open sandy ground. There are no walls to protect them, and no roof to shield them from the sun or extreme weather.After a long and harrowing journey escaping the war, Aziza and her family have been reduced to sleeping under thin sheets repurposed into a basic shelter.Recommended Stories…
Four activists from the proscribed Palestine Action group in the UK are still on hunger strikes in prison.Four members of the Palestine Action group, which has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom, are continuing with their hunger strikes in different prisons around the country.Four other Palestine Action members have ended their hunger strikes – some after being hospitalised.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Four Palestine Action hunger strikers vow to continue as two pause protestlist 2 of 4Palestine Action: Prison hunger strikes that shaped historylist 3 of 4When Palestinian existence is portrayed as hatelist…