Author: Gulf News Week
Bell County Sheriff’s Office via Getty ImagesThe Pentagon has announced it will execute a former US Army major by firing squad, the first such military execution in more than 60 years.Nidal Malik Hasan, a US Army major and physician, fatally shot 13 unarmed US soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009, injuring another 32.Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced on social media on Monday that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had made the recommendation and President Donald Trump approved it.It will be the first military execution by firing squad since the end of World War Two.Parnell said the Secretary of the Army…
Anojan Sivarasa’s Facebook pageAnojan Sivarasa’s family have not heard from him for more than a week”I plead for mercy for the wrongs committed by my son. Please forgive him and send him back to us.”Speaking through tears, Rasamanickam Yogalakshmi made a desperate plea for the life of her eldest son, Anojan Sivarasa. The 24-year-old migrant worker is facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia after an appellate court found him guilty of blasphemy against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad over a comment he made on Facebook.The case has sent shockwaves through Sri Lanka, sparking widespread concern and civil society petitions…
Watch: ‘I am so sorry’ – Caleb Flynn apologises to wife’s familyA US man who once appeared on the TV talent competition American Idol has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering his wife.Caleb Flynn, 40, was found guilty last week after a short deliberation by the jury, which rejected his claim that an intruder broke into his Ohio home and shot his wife, Ashley Flynn, as she slept.He was also found guilty of eight additional charges, including aggravated murder and tampering with evidence.Letters from his two daughters were read in court during the…
BBCSimon Andriesz, a former senior employee of BGC Partners, died last month in ThailandThe treatment of whistleblowers by the UK’s financial watchdog must be investigated following the death of a British trader who exposed evidence of links between US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and Jeffrey Epstein, MPs have said.Simon Andriesz, a former senior employee of BGC Partners – the international firm of financial brokers founded and run by Lutnick before his appointment by US President Donald Trump – died last month in Thailand.Earlier this year, Andriesz raised concerns with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the FBI and other watchdogs about…
EPADonald Trump says the US was looking “very strongly” at the case but had not discussed it with the KremlinPresident Donald Trump says the US is looking “very strongly” at the case of a Russian lab technician who died at a plague research centre in Siberia.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was watching closely amid concerns the incident could lead to the spread of pneumonic plague, but there was no cause for alarm.Announcing the cause of death as “pneumonia of undetermined etiology”, Irkutsk’s governor said “no micro-organisms” linked to the woman’s work had been found “in her biological samples”.Unconfirmed…
ReutersMore than 500 schools were partially or totally closed by protests on Monday, the French education minister saidFrance is braced for major protests on Tuesday, after organisers called for a nationwide day of action in support of students demanding more investment in education.It comes after a week of demonstrations, which saw students blockading hundreds of schools, at least 190 students injured, and more than 5,000 people arrested.One student had his hand blown off during a confrontation on Monday, while another was reportedly struck in the head by a tear gas grenade last week.France’s prime minister said the government had announced…
Getty ImagesBestselling author and former politician Jeffrey Archer has died at the age of 86. Archer sold more than 300 million books in his five-decade writing career, including the Clifton Chronicles and Kane and Abel, and often set the novels in his home town of Wellington, Somerset.In a statement, Archer’s publisher HarperCollins said the author died “suddenly and peacefully at home” on Monday between writing sessions.The former Conservative MP was jailed for perjury in 2001 after being found guilty of lying and cheating in his 1987 libel case against the Daily Star.Archer was born in north London on 15 April…
ReutersThe head of the British Museum has apologised for the experience some visitors have had at its blockbuster Bayeux Tapestry exhibition.The London institution has announced changes to how visitors see the historic work over concerns of overcrowding.”Anyone that doesn’t have a good experience, we’re really sorry about that and we want to put it right,” Nicholas Cullinan told the BBC’s culture and media editor Katie Razzall.The new plans include longer opening hours, an audio guide, additional seating and clearer signage.”You don’t want anyone that comes to see it to have a bad experience, so our focus is very much on…
Romanian Interior Ministry via ReutersRomainian authorities launched a rescue mission after reports of a vessel on fire outside its territorial watersUkraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned a “horrific” Russian attack on a vessel carrying corn in the Black Sea.The ship’s captain was killed in the strike involving two drones, Zelensky said, and another sailor was unaccounted for. Eleven crew members – nationals of Azerbaijan and India – have been rescued.Romania said it had mounted a rescue mission after “a fire on the ship Royad Mammadov” outside the country’s territorial waters. It said two people had died.Russia has not commented, but…
ReutersDefence secretary Pete Hegseth has publicly criticised Anthropic’s boss Dario AmodeiThe US Department of Defence is no longer using Anthropic’s AI tools, an official has told the BBC, months after it designated the company a supply chain risk on national security grounds. The Pentagon “has ceased the use of Anthropic products”, the department official said in a statement on Monday.Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth labelled Anthropic a supply chain risk in February, and announced that the Pentagon would stop using it by late August. It is not clear why there has been a delay.Multiple people familiar with the matter told…