Author: Gulf News Week

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…

LOS ANGELES (news agencies) — Famed Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. has been arrested for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application and will be deported to Mexico, where he faces organized crime charges, U.S. federal officials said Thursday.The arrest came only days after the former middleweight champion lost a match against influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Anaheim, California. The Department of Homeland Security said officials determined Chávez should be arrested on June 27, a day before the fight. It was unclear why they waited to act for days after the high-profile event.The 39-year-old boxer, according to…

NEW YORK (news agencies) — EXT JUNGLE NIGHTAn eyeball, big, yellowish, distinctly inhuman, stares raptly between wooden slats, part of a large crate. The eye darts from side to side quickly, alert as hell.So begins David Koepp’s script to 1993’s “Jurassic Park.” Like much of Koepp’s writing, it’s crisply terse and intensely visual. It doesn’t tell the director (in this case Steven Spielberg ) where to put the camera, but it nearly does.“I asked Steven before we started: What are the limitations about what I can write?” Koepp recalls. “CGI hadn’t really been invented yet. He said: ‘Only your imagination.’”Yet…

Congress passed a massive tax and spending cuts package Thursday that curbs billions of dollars in spending across clean energy. That means people will be paying a lot more for home solar, energy efficiency and other green technologies — and the nation’s efforts to address climate change just got a lot more challenging. The bill that awaits President Donald Trump’s signature supports mining, drilling and production of the oil, coal and gas that are largely driving Earth’s warming and the increasingly deadly and costly extreme weather that comes with it. Producing and burning these fossil fuels also contributes to air…

CAIRO (news agencies) — Amnesty International issued a report Thursday claiming a controversial Israeli- and U.S.-backed system to distribute aid in Gaza uses starvation tactics against Palestinians to continue to commit genocide in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s war with Hamas. The U.K.-based human rights group condemned Israel and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which the U.S. and Israel have backed to take over aid distribution in Gaza from a network led by the United Nations. Israel’s foreign minister denounced the Amnesty report, saying the organization has “joined forces with Hamas and fully adopted all of its propaganda lies.”Gaza’s Health Ministry…

NEW YORK (news agencies) — U.S. stocks climbed further into record heights on Thursday after a report showed the U.S. job market looks stronger than Wall Street expected.The S&P 500 rose 0.8% and set an all-time high for the fourth time in five days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 344 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%.The market’s gains were widespread, and companies whose profits can get the biggest boosts when workers are feeling confident helped lead the way. Expedia climbed 3.2%, and Norwegian Cruise Line steamed 2.9% higher.Bank stocks were also strong, with Citigroup up 2.3%,…

UK-based technology innovator SureFlow has selected Dubai as its strategic base for Middle Eastern and African operations, relocating its Research and Development (R&D) center to the emirate. The company, specializing in AI, machine learning, and IoT solutions for sustainable resource management, aims to deliver its eco-friendly energy devices to regional utility providers, insurers, and real estate developers. SureFlow CEO Sebastien Dui emphasized Dubai’s unique advantages for the expansion. He highlighted the city’s world-class infrastructure, deep pool of technical talent, business-friendly policies, consistent economic approach, and overall resilience as decisive factors. Dui, drawing on 18 years of personal and professional experience…

LOS ANGELES (news agencies) — Michael Madsen, the actor best known for his coolly menacing, steely-eyed, often sadistic characters in the films of Quentin Tarantino including “Reservoir Dogs” and “Kill Bill: Vol. 2,” has died. Madsen was found unresponsive in his home in Malibu, California, on Thursday morning and pronounced dead, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Watch Commander Christopher Jauregui said. He is believed to have died of natural causes and authorities do not suspect any foul play was involved. Madsen’s manager Ron Smith said cardiac arrest was the apparent cause. He was 67.Madsen’s career spanned more than 300 credits…