Author: Gulf News Week
EPAThe Trump administration’s nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia reversed a years-long stance toward a key Middle East ally.Past US presidents insisted that Saudi Arabia normalise relations with Israel in exchange for receiving American nuclear technology for civilian energy programmes. According to reports of the deal’s contents, President Donald Trump gave Saudi Arabia what it wanted without extracting concessions for Israel in return – and over objections from critics who argued that it could spark a nuclear arms race in the region.On Thursday he said in a social media post that the nuclear pact was conditioned on Saudi Arabia joining the…
Dax Melmer / ReutersIt was supposed to be a celebration marking the opening of a new international bridge connecting Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, after eight years of construction and several delays.Canadian and American dignitaries planned to come together for the inauguration of the C$6.4bn ($4.5bn; £3.4bn) Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting the automotive hubs of each nation. Instead, Canadians will host their own event solo on Friday, having disinvited their US counterparts in the wake of Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat on their country.It’s only the most recent bit of drama for a bridge meant to symbolise unity between…
ReutersVessels sighted in the Strait of Hormuz from Oman on 23 JulyThe US military says it has launched strikes on Iran for the 13th consecutive night, with Iranian state media saying four people have been killed and five injured. It comes as US President Donald Trump said he would use Iranian assets held by the US to pay for “any damages to Ships, Cargo, or anything related thereto”. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi hit back at the threat that Trump called “fair and equitable”, calling it an “incendiary precedent”.The latest strikes follow Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis’ claim to have attacked two…
Watch: Families still search for bodies a month after Venezuela’s earthquakesThe worst day in Victor Calderón’s life – a month ago to the day – unfolded while he was at sea. When the powerful twin earthquakes devastated Venezuela’s northern coastline, the 49-year-old fisherman had been on the boat for 18 days and was told by radio that the building he and his family lived in had collapsed.When he got back to shore, a staggering 26 members of his family were gone. They include his sisters, their children and grandchildren, as well as his stepfather and nine cousins. Their ages ranged…
AFP via Getty ImagesA Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) supporter wearing a cockroach mask at a protest over irregularities in major public examinations in DelhiIt began with a fear familiar to millions of young Indians: if the examinations that determine their future cannot be trusted, what can?Weeks later, on Monday, tens of thousands of young men and women tried to march on India’s parliament. Police responded with tear gas and baton charges. Thousands more have returned to the streets in the days since.The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led movement born out of anger over repeated examination paper leaks, has quickly…
Federal health officials are investigating a new outbreak involving the diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora.The outbreak included 72 people as of Wednesday. The Food and Drug Administration has not yet identified which products are linked to the illnesses. Officials also have not said where the cases are located. “This is an active investigation, and officials are working together to determine the specific cause of illnesses in this cluster,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in an email Thursday.Federal officials earlier this week said they remained focused on lettuce from Taylor Farms as the source of a separate, multistate outbreak. The…
Getty ImagesAt least 40 people, most of them protesters, have been killed in the run-up to elections in Pakistan-administered KashmirNaqash Zardad was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.The education department employee was at his buffalo farm in Rawalakot in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, when violent clashes broke out between police and protesters nearby.With roads blocked around his farm, Zardad was unable to get home.Then gunshots were fired.Zardad is one of at least 40 people who have been killed in the run-up to legislative elections in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Of those, 34 were protesters. Six were police and paramilitary personnel. Rawalakot…
Could you run a country on just three hours of sleep? Japan’s PM says she doesJapan’s prime minister Sanae Takaichi says she survives on zero to three hours a night, and people are reacting.4 hrs agoAsia
Clément Cornec/ENES Bioacoustics Research LabThe songs of birds like this European wren are shaped by their environmentScientists in France say they have discovered the building blocks of the incredible diversity of birdsong.A team analysed the songs of more than 100,000 songbirds and revealed that the world’s birdsongs are composed of eight fundamental types of sound that the researchers call “motifs”. Birdsong all around the world, they say, is made up of combinations of these motifs – three types of trill, three types of whistle, chaotic notes and harmonies.Birdsong is one of the natural world’s most sophisticated forms of sound-based communication.…
Watch: A baby trafficking ring has been convicted – but what now for the babies?On Tuesday an Indonesian court convicted 19 people for baby trafficking, wrapping up a high-profile case – but leaving a key question unanswered.The members of the trafficking syndicate were found guilty of procuring at least 34 babies and selling them for adoption.Most of the children were bound for Singapore, and at least 12 babies were sent over.The case has garnered attention in both countries for months. Now that it has ended, its verdict has sharpened the question of what will happen to the babies in Singapore.…