Author: Gulf News Week

Engineer Hossam Sadiq Khalifa died while on duty at Habshan facilities; four others injured as regional conflict continues to threaten Gulf energy infrastructure. ABU DHABI / CAIRO – Egypt is mourning the loss of a senior engineer killed in a fire at Abu Dhabi’s Habshan gas facilities, after debris from a successful air defence interception sparked two separate blasts at the site. The Abu Dhabi Media Office confirmed that an Egyptian national tragically lost his life in the incident. Emergency response teams acted quickly to bring the fires under control, though authorities reported that the facilities sustained significant damage. Engineer identified…

Forget statement furniture. The next frontier in luxury residential design is invisible: air-purifying walls, circadian lighting, and storage that disappears into architecture. INTERNATIONAL – For decades, interior design has been driven by aesthetics. Colour palettes, statement furniture, curated objects, and visual identity have dominated residential architecture. Homes were styled to be seen, not measured. But a quieter, more consequential shift is now underway. In high-performance residential design, the home is being reimagined not as a display of taste, but as a biological system. Bio-optimised interiors and zero-object homes represent a decisive move away from decoration and toward performance. These environments are…

One crew member rescued by US special forces, second missing after first American fighter jet crashes inside Iran since war began; fresh strikes rock Tehran, Beirut, and Gulf states. TEHRAN/WASHINGTON – Iranian and American forces are engaged in a high-stakes race across central Iran to locate a missing crew member of a U.S. F-15 fighter jet – the first American warplane to go down inside Iranian territory since the outbreak of the wider Middle East war more than a month ago. Tehran claimed Saturday it shot down the aircraft using an advanced IRGC air defense system, while U.S. media reported that…

In the latest escalation in the Middle East, warring sides have demonstrated complete disregard for civilian life.For decades, leaders who were responsible for war crimes tended to plead ignorance or insist it was a mistake and their hands were clean. What has changed in the Middle East is the swaggering contempt we have seen from the United States, Israel and Iran as they instead dismiss, mock or flout the international laws protecting civilians. If the international community does not urgently reassert support for those norms, it may be acquiescing to their destruction.US President Donald Trump, who told The New York…

Filipino boxing legend says contract explicitly states professional bout, not an exhibition; Mayweather had claimed September clash at Las Vegas Sphere would be “not a real fight.” MANILA/LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao has publicly contradicted Floyd Mayweather Jr. over the nature of their planned September rematch, insisting he signed a contract for a professional fight and would refuse to step into the ring if it were merely an exhibition. The two boxing icons, now 47 and 49 respectively, announced last month that they would meet at the Sphere in Las Vegas in September, with the bout streaming globally on Netflix. But…

Cluster missile damages houses and cars as Israeli air defenses intercept most projectiles; Trump threatens Iranian bridges and power plants amid escalating war. JERUSALEM – Iran fired a fresh salvo of missiles at Israel on Friday, triggering air defense systems across the country, the Israeli military confirmed. While most projectiles were intercepted, an unintercepted cluster missile caused damage to houses and cars, emergency services reported. Israeli military radio added that a train station in Tel Aviv was damaged by shrapnel from the attack. No casualties have been reported so far. The missile barrage comes more than a month after the outbreak…

Second drone attack on major oil facility in less than a month as emergency teams work to contain blazes; KUNA confirms response plans activated. KUWAIT CITY – Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, one of the nation’s largest and most strategic oil processing plants, was hit by multiple drones in the early hours of the morning, triggering fires across several operational units, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported. Emergency response and firefighting teams were immediately deployed and have begun implementing pre-set response plans to contain the fires and prevent them from spreading to other critical areas of the facility, according to KUNA. No…

Non-custodial crypto exchange moves into Convention Tower at DWTC, aiming to build local trust, partner ecosystems, and a physical bridge beyond digital-only trading. DUBAI – ChangeNOW, a non-custodial cryptocurrency exchange, has officially launched its new regional headquarters in Dubai at Convention Tower, Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). The move signals a deliberate strategic shift into the Middle East — a region the company describes as one of the world’s most sophisticated digital asset frontiers. The new office is not merely an administrative outpost. According to ChangeNOW, it is designed to strengthen face-to-face connections with the partners and developers who drive the…

ICC jurisdiction in Lebanon would mean a chance of accountability for Israeli war crimes and renewed political pressure.“We are going to do what we did in Gaza.”That’s how a senior Israeli official described the Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon. The threat is real. Similar tactics to those used in Gaza are playing out in Lebanon: evacuation orders followed shortly thereafter by the wholesale destruction of entire apartment blocks, dozens of medics and first responders killed, Israeli soldiers looting the homes of civilians, infrastructure – including bridges connecting the south to the rest of the country – decimated. After a month,…

Pro-Iran militia groups may strike within 24-48 hours; Americans urged to leave Iraq immediately BAGHDAD – The United States embassy in Baghdad issued an urgent security alert on Thursday, warning that pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq are planning to conduct attacks in the capital within the next one to two days. “Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24-48 hours,” the embassy said in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter). The embassy reiterated its call for American citizens currently in Iraq to leave the country immediately, citing the heightened…