Author: Gulf News Week

Helicopters dump water as huge Norway fire destroys homesThe blaze has destroyed more than 100 homes in Drammen and has spread to a nearby forest, authorities say.1 hr agoEurope

Getty ImagesWhen a glass door shattered on the arm of 19-year-old De’Mari Benham, with blood running down his limb and with few other options, he was rushed to the fire department in a friend’s car.Firefighters bandaged him and encouraged the Tuskegee University student to go to a hospital the next town over to receive stitches and medicine.”I decided not to go,” he said. “Both because it’s far and because I just simply don’t have the funds.”Brandon Drenon/BBCDe’Mari Benham believes the state is trying to curb black Alabamians voting rights. “This means a lot,” he says.”We get calls, crazy calls, for…

BBCIn the week after the sex-criminal financier Jeffrey Epstein died, Anya (not her real name) opened the door of her New York apartment. Outside was Epstein’s brother, Mark, telling her she had to leave, she says.Anya had lived for years in one of several flats on East 66th Street in Manhattan used by Jeffrey Epstein to house women he abused. In one moment, she lost her home but escaped a nightmare. (Mark Epstein denies he was aware of his brother’s wrongdoing.)”I’m still struggling to reconcile with the fact that I was abused for years,” Anya says. “You were not chained…

Getty ImagesThe White House has defended the Argentinian football team’s right to free speech after they controversially waved a banner in support of their country’s territorial claim to the Falkland Islands while celebrating their World Cup win against England.Argentina face potential disciplinary action from Fifa over the incident which could breach rules on political statements.Asked whether players were in the wrong, Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House Fifa task force, said on Friday that the team had the opportunity and ability to “make those statements” in the US.The comments could further fuel the row over the incident, which has…

Getty ImagesWangchuk was sitting on hunger strike in the scorching summer, consuming nothing but salt and waterIndian activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk, on hunger strike for the past 20 days in Delhi, has been forcibly removed from his protest site.The 59-year-old had been protesting in support of an online satirical movement called the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) who are seeking educational reforms. The protesters had planned a march to India’s parliament on Monday.CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke told the BBC he had gone to a friend’s house in the morning to freshen up when policemen turned up and refused to let…

Getty ImagesImages shared on Friday showed a damaged bridge in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province The US military said it carried out the seventh night of strikes on Iran since President Donald Trump declared the temporary ceasefire agreement was “over”.In a statement shared on X, US Central Command (Centcom) wrote that its forces “hit surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities”.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said two oil tankers had exploded in the Strait of Hormuz while passing through a mined part of the shipping channel. That was dismissed as false by Centcom.Jordan’s armed forces said it had…

Skyroot AerospaceVikram-1 is set to take off from the Indian Space Research Organisation’s launch facility in Sriharikota on SaturdayWhat if launching a satellite was as easy as calling a cab? That’s the vision behind an Indian private rocket company that will attempt its first orbital launch on Saturday.Skyroot Aerospace, which recently became India’s first space tech unicorn after reaching $1.1bn valuation, is all set to launch Vikram-1 from the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) launch facility in Sriharikota in southern India.The seven-storey rocket, set for lift-off at 11:30 India time [06:00 GMT], will be headed for the Low Earth Orbit…

Watch: Songs that changed how some North Koreans saw the worldOn a sunny Saturday in June, Lee Yeon-su took the day off from work and hopped on a train from Seoul to Busan for yet another concert by pop supergroup BTS.It was her third time in as many months. She had been in the crowds that poured into central Seoul in March, when the septet launched their comeback – but the stage was too far away. In April, on the first day of their world tour, the rain poured down, drowning out the singers’ voices. But this time in Busan,…

The ‘ultimate all-round sportsman’ – Sobers could do it allSir Garfield Sobers, who has died aged 89, was rightly chosen as one of the leading five cricketers of the 20th century – and will be remembered as arguably the best all-rounder in the history of the game.6 hrs agoCricket

Olga Ivashchenko/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesCrowds took to the streets of Kyiv on Thursday following the removal of defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov”My operation is scheduled for tomorrow,” says the disfigured soldier, still recovering from his terrible injuries.”I hope when I wake up after the anaesthetic, Fedorov will be back at the Ministry of Defence,” the unnamed soldier says in a video posted on Telegram. “Otherwise, everything I was fighting for will have been in vain.”Among Ukraine’s battle-weary soldiers and wounded veterans, there’s a collective sense of outrage at this week’s political developments.President Zelensky’s decision not to re-appoint his successful young defence…