Author: Gulf News Week

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — The Senate came to a standstill Tuesday after slogging through a tense overnight session, with Republican leaders searching for ways to secure support for President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts while fending off proposed amendments, mostly from Democrats trying to defeat the package.Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota spent the night reaching for last-minute agreements between those in his party worried the bill’s reductions to Medicaid will leave millions without care and his most conservative flank, which wants even steeper cuts to hold down deficits ballooning with the tax…

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — Clean energy advocates were already bracing for a Republican-led bill that would phase out tax credits for wind, solar and other renewable energy as President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers moved to dismantle the 2022 climate law passed by Democrats under former President Joe Biden. But a proposal that emerged over the weekend was even more drastic than they thought.It was more aggressive in ending incentives for clean energy than a previous Senate version and would even impose new taxes on some wind and solar projects while boosting production of coal used in steelmaking. The Senate…

The Florida Panthers completed another hat trick Monday less than two weeks since repeating as Stanley Cup champions.After Aaron Ekblad, Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett said they never wanted to leave South Florida, they got their wish. Days after locking up Bennett long term, the Panthers agreed to re-sign Ekblad and Marchand.Ekblad agreed to an eight-year deal worth $48.8 million. Marchand agreed to a six-year deal, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke to media on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the signings.The deals got done before the start of NHL free agency…

TOKYO (news agencies) — Japan on Sunday successfully launched a climate change monitoring satellite on its mainstay H-2A rocket, which made its final flight before it is replaced by a new flagship model designed to be more cost competitive in the global space market. The H-2A rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan, carrying the GOSAT-GW satellite as part of Tokyo’s effort to mitigate climate change. The satellite was safely separated from the rocket and released into a planned orbit about 16 minutes later.Scientists and space officials at the control room exchanged hugs and handshakes to…

KYIV, Ukraine (news agencies) — “You have no moral right to die.”That’s what Olha Kurtmalaieva told herself as she lay in intensive care, her body shutting down after emergency chemotherapy. Her cancer had progressed to Stage 4, meaning it had spread to other parts of her body and was now incurable. The pain was unbearable. The doctors weren’t sure she’d make it through the night.She was facing death alone in the Ukrainian capital, while her soldier husband was in Russian captivity in the more than three-year war.“If I die now, who will bring him back?” Olha thought to herself. “He…

Maris Kreizman always loved books and TV. As a self-described ambition monster, she once thought that if she worked hard and played by the rules, she would land her dream job in publishing and live happily ever after with a house, husband, good health insurance and fat 401(k).Well, she got the husband and with him, the insurance. But alas, the rest was not be. In her debut essay collection, “I Want to Burn This Place Down,” the 40-something book critic, columnist for Lit Hub and erstwhile podcaster recalls a series of mini-awakenings in college and the New York publishing world…

Waymo’s robotaxis will begin carrying passengers through parts of Atlanta on Tuesday in an expansion of a partnership with Uber that began earlier this year in Austin.Waymo’s driverless march into Atlanta comes just days after Tesla finally launched a limited robotaxi service in Austin, more than five years after CEO Elon Musk brashly promised the electric automaker would quickly overtake Waymo as the leader in autonomous driving technology. Unlike Waymo’s robotaxis, Tesla is initially placing a human in the passenger seat of its rival service to take over the vehicle if something goes wrong. While Tesla is starting with about…

BEIRUT (news agencies) — Sayeh Seydal, a jailed Iranian dissident, narrowly escaped death when Israeli missiles struck Tehran’s Evin Prison, where she was held. She had just stepped out of the prison’s clinic moments before it was destroyed.The June 23 strikes on Iran’s most notorious prison for political dissidents killed at least 71 people, including staff, soldiers, visiting family members and people living nearby, Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said Sunday. In the ensuing chaos, authorities transferred Seydal and others to prisons outside Tehran — overcrowded facilities known for their harsh conditions.When she was able to call her family several…

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — Republicans are inching closer to getting their tax and spending cut bill through Congress with a final Senate vote likely late Monday or early Tuesday. At some 940 pages, the legislation is a sprawling collection of tax breaks, spending cuts and other Republican priorities, including new money for national defense and deportations. President Donald Trump has admonished Republicans, who hold majority power in the House and Senate, to skip their holiday vacations and deliver the bill by the Fourth of July. Democrats are united against the legislation and were offering scores of amendments to alter it…

Victor Wembanyama has another big man to help him out in San Antonio. The Houston Rockets continued their offseason overhaul. And Orlando and Atlanta made moves with eyes on contending this coming season as the NBA’s free agency period got underway Monday.The Spurs lured center Luke Kornet away from Boston with a four-year, $41 million deal, a person with knowledge of the agreement told media. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team cannot announce the deal until the league’s signing moratorium for most contracts is lifted on Sunday.Kornet was part of Boston’s 2024 NBA title team and…