Author: Gulf News Week
LIVEDangerous wildfire smoke blankets large parts of Canada and the USThick pollution has made the air stretching from Winnipeg to the southern US unhealthy to breathe and officials are encouraging people to stay indoors.
Melissa Weiss/Center for Astrophysics |Harvard & SmithsonianArtwork: The red tinge illustrates an atmosphere around a rocky planet orbting a red starResearchers have found the first atmosphere surrounding an Earth-like, rocky planet orbiting within the habitable zone of a distant star.The researchers say that their discovery provides the strongest evidence yet that worlds with conditions similar to Earth could exist beyond our solar system.The gas detected in the atmosphere is helium, which would not be able to support life, but other gasses may also be present.The lead author, Dr Collin Cherubim of Harvard University, described the discovery as “a big deal”.The…
Getty ImagesBrenda Fricker with her Oscar in 1990Irish actress Brenda Fricker, who won an Oscar for her role in 1989 film My Left Foot and had well-loved parts in Home Alone 2 and TV’s Casualty, has died at the age of 81.Fricker won the Oscar for best supporting actress in 1990 for playing Daniel Day-Lewis’s on-screen mother in My Left Foot.She played nurse Megan Roach in the BBC’s Casualty from 1986, making her final appearance in 2010; and was the Central Park pigeon lady in 1992’s Home Alone sequel.In a statement, her agent Phil Belfield said: “We will never see…
ATLANTA (news agencies) — Federal health officials have identified lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell locations across five U.S. states as a source of the widespread outbreak of diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday warned consumers not to eat shredded iceberg lettuce from Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. A record number of cyclospora cases have been reported in more than 30 states, and experts have said not every recent U.S. illness might be caused by a single source.A Food and Drug Administration investigation identified a single supplier of…
Tristar Media/Getty ImagesJens Spahn (R) is accused of adopting double standards as he has opposed legalising surrogacy in the pastGerman centre-right politician Jens Spahn has been accused of double standards, after he revealed he and his husband had become parents using a surrogate mother in the US.Surrogacy is banned in Germany – a policy firmly backed by his Christian Democrat party, and several years ago by Spahn himself.Although there is no German ban on bringing up a child born to a surrogate mother abroad, Spahn, 46, has been criticised by politicians from several parties, including his own.”Politicians who set standards…
BBCIt was just five months ago when Andy Burnham retreated to his mayor’s office in Manchester, having been blocked by Labour’s ruling executive from standing for parliament.When I met him there a few weeks later, he told me he planned to deal with his disappointment with some ambitious plans for his city region.Burnham told me he wanted to appeal directly to Fifa to host the final of the women’s football World Cup in 2035 Manchester instead of Wembley. “Imagine how electrifying that is for any girl growing up in the north of England,” he said.He said he was also joining…
PA Media / Getty ImagesThis World Cup has been bigger than any tournament before it.More countries taking part and more matches means more eyeballs on the action – as well as more opportunities to make money.As the planet’s footballing stars create historic moments on the pitch, billions of dollars are being generated off it.But not everyone is raking in the big bucks, so while there are some big winners, there are also some financial losers.The amount of money world football’s governing body Fifa makes from the World Cup is astronomical. It generated a record $7.6bn (£5.6bn) from Qatar 2022 and…
AFP via Getty ImagesFile picture of boats carrying Rohingyas off the coast of Aceh, IndonesiaTwo boats carrying an estimated 530 Rohingya asylum seekers left Myanmar’s Rakhine state on 29 June, and have not been heard from since. The equivalent of a jumbo jet full of people has vanished.It is very likely that they both capsized. The monsoon has started, the seas are rough, and the boats – usually old fishing trawlers converted to carry as many people as possible – are barely sea-worthy with unreliable engines. It is also very likely that there were few, or no survivors. Half of…
AFP via Getty ImagesAndy Burnham will take over from Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader on Friday, after winning the support of the party’s MPs.It means he will soon become the UK’s prime minister – the seventh in the last 10 years.When does Andy Burnham become prime minister?Burnham becomes Labour leader on Friday – but he will not become prime minister until Monday, three days later.The King will meet Burnham soon afterwards, when he will ask him to form a government. Once Burnham has accepted, he will officially be the UK’s prime minister.Both meetings usually happen at Buckingham Palace.Burnham will…
Getty ImagesChina has hit out at the nationalisation of British Steel, saying it “firmly opposes and is strongly dissatisfied with the British government’s decision”.On Thursday, the UK government said that taking the loss-making firm into public hands would protect jobs and safeguard a “vital national capability”.The UK took control of British Steel’s operations in Scunthorpe last year, though it was still owned by China’s Jingye Group, limiting the government’s ability to steer its future.China’s commerce ministry said on Friday that the moves “seriously infringed upon Jingye’s legitimate rights and interests and severely undermined the confidence of Chinese companies investing in…