Author: Gulf News Week
BethesdaXbox bosses say they want to focus on their biggest series, such as Fallout”Blindsided.”That was how game developer Morgan Goin felt when she found out she was being laid off from her job at Xbox-owned ZeniMax Online Studios (ZOS) last week.The senior encounter designer, who worked on popular fantasy role-playing game The Elder Scrolls Online, had known job cuts were coming.For weeks, reports warning of a “bloodbath” at Microsoft’s video game studios had been circulating after the division’s new chief executive, Asha Sharma, released a memo saying she planned to “reset the business”. About a month later, workers learned about…
VCG via Getty ImagesChina’s economic growth slowed sharply between the start of April and end of June as weak domestic demand and the Iran war’s impact on oil prices overshadowed the country’s strong exports.Official gross domestic product (GDP) figures showed the world’s second largest economy grew in the second quarter by 4.3%, below Beijing’s annual target, and after a 5% rise in the first quarter.It comes a day after government data showed that China’s exports jumped by 27% in June compared to a year earlier.In March, China cut the growth target to a range of 4.5%-5%, its lowest economic expansion…
NEW YORK (news agencies) — Infections from the diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora are surging, with state-level data suggesting that 2026 is already the nation’s worst year for reported cases.More than 30 states have reported infections this year, and current data from them shows the number of infections surpassing the record U.S. mark of about 4,700 set in 2019. The illness is not usually life threatening and is typically treated with antibiotics. Health officials have not yet definitively identified what is causing the infections. On Tuesday, federal health officials said there may be different infection patterns in different places, although they believe…
ReutersThe aftermath of wildfires in the Almería province, in Bedar.Seven Britons were among those killed in the deadly wildfires in southern Spain, authorities have confirmed.Twelve of the 13 victims were foreign nationals, Spanish authorities said on Tuesday after completing post-mortem examinations, according to local media and Agence France Presse (AFP).The wildfires, which tore through Spain’s Almería province on Thursday, have become one of the country’s deadliest. A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office previously said it was “supporting British nationals affected and their families and remain in close contact with the Spanish authorities”.In a statement, officials said seven…
There’s no evidence this Mitch McConnell rehab photo is AIThe 84-year-old Republican hasn’t been seen in public for weeks and says he is recovering from a fall.7 hrs agoUS & Canada
BBCSomewhere in the stormy waters off Greenland, a bright yellow robotic probe, known as an Argo float, is sinking silently beneath the waves.It is roughly the size of a person, with a tough metal body and an array of sensors packed inside.The float is part of a global effort to solve one of the great mysteries of the ocean: how its hidden movements help shape the climate above.There is no crew, no one steering it. Instead, it drifts with the currents, measuring temperature, the amount of salt in the water and pressure as it moves through the waves.It is called…
Getty ImagesDonald Trump’s latest Iran War demand lasted all of 24 hours – and suggests a president searching for unorthodox ways out of a difficult position.On Monday morning, in a social media post announcing the resumption of an American naval blockade on Iranian shipping, he said that all vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz – including those of US allies – must pay a 20% fee to reimburse the US “for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the world”.The following day, he abandoned that proposal completely,…
Attack was ‘targeted’ – Counter Terrorism PoliceAnn Widdecombe was killed in a “targeted attack” and detectives are still working to understand the motive, police have said.Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said the appearance of the former Conservative minister turned Reform UK spokeswoman on Talk TV on the morning she was killed at her home in Devon is being looked into as part of the investigation.In an update at New Scotland Yard, he also said he did not want to rule anything out when asked if the killer could have been targeting other Reform figures.Detectives have obtained…
ReutersThe fragile “no war, no peace” situation since the US and Iran signed a tentative deal last month now seems to have tipped into war.This on-again off-again truce could again wobble back into life through the efforts of increasingly exasperated Arab and Pakistani mediators, and the preference of both sides to avoid a return to a drawn out, all-out war.But its biggest fault line is the status of the strategic Strait of Hormuz – and Iran is again making it clear that its control over this vital maritime corridor is a big, bright red line that neither military, economic nor…
Watch: Trump on why he dropped 20% Strait of Hormuz feePresident Donald Trump has reversed his threat of a 20% fee on all Strait of Hormuz cargo shipping, as the US battles to break Iran’s hold on the waterway.Trump said the toll would be replaced by “massive” trade and investment deals with Gulf states, just hours before the US resumed its blockade of Iranian ports.It follows renewed strikes between the US and Iran, which triggered a sharp rise in oil prices as tanker traffic through the Strait has virtually stalled.US Central Command (Centcom) said late on Tuesday its “forces began…