Author: Gulf News Week

NEW YORK (news agencies) — Pete Alonso homered twice and drove in five runs, Brandon Nimmo hit his second grand slam in four days and the New York Mets battered the reeling New York Yankees 12-6 on Saturday.Carlos Rodón (9-6) was roughed up as the Yankees equaled a season high with their sixth consecutive defeat. They also dropped six straight June 13-18, marking the first time since 2000 they’ve endured two six-game losing streaks in one year.The Mets have won four in a row following a 3-14 slide, improving the best home record in the majors to 33-13. They’ll go…

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attended a mourning ceremony on the eve of the Muslim holy day of Ashura.Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has attended a religious ceremony in Tehran, making his first public appearance since the 12 days of conflict between Israel and Iran. The 85-year-old leader appeared in a video aired by state media on Saturday, which showed dozens of people attending an event at a mosque to mark Ashura, the holiest day of the Shia Muslim calendar. In the footage, Khamenei is seen waving and nodding to the chanting crowd, which rose to its feet as he entered…

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — The sprawling tax and policy bill that passed Congress repeals a multibillion-dollar green bank for financing climate-friendly projects, and the Trump administration should be allowed to freeze its funding and cancel related contracts with nonprofits, federal officials said in a court filing.Climate United Fund and other nonprofits in March sued the Environmental Protection Agency, its administrator Lee Zeldin and Citibank, which held the program’s money. The lawsuit argued the defendants had illegally denied the groups access to billions awarded last year through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, commonly referred to as a “green bank.” The program…

NEW YORK (news agencies) — Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt likely needs a second Tommy John surgery that would sideline him for the remainder of this season and much of next year, a huge blow to New York’s injury-riddled rotation.Yankees manager Aaron Boone made the announcement Saturday, acknowledging the injury to the ulnar collateral ligament in Schmidt’s right elbow. “We’re making sure we have all the opinions,” Boone said, “but I think it’s pretty much inevitable.”Schmidt had an MRI on Friday and was placed on the 15-day injured list because of right forearm soreness, one day after his start in Toronto…

ATLANTA (news agencies) — Désiré Doué scored in the 78th minute, and Paris Saint-Germain moved a step closer to another trophy with a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Club World Cup on Saturday, a game marred by a gruesome injury to young German star Jamal Musiala.With PSG two men down after a pair of late red cards and Bayern throwing everyone forward, Ousmane Dembélé added an insurance goal deep into stoppage time to send the French powerhouse to the semifinals Wednesday against Real Madrid — a 3-2 winner over Borussia Dortmund — at East Rutherford,…

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (news agencies) — Julian McMahon, an Australia-born actor who performed in two “Fantastic Four” films and appeared in TV shows such as “Charmed,” “Nip/Tuck” and “Profiler,” has died, his wife said in a statement.McMahon, 56, died peacefully this week after a battle with cancer, Kelly McMahon said in a statement provided to media by his Beverly Hills, California-based publicist.“Julian loved life,” the statement said. “He loved his family. He loved his friends He loved his work, and he loved his fans. His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible.”McMahon played Dr. Doom…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says Hamas requests for changes to truce proposal ‘unacceptable’.Israel is sending a negotiating team to Qatar for talks on a Gaza ceasefire proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed. In a statement late on Saturday, Netanyahu’s office said the team would travel on Sunday after the Israeli leader instructed negotiators “to accept the invitation for close talks”. But the statement said that “the changes Hamas is requesting to make to the Qatari proposal were delivered to us last night and are unacceptable to Israel”. It did not elaborate on what changes were being requested.…

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — Incredible amounts of moisture in the air fueled a storm that barely moved over central Texas, creating conditions for fatal flash floods in the early morning hours when it was easy to catch people by surprise, meteorologists said.More than 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain fell in the Texas Hill Country over a span of several hours early Friday, causing water levels to quickly rise, according to the weather forecasting company AccuWeather. The area is naturally prone to flash flooding, but this was an especially bad storm that hit during the vulnerable overnight hours, experts said.…

TEHRAN, Iran (news agencies) — Iran’ s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday made his first public appearance since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran began, attending a mourning ceremony on the eve of Ashoura.The absence of Khamenei during the war had suggested heavy security for the Iranian leader, who has final say on all state matters. State TV in Iran showed Khamenei waving and nodding to the chanting crowd as he entered and sat.There was no immediate report on any public statement made.Iran has acknowledged the deaths of more than 900 people in the war, as well…

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — President Donald Trump says he didn’t know the term “shylock” is considered antisemitic when he used it in a speech to describe unscrupulous moneylenders.Trump told reporters early Friday after returning from an event in Iowa that he had “never heard it that way” and “never heard that” the term was considered an offensive stereotype about Jews.Shylock refers to the villainous Jewish moneylender in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” who demands a pound of flesh from a debtor. The Anti-Defamation League, which works to combat antisemitism, said in a statement that the term “evokes a centuries-old antisemitic…