At its meeting on Wednesday, the government decided that the prices of goods and services provided by holiday facilities, hotels, bungalows, campsites, training facilities, educational centres, sports facilities, medical spa centres, wellness centres, thalassotherapy centres, eateries and other fac»»»

European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde said Wednesday that the continent could not afford to miss out on the artificial intelligence revolution as the continent's growth model comes under increasing pressure. The United States and China are seen leading the AI race, with their companies prod»»»

Tensions between the US and Iran remain high nearly six months into the conflict, with Iran warning Gulf states against assisting US forces, fresh concerns over the Strait of Hormuz, continued disruption to Gulf flights and the UAE pushing back on false claims about visa cancellations. Here are the»»»

Continue the Change (CC) Wednesday said that within 100 days in office, the Radev government had managed to drag the country into a war. The statement was published on Facebook following a Financial Times report that Iran is considering military targets in Europe, including Bulgaria, if US Presiden»»»

The strategy also targets raising investment’s contribution to gross domestic product from 22 percent in 2019 to 30 percent by 2030. Sectors of particular importance include green energy, technology, and health care as well as biotechnology, advanced mobility and logistics. RIYADH: Saudi Arabia iss»»»

CAIRO: An Israeli airstrike killed nine Palestinians at a police station in Gaza on Wednesday, medics said, two days after US envoy Jared Kushner ended a trip to the region that failed to push forward Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in the enclave. Medics and police sources said several officers»»»

RIYADH: Net loans at Saudi Arabia’s 10 listed banks rose 7 percent year on year to SR3.25 trillion ($865.2 billion) by the end of the second quarter of 2026, while deposit growth outpaced lending for a second consecutive quarter, according to Al Rajhi Capital. Deposits increased 9 percent to SR3.15»»»

Abu Dhabi: The United Arab Emirates has announced the success of new mediation efforts between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Ukraine, resulting in the release of 103 captives from each side, bringing the total number of captives exchanged between the two countries through UAE-mediated »»»

BEIRUT: Lebanon said Wednesday it had received an invitation from France for a meeting to prepare for an international conference on support for the Lebanese army, an event postponed by the Middle East war. The conference in Paris was supposed to take place in March but was delayed after militant g»»»

LONDON: In May 2024, a furious Gilad Erdan, then Israel’s ambassador to the UN, stood in front of the General Assembly in New York and proceeded to feed a facsimile of the UN Charter into a tiny electric shredder. The assembly was poised to vote to adopt a resolution urging the Security Council to »»»

Continue the Change (CC) Wednesday said that within 100 days in office, the Radev government had managed to drag the country into a war. The statement was published on Facebook following a Financial Times report that Iran is considering military targets in Europe, including Bulgaria, if US Presiden»»»

Kyiv: Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies announced Wednesday that they are investigating senior officials in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, a day after the country’s recently fired defence minister called for national elections despite the ongoing fight against Russia’s attack. The revelat»»»

Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil has called for a public parliamentary session to question the government regarding the war, Hezbollah's weapons, and the U.S.-sponsored framework agreement with Israel. Bassil urged Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to schedule a public session to question »»»

Speaker Nabih Berri noted Wednesday that "what the South is experiencing is intolerable and may even surpass the crimes and massacres perpetrated in Gaza.” "The United States is the only country, and President Donald Trump is the only one capable of compelling Israel to end its war, cease fire, and»»»

A Turkish delegation had visited an air base in northern Syria the day before it was hit by Israeli airstrikes, Syrian officials said. The Israeli strikes hit the Abu Duhur base early Tuesday, hours after the delegation had left, causing damage but no casualties. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Net»»»

SHANGHAI — Chinese humanoid pioneer Unitree, whose backflipping robots wowed the world earlier this year, made a much-anticipated market debut in Shanghai on Wednesday with a similarly impressive leap in share price of more than 600 per cent.The Hangzhou-based firm's machines have become synonymou»»»

The United Arab Emirates suspended all trade with Iran on Wednesday after it said it had come under renewed fire from the country — a move that will further isolate the Islamic Republic, which is suffering under U.S. sanctions and a blockade. Incoming ballistic missile fire triggered nationwide war»»»

Israel's military said Wednesday it would launch criminal investigations into two high-profile attacks on Palestinians during the war in Gaza, including the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family and of 15 Palestinian paramedics. The military said it would not launch criminal investigatio»»»

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister and cricket captain Imran Khan met his sister and wife at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail for the first time in nine months after the apex court allowed weekly family meetings for the incarcerated leader amid concerns over his health. Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehr»»»

Ukraine's ⁠anti-graft agencies ​said on Wednesday ​they had uncovered a group including a presidential official ​that ‌had laundered ⁠150 million hryvnias ($3.35 ‌million) used to pay for bail ⁠in an energy corruption scheme. Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies launched a ​special operation against »»»

Only hours before the annual US-South Korean military exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield was due to begin, Donald Trump issued a statement that went far beyond another dispute over how much America’s allies should pay for their own security. On August 16, 2026, the US president announced that he had ins»»»

Denmark has deployed a batch of fresh military conscripts to Greenland for the first time in modern history, as Copenhagen seeks to assert its control over the Arctic territory in response to threats of annexation from US President Donald Trump. Around 100 conscripts from the Schleswig Infantry Reg»»»

Kyrgyzstan is considering introducing criminal liability for knowingly issuing a false audit report. The draft law was initiated by Zhogorku Kenesh deputy Bolot Ibragimov. The bill proposes adding two new articles to the Criminal Code. The convicted person could also be prohibited from engaging in »»»

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry summoned Russian ambassador Mikhail Yevdokimov on August 18 to protest what it called provocative, insulting and threatening statements against Azerbaijan, its people and leadership circulating in Russian media, a day after the Prosecutor General's Office placed three »»»

RIYADH: The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector has signed a new $50 million line-of-finance facility with Al Salam Bank B.S.C. to expand access to Shariah-compliant funding for private-sector businesses in Bahrain. The institution, known as ICD, said in a post on X the tr»»»

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Wednesday it would launch criminal investigations into two high-profile attacks on Palestinians during the war in Gaza, including the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family and of 15 Palestinian paramedics. The military said it would not launch criminal i»»»

Damascus, Aug. 19 (SANA) Gold prices remained stable in the Syrian market Wednesday, while global bullion prices rebounded as the US dollar and global bond yields eased. According to a bulletin issued by the General Authority for Precious Metals Management, the price of 21-karat gold stood at SYP 1»»»

A drone strike on a minibus in the Ukrainian frontline city of Kherson killed at least 4 people and injured 5 others amid a rise in Russian attacks on the approximately one-third of the province still controlled by Ukraine. File photo by State Emergency Service of Ukraine/EPA-EFE Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A»»»

IGA-BARRIÈRE: Isaac Batisa is only a child but he spends his days digging for gold at a mining site in eastern Congo, hoping to earn enough money to support his family. The 11-year-old is among hundreds of people, many of them children, working at the artisanal gold mine in eastern Congo’s Ituri pr»»»

BRUSSELS: NATO is prepared to address ​any threat and will always do what is necessary to defend all allies, a NATO ‌official said ‌on ​Wednesday ‌in ⁠response ​to questions about ⁠a report in the Financial Times that Iran has allegedly weighed ⁠attacking US military ‌targets ‌in ​Europe should ‌Do»»»

RIYADH: Iraq’s cabinet has approved a three-month mechanism for exporting crude through specialized local and international companies and multiple export outlets, as Baghdad seeks to diversify its oil export routes amid disruptions. The decision was taken during the 15th regular session of the Coun»»»

Iran’s foreign minister said the Iran war had changed the region’s security thinking, convincing Arab states that security must be collective and regional, not dependent on foreign bases that had become sources of insecurity. In a wide-ranging interview with the president’s communications office, A»»»

The US has suspended negotiations with Iran and is seeking to gradually “strangle” the country, CNN reported on Tuesday, after its bombing campaign near the Strait of Hormuz failed to yield the desired results. The US abruptly halted its most recent wave of strikes late last month amid reports that»»»

Dubai: Nearly six months into the war, Donald Trump appears to be settling on a new strategy for Iran: Stop chasing an elusive diplomatic breakthrough, maintain economic and naval pressure and wait for Tehran to bend. Iran is signalling something very different. It says that if the squeeze continue»»»

London, Dubai, New York City, Washington, DC, and Amsterdam top the rankings of the world’s most intelligent cities, according to new research from Boston Consulting Group (BCG). However, no city leads across every area assessed, with different combinations of strengths shaping intelligent city lea»»»

Ukraine's popular ex-defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections on Tuesday evening, stating that the nation was facing a crisis of governance. Fedorov was dismissed last month, sparking days of protests across Ukraine. It is the first time since Russia launched its full-scale in»»»

An unidentified foreign national died after being taken into custody following an altercation aboard a Mumbai-Delhi train during which he allegedly sprayed passengers with a fire extinguisher. The man, believed to be around 45 years old, collapsed while being questioned by railway authorities in Su»»»

Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev told a briefing at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday that in coordination with the Ministry of Defence and under the direction of the Prime Minister, the Interior Ministry has taken all possible measures for Bezmer Air Base, including measures to address a muc»»»

RIYADH: Egypt accounts for 48 percent of Africa’s outstanding sukuk, making it the continent’s largest market, as regulatory reforms and closer economic ties with the Gulf Cooperation Council support growth, according to Fitch Ratings. In its latest report, the credit rating agency said African suk»»»

Iran’s highest-ranking military officer has issued a stark warning to Persian Gulf nations, cautioning that any facilitation of U.S. military operations against the Islamic Republic would be treated as direct participation in aggression against Iran. Major General Ali Abdollahi, Chief of Staff of I»»»

Former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called Tuesday for elections in Ukraine, arguing that the suspension of democracy was incompatible with the country's war goals. File photo by Olivier Matthys/EPA Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for elections in Ukr»»»

ECB economists have warned that the current AI-driven stock market boom is likely to end in a correction, with potentially significant consequences for the euro area due to its exposure to US technology stocks. In a blog post published on 17 August, Malin Andersson, Johannes Breckenfelder, Stefano »»»

Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners of war in a 103-for-103 swap, the Russian Defense Ministry said. “On August 19, 103 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kiev regime. In exchange, 103 Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war were handed over,” the ministry said.The»»»

Azerbaijan's finance ministry has raised its average annual inflation forecast for 2026 to 5.7%, up from the 4.8% projected earlier, according to a mid-year budget execution and year-end outlook document published by the ministry and cited by Report. The revision reflects actual inflation recorded »»»

Ukraine has been using UK-made jet drones for deep strikes inside Russia for the past six months, The Sunday Times reported on August 16, citing Ukrainian military sources. The use of UK-made weapons to hit targets deep inside Russia has lead to fears that Russia will retaliate by targetting those »»»

Around 7,000 children currently live in children’s homes in Hungary. A report produced in early 2024 exposed appalling conditions in these institutions, but the Orbán government chose instead to conceal the reality: abuse, a lack of psychological support, starvation, and outdated, unusable furnitur»»»

NAIROBI: The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo now exceeds 5,000, government data showed late on Tuesday, as health officials warn that response efforts are failing to contain the deadly disease. Congo’s 17th Ebola epidemic ‌turned into ‌the biggest in the country’»»»

FINANCIAL TIMES: IRAN EYES TARGETING US MILITARY ASSETS IN EUROPE IF TENSIONS ESCALATE Denevnik.bg and 24 Chasa reproduce a Financial Times report, citing people close to the Iranian regime, according to which Iranian officials and military planners have examined potential targets at American milit»»»

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Oman because he is unhappy the country is close to a deal with Iran to manage ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, two regional officials said on Tuesday, a day after Trump leveled the threat. The officials said the Trump administration has told »»»

Cairo, Egypt: The Arab League has condemned the Israeli strike on the Abu Al-Duhur airbase in Syria's Idlib province on Tuesday, describing it as a blatant violation of Syrian sovereignty and international law and another escalation in Israel's repeated attacks on Syria and other countries in the r»»»