South Korea and the US will cut the duration of their annual joint military drills to five days from 11 and scale back some field training, ​the allies said on Wednesday, ‌after President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in US participation. Trump's move could reflect his hopes to re-en»»»

A Russian Il-76 firefighting aircraft crossed Bulgarian airspace on Wednesday evening before landing in Serbia, where it has joined efforts to contain large-scale wildfires. Serbian authorities thanked Moscow for the assistance, while the flight also prompted questions in Bulgaria over the circumst»»»

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan plan to move back to Britain six years after stepping down as working royals, British media reported on Wednesday. The couple are expected to leave the United States by month-end and live outside London, while their two children have reportedly enrolled in a British»»»

ABU DHABI: Emirati athlete Rakan Alyammahi has won gold in the Youth B Men’s 44 kg division after defeating Ireland’s Roman Verhoeven in the final, leading the UAE’s medal charge on the third day of the IMMAF Youth World Championships at Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi. His compatriot Mustafa Almaqboul»»»

Washington, USA: US President Donald Trump announced what he called the "most crushing economic operation” against Iran, stressing that the operation would amount to "economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale”. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said that "any country that»»»

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump announced what he called the "most crushing economic operation" against Iran, stressing that the operation would amount to "economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale". In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said that "any country that allo»»»

Rompetrol Rafinare recorded a consolidated gross turnover of $3.5 billion in the first half of this year?a 25% increase compared to the same period of 2025?driven by market conditions, including international price levels for raw materials, petroleum products, and bio-components, as well as rising »»»

KMG International (Rompetrol) has implemented a comprehensive energy consumption optimisation programme at the Petromidia and Vega refineries, following the current conditions in Romania's National Energy System (SEN) and the pressure on the network in the Dobrogea area, following the shutdown of t»»»

On Aug. 20, 2012, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and businesswoman Darla Moore became the first female members of Augusta National Golf Club 1 of 7 | Former Secretary of State and Augusta National Member Condoleezza Rice watches the Drive, Chip and Putt National Championship at Aug»»»

The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi Civil Defence Authority yesterday held a ceremony at the Department’s headquarters to launch the new generation of smart and specialised ambulances and integrate them into the Unified Medical Operations Centre system. The initiative aims to enh»»»

Dubai: Dubai’s well-known Toyota Building on Sheikh Zayed Road will be demolished in 2027, according to the real estate division managing the property, bringing an end to one of the city’s most iconic residential buildings. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply cl»»»

Law and JusticeChinaEvergrande founder Hui Ka Yan sentenced to life in prisonLouis Oelofse with AFP, AP, ReutersA Chinese court ordered the former billionaire's assets to be confiscated and fined Evergrande-related companies billions of dollars. https://p.dw.com/p/5J7bdHui Ka Yan, once Asia's riche»»»

Sziget Festival has survived ownership changes, a pandemic and more than three decades of transformation. But after a financially disappointing 2026 edition, the Budapest event faces perhaps a more fundamental question: what should Sziget actually be in the years ahead? There is something unusual a»»»

As the deadline set by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government to bring all weapons under state control approaches, tensions have risen in Iraq. With some factions doubling down on their refusal to surrender their arms, others have begun to back away from their earlier support for the government’s»»»

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP): Australia will begin to sell uranium to India for peaceful purposes after the two countries' leaders signed an administrative deal Thursday, enacting an agreement on exports of the material that was held up for years over concerns about weapons use. Australia's Prime M»»»

Acting Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan on Wednesday accused former Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan of "irresponsible behaviour" after Ivan claimed on social media that several companies could be disconnected from the national grid amid Romania's ongoing energy strain.Speaking on broadcaster B1 TV, Bolojan »»»

August is almost over, which means Apple's September stage is about to light up again, and this time, the spotlight isn't on four new iPhones. It's on three: the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and Apple's most talked-about device in years, its first-ever foldable iPhone. The base iPhone 18 a»»»

Hundreds of programmes await visitors in Budapest on 20 August, the feast day of Saint Stephen, the king who founded the Hungarian state. This year will again feature the Festival of Folk Arts in the Buda Castle, the Hungarian Flavours Street, pop and rock concerts, and the Karmelita monastery will»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, represented by the Department of Da’wah and Religious Guidance and its Da’wah and Islamic Sciences Institute, will conclude the seventh edition of its “Tafaqqah” educational program today. Held at Dar Al Salam Mosque in Mesaimeer, the two-week»»»

ISLAMABAD: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani arrived in Islamabad on Thursday to review bilateral ties and regional developments with the Pakistani leadership, state media said, marking the first visit by the country’s top diplomat to Pakistan in 19 years. Al-Shaibani arrived in Isla»»»

Doha, Qatar: The new Qatar Stars League season gets underway at the iconic Lusail Stadium today, with Al Wakrah and Qatar SC carrying the honour of launching the 2026-2027 campaign. The season opener kicks off at 5.15pm. Al Wakrah head into the campaign under Chilean coach Jose Luis Sierra, who has»»»

Doha, Qatar: Defending champions Italy launched their campaign in style by sweeping past Romania, while hosts Qatar suffered a loss against Venezuela as the as the 2026 FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U17 World Championship got underway in Doha, yesterday. Italy were made to work early by Romania at Al Arabi»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Qatar U-18 national basketball team will play a decisive match against Japan at 2:00 p.m. Doha time today, August 20, as part of the playoff round for qualification to the quarterfinals of the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2026, currently taking place in Ahmedabad, India. Qatar enter the clash»»»

Israeli defense minister Israel Katz ​said on Thursday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was “dragging Turkiye into dangerous adventures ‌in ‌Syria” ​and ‌that his ⁠country ​would not “allow ⁠any entity to threaten its security,” in a post on X. Turkiye ⁠firmly rejected on ‌Wednesday ‌wha»»»

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong acknowledged on Thursday that it was a "difficult time" in the country's relationship with Israel after its decision not to pursue a criminal investigation into the killing of aid workers. "We have an Australian humanitarian worker who was killed not on the fi»»»

Doha: The Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding (SHTAIU) has unveiled the languages selected for its 13th edition in 2027. As such, SHTAIU is determined to maintain the approach it had adopted in the previous edition of announcing the languages for each new edition mont»»»

Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A vehicle drove into a cycling team from a Tennessee university, killing two students and injuring seven others, according to authorities, who said the driver has been arrested on homicide charges. Eleven members of the Milligan University cycling team were cycling on Highway 19 ne»»»

Dubai: Gold prices in Dubai climbed again on Thursday morning, taking 24K to Dh541 per gram and 22K to Dh501, putting buyers face to face with the highest local rates seen since early June. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click hereAt 9 am, 24K gold stood at»»»

China on Thursday sentenced the founder of embattled property giant Evergrande to life in prison and fined the company and an affiliate more than $2 billion after a high-profile default five years ago. Evergrande Group was the face of Chinese real estate, surfing a decades-long property boom as it »»»

KIm Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said in a statement Wednesday that Pyongyang has "no interest" in the reduction of U.S.-South Korea military drills ordered by U.S. President Trump. Kim is seen here in Hanoi in March 2019. File Pool Photo by Jorge Silva/EPA-EFE SEOUL, Aug»»»

Amnesty International is demanding the EU stop outsourcing asylum, in a report critical of Italy’s controversial deal with Albania to fast-track deportations of people deemed to come from countries considered ‘safe’. But the NGO’s appeal, along with the EU recommendations due to be published later »»»

‘If only’ can be two of the most piercing words in the English language — especially when they come from wishing you had seen a doctor sooner, before cancer had a chance to take hold. Yet, Dubai-based Nainika’s (name changed on request) mother who doesn’t wish to be named, is trying to be positive »»»

Six years after stepping down as working royals, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan are moving back to the United Kingdom within weeks, British press reported late Wednesday. In a surprise move, Harry, the youngest son of King Charles III, and his wife Meghan, "plan to leave the United States by the »»»

CINCINNATI: World number one Aryna Sabalenka was sent spinning out of the fourth round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters, beaten 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 by 35th-ranked Czech Sara Bejlek. Sabalenka, who had cruised through the previous round, was ambushed by the 20-year-old, whose movement left the top seed »»»

The head of Israel’s spy agency held a phone call with Syria’s foreign minister last week during which they discussed Turkiye’s military presence in Syria, three people familiar with the matter said, just days before Israel bombed a Syrian air base.The August 14 call between Mossad spy agency chief»»»

Poland’s state budget deficit exceeded PLN 141 billion after the first seven months of 2026, leaving the government roughly halfway through its full-year deficit plan as work begins on the 2027 budget. Revenue reached PLN 333.9 billion, equivalent to 51.6 percent of the annual target, while expendi»»»

KGHM entered its second-quarter results announcement with exceptionally favorable commodity-market conditions after copper prices reached records during the period. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected the Polish copper and silver producer to report approximately PLN 12.59 billion in quarterly r»»»

Poland may struggle to execute its full defense-spending plan this year after expenditure from the Armed Forces Support Fund reached only around 14 percent of the annual target during the first half of 2026. The fund has become an important financing mechanism for Poland’s rapid military modernizat»»»

Minister of Health of Kyrgyzstan Damir Osmonov and Minister of Labor, Social Security and Migration Kanat Sagynbaev held a working meeting to discuss improvement of rehabilitation services for people with disabilities. According to the Ministry of Health, the discussions focused on ensuring continu»»»

Bars from Karakol won the 2026 Kyrgyzstan Football Super Cup. The previous day, in a match for the first trophy of the season, the reigning national champion played against the 2025 Cup winners, Dordoi. The Issyk-Kul team won 2-0. Bars currently holds first place in the national championship and is»»»

Twelve new water reservoirs are currently under construction in Kyrgyzstan. Bakyt Torobaev, Special Presidential Representative for Special Assignments, who visited Chanach-Sai reservoir in Ala-Buka district, said. He noted that Chanach-Sai is planned to be expanded. «The current capacity of 2 mill»»»

DEIR EL BALAH: From a small makeshift tent in the central Gaza Strip, a dedicated team works to carefully store and document some of the war-shattered territory’s most precious commodities: local seeds. Shelves of unassuming plastic tubs line the walls of the Al Qarara Seed Bank, each holding indig»»»

LONDON: British Prime Minister Andy Burnham must decide in the coming weeks whether to authorize two North Sea drilling projects, an issue which has divided his own Labour Party. The decision after a consultation period ended Monday pits Labour’s climate ambitions against pressure to boost domestic»»»

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year, seeking to revive their first-term relationship. Trump said it was important to “get along” with Kim and claimed Pyongyang possessed 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons, amid concerns among US »»»

The US-Iran confrontation entered another uncertain day Thursday (Aug. 20), with President Donald Trump threatening what he described as increasingly severe economic pressure on Tehran, Iran maintaining that the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively “closed”, while facing economic and security conse»»»

Motorists travelling between Sharjah and Dubai are facing heavy traffic on several key routes on Thursday morning, August 20, with E11 and E311 among the most congested roads during the rush hour. Google Maps traffic data supplied this morning shows a substantial queue on E11/Al Ittihad Road betwee»»»

Dubai: British-Palestinian couple and their 14-year-old daughter died after getting into difficulty in the sea off England’s south coast, while a younger daughter remains critically ill in hospital, police said. Sussex Police identified the victims as Hassan El-Khawas, 55, his wife Zeina Alayn, 37,»»»

Dubai: King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh has begun the first phase of its “Silent Airport” project at Terminal 5, reducing public announcements as part of efforts to provide passengers with a quieter and more comfortable travel experience. Under the initiative, general audio announcements»»»

A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard figure has dismissed President Donald Trump as “short-sighted” and “childish,” saying he would place more faith in a taxi driver’s word than in the US leader’s statements — a pointed sign of the distrust now shaping Tehran’s approach to Washington. Brig Gen. Moh»»»

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with technology leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday, August 19, 2026. Photo by Al Drago/UPI | License Photo Aug. 19 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump declared "economic warfare" against Iran on Wednesday night »»»