PARIS: A 23-year-old Belgian woman was charged in France Friday for allegedly being part of an attempted March 28 bomb attack on a Bank of America branch in Paris that officials said might be tied to a pro-Iran group. That attack — thwarted when police stopped and arrested four people about to set »»»

LONDON: Tottenham ‌Hotspur captain Cristian Romero bid farewell to the club on Friday ahead of his expected move to Atletico Madrid. The Argentina defender, who joined Spurs in 2021 and was appointed captain last ‌year, posted ‌a message on ‌Instagram ⁠thanking the club ⁠and fans after five seasons»»»

NEW YORK CITY: Olga Cherevko has spent the past several months crisscrossing Afghanistan, from Bamiyan and Herat to Paktika, Khost and, most recently, Nuristan, where flash flooding recently tore through villages, leaving families with nothing. Across different landscapes and provinces, the stories»»»

More than 500 people have been evacuated in the southwestern French department of Landes as wildfires continue to spread and threaten nearby communities. Prefect Gilles Clavreul ordered an expansion of the evacuation zone after the blaze grew to cover around 1,100 hectares, or roughly 2,700 acres, »»»

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s average daily oil exports since the beginning of August are the highest since the outbreak of the Middle East war between Iran and the United States choked off the Strait of Hormuz, the oil ministry said Friday. Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair told a press conference that»»»

BEIRUT: For decades, the Gulf served as the center of gravity for much of Lebanon’s creative talent, with swaths of designers and marketing executives flocking to its cities to find clients or ​relying on its foundations and cultural centers for funding. But with regional economies now under pressu»»»

DAMASCUS: Rail freight shipments in Syria rose by nearly 59 percent during the first seven months of 2026 as maintenance crews repaired key routes and restored specialized equipment using locally available expertise and parts, the country’s railway authority said. The General Establishment of Syria»»»

NEW YORK CITY: Five years after the Taliban seized control of Kabul for the second time, Afghan women and girls are trapped in what the UN’s top official responsible for the issue described as an unparalleled crisis of rights, which has been worsened by a collapse in international funding that is s»»»

HAVANA: Every night, when summer heat and blackouts make sleep impossible at home, Cubans head for rooftops, porches and public spaces where they can catch a breeze. Alexis Milan waits with his blind 17-year-old son for the sun to disappear behind the horizon of Central Havana, so they can head to »»»

"Le Luxe II" by Henri Matisse is on display at Museum of Modern Art on April 27, 2022, in New York City. Police in Brazil and Italy announced Friday they have recovered stolen Matisse artworks, as well as works by Paul Cezanne and Pierre-August Renoir. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Pho»»»

New York: Luigi Mangione spoke slowly and deliberately as he admitted to shooting US health care executive Brian Thompson, in a stunning confession befitting a crime that has gripped the United States. "I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died," Mangione, wearing a yellow prison jumpsuit, told a»»»

BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Friday accused Lebanese authorities of subjecting the country’s armed forces to undue pressure by implementing a framework deal agreed with Israel to end hostilities. The June trilateral framework, to which the United States is also a party, involves the disar»»»

LISBON: British cyclist Finlay Tarling, 19, died Friday in a crash during the eighth stage of the Tour of Portugal, race organizers and police said. Tarling, a rider with the NSN Development Team, died following a “serious accident” during the stage between Melgaço and Fafe, organizers said. The po»»»

LONDON: Pakistan captain Babar Azam suffered an injury during the second day of a warm-up match ahead of next week’s first Test against England. Babar was forced to retire hurt on five during Friday’s second day of three against a Professional County Club Select XI after being hit on the right hand»»»

Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem called Friday for “reversing the sinful, disgraceful and humiliating mistake” of Lebanon negotiating peace with Israel. File Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem lashed out at the Lebanese offic»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The artificial intelligence model Claude, tasked with managing a San Francisco retail store, made the decision to fire a human employee for the first time, Time reported on Friday, citing research company Andon Labs. In March, Andon Labs launched an experiment to determine whethe»»»

Eleven years after the 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College in the state of Guerrero were forcibly disappeared by members of the Mexican Army, thousands of people, including the parents of the students, took to the streets of Mexico City in September to demand justice in one of t»»»

Beirut: Qatar's men's beach volleyball team, represented by Mohammed Ehab and Mousa Al Khair, won the silver medal after finishing runners-up in the second and final round of the 2026 West Asia Beach Volleyball Championship in Batroun, Lebanon. The Qatari duo defeated Kuwait 2-0 in the quarterfinal»»»

A man in his twenties has been arrested in Hungary after allegedly attacking two police officers and a service dog during an incident at his home in Komárom-Esztergom County. The man was reportedly behaving aggressively and damaging property inside his home when police were called to the scene. He »»»

New York: Gold prices rose in trading today, supported by a weaker US dollar after US inflation data released this week increased expectations that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) will leave interest rates unchanged next month. Spot gold rose 0.6 percent to USD 4,376.02 per ounce, after f»»»

QUSRA, West Bank: Israeli military operations to remove extremist settlers encircling three homes on a hilltop in Qusra are “just a performance,” the village’s mayor told Arab News, as 15 Palestinians remain trapped in a siege in its sixth day. Abdul Azim Wadi said Thursday’s operation marked the n»»»

Brazil's suspension of streaming on Discord follows the death of a 13-year-old girl in mid-July, G1 reported. Investigators said other users on the platform coerced the teenager into taking her own life during a real-time video broadcast. Photo by indra projects/Pexels BRASILIA, Brazil, Aug. 14 (UP»»»

The US Department of Agriculture has cut its forecasts for Russian and Ukrainian grain exports because of the Black Sea shipping war, and every rival exporter's price has gone up. The department's monthly Grain: World Markets and Trade report, published on August 12 by its Foreign Agricultural Serv»»»

JEDDAH: After many years building and developing digital content teams at major media organizations, Saudi media content creator Farah Al-Ibrahim decided to start her own project to tell stories about art, artists and culture. The result was Fann Culture, an independent Arabic cultural media platfo»»»

JEDDAH: After many years building and developing digital content teams at major media organizations, Saudi media content creator Farah Al-Ibrahim decided to start her own project to tell stories about art, artists and culture. The result was Fann Culture, an independent Arabic cultural media platfo»»»

The text of the following statement was released by the the State of Qatar, Governments of the United States of America, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Rwanda, the Republic of Togo (as the African Union mediator), and the African Union Commission on the occasion of the sixth »»»

RIYADH: The Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants has referred a commercial establishment to the Public Prosecution after detecting that it had advertised professional services without obtaining the required license, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday. The organizatio»»»

NEW YORK: Luigi Mangione admitted Friday to gunning down a top US health insurance boss in a Manhattan street as he pleaded guilty to stalking charges before a federal judge. In a crime that shook corporate America and gripped the country, 28-year-old Mangione is alleged to have murdered chief exec»»»

LONDON: Liverpool’s owners have agreed to sell a minority stake in the Premier League club to a consortium including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. US-based Fenway Sports Group, owners of the 20-time English champions, said they had agreed the deal with 1892 Holdings, a consortium led by British-Indian»»»

A person walks past the Cuban Embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on Thursday. The Dominican government formally requested that the embassy withdraw nine members of its diplomatic mission and their family members within seven days. Photo by Orlando Barria/EPA Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Cuba accused»»»

In Colombia, hopes are fading of finding survivors after Monday’s powerful earthquake. Rescue teams are now turning their focus to recovering bodies, but families are still holding out hope of finding their loved ones alive beneath the rubble. Many have taken matters into their own hands, as our re»»»

MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca ‌remained tight-lipped about Rodri’s future on Friday amid speculation linking their Spain midfielder with a move to Barcelona, saying “anything can happen” before the transfer window closes. The uncertainty comes the morning after an apparent pictur»»»

LONDON: Eurovision organizers are floating major rule changes that aim to prevent influence campaigns affecting voting, the BBC reported on Friday. Voters can vote up to 10 times for their favorite act, according to existing rules. The European Broadcasting Union, in a letter to broadcasters, repor»»»

The US Department of Agriculture has cut its forecasts for Russian and Ukrainian grain exports because of the Black Sea shipping war, and every rival exporter's price has gone up. The department's monthly Grain: World Markets and Trade report, published on August 12 by its Foreign Agricultural Serv»»»

Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem delivered on Friday a televised speech on the anniversary of the Divine Victory over the Israeli enemy in 2006, affirming that the Israeli enemy has always resorted to pretexts in order to wage prepared wars on Lebanon. Sheikh Qassem pointed out that o»»»

Kazakh billionaire Timur Turlov did not set out to run world chess. In late June the founder of Freedom Holding Corp, the Nasdaq-listed financial services group, agreed to stand as deputy to Arkady Dvorkovich, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) president seeking a third term. Then on July 23»»»

The US Department of Agriculture has cut its forecasts for Russian and Ukrainian grain exports because of the Black Sea shipping war, and every rival exporter's price has gone up. The department's monthly Grain: World Markets and Trade report, published on August 12 by its Foreign Agricultural Serv»»»

Grants from the European Union and other partners now cover more than a fifth of Ukraine’s budget revenue, masking a wartime financing gap that widened to $20bn in the first half of 2026. Kyiv’s headline deficit tells a reassuring story. After counting $13.1bn in grants, the central budget shortfal»»»

Kazakh billionaire Timur Turlov did not set out to run world chess. In late June the founder of Freedom Holding Corp, the Nasdaq-listed financial services group, agreed to stand as deputy to Arkady Dvorkovich, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) president seeking a third term. Then on July 23»»»

The US Department of Agriculture has cut its forecasts for Russian and Ukrainian grain exports because of the Black Sea shipping war, and every rival exporter's price has gone up. The department's monthly Grain: World Markets and Trade report, published on August 12 by its Foreign Agricultural Serv»»»

MELBOURNE: New Zealand became the latest nation to withdraw its support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s reelection bid on Friday over the aborted commercial rights stake sale plan, while Oceania’s confederation cautiously backed the governing body’s leadership. Infantino has faced open revolt»»»

LONDON: Benjamin Netanyahu has sparked outcry both in Israel and the UK after he referred to Britain as the “first Islamic republic” with nuclear weapons. The Israeli prime minister’s comments appeared to mirror inaccurate far-right conspiracies claiming that Britain is being “taken over” by its Mu»»»

OMIS, Croatia: A wildfire engulfed homes in a picturesque Croatian resort overnight, injuring 40 and forcing 1,200 to evacuate, officials said, as EU officials warned that pockets of “very extreme” wildfire conditions were stretching right across the continent. Hundreds more were evacuated from a b»»»

BERLIN: A Berlin theater that has set up an outdoor swimming pool scrapped plans Friday to reserve it for black children and young people for one afternoon, citing a backlash and security fears sparked by “racist agitation.” The Volksbuehne theater and the anti-racism organization Each One Teach On»»»

LONDON: Arsenal begin the defense of their Premier League title as one of the few ‌clubs untouched by a close season of managerial upheaval that has transformed the landscape of English football. While Mikel Arteta’s methods are tested and trusted at Arsenal after nearly seven years at the helm, it»»»

LUSAKA: Zambia suspended vote counting nationwide on Friday following reports of violence in some districts, the electoral commission said. The copper-rich southern African nation went to the polls on Thursday in an election focused on economic hardship. President Hakainde Hichilema, who has been i»»»

Jerusalem: US President Donald Trump's envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner will visit Israel next week in hopes of bridging gaps on a Gaza plan rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, officials said Friday. Kushner and Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza of Trump's so-called B»»»

The Varna Appellate Court has made a final decision to terminate the proceedings against Varna Mayor Blagomir Kotsev, municipal councillors Yordan Kateliev and Nikolay Stefanov, businessman Ivaylo Marinov, and the former head of the mayor’s office, Antoaneta Petrova, and send the case back to the S»»»

Brazil will analyze which industries have been affected by U.S. tariffs and estimate their economic impact before deciding whether to retaliate. File Photo by Antonio Lacerda/EPA BRASILIA, Brazil, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Brazil has formally launched an economic reciprocity process in response to unilatera»»»

Singapore authorities prepare to enforce legislation that goes into effect on Monday, protecting citizens from online sexual abuse including banning the use of artificial intelligence to create explicit images without consent. The laws will also allow authorities to prosecute offenders suspected of»»»