Human error can be ruled out in a fire at EMCO Ltd.’s ammunition depot near Belitsa, the Bulgarian arms manufacturer said on Monday. In a message to the media, EMCO said the incident occurred at about 10:30 a.m. on Monday at a storage facility near Tryavna. No one was injured, no forest areas or th»»»

A citizens' protest in support of the mayor of Gorna Oryahovitsa was held outside the Administrative Court in Veliko Tarnovo on Monday. It was hearing GERB's appeal against a decision by the Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipal Election Commission not to terminate Mayor Nikolay Rashkov's term. Later in the »»»

MAKKAH: Saudi Arabia’s extensive coastline and diverse marine environments provide a suitable setting for various water sports, including kitesurfing. In recent years, events and competitions have been held alongside growing community interest in marine sports and outdoor activities. Kitesurfing in»»»

On June 30, 2026—the day the statutory deadline expired—the Bucharest Stock Exchange published its first aggregate report on the corporate governance of issuers. The accompanying statement provided figures across all levels: 71% declared alignment with the Code’s provisions, 28.8% independent direc»»»

Surat: Four senior resident doctors have been suspended for six months over allegations of ragging and harassment following the death by suicide of a 30-year-old postgraduate medical student at a government hospital hostel in Surat. Harsh Pandya, a first-year postgraduate student who had been worki»»»

Dubai: Motorists travelling between Dubai and Sharjah are facing heavy congestion this afternoon, according to real-time traffic data from Google Maps, with delays building along several major corridors and interchanges since the rush hour. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News ap»»»

An explosion at a defence plant near Tryavna caused no casualties, Tryavna Mayor Dencho Minev said on Monday. A fire broke out earlier on Monday in an ammunition warehouse at the defence plant near the village of Belitsa. No one was killed or injured. Minev said the warehouse contained no materials»»»

Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev opened a laboratory in Plovdiv for processing drivers’ blood samples for alcohol and drug use. He said that the accumulated backlog of blood samples is expected to be cleared by the end of the year, and that drug test results will begin to be available within days»»»

A first group of Syrian Kurds were headed for the northeastern border town of Ras al-Ain on Monday following years of displacement, months after an integration deal between the Kurds and Damascus. The January agreement on merging Kurdish forces and civil institutions into the state included the ret»»»

Dubai: Flying taxi maker Archer Aviation is buying three Boeing subsidiaries in a deal that will combine electric aircraft, autonomous flight and defence technologies and give Archer a business generating more than $200 million in annual revenue. Archer is acquiring Boeing's Wisk Aero, Insitu and S»»»

Encouraging customers to mend worn clothes instead of buying new ones might seem like a self-defeating sales strategy. But in-store repairs and sewing workshops are becoming essential retail services for clothing brands as they try to appeal to young consumers who want to save money and the planet.»»»

Analysis says Pyongyang is layering conventional and tactical nuclear firepower along the Military Demarcation Line and lowering the threshold for retaliation Egrets rest on Dragon's teeth, or concrete anti-tank obstacles designed to impede the movement of armored vehicles, in Paju, South Korea, 14»»»

Renu Dhariyal was awarded the title for the longest hair on a living person (female). Her hair measures 8 feet and 10 inches long. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records Aug. 7 (UPI) -- An Indian woman who hasn't gotten her hair cut since 2015 earned the Guinness World Record when her long locks »»»

Civil defense teams from the Islamic Health Authority and the Lebanese Civil Defense, with the support of local residents and the assistance of a Lebanese Army helicopter, managed to control and completely extinguish the fires that broke out in the forests of the Western Bekaa, Kfarhouna, and Touma»»»

CAIRO: Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Diab Al-Louh died on Monday in Cairo aged 67. His funeral will be held on Tuesday at the Police Mosque in Cairo. In a press release, the Arab League mourned Al-Louh, and described him as a career diplomat who dedicated his life to “serving Palestine and defend»»»

TORONTO: In 2007, when Italian-American New Yorker Mina Liccione was offered a gig in Dubai, she had to Google where the UAE was. Now, 18 years, one Arab husband and twin sons later, Liccione is a key figure in the country’s comedy scene, and is bringing her latest stand-up special, “Arabized,” to »»»

BEIRUT: Lebanon on Monday filed a lawsuit against former central bank governor Riad Salameh over accusations including embezzlement and illegal enrichment following a complaint lodged by his successor, a judicial official told AFP.Salameh was placed in custody late last month after missing a hearin»»»

Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism is proposing mandatory minimum staffing levels for hotels and other tourist accommodation, linking the number of employees required to the size and classification of each establishment. The proposal, released for public consultation under the “Minimum Staff»»»

Riyadh: Sixteen Bangladeshi workers have been killed in a fire at a sofa manufacturing facility in Riyadh, prompting Bangladesh to seek the swift repatriation of their bodies and compensation for their families. The fire broke out on Sunday at a facility used for furniture upholstery in the Saudi c»»»

Damascus, Aug. 10 (SANA) Syria’s Agriculture Ministry and Saudi Arabia’s United Feeds Company signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday to study the development of large-scale fodder farms and production facilities in Syria.Agriculture Minister Basel al-Suwaidan and United Feeds Company Chairm»»»

Tehran on Monday said Iranians had shown "they are professional chess players" in response to remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump comparing his dealings with Iran to the board game. Trump on Sunday signaled he was prepared to let economic pressure mount against Iran, apparently backing away from»»»

Speaker of the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan Marlen Mamataliev took part in the II Forum of Young Parliamentarians of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The event was held under the theme «Youth on the Path to Common Progress and Peace» and brought together lawmakers from the two countries, representatives of y»»»

Dubai: Oman’s Coast Guard rescued three people after their boat capsized while they were kayaking off Al Qurum Beach in the Wilayat of Bausher, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said. The three were rescued by Coast Guard teams following the incident off the popular Muscat beach. No further details about»»»

US General Joseph Clearfield is expected to arrive in Lebanon today, Monday from Israel, where he met with the Israeli army chief and military officials, media reports said. During his talks with the Lebanese Army leadership, he will tackle a host of files related to the Lebanese-Israeli negotiatio»»»

Record is chasing record. After a record-breaking 2025 came a record half-year — roughly €390 million in sale-and-leaseback deals, up 15 percent from a year earlier. A tool long routine across Western Europe and the United States is no longer a niche in Poland In Western Europe and the United State»»»

Police monitor social media for posts showing aggression or threats, Minister of Interior Ivan Demerdzhiev said in Plovdiv on Monday after a 37-year-old man was killed there. The Cybercrime Directorate at the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime carries out the monitoring to help preve»»»

The Sofia Administrative Court has overturned a decision issued on 13 March 2026 by the Executive Director of Bulgargaz EAD refusing access to public information, the court said on its website. The petitioner, Vasilena Dotkova, an editor at the fact-checking platform Factcheck.bg., had requested th»»»

RIYADH: Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange closed the first half of 2026 with a record total market value of 2.8 trillion Emirati dirhams ($762 billion), backed by 171 billion dirhams in trading value. According to the Emirates News Agency, total traded volume rose 3.7 percent year on year to 50.3 billi»»»

Dubai: Dubai International Airport (DXB) will host a community walk as part of Dubai’s citywide wellbeing initiative, Dubai Mallathon, giving guests the opportunity to take part in a walking event while at the world’s busiest international airport. The walk will take place on Friday, 14 August, wit»»»

US Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said Sunday that President Donald Trump has “lost this war” with Iran, arguing that continued fighting is weakening the US while strengthening Tehran. “America is weaker. Iran is stronger,” Murphy told NBC, saying he would support even a “bad deal” to end the war »»»

It is proposed to restrict foreign nationals’ access to surrogacy services in Kyrgyzstan. A relevant draft law has been submitted for public discussion. The authors of the initiative propose amending Article 104 of the Law on the Protection of Citizens’ Health. Under the draft, surrogacy agreements»»»

Hungary’s cheapest shop has refused to explain why it has been closed for several days, citing “technical reasons” – an explanation that few people believe. Most suspiciously, all of the company’s European shops have reportedly shut, with “technical issues” cited in each case. Some commentators alr»»»

At least 13 people were killed and 39 were injured after a "massive" Ukrainian drone raid on Nizhnekamsk in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, 600 miles east of Moscow. Ukraine said it was targeting the Tanevo oil refinery just outside the city. File photo by Russia's Emergencies Ministry/EPA-EFE A»»»

Dubai: The Perseids come from a comet called 109P/Swift-Tuttle. That comet passes through the inner solar system once every 133 years. It last did so in 1992, and it will not be back until 2126. Which raises an obvious problem. If the comet only turns up twice in three centuries, why does the meteo»»»

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s expanding live music scene is set to welcome Canadian dream-pop artist Ghostly Kisses, who will perform in the Kingdom for the first time this September. The singer-songwriter will kick off her Middle East tour with two performances, taking to the stage in Jeddah on Sept. 3, f»»»

RIYADH: The Middle East and North Africa region completed 390 mergers and acquisitions deals valued at $46.7 billion in the first half of 2026, underscoring the resilience of the market amid geopolitical conflicts, an analysis showed. Deal value climbed to $25 billion in the second quarter, more th»»»

At least 4.4 billion soms from the Pension Fund have been allocated for pension indexation in Kyrgyzstan starting October 1, 2026. The Presidential Administration has released new details on the upcoming increase. The estimated indexation coefficient was 1.13, based on the growth of the average sal»»»

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates announced that its national cybersecurity systems had successfully tracked and thwarted sophisticated and organized cyberattacks that targeted the aviation, energy and education sectors in the country. In a statement published by the Emirates News Agency (WAM), t»»»

Chennai: Tamil Nadu remained at the top of the national road accident chart in 2025, reporting more than 71,000 crashes. However, the state recorded a considerably lower proportion of fatalities compared with several other major vehicle-owning states, according to figures presented in Parliament. D»»»

Around 5,300 people worked as professional firefighters in Bulgaria in 2025, Eurostat published in a report on Monday. Firefighters accounted for 0.18% of total employment in the country. 372,400 people worked as professional firefighters in the European Union last year. Fire services had a younger»»»

DUBAI: The UAE's Cyber Security Council thwarted cyber attacks targeting ⁠the Gulf ⁠country's aviation, energy ⁠and education sectors, according to the Emirati state news agency (WAM) reported on Monday. The council said the attacks had been dealt, with intrusion attempts contained before the attac»»»

Lebanon on Monday filed a lawsuit against former central bank governor Riad Salameh over accusations including embezzlement and illegal enrichment following a complaint lodged by his successor, a judicial official told AFP. Salameh was placed in custody late last month after missing a hearing over »»»

Dubai: Police baton-charged students and used water cannons and tear gas in Ranchi on Monday after thousands of protesters broke through barricades and marched towards the Jharkhand Assembly, dramatically escalating a 16-day agitation over alleged irregularities in government recruitment examinatio»»»

Bulgaria and the Arab states are bound by a friendship founded on trust, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to maintaining peace and stability, Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova said during a meeting with the ambassadors of Arab countries accredited to Bulgaria on Monday, the Foreign Ministry»»»

FRANKFURT: The German government regards US ​President Donald Trump’s latest Gaza plan as an opportunity to make ‌progress toward ‌the ​disarmament ‌of ⁠Hamas, ​a German foreign ⁠ministry spokesperson said on Monday. Asked in a regular news ⁠conference about ‌Israeli ‌Prime Minister ​Benjamin ‌Neta»»»

Hezbollah is against handing over the Ali al-Taher ridge to the Lebanese Army in the current period and “according to Resolution 1701, the area north of the (Litani) River is linked to a national defense strategy,” Hezbollah sources told Al-Jadeed television. The Americans meanwhile asked the Leban»»»

Israel has rejected US President Donald Trump’s 15-point peace plan for Gaza and will not withdraw troops from the Palestinian enclave until Hamas is completely disarmed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. The roadmap was published last month as part of efforts by the Trump-l»»»

More than 20 dead white storks have been found near Gabrovo, all beneath the same electricity pole, Dr. Rusko Petrov, head of the Scientific, Educational and Conservation Activities Department at the Green Balkans Wildlife Rescue Centre, said here on Monday. Following reports of an unusually high n»»»

The Interior and Defence ministries are guarding the site of the August 8 Ukrainian drone incursion near Kardam, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said on Monday. The drone came down 200 m from the former Kardam border checkpoint between Bulgaria and Romania. Critical points were identified and gi»»»

GUWAHATI, India: The flood crisis in India’s northeastern Assam state remained critical on Monday, with the death toll reaching 100 after two more people died overnight, officials said. Several rivers remain above danger levels, raising the risk of fresh flooding in vulnerable areas, the Assam Stat»»»