WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States and the European Union signed on Friday a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on partnership in critical minerals. "We are the largest customers and users of the world [of critical minerals], [we make] sure that these supplies and minerals are available for ou»»»

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States is moving forward to strengthen federal death penalty, including through streamlining internal processes to expedite executions and introducing additional methods such as as the firing squad. "Today, the Department of Justice acted to restore its solemn duty»»»

1 of 3 | Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., on March 18. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said she would restart the criminal investigation into Powell if need be. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo April »»»

Sharjah: A key interchange near the Sharjah Grand Mosque has been temporarily closed to traffic as part of ongoing Etihad Rail infrastructure works, the Sharjah Roads and Transport Authority announced. The closure, which began at midnight on Friday, affects the exit ramp from Emirates Road (E611) t»»»

Police have arrested two teenagers in connection with a series of suspected thefts and robberies at kiosks and petrol stations in the southern suburbs of Athens, authorities said. The incidents are believed to have taken place mainly during overnight hours. The suspects, aged 16 and 17, were brough»»»

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested on Friday that the European Union could ease sanctions on Tehran as part of a comprehensive deal that would end the Iran war, but other EU leaders struck a more cautious note. The 27-nation EU has imposed sanctions on Iran for years, including travel bans »»»

A German court on Friday sentenced a supporter of Lebanon's Hezbollah party to more than three years in jail Friday over for "illegal access to weapons" and social media posts supporting the group. Earlier in the same trial the 30-year-old was acquitted on charges of actually fighting for Hezbollah»»»

With just one year left in his second five-year term, French President Emmanuel Macron has said he will quit politics in 2027 -- leaving observers and supporters guessing about his next moves. "I wasn't in politics before and I'm not going to be after," Macron said Thursday during a visit to a high»»»

A lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has said that he was detained by police for wearing a kippah with the Israeli and Palestinian flags on it. Alex Sinclair said in a post on Facebook on Thursday that he had been sporting the kippah for 20 years due to “a messy ambivalence of my Jewish»»»

A German court on Friday sentenced a supporter of Lebanon's Hezbollah to more than three years in jail Friday over for "illegal access to weapons" and social media posts supporting the group. Earlier in the same trial the 30-year-old was acquitted on charges of actually fighting for Hezbollah and b»»»

MOSCOW: Russia said on Friday that it stood in solidarity with Cuba and would continue to provide humanitarian aid to the Communist-run island republic, rejecting what it described as blackmail and threats from Washington. US President Donald Trump has said that he expects to have the honor of “tak»»»

MILAN: Claudio Ranieri has left his role as senior advisor to Roma's billionaire American owners, the Serie A club said on Friday, after a public row with coach Gian Piero Gasperini meant only one of the pair could stay. In a brief statement, Roma said that "the relationship with Claudio Ranieri ha»»»

LONDON: Everton manager David Moyes returns ‌to the London Stadium on Saturday armed with the inside knowledge that could harm West Ham United’s hopes of avoiding Premier League relegation. Moyes had two spells as West Ham manager, saving them from relegation in his first short stint before leading»»»

Rome: A new global food crises report has warned that conflict, drought and falling aid will keep hunger at dangerous levels in 2026, with worsening conditions in some of the world's most vulnerable regions. The report found that around 266 million people across 47 countries faced acute food insecu»»»

Customs officers at Lesovo border crossing discovered nearly 363 kg of marijuana in a lorry transporting washing machines, the Customs Agency said on Friday. The narcotic substance is valued at around EUR 3 million at judicial prices. On Thursday, the lorry with Romanian registration arrived at the»»»

BELGRADE - Serbian PM Djuro Macut appealed to The Hague-based International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals on Friday to release former Republika Srpska army general Ratko Mladic from prison for medical treatment in Serbia, and noted that Mladic's life was in danger and that the case had »»»

The Israeli enemy continued its series of violations and attacks against the South Lebanon towns. In this context, warplanes launched a series of raids on the town of Deir Ames in southern Lebanon after threatening it earlier. Al-Manar’s correspondent also reported that “enemy warplanes targeted th»»»

Dubai: A UAE court has convicted a husband and wife of mutual assault after finding that both parties physically harmed each other during a domestic dispute, imposing a fine of Dh3,000 on each while suspending the sentence for three years in a move aimed at preserving the marital relationship. Cour»»»

Houssam Naddaf said no words could capture the shock of seeing an Israeli soldier smash a crucifix in his family's private garden in the southern Lebanese village of Debel — an image he recognized instantly as it spread online. "I saw it on the internet like everyone else," he said. Naddaf had not »»»

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the charter of the state enterprise Center for the Admission of Foreign Students. Deputy Minister of Science, Higher Education and Innovation of Kyrgyzstan Durus Kozuev said at a briefing. According to him, the new center will serve as a unified coordination hu»»»

Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam intend to intensify economic cooperation and are working to eliminate double taxation. The press service of the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic reported. According to the press service, the second round of negotiations between official delegations of the Kyrgyz Rep»»»

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a press briefing Friday that the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has gone global after seizing two vessels in the Indo-Pacific region this week. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo April 24 (UPI) -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a p»»»

Grand Hotel Therme in the village of Banya attracts visitors with healing mineral water and fresh mountain air. The hotel complex features numerous pools and thermal facilities, and covers a total area of over 6,000 sq. m. Pulse Therme Banya is the largest spa centre in Bulgaria, hotel management t»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The conflict in the Middle East has deprived the world of approximately 120 billion cubic meters (bcm) of total liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies between 2026 and 2030, accounting for about 15% of expected global supplies during that period, according to a report by the Intern»»»

This is the first instance of a Central Asian country shipping goods to Pakistan in its own truck. The QTTA route now serves as a stable alternative for any kind of cargo. Pakistan has achieved a major milestone in regional connectivity. The first truck from Kyrgyzstan has arrived in Pakistan throu»»»

Dubai: The Philippine government has confirmed that 15 Filipino seafarers onboard two container ships intercepted in the Strait of Hormuz are safe and unharmed, following an incident involving Iranian forces. The vessels, Epaminondas and MSC Francesca, have been stopped by the Islamic Revolutionary»»»

War-torn Gaza is heavily contaminated by unexploded ordnance, which frequently kill and maim people and could threaten recovery efforts far into the future, the UN said Friday. Unexploded ordnance, ranging from undetonated bombs or grenades to simple bullets, has become a common sight in the Gaza S»»»

An Orascom Construction-led consortium, chaired by Egyptian businessman Nassef Sawiris, has finalized plans to develop a 900 MW onshore wind farm in Ras Shokeir. This major renewable energy venture, located in the high-wind corridor of the Gulf of Suez, is being executed in partnership with France’»»»

BELGRADE - Serbia and Republika Srpska will boost cooperation in infrastructure and education, Serbian PM Djuro Macut said on Friday, announcing joint construction of roads, rail lines and a border crossing, as well as establishment of daily flights between Serbia and Srpska. Addressing a press con»»»

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Pentagon is still struggling to secure funding to expedite the replenishment of critical munitions used up during the US-Israeli military operation against Iran, The New York Times reported, citing US officials. In January, US defense contractor Lockheed Martin signed a f»»»

Head of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance Parliamentary bloc in Lebanon, Hajj Mohammad Raad, issued on Friday a statement to warn the Lebanese government against insisting on the direct talks with the Zionist enemy. “Any presumed truce that grants the occupying enemy in Lebanon a special exception »»»

The cost of 1 kilowatt of electricity in Kyrgyzstan in 2026 will be 3.03 soms. Timur Orozaliev, Director of the Department for Regulation of the Fuel and Energy Complex under the Ministry of Energy of the Kyrgyz Republic, announced at a meeting of Ishenim parliamentary group. According to him, the »»»

The Egypt amon coalition, a strategic partnership between Poland’s Hynfra and Egypt’s Coxswains, has announced a major green ammonia initiative in Egypt with an initial investment of 5 billion dollars, Bloomberg reported. The project aims to commence production by 2031, with total investments proje»»»

The acting Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior, Georgi Kandev, said on Friday he had been pressured. In a video on Facebook, Kandev said that on Thursday he received a message urging him to "go home". In his words, he received several calls on Thursday. Within ten minutes, from hidden num»»»

TEHRAN (Sputnik) - Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran will resume foreign flights on April 25, Iranian media reported on Friday. Flights to Istanbul and Muscat will be resumed, the Tasnim news agency reported. On April 20, the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization said that two airports in»»»

Major powers seize the resources of developing countries, using that leverage to force them into borrowing from international institutions — which then impose crippling economic policies, head of Egypt’s National Conciliation Party Mohamed Mahmoud Rifaat tells Sputnik. The scheme works like this:Ke»»»

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency confirmed Friday that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was heading to Pakistan for talks and will also stop in Oman and Russia. The trip to Pakistan comes as officials there have been trying to get the United States and Iran to a second round of ceasefire ne»»»

ISTANBUL/LONDON: Turkiye’s Istanbul ‌Park circuit will return to the Formula One calendar from 2027 for at least five years, F1 and the Turkish presidency said on Friday, marking the culmination of Turkiye’s years-long campaign to return to the sport. President Tayyip Erdogan, F1 Chief Executive Of»»»

Clutching a battered photo album, Mohamad Ali Hijazi searched a mountain of rubble in south Lebanon's Tyre for mementoes of his family, killed in an Israeli strike minutes before a ceasefire took hold. "I'm trying to find my mother's hairbrush... and a bottle of perfume that she loves," said Hijazi»»»

Dubai: International Airlines Group (IAG) announced Friday it will raise ticket prices to offset rising jet fuel costs linked to the ongoing US-Israel-Iran war, even as it says supply remains stable, according to a Reuters report. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The ai»»»

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has played down a leaked Pentagon email suggesting his country could face being suspended from NATO for not supporting the United States in its conflict with Iran. File Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI | License Photo April 24 (UPI) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sa»»»

Candidates for members of parliament who were elected in two multi-member constituencies (MMCs) have declared from which list they wish to enter the 52nd National Assembly. The decisions of a total of 14 individuals were announced by the Deputy Chair of the Central Election Commission (CEC) during »»»

The Logistic Support 26-1 tactical-special exercise will take place from April 27 to April 30 at the Todorovo training ground. The theme of the exercise is "Deployment of a convoy support centre to ensure the movement of allied forces within the country." Up to 200 military personnel and up to 50 p»»»

Madrid: FC Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said he was confident that his side can overcome the loss of Lamine Yamal for the rest of the season and win this season's La Liga title. Barcelona plays away to an in-form Getafe on Saturday after it was confirmed on Thursday that Yamal tore his left hamstrin»»»

MADRID - Serbian tennis player Dusan Lajovic has failed to qualify for the third round of the Madrid Masters tournament after a 6-3, 6-2 second-round defeat to Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech on Friday. Rinderknech, who won after 73 minutes of play, will next face the winner of the tie between Russian»»»

President Joseph Aoun told a non-official EU summit in Cyprus on Friday that Lebanon has engaged in a diplomatic negotiation process under the auspices of the U.S. and with the support of the European Union and Arab states in order to "reach a sustainable solution that puts an end to Israeli aggres»»»

Abu Dhabi: A new UAE-mediated exchange between Russia and Ukraine has led to the release of 386 prisoners, split equally between both sides. The UAE said the exchange involved 193 detainees from the Russian side and 193 from the Ukrainian side, bringing the total number of prisoners exchanged throu»»»

Candidates for members of parliament who were elected in two multi-member constituencies (MMCs) have declared from which list they wish to enter the 52nd National Assembly. The decisions of a total of 14 individuals were announced by the Deputy Chair of the Central Election Commission (CEC) during »»»

ROME: Italy’s government on Friday rushed through a decree amending rules that offered financial rewards to lawyers helping to repatriate migrants, after the scheme drew criticism from opposition parties who said it could be unconstitutional. The measure was part of a broader security package that »»»

BEIJING: China’s President Xi Jinping met Taiwan’s opposition party leader Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, telling the visiting delegation he had “full confidence” that Taiwanese and Chinese people would be united.Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng is the party’s first leader to visit China in a »»»