The U.S. military on Thursday seized another tanker associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil, ratcheting up a standoff with Iran a day after its paramilitary Revolutionary Guards took control of two vessels in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. The Defense Department released video footage of U.S. f»»»

Cairo — Egypt is advancing its state IPO programme with the addition of six new government-owned companies to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), in a move aimed at strengthening market depth and broadening investor participation. According to official EGX statements, and as confirmed by Deputy Chairman M»»»

Warsaw: A 58-year-old woman was killed by a bear in Southeastern Poland on Thursday, Pawel Giba, press officer for the District State Fire Service Headquarters in Sanok, told AFP. A report received by the fire department "indicated that in the village of Plonna a woman was allegedly attacked by a b»»»

DOHA: His Highness the Amir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani received Minister of Defence of the friendly Italian Republic HE Guido Crosetto, and his accompanying delegation at his office in the Amiri Diwan, on the occasion of their visit to the country. During the meeting, the»»»

NAIROBI: A Tanzanian government report into election violence that killed hundreds is “an attempt to whitewash the regime’s crimes,” the main opposition party told AFP on Thursday. A commission of enquiry reported on Thursday that 518 people were killed in protests and violence around the election »»»

BRUSSELS: The European Union on Thursday approved a massive loan package to help Ukraine meet its economic and military needs for the next two years, the bloc’s Cypriot presidency said, after Hungary lifted its veto. The EU also approved a new raft of sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukrain»»»

MP George Adwan said Thursday at a press conference held by the Strong Republic bloc in parliament that "what happened over the past two years is that a certain faction dragged Lebanon into a war in support of Gaza, and the result was the destruction of Gaza and hundreds of thousands of martyrs. Th»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani received HE Guido Crosetto, Minister of Defense of the friendly Italian Republic, and his accompanying delegation at Amiri Diwan today, April 23, 2026, on the occasion of their visit to the country. During the meeting, they reviewed regional »»»

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister for International Economic Cooperation Nenad Popovic met on Thursday in Belgrade with Russian Deputy FM Alexander Grushko, who is on an official visit to Serbia for a meeting of a Serbia-Russia intergovernmental committee on trade and economic and science and technical c»»»

Dubai: The UAE will transform half of its government sectors, services and operations to autonomous artificial intelligence systems within two years, under the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The major government shift was announced by His Highness Sheikh Mo»»»

Our weekly digest of Hungarian politics continues as we report on developments after the historic April election and on the formation of the Tisza government. This week we cover the following topics: After 10 days, outgoing foreign minister Péter Szijjártó has resurfaced. The newly-victorious Tisza»»»

Dubai: Workplace stress is no longer just a matter of fatigue or burnout. A new report by the United Nations' International Labour Organisation (ILO) has revealed that it is linked to nearly 900,000 deaths every year worldwide. The study entitled “The psychosocial working environment: Global develo»»»

JEDDAH: Syria has announced plans to launch the Damascus Market for Foreign Exchange and Gold, aiming to strengthen monetary policy and enhance financial stability. Governor of the Central Bank of Syria Abdulkader Husrieh said the initiative is part of a broader strategy to create a balanced and tr»»»

RIYADH: Female labor force participation across Gulf Cooperation Council countries climbed to 39.3 percent in 2025, as employment gains and falling joblessness signal steady progress in the region’s workforce diversification efforts. The number of employed women rose to 7.3 million in 2025 from 5.7»»»

Berlin: German authorities said Thursday they had arrested a Ukrainian man and Latvian man on suspicion of planning acts of sabotage for a foreign organisation after "suspicious" items were found in their car. The men, aged 43 and 45, were found with fake identity documents, cameras, a drone, GPS t»»»

DOHA: Minister of State for Interior Affairs HE Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Faisal bin Mohammed Al Thani met with Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to the state HE Mohamed Mohamed Abdullah Bebane. During the meeting, relations between the two brotherly countries in the security field were r»»»

BELGRADE - Official talks between an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission and representatives of the Republic of Serbia began with a plenary meeting at the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) on Thursday. The Serbian delegation is headed by NBS Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic, who is also Serbia's gov»»»

Serbian General Ratko Mladić is in the most severe condition he has ever been in, according to assessments by Serbian doctors who examined him in the detention unit of the Hague tribunal, his son Darko Mladić said in a statement to SRNA, stressing that the authorities in the Hague have effectively »»»

What would it take to curb planning chaos and better protect the natural environment? Greece’s Ministry of Environment and Energy argues the answer is not stricter limits on out-of-plan construction, but allowing limited urban development within parts of protected Natura 2000 areas. The provision i»»»

European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice-President Ioannis Tsakiris today visited a site near the Romanian city of Curtea de Argeș where a section of the country’s first motorway across the Carpathian Mountains is being built. He observed work on a tunnel that is part of the planned A1 motorway, which i»»»

Recently, headlines have increasingly focused on the decline of gold, with some even suggesting a ‘collapse’ of 20% to 25%. However, when looking at the full picture, the situation is different. Gold underwent a correction after hitting an all-time high at the beginning of 2026, but has since recov»»»

BELGRADE - Today, the Serbian Armed Forces represent a strong and dependable pillar of security and peace in Serbia, and a symbol of the country's strength and support to all citizens, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday, congratulating Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic, Serbian Arme»»»

Dubai: Discussions over a potential currency swap line between the UAE and the US have drawn scrutiny this week, with analysts and officials stressing the move reflects precautionary planning rather than any sign of financial strain in the economy. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf»»»

Dubai: Customers of Emirates Islamic continued to borrow and deposit more in early 2026, helping the bank post a 7 per cent rise in operating profit to Dh1.1 billion for the first quarter, it said in its earnings report posted Thursday. The Dubai-based Islamic lender reported higher income from bot»»»

Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken has defended the drone scare which gripped the country last year and cost some €50 million ($58.5 million) in emergency spending, offering a lackluster apology for personally disseminating images purporting to show the UAVs, which turned out to be false. The d»»»

Ulan Mamatkanov has been appointed Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers. The President of the Kyrgyz Republic signed a corresponding decree. The new Deputy Cabinet Chairman will oversee the social sector. Ulan Mamatkanov is 44 years old. He was born in the village of Mady in Kara-Suu distric»»»

SANYA: President of the Olympic Council of Asia HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani met separately in Sanya City, People's Republic of China, with HE Feng Fei, Secretary-General of the Central Commitee of the Communist Party of China in Hainan Province; HE Liu Xiaoming, Governor of Hainan Province; »»»

In January—February 2026, foreign trade in live animals in the Kyrgyz Republic showed a sharp decline in cattle imports while maintaining an export focus on neighboring markets. Data from the National Statistical Committee say. Imports: falling demand In the first two months of the year, cattle imp»»»

This photo, released by Iran's foreign ministry on Thursday, shows South Korea's special envoy, Chung Byung-ha (L), meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran. Photo Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran South Korea's special envoy to Iran has m»»»

Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) Chairman, Masoud Suleiman, revealed yesterday that he had met with representatives of Nigerian company Aiteo, one of the companies that won the public bidding round for exploration, securing Block M1 in the Murzuq Basin. During the meeting, they discussed the »»»

BELGRADE - The Serbian dinar's official median exchange rate against the euro is 117.4158 dinars for one euro on Thursday, which is a slight change relative to Wednesday, the National Bank of Serbia said. The dinar is steady against the euro m-o-m, down by 0.1 pct y-o-y and down by 0.1 pct relative»»»

Dubai: The war in the Middle East has boosted demand to move vital cargo through the Panama Canal to such an extent that one vessel carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) paid $4 million to skip the line and avoid a wait that can take up to five days, according to an official report. The change follo»»»

Manira ChaudharyIndia’s quick-commerce boom promises 10-minute deliveries. But for riders, it means long hours, low pay and constant risk. A ground report from Delhi on the people powering this multibillion-dollar industry. https://p.dw.com/p/5BvdCAdvertisementIndia’s quick-commerce boom is transfo»»»

BRATISLAVA: Slovakia said it was receiving Russian oil on Thursday after Ukraine repaired the Druzhba pipeline which was damaged in a Russian attack in January. The pipeline has been at the center of a standoff between Ukraine, the European Union as well as Hungary and Slovakia, which still import »»»

WASHINGTON: A Pentagon assessment said it could take six months to completely clear the Strait of Hormuz of Iranian-laid mines, which could keep oil prices high, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Iran has all but blocked the vital waterway since the start of a war with the United States an»»»

More than half of children and adolescents in Argentina were living in poverty in 2025, with nearly a third going without adequate food, according to a report by the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA), underscoring the uneven social impact of President Javier Milei's austerity-driven economic o»»»

South Korea’s economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly six years in the first quarter, central bank data showed Thursday, driven by strong chip exports. In this April 1 photo, containers are stacked at a port in Pyeongtaek. Photo by Yonhap SEOUL, April 23 (UPI) -- South Korea's economy grew at it»»»

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports, including re-exports, reached SR31.03 billion ($8.27 billion) in February, marking a 15.1 percent increase compared to the same month in 2025, official data showed. Preliminary figures released by the General Authority for Statistics showed that the UAE remai»»»

A Pentagon assessment said it could take six months to completely clear the Strait of Hormuz of Iranian-laid mines, which could keep oil prices high, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Iran has all but blocked the vital waterway since the start of a war with the United States and Israel, sh»»»

Excavation slurry from a tunneling machine boring through Athens’ Kypseli neighborhood has leaked into a residential basement and an abandoned building, engineers say, due to a combination of loose alluvial soil and forgotten underground infrastructure. The second tunnel boring machine on Athens me»»»

President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to meet with EU leaders Thursday in Cyprus as the bloc prepares to approve a €90 billion loan for Ukraine, ending a prolonged deadlock. Hungary premier Viktor Orban had vetoed the funds until Kyiv repaired a pipeline hit by a Russian strike – work»»»

A delegation from the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (Medef) is set to visit Algeria on Thursday, with its president Patrick Martin leading around 40 senior company executives, in an economic push aimed at repairing trade relations strained by political tensions over the past two years. Accord»»»

New York, April 23 (SANA) Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ibrahim Olabi, said Wednesday during a UN Security Council session that Syria is advancing efforts to restore stability and development while urging an end to the repeated Israeli violations. Speaking at a special ses»»»

North Korea and Russia aim to open a road bridge connecting the countries across the Tumen River as soon as possible, North Korean state media KCNA said on Thursday, as the neighboring countries forge closer ties. The project, which began about a year ago, is "an important business" to boost bilate»»»

The Romanian state-owned company Transgaz, the operator of the national natural gas transmission system, is seeking to borrow hundreds of millions of euros to finance several investment projects aimed at expanding, developing, and modernizing the system, including its interconnection with Serbia’s »»»

Retele Electrice Romania, part of the PPC group, has launched on the electronic public procurement platform SEAP, an auction with an estimated maximum value of about RON 59 million (excluding VAT). It aims at the acquisition of fully equipped secondary stations in precast concrete tires that will b»»»

Los Angeles: Cricket's return to the Olympic Games after 128 years reached an "important milestone" Wednesday, April 22, 2026, when construction began on the new Los Angeles 2028 cricket venue. International Cricket Council chairman Jay Shah and other officials took part in a ground-breaking ceremo»»»

DOHA: The Qatar Department of Meteorology has forecast relatively hot weather accompanied by blowing dust and unstable conditions across the country until 6pm on Thursday. In its daily report, the department said inshore areas will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with a chance of scattered»»»

Dubai: Getting a taxi in Dubai could become easier from this summer after Dubai Taxi Company announced plans to add 600 new vehicles to its fleet, following the latest licence auction by Dubai Roads and Transport Authority. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The expansion»»»

Dubai: Dubai’s planned Gold Line will add 42km to the emirate’s metro network, taking the total length from 120km to 162km, according to the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). The expansion will also increase the number of stations from 67 to 85, marking a 35% increase in network size. Get update»»»