Convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sought to cultivate ties with Russia’s political elite and repeatedly pressed for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, according to US Justice Department files released on Tuesday. The documents detail Epstein’s travel to Russia and efforts to recruit y»»»

The revelation that a high-profile member of the British government had close historic ties with the disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein has entrenched British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the worst political crisis he has faced since taking office. Questions about his ability to sur»»»

Dubai: Today, the UAE marks the first day of Ramadan after the official moon-sighting committee confirmed the holy month will begin on Wednesday, February 18. The arrival of Ramadan brings one of the most significant shifts in daily traffic patterns seen all year. For the next 30 days, roads across»»»

BusinessUnited States of AmericaBayer agrees to pay billions to settle Roundup lawsuitsKate Hairsine with AP, ReutersGerman chemical giant Bayer and cancer patient attorneys have agreed to a proposed $7.25 billion settlement over lawsuits claiming that glyphosate in its Roundup weedkiller causes ca»»»

Millions of dual nationals worldwide are suddenly facing a rush to obtain or renew British passports after the UK government tightened entry rules for people holding more than one citizenship. Many have been caught out by upcoming changes to passport rules for dual nationals, which are due to kick »»»

Manila: In a game-changing move, the government has unleashed a major policy tweak allowing a 100% electricity subsidy for poorest Filipino families. Philippine President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos recently unveiled the "auto-enrollment" scheme for millions of target beneficiaries -- families unde»»»

Washington: India’s ambitious rooftop solar expansion plan on Tuesday secured a $197.67 million guarantee from the World Bank Group’s arm. ​ The five-year backing supports refinancing of a $500 million World Bank loan to the State Bank of India for grid-connected solar systems serving commercial an»»»

Bayer subsidiary Monsanto on Tuesday said it would pay $7.25 billion over 21 years to settle class action lawsuits filed by those claiming its Roundup weedkiller caused cancer. File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Officials for Germany-based Bayer have agreed to pay $7»»»

Tribune News Network Doha The greatest embodimentof Qatar Foundation’s globally unique education ecosystem are its skilled and values-driven students and across its schools and universities. 16 of these students have been recognised through the 19th edition of the Qatar Education Excellence Award. »»»

Tribune News Network Doha Ooredoo, Qatar’s leading telecommunications provider, announced two key highlights during its Ramadan press conference held on February 17, 2026: the appointment of Ghanim Al Muftah as its new brand ambassador and the launch of its Ramadan 2026 initiatives. The unveiling o»»»

HEALTH MINISTER MEETS SAUDI AMBASSADOR Minister of Public Health His Excellency Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud met with Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Qatar HRH Prince Saad bin Mansour bin Saad bin Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Doha on Tuesday. The meeting reviewed relations between the two countrie»»»

BusinessEuropeShein faces EU investigation over products, design featuresMark Hallam with AP, dpaEU regulators are investigating Shein on suspicion that it has not done enough to limit the sale of illegal products and to protect consumers from allegedly addictive design features on the platform. ht»»»

Two new investigations have been announced in the EU into Elon Musk’s social media platform X amid reports that its AI chatbot Grok produced sexualized images of real people, including children. Grok, developed by Musk’s AI venture xAI and integrated into X, has come under global scrutiny since its»»»

Tunis, Feb. 17 (TAP) - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Mohamed Ali Nafti, received on Tuesday a copy of the credentials of Bulgaria’s new Ambassador to Tunisia, Boriana Siméonova, whom he welcomed at the Ministry’s...»»»

Abu Dhabi: A man and his son have been ordered to jointly pay Dh5,000 as compensation to a woman they were convicted of assaulting. The decision was issued by the Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Court, which also directed the two men to cover court fees, expenses and legal costs. The civ»»»

Ras Al Khaimah Police have completed preparations for the holy month of Ramadan, announcing a comprehensive security plan aimed at ensuring public safety and maintaining smooth traffic flow across the emirate. The plan focuses on enhancing field readiness and increasing security and traffic patrols»»»

The Khalid Bin Sultan Al Qasimi Humanitarian Foundation (KSQF) has reached more than 36,000 beneficiaries across Morocco, Mexico and Zanzibar in 2025, expanding its international humanitarian work to strengthen child protection systems and address rising risks of exploitation, violence and harm aff»»»

Iran and the United States reached an understanding on Tuesday on main "guiding principles" in talks aimed at resolving their longstanding nuclear dispute, but that does not mean a deal is imminent, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said. Oil futures fell and the benchmark Brent crude contract»»»

The European Commission has announced an investigation into online retailer Shein. File Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/EPA Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The European Commission announced Tuesday that it has opened formal proceedings against online retailer Shein "for its addictive design, the lack of transparency o»»»

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The United States will return to nuclear testing on an equal basis without massive atmospheric explosions, Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control and Nonproliferation Christopher Yeaw said on Tuesday. “As the President has said, the United States will return to testing»»»

The deterioration in Bitcoin’s market price is feeding directly into El Salvador’s sovereign risk profile, exposing the fiscal and institutional trade-offs embedded in President Nayib Bukele’s flagship digital asset strategy.  »»»

Tunis, Feb 17 (TAP) - Speaker of the Assembly of the People's Representatives (ARP) Brahim Bouderbala on Tuesday received Sudan’s Ambassador to Tunisia Bukhari Ghanem Mohamed Effendi, underscoring the strength of relations binding the two...»»»

The outgoing Government has approved a plan to promote collective bargaining for the period 2026–2030, prioritizing the expansion of collective bargaining coverage by 2030 through coordinated efforts between the Government and social partners, the Government Information Service said on Tuesday. The»»»

The British ‘nuclear umbrella’ will not provide extra security to other NATO members in Europe, Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin has said. Discussions about the continent developing its own nuclear deterrent have accelerated following White House announcements that the US would be scaling »»»

STOCKHOLM: Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Kingdom of Sweden HE Nadia bint Ahmed Al Shaibi took part in the meeting of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Sweden HE Maria Malmer Stenergard, with the ambassadors accredited to Sweden. The meeting discussed a range of issues related »»»

Damascus, Feb. 17 (SANA) Syria’s Finance Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh met Tuesday with Indian Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Reno Yadav to discuss boosting economic and financial cooperation and reopening Indian credit lines. Minister Barnieh highlighted Syria’s openness to Indian investment, particul»»»

Iran's supreme leader warned on Tuesday that the country had the ability to sink a U.S. warship deployed to the Gulf, as fresh talks between the two sides concluded in Switzerland. The threat by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei follows a military build-up by the United States in the region as President Donal»»»

NATO personnel operating Western military hardware in the Ukrainian conflict zone has long been an open secret, Russian military analyst Viktor Litovkin tells Sputnik. Ukraine, Litovkin explains, ended up relying on foreign personnel because it:Lacks the necessary number of skilled pilots and speci»»»

When US President Donald Trump revived the idea of buying Greenland – and refused to rule out stronger measures if Denmark declined – the reaction across Europe was swift and indignant. The proposal was framed as an anachronism: a throwback to imperial horse-trading that modern international politi»»»

Kidnapping Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel would be an easy operation for the American military, US President Donald Trump has claimed. Speaking on Tuesday to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump praised his strategy of economically isolating the island nation, which has been under a US trade em»»»

Kuwait has unveiled a draft budget for the 2026–2027 fiscal year projecting capital expenditure of approximately KWD 3.1 billion ($10 billion), underscoring the government’s continued commitment to strategic infrastructure development despite mounting fiscal pressures. The Ministry of Finance prese»»»

Several Asian nations have officially confirmed that Ramadan will begin on Thursday, February 19, after crescent moon sightings were not recorded on the expected evening. Authorities in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei announced the start date following traditional lunar observations and official ver»»»

Protesters blocked main roads in and around Beirut on Tuesday after Lebanon’s Cabinet approved new taxes that raise fuel prices and other products to fund public pay hikes. The Cabinet approved a tax of 300,000 Lebanese pounds (about $3.30) on every 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of gasoline on Monday. Di»»»

South Asia is one of the great paradoxes of the global economy. Home to nearly a quarter of the world’s population, including three of the ten most populous countries, it should logically be among the most interconnected regions on earth. Instead, it remains one of the least integrated — economical»»»

The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps naval force has announced that the IRGC’s intelligence unit maintains round-the-clock surveillance over the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical oil transit route connecting the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. IRGC Navy Launches War Game»»»

A Harvard University study ranked Kuwait 30th out of 145 countries in GDP per capita, recording $31,971 nominally and $51,322 adjusted for purchasing power parity under 2024 standards. The Atlas of Economic Complexity Ran»»»

Slovenia’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 1.1% in 2025 (chart), according to a first estimate published by the statistics office on February 16. Growth was primarily supported by domestic consumption, which rose»»»

Truck drivers from Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia & Herzegovina are considering new blockades of cargo border crossings after the European Union rejected all proposals aimed at easing restrictions on their stay in the Schengen area, local media reported on February 16. »»»

Truck drivers from Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia & Herzegovina are considering new blockades of cargo border crossings after the European Union rejected all proposals aimed at easing restrictions on their stay in the Schengen area, local media reported on February 16. »»»

Truck drivers from Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia & Herzegovina are considering new blockades of cargo border crossings after the European Union rejected all proposals aimed at easing restrictions on their stay in the Schengen area, local media reported on February 16. »»»

Truck drivers from Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia & Herzegovina are considering new blockades of cargo border crossings after the European Union rejected all proposals aimed at easing restrictions on their stay in the Schengen area, local media reported on February 16. »»»

Truck drivers from Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia & Herzegovina are considering new blockades of cargo border crossings after the European Union rejected all proposals aimed at easing restrictions on their stay in the Schengen area, local media reported on February 16. »»»

A new round of peace talks kicks off today in Geneva. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kuchner have already landed and are due to begin talks in a few hours. We're getting close to the end in the sense that we're running out of time. Trump has already made it clear that he wants the deal done by June ahead »»»

A new round of peace talks kicks off today in Geneva. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kuchner have already landed and are due to begin talks in a few hours. We're getting close to the end in the sense that we're running out of time. Trump has already made it clear that he wants the deal done by June ahead »»»

PETROHAN Mediapool reported that a group of 10–12 men on ATVs were in the area of Petrohan lodge hours before the deaths of three of its residents, citing testimony from Deyan Iliev, the man who found the bodies, “confirmed by the media outlet’s sources.” He spotted them in the nearby village of Gi»»»

Nathaniel Copsey, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Bulgaria, has visited the Kalotina border checkpoint together with outgoing Interior Minister Daniel Mitov to observe how the EU’s Entry/Exit System is being implemented at the bloc’s external land borders, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. »»»

Saudi Arabia will roll out real estate market indicators in the first quarter of this year and expand the Real Estate Market Balance program to all regions of the Kingdom, following its initial implementation in Riyadh, Minister of Municipalities and Housing Majed Al-Hogail announced on Monday. Al-»»»

The United States and Iran began indirect talks in Geneva on Tuesday over their long-running nuclear dispute, with a senior Iranian official asserting that negotiations hinge on Washington avoiding unrealistic demands as the US masses a battle force in the region. US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared K»»»

Skopje, 13 February 2026 (MIA) - According to data from the State Statistical Office, the total turnover in industry increased by 10.3% in December 2025, in comparison with December 2024. The turnover in industry, total, in December 2025, in comparison with December 2024, by Main Industrial Groupin»»»

Continue the Change on Tuesday categorically and unconditionally rejected all allegations of any “interference” on its part in the serious criminal case related to Petrohan Lodge and Okolchitsa. In a statement issued by the party’s press centre, it said such claims are not merely untrue but constit»»»