Natalie Harp has spent years operating close to US President Donald Trump while attracting little public attention. But recent events have thrust the 35-year-old presidential aide into the spotlight, including accompanying Trump on a secret flight from Turkey during a reported security threat. »»»

Dubai: Bitcoin climbed above $70,000 for the first time in more than two months on Thursday, extending a two-day rally that has brought buyers back into the cryptocurrency market following lower US Treasury yields, fresh institutional inflows and renewed hopes of regulatory progress in Washington. »»»

A local man inspects the aftermath of Russian missile strike on a residential area of Kyiv early Thursday. Photo by Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A Russian aerial assault on Kyiv overnight killed at least 13 people and injured 40, with officials saying Ukraine was effectively defenseless ag»»»

In the first six months of 2026, coal was among the commodities that generated a significant trade surplus for Kyrgyzstan, with the surplus exceeding $44,725.7 million. Coal and lignite exports were 7.5 times higher than imports. The main export destinations were Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China, a»»»

Eight vultures have died in a suspected poisoning incident in Bulgaria's Central Balkan National Park, including black and griffon vultures and the country's only bearded vulture, conservationists reported. The first dead birds were discovered on August 18 in difficult-to-reach terrain at an altitu»»»

Donald Trump said just before midnight Washington time that he has a deal with Canada to avoid 50% tariffs, and thus the tariffs are on pause for three days. Although that may not be the case a few more seconds from now. Just ask Iran. Whoops, here we go already. Canada has already disputed the exi»»»

Dubai: A 50-kilometre automated people mover (APM) will be built at Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), creating what its developer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) says will be the world’s largest airport APM system. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & BalancesThe sys»»»

The scenario that keeps Western planners awake is easy to describe and, it turns out, almost entirely unstudied: Russia moves on a Nato member while China moves on Taiwan, The Atlantic reported on August 17. Asked what the West would actually do if Russia and China opened two fronts in Europe and T»»»

Sharjah will launch the 13th Al Maleh and Fishing Festival on August 27, bringing together fishing businesses, traditional producers and government entities in a four-day event aimed at preserving the UAE’s maritime heritage and supporting local industries. Organised by the Sharjah Chamber of Comme»»»

The scenario that keeps Western planners awake is easy to describe and, it turns out, almost entirely unstudied: Russia moves on a Nato member while China moves on Taiwan, The Atlantic reported on August 17. Asked what the West would actually do if Russia and China opened two fronts in Europe and T»»»

U.S. President Donald Trump pledged "economic warfare" against Iran and threatened any country that trades with it, prompting Iran to dismiss the plan on Thursday as a continuation of failed policies. The war between the two countries, started by the U.S. and Israel in February, appears stalemated,»»»

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has warned that ending the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) would undermine UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and further endanger southern Lebanon. In remarks to Al-Jomhouriya Lebanese daily, Speaker Berri described the termi»»»

A former senior official who worked under US Covid czar Anthony Fauci has pleaded guilty to conspiring to hide government records concerning coronavirus research and the origins of the pandemic. David Morens served as a senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NI»»»

Egypt is quietly solidifying its footprint as a massive global manufacturing engine, and Beijing is writing a hefty check to prove it. Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Hussein Issa recently met with executives from a top-tier Chinese industrial giant to hammer out a massive two billion do»»»

Dubai: Airport ground operations are moving towards more electric and autonomous equipment, with dnata investing $110 million in 800 new ground support units across 10 countries and testing self-driving baggage vehicles in the UAE. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - s»»»

Millions more people may be able to get smaller, lightweight Amazon packages delivered by drones by the end of the year under a plan the company announced Wednesday to expand the airborne shipping to suburban areas in nearly 500 U.S. cities. Customers could receive the drone deliveries in as fast a»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia appreciates the efforts of all countries that sincerely want to contribute to the Ukrainian settlement, but there are still few of them, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. "We highly appreciate the efforts of all countries that demonstrate a sincere desire t»»»

IRAN EYES STRIKING US ASSETS IN BULGARIA The topic that Iranian forces had assessed striking US military assets in Bulgaria dominates Thursday’s media. Citing “two regime insiders”, the Financial Times said that “Iranian forces had assessed striking US assets in south-eastern European countries suc»»»

Romania’s real estate investment market attracted transactions worth around EUR 300 million in the first half of 2026, down from approximately EUR 400 million a year earlier and equivalent to around 5% of the total volume recorded across the six largest economies in Central and Eastern Europe – Bul»»»

Around 1 billion soms has already been paid to oil traders in Kyrgyzstan in subsidies to keep retail prices for gasoline, diesel fuel and autogas down, the Antimonopoly Regulation Service reported. According to the agency, the actual cost of fuel is currently significantly higher than the prices mo»»»

Doha, Qatar: Qatar Central Bank (QCB) has released its Annual Report for the year 2025, providing a comprehensive overview of the State of Qatar's monetary, financial, and institutional developments. The report also highlights the key achievements and QCB-led initiatives that strengthened the resil»»»

Dubai: For Amanat Holdings CEO John Ireland, the case for healthcare and education is becoming less about surviving economic cycles and more about capturing structural growth. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & BalancesThe Dubai-listed investment company, which has built its portf»»»

In mid-February 2025, I met Abhishek Bachchan, one of Hindi/Indian cinema’s leading stars and the son of legendary actor, Amitabh Bachchan. He was networking in London as the England and Wales Cricket Board was auctioning off equity stakes in The Hundred. Alongside him were Priyanka Kaul, Dhiraj Ma»»»

Cris-Tim Family Holding S.A. (BVB: CFH), the market leader in cold cuts and ready-meals in Romania, reports revenues of RON 567.4 million for H1 2026, a 6% year-on-year (YoY) increase. The performance was supported by continued growth across the Company’s core Cold Cuts segment, which advanced by 7»»»

STRABAG Property and Facility Services (STRABAG PFS), a subsidiary of the European construction Group STRABAG, signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Brenneka Install SRL and Samivo Instal SRL, companies within the Brenneka Group, headquartered in Bacău and with an operational office »»»

Starting August 20, citizens of Kyrgyzstan can enter China visa-free for up to 10 days. Sagynbek Abdumutalip, Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration of the Kyrgyz Republic, reported citing information from China’s National Immigration Administration. Sagynbek Abdum»»»

The national debt surpassed a record $40 trillion on Wednesday, a staggering milestone as defense costs, social programs like Social Security and Medicare and interest on the burgeoning deficit make up an enormous share of federal spending. The milestone figure was recorded just five months after t»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian armed forces took control of Nikolaipolye settlement in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday. "Units the Yug battlegroup, as a result of active operations, liberated the settlement of Nikolaipolye in the Donetsk People's R»»»

Russia has begun deploying upgraded Pantsir-SMD air defense systems designed with recent combat experience. The Pantsir-SMD can carry up to 48 mini-missiles for intercepting FPV and reconnaissance drones while also using standard missiles against larger aerial targets.The latest surface-to-air miss»»»

Applications have so far been submitted by athletes from 112 countries for the World Nomad Games, including Australia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Spain, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, the United States, Uzbekistan and others, the Gam»»»

China’s visa-free regime for citizens of Kyrgyzstan does not apply to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). China has 31 regions, with visa-free transit available in 24 of them. XUAR is not among them. Hong Kong and Macao, as special administrative regions, have separate migration policies.»»»

The biotech process development center at Sputnik Technopolis, operated by R-Pharm Group - a resident of the Technopolis Moscow special economic zone - is working on 11 original molecules to develop new therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases, announced Deputy Mayor Maxim Liksutov. "Following »»»

TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has dismissed US President Donald Trump’s newly announced sanctions campaign as a diversion from domestic American issues, warning that the “so-called ‘Economic D-Day'” would only bring further defeat to Washington. This comes after Trump announced th»»»

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, called on Egypt’s newly nominated heads of diplomatic missions abroad to step up efforts to attract foreign investments, open new markets for Egyptian exports and promote tourism, as part of a broader role in supporting the national eco»»»

Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva referred Transport and Communications Minister Georgi Peev to a systemic problem affecting children under 14 who are entitled to free public transport nationwide, said the Ombudsman’s press office here on Thursday.The reason for the alert is that the Ombudsman has recei»»»

COLOMOBO: Heavy rains and severe drought are likely to hit Sri Lanka in the coming months as the largely agricultural nation faces its “worst” ever El Nino climate phenomenon, the environment minister said on Thursday. El Nino is a natural climate variation that warms surface temperatures in the ce»»»

In the first half of 2026, Kyrgyzstan’s foreign trade deficit in dairy products reached $12,772.7 million, despite a significant increase in exports by domestic producers in June. Total imports were almost 1.8 times higher than exports and amounted to $29,406 million, highlighting the domestic mark»»»

Dubai: Five people were killed and several others injured in a major traffic accident on the coastal highway linking Beirut and Sidon in Lebanon, authorities said. The crash occurred near the Siblin junction in Wadi Al Zeina, in the Chouf district of Mount Lebanon. Get updated faster and for FREE: »»»

Doha,Qatar: The price of gold in the Qatari market increased by 2.75% during the current week to reach $4497.89 per ounce today, according to data issued by Qatar National Bank (QNB). The data showed that the price of gold rose from $4377.3042 per ounce recorded on Sunday. It also indicated that ot»»»

Colombo: Heavy rains and severe drought are likely to hit Sri Lanka in the coming months as the largely agricultural nation faces its "worst" ever El Nino climate phenomenon, the environment minister said on Thursday. El Nino is a natural climate variation that warms surface temperatures in the cen»»»

Dubai: UAE developer Arada is expanding its Australian business with a Dh5 billion residential development on the Gold Coast that will bring 952 homes to Broadbeach and mark its first project outside New South Wales. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click her»»»

Dubai: Buyers looking for a new beachfront home on Palm Jebel Ali have another limited opportunity after Nakheel released 44 villas on Frond F, in what the developer describes as one of the final opportunities to purchase a new villa on the destination’s residential fronds. Get updated faster and f»»»

Hungary’s new government says it has inherited a significantly worse fiscal position than expected, but argues that its first months in office already point to a change in direction. With the government targeting euro adoption by 2030, reducing the budget deficit and public debt is set to become on»»»

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the so-called ‘Economic D-Day’ is a diversion from America’s own crisis: unprecedented debt & surging interest costs. In a post on his X account on Thursday, Iran’s top diplomat warned that continuing failed US policies would deepen Washington’s economic»»»

NAIROBI: South Sudan’s long-awaited elections could fuel renewed conflict and heighten the risk of atrocities, a United Nations Commission warned Thursday. The government said it intends to hold the country’s first-ever elections in December, almost 15 years after it achieved independence. But the »»»

The Russian Armed Forces launched a massive strike overnight on military industrial enterprises, a transport and logistics center, and warehouses in Kiev and the Kiev region, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported. "Tonight, the Russian Armed Forces delivered a massive strike with high-precision »»»

White House Domestic Policy Council Deputy Director Heidi Overton speaks during an executive order that reevaluates childhood vaccines in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on August 10, 2026. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Aug. 20 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump has »»»

South Korea and the US will cut the duration of their annual joint military drills to five days from 11 and scale back some field training, ​the allies said on Wednesday, ‌after President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in US participation. Trump's move could reflect his hopes to re-en»»»

A Russian Il-76 firefighting aircraft crossed Bulgarian airspace on Wednesday evening before landing in Serbia, where it has joined efforts to contain large-scale wildfires. Serbian authorities thanked Moscow for the assistance, while the flight also prompted questions in Bulgaria over the circumst»»»

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan plan to move back to Britain six years after stepping down as working royals, British media reported on Wednesday. The couple are expected to leave the United States by month-end and live outside London, while their two children have reportedly enrolled in a British»»»