South Korea plans to eventually equip every soldier with their own personal drone, in a massive expansion of aerial weapons. To counter the threat from North Korea, Seoul says it will train half a million soldiers in how to use drones, and manufacture more than 100 thousand of them in the next thre»»»

DUBAI: Authorities in the United Arab Emirates on Friday sounded an incoming missile alert for Dubai. It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the warning just after 5:15 p.m. local. Iran is suspected of launching a drone attack against a tanker off the coast of Oman on Thursday as Tehran increasin»»»

National Park Service workers use vacuum pumps to clean algae off the bottom of the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. A court filing alleges that vandals cut the pool's lining with a sharp knife. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License »»»

A mass amnesty of undocumented immigrants is currently underway in Spain. Bucking the trend of its European neighbours, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist government is embracing immigration to underpin its growing economy. However, the plan d»»»

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rumen Radev has drawn political attention after comparing the roles of the Bulgarian Patriarch and Russia’s Patriarch Kirill, in remarks that sparked a broader debate about religion, sanctions, and foreign policy. The comments were made following earlier statements from Ra»»»

Vaccination against chickenpox (varicella) will become mandatory in Bulgaria from July 2026, according to the country's immunization ordinance published in the State Gazette in January. The vaccine will be provided free of charge. A total of 14,570 cases of chickenpox have been registered in Bulgar»»»

As Keir Starmer prepares to leave the UK’s highest office after less than two years, the media has lined up to explain why he failed to deliver on the enormous hype he received as opposition leader, and during his initial months in office. A repeated trope has been that Starmer was a “decent man,” »»»

ECOBANK Zimbabwe Limited (EZL) has said it plans to expand financing for the domestic lithium-mining sector, as the lender seeks to bolster its role in the battery minerals value chain, having already provided $369mn to mining operators and related businesses between 2021 and 2025. Zimbabwe holds o»»»

Police are investigating after a man’s body was discovered in Lake Balaton between Balatonszepezd and Révfülöp. Authorities have confirmed that an administrative procedure has been launched to establish the circumstances of the death, but have not released further details. Body discovered in Lake B»»»

Ukraine will seek to secure more than €1.5bn in reconstruction agreements at this week's Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2026) in the Polish city of Gdańsk, with railways, ports, energy infrastructure and private investment expected to dominate the agenda as Kyiv looks to strengthen the economy aga»»»

MANILA: The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said a 6.6-magnitude offshore earthquake struck Davao Oriental province in the southern Philippines on Friday evening. The institute said the tectonic earthquake occurred at 734 p.m. local time at a depth of 10 km, with the epicenter 90»»»

Caracas: The official death toll from twin earthquakes in Venezuela more than doubled Friday to 589, interim president Delcy Rodriguez said, as rescuers raced to find survivors beneath collapsed buildings. "Regrettably, we now have 589 people who died," Rodriguez told a televised meeting with milit»»»

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister for European Integration Nemanja Starovic spoke with Slovenian Deputy PM and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Jernej Vrtovec by phone on Friday to discuss further strengthening of cooperation between the two countries. In an Instagram post, Starovic wrote that he ha»»»

The Israeli enemy continued on Friday violating the ceasefire through long-time drone flights with the buzzing annoying for the locals in the various Lebanese towns and cities. The intimidating drone flights concentrated on Beirut’s Southern Suburbs, Bekaa and South Lebanon towns, including Jarjoua»»»

There will be a full inspection of the guardrails on the section of Trakia Motorway where the severe crash occurred a few days ago, Prime Minister Rumen Radev told journalists on Friday. He specified that the inspection would focus on guardrails manufactured in 2024 during the large-scale replaceme»»»

Bulgaria should become a party to the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, also known as the Tromso Convention, in order to broaden transparency, Access to Information Programme (AIP) Executive Director Alexander Kashumov said on Friday while presenting the organization's a»»»

London: Stock markets retreated Friday, capping a rollercoaster week for technology shares as doubts spread about the huge AI-fuelled gains for technology stocks that have propelled indexes to record territory. Oil prices meanwhile sank more than three percent as fears eased after an attack on a ve»»»

Doha, Qatar: The 2026 FIFA World Cup has become the highest-scoring edition in the tournament's history, surpassing the previous record of 172 goals set during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The milestone was reached during the tournament's 59th match, the Group D clash between the United States»»»

Los Angeles: A mouthwatering duel between in-form goalscorers Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland will take centre stage at the World Cup on Friday as France face Norway in a crucial Group I decider. Real Madrid star Mbappe and Manchester City striker Haaland have started the tournament in blistering »»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The person detained in Russia's Dagestan conducted terrorist activities in Russia, the United States and Europe with the coordination of the right-wing radical from Ukraine, Kirill Makarenko, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Friday. Earlier in the day, the FSB s»»»

Arab Finance: Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG Holding) has entered into a strategic partnership with SOKNA to provide a comprehensive, organized, and dignified cemetery experience in Egypt, according to an emailed press release. This collaboration integrates the group’s extensive experience in real esta»»»

"The Movement for Rights and Freedom (MRF) strongly condemns the Government's intention to quietly shut down the communist-era secret police files committee [officially the Committee for Disclosing the Documents and Announcing Affiliation of Bulgarian Citizens to State Security and to the Intellige»»»

MANILA: A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern Philippines on Friday, the United States Geological Survey said, less than three weeks after a major tremor in the same area left more than 80 people dead. The quake struck at 7:42 p.m. (1142 GMT) at a depth of 65.7 kilometers (41 miles) ab»»»

TUNIS: Prominent Tunisian rights activist Sihem Bensedrine told AFP on Friday that she had been sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges including falsifying part of a transitional justice commission’s final report. Tunisia emerged from the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 as a beacon of democratic »»»

View this post on Instagram A post shared by SF Animal Care & Control (@sfanimalcareandcontrol) June 24 (UPI) -- Animal control officers in San Francisco came to the rescue of a juvenile coyote trapped for several days in the walled backyard of a home situated atop a steep hill. Animal Care & Contr»»»

June 25 (UPI) -- Authorities in California said an attempt to retrieve a pair of dropped sunglasses from a campground toilet led to a man having to be rescued from the sewage tank. The Fresno County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded Saturday alongside Cal Fire personnel when a man was report»»»

Manila: A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern Philippines on Friday, the United States Geological Survey said, less than three weeks after a major tremor in the same area left more than 80 people dead. The quake struck at 7:42 pm (1142 GMT) at a depth of 65.7 kilometres about 21 kilome»»»

DUBAI: Season five of the acclaimed kitchen-based dramedy “The Bear” arrives with great expectations attached, since it’s also the show’s final outing. Can creator Christopher Storer pull off the often-bungled trick of producing a satisfying ending to a beloved show? It picks up the morning after s»»»

Bulgaria has recorded the sharpest increase in the cost of building new homes among all European Union member states over the past decade, according to data cited from Eurostat and included in the 2026 edition of the report Key European Business Indicators. The figures show that between 2015 and 20»»»

An investigation linked to the “Baba Alino” case has led to the detention of 25 individuals, including five employees of Varna Municipality, as authorities expand inquiries into alleged illegal construction and related practices in the region. Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said the operation i»»»

Denmark is considering a nationwide ban on the Islamic call to prayer. Immigration Minister Morten Bodskov has said it has “no place” in the country. The move comes amid a Danish government crackdown on “Islamization.” Speaking to local news outlet Ritzau on Wednesday, Bodskov, a senior figure in t»»»

Georgian Dream's repeated invocation of Georgia's strategic transit importance to fend off Western criticism is built on a temporary advantage tied to Russia's war in Ukraine that could evaporate once the conflict ends, Kornely Kakachia, director of the Tbilisi-based Georgian Institute of Politics,»»»

LUXEMBOURG - Serbia is among the central, eastern and southeast European states with particularly robust and highly profitable banking sectors, according to an European Investment Bank (EIB) CESEE Bank Lending Survey for the first half of 2026. "The banking sector in Central, Eastern and South-East»»»

Hungary’s new government has confirmed its ambition to join the eurozone by around 2030, with Prime Minister Péter Magyar arguing that adopting the euro would bring greater economic stability and prevent future governments from repeating what he described as the fiscal mistakes of Viktor Orbán’s ad»»»

Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov visited TEREM-Ivaylo Ltd. in Veliko Tarnovo on Friday to inspect progress on the final assembly of Stryker combat vehicles for the Bulgarian Army. The plant is currently assembling five vehicles, which are expected to be completed within the next few months. During»»»

Director of the State Civil Aviation Agency of Kyrgyzstan Daniyar Bostоnov and U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Bishkek Lesslie Viguerie discussed the possibility of launching cargo flights. The sides reviewed prospects for developing Kyrgyzstan — USA cooperation in civil aviati»»»

King Charles III salutes members of the Brtish armed forces at the annual Trooping the Color at Horseguards Parade in London on June 13. On Thursday he became the first ever monarch to reveal how much tax he pays. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo June 26 (UPI) -- Britain's King Charles II»»»

Rainbow flags are expected to flutter across Seattle's stadium on Friday when Iran meets Egypt in the World Cup Group G match as the city marks its annual Pride parade. The two countries last year asked for Pride-themed celebrations to be cancelled, a request FIFA denied. Players and officials of b»»»

As negociations are underway to end the war launched by Israel and the United Stated against Iran, talks have lagged over the subject of Iran's nuclear programme. The UN's nuclear chief emphasized Friday the need for a "very strong verification system" to ensure the country does not develop nuclear»»»

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday Washington would not accept any Iran deal allowing Tehran to impose fees on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, warning it would cause "total chaos". His remarks came after an attack on a vessel forced the United Nations to suspend mariner evacu»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - In a major reciprocal swap, Russia and Ukraine traded 160 prisoners of war each on Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced. "On June 26, 160 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kiev regime. In exchange, 160 Ukrainian prisoners of war were hand»»»

In tonight's edition, hundreds of people are arrested and crowds are teargassed as Kenyans march on the anniversary of the 2024 violence. Also, Bafana Bafana shuts down its detractors with its big win over South Korea that takes the team to the knockout round of the World Cup for the first time. An»»»

Sharjah: The UAE has moved its Electronic Invoicing System (EIS) from planning into practical testing, with the Ministry of Finance launching the pilot phase of the system’s five-corner model. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The pilot phase, announced during an awarene»»»

Organisers of the Paris Pride March on Friday postponed the annual event scheduled for Saturday after police ordered them to change the date to avoid overwhelming response services already under pressure due to extreme heat. The death toll from heatwave-related drownings in France rose to 55, accor»»»

Europe’s record heatwave in the month of June would have been "virtually impossible" 50 years ago, scientists said Friday, proof that human-caused climate change is "unequivocally" responsible for the intensity of the latest scorcher. Half-a-century ago, a similar heatwave would have been 3.5°C coo»»»

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, June 26: Papers discuss the scientific and political aspects of the earthquakes in Venezuela. Next: a new study sheds light on who makes the most money after university in the UK. Finally, we look at a heatwave headline that will make you giggle. International media discuss w»»»

PP-DB MP Stoyu Stoev has argued that the latest amendments to Bulgaria’s Judiciary Act do not amount to genuine judicial reform, claiming instead that they preserve existing political influence over the composition of the Supreme Judicial Council. Speaking on BNT, Stoev said that proposals aimed at»»»

The United States and Iran have entered a new phase of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program, but the most difficult questions have only been postponed. High-level delegations from the two countries have been meeting in Switzerland, with Pakistan and Qatar acting as mediators, after the signin»»»

A 21-year-old driver with only five months of driving experience caused a fatal collision near Mezdra that killed two teenagers riding a moped, according to police and eyewitness accounts cited in multiple reports. The accident occurred between Mezdra and the village of Bodenets, when a BMW reporte»»»