MALABO, Equatorial Guinea: Pope Leo XIV wrapped up his African odyssey on Thursday with a final Mass in Equatorial Guinea, bringing to an end one of the newsiest papal trips in the history of popes on the road, thanks to his extraordinary back-and-forth with President Donald Trump. A powerful rains»»»

BEIRUT: Lebanon will formally urge Israel to immediately halt attacks on journalists and paramedics during US-sponsored talks in Washington, a day after an Israeli strike killed a Lebanese reporter and wounded another in southern Lebanon. An official source told Arab News that the demand was added »»»

Senate Republican Leader John Thune, R-S.D., helped the Senate pass a bill to begin the budget reconciliation process early Thursday Morning. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo April 23 (UPI) -- Senate Republicans were up all night voting, eventually adopting a budget reconciliation pack»»»

Sharjah: His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has issued an Emiri Decree on the establishment of “Wadi Al Qarha” Nature Reserve in the Emirate of Sharjah. The decree stipulates that a natural reserve named “Wadi Al Qarha Nature Reserve”»»»

NOVI SAD, Serbia (Sputnik) - Russia's response to the latest round of EU sanctions will follow a careful review of its contents, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Sputnik on Thursday. European Union countries adopted the 20th round of sanctions against Russia on Thursday. "Our »»»

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is set to host another major international wrestling event this summer, with WWE confirming the return of its “Night of Champions” showcase to Riyadh. The event will take place at Kingdom Arena on June 27, as part of the Kingdom’s expanding entertainment calendar under Riyadh S»»»

Britain and France Thursday voiced hope that a military plan to protect the Strait of Hormuz was coming together and would succeed in restoring trade flows through the vital passage. At a two-day meeting in London, a dedicated operational planning group on Wednesday presented a decision brief to mi»»»

Lebanon has accused Israel of war crimes after a reporter for a Lebanese newspaper was killed on Wednesday in a strike on a house in the southern village of al-Tiri, where she had taken cover after an earlier attack targeted the vehicle she was traveling in. Amal Khalil, a reporter for Al-Akhbar, w»»»

By April 22, a total of 166 election-related case files have been opened by the Sofia City Prosecution Office, the prosecution said, reacting to allegations regarding its work on cases involving individuals with immunity. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gurov said tha»»»

Voting in two of India’s most politically significant states — West Bengal and Tamil Nadu — saw exceptionally high turnout on Thursday, signalling strong voter engagement despite a contentious campaign backdrop. According to Election Commission (EC) estimates, West Bengal recorded 89.93 per cent po»»»

1/11Kamal Haasan, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president and actor, along with his daughter, actress Shruti Haasan, shows his inked finger after casting his vote during the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections 2026 in Chennai district, Tamil Nadu, on Thursday, April 23, 2026.IANS2/11Superstar Rajinikanth arr»»»

Britain's Prince Harry made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Thursday and called on Russia's President Vladimir Putin to end the war - a week after a massive Russian aerial attack on the country - and on US President Donald Trump to show leadership to help resolve the conflict. By convention, the Br»»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe Democrats in the US Coalesce Against “Israel” Amid Deepening Party Shift: WSJ 23-04-2026 17:07 PM WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 19: U.S. Sen. B»»»

JEDDAH: Fashion entrepreneur Vanissa Antonious has welcomed the “incredibly strong” response of Saudi Arabia women to the launch of her brand,” and highlighted the “cultural significance” of the region. NEOUS, a contemporary footwear and handbag brand known for its modernist designs, architectural »»»

DUBAI: The US 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»»»

DHAKA: Bangladesh has recorded 194 child deaths due to measles in an outbreak that began last month, while the number of suspected child cases has exceeded 28,000, government data showed on Thursday. Between three and five children have died from the disease every day for the past week. Five childr»»»

Israeli airstrikes killed at least four Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday, while soldiers shot and killed a 15-year-old child during an army raid in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said. One person was killed in a strike in southern Gaza's Khan Younis in which several ot»»»

US President Donald Trump has ordered the US military to “shoot and kill” Iranian small boats choking the Strait of Hormuz.In a social media post Thursday morning, he said the military is intensifying its mine clearing efforts in the critical waterway. The move intensified the US-Iran standoff in t»»»

Britain and France inked a new $894 million agreement Thursday to tackle small boats carrying asylum seekers attempting to get to England that will see the number of police patrolling French beaches rise from 700 to nearly 1,100. File photo by Mohammed Badra/EPA-EFE April 23 (UPI) -- Britain and Fr»»»

1 of 2 | The Pentagon posted a video on social media Thursday showing what it says is U.S. forces boarding a vessel on the Indian Ocean with ties to Iran. File Photo via U.S. European Command/UPI | License Photo April 23 (UPI) -- The Pentagon posted a video on social media Thursday showing what it »»»

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said Lebanon “has started to gradually reclaim its natural right to determine its own fate independently of others’ calculations,” stressing that the Lebanese state “alone holds the decision to negotiate,” and that Lebanon “is not subordinate to anyone and is»»»

Since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria on 8 December 2024, the country’s border with Lebanon has been subject to an unprecedented mobilisation, with Damascus ramping things up in recent weeks by sending heavy reinforcements to the frontier to confront Hezbollah’s smuggling operations. Under As»»»

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said Lebanon “has started to gradually reclaim its natural right to determine its own fate independently of others’ calculations,” stressing that the Lebanese state “alone holds the decision to negotiate,” and that Lebanon “is not subordinate to anyone and is»»»

Today (23 April), the US hosts the second round of talks between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to Washington. The first meeting of these diplomats on 14 April was significant, not because it was the first direct legal contact between senior officials of these states since 1993, or because th»»»

Dubai: As Eid Al Adha approaches, residents across the UAE are looking forward to celebrating the festival with renewed appreciation for family, faith, and togetherness. For many, this year’s occasion carries deeper meaning, with more focus on reflection, gratitude, and a strong sense of community.»»»

BELGRADE - Serbian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff Gen Milan Mojsilovic says the security situation in Serbia is stable but that certain challenges and risks do exist, above all, the Autonomous Province of Kosovo-Metohija, and noted that the Serbian Armed Forces are fully capable of executing a»»»

ISLAMABAD (Sputnik) - Iran still considers Pakistan as the preferred mediator in the negotiations with the United States, an Iranian diplomatic source told Sputnik. "Iran continues to consider Islamabad as the preferred and reliable mediator in the negotiations between Iran and the United States," »»»

BEIRUT: Spread across a hillside of southern Lebanon, the tiny village of Beit Lif had been almost entirely flattened. Once home to a few thousand people, nearly every house had been reduced to piles of concrete by Israeli military demolitions. “They were demolishing it gradually until they reached»»»

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin can only meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the purpose of finalizing agreements on the conflict, Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Wednesday. Peskov’s comments on state television, reported by Russian new»»»

LONDON: Dubai Lynx and Middle East Communications Network, or MCN, are bringing the global “See It Be It” program to the MENA region, in a move aimed at widening the pipeline of women into leadership roles across advertising, media and marketing. The regional version, called “See It Be It: Connects»»»

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Thursday, losing 135.40 points, or 1.2 percent, to close at 11,109.59. The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR6.02 billion ($1.6 billion), as 45 of the stocks advanced and 212 retreated. Similarly, the Kingdom’s parallel mar»»»

Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil suggested Thursday that Hezbollah "has lost its internal legitimacy" and "its justification for defending Lebanon." "The great damage to Lebanon is caused by Hezbollah," Bassil, once a key ally of Hezbollah, said in an interview with Al-Arabiya's Al-Hada»»»

Washington, United States: President Donald Trump on Thursday vowed the United States would destroy any vessel laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, as he rachets up pressure on Iran to reopen the crucial sea passage. "I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats th»»»

RIYADH: Light art festival Noor Riyadh has released a selection of music created by Majdi bin Marwan, who has been blind since the age of 6. Marwan’s “Melodies of Light” were inspired by the musician’s interpretation of Noor Riyadh’s installations. Riyadh Art said the works were gathered through hi»»»

Amsterdam: A picture of an Ecuadoran family separated when US immigration agents arrested the father following a court hearing won the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year Award on Thursday. The photo, taken by Carol Guzy of the ZUMA Press agency and iWitness for the Miami Herald, shows the moment Im»»»

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»»»

Dhaka: Bangladesh has recorded 194 child deaths due to measles in an outbreak that began last month, while the number of suspected child cases has exceeded 28,000, government data showed on Thursday. Between three and five children have died from the disease every day for the past week. Five childr»»»

SHENZHEN,- Serbian Deputy PM and Minister of Economy Adrijana Mesarovic met with top executives of Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD in Shenzhen on Thursday to discuss active inclusion of Serbian automotive companies in a sustainable supply chain of a BYD factory in Szeged, Hungary, due to »»»

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) - Sri Lanka is planning to pay for future imports of Russian crude oil in Chinese yuan, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported on Thursday, citing the country's new energy minister, Aruna Karunatilake. The discussions on the matter are still ongoing, the minister said. "We expect t»»»

US Navy Secretary John C. Phelan has stepped down in an abrupt move announced by the Pentagon without any public explanation or indication that his exit was linked to the naval blockade of Iran. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that Phelan was “departing the administration” at on»»»

Organizers of the Cumbria Nature Festival in England issued an "important clarification" about the upcoming event: it is not for nudists. File Photo by Friedemann Vogel/EPA April 22 (UPI) -- Organizers of the Cumbria Nature Festival in England issued an "important clarification" about the upcoming »»»

London, United Kingdom: Microsoft is facing a £1.7-billion ($2.3 billion) class action lawsuit in Britain alleging that it abused its dominant market position to overcharge businesses, claimants said Thursday. The case was brought by digital markets regulation expert Maria Luisa Stasi on behalf of »»»

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has urged the Trump administration to pressure Israel to scale back its demands and end its military invasion of the country. In an interview with the Washington Post, Salam said Lebanon could not sign any agreement that does not include a “full withdrawal” of Israeli for»»»

The United Nations said Thursday it was "working on" maintaining a presence in Lebanon once the mandate for its UNIFIL peacekeeping force expires at the end of the year. "In terms of the post-UNIFIL, we're currently in the process of working on these options," said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the U.N. Und»»»

JAKARTA: Indonesia will not charge tolls in the Strait of Malacca, its foreign minister said on Thursday, dispelling reports it could follow Iran’s example in the Strait of Hormuz. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono spoke to reporters in response to media reports over the possible blockage of 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 »»»

Dubai: Iran’s move to impose and reportedly collect tolls from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz marks a direct challenge to international law and a dangerous escalation in its confrontation with the United States and its allies. A senior Iranian parliament official has claimed that Tehran»»»

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»»»

Colombo, Sri Lanka: Cyber criminals hacked into the Sri Lankan finance ministry's computer system and siphoned off $2.5 million, the government said Thursday, the most amount of cash ever stolen by hackers from a state institution. The cyber attack is a major blow to Sri Lanka, which is recovering »»»

Damascus, April 23 (SANA) After one year in power, Syria’s government is focusing on reintegrating the country into the global political and economic system, seeking to end decades of sanctions and isolation. While officials say the most difficult phase has passed, the country still faces deep stru»»»