Dubai: Moviedom, the Dubai-based blockchain-powered entertainment ecosystem, today announced the launch of the Indian Film Festival Dubai (IFFD) - the first of its kind in the city. This recurring three-day annual event will celebrate Indian cinema, music and digital creators. The inaugural edition»»»

Dubai: Tourists visiting the UAE can now access VAT refunds through more than 19,300 retail outlets, 100 self-service kiosks and eligible purchases made on the Noon e-commerce platform. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The number of stores connected to the Federal Tax A»»»

Dubai: “We thought we were going to die.” A day after violent turbulence injured passengers aboard an Air India flight from Phuket to Delhi, many travellers are asking the same questions: What causes such incidents? Can pilots avoid them? And why do airlines advise passengers to keep their seat bel»»»

Shares advanced in Europe and Asia on Wednesday after the U.S. stock market rallied to records, helped by strong corporate earnings reports and hopes for a deal setting the stage for talks that might eventually lead to an end to the war in Iran. Oil prices resumed their ascent, with Brent crude gai»»»

SINGAPORE: Shipping traffic at the key Middle Eastern maritime chokepoints of the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab El-Mandeb was little changed on Tuesday from the previous day, ship-tracking data showed. Eight vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz, including five tankers and three bulk carriers, ship»»»

The political storm surrounding Udhayanidhi Stalin's alleged remarks about actor Trisha Krishnan has intensified, with actor-politician Khushbu Sundar launching a blistering attack on the former Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister. Calling his comments "vulgar, crude and crass," Khushbu in an intervie»»»

RIYADH: The European Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia said economic relations between the EU and Saudi Arabia are entering a new phase of expansion, driven by new partnerships, more European companies entering the Kingdom’s market, and deeper investment commitments, as the chamber seeks to broad»»»

New Delhi: Floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains have killed more than 100 people across India since July, official data showed Wednesday, with thousands forced to flee their inundated homes. While the annual monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, scientists say climate change i»»»

New Delhi, India: Floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains have killed more than 100 people across India since July, official data showed Wednesday, with thousands forced to flee their inundated homes. While the annual monsoon brings rainfall that farmers depend on, scientists say climate c»»»

An Indian vessel was struck and sank near Yemen on Tuesday. File photo by Yahya Arhab/EPA Aug. 5 (UPI) -- An Indian cargo ship has sunk after being struck by a projectile off Yemen, officials said, raising concerns that the Middle East war's maritime front is expanding. It was unclear who launched »»»

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the escalating crisis in the Strait of Hormuz showed signs of momentum Wednesday as officials reported progress on a draft peace agreement between the United States and Iran, even as regional transport and energy markets faced continued challenges. A draft deal is curr»»»

DHAKA/NEW DELHI: Bangladesh warned the country’s media not to publicize the statements of exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who is due to give a virtual address on Wednesday from India to mark the second anniversary of the uprising that ousted her. Hasina has remained in India since the st»»»

Dubai: An Indian commercial vessel sank after being hit by a projectile off the coast of Yemen, but all 13 Indian nationals on board were rescued, Indian authorities said on Tuesday. Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said the mechanised sailing vessel MSV Faize Noo»»»

Dubai: An Indian commercial vessel sank after being hit by a projectile off the coast of Yemen, but all 13 Indian nationals on board were rescued, Indian authorities said on Tuesday. Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said the mechanised sailing vessel MSV Faize Noo»»»

The global textile industry has helped transform economies from Bangladesh to Uzbekistan, creating millions of jobs and driving export growth, but the water-intensive foundations of the trade are exposing some of the world’s biggest manufacturing hubs to rising environmental and economic risks, acc»»»

Dubai: Travellers flying from Abu Dhabi to India now have four more direct destinations to choose from, as Air India Express expands its network from Zayed International Airport. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The airline has launched non-stop services to Navi Mumbai,»»»

Kerala’s latest spell of monsoon flooding has claimed 21 lives, left six people missing and forced thousands from their homes, even as weather officials warned of more heavy rainfall across parts of the state, raising fears of further flooding and landslides. With rivers still running high and satu»»»

Dubai: Walk into House of Wisdom in Sharjah on any weekday this summer and you won't find the hushed, half-empty reading room you might expect. Instead, there are final-year high-school students hunched over coursework, remote workers tapping away on laptops, packs of twenty-something Gen Zers scan»»»

Dubai: India’s food safety regulator has ordered Dabur India to immediately stop selling food products carrying misleading “100%” claims, including honey, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, cow ghee and coconut milk. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The Food Safety and S»»»

An Air India flight from Phuket, Thailand, to New Delhi encountered turbulence during its cruise on Tuesday, causing a brief change in altitude and leaving a small number of passengers and crew members with minor injuries. Flight AI2379, operated by an Airbus A320, experienced a brief turbulence-re»»»

Dubai: Watching the outrage over Udhayanidhi Stalin's controversial remarks involving actor Trisha and his subsequent arrest unfold, I couldn't help but wonder why women continue to be dragged into battles that were never theirs to fight. The clash was meant to be about the Cauvery water dispute an»»»

A Kerala man has won a nine-year legal battle against Air India after a delayed flight left him stranded overnight at Mumbai airport and forced him to spend thousands of rupees to return to his job in Saudi Arabia. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Thiruvananthapuram, ordered Air»»»

Several users in India and other regions reported losing access to WhatsApp features after their accounts were placed under review. The app temporarily blocked access to all features, with WhatsApp saying it is working to restore accounts that were mistakenly flagged, PTI reported. Users report sud»»»

Abu Dhabi: A Filipino expat has spoken how his group of 10 friends from the Philippines, India and Bangladesh that had been chasing the Big Ticket grand prize for 15 years, finally won Dh20 million. As reported by Gulf News on Monday night, Dubai resident Reynaldo Herboso, was named the winner afte»»»

Iran's wartime leadership is showing a united front toward the US, but behind that facade, a potentially consequential struggle is emerging over who controls Iran's strategy — and how far Tehran should go in using the Strait of Hormuz as leverage against Washington. The latest sign came Monday (Aug»»»

Dubai: Indian expats in the UAE are hopeful that their government will revise the steep increase in passport fees after the Delhi High Court recently directed the Union government to consider a petition challenging the revised charges within three weeks. Members of the community group Pravasi Legal»»»

Dubai: Consumers across Asia could begin paying more for petrol within weeks if disruption at Bab al-Mandab continues, while higher airfares and grocery costs may take longer to reach household budgets. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.Oil prices and financial markets w»»»

Abu Dhabi: A Filipino expat became the latest multi-millionaire in the UAE by bagging the Dh20 million grand prize in Abu Dhabi Big Ticket draw on Monday. Reynaldo Herboso was announced as the winner after the ticket number 267822 was selected during the live draw of Series 289. Kanika Arora from D»»»

Emerging-market sovereign ratings have proved largely resilient to the US-Iran war in the first half of 2026, Fitch Ratings finds in its Global Emerging Markets Credit Brief for 3Q26, even as the conflict pushed roughly a third of EM sector outlooks to "deteriorating" following the agency's mid-yea»»»

Ukraine's long-range drone campaign has entered a new phase, shifting from attacks on Russia's military infrastructure to systematic strikes on the commercial ports, grain terminals and oil export facilities that underpin both Moscow's wartime economy and Kazakhstan's energy exports. Russia has cou»»»

Dubai: Prashant Kishor scored a landmark political victory in Bihar on Monday, defeating the BJP in the high-profile Bankipur Assembly by-election and delivering the first electoral win for his fledgling Jan Suraaj party. According to the final counting figures after 31 rounds, Kishor secured 63,20»»»

Global electric car sales rebounded sharply in the second quarter of 2026, rising 35% quarter-on-quarter to record levels in 50 countries, even as overall car sales fell around 5% y/y in the first half of the year on weaker demand in China and the US, according to the International Energy Agency's »»»

Dubai: A private school teacher was brutally stabbed to death inside her workplace in Haryana's Faridabad on Monday after a masked assailant allegedly dragged her into a room and attacked her multiple times with a knife, police said. Authorities have launched a manhunt to trace the accused. The vic»»»

Dubai: Dr Emmadi Vishnu Vardhan Reddy has been appointed the new Consul General of India in Dubai, the Indian Consulate in Dubai confirmed to Gulf News on Monday. He is scheduled to assume office once he presents his credentials to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He succeeds Satish Kumar Sivan»»»

Kerala intensified rescue and relief operations on Monday as the death toll from days of torrential rain and flooding rose to 15, even as authorities said the overall situation was gradually coming under control in most parts of the state despite forecasts of more heavy rain. More than 11,000 peopl»»»

Dubai: With schools in the UAE set to reopen later this month, families returning from summer holidays are facing some of the highest airfares of the season on routes from India, prompting many travellers to rethink how they book their journeys home. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Chequ»»»

SINGAPORE: Two tankers laden with Saudi oil crossed the Bab el-Mandeb strait over the weekend, while traffic in the Strait of Hormuz slowed following reports of vessel attacks, shipping data showed on Monday.The number of commodity vessels that passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait fell to 18 on »»»

Dubai: Praveen Nair, who spent six decades in social work and co-founded one of India's best-known children's charities in her late fifties, has died at the age of 94. She is the mother of filmmaker Mira Nair and the grandmother of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Both connections are real and b»»»

On Aug. 3, 2005, in the first emergency repair conducted in space, astronauts fixed a potentially dangerous problem by removing two strips of protruding cloth from the underside of the space shuttle Discovery. 1 of 7 | Mission Specialist Soichi Noguchi traverses along the Destiny laboratory of the »»»

KOCHI, India: ‌Heavy rains and floods battered parts of southern India over the weekend, killing at least 11 and displacing thousands in the state of Kerala, and setting off a landslide that killed at least three in neighboring Karnataka, authorities and news reports said. ‌The death ‌toll in rain-»»»

Dubai: Former International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General Willie Walsh has officially taken charge as the CEO of India's largest airline by market share, IndiGo, marking the beginning of what the carrier describes as "its next phase of growth and global expansion." Sign up for o»»»

Several European countries are having their worst wildfire year in more than a decade and worst than last year’s record wildfires that burnt over one million hectares, according to data from the EU's Global Wildfire Information System published this week. France's cumulative burnt area through July»»»

Dubai: Gold prices moved higher on Monday morning, raising rates for jewellery buyers after remaining unchanged throughout the weekend. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The 24-karat variety stood at Dh488.50 per gram at 8.17 am, up Dh1.25 from Dh487.25 on Sunday, while »»»

Heavy rainfall continued across Kerala on Monday, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warning of more showers, strong winds and possible flash flood risks in parts of the state. The IMD has issued an orange alert for Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Malappuram, Koz»»»

Dubai: Visitors from the UAE remained the largest source of international arrivals to Oman during the first half of 2026, highlighting the continued strength of regional travel to the sultanate, official data showed. Statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) s»»»

Doha, Qatar: Six-year-old Qatar resident Al Ameen bin Ahammed Danish has achieved an extraordinary milestone by setting multiple world records for speed painting, becoming one of the youngest artists to earn recognition from five international record organizations. The Grade 2 student at Scholar In»»»

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised the regulatory framework governing deposit interest rates, introducing measures aimed at enhancing transparency and ensuring uniform treatment of depositors across banks. The new rules, notified on Friday, will come into effect from October 1. The»»»

Flight attendants with WestJet, Canada's second-largest airline, went on strike Sunday in a dispute over pay. The Canadian Union of Public Employees represents the 4,400 cabin crew at the airline. It announced the strike on its Facebook page but did not provide further details. The company had canc»»»

Doha, Qatar: The draw for the 2026 FIBA U18 Asia Cup placed Qatar in Group C alongside China, Iran and Sri Lanka, setting up a challenging campaign for the young Qatari team at the continental tournament, which will be held in Ahmedabad, India, from August 13 to 23. The draw presents Qatar with a m»»»

Doha: Young badminton sensation Sree Eswar Shijo, one of Kerala’s most promising badminton players, has been personally invited by Coach Manoj Sahibjan, Founder and High Performance Director & Developer (HPDD) of NVBS, to participate in an exclusive 12-day High-Performance Badminton Training Camp. »»»