Education and Science Minister Georgi Valchev said here Friday that Bulgaria is ready to join the new European ocean observation initiative and become an equal partner in building a common system for scientific research and data exchange. He made the statement during a meeting with Charlina Vitchev»»»

BRUSSELS: The EU welcomed the first session of Syria’s People’s Assembly as “another positive step” in the country’s political process. EU foreign affairs spokesperson Anouar El-Anouni said the bloc supports the assembly, which held its inaugural session on July 12, as part of a Syrian-led and Syri»»»

SpaceX's next-generation Starship is stacked on the pad atop the new Super Heavy V3 booster at Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX rescheduled its 13th flight test for Monday. Photo courtesy SpaceX | License Photo July 17 (UPI) -- SpaceX announced Friday that it has rescheduled its 13th launch of»»»

Jakarta: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said Friday that the government aims to complete a nationwide sugarcane replanting program within two years after plantations went more than a decade without large-scale rejuvenation. Speaking during a sugarcane harvest in Malang, East Java province, P»»»

Two South African soldiers died on Friday after falling down a mine shaft during an operation targeting illicit mining, a police spokeswoman said. The deaths are the first military fatalities since President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed troops in March to bolster police operations against crime and ill»»»

Fernando Jorge (L) and Serguey Torres of Cuba, and teams of Russia and Poland compete during semifinal men's canoe double (C2) 1000m semifinal at the Lagoa Stadium during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August 2016. File Photo by Orlando Barria/EPA July 17 (UPI) -- Nine mem»»»

ATLANTA: Federal health officials have identified lettuce from Mexico served by Taco Bell locations across five US states as a source of the widespread outbreak of diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday confirmed the source and warned cons»»»

GAZA: An Israeli airstrike killed at least eight Palestinians and wounded 20 attending a funeral in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Friday for a person killed by another Israeli strike on the area earlier in the day, Gaza health officials said. Those deaths, along with at least three Palestin»»»

MOSCOW: Kazakhstan exported its ​first gasoline cargo to Russia in July, supplying about 1,000 ‌metric tons ‌to ​one ‌of ⁠the ​regions in ⁠Central Russia, industry sources said. Russia is facing gasoline ⁠shortages after ‌increased Ukrainian ‌drone ​attacks ‌on oil ‌refineries across the country, p»»»

BARCELONA: Almost two decades ago, photographer Joan Monfort didn’t think much of his photo shoot of a teenage Lionel Messi bathing a cute baby boy in a plastic bathtub. Not until the remarkable twist of fate became clear years later, when that infant blossomed into Lamine Yamal. Now those images o»»»

Doha, Qatar: The State of Qatar strongly condemned the renewed attacks launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran against its territory, as well as against the territories of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the State of Kuwait, saying that it considers these attacks a fla»»»

France's ​main ​gambling sector regulator said ⁠on Friday it had ‌instructed the ‌country's ​internet service providers to ​block access ​to ​the Polymarket ​website, one of a number of online prediction markets that allow people to bet on the outcome of future events. The move aims to enforce»»»

The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, voted to dissolve Friday ahead of the October 27 election. File Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI | License Photo July 17 (UPI) -- Israel's parliament, the Knesset, voted to dissolve on Friday after pushing through controversial legislation favorable to Prime Minister B»»»

First the storms, now the fires. President Emmanuel Macron has described the blazes in the Fontainebleau Forest as some of the worst since the end of World War II. The president visited the scene to show his support for the 950 firefighters still working to extinguish the flare-ups. Meanwhile, the »»»

Bulgarian leaders denied any split in the country’s position on Ukraine on Friday as the government and opposition parties clashed over the Kyiv Declaration and Bulgaria’s relationship with the Coalition of the Willing. Prime Minister Rumen Radev and President Iliana Iotova said the document requir»»»

WASHINGTON: The World Cup final between Argentina and Spain on Sunday will be refereed by Slavko Vinčić of Slovenia, two years after he was in charge of a Champions League final. FIFA announced the pick late Thursday. It’s the second straight World Cup final where Argentina, now the defending champ»»»

Police used an excavator to gain access to a house linked to fentanyl distribution in Sofia's Fakulteta borough, where a 42-year-old woman was arrested with dozens of fentanyl doses, according to a Friday briefing by Deputy Chief of the Third Police Precinct, Commissioner Stanislava Todorova. She s»»»

A series of a new anti-corruption proposals are set to be tabled by the European Commission before the end of the year. The announcement on Friday (17 July) follows the publication of reports that attempt to decrypt rule-of-law issues in each of the 27 member states. Speaking to reporters in Brusse»»»

Pakistani-born Shabir Ahmed, a rape gang ringleader recently released in the UK after serving a prison term for dozens of child sex offenses, committed his crimes because of his upbringing in England, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said on Thursday. The 73-year-old, who first en»»»

Artificial intelligence is no longer simply a technological race. It is becoming a question of how the world chooses to govern one of the most transformative innovations of the modern era, who benefits from it, and whether its advantages remain concentrated in the hands of a few companies or are sh»»»

China has rejected US President Donald Trump’s claim that Beijing masterminded the theft of 220 million American voter files to meddle in the 2020 election. Trump’s explosive remarks came ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to Washington in late September and amid a tentative trad»»»

Ukraine’s lawmakers approved chairman of the national gas company Naftogaz’s board, Serhii Koretskyi as the new Ukrainian Prime Minister on July 16 in anticipation of intense winter attacks by Russia. Zelenskiy announced a surprise government reshuffle at the weekend, after asking Ukraine’s Prime M»»»

The number of drones delivered to the Russian army has more than doubled compared to 2025, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko said on Friday. "To ensure superiority over the enemy, the number of drones delivered to the troops has more than doubled compared to 2025," Krivoruchko stre»»»

A massive public rally was held today, Friday, in Saada Governorate, Yemen, as part of the “Friday of Mobilization” campaign, in response to a call from Ansarullah leader Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. Participants chanted slogans such as “Aggression for aggression, siege for siege” and “With our un»»»

Abu Dhabi: e& has completed the sale of its entire stake in Vodafone Group, securing total consideration of Dh21.9 billion, equivalent to $5.95 billion. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The group transferred 3,944,743,685 Vodafone shares to BNP Paribas Financial Markets»»»

Dubai: Moving to a new country often begins with excitement to new opportunities, new surroundings, and the promise of a different future. But behind many expatriate stories is a challenge of building a life from the beginning. For Egyptian expat Ahmed Youssef, that challenge came at a time when th»»»

In the US, smoke from wildfires in Canada has resulted in a drop in air quality in cities including New York and Chicago. According to government data, around 5.9 million acres have burned during this wildfire season in Canada. Officials in parts of both Canada and the US are urging residents to st»»»

LONDON: Andy Burnham vowed Friday to “give hope” back to the British people as he was confirmed as the ruling Labour party’s new leader, set to be the next UK prime minister. “People and places … have been waiting too long for politics to let them hope again ... We’re going to give them hope back,”»»»

Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova rejected claims that Bulgaria had undertaken any commitment to join the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” or any other international format related to support for Ukraine. Speaking to journalists in parliament, she said that no Bulgarian representative had sign»»»

A major migrant smuggling network operating along the route from the Greek-Turkish border to other European Union countries has been dismantled in an international operation involving Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and the Netherlands, with support from Europol and the South East European Law Enforcemen»»»

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko on Friday to discuss Serbia-Russia cooperation, especially addressing the economy as well as the current political situation in the region and the world. "A very good meeting with the A»»»

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Maritime has advised boat owners, jet ski riders and other marine users to familiarise themselves with the fines that apply across the emirate's waterways, encouraging everyone to follow safety requirements and obtain the necessary permits before undertaking maritime activities»»»

Traffic police in Sofia issued a fine or administrative citation to every electric scooter rider inspected during a one-day enforcement operation, authorities said. Speaking at a press briefing, Martin Tsurinski, Deputy Head of the Traffic Police Department at the Sofia Directorate of the Interior,»»»

Israeli occupation forces intensified attacks on southern Lebanon on Friday, with drone strikes targeting areas in Tyre and Nabatieh districts, amid demolition operations and continued Israeli aircraft reconnaissance activity over Bekaa. An Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle on the Bayada–Naqoura »»»

In 2024 Bulgaria ranked fourth in the EU in the ratio of professional judges per 100,000 people: 35.4, behind Croatia (43.3), Slovenia (40.2) and Luxembourg (36.0) and ahead of Romania (35.3), according to figures released by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the EU, on Friday. On the lowest end,»»»

Arab Finance: Orascom Development Egypt announced that one of its subsidiaries has signed a 10-year syndicated loan agreement worth EGP 18 billion with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, and Commercial International Bank (CIB) to support the development of its O West project in 6th of O»»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe Iran’s Araghchi: ‘Israel’ Using US Taxpayers to Silence American Critics 17-07-2026 13:49 PM Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi (image fro»»»

Jind, India: India launched its first hydrogen-powered train Friday, joining a small group of nations testing the technology as part of efforts to decarbonise rail transport and cut dependence on fossil fuels. The project is part of a broader push to modernise one of the world's largest rail networ»»»

A man accused of spying for Iran was due to appear before magistrates in London on Friday after being arrested in the West Midlands by counter-terrorism police. File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo July 17 (UPI) -- A 39-year-old man was due in court in London on Friday accused of breachin»»»

Kuwait reported Friday an Iranian attack on a power and water plant on Friday, while Bahrain and Qatar also said they had intercepted missiles after the U.S. attacked power infrastructure in Iran. Kuwait said that a power and water plant had been damaged by an Iranian attack, as the war in the Midd»»»

WASHINGTON - Serbia has officially acceded to the Artemis space programme. Serbian FM Marko Djuric signed the Artemis Accords at the NASA headquarters in Washington on Thursday. The signing ceremony was also attended by NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson, US Assistant Secretary of State for Oc»»»

BUDAPEST - Serbian football club Vojvodina Novi Sad have been knocked out of the UEFA Europa League qualifiers after losing 3-0 away to Hungary's Ferencvaros on Thursday evening in the second leg of the two teams' qualifying tie. Ferencvaros won the first leg 2-1. In the ninth minute of the second »»»

POLITICS In an op-ed entitled "What is Bulgaria's place, Mr Radev?" and published by Capital, Alexander Detev comments on Prime Minister Rumen Radev's statement that Bulgaria will not join the Coalition of the Willing supporting Ukraine. Radev argued that lasting peace should be achieved through di»»»

The Hungarian state spent more than HUF 387 million on President Tamás Sulyok’s official foreign trips between March 2024, when he took office, and the end of 2025, according to figures released following a public information request. The data, obtained by HVG from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a»»»

The search for 11-year-old Natalia Asenova and 40-year-old Asen Simeonov entered its 18th day, with police and volunteers continuing around-the-clock efforts to locate the pair after they disappeared from the Varna village of Konstantinovo. Despite dozens of reported sightings, authorities have yet»»»

BELGRADE - The Serbian dinar's official median exchange rate against the euro is 117.3751 dinars for one euro on Friday, which is a slight change relative to Thursday, the National Bank of Serbia said. The dinar is steady against the euro m-o-m, down by 0.2 pct y-o-y and down by 0.1 pct relative to»»»

Dubai: The Philippines has formally lodged a diplomatic protest against China's state-owned newspaper China Daily over an AI-generated video and editorial cartoons that Manila says contain “demeaning, dehumanising, and racist depictions of Filipinos.” The protest has come amid a video published on »»»

Dubai: Netflix subscribers could face further price increases over time as the streaming company looks to protect revenue growth while spending on live broadcasts, short-form videos, games and new entertainment formats. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.No fresh subscrip»»»

SHANGHAI (Sputnik) - The development and application of artificial intelligence must not undermine the diversity of world civilizations or the uniqueness of national cultures, so that AI remains under human control, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the opening ceremony of the World Artificial I»»»

Bulgaria will temporarily restrict the movement of heavy goods vehicles weighing over 12 tonnes on Trakia Motorway, Struma Motorway and a section of the I-1 road through the Kresna Gorge, to ease weekend traffic and improve road safety, said the Road Infrastructure Agency. On Friday, July 17, truck»»»