Dear Readers, As we welcome the Holy Month of Ramadan, Gulf News is proud to launch the Safe Roads during Ramadan campaign. This initiative serves as a vital reminder of the importance of patience, responsibility, and respect on our roads during this significant time. Ramadan is a month of reflecti»»»

NEW DELHI - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday in New Delhi, where he is attending the India AI Impact Summit 2026, that Serbia must build infrastructure for greater use of artificial intelligence (AI) and change its education system. "Many young Indians came to our booth, and we e»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian air defense systems shot down two guided aerial bombs, 10 HIMARS shells, and 301 UAVs of the Ukrainian armed forces, while Russian troops hit a fuel storage facility and energy infrastructure facilities used in the interests of the Ukrainian armed forces, the Russian Defe»»»

Osaka has received an unusual donation -- 21 kilograms of gold -- to pay for the maintenance of its ageing water system, the Japanese commercial hub announced Thursday. The donation worth $3.6 million was made in November by a person who a month earlier had already given $3,300 in cash for the muni»»»

Israeli forces are on alert on Lebanon’s border out of concerns of a possible escalation with Hezbollah in connection with the growing possibility of a war with Iran, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported. The Israeli media outlet also said that the United States would inform Israel »»»

Once established, the Multinational Staff Element will become Nato’s Forward Land Forces’ permanent presence in the region. Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen (NCP) has chosen Finnish Lapland’s capital of Rovaniemi as the location of Nato’s Forward Land Forces (FLF) headquarters, according to a minist»»»

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested by UK police on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the BBC has reported. Police are currently considering allegations including that a woman was trafficked to the UK by the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for the former prince. Andrew has consis»»»

Tunis, Feb 19 (TAP) - Phase III of the Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) phase-out management plan, targeting substances harmful to the ozone layer, has been launched by the National Agency for Environmental Protection (ANPE) in partnership with the...»»»

DOHA: The General Directorate of Coasts and Borders Security celebrated the graduation of four specialized training courses: Watchtower Officer Course, Inland Waters Boat Commander Course, Basic Marine Engineering Course, and Advanced Marine Engineering Course. The courses were attended by 31 train»»»

Thai police donned a lion dance costume during this week's Lunar New Year festivities to arrest a suspect accused of stealing about $64,000 worth of Buddhist artifacts, police said Thursday. Officers dressed as a red-and-yellow lion made the arrest on Wednesday evening after receiving a report earl»»»

Romania’s central bank slightly revised its inflation forecast (chart) in the Inflation Outlook published on February 18, maintaining the overall projected trajectory while raising the year-end inflation estimate to 3.9%, from 3.7% previously. »»»

A Chinese fisherman prepares to move his fishing nets onto his boat and go to sea in the East China Sea in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, southeast China. File Photo by Wu hong/EPA Feb. 19 (UPI) -- For decades, China's maritime identity has been defined by scale: It produces and consumes the most sea»»»

Former Speaker of the Zhogorku Kenesh (Parliament) Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu has announced his early resignation as a member of Parliament. He published the statement on Facebook. In his address, the ex-speaker congratulated Kyrgyzstanis on the beginning of the fasting month and wished the country p»»»

Dubai: Blockchain for Innovation & AI (BCAI), a UAE-based research and strategic consultancy, has announced the launch and expansion of Khwarizmi Chain, a cutting-edge digital infrastructure ecosystem designed to help enterprises, institutions, and governments digitise real-world processes using bl»»»

Dubai: The controversial trailer of Hindi-language film The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond has dropped and it's as provocative and polarising as its first instalment. The movie, which deals with forced religious conversions, has understandably set social media on fire and activated the meme/troll army»»»

Romanian investors are recalibrating their portfolios in 2026, reducing concentrated exposure to the US technology sector and shifting towards sectors perceived as more stable, including energy, industrials, and commodities, according to an analysis by Investimental. Based on activity on its Nova p»»»

Abu Dhabi: UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has dismissed allegations that the UAE supplied weapons to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), citing verified data from international review and compliance mechanisms designed to ensure that arms do not reach parties involved in the Sudan conflict. Speaki»»»

Caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gurov said on Thursday that the caretaker government would follow rules rather than pursue retaliation. He spoke at the handover ceremony in the Council of Ministers’ Granite Hall after Gurov and his cabinet took the oath earlier in the day before the National Assemb»»»

On charges brought by the Sofia District Prosecution Office, a 37-year-old Syrian national has been imprisoned for committing acts with the aim of satisfying sexual desire without intercourse and for taking a sum of money amounting to BGN 50, the prosecution service said Thursday. On September 6, 2»»»

State hospitals face disruptions in coming weeks with staff planning strikes in March to press for salary increases, while doctors are also due to walk off the job to protest changes in their military service, unions said Thursday. The state hospital staff union said that on March 19 its members wo»»»

Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to travel to Israel next week to update Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, two Trump administration officials said. Rubio is expected to meet with Netanyahu on Feb. 28, according to the officials, who spoke Wednesday on con»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia is convinced that without a Palestinian state, there will be no peace or stability in the Middle East, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. "It is our firm belief that there will be no stability or calm there without a Palestinian state," Lavrov told Al Arabia broa»»»

Senior Egyptian and Turkish air force commanders met in Cairo on Wednesday for talks focused on strengthening military partnership and expanding bilateral cooperation, in the latest sign of warming defense ties between the two countries. The meeting brought together the Commander of the Egyptian Ai»»»

Israel's increased attacks and forcible transfers of Palestinians "raise concerns over ethnic cleansing" in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the United Nations said Thursday. The UN human rights office said the cumulative impact of Israel's military conduct during the war in Gaza, plus its blockad»»»

China almost certainly shook neighbouring Kazakhstan with an underground nuclear weapons test, according to a senior American official. Seismic activity detected in Kazakhstan on June 22, 2020 appeared to stem from such a »»»

A court in Seoul has determined that Yoon Suk Yeol's failed effort to implement martial law in 2024 while president constituted incitement of an insurrection. According to Yonhap News Agency, the ruling was issued by the Seoul Central District Court, which is the first judicial ruling in the case. »»»

China almost certainly shook neighbouring Kazakhstan with an underground nuclear weapons test, according to a senior American official. Seismic activity detected in Kazakhstan on June 22, 2020 appeared to stem from such a »»»

Dubai: The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, known as GSEA, the world’s leading competition for university and college students who run a business while pursuing their studies, is now accepting applications for the 2026 UAE edition. Established in 1998 and run by Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO),»»»

Doha, Qatar: Social media funnyman and traveller Abbas Alnabawi was not aware how much a trip from Thailand to Qatar by bicycle would demand from him, both physically and mentally. Alnabawi –better known online as Mrabbosi— is in the business of laughter, where he excels in making a static, pixilat»»»

Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) – New Beginning Floor Leader Delyan Peevski gave a statement for the party's press center on Thursday that they do not support the oath of office of the "Iotova-Soros-Petrohan" caretaker Cabinet. According to him, this is not an oath of "servants of the people»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The CIA was aware at an early stage of the terrorists' plans to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines, the German newspaper Spiegel reported on Thursday, citing sources. The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were hit by explosions in September 2022. Germany, Denmark and Swe»»»

Georgia has ‌detained two people who attempted to purchase $3 million worth of uranium and a cache of a radioactive isotope found in nuclear weapons testing programs, the national security service said on Thursday. Two foreign nationals from unspecified countries were arrested in the city of Kutais»»»

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison for his brief imposition of martial law in a dramatic culmination to the country’s biggest political crisis in decades. Yoon was ousted from office after a baffling attempt to overcome an opposition-controlled legislature b»»»

Virginians cast their ballots at Robious Elementary School in Midlothian, VA on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. The Republican National Committee on Wednesday filed a lawsuit to block a referendum on an amendment that if approved by the state's voters would allow lawmakers to redraw Virginia's congressi»»»

Dubai: The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) has urged Filipinos abroad to exercise caution when enrolling in institutions that market themselves as “Philippine Schools Overseas” (PSOs). In an advisory, the agency has issued a warning that not all schools using the label are officially recogni»»»

New Delhi, India: Tech bro rivalry is real, or at least it is for Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, the CEOs of two leading US artificial intelligence startups. A video of the pair at a global AI summit in New Delhi on Thursday rapidly spread on social media after the former colleagues awkwardly refused»»»

GENEVA (Sputnik) - The next round of negotiations on Ukraine is planned to be held again in Geneva, a source told Sputnik on Thursday. "They plan to return [to Geneva]," the source said. Volodymyr Zelensky also said that the next meeting will take place in Switzerland. "The next meeting will be als»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US billionaire and Microsoft founder Bill Gates has canceled his keynote speech at an artificial intelligence summit in India amid allegations of ties to infamous late financier Jeffrey Epstein, CNN reported on Thursday, citing a statement from the Gates' foundation. "After caref»»»

During 2025, SkyTower has signed lease agreements and extensions covering approximately 9,000 square metres GLA, including both new tenants and expansions for existing occupants. These transactions reinforce SkyTower’s leading position in the Bucharest office market and highlight its growing appeal»»»

British foreign minister Yvette Cooper on Thursday condemned as "totally unjustifiable" the 10-year sentence given to a British couple in Iran for spying, saying the government would continue to press for their release. Craig and Lindsay Foreman had been charged with espionage after Iran accused th»»»

1 of 7 | Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life imprisonment on insurrection charges Thursday. In this September 26 photo, Yoon attends the first hearing of his second trial on martial law-related charges. File Pool Photo by Yonhap/EPA SEOUL, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A South Korean court on T»»»

Abuja: A toxic gas leak at a mine in north-central Nigeria killed 37 people and led to the hospitalization of 26 others, according to police. The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday in Kampani Zurak community, located in the Wase area of Plateau state, police spokesman Alfred Alabo said»»»

Speaking at the government handover ceremony in Sofia on Thursday, outgoing Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov said: "History does not necessarily remember those who held grand titles and offices, but it always remembers those who made decisions when they had to be made." Earlier in the day, the incom»»»

A notable presence of US military aircraft has been observed at Terminal 1 of Sofia Airport in Bulgaria, according to former Deputy Foreign Minister and security analyst Milen Keremedchiev. In a post on Facebook, he reported that seven US Air Force tanker aircraft, used for aerial refueling of comb»»»

GERB is set to hold a reporting and election national assembly on March 22 in Sofia, marking the start of the campaign for the early parliamentary elections scheduled for April 19. The party announced the upcoming congress in newspapers on Friday, highlighting that the agenda will focus on electing»»»

Dubai: More than 125 passengers travelling from Muscat to New Delhi were left waiting for over five hours after an Air India Express flight was delayed late on Tuesday night, according to a report by Times of Oman. Air India Express confirmed the incident to Gulf News. Sign up for our daily busines»»»

What began as a closer look at popular biryani restaurant chains in Hyderabad has snowballed into what could be one of the biggest alleged tax suppression cases in India’s food and beverage sector. According to a report by The Times of India, an in-depth probe by the Income Tax department’s Hyderab»»»

Dubai: The Philippine government has started distributing the first batch of long-delayed balikbayan boxes of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as it commenced the final wave of deliveries. The initiative has been led by Department of Finance (DOF) secretary Frederick Go and Bureau of Customs (BOC) »»»

Dubai: A man allegedly stabbed his former wife to death at her residence in Hyderabad after months of resentment over a domestic violence case that, according to police, had upended his life and prevented him from returning to Canada. Police said the accused, who is in his 30s, barged into the woma»»»