TIRANA: Protesters clashed with police in Albania’s capital for the fourth day Friday as Prime Minister Edi Rama blamed “foreign hands” for mounting unrest. Police used tear gas and water cannons while protesters hurled stones at security forces, burning garbage bins to block roads across the city.»»»

An online movement against rising fuel prices has gained momentum ahead of planned nationwide demonstrations on October 17 with former Yellow Vest figures set to join the protests in support of high-school students. Some are drawing parallels between the latest action and the 2018 cost-of-living pr»»»

As transatlantic relations confront renewed geopolitical uncertainty, former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves delivers a pointed assessment of Washington's shifting approach to Russia's war on Ukraine and the profound implications for European security. At the heart of his analysis lies a fu»»»

Damascus, Oct. 16 (SANA) Syria and the International Monetary Fund discussed expanding technical assistance to improve tax administration, public spending and budget planning, the Finance Ministry said on Friday. Finance Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh met with senior officials from the IMF’s Public»»»

LONDON: More than 340 children in Gaza have been killed and hundreds injured since the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was announced on Oct. 10, 2026, the UN Children’s Fund, also known as UNICEF, said on Friday. For those families “mourning the loss of their children, those terrible s»»»

LONDON: The renewed offensive by the Houthi militia in Yemen has raised fresh concerns about the fate of a cultural heritage already battered by more than a decade of war, destruction and looting. The impact of the latest fighting on archaeological sites and museum collections remains to be establi»»»

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has called for stricter border controls and the swift return of irregular migrants, backing a tough proposal during heated talks between EU leaders in Brussels. Prime Minister Péter Magyar has backed tougher European measures against irregular migration, arguin»»»

Strategic partnership hinges on reciprocal obligations and sustained cooperation. Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC), affirmed that Gulf and European security can no longer be treated as separate issues, stressing that the strategic partnership between the Gulf Cooperation »»»

Hezbollah’s Media Relations Department issued a statement to clarify the incident in Gallery Semaan area near Beirut’s Dahieh, stressing that the security forces’ patrol and raid of a warehouse took place without following the agreed-upon procedure between Hezbollah and the security authorities. Wh»»»

Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen attacked Spanish leader Pedro Sánchez on migration during a summit debate in Brussels on Friday (16 October). Frederiksen, who despite leading a centre-left party has taken an increasingly hard line on migration, criticised Sánchez for granting renewable one-»»»

WASHINGTON: White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was pushed out Friday after less than a week in the high-profile job, following a series of blunders that added to distractions for her embattled boss President Donald Trump. “Can confirm,” a White House official told AFP, after Fox News report»»»

DARAA: More than 33,400 homes in Syria’s Daraa province were completely destroyed and more than 60,000 others damaged during military campaigns by the deposed regime, according to a report by the Ministry of Local Administration and Environment and UN-Habitat. The damage affected more than 95,000 h»»»

October: Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani affirmed the State of Qatar's continued support for the Republic of Lebanon and solidarity with the Lebanese people amid the difficult circumstances facing the region, underscoring Qatar's»»»

BRUSSELS: French President Emmanuel Macron took a swipe at Marine Le Pen Friday, telling the far-right leader, who is the frontrunner in an upcoming presidential election, to “stay humble.” Without naming her directly, Macron criticized recent moves by Le Pen, who laid out plans to cut France’s aid»»»

HARRISBURG: At least eight states are suing artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, saying the company’s popular chatbot model violated state consumer protection laws by hurting children and deceiving adults in what prosecutors described as a reckless pursuit of profit. The company’s chatbot model, C»»»

The President must act as a balancer, serving as a check on the government and supporting it when it performs well, but speaking out firmly and clearly when the parliamentary majority makes wrong decisions, presidential candidate Andrey Gurov said at a campaign meeting in Pleven Friday. "I hear our»»»

Lyon: Oscar-winning directors Ethan and Joel Coen are set to reunite for a new movie, ending a multi-year directing break following their celebrated collaboration on cinematic classics such as Fargo, Barton Fink, and No Country for Old Men. Both of them have latterly turned to personal projects, wo»»»

Famous for its cowboy culture, Wyoming is the least populated, the most rural and the most conservative of all the US states. With two weeks to go until the midterm elections, our reporters James André and Sylvain Rousseau travelled across this Republican stronghold and found that the par»»»

No casualties as Indian crew survives tanker incidents in two regions All 24 Indian seafarers aboard two vessels involved in separate incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and Romania are safe, with no casualties or injuries reported, India’s Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal sa»»»

JEDDAH: Friends gathering for the weekend, traffic on busy roads and residents heading to work and college are among the everyday scenes that people in Jeddah say have continued despite regional tensions. Residents who spoke to Arab News expressed confidence in their safety, with many saying daily »»»

LONDON: Lebanese security forces seized medicines deemed unfit for use and sealed a warehouse in Beirut’s Galerie Semaan area Friday, after a group of men tried to block the raid, authorities said. The Internal Security Forces said young men on motorcycles gathered to prevent officers from the Cent»»»

NOVI SAD - Addressing a rally of the Aleksandar Vucic-United Serbia electoral list in Novi Sad on Friday evening, Slovak PM Robert Fico said Vucic was defending Serbia's sovereignty and not letting the country be run by someone abroad, however mighty they might be. A large number of people who had »»»

Riyadh airport operations suspended amid missile and drone attack concerns The US Mission to Saudi Arabia has warned American citizens of potential attacks on airports, airspace closures and flight disruptions following recent missile and drone attacks on airports in the Kingdom. In a security aler»»»

ISTANBUL: Catastrophic flooding in Istanbul in recent days is the worst in more than 80 years, Turkiye’s interior minister said Friday as the death toll rose to four. Istanbul, Turkiye’s largest city with 16 million residents, was hit by more rain in the 48 hours up to Thursday morning than the com»»»

LONDON: A Norwegian teenager convicted of traveling to Britain to carry out a contract killing on behalf of an international crime gang linked to Iran was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison. Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, was found guilty in July of conspiracy to murder for agreeing to shoot an»»»

Drivers in Abu Dhabi advised to prepare for upcoming weekend traffic changes Abu Dhabi Mobility has announced temporary road closures on key routes in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain over the weekend, urging motorists to plan their journeys and allow extra time for travel. The closures affect Shakhbout Bin Su»»»

KYIV: Kyiv has begun installing mobile concrete shelters at public transport stops, an AFP reporter saw Friday, as it grapples with air attacks and concern about the city’s preparedness for the looming winter. The Ukrainian capital has faced an increased number of Russian aerial strikes over the pa»»»

Damascus, Oct. 16 (SANA) Syria is seeking to expand domestic seed production to lower farming costs and reduce reliance on imports, as agricultural institutions restore seed-multiplication facilities and work with research centers and farmers to develop higher-yielding varieties. The General Establ»»»

PAPHOS, Cyprus: A British man who pleaded guilty in the fatal fall of his 3-year-old son from a hotel window is free to return home after a Cyprus court fined him 3,000 euros ($3,380). Joshua Patric Foster, 38, wept Friday in Paphos District Court as Judge Froso Christodoulidou ruled a prison term »»»

LONDON: Downing Street Friday distanced itself from comments by the wife of the British prime minister’s national security adviser who voiced support for banned activist group Palestine Action. Sarah Helm, a journalist and author and wife of Jonathan Powell, Andy Burnham’s national security adviser»»»

ADEN: Yemen’s Armed Forces said they carried out 1,292 strikes against Houthi military targets over 24 hours, claiming more than 430 militia members had been eliminated and over 100 military vehicles and other assets destroyed or disabled. In a statement issued as part of Operation Dawn of Yemen, t»»»

Doha: The Qatar Football Association (QFA), represented by its President HE Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Thani in his capacity as a member of the FIFA Council, participated in the Council's 37th meeting today. Chaired by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, the meeting took place via video con»»»

The United Nations aviation agency has found Lebanon’s main airport lacks valid certification, according to a report summary seen by Reuters, in a setback to US President Donald Trump’s move to revive direct US-Beirut flights. Trump made the announcement in July and signed an order last month for t»»»

UAE calls for full implementation of Trump’s Gaza plan and an end to West Bank escalation New York: The UAE has called for the full implementation of US President Donald Trump's comprehensive plan to end the conflict in Gaza and its accompanying roadmap, while urging an end to the dangerous Israeli»»»

Since the beginning of the year, 310 settlements have been liberated, he added. Russian president visited the auxiliary command post of the Joint Group of Forces and he held another meeting with the command staff.Other Key StatementsAbout 10% of the territory of the Donetsk region and around 16.5% »»»

UAE residents urged to monitor security and flight updates amid regional tensions UAE residents are being urged to monitor regional security developments and check flight updates before travelling as Saudi Arabia faces continued missile and drone attacks and widespread aviation disruption. The late»»»

We welcome the new appointments to the Iraqi Cabinet following the vote of confidence held on 15 October in the Iraqi Council of Representatives, and extend our best wishes for success to the Iraqi Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi. We are confident that this developmen»»»

LONDON: US President Donald Trump ruled out using nuclear weapons against Iran but raised the possibility of further strikes on its nuclear facilities, saying Washington wanted to ensure Tehran could never develop an atomic weapon. “No, I wouldn’t use nuclear. We don’t have to,” Trump said in an in»»»

VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Friday, calling for a ceasefire in a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine, as he recovers in hospital from a lung cancer operation. The Vatican said that Pope Leo “expressed his deep concern about the grave huma»»»

Australia warns citizens of Saudi airport disruptions amid security concerns Australia has advised its citizens not to travel to King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh following recent security incidents that disrupted operations, warning that flight cancellations, delays and airspace closures»»»

Several major sporting events in Saudi Arabia have been cancelled or postponed as a result of repeated deadly attacks from Iran-backed Houthi rebels against the Kingdom's airports and infrastructure. FRANCE 24's Mark Owen speaks with Guy Barton, Visiting Fellow at Lancaster University and co-creato»»»

New York: Wall Street stocks were mixed early Friday at the end of a volatile week marked by unease over rising US inflation and hefty artificial intelligence spending. Appearing at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Federal Reserve Chief Kevin Warsh said the global economy had showed u»»»

RIYADH: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Al-Shaibani, met on Friday in Riyadh to discuss strengthening ties and addressing shared regional challenges. During the talks, Al-Shaibani reaffirmed Syria’s solidarity with Saudi Arabia following recent Hout»»»

Indian authorities on Friday detained Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the satirical youth movement "Cockroach Janta Party", ahead of a new protest in New Delhi, live images from the group showed. Police earlier closed a central New Delhi park in an attempt to stifle near-daily demonstrations ca»»»

Pope Leo XIV celebrated a mass at Rome's Gemelli hospital Friday after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his right lung, photos released by the Vatican showed. Doctors said his recovery was progressing normally but that further tests would show whether the cancer had spread. Pope»»»

Storm clouds bring hail to eastern UAE as the NCM monitors rainfall and changing weather. Abu Dhabi: Heavy rain and hail have swept across parts of the UAE, including Al Ain, Hatta, Kalba and Ras Al Khaimah, as towering thunderstorm clouds developed over eastern areas of the country. Hail was repor»»»

PARIS: After weeks of student protests, France is set to be swept by broader, nationwide demonstrations Saturday over the cost of living, setting up a potentially fraught period ahead of presidential elections next year. The prospect of the two movements merging, perhaps with outbreaks of violence,»»»

BAGHDAD: Iraq has lost around $60 billion during the Middle East war, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said on Thursday, with Iran blockading a waterway that is crucial to global energy flows. OPEC member Iraq was producing about four million barrels of oil per day before the conflict, exporting about»»»

BANGKOK: Rising energy and fertilizer costs are hitting smallholder farmers and driving up prices of agricultural commodities, fueling fears of a global food crisis, the head of the UN agriculture development fund told AFP. Global agricultural prices jumped 13 percent in the third quarter of the ye»»»

KALEMIE, DR Congo: US businessman Erik Prince and his mercenaries have emerged as key players in the war-stricken Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), fighting for its government as Washington vies for strategic minerals in the country, researchers and local sources told AFP. Numerous foreign parami»»»