RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is accelerating preparations to host the AFC Asian Cup, which takes place from Jan. 7 to Feb. 5, 2027, by using the continent’s biggest football tournament to showcase tourism, hospitality and digital infrastructure ahead of larger global events, including Expo 2030 and the FIF»»»

In tonight's edition: Hundreds of people run from the most serious fighting to break out in Tigray since 2022, with many heading to Sudan despite the conflict there. Also, Nigeria is still probing links that Mexican drug cartels may have to Africa's top economy. Plus Cape Verde's veteran goalk»»»

After tens of thousands rushed on the Spanish border at Ceuta, authorities say that 70,000 have since returned to Morocco. According to Spain, 75 bodies of migrants who tried to swim across to Spain have also been found. As people are returning to Morocco, it's also hope and anxiety for Moroccan fa»»»

A Russian ship under US sanctions, the Mikhail Britnev, dropped off its cargo of military vehicles at the Port of Lomé in Togo on July 9. It’s the first time that Togo has been a stop for a Russian shipment of weapons to Mali, carried out as part of Moscow’s support for the Malian government. »»»

Life is returning to the Gironde in the southwest of France after more than ten days of wildfires. Travel to the area is slowly returning to the hotspot of Cap Ferret and local residents are also getting back to their homes. Businesses are hoping a busy August will help save the season, as police h»»»

In Greece, hundreds of firefighters are pushing ahead with their attempts to bring multiple blazes across the country under control. Police have arrested two people in connection with one of the blazes near the coastal village of Porto Germeno, which investigators believe may have been caused by an»»»

Denmark's ambassador to the United Nations has said that Russian strikes have become more brutal. On August 4, the funeral of several Ukrainians killed in a Russian ballistic missile attack a week earlier, including three children, took place. On the other side of the border, what appeared to be a »»»

Some 157 migrants were rescued by French and British vessels on Tuesday after a boat caught fire while trying to cross the English Channel, French authorities said. This is one of the largest such rescue operations since 2018. French and British vessels saved 157 migrants after their boat»»»

Local authorities in Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta are struggling to cope with the thousands that stayed behind after a massive border rush last week. They say among those who remain are significant numbers of people from other countries, including Sudanese fleeing their war-torn country, »»»

Pasta may be one of the world's most beloved staples, but technology is being used to improve the iconic Italian dish. In the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy's "Food Valley", researchers are creating the pasta of the future by focusing on its main ingredient, wheat. FRANCE 24's Natalia Mendoza, Laura »»»

Numerous governments across Central and Eastern Europe are taking steps to conserve electricity and avert an energy crisis amid record low water levels on the Danube River. In Hungary, the country's only nuclear plant provides electricity for half the country - but is now being shut down as there i»»»

The EU's migration chief said the bloc successfully met a "test" of its border security and "resilience to disinformation" in the handling of a migrant rush into Spain's North African territory of Ceuta. His comments came as the bloc's interior ministers held an emergency meeting over the incident,»»»

Rewatch the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner's press conference as he addresses the mass crossing of migrants to Ceuta, amid talks between the bloc's internal ministers.»»»

Spain on Tuesday mended relations with fellow EU nations after a mass influx of migrants into the North African enclave of Ceuta drew criticism from both sides of the Atlantic. Spain also confirmed that of 72,000 people who entered the enclave from Morocco last week, all but 2,000 ha»»»

Easing winds on the northwestern outskirts of Athens allowed firefighters in Greece to gain ground against a wildfire that had been burning for five consecutive days near the coastal village of Psatha, the fire service said. The greater Athens region has been placed under near-maximu»»»

TUNIS, Aug. 4 (TAP) – Tunisia and Spain are looking to strengthen cooperation in the tourism sector by promoting new hotel investments and improving air connectivity. During a meeting held Tuesday in Tunis, Minister of Tourism Sofiane Tekaya and...»»»

Tunis, August 4 (TAP) - TUNINDEX posted a 47.69% rise in the first half of 2026 , against +16.31% in H1 of 2025, the Tunis Stock Exchange said on Tuesday. TUNINDEX20 also rose by 47.51% in H1 of 2026, compared with +18.80% in H1 of 2025. The twelve...»»»

AMSTERDAM: Veteran coach Louis van Gaal said he ‌would not rule out the possibility of another return to the helm of the Netherlands national team amid speculation over who will replace Ronald Koeman. Van Gaal, who turns 75 on Saturday, has had three spells as Dutch coach, taking them to the World »»»

SINGAPORE: Low-sulfur fuel oil supplies at Singapore have tightened on reduced output from refineries and declining sweet crude imports, trade sources and analysts said, driving up refueling costs for shippers at the world’s largest bunkering port. Spot premiums for very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO)»»»

BELGRADE - Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic met on Tuesday with Irish Ambassador to Belgrade Kevin Colgan to discuss reforms Serbia is conducting on its EU path and opportunities for further development of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. "The officials stressed that the openi»»»

Muscat: Oman registered 32,405 live births and 4,590 deaths during the first half of 2026, with both births and deaths declining compared with the same period last year, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). The figures showed that 28,828 births were to Omani natio»»»

Dubai: Europe's summer heatwaves may feel more oppressive than those in the Gulf, even though air temperatures in the Gulf routinely climb far higher, Ibrahim Al Jarwan, Chairman of the Emirates Astronomical Society, and a member of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences told Gulf News. Wh»»»

Cairo: A woman in Egypt's Menoufia Governorate died after collapsing while trying to protect her two young children during the earthquake that struck the country early on Monday, according to her family, although the Health Ministry said the tremor caused one injury and no officially recorded fatal»»»

Doha: Advisor to the Prime Minister and Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari affirmed Tuesday that the State of Qatar, the Sultanate of Oman and Pakistan have been bending constant efforts to facilitate engagement between Iran and the United Sta»»»

Vazrazhdane will nominate its own candidate for Bulgaria's presidential election, with the nominee to be announced in early September, the party said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. At the end of July, Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov said the party was considering five potential candidates. H»»»

MOSCOW: A serviceman in Russian-held Crimea opened fire on fellow soldiers and civilians, killing four people and wounding four, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol said Tuesday. The shooting occurred in the village of Khmelnytske, which is part of Sevastopol, said Gov. Mikhail Razvozhayev,»»»

LONDON: Israeli forces across July arrested 630 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem during multiple raids, including children, women and former prisoners. Some of the detainees were later released, according to a report by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society on Tuesday. The gro»»»

CHICAGO: Michigan Democrats headed to the polls on Tuesday to choose between progressive Abdul El-Sayed and establishment-backed US Rep. Haley Stevens in a fiercely contested primary for the state’s open US Senate seat. El-Sayed, an Egyptian-American public health specialist, and Stevens, a four-te»»»

Dubai: A 45-year-old Filipina bound for Dubai was pulled aside at Clark International Airport on July 24 after immigration officers found she was carrying a falsified Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC), the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said. The woman was due to fly to Dubai on a connecting flight»»»

Tunis, August 4 (TAP) - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Mohamed Ali Nafti will partake, on the instruction of President Kais Saied, in the meeting of the Arab Ministerial Committee entrusted with international action on...»»»

LONDON: Israeli authorities have approved the early transfer to the Bank of Israel of 4.5 billion shekels ($1.47 billion) in cash accumulated by Palestinian banks, following intensive talks mediated by international parties. Yahya Shannar, governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority, said on Tuesd»»»

MANILA/SINGAPORE: Maynilad Water Services, the Philippine utility that supplies water and wastewater services in western Metro Manila and nearby Cavite province, is working with a state water agency to avert supply cuts during an El Nino dry spell, executives said on Tuesday. Maynilad is discussing»»»

Spain blamed “criminal mafias” for last week’s storming of the border at Ceuta, the city which borders Morocco, but insisted that almost all of the 72,000 migrants who breached the border had been returned to Morocco. Speaking after an emergency meeting of EU home affairs ministers on Tuesday (4 Au»»»

Dubai: An Indian expat was killed in a gas cylinder explosion at a car showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road on Monday, the Indian Consulate in Dubai confirmed to Gulf News on Tuesday. The mission confirmed the identity of the person killed as Shijin Paul, a 27-year-old who hailed from the south Indian sta»»»

The Sofia Directorate of the Interior said Tuesday that it is looking into media reports alleging that a group of neo-Nazis attempted to force their way into a Sofia hotel where Italian Jewish youths and their educators were staying. The Sofia police has opened an inquiry "on its own initiative fol»»»

Rome: A one-million-euro lottery ticket was recovered from the trash in Italy after the frantic winner called on garbagemen to help her retrieve it, the waste management company told AFP. The instant win ticket was "miraculously still in one piece" after garbage workers combed through mounds of tra»»»

Doha, Qatar: Sidra Medicine, a member of Qatar Foundation, has launched its Women's Private Home Visits: Midwifery Care program, a new private service that extends expert postnatal care beyond the hospital. The program provides eligible mothers and newborns with personalized care from experienced m»»»

Boulogne-sur-Mer, France: Migrants wrapped in red blankets stepped off a rescue ship in France on Tuesday, an AFP reporter said, after French and British authorities saved 157 people whose boat caught fire as they tried to cross the Channel. It was one of the largest rescue operations reported sinc»»»

Polish industrial waste management scaleup Zeme plans to spend more than PLN 200 mln on acquisitions over the next few years, following two completed deals. It aims to sign another Polish transaction by the end of 2026 and enter Brazil through an acquisition in early 2027. Zeme combines waste colle»»»

Low river levels caused by the heat wave are forcing Poland’s largest power plants to reduce electricity generation, while planned maintenance has further constrained supply. Enea has limited output at its Połaniec and Kozienice plants because low water levels in the Vistula are disrupting open-cyc»»»

Europe’s latest heat wave is increasing drought risks and straining power systems, while the rapid expansion of AI data centers is adding pressure on water and electricity supplies. Although data centers are not the largest water users nationally, they can significantly worsen local water stress, p»»»

Muscat: The Muscat Stock Exchange 30 index closed Tuesday at 7,334.80 points, down 14.3 points, or 0.19 percent, compared to the last trading session which closed at 7,349.07 points. Trading value reached OMR 48,188,045, a decrease of 30.55 percent, compared to the last trading session, which amoun»»»

DOHA: Qatar has retained its position as the most peaceful country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), according to the 2026 Global Peace Index (GPI), reaffirming its status as one of the region's safest and most stable nations. Figures released in the latest edition of the Global Peace Ind»»»

President Donald Trump gives remarks on AI Infrastructure as Larry Ellison, Chief technology officer of Oracle, Masayoshi Son, CEO of SoftBank Corp, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI look on in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington D.C., on Jan. 21. File Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License »»»

The shipwreck comes a day after U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would be "relentless" in combatting small boats crossing the Channel. Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo Aug. 4 (UPI) -- More than 150 migrants were rescued after their boat caught fire and capsized while crossing the »»»

Two women are evacuated in Alotenango, southwest of Guatemala City, Guatemala, on Tuesday. The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction reported that at least two villages on the slopes of the Fuego volcano, El Porvenir and Las Lajitas, were evacuated. Photo by Alex Cruz/EPA Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Guat»»»

The UAE recorded its highest temperature of the summer so far on Tuesday, with the mercury touching 50.1°C in Owtaid, in Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra region, at 2:15pm local time, according to the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM). The reading topped the country's list of hot spots for the day, followe»»»

Spokane, United States: Emergency crews on Tuesday were racing to contain flames in the US Northwest, where a man was arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the largest of the fires that have displaced tens of thousands. Wildfires supercharged by drought and intense heat have torn throug»»»

MADRID: Two migrants were rescued Tuesday after spending two weeks adrift in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Spain’s Balearic Islands, authorities said, adding they were searching for 17 others who survivors said had been aboard the boat. The two north African men were rescued at around 3:0»»»

BUGOJNO - For Serbia, it is important to have peace and good relations with Croatia, but not in the way the Croats imagine them, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday. "I think it is important that we have peace and good relations with Croatia, but not in the way they imagine those rel»»»