COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s ​bribery commission has arrested Yoshitha Rajapaksa, the son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, police said on Wednesday. Rajapaksa ‌was arrested ‌by ​the ‌Commission ⁠to ​Investigate Allegations of ⁠Bribery and Corruption and he was granted bail after being presented to ⁠t»»»

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on Tuesday that negotiations concerning Lebanon were being conducted independently by the Lebanese state and were not tied to any external agreements. Speaking to a delegation of Maronite bishops from the diaspora, Aoun said Lebanon had received assurances that i»»»

President Joseph Aoun stressed Wednesday that any settlement for the war in Lebanon will take place through the Lebanese state and not at its expense. "The assurances we have received, and what we insist upon, is that Lebanon's path in the negotiations is independent, although we are certainly in f»»»

Washington: US President Donald Trump is facing criticism over a proposed reconstruction and investment fund for Iran that could be worth up to $300 billion, with opponents arguing it resembles arrangements he fiercely criticised under former president Barack Obama, according to a CNN analysis. The»»»

The family-focused franchise is expanding from streaming into apps, films and licensing, with annual revenue potentially exceeding $58 million. 1 of 2 | Children's entertainment characters Baby Shark at Seoul City Hall in Seoul. Photo by YONHAP /EPA June 16 (Asia Today) -- Bebefinn, a fast-growing »»»

Tommy Schmidt assembled the world's largest Lego brick sausage, measuring 6 feet and 6.7 inches long. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records June 16 (UPI) -- A German man assembled 65,000 Lego bricks into the shape of a bratwurst and bun to break the Guinness World Record for the largest Lego bri»»»

The Commission on Protection of Competition (CPC) has cleared Sofia Municipality to provisionally implement new sanitation contracts in Zones 3 and 4, Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev said at a City Hall briefing on Wednesday. The CPC decisions, issued on Tuesday, cover Slatina, Poduyane and Izgrev, as w»»»

Bulgaria’s state gas supplier Bulgargaz has proposed a higher natural gas price for July, suggesting a rate of 37.70 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), excluding transmission, access charges, excise duty, and VAT. The proposal has been submitted to the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) and »»»

Bulgaria recorded an annual inflation rate of 6.3% in May 2026, according to revised data from Eurostat using the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP). The figure marks the highest level since September 2023 and places the country among the top inflation performers in the European Union, seco»»»

Sub-Saharan Africa's economic expansion is expected to slow modestly in 2026 as higher energy costs, weaker external demand and constrained fiscal space offset gains from structural reforms and improved trade access, according to the World Bank's latest Global Economic Prospects report. The World B»»»

Arab Finance: Egypt’s El Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Company and the Chinese central state-owned automobile manufacturer FAW have signed a partnership to manufacture a range of vehicles under the “Nasr” brand, as per a statement. The signing ceremony took place at the government headquarters in t»»»

ALAVERDI - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday a visit to the Alaverdi St George monastery, with which he concluded a three-day official trip to Georgia, would remain one of his most beautiful memories from the country. Vucic, who was accompanied on the visit to the monastery by hi»»»

MINSK (Sputnik) - The Belarusian Foreign Ministry strongly condemns the attack on a bus carrying Belarusian citizens in Russia's Bryansk Region, Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ruslan Varankov said on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, acting governor Egor Kovalchuk said that Ukraine attacked a b»»»

Tunis, June 17, 2026 (TAP) – Minister of Trade and Export Development Samir Abid received on Wednesday a delegation from the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) as part of preparations to formally launch procedures for establishing a...»»»

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday said his country had been cooperating “under the radar” with Somaliland for years, as he met with the breakaway African state’s president. In December, Israel became the first country to recognize the independence of Somaliland since it »»»

DUBAI: For nearly three decades, Pixar’s “Toy Story” films have managed something few franchises ever achieve: consistency. Across five films, the series has rarely missed a beat, delivering stories that are funny, emotionally resonant and surprisingly insightful about growing up, letting go and fi»»»

ROME: The UN food aid agency, which has been hit hard by steep European and US funding cuts, on Wednesday welcomed a $800 million contribution from the United States. The Rome-based World Food Programme in a statement said this would "support WFP's life-saving food and nutrition operations to reach»»»

Trump threatened Tuesday to block renewal of warrantless surveillance unless it was attached to his voter ID bill in a spat with Congress over key security and law enforcement nominations. Photo by Yoan Valet/EPA June 17 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would not approve any r»»»

RIYADH: World Sea Turtle Day, celebrated annually on June 16, highlights Saudi Arabia’s role in protecting this threatened marine species. Ras Baridi Beach, about 70 km north of Yanbu, is the Kingdom’s most important and well-known sea turtle nesting site. The day was established in 2000, marking t»»»

World-renowned Chinese writer and Nobel Prize laureate in Literature Mo Yan has arrived in Kyrgyzstan. He will participate in the Issyk-Kul — 40 International Forum. The guest of honor was welcomed at Manas International Airport by Kyrgyzstan’s State Secretary Arslan Koichiev and Deputy Minister of»»»

Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, Adylbek Kasymaliev, addressed the plenary session of the 5th Tashkent International Investment Forum, where he declared the country’s readiness to expand cooperation in the mining, energy, transport, and logistics sectors. «A new space of»»»

Frankfurt, Germany: Replica World Cup shirts of several German players were temporarily unavailable due to a shortage of the letter "V" following high demand from fans, Adidas said Wednesday. The sportswear giant, which supplies kits for the German team, said supporters flocking to snap up shirts o»»»

Dubai: Revolut has received Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services licences from the Central Bank of the UAE, clearing a major regulatory step before the global fintech launches its local product offering. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The approval follo»»»

Tunis, June 17 (TAP) – The Tunisian Light Infantry Battalion deployed in the Central African Republic organized an awareness-raising event on the occasion of the International Day of the African Child, in cooperation with several civil society...»»»

Nivea Sun, a leading sun care brand from Nivea, has announced a strategic partnership agreement with Six Flags and Aquarabia Qiddiya City, two world-class entertainment destinations redefining thrills and water adventures in Saudi Arabia under Vision 2030. As per the collaboration, Nivea Sun has be»»»

RIYADH: The design of a major astronomical discovery and tourism project in AlUla has been approved by the Royal Commission for AlUla’s board of directors, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday. AlUla Manara will be a world-class observatory with a visitor and research center located 70 km n»»»

RIYADH: The King Salman Center for Disability Research has launched the AI Hackathon for People with Disabilities as part of the upcoming 7th International Conference on Disability and Rehabilitation in Riyadh. The initiative coincides with the Kingdom’s designation of 2026 as the Year of Artificia»»»

Dubai: Residents and visitors in Dubai can now have greater confidence in the food on their plates. Dubai Municipality has launched a state-of-the-art laboratory that can detect prohibited substances and potentially harmful nanoparticles—including titanium dioxide, a common additive used to whiten »»»

Dubai: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has launched “Dubai-It”, a new initiative aimed at embedding Dubai’s distinctive work culture of rapid execution, excellence and results-driven delivery across government inst»»»

The Culture, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Department of Plovdiv Municipality Wednesday welcomed a delegation from Kreativ EU (Knowledge & Creativity European University), Plovdiv Municipality said. Deputy Mayor Plamen Panov and Assoc. Prof. Marusya Smokova-Stefanova greeted the guests, who too»»»

The European Commission (EC) published on Wednesday the fourth State of the Digital Decade 2026 report, which evaluates progress made by the EU in its digitalisation across the board, including in critical infrastructures, digitalisation of business, digital skills, and digitalisation of public ser»»»

Arab Finance: Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy has mulled over expansion opportunities in hotel investment across Egypt's tourist destinations with Misr Italia Properties, as per a statement. During a meeting with Karim El Assal and Mohamed Elassal‏, CEOs and Managing Directors of M»»»

TUNIS, June 17 (TAP) - Weather conditions recorded in Tunisia during May 2026 were characterised by temperatures close to seasonal averages and a contrasting spatial distribution of rainfall, according to the monthly climate bulletin published...»»»

Customs officers seized 1,064,020 cigarettes near the Ruse and Vidin border crossings over the last ten days, the Ruse Customs Territorial Directorate said on Wednesday. Most of the tobacco products carried valid Bulgarian excise stamps but were being transported in breach of the Excise Duties and »»»

NYON - Serbian football champions Red Star Belgrade were on Wednesday drawn to play the winner of the tie between San Marino outfit Tre Fiori and Northern Ireland's Larne in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. Red Star will play the first leg away from home on July 21 or 22. The retu»»»

Dubai: Global banks could see profit pools fall by $170 billion by 2030 unless they move faster on AI, data and digital-first operating models, according to a new DIFC report that describes the industry’s biggest structural shift since the 2008 financial crisis. Sign up for our daily business newsl»»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe Al-Manar correspondents across southern Lebanon and Bekaa reports Israeli drone activity in Iqlim Al-Tuffah, Western Bekaa and Baalbek 17-0»»»

Dubai: Telegram founder Pavel Durov has criticised India's temporary ban on the messaging platform, arguing that the move has "punished" more than 150 million users in the country without preventing the spread of leaked examination materials. In a post on his Telegram channel on Tuesday, Durov said»»»

Chairman of the National Agency for Virtual Assets and Blockchain Technologies under the President of Kyrgyzstan, Farkhat Iminov, held a meeting with the founder of Vietnam’s ROX Group, Tran Anh Tuan. According to the agency, the parties discussed prospects for cooperation in the fields of virtual »»»

Copenhagen: Danish company Clever is trying something it believes is clever indeed: it has done away with bosses to foster creativity and boost group performance. At its Copenhagen headquarters in a former industrial district, Denmark's leading operator of electric car charging stations has no hier»»»

Poland, which is regularly targeted by Russian hybrid attacks, takes the threat of war with Moscow very seriously. The country now spends nearly 5 percent of its GDP on defence, and aims to train its civilians too, so they will know how to react if war breaks out. To this end, it has introduced a p»»»

STRASBOURG/VENICE - In a follow-up opinion, the Venice Commission has welcomed the implementation of seven out of nine key recommendations contained in its Urgent Opinion on amendments to Serbian laws governing the judiciary and the prosecution, and noted that the Serbian authorities had moved swif»»»

Unmarked police vehicles have begun operating across Plovdiv, the Trakia highway, and key regional roads in Bulgaria, as authorities step up efforts to curb aggressive driving and serious traffic violations. The vehicles, which carry no external police markings, allow officers to observe road behav»»»

A 50-year-old man has died in the town of Iskar after being attacked over an unpaid restaurant bill of €33.50, according to bTV. Two individuals have been detained in connection with the incident, which occurred during the town’s holiday celebrations, but questions remain over the official account »»»

Gravediggers in a southern Lebanon village prepare tombs for the dead in Israeli strikes during the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, near those killed in the previous conflicts between the foes. In front of recent graves bearing three huge portraits in Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, Shourouk Hariri, 32, wept for»»»

Welzy Securities Brokerage, a subsidiary of Act Financial, has announced the appointment of Walaa El-Hendy as Head of Brokerage and Executive Board Member, as part of the company’s strategy to strengthen its brokerage operations and support its expansion plans in the Egyptian capital market. El-Hen»»»

His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has directed the implementation of a Dh300 million expansion project for University Hospital Sharjah, aimed at doubling the facility's capacity and enhancing healthcare services in the emirate. Abdula»»»

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Iran he was ready to resume military action if Tehran did not abide by its obligations, two days ahead of the signing of an accord to end the war between the foes. "If they (the Iranian side) don't behave, we'll go right back to dropping bombs right s»»»

In May, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) prevented the import of 43 consignments totalling more than 277 tonnes of goods from third countries following official veterinary and phytosanitary inspections carried out at the country's eight border inspection posts, the agency announced on Wednes»»»

Global Witness has alleged that more than 2,000 tonnes of conflict coltan smuggled from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has entered global supply chains via Rwanda, potentially reaching major electronics manufacturers and consumer brands despite international traceability and due dil»»»