Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The 18th annual Hambone Award, presented to the most unusual pet insurance claim of the year, was given to a golden retriever who spent 72 days lost in the mountains. Nationwide Pet Insurance said Milo Bear was spooked by a sudden noise during a Christmas Day trip to the mountains »»»

Beijing: China said on Friday that US "sanctions and pressure" would not resolve the Middle East conflict, after Washington urged governments including Beijing to join efforts to isolate the Iranian economy. The United States has vowed it would "collapse" the Iranian regime with its threatened camp»»»

Arab Finance: Palm for Investment and Real Estate Development, a subsidiary of Egypt-based luxury real estate developer Palm Hills Developments, has signed a long-term syndicated financing agreement worth EGP 8 billion with Banque Misr and the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), as per a disclosure. The »»»

Pakistan is making a major bet on its "blue economy" — transforming ocean resources into a unified engine combining ports, shipbuilding, processing, and logistics, while protecting the marine environment. At the heart of this push is fisheries, with a target of $10 billion in revenue. Today, Pakist»»»

Hezbollah on Thursday rejected new US sanctions and accusations that the Lebanese reisstance group operates under the control of Iran’s Quds Force, calling the move part of Washington’s longstanding campaign to pressure the resistance and weaken Lebanon. In a statement responding to the US Treasury»»»

Abu Dhabi: The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has opened applications for the LanD 2027 Training on Cultural Landscapes Documentation, an international capacity-building programme focused on documenting cultural landscapes as dynamic living systems. As the first train»»»

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday it was time to end the months-long Middle East war with the United States because Tehran was in a position of strength over Washington. Talks between the decades-old foes remain on hold, with both sides in the war started by the U.S. and Israel in Feb»»»

The money that bought a former Ukrainian energy minister his freedom was itself dirtied by money laundering, anti-corruption detectives say, and the trail runs straight back into the president's office. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosec»»»

The United States has demanded that Cuba open up to private investment, and Cuba has passed sweeping reforms to encourage just that. So Cuba's U.N. ambassador says he wants to know why Washington keeps piling on sanctions that stymie the very economic opening it has sought for decades. Ambassador E»»»

Seoul: Samsung Electronics said Friday it would buy back up to $80 billion of its own shares to boost shareholder returns, the largest such plan in the country. The announcement came after rival SK hynix unveiled a $28.9 billion share buyback on Wednesday to reassure investors, sending its stock up»»»

Since gaining independence a little over 100 years ago, and subsequently joining the EEC in 1973, the Irish state has maintained strong diplomatic credentials among European partners. Throughout this time, Ireland has been very well looked upon due to its commercial openness, consensus-building, an»»»

TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday it was time to end the months-long Middle East war with the United States because Tehran was in a position of strength over Washington. Talks between the decades-old foes remain on hold, with both sides in the war started by the US and Israel »»»

Tehran's grocery stores are well-stocked, but many families can barely afford the basics. Unemployment is soaring and those with jobs are working more hours for money worth half as much as a year ago, putting food, medicine and everything else — except for heavily subsidized gasoline — further out »»»

Security was tight outside the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on Friday morning as guilty verdicts were handed down inside against Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan on charges of inciting subversion over their roles in organizing candlelit vigils commemorating the deadly 1989 Tiananmen crackdown i»»»

New Delhi: India's vast Vantara zoo, which calls itself the world's largest animal rescue centre, has announced a major reset under the former head of a global wildlife watchdog following sharp criticism of its operations. The overhaul follows concerns about its rapid acquisition of animals from ar»»»

Norway's reluctance to allow military surveillance aircraft from other NATO members to use airports in the country while flying missions over the Russian sector of the Barents Sea now appears to be a thing of the past. This week, two British aircraft — an RC-135 Rivet Joint and a P-8 Poseidon — too»»»

Two pro-democracy activists who organised annual vigils to mark Beijing's 1989 deadly Tiananmen crackdown were on Friday convicted of inciting subversion by a Hong Kong court. Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung were leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance and their case was viewed as a bel»»»

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has approved the rules for registering political parties, coalitions and initiative committees seeking to participate in Bulgaria's presidential and vice-presidential elections scheduled for October 25. Parties and coalitions must submit their registration appl»»»

A 36-year-old man has been detained in Karlovo after eight vultures and a raven were found dead from suspected poisoning in the Balkan Mountains near Botev Peak. Police said evidence of poisoning was discovered and the man confessed. He is being held for 24 hours and is expected to be charged. The »»»

LONDON: Spain and local authorities in Ceuta must provide adequate shelter to migrants and asylum seekers who arrived in the exclave last month, Human Rights Watch said on Friday. Those who wish to apply for asylum should also be given the opportunity to do so, the organization added. “Thousands of»»»

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump heads to South Carolina on Friday to campaign for Darline Graham, a political novice whose unexpected bid for a six-year US Senate term will test the president’s influence in a heavily Republican state.Trump will appear at an evening rally for Graham at the Myrtle Beach Con»»»

Dubai: UAE telecom operator du has launched a series of back-to-school offers, including discounts of up to 50 per cent on selected Power Plans for six months. The promotion also gives customers an additional 60GB of data when they subscribe to annual prepaid Flexi plans, aimed at providing greater»»»

The International Federation is ready to hold stages of the World Powerboat Racing Championship in Kyrgyzstan through 2030. Mederbek Irsaliev, director of the Powerboat Racing Federation, said at a press conference. According to him, Kyrgyzstan has signed an agreement with the International Federat»»»

The Green Balkans environment protection organization has proposed the bearded vulture as a symbol of Bulgaria for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027, hoping that it will enhance the protection of the species. The organization cites conservation efforts to restore the vulture population in Bulgari»»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe Iran, Iraq Enjoy ‘Unbreakable’ Unity, Will Continue to Make US ‘Taste defeat’: Qalibaf 21-08-2026 13:36 PM Iranian Parliament Speaker Moham»»»

Al Ain: Al Ain City Municipality has completed a 14-kilometre windbreak project along Tahnoun bin Mohammed Road, planting 1,807 ghaf trees in an effort to curb drifting sand and improve protection for motorists and nearby communities. The project is designed to create a natural green barrier capabl»»»

INGOT Group, the multi-licensed brokerage group founded in 2006, celebrates its 20th anniversary with the launch of Rise, a trading app built from the ground up for a new generation of traders. A different kind of trading appThis generation reads the markets through the same channels that drive cul»»»

Dubai: The UAE’s National Committee for the Agentic AI Project has launched a unified guide for designing government services around artificial intelligence assistants, as the country moves towards a model in which AI can understand a customer’s request and carry out the necessary steps on their be»»»

CTP, Europe’s largest listed owner, developer, and operator of logistics and industrial real estate by gross leasable area, announces that Chorus Research Engineering Distribution, a Romanian provider of integrated electrical solutions for energy and automation technologies, has leased nearly 10,00»»»

The cap on urban planning coefficients and the uncertainty surrounding the territorial infrastructure contribution are the provisions of the new Territorial Planning, Urbanism and Construction Code (CATUC) expected to have the greatest impact on the real estate market, according to Crosspoint Real »»»

Israel has acknowledged that its troops killed Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl, and opened a criminal investigation into the incident. At the same time, it has refused to pursue a probe into the death of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in a separate attack. Both incidents occur»»»

Nearly six months into the Iran war, US President Donald Trump is reaching for a different weapon. After months of air strikes, threats of massive attacks and faltering attempts at diplomacy, Trump has promised an “economic D-Day” against Tehran — an unprecedented campaign of financial pressure int»»»

DOHA: International warnings and condemnations have intensified against Israel's settlement policy in the occupied West Bank following its announcement of a tender to construct 1,234 settlement units east of occupied Jerusalem, a move that seeks to impose new realities on the ground and threatens t»»»

Dubai: A 26-year-old Belgian car salesman has been formally recognised as the son of Prince Laurent of Belgium, bringing a long-running paternity story into the spotlight of the Belgian royal family. Prince Laurent legally established his parentage with Clement Vandenkerckhove during a civil ceremo»»»

Dubai: Philippine Airlines (PAL) is bringing back its “Ultimate Seat Sale,” giving travellers seven days to book special deals on domestic and international routes. The promotion runs from August 24 to 30, with the airline set to reveal the full range of fares and offers when the sale begins. For t»»»

DUBAI: American actor and singer Jaafar Jackson appeared on the cover of GQ Middle East’s September issue, photographed in Versace. The 30-year-old son of Jermaine Jackson played the late singer in “Michael,” the biopic directed by American filmmaker Antoine Fuqua that opened in Saudi cinemas on Ap»»»

BusinessGermanyWhy Germany's gas storage levels are so lowNik MartinGermany's gas storage facilities are only 50% full as traders bet that wholesale prices will fall if the Iran war ends. With around three months until winter, DW asks whether the country can refill its reserves in time. https://p.d»»»

Over the past two weeks, Egypt has repeatedly stressed its right to prevent any actions by Addis Ababa on the Nile River that could harm its water interests, stressing that it possesses the “right to self-defense” over Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). According to experts who spok»»»

NEW YORK: Ivonne A-Baki has a simple diagnosis for what is wrong with the UN. It is not the Charter. It is not simply the Security Council veto. And it is not a problem that can be solved by creating more bureaucracy. “The problem with the UN is that there is no trust,” the Ecuadorian-Lebanese dipl»»»

Deputy Prosecutors General of the CIS member states held a meeting in St. Petersburg, the Commonwealth’s Executive Committee reported. One of the issues discussed by representatives of supervisory authorities concerned the development of joint measures to recover assets from abroad, including the c»»»

The pilot program for regulating driving schools and driver training in Kyrgyzstan has been extended. The amendments were made to the presidential decree of January 29, 2026. According to the document, the pilot program, which was scheduled to end on August 30, 2026, has been extended until Decembe»»»

Dubai: One in every 50 children is exposed to digital identity theft, the UAE Government Cyber Security Council has warned, urging pupils to review their online habits as they prepare to return to school. The council said the start of the academic year offers students an opportunity to strengthen t»»»

HEADLINES The potential threat from Iran to Bezmer Air Base dominated print, broadcast and online media. Coverage centred on calls for President Iliana Iotova to convene the Consultative Council on National Security, NATO’s assurances to Bulgaria, and allegations that a Russian firefighting aircraf»»»

Former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam reveals new details in his memoirs about a meeting between former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Damascus in the summer of 2004, describing it as the harshest encounter in the period leading up to Hariri’»»»

Dubai: Emiratis working in the private sector will be eligible for a monthly allowance of Dh600 for each qualifying child from September, with no limit on the number of children covered, the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council has announced. The payment will be made through the Nafis programme a»»»

Dubai: Since 1970s, a bright red Toyota sign illuminated the roof of a residential building on Sheikh Zayed Road, turning it into one of Dubai’s most recognisable landmarks. The Nasser Rashid Lootah Building, better known as the Toyota Building, has stood along Sheikh Zayed Road for more than five »»»

Romanians’ real capacity to save remains limited and vulnerable to growing pressure on monthly budgets, as rising living costs steadily reduce the amounts left after essential expenses. Almost 48% of respondents say they save every month or most months, while a quarter manage to put money aside onl»»»

South Korea’s presidential office on Friday called on North Korea to halt its “derogatory remarks” toward Seoul. The presidential Blue House is seen here in a June 2025 photo. File Photo by Yonhap SEOUL, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- South Korea's presidential Blue House on Friday called on North Korea to halt »»»

Dubai: Revenue leakage rarely begins with a major failure. More often, it starts quietly with a missed fee, an outdated pricing rule, a discount applied beyond approved terms, or a contract amendment that never reaches the billing system. The bank service is delivered, the customer relationship rem»»»

A summer of extreme heat has left many Tunisians short of water and electricity — and full of anger at the country's leadership. Protesters rallied in the capital Tunis on Thursday, many calling on President Kais Saied to leave power. Mobilized by a new opposition collective, the demonstrators plea»»»