Dubai: Gold’s historic rally in 2025 delivered record prices and strong returns, but its most lasting impact may be how it fundamentally changed the way consumers buy the metal. Across the UAE, higher prices have not pushed buyers out of the market. Instead, they have made them more deliberate, mor»»»

India is home to one of the world's most ambitious social programmes - a jobs guarantee that gives every rural household the legal right to paid work. Launched in 2005 by a Congress party government, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) gave every rural household a legal right to »»»

Dec. 22 (UPI) -- The former CEO of a healthcare software company in Arizona was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $452 million in restitution for conspiring to defraud Medicare for $1 billion, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday. Gary Cox, 79, of Maricopa County, w»»»

Spain's Christmas lottery has been welcomed as an "injection of hope" in the northwest of the country, where the jackpot handed out hundreds of millions of euros just months after wildfires had caused devastation. Most of the first-prize-winning tickets in the lottery, known as El Gordo, had been b»»»

1 of 2 | Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani pictured Nov. 4 speaking to supporters at an election night watch party after winning the New York City mayoral race at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater in New York City. New York's Attorney General Letitia James will swear in Mamdani at midnight on Jan. 1. Sen. Be»»»

The UN and other aid agencies fear new Israeli registration rules for dozens of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) risk the collapse of the humanitarian response in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. INGOs not registered by 31 December face closure of their operations in Israe»»»

In el-Fasher, the sky seemed to collapse upon the weary shoulders of a city long strangled by siege, as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) flung open the gates of hell on 26 October, unleashing terror on those clinging to life like. The level of violence has reshaped the civil war in Sudan. Many now wo»»»

Egypt and Oman have discussed ways to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation, with a focus on establishing integrated industrial projects, developing industrial zones, and enhancing maritime connectivity. Egypt’s Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Trans»»»

PALERMO, Sicily - When in doubt, Europeans should always re-read Tacitus. As a true Roman, he considered that sacrifice was only worthy if conducted at the service of the motherland. In his time, the Roman Empire. In our time, that would be civilization-state Italy. Tacitus was a keen student of Re»»»

Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third outing in James Cameron's blockbuster sci-fi adventure series, has topped the US and Canada box office on its opening weekend. The latest in the franchise took an estimated $88m (£65.5m), but that was significantly down on the $134m (£100m) that Avatar: The Way of th»»»

Washington: In a parallel reality, Queen Elizabeth II gushes over cheese puffs, a gun-toting Saddam Hussein struts into a wrestling ring, and Pope John Paul II attempts skateboarding. Hyper-realistic AI videos of dead celebrities - created with apps such as OpenAI’s easy-to-use Sora - have rapidly »»»

Members of the Rio de Janeiro Police carry out an operation in Rio de Janeiro in October. The police launched a major operation in two favelas aimed at arresting the leaders of the Red Command, the largest criminal gang in the city, and to halt its territorial expansion. File Photo by Antonio Lacer»»»

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 (KUNA) -- ASEAN foreign ministers on Monday urged Cambodia and Thailand to exercise maximum restraint and take immediate steps to cease all forms of hostilities.In a statement issued by Malaysia, the current chair of the bloc, the ministers called on both sides to restore mutua»»»

POLITICS Trud covers the creation in Nessebar of the Treti Mart [March 3, Bulgaria's Liberation Day] Movement, whose founders describe President Rumen Radev as an informal leader, while Radev distances himself in advance from similar formations. Political scientist Pervan Simeonov says on bTV the n»»»

Gold prices surged dramatically in 2025, posting gains of over 40% year-to-date by September and reaching around 70% this month. Driven by central bank purchases of the yellow metal, alongside expectations of more Fed rate cuts, spot gold prices hit $4,445.4 per ounce as of December 22, 2025 (3:22:»»»

President Rumen Radev has publicly rejected any connection between himself, the presidential institution of Bulgaria, and the newly formed political movement “Third March,” responding to questions after the group described him as its “informal leader.” Further reading: Bulgaria: Third March Registe»»»

Doha, Qatar: Al Jeryan Stud’s Bint Mohaather won the QA Listed Qatar Oaks for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at the QREC’s Al Rayyan Racecourse yesterday. The day’s feature saw the bay filly double her tally, rewarding a string of recent placed efforts with a decisive success. Settled off the pace fo»»»

Dubai: The UAE is set to experience generally stable but variable weather conditions until Thursday, with partly cloudy skies, increasing humidity at night, and a growing chance of fog or mist in internal areas, according to the National Centre of Meteorology. On Monday, skies will be partly cloudy»»»

The Association of Southeast Asian (Asean) foreign ministers are set to meet Monday in Malaysia for crisis talks aimed at halting deadly border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia, which pressed on despite regional and international diplomacy. Renewed fighting between the two neighbours this mont»»»

Tribune News Network DOHA Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future – a member of Qatar Foundation – and UN-Habitat Regional Office for Arab States have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the Arab Ministerial Forum on Housing and Urban Development, establishing a strategic partnership to a»»»

The US Coast Guard is in "active pursuit" of another vessel in international waters near Venezuela, an official has told the BBC's US partner CBS News, as tensions in the region continue to escalate. US authorities have already seized two oil tankers this month - one of them on Saturday. Sunday's p»»»

Doha, Qatar: YouTube icon MrBeast and his on-screen crew member Tareq Salameh will join Team AboFlah for the Match for Hope 2026 tournament, scheduled to take place in January 2026. In a video shared on the organisers' social media platforms, MrBeast, in his usual playful banter, announced that he »»»

Doha, Qatar: Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future - a member of Qatar Foundation - and UN-Habitat Regional Office for Arab States have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Arab Ministerial Forum on Housing and Urban Development, establishing a strategic partnership to address sustai»»»

France ​will ⁠build a new aircraft carrier to boost ​its ‍capacities ​as a maritime ​power, President Emmanuel Macron told French troops gathered at a military ‍base in ​Abu Dhabi. Macron arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday to celebrate Christmas with troops and to discuss bilateral ties »»»

Vila-real, Spain: Barcelona wingers Raphinha and Lamine Yamal guided the Catalan giants four points clear at the top of La Liga with a 2-0 win at 10-man Villarreal on Sunday. Brazil international Raphinha won and converted an early penalty before Villarreal's Renato Veiga was sent off before half-t»»»

In the quiet corners of the Russian-African Ministerial Conference this weekend, the traditional image of Egyptian diplomacy—often focused narrow-mindedly on the Nile—gave way to something far more expansive. Whether discussing renewable energy tenders in South Africa or the first shipment of medic»»»

Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday the launch of development and construction work on the French Navy's future aircraft carrier, a move he described as a decisive step to reinforce the country's maritime power. "In accordance with the last two military programming laws and »»»

Doha, Qatar: The Executive Office of the Arab Weightlifting Federation (AWF) held a meeting on the margins of the Combined Weightlifting Championships, hosted by Doha, featuring the Qatar Cup, the Arab Weightlifting Championship, and the West Asia Weightlifting Championship, amid wide Arab and Asia»»»

DOHA: Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future - a member of Qatar Foundation - and UN-Habitat Regional Office for Arab States have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Arab Ministerial Forum on Housing and Urban Development, establishing a strategic partnership to address sustainabilit»»»

DANA Gas, the Middle East’s leading regional private sector natural gas company, has commenced drilling the Balsam-2 development well in the Balsam Development lease onshore Nile delta. The Balsam-2 well is being drilled with the 2000 HP Egyptian Drilling Company’s Rig #48 and targets the Qawasim f»»»

Abu Dhabi: The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) has forecast that tomorrow’s weather will be partly cloudy, with the formation of some low clouds over islands and parts of western areas, accompanied by a chance of light rainfall. The weather is expected to become humid at night and on Tuesday m»»»

Saudi Arabia has surpassed its record for the number of executions carried out annually for a second year in a row. At least 347 people have now been put to death this year, up from a total of 345 in 2024, according to the UK-based campaign group Reprieve, which tracks executions in Saudi Arabia an»»»

News report by Fawaz Al-Otaibi BEIRUT, Dec 21 (KUNA) -- Amid growing indications of recovery, commercial and tourism activity in Lebanon is witnessing noticeable momentum as the New Year holiday season approaches, traditionally one of the most economically active periods of the year. Preliminary in»»»

On Dec. 21, 1975, the notorious terrorist Carlos the Jackal led a raid on a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna. German and Arab terrorists stormed in with machine guns, killed three people and took 63 others hostage, including 11 oil ministers. 1 of 8 | On December 21, 1975, the notorious terr»»»

The civic movement Third March (Treti Mart) has formally launched procedures to register as a political party, announcing its intentions at a meeting in Nessebar, Bulgaria. The decision was presented by the chairman of the movement, Tihomir Atanasov, who said an initiative committee has already bee»»»

Doha, Qatar: Aeon’s Aegis confirmed his class with a second consecutive victory in QA Gr1 Qatar Derby for 3YO Thoroughbreds, following up his Derby Trial success with a dominant performance in the Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club (QREC staged Qatar International Derby Day at the Al Rayyan Racecourse »»»

In central Tel Aviv, the main stage has now been dismantled in Hostages Square, the focal point for the campaign over the past two years to bring back Israelis held in Gaza. Nearby, signs and posters have been taken down, and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum has vacated the offices that serv»»»

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has publicly accused Reuters of running a "lie and propaganda" campaign to sabotage recent push to end the Ukraine war. The narrative is being pushed by "warmongers" in NATO and the EU who want to "pull the US military directly into war with Russia." »»»

Dubai: The UAE is expected to see partly cloudy conditions today, with a continued chance of rainfall over coastal, island and western areas, as a low-pressure system remains in place across the country, according to the National Centre of Meteorology. Also Read: Rain in UAE: Can you catch cold fro»»»

The US has seized an oil tanker that had recently departed from Venezuela, according to the US Department of Homeland Security. It is the second time this month that the US has seized an oil-carrying ship off the country's coast. The move comes after US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was»»»

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has cast himself and other opponents of the ‘reparations loan’ scheme for Ukraine as ‘EU Ghostbusters’ in a video posted on X on Friday. In the video, released a day after he and his allies blocked the loan scheme at a Brussels summit, the veteran politician mo»»»

Cairo: Egypt has reaffirmed its full support for Sudan during its continued ordeal, stressing its enduring commitment to protecting Sudan's unity and territorial integrity. Egypt further affirmed that it backs Sudan's national institutions and pushes back against any attempts that would undermine S»»»

Colombo: Sri Lanka has entered the public phase of 5G mobile connectivity with the launch of commercial 5G services by Dialog Axiata PLC and Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel (SLT-Mobitel), the country's two major telecommunications providers. SLT-Mobitel launched the service on Friday at One Galle Face Ma»»»

Ivaylo Mirchev, co-chair of Yes, Bulgaria, one of the partners in the Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) coalition, has said that if any change in this country is to happen, it will only occur when they secure an absolute majority. "Anything short of 121 MPs implies compromises and a»»»

Abu Dhabi: The UAE on Saturday welcomed renewed calls by the United States for an immediate halt to fighting in Sudan, stressing the urgency of easing a conflict that has pushed millions into displacement and deepened one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al »»»

The official visit of President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov to Japan, which took place on December 18–20, has concluded, the presidential press service reported. According to the press service, on December 18 the head of state met with Emperor of Japan Naruhito. During the meeting, issues »»»

The Treti Mart [March 3, Bulgaria's Liberation Day] Movement began the process of establishing a political party, with the establishment of an initiative committee for the founding of the Treti Mart Party here on Saturday. The movement's Chair Tihomir Atanasov told reporters that the initiative com»»»

On Dec. 20, 2015, a landslide at an industrial park in Shenzhen, China, toppled dozens of buildings and killed 73 people. 1 of 8 | On December 20, 2015, a landslide at an industrial park in Shenzhen, China, toppled dozens of buildings and killed 73 people. File Photo by Xu Hu/EPA Dec. 20 (UPI) -- O»»»

Speaking after a tense EU summit in Brussels, Prime Minister Orbán described the meeting not as a political consultation but as a war council. “Yesterday, the European Council held a meeting under unusually tense circumstances, dealing with the most difficult question imaginable. It wasn’t really a»»»

Israel has effectively turned the “yellow line” marked on the Gaza withdrawal map, part of a phased pullback agreed under the October ceasefire, into a de facto firing line, where approaching civilians are routinely shot, according to Palestinian officials, underscoring a widening pattern of Israel»»»