by Maye Kabil “It is only one of the thousand steps” on the road of developing the country, was how president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi referred to the New Suez Canal in his speech during the opening ceremony held to celebrate the opening of the enlargement work of the historical waterway. Many projects»»»

Dubai: The General Department of Forensic Sciences and Criminology at Dubai Police carried out more than 81,000 scientific examinations in 2024, producing detailed reports for authorities across Dubai and the wider UAE. The figures reflect steady progress in the department’s use of advanced tools i»»»

Israel said Friday it will not discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah when it holds talks with Lebanon's government next week in Washington. The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors spoke to set up the talks that will open Tuesday at the State Department. Israel "agreed to begin formal peace negotiations" »»»

Khan Yunis, Palestinian Territories: In southern Gaza, aid workers are meticulously assembling fibreglass homes meant to shelter thousands of Palestinians still displaced six months after a ceasefire started between Israel and Hamas. Nearly two million people in Gaza are living in makeshift shelter»»»

Gaza's civil defense rescue service said on Saturday that Israeli airstrikes in the Palestinian territory had killed seven people overnight, despite the fragile ceasefire in place since October last year. Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the group, which operates under the authority of the Hamas movem»»»

Houston: When NASA flight director Zebulon Scoville was working a shift during the uncrewed Artemis I test flight, he realized the US space agency wasn't consistently livestreaming the spacecraft's journey to Earth. "They said, well, we don't have bandwidth, we've got to get all this vehicle and en»»»

NASA celebrated late Friday as four astronauts splashed down safely off the California coast, completing the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years and marking a major milestone for the US space agency’s ambitions to return humans to the moon. The NASA spacecraft carrying four astronauts sp»»»

Abu Dhabi Police have urged motorists to exercise caution and follow safety measures during fluctuating weather conditions and rainfall, warning against distractions while driving. The Traffic Directorate and Safe Patrols stressed the importance of staying focused on the road at all times, especial»»»

Dubai: A 10-year-old Indian student has shared her joy and pride after her letter to the leadership expressing gratitude for life in Dubai has been acknowledged by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of »»»

An economist at Moody’s Analytics, Dominic Bartos, said that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are facing an unprecedented crisis due to the Iran war, raising concerns about the potential postponement or cancellation of their previously announced investments in Egypt. Bartos added that t»»»

Dhaka: Bangladesh named an unchanged squad Saturday for the first two matches of the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand, the first announcement by the newly formed selection panel. The four-member panel, led by Habibul Bashar Sumon, opted to stick with the same group that featured »»»

Abdelsalam Zoubi, Undersecretary of Defence in the Tripoli based Libyan government and Commander of the Western based 111 Brigade yesterday extoled the forthcoming between both former foes, the western and the Hafter-controlled eastern forces in mid-April in the central city of Sirte. ‎Zoubi effuse»»»

Top US officials landed in Islamabad ⁠on Saturday to meet with representatives from Iran for ‌peace talks aimed at ending the six-week-old ​war that has killed thousands of people across ​the Middle ​East. Read our liveblog to follow the latest developments.  • US Vice President JD Vance »»»

Jihadists from the Islamic State (IS) group have established a stronghold in Somalia’s Puntland region, operating largely undisturbed across a vast mountainous area after setbacks in Iraq and Syria and using it as a base for wider operations in Africa and beyond. Local authorities have launched a m»»»

The war in the Middle East will have a cascading impact on the global economy, even if a ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump takes hold, World Bank President Ajay Banga told Reuters in an interview on Friday. And the damage will be far deeper if the ceasefire fails and the conflict esc»»»

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un voiced support for China’s push to build a “multi-polar world” and called for deeper ties between the traditional allies during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, state media said Saturday. During the meeting Friday, Kim said his government will fully s»»»

TikTok has removed 34 accounts linked to what it described as coordinated inauthentic activity connected to Bulgaria’s upcoming parliamentary elections. The platform stated that the operation was aimed at artificially boosting political narratives in favor of the DPS party and was detected with the»»»

Dubai: The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has launched two new services that will allow private early childhood centres to offer centre-led home-based learning (CLHL) groups and centre-supervised home tutoring for children aged up to six years in home settings. The initiative has »»»

Taiwan's defense ministry said on ‌Saturday that it spotted 16 Chinese warplanes operating near the island the previous day, around the same time China's president was meeting the Taiwanese opposition leader. Late on Friday morning, Chinese President Xi Jinping met Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwa»»»

London: Britain is expected to shelve its plan to hand back the Chagos Islands after opposition from US President Donald Trump, media reports said on Saturday. Legislation to return the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius had run out of time in parliament and a new Chagos bill was not expected to»»»

US intelligence indicates China is preparing to deliver new air defense systems to ‌Iran within the ‌next few weeks, CNN ‌reported ⁠late on Friday, ⁠citing three people familiar with recent intelligence assessments. The network said there are indications that Beijing is working to route ⁠the shipme»»»

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday accused Israel of failing to "reflect" on allegations of rights abuses by its forces, after Israel decried him for amplifying social media "disinformation". The Seoul leader irked Israel's foreign ministry this week with his comments on a social medi»»»

Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still recovering from severe facial and leg injuries ‌suffered in the airstrike that killed his father at the beginning of the war, three people close to his inner circle told Reuters. Khamenei's face was disfigured in the attack on the supreme leader's»»»

Scroll through a busy news feed and you’ll spot a pattern - economic jitters, tech pivots, shifting consumer habits. It’s not just policy or markets moving. Entertainment is morphing too, often in unexpected corners of the internet. Somewhere between fintech innovation and lifestyle spending, onlin»»»

The IMF released yesterday the ‘‘Libya: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2026 Article IV Consultation Mission’’ conducted with Libyan authorities from March 30 – April 8, 2026, in Tunis Outlook and Risks: Unsustainable Despite Current Favourable Oil Prices Fiscal Policy: The Source of Imbalances a»»»

The number of reports of conflicts of interest filed in the first quarter of 2026 increased nearly 2.5 times compared with the same period last year, the National Audit Office said on Saturday. The largest number of reports concern municipal councillors, mayors and school headteachers. For the peri»»»

The United States and Iran have been sworn enemies since the 1979 revolution and the hostage crisis at the US embassy in Tehran. On Saturday, the arch-foes are set to hold talks in Islamabad to end more than a month of war in the Middle East, as a fragile ceasefire holds despite deep mutual mistrus»»»

A temporary ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine for Orthodox Easter is set to begin on Saturday afternoon, as US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war falter. The Kremlin said it had ordered a temporary truce from Saturday at 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) until the end of Sunday, a 32-hour period, AFP said. »»»

An elated NASA late Friday was celebrating its successful voyage around the Moon, after four astronauts safely returned to Earth having completed the first lunar flyby in more than 50 years. The NASA spacecraft carrying four astronauts -- three Americans and one Canadian -- splashed down without a »»»

Dubai: “We’ve always had this conversation: Do models actually eat before a show?” laughs Farhana Bodi. “Yes, we do.” And just to prove it, the Dubai Bling star is mid–ragi dosa, minutes before she hits the runway as showstopper for Vazaneh by Prbhjit Maniktala at the recently-concluded Mumbai’s Fa»»»

Three opinion polls conducted in Tel Aviv on Friday showed that an overwhelming majority of Israelis view the war against Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah as a failure for US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while supporting a resumption of the fighting to achieve t»»»

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Friday that the ‌United States is trying to maintain a stable relationship with China, but if Beijing gets involved with Iran in a way that is counter to US interests, that would complicate matters. “The underlying goals ⁠of our economies are so differ»»»

Diplomatic momentum is building around a Gaza ceasefire, as Hamas and other Palestinian factions prepare their final response to a “Board of Peace” plan on the movement’s disarmament and the second phase of the deal. Talks were set to begin in Cairo on Friday and Saturday, with more meetings possib»»»

Senior US and Iranian leaders were in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday for negotiations to end their six-week-old war, although Tehran threw the talks into doubt by saying they could not begin without commitments on Lebanon and sanctions. The US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance»»»

Dubai: Travellers flying between the Philippines and the Middle East are facing disruptions after flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) and low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific (CEB) have suspended several routes due to ongoing security concerns. With many passengers affected, especially overseas Filipin»»»

Dubai: Places of worship across Dubai have announced updated schedules and phased reopenings, reflecting a coordinated effort to balance community access with safety and regulatory compliance under guidelines issued by the Community Development Authority (CDA). The updates include revised visiting »»»

Lebanon is set to enter direct negotiations with Israel for the first time, marking a fundamental shift in how the state manages the conflict and underscoring its insistence on sovereign decision-making free of external tutelage. The shift follows Iranian attempts to preserve what is known as the “»»»

Doha, Qatar: High-profile officials from Iran and the US are in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, for the highly-anticipated ceasefire talks, which Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described as "make or break". Pakistan has declared a two-day holiday, and deployed 10,000 security personnel o»»»

Social media users are claiming that French President Emmanuel Macron circulated a photo of Melania Trump, the wife of US President Donald Trump, appearing with Jeffrey Epstein. However, the image has been digitally altered and was never shared by Macron. The misinformation began circulating after »»»

San Diego: The NASA spacecraft carrying four astronauts splashed down as planned Friday off the California coast, capping the US space agency's successful crewed test mission around the Moon, the first such flyby in more than 50 years. Mission commander Reid Wiseman reported that the crewmembers --»»»

Everyday Iranians are awaiting planned negotiations between Washington and Tehran with a mixture of skepticism and outright fear, caught between a government they say does not understand peace and an American president who has threatened to destroy a “whole civilization.” Talks between the US and I»»»

Former head of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan, Kamchybek Tashiev, has once again been summoned for questioning at the investigative department of the Interior Ministry, sources in law enforcement agencies told 24.kg news agency. Photo Internet According to the sources, the »»»

Iranian and US delegations headed for Islamabad on Friday ahead of ceasefire negotiations between the two countries that threaten to be derailed by deep disagreements. While Iran said it would only begin talks if ‌Washington accepted its "preconditions", Vice President JD Vance warned Teh»»»

Lebanon, under sustained Israeli air strikes and an open war, is entering a pivotal week as it prepares for preliminary meetings expected next week that could open a new negotiating track to secure a ceasefire, stabilize the border, and regulate the south. The move brings Lebanese-Israeli negotiati»»»

A 14-year-old girl from Kerala who went missing during a family trek in Karnataka’s Chandradrona hill range has been found dead after a four-day search operation, according to media reports. Sri Nanda, a Class 10 student from Palakkad, was travelling with around 40 relatives when she disappeared du»»»

Lebanon's presidency said Friday that a meeting would be held with Israel in Washington next week to discuss a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war and the start of negotiations between the neighbors. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has repeatedly expressed readiness for direct talks with Israel si»»»

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had opted for a gradual approach in negotiations with Lebanon, sources close to Netanyahu said on Friday. This means that Israel will start with technical and procedural issues before moving to major files, depending on the trajectory of US-Iran talks that »»»

Lebanon, through US intermediaries, has asked Israel to suspend attacks on its territory ahead of talks, Axios reported citing sources. The US has supported the Lebanese request and is demanding Israel accept it, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet made a decisin on the matter»»»

Iran's negotiating team arrived in Islamabad on Friday for peace talks with the United States, even as Tehran insisted on measures it said needed to be addressed first, throwing last-minute doubt over the meetings. US President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire in the six-week war on Tues»»»

South Korea submitted a KRW26.2trillion ($19.2bn) "war supplementary budget" to the National Assembly that unusually omits surplus funds from the Bank of Korea (BoK), drawing fire from legislative watchdogs on April 9, Chosun Daily reports. »»»