Dubai: Baghdad police have arrested a man who falsely claimed he had been kidnapped in an attempt to extort his wife and relatives for a ransom payment, according to a statement released by security authorities, local media reported. Investigators said the man staged his own disappearance with the »»»

TEHRAN: Iranian judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei has called for stricter methods to tackle “social anomalies,” local media reported, pointing in particular to more relaxed attitudes toward wearing the mandatory hijab. Under rules imposed after the 1979 Islamic revolution, all women in Ira»»»

BEIJING: Chinese tech giant Alibaba denies helping Beijing target the United States, telling AFP on Saturday that a recent media report was “completely false.” The Financial Times reported early Saturday that Alibaba “provides tech support for Chinese military ‘operations’ against (US) targets,” ac»»»

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration cannot fine the University of California or summarily cut the school system’s federal funding over claims it allows antisemitism or other forms of discrimination, a federal judge ruled late Friday in a sharply worded decision. US District Judge Rita Lin in San F»»»

PHILADELPHIA: Steel: 50 percent. Copper: 50 percent. Cars: up to 25 percent. But an even bigger Trump-era levy looms: 107 percent on Italian pasta. Mamma mia. It started with the US Commerce Department launching what it says was a routine antidumping review, based on allegations Italian pasta maker»»»

BANGKOK: Thai rangers have arrested two men suspected of being part of an international wildlife smuggling network, the military said Saturday after they were intercepted in a car carrying 81 macaques near the Cambodian border. Thailand is a major transit hub for wildlife smugglers, who often sell »»»

BRASILIA: Brazil’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro is running out of options to avoid prison, after judges on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections and was convicted in September for his efforts to prevent President»»»

BRUSSELS: The European Union is set next week to kickstart a rollback of landmark rules on artificial intelligence and data protection that face powerful pushback on both sides of the Atlantic. Part of a bid to slash red tape for European businesses struggling against US and Chinese rivals, the mov»»»

By Staff, Agencies Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro urged Americans to take a “heroic role” in preventing what he called “a tragedy for our entire American continent.” Speaking early Saturday, Maduro emphasized that peace and international law would ultimately prevail in Venezuela, asserting tha»»»

Venezuelans are grappling with political and economic chaos, a mass population exodus and fears of a US military attack. Now, their wallets are ever thinner as a return to hyperinflation looms. Increasingly, people live hand to mouth, buying a tomato here, a few onions there as they manage to scrap»»»

The UN Security Council on Friday called for an end to cross-border and maritime attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militants and urged member states to beef up efforts to implement an arms embargo against them. In a resolution renewing sanctions against the militants, the Council condemned the »»»

President Donald Trump said on Friday he received a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam as part of his recent physical, calling the scan "very standard." Trump told reporters he got the MRI "because it's part of my physical. Getting an MRI is very standard. What, you think I shouldn't have it? Ot»»»

The Council of Ministers Facebook page published a video from Saturday morning of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov saying that the important task ahead is to ensure the timely and normal delivery of oil, as well as its unhindered processing and distribution. The Prime Minister expressed confidence i»»»

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry has urged intending pilgrims to deposit their second installment of Hajj dues today, Saturday, before the expiry of a Nov. 15 deadline, Pakistani state media reported. Pakistan has been allocated a quota of 179,210 pilgrims for Hajj 2026. Of these, a»»»

Cape Canaveral: Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin successfully launched its New Glenn rocket on Thursday with NASA twin spacecraft destined for Mars aboard, and in a breakthrough nailed the landing of its booster. The launch was stalled for days over weather both on Earth and in space, but it was worth the »»»

Dubai: Union Coop, one of Dubai’s largest retail cooperatives, announced significant progress in Emiratisation and women’s empowerment, Al Khaleej newspaper reported. According to new figures released by the organisation, Emiratis now make up 38 per cent of its workforce, while women account for 25»»»

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Cases Court has ordered several defendants to pay Dh25,000 in compensation to a businesswoman after finding that they defamed her and damaged the reputation of her company through abusive comments and threats posted on Instagram, 24.ae news »»»

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov signed a decree amending the regulations on the National Statistical Committee, introducing reforms to the procedure for appointing the agency’s deputy chairs. The document was published on November 12 and will take effect in ten days. According to the new decr»»»

Dubai: Astronomical projections indicate that Eid Al Fitr in 2026, the holiday marking the end of the Islamic month of fasting, Ramadan, is expected to fall on Friday, March 20, according to Ibrahim Al Jarwan, Chairman of the Emirates Astronomical Society. Al Jarwan said the crescent marking the st»»»

Two residents jumped from windows and sustained injuries during a fire in a multi-story building on Chingiz Aitmatov Avenue in Bishkek. The Emergency Medicine Center confirmed the information to 24.kg news agency. According to the center’s staff, one of the injured, who suffered a shinbone fracture»»»

US President Donald Trump on Friday rolled back tariffs on more than 200 food products, including such staples as coffee, beef, bananas and orange juice, in the face of growing angst among American consumers about the high cost of groceries. The new exemptions - which took effect retroactively at m»»»

Minister of Justice Georgi Georgiev said in a Facebook post on Friday night that the US government's act allows companies from the Lukoil group to continue their activities, and all natural and legal persons in Bulgaria can carry out commercial operations and transactions, including payments under »»»

On Nov. 15, 2020, SpaceX and NASA made history as four astronauts launched to the International Space Station, the first via a Falcon 9 rocket. 1 of 7 | A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Stat»»»

Dubai: Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Will Smith didn’t begin his session at the Sharjah International Book Fair 2025 by talking about movies or fame. Instead, he started with a confession: he has been trying to reclaim himself. “Suddenly, we wake up one day and our self-esteem depends on other peop»»»

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he intended to sue the UK's public broadcaster for airing a documentary made by a third-party production company that misleadingly edited a speech the president gave in the hours leading up to his supporters' assault on the US Capitol January 6, 2021.&n»»»

Tunis, Nov. 15 (TAP) — The weather, on Saturday, is partly cloudy in the north and occasionally cloudy in the rest of the regions.Winds will blow from the south. They will be light to moderate.Temperatures are slightly rising, with maximums...»»»

Three mining companies in Kyrgyzstan have been stripped of their licenses, the Financial Market Regulation and Supervision Service reported. According to the agency, an order was issued terminating previously granted certificates that allowed legal entities to operate in the field of industrial cry»»»

By Staff, Agencies A senior Hezbollah official affirmed that any national dialogue on Lebanon’s security strategy is contingent on “Israel” fully honoring last year’s ceasefire, halting its near-daily strikes in the south, and withdrawing from all Lebanese territory. Speaking at a meeting with the »»»

By Staff, Agencies Iran has strongly rejected claims by Canada’s domestic Security Agency of alleged sabotage operations against the Islamic Republic, calling them baseless and fabricated. On Thursday, Dan Rogers, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, claimed that the agency this »»»

Steel: 50%. Copper: 50%. Cars: up to 25%. But an even bigger Trump-era levy looms: 107 % on Italian pasta. Mamma mia. It started with the US Commerce Department launching what it says was a routine antidumping review, based on allegations Italian pasta makers sold product into the US at below-marke»»»

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would likely sue the BBC next week for as much as $5 billion after the British broadcaster admitted it wrongly edited a video of a speech he gave but insisted there was no legal basis for his claim. The British Broadcasting Corporation has been plunged in»»»

Groundbreaking DNA analysis of Adolf Hitler's blood has uncovered some extraordinary findings about the dictator's ancestry and possible health conditions. Painstaking scientific testing by a team of international experts has been able to debunk a rumour on whether Hitler had Jewish ancestry (he di»»»

The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip remains extremely fragile, according to Salah Abdel Shafi, the Palestinian ambassador to Austria and permanent observer to the United Nations in Vienna. Israel is not complying with the ceasefire agreement terms, Salah Abdel Shafi told Sputnik.“Since its conclusion, »»»

KUWAIT, Nov 15 (KUNA) -- In the beating heart of the country's media sector lie state-of-the-art infrastructures and "far out" staff that around the clock at Kuwait Television (KTV) studios. Over the decades, since 1961, the KTV has played a major role in introducing its audiences to news, arts, mu»»»

Dubai: The Dubai Misdemeanours Court has sentenced an Asian man to jail after finding him guilty of possessing Dh2,000 obtained through an online rental scam, Al Khaleej newspaper reported. Also Read: Dubai expats jailed for Dh210,000 hotel lease scam using forged contractThe case dates back to Mar»»»

By Staff, Agencies US President Donald Trump confirmed early Saturday that his administration plans to move forward with nuclear weapons testing. The remarks followed his October instruction to both the Department of War and the Department of Energy to prepare for nuclear tests “because of other co»»»

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he thought Thailand and Cambodia were "going to be fine" after he sought to mediate a flare-up in their border dispute, but the Thai leader continued to demand an apology from Phnom Penh. Thailand this week suspended a US-brokered ceasefire deal and demanded»»»

Doha, Qatar: Starting tomorrow, November 16, 2025, a change in metrolink operations for Corniche Metro Station will take effect. In a social media post, Doha Metro announced that M144 buses, which generally operate from Exit 3 of Corniche Station, will now operate from Exit 2. To enhance the travel»»»

The United States has granted Bulgaria a significant exemption from its sanctions on Lukoil, easing concerns about the company’s operations in the country and the broader impact on fuel supplies. Through a new General License issued by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, tra»»»

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Ministry of Human Rights and the World Health Organization (WHO) have initiated consultations to prepare a Strategic Action Plan on Violence Against Children with the vision of strengthening prevention and protecting 112 million children across the country, they said in a joint »»»

Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced that it has overturned the disqualification of a candidate, called Saddam Hussein al-Naimi, from the parliamentary election that was held this week. It said the disqualification had no legal justification. Al-Naimi, who ran on the list o»»»

Tunis, 15 Nov. (TAP) — President Kais Saïed had a meeting, on Friday, at Carthage Palace, with President of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), Farouk Bouasker.According to a statement, the Head of State emphasized that the process...»»»

Illegal recruitment practices in Uzbekistan are sending workers to Bulgaria under the promise of salaries reaching 5,000 leva (€2,560), but the reality often fails to meet expectations, prompting many to leave early and leaving Bulgarian employers facing staffing gaps. Officials, business represent»»»

London: A man was sentenced to 13 months in prison by a UK court on Friday for stealing a print of Banksy's "Girl with Balloon" from a London gallery. Larry Fraser, 49, was jailed by a judge in southwest London after he pleaded guilty to the smash-and-grab burglary of the elusive artist's painting,»»»

By Staff, Agencies Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian congratulated the Iraqi prime minister on the peaceful and successful conduct of parliamentary elections, calling the vote a “significant achievement” that boosts the standing of the “brotherly Arab nation.” In a telephone conversation with Ira»»»

Elon Musk's Grokipedia carries thousands of citations to "questionable" and "problematic" sources, US researchers said Friday, raising doubts about the reliability of the AI-powered encyclopedia as an information tool. Musk's company xAI launched Grokipedia last month to compete with Wikipedia -- a»»»

A total of 191 out of 240 MPs have had unjustified absences from plenary sessions in October, according to data published on the National Assembly website. This is an increase of 86 MPs compared to the previous month. GERB-UDF is the parliamentary group with the most absent MPs at 66. One of them h»»»

Dubai: When Indian rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh first landed in Dubai more than a decade ago, he wasn’t cruising down Sheikh Zayed Road in a Rolls-Royce. He was checking into a tiny Dh140 hotel room in Bur Dubai, a place he now remembers as the start of a story he’s finally ready to tell the world. “Wh»»»

US President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order exempting imports including bananas, coffee, beef and other agricultural products from his sweeping tariffs. The decision follows a string of wins by Democratic politicians who campaigned relentlessly on the country's rising cost of livi»»»

The decision by Brazil's Supreme Court on Friday to reject an appeal by far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro means the former army captain could be sent to prison as early as the last week of November, a court source told AFP. Bolsonaro was convicted in September of a failed coup plot against »»»