NEW YORK: Saudi Arabia has established an advanced model for sustainable urban development, progressing from planning and policymaking to implementation and measurable impact, Minister of Municipalities and Housing Majed Al-Hogail has said. Guided by the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, the Kingdom»»»

Fernando Jorge (L) and Serguey Torres of Cuba, and teams of Russia and Poland compete during semifinal men's canoe double (C2) 1000m semifinal at the Lagoa Stadium during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August 2016. File Photo by Orlando Barria/EPA July 17 (UPI) -- Nine mem»»»

The new Hungarian government “has engaged in intense reforms to restore the rule of law”, the European Commission said in its 2026 rule of law report published on Friday. “Following continued dialogue with the Commission under the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the general regime of conditionalit»»»

BEIRUT: A planned virtual meeting between Lebanese, Israeli and US military representatives to discuss the implementation of pilot zones in southern Lebanon was postponed on Friday, sources told Arab News. The meeting had been expected to focus on finalizing the pilot zones, setting a timetable for»»»

NEW YORK: Mikel Merino can smell and see the smoke from the Canadian wildfires that are making for hazy conditions across large parts of the US, including northern New Jersey where he and Spain are set to face Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday. Merino is trying not to focus on it. It remai»»»

ATLANTA: Federal health officials have identified lettuce from Mexico served by Taco Bell locations across five US states as a source of the widespread outbreak of diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Thursday confirmed the source and warned cons»»»

RAFHA: The hottest period of summer in Saudi Arabia has begun, with several weeks of peak annual temperatures expected in most regions of the Kingdom. Barjas Al-Fulaih, of the Afaq Society for Astronomy, said this part of the season, which runs from mid-July until early August, is traditionally kno»»»

GAZA: An Israeli airstrike killed at least eight Palestinians and wounded 20 attending a funeral in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Friday for a person killed by another Israeli strike on the area earlier in the day, Gaza health officials said. Those deaths, along with at least three Palestin»»»

BARCELONA: Almost two decades ago, photographer Joan Monfort didn’t think much of his photo shoot of a teenage Lionel Messi bathing a cute baby boy in a plastic bathtub. Not until the remarkable twist of fate became clear years later, when that infant blossomed into Lamine Yamal. Now those images o»»»

Tuxtla Gutiirrez: Southern Mexico and parts of Central America were hit by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake on Friday, according to the US Geological Service (USGS), with a tsunami alert issued for a stretch of the Pacific coast. Residents felt intense tremors in the Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca »»»

Doha, Qatar: The State of Qatar strongly condemned the renewed attacks launched by the Islamic Republic of Iran against its territory, as well as against the territories of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the State of Kuwait, saying that it considers these attacks a fla»»»

BELGRADE - According to the results of a Ninamedia survey, short-term inflation expectations of the Serbian financial sector decreased from 4.0 pct in May to 3.6 pct in June and continued to move within a National Bank of Serbia (NBS) target band. "The sector’s medium-term expectations stayed almos»»»

France's ​main ​gambling sector regulator said ⁠on Friday it had ‌instructed the ‌country's ​internet service providers to ​block access ​to ​the Polymarket ​website, one of a number of online prediction markets that allow people to bet on the outcome of future events. The move aims to enforce»»»

The Grand Mosque of Paris, built in 1926 in the Latin Quarter as a tribute to Muslim soldiers who died for France during World War I, marks its 100th anniversary this year. French historian Benjamin Stora traces its little-known role as a geopolitical bridge – not only between France and Alger»»»

Dubai: The General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers has condemned Iran's latest attacks on Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, describing the missile and drone strikes as a flagrant violation of international law and the principles of good neighbourliness. In a statement issued »»»

Tunis, July 17 (TAP) - The progress made in the programme to regenerate historic town centres was discussed at a steering committee meeting held Friday and chaired by Infrastructure and Public Works Minister Salah Zouari and representatives of the...»»»

Tunis, July 17 (TAP) - Tunindex closed Friday's session up 1.47% to 21,552.73 points, taking its yearly performance to 60.2% with a high traded volume of TND 23.8 million, said broker Tunisie Valeurs. ASSURANCES MAGHREBIA shares were the best...»»»

The strengthening of parliamentary contacts and economic cooperation was the focus of talks between Parliament Chair Mihaela Dotsova and the President of the Landtag of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, Thomas Strobl, Parliament's press centre said on Friday. Germany is an important pa»»»

Bulgarian leaders denied any split in the country’s position on Ukraine on Friday as the government and opposition parties clashed over the Kyiv Declaration and Bulgaria’s relationship with the Coalition of the Willing. Prime Minister Rumen Radev and President Iliana Iotova said the document requir»»»

WASHINGTON: The World Cup final between Argentina and Spain on Sunday will be refereed by Slavko Vinčić of Slovenia, two years after he was in charge of a Champions League final. FIFA announced the pick late Thursday. It’s the second straight World Cup final where Argentina, now the defending champ»»»

The education system in areas under Houthi control is facing a fresh wave of criticism as the group launched the new academic year during the summer. The Houthis are accused of limiting the distribution of school supplies and cash assistance to their supporters and to the families of fighters kille»»»

The Guadalupe River rises to the top of a bridge near Boerne, Texas, Thursday. Severe flooding affected parts of south-central Texas and the Texas Hill Country, with a dangerous flood wave moving down the Guadalupe River. Photo by Dustin Safranek/EPA July 17 (UPI) -- Two people are dead in flooding»»»

Sharjah Police have released dramatic surveillance footage of a serious road accident caused by a sudden lane change, warning motorists that a split-second decision behind the wheel can have devastating consequences. The video, captured by the force's advanced traffic monitoring system, shows a sil»»»

DUBAI: More airlines are restoring flights to parts ‌of the Middle East after the conflict that followed US and Israeli strikes on Iran, but some carriers have kept suspensions in place. Below is an update on the status of airlines’ flights, in alphabetical order: AEGEAN AIRLINES Greece’s largest c»»»

GENEVA: The transport of Ebola victims’ bodies between different areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, often for funerals in their home communities, risks further spreading the virus, the UN migration agency said on Friday. More than 2,000 Ebola cases and 700 deaths have been recorded in Congo»»»

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force Brigadier General Majid Mousavi vowed that Iran’s precision strikes against the enemy would continue until security is restored to southern Iran. “In our strategic calculus, land is land; from Tehran to the south, all of Iran is one i»»»

Police used an excavator to gain access to a house linked to fentanyl distribution in Sofia's Fakulteta borough, where a 42-year-old woman was arrested with dozens of fentanyl doses, according to a Friday briefing by Deputy Chief of the Third Police Precinct, Commissioner Stanislava Todorova. She s»»»

A 42-year-old woman was detained in Sofia's Krasna Polyana district during a specialized police operation targeting drug distribution. Police officers found dozens of doses of fentanyl during the action, Sofia police deputy chief Commissioner Stanislava Todorova said. According to her, the operatio»»»

A series of a new anti-corruption proposals are set to be tabled by the European Commission before the end of the year. The announcement on Friday (17 July) follows the publication of reports that attempt to decrypt rule-of-law issues in each of the 27 member states. Speaking to reporters in Brusse»»»

Liverpool FC have officially announced that Hungarian midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has signed a new long-term contract, committing his future to the Premier League club until 2031. Reward for remarkable development The new agreement comes just three years after Szoboszlai joined Liverpool from RB »»»

A father's refusal to accept a marriage proposal for his daughter allegedly led to a brutal attack in Kerala, where he and his son were kidnapped, held captive and tortured by a group of men. According to media reports, the incident took place at Nagaroor near Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram district»»»

BELGRADE - Serbian PM Djuro Macut on Friday inspected works underway at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport and announced it would get three new gates by the start of EXPO 2027. Macut noted that the airport was not only a regional air transport hub but also a symbol of a modern, developed Serbia. "Thre»»»

US President Donald Trump’s veteran teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez is under investigation over an alleged insider betting scheme tied to the president’s speeches. The aide is believed to have earned thousands of dollars by placing bets on the contents of Trump’s remarks on prediction market Ka»»»

JERUSALEM: Two former heads of government from the Elders group of international figures founded by Nelson Mandela on Friday warned of the potential disappearance of the Palestinian territories and called for an end to what they called Israeli “impunity.” The call from former Ireland president Mary»»»

Donald Trump has revived his long-running claims that the US election in 2020 was "fabricated". In a primetime address he accused China of what he called the "largest election data breach in history" and has released documents that he says reveal foreign interference. But intelligence officials say»»»

In this edition: how Belgium is leading the way in treating survivors of sexual violence by offering a one-stop centre which provides them with access to medical, psychological and police support. Also, as South Korea is wrestling with a fertility crisis a group of monks at a local monastery are do»»»

The UK will be getting a new prime minister on July 20. And many challenges await Andy Burnham. He will be faced with a tepid economy, high government borrowing costs, and irregular migrants arriving in small boats that have fuelled support for Reform. In his address to the Labour party, he has vow»»»

Pakistani-born Shabir Ahmed, a rape gang ringleader recently released in the UK after serving a prison term for dozens of child sex offenses, committed his crimes because of his upbringing in England, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi said on Thursday. The 73-year-old, who first en»»»

Artificial intelligence is no longer simply a technological race. It is becoming a question of how the world chooses to govern one of the most transformative innovations of the modern era, who benefits from it, and whether its advantages remain concentrated in the hands of a few companies or are sh»»»

China has rejected US President Donald Trump’s claim that Beijing masterminded the theft of 220 million American voter files to meddle in the 2020 election. Trump’s explosive remarks came ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to Washington in late September and amid a tentative trad»»»

WASHINGTON: The US military said on Friday that it had destroyed the Chabahar Shahid Kalantari Port surveillance tower in Iran on Thursday. US Central Command said in a post on X that the tower was part of a maritime surveillance network along Iran’s Gulf of Oman coastline used by the Islamic Revol»»»

ANKARA: Turkish authorities on Friday detained 17 soccer club officials as part of a widening investigation into alleged illegal betting and match-fixing that has tainted Turkish soccer, officials and reports said. In the latest wave of detentions, suspects were taken into custody in simultaneous r»»»

KYIV: Just when Ukraine appeared to be gaining momentum on the battlefield, President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered a surprise government reshuffle that included the dismissal of his defense minister, triggering rare protests across the country. Parliament has approved a new prime minister — former he»»»

MOSCOW: Russian authorities have detained a blogger who criticized President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine and fined an anti-war politician, as Moscow sends a warning signal to critics of the Kremlin ahead of September’s parliamentary election. Although Putin maintains a near-total grip on »»»

Russia’s international reserves edged up to $722.4bn in the week ending 10 July, according to the Central Bank of Russia, extending a recovery after a sharp fall in late June. (chart) The stockpile increased by $700mn, or about 0.1%, from $721.7bn a week earlier. It remains well below this yea»»»

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to appoint former interior minister Ihor Klymenko as secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, completing another stage of a contentious wartime government reshuffle. After making the controversial decision to sack Defence Minister Mykhai»»»

Ukraine’s lawmakers approved chairman of the national gas company Naftogaz’s board, Serhii Koretskyi as the new Ukrainian Prime Minister on July 16 in anticipation of intense winter attacks by Russia. Zelenskiy announced a surprise government reshuffle at the weekend, after asking Ukraine’s Prime M»»»

MAKKAH: Saudi artist Basher Al-Khamali has forged a name for himself in the world of mural art in the Kingdom, with his 1,000-square meter mural of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman adorning a wall in Tabuk. It was one of his biggest projects which took him just six days to complete. Speaking to Ara»»»

Nestlé will cease production at its Diósgyőr factory by the end of 2026 after a sustained decline in demand for seasonal chocolate products, the company has announced. The decision affects the plant that specialises exclusively in manufacturing hollow chocolate figures, including the familiar choco»»»

Nvidia slipped below Apple early Friday as the world's most valuable publicly traded company due to the latest selloff in semiconductor shares. Shares of Nvidia were down more than four percent as worries about the valuation of artificial intelligence equities dogged the market, giving the company »»»