More than 1,500 kilometers of roads are planned to be built and repaired in Kyrgyzstan in 2026. These figures were announced at a working meeting chaired by Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Erlist Akunbekov. According to the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Kyrgyzstan, 3,684.2»»»

The Strait of Hormuz will be “completely open” to commercial vessels for the remainder of the ceasefire, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media Friday. US President Donald Trump welcomed the move, thanking Tehran for reopening the critical waterway. Read our liveblog to see ho»»»

Residents on Friday began to return to their homes in Beirut's southern suburbs after a 10-day truce between Israel and Lebanon came into effect. For many, Israel's relentless bombing campaign has left little to go back to. In cars and on motorbikes, people trickled back into Beirut's southern subu»»»

More than a million civilians in Lebanon have been displaced since the war in the Middle East erupted at the end of February. Among them are thousands of young mothers and pregnant women, many forced to give birth in makeshift camps or other inadequate conditions. This report from our colleagues at»»»

Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), announced yesterday a major success in fundamentally reengineering its processes, resulting in a reduction of service delivery time by up to 90%. Some transactions can now be completed in as little as six minutes. The Ministry stated that this achi»»»

The proliferation of artificial intelligence could spread “polarisation, conflict, fear and violence”, Pope Leo XIV told students at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé on Friday. The pope has slammed tyrants, corruption and neocolonial world powers over the cour»»»

Days after being criticised on social media by US President Donald Trump, Pope Leo continues his four-nation tour of Africa. He is traveling to Douala, the country’s main port city, where he is set to celebrate Mass and visit a hospital. The Vatican expects around 600,000 people to attend the litur»»»

More than 120,000 people filled the Japoma Stadium in Cameroon’s largest city Douala on Friday to attend Pope Leo XIV’s Mass. The pontiff called on the Catholic faithful to reject violence despite the "material and spiritual poverty" afflicting many in the country. France24 Correspondent Indira Ayu»»»

Singer and actor Patrick Bruel has been a household name in France for decades, but in the past few weeks he has hit the headlines facing shock charges of sexual assault and rape. As accusations against the former teen heartthrob multiply, members of his loyal female fanbase are defending the »»»

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday hosted a video conference with their European allies to discuss the possible deployment of a multinational force to the Strait of Hormuz once the war in Iran is over. Macron welcomed Iran's announcement that the wate»»»

An 85-year-old Frenchwoman who was arrested by ICE after her American veteran husband died has returned to France, the French foreign ministry announced Friday. The detention of Marie-Thérèse Ross – who had moved to the US to marry her long-lost love and was still waiting for her Green Card applica»»»

French film director Christophe Ruggia was given a five-year sentence on appeal Friday for having repeatedly sexually assaulted actor Adèle Haenel when she was a child in the early 2000s.  A French court on Friday handed film director Christophe Ruggia a five-year sentence on appeal for s»»»

Turkish police have ordered the arrest of scores of people accused of either praising or spreading fake news about the country's recent school shootings online. At least nine people died in a school shooting in the southern province of Kahramanmaras on Wednesday, and on Tuesday, a former student op»»»

Min Aung Hlaing, leader of Myanmar’s junta and last week installed as the country’s “civilian president”, has issued a blanket order to commute all death sentences, and reduce all prison sentences under 40 years by one-sixth. The military junta resumed executions after ousting the since imprisoned »»»

François Picard is pleased to welcome Irfan Nooruddin, the Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Indian Politics in the Asian Studies Program at Georgetown University. As a scholar of Indian politics, he approaches institutional reform not as a question of isolated policy change, but as a re»»»

François Picard is pleased to welcome Irfan Nooruddin, the Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Indian Politics in the Asian Studies Program at Georgetown University. As a scholar of Indian politics, he approaches institutional reform not as a question of isolated policy change, but as a re»»»

Iran has said it has fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, but vessel movement remains tightly controlled, with Tehran retaining oversight of transit routes and limiting passage to designated corridors. The strategic waterway, which carries around 20% of global oil trade, has »»»

Osh Mayor Zhanarbek Akayev met with representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Kyrgyzstan to promote the Green City strategic project. The press service of the southern capital’s City Hall reported. During the meeting, key attention was paid to issues of susta»»»

A suspect in the 1982 Paris Jewish restaurant attack that killed six people was extradited to France on Thursday by the Palestinian Authority. Hicham Harb, now 72, was detained on arrival in Paris and is due to face formal proceedings over one of the country’s deadliest post-war antisemitic attacks»»»

Alison Sargent is pleased to welcome Hugh WILLIAMSON. As Human Rights Watch Director for Europe and Central Asia, he views Russia’s restrictions on VPNs as part of an architecture of censorship that has expanded significantly since the 2022 Ukraine invasion began. He argues that these policies»»»

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is managing the repercussions of a public rebuke from US President Donald Trump this week over the pope, Iran and a defence deal with Israel. It's a rupture that had been building since the outbreak of the US-Israel war with Iran and may ultimately serve her po»»»

They are known as "forever chemicals": synthetic compounds that resist breakdown in the human body and the environment. Also known as PFAS, there are thousands of them, and you might not even realise that you are being exposed to them while doing simple everyday tasks like cooking. The EU does have»»»

Our guest in this show is known for crossing swords with the Trump administration on the regulation of big tech and, more recently, for actually coming under a US travel ban. Thierry Breton was the EU Commissioner for the Internal Market from 2019 to 2024, when he had a major role in driving forwar»»»

Modon has announced the release of the final phase of its Tara Park development on Reem Island, marking the completion of a residential project that has already demonstrated strong market demand following its initial launch. Strategically located near two of the island’s main access bridges, the fi»»»

Dubai-based airline flydubai has announced new recruitment for its cabin crew team, inviting applications from candidates ready to build a career in aviation and customer service. The airline, which operates a growing network across more than 100 destinations, said the role offers an opportunity to»»»

Dubai: A Dubai civil court has ordered the cancellation of a holiday package contract, directing a company to refund a client Dh8,268.20 and pay an additional Dh5,000 in compensation, after ruling that it breached its contractual obligations and misled the client with false promises. The judgment, »»»

Share: Residents of southern Beirut fly the Hezbollah flag as they ride past buildings that were destroyed by Israel after Hezbollah entered the war in support of Iran on March 2 . © Fadel Itani, AFP Beirut- Lebanon- People uprooted by the war in Lebanon began returning to devastated towns and neig»»»

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Chevron on Friday in a case dating to World War II that could see the fossil fuels company have to pay three-quarters of a billion dollars to help restore wetlands that were damaged during aviation fuel production for the war. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI. »»»

Share: Photo- Blackened buildings and burned-out cars… scenes from Beirut’s southern suburbs. © Fadel Itani, AFP Residents on Friday began to return to their homes in Beirut’s southern suburbs after a 10-day truce between Israel and Lebanon came into effect. For many, Israel’s relentless bombing ca»»»

Istanbul: The emergency item submitted by the State of Qatar, represented by the Shura Council, has secured overwhelming approval for inclusion on the agenda of the 152nd General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), currently underway in Istanbul. The vote marks the first time an emerge»»»

US President Donald Trump’s war of words with Pope Leo XIV appears to have split his own MAGA movement. While a number of prominent Republicans have distanced themselves from the exchange, others have stepped in to reassure him of their continued support. Read more Trump casts himself as Jesus afte»»»

Carnival Cruise Line must pay a California woman $300,000 in a lawsuit over serving her 14 shots of tequila before she fell down a stairwell and was injured. File Photo courtesy of Carnival April 17 (UPI) -- Carnival Cruise Line must pay a California woman $300,000 in a lawsuit over serving her 14 »»»

Heavy traffic develops before the Qasmiyeh Bridge as displaced residents return to their homes near Tyre, southern Lebanon, on Friday. Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day cease-fire, Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 17 (UPI) -- The Israel-Hezbollah war, temporarily halted by a»»»

The Cuban government attempted to open a direct back-channel with US President Donald Trump last week, tapping a private businessman to hand-deliver a sealed letter to the White House, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing sources. The reported message, which was ultimately intercept»»»

Washington, April 17 (SANA) Syrian Finance Minister Mohamed Yisr Barnieh signed on Friday a project with the Qatar Fund for Development and consulting firm Oliver Wyman to assess Syria’s financial and banking sector. The signing ceremony was attended by the Governor of the Central Bank of Syria, Ab»»»

Share: Here is the latest about Lebanon and the war in Iran today: Iran’s foreign minister says in light of the ceasefire that has halted fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, “passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open,” via a desi»»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe Lebanese Ministry of Health: One martyr and two wounded as a result of an Israeli enemy raid on a bicycle and a motorcycle in the town of K»»»

April 17 (UPI) -- A Chinese car company successfully filed to patent a voice-activated "in-vehicle toilet" that slides out from under a passenger seat. Chongqing-based automaker Seres filed an application under patent number CN224104011U in April 2025, and the patent was officially authorized earli»»»

The statei had said it planned to sue fossil fuel companies over climate change impacts. A judge on Friday blocked a lawsuit filed last year by former Attorney General Pam Bondi that attempted to prevent the state of Hawaii from filing suit against oil companies for their effects on climate change.»»»

An 85-year-old woman from France whose late husband was a U.S. veteran returned to France Friday after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for 16 days. File Photo by Craig Lassig/UPI | License Photo April 17 (UPI) -- An 85-year-old woman from France whose late husband was a U.S. v»»»

The US has expanded its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, telling its military to pursue Iran-linked vessels everywhere around the globe, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, has said. Washington announced it would stop ships from accessing Iranian ports on Monday after talks with »»»

Dario Amodei, the CEO of AI company Anthropic, is meeting with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles Friday as his company remains in a legal battle with the Trump administration. File Photo by Will Oliver/UPI | License Photo April 17 (UPI) -- Dario Amodei, the CEO of AI company Anthropic, is meet»»»

New York: Air Canada will suspend service to New York's JFK International airport over the summer as the war in Iran creates jet fuel shortages that have sent prices soaring. Canada's flag carrier said Friday that service from Toronto and Montreal to JFK will cease June 1 and resume Oct. 25. Servic»»»

Research identified 1,389 seismic events in southern Santiago, Chile, between 2017 and 2025. Additional records suggest the activity has persisted for more than 30 years. Photo by Alisha Lubben/Pexels SANTIAGO, Chile, April 17 (UPI) -- Researchers in Chile have identified a persistent cluster of mi»»»

The Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic is testing a comprehensive software-based monitoring system for convicts (as part of the probation system) that integrates modern digital monitoring tools into a single ecosystem. The new platform provides a flexible approach to security and includes t»»»

Hassan Abu Khalil's family miraculously survived six weeks of war in southern Lebanon, but tragedy struck in the final minutes before a ceasefire came into force. An Israeli strike late on Thursday killed 13 of his relatives, leaving him the sole survivor. Abu Khalil, 36, stepped out to see friends»»»

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday resisted demands he resign over revelations that his scandal-tainted pick for UK ambassador to Washington was appointed despite failing security checks. Starmer says he was not informed that the Foreign Office had overruled the recommendation of securit»»»

A new political formation, Progressive Bulgaria, was founded in Veliko Tarnovo on Friday, with former president (2017-2026) Rumen Radev unanimously elected as its leader. Radev said the party's creation responds to strong public expectations and expressed confidence that its programme would be tran»»»

Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike on a motorcycle in the south killed one person on Friday, despite the start of a 10-day ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war. The truce, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, went into force at midnight (Thursday 2100 GMT), seeking to end more than s»»»

A New York City police officer on horseback nabbed a suspected purse snatcher after chasing her through the streets of Manhattan at full gallop — a wild scene evoking the clip-clopping past of a city where lights, sirens and squad cars are the norm. The late Wednesday morning pursuit began when the»»»