Share: Fi[e photo of Grechushkin owner of the ship that brought the deadly chemical to Beirut port No senior figure has been held accountable since the devastating explosion more than five years ago. By Caolán Magee and News Agencies A Bulgarian court has rejected Lebanon’s request to extradite Igo»»»

This week, tech giants Amazon and Microsoft pledged an eye-popping $50bn-plus combined investment in India, putting artificial intelligence (AI) in the spotlight. Microsoft's Satya Nadella announced his company's largest investment ever in Asia - $17.5bn (£13.14bn) - "to help build the infrastructu»»»

Dubai: Heavy rainfall is set to continue across most regions of Saudi Arabia, the National Centre for Meteorology said in its forecast. Moderate to heavy thunderstorms, capable of triggering flash floods and accompanied by hail and strong winds, are expected over parts of Makkah, Madinah, Qassim, R»»»

Larry Page has surged to No. 2 among the world’s richest for the first time. And for the first time, the Google co-founder overtook Oracle’s Larry Ellison to become the world’s second-wealthiest person. Page has an estimated net worth of $262 billion as of December 1 (up $30 billion a month earlier»»»

Jean-Philippe Tanguy, a lawmaker from Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN), plans to submit a bill that would allow "maisons closes" to reopen in France for the first time since 1946, albeit run as cooperatives by sex workers themselves. Prostitution is technically legal in France, al»»»

Abu Dhabi: The weather across the UAE is partly cloudy to cloudy today, with a chance of light rain over western and coastal areas if cloud cover continues to thicken. Humidity during the early morning hours may once again lead to fog or light fog forming inland and along coastal areas. Winds will »»»

A high-profile Hong Kong pro-democracy activist living in the UK has been the target of a campaign of harassment involving letters containing fake, sexually explicit images of her sent from China to her neighbours. Carmen Lau, 30, who fled Hong Kong four years ago, told the BBC she was "shocked" as»»»

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado greeted supporters from the balcony of her hotel in Oslo early Thursday, her first public appearance in 11 months. Arriving too late in Norway to attend the ceremony, Machado was awarded the prestigious peace prize in »»»

The appointment of Lebanese ambassador Henry Kastoun in Damascus, formalized Wednesday when he presented his credentials to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, signals a significant reset in relations between Lebanon and Syria. It ends a four year diplomatic vacuum and opens a new chapter in which bo»»»

Dubai: Dubai International Airport (DXB) is heading into what it calls its biggest travel day of the year, with passenger numbers expected to peak at 303,000 on Saturday, December 20 – a few days ahead of Christmas. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.That’s not all. The y»»»

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared in Oslo, Norway after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, waving from the balcony of the Grand Hotel after months in hiding. Machado made the covert journey despite a travel ban, and has mostly laid low since Venezuela's disputed presidential el»»»

BRUSSELS: Sympathy for immigrants is fading worldwide. On Wednesday, European nations agreed to consider changes. Rights advocates, however, warn these would weaken migrant protections. Such protections have shaped European law since World War II. Also In This Package Orban says immigration threate»»»

Washington’s silence toward Iran’s repeated calls to revive nuclear negotiations is not simply a lapse in diplomatic attention. For many analysts, it resembles a calculated test of nerves at a moment of exceptional sensitivity in Tehran. As the United States juggles a crowded foreign policy agenda,»»»

Life writes its stories in the moments we least expect — in the twists, the falls, the quiet turns that shape who we are, leaving imprints that are nearly invisible at first, only revealing themselves when we pause, when we look back. As 2025 winds down, take a moment and ask yourself — did this ye»»»

US forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump said, marking a sharp escalation in Washington's pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro's government. "We have just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela - a large tanker, very large, the largest one ever s»»»

Washington: Sharp political criticism dominated a major Congressional hearing, with Democrats warning that President Donald Trump’s tariff regime and confrontational approach toward New Delhi could inflict long-term damage on one of America’s most vital alliances. During a Congressional hearing by »»»

Groups operating in Israeli controlled pockets of the Gaza Strip say they will press ahead with their fight against Hamas despite the killing of their most senior commanders, insisting that they have expanded their ranks with new recruits since the October ceasefire as they seek a foothold in Gaza’»»»

Dubai: A Sharjah-based father of eight, who has been shouldering a Dh1 million home loan, will finally breathe easy after winning $1 million in the Dubai Duty Free (DDF) Millennium Millionaire draw on Wednesday. Ahmed Al Junaibi, 43, won the life-changing amount in Series 526 with ticket number 019»»»

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bluffton Twp. Fire District (@blufftonfire) Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Firefighters in South Carolina came to the rescue of a kitten that darted out into the road in front of a vehicle and ended up jumping up to hide in the undercarriage. The Bluffton Township Fir»»»

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado will make a public appearance "in about an hour," her former campaign manager said early Thursday. It will be her first public appearance in eleven months after going into hiding following a presidential election that »»»

President Donald Trump has launched a scheme offering fast-tracked US visas to wealthy foreigners who can pay at least $1m (£750,000). The card will give buyers a "direct path to Citizenship for all qualified and vetted people. SO EXCITING! Our Great American Companies can finally keep their invalu»»»

Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican serving a House district in Kentucky, announced had introduced a measure to remove the U.S. from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Dec. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican serving a House district in »»»

Dubai: Dubai has introduced a citywide contactless hotel check-in system that lets guests complete registration before they arrive. You upload your ID, add a biometric scan, and confirm your details on your phone. Once registered, your information remains valid until your ID expires. Future stays r»»»

WASHINGTON: Oil companies offered $279 million for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday in the first of 30 sales planned for the region under Republican efforts to ramp up US fossil fuel production. The sale came after President Donald Trump's administration recently announced plans t»»»

Amnesty International on Thursday accused Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups for the first time of crimes against humanity, including extermination, during and after the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war in Gaza. "Palestinian armed groups committed violations of international humani»»»

Survivors of a deadly 2021 typhoon in the Philippines have filed a UK lawsuit against British oil giant Shell, seeking financial compensation for climate-related harms, three NGOs supporting claimants announced Thursday. Typhoon Rai (locally known as "super-typhoon Odette") struck the southern and »»»

The Trump administration faces mounting congressional scrutiny over its aggressive boat strike campaign targeting alleged drug cartel vessels, which has resulted in at least 87 deaths across 22 documented operations since early September. Lawmakers from both parties have demanded greater transparen»»»

Portugal is facing severe disruption to transport, flights, hospitals, schools and other public services on Thursday, as the two main union federations stage a general strike over unprecedented labour reforms. The last time the CGTP and the generally less militant UGT joined forces was during the e»»»

Victims of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines have filed a legal claim against oil and gas company Shell in the UK courts, seeking compensation for what they say is the company's role in making the storm more severe. Around 400 people were killed and millions of homes hit when Typhoon Rai slammed »»»

In a McDonald's by a lake surrounded by mountains, in the centre of the Swiss city of Lugano, a customer orders coffee. "Can I pay with bitcoin?" he asks, and the person behind the counter holds out what looks like a credit card payment terminal. It is in fact a machine for paying by crypto currenc»»»

Shares of cloud computing giant Oracle plunged more than 10% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the company's revenue results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The company reported revenue of $16.06bn (£11.99bn) for the three months that ended in November, compared with the $16.21bn pr»»»

The US is the best place for a business to invest, the boss of one of the UK's biggest pharmaceutical companies has said. Dame Emma Walmsley, chief executive of vaccines and medicines giant GSK, said it will invest $30bn (£23bn) in the US by 2030. It comes as other major drug makers have pulled UK »»»

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela as tensions mount with the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Using US forces to seize an oil tanker is incredibly unusual and marks the Trump administration’s latest pu»»»

An Australian pilot has had his conviction for the murder of an elderly camper overturned on appeal and will face a retrial. Greg Lynn was sentenced last year to a minimum of 24 years in prison for the 2020 murder of 73-year-old Carol Clay at a campsite in Victoria. But on Thursday the state's Cour»»»

ChatGPT topped Apple's list of most-downloaded free apps for 2025 after coming in fourth in 2024, the tech firm announced on Wednesday. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo Dec. 10 (UPI) -- OpenAI's ChatGPT generative artificial intelligence app topped Apple's 2025 list of the most-download»»»

A French mother whose 15-year-old son died by suicide has launched a legal fight against some of the world’s biggest social media platforms, alleging their algorithms flooded him with self-harm content that drove him into a “downward spiral”. This comes as France is considering a possible ban on so»»»

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy describes his recent 20-day stint in prison as “hell” in a new book released on Wednesday. His “Diary of a Prisoner” provides a rare glimpse into La Santé prison in Paris, were Sarkozy was kept in solitary confinement for security reasons. It also sees the ex»»»

Iceland will not take part in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest in Austria, the country's public broadcaster said Wednesday, becoming the fifth country to boycott the competition after organisers declined to exclude Israel from participating over its conduct of the war in Gaza. Iceland's state broad»»»

The US has seized an oil tanker allegedly transporting oil from Venezuela and Iran, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced. The action took place amid a buildup of US military activity in the region and strikes against what Washington described as cartel boats. “Today, the Federal Bureau of Investiga»»»

The U.S. Navy is partnering with Palantir Technologies Inc. to modernize its shipbuilding programs with the help of artificial intelligence and a $448 million investment announced on Tuesday. File Photo by Thiep Van Nguyen II/U.S. Navy Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Artificial intelligence will help the Navy to »»»

Johannes Pietsch, known as JJ, of Austria, gestures with the trophy during a news conference after winning the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Wasted Love" in Basel, Switzerland, on May 18. File Photo by Georgios Kefalas/EPA Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Iceland on Wednesday became the fifth nation »»»

As Australia's ban on social media for children under 16 takes effect, we speak with Jess Butcher, a tech entrepreneur and founder of digital wellbeing foundation ScrollAware. In spite of being opposed to over-regulation, she tells us she supports the Australian ban on account of the scale of »»»

Tunis, Dec. 10 (TAP) - The Tunisian “Sumud Flotilla” Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza announced that donations collected from Tunisians across the capital and several governorates have reached approximately 1.887 million dinars.According to...»»»

Once again the boom of artillery, rockets and air strikes sounds along the Thai-Cambodian border. Villages in a corridor stretching for hundreds of kilometres have been evacuated for a second time in five months. Families and their pets sit on mats in temporary shelters, wondering when they can go »»»

Gardaí (Irish police) have released CCTV footage of an arson attack on a house fire in County Offaly in the Republic of Ireland in which a woman and young boy were killed. Mary Holt, aged 60, was the great-aunt of Tadhg Farrell, aged four; and they both died in the fire at a house in Castleview Par»»»

Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Gregg Phillips has been selected for a leadership position in the Federal Emergency Management Administration, though he hasn't managed emergencies at the state or federal level and has been critical of the agency. Philipps, 65, is best known for claiming millions of noncitizens vo»»»

Bilbao: Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon put in a superb performance to help Athletic Bilbao to a 0-0 draw with Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. Simon, 28, made a string of saves in the Basque Country to keep the hosts' hopes of a play-off spot alive. The Parisians were frustra»»»

Anti-government protests were held across Bulgaria on Wednesday evening. In central Sofia, the organizers from the opposition Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) coalition hoped to recreate the massive rally of December 1. Taking place under the slogan “Resignation! Peevski and Boriss»»»