Manila, May 1 (SANA) Economy ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) warned on Friday that ongoing conflicts and tensions in the Middle East pose growing risks to global energy security and regional economic stability. In a joint statement issued in Manila, the ASEAN Econo»»»

Israel responded on Thursday to Lebanon’s demands for de-escalation with more evacuation warnings for southern towns that will increase internal pressure on the Lebanese state. It issued the warnings even as Lebanese and United Nations proposals have been relayed to Israel over consolidating the ce»»»

Dubai: Dana Gas has received a $20 million payment from Egypt, bringing all overdue receivables from the country fully up to date and giving the Sharjah-based natural gas company a cleaner collection position as production from its Egyptian assets returns to growth. Sign up for our daily business n»»»

Doha, Qatar: President of the Federation of GCC Chambers (FGCCC) and Chairman of Qatar Chamber, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani chaired the Federation’s 68th Board meeting, held yesterday, via video conference, with the participation of GCC chamber heads and Saleh bin Hamad Al Sharq»»»

Abu Dhabi: UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan held talks with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, focusing on regional developments. The discussions addressed the impact of recent Iranian missile attacks targeting the UAE and other countries in th»»»

Dubai: Dubai has launched a new support portfolio for its creative sector, giving artists, cultural institutions and small businesses access to workspaces, grants, training, exhibition opportunities and wider public visibility. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The Creat»»»

Russia's Soyuz-5 rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for the first time, and the test launch proceeded as planned, Russian state space corporation Roscosmos said. "On April 30 at 21:00 Moscow time [18:00 GMT], the Soyuz-5 medium-class launch vehicle was launched from the 45th site at the B»»»

TEHRAN: Tehran’s air defenses were activated to counter small aircraft and drones late Thursday, as the White House signalled that it will not be reined in by a congressional deadline on the Iran war. The Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that air defense systems, heard in some parts of the Ir»»»

WASHINGTON: Many Republicans who have been uneasy with President Donald Trump’s war in Iran emphasized that there would be a May 1 deadline for Congress to intervene. But the date is now set to pass with no action from GOP lawmakers who continue to defer to the White House. Under the War Powers Res»»»

PARIS: The closure of the Strait of Hormuz as well as tensions in the Red Sea are reshaping trade routes, with Africa becoming a hub of global container ship traffic, according to logistics and maritime sources. Over the past two months, the blockade has also pushed shipowners to find alternative l»»»

The US embassy in Lebanon on Thursday urged a meeting between Lebanese and Israeli leaders as the health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country's south killed at least 17 people despite an ongoing ceasefire. Israeli and Lebanese representatives this month have met twice in Washington -- the f»»»

Russia takes seriously statements in NATO and EU countries about a possible blockade of the Kaliningrad Region and will respond decisively to any such attempts, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Artyom Bulatov told Sputnik. "We take such public statements very seriously. Unfortunately, t»»»

Iran said on Thursday it would respond with "long and painful strikes" on US positions if Washington renewed attacks and restated its claim to the Strait of Hormuz, complicating US plans for a coalition to reopen the waterway. Two months into the US-Israeli war with Iran, the vital sea channel rema»»»

In a sharp social media jab amid escalating US-Iran tensions, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Iran’s Parliament and a former IRGC commander, mocked American efforts to pressure Tehran through naval blockade and sanctions. Ghalibaf posted a map overlay comparing Iran’s extensive borders to hypo»»»

U.S. lawmaker pledges to be 'voice' for defectors, expand broadcasts 1 of 4 | Rep. Young Kim, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, leads a roundtable with 11 North Korean defectors at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington on Tuesday. Photo by Asia »»»

President Donald Trump said Thursday he may pull US troops from Italy and Spain due to their opposition to the Iran war, a day after proposing a similar reduction in Germany. "Yeah, probably, I probably will. Why shouldn't I?" Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he would consider »»»

BEIRUT: The US embassy in Lebanon on Thursday urged a meeting between Lebanese and Israeli leaders as the health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country’s south killed at least 17 people despite an ongoing ceasefire. Israeli and Lebanese representatives this month have met twice in Washington »»»

WASHINGTON: Federal prosecutors released a video Thursday showing the moment authorities say a man armed with guns and knives tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and attempt to kill President Donald Trump. Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for Washington, posted the video»»»

Share: A message lighting up Times Square , New York City center: last weekend “Neighboring nations deserve better than what stands between them”. The US embassy in Lebanon on Thursday urged a meeting between Lebanese and Israeli leaders as the health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country’s »»»

Chris Wood scored from the penalty spot to give Nottingham Forest a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa in the first leg of their all-English Europa League semifinal on Thursday. In a matchup of two teams hoping to revive former European glory, the win at the City Ground puts Forest a step closer to what »»»

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is arguing that the war in Iran has already ended because of the ceasefire that began in early April, an interpretation that would allow the White House to avoid the need to seek congressional approval. The statement furthers an argument laid out by Defense Secr»»»

A fresh Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea ​port of Tuapse, the fourth in the past week, sparked a fire at the sea terminal but caused no injuries, local officials said early on Friday. Tuapse has come under repeated attack, particularly the Black Sea port’s oil terminal. The strikes have»»»

WASHINGTON/DUBAI: Iran said on Thursday it would respond with “long and painful strikes” on US positions if Washington renewed attacks and restated its claim to the Strait of ​Hormuz, complicating US plans for a coalition to reopen the waterway.Aerospace Force Commander ​Majid Mousavi was quoted by»»»

A Ukrainian drone attack has killed two teenagers on a motorcycle in Russia's Belgorod region, the local governor said early on Friday. "In the village of Volchya Alexandrovka, a Ukrainian Armed Forces drone deliberately attacked a motorcycle carrying two young men. Aged 18 and 15," Belgorod govern»»»

What started out as a joke on social media, has now got the US President’s backing. Donald Trump said he supports the idea of changing the name of Immigration and Customs Enforcement - or ICE - to a new acronym, “NICE.” This comes as the immigration agency continues to face mounting scrutiny o»»»

Dubai: Dubai has launched a new support portfolio for its creative sector, giving artists, cultural institutions and small businesses access to workspaces, grants, training, exhibition opportunities and wider public visibility. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The Creat»»»

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of Defense's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2027 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Thursday, where he was grilled on the costs of the war in Iran and whether President Donald Trum»»»

Elon Musk sparred with lawyers for a third day Thursday at his California trial against OpenAI, struggling to explain why his own for-profit AI empire differs from the one he is trying to take down. "Few answers are going to be complete, especially when you cut me off all the time," the visibly irr»»»

ADEN: The Emergency Response Project for Cholera in Yemen, supported by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, provided medical services to 5,909 beneficiaries in late March. The project targets severely affected areas to reduce infection rates and limit the spread of cholera. Measures»»»

Doha, Qatar: The State of Qatar participated Thursday in a series of ministerial meetings of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), focusing on trade, industry and standardization. The meetings, held via video conferencing, included the 70th Committee for Trade Cooperation, the 56th Committee for Indu»»»

Israeli strikes ‌killed at least four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, health officials said, as Hamas leaders met mediators in Cairo to discuss ways to reinvigorate a fragile six-month-old US-brokered truce. Medics said an Israeli strike killed at least three people near the Salahudeen »»»

Casey Means speaks during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on her nomination to be surgeon general on February 25. On Thursday, President Donald Trump pulled her nomination. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo April 30 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on»»»

Israel has expanded the scope of the “red zone” in southern Lebanon to areas about 22 kilometers from the border in Tyre and Nabatieh, issuing successive evacuation warnings covering more than 20 towns. The warnings triggered a new wave of displacement toward the city of Sidon, before Israel follow»»»

IRBIL, Iraq: A peace initiative to end a decades-long conflict with Kurdish militants has been effectively “frozen” by the Turkish government, a top militant commander said on Thursday. He and another officials with the group accused Ankara of failing to enact legal and political reforms needed to »»»

RIYADH, ALKHOBAR: Artificial intelligence is moving beyond hospitals and research settings into everyday health decisions across Saudi Arabia. Increasingly, people are turning to AI tools before visiting clinics, using them for everything from symptom checking to diet planning. What used to be simp»»»

LAGOS: Amnesty International has urged Nigeria to investigate reports that 150 people, have died after being “arbitrarily detained” since January at a camp it said was run by the military. But the army denied any links with the camp in volatile central Kwara state. The victims were among the 1,500 »»»

Beijing: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed in a phone call on Thursday with his US counterpart Marco Rubio bilateral relations and ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries. The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated in a press release that during the call, Yi urged Rubio to work towa»»»

1 of 2 | The House and Senate have both passed a funding package for DHS, sending the legislation to President Donald Trump for his signature. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo April 30 (UPI) -- Congress voted to reopen part of the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday after weeks»»»

A new European task force formed to crack down on “violence as a service” has made 280 arrests in its first year, the EU’s police agency, Europol, has said in a statement. The unit, dubbed GRIMM, was formed last April to tackle the growing trend of outsourced violence, sometimes described “gig econ»»»

Beijing's control over the global supply chain of key rare earths “gives it an ‘assassin’s mace’ in geoeconomics,” Mohammed Saqib, secretary general of the India-China Economic and Cultural Council, tells Sputnik. “This vertical integration from mine to finished magnet or battery means China’s riva»»»

If Ukraine accepts Putin’s ceasefire proposal for Victory Day on May 9 it will hand Russia a goodwill political win, ex-Swedish army officer and defense politician Mikael Valtersson tells Sputnik. Ukraine’s refusal of President Vladimir Putin's ceasefire initiative – already endorsed by his US coun»»»

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday was heckled with shouts of "Jew harmer" during a visit to London's mostly Jewish Golders Green neighbourhood, where two men were stabbed in a knife attack. A series of attacks targeting Britain's Jewish community in recent days has led some to turn th»»»

After 16 years of illiberal governance under outgoing prime minister Viktor Orban, restoring the rule of law in Hungary is not just a political transition but a full-on regime change, says Balint Magyar, a former Hungarian education minister and author of a study on Orban-era state capture. It»»»

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Vershinin on Thursday to discuss current issues of cooperation between Ankara and Moscow, the Russian Embassy in Turkiye said on Thursday. "Erdogan congratulated Vershinin on his appointment [as Russian Amb»»»

Israel's defense minister on Thursday said Israel may soon have to "act again" against Iran, to ensure the Islamic republic "does not once again become a threat to Israel." "U.S. President Donald Trump, in coordination with (Israeli) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is leading the efforts to achi»»»

Daniel Noboa Azin, Constitutional President of the Republic of Ecuador, speaks at the 'Summit of the Future' during the UN General Assembly 79th session in UN General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters on Monday, September 23, 2024 in New York City. Photo by Peter Foley/UPI | License »»»

Hamas described as “positive” an initial meeting held by its delegation on Wednesday evening with mediators in Egypt to discuss a new Gaza ceasefire proposal. Asharq Al-Awsat reviewed a message sent by Hamas to Palestinian factions describing the talks as “a preliminary, frank, clear and brief meet»»»

Madrid: Belgian Alexander Blockx ended the title defence of Casper Ruud by defeating the former world number two 6-4, 6-4 to reach the Madrid Open semi-finals on Thursday, while Mirra Andreeva booked her SPOt in the women's final. Blockx, 21, who broke into the top 100 for the first time last month»»»

King Charles III paid respects to fallen US troops at a military cemetery on Thursday, the final day of a state visit aimed at healing ties between Britain and the United States strained by the war in Iran. By all accounts, the four-day visit has been a success, with President Donald Trump serving »»»

Britain and other north European states will create naval force outside of NATO to counter Russia, first sea lord and chief of naval staff in the UK, General Gwyn Jenkins, has said. Moscow has repeatedly denied what it calls ‘hysterical’ claims it plans to attack NATO states or anywhere in Western »»»