Bulgaria and Turkey are preparing to strengthen their transport and energy links, including a new railway route from Edirne through Lesovo, Elhovo and Yambol that will provide an alternative connection to the congested Kapitan Andreevo-Kapıkule border crossing. Prime Minister Rumen Radev highlighte»»»

Burgas will build a small Eurotown for international teams and guests attending Eurovision 2027, as preparations for the contest continue in the seaside city. Deputy Mayor for Construction Chanka Koralska told Bulgarian National Radio that a separate temporary structure will be erected near Arena B»»»

Burgas has begun preparations for Eurovision 2027, with the seaside city expecting thousands of fans, tourists, delegations and media representatives to arrive for the contest next May. The event is already generating excitement among local businesses, while also raising questions about accommodati»»»

Russia is stitching together a web of new railway corridors that reach from the South Caucasus to the Indian Ocean, redirecting freight away from Europe and towards Asia and the Global South as it makes a pivot to the east. More than 93% of Russian Railways' (RZD) international traffic already runs»»»

Empty produce shelves and hand-printed apology notices have appeared in Kyiv's supermarkets, as Russia retaliates for Ukraine’s targetting of some of Russia’s biggest retail companies in an effort to bring the confict into the frontroom of ordinary Russians. Ukrainians are being a taste of the sam»»»

Russia is rebuilding its drone war around the jet-powered Geran-4, a faster machine built to slip past the cheap interceptors now knocking down its slower first generation Geran-2 drone, based on the Iranian-designed Shahed-136 loitering munition that Moscow bought from Tehran at the start of the U»»»

Ukraine’s drone warfare on Russian ecommerce giant Wildberries is burning holes in the pockets of Uzbek export businesses. Enterprises in Uzbekistan have informed government officials of a marked decline in exports made through the Russian online marketplace – often described as “Russia’s Amazon” –»»»

Ukraine, a country with no navy, has driven Russia's Black Sea Fleet out of its home in the Crimea to Novorossiysk, the largest functioning port on the Russian Black Sea coast, where it has now struck warships in the Kremlin’s last naval refuge. Ukrainian forces hit the naval base at Novorossiysk, »»»

Russia's defence ministry has put its winter plan for Ukraine on Telegram: a photograph of attack drones in flight, captioned "just like snow on your head". Beneath the picture the ministry added a second line - "In winter you will get a 'freeze'" - and pinned the post to its own earlier message ab»»»

Russia is stitching together a web of new railway corridors that reach from the South Caucasus to the Indian Ocean, redirecting freight away from Europe and towards Asia and the Global South as it makes a pivot to the east. More than 93% of Russian Railways' (RZD) international traffic already runs»»»

Ukraine, a country with no navy, has driven Russia's Black Sea Fleet out of its home in the Crimea to Novorossiysk, the largest functioning port on the Russian Black Sea coast, where it has now struck warships in the Kremlin’s last naval refuge. Ukrainian forces hit the naval base at Novorossiysk, »»»

Ukraine’s drone warfare on Russian ecommerce giant Wildberries is burning holes in the pockets of Uzbek export businesses. Enterprises in Uzbekistan have informed government officials of a marked decline in exports made through the Russian online marketplace – often described as “Russia’s Amazon” –»»»

N’DJAMENA: Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby on Friday pardoned jailed ex-prime minister and leader of the main opposition party Succes Masra and eight other opposition leaders. Deby has led Chad since 2021 after taking charge of a military transition following the death of his father, Idriss D»»»

Hezbollah's complete surrender of the Ali al-Taher hills to the Lebanese Army is a prerequisite for fully implementing the Framework Agreement, said a political source familiar with Lebanese-U.S. discussions, including the recent visit of the head of the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon, Gen»»»

Americans unexpectedly cut their spending in July as a boost from government tax refunds faded. Retail sales slipped 0.6% last month, the biggest drop since May 2025, from a revised gain of 0.2% in June, according to Commerce Department data released Friday. There was a notable bump in spending in »»»

Iraq's average daily oil exports since the beginning of August are the highest since the outbreak of the Middle East war between Iran and the United States, which has choked off the Strait of Hormuz, the oil ministry said Friday. Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair told a press conference th»»»

Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz rose sharply on Thursday, with 13 confirmed vessel crossings — a 44% increase from the previous day — according to data from marine tracking firm MarineTraffic. Volumes stayed far below normal amid ongoing conflict and competing claims over the waterway»»»

The health of Bulgaria's forests deteriorated in 2024, the Ministry of Environment and Water said in its annual environment report published on Friday. The Ministry released the full 2024 National Report on the State and Protection of the Environment and an accompanying summary. The document contai»»»

QUSRA, Palestinian Territories: Israel’s defense minister called Friday for the police to take over law enforcement in the occupied West Bank from the military, which has come under fire from the right-wing for trying to remove settlers harassing Palestinians. The measure, if implemented, would be »»»

Cairo: Mohammed Ahmed Al Yamahi, President of the Arab Parliament, strongly condemned Iran's blatant targeting of two tankers belonging to UAE company ADNOC while they were transiting the Strait of Hormuz. He stressed that repeated attacks on commercial vessels and international maritime routes con»»»

President Iliana Iotova met with the newly elected Grand Mufti in Bulgaria, Ahmed Hasanov. The conversation focused on educating young people, regardless of their religion, in universal human virtues, the head of State's press secretariat reported Friday. Iotova congratulated Hasanov on his electio»»»

Russian forces are preparing to “completely choke off Ukraine’s last remaining waterway,” and the latest overnight strikes on Izmail port and its railway hub confirm that intent, military expert Yevgeny Mikhailov tells Sputnik. Severing these arteries could slash NATO deliveries by up to two-thirds»»»

Paris: Firefighters across Europe struggled against multiple fires Friday as a new wave of record-breaking heat baked a swath of the continent, their task further complicated by exceptionally parched landscapes. The historic temperatures are linked to human-caused climate change, and are hitting co»»»

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, expressed the UAE's full solidarity with Kuwait and its support for measures taken by the security authorities to foil a terrorist plot targeting a vital facility, and the arrest of a Kuwaiti citizen who joi»»»

Batwara 1947: Sunny Deol's partition drama is loud, lumbering and painfully on the noseDirector: Rajkumar SantoshiCast: Shabana Azmi, Preity Zinta, Sunny Deol, Ali Fazal, Karan Deol ★★Dubai: There is a potentially moving film buried somewhere inside Batwara 1947, an India-Pakistan partition drama b»»»

Cairo: The League of Arab States condemned Iran's targeting of two tankers belonging to the United Arab Emirates while they were transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday evening, describing it as a blatant and unacceptable violation of international law and UN Security Council Resolution 2817. I»»»

Eurovision Burgas 2027 is BTA’s new section for news about the song contest. It will be part of the Knowledge and Culture (LIK) news service and will use the hashtag #EurovisionBurgas2027. The section will bring together all coverage of Bulgaria’s hosting of Eurovision, along with related events, p»»»

Damascus, Aug. 14 (SANA) Syria on Friday strongly condemned Iran’s targeting of two tankers belonging to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, calling the attacks a flagrant violation of international law and freedom of maritime navigation. In a statement»»»

TOKYO: Record-breaking rainfall flooded cities east of Tokyo overnight, killing at least five people, injuring over two dozen others and stranding thousands, authorities said Friday. As the deluge subsided, the Japan Meteorological Agency downgraded its most severe heavy-rain warning in more than a»»»

DUBAI: Since Sunday, Israeli settlers have laid siege to the West Bank village of Qusra to drive out its Palestinian inhabitants and claim their homes as their own. The harrowing event, which has seen three Palestinian families cut off from water, electricity and the outside world by a settler enca»»»

BANGKOK: Myanmar’s largest city has registered a concerning rise in acute diarrhea cases, state media said Friday, adding to the hardships of a country grappling with severe flooding and civil war. The state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper said 182 patients from Yangon were admitted to the city’s genera»»»

JEDDAH: Baek Seungyeon’s debut novel, “The Seoul Letter Shop,” is a story about letters, the companionship born of ink, and the connections that can grow in unexpected places. Translated from Korean by Clare Richards and forthcoming from Harper Perennial in October, I picked the novel as my first r»»»

RIYADH: The Ministry of Health launched “Live Well” sessions as part of its public awareness platform, convening healthcare professionals, practitioners, content creators, influencers, and health sector leaders. “We met with the creators of awareness in the ‘Live Well’ session and we shared ideas a»»»

Dubai: A randomly chosen number has delivered a first-ever Big Ticket win for Akhil Chandran R P, who has taken home Dh 100,000 in the Series 289 consolation prize draw. The 28-year-old from Kerala in India works in sales and customer service and has been living in the UAE for the past five years. »»»

At a briefing in Pleven on Friday, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said that the government is taking concrete measures to fulfill its programme. "Consistently, by taking clear and concrete steps, we are fulfilling our election promises. Firstly, we have eliminated the oligarchy from political power. Th»»»

Hungary’s Constitutional Court has rejected a petition submitted by Fidesz challenging the constitutional amendment concerning public interest asset management foundations, known as KEKVAs. The court dismissed the petition without examining its substance, ruling that it did not have the jurisdictio»»»

Speaking to reporters in Pleven on Friday, Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said that two anti-drone systems are expected to arrive on Saturday, but technological time will be needed to train the personnel. "We are in the process of acquiring two more such systems, and I expect us to acquire them »»»

The Government will propose legislative changes on youth violence by the end of September, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on Friday. Speaking at a media briefing in Pleven, he was responding to a question about the killing of Georgi Kuzev at Youth Hill in Plovdiv. “What is happening with some youn»»»

Riyadh: Jamie Meconi, a 10-year-old from the UK, recently made a milestone visit to Saudi Arabia, which became the 100th country visited by the young Briton in his lifetime. When Meconi was eight, he became the youngest Brit to visit all seven continents. And his family’s decision to make the journ»»»

PARIS: France said on Friday it welcomed with “great satisfaction” Mali’s decision to pardon a French intelligence agent serving a 20-year jail term, a rare gesture after years of tensions between the two countries. “France expresses its great satisfaction following the release of Yann Vezilier,” t»»»

RIGA: NATO said Friday its fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Latvian airspace, the latest incursion along the military alliance’s eastern flank bordering Russia. The military alliance has launched an investigation, a NATO spokesperson said, as concerns grow in Europe over unauthorized dro»»»

Members of the Selenicë Municipal Council have unanimously rejected a proposal to merge the municipality with the neighboring Municipality of Vlora, with both majority and opposition councilors taking a united stance against the plan. All 19 council members present voted against the proposed merger»»»

The U.S. Court of International Trade threw out a legal challenge to President Trump's executive order scrapping the so-called de minimum exemption loophole under which goods worth less than $800 could enter the United States duty free. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo Aug. 14 (UPI) »»»

Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A suspicious object left outside a Washington, D.C., firehouse shut down rush hour traffic and prompted a bomb squad response before being identified as an adult toy. Police were called to the station of D.C. Fire and EMS Engine 20 on Wisconsin Avenue in the Tenleytown neighborhood»»»

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Oak Hammock Marsh (@oakhammockmarsh) Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A 15-year-old African spurred tortoise who escaped from her owner's Manitoba home was found two weeks later at a nature preserve more than 12 miles from home. The Oak Hammock Marsh nature preserve in »»»

Vladimir Zelensky has made an unusually specific claim about what Ukraine needs to defend itself against Russian ballistic missiles. In an interview with CNN, Zelensky said Ukraine currently has enough Patriot interceptors to amount to roughly 1% of America’s existing stockpile – itself reportedly »»»

Cairo: The Arab League condemned Iran's targeting of two UAE-flagged oil tankers as they transited the Strait of Hormuz, describing it as a blatant and unacceptable violation of international law and UN Security Council Resolution 2817. In a statement issued on Friday, the League emphasized that th»»»

Rome: The Colosseum has extended opening hours at night this summer to allow more visitors to see the famous Roman amphitheatre in cooler temperatures after sunset. The night tours, which run until 11:00 pm, are sold out and tourists on one visit this week spoke of a "magical" and "romantic" atmosp»»»

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Police have urged electric scooter riders to follow traffic rules and basic safety measures, warning that unsafe riding practices can increase the risk of accidents and injuries. The force said riders should wear protective helmets and reflective clothing, use designated cyclin»»»