Catherine Gilon | Aditi RajagopalIn Puducherry, India, stingless bees nest in unlikely places. Native pollinators like these could decide the future of our food and our survival. https://p.dw.com/p/5FDDQAdvertisementBehind every fruit and vegetable is an invisible workforce: An army of pollinators.»»»

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday a withhold release order issued by US Customs and Border Protection for copper and copper products made by Serbia Zijin Copper LLC was bad news for Serbia and that talks were underway with the US side to solve the problem. "Evidently, i»»»

Geneva: The State of Qatar reaffirmed the importance of enhancing women's participation in peace and security efforts, stressing that women are a fundamental pillar in achieving sustainable peace and building more stable and prosperous societies. This came in a statement delivered by HE Permanent R»»»

DUBAI: On March 6, at the height of the US-Iran war, President Donald Trump delivered an ultimatum to Tehran. “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,” he declared, signalling confidence that overwhelming military pressure would force Iran to capitulate. More than three mont»»»

Israeli police have clashed with Haredi Jews who blocked a major highway near Tel Aviv in protest over the arrest of a draft dodger from the ultra-Orthodox community. Dozens of protesters blocked traffic in both directions on Route 4 east of Tel Aviv early on Wednesday, sitting on the road and craw»»»

At least 250,000 British girls suffered sickening sexual abuse by Pakistani gangs, who were enabled by police, social workers, and even Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to commit “child rape on an industrial scale,” British MP Rupert Lowe’s ‘Rape Gang Report’ has detailed. Published on Tuesday, the 218»»»

Russia came under the largest attack from Ukrainian drones in two years with an oil refinery in the Moscow struck for the second time this week. File photo courtesy EMERCOM of Russia Press Service/EPA-EFE June 18 (UPI) -- Russia came under the largest attack from Ukrainian drones in two years early»»»

Dubai: For Lumia Khan, the UAE is not a place she moved to, it is the only home she has ever truly known. The Pakistani expat and founder and CEO of Furrari Events and Marketing has spent all 40 years of her life in the Emirates. Her father first moved to the UAE more than 50 years ago, becoming pa»»»

The Ministry of Education and Science has prepared the budget for 2026 according to the instructions of the Ministry of Finance, the Minister of Education and Science, Prof. Dr. Georgi Valchev, told journalists on Thursday. He attended an event of the "Az-buki" National Publishing House which offic»»»

Prime Minister Rumen Radev voiced strong support for financial decentralization on Thursday, arguing that Bulgaria’s highly centralized model of public finance has reached its limits and is increasingly hindering regional development and local initiative. Speaking at the opening of a National Meeti»»»

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov spoke at the opening of the Issyk-Kul Forum, which is taking place from June 18 to 22. In his speech, he recalled how 40 years ago, the prominent Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov took the initiative to gather world thinkers to discuss the problems of humanity and»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia and ASEAN countries intend to deepen cooperation in key sectors, including energy and food security, according to the Kazan declaration following the Russia-ASEAN summit on Thursday. "To deepen cooperation in key sectors, including energy and food security, transport and l»»»

RIYADH: The Gulf Cooperation Council economy is forecast to rebound 8.1 percent in 2027 after contracting 2.4 percent in 2026, as regional energy exports, tourism and investor confidence gradually normalize following conflict-related disruptions, a new analysis showed. The forecast, published by th»»»

Abu Dhabi: Hamad Al Kaabi, Director-General of the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), visited the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant to review the authority's oversight activities and assess the operational status of the facility. During the visit, Al Kaabi received updates on the operation »»»

Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MoHESR) has launched an updated version of its registration and admissions platform, Edu Hub, aimed at making the university application process easier and more efficient for students across the UAE. The platform, developed in col»»»

Although the US-Iran deal brings hope to Lebanon, reactions remain mixed. Lebanon may be mentioned in the first paragraph, it is not included in the $300 billion reconstruction fund despite the south of the country having been totally destroyed, and Israeli strikes have not stopped. FRANCE 24's Ren»»»

PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, June 18: An Israeli paper slams the US's deal with Iran as a "catastrophic capitulation". While Trump sees the US as the big winner, the press says Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz shows that it has set a new status quo. Also, EU leaders scramble to find anti-C»»»

Dubai: Meet Vega and Kuda. Two specially trained dogs are preparing for a journey from London to Zimbabwe — not as pets, but as part of a conservation mission to help track poachers and protect endangered wildlife. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.Emirates SkyCargo anno»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Ministry of Transport took part in the 29th extraordinary meeting of the Committee of Transport Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, held via videoconference. The ministers in attendance discussed the implementation of the directives of the GCC country leaders du»»»

According to European Commission data, 4.6 billion low-value parcels entered EU member states in 2024 alone, with 91% originating from China. Starting July 1, 2026, this exemption will be abolished. A flat 3 euro fee will apply to shipments from third countries valued at up to 150 euro, for each ca»»»

Revolut, the fintech company with over 70 million customers globally, has appointed Wiktor Stopa to lead the Growth and Marketing Department for Central and Eastern Europe. Wiktor is also responsible for coordinating the same types of activities in Western Europe. BR sat down with him to ask him ab»»»

Évian-les-Bains, France — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and US President Donald Trump held talks on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, focusing on Middle East stability, Gaza, the recently announced US-Iran agreement and the long-running dispute over the Grand Ethi»»»

An Israeli drone strike in south Lebanon killed two people on Thursday, hours after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war, including in Lebanon. The strike targeted a car in Kfartebnit, near the Israeli-declared 'yellow line'. "An enemy drone targeted a car" in t»»»

Israel is holding negotiations with the United States as it seeks to maintain its troop deployment in southern Lebanon, media reports said, as the U.S. and Iran signed a deal to end the war including in Lebanon, although Israel and Hezbollah aren't parties to the agreement. Iran insists Israel must»»»

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s main trait is his mercifulness, RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has said. Simonyan was asked to expand on the Russian leader’s personality during an extensive interview with Zhang Weiwei, a professor of international relations at Fudan University and host of»»»

Sharjah's Roads and Transport Authority (SRTA) will implement temporary traffic diversions at the Imran Bin Taryam and Ahmed Bin Hadid roundabouts from Sunday as work begins on a project to convert the two roundabouts into signal-controlled intersections. The authority said the changes form part of»»»

Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on Thursday that he expects fuel prices to decrease as soon as possible, reflecting the recent decline in global crude oil prices. Speaking to journalists after attending the opening of a National Meeting of Local and Central Executive Authorities in Sofia, Radev not»»»

The political leadership of North Macedonia is doing everything possible to delay its country's accession to the European Union, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on Thursday in response to a journalist's question. Radev was speaking at the opening of a national meeting of local and central executive»»»

The Ministry of Education and Science has prepared the budget for 2026 according to the instructions of the Ministry of Finance, the Minister of Education and Science, Prof. Dr. Georgi Valchev, told journalists on Thursday. He attended an event of the "Az-buki" National Publishing House which offic»»»

The Hungarian government announced a series of significant policy decisions during Thursday’s government press briefing, ranging from the release of European Union funds and urban development projects in Budapest to major reforms affecting law enforcement, the military and public asset protection. »»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe Residents of Hadatha manage to reach the town’s square and eastern neighborhoods, accompanied by the Lebanese Army and medics: Al-Manar rep»»»

Keir Starmer isn’t on the ballot, but the U.K. prime minister’s future is on the line in a special election on June 18. Voters in the Makerfield district of northwest England are electing a new lawmaker. The leading contender is Andy Burnham, the current Labour mayor of Greater Manchester and the f»»»

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told NATO the Pentagon will conduct a review of its force presence in Europe within the next six months. The review will depend on how fast European NATO allies take responsibility for their own security. This comes on the back of a G7 summit deemed a success, as T»»»

The sweltering heat returning to France is hitting farmers particularly hard. Temperatures are set to reach up to 40 degrees celsius , but those in the agriculture sector have no choice but to carry on with their daily work.»»»

Bulgaria is positioning itself in the middle tier of NATO defense spending rankings, with 2025 data showing the country allocating 2.05% of its GDP to defense, a level that matches France and slightly exceeds Italy. The figures place Sofia within what analysts describe as the Alliance’s “golden mea»»»

The pro-Russian “Revival” party has called for the expulsion of Ukrainian Ambassador Olesya Ilashchuk, demanding that she be declared persona non grata in connection with the so-called “Baba Alino” case. Speaking from the parliamentary podium, MP Kosta Stoyanov argued that the case goes far beyond »»»

The United States’ war against Iran represents a more serious strategic setback than the Vietnam War, contending that it directly damaged core US interests and weakened Washington’s position on the global stage, a Foreign Policy analyst has reported. Writing in Foreign Policy, Paul Musgrave, an ass»»»

DUBAI: Filipino conjoined twins Olivia and Gianna Manuel were successfully separated on Thursday as surgeons completed a major stage of a complex operation under Saudi Arabia’s Conjoined Twins Program. The twins, who were born joined at the chest and abdomen, were separated during the procedure, wh»»»

A new poultry farm Kirovets has been opened in Kyrgyzstan. It can produce up to 180,000 eggs per day and will create 25 new jobs. The poultry farm is part of the Tri T breeding poultry farm. According to the company, together with its other production facilities, it meets approximately 16.5 percent»»»

RIYADH: Saudi Telecom Co., also known as stc, and Public Investment Fund-backed Humain have extended by six months a memorandum of understanding to establish a Saudi AI data center joint venture. The extension, disclosed in a Tadawul filing on June 18, follows the expiry of the original agreement s»»»

Lithuanian lawmakers are preparing legal changes that could prevent companies maintaining commercial ties with Russia or Belarus from operating at the country's strategic infrastructure facilities, including airports and other nationally important sites, independent Lithuanian news agency BNS »»»

Uzbekistan is an unusual case in the Islamic world. Its population of nearly 40mn is overwhelmingly Muslim — around 90% — yet the country has operated since independence as a resolutely secular state, with a conventional western-style banking system inherited from the Soviet era. Islamic finance ha»»»

BusinessGermanyProtests target private equity industry at Berlin summitVanessa Guinan-BankActivists gathered to protest the SuperReturn private equity summit in Berlin, accusing the industry of driving inequality, job cuts and rising costs as investors representing trillions gather to seek high ret»»»

BELGRADE - The Serbian dinar's official median exchange rate against the euro is 117.3899 dinars for one euro on Thursday, which is a slight change relative to Wednesday, the National Bank of Serbia said. The dinar is steady against the euro m-o-m, down by 0.1 pct y-o-y and down by 0.1 pct relative»»»

The solemn naming ceremony, including raising the Russian flag, took place in Russia's Far Eastern town of Bolshoy Kamen. The Konstantin Posyet will be able to transport liquified natural gas year-round along the Northern Sea Route, including its eastern sector.Due to its optimized design and effic»»»

Bulgarian surgeons at the Queen Ioanna - ISUL Hospital in Sofia have performed the country's first small-intestine transplant reconstruction of the cervical esophagus, preserving speech and swallowing in a patient with advanced cancer. The surgery lasted more than 10 hours and was performed on a 58»»»

BELGRADE - After a retrial, the Higher Court in Belgrade on Thursday handed prison sentences to the parents a teenage boy who killed nine pupils and a security staff member and wounded six more people in a shooting spree in his primary school in central Belgrade on May 3, 2023. His father Vladimir »»»

Doha, Qatar: Qatar Airways Group has restored its network to 85 percent of pre-crisis levels and created two new executive roles to sharpen its operations and deepen its focus on customers. The milestone was reached with the launch of the airline's summer 2026 schedule this week, which sees more th»»»

Doha, Qatar: HE Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, Minister of Finance, attended the opening session of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the Islamic Development Bank Group, which were inaugurated by HE Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The meetings were held in Baku from June 16 to 19, 2026 u»»»

The event took a practical approach, featuring plants sampled from the field, comparative analyses, and open discussions about yield losses, the impact of drought, soil compaction, diseases, and pests, as well as solutions that can stabilize results at the farm level. “This year, the field speaks v»»»