Several areas of Oregon and Washington state have gone in and out of flood watches as the Pacific Northwest has been pounded with rain, including the Willamette Valley, where the Willamette River, pictured, is located. File Photo by Eitenne Laurent/EPA Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A flood watch is in effect in»»»

The Swedish Academy said Saturday its permanent secretary, Mats Malm, is stepping down after seven years of heading the prestigious institution that awards the annual Nobel literature prize. As of June 1, 2026, Academy member Ingrid Carlberg, an author and journalist, will take over as permanent se»»»

Colombo: Sri Lanka has entered the public phase of 5G mobile connectivity with the launch of commercial 5G services by Dialog Axiata PLC and Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel (SLT-Mobitel), the country's two major telecommunications providers. SLT-Mobitel launched the service on Friday at One Galle Face Ma»»»

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, pictured in 2021, and his wife have been sentenced to 17 years in prison for corruption. File Photo by Chamila Karunarathne/EPA-EFE Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, and his wife have been sentenced to 17 additional year»»»

DOHA:This evening, the events organised by the Ministry of Culture to celebrate the country's National Day concluded after 11 days at the Darb Al Saai site in Umm Salal. The National Day events organising committee announced that Darb Al Saai witnessed a large public turnout, reaching approximately»»»

Tunis, Dec 20 (TAP) — Although flat-rate taxpayers account for 38.9% of all registered contributors, their share of total tax revenues has not exceeded 0.5% over the last five years, the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies (ITES) stated in...»»»

Ankara, Dec 20 (SANA) Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler underscored the strategic importance of stability and security in Syria for Turkey’s national security, highlighting the growing coordination between Ankara and Damascus. Speaking to media representatives in Ankara on Saturday, Guler said t»»»

Türkiye's MIT intelligence agency chief met Hamas' ​negotiating team head Khalil Al-Hayya on Saturday and discussed necessary measures to be taken for proceeding to the ‌second phase ‌of the ‌Gaza ⁠peace ​plan, ‌Turkish security sources said, Reuters reported. The sources, speaking on condition of »»»

A Pakistani court on Saturday sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi to 17 years in prison after it found them guilty of corruption over the selling of expensive gifts they were given while in office. Khan has been in prison since 2023 on multiple corruption convictions»»»

DOHA: The Qatar Meteorology Department has announced that Sunday marks the start of the Winter solstice, signalling the astronomical beginning of winter. Winter solstice marks the end of Autumn and the beginning of winter astronomically. This happens every year because of the 23.5° tilt of the Eart»»»

It may be getting tougher to spot conmen, especially in the digital era, but Dubai Police is quick to point out ways to be vigilant. Its most recent advice has been to be wary of people claiming to be from banks or official entities and asking for an OTP. “Remember that banks and official entities »»»

Gaza: The death toll from the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, has risen to 70,925 in addition to 171,185 wounded. The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip stated in a statement today that 13 martyrs arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals in the past 24 hours, along with 20 wound»»»

Doha: Qatar National Bank (QNB) confirmed that copper is currently entering a clearly defined phase of structural transformation in global commodity markets. In its weekly commentary, QNB noted that despite cyclical volatility and macroeconomic pressures, the metal remains attractively valued in re»»»

Current developments regarding the Ukraine conflict are “clearly conducive to the cessation of hostilities,” Chinese political analyst Zhou Chengyang told Sputnik. “Choosing a peaceful path and bringing the conflict to an end at the negotiating table as soon as possible is the best outcome” for Rus»»»

Abu Dhabi: The National Centre of Meteorology has forecast generally partly cloudy conditions across the UAE tomorrow, with low clouds expected to form over islands and parts of the coastal and western regions, alongside a chance of light rainfall. In its daily weather bulletin, the centre said tem»»»

A Pakistani court convicted and sentenced imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on Saturday to 17 years in prison after finding them guilty of retaining and selling state gifts, officials and his party said. The couple pleaded not guilty when they were indicted last y»»»

The drama over the EU’s efforts to seize Russian Central Bank assets trapped in the bloc’s jurisdiction continues to intensify, with President Putin characterizing the plans as “robbery” in broad daylight, and Viktor Orban calling the move to deprive Hungary of a voice on the matter a “crossing the»»»

Elon Musk's 2018 pay package from Tesla, once worth $56 billion, was restored by the Delaware ​Supreme Court on Friday, nearly two years after a lower court struck down the compensation deal as "unfathomable." The ruling overturns a decision that had prompted a furious backlash from Musk and damage»»»

Danish shipping company Maersk said that one of its vessels had successfully navigated the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait for the first time in nearly two years, as shipping companies weigh returning to the critical Asia-Europe trade corridor. The company stated that while it had no firm plans to»»»

WASHINGTON: The following text was issued by the governments of the State of Qatar and the United States of America: Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HESheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani,and Secretary of State of the United States of AmericaHE Marco Rubio held the sev»»»

Two Turkish nationals were arrested in northern Greece on Friday after police found a minor in their house who had been reported missing by his family. The boy, whose age has not been disclosed, was discovered during a police operation in three houses in the wider area of ​​Thessaloniki by officers»»»

Washington: The following text was issued by the governments of the State of Qatar and the United States of America: HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and HE Marco Rubio, Secretary of State of the United States of America, held t»»»

Every animal with a brain needs sleep — and even a few without a brain do, too. Humans sleep, birds sleep, whales sleep and even jellyfish sleep. Sleep is universal “even though it’s actually very risky,” said Paul-Antoine Libourel, a researcher at the Neuroscience Research Center of Lyon in France»»»

Christmas is a Christian holiday that observes the birth of Jesus. But did you know that the earliest followers of Jesus did not annually commemorate his birth? Or that Santa Claus is inspired by the acts of kindness of a fourth-century Christian saint? And have you heard about the modern-day Japan»»»

Sometimes kids drop the phone after hearing Santa won't show up if they're not asleep. Others who call the NORAD Tracks Santa hotline wonder if St. Nick will be able to find them. Adults who also remain devoted to the jolly figure said to deliver presents around the world are checking up on his jou»»»

KUWAIT, Dec 20 (KUNA) - Kuwait's Minister of Commerce and Industry Khalifa Al-Ojail congratulated on Saturday His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on the second anniversary of assumption of power.Speaking to KUNA, Al-Ojail said His Highness the Amir's directives have embod»»»

PKO Bank Polski has opened new representative offices in Sweden and Lithuania as part of its accelerated expansion within the European Union. Over the past year, the bank has doubled the number of its foreign units, already meeting its international growth targets set for 2025. Under its strategy f»»»

Share: Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly (L) meets Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (R) during his official visit in the Government Palace (Grand Serail) in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on December 19, 2025. [Lebanese Presidency / Handout – Anadolu Agency] Egypt is doing all it can to »»»

Istanbul: A drone of unknown origin has been found in Turkiye, less than a day after another unmanned aerial vehicle of suspected Russian origin crashed in the northwest, Turkish media reported on Saturday. According to several independent television networks and the Cumhuriyet newspaper, the drone»»»

The Chancellery in Berlin has proposed granting Germany’s currently mostly surveillance-focused foreign intelligence agency powers to carry out sabotage and other offensive operations abroad, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday. The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) was created in 1956 in post»»»

Share: Smoke billows over Beirut’s southern suburbs following Israeli strike after issuing an evacuation warning for the area, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir LONDON: Israel is attacking Lebanon at a rate equal to one strike every four hours despite the ceasefire more than a ye»»»

As the winter travel season peaks, Dubai Airport has reminded passengers about flying safely with lithium-powered devices, reposting the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) safety campaign. The reminder comes as Emirates and flydubai updated their power bank policies in October. Also R»»»

A Syria monitor said Saturday that at least five Islamic State jihadist group members including a cell leader were killed in U.S. strikes overnight after a deadly attack on American troops last weekend. U.S. forces said they struck more than 70 IS targets in what President Donald Trump described as»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Local Organizing Committee of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships today announced the final organizational preparations ahead of the tournament's kickoff, which will be hosted by Qatar University at the Sports and Events Complex from December 25 to 31. Speaking at a »»»

Dreams do come true in Dubai… twice! Sanil Kumar, a 40-year-old accountant from Kerala, is over the moon after winning Dh100,000 in the Big Ticket draw – for the second time. Also Read: First-time lucky: Indian tailor in Dubai buys Big Ticket in his name, wins Dh100,000The long-time Dubai resident,»»»

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Saturday he was heading to Miami, where another round of talks to settle the Ukraine war is set to take place. Ukrainian and European teams were also in the sunny American city for the negotiations mediated by Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and the US presi»»»

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Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has published a long-awaited banking draft bill, which distributes losses from the 2019 economic crisis between banks and the state. The draft law is a key demand from the international community, which has conditioned economic aid to Lebanon on financial reforms. In a te»»»

Doha, Qatar: Qatar Railways Company (Qatar Rail) announced that the total number of passengers who used the Doha Metro and Lusail Tram networks during the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025 and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup Qatar 2025, from December 1 to 18, 2025, reached 4,924,919 passengers, with 4,712,758»»»

Rabat: Morocco captain and star player Achraf Hakimi is fit and ready for the host nation's Africa Cup of Nations bid but may not start in the tournament's opening game, coach Walid Regragui said on Saturday. "Tomorrow will be my decision but he has more than done his job. His injury was not an eas»»»

On October 6, 2023 - less than 24 hours before the Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war - Israel gathered intelligence indicating the Palestinian group was planning something for the following morning, Israeli Kan public broadcaster has revealed. The information came through an intelligence-gat»»»

Astronomical winter officially begins in Bulgaria on Sunday, December 21, at 5:03 p.m. local time, marking the shortest day of the year. In Sofia, daylight will last just 9 hours and 3 minutes, according to Pencho Markishki from the Institute of Astronomy at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Space»»»

Dhaka: Tens of thousands of mourners gathered in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Saturday for the funeral of a student leader, after two days of violent protests over his killing. Huge crowds accompanied the funeral procession of Sharif Osman Hadi, a key figure in last year's pro-democracy uprisin»»»

In an interview for the Bulgarian National Television from Friday night, GERB-UDF MP and Chair of the parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance, Delyan Dobrev, said that the ambition to simultaneously achieve a significant increase in revenues and implement a large investment programme that exc»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian forces have liberated the villages of Vysokoe in the Sumy region and Svetloye in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Saturday. "As a result of decisive actions, Battlegroup Sever liberated the village of Vysokoye in the Sumy re»»»

Russian officials are set to arrive in Florida on Saturday to meet with US negotiators for the latest round of talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. The meeting comes as talks between US, Ukrainian and European negotiators on Friday ended with all sides saying progress had been made on agreeing»»»

Democrats on Friday voiced frustration that the long-awaited release of the Epstein files included many heavily redacted pages, claming it fell far short of what was mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The latest release includes photos of noted public figures in Epstein's social c»»»

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have been sentenced to further jail terms following a fraud case involving state gifts. They were convicted of breaking Pakistan's rules on gifts after Bibi was given a luxury jewellery set by Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman duri»»»

Washington, Dec.20 (SANA) The U.S. Department of War (Pentagon) announced that U.S. forces carried out strikes at dawn Saturday targeting dozens of ISIS terrorist sites in Syria, in response to its terrorist attack that targeted joint Syrian-American forces near Palmyra last Saturday. Ministry of F»»»