President Rumen Radev will start the constitutionally required consultations for forming a new government in Bulgaria on Monday, December 15. The announcement came from the presidency’s press office on Friday afternoon, only hours after lawmakers unanimously accepted the resignation of Rosen Zhelya»»»

On the front line of the migration surge, Ceuta – the Spanish exclave in North Africa – continues to see thousands of people arrive each year. With the land border so heavily guarded to be virtually sealed, many of the youngest attempt the crossing by sea, venturing into the dangerous cur»»»

Volodymyr Zelensky is deliberately setting conditions Russia can't accept to portray it as blocking peace talks, Bogdan Bezpalko, a member of the Council for Interethnic Relations under the President of the Russian Federation, tells Sputnik. The head of the Kiev regime is also seeking a much-needed»»»

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul addresses journalists outside Government House in Bangkok on Friday after dissolving the House of Representatives, the country's parliament. Photo courtesy Royal Thai Government/EPA Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dissolved parliament»»»

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam held a meeting Friday at the Grand Serail with MPs Amin Sherri and Hassan Fadlallah of Hezbollah. Following the meeting, Fadlallah stated: "My colleague and I met with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to discuss a range of issues of concern to all Lebanese, especially as we con»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is inflaming tensions and undermining peace talks on Ukraine, and Hungary, as a NATO member, rejects his statements about the need to prepare for a war with Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday. On Thursday, Rutte at »»»

Dubai: After eight long years, the verdict in the 2017 Kerala actress assault case has finally arrived. Six men have been sentenced to 20 years. But before we discuss the courts, the lawyers, or the loopholes, we must acknowledge the woman who made this moment possible. Bhavana. It is her courage —»»»

Ukraine is running out of cash to keep its military and its economy going, after almost four years of Russia's full-scale war. For Europe, the solution to plugging Kyiv's budget hole of €135.7bn (£119bn; $159bn) for the next two years lies in frozen Russian assets sitting in Belgian bank Euroclear »»»

A group of Syrian-American Jews have registered a nongovernmental organization in Syria in a bid to restore Jewish heritage in a country where the once-sizable religious minority has shrunk to almost nothing. "Jewish Syrians are an integral part of the Syrian fabric," Syrian Minister of Social Affa»»»

President Rumen Radev will begin consultations with the parliamentary groups in the National Assembly on Monday, December 15, as part of the process of forming a new regular government, the head of State’s press secretariat said on Friday. The consultations will start at 10 a.m. on Monday with repr»»»

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) said he and his foreign policy team held a "a constructive and in-depth discussion" on security guarantees with senior U.S. officials on Thursday, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff»»»

Police used tear gas to disperse protesting farmers on Friday as veterinarians moved in to cull over 200 cows infected with nodular dermatitis, or lumpy skin disease, at a farm in southern France. The deadly outbreak, which cannot be passed to humans, has sparked fears among locals and highlighted »»»

After the liberation of Seversk there is no other fortress city to stop the Russian advance in the Donetsk People’s Republic, author and war correspondent Thomas Roeper told RT on Thursday. The capture of the stronghold, announced by the Russian Defense Ministry earlier in the day, has opened up th»»»

BusinessChinaWhy US giant Chevron, not China, may save oil-rich VenezuelaAstrid Prange de OliveiraChevron is driving Venezuela's oil rebound while China is pulling back. As President Nicolas Maduro's fate grows uncertain, Washington's renewed leverage is reshaping the country's economic and geopoli»»»

Vazrazhdane will move a draft National Assembly resolution obliging the Council of Ministers to request a one-year postponement of Bulgaria's entry into the Eurozone, the Eurosceptic party leader Kostadin Kostadinov said in Parliament's lobby Friday morning. The lawmaker specified that he does not »»»

Syria’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday welcomed a vote by the US House of Representatives a day earlier in favor of repealing the Caesar Act, under which the United States imposed sanctions on former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, describing the move as a “pivotal milestone” that opens a »»»

Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi on Thursday urged political, tribal and social forces in the eastern provinces of Hadramawt and Al-Mahra to close ranks behind state efforts and local authorities to contain the fallout from the recent security and military escalation»»»

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (KUNA) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said that Washington could participate in a meeting due in Europe on Saturday looking into a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine."There's a meeting on Saturday. We'll see whether or not we attend the meeting. We said we'll attend th»»»

Bangkok: Thailand's prime minister dissolved parliament on Friday, paving the way for general elections early next year as deadly border clashes continue with neighbour Cambodia. The move comes earlier than expected and just three months after Anutin Charnvirakul — of the conservative Bhumjaithai p»»»

Walt Disney and OpenAI agreed a three-year licensing deal on Thursday allowing users to generate short videos featuring Disney characters with artificial intelligence. It is the first time a major studio has permitted such broad generative-AI use of its protected characters, from Mickey Mouse to Ma»»»

SAN FRANCISCO: A gas explosion set off a major fire in a San Francisco Bay Area neighbourhood on Thursday after obliterating at least one home, blowing out windows and shaking nearby houses. Six people were taken to hospitals for injuries, fire officials said. Also In This Package Gas station explo»»»

Share: Elections are looming, war drums are beating and the prime minister will soon be a lame duck In his first speech after being named prime minister, Nawaf Salam promised to build a new Lebanon. He set two main goals. One was to assert the authority of the state, a polite way of saying the gove»»»

1 of 3 | Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said unvetted migrants from Afghanistan pose significant threats against the country during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington on Thursday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Dec. 11 (U»»»

Behind the counter of his convenience store, surrounded by rows of crisps, sandwiches and spirits, Muhammed Rabani glances at a bank of CCTV screens, anticipating a shoplifter coming at any moment. Muhammed has grown wearily used to the crime. "It's every day," he says. He estimates it is costing t»»»

Warning: This report contains details of physical and sexual abuse and discussion of suicide. Baobao's heart still races when she smells soil after morning rain. It takes her back to early military drills behind locked gates - and the constant fear that marked every one of her days at Lizheng Quali»»»

An unusual silence in the forests of north Sumatra in Indonesia is worrying wildlife experts and conservationists. Here, in the mountainous forests of Batang Toru, is where they had always seen and heard the world's rarest ape, the Tapanuli orangutans. But ever since Cyclone Senyar devastated Sumat»»»

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (KUNA) -- US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Vinny Spera said Thursday his country was working with regional allies to facilitate a humanitarian truce in Sudan and end the conflict there."The horrific conflict in Sudan, which began in April 2023, has cause»»»

British activists have made multiple visits to the beaches of northern France in recent weeks, saying they want to stop undocumented migrants from crossing the channel in small boats. Migrant support groups say the activists are encouraging violence and xenophobia. British far-right activists have »»»

Damascus, Dec.11 (SANA) Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Asaad Hassan Al‑Shaibani, received a phone call Thursday from Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, with talks dealing with the latest developments, bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to enhance joint c»»»

Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Rosen Zhelyazkov, announced his government’s resignation on Thursday during an unexpected press briefing, bringing an end to months of political tension and two weeks of mass demonstrations across the Balkan country. The decision came shortly after parliament postponed a»»»

Tennessee executed Harold Wayne Nichols by lethal injection Thursday in Nashville for the 1988 rape and murder of Karen Pulley, a 20-year-old student at Chattanooga State University. Nichols, 64, had confessed to killing Pulley as well as raping several other women in the Chattanooga area. Although»»»

Mickey Mouse dolls pictured Feb. 2018 at the 115th American International Toy Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, N.Y. Under the agreement, Sora users can create content featuring icons like Mickey Mouse, Ariel, Cinderella, Iron Man and Darth Vader. File Photo by John An»»»

Former Biden European security policy architect Amanda Sloat’s bombshell admission that the conflict in Ukraine could have been prevented if the US pushed Kiev to drop its aspirations to join NATO reveals a deep rot in Washington, Karen Kwiatkowski has told Sputnik. “The diplomatic corps increasing»»»

Disney has agreed to invest $1bn (£740m) in OpenAI as part of a deal which will let people use many of its iconic characters in the chatbot ChatGPT and video-generation tool Sora. It is the first major studio to license parts of its catalogue to the tech giant, in a move which could have major impl»»»

The Federal Reserve reduced its key interest rate by a quarter-point for the third time in a row but signaled that it may leave rates unchanged in the coming months. The cut decreased the Fed's rate to about 3.6%, the lowest it has been in nearly three years. Lower rates from the Fed can bring down»»»

Israel has given the go-ahead for the construction of 764 more houses in three Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a decision likely to further stoke tensions as a watchdog group accused the Israeli government of moving toward "de facto annexation" of the Palestinian territory. Israeli Fi»»»

Under the Bulgarian Constitution, when a government resigns, it does not stop functioning immediately. The Prime Minister submits the resignation of the Council of Ministers to the National Assembly, which adopts a formal resolution accepting it. However, the outgoing cabinet continues to perform i»»»

Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Evgeny Korniychuk has been summoned and reprimanded by the Israeli Foreign Ministry after he criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments praising ties with Russia, local media reported on Wednesday. Speaking at the Knesset on Monday, Netanyahu praised his »»»

A Kenyan court has suspended the implementation of a "landmark" $2.5bn (£1.9bn) health aid deal signed with the US last week over data privacy concerns. It follows a case filed by a consumer rights lobby seeking to stop the alleged transfer and sharing of Kenyans' personal data under the agreement.»»»

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met Thursday with U.S. Ambassador Michel Issa in Ain el-Tineh, for the second day in a row. On Wednesday, Berri met with Issa and a delegation of the American Task Force for Lebanon. After the meeting, Issa said that Israel differentiates between the Lebanese governme»»»

As the world prepares to celebrate a new year, the Lebanese are living day by day amid fears and threats of a renewed war. The Lebanese army has been tasked by the government to disarm Hezbollah by the year end, under U.S. pressure and Israel's almost daily strikes. However, the army's resources ar»»»

Opposition leader María Corina Machado said Thursday that she doesn't believe the Venezuelan government knew where she was hiding for most of this year, as she met Norway's leader a day after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf. Machado arrived in Oslo hours after Wednesday's »»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The UK will spend 6 billion pounds (almost $8 billion) on the submarine construction program for AUKUS (the trilateral defense partnership between Australia, the UK and the US), the UK Ministry of Defense said in a statement. "Attack submarines and advanced military technology wi»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Ukrainian armed forces' human losses during the conflict have long since exceeded one million and continue to grow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday. "According to numerous independent estimates, the human losses of the Ukrainian armed forces have long »»»

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has said that Israeli forces fired on its peacekeepers Tuesday in the country’s south near the de facto border with Israel, reporting no injuries. "Yesterday, peacekeepers in vehicles patrolling the Blue Line were fired upon by IDF (Israeli army) soldiers»»»

Washington’s recent openness toward Damascus is increasingly colliding with Israel’s assertive on-the-ground approach, highlighting a widening rift between the two traditional allies over the future of Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The United States now appears to be pushing»»»

Doha, Qatar: Minister of State for International Cooperation H E Dr. Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Federal Republic of Somalia H E Abdisalam Abdi Ali, who is currently visiting the country. The meeting reviewed bilater»»»

Paris , Dec. 10 (SANA) Syrian activist Farid Almazhan, known as “Caesar,” was awarded the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law on Wednesday, coinciding with International Human Rights Day. The award was presented at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs by French Foreign Minist»»»

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday announced a lawsuit against Minneapolis Public School District. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The Justice Department is suing the Minneapolis Public School District, alleging its provision to hire more teachers of color is a c»»»

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raji has declined an invitation from his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi to visit Tehran, proposing instead that the two meet in a mutually agreed-upon neutral country. In a post on X on Wednesday, Raji said he was “unable to accept” the invitation at this time,»»»