The United States was joined Saturday by Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye in urging parties in the Gaza ceasefire to uphold their obligations and exercise restraint, the chief US envoy said after talks in Miami. Top officials from each nation met with Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's special envoy, »»»

Unit 6 of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) will be shut down on Sunday, one day earlier than previously announced, the plant said late on Saturday. The shutdown had originally been scheduled for Monday. The decision to shut down the unit earlier was made after an additional defect was discove»»»

Doha, Qatar: Qatar Chess Association (QCA) yesterday underlined its readiness to stage the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025, bringing the world’s top chess players to the ‘global sport capital’ from December 26 to 30. QCA President and Chairman of the Organising Committee Mohammed Ahme»»»

Lebanon’s Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri denied on Saturday that the appointment of civilian negotiators between Lebanon and Israel means that political negotiations have been launched between the two neighbors. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the negotiating team is primarily tasked with ensuring »»»

Damascus, Dec. 21 (SANA) Syria’s General Authority of Civil Aviation and Air Transport said it is close to completing the installation of an advanced air navigation system at Damascus International Airport, aimed at reducing disruptions caused by poor weather, particularly dense fog. In a statement»»»

Doha, Qatar: The competitions of the second round of Qatar Freestyle Championship (QFC) in its new 2025/2026 season concluded on Friday evening at Qatar Racing Club (QRC). The round was held under the generous patronage of QRC Chairman H E Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, and witnessed a large cro»»»

Doha, Qatar: Oil prices edged up on Friday on possible disruptions from a US blockade of Venezuelan tankers as the market waits for news about a possible Russia-Ukraine peace deal. Brent crude futures settled at $60.47, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude finished at $56.66. For the week, »»»

Dubai: Motor insurance policies in the UAE classified as comprehensive will cover damage caused by heavy rain and flooding, provided the weather event is not officially declared a natural disaster, a senior insurance official has confirmed. Mohammed Mazhar Hamadeh, Vice Chairman of the Higher Techn»»»

Doha, Qatar: Qatar is committed to advance innovation and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies by promoting collaboration between government and private sector and positioning the country as a regional hub, for AI development. Speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the recently held Wor»»»

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi is moving at an accelerated pace toward developing one of the region’s most intelligent and integrated transport systems, with the implementation of a real-time smart traffic safety management system that represents a qualitative leap in monitoring, analysis, and decision-makin»»»

US intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not abandoned his aims of capturing all of Ukraine and reclaiming parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire, six sources familiar with US intelligence said, even as negotiators seek an end to the war »»»

The United States "apprehended" an oil tanker off Venezuela on Saturday, a move Caracas deemed a "theft and kidnapping," in the latest salvo of a pressure campaign by Washington, the US government said. It was the second time in two weeks that US forces have interdicted a tanker in the region, and »»»

Doha, Qatar: Registration for the 17th Qatar International Falconry and Hunting Festival (Marmi 2026) begins today, Sunday, December 21, at the Qatar Falconry Association headquarters in Katara Cultural Village. Registration will continue until December 23, from 4pm to 8pm. The Marmi Festival is he»»»

More than half a million people in Cambodia have been displaced from their homes by two weeks of deadly border clashes with neighboring Thailand, Phnom Penh's interior ministry said Sunday. The renewed fighting between the Southeast Asian neighbors this month, including with tanks, drones and artil»»»

In central Tel Aviv, the main stage has now been dismantled in Hostages Square, the focal point for the campaign over the past two years to bring back Israelis held in Gaza. Nearby, signs and posters have been taken down, and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum has vacated the offices that serv»»»

Doha, Qatar: The newly established International Islamic Bioethics Association (IIBA) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) convened its inaugural meeting, marking a significant milestone in promoting bioethical discourse within an Islamic framework. The IIBA emerged as a result of HBKU hosting th»»»

Lebanon would have completed the first phase of the army’s plan to impose state monopoly over arms, or the disarmament of Hezbollah, by the end of the year. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s office confirmed on Saturday that the first phase was close to completion. “The first phase of the weapons consol»»»

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization (MoHRE) has launched community participation in the Zero Bureaucracy initiative, part of the government’s pioneering “Community Participation in Zero Bureaucracy” program. The initiative allows members of society to evaluate government procedures an»»»

Dubai: Residents across the UAE woke up to early morning chilly winds this Sunday, December 21, 2025. These cool gusts, sweeping in from the Arabian Gulf and down from the Hajar Mountains, signal the official arrival of the Winter Solstice. It marks a significant astronomical turning point for the »»»

Doha, Qatar: Qatar has emerged as a regional leader in social progress in the 2025 AlTi Global Social Progress Index, securing a place in Tier 2 among the world’s 170 assessed nations. With a score of 73.19 out of 100, Qatar is ranked third in the Middle East and North Africa and 50th globally, out»»»

San Francisco, United States: A huge electricity outage hit San Francisco on Saturday, leaving 130,000 residents without power, the city's main electric utility company said. "We are working with first responders and city officials on an outage in San Francisco affecting approximately 130,000 custo»»»

On UAE’s 54th Union Day, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain ordered that Al Areen Wildlife Reserve be renamed Mohammed bin Zayed Nature Reserve, in honour of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The move recognises his role in strengthening ties between the two nations a»»»

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has publicly accused Reuters of running a "lie and propaganda" campaign to sabotage recent push to end the Ukraine war. The narrative is being pushed by "warmongers" in NATO and the EU who want to "pull the US military directly into war with Russia." »»»

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to engage in dialogue with French President Emmanuel Macron, and if there is mutual political will, then the French leader's intentions can only be assessed positively, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik. Earlier, Macron stated that it would be us»»»

Venezuela has sharply condemned the US seizure of another oil tanker off its shores, accusing Washington of carrying out an “act of piracy” as part of a broader campaign to overthrow the government in Caracas and seize the country’s vast energy resources. In an official statement released on Saturd»»»

Alphabet’s Google and Apple have advised some employees on US work visas to avoid international travel, warning that visa stamping delays of up to 12 months could leave staff stranded outside the country, according to reports. Also Read: US widens social media vetting for H-1B and H-4 visa applican»»»

Dubai: The UAE is expected to see partly cloudy conditions today, with a continued chance of rainfall over coastal, island and western areas, as a low-pressure system remains in place across the country, according to the National Centre of Meteorology. Also Read: Rain in UAE: Can you catch cold fro»»»

Finally, after four long years, elections to Asia’s richest civic body, the BMC or the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation have been announced for January 15, 2026, along with civic polls for 28 other cities in the state of Maharastra. These are not ordinary civic elections. The political fallout, e»»»

Dubai: A spectacular video showing Emirates airline's proposed “Dubai Air Hotel” featuring a full-scale Airbus A380 mounted atop a 580m, 125-storey tower has taken the internet by storm, amassing over 36 million views and sparking widespread excitement and news reports. The video shows a futuristic»»»

Seven wild Asian elephants, including calves, were killed when a high-speed train collided with a herd crossing the tracks in north-eastern India, local officials say. They say another calf was injured in the incident early on Saturday in Hojai district, Assam state. The Northeast Frontier Railway »»»

Three Rochester (N.Y.) Police Department officers and another man were shot by an assailant while responding to a domestic disturbance call that ended with the suspect's shooting death on Friday night. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Three officers with the Rochester »»»

Dubai: AI is no longer a future promise in the UAE. It is already shaping how people work, how companies invest, and how residents think about their careers. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.Two recent reports — from enterprise technology firm Kyndryl and consulting gia»»»

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has accused European NATO states of trying to pull Washington into a direct confrontation with Russia and slammed Reuters for “fomenting hysteria” in order to sell war. Russia has consistently rejected claims that it plans to attack EU countries, d»»»

While some West African nations are choosing to cement old ties with France and others cultivate a new relationship with Russia, one country is trying to have the best of both worlds. As the 7 December attempted military coup in Benin collapsed, the rebels' leader, Lt Col Pascal Tigri, made his dis»»»

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio joked on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to overshadow him after learning that his briefing was staged almost simultaneously with the latter’s end-of-year press conference. During the annual Direct Line Q&A session in Moscow, the Russian pre»»»

Comedian Bowen Yang is leaving the cast of Saturday Night Live, and will no longer be part of the long-running sketch programme after the latest episode airs. In a post on Instagram, Yang declined the share the reason for his departure, which comes in the middle of the season, but said he is "grate»»»

Several files released on Friday by the Justice Department and regarding the federal sex-trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019, were not available a day later. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Some Jeffrey Epstein case files released on Friday by t»»»

KUWAIT, Dec 20 (KUNA) -- Arab and foreign ambassadors to Kuwait congratulated on Saturday His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on the second anniversary of assumption of power.In separate statements, the ambassadors extolled His Highness the Amir's wisdom, leading vision a»»»

An engineer from Germany has become the world's first wheelchair user to go into space. Michaela Benthaus, who suffered a spinal cord injury in a mountain bike accident seven years ago, had reached out to a retired space engineer online to see if her dream of being an astronaut was still possible. »»»

The US has seized an oil tanker that had recently departed from Venezuela, according to the US Department of Homeland Security. It is the second time this month that the US has seized an oil-carrying ship off the country's coast. The move comes after US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was»»»

On a winter morning in 2022 Raphael Wong and Figo Chan walked into Hong Kong's Stanley prison to meet Jimmy Lai, the media billionaire who had been arrested two years before and was awaiting trial charged with national security offences. They had all been part of the turbulent protests that had roc»»»

TOKYO — Japan unveiled a five-year goal on Saturday for business projects totalling $19 billion in Central Asia as Tokyo vies for influence in the resource-rich region.The announcement came after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hosted an inaugural summit with the leaders of five Central Asia nations »»»

WASHINGTON, United States — For a reading of Wall Street's shifting mood on the artificial intelligence investment boom, take a look at the daily fluctuations of Oracle stock, analysts say.Shares of the software giant slumped more than five per cent Wednesday following a news report of financing tr»»»

AMMAN — Arab Potash Company (APC) on Monday announced the signing of a long-term strategic supply agreement with Norway’s Yara International, one of the world’s leading fertiliser producers and distributors, aimed at strengthening APC’s presence in international markets.The agreement was signed in »»»

A U.S. military helicopter hovers over an oil tanker seized early Saturday morning in international waters near Venezuela. Photo Courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Coast Guard led another seizure of an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela on Saturday after Presi»»»

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has cast himself and other opponents of the ‘reparations loan’ scheme for Ukraine as ‘EU Ghostbusters’ in a video posted on X on Friday. In the video, released a day after he and his allies blocked the loan scheme at a Brussels summit, the veteran politician mo»»»

The US Justice Department on Friday released a tranche of files related to convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein in accordance with a congressional mandate. The partial disclosure has already drawn criticism from lawmakers and victims’ advocates, who cite the wholesale redaction of some pages and »»»

AmericaFest, the first major Turning Point USA conference since the murder of its founder Charlie Kirk, took place in Phoenix on Thursday – but instead of showing unity, it exposed sharp rifts within the MAGA movement over anti-Semitism, leadership, and its post-Trump future. The first major g»»»

The United States has seized another oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, escalating pressure on Caracas just days after President Donald Trump announced a “total and complete” blockade of unilaterally sanctioned oil shipments. US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the raid on Satu»»»

PA Media/DPA London Erling Haaland scored two goals and made another as Manchester City underlined their growing Premier League title credentials with a comfortable 3-0 victory over West Ham on Saturday. The prolific Norwegian was on target after just five minutes of a one-sided encounter at the Et»»»