The debt of the Sofia heating utility, Toplofikatsiya, to public gas supplier Bulgargaz and the Bulgarian Energy Holding, which exceeds EUR 1.2 billion, is pushing the state-owned gas supplier toward insolvency, Energy Minister Iva Petrova said in an interview with Nova TV on Friday. She called on »»»

By the end of this year, the Bulgarian Naval Forces will have another minehunter, said Rear Admiral Kiril Mihaylov, Commander of the Bulgarian Naval Forces, in his address to the people attending the official awards ceremony for military personnel and civilians here on Friday. He specified that, un»»»

1 of 2 | Declining water levels due to climate change and more than 20 years of ongoing drought have reshaped Lake Mead's shorelines as seen in this file photo on Nov. 16, 2022. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The water level in the United States' largest reservoir, Lak»»»

KOCHI, India: As the sun set over Kochi’s historic Jew Town neighborhood, Keith Hallegua donned a gray kippah and began a solitary walk to the synagogue at the end of his cobbled street. It was Shavuot, the Jewish holiday commemorating God giving the Torah to Moses. Hallegua reached the 458-year-ol»»»

Proposals for structural reforms will be presented for broad public discussion, Health Minister Katya Ivkova said, as quoted by the Ministry's press centre on Friday. These are not final decisions, but proposals for structural reforms aimed at creating an administration that is more accountable to »»»

Tunis, August 7 (TAP) - A partnership agreement to implement a project aimed at restoring degraded Aleppo pine ecosystems in Kasserine governorate, with funding worth S$2.48 million provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), was signed by...»»»

Ljubljana: Qatar's under-20 national football team defeated Austria's Kapfenberger 7-0 in a friendly match on Friday as part of their ongoing training camp in Slovenia. The camp forms part of Qatar's preparations for the AFC U-20 Asian Cup Qualifiers, scheduled to be held from Aug. 25 to Sept. 6, w»»»

BEIT EL, West Bank: Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich faces a fight for political survival in elections in October after angering his fellow West Bank settlers by voting not to ​punish ultra-Orthodox Jews who refuse to serve in the military. The political travails of Smotrich are»»»

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and her attorney, Abbe Lowell, leave the U.S. Supreme Court, which blocked President Donald Trump's attempt to remove her from the independent central bank. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Aug. 7 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump is once again trying t»»»

LONDON: The United States announced sanctions on Friday targeting crypto exchanges and shadow banking networks used by Iran to launder billions of dollars. The announcements were the latest effort by Washington to squeeze Iran’s finances with its “Economic Fury” campaign, which was launched alongsi»»»

LONDON: The World Bank on Friday approved a $100 million grant to help the Syrian Arab Republic build a modern, secure and digitally enabled financial sector. The grant from the International Development Association will finance the Syria Financial Sector Modernization Project, which aims to make t»»»

LONDON: Sujood Faroun, 29, a mother of two young children, suffered cardiac arrest in late July as an ambulance rushed her toward a hospital in Ramallah. But at the edge of her hometown of Sinjil, the ambulance encountered a closed Israeli army gate guarded by soldiers. Her husband pleaded for help»»»

The UN's World Food Programme is finalizing a five-year renewal of its contract with US data software firm Palantir despite “key privacy concerns” raised in a leaked 2025 internal audit. The audit, seen by PassBlue and FRANCE 24, reveals UN misgivings about allowing Palantir to process data for the»»»

A federal appeals court on Friday ordered US President Donald Trump’s administration to stop construction of its $400 million ballroom on the site of the White House's demolished East Wing. The court added that a president cannot fundamentally reshape the White House without congressional»»»

MALANG: Indonesian authorities battled Friday to contain a wildfire that has swept through Mount Bromo National Park on Java island, destroying more than 120 hectares as the country braces itself for an extreme El Nino-fueled dry season. The fire started Monday near Mount Bromo in East Java, one of»»»

Poland’s office development pipeline has fallen to historic lows, with less than 200,000 sq. m of new space expected annually in 2026-2027, compared with 700,000 sq. m completed in 2020. Despite the slowdown, the commercial real estate market remains active. Office investment reached EUR 549 mln in»»»

Przemysław Wieczorek has been appointed president of PURO Hotels and CEO of Puro Hotell Holding, effective from the beginning of August. The management change comes as the Polish hotel chain prepares for its first international openings. Wieczorek, who has been involved with PURO since its launch, »»»

Friday’s session on the Warsaw Stock Exchange was marked by clear weakness among most companies in the WIG20 index. Modivo recorded the steepest decline, with its shares falling 7.78% to PLN 91.50. Other major losers included Orlen (-2.38%), Grupa Kęty (-1.62%), Pekao (-1.56%), Tauron (-1.56%) and »»»

Poland’s registered unemployment rate rose slightly to 5.9% in July from 5.8% in June, according to estimates from the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy. At the end of the month, 907,300 unemployed people were registered with labor offices, up 5,800, or 0.6%, from June and 76,500, or 9.2%»»»

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran uses a sprawling network of corporate entities to obscure the origin of the funds and launder money to benefit the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, leading to sanctions. File Photo by Graeme Sloan/UPI | License Photo Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The Trump administrat»»»

WASHINGTON: The US is ‌temporarily restricting travel for certain passengers who recently visited Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an effort to reduce the risk of Ebola transmission. The measures are a part of US public health protocols for travelers arriving from a»»»

LONDON: The morning after Israeli settlers descended on Khirbet Al-Tuba, a small shepherding community in the Masafer Yatta area of the occupied West Bank, the silence was broken only by the crunch of ash underfoot. Three homes had been reduced to blackened shells and several defaced with Hebrew gr»»»

Damascus, Aug. 7 (SANA) The Syrian Arab Republic on Friday strongly condemned attacks carried out by the Houthi militia against civilian infrastructure in the Najran region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, saying the assault, which injured several civilians, constituted a flagrant violation of the K»»»

The Plovdiv District Court has left in custody five teenagers arrested in connection with the killing of a 37-year-old man in the city on August 4. The judges explained their decision by the particularly cruel nature of the crime. The hearing was held behind closed doors. A total of 10 teenagers ag»»»

The material completion of the Turkish government’s 503-kilometre (313-mile)  Ankara to Izmir high-speed rail project stands at just 24%, daily Birgun has reported. Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) broke ground on the ambitious project in 2013. Back then, the transport minis»»»

DOHA: The State of Qatar has welcomed the release of 15 detainees by the Congolese authorities and the facilitation by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) of their transfer and handover to the Congo River Alliance/March 23 Movement (AFC/M23) on August 6 and 7, under the mechanism fo»»»

NEW YORK CITY: Repeated rejections by Israeli authorities of requests to bring engine oil into Gaza threaten to shut down critical operations at hospitals, water-pumping stations and bakeries, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned. Even though overall aid deliveries in»»»

HONG KONG: A wondergoal from Luis Diaz powered a youthful Bayern Munich to a 2-1 win over Aston Villa in a pre-season friendly in Hong Kong on Friday. Diaz starred in Colombia’s run to the World Cup last-16 and the winger lit up a sometimes scrappy game between last season’s German double-winners a»»»

KIGALI: Rwanda and some European nations are holding migration talks, Kigali’s spokesperson said Friday, a week after dramatic scenes of thousands crossing the Morocco-Spain border reignited the migration debate in Europe. In June European lawmakers approved tougher migration rules, notably enablin»»»

Spain will introduce temporary border checks on travellers from Italy in response to Rome imposing similar measures after a mass migrant rush into Ceuta, the interior ministry said on Friday. The checks, which come "amid the persistent irregular migration pressure" facing Italy, will start at midni»»»

The U.S. Senate passed a bill on Friday that imposes new sanctions on Iran and on Russia for its war with Ukraine. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., cosponsored the bill with late Sen. Lindsey Graham. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Senate passed a bill on Fri»»»

Daniel Gordiano Valenzuela transferred the funds from drug sales in the united States to Mexico through cryptocurrency and wire transfers, the U.S. Justice Department said. Photo by https://kaboompics.compexels Aug. 7 (UPI) -- A Mexican national pleaded guilty in the United States to participating »»»

Joan’s Bakery in Al Shatea has a relaxed atmosphere that is ideal for a quiet coffee break or catching up with friends. Located just a short drive from the Jeddah Corniche, the place offers a range of freshly baked goods, specialty coffee, smoothies and other cold drinks. The bakery built its name »»»

US President Donald Trump should curb his “theater diplomacy” as it will not work with Iran, Tehran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has said. Trump announced on Saturday that he had called off a planned attack on Iran, which, according to him, would have been on a scale “not seen since »»»

In his Lagos studio, Nigerian artist Emmanuel Olatunde is transforming the way portraits are painted, using clay sourced from the earth beneath his feet. The 39-year-old artist has developed a unique technique that turns natural clay into paint, using his background in science and his passion for a»»»

Chinese automakers are rapidly expanding in Poland, accounting for a record 15.5% of new passenger car registrations in July 2026, up from 14.9% in June. BYD nearly tripled registrations in the first seven months of the year to 6,600, while MG and Omoda remained the largest Chinese brands by volume»»»

Makkah: Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia HH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud met in Makkah on Friday with President of Turkiye HE Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Both sides reviewed aspects of bilateral relations and ways to strengthen them in addition to key regional developme»»»

Winegrowers in France are harvesting their grapes unusually early this season because of the effects of climate change. While the rising global temperatures offer a new chance for winemakers in northern and Scandinavian countries, experts say it’s too early to expect a drastic shift in the viticult»»»

Water levels on the Danube River, the second longest in Europe, have dropped so low due to drought and extreme heat over the summer that the hulls of dozens of German warships from World War II are emerging into view and the remains of an ancient mammoth were uncovered in Romania. In Germany, fishi»»»

A passenger was arrested after allegedly trying to open the emergency exit door of a Batik Air flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kochi while the aircraft was in the air, police said. The incident took place on Batik Air flight OD231 on Wednesday night. The aircraft landed safely at Cochin International A»»»

BERLIN: Chancellor Friedrich Merz convened Germany’s national security council Friday to discuss an explosive-laden drone found near a Ukrainian cargo plane and the mid-air collision of another aircraft with an unidentified object this week. While Germany has not blamed anyone for the incident at L»»»

GENEVA: WHO vaccine experts on Friday recommended a full-scale human trial of the only existing approved Ebola vaccine to see if it offers cross-protection against the strain spreading in the DR Congo. The Ervebo vaccine has proven safe and efficacious against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola »»»

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's General Intelligence chief Khalid Al-Humaidan visited Baghdad on Friday for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi on regional security and bilateral cooperation. During the meeting, Al-Humaidan conveyed a message from the Saudi leadership renewing an invitation for Al-»»»

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has signed a 20-year, $3.1bn concession agreement with Nigerian technology company Bergmans Security Consultants and Supplies Limited to modernise customs administration across Africa. The agreement, signed in Abuja on August 6, will supp»»»

One of our quirkier rituals is to write every year about why Russians view August as some sort of cursed month and to highlight what could happen this year. Or, to paraphrase (ex US Secretary of Defence) Donald Rumsfeld, the “known knowns” and, possibly, the “known unknowns”. But, of course, it is »»»

Russia's Sber is launching crypto trading infrastructure against the backdrop of tightening Western sanctions. Meanwhile, a recently enacted crypto bill is making crypto settlements legal for Russian companies involved in export and import transactions, while making it more difficult for regular ci»»»

Russia has destroyed more than half of the Kyiv region's pre-war warehouse capacity since its full-scale invasion began, after strikes overnight on August 5 hit 10 warehouse facilities totalling about 100,000 square metres, according to Ukrainian real estate analysts cited by Ukraine Business News.»»»

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US would be shooting itself in the foot with its new bill on secondary sanctions against Russia, Republican Senator Rand Paul said in an article published on Friday. Earlier in the day, the Senate voted 86-11 to pass the bill spearheaded by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (w»»»

1 of 2 | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sign a trilateral defense agreement in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Friday. Photo by Turkish Presidency/UPI | License Photo Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Officials from Turkey, Saudi Ara»»»

An appeals court on Friday upheld an order halting work on Donald Trump's prized White House ballroom, setting up another battle in the Supreme Court over the limits of presidential authority. The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, which had allowed construction to continue while it considered»»»