Pope Leo XIV on Friday begins a four-day visit to France, where the Catholic Church's views on abortion and euthanasia run counter to the values of a secular country that recently enshrined abortion in its constitution and gave final approval to a bill establishing the right to assisted dying.»»»

Thousands marched across France on Sunday against a bill that would presume police officers acted lawfully when using their weapons, a measure critics have denounced as a "licence to kill". Thousands of people marched in Paris and other French cities on Sunday against a proposed law on the legitima»»»

Damascus, Sept. 21 (SANA) Rising energy costs and supply disruptions are putting pressure on fuel markets, production sectors and household budgets worldwide, with Syria also affected as it faces a gap between domestic demand and available refining capacity. The global energy market has been affect»»»

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its eastern coast on Sunday, South Korea’s military said. This came days after Pyongyang reaffirmed its status as a nuclear-armed state and rejected a UN resolution calling for an end to its nuclear activities. North Korea fired »»»

Roadshow brings waqf lessons to Abu Dhabi’s youth and community hubs Abu Dhabi: Schools, universities and community councils across Abu Dhabi are about to get a lesson in endowments, also known as waqf in Arabic. The Abu Dhabi authority Awqaf Abu Dhabi has launched a roadshow to boost public unders»»»

Tokyo: China's 13-year-old swimming sensation Yu Zidi smashed another Asian Games record for her second gold in as many days on Monday, two years out from the Los Angeles Olympics. Yu gave another glimpse of her enormous potential in Tokyo as she scorched to victory in the women's 200m individual m»»»

Prime Minister Rumen Radev called for increased US investment in Bulgaria’s high-tech sectors, including artificial intelligence, data centers, robotics, mechatronics and semiconductors, during a meeting with the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria. Radev said the government’s work has a direc»»»

Prime Minister Rumen Radev said the government has removed the oligarchy from political power but stressed that dismantling the broader oligarchic model remains a difficult battle that is far from over. Radev made the remarks while opening a business breakfast with government representatives organi»»»

The initiative committees supporting presidential candidate Iliyana Yotova and candidate Andrey Gyurov submitted their registration documents for the upcoming election to the Central Election Commission simultaneously. Yotova was not present at the registration because she is due to address the UN »»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe Al-Manar correspondent in southern Lebanon reports Israeli air strikes in Wadi Al-Hjeir, Deir Seryan and Wadi Al-Slouqi 21-09-2026 14:10 PM»»»

The State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Kyrgyzstan has disrupted a transnational drug trafficking route used to smuggle Afghan hashish along the Afghanistan—Tajikistan—Kyrgyzstan route, the SCNS said. Two Kyrgyz nationals — M.D.N., 44, and N.A.K., 55 — were detained on suspicion of invo»»»

Hungary’s reduced VAT rate on most new homes is set to expire at the end of 2026, potentially bringing the standard 27% rate back into play from January. In theory, the Hungary new home VAT 2027 change could add almost 21% to the gross price of an affected property if developers passed the entire t»»»

Three US news outlets President Donald Trump banned from the White House — CNN, MS NOW, and Politico — are filing a critical First Amendment lawsuit to restore their access. The emergency request is set to go before a federal judge in the DC District Court and could result in hearings and legal arg»»»

The administration of Bulgaria’s National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings received 38 reports during the first six months of 2026. A total of 60 people were identified or informally recognized as victims in connection with these reports, including 17 children. For all of 2025, »»»

Party ejected from a state legislature for first time in eight-decade history Berlin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz faced a struggle to stabilise his position and keep his agenda on track Monday after voters inflicted two more defeats on his party, ejecting it from a state legislature for the fi»»»

Timur Ibragimov was elected the new President of the Judo Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic. His candidacy was supported by 108 delegates during a conference, the sports organization reported. In his speech, the new president thanked the delegates for their trust and noted that he views the new pos»»»

Competition came back larger in scale and tougher in format The second edition of the School of Cyber Defense competition reached its final at GISEC GLOBAL 2026, bringing the strongest student cybersecurity teams in the UAE to Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo City. Building on its 2025 debut, the comp»»»

Investigator Boyko Atanasov of the Sofia City Prosecution Office Investigation Department has put forward his candidacy for election as a member of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) from the investigators' quota, the SJC said. Atanasov said his work to date as an independent magistrate morally obl»»»

U.S. President Donald Trump has changed his strategy on Yemen several times, The New York Times reported, torn between Saudi pressure to strike the Iran-backed Houthis and the risk of opening another front in the Middle East war. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement has staged a lightning offensive »»»

On Monday, diesel has reached €2 per liter at some gas stations in Bulgaria. Maya Manolova, chairwoman of the Commission for Consumer Protection (CPCoo), said the commission would launch inspections to determine whether recent fuel price increases are economically justified. The price increases com»»»

Wizz Air launched its new direct Sofia-Berlin route on September 20, the airline said, with flights operating year-round four times a week. The new service runs on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, with fares starting at €31.99. Tickets are available through wizzair.com and the airline's mo»»»

Scientists from the Tyumen State Medical University (TyumSMU) of Russia’s Ministry of Health have developed a new method for assessing potential metabolic disorder risks by analyzing daily fluctuations in wrist temperature. The researchers found that a smaller variation in wrist temperature is asso»»»

In this edition, FRANCE 24’s François Picard speaks to investigative journalist Emanuel Maiberg, Co-founder of 404 Media. As we embark on AI's uncharted waters, Maiberg has made a most unexpected discovery: the mass acquisition, dismemberment and scanning of rare books for use as training data. His»»»

Insider warnings, hacking scares during tests and a US-China race have split the industry and Washington. It began with a resignation. Earlier this month, Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon quit, warning AI could kill us all by the end of the decade; colleague Evan Hubinger put the odds above 10 perc»»»

US President Donald Trump has signed into law a sweeping expansion of sanctions against Russia, giving Washington new powers to target Moscow as well as major buyers of Russian energy. The legislation authorizes tariffs of up to 100% on goods from certain countries purchasing Russian oil and gas, w»»»

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah questioned the President’s ability to succeed after creating what he termed a "deep rift" with a significant segment of the Lebanese public. Fadlallah accused President Joseph Aoun of breaking core commitments he made to Hezbollah before his election. Fadlallah s»»»

Geneva: Switzerland will have to play their next four Nations League matches without captain Granit Xhaka, who admitted Monday to having used a forged Covid vaccine certificate during the pandemic. The 33-year-old midfielder admitted on his social media channels Monday that he had presented a forge»»»

NIS - The Serbia men's national tennis team beat Lithuania 4-0 in a Davis Cup World Group I tie in Nis at the weekend to secure a berth in the qualifications for the Davis Cup 2027 final tournament. On Saturday, Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic beat Edas Butvilas 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 in the first singles match,»»»

Reporters from the three major news organisations were blocked from the White House Washington: CNN, MS NOW and Politico said Monday they’ve notified President Donald Trump’s administration that they’re filing a lawsuit over being denied White House access. Reporters from the three major news organ»»»

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has invited the country’s justice institutions to a joint consultation meeting on magistrates’ salaries, scheduled for September 28 at 12:30 p.m. at the Prime Minister’s Office. According to the invitation, the meeting will launch an inter-institutional dialogue on »»»

European Parliament lawmaker Isabel Wiseler-Lima has raised concerns over the non-lifting of Belinda Balluku’s immunity during the 22nd meeting of the EU-Albania Parliamentary Stabilisation and Association Committee in Tirana. Wiseler-Lima praised Albania’s Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPAK), notin»»»

President Vladimir Putin’s ruling United Russia party has strengthened its grip on parliament in the Russia election 2026, securing nearly 58% of the vote and remaining on course for a constitutional majority in the State Duma. For Hungary, the result does not immediately change bilateral relations»»»

Romania could enter a period in which energy, fiscal, economic, climate and social vulnerabilities reinforce one another, with around 12 potential crisis scenarios emerging over the next year, according to an analysis by the Intelligent Energy Association (AEI). The risks identified by AEI include »»»

Dublin: Ireland's data protection watchdog, acting on behalf of the European Union, said Monday that it had fined Google 403 million euros ($462 million) for improperly using users' location data. The technology giant infringed the EU's General Data Protection Regulation between May 2018 and Februa»»»

Flagship Saudi film event delayed as organisers cite logistical issues The star-studded Red Sea International Film Festival won't take place this year as planned. The sixth edition has been pushed back to the fourth quarter of 2027. In a statement shared on its official Instagram account, the Found»»»

Institute apologises for earlier statement as protests intensify Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch has taken over the investigation into the death of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode as the institute suspended a senior professor from his deanship and apologised for its earlier account of the circumsta»»»

The LUNAR light festival in Sofia was attended by more than 85,000 residents and visitors from September 17 to 20, Sofia Municipality said on Monday. During the festival, seven artists and studios from six countries presented works created for the architecture and scale of central Sofia under the t»»»

Inspectors from the Border Control Directorate of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) detained more than two tonnes of yogurt originating from the Republic of North Macedonia during an official control inspection at the Gyueshevo border crossing, the Agency said. During an inspection of a truck»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia does not threaten any state in Europe, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday. On Europe and NATO"Russia does not threaten France or any state in Europe. Russian President Putin has repeatedly said this," Peskov told reporters. Russia has no disputes with European »»»

A senior Polish Foreign Ministry official has been critically injured after falling from a third-floor window at a building located within the country’s embassy compound in Slovenia, local media have reported. The incident occurred at around 3 AM on September 13 but only came to light several days »»»

Dublin: Ireland's data protection watchdog, acting on behalf of the European Union, said Monday that it had fined Google 403 million euros ($462 million) for breaching users' location data. The technology giant infringed the EU's General Data Protection Regulation on the matter between May 2018 and»»»

NEW YORK: Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZ) participated in the Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg: UNGA Special Edition 2026, co-hosting a dedicated Business Lounge with Invest Qatar and Qatar Financial Center for key stakeholders from Qatar's investment ecosystem. In a statement, QFZ said »»»

Nearly 40 percent of fuel and lubricants’ prices are covered by state subsidies. First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, Daniyar Amangeldiev, said at a meeting of the Zhogorku Kenesh Committee on Industrial Policy, Transport, Fuel and Energy Complex, Architecture and Constr»»»

The free concert has been postponed following a 10-day mourning period in Dubai Dubai K-Fest will not go ahead this weekend, the festival's organisers have confirmed, following the announcement of an official mourning period in Dubai. The free opening concert headlined by K-pop soloist Kwon Eunbi a»»»

Bulgarian Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva has submitted an opinion to the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Ivan Shishkov, proposing amendments to Ordinance No. 4 of 2004 aimed at strengthening consumer protection in water and sewerage services, the Ombudsman’s press office said on Mo»»»

Islamabad, Pakistan: Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's party said on Monday that his three sisters had been arrested. "Punjab police have raided Aleem Khan's home and have abducted Imran Khan's other two sisters, his nephews and their children," Zulfi Bukhari, a spokesman for Khan's Pakis»»»

Row over reserved lounger erupts into chaos as victim collapses and later dies Dubai: An 82-year-old man has died after an argument over a sunlounger descended into a violent fight at a popular beach near Athens, according to media reports. The confrontation happened on Sunday at Vouliagmeni beach,»»»

Baghdad, Sept. 21 (SANA) Iraq’s Oil Ministry said Monday that the country’s crude oil exports averaged about 2.6 million barrels per day in September. In a statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), the ministry responded to media reports claiming that Iraqi crude exports had reached 4 milli»»»

Amman, Sept. 21 (SANA) An Arab regional conference on supporting development and investment in Syria opened Monday in Jordan’s capital Amman, bringing together banking officials, financial institutions and investors to discuss economic cooperation, investment opportunities and the role of the finan»»»

A man suspected of fraud involving $17,000 has been detained in Alamedin district, the press service of the Main Internal Affairs Department of Chui region reported. According to police, in August 2025, the suspect, identified as K.E., gained the victim’s trust and promised to help secure the relea»»»