Geneva: The State of Qatar reaffirmed the importance of enhancing women's participation in peace and security efforts, stressing that women are a fundamental pillar in achieving sustainable peace and building more stable and prosperous societies. This came in a statement delivered by HE Permanent R»»»

DUBAI: On March 6, at the height of the US-Iran war, President Donald Trump delivered an ultimatum to Tehran. “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,” he declared, signalling confidence that overwhelming military pressure would force Iran to capitulate. More than three mont»»»

Israeli police have clashed with Haredi Jews who blocked a major highway near Tel Aviv in protest over the arrest of a draft dodger from the ultra-Orthodox community. Dozens of protesters blocked traffic in both directions on Route 4 east of Tel Aviv early on Wednesday, sitting on the road and craw»»»

Russia came under the largest attack from Ukrainian drones in two years with an oil refinery in the Moscow struck for the second time this week. File photo courtesy EMERCOM of Russia Press Service/EPA-EFE June 18 (UPI) -- Russia came under the largest attack from Ukrainian drones in two years early»»»

Dubai: For Lumia Khan, the UAE is not a place she moved to, it is the only home she has ever truly known. The Pakistani expat and founder and CEO of Furrari Events and Marketing has spent all 40 years of her life in the Emirates. Her father first moved to the UAE more than 50 years ago, becoming pa»»»

The Ministry of Education and Science has prepared the budget for 2026 according to the instructions of the Ministry of Finance, the Minister of Education and Science, Prof. Dr. Georgi Valchev, told journalists on Thursday. He attended an event of the "Az-buki" National Publishing House which offic»»»

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov spoke at the opening of the Issyk-Kul Forum, which is taking place from June 18 to 22. In his speech, he recalled how 40 years ago, the prominent Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov took the initiative to gather world thinkers to discuss the problems of humanity and»»»

RIYADH: The Gulf Cooperation Council economy is forecast to rebound 8.1 percent in 2027 after contracting 2.4 percent in 2026, as regional energy exports, tourism and investor confidence gradually normalize following conflict-related disruptions, a new analysis showed. The forecast, published by th»»»

Abu Dhabi: Hamad Al Kaabi, Director-General of the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), visited the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant to review the authority's oversight activities and assess the operational status of the facility. During the visit, Al Kaabi received updates on the operation »»»

Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MoHESR) has launched an updated version of its registration and admissions platform, Edu Hub, aimed at making the university application process easier and more efficient for students across the UAE. The platform, developed in col»»»

Although the US-Iran deal brings hope to Lebanon, reactions remain mixed. Lebanon may be mentioned in the first paragraph, it is not included in the $300 billion reconstruction fund despite the south of the country having been totally destroyed, and Israeli strikes have not stopped. FRANCE 24's Ren»»»

PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, June 18: An Israeli paper slams the US's deal with Iran as a "catastrophic capitulation". While Trump sees the US as the big winner, the press says Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz shows that it has set a new status quo. Also, EU leaders scramble to find anti-C»»»

Dubai: Meet Vega and Kuda. Two specially trained dogs are preparing for a journey from London to Zimbabwe — not as pets, but as part of a conservation mission to help track poachers and protect endangered wildlife. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.Emirates SkyCargo anno»»»

According to European Commission data, 4.6 billion low-value parcels entered EU member states in 2024 alone, with 91% originating from China. Starting July 1, 2026, this exemption will be abolished. A flat 3 euro fee will apply to shipments from third countries valued at up to 150 euro, for each ca»»»

Revolut, the fintech company with over 70 million customers globally, has appointed Wiktor Stopa to lead the Growth and Marketing Department for Central and Eastern Europe. Wiktor is also responsible for coordinating the same types of activities in Western Europe. BR sat down with him to ask him ab»»»

An Israeli drone strike in south Lebanon killed two people on Thursday, hours after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war, including in Lebanon. The strike targeted a car in Kfartebnit, near the Israeli-declared 'yellow line'. "An enemy drone targeted a car" in t»»»

Israel is holding negotiations with the United States as it seeks to maintain its troop deployment in southern Lebanon, media reports said, as the U.S. and Iran signed a deal to end the war including in Lebanon, although Israel and Hezbollah aren't parties to the agreement. Iran insists Israel must»»»

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s main trait is his mercifulness, RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has said. Simonyan was asked to expand on the Russian leader’s personality during an extensive interview with Zhang Weiwei, a professor of international relations at Fudan University and host of»»»

Sharjah's Roads and Transport Authority (SRTA) will implement temporary traffic diversions at the Imran Bin Taryam and Ahmed Bin Hadid roundabouts from Sunday as work begins on a project to convert the two roundabouts into signal-controlled intersections. The authority said the changes form part of»»»

The Ministry of Education and Science has prepared the budget for 2026 according to the instructions of the Ministry of Finance, the Minister of Education and Science, Prof. Dr. Georgi Valchev, told journalists on Thursday. He attended an event of the "Az-buki" National Publishing House which offic»»»

The Hungarian government announced a series of significant policy decisions during Thursday’s government press briefing, ranging from the release of European Union funds and urban development projects in Budapest to major reforms affecting law enforcement, the military and public asset protection. »»»

Keir Starmer isn’t on the ballot, but the U.K. prime minister’s future is on the line in a special election on June 18. Voters in the Makerfield district of northwest England are electing a new lawmaker. The leading contender is Andy Burnham, the current Labour mayor of Greater Manchester and the f»»»

Bulgaria is positioning itself in the middle tier of NATO defense spending rankings, with 2025 data showing the country allocating 2.05% of its GDP to defense, a level that matches France and slightly exceeds Italy. The figures place Sofia within what analysts describe as the Alliance’s “golden mea»»»

The pro-Russian “Revival” party has called for the expulsion of Ukrainian Ambassador Olesya Ilashchuk, demanding that she be declared persona non grata in connection with the so-called “Baba Alino” case. Speaking from the parliamentary podium, MP Kosta Stoyanov argued that the case goes far beyond »»»

The United States’ war against Iran represents a more serious strategic setback than the Vietnam War, contending that it directly damaged core US interests and weakened Washington’s position on the global stage, a Foreign Policy analyst has reported. Writing in Foreign Policy, Paul Musgrave, an ass»»»

DUBAI: Filipino conjoined twins Olivia and Gianna Manuel were successfully separated on Thursday as surgeons completed a major stage of a complex operation under Saudi Arabia’s Conjoined Twins Program. The twins, who were born joined at the chest and abdomen, were separated during the procedure, wh»»»

A new poultry farm Kirovets has been opened in Kyrgyzstan. It can produce up to 180,000 eggs per day and will create 25 new jobs. The poultry farm is part of the Tri T breeding poultry farm. According to the company, together with its other production facilities, it meets approximately 16.5 percent»»»

Uzbekistan is an unusual case in the Islamic world. Its population of nearly 40mn is overwhelmingly Muslim — around 90% — yet the country has operated since independence as a resolutely secular state, with a conventional western-style banking system inherited from the Soviet era. Islamic finance ha»»»

The solemn naming ceremony, including raising the Russian flag, took place in Russia's Far Eastern town of Bolshoy Kamen. The Konstantin Posyet will be able to transport liquified natural gas year-round along the Northern Sea Route, including its eastern sector.Due to its optimized design and effic»»»

Bulgarian surgeons at the Queen Ioanna - ISUL Hospital in Sofia have performed the country's first small-intestine transplant reconstruction of the cervical esophagus, preserving speech and swallowing in a patient with advanced cancer. The surgery lasted more than 10 hours and was performed on a 58»»»

BELGRADE - After a retrial, the Higher Court in Belgrade on Thursday handed prison sentences to the parents a teenage boy who killed nine pupils and a security staff member and wounded six more people in a shooting spree in his primary school in central Belgrade on May 3, 2023. His father Vladimir »»»

Doha, Qatar: Qatar Airways Group has restored its network to 85 percent of pre-crisis levels and created two new executive roles to sharpen its operations and deepen its focus on customers. The milestone was reached with the launch of the airline's summer 2026 schedule this week, which sees more th»»»

The political and strategic decisions adopted at NATO and European Union level mark the beginning of a new economic cycle for the defence industry. The accelerated increase in military budgets, the adoption of unprecedented investment targets, and the pressure on existing production capacities are »»»

In the first 11 matches out of the 33 scheduled for the 2026 women’s T20 World Cup, there have been several surprises, coupled with strong expressions of intent by Australia, India, and England. Margins for error are fine in T20 cricket and New Zealand illustrated that in abundance against the West»»»

Dubai: The UAE has become the latest nation to ban children under 15 from social media, following strict new under-16 restrictions in the UK and Australia. Driven by rising concerns over cyberbullying, mental health, and online predators, a growing wave of global governments are shifting away from »»»

Prime Minister Rumen Radev said Thursday that Bulgaria won't allow sanctions against Russia, that harm the Bulgarian economy. "We won't allow sanctions against Russia, that impact negatively the Bulgarian economy," he told reporters ahead of the opening of a national meeting of local and central ex»»»

Almost all Bulgarian administrative structures are experiencing a decline in their administrative capacity, according to the results of the National Survey of the Administrative Capacity of the State Administration for 2025, presented at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) on Thursd»»»

Parliament on Thursday adopted at second reading amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) introducing judicial review of 72-hour detention orders issued by prosecutors. The new provision is set to enter into force one month after its promulgation in the State Gazette. The amendments also req»»»

Due to the introduction of «Carpet» plan in Moscow, flight schedule between Kyrgyzstan and Russia has been changed. The press service of Airports of Kyrgyzstan OJSC reported. According to it, Aviatrafic flight YK883 en route from Bishkek to Moscow has been diverted to an alternate airfield in Nizhn»»»

A chilling mystery that haunted New York for more than a decade has finally reached a definitive end. On June 17, a Long Island architect was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a horrifying string of serial killings. The "Gilgo Killer" targeted young women mostly in their 20s, who worke»»»

Russian air defenses managed to intercept and destroy 4 Ukrainian Flamingo long-range cruise missiles, as well as 3 HIMARS rockets, 10 guided bombs and 992 drones, Russia's Defense Ministry said. Meanwhile in the Ukrainian conflict zone:Units of Russia's Yug Battlegroup liberated the settlement of »»»

The solution enables the rapid alerting of certified Red Cross volunteers located nearby, transforming a residential management application into an active community safety tool. Developed by Realtynno in partnership with Cosmopolis and the Romanian Red Cross, the new feature expands the role of res»»»

No single topic dominates Thursday's news media. ECONOMY Speaking on Nova TV's morning show, former economy minister Nikolay Vassilev criticized the government, arguing that it had failed to present any meaningful ideas for the budget. He said annual spending needed to be reduced by some EUR 6 bill»»»

RIYADH: Saudi Minister of Justice Walid Al-Samaani has said that the new enforcement system, approved by the Cabinet in April, is built on a balanced philosophy that preserves the creditor’s right to obtain their due while taking into account the fundamental rights of the debtor and their family. A»»»

Romania has recorded its sharpest decline in recent years in the 2026 World Competitiveness Yearbook, published on Thursday by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Agerpres reports. Compared with the previous edition, Romania fell 12 places to 61st out of 70 eco»»»

Smoke rose over Moscow Thursday morning after Ukraine launched its largest drone attack in years, hitting the Moscow oil refinery and sparking fires in and around the capital. The attack on the oil refinery was a "justified response" to Russian strikes in Ukraine, said President Volodymyr Zelensky.»»»

European Council in Brussels opens amid expectations that Bulgaria’s new Prime Minister Rumen Radev could play a more assertive role in shaping EU debates on Ukraine, the budget and foreign policy, Politico reports. Radev, formerly president, is now attending his first European Council summit as he»»»

Amazon UAE’s Prime Day returns from June 24-30, kicking off summer with millions of exclusive deals for Prime members on www.amazon.ae/primeday. This year’s event brings together deep discounts across more than 30 product categories from top local and international brands, in addition to deals on t»»»

Bulgaria's municipalities are calling for a gradual transfer of financial powers from the central government to local authorities, arguing that fiscal decentralization is essential for regional development and more effective public administration. Speaking at the opening of the National Meeting of »»»