ADMAF bridges Emirati heritage with international artistic platforms Abu Dhabi-Ihab Darwish walked the miles of his initial careers with one dream, to bring his original compositions to life through a full symphony orchestra. He wanted to prove an Emirati composer could contribute a distinctive voi»»»

Reversal on the Russia sanctions comes in after a controversial deal with Putin President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday that waived sweeping US sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia's energy revenues after signing them into law last month. The Lindsey Graham Act -- named after the »»»

Full-time employees’ average gross earnings were HUF 740,600 and average net earnings reached HUF 519,900 in August 2026. Average gross earnings grew by 8.4%, net average earnings increased by 10.0% and real earnings were 8.6% higher than a year earlier. The increase in net average earnings exceede»»»

TOKYO: Japan has registered a record number of foreigners living in the country this year despite growing anti-immigration sentiment, as the country grapples with problems caused by an aging and shrinking population. Data showed 4.28 million foreigners staying in Japan as of the end of June, exclud»»»

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday that waived sweeping US sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia’s energy revenues after signing them into law last month. The Lindsey Graham Act — named after the deceased US senator who sponsored the bill — allowed Trump the author»»»

JAZAN: Jazan’s distinctive climate and fertile landscapes continue to make the region a cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s food production, supporting a wide range of tropical fruits, cereals, oilseeds and vegetables across its coastal plains and mountain terraces. Marking World Food Day on Oct. 16, the»»»

Convective clouds to bring rain to eastern areas today, with fog possible overnight in UAE Abu Dhabi: The UAE could see rainfall in eastern areas on Saturday afternoon, October 17, with humid conditions overnight bringing a chance of fog or mist in some coastal and inland areas, according to the Na»»»

Beijing: The number of outdoor sports participants in China exceeds 500 million, with the total scale of the outdoor sports industry reaching approximately 3.17 trillion yuan (about 450 billion U.S. dollars), according to the China Outdoor Sports Industry Development Report (2025-2026), released at»»»

Indian ambassador to the UAE will inaugurate the two-day event Dr Deepak Mittal, Ambassador of India to the UAE, will inaugurate Gulf News Edufair Abu Dhabi today, as the two-day event opens at Radisson Blu Hotel & Resort Abu Dhabi. The event brings together more than 20 universities, education pro»»»

Vladimir Zelensky has emerged from the EU summit in Brussels with fresh promises of support but no deal on the additional €70 billion ($79 billion) he is demanding for Ukraine. Instead, European leaders tasked the European Commission with finding ways to meet Kiev’s growing financial needs, leaving»»»

Bangladeshi mum and son were inseparable, daughter says in tribute after Al Ain cremation Abu Dhabi: Anushua Biswas, a young Bangladeshi expat, has opened up about her mother and brother, who were killed in a car crash in the capital on Monday night, and spoken of her father’s escape, which family »»»

Islamabad: Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed the government’s commitment to modernizing Pakistan’s agricultural and food sectors through scientific innovation, digital technologies. In a message marking World Food Day, observed annually on Oct. 16, Sharif said climate chan»»»

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Friday blamed the involvement of “foreign hands” for escalating protests, which he said are aimed at hindering Albania's bid to join the European Union. Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Albania's capital since Tuesday, demanding Rama’s resi»»»

SOFIA, Bulgaria: A string of drone attacks on at least seven cargo vessels in the Black Sea this month, off the coasts of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria, has some members of the alliance wondering if Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking escalation to test their support for Ukraine in its »»»

ISLAMABAD: When 7-year-old Rumaisa Khan set off for school on Thursday she was wearing a ​brand-new pair of shoes her father had just bought for her. Within hours she was dead, one of 34 students killed when the roof of her school collapsed in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. “I had got»»»

UNITED ​NATIONS: An informal poll by the United Nations Security Council on Friday placed former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan as the narrow frontrunner in the race to become the 10th UN secretary-general, two people close to the process said. But there was no clear winner as all candi»»»

Addis Ababa: The Ethiopian government has established a six-month caretaker administration in the conflict-affected Tigray region. In a statement issued Friday, the Office of the Prime Minister said the caretaker administration will assume a range of responsibilities, including restoring peace and »»»

Idlib, Oct. 16 (SANA) Pomegranate farmers in Darkush, a town in northwestern Idlib province near the Syrian-Turkish border, are struggling to market an expected strong harvest as rising production and transport costs, weak prices and a lack of export outlets squeeze their income. Darkush lies in a »»»

Singapore: The State of Qatar, represented by the National Cyber Security Agency (NCSA), participated in the 11th Singapore International Cyber Week, held from 12 to 15 October 2026. The Qatari delegation was headed by NCSA Director General Ahmed Mohammed Al-Mutawa Al Hammadi, who took part in a hi»»»

Brussels: The State of Qatar, under leadership of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, has attached great importance to its strategic relationship with the EU and continued to pursue diplomatic initiatives to support peace and stability, HE Shura Council Speaker Hassan bin Abdullah Al Ghani»»»

Bangkok: Minister of Finance HE Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari met with Minister of Finance of the Syrian Arab Republic HE Mohammad Yisr Barnieh, on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group in Bangkok, Kingdom of Thailand. The meeting reviewed »»»

KYIV: Russian attacks on nine regions of Ukraine knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of households and wounded at least 15 people, officials said Friday, as a new report showed that civilian casualties from Russia’s invasion have climbed steeply. The latest aerial strikes on civilian targets»»»

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Israeli settlers on Friday attacked an American photojournalist working for The Washington Post while she was covering violence against Palestinian olive farmers in the occupied West Bank. Heidi Levine, a veteran photographer, was taken to hospital in Ramallah fol»»»

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Friday announced the appointment of an interim administration to prepare elections in the northern Tigray region previously controlled by the Tigray People's Liberation Front that has clashed with government forces since September. The recent conflict rev»»»

TIRANA: Protesters clashed with police in Albania’s capital for the fourth day Friday as Prime Minister Edi Rama blamed “foreign hands” for mounting unrest. Police used tear gas and water cannons while protesters hurled stones at security forces, burning garbage bins to block roads across the city.»»»

An online movement against rising fuel prices has gained momentum ahead of planned nationwide demonstrations on October 17 with former Yellow Vest figures set to join the protests in support of high-school students. Some are drawing parallels between the latest action and the 2018 cost-of-living pr»»»

As transatlantic relations confront renewed geopolitical uncertainty, former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves delivers a pointed assessment of Washington's shifting approach to Russia's war on Ukraine and the profound implications for European security. At the heart of his analysis lies a fu»»»

In India, the Cockroach movement felt the crushing boot of the state this week. Thousands of Gen Z protesters were rounded up and detained in sports stadiums and community halls turned into makeshift detention centres, while the movement’s founder, Abhijeet Dipke, was arrested on arrival. A mass de»»»

Damascus, Oct. 16 (SANA) Syria and the International Monetary Fund discussed expanding technical assistance to improve tax administration, public spending and budget planning, the Finance Ministry said on Friday. Finance Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh met with senior officials from the IMF’s Public»»»

LONDON: More than 340 children in Gaza have been killed and hundreds injured since the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was announced on Oct. 10, 2026, the UN Children’s Fund, also known as UNICEF, said on Friday. For those families “mourning the loss of their children, those terrible s»»»

LONDON: The renewed offensive by the Houthi militia in Yemen has raised fresh concerns about the fate of a cultural heritage already battered by more than a decade of war, destruction and looting. The impact of the latest fighting on archaeological sites and museum collections remains to be establi»»»

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has called for stricter border controls and the swift return of irregular migrants, backing a tough proposal during heated talks between EU leaders in Brussels. Prime Minister Péter Magyar has backed tougher European measures against irregular migration, arguin»»»

Strategic partnership hinges on reciprocal obligations and sustained cooperation. Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC), affirmed that Gulf and European security can no longer be treated as separate issues, stressing that the strategic partnership between the Gulf Cooperation »»»

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani reaffirmed his country’s continued support for Lebanon following talks with President Joseph Aoun, highlighting bilateral cooperation, energy projects and regional security developments. Speak»»»

RIYADH: Adel Al-Jubeir, minister of state for foreign affairs, climate envoy, and commissioner general of Expo 2030 Riyadh, met Micheal Smith, Ireland’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh on Friday. He also met the Danish and Finnish ambassadors, Merete Juhl and Jukka Pajarinen, later the same d»»»

Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen attacked Spanish leader Pedro Sánchez on migration during a summit debate in Brussels on Friday (16 October). Frederiksen, who despite leading a centre-left party has taken an increasingly hard line on migration, criticised Sánchez for granting renewable one-»»»

Bangkok, Oct. 16 (SANA) Finance Minister Mohamed Yisr Barnieh and Italian Economy and Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti discussed strengthening financial cooperation, resolving Syria’s outstanding arrears to Italy and exploring debt-for-investment arrangements on the sidelines of the IMF and Wor»»»

WASHINGTON: White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was pushed out Friday after less than a week in the high-profile job, following a series of blunders that added to distractions for her embattled boss President Donald Trump. “Can confirm,” a White House official told AFP, after Fox News report»»»

DARAA: More than 33,400 homes in Syria’s Daraa province were completely destroyed and more than 60,000 others damaged during military campaigns by the deposed regime, according to a report by the Ministry of Local Administration and Environment and UN-Habitat. The damage affected more than 95,000 h»»»

October: Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani affirmed the State of Qatar's continued support for the Republic of Lebanon and solidarity with the Lebanese people amid the difficult circumstances facing the region, underscoring Qatar's»»»

BRUSSELS: French President Emmanuel Macron took a swipe at Marine Le Pen Friday, telling the far-right leader, who is the frontrunner in an upcoming presidential election, to “stay humble.” Without naming her directly, Macron criticized recent moves by Le Pen, who laid out plans to cut France’s aid»»»

HARRISBURG: At least eight states are suing artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, saying the company’s popular chatbot model violated state consumer protection laws by hurting children and deceiving adults in what prosecutors described as a reckless pursuit of profit. The company’s chatbot model, C»»»

The President must act as a balancer, serving as a check on the government and supporting it when it performs well, but speaking out firmly and clearly when the parliamentary majority makes wrong decisions, presidential candidate Andrey Gurov said at a campaign meeting in Pleven Friday. "I hear our»»»

WASHINGTON: A White House official said Friday that Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was leaving her role after just a few days on the job, following a lackluster press briefing performance and scrutiny over her resume. President Donald Trump has fired Katie Zacharia as press secretary, advisers to t»»»

Bangkok: Vice President for the Economy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela HE Calixto Ortega Sánchez met with Minister of Finance HE Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group held in Bangkok, Kingdom of Th»»»

Famous for its cowboy culture, Wyoming is the least populated, the most rural and the most conservative of all the US states. With two weeks to go until the midterm elections, our reporters James André and Sylvain Rousseau travelled across this Republican stronghold and found that the par»»»

No casualties as Indian crew survives tanker incidents in two regions All 24 Indian seafarers aboard two vessels involved in separate incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and Romania are safe, with no casualties or injuries reported, India’s Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal sa»»»

Liverpool defender Milos Kerkez has been removed from a controversial Ukrainian blacklist, weeks after an incident involving the Hungarian international sparked outrage. Milos Kerkez, the Hungarian international footballer currently playing for Liverpool, has been removed from the Ukrainian Myrotvo»»»

Trump suggests Zacharia may step down after harsh coverage President Donald Trump signalled that his embattled new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, may be on her way out - a mere week after he picked her for the post. Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn as he left for a rally in Georgia, »»»