Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism has raised the readiness of Makkah’s hospitality sector to its highest level ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, stressing that serving pilgrims and visitors remains a top national priority. Makkah is preparing to receive worshippers and visitors amid a marked exp»»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe Iran, Russia to hold combined naval drill on Thursday 18-02-2026 10:16 AM Latest News Urgent News Israeli soldier killed in so-called frien»»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe Israeli soldier killed in so-called friendly fire incident in south Gaza: Israeli media 18-02-2026 10:38 AM Latest News Urgent News Israeli»»»

Damascus, Feb.18 (SANA) Finance Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh discussed priorities for technical support to public finances with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission on Tuesday, alongside talks with the UN Resident Coordinator on strengthening cooperation in recovery and development initia»»»

At today’s session of the Zhogorku Kenesh, deputies unanimously approved the appointments of three new Cabinet Ministers without holding a discussion or posing questions to the candidates. The approved appointments are: Earlier, on February 16, President Sadyr Japarov signed decrees dismissing the »»»

A man who tried to rob an Athens supermarket at gunpoint has been foiled, first by a cashier who routed him brandishing a pair of scissors and then by an off-duty policeman who gave chase and detained him, police said Wednesday. The attempted robbery in the Athens district of Tavros went awry from »»»

Dubai: After 20 years of discovering singing talent across India, Indian Idol, the iconic music reality show has finally packed its bags and gone international, and Gulf News was given exclusive access to it. The reality show cast and crew landed in Abu Dhabi earlier this week to film special episo»»»

Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said the process of merging the SDF with Syrian government forces “may take some time,” despite expressing confidence in the eventual success of the agreement. His remarks came after earlier comments in which he acknowledged differences with »»»

Jhajjar: A chartered accountant from Hisar has been arrested for the brutal killing of his 27-year-old wife, a bank employee whose body was found with her throat slit near Bahadurgarh in Haryana’s Jhajjar district. Police said the accused attempted to stage the crime as a robbery-cum-murder, but in»»»

Gale-force winds blowing across Greece have disrupted air and sea transport. Overnight, nine domestic and international flights to and from Thessaloniki were diverted to other airports because the wind was too strong for them to land safely. Later Wednesday the winds dropped but several flights wer»»»

Parliament will hear on February 19 representatives of Kozloduy NPP and the competent authorities regarding the emergency shutdowns of Unit 6 at the nuclear power plant, MPs decided on Wednesday with 107 votes in favour, 86 against and 14 abstentions. The proposal was put forward by MP Yordan Todor»»»

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would pursue a policy of "encouraging the migration" of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported Wednesday. "We will eliminate the idea of an Arab terror state," said Smotrich, speaking at an event o»»»

School bus driver Ali al-Dorr averts his gaze every time he passes the rubble of his son's home -- destroyed by an Israeli strike in south Lebanon despite a year-old ceasefire. Though his son managed to evacuate in time, the attack left notebooks, papers and furniture strewn among the debris of the»»»

Damascus, Feb. 18 (SANA) Syria’s Investment Authority met with representatives of the Syrian-British Business Council on Tuesday to discuss expanding cooperation and organizing a future investment forum aimed at attracting international companies. Talal Hilali, head of the Syrian Investment Authori»»»

Meteorologists predict rain in Bishkek during the second half of the week. February 19: Sunny. Nighttime temperatures around +7°C, daytime highs up to +24°C. February 20: Partly cloudy. Night +7°C, daytime +21°C. February 21: Rain expected. Night lows of +5°C, daytime highs up to +11°C. February 22»»»

Dubai: The UAE is set to add around 390,000 new homes by 2030, marking one of the largest residential expansion cycles in recent years, according to a new industry report. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.The first-ever Alpen GCC Real Estate 2026 report by Alpen Capital»»»

Iraqi Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declined at the last minute to attend a meeting of the pro-Iran Coordination Framework on Monday night that was aimed at settling the crisis over his nomination as prime minister. Instead of declaring that he was pulling out as candidate, as had been expe»»»

Almost half of Romania, including the Municipality of Bucharest, will come under Code Yellow warnings for cold weather, snowfall and strengthening winds starting Tuesday at 10:00, the National Meteorological Administration (ANM) announced.According to meteorologists, between 17 February, 10:00 and »»»

Bucharest will apply to host the Cities Forum 2027, an event of the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) of the European Commission.The event focuses on supporting EU cities, in particular through the urban dimension of Cohesion Policy.The General Council of Bucharest (CGMB)»»»

The number of employees in Bucharest reached, at the end of November 2025 1,113,044 people, dropping by 880 people (minus 0.08%) against the previous month, according to the data centralized by the National Institute for Statistics.Compared to the same period in 2024, the number of employees increa»»»

A number of 4,698,070 pensioners was registered in January 2026 in Romania, 1,489 fewer than in the previous month and the average pension was 2,779 lei, according to the data centralized by the National House for Public Pensions (CNPP).The total value of pension entitlements amounted to 13.055 bil»»»

Romania's population has declined by more than 4.16 million people over the past 35 years, with external migration accounting for 63% of the decrease and negative natural growth for 37%, according to an expert analysis published on Tuesday by the head of the National Institute of Statistics (INS), »»»

The Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), meeting on Tuesday, decided to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at 6.50% per year, the BNR informed in a press release.According to the cited source, the Board of Directors also decided to maintain the interest rate for the len»»»

The annual inflation rate will extend its slow drop in quarter 1, 2026, while in quarter 2 it will register an increase, on the background of influences coming from basic effects, and from the evolution of the quotation of goods and the eliminaton of VAT level for basic goods. Later on, the annual »»»

The state must encourage people to save for the retirement age and, therefore, I supported the European Commission's project on occupational and pan-European personal pension products (PEPP) at the ECOFIN meeting, Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare said on Tuesday."The future of Romanians' pensions »»»

The minister of defense, Radu Miruta, received on Monday a delegation of the Congress of the United States of America led by senator Jeanne Shaheen with whom he visited the Training Centre for F’16.’The main moment of the meeting was the visit to the F-16 Training Centre, inaugurated in 2023 at the»»»

The report from the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on the elections in Romania is "erroneous" and "partisan", Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen told a Monday's press conference in Bucharest."The report is an ideological, partisan document that no one is paying any attentio»»»

President Nicusor Dan on Tuesday said that economy has an increasingly important weight in international affairs, and Romania must stick to its international commitments, but at the same time pursue its national interest."Issues that seemed stable once and for all are being questioned. Obviously, t»»»

The meeting between President Nicusor Dan and the leaders of the governing coalition, which took place on Tuesday at Cotroceni Palace, has ended.The meeting was called for 3:00 p.m., a day after the coalition leaders established several budgetary measures.Furthermore, the meeting at Cotroceni Palac»»»

Romania's ambassadors to Lebanon, the Philippines and Turkey have been recalled to the country, the Presidential Administration announced on Tuesday.According to the cited source, President Nicusor Dan signed the decrees regarding:* the recall of Radu-Catalin Mardare from the capacity of Romania's »»»

Defense minister Radu Miruta, announced on Tuesday, that unless individual purchase programs proposed to be financed through SAFE Program are not signed before May 31 the money will be lost. “You should know those who inquire about SAFE are not very interested in supplying the Romanian Army, but in»»»

Deputy Prime Minister Catalin Predoiu, Minister of Internal Affairs, had a bilateral meeting in Washington on Tuesday with a delegation of the FBI leadership, consisting of the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kash Patel, the Deputy Director of the FBI, Christopher Raia, and the Ass»»»

President Nicusor Dan believes it is in Romania's interest to take part in the Board of Peace as an observer.The head of state told Radio Romania Actualitati that the organisation has a Charter already signed by member states, which contains provisions that conflict with international commitments u»»»

Sydyk Duishenbiev, nicknamed Pito, who is associated with the former leadership of the Department of the State Committee for National Security for Bishkek, has been placed in pretrial detention until April 15, 2026. According to the press service of Pervomaisky Court, Sydyk Duishenbiev is charged w»»»

The Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria parliamentary group has begun collecting signatures for the resignation of National Assembly Chair Raya Nazaryan, Continue the Change (CC) Chair Assen Vassilev said on Bulgarian National Television’s morning show on Wednesday. The reason, he added, is t»»»

Tunis, Feb. 18 (TAP) – The weather, on Wednesday, will be cloudy across most regions.Winds will blow from the south. They will be light to moderate from the south, gradually becoming fairly strong near the coasts, the National Institute of...»»»

On Feb. 18, 1979, snow fell in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the first known time. It fell a second time in 2016 and a third time in 2018. 1 of 7 | On February 18, 1979, snow fell in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the first known time. It fell a second time in 2016 and a thir»»»

Al-Bunyan Engineering Consulting Company reported last Monday (16 February) that over the past few months it had completed the first phase of a technical study assessing existing damage at the Zumurrud (Emerald) Shopping Mall Investment Project. The project is part of the Tripoli Gate (Bab Trabulus»»»

Damascus, Feb. 18 (SANA) Syria is seeking to expand economic ties with Uzbekistan in a move aimed at opening Central Asian markets to Syrian exports and attracting investment in key sectors as part of efforts to support the country’s economic recovery. A Syrian economic delegation visited Uzbekista»»»

This Ramadan, ibis Doha invites families, friends, and corporate groups to gather for a thoughtfully curated Iftar Buffet at Charlie’s Corner, a tradition that has become a familiar part of the city’s Ramadan dining scene over the past four years. Priced at QR99 per person, with children aged 4 to »»»

Thousands of Muslim worshipers performed the Isha and Tarawih prayers on Tuesday at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem, marking the first night of the holy month of Ramadan. According to local sources, thousands of Palestinian citizens managed to reach the Mosque despite Israeli restrictions »»»

This Ramadan, Marsa Malaz Kempinski, The Pearl–Doha invites guests to discover Sultana, A Royal Ramadan Experience, an opulent sanctuary where revered traditions are gracefully reinterpreted through contemporary sophistication, in harmony with the hotel’s distinguished identity as The Palace of Exp»»»

As the new moon is sighted and nights grow quieter, Ramadan gently unfolds as a season of reflection, connection, and shared rituals. This year, Hilton Salwa Beach Resort & Villas invites guests to experience Ramadan Under the Same Moon, a soulful journey where distance fades, time slows, and toget»»»

DOHA: His Highness the Amir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani sent a cable of congratulations to President of the Republic of The Gambia HE Adama Barrow, on the anniversary of his country's Independence Day.»»»

Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Search-and-rescue personnel working through dangerous weather conditions recovered six skiers who were stranded in Northern California's backcountry following an avalanche on Tuesday, according to authorities, who said rescue efforts were ongoing to locate nine more people unaccoun»»»

Dubai: Emirates Skywards is marking Ramadan with a major rewards campaign, giving members the chance to win a share of 2 million Skywards Miles. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.In a statement issued on February 18, a day after Ramadan was announced in the UAE, the loya»»»

Dubai: eNovate, a subsidiary of eFinance Investment Group, and Cobi, a UAE-headquartered AI-native customer intelligence platform, today announced the integration of Cobi’s AI-powered intelligence infrastructure across its digital payment ecosystem to redefine how young people across Egypt engage w»»»

Tunis, February 18, 2026 (TAP) – The National Agency of Energy Management (ANME) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) announced on Tuesday in Tunis their intention to jointly develop a project centered on a “just and sustainable...»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Next Generation School (TNG) marked its “Efforts for Excellence” team appreciation event, honouring the dedication and impact of educators, researchers, and team members who bring the school’s vision to life each day. The evening brought together distinguished guests from the Minis»»»

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde plans to leave her job before next year's French presidential election to allow Emmanuel Macron to have an input into picking her successor, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Lagarde's term is due to end in October 2027 but some fear that t»»»