Police units across Attica have been coordinating operations through mobile phones in recent days after the encrypted Tetra Sepura communication system at the Athens Police Operations Center went offline. Multiple sources confirmed that officers responsible for directing units are often forced to r»»»

Air defense systems were activated in parts of Tehran on Thursday evening amid reports of hostile aerial activity, Iranian state media said in the first such reports since a ceasefire began. The IRNA state news agency said the "sound of air defense firing" was heard in western Tehran, while the Meh»»»

PARIS: Italy has played down suggestions that its national team could replace Iran at the World Cup, following reports that an envoy to US President Donald Trump had asked FIFA to consider the move. US special envoy Paolo Zampolli told the Financial Times it would be a “dream” to see four-time Worl»»»

1 of 2 | Two trains collided between Hilleroed and Kagerup at Isteroedvejen, Denmark, Thursday morning. At least 19 are injured. Photo by Steven Knap/EPA April 23 (UPI) -- Two passenger trains crashed head-on in Denmark on Thursday leaving 18 injured, five of them critically, law enforcement offici»»»

As US-brokered direct talks between Lebanon and Israel unfold in Washington, Congress is stepping up pressure of a different kind, pushing the Lebanese army to act on pledges to disarm Hezbollah or face a freeze in annual US military aid. Senior congressional sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Repub»»»

A 16-year-old boy accused in a traffic accident on Liosion Street in Athens that seriously injured another 16-year-old was ordered held in custody on Thursday. In his testimony, the teenager reportedly accepted responsibility, saying he fled the scene after realizing he did not have a driving licen»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Lebanese government will not sign any agreement with Israel as part of negotiations unless it includes a "full withdrawal" of the Israeli troops from its territory, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. "We cannot live with a so»»»

OSLO: The Iran war is having a devastating humanitarian impact globally with ​higher energy prices making everything from filling the tank of an aid lorry to paying employees and buying food for displaced people costlier, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council said on Thursday.The NRC is one of »»»

Tonight's second round of preparatory direct talks between Lebanon and Israel will be held at the White House instead of the State Department, Lebanese TV networks said. The meeting is scheduled for 11:00 pm Beirut time (8:00 pm GMT). MTV and Al-Arabiya later reported that U.S. President Donald Tru»»»

LONDON: Coventry City chairman Doug King ‌is unconcerned about the prospect that Frank Lampard, the manager who led the club back to the Premier League after 25 years, may leave in the close season, with reports linking the coach with a return to Chelsea. Lampard spent 13 years at Chelsea as a play»»»

Accra, Ghana: Newly-appointed Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz said Thursday that leading the Black Stars at the 2026 World Cup will be "the biggest challenge" of his career. The arrival of the veteran Portuguese coach, who oversaw Iran at the 2022 World Cup and also spent a season at Real Madrid, has sp»»»

Dubai: Iran’s decision-making core has undergone a quiet but profound transformation, with real power shifting away from clerics to a hardened network of military commanders, according to a detailed report by The New York Times. At the centre of this shift is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamen»»»

London, United Kingdom: Anonymised medical data of half a million members of UK health database Biobank was temporarily listed for sale on a popular Chinese website, the government said on Thursday. Data minister Ian Murray told parliament that the breach involved the information of all 500,000 Bio»»»

More than 500 hectares of state forest land will be re-designated in order to build a parking area near the Zemen Monastery. This decision was made by municipal councilors at a meeting held on Thursday, the Chair of the Zemen Municipal Council, Iva Borisova, told BTA. Mayor Mihail Zlatanov submitte»»»

The US is not setting any deadlines for concluding the war against Iran, President Donald Trump has said. The remarks contrast with Trump’s earlier claim, made shortly after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, that the fighting would last “four to five weeks.” He also repeate»»»

Landlords across London and the south-east of the UK have been illegally advertising properties exclusively for Muslim tenants, in an apparent breach of Britain’s equality laws, according to an investigation published by The Telegraph on Wednesday. Listings on Facebook and Telegram posted across mu»»»

Berlin: The sad saga of a humpback whale stranded a month ago on the German coast has sparked a flood of compassion but also a media frenzy, angry spats, conspiracy theories and death threats. As Germans have followed the travails of the sea mammal, dubbed "Timmy" by a newspaper, on their live news»»»

GENEVA: An Iranian government spokesperson says the men’s national team are preparing for “proud and successful participation” in their World Cup games in the United States. Iran’s ability and willingness to go to the World Cup across north America starting June 11 has been unclear since the US and»»»

Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approved the merger with Paramount Skydance Thursday morning. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo April 23 (UPI) -- Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted to give their preliminary blessing to the long-debated merger with Paramount Skydance Wednesday »»»

A C-230 Overkill (Striker)) one-way attack drone is on display during a press tour in Taichung, Taiwan, on Tuesday. Thunder Tiger Corp. is a Taiwanese company that designs and manufactures defense-oriented unmanned vehicles, including UAVs, unmanned surface vessels, underwater ROVs and all-terrain »»»

The spa centre with mineralized water at the Grand Hotel Veliko Tarnovo spans 2,000 sq. m. The renovated hotel has once again become an attractive site for congress tourism, international events, team-building activities, and individual visits. Construction of the hotel began in 1967 and finished i»»»

Italian officials have rebuked a US proposal for their national football team to replace Iran at the upcoming FIFA World Cup. Italy lost the chance to participate at the World Cup for a third successive time after a humiliating penalty shootout defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a playoff last mon»»»

RIYADH: A pact between a Saudi Arabia university and Japanese space exploration company has raised hopes of using the Kingdom’s expertise in oil and gas infrastructure for a lunar economy. Dr. Julien-Alexandre Lamamy, CEO of ispace-Europe, told Arab News recently that the company envisages tangible»»»

The abrupt departure of US Navy Secretary John Phelan has come at a particularly sensitive moment — with American naval forces deeply engaged in operations linked to the Iran conflict and a fragile ceasefire still holding. The Pentagon announced that Phelan was leaving “effective immediately,” offe»»»

Lebanon's leaders accused Israel on Thursday of committing a war crime, after an airstrike killed a Lebanese journalist in the country's south, with the Israeli army saying it was reviewing the incident. Rescuers and the reporter's employer on Wednesday confirmed the death of Amal Khalil, a 42-year»»»

ANKARA: Turkiye is making efforts to revive negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and bring together the leaders of the warring sides, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in a meeting in Ankara, the Turkish presidency said on Wednesday. Earlier on Wednesday, Ky»»»

The United Nations said Thursday it was "working on" maintaining a presence in Lebanon once the mandate for its UNIFIL peacekeeping force expires at the end of the year. "In terms of the post-UNIFIL, we're currently in the process of working on these options," said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the U.N. Und»»»

Frankfurt, Germany: Elon Musk's automotive and robotics company Tesla said Thursday that it would hire more than 1,000 people in Germany, a rare bright spot in the country's struggling auto industry. A thousand employees will be added at Tesla's factory outside Berlin by the end of June, a company »»»

BERLIN: The son of the ‌former Shah appealed to Western countries to join the war against Iran and criticised the decision of the German government not to meet him during his visit to Berlin on Thursday. Reza Pahlavi, whose father was deposed in the revolution that brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomei»»»

Johannesburg, South Africa: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday suspended the national police chief implicated in a $20 million health tender scandal that has rocked the country and drawn in other officers. National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola is accused of flouting procurem»»»

Paris, France: Bernard Arnault, chief executive of the world's biggest luxury conglomerate LVMH, brushed off speculation of his retirement on Thursday, telling shareholders that "we'll talk about all this again in seven to eight years". The 77-year-old founder of the French group whose brands inclu»»»

MALABO, Equatorial Guinea: Pope Leo XIV wrapped up his African odyssey on Thursday with a final Mass in Equatorial Guinea, bringing to an end one of the newsiest papal trips in the history of popes on the road, thanks to his extraordinary back-and-forth with President Donald Trump. A powerful rains»»»

BEIRUT: Lebanon will formally urge Israel to immediately halt attacks on journalists and paramedics during US-sponsored talks in Washington, a day after an Israeli strike killed a Lebanese reporter and wounded another in southern Lebanon. An official source told Arab News that the demand was added »»»

The Pentagon blasted as cherry picking and false on Thursday a news report saying that the department assessed it could take six months to completely clear the Strait of Hormuz of Iranian-laid mines. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the Pentagon shared the six-month estimate during a »»»

Senate Republican Leader John Thune, R-S.D., helped the Senate pass a bill to begin the budget reconciliation process early Thursday Morning. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo April 23 (UPI) -- Senate Republicans were up all night voting, eventually adopting a budget reconciliation pack»»»

SPA Hotel Devin aims to turn the Rhodope area into a leader in health tourism by continuing its balneotherapy traditions, the hotel manager Dzheylyan Kokalova told BTA. Even before the mass development of tourism, the area was known as a natural sanatorium for respiratory problems, bone diseases, a»»»

NOVI SAD, Serbia (Sputnik) - Russia's response to the latest round of EU sanctions will follow a careful review of its contents, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Sputnik on Thursday. European Union countries adopted the 20th round of sanctions against Russia on Thursday. "Our »»»

Voting in two of India’s most politically significant states — West Bengal and Tamil Nadu — saw exceptionally high turnout on Thursday, signalling strong voter engagement despite a contentious campaign backdrop. According to Election Commission (EC) estimates, West Bengal recorded 89.93 per cent po»»»

DHAKA: Bangladesh has recorded 194 child deaths due to measles in an outbreak that began last month, while the number of suspected child cases has exceeded 28,000, government data showed on Thursday. Between three and five children have died from the disease every day for the past week. Five childr»»»

Since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria on 8 December 2024, the country’s border with Lebanon has been subject to an unprecedented mobilisation, with Damascus ramping things up in recent weeks by sending heavy reinforcements to the frontier to confront Hezbollah’s smuggling operations. Under As»»»

Dubai: As Eid Al Adha approaches, residents across the UAE are looking forward to celebrating the festival with renewed appreciation for family, faith, and togetherness. For many, this year’s occasion carries deeper meaning, with more focus on reflection, gratitude, and a strong sense of community.»»»

ISLAMABAD (Sputnik) - Iran still considers Pakistan as the preferred mediator in the negotiations with the United States, an Iranian diplomatic source told Sputnik. "Iran continues to consider Islamabad as the preferred and reliable mediator in the negotiations between Iran and the United States," »»»

Located on a 1,200 sq. m. area, the spa centre at Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko offers a wide range of treatments performed by professionals, manager of Kempinski The Spa Kostadinka Vishanina told BTA. Hotel guests and visitors to the spa centre are attracted by the high level of services, in »»»

RIYADH: The Saudi Theater and Performing Arts Commission launched the Ebrahim Al-Kazi Chair of Research at the Saudi Center for Research and Knowledge Intercommunication, supported by the Ministry of Culture. “The Commission announces the launch of the Ebrahim Al-Kazi Research Chair, who serves as »»»

Amsterdam: A picture of an Ecuadoran family separated when US immigration agents arrested the father following a court hearing won the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year Award on Thursday. The photo, taken by Carol Guzy of the ZUMA Press agency and iWitness for the Miami Herald, shows the moment Im»»»

Saudi Arabia’s debt market is set for a strategic shift in early 2027, following J.P. Morgan’s announcement that local-currency bonds will be included in its global emerging markets bond index. The move represents a vote of confidence in the Kingdom’s structural reforms and is expected to open the »»»

Dhaka: Bangladesh has recorded 194 child deaths due to measles in an outbreak that began last month, while the number of suspected child cases has exceeded 28,000, government data showed on Thursday. Between three and five children have died from the disease every day for the past week. Five childr»»»

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s president and prime minister accused Israel on Thursday of a war crime, after an airstrike killed a Lebanese journalist in the country’s south, where Israeli forces occupy several areas. Rescuers and the reporter’s employer on Wednesday confirmed the death of Amal Khalil, a 42-yea»»»

Lebanon's president and prime minister accused Israel on Thursday of a war crime, after an airstrike killed a Lebanese journalist in the country's south, where Israeli forces occupy several areas. Rescuers and the reporter's employer on Wednesday confirmed the death of Amal Khalil, a 42-year-old jo»»»

US Navy Secretary John C. Phelan has stepped down in an abrupt move announced by the Pentagon without any public explanation or indication that his exit was linked to the naval blockade of Iran. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that Phelan was “departing the administration” at on»»»