From January to June 2026, the total gross construction output reached 208,745.1 billion soms, 1.7 times higher than the previous year. The level of fixed capital investment reached 204,427.9 billion soms, an increase of 1.6 times, data from the National Statistical Committee say. Internal and exte»»»

RIYADH: The Saudi Ports Authority, also known as Mawani, has announced the addition of the China Saudi Express shipping service, operated by Hizone Group, to Jeddah Islamic Port. The move is expected to enhance the competitiveness of Saudi ports on the global maritime transport map, support the smo»»»

DOHA: The volume of real estate trading in sales contracts at the Department of Real Estate Registration at the Ministry of Justice during the period from July 12 to 23 reached QR748,483,214. Meanwhile, the total sales contracts for residential units in the Real Estate Bulletin for the same period »»»

I’ve noticed a trend in food plating popping up everywhere lately - at the hottest new restaurants, in viral social media videos and in celebrated new cookbooks. It’s a layered approach where a creamy base, such as a bean dip or whipped feta or tofu, is first spread luxuriously onto a plate. It’s f»»»

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said it launched a ballistic missile strike on US-run Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan’s Azraq, destroying three American F-35 fighter jets and heavily damaging three others in retaliation for a US airstrike that killed three members of a family on Iran’s»»»

British energy regulator Ofgem on Wednesday proposed fees and stricter rules for AI data center developers to cull “unviable, stalled or speculative projects” that are taking up scarce grid capacity amid skyrocketing electricity demand. It comes as the UK moves to grow its cloud computing and artif»»»

Former US Coronavirus czar Dr. Anthony Fauci was hauled before Congress on Wednesday to testify on the origins of Covid-19. Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to silence, but RT kept the receipts. Fauci appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee,»»»

German auto giant BMW is planning to slash some 8,000 jobs globally by the end of 2027, according to several news media outlets, including Reuters and Bloomberg. German workers are expected to be particularly affected as the manufacturer is dealing with high production costs in Europe, as well as p»»»

The US military has warned troops in the Middle East against filming the aftermath of Iranian drone and missile attacks, with some personnel in Jordan reportedly told that their mobile phones could soon be confiscated to strengthen “operational security.” The head of US Central Command (CENTCOM), A»»»

Doha, Qatar: The volume of real estate trading in sales contracts at the Department of Real Estate Registration at the Ministry of Justice during the period from July 12 to 23, 2026, reached QAR 748,483,214. Meanwhile, the total sales contracts for residential units in the Real Estate Bulletin for »»»

By order of Prime Minister Rumen Radev, Andon Nenov has been appointed Deputy Chairman of the State Agency Technical Operations, taking over from Emil Todorov, who has been relieved of his duties, the government press office reported on Thursday. In May, Prime Minister Radev allocated the remits fo»»»

The blue-and-white Israeli flags flutter from hilltops and line the roads of the occupied West Bank, signaling the growing presence of Israeli settlements and the outposts they're building on Palestinian land. For shepherds in the Jordan Valley, as well as in Masafer Yatta, a cluster of villages in»»»

Madrid: Real Madrid defender Raul Asencio is set to miss the start of the La Liga season with a thigh injury. "He has been diagnosed with a muscle injury in the (thigh) of his right leg," said Madrid in a statement on Thursday. The 23-year-old centre-back will miss between four to six weeks accordi»»»

Approximately 25,000 spectators are expected at the UIM F1H2O World Championship round in Issyk-Kul region. Eduard Kubatov, head of the State Agency for Tourism Development of Kyrgyzstan, stated. According to him, all VIP tickets and tickets to the fan zones have already been sold out. Due to high »»»

PARIS: Soaring fuel prices due to the Mideast war have supercharged sales of electric cars in the second quarter, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday. Electric vehicle sales jumped 35 percent in the second quarter from the first three months of this year, hitting records in 50 countrie»»»

Milan, Italy: Prada said Wednesday that overall net income fell by 15 percent despite higher revenue, in what the luxury fashion company said was a "disrupted" macroeconomic environment. The Milan-based fashion house is still integrating its newest brand, Versace, amid a general slump in the luxury»»»

BELGRADE - UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan - one of the most prominent figures in world politics - arrived in Serbia on Thursday amid the Middle East crisis, which has hit his country, too. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic welcomed bin Zayed at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport. "I»»»

Because of the Danube’s exceptionally low water level, the Paks nuclear power plant could be taken completely offline on Thursday or Friday, Péter Magyar, the prime minister, said at a press conference in Budapest on Thursday. The government is also reviewing its rotational crisis plan, which could»»»

President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that Turkey is well-positioned to advocate for the framework agreement internationally and urge all parties to abide by its terms, as he visited the country to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other officials. Aoun said he thinks Turkey can su»»»

Bulgaria was among the European Union countries with the highest share of people unable to afford a one-week annual holiday away from home in 2025, according to data released by Eurostat on Thursday. In 2025, 39.1% of people in Bulgaria could not afford a one-week annual holiday away from home, pla»»»

The European Commission will issue a new assessment of Bulgaria under the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) in November, a Commission spokesperson said on Thursday in response to a question about the adoption of this country's 2026 State Budget Act. The National Assembly passed the 2026 State Budge»»»

The UAE’s decision to transition 50 per cent of government sectors, services and operations to agentic AI within two years marks a decisive shift in the technology conversation. This is a move beyond digital tools that respond to instructions. Agentic systems can interpret an objective, plan a sequ»»»

Presidents of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov and Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held one-on-one and expanded talks in Cholpon-Ata. One of the main outcomes of the meeting was the signing of the Treaty on Alliance Relations between the two countries. To implement the agreements reached, the parties are cre»»»

The 10th European Junior Olympiad in Informatics (EJOI 2026) was held in Kaunas, Lithuania, from July 24 to 30, 2026. Schoolchildren aged 15 and younger from 25 countries participated in the Olympiad. According to the Ministry of Education, Kyrgyzstan was represented by four students. Two of them w»»»

Frankfurt, Germany: German sportswear maker Adidas missed profit expectations on Thursday after it reported results weighed by the costs of World Cup marketing, putting its shares on track for their largest ever one-day decline. Core profit came in at 574 million euros ($657 million) for the three »»»

A joint research and development laboratory between Bulgaria's state-owned dairy company LB Bulgaricum and Japan's food manufacturer Meiji Corporation will be completed by the end of the year, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said during a meeting with representatives of Meiji, as reported by the governm»»»

Strikes launched by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia against Iran-allied fighters in Iraq have put Iraq's government in a delicate position — and not for the first time. Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, Iraq has walked a tightrope between Washington and Tehran, seeking to avoid becoming a battleground fo»»»

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday that three of its members were killed in an attack by the United States on the northwestern province of Zanjan. "In the brutal attack carried out by the terrorist regime of the criminal United States on 30 July 2026, three brave and devoted members of th»»»

Jordan's air defenses shot down five missiles launched from Iran Thursday morning, the country's state-run Petra news agency said, hours after the U.S. military announced it had completed "a heavy wave of strikes against Iran" in response to an earlier Iranian missile attack on a U.S. base in Jorda»»»

Israeli occupation forces targeted the southern countryside of Quneitra on Thursday with artillery shelling, Syria’s state media reported. The occupation forces fired three artillery shells at the area surrounding Tal al-Ahmar Al-Sharqi in the southern countryside of Quneitra, causing no casualties»»»

The number of checkpoints on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek state border will be increased from 15 to 30. The President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov announced during talks with Uzbekistan’s leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev, which are taking place at Rukh-Ordo Cultural Center in Issyk-Kul region. According to the head of»»»

Athens, Greece: Hundreds of firefighters on Thursday battled to contain a wildfire on the Greek island of Crete that forced thousands of evacuations after killing two firemen. The fire south of the city of Rethymno, in the island's southwest, had forced officials to evacuate some 8,000 people overn»»»

TEHRAN (Sputnik) - Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Thursday that it had struck the US's Al Azraq base in Jordan and destroyed three F-35 aircraft and several military personnel in response to US attacks. Earlier in the day, the US Central Command said that they US military h»»»

Members of the press gather Thursday outside the Aeon Mall in Kashima, scene of an onging search and rescue operation after an explosion shortly after Tuesday's earthquake caused the already damaged complex to partially collapse. Photo by Rodrigo Reyes Marin/EPA July 30 (UPI) -- The death toll on t»»»

LONDON: An attack on an Israeli broadcaster over its coverage of the abuse of Palestinian detainees has been condemned by the Committee to Protect Journalists. On Monday evening, a masked individual smashed the glass doors of the Channel 12 News building in Tel Aviv and left a note that contained a»»»

Commenting on the results, stc group CEO Olayan bin Mohammed Alwetaid affirmed that the financial results demonstrated strong financial and operational performance, alongside continued progress in executing the group’s strategic priorities. This sustained progress reflects the strength of the group»»»

The United States is facing a critical shortfall in its premier ballistic missile interceptors, with Patriot and THAAD stockpiles dwindling to dangerously low levels following sustained combat operations against Iran, according to a sobering new assessment from the Center for Strategic and Internat»»»

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov awarded President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev the Order of Manas, 1st Class. The ceremony took place on July 30 at Rukh Ordo Cultural Center in Issyk-Kul region as part of the Uzbek leader’s state visit to the country. Shavkat Mirziyoyev was awarded Kyrgyz»»»

Construction of a 6.4-kilometer-long bypass road is underway in Balykchy. Work began in April 2026, the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Kyrgyzstan reported. The new road will be four-lane. The project includes three roundabouts, a bridge over the railway, 12 culverts, a 4.5-meter-wide b»»»

Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Adylbek Kasymaliev has appointed two Deputy Ministers of Energy. According to the Ministry of Energy, Beknur Maratbekov and Mirlan Parkhanov have been appointed deputy heads of the ministry. Beknur Maratbekov graduated from the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavi»»»

Paris, France: A Singapore-based organisation announced Thursday it will develop an Ebola vaccine dubbed the "most promising" to fight back against a deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nearly 1,500 people have died in the conflict-wracked African country from the Bundibugyo strain»»»

BELGRADE - Through intensive diplomatic activities, Serbia has succeeded in winning over key European partners on the Kosovo-Metohija issue, says Serbian FM Marko Djuric, noting that unilateral actions and violence by the Albin Kurti regime have been met with condemnation from the international com»»»

Parliament has adopted, at second reading on Thursday, amendments to the Activities of Collective Investment Schemes and Other Undertakings for Collective Investment Act, which also amend the Public Procurement Act. MPs decided that, by 30 November, every contracting authority must draw up and publ»»»

Judge Vasil Pelovski of the Varna Administrative Court and Prosecutor Marinela Toteva of the Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office are the first nominees from the judges' and prosecutors' quotas, respectively, for the new composition of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the Council said on Thursda»»»

London: Record-breaking heatwaves in May and June led to an estimated 2,877 excess deaths in England, the UK Health Security Agency said Wednesday. The provisional figure is almost double the total for the whole of the summer in 2025, which was 1,504, and represents "a substantial public health imp»»»

Dubai: Middle East airlines are slowly climbing out of the hole left by the Iran conflict, new figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show, even as global air travel demand fell for a third straight month in June. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balance»»»

DOHA: The State of Qatar has condemned in the strongest terms the renewal of aggression by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the territories of both the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the State of Kuwait. It considered them a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the two states and the integ»»»

Belgrade: UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in Belgrade on a working visit to the Republic of Serbia. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić welcomed His Highness upon arrival at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News a»»»

DUBAI: Following the departure of Eddie Howe as Newcastle United’s manager, online reports are claiming that he could be replaced at the English Premier League club by Al-Ahli’s German coach Matthias Jaissle. Jaissle has led the Jeddah club to back-to-back AFC Champions League Elite titles in the l»»»

HANOI: The US ‌Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington arrived in Vietnam’s Danang on Thursday for a five-day visit, the latest sign of growing ties between Washington and Hanoi. The port call comes nearly three years after the United States and Vietnam upgraded relations to a»»»