INNUMBERS: *240 bcm Syria’s estimated natural gas reserves in 2015. *8.7 bcm Annual gas output at the start of the civil war in 2011. *3 bcm Annual production by late 2024. Source: BP ANAN TELLO LONDON: Syria’s battered energy sector faces a daunting challenge after nearly 14 years of war, sanction»»»

MANILA: The Philippines has been reclassified by the World Bank as an upper-middle income country — a target it has been trying to achieve since the 1980s — after posting a record gross national income per capita of $4,850. The upper-middle income, or UMIC, rank is the World Bank’s category for eco»»»

WARSAW: A Warsaw court has upheld criminal charges against Poland’s former justice minister, opening up the potential for his extradition from the United States, prosecutors confirmed to AFP Thursday. Zbigniew Ziobro — who served as justice minister and public prosecutor general between 2015 and 20»»»

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged up to €200mn ($228mn) in grants for connectivity projects in the South Caucasus during a visit to Baku on July 1, as Azerbaijan and Armenia move towards a peace agreement that both leaders described as having already changed conditions on t»»»

Thursday's media coverage was dominated by disputes over the draft State Budget for 2026, fiscal policy, and public spending, with politicians, economists, and government representatives clashing over deficits, expenditure priorities, and the sustainability of public finances. STATE BUDGET In an in»»»

Eurozone inflation eased further in June, falling to 2.8% from 3.2% in May, according to preliminary Eurostat data. The reading came in below market expectations of 3.0% and marked the lowest level since March. In Bulgaria, annual harmonized inflation also declined, dropping to 5.3% from 6.3% in th»»»

The CIA is declassifying a new trove of documents relating to its ‘MKUltra’ program, Representative Anna Paulina Luna said on Tuesday. Nazi scientists were involved in the agency’s mind-control experiments. Last month, Luna ordered CIA Director John Ratcliffe to preserve 40 boxes of “JFK files and »»»

Russians are concerned above all with a swift end to "military action," German Gref, chief executive of Russia's largest state-controlled lender Sberbank, said, state media RBC reported on July 1. The remarks are notable given how rarely senior Russian executives comment publicly on the war in»»»

BusinessNorth AmericaUS declines to renew USMCA trade pact with Mexico, CanadaWesley Rahn with AFP, AP, dpa, ReutersLengthy negotiations are expected as the Trump administration seeks changes to a trade deal with Mexico and Canada that has streamlined supply chains across North America. https://p.d»»»

The death toll from Venezuela's twin earthquakes rose to 2,295 an official said on Wednesday as interim president Delcy Rodriguez declared seven days of mourning for the victims. Hope of finding more survivors faded Wednesday as Venezuela marked a week since twin earthquakes killed almost 2,30»»»

France's Green Party has said it will launch a no-confidence motion against Sébastien Lecornu's government over its handling of a late-June heatwave that caused at least 1,000 excess deaths according to the public health agency. French Green party ⁠lawmakers have announced plans ​to file a no-confi»»»

Pariah no longer, since the war in Ukraine started, Russian and Chinese money has poured into Pyongyang, fuelling a rapid economic development and unexpected real estate boom in a country better known for repression and poverty. Decades of sanctions, international isolation and chronic shortages le»»»

Tourists from Chattanooga check into beach resorts in Cancun. Canadian auto parts feed factories in the American Midwest – and vice versa. Happy Hour revelers raise glasses of Mexican tequila and mezcal at bars in Seattle. It adds up. The United States trades $1.9 trillion a year -- $5 billion a da»»»

PARIS: France on Wednesday launched new paid leave for both mothers and fathers, as President Emmanuel Macron seeks to boost the country’s sluggish birth rate. In 2024, Macron unveiled a plan to combat infertility and the declining birth rate, saying it would help pave the way toward what he descri»»»

János Hajdu, once the personal bodyguard of former prime minister Viktor Orbán and later head of Hungary’s Counter Terrorism Centre (TEK), is said by witnesses to have remained in constant contact with Orbán during the operation against a Ukrainian “gold convoy”. Hajdu stands accused of unlawfully »»»

Qatar’s Prime Minister has reaffirmed Doha’s commitment to mediating talks between Washington and Tehran, as senior US envoys including President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner arrived in the Qatari capital for high-stakes diplomatic discussions. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s »»»

Joining the eurozone could improve housing affordability in Poland mainly by lowering mortgage costs, according to Damian Tomasik, CEO of Alter Investment. He argues that the key issue is not only apartment prices, but monthly loan payments. Polish mortgage rates are currently around 5-6%, compared»»»

WASHINGTON: Spain march into their World ‌Cup last-32 clash against Austria on the back of an unbeaten run of 34 matches, a defense yet to be breached and an old question still nagging away — what happens when all that possession runs into a locked door? Luis de la Fuente’s European champions face »»»

VILNIUS: Estonia has released images showing machine guns and sandbags mounted on a Russian-flagged liquefied natural gas carrier in the Baltic Sea this spring, signalling a more confrontational stance by Moscow in protecting its civilian fleet. The surveillance images show fortified machine gun po»»»

Washington: In a major blow to President Donald Trump, the US Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down his executive order seeking to limit birthright citizenship, ruling that the Constitution guarantees American citizenship to children born in the United States regardless of their parents' immigration»»»

BEIRUT: A security deal between Israel and Lebanon risks entrenching a stalemate rather than resolving Israel’s underlying conflict with Hezbollah by tying Israel’s pullout from southern Lebanon to the Iran-aligned group’s disarmament, a condition regional analysts and politicians say is unattainab»»»

MEXICO CITY: Altitude may have helped Mexico achieve a perfect record in the group stage of this World Cup, but they aren’t likely to provide the same edge against Ecuador in the Round of 32. Mexico swept through the group stage matches at the tournament for the first time in their history, but the»»»

The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission has set Bulgaria’s natural gas price for July at €37.70 per megawatt-hour (MWh), excluding access, transmission, excise duties, and VAT. The approved rate represents a 5.84% increase compared with June levels. Under the decision, Bulgargaz EAD will supply »»»

Share: Beirut-A security deal between Israel and Lebanon risks entrenching a stalemate rather than resolving Israel’s underlying conflict with Hezbollah by tying Israel’s pullout from southern Lebanon to the Iran-aligned group’s disarmament, a condition regional analysts and politicians say is unat»»»

The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) is set to receive approximately 3.7 million euros in dividend income from its participation in the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), following the institution’s 96th Annual General Meeting held in Basel, Switzerland. The decision was made after BIS sharehol»»»

Egypt’s state-owned Holding Company for Tourism and Hotels is preparing to add about 3,500 hotel rooms over the next five years through investments estimated at EGP50 billion, according to an exclusive report by Al Arabiya Business citing people familiar with the matter. If implemented, the program»»»

BusinessGermanyWhy Germany's Deutsche Bahn will face delays for many yearsSabine KinkartzDelayed, unreliable and forced into long detours due to construction: Germany no longer sets the pace when it comes to rail travel — and this is unlikely to change anytime soon. The company is mired in a deep c»»»

Kazakhstan has decided to sharply tighten access to early pension withdrawals amid worries over the country’s housing market, inflation outlook and long-term retirement security. Revised rules, in effect since June 5, mean contributors to the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund (UAPF) can only withdr»»»

The United States and Iran are preparing for a new round of high-level talks in Doha aimed at advancing implementation of their recent memorandum of understanding, even as maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz and Israel’s military presence in southern Lebanon continue to test the fragile diplo»»»

Overburdened hospitals, overwhelmed mortuaries and millions suffering in temperatures touching 40°C – prolonged and intense heatwaves are the new normal, and a healthcare burden that France must immediately tackle. Europe has been baking for weeks. An intense and prolonged early summer heatwav»»»

The US Supreme Court on Monday boosted presidential power, upholding President Donald Trump’s firings of the heads of independent federal agencies with one important exception: the Federal Reserve. The US Supreme Court on Monday expanded President Donald Trump's powers to fire members of independen»»»

The transition process from the Bulgarian lev to the euro is progressing in line with expectations, with authorities stressing that there is no cause for public concern over remaining cash in circulation. Economic journalist and “ReVizia” host Yordan Barzakov said in an interview on NOVA that the w»»»

Sub-Saharan Africa's transition to a low-carbon economy could generate between 3.8mn and 7.9mn direct and indirect jobs by 2030, rising to between 65.9mn and 84.5mn by 2050 if governments implement supportive policies and invest in workforce development, according to a report published on June 15 b»»»

DUBAI: James Gunn’s “Superman” (2025) introduced audiences to a hopeful, emotionally grounded Man of Steel while sprinkling in just enough humor and spectacle to keep things fresh — the perfect start to the newly rebooted DC Universe. “Supergirl,” directed by Craig Gillespie and out this weekend in»»»

A nationwide third-level heat alert came into force on Saturday, as Hungary remains gripped by an extraordinary heatwave. The chief medical officer warned that the prolonged extreme temperatures pose serious health risks, particularly to the elderly, young children, pregnant women, those with chron»»»

Share: Nada Hamadeh Moawad, the Lebanese ambassador to the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Israel and Lebanon’s ambassadors to the U.S. Friday to announce a framework agreement that was described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Le»»»

A string of powerful earthquakes struck different parts of the world on Wednesday, prompting speculation over whether the events could be connected. While seismologists say they were not, the unusual cluster has raised questions about how earthquakes are linked, why some occur in pairs, and what te»»»

BusinessGermanyWhy Germany's Deutsche Bahn will face delays for many yearsSabine KinkartzDelayed, unreliable and forced into long detours due to construction: Germany can no longer shine when it comes to rail travel — and this is unlikely to change anytime soon. The company is mired in a deep crisi»»»

East Rutherford, United States: Waving flags and dancing to booming Latin music, the Ecuador football fans were living the World Cup fever. "Let's get this party started!" an announcer declared. But instead of in the streets or a stadium, the crowd was rocking in one of America's biggest malls -- t»»»

When Hezbollah began attacking Israel on 2 March shortly after Israeli and American bombers killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Israel hit back. Their sparring, which has continued ever since, is nothing new—the pair are sworn enemies who have fought several wars in recent decades. What was »»»

⁠US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday a framework agreement between ‌Israel ⁠and Lebanon ‌following talks held ⁠in Washington. Nada Hamadeh, ambassador of Lebanon to the United States described the framework as "a first step on the road of restoring Lebanese sovereignty and terri»»»

Tensions in the Kremlin are rising as the economy tanks and trust in the president is starting to wane. There is a growing consensus it’s high time to end the war in Ukraine. Two factions have appeared and are vying for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attention: the doves that want to freeze the»»»

The United States and Iran have entered a new phase of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program, but the most difficult questions have only been postponed. High-level delegations from the two countries have been meeting in Switzerland, with Pakistan and Qatar acting as mediators, after the signin»»»

Russia's brief fiscal reprieve from the Gulf war is already coming to an end. A surge in oil prices in the last months looked like it would bail the Kremlin out which is increasingly struggling to pay for the war in Ukraine. But those hopes look short lived as oil prices are already dropping just a»»»

The US Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Bayer in a ruling expected to block thousands of lawsuits claiming its Roundup weedkiller caused cancer by failing to carry adequate warning labels. The decision hands a victory to President Donald Trump's administration but drew backlash from allies in t»»»

“The budget execution figures for the first five months confirm the consistency with which we have managed public finances. The deficit has been reduced by nearly half compared to the same period in 2025, from 3.35% to 1.75% of GDP. This is a positive sign, especially since the adjustment was not a»»»

Are Slavs just meme people?According to a popular theory, there is a direct link between the ethnonym ‘Slav’ and the Greek word σκλάβος (sklabos), meaning ‘slave’. This has nothing to do with the Slavic character or will for independence but is rather a grim historical reminder: in Late Antiquity a»»»

US President Donald Trump has now said out loud what had previously sounded like a trial balloon: he thinks Syria should take on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Speaking in June, Trump said that if Israel could not defeat Hezbollah “without killing everyone else,” then "I suggested to Israel to let Syria tak»»»

For the first time in two years, Hungary has convened a summit of the Visegrad Group – a format designed to allow four Central European nations to coordinate, debate current agendas, and work on their own dimension of European integration matters. In recent years, the forum has not spoken with a si»»»

LONDON: The words of the West Indies coach, Shane Deitz, resounded during the matches that followed his team’s victory over New Zealand in the 11th match of the 2026 T20 Women’s World Cup. Deitz felt that the gap is gradually closing between the top teams and the rest. This opinion was supported in»»»