Israel launched a series of strikes on Beirut on Wednesday, hitting several parts of the capital as well as its southern suburbs. Loud booms could be heard throughout the city and smoke was rising from several points. Several of the strikes were in busy commercial and densely populated locations, w»»»

The caretaker Government approved EUR 1,190,761 for compensation to families whose children were not admitted to state or municipal kindergartens due to lack of available places, the press service of the Council of Ministers reported on Wednesday. The funds will cover 2,029 children in four municip»»»

Overnight stays at the Kamengrad Hotel in Panagyurishte have tripled – from about 20,000 to 60,000 per year, Nikolay Ivanov, manager of Thracian Hoteliers chain, which the Kamengrad Hotel is part of, told BTA. He said that apart from tourists, one of the main target groups are corporate clients, wh»»»

Doha, Qatar: Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, received a telephone call from HE Jose Manuel Alvarez, Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Spain. During the call, the latest developments i»»»

Dubai: After weeks of intense behind-the-scenes diplomacy, Pakistan has emerged as a central player in brokering a fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran, a breakthrough that diplomats say would not have been possible without Islamabad’s sustained efforts since the conflict began. The»»»

Sharjah: His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has reassured residents that the UAE remains secure and stable under its wise leadership and the vigilance of its armed forces. Speaking during a phone call on the “Direct Line” programme bro»»»

The Zhogorku Kenesh has adopted amendments to the Law «On Silence» and several related regulations, aimed at strengthening control over noise, in the third reading. Under the new provisions, neighborhood committees will now be authorized to draw up reports on violations of noise regulations. These »»»

Voting machines will be used in 9,354 polling stations across the country, while 2,641 stations will operate with paper ballots only, Central Election Commission (CEC) Chair Kameliya Neykova said during a meeting with President Iliana Iotova and institutions responsible for organizing the early par»»»

Bangkok: Thailand's foreign minister confirmed on Wednesday the deaths of three Thai crew members of a cargo ship struck by Iran while transiting the Strait of Hormuz a month ago. US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February prompted Tehran to respond by effectively closing the strait, a crucial art»»»

Doha, Qatar: An official source from the Consular Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Qatari citizens are exempt from entry visas to the Republic of Albania. This came in a social media post by the Ministry, which stated that the exemption applies from April 15, 202»»»

A gas station in London, England, displays the latest price for a liter of regular unleaded on Wednesday morning hours after crude oil prices fell sharply on news disruption to the global supply of oil caused by the Iran war may be about to ease. Photo by Andy Rain/EPA April 8 (UPI) -- Global oil p»»»

The government has decided to withdraw all three Bulgarian nominations for the position of European Prosecutor, effectively restarting the procedure after identifying serious flaws in the initial selection process. The candidates affected are Dimitar Belichev, Mihaela Raidovska and Plamen Petkov, w»»»

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK would stop issuing visas to nationals from any country that demands slavery reparations from Britain, the party’s home affairs spokesman has announced, dismissing the compensation claims as “insulting.” Speaking to The Telegraph, Zia Yusuf stated that a growing number of na»»»

Boris Azarenko is an entrepreneur whose professional background lies in banking and finance and who later founded major property development businesses. Boris Azarenko biography: educational path and early career Born in Moscow on 21 April 1977, Boris Nikolayevich Azarenko studied Finance at the Fi»»»

Varna could become an industrial centre, GERB-UDF's top-of-the-list candidate Vladislav Goranov said during a public meeting, quoted by the coalition’s press office on Wednesday. He argued that the city has significant potential thanks to its six universities and the infrastructure already develope»»»

“It is extremely important to see whether we have fulfilled our promise to conduct fair and transparent elections,” President Iliana Iotova said during a meeting with the institutions responsible for organizing the early parliamentary elections. “It is crucial to assess how far we have come in prep»»»

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has claimed that “not a single cent” from Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya found its way into his 2007 election campaign, at an appearance before a Paris appeals court on Tuesday. He is appealing a five-year prison sentence handed down in 2025 after being found guilty»»»

US President Donald Trump allegedly conceded in private that Canada is unlikely to become part of the US, despite previously hinting at annexing the neighboring country, a snippet from an upcoming book by British journalist Robert Hardman has indicated. Over the past year, Trump has on multiple occ»»»

The judicial system continues its digital transformation efforts, with the ultimate goal of transitioning to a fully-fledged e-justice system and strengthening public trust in the judiciary. The press service of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic reported. According to the press service, in a»»»

Hezbollah legislator Ibrahim Al-Moussawi has warned of a response from Iran and its allies if Israel "does not adhere to a ceasefire." His comment to local television channel Al-Jadeed is the first from the militant group in Lebanon after the U.S. and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement mediated by »»»

French President Emmanuel Macron said the ceasefire agreement between the U.S., Israel and Iran "fully includes Lebanon," which is in opposition to the stance taken by Israel as it continues an offensive there. Macron said the inclusion of Lebanon in the deal is "a good and even essential thing." "»»»

Rahber Global, a Dubai-based mobility infrastructure and consular services company, has established its flagship visa facilitation and application support center in Kabul, Afghanistan - the first international-standard facility of its kind in the country. The center is scheduled for formal inaugura»»»

Zenith Multi Trading DMCC has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Singular Aircraft S.L., a Barcelona-based aerospace technology company specialising in light aircraft and unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The agreement marks a decisive and deliberate entry by the Dubai-based investment platform into»»»

Dubai: NASA’s Artemis II crew made history by flying farther from Earth than any humans since Apollo 13, and along the way, they gave the internet something unexpected to snack on: a jar of Nutella floating in zero gravity. Probably the only jar in the entire universe to be a part of a mission like»»»

Major shipping companies and tanker operators have began moving vessels more freely once the risk of attack diminished following the two-week ceasefire declared by Iran-US ceasefire. While the ceasefire remains fragile, marine traffic has started moving, though it remains far below pre-crisis level»»»

President Iliana Yotova convened a meeting of institutions responsible for the conduct of the early parliamentary elections on April 19, with a focus on assessing preparedness and ensuring that every vote is properly safeguarded. She stressed that it is essential to evaluate whether the country has»»»

Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Defence announced that on 8th April 2026, UAE air defence systems successfully engaged 17 ballistic missile and 35 UAVs launched from Iran. Since the onset of these blatant Iranian attacks, UAE air defences have engaged a total of 537 ballistic missiles, 26 cruise missile»»»

Iran’s de facto control of the Strait of Hormuz is giving it a powerful lever to blunt the US’s “maximum pressure” campaign against it, global energy expert Dr. Mamdouh G. Salameh tells Sputnik. While the Hormuz toll system pulls in China’s yuan and stablecoins—chipping away at petrodollar dominanc»»»

An Israeli strike killed eight people in the Lebanese city of Sidon, the health ministry said Wednesday, as the United States and its allies agreed to a ceasefire with Iran. "The Israeli enemy's strike on Sidon, south Lebanon, resulted in a preliminary toll of eight citizens martyred and 22 wounded»»»

Hezbollah on Wednesday told people displaced by war with Israel to refrain from returning to their homes before a ceasefire is announced in Lebanon, while claiming to be nearing a "historic victory". "Today, we stand on the threshold of a great and historic victory," the Iran-backed group said in a»»»

The spa centre at the Olymp Spa Hotel in Velingrad is the only one in the city to offer bioenergetic massage with silver thread gloves, spa centre manager Gergana Popova told BTA. She said that this is a new technology combined with traditional Chinese medicine that has a beneficial effect on inter»»»

The market share of fully electric cars in total registrations in Romania reached 6.5% in March this year, up from 2.8% in the same period of 2025, according to an analysis by the Association of Automobile Manufacturers and Importers (APIA) cited by Agerpres. Electrified cars, including fully elect»»»

Dubai: US President Donald Trump’s strategy was simple: Escalate to the extreme, force a crisis, then step back. It worked — tactically. But strategically, little appears to have changed. Iran’s leadership remains in place, its security apparatus led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps remains»»»

Abu Dhabi: A delegation from the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI), led by its Chairman Dr Salem Al Neyadi, has conducted field visits to several locations across the UAE to assess the impact of Iranian attacks that it said directly violate a number of fundamental rights protected under inte»»»

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday that the US-Iran-Israel deal to reach a ceasefire also covered the fighting in Lebanon. He said, however, that Israel did not abide by the two-week ceasefire, in violation of the agreement. Berri said the deal clearly include»»»

As part of Resiland project, mudflow protection structures will be built and restored in four regions of Kyrgyzstan in 2026 to protect settlements, roads, and farmland from mudflows. The press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported. The project covers 21 sites in Issyk-Kul, Osh, N»»»

President Joseph Aoun welcomed on Wednesday the two-week ceasefire agreed by the United States and Iran, saying he hoped his country would be included in the regional truce. Aoun said Beirut "continued efforts to ensure that the regional peace includes Lebanon in a stable and lasting manner", accor»»»

Voting machines will be available in 130 polling stations across 20 countries, Central Election Commission (CEC) Chair Kameliya Neykova said during a meeting between President Iliana Iotova and the institutions responsible for organizing the early parliamentary elections. Neykova explained that the»»»

Bangkok: A Thai court has fined a man $300 after he broke into the enclosure of Moo Deng, an endangered baby pygmy hippo and internet sensation, the zoo director said Wednesday. Moo Deng has gained global attention thanks to social media videos showing her adorable antics, drawing tens of thousands»»»

by Mahmoud Bayoumi A recent report on the environmental status of the new Suez Canal project published in consultation with the Suez Canal Authority and other relevant governmental and non-governmental agencies shows the impact will be minimal. The report is based on scientific studies of the Suez »»»

Two ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz since Iran agreed to reopen the waterway as part of a ceasefire deal, maritime monitor Marine Traffic said Wednesday. "The Greek-owned bulk carrier NJ Earth crossed the Strait at 08:44 UTC, while the Liberia-flagged Daytona Beach transited earlier »»»

At least 55 citizens of Kyrgyzstan are serving sentences in Uzbek prisons. Prosecutor General Maksatbek Asanaliev announced at a session of the Zhogorku Kenesh. According to him, documents on nine of them have already been collected and sent to Uzbekistan. The Prosecutor General’s Office is collect»»»

Baghdad, April 8 (SANA) The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority announced the reopening of the country’s airspace and all airports, allowing the resumption of civil flights after recent closures linked to regional tensions. In a statement cited by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), the authority said air traf»»»

Change fatigue is becoming a significant challenge for employees at the global level, with one in three reporting that they have gone through more than 15 major changes in the past year alone, driven either by evolving customer expectations or shifts in business strategy and operating models, accor»»»

TEHRAN (Sputnik) - The truce reached with United States takes into account principles outlined by Tehran, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday. "The ceasefire, with the acceptance of the general principles desired by Iran, was the fruit of the blood of our great martyred leader Kha»»»

Kuwait on Wednesday reported Iranian attacks that have been ongoing from 8am local time and damaged power and desalination plants as well as oil facilities, hours after an Iran-US truce came into effect. "Since 8:00 AM (0500 GMT) today, Kuwaiti air defenses have been engaging an intense wave of hos»»»

Doha, Qatar: The annual Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg, held in collaboration with Qatar’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and originally scheduled to take place from May 12–14, 2026, will be rescheduled to later this year in Doha. This follows an official statement issued by the org»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Ministry of Public Health has announced the designation of five healthcare facilities under the ‘Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative,’ launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), following their successful compliance with internati»»»

A criminal network linked to Bulgaria has been accused of defrauding dozens of elderly people in northern Greece through an elaborate telephone scam that resulted in losses exceeding 600,000 euros, according to Kathimerini. Investigators say the operation was active between September 2021 and Augus»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia hopes that US negotiators will have more opportunities to participate in trilateral negotiations on Ukraine in the foreseeable future, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. "We hope that in the foreseeable future they [the US negotiators] will have more time a»»»