Dubai: A ceasefire in the region is prompting cautious optimism among UAE business leaders, who say the development could help stabilise markets, restore investor confidence and ease pressure on trade flows after a period of uncertainty. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app n»»»

The US and EU are engaged in a political “proxy war” in Hungary, with Washington and Brussels backing rival sides ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections, according to former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl. Kneissl made the remarks in an interview with RT as US Vice President J.D. V»»»

Siyanie (Radiance) coalition leader Nikolay Popov said on Wednesday that he will face a slander accusations without invoking parliamentary immunity as a candidate in the April 19 parliamentary elections. Popov was speaking during a protest in his support in front of the Pleven District Court. Popov»»»

Paris, France: The Diamond League athletics meeting in Doha has been postponed for six weeks and will now take place on June 19 due to the war in the Middle East, organisers announced Wednesday. The United States and Iran agreed on Tuesday a two-week ceasefire to the war that has killed thousands a»»»

A Hezbollah official said the militant group backed by Iran is giving a chance for mediators to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon. In the meantime, the official said, "We have not announced our adherence to the ceasefire since the Israelis are not adhering to it." He spoke on condition of anonymity bec»»»

The US, UK, and other Western powers with colonial pasts have repeatedly refused to consider reparations for the slave trade and other colonial crimes—yet have set precedents that could allow such claims to be enforced. The West "has been guided by a sense of moral superiority and legal exceptional»»»

Washington, United States: A Republican candidate backed by US President Donald Trump has won a runoff House election in Georgia to replace influential right-wing lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, according to media projections on Wednesday. Clay Fuller defeated Democrat Shawn Harris for the US Hous»»»

TradeIranIs Iran cashing in millions from Strait of Hormuz blockade?Nik MartinAn Iranian lawmaker claims Tehran is quietly charging tankers up to $2 million for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The move threatens to turn the key waterway into a high-stakes toll booth. https://p.dw.com/p/5»»»

New Delhi: Bangladesh's foreign minister met his Indian counterpart in New Delhi on Wednesday, the most senior visit by a Dhaka envoy since the 2024 revolution toppled India's old ally Sheikh Hasina. Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman is taking part in a "goodwill visit", Bangladesh's state news agen»»»

New York: The UAE has expressed its deep disappointment at the UN Security Council’s failure to take decisive action to address the global repercussions caused by Iran’s illegal closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and failure to adopt a resolution put forward by Bahrain on behalf of the UAE, Kuwait, Q»»»

Iran could open the Strait of Hormuz in a limited and controlled way on Thursday or Friday ahead of a meeting between US and Iranian officials in Pakistan, a senior Iranian official, involved in the talks, told Reuters on Wednesday. "If an understanding on a framework for talks is reached, the stra»»»

Dubai: Iran has officially confirmed that it will participate in the upcoming peace talks with the United States in Islamabad, a key step in efforts to secure a peaceful settlement to their ongoing conflict, Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office announced Wednesday. The announcement came after a 45‑mi»»»

Dubai: In the end, the deal was not decided in Washington — but in Tehran, where Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei quietly gave the green light, a decisive intervention that broke weeks of deadlock, according to Axios. The ceasefire that followed brought a sudden halt to weeks of escalating confronta»»»

Hezbollah on Wednesday called on displaced civilians to be patient and delay returning to southern Lebanon, Bekaa and Beirut’s Dahiyeh, vowing that they will do so soon “proud and victorious.” In a statement, Hezbollah addressed to “the most honorable people” as saying: “We call on you, in these cr»»»

Multiple Israeli airstrikes hit central Beirut hours after US and Iran announce ceasefire. The Israeli military said it struck around 100 Hezbollah sites across Lebanon on Wednesday, describing the operation as the "largest coordinated strike" since the war with Iran began. "The -army- completed th»»»

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»»»

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»»»

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»»»

Germany’s military spending shot up by over 23% to €39 billion ($45 billion) last year, pushing the budget deficit to the highest level in four years, the Federal Statistical Office has reported. Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Berlin began a military buildup, with defense»»»

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»»»

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." "»»»

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»»»

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»»»

President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday welcomed the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, calling the agreement a "very good thing," but said he wishes it will include Lebanon. "We expect, in the coming days and weeks, that it will be fully respected throughout the region and will allow negotiations»»»

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»»»

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»»»

A massive 26,000 fireworks found in the possession of a shop owner on the southeastern Aegean Sea island of Kos have been confiscated, police said Wednesday, amid an intensified crackdown ahead of Orthodox Easter. While letting off fireworks is traditional in Greece at Easter, it is against the law»»»

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»»»

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»»»

Kyiv on Wednesday called on the United States to pressure Russia into ending its invasion of Ukraine, saying Washington's ceasefire agreement with Iran showed the success of US "decisiveness." "American decisiveness works. We believe it is time for sufficient decisiveness to force Moscow to cease f»»»

Dubai: Now, you can even get gold delivered home to you. The Dubai Gold District rolled out a new home-delivery service on Wednesday, allowing buyers to browse, select, and purchase gold without visiting the market. Under the new service, buyers can arrange private consultations with participating »»»

The Central Bank of the UAE has issued a warning to licensed financial institutions in the country—including banks, insurance companies, reinsurance firms, and other financial entities—granting them a 90-day period to comply with the newly introduced “Telemarketing Regulation.” The Central Bank cir»»»

Fred Fleitz, former chief of staff of the NSC, predicted Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump could meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a summit sometime this fall. Fleitz made the comment at the Asan Plenum in Seoul. Photo courtesy of Asan Institute of Policy Studies A former Trump»»»

Times have been a bit tough, of late. But chin up, chin up, as Dubai-based Shraddha Mishra, a homemaker insists on telling her children. "There's always a way forward, and that's what we do." Indeed, in the past one month, she along with other residents have looked to make changes in their lives, c»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The use of the Northern Sea Route in the current international situation will be of particular importance, and its reliability will increase, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. "In the situation that has been developing literally in recent days, in recent h»»»

This photo, taken Wednesday, shows the trading room of Hana Bank in central Seoul as South Korean stocks jumped nearly 7 percent after the United States and Iran agreed on a two-week ceasefire. Photo by Yonhap South Korean stocks spiked nearly 7 percent after the United States and Iran agreed on a »»»

Dubai: In the UAE, a new kind of economy is flourishing, one powered not just by money, but by generosity. Small businesses have been turning their success into support for local communities, who have been both their customers and partners in giving. What started as simple forms of assistance have »»»

Pope Leo on Wednesday praised the two-week ceasefire in the Iran war, hours after calling US President Donald Trump's threat against the population of Iran "unacceptable". The pope, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of ‌the war in recent ‌weeks, said he welcomed ‌the ⁠announcement of the cease»»»

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday he welcomed the ceasefire between the US and Iran, adding that Kyiv was ready to "respond in kind" if Moscow ceased strikes. "Ukraine has always called for a ceasefire in the war waged by Russia here in Europe ‌against our ‌state and our peo»»»

Ten people, including two wounded gunmen, were in detention Wednesday a day after a deadly shootout near the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, the state Anadolu news agency reported. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Turkish media said a gunman who was killed in the shootout was »»»

Dubai: Airlines are facing rising fuel costs, supply risks and operational pressure, but the global aviation sector is holding steady for now, with strong travel demand helping offset the crisis, said IATA Director General Willie Walsh. Carriers are increasing fares and cutting capacity as oil pric»»»

1 of 2 | Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., on Wednesday criticized a Pentagon strategy that shifts responsibility for deterring North Korea onto Seoul. Wicker, seen here at the U.S. Capitol in September 2025, made the comments during a pre-recorded speech at the Asan Plenum policy forum in Seoul. File Ph»»»

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, seen here leaving No. 10 Downing Street in London in January, is leaving for the Gulf on Wednesday following the announcement of a cease-fire in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI | License Photo April 8 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Keir S»»»

Secretary's SpeechLebanon PalestineZionist EntityRegional and International International More Video Language Ar En Fr EsSubscribe for Weekly Updates Subscribe A Great Victory: Iran Says US Forced to Accept Its 10-Point Plan After Historical Defeat 08-04-2026 11:57 AM A missile exhibited beneath Ir»»»

Dubai: Oil markets are signalling that prices will remain elevated despite a sharp pullback recorded on Wednesday, as a temporary ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran eases immediate fears but leaves deeper supply risks unresolved. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - si»»»

Dubai: Iraq has reopened its airspace to civil aviation after an improvement in security conditions, allowing flights to resume across one of the region’s key air corridors. The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority said on Wednesday that all civil flights, including overflights, departures and arrivals a»»»

Not only did Iran fiercely repel US–Israeli aggression, but “it may lock in de facto control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz,” Yury Lyamin, senior researcher at the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, tells Sputnik. Nevertheless, the two-week ceasefire deal agreed bet»»»

Israel's military said Wednesday its forces would continue their campaign against Hezbollah fighters, claiming the ceasefire with Iran does not apply to Lebanon. "The battle in Lebanon continues, and the ceasefire does not include Lebanon," the military's Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay »»»