In this edition, we focus on Afghanistan, which recently marked the fifth anniversary of the Taliban's return to power. Since then, the exclusion of women and girls has become normalised, with the government systematically dismantling the rights of more than half the country's population. Annette Y»»»

As Washington scrambled to contain the consequences of the Houthis' dramatic advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast last week, US Vice President JD Vance confirmed US media reports that the Trump administration was "engaged in direct conversations with the Houthis." Days earlier, Reuters reported that»»»

Drivers and supervisors receive safety training to prevent risks and accidents Dubai: Dubai Police has trained 476 school bus drivers and supervisors in a series of road safety workshops aimed at strengthening student protection during daily journeys to and from school. The awareness programme, org»»»

Pope Leo XIV on Friday arrives in France for a four-day visit – his fifth Apostolic journey since becoming pontiff last year – during which he hopes to repair the Catholic Church’s standing after sexual abuse scandals while also addressing issues such as the need to regulate AI. FRANCE 24 guides yo»»»

October 2026 marks 10 years since the Calais "Jungle" in northern France was dismantled by French police. The camp was home to thousands of migrants who wanted to cross the Channel and reach the UK. A decade on, migrants continue to dream of reaching British shores and the "Jungle" has been replace»»»

CCTV shows the monkey knocking the elderly woman down before attacking her daughter nearby Dubai: A 91-year-old woman has died after being attacked by a monkey outside her home in southern India, an incident captured on CCTV. The woman, identified as Najamunnisa Begum, was walking through the compo»»»

Funeral prayers will be held after Asr on Friday at Al Qusais Cemetery Mosque Dubai: An Egyptian woman has died in Dubai while giving birth to twins, turning what had been expected to be a moment of celebration for her family into tragedy. The woman, identified as Marwa Ahmed Al Amin Bakhit, died d»»»

The European Commission presented on Friday updates on five infringement procedures against Bulgaria concerning energy, money laundering, drugs, consumer rights and environmental protection. The European Commission decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to Belg»»»

President Joseph Aoun praised the army on Monday for defending all Lebanese, including those standing against it. "You defend all our people, even the very few who stand against our homeland and our state," he told army personnel. "Your weapons are the only legitimate weapons — not by force, nor un»»»

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met on Thursday in New York with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss, among other issues, the security situation in Kosovo-Metohija and the significance of full implementation of UNSCR 1244 and the work of UNMIK, the UN mission in the Serbi»»»

Property tax valuations in Bulgaria will increase by 30% next year and by 35% in each of the following two years, while the change will not affect the household waste fee, Deputy Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova said. The Ministry of Finance is proposing the three-stage increase in tax valuations,»»»

Initiative will provide practical training in generative AI and prompt engineering Abu Dhabi: Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with Dr. Nawaf Salam, Prime Minister of the Lebanese Republic, on the sidelines of the 81st session of the Un»»»

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Uzbekistan in October at the head of a large business delegation. In Samarkand, he will take part in a C5+1 meeting and hold talks on trade, investment and economic cooperation. According to Podrobno.uz, the upcoming visit was announced by Sergio Gor, »»»

BusinessBulgariaThe Bulgarian battery boom: from zero to global leaderMihail Ivanov in SofiaIn under two years, Bulgaria has become one of the world's most battery-intensive energy markets. Can the surge last — and what will it mean for conventional power generators? https://p.dw.com/p/5NGvRPowerho»»»

Athens: Five people including three tourists were missing on Friday after an explosion in a building in Athens' historic Plaka district, the Greek fire service said. The early morning blast on a small street in the vicinity of the Acropolis shook the area, which is normally busy with hundreds of fo»»»

MP Hassan Fadlallah on Friday announced that Hezbollah and the Amal Movement are not opposed to a “political solution” for south Lebanon. "We are not warmongers; rather, these wars were imposed upon us because our destiny -- especially as the people of the South -- is to live next to this Zionist e»»»

New York: Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs HE Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al Khulaifi held a series of bilateral meetings today on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. His Excellency met with Minister of Foreign Affairs o»»»

Forensic team examine the scene after police recover a country-made pistol from the house A Chandigarh Police head constable was shot dead at his residence in Sector 22 on Friday morning, with police taking his son into custody, media reports said. The deceased was identified as Nitin, who was post»»»

Argentina’s poverty rate rose to 32.3% in the first half of 2026 from 28.2% in the previous six months, official data showed on Thursday, as incomes lagged rising prices. Extreme poverty climbed to 7.5% from 6.3%. Among children aged 14 and under, 44.5% were poor. Argentina's poverty rate increased»»»

In tonight's edition: Tigrayans in northern Ethiopia start panic-buying supplies in the rush to stock up amid fears that months of tensions have finally tipped over into full-blown conflict. Also, power cuts return to Senegal. Plus Yemi Alade, the Nigerian superstar, is out with a new album and spe»»»

The debate has flared up after prosecutors requested the lifting of the immunity of Péter Magyar and two Fidesz MPs. But is parliamentary immunity still necessary at all? The timing of the request from the Office of the Prosecutor General was enough to set Hungarian public life buzzing. The immunit»»»

Pope Leo XIV has landed at Paris Orly Airport for the start of his four-day visit to France. A welcoming ceremony was held on the tarmac in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron, marking the beginning of a programme combining diplomatic meetings with major public events across Paris, Lourdes an»»»

Alison Sargent is pleased to welcome Andrea Antonio Verardi, Professor of Church History and Cultural Heritage at the Pontifical Gregorian University. According to Verardi, Pope Leo’s visit to France is much more than a diplomatic visit. The focus of the visit combines three key issues: the search »»»

Dubai crackdown on illegal dumping highlights steep UAE environmental fines Dubai Police have seized 17 tankers and charged 18 suspects over alleged illegal dumping of sewage, petrochemical waste and other hazardous materials outside approved disposal sites. The cases were uncovered during the firs»»»

Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah said on Thursday that last month’s catastrophic floods were a “warning to the world” of growing climate risks in the Himalayas. He said warming was melting glaciers and permafrost and urged international support to help Nepal adapt to threats it could not face a»»»

Bulgaria must use its membership in the Eurozone and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to attract investment, strengthen competitiveness and build a more resilient economy, Prime Minister Rumen Radev said at a high-level conference in Sofia organized by the Ministry of Finance and the ESM. The»»»

Bulgaria expects North Macedonia to fulfill its commitments and make the necessary changes to advance its path toward EU membership, states a position by the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The statement came after North Macedonia's Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski said the EU should take par»»»

Former BSP leader Kornelia Ninova said in a Facebook post that Bulgargaz had refused to provide her with information about a protocol attached to its contract with Turkish energy company Botaş, citing a prohibition imposed by the Turkish side. Ninova said she had received responses from the state-o»»»

Doha, Qatar: The 2027 MotoGP World Championship calendar has been officially confirmed, marking the return of the MotoGP Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar to Lusail International Circuit (LIC), the only night race in the calendar, from March 12 to March 14, 2027. As the second round of the 2027 Mot»»»

ST. PETERSBURG, (Sputnik) Preserving Russia’s historical and cultural heritage strengthens the country’s security and sovereignty, Russian Presidential Aide and State Council Secretary Alexey Dyumin said. A meeting of the Russian State Council’s commission on “Culture and Traditional Spiritual and »»»

Najaf International Airport has suspended all inbound and outbound flights with Iran until further notice, following instructions from what airport management described as the relevant authorities. An urgent official letter addressed to terminal managers and airlines said the suspension took effect»»»

The employees who initially received chocolates are later handed iPhones Dubai: A UAE businessman has delighted his employees with an unexpected gift surprise that has gone viral on social media. In a video shared online, employees are seen choosing gift boxes placed on a table, unaware of what is »»»

Slavcho Velkov is a candidate for vice president in the upcoming elections on October 25 in accordance with a decision by the Central Election Commission. He was put forward by a nomination committee alongside presidential candidate Volen Siderov. Velkov was born in 1950. He is a lecturer at New Bu»»»

NEW YORK - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met on Thursday in New York with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng to discuss further strengthening of the steely Serbian-Chinese friendship. The two officials met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. "We devoted particular attention to f»»»

Philippines to station personnel at embassies in countries with large Filipino populations Dubai: The Philippines is preparing to deploy National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) personnel to Philippine diplomatic posts overseas, with the Middle East among the first regions being considered, in a move»»»

Kyrgyzstan imported $499,889.4 million worth of oil products in the first seven months of 2026. The value of imports increased by 11.4 percent, while volumes fell by 17.3 percent, data from the National Statistical Committee say. The country also resumed imports of crude oil. From January to July, »»»

Recognition fuels new partnerships, investment talks in AI-driven entertainment Dubai: Hollywood.AI and Bollywood.AI have been named AI Disruptor of the Year at the Tech Innovation Awards 2026, marking a major milestone for founder and CEO Sheeraz Hasan as artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes t»»»

Volen Siderov is a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections on October 25 in accordance with a decision by the Central Election Commission. He was put forward by a nomination committee alongside vice-presidential candidate Slavcho Velkov. Siderov was born on April 19, 1956, in Yambol. In 19»»»

New York: President of the Islamic Republic of Iran HE Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian received the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani on Friday at his residence in New York, on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General »»»

Almaty, Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan on Friday said two more bodies had been found after an accident a day earlier during naval drills on the Caspian coast, bringing the final death toll to 14. The accident happened on Thursday in the western Mangystau region on the coast of the vast inland sea during a »»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - There are no specific details yet regarding the organization of a trilateral meeting on Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. "If you remember, this is what we talked about after the phone conversation between [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and [US Presiden»»»

Partnership to give impetus to Sterling Ark’s business growth & expansion across the GCC Dubai: Sterling Ark, an independent integrated real estate advisory and project delivery firm, today announced a strategic alliance with Ajyal Holding, a diversified business group headquartered in Abu Dhabi. U»»»

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump have been holding talks in the Oval Office at the White House. Trump gave the visiting leader of Communist China a personal tour of several of his favourite White House features. He took him aboard the Marine One helicopter, presented the n»»»

France will deploy troops, radar, and air-defense systems to Saudi Arabia to protect a key Red Sea oil hub as Riyadh struggles to contain escalating Houthi missile and drone attacks, President Emmanuel Macron has announced. Macron said French forces will not join the fighting but will merely protec»»»

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held up a pager at the UN General Assembly, invoking the deadly 2024 covert sabotage operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which killed dozens and severely wounded thousands, including women and children. Thousands of pagers carried by Hezbollah members e»»»

bStocks gives UAE users 24/7 access to tokenised US stocks and ETFs Abu Dhabi: Binance, the global blockchain ecosystem behind the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and registered users, today announced the launch of bStocks for eligible users in the UAE, marking another mil»»»

Georgi Georgiev is a candidate for vice president in the upcoming elections on October 25 in accordance with a decision by the Central Election Commission. He was put forward by a nomination committee alongside presidential candidate Rumyana Chenalova. Georgiev was born in 1981 in Silistra. He part»»»

Radostin Vasilev is a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections on October 25 in accordance with a decision by the Central Election Commission. He was nominated by the Moral, Unity, Honour (MECh) party, alongside vice-presidential candidate Krasimir Manov. According to information on the MEC»»»

Krasimir Manov is a candidate for vice president in the upcoming elections on October 25, 2026 in accordance with a decision by the Central Election Commission. He was nominated by the Moral, Unity, Honour (MECh) party alongside presidential candidate Radostin Vasilev. Born in 1964, he holds a high»»»

Singapore, Sept. 25 (SANA) Preliminary vessel-tracking data showed on Friday that the number of ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz fell to nine on Thursday, down from 14 a day earlier and below the 10-day average of about 18 vessels. According to data cited by Reuters, eight vessels sailed out t»»»