The US-Israeli war with Iran has put AI use in defence systems in the spotlight like never before. AI's exact role in the military, its accuracy and possible repercussions are slowly beginning to emerge – but the extent of its use and role in the war so far still largely remain a mystery.  The»»»

In a week where assassinations have continued within the top ranks of Iran’s regime, the minister of intelligence, the commander of the Bases paramilitary and the powerful security chief Ali Larijani included, but a weakened government seems to have had little bearing on Tehran’s retaliation across»»»

US President Donald Trump suggested Friday he was considering “winding down” military operations against Iran even as US media reported Washington was sending three more amphibious assault ships and roughly 2,500 additional marines to the region. Israel continued to hit Tehran and Beirut with »»»

On March 21, 1999, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones landed near Cairo after becoming the first people to circle the globe by balloon. 1 of 3 | On March 21, 1999, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones landed near Cairo after becoming the first people to circle the globe by balloon. UPI File Photo | Licen»»»

Cairo: The Arab Parliament denounced Iran’s attacks targeting oil and industrial facilities in several Gulf states, describing them as “blatant” and “dangerous” escalation and a highly serious development that threatens regional stability, while exposing global energy security to significant risks.»»»

On February 28, the United States and Israel began striking targets in Iran, including in Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran has carried out retaliatory strikes on Israeli territory, as well as on US military targets in the Middle East. The damage caused by US and Israeli aggressi»»»

European powers and Japan have changed their posture on the ongoing Middle East war, by prioritising energy security and avoiding being dragged by the US into the on-going war with Iran. Recent developments show the allies are preparing to act even without full US leadership. Some countries, such a»»»

Women make up 30.1% of candidates for parliament in the April 19 elections, Central Election Commission Deputy Chair Rositsa Mateva said on Saturday. Their share is up 1.7 percentage points from the October 2024 vote. There will be 62 more women candidates for parliament in the upcoming elections t»»»

Greece marked World Forest Day with a mix of praise and pointed criticism over the state of the country’s forestry service. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, addressing a ceremony at the Goulandris Foundation on Friday, highlighted recent hiring efforts – 278 new employees recruited, with 330 mor»»»

Doha, Qatar: Eid celebrations across Qatar are unfolding in a spirit of resilience and unity, as citizens and residents come together to observe the festive occasion despite the backdrop of ongoing regional tensions. Eid prayers, held indoors yesterday at designated venues such as the Education Cit»»»

Dubai: The Philippines is introducing a temporary toll discount for public transport and freight services starting March 23 to offer a breathing space to the transportation sector, who is currently under pressure from rising fuel prices, amid the situation in the Middle East. In a statement, Philip»»»

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa stressed on Friday that he was working on steering the country clear of the war in the Middle East. “We are taking steps very carefully and working on keeping Syria out of any conflict,” he said after Eid al-Fitr prayers in Damascus. “We must remember that Syria had»»»

President Iliana Iotova will visit Kyustendil for the city’s official holiday, the Kyustendil Spring Festival, the President’s press secretariat said on Saturday. She will be welcomed by Mayor Ognyan Atanasov outside the Kyustendil Municipality building and will greet residents and visitors during »»»

Seoul: Rescuers combed the charred wreckage of a South Korean car parts factory for missing people after a fire killed at least 11 and injured dozens more, authorities told AFP on Saturday. Fire crews were initially unable to enter the factory in the central city of Daejeon due to the risk of the b»»»

Rescuers combed the charred wreckage of a South Korean car parts factory for missing people after a fire killed at least 11 and injured dozens more, authorities told AFP on Saturday. Fire crews were initially unable to enter the factory in the central city of Daejeon due to the risk of the building»»»

Kyrgyzstan ranks 47th in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index and 78th in the Energy Transition Index (ETI), an index published annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF). These data are presented in a report by the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) in the section covering the energy sector »»»

Dubai: Global oil prices rose again on Saturday, reflecting mounting geopolitical pressure on supply flows. Middle East crude led the move with a sharp spike. Murban crude, a key benchmark exported from the UAE, jumped 18% to $146.40 per barrel. That followed a 6% surge a day earlier, when prices h»»»

Dubai: Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has temporarily suspended its flights between Manila and major Middle East destinations, such as Dubai and Doha, until April 30 amid the ongoing tensions in the region. In its latest advisory, PAL has noted that the suspension is a “precautionary measur»»»

DOHA: The Meteorology Department has warned of expected thunderstorms accompanied by strong winds along the coast, and of thunderstorms accompanied by strong winds and high waves offshore. It is forecast that the weather along the coast, until 6pm, will be partly cloudy to cloudy with suspended dus»»»

On February 28, the United States and Israel launched strikes on targets in Iran, including in Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran responded by striking Israeli territory and US military facilities in the Middle East. Iran will not agree to a ceasefire with the United States and Is»»»

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry condemned on Saturday Israel's strikes on Syrian army camps as "aggression", joining other Arab nations and Türkiye in calling on the international community to intervene. Israel's military said on Friday it had struck southern Syria in response to what it called att»»»

San Francisco: A jury has found Elon Musk liable for defrauding investors by deliberately driving down Twitter's stock price in the tumultuous months leading up to his 2022 acquisition of the social media company for $44 billion. But it absolved him of some fraud allegations, finding that he did no»»»

Head of State Sadyr Japarov will arrive in Naryn region today on a one-day working visit, his press service announced. As part of the visit, the president will take part in ceremonial events dedicated to Nooruz, an ancient holiday symbolizing the spring renewal, unity of the people, and the continu»»»

Bishkek is ranked tenth in the World Air Quality ranking of the world’s largest cities as of 11 a.m. According to the website, the air quality index (AQI) in the capital is 121 and rated as «unhealthy for sensitive groups.» Information is available in real time. The Air Quality Index (AQI) is divid»»»

US President Donald Trump said he was considering “winding down” military operations in the Middle East even as the United States is sending three more amphibious assault ships and roughly 2,500 additional Marines to the region. Trump’s post Friday on social media followed an Iranian threat to atta»»»

LAGOS — Far from the Middle East war, fallout from oil disruptions is reverberating across the world, unsettling lives from Lagos to Manila as people adjust to fuel price hikes and gas shortages.Benchmark oil prices are hovering around $100, a surge of around 40 to 50 per cent since the war against»»»

For decades, American support for Israel was one of the most durable constants in US foreign policy, to such an extent that successive administrations, whether Democratic or Republican, hardly needed to debate it. That truism no longer holds. A Gallup poll conducted between 2-16 February confirmed »»»

Three weeks after the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, the world has entered an exceptionally dangerous phase. The confrontation has expanded far beyond the bounds of a conventional military conflict. It has developed into a multi-layered war in which military fronts converge with immense ec»»»

The world is now passing through an era of ‘strategic unravelling’, and its proportions are catastrophic. Conflicts no longer remain confined to their immediate geographies. With grim persistence, they expand into regional wars. Their prevalence stems from the breakdown of the post-1945 internation»»»

From one studio to another, Chuck Norris turned discipline into legend – a martial arts champion who became the iron-jawed face of "Walker, Texas Ranger" and a larger-than-life cultural myth. He died Thursday at 86. Chuck Norris, the martial arts grandmaster and action star whose roles in “Wal»»»

A video claiming that Iran published a list of 11 American cities it plans to target has gone viral since it was first posted on Instagram on March 3. We found the origin of this list, and it turns out that it has nothing to do with Iran.  Instagram user truecrimewithbella posted a video on Ma»»»

The UAE is bracing for heavy rain and gusty winds as unstable weather moves across the country. This morning, rainfall has affected Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and other areas, with convective clouds forming over scattered regions and fresh to strong winds causing blowing dust and reduced visibility between »»»

Our reporters in the Middle East went to meet Palestinians who are desperately trying to reach Israel to find work there. Before the October 7 attacks, 120,000 Palestinian workers held permits allowing them to enter Israel legally. Today, only a handful of permits are »»»

A court in France has sentenced jihadist Sabri Essid for his part in "the genocide perpetrated by the Islamic State group" against Iraq's Yazidi minority, in the first French trial of its kind. Essid is presumed to have been killed in 2018, but without proof of his death he was tried and convicted »»»

William Hilderbrandt is pleased to welcome Paul Taylor, Senior Visiting Fellow in the Europe in the World Programme and a member of the Defence/Security EUrope project. He is also a freelance columnist for The Guardian. Amid the Strait of Hormuz blockade, Mr. Taylor argues that even overwhelming fo»»»

Haxie Meyers-Belkin is pleased to welcome Borzou Daragahi, award-winning international correspondent and investigative reporter. As Iran marks Nowruz, the Persian New Year, war intrudes into civilian spaces. The psychological terrain is marked less by overt anger than by fatigue, resignation, and a»»»

In an interview with FRANCE 24, former US national security adviser John Bolton said US President Donald Trump "could be ready to stop the war at almost any moment". Bolton also said he remains mystified by Trump's reversal on regime change in Iran and warned that the Iranian opposition is not rece»»»

An analysis of the spiralling energy crisis with Mohamad Al-Sabban, energy economist and longtime advisor to the Saudi Government.»»»

In tonight's programme: Senegal says it's not losing its 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title without a fight. But first, a joint statement is issued by DR Congo and Rwanda, where both nations have agreed to take steps to advance last year's stalled peace accord. And in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, a gr»»»

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Friday said Iran had struck a “dizzying blow” in its war with Israel and the United States in a written message marking Nowruz, the Persian New Year, even as blasts rocked the capital Tehran. Israel accused the Islamic republic of targeting Jerusalem’s holiest sit»»»

US actor Nicholas Brendon, renowned for his starring role in the cult TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has died aged 54. Brendon's family confirmed in a statement on social media "he passed in his sleep of natural causes". His family added: "He was passionate, sensitive, and endlessly driven to »»»

Daiso Japan has announced the opening of its new store in Al Jurf, Ajman, located next to Homes R Us. This marks the brand’s second store in Ajman, bringing its total network to 52 stores across the UAE. The new store offers a wide range of affordable and innovative products, with over 800 new item»»»

Rain sweeps across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other parts of the UAE as a low-pressure system moves through, the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) reports. Gusty winds are stirring dust and reducing visibility in some areas. The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) has issued a weather update for Satu»»»

Mark Owen is pleased to welcome Dr Hanna Shelest, Director of Security Studies and Global Outreach Programmes at Ukrainian Prism and editor-in-chief at UA: Ukraine Analytica. According to Dr Shelest, Ukrainian forces demonstrate that with adaptive strategy, technological innovation and ti»»»

MEPs recently approved a key report on housing, with the stated aim of securing decent, sustainable and affordable housing. They are responding to an EU-wide crisis in which property prices jumped by 15.5 percent between 2021 and 2024, according to Eurostat. That has frozen out millions of people l»»»

An earthquake with a magnitude of approximately 3 hit Kyrgyzstan on the day of Orozo Ait, the Seismology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences reported. According to the report, the tremors were recorded on March 20 at 6.52 p.m. The earthquake’s epicenter was located in the Kyrgyz Republic:»»»

Mayor of Osh city Zhanarbek Akayev met with Dai Daoguo, CEO of Junxin Huanbao KG Invest, a company that applies advanced environmental technologies from the People’s Republic of China. The Osh City Hall reported. During the meeting, the mayor of the southern capital emphasized the need to accelerat»»»

US President Donald Trump said the United States is ready to assist other countries in guarding the Strait of Hormuz if asked. "If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts," Trump wrote on Truth Social. WorldUS Unlikely to Withdraw From Iran Anytime Soon Because of Hormuz Strait »»»

Natural gas prices soared as attacks intensified on energy infrastructure in the Middle East. The Ras Laffan plant in Qatar has sustained "significant damage", according to its operators, which could take years to fully repair. That will have a significant impact on global supplies, »»»

Released on March 19, the latest Freedom in the World 2026 report finds that global freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2025, with more countries experiencing a deterioration in political rights and civil liberties than improvements, Statista reports. »»»