The Judges Chamber of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) decided to admit Judge Vasil Pelovski to participate in the election of SJC members. The decision was unanimous and was taken without debate. Under the procedure, the SJC chambers are required to rule on the eligibility of each nominated cand»»»

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has launched its first Visitor Experience Awards, recognising organisations and frontline professionals who help deliver high-quality experiences to visitors across the emirate. More than 400 tourism and cultural organisations invite»»»

In 2026, the Romanian capital market is going through one of its strongest periods in terms of equity returns. Since the beginning of the year, the BET index has posted a nominal gain of 47.1%, and after adjusting for inflation accumulated over the same period, the real return remains at 41.8%. In »»»

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis targeted an oil refinery on Saudi Arabia's southern Red Sea coast on Tuesday, rebel media reported, as the rebels ramp up attacks on the kingdom. The Houthis "targeted the Aramco refinery in Jazan with a number of drones... in response to airspace violations over the gov»»»

RIYADH: Saudi-listed Arabian Drilling Co. has secured a contract with a new Gulf client, marking its entry into another regional market as the drilling contractor expands its offshore operations beyond the Kingdom. The company did not disclose the value of the contract or who it is with, but said o»»»

Local U.S. governments are suing the Department of Homeland Security, under Secretary Markwayne Mullin, for tying security funds to election reforms. File Photo by Daniel Heuer/UPI | License Photo Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Two counties and two cities are suing the Trump administration over conditioning nati»»»

Abu Dhabi mobility announced the closure of E22, Abu Dhabi- Al Ain Road, towards the UAE capital on the nights of Aug 19, 20 and 21. The roads will be closed to drivers between midnight and 6am. The authority also posted a map of the closure via its X (formerly Twitter) handle. Have a look below: A»»»

A Peace Council official told Asharq on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and council members held “in-depth and constructive” discussions on moving toward the full implementation of Trump’s plan for Gaza. They agreed to establish two working groups, one focused on disarmament a»»»

DUBAI: The organizers of the Offlimits music festival have announced the 2026 edition will not take place — but the event will return to Abu Dhabi next year. A notice on the festival’s social media channels said: “Offlimits 2026 has been cancelled,” and that all tickets would be automatically refun»»»

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei condemned a drone attack that targeted the Iraqi Kurdistan prime minister's office, state media reported. Baqaei denounced the attack, "describing it as a highly suspicious development that requires vigilance and careful attention", according to a s»»»

Manila: A student livestreamed himself shooting another schoolmate dead before taking his own life at a high school in the Philippines on Tuesday, authorities said. The school shooting, the country's second in as many months, took place at Ateneo de Zamboanga University, a Catholic private institut»»»

A Russian citizen who collected and passed information on Russian Defense Ministry facilities and the region’s defense-industrial and fuel-and-energy complexes to Ukrainian military intelligence has been detained in the Ryazan Region, the Russian Federal Security Service’s Public Relations Center s»»»

New car registrations fell by 28.2% in July 2026 compared with the same period last year, to 11,633 units, however the electrified vehicle market continued to grow, according to an Association of Automobile Manufacturers and Importers (APIA) analysis, based on data published by the General Director»»»

Starting September 4, Romanians will be able to travel directly to the People's Republic of China, following the official launch of the air route between Beijing and Bucharest operated by Air China, with a frequency of three flights per week."The Embassy of Romania in the People's Republic of China»»»

Bucharest is Romania's capital of luxury property, with seven areas where average asking prices for flats exceed the level recorded in the ultra-central area of Cluj-Napoca, while in three neighbourhoods they surpass 5,500 euros per square metre of usable floor space, according to an Imobiliare.ro »»»

The first seven months of 2026 were prolific for the segment of corporate financings approved for the development of residential projects, with a total volume estimated at over half a billion euros, according to an analysis by real estate consultancy SVN Romania, based on public data and informatio»»»

Romania's modern retail market added approximately 80,000 square metres of new commercial space in the first half of 2026, compared with around 122,000 square metres in the same period of 2025, while estimates for this year's deliveries have been revised down by approximately 35% to 150,000 square »»»

Romania’s industrial and logistics market maintained its positive momentum in the first half of 2026, supported by a visible acceleration in leasing activity during the second quarter, despite a challenging macroeconomic environment marked by economic contraction, persistent inflation and pressure »»»

Five beaches on the Romanian Black Sea coast are internationally eco-labelled Blue Flag, and the sixth is in the pilot phase of the programme in order to meet the criteria necessary to win the same certification, the Ministry of Economy, Digitalisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (MEDAT) writes i»»»

Romanians spent €4.884 billion abroad in the first six months of 2026, according to the latest data from the National Bank of Romania (BNR). The amount, recorded under the “travel” category of the balance of services, was more than €740 million higher than in the same period of 2025. At the same ..»»»

Registrations for the 2026 edition of the 2026 edition of the social programme of national interest in support of couples and single women to boost birth rates through in vitro fertilisation (IVF), started on Monday August 17 and run throughout November 15, the Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and»»»

The exhibition "Via Transilvanica - The Road that Unites" has opened in Salzburg, Austria, with the project proposing to promote genuine Romania through dialogue, hospitality and respect for the natural and cultural heritage. The initiative brings to the fore one of the most important long-distance»»»

Heavy rainfall driven by the enhanced southwest monsoon (known as "habagat") and the successive tropical cyclones Luis and Maymay (international name: Kujira) triggered widespread flooding and landslides across the Philippines, particularly in Luzon and parts of the Visayas. The systems brought pro»»»

Two students were killed in a shooting at a private school in the southern Philippines on Tuesday morning, with one of the dead identified as the suspected gunman, police said. The shooting took place at the Junior High School campus of Ateneo de Zamboanga University in Zamboanga City on August 18.»»»

A marathon meeting Monday between U.S. negotiator Jared Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left the fate of the Gaza ceasefire unclear, with officials signaling moderate optimism but offering no concrete commitment by Israel to the latest U.S.-proposed plan. Hamas has already agr»»»

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed on Monday with U.S. envoy Jared Kushner that a U.S. general should supervise Hamas' disarmament and said Israel would not pull troops from Gaza until then, an Israeli official told AFP. The two sides "agreed that the first step toward the demilitariz»»»

The Government has ordered a comprehensive review of 4iG’s contracts with the state, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said in a Facebook post on Monday. Unusual in Hungary for combining telecommunications, IT, digital infrastructure, space and defence under a single corporate umbrella, 4iG has expanded »»»

RIYADH: Sudanese Foreign Minister and Minister of International Cooperation, Mohi El-Din Salem, told Asharq on Monday that the priorities of the Saudi-Sudanese Coordination Council are in the areas of security, defense and the economy, following the signing of the council’s founding document on Mon»»»

The Russian state corporation Rostec’s engine division has completed the design documentation and approved the mock-up of a brand-new turboprop engine – the VK-1600S, the company said. The 1,450-hp engine is expected to give a new lease of life to some of Russia’s most popular light aircraft, An-2 »»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - European gas prices during preparations for the heating season in 2026 were 52% higher than the average over the past three years, Sputnik found on Tuesday after analyzing trading data. Calculations show that from April 1 to August 14, the average settlement price of gas futures »»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The fleet of gas tankers for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) sailing under the Russian flag by August 2026 increased by 90% year-on-year to 19 vessels, the Vedomosti newspaper reported. According to the publication, at the beginning of 2025, only one LNG carrier was list»»»

Heavy rainfall driven by the enhanced southwest monsoon (known as "habagat") and the successive tropical cyclones Luis and Maymay (Maymay’s international name: Kujira) triggered widespread flooding and landslides across the Philippines, particularly in Luzon and parts of the Visayas. The systems br»»»

French newspaper Le Monde has sharply criticized US President Donald Trump’s Middle East record, describing it as a succession of failures marked by incompetence and recklessness. In an analysis published Monday night, the newspaper said: “In less than two years, the White House occupant has amasse»»»

Tupac Shakur was shot dead in an act of "revenge", Las Vegas jury heard on Monday, as the legendary West Coast rapper's assassination trial got underway more than three decades after his death.  Rapper Tupac Shakur was shot dead in an act of gang revenge ordered by a mobster who later boasted »»»

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US envoy Jared Kushner agreed Monday that an American general would oversee the disarmament of Hamas, an Israeli official said, as Netanyahu insisted Israel would not withdraw from Gaza until the group gives up its weapons.The understanding comes a»»»

Los Angeles, United States: The two largest reservoirs in the United States have fallen to record lows as a severe drought grips the country's West, according to data released over the weekend. The new records highlight the difficulties fueled by climate change facing the Colorado River, a crucial »»»

Tunis, Aug. 18 (TAP)- President of the Republic Kaïs Saïed met Monday in Carthage with Ambassador of Finland to Tunisia Teemu Sepponen. The Finnish diplomat paid a farewell visit to the Head of State at the end of his mission to Tunisia, the...»»»

The Chinese government announced new border regulations in late July in a move seen as expanding state control over its citizens. The new rules, which come into effect on September 15, tighten checks on travellers and provide new grounds for restricting Chinese citizens from leaving the c»»»

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has launched its first Visitor Experience Awards, recognising organisations and frontline professionals who help deliver high-quality experiences to visitors across the emirate. More than 400 tourism and cultural organisations have b»»»

Russia’s Supreme Court on Monday upheld the exclusion of liberal opposition party Yabloko from September’s legislative elections, eliminating the country’s only explicitly anti-war party from the ballot, as dozens of the party's supporters were detained outside the court. The decision comes amid a »»»

DUBAI: Switzerland has picked “Who Is Still Alive,” a documentary built from the testimonies of nine Palestinians who fled Gaza, as its official entry for best international feature film at the 99th Academy Awards. The documentary, released in French as “Qui vit encore,” was directed by Geneva-base»»»

GAZA/CAIRO: As children walked into the zoo near Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, they found a lion barely looking back at ​them through the bars of its cage and chimpanzees sitting listlessly in their enclosure.Many of the animals were malnourished, weakened by shortages of food, medicine and vaccine»»»

Unexploded ordnance discovered near kilometre 376 of the Bulgarian section of the Danube River, in the Silistra region, was rendered safe by servicemembers from a military unit in Shumen, under the command of Major Angel Ivanov, the Defence Ministry reported on August 17. Two mortar bombs, measurin»»»

Ras Al Khaimah: Ras Al Khaimah is turning its residents and citizens into tourism promoters under a new initiative that encourages them to invite friends and relatives from abroad to discover the emirate. The Ras Al Khaimah Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday launched the ‘RAK Ambassador’ i»»»

A new contingent of 40 Romanian firefighters has taken over mission in Greece from colleagues who, over the past two weeks, have supported the Greek authorities in firefighting and monitoring high-risk areas in eastern Athens, in the Attica region."The first contingent, also comprising 40 firefight»»»

Romanians spent RON 68 billion lei in the first six months of 2026 on products in the category of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and on Electro-IT products, up 3.2% year-on-yea amidst high inflation, low confidence and purchasing power about 6% lower than in 2025, shows the findings of a baromet»»»

Television remains the dominant source of information in terms of trust, while Facebook remains the leading social media platform, according to an opinion poll commissioned by Expert Forum from the Political Rating Agency."Television remains the dominant source of information in terms of trust, inc»»»

Checks on the wealth of individuals have become increasingly prominent in the activity of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF) in recent years, with the most frequent irregularities identified involving funds whose origin could not be justified, according to an analysis by EY Romani»»»

The Ministry of Finance (MF) on Monday borrowed RON 800 million off banks in one issue of benchmark bonds of a residual maturity of 47 months, at an average yield of 6.65% per annum, according to data published by the National Bank of Romania (BNR).The nominal value of the issue was RON 800 million»»»

Four U.S. officials, two of them former ambassadors to Romania, are questioning George Simion’s U.S. visa in an opinion article published by the Jerusalem Post, arguing that his compatibility with the values the United States seeks to defend should be reviewed. They accuse Simion of repeatedly echo»»»