LONDON: Five London police officers were injured Friday after their boat patrolling the River Thames struck Westminster Bridge and they went into the water, the UK capital’s Metropolitan Police Service said. The force said in a statement that “a boat from the Met’s Marine Policing Unit struck Westm»»»

Nicaragua's government began the process Friday of reforming the Constitution and the legal framework governing the electoral system, File Photo by Jorge Torres/EPA July 24 (UPI) -- Nicaragua's government began the process Friday of reforming the Constitution and the legal framework governing the e»»»

LIMA: Peru and Venezuela will resume diplomatic relations after severing ties over now ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro’s disputed election win in 2024, both foreign ministries announced Friday. Caracas had cut bilateral relations in July of that year after Lima recognized Venezuela’s opposi»»»

Store closures by major retail chains increasingly reflect portfolio optimization rather than a broader market crisis. Retailers are reassessing individual locations, closing weaker outlets, and investing in larger, strategically important stores designed to strengthen the brand experience. Poland’»»»

Gdynia has joined Gdańsk among the Baltic ports capable of handling the world’s largest container ships. The arrival of the 400-meter MSC Venice, with capacity for about 16,600 TEUs, demonstrates the port’s expanded navigational capabilities. Investments in deeper and wider waterways, modern cranes»»»

The Trump administration has announced new tariffs on imports from 60 trading partners, continuing its aggressive trade policy despite recent legal setbacks. Countries accused of failing to enforce forced-labor bans will face a 10% tariff, while most others will be subject to a 12.5% rate. European»»»

The European Commission’s reduction of emissions benchmarks used to allocate free EU ETS allowances could significantly increase heating prices in Poland and weaken investment in the sector’s transition. For 2026–2030, the heat benchmark was cut by more than 30%, from 47.3 to 31.2 allowances per te»»»

The Democratic primaries in 2028 will start with South Carolina then Nevada. Iowa was edged out of the early primary schedule. File Photo by Peter Foley/UPI | License Photo July 24 (UPI) -- South Carolina should be the first state to vote in Democratic primaries in 2028, according to the Democratic»»»

Soldiers stand watch at a Lebanese army checkpoint in Zawtar al-Gharbiya, southern Lebanon, on Friday. Zawtar al-Gharbiya is among the designated pilot zones under the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel, from which Israeli forces are scheduled to withdraw. Photo by EPA BEIRUT, Lebanon, »»»

President Donald Trump is pressuring Senate Republicans to plow ahead with a $95 billion budget framework before they leave for recess in August. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo July 24 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Friday pressured Senate Republicans to plow ahead with a $95 billion »»»

Written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa I have been looking forward to “Daemons of the Shadow Realm” ever since I heard Hiromu Arakawa was getting another anime adaptation. As someone who considers “Fullmetal Alchemist” one of the greatest anime ever made, my expectations were probably unfairly h»»»

SEATTLE, USA: A seaplane carrying 11 people crashed and caught fire on the rocky coast of a remote, forested island near Washington’s border with Canada, but a swift rescue by nearby boats and a helicopter got everyone safely to hospitals. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday one pers»»»

A person walks along a street flooded after the Bellavista Canal overflowed in the Mirador de la Hacienda neighborhood of La Serena, Chile, on Monday. President Jose Antonio Kast declared a state of constitutional exception of catastrophe for the Coquimbo Region and Huasco province in response to t»»»

The worst wildfire in the Madrid region's history raged west of the Spanish capital on Friday, with around 40,000 people evacuated or ordered to remain indoors. Strong winds and scorching temperatures hampered efforts to contain the flames, which had destroyed dozens of homes and forced the closure»»»

Washington: Since 2026 began, the United States has already recorded its worst measles outbreak in 35 years, according to official figures released Friday, a serious uptick in cases as vaccine hesitancy grows. In just seven months, 2,318 confirmed cases of the highly contagious illness have been re»»»

A nurse administers a measles vaccine to a child at a public health center in Nejapa, El Salvador, in April. The United States just reached a record high of measles cases this year. File Photo by Javier Aparicio/EPA July 24 (UPI) -- Measles cases have hit a record high in the United States since th»»»

President Iliana Iotova said on Friday she will run for president in the upcoming election in November. Her candidacy will be put forward by a nomination committee. Iotova broke the news in an interview with Bulgarian National Television. Asked which political party she will seek support from, Ioto»»»

President Donald Trump's new round of tariffs stem from an investigation launched by the Office of the United States Trade Representative in March into whether trading partners effectively prohibit imports made with forced labor. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo July 24 (UPI) -- Governments»»»

Washington: A US federal court in Virginia has ruled that restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump's administration on the abortion pill mifepristone are "unlawful" and must be reconsidered. The case was brought by the nonprofit Center for Reproductive Rights in May 2023 on behalf of abortion»»»

New Delhi: India said Friday that one of its nationals was killed in an attack last week on a commercial vessel transiting the Black Sea. The foreign ministry condemned the strike, saying that the MV Omorfi -- which had three Indian nationals on board -- was attacked on July 18 "while transiting th»»»

The construction of a national children's hospital in Sofia remains a government priority despite the current legal deadlock, Health Minister Katya Ivkova told reporters on Friday. She said that the funding for the design of the future hospital, amounting to more than EUR 46 million, is included in»»»

KAMPALA: Ugandans will be required to spend three hours cleaning their communities on the last Saturday of every month or face legal action, authorities announced on Friday. The inaugural National Cleaning Day will take place this Saturday from 7:00 am to 10:00 am (0400-0700 GMT) with security offi»»»

NEW YORK CITY: The UN is ready to deploy a confidence-building mechanism developed months ago to secure the safe transit of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Friday. He framed the announcement as a message to the warring parties responsible for the current»»»

The Ansar Allah movement of Yemen (the Houthis) has announced what it calls a “maritime embargo” against Saudi Arabia. The group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, framed the move as retaliation for what he described as 12 years of Saudi-led blockade by sea and air against Yemen. The wording itself»»»

ZAWTAR AL-GHARBIYEH, Lebanon: Residents began entering the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar Al-Gharbiyeh on Friday, some inspecting damaged homes and searching for belongings after Israeli troops withdrew and the Lebanese army deployed under a US-brokered agreement. The return remains tentative. Mo»»»

Unknown individuals chose to travel on the side of a train in Érd, according to footage shared by the local police. Uknown men travelled on the side of a train According to a video uploaded to the official YouTube page of the Hungarian police, unidentified men travelled on the side of a passenger t»»»

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service shows Ukrainian rescuers working at the site of a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. At least 10 people died and dozens were injured in the Russian missile attack. Photo courtesy State Eme»»»

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, the Israeli leader’s office said. Since Trump’s return to office last year, the two have already met six times, most recently on February 11 in Washington. But this visit comes at»»»

TUNIS: At least 900 fires broke out in Tunisia over a 72-hour period, a senior official told AFP on Friday, as the country grapples with an intense heatwave. Civil protection official Khalil Mechri said most of the blazes recorded between July 20 and 22 had been extinguished, though two major ones »»»

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States does not sell weapons to Ukraine. "He [Russian President Vladimir Putin] understands that I do not sell Weapons to Ukraine, but to NATO Countries. They pay full price, and how those Weapons are distributed, I hav»»»

The Cockroach Janta Party began as a satirical youth movement just a few months ago, but has since emerged as a rallying point for disillusioned young people across India. So, what's driving the growing frustration and wave of protests? Rachael Griffiths explains.»»»

JEDDAH: When the FIFA World Cup kicked off in USA, Mexico and Canada, billions of fans were glued to their screens. There were goals, controversies and last-minute dramas but the real magic was not just happening on the grass. Behind the scenes, engineers and tech companies had turned the tournamen»»»

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump warned China and Russia on Friday against selling weapons to Iran — while saying he believed assurances from Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin that they were not yet doing so. “Therefore, two major Countries that people speak of often in terms of Iran are, in my op»»»

Police officers guard the entrance to Heron House, which will house No. 10 North while another site is under construction, in Manchester, England. The bee is the symbol of Manchester. Photo by Adam Vaughan/EPA July 24 (UPI) -- New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham held his first meeting at No. 10»»»

KAMPALA: On a cold morning in Uganda’s largest national park, rangers chat and sing to lift their spirits ahead of the start of a daunting wildlife project considered critical to conservation: moving the Nubian giraffe to a new home. Rangers at Murchison Falls National Park on Tuesday began to tran»»»

PARIS: A volunteer was injected on Friday with the first dose of a rapidly developed vaccine targeting the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola driving a deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Oxford University said. More than 1,270 people have been killed out of nearly 3,000 infections in the »»»

Kathmandu: Nepal's steady rise in public debt over the past decade continued in fiscal year 2025-26, with total public debt increasing by more than 11 percent during the year, the government office responsible for managing public debt said on Friday. According to the Public Debt Management Office (»»»

Bulgaria's Defence Minister Dimitar Stoyanov and Youth and Sports Minister Encho Keryazov met on Friday with mayors from the southeastern Yambol Region to discuss the planned deployment of US Boeing KC-135 aerial refuelling aircraft and up to 250 US military personnel at Bezmer Air Base. The meetin»»»

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is exploring ​a path toward a resumption of stalled US-Iran talks over ending their nearly five-month-old war, three Pakistani sources said, following a push initiated by China. Exploratory discussions took place during a visit by Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni to Isla»»»

GENEVA: Spain has nominated Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz to head the United Nations labor agency, potentially making her the first woman to lead the organization, as it faces a financial crisis over US non-payments. The Spanish government said Diaz’s candidacy for the top job at the International L»»»

MOSCOW: Russia believes US President Donald Trump is sincere in his efforts to end the Ukraine war and will wait for Washington to put forward new proposals, even though the US is continuing to provide weapons to Kyiv, the Kremlin said on Friday. In the meantime, Russia will keep fighting to achiev»»»

BELGRADE - In a telephone call, Serbian Deputy PM and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic and Hungarian Interior Minister Gabor Posfai noted on Friday that their countries shared common security challenges on the Western Balkan migration route. In light of Posfai's recent successful visit to Belgrade, Da»»»

Middle East tensions are once again driving up global oil prices, with Brent crude climbing above $100 a barrel for the first time since May. While much of the focus has been on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the alternative shipping route through the Red Sea is becoming increasingly dangerous aft»»»

US President Donald Trump has threatened to seize frozen Iranian assets to cover “any and all damages” to ships and cargo damaged due to the conflict in the Middle East. Iran has hit back, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warning that the move sets an “incendiary precedent” that could have glob»»»

Dubai: Aster Hospital Mankhool has become the first hospital in the Gulf to use a new heart imaging system that gives doctors highly detailed, real-time views from inside the arteries during complex heart procedures. The hospital, ranked fourth in the UAE in Newsweek's World's Best Hospitals 2026 l»»»

India has extended a mobile internet shutdown in the capital, New Delhi, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces his biggest youth-led challenge since taking office in 2014. Leaders of the youth-led "Cockroach" movement are due to meet government officials later today in an effort to resolve a stando»»»

Kuwait: Kuwait's General Staff of the Armed Forces announced that the country's air defense systems were intercepting hostile Iranian drone attacks. In a statement, the General Staff said any explosion sounds heard are the result of the air defense systems intercepting the incoming attacks. It urge»»»

BELGRADE - On Monday, July 20, Air Serbia carried 22,098 passengers, achieving the best single-day result in its history and surpassing its previous record of more than 21,600 passengers, set on August 1, 2025, the Serbian national airline has announced. "We are currently at the peak of the summer »»»

Dubai: The conflict between the United States and Iran continues to escalate, with fresh military action, new travel warnings and growing concerns over shipping and aviation across the Middle East. While the UAE remains safe and airports are operating normally, the latest developments have prompted»»»

Foreign buyers completed 10 acquisitions of Ukrainian assets in the first half of 2026, double the five recorded a year earlier, with disclosed value rising to $415mn from $26mn, KPMG in Ukraine said in its M&A Radar report. The rebound in inbound dealmaking sits against foreign direct investme»»»