RIYADH: Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone generated a record 15.9 billion Egyptian pounds ($314 million) in revenue during fiscal year 2025/26, up 37 percent from a year earlier and 51 percent above budget. Dollar-denominated revenue rose 44 percent year on year to $246 million, accounting for 76 pe»»»

Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected claims that Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova’s signature on a joint declaration in Kyiv represents a decision for the country to strengthen its participation in the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” supporting Ukraine. The statement was issue»»»

Member of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, MP Hasan Fadlallah, affirmed that over the past period the bloc made a commitment to itself not to engage in polemics with the President of the Republic. However, what he described as “repeated accusations against our people and the insistence on turnin»»»

Tunis, July 16 (TAP) – The intense heatwave will continue across the country on Thursday, accompanied by sirocco winds, according to a weather monitoring bulletin issued by the National Institute of Meteorology (INM).According to forecasts a...»»»

Bulgaria's Parliament unanimously approved, at first and second reading in a single sitting on Thursday, the bill ratifying the Agreement on the Interpretation and Application of the Energy Charter Treaty, which was signed in Brussels on February 18, 2026. The agreement addresses the inapplicabilit»»»

Parliament on Thursday approved at first reading legislative amendments that would restore full machine voting, abolish the separate constituency for Bulgarians abroad, and expand voting sections beyond the EU. Lawmakers approved four bills amending the Election Code and rejected two others. The bi»»»

Abu Dhabi: The UAE has climbed to 17th place globally and retained its position as the highest-ranked country in the region in the QS World Future Skills Index 2027, highlighting the country’s efforts to align higher education with the needs of the future economy. The Ministry of Higher Education a»»»

Dubai: The UAE has introduced a unified national framework to regulate the licensing of universities and colleges, a move aimed at raising academic standards, strengthening governance and simplifying oversight across the country’s higher education sector, including institutions in free zones. Appro»»»

Bulgarian companies are among the least indebted in the European Union, according to the latest Eurostat data for the end of 2025. Corporate debt among non-financial enterprises in Bulgaria stands at 45% of gross domestic product, significantly below the EU average of 70.1% and the euro area averag»»»

Ukraine is likely to get a new Prime Minister today and a much more pragmatic government as a result of the surprise reshuffle that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy triggered by asking the current Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko to step down at the weekend. Under the Ukrainian constitution »»»

The Kremlin is pushing the Far East as a major investment opportunity thanks to a sanctions-driven surge in trade with China and a broader wave of investment from across the continent and the Global South. For most of the past decade, Russia's pivot to Asia has been measured in barrels of oil, cubi»»»

Damascus, July 16 (SANA) Director General of the Syrian Investment Authority Talal al-Hilali met Indian Chargé d’Affaires Renu Yadav on Thursday to discuss expanding economic and investment cooperation between Syria and India. According to the Syrian Investment Authority, the talks focused on oppor»»»

Official data released on Wednesday shows China's GDP grew 4.3 percent in the second quarter, compared to a year prior. The last time quarterly growth was that weak was in late 2022, when China was feeling the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Slow consumer demand, despite a surge in exports, helps »»»

Last week’s column ended with reference to my interviews with members of the Afghan women’s cricket team, which had been touring England. Since then, there have been developments in plans for their future. After the International Cricket Council’s Annual Conference in Edinburgh between July 8 and 1»»»

Seoul: South Korea's central bank delivered a quarter-percentage-point interest rate hike Thursday, as widely expected, to tackle high inflation amid lingering Middle East uncertainties. The Bank of Korea (BOK) convened a Monetary Policy Board meeting and lifted the benchmark rate from 2.5 % to 2.7»»»

Dubai: The UAE has taken another step to preserve its modern history by adding the historic Union House in Dubai to the National Register of Modern Architectural Heritage, recognising the landmark where the country's founding leaders signed the declaration of the Union in 1971. The announcement was»»»

CAIRO: Israeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Palestinian health officials said, as a US-based research group reported a surge in Israeli attacks to levels not seen since the latest truce took effect in October. Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed two p»»»

NEW DELHI: A New Delhi court ordered government doctors on Thursday to monitor activist Sonam Wangchuk’s health daily, as supporters fear for his life after nearly three weeks of hunger strike to protest India’s examination system. Wangchuk, 59, has been fasting since June 28, demanding the resigna»»»

TEHRAN: Tehran on Thursday accused the United States of carrying out a “barbaric attack” after a cancer hospital in Iran’s southwest was forced to evacuate due to nearby strikes.“This barbaric attack, reminiscent of Israel’s atrocities against health care facilities, caused severe suffering and anx»»»

Manama: The General Command of the Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) announced that its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed several Iranian aerial attacks. In a statement, the BDF's General Command said that Iran continues its systematic hostile approach through its criminal attacks targeting c»»»

Dubai: Indian community groups in the UAE have called for a permanent solution to the ongoing difficulties faced by Indian expats in accessing passport and attestation services, along with the recent hike in passport fees. Their demands come amid uncertainty over the future of passport and attestat»»»

The paradox comes at a particularly challenging time for the Romanian economy. The European Commission forecasts GDP growth of just 0.1% in 2026, while inflation is expected to remain around 7%, continuing to erode household purchasing power and consumer spending. At the same time, fiscal consolida»»»

RIYADH: The Middle East plays a crucial role in global supply chains for critical materials, particularly aluminum, sulfur and helium, with the region accounting for about 8 percent of global primary aluminum output, a new analysis showed. According to the International Energy Agency’s Global Criti»»»

BUCHAREST - Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said Friday would be a historic day for Serbia-US relations due to the launch of strategic dialogue between the two countries, and noted that there were also plans to sign a MoU on cooperation in the energy sector. "We a»»»

Two earthquakes of rare magnitude struck Venezuela on June 24, seconds apart. The state of La Guaira on the Caribbean coast was by far the hardest hit, with entire buildings collapsing there in seconds. Tens of thousands of people are still missing but help still has not arrived. In the absence of »»»