WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to take over Kharg Island, Iran’s oil infrastructure hub. Analysts say the US military could seize the island quickly, but the move could leave US troops in great peril and prolong rather than shorten the war. WHERE IS KHARG ISLAND AND WH»»»

VINNYTSIA: The two burly men stare straight ahead, hands intertwined on a pottery wheel, fingers buried in the clay. They sense each other’s presence through touch alone. One is a veteran who lost his sight in combat and now teaches other blind veterans. Slowly, a piece resembling a cup takes form.»»»

President Iliana Iotova will hold a public hearing of the candidates proposed by the parliamentary parties and coalitions in the 52nd National Assembly for members of the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Friday, as announced by the press service of the presidential institution. The head of Stat»»»

A computed tomography (CT) scanner has been purchased for the General Medical Practice Center in Kyzyl-Kiya, Batken region, using the institution’s own funds. The Ministry of Health recalled that a CT scanner had previously been installed at the General Medical Practice Center in Kadamdzhai distric»»»

Doha, Qatar: Ministry of Education and Higher Education has unveiled a new policy governing tuition fees in private schools and kindergartens, introducing a transparent framework that gives parents up to 18 months’ advance notice of approved fee increases while linking future tuition hikes to schoo»»»

JERUSALEM: Israel’s cabinet on Thursday referred a plan to allocate 1 billion shekels ($339.7 million) for the establishment of new settlements in the occupied West Bank to the security cabinet, deferring a vote on the funds, Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now said. The plan was promoted by fa»»»

Dubai: The 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to give the Arab world its biggest stage yet, with a record eight teams from the region qualifying for the tournament across the US, Canada and Mexico. World Cup 2026 wall chart: Download it free with fixtures and full scheduleSaudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Moroc»»»

Washington: Tehran said Friday it had not reached a final decision on a deal to end the Middle East war, despite US President Donald Trump claiming an agreement could be signed in days and cancelling threatened strikes on Iran. Trump's statements fuelled a stock market rally and tanked oil prices, »»»

Deputy Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan Meder Abakirov and State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia Marek Eshtok held interagency consultations and discussed the current state and prospects for the development of Kyrgyzstan — Slovakia relations, trade, economic, inv»»»

Doha, Qatar: Four years ago, Qatar’s World Cup debut never truly got going. A nervy opening defeat to Ecuador set the tone for a difficult campaign that ended without a point and with hopes fading before the knockout rounds even came into view. As Al Annabi prepare to begin their FIFA World Cup 202»»»

Former Hungarian National Bank (MNB) governor György Matolcsy received a gross departure package of more than HUF 170.8 million (approximately EUR 483,000) when he left office after 12 years at the helm of Hungary’s central bank, according to information obtained through a public data request. The »»»

Arab Finance: Construction has officially begun on the first phase of Citystars Park St., a large-scale mixed-use development in New Cairo with planned investments exceeding EGP 100 billion, as per an emailed press release. The project is being developed by Sky Innovo Developments, a subsidiary of »»»

Washington: President Donald Trump has long been looking for this weekend to be a big one for his presidency. The World Cup returns to the US on Friday for the first time in 32 years after Trump threw himself into winning the bid to co-host the soccer tourney during his first term. He'll be feted S»»»

A newborn Asian elephant calf at UK's Whipsnade Zoo has captured public attention after being seen playfully kicking and chasing a large red ball shortly after making his public debut. The endangered calf was born to mother Donna at the UK's largest zoo and quickly became a favorite among visitors »»»

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov signed a law ratifying the agreement between Kyrgyzstan and Japan on the elimination of double taxation on income taxes. The document was signed on December 19, 2025, in Tokyo. Previously, the Zhogorku Kenesh adopted a law on its ratification, which is necessar»»»

PARIS : Israeli and Palestinian civil society groups will meet in France on Friday to urge the international community not to abandon a two-state solution, as Paris seeks to keep the issue alive amid the Middle East war.The meeting, attended by foreign ministers and senior officials from dozens of »»»

JESSORE: Rice farmer Mohammad Ismail Hossain fears violence could blight his quiet fields in southwestern Bangladesh, on the front line of a growing Indian push to expel undocumented migrants. The countries share a porous 4,096-kilometer (2,500-mile) border, with communities on either side often so»»»

The government decided at its Wednesday meeting to extend the student loan interest freeze and the repayment moratorium on the baby-expecting loan scheme, while also approving a HUF 3.6 billion hospital cooling reconstruction programme. Budapest was granted a postponement until October 15 to meet i»»»

Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan Jeenbek Kulubaev held talks with his Georgian counterpart Maka Botchorishvili. According to the press service of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Kyrgyzstan, the sides discussed the current state and prospects of Kyrgyzstan — Georgia cooperation, emphasizing the import»»»

Chinese ports once again topped the World Bank and S&P Global Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) for 2025, with seven of the world's ten most efficient trade hubs located in China, according to the annual report. The port of Fuzhou in southeastern Fujian province claimed the top spot globally,»»»

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump have "personal chemistry" and direct diplomats to restore normal intergovernmental relations between Russia and the United States, Russian Ambassador to the US Alexander Darchiev said. "Yes, it might be true that the process [of restori»»»

TYRE, Lebanon: A strike wounded 10 staff members of a hospital in the Lebanese city of Tyre on Thursday, the facility’s director told AFP, as Israeli raids continue in the country’s south. All three of the historic city’s hospitals have been hit since the start of the latest war between Iran-backed»»»

BANGKOK: Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, a lawyer and the eldest of King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s children, has died at 47, the Bureau of the Royal Household said. She died Thursday evening at a Bangkok hospital where she had been cared for since falling unconscious due to illness three ye»»»

Guadalajara, Mexico: South Korea got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start Thursday after finally converting a host of chances they created to beat the Czech Republic 2-1. Czech Republic's defender #07 Ladislav Krejci (C) celebrates with teammates scoring his team's first goal Until the 8»»»

WASHINGTON: The relationship between US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron started simply enough, with a handshake, nearly a decade ago. But even then, there were signs of strain in their relationship — tensions that could be on full display during next week’s G7 summit in »»»

Skyliner II, the latest office project rising beside Warsaw's Rondo Daszyńskiego, has reached its full structural height of 130 meters. Developed by Karimpol Group, the tower forms the second phase of the Skyliner complex and will add around 24,000 sqm of office space to one of the capital's most s»»»

Oil prices rose on Thursday as markets reacted to another exchange of fire between the United States and Iran and renewed uncertainty over shipping near the Strait of Hormuz. Money.pl reported that WTI crude for July delivery traded at USD 91.12 per barrel, up 1.21 percent, while Brent for August d»»»

Dubai: Uniquely You Mental Health Center, the UAE’s first publicly neurodivergent-owned and operated mental health clinic, has officially launched in Dubai. Founded by Elaine Maichin, an American neurodivergent, CDA-licensed psychologist, a US-Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and a licensed t»»»

Enterprise Investors has agreed to sell Anwim, owner of the Moya petrol-station network, to a consortium of Stonepeak and Energy Equation Partners. The deal covers 100 percent of the company, though the value has not been disclosed and completion still requires regulatory approvals. Anwim has grown»»»

US President Donald Trump said Thursday he had halted plans for new military strikes on Iran, claiming negotiators were close to extending a fragile ceasefire, just hours after threatening to intensify the conflict by targeting Iran’s oil industry. US President Donald Trump said Thursday he had cal»»»

RIYADH: Al-Qadsiah winger Julian Quinones got FIFA World Cup scoring off the mark as he netted the tournament’s first goal and helped co-host Mexico defeat South Africa on Thursday. The 29-year-old attacker’s powerful low strike on the 9th minute helped the home side to a 2-0 victory at a packed Me»»»

CAIRO: Egypt urged the United States and Iran to seize what it called an “available opportunity” for a deal to end the war, after President Donald Trump withdrew his threat to carry out further strikes on Tehran. Cairo’s foreign ministry said in a statement late Thursday it hoped “the available opp»»»

PARIS: More than half of civilian deaths caused by explosive weapons in 2025 were attributed to the Israeli military, according to a new Explosive Weapons Monitor report, which warned of a growing “normalization” of civilian harm in global conflicts. The report released on Wednesday said over 22,60»»»

OTTAWA, Ontario: A Toronto police officer was shot and killed Thursday by a suspect in the investigation into a shooting attack that damaged the facade of the US Consulate in the Canadian city in March, police said. One 19-year-old suspect was in custody at a hospital in critical condition while of»»»

LJUBLJANA: Slovenia’s new conservative-led government on Thursday lifted an arms embargo on Israel and entry bans on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and two of his ministers. Last year, Slovenia, then under liberal prime minister Robert Golob, imposed measures against Israel over its war »»»

WASHINGTON American pop star Ariana Grande told President Donald Trump’s administration on ​Thursday to stop using her music to promote its policies. The comment came after the White House shared a video on TikTok earlier this week highlighting its immigration policy. The video, which depicts feder»»»

SEOUL: South Korea’s ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Friday for sending drones into North Korea, a move prosecutors argued was aimed at creating a pretext for his disastrous martial law declaration in 2024.Special prosecutors said back in April that Yoon’s effort t»»»

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: Europe’s technology chief warned Thursday about the risks of relying too heavily on US tech companies in sensitive areas such as cybersecurity and defense. EU tech sovereignty chief Henna Virkkunen was speaking in Brazil at Web Summit Rio — the Americas’ largest tech summit,»»»

Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan human rights movement has issued an appeal to the country’s authorities in connection with Kyrgyzstan’s election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. The authors of the appeal noted that membership in the UN Security Council is a great responsibility and called»»»

Schoolchildren from Kyrgyzstan won 13 medals at the Al-Khwarizmi International Olympiad in Mathematics and Informatics, held at the Renaissance Health Center in Tashkent region of Uzbekistan. According to the Ministry of Education, 219 schoolchildren from 16 countries (Malaysia, Mongolia, Kyrgyzsta»»»

The second meeting of the Kyrgyz-Georgian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation was held in Bishkek, marking the resumption of its activities after a ten-year hiatus. The Ministry of Economy reported. The parties noted the significant potential for cooperation between Kyrgy»»»

Dubai: The UAE will see generally fair weather on Friday, with low cloud cover developing over eastern areas and temperatures climbing to as high as 47°C inland, according to the National Centre of Meteorology forecast. Humidity is expected to increase overnight and into Saturday morning across som»»»

Construction of the second phase of an eco-technological plant for processing municipal solid waste and generating electricity has begun in Bishkek. Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Adylbek Kasymaliev attended the capsule-laying ceremony. Speaking at the event, the head of the Cabinet called th»»»

Skyliner II, the second phase of the Skyliner office complex developed by Karimpol Group near Rondo Daszyńskiego, has reached its planned structural height of 130 meters, marking a significant milestone for one of Warsaw's largest office projects currently under construction.The building forms part»»»

RIYADH: Riyadh region police have detained five Bangladeshi residents for begging and initiated legal proceedings against them, the Ministry of Interior’s Public Security directorate announced on Friday. The arrests, reported by the Saudi Press Agency, form part of the ministry’s continuing efforts»»»

GENEVA: Extreme heat has claimed more than 200,000 lives across Europe over the past four years, according to the UN World Health Organisation (WHO). The agency warned that heatwaves are becoming an increasingly frequent and deadly public health emergency driven by climate change. “We need a coordi»»»

BANGKOK: Thailand’s Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol, a lawyer and the eldest of King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s children, has died at 47, the Bureau of the Royal Household said. She died Thursday evening at a Bangkok hospital where she had been cared for since falling unconscious due to illness three ye»»»

The stage is set for a dazzling celebration of leadership, innovation and inclusion as Excellence Awards 2026 honours inspiring women and organisations at Dubai’s Museum of the Future today evening. Organised by Gulf News and BeingShe, the sixth edition of the awards will recognise 35 exceptional w»»»

First Sermon (Khutbah One) All praise is due to Allah, the Protecting Friend, the Praiseworthy, who by His grace has allowed us to witness the beginning of a new Hijri year. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that our master and prophet Muhammad is the Messenger of Al»»»

Dubai-based Jennifer Blandos, an entrepreneur building health tech, never really thought about leaving the UAE. She is self-sufficient, built her own business and bought her own home in 2015, and then acquired the Golden Visa in 2024, after the 1 Billion Followers Summit. As a single mother, it mad»»»