BERLIN: The scale of a suspected Russian phishing attack using the Signal messaging app on German lawmakers is “extremely worrying” and calls into question the security of government communications, a senior MP told AFP Friday. “The scale of the latest Signal hack that has come to light so far is e»»»

PARIS: Secretary ​of State Marco Rubio said on Friday the ‌US ‌expects ​its ‌operation ⁠in ​Iran to conclude ⁠in “weeks, not months” after ⁠he met ‌with ‌G7 ​foreign ministers ‌in ‌France.Rubio also said Iran may ‌decide to set up ⁠a ⁠tolling system for the Strait of Hormuz.- More to follow»»»

ROME: Italy’s government on Friday rushed through a decree amending rules that offered financial rewards to lawyers helping to repatriate migrants, after the scheme drew criticism from opposition parties who said it could be unconstitutional. The measure was part of a broader security package that »»»

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE: Pope Leo XIV urged the United States and Iran to return to talks to end the war Thursday and condemned capital punishment, in a wide-ranging press conference en route home from his trip to Africa. Leo also asserted that countries have the right to control their borders but m»»»

JEDDAH: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Jeddah on Friday for his second visit to Saudi Arabia in a month. During the visit, Zelensky met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, where the two leaders discussed ways to strengthen ties between Kyiv and Riyadh and expand cooperat»»»

BEIJING: China’s President Xi Jinping met Taiwan’s opposition party leader Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on Friday, telling the visiting delegation he had “full confidence” that Taiwanese and Chinese people would be united.Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng is the party’s first leader to visit China in a »»»

Nike is cutting 1,400 jobs, it announced Thursday, as sales lag. Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo April 24 (UPI) -- Sportswear giant Nike announced Thursday it's cutting about 1,400 jobs in its operations division, mostly tech workers. COO Venkatesh Alagirisamy said in a note to employee»»»

A 5.1-magnitude aftershock recorded at midday Friday off the coast of Ierapetra, southeastern Crete, is reinforcing – but not confirming – the view that the earlier 5.7-magnitude earthquake was the main shock, according to seismologists monitoring the area. Scientists describe the aftershock sequen»»»

Damascus: Syrian authorities said Friday they have arrested a former intelligence officer who appeared in a video leaked four years ago that purportedly showed him and his comrades fatally shooting dozens of people during the country's conflict. Amjad Yousef was arrested in the central province of »»»

BELGRADE: Serbia’s recent judicial reforms were rushed through without adequate public debate, a Council of Europe expert body warned on Friday, as it suggested revisions to some of the controversial aspects of the law. Serbia’s parliament adopted the package of changes in late January without cons»»»

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that a US blockade on Iran ​is going global, adding Tehran had a chance to make a “good deal” with Washington.“Our blockade is growing and going global,” Hegseth told reporters.“No one sails from the Strait of Hormuz to anywhere in the wo»»»

Saudi envoy Prince Yazid bin Farhan has met in Beirut with army chief Rodolphe Haykal and a number of Lebanese MPs, including Fouad Makhzoumi, Faisal Karami, and Elias Bou Saab. Prince Yazid bin Farhan affirmed KSA's support for the implementation of the Taif Agreement, full withdrawal of Israel fr»»»

A 20-year-old man has appeared before a naval court in Piraeus after confessing to the fatal stabbing of a 27-year-old man whose body was discovered in a park in the Athens suburb of Agios Dimitrios earlier this week. The suspect, who is currently serving in the Greek Navy, was brought before Pirae»»»

Pune, India: Blink and you might miss Indian speed climber Deepu Mallesh scaling a wall five buses high in five seconds. India, a country obsessed with cricket, has seen a surge in popularity in climbing but those who want to compete internationally have had to crowdfund and there is little governm»»»

Dubai: A mother has lost custody of her two daughters after Dubai’s highest court ruled that the children’s welfare must take precedence over the interests of either parent, affirming a decision to transfer their care to their father. In a final judgment, the Dubai Court of Cassation rejected the m»»»

World-renowned Japanese writer Sayaka Murata visited Bulgaria for the first time during the Literary Talks Festival (April 23–25) in Sofia's City Stage on Thursday. Moderator of the discussion was Bulgarian literary critic Darin Tenev, with interpretation from the Japanese by Albena Todorova. Often»»»

ATHENS - Serbian Deputy PM and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic met with Greek Minister of National Defence Nikolaos Dendias in Athens on Friday to discuss possibilities for advancement of comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, especially in the field of security. The ministers agreed th»»»

Beijing: Thousands squeezed into the world's biggest car show Friday, snapping selfies beside Chinese electric vehicles as automakers showcased AI, humanoid robots and flying-car ambitions in a cut-throat market. Rows of influencers posed in front of gleaming models at the capital's cavernous inter»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Qatar Sports for All Federation has launched a new training run as part of its 365 Days of Activity program, an initiative aimed at encouraging healthier lifestyles through daily exercise in public parks. The first session took place on the green fields of Al Rayyan Park, where mor»»»

The senior officer, who has been accused by Ukrainian military intelligence of involvement in criminal activities on European territory, has been appointed head of the FSB Border Guard Directorate for Karelia. Vladimir Shchemelinin is the new head of the FSB directorate responsible for guarding the»»»

Tyre, Lebanon: Clutching a battered photo album, Mohamad Ali Hijazi searched a mountain of rubble in south Lebanon's Tyre for mementoes of his family, killed in an Israeli strike minutes before a ceasefire took hold. "I'm trying to find my mother's hairbrush... and a bottle of perfume that she love»»»

TUNIS, April 24, 2026 (TAP) – Tunisia’s food trade balance posted a surplus of TND 798.3 million during the first three months of 2026, up from a surplus of TND 615.7 million in the same period a year earlier, according to data released Friday by...»»»

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday urged NATO allies to stick together, after a report that the United States was mulling action against Spain over its refusal to support operations against Iran. "NATO must remain united. I believe it is a source of strength," Meloni told reporters as »»»

DUBAI: Almost 50 years ago, the now-almost-100-year-old broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough and his team shot one of the most famous sequences in documentary history: an encounter with a family of gorillas in Rwanda who allowed Attenborough to approach them, whereupon the smallest »»»

CHANTILLY, France: Rebuilding trust between Abu Dhabi and Tehran will take “ages and ages,” UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said Friday, after Iran targeted the United Arab Emirates during the Middle East conflict. “You can’t be attacked with 2,800 missiles and drones and then talk to me abo»»»

Iran’s top diplomat is expected to travel to Pakistan by this weekend for talks, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press on Friday, raising hopes for revived negotiations in the Iran-U.S. war. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was expected to be accompanied by a small government del»»»

Three Palestinian teenagers have been killed in the occupied West Bank this week in a spike of renewed violence, the latest shot dead by Israeli forces during a mid-week raid. Palestinians in the northern West Bank village of Tell mourned the death of Youssef Shtayyeh on Friday after health officia»»»

Lawmaker Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, called on Friday for Lebanon to "withdraw" from direct talks with Israel that U.S. President Donald Trump says have a "very good chance" of achieving peace. "The authorities ought to feel ashamed before their people and withdraw from w»»»

The Israeli military on Friday warned residents of a village in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate, the first such warning since U.S. President Donald Trump announced a three-week ceasefire extension. "Urgent warning to the residents of the area of Deir Aames. Due to Hezbollah's terrorist act»»»

View this post on Instagram A post shared by DurhamSheriff (@durhamsheriff) April 23 (UPI) -- Authorities in North Carolina are asking local residents to keep an eye out for a "really big pig" seen wandering loose in Durham County. The Durham County Sheriff's Office said on social media that the "n»»»

Penalty for unauthorized vessels in EEZ jumps to 1.5 billion won The Korea Coast Guard conducts a drill on waters off Socheong Island to simulate a crackdown on supposed Chinese boats' illegal fishing in South Korean waters, in Incheon, South Korea, 09 April 2026. Photo by YONHAP / EPA April 23 (As»»»

RIYADH: Officials from the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority at Al-Haditha border crossing have foiled an attempt to smuggle a huge cache of captagon pills. The authority, which seized the contraband, said on Friday: “ZATCA, in coordination with the General Directorate of Narcotics Control, thwarted»»»

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said on Friday Serbia's talks with Hungary about an acquisition of a Russian majority stake in the Serbian oil company NIS by Hungary's MOL were making progress and that the details of an agreement among the shareholders »»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A total of 193 Russian soldiers have returned from the Kiev-controlled territory and 193 Ukrainian POWs have been transferred in return to Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday. "On April 24, 193 Russian servicepeople were returned from the territory controlled by »»»

Islamabad, Pakistan: Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday night, an official source in Pakistan said, without providing details about who he was likely to meet. The Pakistan capital has been gearing up for an anticipated second round of talks between »»»

The Yes, Bulgaria party accused prosecutors on Friday of being used, "once again", to target officials working for institutional reform. Their statement followed claims by Interior Ministry acting Secretary General Georgi Kandev that he had come under pressure and was smeared through false testimon»»»

Bern: Qatar Post secured two major international honors at the 2025 EMS Awards, winning the Gold Customer Care Award and the Performance Award, underscoring its leadership in operational excellence and customer experience. The Gold award recognized outstanding service quality, communication, and re»»»

GENEVA: Drought displaced nearly 62,000 people in just five Somali districts since the start of the year, the UN said Friday, estimating that the countrywide number could be in the hundreds of thousands. The United Nations’ migration agency said that in the five out of Somalia’s 90 districts that i»»»

Kuwait City, Kuwait: The Kuwaiti military said on Friday that two drones coming from the direction of neighboring Iraq struck border posts on its northern frontier with the country, causing damage but no casualties. “This morning, two of Kuwait’s northern land border posts were targeted in a crimin»»»

Kuwait Airways will resum operations from Terminal 4 at Kuwait International Airport, restoring flights to 17 destinations from Sunday, 26 April, following the reopening of the country’s airspace after a temporary suspension. The move comes after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation lifted res»»»

A magnitude 5 earthquake struck the southern island of Crete on Friday just before midday, hours after a stronger tremor rattled the same area earlier in the morning, authorities said. According to the National Observatory of Athens’ Geodynamics Institute, the latest quake hit about 18 kilometers s»»»

An Athens court has handed down lengthy prison sentences to two women convicted over a fatal blast in the Ambelokipi district in October 2024 in which one man was killed accidentally when the bomb he was handling exploded. The Three-Member Felony Appeals Court sentenced the injured partner of the m»»»

IZHEVSK, Russia (Sputnik) - Russia hopes that the United States and Iran will be able to reach a final agreement amid the ceasefire extension announced by US President Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday. "We hope that they will be able to resolve the e»»»

MOSCOW: Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria ​Zakharova said on Friday that the participation of the Japanese navy in joint ‌drills with ‌the ​US is ‌a ⁠cause ​for concern ⁠and increases tensions. Philippine and US forces began annual exercises ⁠on Monday in which ‌Japan ‌is ​taking ‌active p»»»

ISTANBUL: Turkish lawmakers passed a bill late Wednesday that includes restricting access to social media platforms for children under 15, state media reported. The legislation is the latest in a global trend to protect young people from dangerous online activity. Its passage comes a week after a 1»»»

The risk of a water and energy crisis is growing in Central Asia, leaving Kyrgyzstan vulnerable as a water source, experts stated following the environmental summit in Astana. Photo Internet. Alikbek Dzhekshenkulov Former Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Alikbek Dzhekshenkulov noted that the current resourc»»»

Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior has announced fines of up to SR100,000 for individuals who shelter visitors holding visit visas in violation of Hajj regulations, Okaz newspaper reported. The penalty applies to anyone who accommodates such visitors in hotels, apartments, private residence»»»

Algeria: Algeria today hosted the official signing of the second phase of the “Baladna Algeria” project. This includes a new set of contracts for the integrated farm project, alongside the launch of an airlift program to import dairy cows from the United States, starting in November 2026. The step »»»

ALGIERS: Algeria has hosted the official signing of the second phase of the 'Baladna Algeria'project. This includes a new set of contracts for the integrated farm project, alongside the launch of an airlift program to import dairy cows from the United States, starting in November 2026. The step ref»»»