Japan has announced plans to begin developing unmanned vessels as part of a broader effort to strengthen its maritime security capabilities, with a corresponding budget item to be included in the next fiscal year, the Yomiuri reported. The government expects that combining unmanned vessels with pat»»»

A landslide in central China has killed eight people, and 34 are still missing. Image courtesy of UPI July 18 (UPI) -- At least eight people are dead and 34 are missing after a massive landslide fell in Chongqing, China, Friday morning. Rocks and soil slid down the mountain and buried more than 10 »»»

Tokyo: Researchers from Kyoto University in Japan and the Icahn School of Medicine in the United States have identified a potential new biological treatment for lung inflammation and asthma by stimulating a nerve in the outer ear. The study, published in the journal Immunity, found that stimulating»»»

RIYADH: Venture capital across the Middle East and North Africa has been trapped in a paradox: more money, more international attention and more government-backed ambition, yet still a market that looks small beside the economies it is meant to help transform. Startups in the region raised $3.8 bil»»»

Japan's parliament on Friday enacted changes to imperial succession rules, allowing male distant relatives to rejoin the imperial family and women to retain royal status after marrying commoners. The legislation, however, keeps the ban on female emperors despite opinion polls showing broad public s»»»

Tokyo: A Canadian tourist was injured Friday after a bear attacked her in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, local media reported. The woman in her 30s was strolling alone at Goshikinuma Ponds, a popular tourist spot in the foothills of Mount Bandai, when the bear scratched her face and righ»»»

Beijing: A landslide in southwest China killed at least eight people and left 34 missing on Friday, local authorities said, with Chinese President Xi Jinping urging comprehensive inspections as rescue efforts were ongoing. The landslide happened around 9:10 am local time (0110 GMT) in Chongqing's P»»»

WASHINGTON: The World Cup final between Argentina and Spain on Sunday will be refereed by Slavko Vinčić of Slovenia, two years after he was in charge of a Champions League final. FIFA announced the pick late Thursday. It’s the second straight World Cup final where Argentina, now the defending champ»»»

The Guadalupe River rises to the top of a bridge near Boerne, Texas, Thursday. Severe flooding affected parts of south-central Texas and the Texas Hill Country, with a dangerous flood wave moving down the Guadalupe River. Photo by Dustin Safranek/EPA July 17 (UPI) -- Two people are dead in flooding»»»

DUBAI: More airlines are restoring flights to parts ‌of the Middle East after the conflict that followed US and Israeli strikes on Iran, but some carriers have kept suspensions in place. Below is an update on the status of airlines’ flights, in alphabetical order: AEGEAN AIRLINES Greece’s largest c»»»

Japan's Parliament voted Friday to revise the law regarding the royal succession that has been in place since 1947, expanding the number of eligible heirs to distant male relatives but did not relax the ban preventing Princess Aiko (pictured), or any other female royal, from ascending the Chrysanth»»»

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the country’s first hydrogen-powered train on Friday, making the country one of just a handful which have adopted the zero-emissions, clean fuel technology. Developed by state-owned Indian Railways, the blue trainset uses hydrogen fuel cells t»»»

DUBAI: More airlines are restoring flights ‌to parts of the Middle East after the conflict that followed US and Israeli strikes on Iran, but some carriers have kept suspensions in place. Below is an update on the status of airlines’ flights, in alphabetical order: AEGEAN AIRLINES Greece’s largest c»»»

A total of 26 international students are currently enrolled at the Plovdiv Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts, the higher education institution told BTA. The foreign students come from 10 countries across Europe and Asia, including Portugal, the United Kingdom, North Macedonia, China and Japan. »»»

Tokyo: The more Yoriko Kitagawa learns of a massive data centre to be built near her home in Hino on the outskirts of Tokyo, the more she worries. "This is a terrible plan," the 94-year-old told AFP. The explosion in resource-hungry data centres -- housing the hardware "brains" of artificial intell»»»

Jind, India: India launched its first hydrogen-powered train Friday, joining a small group of nations testing the technology as part of efforts to decarbonise rail transport and cut dependence on fossil fuels. The project is part of a broader push to modernise one of the world's largest rail networ»»»

K-pop exports reached a record high in the first half of 2026, South Korean government data showed Friday, In this March 21 photo, a billboard advertising the Netflix livestream of a BTS concert is seen in Seoul. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo South Korea's exports of K-pop albums»»»

Manila: Manila lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing on Friday over a "racist" video posted by Chinese state media portraying the Philippines as a cartoon monkey. The China Daily post was the latest offshoot of a long-running dispute over the Asian neighbours' overlapping South China Sea claims.»»»

MANILA: The Philippines condemned as racist a video posted by the state-run China Daily depicting Filipinos as monkeys, saying on Friday it had lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing over the “offensive, distressing and unacceptable” imagery. Manila has demanded the removal of the video, which it»»»

Tokyo: Japan's parliament tweaked the imperial succession law on Friday but maintained the bar on women emperors -- despite surveys suggesting wide public support for the idea. The future of the imperial household -- mythically descended from the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu -- depends currently on»»»

The Hungarian state spent more than HUF 387 million on President Tamás Sulyok’s official foreign trips between March 2024, when he took office, and the end of 2025, according to figures released following a public information request. The data, obtained by HVG from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a»»»

India launched its first hydrogen-powered train Friday, joining a small group of nations testing the technology as part of efforts to decarbonise rail transport and cut dependence on fossil fuels. The project is part of a broader push to modernise one of the world's largest rail networks while redu»»»

In Japan, a new generation of office workers is reviving a bygone corporate culture. Around the world, Gen-Z has garnered a reputation as delicate, even reticent employees. A growing cohort of young Japanese salarymen - and women - are embracing a work culture some are calling "corporate machismo" »»»

Oil prices edged lower in Asian trading on Friday as investors weighed the impact of the United States' naval blockade of Iran against expectations that global crude supplies remain sufficient to prevent an immediate price spike. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - sim»»»

President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday finalized rules imposing stricter limits on how long foreign students and journalists may stay in the United States, tightening legal immigration. Student visas would be capped at four years, while journalists would be limited to 240-day stays. Ch»»»

WASHINGTON: ​If the US and Iran do not increase oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz soon, the world should worry about energy security, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Thursday. “Oil security is still a critical issue,” Birol told a Council on Foreign Relatio»»»

China and President Xi Jinping are now viewed more favorably than the US and Donald Trump across most of the world, a new Pew Research Center survey spanning six continents has found. Pew says China enjoys a more positive image than the US in 25 of the 36 countries and territories surveyed, includi»»»

PARIS, France — The United States remained the world's largest air passenger market in 2025, but it recorded the slowest growth among the world's top 10 markets, new industry data showed on Thursday.A total 890.1 million passengers took off or landed in the US last year, a rise of just 1.6 per cent»»»

Dubai: The UAE Embassy in Wellington has urged Emirati citizens in New Zealand to exercise caution following a strong earthquake that struck north of the town of Te Anau, warning of the potential risk of tsunami activity. In a statement, the embassy advised UAE nationals to strictly follow safety i»»»

Dubai: India is set to join a select group of countries operating hydrogen-powered passenger trains when Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags off the country’s first such service on Friday, marking a major milestone in Indian Railways’ transition to cleaner and more sustainable transportation. The hy»»»

MANILA: The Philippines on Thursday slammed as racist a video posted by Chinese state media portraying the country as a cartoon monkey forced by US and Japanese masters to defend its South China Sea claims.China claims almost the entirety of the crucial waterway despite an international ruling that»»»

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»»»

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»»»

Wellington: New Zealand authorities issued a tsunami warning Thursday following a 5.9-magnitude quake on the western coast of the South Island, warning people there to "move immediately" to high ground. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click here.People in af»»»

LONDON: The British government on Thursday urged FIFA to investigate Argentina’s team after players posed with a banner claiming sovereignty over the contested Falkland Islands. Argentina beat England 2-1 in a World Cup semifinal on Wednesday in Atlanta. During post-match celebrations, Argentine pl»»»

South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Jin Yong-sung (R) poses with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Gen. Dan Caine and Gen. Hiroaki Uchikura, respectively, during their Trilateral Chiefs of Defense meeting at the Pentagon Wednesday. Photo courtesy of South Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff »»»

JEDDAH: Saudia, the Kingdom’s national carrier, in collaboration with the Air Connectivity Program and Saudi Tourism Authority, has announced the addition of Tokyo as a new international destination within its growing global network. The new route will operate three flights a week from King Khalid »»»

Tokyo: A major Japanese ice cream maker said Thursday that it is seeing shipment delays following a cyberattack at its logistics partner that has already affected Kentucky Fried Chicken and a large sushi chain. Ezaki Glico, known for popular snacks like Pocky, said some of its ice cream products re»»»

On 3 September 2025, as China marked the 80th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the Second World War, President Xi Jinping stood at the centre of one of the most significant military parades of his tenure. The world’s eyes were on Beijing, as the latest weapons systems were paraded, and as observers»»»

WASHINGTON: The world has largely viewed the US more favourably than China for years. Those opinions have flipped in Beijing's favour this year, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center, a remarkable shift driven in part by tensions between the Trump administration and US allies. Get upda»»»

More people have favourable views of China than the United States in 25 out of 36 countries and territories surveyed, including Canada and Mexico, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center released on Wednesday. Views were also more favourable of Chinese leader Xi Jinping than US Pres»»»

Dubai: Dubai’s General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA Dubai) granted 66,000 Golden Visas, issued more than 1.052 million new residency permits, and completed over 5 million entry permit transactions during the first six months of the year, underscoring the emirate’s continue»»»

In France, a handful of wealthy entrepreneurs are buying up hundreds of hectares of land with the goal of letting nature reclaim its rightful place. Among them is Rodolphe Landemaine, an artisan baker at the helm of 30 bakeries in France and Japan. He routinely opens the doors to his Normandy »»»

Atlanta: England manager Thomas Tuchel named Declan Rice in his team for Wednesday's World Cup semi-final against Argentina after the midfielder recovered from illness, and made three changes to his starting line-up. Reece James plays at right-back, starting for the first time since the second grou»»»

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia slightly increased its holdings of US Treasury securities to $140.3 billion at the end of May, compared with $140.1 billion a month earlier, according to the latest data from the US Treasury Department. The Kingdom ranked 17th among major foreign holders of US Treasuries, behin»»»

Hungary could be among the countries most affected by a new US sanctions proposal targeting Russia’s energy exports, with a draft bill allowing tariffs of up to 100% on some of the world’s largest buyers of Russian oil and natural gas. The revised legislation was unveiled in the US Senate on Tuesda»»»

TOKYO: Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Faisal Binzagr met recently with Japan’s Economic Security Minister Kimi Onada for wide-ranging discussions on Riyadh and Tokyo’s evolving partnership and cooperation in strategic sectors shaping the global economy. The officials explored prospect»»»

Family members of Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor at the Sado mine complex during World War II explore the mines on Nov. 25, 2024. UNESCO has recommended Japan do more to reflect the "whole history" of the site. File Photo by Yonhap An international heritage body has recommended that»»»

Mongolia on July 14 marked the first World Horse Day with a spectacular celebration that drew 12,600 riders. Billed as the “Parade of Ten Thousand Horses”, it was organised in the traditional Mongolian military formation of Zuut (hundreds), official news agency Montsame reported. Tough Mongolian h»»»

Tokyo: Indian badminton star Pusarla Venkata Sindhu said Wednesday that "everybody is beatable" as she targets a medal at the world championships on home soil in New Delhi next month. Sindhu won the world title in 2019 and also captured Olympic silver in Rio in 2016 and bronze in Tokyo five years l»»»