RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s weekly point-of-sale spending remained above $3 billion in the week ending July 25, although transaction values extended their recent decline, central bank data showed. Total POS transactions fell 5.8 percent week on week to SR12.26 billion ($3.27 billion), according to the l»»»

Progressive Bulgaria began delivering on its campaign promises from the first day in office, the party's Floor Leader, Petar Vitanov, said in a declaration marking the end of Parliament's current session ahead of the August recess. "The past three months are only the beginning, and there is no room»»»

Hungary’s governing Tisza Party has maintained its commanding lead over Fidesz despite several weeks of heated political debates, according to the latest opinion poll by the Republikon Institute. The survey suggests that recent domestic political controversies have had little impact on voter prefer»»»

TradeGermanyBMW to Volkswagen: How deep is Germany's auto industry cull?Nik MartinBMW joins VW, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz in cutting thousands of jobs, as Chinese rivals erode their market share. DW recaps the major reforms German automakers are pursuing to safeguard their future. https://p.dw.com/»»»

Doha, Qatar: Bahrain completed a perfect campaign with four consecutive victories to emerge champions of the Gulf U-18 qualifiers in Doha, while Qatar came second in the five-team competition. Both Qatar and Bahrain earned qualification for the FIBA U-18 Asia Cup which will be held in Ahmedabad, In»»»

Parliament has approved the final amendments to Bulgaria's Electoral Code, restoring mandatory machine voting in larger polling stations and introducing a series of other changes that will apply ahead of the country's upcoming elections. Under the new rules, polling stations with more than 300 regi»»»

Dubai: When temperatures rise and many UAE residents pack their bags for summer holidays, some businesses prepare for quieter days. But for a growing number of small business owners, summer is not simply a slow season, it is a test of strategy, resilience, and creativity. Across various sectors, en»»»

Kyrgyzstan’s election to a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council came after a diligent campaign to gain support for its candidacy. It means a Central Asian state will have a seat on the UN’s most powerful body for the second time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Attention now »»»

Chasiv Yar, one of the longest and most fought-over battles in the Donbas of the Ukraine war, has fallen to Russian forces, with the last Ukrainian holdouts withdrawing from the southwestern part of the city in the past week, the open-source tracker AMK Mapping reported on July 29. The city, reduce»»»

The Vazrazhdane party is calling for a meeting of the Security Council under the Council of Ministers and a meeting of Parliament's Deputy Chairpersons and the Floor Leaders over the phone conversation between the foreign ministers of Bulgaria and Iran on Thursday. "We will demand that Bulgaria, th»»»

Turkey is interested in participating in a new security initiative for Lebanon when the 7,500-member U.N. peacekeeping mission in the south of the country expires at the end of the year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a joint press statement with his Lebanese counterpart on Thur»»»

Doha, Qatar: Qatar’s General Directorate of Civil Defense has intensified fire prevention efforts during the summer season, focusing on public awareness campaigns and compliance with safety requirements to reduce risks to lives and property. Despite increased awareness, officials said some unsafe p»»»

A Russian man apprehended in the Nizhny Novgorod region was collecting intelligence on Russian military-industrial enterprises for the Ukrainian special services, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement. The detainee is a member of the Artpodgotovka terrorist organization banned»»»

PARIS: World football’s governing body FIFA vowed on Friday to press ahead with an “open and democratic” consultation on a proposed private investment plan despite widespread opposition to the proposal. That opposition included a pledge by Europe’s governing body UEFA to boycott the World Cup if FI»»»

DUBAI: Most Valuable Promotions and the Professional Fighters League have announced a landmark merger, creating a new home of combat sports under the MVP banner. The transaction accelerates MVP’s expansion into mixed martial arts following the success of MVP MMA 1. The merger creates a global sport»»»

Dubai: Gold prices in Dubai fell on Friday, bringing a volatile month to a close after rates moved through a range of more than Dh21 for 24-karat gold. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click here.The 24K variety dropped to Dh491.75 per gram from Dh495.50 on T»»»

Dubai: Gold jewellery demand fell 17% year on year during the second quarter of 2026 as high prices prompted consumers to buy less and move towards lighter products, according to the World Gold Council. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click here.The decline »»»

Paris, France: World football's governing body FIFA vowed on Friday to press ahead with an "open and democratic" consultation on a proposed private investment plan despite widespread opposition to the proposal. That opposition included a pledge by Europe's governing body UEFA to boycott the World C»»»

TORONTO: Egyptian filmmaker Abu Bakr Shawky’s “The Stories,” which opened this year’s Toronto Arab Film Festival last week, is a love letter of sorts to his homeland, set across three decades from the 1960s to the 1980s. The film follows Ahmad (Amir El-Masry), an aspiring concert pianist from a mid»»»

TEHRAN: Iran’s military said on Friday it launched drone strikes targeting US military facilities in Kuwait, as fighting resumed between Washington and Tehran in the Middle East war after a nearly week-long lull. The army said in a statement it targeted “fighter aircraft shelters, satellite communi»»»

Heightened maritime security and air travel snags amid diplomatic uncertainty remain the biggest concerns for the region on Friday as the US and Iran continue their military confrontation. There have been no reports of direct attacks on the UAE. The conflict, however, is affecting regional aviation»»»

On 22 July 2026, the US Department of Energy announced that Washington and Riyadh had signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement. It took the Middle East largely by surprise because it appeared to allow uranium enrichment, whilst dispensing with the international atomic watchdog’s snap inspection»»»

Abu Dhabi: Borouge’s net profit rose 23% quarter on quarter to $191 million in the second quarter of 2026, while the company maintained its annual dividend intention of 16.2 fils per share. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click here.Revenue increased to $1.4»»»

A blast at a coal mine killed at least 34 workers in southern Pakistan, the provincial disaster agency said on Friday, adding rescuers were searching for more missing miners. The explosion, caused by methane gas, tore through the mine near the capital of the resource-rich province of Balochistan on»»»

Dubai: Travellers flying to and from the UAE on Friday, July 31, are advised to check their flight status before heading to the airport, with Etihad Airways and Air Arabia cancelling several services to Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia due to operational reasons. Emirates and flydubai have not anno»»»

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov made a statement to the media following his talks with Uzbek leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Cholpon-Ata. According to the presidential press service, the head of state expressed gratitude to Shavkat Mirziyoyev for accepting his invitation to visit the Kyrgyz Repu»»»

Manila: The Philippines has launched three new interoperable digital-payment services designed to make it easier for consumers and businesses to move money between banks and e-wallets, automate recurring payments and handle larger real-time business transactions. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and»»»

Dubai: Indian expatriates in the UAE could face fewer repetitive identity checks when opening or updating financial accounts in India under an upgraded central Know Your Customer system expected to begin rolling out in August 2026. Known as Central KYC 2.0, the framework will allow participating fi»»»

Dubai: A clinic visit that stretched from 11 am until 3.30 pm gave two Dubai entrepreneurs the idea for a healthcare technology business designed to reduce the time doctors, pharmacists and patients lose to outdated systems. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply c»»»

The renewed fighting has widened fears of a broader regional conflict, with Egypt hit for the first time and Gulf states scrambling to secure key shipping routes. Mediator Pakistan insisted Thursday that negotiations between Iran and the United States were ongoing, even as Washington carried out a »»»

US President Donald Trump has claimed that his Board of Peace reached a “historic agreement” on the complete disarmament of Hamas and every other armed group in Gaza, although neither the Palestinian movement nor Israel immediately confirmed that a final deal had been concluded. Trump announced the»»»

Kyrgyzstan’s election to a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council came after a diligent campaign to gain support for its candidacy. It means a Central Asian state will have a seat on the UN’s most powerful body for the second time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Attention now »»»

The U.S. Department of Defense has put out a call for robot boats with the capability of launching drones to be deployed within 120 days. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo July 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Defense has put out a call for robot boats with the capability of launching»»»

Share: File- President Trump and Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman at the White House . The U.S.-Israeli war in Iran has rocked the Mideast and spread through the region, and President Trump is now weighing what to do next to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and extract any concessions fro»»»

Closer ties between Astana and Beijing are transforming Kazakhstan from an East-West transit corridor into a regional platform for the deployment of Chinese technologies. Nasdaq-listed Freedom Holding Corp (Nasdaq: FRHC) and its founder, Timur Turlov, are among the most visible beneficiaries of thi»»»

LONDON: Commentators from the US to Israel have speculated whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit this week to the White House revealed cracks in the relationship between an American president looking for an exit ramp from the Iran conflict and an Israeli prime minister hoping to cling t»»»

BEIRUT: The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said on Thursday that Lebanon stands to benefit from a more stable Middle East. Standing alongside his Lebanese counterpart, Joseph Aoun, following talks in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkiye supports all efforts to strengthen Lebanese-Syrian ties, and»»»

LONDON: A 47-year-old Palestinian from the town of Nahhalin in the occupied West Bank claimed that he suffered fractures and multiple injuries as a result of beatings during his detention in an Israeli prison. Rizq Shakarneh was detained last week after Israeli authorities demolished homes and stru»»»

AMMAN — The Open Market Operations Committee at the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) on Thursday decided to keep the main policy interest rate unchanged at 5.75 per cent, in line with its objective of maintaining monetary stability, preserving the attractiveness of Jordanian dinar-denominated assets, a»»»

Water levels along the Bulgarian section of the Danube remain historically low, restricting navigation in critical stretches, disrupting river shipping, ferry services and prompting special measures at Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, while riverside municipalities are monitoring possible effects on w»»»

Share: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun during their meeting at the presidential palace in Ankara, Türkiye, July 30, 2026. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters) Turkey is interested in participating in a ne»»»

Washington: Tehran's forces have carried out frequent missile and drone attacks in the Middle East since the breakdown of the US-Iran ceasefire, raising renewed concerns about Washington's supply of the weapons needed to intercept them. Highlighting the issue, the US military said it shot down mult»»»

This photo, taken Thursday, shows the trading room of Hana Bank in Seoul as South Korean stocks fell by over one percent following two days of deep declines amid AI spending concerns. Photo by Yonhap Seoul shares fell by more than 1 percent Thursday as retail investors heavily sold tech stocks foll»»»

Cairo: A drone strike on the Egyptian port of Damietta, the first attack on the country since the US-Iran war broke out, could be a high-risk message for American interests everywhere in the Middle East, analysts say. No party has claimed the strike on the Mediterranean port and Egypt has not assig»»»

ALKHOBAR: Saudi Arabia’s drive to build an AI-ready workforce has reached a new milestone after a training initiative attracted more than 51,000 registrations from 170 countries, underscoring the Kingdom’s growing focus on developing practical artificial intelligence skills alongside expanding inve»»»

Lebanese soldiers stand guard as the Army deploys to Zawtar al-Gharbiya in southern Lebanon on July 23. Lebanon sent troops to take control of so-called pilot zones in southern Lebanon from which Israeli troops are to withdraw. Photo by EPA BEIRUT, Lebanon, July 30 (UPI) -- The widespread destructi»»»

Student Jose Ortiz, 14, accepts an embrace from chaplain Ronald Clark at a makeshift memorial, one day after a deadly school shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., in September 2024. Four people were killed by Colt Gray, who was 14 at the time. On Thursday, his father was sentenced to 15»»»

ANKARA: Turkiye is interested in participating in a new security initiative for Lebanon when the 7,500-member UN peacekeeping mission in the south of the country expires at the end of the year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a joint press statement with his Lebanese counterpart »»»

Lawyers for the US state of Tennessee argued that the company ignored its own research linking Instagram to compulsive use, eating disorders, depression and self-harm among teenagers, while keeping features such as autoplay, notifications and infinite scroll to maximise time spent on the platform a»»»

President of the Republic, Joseph Aoun, said his visit to Turkey reflected the longstanding ties between Lebanon and Turkey and a shared determination to expand cooperation in ways that serve both peoples and contribute to regional stability. Speaking after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip»»»