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the idea for a healthcare technology business designed to reduce the time doctors, pharmacists and patients lose to outdated systems.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»»»

DUBAI: Stefano Domenicali, the president and CEO of Formula One, has said that the 2026 races in Abu Dhabi and Qatar are “confirmed,” despite ongoing speculation due to the political situation in the region. Domenicali revealed the news during a media interview on F1’s official website. He added th»»»

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Marko Djuric said on Thursday that demolition of properties in the Kosovo-Metohija Zubin Potok municipality, illegal works at the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Visoki Decani and administrative barriers hindering pilgrims represented "a deliberate pattern of pressure" on Serb p»»»

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Department of War (DOW) plans to actively involve technology start-ups to refill weapon stockpiles shrunk by the conflict with Iran, The Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing acting Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez. In late June, Secretary of War Pete Hegset»»»

The National Assembly on Thursday passed on second reading Election Code amendments removing the cap on voting sections in non-EU countries, abolishing the Abroad constituency, introducing mandatory machine voting in most voting sections, and introducing special features for voters with visual impa»»»

AMMAN — Global passenger demand for air travel declined by 1.7 per cent in June 2026 compared with the same period last year, as weaker domestic markets in China, the United States and Japan offset growth across several international regions, according to new figures released by the International A»»»

TOKYO — Japan will temporarily slash consumption tax on food from eight percent to just one percent starting next April, the prime minister said on Thursday, as her administration seeks to tackle rising inflation.It will be the first such reduction since the tax was introduced in 1989, and the rate»»»

SEOUL — South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics posted on Thursday a massive 19-fold jump in second-quarter operating profit from last year, buoyed by sustained AI-driven demand for memory chips.Samsung and other leading memory chipmakers have seen profits skyrocket in 2026, but their sha»»»

Dubai: Dubai Financial Market (DFM) on Thursday reported a net profit before tax of Dh443.2 million for the first six months of 2026, supported by strong trading activity and increased investor participation. The DFM said that trading activity grew significantly during the first half of the year, w»»»

The IIHF Council has rejected a request from the Russian Ice Hockey Federation to allow Russian national teams back into international competition for the 2026/27 season. Citing “safety, security and sporting integrity,” the federation said Russia will remain excluded from the senior World Champion»»»

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova assured her Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, that no direct military operations connected to the conflict in the Middle East will be conducted from Bulgarian territory, despite the deployment of US military aircraft in the country. During a telephone»»»

LONDON: Syria’s old banknotes, bearing the image of ousted President Bashar Assad, lost their status as legal tender on Thursday, closing a monthslong exchange window that the Central Bank of Syria says has already pulled roughly 80 percent of the old currency out of circulation since January. The »»»

DUBAI: Iran’s Foreign ‌Minister Abbas Araqchi urged Bulgaria to reconsider its decision to allow the temporary deployment of US military aircraft at ​the Bezmer air base, Iranian state media reported on Thursday. During a phone call with his Bulgarian counterpart, Velislava Petrova-Chamova, Araqchi»»»

BELGRADE - Serbian FM Marko Djuric said on Thursday that demolition of properties in the Kosovo-Metohija Zubin Potok municipality, illegal works at the Serbian Orthodox monastery of Visoki Decani and administrative barriers hindering pilgrims represented "a deliberate pattern of pressure" on Serb p»»»

JERUSALEM: Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is progressing toward a deal involving the decommissioning of its weapons, sources familiar with the ongoing talks with mediators in Cairo told AFP on Thursday. A Hamas source added, however, that they were still in the process of making amendments to »»»

WEST BANK: Workers, under the protection of Israeli forces, have begun clearing and leveling land in the village of Faqqu’a, northeast of Jenin, to prepare the site for a new settlement outpost, Palestinian officials said. Barakat Al-Amri, head of the village council, said the work followed the con»»»

Nairobi: Fifteen elephants found dead over the past month in one of Kenya's best-known wildlife parks were likely poisoned by cyanide, possibly from pesticides used on nearby farms, wildlife officials said Thursday. The deaths occurred in Amboseli National Park near the Tanzanian border, home to so»»»

Washington: Most Americans say the war in Iran has not been worth fighting, and President Donald Trump's approval rating on Iran has fallen slightly since last month, according to a new AP-NORC poll. The results are a stark repudiation of the Republican president's approach to the conflict, which h»»»

Staff members prepare for the cleaning of the cruise ship MV Hondius after its arrival in the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in May. Several passengers on the Hondius were infected with the hantavirus. Three people on board died. File Photo by Jeffrey Groeneweg/EPA SANTIAGO, Chile, July 30 (UP»»»

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Myanmar has agreed to take 5,000 Rohingya asylum seekers currently in Malaysia, where there has recently been tension between the refugees and local communities. Speaking at a campaign rally on Wednesday ahead of regional elections in Negeri»»»

Residents of Krushari Municipality staged a protest against proposed wind farm projects on Thursday, briefly blocking the Dobrich–Krushari road with tractors and other agricultural machinery. The demonstration, organized by the Byalata Lyastovitsa Association, was prompted by ongoing investment pla»»»

Tehran: Mediator Pakistan insisted on Thursday that negotiations between Iran and the United States were ongoing, even as Washington carried out a "heavy wave of strikes" on its foe in retaliation for fresh attacks targeting Jordan. The last two days have seen Saudi Arabia join the US in striking m»»»

Former Wall Street lawyer and federal prosecutor Jay Clayton has been confirmed as the next US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) despite having no traditional intelligence background, following his nomination by President Donald Trump. Following US Senate approval in a 51-47 vote on Tuesday, »»»

Dubai: Tensions between the US and Iran have escalated with fresh military strikes and retaliatory attacks disrupting air travel across the Middle East. The latest round began after the US struck Iranian targets following Tehran's attack on a base housing US troops in Jordan. Explosions have been r»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - As long as Israel's territorial expansion continues, the Middle East will not be able to achieve stability, Scottish political activist and former UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray told RIA Novosti on Thursday. "Israel now occupies much more territory than it did two years»»»

TABUK: Rangers at the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve have completed their 50,000th patrol since operations began across the 24,500 sq. km marine and terrestrial conservation area, officials announced to mark World Ranger Day. The milestone highlights the rapid growth of the reserve’s cons»»»

Islamabad: Pakistan affirmed today its continued efforts to revive negotiations between the United States and Iran with the aim of de-escalating tensions in the Middle East. Pakistani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Tahir Hussain Andarabi explained during a press conference that the Islamabad Memora»»»