Devastating floods and landslides have killed 1,003 people in Indonesia, rescuers said Saturday as the Southeast Asian nation grapples with relief efforts. The disaster, which has hit the northwestern island of Sumatra over the past fortnight, has also injured more than 5,400, the National Disaster»»»

In the absence of a budget, a new National Framework Agreement cannot be signed and the previous one will remain in force, said Dr. Nikolay Branzalov, Chairman of the Management Board of the Bulgarian Medical Association (BMA). He was speaking to journalists ahead of the start of the 79th extraordi»»»

The ceremonial opening of the office of the Honorary Consul of the Kyrgyz Republic in Rijeka, Croatia, took place on December 12. The press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic reported. According to the press service, the office, located at Vukovarska 10a, will focus o»»»

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Labour Court of First Instance has ruled that an employer must pay Dh55,874 in compensation to a former employee who worked for nearly 11 years, after the employer cancelled his residency and failed to settle his full entitlements. The employee filed a lawsuit following an »»»

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that relations between Moscow and Tehran are “developing very positively,” stressing that the two countries are working in close coordination at the United Nations on Iran’s nuclear program. He made the remarks during talks with Iranian President Maso»»»

Kolkata: Angry spectators broke down barricades and stormed the pitch at a stadium in India after football star Lionel Messi, who is on a three-day tour of the country, abruptly left the arena. As a part of a so-called GOAT Tour, the 38-year-old Argentina and Inter Miami superstar touched down in t»»»

Israeli occupation forces conducted an incursion into the village of Saida al-Hanout in the southern Quneitra countryside this morning. Syrian sources reported that an Israeli military force, consisting of eight vehicles, established a checkpoint at the village’s main entrance. A contingent then pr»»»

Türkiye said on Friday that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have no alternative but to implement a March 10 agreement requiring their integration into the Syrian army, accusing Israel of encouraging the group to stall the deal through its actions in Syria. In a statement, the Turkish Ministry of»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recognizes Russia's efforts to ensure the safety of the agency's experts on their way to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told Sputnik. "I recognize the efforts of the Russian Federation to ensur»»»

Doha: Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been re-elected as President of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), following the election of his Presidential List by the General Assembly in Tashkent, Uzbekistan yesterday. President Ben Sulayem now begins his second four-year term, having overseen »»»

The ninth round of the Longines Hathab Qatar Equestrian Tour at Al Shaqab saw thrilling podium finishes across all three categories yesterday. In the Gold Tour (140 cm), Faleh Suwaid Al-Ajami claimed first with Khalid Al-Hadi taking second place. Team Wathnan topped the team standings, followed by »»»

Doha: Qatar secured the hosting rights for the 2027 FIA General Assembly with 95.4% of the votes, marking a major endorsement from the global motorsport community and highlighting the country’s rising profile on the international calendar. The decision came during the FIA Annual General Assemblies »»»

Doha, Qatar: It was the kind of night when the roars cascaded relentlessly down from the stands. In a hard-fought quarter-final against a spirited Syria side, Morocco eventually secured their place in the last four of the FIFA Arab Cup 2025. Despite dominating possession and piling constant pressur»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club (QREC), chaired by Hamad bin Abdulrahman Al Attiyah, will stage a major race meeting this evening, featuring racing for the Qatar National Day Trophy and the Late Sheikh Jassim Bin Mohammed Bin Thani Trophy. The nine-race card will be run on the turf »»»

Doha: Ahead of the FIFA Arab Cup 2025, Syria were ranked below many nations that they ended up outlasting. In their group, they advanced to the knockouts ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026-bound pair Qatar and Tunisia. Elsewhere, they lasted longer than an Egyptian side also heading to North America next»»»

Doha, Qatar: The FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025 Fan Zones have welcomed tens of thousands of Arab fans throughout match days, bringing the community together in a spectacular celebration of unity and culture, ahead of every match. Located across the six tournament venues, the Fan Zones feature a number o»»»

More than a year after the end of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, which caused widespread destruction in South Lebanon, the Lebanese state has formally launched its reconstruction effort, albeit with very limited public funding. Within the framework of the 2026 state budget, Parliament’s Fina»»»

Dubai: Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has adopted the executive regulations for Law No. 9 of 2023, which governs the operation of autonomous vehicles in the emirate. The regulations define six categories of autonomous vehicles and outline eight conditions for obtaining and renewing lic»»»

Doha, Qatar: Egypt’s Pyramids FC and Brazil’s CR Flamengo meet at Al Rayyan’s Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium tonight with two rewards on the line: the FIFA Challenger Cup and a place in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup Qatar 2025 final against European champions Paris Saint-Germain. The trophy match promises a»»»

Sharjah: The Sharjah Court of Appeal has overturned a death sentence in a murder case, ruling that the defendant was suffering from a severe mental disorder that left him unable to understand or control his actions at the time of the crime. The court cleared the defendant of criminal responsibility»»»

Member of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc at the Lebanese Parliament MP Hussein Al-Hajj Hasan responded to Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji, who represents the Lebanese Forces (LF) in the Lebanese Government, stressing that diplomatic efforts don’t mean justifying the Israeli enemy at»»»

Doha, Qatar: As governments and global institutions race to harness artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation, and innovation-driven investment, last week’s Doha Forum offered a pointed reminder that technology alone cannot close widening gaps in peace, climate resilience, and economic o»»»

Manila: Three Filipino fishermen were injured when China Coast Guard vessels sprayed their boats with water cannons and cut their anchor lines in a disputed area of the South China Sea, Philippine authorities said Saturday. Beijing said Friday it had taken "necessary control measures" involving abo»»»

The United States and Mexico reached an agreement on water-sharing on Friday, after President Donald Trump threatened new sanctions. Trump said Mexico owed 800,000 acre-feet of water to the US and demanded it release a quarter of this amount by December 31 or be hit with a new five percent tariff, »»»

The Israeli occupation army carried out building demolitions in the early hours of Saturday, alongside intense artillery shelling targeting areas east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Simultaneously, Israeli warplanes conducted a series of airstrikes on eastern Khan Younis, the city of Ra»»»

The implementation of the approved operational plan for securing and subsequently towing the tanker Kairos has commenced, the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport and Communications reported on Saturday. The plan was jointly prepared by the Maritime Administration and the operation contractor, BMF TUG S»»»

The Bulgarian National Bank announced extended operating hours at its cash desks today and on Saturday, December 20, in response to heightened public demand. The increased interest is linked to the sale of starter kits containing euro coins featuring Bulgaria’s national design. The euro starter pac»»»

Doha, Qatar: Leading experts convened in Qatar as Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s (HBKU) College of Public Policy (CPP) hosted the Annual Association for Middle Eastern Public Policy and Administration (AMEPPA 2025) conference. The two-day gathering themed ‘Governing Through Transformation: Public P»»»

Britain on Friday imposed sanctions on senior commanders of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accusing them of involvement in mass killings, systematic sexual violence and deliberate attacks on civilians in Sudan. The UK government said Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, the RSF’s deputy commander and br»»»

A Bolivian court on Friday ordered the country's former President Luis Arce to remain detained for five months while he awaits trial on corruption charges, the latest development in a case that threatens to exacerbate Bolivia's political tensions. Arce, 62, a leader from Bolivia’s Movement Toward S»»»

Traffic is set to open around noon today on a newly completed 3-kilometre stretch of the Hemus highway, according to the Road Infrastructure Agency. The section runs from the Dermantsi substation to the temporary connection with the III-307 Lukovit–Ugarchin road at kilometre 103 of the highway and »»»

Tunis, Dec. 13 (TAP) – The weather on Saturday will be locally foggy in the morning, then partly cloudy across most regions and at times densely cloudy over the eastern coastal areas, with some scattered rain, according to forecasts from the...»»»

Doha, Qatar: New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde and Great Britain’s Kate Waugh were crowned T100 Triathlon World Champions after winning the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final in Lusail yesterday. Wilde capped a phenomenal season with his sixth victory of the year, completing a perfect campaign »»»

Doha, Qatar: Multilateral cooperation is now essential to promote digital development and ensure all countries benefit from technological and artificial intelligence (AI) advancements, the Secretary-General of the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) has said. Deemah AlYahya made the remarks duri»»»

Doha, Qatar: Qatar Foundation’s BilAraby initiative, in partnership with BLJ Worldwide, a leading strategic communications and public relations firm, secured the Gold Award for Best Use of the Arabic Language in a Media Campaign at the MEPRA Awards 2025, held in Dubai. The MEPRA Awards are among th»»»

In the age of dinosaurs — before whales, great whites or the bus-sized megalodon — a monstrous shark prowled the waters off what's now northern Australia, among the sea monsters of the Cretaceous period. Researchers studying huge vertebrae discovered on a beach near the city of Darwin say the creat»»»

Iranian authorities detained 18 crew members of a foreign tanker seized in the Gulf of Oman on Friday that they said was carrying 6 million liters of smuggled fuel, Iranian media reported on Saturday, citing the Hormozgan province judiciary. It said those detained under the ongoing investigation in»»»

At least two people were killed in a drone attack in Russia’s southwestern Saratov region and parts of Ukraine were without power, local authorities said Saturday, as US-led peace talks on ending the war press on. The drone attack damaged a residential building and several windows were also blown o»»»

Abu Dhabi: The UAE Government has issued Federal Decree-Law No. (12) of 2025, amending provisions related to children of unknown parentage. The move underscores the nation’s commitment to child protection and places the best interests of the child at the centre of all decisions regarding care, cust»»»

Doha, Qatar: The events accompanying the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025 continue at Katara Cultural Village, amidst a large and diverse public turnout from various nationalities and age groups. This reflects Katara’s status as a comprehensive cultural and tourist destination, successfully blending the ex»»»

New Delhi: The Ministry of Culture (MoC) has announced the inscription of the art of ‘Sadu Weaving’ on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity for 2025, in partnership with the State of Kuwait »»»

China plans to expand exports and imports next year as part of efforts to promote "sustainable" trade, a senior economic official said on Saturday, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The trillion-dollar trade surplus posted by the world's second-largest economy is stirring tensions with Beijing's tra»»»

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye and Qatar on Friday rallied behind the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, stressing that its role in protecting Palestinian refugees and caring for their needs is both indispe»»»

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a welcoming ceremony for an army engineering unit that had returned home after carrying out duties in Russia, the North's KCNA news agency reported on Saturday. In a speech carried by KCNA, Kim praised officers and soldiers of the 528th Regiment of Engineers»»»

European legislation helps Bulgaria achieve a clean environment, protect natural resources and preserve biodiversity, Irina Mateeva, European policy officer at the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), told BTA, commenting on the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. T»»»

On Dec. 13, 2003, a bearded and apparently disoriented Saddam Hussein, the deposed Iraqi president, was captured by U.S. troops in a small underground hideout southeast of his hometown of Tikrit, ending an eight-month manhunt. 1 of 2 | On December 13, 2003, Saddam Hussein, the deposed Iraqi preside»»»

Abu Dhabi: Skywatchers across the Arab region are set for prime viewing conditions as the Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak this weekend. The Geminids, regarded as one of the most reliable and active meteor showers of the year, occur annually around December 14. This year, the best viewing win»»»

Kolkata: Lionel Messi will unveil a 21-metre (70-foot) statue of himself in India on Saturday as he embarks on a three-day tour of the country that has sparked a fan frenzy. The iron sculpture in Kolkata, which shows Messi holding aloft the World Cup, is part of a so-called GOAT Tour that will take»»»

Israel sharply escalated its military campaign in Lebanon on Friday, carrying out air strikes north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, including the Zahrani district about 40 km from the border, for the first time since civilian negotiations between the neighbors began two weeks ago, amid mou»»»

Thailand said Saturday it was continuing military strikes against Cambodia despite US President Donald Trump saying the countries had agreed to stop fighting after calls with him. Renewed clashes between the Southeast Asian neighbors, which stem from a long-running dispute over the colonial-era dem»»»