Poland’s residential development market is showing growing signs of caution, with more projects being postponed or suspended as developers respond to financing costs, demand conditions and uncertainty over the pace of sales. Data from Kompas Inwestycji indicate that residential construction has bec»»»

Polish industrial production increased 5.1% year-on-year in July, providing another positive signal for the economy at the start of the second half of 2026. Manufacturing output rose 4.4%, while mining and quarrying production increased 18.5%. Electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning output was»»»

CAIRO: Palestinians face inflated prices for groceries and batteries, hospitals have turned to smugglers for medicine and equipment, Israeli soldiers and other middlemen are accused of pocketing millions of dollars, and the Hamas-led government takes a cut as the smuggling of goods restricted by Is»»»

BEIRUT: Director General of UNESCO Khaled El-Enany reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to supporting Lebanon’s recovery and long-term resilience during his first official visit to the country on Thursday. El-Enany met President Joseph Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Nawaf »»»

The next trendy hotspot of Riyadh’s matcha scene is located on Dirar bin Al-Khattab street in the Al-Muruj neighborhood of the capital, where Little Henri has gained online traction for its intersection of signature dessert, flavored matcha, and distinctive branding and aesthetic. The corner cafe s»»»

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian presidency on Thursday warned that Israel’s E1 settlement project and wider escalation in the occupied West Bank risk pushing the region “out of control.” Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned Israel’s move to open bidding for construction»»»

A barn owl stranded some 70 nautical miles out to sea was rescued by an astonished British Army sailing crew competing in a gruelling race around Britain and Ireland. A British Army sailing crew competing in one of yachting's most demanding races found themselves coming to the rescue of a bedraggle»»»

REINO IO Logistics has completed a nearly 27,000 sqm build-to-suit logistics centre in Piotrków Trybunalski, marking the company’s first development delivered directly within its existing logistics park in the city. Construcion of REINO IO Piotrków BTS began in October 2025 and was carried out by K»»»

DUBAI: In the early evening of Jan. 24, 2026, 5-year-old Hind Rajab took her final breaths while pleading over the phone for emergency workers to rescue her. “Please come take me, I beg you. Please come. Call anyone to come and get me, please,” she said. Rajab had been traveling with her father and»»»

MANILA: Smog is choking parts of Indonesia’s Borneo, home to pristine rainforest and vast plantations, but the worst is yet to come, officials and experts warned Thursday. Nearly 95,000 hectares of land across Indonesia burned in July alone, the government said this week, as dry conditions driven b»»»

RAVENNA, Italy: Former Brazil star Ronaldinho, who retired from the game in 2015, said on Thursday that he was making a comeback 11 years later with Italian third-division side Ravenna to try and score “a 300th goal.” The 46-year-old, who won the World Cup in 2002 and the Ballon d’Or in 2005, ended»»»

Ravenna: Former Brazil star Ronaldinho, who retired from the game in 2015, said on Thursday that he was making a comeback 11 years later with Italian third-division side Ravenna to try and score "a 300th goal". The 46-year-old, who won the World Cup in 2002 and the Ballon d'Or in 2005, ended a glit»»»

Pedestrians carry umbrellas in windy rainy conditions near the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street inDecember. Dozens of major metro areas could be affected by flash flooding in the eastern quarter of the nation into this weekend, with the zone from Washington to New York City at a heightened ri»»»

QASMISHLI: Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi on Thursday said the integration of the Kurdish administration within Syria’s state institutions was complete, marking the end of the Kurds’ long-held dream of autonomy. The announcement follows months of negotiations between the two sides after a Janua»»»

LONDON: A letter from T.E. Lawrence in which he complained he was no longer able to travel outside the UK, less than 15 years after his role in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, sold at auction on Thursday for more than $14,000. In the letter, written in October 1932, Lawrence expresses h»»»

The investigation into the killing of Hind Rajab and paramedics in Gaza launched by the Israeli army came as a “surprise” in the country, “because so much time has passed” since the events took place, FRANCE 24 correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky said. “The timing is extremely late.” But Tarnopolsky sai»»»

Leire Martinez, from the Spanish group La Oreja de Van Gogh, performs during the Mexico 2022 Tour, at the National Auditorium, in Mexico City2in March 2022. File Photo by Isaac Esquivel/EPA Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Spanish band La Oreja de Van Gogh will receive the Agent of Change award for three decades o»»»

First Sermon (Khutbah One) All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the earth and the heavens, who has made the scholars the inheritors of the prophets. We bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and we bear witness that our Prophet Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger. May the peace,»»»

RIYADH: Picture a 12-year-old sitting in a gallery at the National Museum of Saudi Arabia, sketching on a tablet. Behind her is a prehistoric rock carving from Najran, etched into sandstone thousands of years ago. On her screen, an AI tool generates variations of a character she has drawn, refining»»»

The FBI arrested a woman for planning to attack the New York state capitol building. File Photo by Justin Lane/EPA Aug. 20 (UPI) -- An Albany, N.Y., woman was charged Thursday with supporting a terror group after allegedly planning an ISIS-inspired plot to attack the New York State capitol building»»»

Prince Laurent of Belgium celebrates King's Day on Nov. 15 2024. The prince recognized 26-year-old Clement Vandenkerckhove as his son. File Photo by Olivier Matthys/EPA Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Belgium has a new prince after the 26-year-old former car salesman was recognized by the king's brother as his so»»»

JERUSALEM: Israelis began moving into the occupied West Bank settlement of Kadim on Thursday, the local settler council said, the last of four communities from which Israel withdrew more than two decades ago to be repopulated. It came a week after Israel officially reopened neighboring Ganim, in a »»»

Aleppo, Aug. 20 (SANA) The Sylex 3 Leather, Footwear and Production Supplies Exhibition opened Thursday at the Production Market in Aleppo, under the supervision of Aleppo Governorate and the Aleppo Chamber of Commerce, with the participation of Syrian and Turkish companies specializing in the sect»»»

A march by people with disabilities, held under the slogan Darkness for Indifference! Light for Our Rights!, made its way through central Sofia, accompanied by performances featuring artists with torches, stilts and music. The event was organised by the Mobility Movement. Participants carried illum»»»

NEW YORK CITY: The bodies of 50 people, including 19 children, killed by the war in Gaza have finally been laid to rest after they were recovered from under rubble in recent days, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday. Efforts to remove debris and retrieve bodies remain severely constr»»»

DOHA: The State of Qatar condemned the bombing at an educational centre in Kabul, Afghanistan, which injured dozens of people. In a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated Qatar's firm stance against violence, terrorism, and criminal acts, regardless of motives. The»»»

Damascus, Aug. 20 (SANA) Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani: said Thursday that his visit to Pakistan was an important step in strengthening relations between the two countries and opening new prospects for cooperation. “We conclude today the historic and successfu»»»

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the strong partnership between the United States and Hungary in a message marking Hungary’s national holiday, published on the State Department’s website on Thursday. Rubio noted that 20 August was a reminder “of the historic ties between our peoples”. “The»»»

NASA on Wednesday said a $30 million mission to save its Swift space telescope had failed after its rescue spacecraft could not be controlled. The unprecedented effort aimed to use a robot to move Swift into a higher orbit. The satellite is now expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and disintegra»»»

ISLAMABAD: Iran would first have to acknowledge what it had done to Syria and its people before any future Pakistan-led mediation could help restore ties between Damascus and Tehran, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani said on Thursday. Shaibani was speaking to journalists in Islamabad»»»

Doha: The State of Qatar condemned the bombing at an educational center in Kabul, Afghanistan, which injured dozens of people. In a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated Qatar's firm stance against violence, terrorism, and criminal acts, regardless of motives. The»»»

Tunis, August 20, 2026 (TAP) – Prime Minister Sarra Zaafrani Zenzri on Thursday called for increased vigilance ahead of the rainy season, stressing the need to increase preventive measures against extreme weather and mitigate its potential impact...»»»

An American academic is being held in China on suspicion of spying. File Photo by Jerome Favre/EPA Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that U.S. citizen Min Zin is being wrongfully detained in China after he visited the country and was arrested. Zin travelled to Yunnan, China,»»»

Riyadh: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) discussed Thursday, with the People's Republic of China, the Iranian attacks on its member states and the repercussions of these attacks on the security and stability of the region. Held at the Council's headquarter in Riyadh, the meeting which was attende»»»

LONDON: Palestinian healthcare workers are facing increasing attacks, detention and intimidation as Israeli military operations and settler violence escalate across the occupied West Bank, Medical Aid for Palestinians said this week. Recent figures from the World Health Organization showed that rec»»»

Damascus, Aug. 20 (SANA) UN Deputy Special Envoy for Syria Claudio Cordone on Thursday condemned the Israeli strikes on Abu al-Duhur Airbase in Idlib countryside, describing them as an unacceptable escalation against Syria. In a post on X, Cordone said diplomacy must remain the primary path, while »»»

Asked by journalists in Ruse on Thursday whether GERB is expected to have its own candidate in the autumn presidential election, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said this would become clear in September. "I had a presidential ticket that would have won," Borissov said. He explained that the party’s inte»»»

AMMAN: Qatar's national table tennis team players won 20 medals (four gold, two silver and 14 bronze) at the West Asia Table Tennis Championships for national teams, hosted in the Jordanian capital, Amman. The tournament featured teams from Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Palestine, O»»»

KINSHASA: The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) could be up to three times larger than the official tally, with only 30 to 40 percent of cases currently being detected, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said Thursday. The continent»»»

People look at snow-capped mountains surrounding La Paz from El Alto, Bolivia, on Tuesday. Heavy snowfall in at least five regions forced authorities to temporarily suspend or restrict road travel on several routes to prevent accidents. Photo by Luis Gandarillas/EPA Aug. 20 (UPI) -- An unusual spel»»»

Former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-CA, speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on June 14, 2023. The FBI has executed a number of warrants against Swalwell over sexual-misconduct allegations. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The FBI on Thursday seized e»»»

Everything that has kept the Russian economy growing since 2020 has now been exhausted and long-term growth could drop to 1.6%, a Kremlin think tank told Vladimir Putin on August 19. Without a change of model, growth settles at 1.6% a year over the coming decade - roughly half the 3% Putin has set »»»

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday laid out his vision for a future where everyone has a powerful personal AI agent, arguing that open-source technology can prevent control of advanced artificial intelligence from becoming concentrated among a handful of companies, governments or institutions. Meta»»»

CAIRO: Egypt and Qatar have urged the US and Iran to return to the negotiating framework agreed in June so that they might reach a “final and lasting agreement” that brings regional stability. The Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, and his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman»»»

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Juan Pablo Segura (pictured) has demanded that Cuba release rapper Maykel “Osorbo” Castillo Pérez, Photo courtesy of U.S. State Department Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Newly appointed U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Ju»»»

Washington: The United States on Thursday warned allies and China alike to join President Donald Trump's new campaign to isolate the Iranian economy and "collapse" the government in Tehran. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's comments underscored how Trump is shifting to economic rather than mili»»»

Speaking to journalists in Ruse on Thursday, GERB leader Boyko Borissov asked why President and Supreme Commander Iliana Iotova has not convened the Consultative Council for National Security (CCNS) regarding reports of threats against Bulgaria. "Some of the most respected media outlets in the worl»»»

BARCELONA: The Joan Gamper Trophy has inaugurated FC Barcelona’s league season for the past seven decades. Every August, the Catalan giants go to great lengths to line up a marquee opponent, and this year they invited the biggest club in Africa and the Arab world — Al-Ahly SC. When the friendly was»»»

Leeds: Pakistan dismissed Jordan Cox and Joe Root to give themselves renewed hope in the first Test against England at Headingley on Thursday. Both Cox (73) and Root (66) hit fifties as they shared a third-wicket partnership of exactly 150 on a rain-marred second day that threatened to leave Pakist»»»

The USS George Washington nuclear-powered aircraft carrier docks at a naval base in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 5. File Photo by Yonhap/EPA Aug. 20 (UPI) -- The USS George Washington reached the Arabian Sea in the U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility, following reports of poor conditions f»»»