Cairo: Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice and Chairman of the National Committee for International Humanitarian Law (NCIHL) H E Saeed bin Abdullah Al Suwaidi affirmed the State of Qatar’s commitment to the Global Initiative on Reinforcing Respect for International Humanitarian Law, which it »»»

Doha, Qatar: Pakistan International School Qatar (PISQ) announces the remarkable success of two heartfelt charity initiatives, the Girls’ Wing Bake Sale and the Cambridge Wing Bake Sale, organised to support the mission of the Qatar Cancer Society (QCS). These meaningful events highlighted the valu»»»

Seoul: The chief organiser of South Korea’s notoriously gruelling university entrance exams has resigned - after complaints that an English test he designed was just too difficult. South Korea’s college entry exam, known locally as the “Suneung”, is essential for admission to top universities and w»»»

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan and Hollywood icon Johnny Depp set social media abuzz with their surprise encounter at the Red Sea International Film Festival, with fans calling it a “legendary crossover moment.” Viral photos from the festival captured the duo’s warm exchange, friendly smiles, and »»»

Celebrity crocodile wrangler Matt Wright will spend five months in prison for tampering with evidence after a helicopter crash that killed his co-star and left the pilot a paraplegic. In August, the former Netflix star was found guilty of lying to police and pressuring a hospitalised witness after »»»

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan Al-Thani met with Chief Minister of Terengganu, Malaysia, H E Dr. Ahmad Samsuri bin Mokhtar, and his accompanying delegation, during his visit to the State of Qatar. During the meeting, the t»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) and Google Cloud have announced a strategic partnership aimed at significantly advancing Kahramaa’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, driving digital transformation, and reinforcing Qatar’s position as a regional t»»»

Doha: Qatar Museums (QM) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Kingdom’s Department for Business and Trade and the British Council, marking an important milestone in the long-standing cultural relationship nurtured through the Qatar-UK 2013 Year of Culture and subsequent progra»»»

The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Podkrepa Confederation of Labour organized a protest action in front of the National Assembly, demanding that MPs clearly explain what will happen to incomes in 2026 if Parliament fails to adopt the submitted draft budgets an»»»

A house burns after a powerful earthquake in Aomori, northeastern Japan, early December 9, 2025. On Friday, a lesser 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck off the same prefecture. Photo by JiJi Press/EPA Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's northeastern coast on Friday, promptin»»»

Doha, Qatar: The World Summit AI – Qatar 2025 witnessed the unveiling of the ‘Qatar AI Pavilion,’ which brought together more than 20 national AI-driven projects developed by over 14 government and private institutions. The pavilion demonstrated the significant progress achieved by Qatar in develop»»»

Riyadh: The State of Qatar participated in the proceedings of the 15th meeting of the Customs Union Authority of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which was held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The State of Qatar’s delegation was headed by Chairman of the General Authority of Customs and Chai»»»

Nairobi: Minister of Environment and Climate Change H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie participated yesterday in the high-level segment of the seventh session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7). The session is being held at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Pro»»»

Doha, Qatar: The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) successfully concluded a four-day workshop on Health System Performance Assessment (HSPA) Indicators at the ITQAN Simulation and Training Centre. The event brought together more than 300 participants from the public, private and semi-public health s»»»

Doha, Qatar: Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) H E Dr. Ibrahim bin Saleh Al-Nuaimi conducted an inspection tour on December 9 and 10 that covered Tareq Bin Ziyad Secondary School for Boys and Umm Salal Mohammed Model School for Boys. The visit aimed to review »»»

A Southern California woman preparing for surgery to remove a large ovarian tumor received a startling diagnosis: she was pregnant — and the baby was growing outside her uterus, tucked behind the mass. Medical teams at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles identified the condition as a rare ab»»»

Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul received royal approval on Friday to dissolve parliament, paving the way for a general election early next year. Voting for the House of Representatives will be held 45 to 60 days after a royal decree, with Anutin leading a caretaker government barred f»»»

Andriy Yermak, the former head of the Ukrainian president's office, personally oversaw the organizational, logistical, and financial aspects of importing spent nuclear fuel into Ukraine without notifying the IAEA, Major General Alexei Rtishchev, head of the Russian Armed Forces' Radiation, Chemical»»»

Friday prayer timings are set to change in UAE from 2026, and these are the last few weeks when worshippers in the country will be following the current prayer timings. The Friday prayer timings today are as follows: In Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, adhan and »»»

Brussels: Qatar participated in the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) initiative event to launch the “The Brussels Memorandum on Good Practices for Oversight and Accountability Mechanisms in Counterterrorism,” held in the Belgian capital, Brussels, with wide participation from forum members. Rep»»»

Dubai: The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court is set to announce the quantum of punishment on Friday for the six men convicted in the 2017 Kerala actress assault case — a development that has drawn intense public attention and a heavy media presence outside the courthouse. Local TV crews and report»»»

A wave of airline strikes in 2025, including this December, is throwing travel across Europe and the UK into turmoil just as the holiday rush begins. With many people flying home to see family or heading out on winter trips, travelers in Spain, the UK, Portugal, and Italy are being warned to expect»»»

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been named game of the year at this year's Game Awards. The French-developed role-playing game (RPG) cleaned up in 9 of the 10 categories it was up for, with further wins in best narrative, best music and best performance. It fended off competition from Death Strandi»»»

Damascus, Dec. 12 (SANA) Finance Minister Mohamed Yisr Barnieh announced Thursday that Syria has signed the final document for a power-grid rehabilitation project with the World Bank, marking the first World Bank initiative in the country in nearly four decades. In a post on his Facebook page, Barn»»»

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi has announced a temporary restriction on heavy vehicles and labour transport buses on Al Khaleej Al Arabi Street this weekend, as part of efforts to manage traffic flow and enhance safety on one of the capital’s key thoroughfares. The Integrated Transport Centre’s Abu Dhabi Mob»»»

In Bulgaria, the common perception that investing is reserved for the wealthy remains widespread, but recent analysis by Freedom24 shows that households can begin investing with modest amounts of 50–100 BGN (approximately €25–50) per month. The research draws on data from the National Statistical I»»»

Doha, Qatar: Argentinian companies are seeking to expand their footprint in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market through Qatar by exploring various opportunities. Speaking to The Peninsula, Minister of Economic Development of the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina H E Hernán Lombardi, highlighted»»»

Doha, Qatar: The current seventh tenure of the Central Municipal Council (CMC) has achieved a major milestone, issuing 93 recommendations that address a wide range of public issues, from service improvements and agricultural support to traffic management and community development. With expectations»»»

From December 1, pensions in Serbia rose by 12.2%, bringing the average pension for retirees to 485 euros. For perspective, in 2012, the average pension was only 204 euros. According to the government’s current plan, the average pension is expected to reach approximately 650 euros by 2027. Serbian »»»

The three leading telecommunications operators in Bulgaria inject more than 640 million BGN (≈327 million EUR) annually into the development of networks and services, marking an investment intensity nearly three times higher than the national average. The sector supports over 10,000 high-paying job»»»

French supermarket Intermarché went viral after posting a charming Christmas cartoon ad about a vegetarian wolf. The clip has been watched tens of millions of times worldwide.  A French supermarket has made a strong entry into the competitive field of Christmas advertising with a viral animate»»»

Dubai: The Walt Disney Company has struck a deal with OpenAI to license its vast stable of characters and imagery for use on Sora, the generative AI video platform. The three-year partnership marks the first major content deal of its kind, allowing AI-generated short videos based on Disney, Marvel,»»»

Parliament is expected to vote on the resignation of the Zhelyazkov Cabinet as the first item on Friday’s agenda. The resignation has been submitted and is listed as the top item in Friday’s parliamentary agenda, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said on Thursday in a Facebook livestream from the party he»»»

A corruption scheme has been uncovered at the Republican Center of Psychiatry and Narcology. The State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan (SCNS) reported. According to the state committee, a persistent corruption scheme involving forensic psychiatric experts was identified. The experts d»»»

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (KUNA) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said that Washington could participate in a meeting due in Europe on Saturday looking into a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine."There's a meeting on Saturday. We'll see whether or not we attend the meeting. We said we'll attend th»»»

TOKYO, Dec 12 (KUNA) -- A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 on the Richter scale hit Japan's northern Pacific coast on Friday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage from the 11:44 p.m. (0244 GMT) quake. The weather ag»»»

Dubai: The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) has announced that January 1, 2026, will be an official holiday in the UAE for all private sector employees. The holiday is in accordance with the UAE Cabinet decision on approved official holidays for government and private sectors. »»»

Doha, Qatar: All hands are on deck, and everything is prepared to host a remarkable Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final Week, the first of its kind in the nation, the organisers have stated. Addressing a press conference yesterday, organised by Visit Qatar, the Professional Triathletes Or»»»

The US is still trying to convince Kyiv to concede territories to Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday. Washington wants for Ukraine – and not Russia – to withdraw its troops from parts of the Donetsk region, where a "free economic zone" would be installed, Zele»»»

The Intergovernmental Council of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) granted a tariff exemption for the import of electric vehicles into Armenia, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan for the next year. The decision was made at a meeting in Moscow. Heads of Government of the Union’s member states agreed to provid»»»

KUWAIT, Dec 12 (KUNA) -- His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent on Friday a cable to President of Kenya Dr. William Samoei Ruto, congratulating him on his country's Independence Day.In the cable, His Highness the Amir wished President Ruto good health and wellness, and »»»

KUWAIT, Dec 12 (KUNA) -- His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah sent on Friday a cable to President of Kenya Dr. William Samoei Ruto, congratulating him on his country's Independence Day.In the cable, His Highness the Crown Prince wished President Ruto good health and w»»»

Dec. 12 (UPI) -- European Union member states have approved nearly $2.7 billion in funding for Ukraine as part of a plan to bolster the war-besieged nation's recovery, reconstruction and modernization. The disbursement of the funds was approved Thursday by the European Council, the 27-member block'»»»

Doha, Qatar: Qatar University (QU) has announced a strategic collaboration with Google Cloud aimed at advancing AI capabilities, fostering digital transformation, and solidifying Qatar's position as a regional technology leader. This collaboration unveils three key initiatives designed to enhance r»»»

US President Donald Trump's first presidential term (2017-21) was not simply a shift in the trajectory of American foreign policy; it marked a profound geopolitical transformation that reassessed the very structure of international alliances. It left a clear impact on the world’s most sensitive reg»»»

Hardware-software complexes will be purchased for Safe City system in Kyrgyzstan. It was announced at an extraordinary meeting of the shareholders of State Customs Infrastructure JSC. The company will finance the purchase of complexes for the country’s security project. The JSC approved the allocat»»»

KUWAIT, Dec 12 (KUNA) -- 1970 -- Kuwait Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah signed a decree transforming the Planning Council into an independent body annexed to the cabinet. The Council's mandate is to prepare, and supervise implementation of, economic, social and housing policies. 1976 -- The Kuw»»»

Bangkok: Thailand's prime minister dissolved parliament on Friday, paving the way for general elections early next year as deadly border clashes continue with neighbour Cambodia. The move comes earlier than expected and just three months after Anutin Charnvirakul — of the conservative Bhumjaithai p»»»

More than 800,000 Gazans are at risk from flooding, the UN says, as a powerful winter storm sweeps through the Strip. The heavy rain has already deluged camps, and led several buildings to collapse. A steady stream of water trickles through openings in the tent Ghadir al-Adham shares with her husba»»»

Dubai: Dubai’s gold market remained steady on Friday morning, with 24-karat gold trading at Dh515.75 per gram and the 22-karat variant at Dh477.50. The market held firm after three consecutive sessions of gains, mirroring global trends as bullion prices consolidated near record levels. (Check lates»»»