Paris, France -- The global games industry gathers for the vast Gamescom trade fair in Cologne this week, with hopes that upcoming heavy-hitters like "GTA VI" can help the industry escape its doldrums. Tuesday's opening night event will show off major releases slated for the months ahead, with the starring...

Damascus, Syria -- Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said the battle to unify his country after years of civil war "should not be with blood", rejecting any partition and accusing Israel of meddling in the south. His remarks, released by state TV on Sunday, came as hundreds demonstrated in south...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Baker Eid Ahmed just can't get away from Saudi Arabia's notorious heat: he makes bread next to a sweltering oven for 13 hours a day, only to step outside into summer temperatures that can soar past 45C. Armed with an ice-cold water bottle and a wet...

Hong Kong, China -- Embattled property giant China Evergrande Group said Tuesday it will delist from Hong Kong Stock Exchange as a heavier-than-expected debt burden weighed on its liquidation process. The Hong Kong bourse's listing committee decided to cancel Evergrande's listing as it had failed to meet a July deadline...

Tripoli, Lebanon -- Nestled among shops in a bustling market in north Lebanon's Tripoli, Mohammed al-Shaar is at his workshop making traditional tarboosh hats, keeping up a family craft despite dwindling demand. With a thimble on one finger, Shaar, 38, cuts, sews and carefully assembles the pieces of the conical,...

Shouty, crude and often nonsensical Italian voiceovers feature in many of the clips made by people in various countries that began to spread this year on platforms such as TikTok.

Dubai, UAE --  Nearly 60 percent of travelers in the UAE trust Artificial Intelligence (AI) to plan every aspect of their trips, compared to 48 percent of travelers in other countries, with this figure predicted to rise as technology becomes more embedded into consumer habits. According to a recent report...

Amman, Jordan -- Jordan has seen a decrease in the number of tourists visiting its famed ancient city of Petra and other sites since the Gaza war began in October 2023, according to officials. Although Jordan does not border the Gaza Strip, it has been among several countries across the...

Singapore, Singapore -- Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi added the 1,500m freestyle world title to his 800m crown on Sunday for a Singapore double, with two-time Olympic champion Bobby Finke only third. Jaouadi won a thriller to grab gold in 14min 34.41sec, ahead of Germany's Sven Schwarz (14:35.69) and the American world...

Mumbai, India -- Indian filmmakers are locking up the rights to movie titles that can profit from the patriotism fanned by a four-day conflict with Pakistan, which killed more than 70 people. The nuclear-armed rivals exchanged artillery, drone and air strikes in May, after India blamed Pakistan for an armed...

Rome, Italy -- Award-winning Israeli author David Grossman called his country's campaign in Gaza "genocide" and said he was using the term with a "broken heart". This came days after a major Israeli rights group also used the same term, amid growing global alarm over starvation in the besieged territory....

Diwaniyah, Iraq -- Iraqi table tennis player Nur al-Huda Sarmad adjusts her wheelchair before striking the ball into play, braving sweltering heat, social stigma and inadequate facilities as she dreams of taking her team to the Paralympics. Sarmad and seven other Iraqi women who live with disabilities train three times...

London, United Kingdom -- New UK age verification measures to prevent children accessing harmful online content came into force on Friday, with campaigners hailing them a "milestone" in their years-long battle for stronger regulations. Under the new rules, to be enforced by Britain's media watchdog, websites and apps hosting potentially...

Abu Dhabi, UAE --  Renewables maintain their cost leadership in global power markets, IRENA’s new report on Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2024 confirms. The report confirms that renewables maintained their price advantage over fossil fuels, with cost declines driven by technological innovation, competitive supply chains, and economies of scale....

Moscow, Russia -- Russia has showcased what it calls the biggest drone factory in the world, broadcasting rare footage from inside a plant assembling the deadly attack drones it fires at Ukraine on a daily basis. Moscow has launched record numbers of drones at Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, escalating...

Baghdad, Iraq -- The Iraqi government announced Thursday an agreement to resume crude exports from the autonomous Kurdistan region after a more than two-year halt and amid drone attacks on oil fields. Lucrative oil exports have been a major point of tension between Baghdad and Arbil, with a key pipeline...

Singapore, Singapore -- There is a "strong argument" for putting video cameras in airline cockpits to assist in accident investigations, the head of global aviation industry group IATA said Wednesday. The comments by Willie Walsh, director-general of the International Air Transport Association, followed the release of a preliminary report on...

Beijing, China -- Chinese internet giant Baidu plans to launch its driverless cars on ride-hailing app Uber in Asia and the Middle East this year, the two companies said on Tuesday. The multi-year partnership will see "thousands of Baidu's Apollo Go autonomous vehicles on the Uber platform across multiple global...

Arbil, Iraq -- A drone strike forced a US company to suspend operations at an oil field in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region Tuesday, the latest in a string of attacks targeting the region's energy infrastructure. The Kurdistan Regional Government said the Sarsang oil field in Duhok province was hit, calling...

Tokyo, Japan -- Hundreds of rowdy spectators, many heavily tattooed, roared Monday at a Tokyo arena usually reserved for boxing -- except the contestants were not athletes, but barbers. A dozen Japanese and foreign contestants were taking part in the World Barber Classic, showing off their hairdressing skills surrounded by...

Bushmills, United Kingdom -- Northern Ireland's Giant Causeway draws close to one million visitors a year but their habit of wedging tiny coins in cracks between the rocks -- to bring love or luck -- is damaging the world-famous wonder. Now authorities are urging tourists to keep their coins in...

Paris, France -- The first-ever Birkin bag designed by French luxury brand Hermes for celebrity Jane Birkin sold for 8.58 million euros ($10 million) at a Sotheby's auction in Paris on Thursday, smashing previous price records for a handbag. The modern design classic, owned by a Paris-based handbag collector, sparked...

Paris, France -- As well as being optimistic about the future of his war-ravaged country, Rami Al Ali has other reasons to be upbeat: he is about to become the first Syrian fashion designer to show his work at Paris Haute Couture Week. The invitation to appear on the world's...

Geneva, Switzerland -- UN experts decried Tuesday the US resumption of migrant deportations to third countries, including to war-torn South Sudan, stressing Washington's obligation to ensure it is not sending people into harm's way. The experts, who are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- On the World Chocolate Day, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Commerce announced that the total number of existing commercial records for cocoa and chocolate manufacturing activities in Saudi Arabia reached 3,532 by the end of the second quarter of 2025. Riyadh leads the Kingdom in chocolate manufacturing,...

Smolyan, Bulgaria -- At a prison nestled deep in Bulgaria's southern Rhodope mountains, Georgi Filyanov stirs a large tank of curdling milk to make traditional feta-like cheese in the facility's dairy operation. Filyanov is the latest success story to emerge from the dairy located inside Smolyan prison, where about 15 selected...

Tokyo, Japan -- Japan will from January attempt to extract rare earth minerals from the ocean floor in the deepest trial of its kind, the director of a government innovation programme said Thursday. Earlier this week the country pledged to work with the United States, India and Australia to ensure...

New York, United States -- Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are spending billions to recruit top artificial intelligence talent, triggering debates about whether the aggressive hiring spree will pay off in the competitive generative AI race. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently complained that Meta has offered $100 million bonuses to lure...

Belcamp, United States --  In the sweltering US summer, metal containers decorated with snowmen and sleighs are taking shape -- but tempers are also rising as their manufacturer grapples with President Donald Trump's steep steel tariffs. At Independent Can's factory in Belcamp, Maryland northeast of Baltimore, CEO Rick Huether recounts...

Jakarta, Indonesia -- Indonesia broke ground Sunday on a $5.9 billion megaproject for EV battery production backed by Chinese giant CATL, despite NGOs raising concerns over a lack of environmental guarantees. Indonesia is the world's largest nickel producer and it is trying to capitalize on its vast reserves, with a...

Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- The UAE supreme court has jailed 24 people for life after upholding their convictions for "terrorist" links. "The Criminal Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court ruled (on Thursday) to partially overturn the judgment issued by the State Security Chamber at the Abu Dhabi Federal Court...

Tehran, Iran -- Iranian lawmakers voted Wednesday in favor of suspending cooperation with the United Nations' atomic energy watchdog, state TV said, after a 12-day war that saw Israeli and US strikes on nuclear sites. "The International Atomic Energy Agency, which refused to even marginally condemn the attack on Iran's...

The telescope, which can see farther into the universe than anything before it, has turbocharged the search for planets beyond the Solar System since coming online in 2022.

Tokyo, Japan -- When YouTuber Hannah Price set out to compare Japanese and Australian sunscreen, she wasn't expecting her deep dive into the subject to rack up over two million views. The huge number of people poring over Price's video shows the growing interest in skincare products from Japan, much...

London, United Kingdom -- Stablecoins -- a form of cryptocurrency backed by traditional assets -- are gaining traction, with the US Senate set to vote Tuesday on a bill to regulate such digital tokens. But as stablecoins move closer to the financial mainstream, experts warn that weak regulation could leave...

New York, United States -- US President Donald Trump pocketed more than $57 million from token sales by the crypto venture he and his sons helped launch last year, according to federal financial disclosure forms released by the White House. The more than 230-page document issued by the Office of...

Bat Yam, Israel -- A shocked Julia Zilbergoltz said she had never experienced anything like the Iranian missile strike that hit her home in central Israel early Sunday. "I'm stressed and in shock. I've been through hard times in my life, but I've never been in a situation like this,"...

Copenhagen, Denmark -- The Saudi Export-Import Bank (Saudi EXIM) participated as a sponsor of the TXF Global 2025 conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from June 10 to 12, aiming to enhance the bank’s role in global trade and establish strategic partnerships to support the growth and competitiveness of Saudi non-oil...

New York, United States -- ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has enlisted the legendary designer behind the iPhone to create an irresistible gadget for using generative artificial intelligence (AI). The ability to engage digital assistants as easily as speaking with friends is being built into eyewear, speakers, computers and smartphones, but some argue...

Geneva, Switzerland -- A clutch of one-off and hitherto unseen ceramic plates and dishes by Pablo Picasso are going under the hammer in Geneva on June 19. Emblematic motifs from Picasso's artistic universe -- pigeons, fish, a goat, a bull, and a bird adorn the colorful plates and dishes. "It's...

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- Saudi Arabia and Qatar will host the Asian qualifying playoffs for the 2026 World Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said Friday. Six teams, the third and fourth-placed sides from the recent Asian qualifiers, namely Indonesia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,...

Washington, United States -- Chip giant Micron Technology on Thursday said it was expanding its domestic investment plan to $200 billion as its seeks to boost US semiconductor manufacturing, with the backing of the Trump administration. The move, aimed at strengthening America's domestic chip supply chain, represents an additional $30...

Tehran, Iran -- Iran's parliament speaker said on Sunday that the latest US proposal for a nuclear deal does not include the lifting of sanctions, state media reported as negotiations appear to have hit a roadblock. The two foes have held five rounds of Omani-mediated talks since April, seeking to...

Xingyi, China -- Surrounded by the rubble of demolished homes, Chen Tianming's ramshackle tower of faded plyboards and contorted beams juts into the sky in southwestern China, a teetering monument to one man's stubbornness. Authorities razed most of Chen's village in Guizhou province in 2018 to build a lucrative tourist...

Tokyo, Japan -- Gamers finally got their hands on Nintendo's new Switch 2 on Thursday, the console that could score record early sales for the Japanese "Super Mario" creator. The device, which features a bigger screen and more processing power, is an upgrade to the Switch that became a global...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Former Inter boss Simone Inzaghi was revealed as the new coach of Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal on Thursday, days before they take part in the new-look Club World Cup. The Italian, who led Inter to a heavy defeat in Saturday's Champions League final, had earlier played...

Dublin, Ireland -- Ireland's prestigious Trinity College Dublin said on Wednesday that it would cut all links with Israel in protest at "ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law". The university's board informed students by email on Wednesday that it had accepted the recommendations of a taskforce to sever "institutional...

Washington, United States -- Facebook owner Meta announced Tuesday a 20-year nuclear energy agreement with US-based Constellation Energy to secure power from a nuclear plant in the state of Illinois. The investment marks big tech's latest move to meet surging electricity demand from artificial intelligence, with Microsoft, Google and Amazon...

Washington, United States -- As misinformation exploded during India's four-day conflict with Pakistan, social media users turned to an AI chatbot for verification -- only to encounter more falsehoods, underscoring its unreliability as a fact-checking tool. With tech platforms reducing human fact-checkers, users are increasingly relying on AI-powered chatbots -- including...

Doha, Qatar -- Qatar's table tennis association has warned of possible legal action as it disputes the result of a stormy leadership election for the Olympic sport's world governing body in Doha. The Qatari association, whose president Khalil Al-Mohannadi narrowly failed to dislodge Sweden's Petra Soerling as head of the...