Wall Street stocks opened mostly higher, with shares in Google parent-company Alphabet shooting up nearly seven percent after winning a crucial court battle.

The Israeli military has been gearing up to seize Gaza City, the Palestinian territory's largest urban centre, with the United Nations estimating that nearly a million people live in and around the northern city.

Stockholm, Sweden -- A dozen patents belonging to Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel and lost for almost 50 years were recently found in a Swedish couple's summer house, the Nobel Foundation told AFP. Nobel -- who discovered dynamite in 1867 and created the Nobel Prizes in his 1895 will...

Turkey's main opposition CHP party on Tuesday vowed to fight after a court dismissed the leadership of its Istanbul branch over alleged irregularities in its leadership congress, the latest legal blow to hit the group.

Security chief Ali Larijani said Tuesday that Iran was open to nuclear talks with the United States but ruled out any restrictions on its missile programme.

The mother of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, hopes that a film about her final moments, to be screened Wednesday at the Venice Film Festival, would help end the war.

In unprecedented scenes, Xi shook both their hands and chatted with the pair as they walked down a red carpet towards Tiananmen Square, with Putin to Xi's right and Kim to his left.

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- Researchers at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have developed an ingestible device that uses light to activate neurons in the gut. This new technology, called ICOPS (Ingestible Controlled Optogenetic Stimulation), provides a non-invasive way to study and potentially treat digestive and metabolic disorders. Unlike current methods that...

Paris, France -- French judicial authorities have issued arrest warrants for ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and six other top former officials over the bombardment of a rebel-held city in 2012 that killed two journalists, lawyers said Tuesday. Marie Colvin, 56, an American working for The Sunday Times of Britain,...

Al Mukalla, Yemen -- In a dimly lit, suffocatingly hot gym in Yemen, bodybuilder Saleh Hussein al-Raidi wraps his hands around rusty barbells, training with steely-eyed resolve for his dream of entering major competitions abroad. But the 24-year-old, who works two jobs to support his family, lacks the means to...

Paris, France -- American artificial intelligence firm OpenAI said Tuesday it would add parental controls to its chatbot ChatGPT, a week after an American couple said the system encouraged their teenaged son to kill himself. "Within the next month, parents will be able to... link their account with their teen's...

Gold climbed to a new record Tuesday as investors sought out safe havens, while Japan's Nikkei and the Hang Seng pushed higher waiting for Wall Street's return after the Labor Day holiday.

The Chinese and Russian leaders criticised Western governments during the summit on Monday, where Xi slammed "bullying behaviour" from certain countries -- a veiled reference to the United States.

Hamas denounced on Monday a plan reportedly being considered by US President Donald Trump for the United States to take control of the devastated Gaza Strip and for its population to be relocated.

Paris, France - Apple will update software on iPhone 12 handsets across the EU to lower the power of their radio transmitters, it said Monday, after Brussels confirmed the device does not meet health standards. The software update, scheduled "in the coming weeks" across the EU, is in line with...

Its net profit for H1 was $474 million.

Tunis, Tunisia -- Tunisia's brutalist landmark the Hotel du Lac -- a 1970s postcard icon said to have inspired a desert-roving vehicle in "Star Wars" -- is being demolished, sparking calls from architects, historians and activists to save it. Built by Italian architect Raffaele Contigiani in central Tunis, the concrete-and-steel...

Geneva, Switzerland -- Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou has overtaken Tokyo-Yokohama to become the world's top cluster for innovation, the United Nations said Monday. The UN's World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) said the Chinese cluster had leapfrogged its Japanese rival in its 2025 Global Innovation Index. The change at the top of the...

The 10-member SCO said they also strongly condemned US and Israeli strikes on Iran in June, in the statement issued after a summit of the 10 member states in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin.

The entire population of Gaza would be relocated and the United States would take control of the Palestinian territory under a plan being considered by the Trump administration, the Washington Post reported Sunday.

The SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus -- with 16 more countries affiliated as observers

President Xi Jinping gathered the leaders of Russia and India among dignitaries from around 20 Eurasian countries on Sunday to kick off a showpiece summit aimed at putting China front and centre of regional relations.

In Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, digital content creation is a key pillar of economic transformation, and Qatar National Vision 2030 too  identifies digital creators as essential for building a knowledge-based economy

Venice, Italy -- American director Jim Jarmusch said Sunday he was "disappointed" that arthouse film streaming platform Mubi had accepted investment from a venture capital fund with links to the Israeli military. Mubi, a rival to Netflix, is one of the distributors of Jarmusch's latest film "Father Mother Sister Brother",...

Beirut, Lebanon -- Lebanon's Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, an ally of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, called on Sunday for dialogue over its weapons, days before the government is expected to approve an army plan to disarm the group. Months after Hezbollah's devastating war with Israel and under heavy US pressure,...

GENEVA, 31st August 2025 (WAM) -- The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Sunday that global passenger demand grew by 4 percent in July. The IATA released data for July 2025 global passenger demand. Following are the highlights: • Total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), was up 4.0...

Pictures released by the Palestinian group on Saturday showed him alongside other political and military leaders described as "martyrs of the military council".

Beijing, China -- China's factory output ticked up in August but still recorded a fifth straight month of contraction, official data showed Sunday, as Beijing and Washington press on with trade talks. The Purchasing Managers' Index -- a key measure of industrial output -- was 49.4, the National Bureau of...

Dubai, UAE -- The United Arab Emirates has continued to attract global companies looking to establish regional or global headquarters. In 2025, several major corporations, including PayPal and Veon, have either announced or completed the relocation of their headquarters to the UAE. This trend is supported by the country's legislative...

San Pedro, United States -- Floating blue paddles dance on the waves that lap a dock in the Port of Los Angeles, silently converting the power of the sea into useable electricity. This innovative installation may hold one of the keys to accelerating a transition away from fossil fuels that scientists...

The vessels will set off from the Spanish port city to "open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people", said the Global Sumud Flotilla. They did not say how many ships would set sail or the exact time of departure.

Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi, who was appointed last year, was killed along with other officials in the Israeli attack on Thursday, the Iran-backed Huthis said.

The Red Cross warned on Saturday that any Israeli efforts to evacuate Gaza City would put residents at risk, as Israel's military tightened its siege on the area ahead of a major planned offensive.

Khanke, Iraq - Archaeologists in drought-hit Iraq have discovered 40 ancient tombs after water levels in the country's largest reservoir declined, an antiquities official said Saturday. The tombs, believed to be over 2,300 years old, were unearthed at the edges of the Mosul Dam reservoir in the Khanke region of...

Behind nearly 90% of all plastic recycled in Viet Nam is someone like Ms Nguyen Thi Kenh or Ms Nguyen Thi Lanh, pushing a heavy cart through narrow alleyways, picking through household waste, often without gloves or other protective gear.

The extraordinary step further aligns President Donald Trump's administration with Israel's government, which adamantly rejects a Palestinian state and has sought to lump together the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority with rival Hamas in Gaza.

Ties between Turkey and Israel have been shattered by Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, with Ankara accusing Israel of committing "genocide" in the tiny Palestinian territory -- a term roundly rejected by Israel -- and suspending all trade ties in May last year.

Jeddah - Zawiya 97, a new cultural hub for handicrafts in Historic Jeddah, located next to Nassif House, combines heritage with contemporary creativity as part of the Year of Handicrafts 2025 initiative and serves as an interactive platform for local and international artisans to showcase their work. Throughout July and...

ABU DHABI – Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has sold a 3 percent stake in its logistics and shipping subsidiary, ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S), for approximately AED 1.16 billion ($316 million). The placement of 222 million shares to institutional investors was significantly oversubscribed by seven times within...

Beijing, China -- A dozen furry dolls strung together on a metal chain dangled from Labubu fan Maki Li's neck as he proudly posed for photos in front of a store selling the toys in central Beijing on Friday. Made by Chinese toymaker Pop Mart, the fanged creatures have taken...

The Israeli military, however, is gearing up to expand the fighting and seize Gaza City, with its Arabic-language spokesman saying: "We are not waiting.

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday called on the government to begin annexing parts of the Gaza Strip if Palestinian militant group Hamas stands by its refusal to lay down its weapons.

A governor of the US Federal Reserve, Christopher Waller, said Thursday that the central bank should lower its key interest rate at its upcoming monetary policy meeting.

Israeli forces conducted an overnight airborne raid on a site near the Syrian capital after bombing it several times, Syrian state media reported Thursday.

AlUla, Saudi Arabia -  AlUla Governorate achieved a new international milestone, showcasing the clarity of its skies, after a sky photograph taken in the governorate was selected by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as the "Astronomy Picture of the Day," among the world's leading astronomical images. The...

Israel, whose military is preparing to conquer Gaza City, is under mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its almost two-year offensive in the Palestinian territory.

Iran said Wednesday that the return of UN nuclear inspectors did not represent a full resumption of cooperation, which was suspended in the aftermath of June attacks by Israel and the United States.

On the ground, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 38 people on Wednesday, including 16 in Gaza City.

Last August, Turkey, a member of NATO, unveiled plans to build a multi-layered air defence system to protect its airspace, modelled on Israel's renowned Iron Dome, naming it "Steel Dome".

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Bank credit extended to the public and private sectors in the Kingdom continued its upward trend, reaching its highest level by the end of June 2025 at USD 849.67 billion (SAR 3,186,271 million), marking an annual growth of 15.8% with an increase of more than USD...