The Supreme leader said in a speech to officials in Tehran that the defeat of "the Zionist regime in Gaza will continue and this regime will be close to decline and dissolution." He said "desperate efforts" like the one committed in Syria will not save them and they will be...

Israel's armed forces chief Herzi Halevi called the attack a "grave mistake", which he blamed on night-time "misidentification", adding in a video message that "we are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged the "tragic case" would be investigated "right to...

Emirate's new tourism strategy aims to increase the sector’s contribution to GDP from $13.34 billion in 2023 to $24 billion by 2030.

In December, the airline ordered 230 Airbus planes.

"Threat actors can employ artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms to identify vulnerabilities and adapt their tactics in real-time, making it difficult for conventional security measures to keep up." he adds.

Vatican City, Holy See - Pope Francis expressed his "deep sorrow" on Wednesday for the deaths of seven charity workers killed by an Israeli strike while they were delivering aid in Gaza. "I express my deep sorrow for the volunteers killed while they were distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza," the 87-year-old...

Paris, France - They didn't exist a century ago but today PFAS "forever chemicals" contaminate the environment from groundwater to Antarctic snow to turtle eggs, and concern over their possible toxicity is growing. Lawsuits and regulations targeting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are multiplying, with France becoming the latest jurisdiction to...

NEW TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN - Liu watched intently as rescuers carefully picked their way through the remains of a warehouse that crumbled like a house of cards Wednesday during Taiwan's strongest earthquake in 25 years, telling AFP it "was like a mountain collapsed". Propping ladders against the debris, the rescue workers...

The UN Human Rights Council on Friday is set to consider a draft resolution calling for a cessation of arms sales to Israel, nearly six months into the war in Gaza. If the text is adopted, it would mark the first time that UN’s top rights body has taken a...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the country became the world’s fourth-biggest LNG producer last year. The Russian Prime Minister said this in an annual report at the State Duma (lower house of the parliament), TASS reported. “Energy is adjusting gradually as well. A serious adjustment of logistics...

Jerusalem, Undefined - Israel's military said Wednesday it had obtained information that indicated a Hizbollah explosive charge caused the blast that wounded UN peacekeepers in Lebanon last week. The UN peacekeeping force said three military observers and a translator were wounded in Saturday's blast in south Lebanon, where Israel and Hizbollah...

"If it is true that the convoy was deliberately attacked because it was supposed to contain a terrorist, and that civilian lives were therefore sacrificed, I do not know of any (political) system in which this would be justified," he told Polish public radio Trojka.

Tehran, Iran -- The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has said that shale oil deposits have been discovered in 10 different locations across the country. The director of exploration at the NIOC, Mehdi Fakour, announced that the company's specially designed model will enable the extraction of oil from these resources....

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The value of real estate transactions in Abu Dhabi reached AED 15.9 billion ($4.32 billion) during the first quarter of 2024 (Q1 2024), recording 5,127 sales and mortgage transactions on various types of real estate units. According to data from the DARI platform of the Department...

The Palestinians, who have had observer status at the world body since 2012, have lobbied for years to gain full membership, which would amount to recognition of Palestinian statehood. In a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, dated Tuesday UN envoy Riyad Mansour requested "upon instructions of the Palestinian...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – flynas, the Saudi air carrier and the leading low-cost airline in the Middle East and the world, celebrated taking delivery of the 50th airplane out of a large order for Airbus A320neo jetliners at a reception held at King Khalid International Airport here. The company is...

Tehran, Iran--The trade exchanges between Iran and Turkey in the first two months of 2024 reached $930 million, showing a one percent increase compared to the same month last year. According to the latest figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT), Iran’s trade with the neighboring country stood at...

Manama, Bahrain--The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) announces that the monthly issue of the short-term Islamic leasing bonds, Sukuk Al Ijara, has been oversubscribed by 186%. Subscriptions worth $128.67 million were received for the $69.14 million issue, which carries maturity of 182 days. The expected return on the issue, which...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military had "unintentionally" killed the aid workers, calling it a "tragic case" that would be investigated. The aid workers' deaths come as relentless Israeli strikes continue to pound the territory, flattening critical infrastructure, all but collapsing the health system and pushing the population...

The decline was in part due to a weak sales market in China.

Jerusalem--Four Israeli police were injured in a car-ramming attack at a checkpoint in the centre of the country, police said Wednesday, adding that the assailant was killed after trying to stab other security forces. The 26-year-old attacker crashed into four police officers at a checkpoint in the town of Kochav...

The two will work to develop AI-based banking capabilities.

Former premier Barak said if Netanyahu launches a ground offensive on Rafah, the "hostages will return in coffins. The one who abandoned them on October 7 is now sacrificing them on the altar of absolute victory." He called for snap elections, saying "the man responsible" for the calamity should be...

The World Bank said in its interim damage assessment, this is equivalent to 97 percent of the combined economic output of the West Bank and Gaza in 2022. The report, produced with the United Nations and the European Union, found structural damage affected "every sector of the economy."

GCC countries collaborate on comprehensive tourism strategy, leading global recovery post-pandemic with remarkable growth rates and ambitious plans for sustainable development.

The British-born official, who spent a week in the besieged Palestinian territory last month, said even when aid got through the border, there were still major problems getting it to those who need it most, particularly women and girls.

World Central Kitchen -- one of two NGOs spearheading efforts to deliver aid by boat -- said a "targeted Israeli strike" on Monday killed Australian, British, Palestinian, Polish and US-Canadian staff. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged a "swift, impartial investigation" into the airstrike and said Israel needed to...

"From different doctors, particularly in the maternity hospitals, they're reporting that they're seeing a big rise in children born with low birth weight, and just not surviving the neonatal period because they're born too small," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said at a briefing in Geneva.

"We have to think seriously about doing it this semester," Sanchez told a group of Spanish journalists accompanying him on a tour of three Middle East countries Sanchez had said on March 9 he would propose that parliament vote in favor of this recognition by the end of the current...

In power for the past decade, Sisi is set to remain president until 2030, after winning a December election with 89.6 percent of the vote against three relative unknowns. The six-year term is set to be the 69-year-old's last, unless he again ushers through a constitutional amendment prolonging his tenure.

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia – Saudi energy giant Aramco Tuesday awarded engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts worth $7.7 billion for a major expansion of its Fadhili Gas Plant in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The project is expected to increase the plant’s processing capacity from 2.5 to up to 4...

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The UAE's national carriers have witnessed significant growth in their destination network, reaching approximately 603 destinations worldwide by the end of the first quarter of 2024, compared to 586 at the close of 2023. This 3 percent increase reflects the rebounding aviation sector and caters to...

This will raise its share capital by $163 million to $944 million.

Netanyahu was quick to single out Qatar-based channel Al Jazeera, with which his government has a long-running feud that predates Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. The broadcaster slammed the ban as "part of a series of systematic Israeli attacks to silence Al Jazeera", including the killing of one of...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced on Monday that the share of retail consumer electronic payments - one of the Financial Sector Development Program’s KPIs -  reached 70% of total retail payments in 2023, up from 62% in 2022.  The achievement is attributed to the significant...

In a statement, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani "strongly condemned" the attack and said that Iran "reserves the right to carry out a reaction and will decide on the type of response and the punishment of the aggressor." Iran's ambassador in Damascus, Hossein Akbari, said, "the five-storey consulate building...

The suit filed in June of 2020 sought US$5bn in damages.

According to the health ministry in Gaza, the bodies of four foreign aid workers and their Palestinian driver were brought to a hospital in the town of Deir el-Balah after an Israeli strike targeted their vehicle. Hamas said the aid workers included "British, Australian and Polish nationalities, with the fourth...

Beirut, Lebanon--Lebanon's Iran-backed Hizbollah group warned Tuesday that Israel will pay for killing high-level Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in a strike on the country's consulate in Damascus, Syria, the day before. Hizbollah has exchanged near-daily cross-border fire with Israel in support of its ally Hamas since the Gaza war erupted in...

Arcera will aim to improve the quality of "human life."

After Paris, Blinken will head to Brussels for NATO foreign ministers' talks ahead of the alliance's 75th anniversary summit in Washington. Blinken will also hold a three-way meeting in Brussels with EU leaders and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who has been seeking to branch out from his country's historic...

The White House said in a statement that the two sides had a "constructive engagement on Rafah" during two hours of videoconference talks, attended by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sulliva. The US side expressed its concerns with various courses of action in Rafah.

Non-oil growth to stay robust, bolstered by a strong non-oil GDP growth in the region's two biggest economies, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Washington, US - A digital tool considered vital in tracking viral falsehoods, CrowdTangle will be decommissioned by Facebook owner Meta in a major election year, a move researchers fear will disrupt efforts to detect an expected firehose of political misinformation. The tech giant says CrowdTangle will be unavailable after August 14,...

Palestinian Territories - Israeli forces on Monday pulled out of Gaza's largest hospital complex after an intensive two-week military operation, leaving behind charred buildings and bodies strewn at the sprawling complex. Israel said it had battled Palestinian fighters hiding inside Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital, killed at least 200 enemy fighters...

ABU DHABI, UAE - The UAE insurance sector continued to grow in Q4 2023, as reflected by the increase in the gross written premiums. As of year-end, the number of licencsd insurance companies in the UAE remained at 60, the CBUAE announced in its quarterly economic report Q4, 2023. The...

Jerusalem, Undefined - Israeli police said Monday they had arrested the sister of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh "as part of a terror probe in southern Israel". Police told AFP that Sabah Abdel Salam Haniyeh, who is an Israeli citizen, was taken into custody in the town of Tel Sheva as part...

Palestinian Territories - The health ministry in Gaza said Monday that at least 32,845 people have been killed in the territory in the Israeli aerial and ground assault since Oct 7. The toll includes at least 63 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 75,392...

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) expects the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to grow by 4.2 percent in 2024, rising to 5.2 percent in 2025, while maintaining its estimate for a 3.1 percent growth in 2023. In its quarterly economic review report...

The non-oil economy contributed more than 53 percent to the total GDP, with significant growth in construction, finance and insurance, transportation and storage activities. Statistics Centre - Abu Dhabi (SCAD) said the results demonstrate the economy's ability to expand thanks to diversification efforts.