GABORONE: Botswana is facing renewed pressure on its diamond-driven economy after S&P Global Ratings lowered the country’s long-term sovereign rating to BBB- from BBB and its short-term rating to A-3 from A-2, while keeping a negative outlook. The cut leaves Botswana at the lowest investment-grade level and…
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ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia has declared three days of national mourning after the death toll from heavy rain-triggered landslides in the country’s south rose to at least 80, with recovery teams still searching for people reported missing. The mourning period begins on Saturday, March 14, after lawmakers announced the measure in…
ARBA MINCH: The death toll from floods and landslides in southern Ethiopia’s Gamo Zone has risen to 70, according to official reports issued on Friday, as rescue teams and residents searched muddy slopes and riverbanks for victims after days of heavy rainfall. Authorities said more than 120 people were still unaccounted…
ABU DHABI: Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, received Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, in Abu Dhabi on March 11 as the two sides reviewed bilateral relations and ongoing cooperation, according to an official UAE readout. The meeting formed part of…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has demolished a building inside Pakistan Air Force Base Murid that was heavily damaged during India’s May 2025 Operation Sindoor air strike, according to commercial satellite imagery dated Feb. 28, 2026. The latest image shows the structure completely removed, leaving exposed earth and scattered rubble across the former…
NICOSIA: Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides received UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan during a working visit to the Cypriot capital, with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos attending. The UAE foreign minister conveyed greetings from UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and…
NAIROBI: Flash floods triggered by heavy overnight rain killed at least 28 people in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, after rivers and drainage channels overflowed and sent water through low-lying neighborhoods and key transport corridors. Police and rescue workers searched flooded streets and riverbanks after the worst of the downpour struck late…
MEXICO CITY: FIFA has released about 40% of the hotel rooms it had blocked in Mexico City for the FIFA World Cup 2026, the city’s hotel industry group said, returning roughly 800 rooms to general availability over the past month about three months before the tournament opens in the capital. The…
BRATISLAVA: UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Bratislava on Sunday, March 8, 2026, during a working visit to the Slovak capital. The meeting took place in the presence of Slovakia’s Minister of Foreign and European Affairs…
SHARJAH: Astronomers at the Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences and Technology said Eid Al Fitr in the UAE is expected to fall on Friday, March 20, 2026, based on astronomical calculations for the start of Shawwal in the Islamic calendar. The holiday marks the end of Ramadan, the fasting month…