Bahrain Telegraph - 24/7 your daily source for Bahrain news and global information

Germany's economy eked out meagre growth in 2025 and dodged a third straight year of recession, data showed Thursday, but Europe's languishing industrial powerhouse still faces huge challenges to return to long-term health.

Elon Musk's platform X announced measures to prevent its AI chatbot Grok from undressing images of real people, but the Philippines on Thursday said it would become the latest country to block the online tool in a growing global backlash.

An Iranian protester who the United States feared faced imminent execution will not be sentenced to death, the judiciary said Thursday, while Donald Trump said he would "watch it and see" about threatened military action.

Four International Space Station crewmembers splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, NASA footage showed, after the first ever medical evacuation in the orbital lab's history.

Uganda's opposition said voting had been deliberately delayed in Thursday's election as President Yoweri Museveni seeks to extend his 40-year rule amid an internet blackout and a police crackdown.

Oil slid Thursday after US President Donald Trump appeared to dial down threats of imminent military action on Iran, while Asian markets were mixed after Wall Street edged lower the previous day.

The Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, starts on Sunday in Melbourne.

Roger Federer said on Thursday that Carlos Alcaraz winning the Australian Open to complete the career Grand Slam aged just 22 would be "crazy".

Ugandans found polling stations still not open hours after voting was due to start Thursday, as President Yoweri Museveni seeks to extend his 40-year rule amid an internet shutdown and a police crackdown on the opposition.

An erratic Madison Keys struck nearly 50 unforced errors Thursday as the Australian Open champion crashed out of her final warm-up for this year's opening Grand Slam to teenager Victoria Mboko.

France superstar Antoine Dupont says six-time Champions Cup winners Toulouse "do not have a choice" apart from beating Sale and scoring four tries or more on Saturday if they hope to reach the last 16.

South Korea's state health insurer lost an appeal on Thursday in its lawsuit seeking damages from the country's three largest tobacco companies over their alleged responsibility for smoking-related harms.

The Cell Production Centre at Lausanne University Hospital is working flat out trying to grow new skin for badly-burned survivors of Switzerland's New Year bar fire tragedy.

Jade comes home from school each day to feed the chickens at her home in the Central American nation of El Salvador with her classmates' taunts ringing in her ears.

US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Thursday with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whose pro-democracy movement he has sidelined since toppling her country's leader, and whose Nobel Peace Prize he openly envies.

Taiwanese chipmaking titan TSMC announced Thursday a forecast-busting net profit for the fourth quarter in a sign of sustained global demand for AI technology.

For almost a decade, Nikolay Gentchev has faced a strange question: "You're not dead, are you?"

China's top diplomat said Thursday that a visit by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to Beijing marked a "turning point" in the two countries' long acrimonious relationship.

A "shadow fleet" of 19 tankers suspected of smuggling oil for Russia and Iran was flagged by New Zealand with Cook Islands authorities in 2024, according to a confidential list obtained by AFP.

The collapse of a highway construction crane killed two people near Bangkok on Thursday, with a Thai minister saying the building firm was also involved in a crane failure the day before that left 32 dead.

Jannik Sinner was drawn Thursday against France's Hugo Gaston to start his Australian Open defence and is on a collision course to meet 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in a blockbuster semi-final.

Japan will bid to host the Rugby World Cup again in 2035, more than 15 years after becoming the first Asian country to stage the event.

Jannik Sinner was drawn Thursday against France's Hugo Gaston to start his Australian Open defence and is on a collision course to meet 10-time champion Novak Djokovic in a blockbuster semi-final.

Greenland's residents expressed a mix of anxiety and relief after a meeting was held Wednesday in the White House between officials from the United States, Denmark and the island at the centre of President Donald Trump's focus.

Nine-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky clocked the second-fastest women's 1500m freestyle time in history on Wednesday to launch the US Pro Swim Series event in Austin, Texas, with a dominant victory.

Oil and precious metals slid Thursday after US President Donald Trump appeared to dial down threats of imminent military action on Iran, while Asian markets were mixed after Wall Street edged lower the previous day.

AI-generated videos purportedly depicting protests in Iran have flooded the web, researchers said Wednesday, as social media users push hyper-realistic deepfakes to fill an information void amid the country's internet restrictions.

Uganda, where President Yoweri Museveni is seeking to extend his 40-year rule with a seventh term on Thursday, has one of the world's youngest populations and is pinning its hopes on oil reserves to overcome poverty.

Uganda was on edge as it headed for elections on Thursday, with President Yoweri Museveni expected to extend his 40-year rule amid an internet shutdown and a police crackdown on the opposition.

Books tucked under their arms, children file into a small classroom in Bangladesh's vast refugee camps, home to more than a million Rohingya who have fled neighbouring Myanmar.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is meeting with top Chinese leaders in Beijing on Thursday, hoping to repair a long acrimonious relationship as he pulls away from traditional ally the United States.

New Zealand fired coach Scott Robertson on Thursday, less than two years before the World Cup, after a scathing 2025 performance review and rumours of a player revolt.

The European Union and South American bloc Mercosur are set to sign an agreement Saturday, more than 25 years in the making, to create one of the world's largest free trade areas.

From playing football in the Oval Office to sipping cocktails on a sun lounger in Gaza and attacking critics from a fighter jet, Donald Trump has become the first US president to deploy AI-generated imagery as a key tool of political communications.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr has long been known for vaccine skepticism and fringe views that bled into conspiracy -- ideology he is now baking into the US public health system.

One year into his second term, US President Donald Trump is shattering the post-World War II order as never before, leaving a world that may be unrecognizable once he is through.

Growing up in a rural, religious community in western Canada, Kyle McCarthy loved hockey, but once he came out at 19, he quit, convinced being openly gay and an active player was untenable.

Veteran Spanish singer Julio Iglesias is preparing his defence against sexual abuse and human trafficking allegations by two women ex-employees that have dominated headlines in Spain, celebrity magazine Hola! reported.

Actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence platforms, a representative said Wednesday.