In line with the Third Financial Sector Strategy and as part of Qatar Central Banks ongoing efforts to develop digital payment systems and services, and to strengthen cooperation among the GCC countries, Qatar Central Bank announces the acceptance of the national payment card "HIMYAN" in the Kingdom of Bahrain.With this expansion, "HIMYAN" cardholders can now conduct purchase and cash withdrawal transactions through various points of sale and ATMs in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in accordance with the highest standards of security and protection.In addition, "HIMYAN cardholders can also use the card in the State of Kuwait, following Qatar Central Bank's announcement on 18 December 2025 regarding the acceptance of the national payment card "HIMYAN" in Kuwait.This expansion comes as part of Qatar Central Banks commitment to enhancing regional integration in the field of payment systems and expanding the use of national payment solutions across the GCC countries."HIMYAN" is considered the first national payment card under a Qatari brand launched by Qatar Central Bank as part of its continuous efforts to enhance and develop digital payment systems in support of innovation and digital transformation within the financial sector in the State of Qatar, through the provision of secure and effective local payment solutions.

Last month's drone attack on the UAE's Barakah nuclear plant was a "serious compromise of nuclear safety, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Friday, adding any such attack "is unacceptable, a no-go, taboo." The May 17 attack hit an electricity facility at the plant, risking potentially shutting it down, and IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned that "attacks on nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes are unacceptable". "The strike caused a fire in an electrical generator located outside the inner site perimeter of the NPP (nuclear power plant), prompting the need for emergency generators to provide power," Grossi told an IAEA board meeting in Vienna. The meeting was held at the request of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. During a visit to the plant last Tuesday Grossi said the attack could have interrupted the external power supply. On Friday he hailed the "professionalism and alertness" of the IAEA-trained on-duty team at the site who he said were able to "respond promptly and effectively to the unthinkable: a direct impact caused by a drone with an explosive payload." He said the IAEA would closely support the plant to ensure its safety, having during his visit said that the plant had been the victim of a "very carefully targeted operation" by attackers seeking to cause a major incident. In any case, "the incident was a serious compromise of nuclear safety and undermined several of the IAEA's seven indispensable pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security during an armed conflict," Grossi said.

President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that US President Donald Trump's proposals for peace in Ukraine could end ​the fighting, but said Kyiv needed ‌to compromise — and that he saw no signs of that, so was ‌ready to fight ⁠on to victory.Speaking ‌to foreign media editors on the ‌sidelines of Russia's annual economic forum in what is the fifth year of Europe's deadliest land ⁠war since World War Two, Putin said Russia would defeat Ukraine on the battlefield if necessary.But he said it was also ready to end the war via diplomacy, and to honour unspecified compromises he said had been agreed with Trump at a summit in Alaska last year.He showed no signs of changing his stance that for the war to end, Ukraine must surrender the rest of its eastern Donbas region — a ​demand that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected as akin to capitulation."The offensive is ongoing on a daily basis. At present, the Russian Federation has taken full control of the Luhansk People’s Republic — 100%. ‌And Russia has brought over ⁠85% of the territory ​of the Donetsk People’s Republic under its control," he said, referring to two ​of the four regions in Ukraine which Moscow claimed as its own in 2022 in a move Kyiv and most Western countries rejected as an illegal land grab."We are certainly prepared and willing to reach an agreement with Ukraine through peaceful means. Specifically, on the basis we discussed during our meeting with President Trump in Anchorage. Russia agrees to those compromises we discussed in Anchorage. The Ukrainian side must also agree to these compromises. Then the conflict will quickly come to a natural conclusion," Putin said.Putin said Russia's own resources to wage and win the war were strengthening and ‌that it had weapons which ‌Ukraine simply did not possess. While he ⁠conceded that Moscow needed to do more to protect itself against Ukrainian drones, he made ⁠it clear that he thought time ⁠was on Russia's side and that Ukraine did not have the manpower to prevail."And there is one more thing that is of paramount importance: the patriotism and resolve of the Russian people, which are essential to achieving the objectives and tasks of the special military operation," said Putin, using the phrase Russia uses to describe its war.Putin said that Russia had not yet ​used its Oreshnik hypersonic missile against Ukraine in real combat conditions, but had only test-fired it to observe the results in order to make decisions about its future full-scale use, including against urban targets.The Oreshnik, which Russia first fired against Ukraine in 2024, is a nuclear-capable missile with a range of over 5,000km (3,100 miles). Putin has said before that it is impossible to intercept, though Western experts have questioned that assertion.Putin sidestepped a question about his own political future beyond the end of his current term in 2030, saying his ‌health was in God's hands.