Latest World News

World FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025.  ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Israel Becomes 1st Country to Recognize Somaliland as 'Sovereign State'

Israel on Friday formally recognized Somaliland as an "independent and sovereign state" and signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties, as the region's…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business A photograph released by the Lebanese Government Press Office on December 26, 2025, show Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaking during a press conference after a cabinet session in Beirut on December 26, 2025. (Photo by Handout / Lebanese Government Press Office / AFP)

Lebanese Cabinet Approves Draft Law on Financial Crisis Losses

Lebanon's government on Friday approved a draft law to distribute financial losses from the 2019 economic crisis that deprived many Lebanese of their deposits…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Arab World The sun sets behind a makeshift tent camp for displaced Palestinians set up in an area of al-Bureij camp, in the central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP)

Fuel Shortage Forces Gaza Hospital to Suspend Most Services

A major Gaza hospital has suspended several services because of a critical fuel shortage in the devastated Palestinian territory, which continues to face a…

Arab World Israeli security forces secure a street as they leave the Palestinian village of Bizariya, in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli authorities demolished the house of a Palestinian man killed in July after he and another man reportedly killed an Israeli settler on the same day, on December 24, 2025. (AFP)

Israeli Reservist Rams Vehicle into Palestinian Man Praying in West Bank

An Israeli reservist soldier rammed his vehicle into a Palestinian man as he prayed on a roadside in ​the occupied West Bank on Thursday, after earlier firing…

Deadly Blast Hits Mosque in Syria’s Homs, Saraya Ansar al-Sunna Claims Responsibility

Arab World Syrian security forces stand inside a damaged mosque after several people were killed in an explosion at a mosque as the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said, in Homs, Syria December 26, 2025. REUTERS/Ali Ahmed al-Najjar

Deadly Blast Hits Mosque in Syria’s Homs, Saraya Ansar al-Sunna Claims Responsibility

A bombing at a mosque in Syria during Friday prayers killed at least eight people and wounded 18 others, authorities said. Images released by Syria’s state…


World File photo: Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Turkish Authorities Say they Have arrested Suspected ISIS Member Planning New Year's Attacks

Turkish authorities said Friday that they have apprehended a suspected member of the extremist ISIS group who was planning attacks on New Year's celebrations. …

Asharq Al Awsat
Gulf Turkish search and rescue team members arrive to the crash site of a jet carrying Libya's army chief of staff Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad near Kesikkavak village, Türkiye, December 24, 2025. (Reuters)

Saudi Leadership Offers Condolences to Libyan Presidential Council on Death of Chief of Staff

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud sent on Friday a cable of condolences to President of Libya's Presidential Council Dr…

Culture Being Strangled by Kosovo's Political Crisis

Culture The cinema has been waiting for much-needed repairs for years. Armend NIMANI / AFP

Culture Being Strangled by Kosovo's Political Crisis

Kosovo's oldest cinema has been dark and silent for years as the famous theater slowly disintegrates under a leaky roof. Signs warn passers-by in the…

Asharq Al Awsat

Culture Saudi Culture Ministry Concludes Intangible Cultural Heritage Documentation Project in Al-Ahsa

Saudi Culture Ministry Concludes Intangible Cultural Heritage Documentation Project in Al-Ahsa

The Saudi Ministry of Culture concluded the project to survey, document, and archive intangible cultural heritage in Al-Ahsa Governorate by holding a workshop…

Culture The pavilion aims to connect visitors to Hail's history and social legacy - SPA

Hail Region Pavilion Showcases Heritage Artifacts at Camel Festival

Hail Region pavilion at the Ministry of Interior’s Security Oasis exhibition, part of the 10th King Abdulaziz Camel Festival in Al-Sayahid, features heritage…

Asharq Al Awsat
Culture The agency is presenting examples of national ID cards and how these documents have evolved - SPA

Visitors Explore Saudi ID History at King Abdulaziz Camel Festival

The Civil Affairs Agency is displaying historical documents, including the earliest official identification papers issued to citizens, at the 10th King…

Asharq Al Awsat
Culture his year’s festival offers an unprecedented experience that brings together the charm of the region’s unique geographic diversity - SPA

Jazan Festival 2026 Kicks Off Thursday with Grand Parade

The Jazan Festival 2026 will launch on Thursday in a carnival anticipated by thousands of visitors from within the region and beyond. The festival will…

Asharq Al Awsat

Guardiola: Man City Ready for Title Push with Injured Players Set to Return

Sports Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola greets supporters after winning the English Premier League match between Manchester City FC and West Ham United, in Manchester, Britain, 20 December 2025.  EPA/ALEX DODD

Guardiola: Man City Ready for Title Push with Injured Players Set to Return

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is looking forward to the return of some key players from injury as he looks to push for multiple major titles, including…

Asharq Al Awsat

Sports Liverpool's French striker #22 Hugo Ekitike strikes a pose as he celebrates scoring their second goal for 0-2 during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 20, 2025. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)

Liverpool's Slot Hails Ekitike Impact at Both Ends of the Pitch

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has hailed the transformation of Hugo Ekitike from backup striker to goal machine as the France international spearheads the club's…

Asharq Al Awsat
Sports  Jota died ‌in ⁠a ​car ‌crash alongside his younger brother in July in northwestern Spain. (AFP)

Jota’s Sons to Join Mascots When Liverpool Face Wolves at Anfield

Diogo Jota's two sons will join ​the mascots at Anfield when Liverpool face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Saturday, the club confirmed on…

Sports A view of the field is seen from the stands at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on December 9, 2025. (AFP)

Too Hot to Handle? Searing Heat Looming Over 2026 World Cup

With less than six months to go before the 2026 World Cup kicks off, organizers are bracing for what could be their most challenging opponent yet: extreme heat…

Sports Atalanta's Italian head coach Raffaele Palladino looks on during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Genoa Cfc and Atalanta BC at Luigi Ferraris stadium in Genoa, Italy, 21 December 2025. (EPA)

Palladino’s Atalanta on the up as Serie A Leaders Inter Visit

Atalanta are on the comeback trail ahead of Sunday night's visit of Serie A leaders Inter Milan, with coach Raffaele Palladino leading the charge for the…


Times Square to Feature Patriotic Crystal Ball for New Year's Eve, Kicking Off US's 250th Birthday

Varieties FILE - The 7-foot tall "2026" numerals are displayed at an illumination ceremony in Times Square, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray, File)

Times Square to Feature Patriotic Crystal Ball for New Year's Eve, Kicking Off US's 250th Birthday

After the crystal ball drops on New Year’s Eve in New York City, it will rise again, sparkling in red, white and blue to usher in 2026 and kick off months of…

Asharq Al Awsat

Varieties This handout picture taken with a camera trap and released on December 26, 2025, by Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and Panthera Thailand shows a recently rediscovered flat-headed cat in southern Thailand's Princess Sirindhorn Wildlife Sanctuary. (AFP / Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) / Panthera Thailand)

Elusive Wild Cat Feared Extinct Rediscovered in Thailand

An elusive wild cat long feared extinct in Thailand has been rediscovered three decades after the last recorded sighting, conservation authorities and an NGO…

Varieties This picture taken on June 6, 2024 shows a claw crane game shop in Akihabara district of Tokyo. (AFP)

Hooked on the Claw: How Crane Games Conquered Japan’s Arcades

As school and work wrap up, crowds fill Tokyo's many bustling arcade halls -- not to battle it out in fighting games, but to snag plush toys from claw machines…

Varieties Liz Swan sets up food and a trap for stray cats near the Kealakehe Transfer Station and Recycling Center, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. (AP)

Hawaii’s Big Island Bans Feeding Feral Cats in an Effort to Help Endangered Native Species

Throngs of feral cats emerge from the shade of parked trucks and bushes as soon as the familiar Subaru Forester pulls into a dump on Hawaii's Big Island. They…

Varieties On any given day, multiple venues in Shanghai host hours-long dance sessions, a phenomenon born of the city's deeply of ballroom culture. Hector RETAMAL / AFP

Shanghai's Elderly Waltz Back to the Past at Lunchtime Dance Halls

A group of retirees cheered under disco lights as 60-year-old Xu Li leapt into her partner's arms, her legs spread akimbo in perfect splits. It was just a…

Asharq Al Awsat