Latest World News

Arab World A man walks past heavily-damaged and destroyed buildings in the Jobar suburb northeast of Damascus on August 12, 2026. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

Syria Arrests Assad-era Officer who Fled Austria after Conviction

Syrian security forces have arrested a former Assad-era security officer who fled Austria after being sentenced to eight years in prison for abusing detainees…

Asharq Al Awsat (Damascus)
Gulf Tuesday's announcement is the latest measure against Iran by the UAE after it recalled its ambassador early in the conflict. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

UAE Halts All Trade, Financial Dealings with Iran after Attack

The United Arab Emirates has said it is suspending all trade and financial dealings with Iran after reporting an Iranian missile attack directed at its ships. …

Arab World The Abu al-Duhur base following Israeli strikes, Syria, August 18, 2026. (Reuters)

Türkiye Rejects Israeli Claims After Strike on Syria Air Base

Türkiye rejected on Wednesday Israeli allegations that it posed a threat by preparing to send troops to a base in Syria, which was hit in a strike that the…

Arab World Lebanese soldiers are seen at the Masnaa border crossing with Syria in wake of the collapse of the Syrian regime. (AP file)

Lebanon Mulls Removing Restrictions Against 600,000 Syrians

Lebanese authorities began reviewing security restrictions against some 600,000 Syrians in the latest move that reflects Beirut’s desire to open a new chapter…

Youssef Diab (Beirut)

Hormuz Traffic Slows as Uncertainty Over Waterway Persists

World FILE - Cargo ships are seen at sea in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)

Hormuz Traffic Slows as Uncertainty Over Waterway Persists

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed, data showed on Wednesday, as most shipowners avoided the key waterway because of a lack of clear signaling on its…

Asharq Al Awsat

Arab World Palestinian-American dual citizen Louai Abu Ridi, whose home in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra is besieged by Israeli settlers, poses for a picture next to a US flag on the roof of the building in Qusra on August 18, 2026. (AFP)

Palestinian-American Hoists US Flag on Home Besieged by Israeli Settlers

A Palestinian-American has raised the US flag on his home besieged by Israeli settlers, as the United States renewed criticism of the siege that has generated…

Arab World Sudanese army solders take part in a military parade on August 17, 2026, in the city of Gedaref in eastern Sudan during celebrations to mark the 72nd anniversary of the Sudanese Armed Forces. (AFP)

More Displacement in Sudan as Battles Intensify

At least 12 people were killed and other wounded in Sudan’s North Kordofan as the army launched air strikes and drone attacks on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)…

Ahmed Younes (Kampala)

Kerala’s Snake Boat Racers Keep Tradition Afloat in Face of Floods and Financial Challenges

Culture  Rowers from the United Boat Club train on the Pamba river in preparation for the Nehru Trophy snake boat race, near Kainakary, Kerala, India, August 7, 2026. (Reuters)

Kerala’s Snake Boat Racers Keep Tradition Afloat in Face of Floods and Financial Challenges

This weekend around 20 wooden boats, 100-foot long and powered by about 100 rowers each, will slice through Kerala's backwaters to compete for the most…


Culture CONTINUUM 26 runs from September 3 to November 7. (SPA)

Diriyah Art Futures Launches CONTINUUM 26

Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), an asset of Saudi Arabia’s Museums Commission under the Ministry of Culture, announced on Tuesday the lineup for CONTINUUM 26, an…

Culture Jeddah is witnessing growing cultural activity, reflected in the programs and events offered by cultural centers and institutions. (SPA)

Jeddah Cultural Centers Offer Quality Programs to Support Arts, Creativity

Jeddah is witnessing growing cultural activity, reflected in the programs and events offered by cultural centers and institutions throughout the year, the…

Asharq Al Awsat
Culture A drone view shows the grounds of the Museo Regionale di Messina, where four artworks by 15th-century painter Antonello da Messina were stolen overnight, in Messina, Sicily, Italy, August 16, 2026. (Reuters)

Mafia Link Feared in Sicilian Grand Master Theft

The theft of four paintings by Renaissance master Antonello da Messina may have involved organized crime and raised troubling questions about security at a…

Culture Palestinian musicians take part in a final rehearsal before the opening of the Jerusalem Festival, held at the Yabous Cultural Center after a two-year hiatus, in East Jerusalem on August 16, 2026. (AFP)

Palestinians Celebrate Jerusalem Festival Return After Gaza War Hiatus

Three years after its last edition, hundreds of fans are again able to enjoy the Jerusalem Festival, a Palestinian cultural celebration which had been on hold…

Club: Paul Pogba to be Released by Monaco

Sports Monaco's French midfielder #08 Paul Pogba on the pitch ahead of the pre-season friendly football match between Liverpool and Monaco at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on August 9, 2026. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP)

Club: Paul Pogba to be Released by Monaco

Former Manchester United and Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba will be released by Monaco after a series of injuries, the French club said on Wednesday. Pogba…

Asharq Al Awsat

Sports  15 August 2026, United Kingdom, London: Chelsea's Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the pre-season friendly soccer match between Chelsea and Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge. (dpa)

Five Premier League Stars to Watch This Season

The new Premier League season kicks off on Friday, setting the stage for a galaxy of stars to shine in the 2026-27 campaign. AFP Sport looks at five players…

Sports Aryna Sabalenka celebrates her win against Xinyu Wang of China during day eight of the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 18, 2026 in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)

No.1 Sabalenka Slams Wang to Advance at Cincinnati

Aryna Sabalenka unleashed her big game with devastating effect on Tuesday, hammering China's Wang Xinyu 6-1, 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the ATP-WTA…

Sports Rain falls on a dried-up reservoir in drought-hit Miryang, about 280 kilometers southeast of Seoul, South Korea, 16 August 2026.  EPA/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT

SKorean Footballers Report Heat-related Symptoms, Call for Stronger Safeguards

South Korean professional footballers urged stronger protections against extreme heat after a survey by the Korea Pro-Footballers Association showed many…

Asharq Al Awsat
Sports Munich's Jamal Musiala, center, leaves the pitch due to an injury during a pre-season soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa via AP)

Bayern's Musiala Diagnosed with Neurological Disorder after 2 On-field Collapses

Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala said on Tuesday he has been diagnosed with a neurological disorder after collapsing during a match for the second time…

Asharq Al Awsat

Italian Scientists Bet on Octopus to Fight Crab Invasion

Varieties Live blue crabs harvested by local fishermen in the Po river are seen in a waste bucket at Scardovari, Italy, northeast Italy, on June 26, 2026. (AFP)

Italian Scientists Bet on Octopus to Fight Crab Invasion

From a fishing trawler in the Adriatic, Italian scientists gently release thousands of tiny octopuses in the hope of fighting an invasive crab species that has…


Varieties A Japanese sea nettle is displayed at the Jellyfish Museum, a facility that is home to about 20 unique species of jellyfish found in Florida and other parts of the world, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Pompano Beach, Fla. (AP)

Mesmerizing Jellyfish Take Center Stage at 1st US Museum Dedicated Solely to the Floating Predators

The floating tentacled predators pulse and swirl in hypnotic patterns in the dark museum space, lit primarily by images projected on the walls and the glowing…

Varieties This combo made with photos provided by NASA on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows before, left, and after images of a fresh crater on the moon created by a collision with a SpaceX rocket. (NASA via AP)

NASA Images Show Crater Carved by SpaceX Rocket that Slammed Into the Moon

A NASA spacecraft circling the moon is providing the sharpest views yet of the crater carved by a crashing SpaceX rocket. The space agency released before…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Veterinary officers from the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) attend to a male elephant lying on the ground after falling ill at Kitenden B Community Conservancy in Amboseli, Kajiado County, on August 12, 2026. (Photo by SIMON MAINA / AFP)

'How Many Will Die?': The Mysterious Ailment Killing Kenyan Elephants

Lying on the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust, the elephant slowly exhausted himself in futile attempts to stand, the latest victim of a mysterious…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties The collision about 11.8 billion years ago, when a dwarf galaxy known as LKH collided with the Milky Way and merged with it, appears in an artist's concept released on August 17, 2026.  NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)/Handout via REUTERS

The Milky Way Devoured Smaller Galaxy About 11.8 Billion Years Ago

The Milky Way, a large and spiral-shaped galaxy that is home to hundreds of billions of stars including our sun, has taken a long and complicated path to…

Asharq Al Awsat (Washington)