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Portugal Closes All Schools and Non-Essential Services Ahead of a Major Atlantic Storm

Varieties Heavy machinery clears the debris from a landslide along the Marocos road in Machico municipality, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, due to severe weather caused by the passage of Storm Charles, 11 November 2026. (EPA)

Portugal Closes All Schools and Non-Essential Services Ahead of a Major Atlantic Storm

Portugal closed all schools and shuttered non-essential public services on Wednesday as a major Atlantic storm headed for the country's mainland. Streets…

Varieties The S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times. (Getty Images)

Once the World's Fastest, Ocean Liner Will Become Largest Artificial Reef

An ocean liner that is longer than the Titanic and was once the fastest on the seas is headed to a final home on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico as the world's…

Varieties Celine Dion. (AFP)

Medical Breakthrough for People with Same Disorder as Celine Dion

People suffering from stiff person syndrome (SPS), which affects Celine Dion, the singer, could soon benefit from a new medicine which improves symptoms. …

Varieties View of a flooded area after storm Leo passed by Alcacer do Sal, Portugal, February 5, 2026. (Reuters)

Portugal Storm Alert Closes Schools

Portugal will shut schools and non-essential public services on Wednesday, with the government urging people to shelter from winds potentially reaching 140…

Varieties British author John Harrison poses after winning the 2026 Booker Prize for his novel "The End of Everything" at the awards ceremony in London, Britain, 09 November 2026. (EPA)

British Writer John Harrison Wins 2026 Booker Prize for ‘The End of Everything’

British author ‌John Harrison has won the 2026 Booker Prize for his novel, "The End of Everything," a dystopian satire that the prize says probes the…


Varieties A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)

French Scientists Find New Blood Type in Guadeloupe Woman

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type, dubbed "Gwada negative," France's…

Varieties The iconic symbol of the 2024 Paris Olympic will take to the skies during France's annual street music festival, the Fete de la Musique. Thomas SAMSON / AFP

Olympic Balloon to Rise again in Paris

A giant balloon that became a popular landmark over the skies of Paris during the 2024 Olympics is set to rise again, with organizers hoping it will once again…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Kochar Jamal Tawfeeq, director of the Dukan Dam facility, gives an interview by the reservoir northwest of Iraq's northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah in the autonomous Kurdistan region on June 4, 2025, where waters have been receding due to a mix of factors including lower rainfall, severe drought, and diversion of inflowing rivers from Iran. (AFP)

Water Levels Plummet at Drought-Hit Iraqi Reservoir

Water levels at Iraq's vast Dukan Dam reservoir have plummeted as a result of dwindling rains and further damming upstream, hitting millions of inhabitants…

Varieties A chef takes a break to check his phone in a sliver of shade outside Union Station on August 12, 2016 in Washington,DC. Gabriella Demczuk / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

US Enters First Major Heat Wave of 2025

The United States is experiencing its first significant heat wave of the year, beginning Friday across the Great Plains and expanding into parts of the Midwest…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties The freshwater Meso-American slider turtles are protected in Mexico. Handout / AFP

Mexican Authorities Rescue 3,400 Trafficked Baby Turtles

Mexican authorities said Friday they had rescued over 3,400 protected baby turtles stuffed into cardboard boxes set to be trafficked. During a roadblock in…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Labubu dolls on display at the Pop Land theme park in Beijing. Pedro PARDO / AFP

Monsters and Memes: Labubu Dolls Ride China Soft-power Wave

Small, fuzzy and baring sharp teeth, Chinese toymaker Pop Mart's Labubu monster dolls have taken over the world, drawing excited crowds at international stores…

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Varieties Salema porgy swim near seagrass in the protected area of France's Porquerolles National Park ahead of the UN Ocean Conference on Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

Croatia's Scientists Seek to Ward Off Threat to Posidonia Seagrass

At Croatia’s Dugi Otok island in the Adriatic Sea, scientists, demanding action to protect environmentally important meadows of seagrass, have been on a diving…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties People work in a Turkish salmon processing company in Trabzon, on the Black Sea on June 11, 2025. (AFP)

'Turkish Salmon': The Black Sea's New Rose-Colored Gold 

Sitting in his spacious office with a view of the Black Sea, Tayfun Denizer smiles: his rainbow trout, raised in submerged cages, have made him a wealthy man. …

Varieties Children cool off as they run through a public fountain in Colmar, eastern France, on August 21, 2023, as France experiences a late summer heatwave. (AFP)

Sunshine Abounds as the Summer Solstice Arrives

Peak sunshine has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere: the summer solstice. Friday is the longest day of the year north of the equator, where the solstice…

Varieties Peruvian gas workers discovered the mummy of a boy believed to be over 1,000 years old while installing pipes in Lima. Ernesto BENAVIDES / AFP

Peru Gas Workers Find Thousand-year-old Mummy

Peruvian gas workers this week found a thousand-year-old mummy while installing pipes in Lima, their company said, confirming the latest discovery of a pre…

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Varieties In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, an aerial view show floodwaters from a river overwhelmed towns following days of heavy rain, in Huaiji County, south China's Guangdong Province on June 19, 2025. (Deng Hua/Xinhua via AP)

A River Overflows in Southern China, Stranding People and Turning Streets into Canals 

Rescue workers used rubber dinghies to evacuate people and deliver food and water Wednesday after floodwaters overwhelmed towns in southern China's Guangdong…

Varieties Kenya Wildlife Services veterinarians and rangers rush to aid a sedated female black Rhinoceros that has been selected for translocation to the Segera Rhino Sanctuary from the Lake Nakuru National Park on June 07, 2025. (Photo by Tony KARUMBA / AFP)

10 Endangered Black Rhinos Sent from S.Africa to Mozambique

Ten black rhinos have been moved from South Africa to Mozambique to secure breeding of the critically endangered animals that became locally extinct 50 years…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Flames rise as a SpaceX rocket explodes in Brownsville, Texas, US, June 18, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. TheRocketFuture via X/via REUTERS

SpaceX Starship Explodes During Routine Test

One of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starships exploded during a routine test late Wednesday in Texas, law enforcement said, in the latest setback to the billionaire's…

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Varieties Protea flower grower Nico Thuynsma cultivates the blooms north of Johannesburg, 1,500 km (930 miles) from their natural home at the southern tip of Africa. Phill Magakoe / AFP

S.Africa's Iconic Protea Flower Relocates as Climate Warms

On his farm two hours north of Johannesburg, Nico Thuynsma gestured towards thousands of orange, yellow and pink proteas in flower and thriving 1,500…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Visitor Jess Tinton embraces a cow during a "Cow Cuddling" experience at Dumble Farm in Arram, Britain, June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Phil Noble

UK Farm Swaps Milk for Cow Cuddles

Years of floods and low food prices have driven a dairy farm in England's northeast to stop milking its cows and instead charge visitors to cuddle them. …

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Varieties One of the rings stolen in the heist (FBI handout)

7 California Men Charged in 'Largest Jewelry Heist' in US History

Seven men from California have been charged in the "largest jewelry heist in US history,” involving the theft of $100 million worth of gold, gems, and luxury…

Asharq Al Awsat (San Francisco )
Varieties A peacock (Getty)

Rancho Palos Verdes Declares War on Peacocks

Spotting a trademark colorful and elegant bird on the Palos Verdes Peninsula can be exciting for visitors or vacationers, but as the peacock population has…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Varieties This undated handout image released by European Southern Observatory on June 17, 2025 shows a detailed, thousand-color image of the Sculptor Galaxy captured with the MUSE instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). (Handout / European Southern Observatory / AFP)

Nearby Sculptor Galaxy Revealed in Ultra-Detailed Galactic Image

The Sculptor galaxy is similar in many respects to our Milky Way. It is about the same size and mass, with a similar spiral structure. But while it is…

Varieties A person visits Horikiri Iris Garden in Tokyo where temperatures reached into the mid-30s Centigrade (90F+) on June 18, 2025. (AFP)

Heatstroke Alerts Issued in Japan as Temperatures Surge 

Sweltering temperatures prompted heatstroke alerts in multiple Japanese regions on Wednesday, with dozens of people seeking emergency medical care in the…

Varieties People swim in the river Spree to demand the lift of the hundred years old swimming ban at the river in front of the Berlin Cathedral and the TV Tower in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP)

Berliners Jump into the Spree River to Show It’s Clean Enough for Swimming 

A century after the city of Berlin banned swimming in the Spree River because it was so polluted it could make people sick, there's a push by swimmers to get…

Varieties Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki spews smoke and volcanic ash as seen from Kawalelo village in East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, June 17, 2025. (Reuters) 

Many Flights to Indonesia’s Bali Cancelled after Volcano Eruption 

Several flights to the Indonesian resort island of Bali were cancelled or delayed and the airport in Maumere in East Nusa Tenggara province was closed due to…

Varieties This photograph shows a general view of Barcelona at night, partially without electricity, with the Sagrada Familia seen on the right, following a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, on April 28, 2025. (AFP) 

Spain Says April Blackout Was Caused by Grid Failures and Poor Planning, Not a Cyberattack 

Spain's government said Tuesday that the massive April power outage across Spain and Portugal that left tens of millions of people disconnected in seconds was…

Varieties People work at the beginning of the restoration process of Banksy's 'Migrant Child', the mural depicting a migrant child wearing a lifejacket and holding a pink flare in Venice, Italy, June 17, 2025. (Reuters)

Scaffolding Goes up in Venice to Save Banksy’s Migrant Mural

Scaffolding went up in Venice on Tuesday to restore a mural by the elusive street artist Banksy that had appeared on the side of a 17th century building in the…

Varieties Pope Leo XIV meets the members of the Rome's local church in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)

Pope Leo to Escape Rome’s Summer Heat with July Stay at Castel Gandolfo

As temperatures in Rome swelter this month, reaching more than 35 degrees Celsius (95°F) under the hot Mediterranean sun, Pope Leo has decided to leave town. …