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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 France's President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he speaks during the presentation of the European Pact for the Oceans at the third UN Ocean Conference in Nice, French Riviera, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP)

Macron to Push for Ban on Social Media for Under-15s after School Stabbing 

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would push for European Union regulation to ban social media for children under the age of 15 after a fatal stabbing…

Varieties (FILES) A seasonal worker picks strawberries at Hugh Lowe Farms, near Maidstone, Kent on June 21, 2021. (Photo by BEN STANSALL / AFP)

UK's Sunniest Spring Yields Unusually Sweet Strawberries

British strawberry farmers say this year's record-breaking spring sunshine and warm days have yielded the cream of the crop, with a bigger and sweeter harvest…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties FILE PHOTO: A man sits on a tangle of branches in the Sacramento River while staying cool during a heat wave in Sacramento, California, US May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Fred Greaves/File Photo

EU Scientists: May Was World's Second-hottest on Record

The world experienced its second-warmest May since records began this year, a month in which climate change fueled a record-breaking heatwave in Greenland,…

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Varieties  White rhinos have been the targets of a poaching epidemic that has largely wiped them out. (AFP)

70 South African White Rhinos Relocated to Rwanda

Rwanda said on Tuesday that 70 white rhinos had been successfully relocated to the Great Lakes nation after a two-day journey of some 3,000 kilometers (over 1…

Varieties People walk at the promenade by the river Rhine with the skyline in the background including the Rheinturm in Duesseldorf, Germany, May 13, 2024. (Reuters)

Germany Granted Citizenship to a Record Number of People in 2024, Led by Syrians 

Germany granted citizenship to a record 291,955 people last year, a 46% increase from 2023, with Syrians making up the largest group, according to data…

Varieties Officials in Sri Lanka said they were withholding the results of a survey of crop-destroying wildlife because monkey business appeared to have distorted some of the data. Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP

Monkey Business Delays Sri Lanka's Wildlife Survey

Sri Lanka is withholding the results of a survey of crop-destroying wildlife, including monkeys and peacocks, because data collected from some farmers appeared…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Solar accounted for 23 percent of the 55 percent of electricity consumed from renewables last year. Aris MESSINIS / AFP

Sunny Greece Struggles with Solar Energy Overload

In a field in central Greece that once grew clover and corn, maintenance worker Nikos Zigomitros deftly drives a tractor between rows of solar panels, trimming…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties This handout frame grab taken from video footage provided by whale rescue group Organization for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) on June 9, 2025 shows a distressed humpback whale tangled in a rope swimming south of Sydney Harbor. (Handout and Clay Sweetman / ORRCA / AFP)

Tangled Humpback Whale Sparks Rescue Mission off Australia

Wildlife rescue teams scoured Australia's east coast on Monday to find and free a distressed humpback whale tangled in a rope. Aerial footage showed the…

Varieties Farmed salmon -- like the ones grown in pens here in the Australian island state of Tasmania -- are easier to grow than some other fish species. Gregory PLESSE / AFP/File

Farmed Production of Some Fish - and Seaweed - is Soaring

The amount of farmed seafood we consume -- as opposed to that taken wild from our waters -- is soaring every year, making aquaculture an ever-more important…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties The Saudi Film Commission logo

Saudi Film Commission Participates in Annecy International Animation Film Festival

The Saudi Film Commission is participating in the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2025, taking place from June 8 to 14 in Annecy, France, one of…

Asharq Al Awsat (Riyadh)
Varieties People walk past stores in a shopping mall in Beijing on June 8, 2025. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)

China to Make All Hospitals Offer Epidurals to Incentivize Childbirth

China said that by the end of this year all tertiary level hospitals must offer epidural anesthesia during childbirth, a move it said would help promote a …

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties In this image taken from June 8, 2025, video by the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office in Rutherford County, Tennessee, shows the airlifting of a zebra named Ed that had evaded capture for several days after it ran away from its owner. (Rutherford County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Runaway Pet Zebra Captured in Tennessee

A runaway pet zebra that was on the loose for more than a week in Tennessee and became an internet sensation in the process was captured Sunday, authorities…

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Varieties People take photos of vessels during the "Ocean Wonders" event in honor of World Oceans Day ahead of the UN Ocean Conference on Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Nice, France. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

UN Ocean Conference Sets Sail Off France on World Oceans Day

Dozens of research and exploration vessels from around the world set sail just off the French coastal city of Nice on Sunday to kick off the third UN Ocean…

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Varieties General view of Bogota, Colombia September 3, 2017. REUTERS/Henry Romero/File Photo

Strong Earthquake Shakes Colombian Capital Bogotá

A strong earthquake struck the Colombian capital Bogotá early Sunday morning, with no immediate reports of casualties or damage, Reuters reported. The…

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Varieties Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, delivers a speech during the Blue Economy and Finance Forum (BEFF) at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, June 8, 2025. REUTERS

UK's Prince William Calls for Urgent Action to Protect Oceans

Britain's Prince William on Sunday called on world leaders and businesses to take urgent action to protect the planet's oceans, saying it was a challenge "like…

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Varieties File Photo: This image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows severe weather systems, Hurricane Nora, upper left, and Hurricane Ida, upper right, over the North American continent on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021. Hurricane Nora is churning northward up Mexico's Pacific Coast toward the narrow Gulf of California, after making a sweep past the Puerto Vallarta area. (NOAA via AP)

Tropical Storm Barbara Forms off Coast of Southwest Mexico

Tropical Storm Barbara has formed off the southwest coast of Mexico, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said early Sunday. No coastal watches or warnings…

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Varieties This photo provided by Brookfield Zoo Chicago,  bottlenose dolphins "Allie" with "Tapeko" are joined by the newly born calf at the Brookfield Zoo Chicago on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Brookfield Zoo Chicago via AP)

Video Shows Dolphin Calf Birth and First Breath at Chicago Zoo

A bottlenose dolphin at a Chicago zoo gave birth to a calf early Saturday morning with the help of a fellow mom, in a successful birth recorded on video by zoo…

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Varieties Illegal burning of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas, in September 2024. MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP/File

Brazil Fires Drive Acceleration in Amazon Deforestation

A record fire season in Brazil last year caused the rate of deforestation to accelerate, in a blow to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's pledge to protect…

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Varieties A matured Loggerhead sea turtle released by staff from Local conservation makes its way back into the ocean, in Watamu on May 23, 2025. (AFP)

Kenya NGO Saves Turtles from Nets, Plastic and Rising Tides

A small charity on the Kenyan coast has become vital to the region's majestic turtle population, saving thousands from poachers, fishermen's nets and ever…

Varieties Students prepare to enter a school for China's annual National College Entrance Examination in Beijing, China, 07 June 2025. (EPA)

Millions Sit China’s High-Stakes University Entrance Exam

Hopeful parents accompanied their teenage children to the gates of a busy Beijing test center on Saturday, among millions of high school students across China…

Varieties Military aircraft perform a flyover during a memorial ceremony marking the 81st anniversary of the World War II D-Day Allied landings in Normandy, at the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, north-western France, on June 6, 2025. (AFP)

D-Day Veterans Return to Normandy to Mark 81st Anniversary of Landings

Veterans gathered Friday in Normandy to mark the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings — a pivotal moment of World War II that eventually led to the collapse…

Varieties (FILES) The TikTok logo is seen outside the Chinese video app company Los Angeles offices on April 4, 2025 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)

New Europe Push to Curb Children's Social Media Use

From dangerous diet tips to disinformation, cyberbullying to hate speech, the glut of online content harmful to children grows every day. But several European…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties A photo taken on April shows a general view of the waterfront area of the World Expo, that has suspended shows because of high levels of bacteria. Richard A. Brooks / AFP/File

Bacteria Cancels Water Shows at Japan's World Expo

The discovery of high levels of bacteria has led the World Expo in Japan's Osaka to suspend daily water shows and use of a shallow play pool, organizers said. …

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Lava flows down from the crater of the "Volcan de Fuego," or Volcano of Fire, in San Juan Alotenango, Guatemala, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP)

More than 700 People Evacuated as Guatemala’s Fuego Volcano Spews Ash

Guatemala's Fuego volcano shot ash miles into the air on Friday as authorities said they had evacuated more than 700 people from their homes as a precaution. …