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Food Industry Pushes Back on WHO Guidance for Products with Added Color, Sweeteners

Varieties Around 11 million deaths a year are linked to unhealthy diets, according to the agency, based on data from a global study. (Getty Images)

Food Industry Pushes Back on WHO Guidance for Products with Added Color, Sweeteners

Governments should consider regulating foods that include added colors, flavors or sweeteners designed to make the product more appealing to consumers,…

Varieties Dozens of Pakistani farmers are suing German firms RWE and Heidelberg Materials in a rare bid to make big polluters pay damages for climate impacts. Aamir QURESHI / AFP

Pakistan Farmers in Long Fight to Make German Firms Pay for Flood Damage

In a Pakistani village nestled in rice fields, Abdul Hafeez Khoso remembers the vast industrial zones he saw in Germany when he visited to file a pioneering…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties A tourist holds an umbrella to shelter from the sun while walking on a hot day in Tokyo on July 15, 2026. (AFP)

This Year Set to Be One of Four Hottest on Record, UN Report Says

This year is ‌on track to be one of the four hottest on record, driven by a powerful El Niño and perpetuating a warming streak of more than a decade, a UN…

Varieties A white-tailed eagle over the Isle of Mull in Scotland. (Natural Resources Wales)

Reintroduction of White-Tailed Eagles Puts Seabird Colonies at Risk of Wipeout

White-tailed eagles reintroduced into England and Wales imperil endangered seabird populations and risk wiping out some colonies, The Guardian reported quoting…

Varieties Residents extend a supply hose to fill a barrel with clean water from a tanker truck in Kavling Bakau Serip, amid local water shortages linked to data center developments in Batam. ANDARU / AFP

Can't Cook or Shower: Indonesians Take Aim at Data Centers

Cooking and bathing became difficult when taps ran dry in Batam, an Indonesian island where residents are protesting as data centers spring up to power the…

Asharq Al Awsat

Varieties FILE PHOTO: US singer Dolly Parton speaks at the launch of her Imagination Library book project in the Magna Center in Sheffield, northern England December 5, 2007.  REUTERS/Nigel Roddis//File Photo

Push to Rename Nashville Airport for Dolly Parton Gets a Boost from Tennessee's Governor

A push by fans to rename Nashville's airport for Dolly Parton appears to be taking flight just days after the country music icon's death. Tennessee Gov. Bill…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties A boat sits on dry ground as water levels have dropped on the Danube in Petrovaradin, Serbia, Tuesday, August 25, 2026. (AP Photo/ Darko Vojinovic)

Europe's Summer Drought Threatens Fish in Rivers, Lakes and Farms

Small boats stand idle on cracked ground in a shriveled side channel of the Danube River in northern Serbia, where the water has receded into a couple of…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties This photo taken on August 25, 2026 shows Bob Wellard, director of the Piscatorials Society, fly-fishing in the Candover Brook, a chalk stream tributary of the River Itchen, near Winchester, Hampshire, southern England. (AFP)

Climate Change Hits Trout and Salmon in UK’s Prized Chalk Streams

A fly fisherman cast his line into the crystal-clear waters of the Itchen, a chalk stream in Hampshire in southern England, home to salmon and trout hit by…

Varieties The initiative aims to strengthen Riyadh’s position as a global hub for technology talent and digital creativity. (SPA)

Riyadh Launches ‘Digital District’ to Bolster Status as Global Hub for Talent, Innovation

The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) announced Thursday the launch of the “Riyadh Digital District,” a strategic initiative designed to attract global…

Omar al-Badwi (Riyadh)
Varieties Riyadh Hosts UNESCO Global Forum on AI Ethics with Participation from 194 Countries

Riyadh Hosts UNESCO Global Forum on AI Ethics with Participation from 194 Countries

Riyadh will host the fourth edition of the UNESCO Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (GFEAI 2026) from September 14 to 17, bringing together…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties (FILES) Kashmiri craftswomen weave silk carpets at a factory in Srinagar on May 6, 2026. Tauseef MUSTAFA / AFP

Once a Top Export, Prized Kashmir Carpet Fades

It has survived wars and upheavals, but the famed handwoven Kashmir carpet industry is now battling a steady decline as younger generations abandon the…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties A Japanese customer at a 'cat cafe' in Tokyo. TORU YAMANAKA / AFP/File

Japan to Survey Animal Cafes over Hygiene, Welfare Concerns

Japan plans to probe popular animal cafes, where visitors can interact with anything from cats to capybaras, following concerns about hygiene and the creatures…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan. (AP)

Prince Harry, Wife Meghan Arrive in the UK as They Make a Fresh Start in Britain

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan arrived in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, as they make a fresh start in Britain after six years in the United States, UK…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties The TikTok logo is displayed on signage outside TikTok social media app company offices in Culver City, California on September 30, 2025. (AFP)

Social Media Use on the Rise Among Australian Under-16s After Ban

Australian under-16s are increasing their use of social media apps, such as Instagram and TikTok, despite a world-leading ban, data provided by a parental…

Varieties This photograph taken on August 21, 2026, shows unidentified remains found in the dried-out Danube riverbed near the village of Ryahovo, during an organized fossil hunt after a record low water level revealed mammoth bones there at the end of July. (AFP)

Drought-Hit Danube Gives Way to Fossil Hunt in Bulgaria

Volunteers scanned the dried-up bank of the Danube in northern Bulgaria, close to where receding waters laid bare mammoth bones last month, hoping to find more…

Varieties This photograph shows small-caliber potatoes growing in a field in the village of Nandrin on August 14, 2026. (AFP)

Too Small for Fries: Drought Shrinks Belgian Potatoes

Mathieu Comijn inspected rows of potatoes in a field of cracked earth and browned leaves, pulling from the ground tubers barely the size of ping-pong balls. …

Varieties Shops cover their merchandise in plastic to protect it from the rain as Typhoon Saudel passes in Naha on August 26, 2026. (AFP)

Typhoon Saudel Heads West After Pounding Japan’s Southwestern Remote Islands, Injuring 2

A powerful typhoon headed west over the East China Sea on Wednesday after slamming Okinawa and other remote southwestern Japanese islands, causing blackouts,…

Varieties Oysters are a staple of brunch menus and seafood buffets across Australia. (Getty Images)

Australian Police Hunt Thieves in $250,000 Oyster Heist

Australian police said Wednesday they were on the hunt for thieves who made off with hundreds of thousands of oysters. The mollusks have an estimated total…

Varieties NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope stands after engineers and technicians working inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility mated the observatory to its payload adapter and a strut payload attach fitting, a specialized piece of hardware designed for large, heavy loads at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape, Canaveral, Florida, US August 7, 2026 NASA/Jolearra Tshiteya via REUTERS

New NASA Telescope to Probe Dark Energy, Dark Matter and Exoplanets

NASA is preparing to launch its next flagship space observatory, one that scientists plan to use to investigate some of the universe's biggest mysteries…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Newly appointed Prime Minister Balendra Shah, popularly known as "Balen," looks on during his oath ceremony at "Shital Niwas," presidential building in Kathmandu, Nepal, March 27, 2026. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo

Nepal PM Allowed to Wear Signature Sunglasses in Parliament

Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah may keep his signature dark sunglasses on in the legislature due to medical reasons, an official said Tuesday, after the…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Firetrucks parked near a wildfire burning through a peatland field in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Andri Rizky Agustian)

Indonesians Brave Choking Smoke to Pray for Rain as Country Battles Wildfires

Authorities in Indonesia’s South Sumatra province turned to spiritual measures on Tuesday as huge blazes in central and western regions scorched wide areas of…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Konoe employee Taichi Konishi takes a break in a cooling box for workers also known as a "human fridge" at the company's warehouse on a hot day in Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture on August 21, 2026. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

Cool Japan: Human Fridge Chills Workers in Extreme Heat

Feeling dizzy and unwell after cycling to work in Japan's punishing summer heat, warehouse worker Isao Tabuchi headed for his company's newest acquisition: a…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties A dragonfly rests on a plant at the Lake Merritt Dragonfly Habitat Garden in Oakland, Calif., Friday, Aug. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Unusual Dragonfly Swarms Sweep Across California after Warm Spring Rains

Californians are spotting swarms of dragonflies flitting around parks, chasing mosquitoes in ponds and hunting flies on farms, a phenomenon experts say was…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Emojis are a digital language for conveying meaning (Shutterstock)

‘Crying Face’ is Officially Number 1 Emoji, Could Also be Showing Your Age

Emojis have become an integral feature of modern communication. As a new icon is crowned the most popular symbol of the last year on record, The Independent…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Varieties In this aerial photo released by Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, smoke billows as a wildfire rages through a peatland forest in Bulungan, North Kalimantan, Indonesia. (BNPB via AP)

Indonesia Intensifies Aerial Firefighting as Forest Fires Scorch Multiple Provinces

Indonesia on Monday intensified ground and aerial firefighting operations as huge blazes in central and western parts of the country scorched thousands of…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties  New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaks to media during a visit to aircraft manufacturing company "NZ Aero" with Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul (not pictured) in Auckland on August 21, 2026. (AFP)

New Zealand’s PM Proposes Banning Children from Using Social Media

New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has unveiled a proposed law banning children younger than 16 from using social media platforms, citing what he…

Varieties Australia’s wild macadamias (Shutterstock)

Australia’s Wild Macadamias... a Rare Gene to Cope with Climate, Illnesses

While grown in huge numbers commercially, macadamias are a vulnerable crop. A group of wild Australian nut hunters is seeking to change that, according to The…

Asharq Al Awsat (Canberra)
Varieties The skeleton of a blue whale hanging from the ceiling in the Hintze Hall at the Natural History Museum in London, England (Natural History Museum)

London's Natural History Museum Reopens Hall Closed for 83 Years

A gallery that has remained closed to the public since World War Two is to reopen at London's Natural History Museum next month, according to BBC. The…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Varieties Tourists wearing hats take photographs on the rocky Areios Pagos Hill next to the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

The Sunhat is Everywhere in Athens as Crowds Grow Larger at Ancient Sites

Outside the Acropolis, a sea of hats bobs up and down the hill to the ancient site: straw boaters, Panama hats, baseball caps and bucket hats in the relentless…

Asharq Al Awsat