Varieties: Discover Latest News Today

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 Artist reconstruction of the Cretaceous Period sauropod dinosaur Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, whose fossils were unearthed in Thailand, seen in this illustration released on May 14, 2026. Patchanop Boonsai/Handout via REUTERS

Scientists Dig Up Southeast Asia's Largest Dinosaur in Thailand

Along a meandering river in a warm and arid region that is now Thailand roughly 113 million years ago, a plant-eating behemoth almost 90 feet (27 meters) long…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk was charged with harassing and attempting to harass a protected animal after being seen throwing a rock at a Hawaiian monk seal. Photo: US Attorney's Office District of Hawaii

US: Tourist Arrested after Video Shows Rock Hurled at Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal's Head

A tourist who drew widespread condemnation in Hawaii after a witness recorded him chucking a coconut-sized rock at “Lani,” a beloved, endangered Hawaiian monk…

Asharq Al Awsat (Washington)
Varieties (FILES) The Solar Impulse 2 solar powered airplane flies off Kapolei, Hawaii, on March 3, 2016 on a all-day test flight. (Photo by Eugene TANNER / AFP)

Historic Swiss Solar-powered Plane Crashes Into Sea

The experimental plane Solar Impulse 2, which completed a historic round-the-world trip in 2016 without using jet fuel, crashed into the Gulf of Mexico…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties A Christie's employee displays "The Ocean Dream," the largest fancy vivid blue-green diamond, weighting 5.50 carats, during a preview at Christie's in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)

'Ocean Dream' Blue-green Diamond Sells for More Than $17 Million at Christie's

A 5.5-carat triangular-cut diamond billed as the largest fancy vivid blue-green diamond known to exist sold for more than 13.5 million Swiss francs ($17.3…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties The commission's participation in the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival enhances Saudi Arabia’s growing presence at leading international cinematic platforms

Saudi Film Commission Participates in 2026 Cannes Film Festival

The Saudi Film Commission announced it would take part in the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival through a comprehensive program that reflects the rapid…

Asharq Al Awsat (Riyadh)
Varieties The resort offers a comprehensive wellness retreat experience through 180 upscale rooms, suites, and villas - SPA

Red Sea Destination Announces Opening of Global Resort on Shura Island

Red Sea Global announced that Miraval The Red Sea will begin welcoming guests starting May 15. The launch marks the first international expansion of the luxury…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties 
Police officers patrol the Czech-Slovak green border near Stary Hrozenkov, Czech Republic, September 29, 2022. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa

Czech Police Seek Thief who Stole Saint's Skull

An unidentified thief stole the skull of Czech saint Zdislava of Lemberk from a glass shrine in a northern Czech church, causing "incalculable" historic damage…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties The research team identified a protective mechanism within chloroplasts. SPA

Saudi Arabia: KAUST Study Reveals How Plants Protect Photosynthesis During Extreme Heat

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has completed a research study identifying how plants protect photosynthesis under high temperatures…

Asharq Al Awsat (Jeddah)
Varieties The researchers tested four painted panels in black and white over three months, tracking temperature, atmospheric conditions, and other variables on a University of Syndey rooftop (Dewpoint Innovations)

With the Stroke of a Brush… Paint Could Cool Your Home, Harvest Water from Air

As global temperatures rise and water scarcity worsens, a nanoengineered paint developed by researchers in Australia aims to tackle both — with the stroke of a…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Varieties A photo shows the unsecured football net on top of the British driver’s car (Hertfordshire Police)

UK: Driver Punished for Carrying Football Goal Net on Car Roof

Hertfordshire Police shared a video on social media of a driver who could have caused a collision after placing an unsecured football net on top of his car. …

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Varieties This screen grab taken from an AFP Video on May 12, 2026, shows a wild peacock standing on a roof in Punta Marina, north-eastern Italy. (Photo by Francesco GILIOLI / AFP)

Wild Peacocks Bring Delight, Despair to Italian Village

Dozens of preening peacocks looking for love have colonized a seaside village in Italy, strutting their stuff for the ladies but infuriating human residents…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Bags of Calbee potato crisps are seen at a convenience store in Tokyo on May 12, 2026. (AFP)

Japan Crisp Packs to Go Colorless Due to Iran War Crunch

Japan's leading potato chip maker is feeling the crunch from shortages linked to the Iran war, swapping its signature orange-and-yellow packets for black and…

Varieties Our greatest nemesis. By transmitting diseases, mosquitoes kill three quarters of a million people a year. Olympia DE MAISMONT / AFP/File

What if We Killed all Mosquitoes?

The deadliest animals are not lions, spiders or snakes, but the tiny mosquitoes that suck our blood, make us itchy and infect us with disease. Mosquitoes…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties A helicopter conducts firefighting operations as wildfires continue in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, April 26, 2026. (Reuters)

Global Fire Outbreaks Hit Record High as ‘Unprecedented’ Heat Extremes Loom, Scientists Say

Climate change has driven record-breaking outbreaks of fire in Africa, Asia and elsewhere this year, with conditions expected to get worse as the northern…

Varieties (FILES) This photograph shows the scientific ice-going "Kronprins Haakon" sailing through the sea ice in eastern Spitzbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago, on April 10, 2025.  (Photo by Olivier MORIN / AFP)

New Zealand Moves to Halt Lawsuits over Climate Damage

New Zealand will change the law to prevent lawsuits that seek to hold companies liable for "climate change damage" linked to greenhouse gas emissions, Justice…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows the Netflix logo on one of their buildings in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo

Texas Lawsuit Accuses Netflix of Illegal Data Collection

The top prosecutor in Texas filed a lawsuit against Netflix on Monday, accusing the streaming giant of improperly collecting users' data and designing its…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Students play ball during recess at the St. Agnes Elementary School in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 3, 2020. (AP)

Pediatricians Group Finds Kids of All Ages Need Regular Recess for Physical and Mental Health

Recess isn’t just a fun break for grade schoolers. It’s crucial to good health and good grades for kids of all ages. That's the message from a leading…

Varieties This handout photograph taken in an undisclosed area and released by Arthur Brand on May 11, 2026, shows the painting "Portrait of a Young Girl" by Dutch artist Toon Kelder, an art piece stolen from the world-famous Goudstikker collection by the Nazis, discovered in the house of the descendants of a notorious Dutch SS collaborator. (Handout and Arthur Brand / AFP)

Nazi-Looted Portrait Found in Home of Dutch SS Leader’s Family

An artwork plundered by the Nazis from the world-famous Goudstikker collection has surfaced in the family of a notorious SS collaborator in the Netherlands,…

Varieties This photograph taken on April 29, 2026 shows a view of the BedrettoLab tunnel, a unique underground research facility operated by the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) located 1,500m beneath the Swiss Alps within a 5.2 km tunnel near Bedretto. (AFP)

Groundbreaking: ‘Controlled’ Quakes Triggered Under Swiss Alps

Researchers have made the ground shake in southern Switzerland, triggering thousands of tiny earthquakes in a monitored setting, as they seek to discover…

Varieties Rakhi Gulshan Singh, a seamstress and policyholder of a heat insurance scheme, preparing a meal inside her single-room rented home in Ahmedabad. Shammi MEHRA / AFP

In India, Heat-triggered Insurance Offers 'Some Relief'

Clothes seller Lata Solanki used to face a devastating choice when India's summer heat hit dangerous levels: risk her health going door-to-door for sales, or…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties A worker harvests salt at the Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) region of Gujarat on April 29, 2026. (AFP)

No Trees, No Fans: Surviving Extreme Heat in India’s Salt Pans

India faces challenging heatwaves each year, but few places endure conditions as searing as the country's western desert salt pans, where workers rely on…

Varieties File photo of the Saudi flag/AAWSAT

Saudi Arabia Elected to UN CSTD for 2027–2030 Term

Members of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) elected the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Commission on Science and Technology for…

Asharq Al Awsat
Varieties Migratory birds in Sinai. Asharq Al-Awsat

Egypt Calls for Preserving Migration Routes for Birds

Egypt has reaffirmed the importance of protecting migratory birds as the country marked World Migratory Bird Day, holding activities under the slogan “Every…

Asharq Al Awsat (Cairo)
Varieties Critically endangered mountain bongos feed in a forest enclosure at the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, Kenya, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

'Ghost of the Forest' Returns to Kenya as Conservationists Reintroduce Rare Antelope into the Wild

The mountain bongo has become the ghost of the forest, hard to spot amid the dense shrubs due to its ability to camouflage. A critically endangered species,…

Asharq Al Awsat