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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…

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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…

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Varieties The European Space Agency (ESA) Ariane 6 rocket carrying two Galileo satellites for the the EU's Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) launches at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, on the French overseas department of Guiana, on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Ronan LIETAR / AFP)

Ariane 6 Lifts Off with 2 European Navigation Satellites

A European Ariane 6 rocket blasted off from France's Kourou space base in French Guiana early Wednesday, carrying two Galileo global navigation satellites,…

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Varieties Children ride a bicycle across a field on smoggy winter morning in New Delhi on December 17, 2025. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)

Delhi Restricts Vehicles, Office Attendance in Bid to Curb Pollution

Authorities in India's capital Delhi rolled out strict measures on Wednesday in an attempt to curb pollution, including a ban on vehicles not compliant with…

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Varieties The pavilion traces the evolution of military publishing, from early traditional printing through technological and editorial transformations to its modern form. (SPA)

Saudi Ministry of Defense Showcases Media Heritage at Jeddah Book Fair 

The Saudi Ministry of Defense is participating in the Jeddah International Book Fair, featuring a pavilion that documents a key aspect of its cultural and…

Varieties Tiny toadlet measuring less than 14 mm in length (Luiz Fernando Ribeiro)

Orange Frog Size of Pencil Tip Discovered in Brazil Forests

Scientists have found a new orange toad species in Brazil that is so small it fits on the tip of a pencil, highlighting the need for more conservation efforts…

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Varieties A researcher cuts a slice from an ice core sample taken from a glacier in the Pamir mountain range in Tajikistan, at the Hokkaido University Institute of Low Temperature Science, in Sapporo, in northern Japan's Hokkaido prefecture on December 9, 2025. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)

'Extremely Exciting': The Ice Cores that Could Help Save Glaciers

Dressed in an orange puffer jacket, Japanese scientist Yoshinori Iizuka stepped into a storage freezer to retrieve an ice core he hopes will help experts…

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Varieties One of the new British 10 pound notes is posed for photographs outside the Bank of England in the City of London, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. (AP)

Jane Austen Fans Celebrate the Author’s 250th Birthday in Britain and Beyond

Fans of Jane Austen celebrated the acclaimed author's 250th birthday on Tuesday with a church service in her home village, festive visits to her house — and a…

Varieties The Director of the Stelvio Park, Franco Claretti, poses next to a reproduction of a dinosaur prior to a press conference in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, on a discovery of thousands of dinosaur tracks at the Stelvio Park. (AP)

Thousands of Dinosaur Footprints Found on Alpine Cliffs Near Winter Olympics Site

Italian paleontologists have uncovered thousands of dinosaur footprints on a near-vertical rock face more than 2,000 meters above sea level in the Stelvio…

Varieties The bulldozers have moved in to demolish The Chantry (ITV News) 

Another Home in British Village Torn Down Due to Seaside Erosion

Demolition work has begun on a second clifftop home in a picturesque seaside spot, just weeks after another property was knocked down in the village. …

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Varieties Quarry work in the occupied West Bank is tough, but there are few other options available in the territory's wilting economy. JOHN WESSELS / AFP

Famed Jerusalem Stone Still Sells despite West Bank Economic Woes

Despite the catastrophic state of the Palestinian economy, Faraj al-Atrash, operator of a quarry in the occupied West Bank, proudly points to an armada of…

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Varieties General view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

Riyadh Becomes First City in Region to Receive Global Active City Certification

The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) announced that the capital has been awarded the Global Active City (GAC) certification, becoming the first city in…

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Varieties This image, provided by NASA, shows the interstellar comet 3I/Atlas captured by the Hubble Space Telescope on Nov. 30, 2025, about 178 million miles (286 million kilometers) from Earth. (NASA, ESA, STScI, D. Jewitt (UCLA), M.-T. Hui (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory), J. DePasquale (STScI) via AP)

Interstellar Comet Keeps Its Distance as It Makes Its Closest Approach to Earth

A stray comet from another star swings past Earth this week in one last hurrah before racing back toward interstellar space. Discovered over the summer, the…

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Varieties Giant panda Lei Lei eats bamboo at Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo, Japan, 28 November 2025. (EPA)

Japan’s Only Two Pandas to Be Sent Back to China 

Two pandas at a Tokyo zoo will be returned to China in January, the Tokyo government said on Monday, potentially leaving Japan without the beloved animals for…

Varieties FILE PHOTO: Airbnb logo is seen in this illustration taken August 5, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Spain Fines Airbnb 64 Mn Euros for Posting Banned Properties

Spain's leftist government said Monday it had fined Airbnb more than 64 million euros ($75 million), notably for posting listings for banned rental properties,…

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Varieties “Slop” was first used in the 1700s to mean soft mud, but it evolved more generally to mean something of little value. (Getty Images)

Merriam-Webster's 2025 Word of the Year Is 'Slop'

Creepy, zany and demonstrably fake content is often called “slop.” The word's proliferation online, in part thanks to the widespread availability of generative…

Varieties Vehicles move on a road amid heavy smog near New Delhi, India, 15 December 2025. (EPA)

Toxic Smog Blankets New Delhi, Disrupting Travel and Plunging Air Quality to Hazardous Levels 

Dense toxic smog blanketed India’s national capital Monday, pushing air pollution levels to their worst levels in weeks, disrupting travel and causing…

Varieties Kirsten Shaw (left) and Aurelia Reichardt with the new postbox (BAS) 

New Post Box with King Charles III Cypher Delivered to Antarctic

Scientists working at a remote British research station in Antarctica have received a new Royal Mail post box in time for Christmas – thanks to the King. …

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Varieties Visitors watch the two giant reassembled alabaster statues of Pharoah Amenhotep III, in the southern city of Luxor, Egypt, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Egypt Reveals Restored Colossal Statues of Pharaoh in Luxor

Egypt on Sunday revealed the revamp of two colossal statues of a prominent pharaoh in the southern city of Luxor, the latest in the government’s archaeological…

Asharq Al Awsat (Cairo)
Varieties National Wildlife Center Launches 2nd Phase to Regulate Unlicensed Species in Saudi Arabia

National Wildlife Center Launches 2nd Phase to Regulate Unlicensed Species in Saudi Arabia

The National Center for Wildlife (NCW) has launched the second phase of its initiative to regulate the status of unlicensed wildlife species in the Kingdom,…

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Varieties This picture taken on December 9, 2025, shows buildings engulfed in dense smog due to severe air pollution in Islamabad. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)

Islamabad Puts Drivers on Notice as Smog Crisis Worsens

Truck driver Muhammad Afzal was not expecting to be stopped by police, let alone fined, as he drove into Islamabad this week because of the thick diesel fumes…

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Varieties A dendritic “lab star” formed by liquid water flowing through Europa ice simulant at NASA JPL, modeling how features like Damhán Alla could form on Jupiter's icy moon, similar to how lake stars form on Earth. (Image credit: Prof. Lauren Mc Keown.)

Spider-Like Scar Haunts Jupiter's Moon Europa

Scientists have explored a strange, spider-like scar on Jupiter's icy moon Europa, suggesting the feature might have formed from briny water eruptions beneath…

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Varieties This photograph shows the first urban cable car "C1" in Ile-de-France region during its official launch, in between Creteil Pointe du Lac and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, on the outskirts of Paris on December 13, 2025. (AFP)

‘Like Skiing’: First Urban Cable Car Unveiled Outside Paris

Gondolas floated above a cityscape in the southeastern suburbs of Paris on Saturday as officials unveiled the first urban cable car in the French capital's…

Varieties  A illustration made in Sept. 3, 2025, of a gigantic 8 meter (26 foot) long mega-predatory lamniform shark swimming beside a long-necked plesiosaur in the seas off Australia 115 million years ago. (Pollyanna von Knorring/Swedish Museum of Natural History via AP)

Before Megalodon, Researchers Say a Monstrous Shark Ruled Ancient Australian Seas

In the age of dinosaurs — before whales, great whites or the bus-sized megalodon — a monstrous shark prowled the waters off what's now northern Australia,…

Varieties Larry the Downing Street cat is a global celebrity in his own right, with more than 900,000 followers on X. JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP/File

Move over Larry: Maximus the PM's Cat Grabs Belgium Spotlight

It is no secret that a tabby named Larry wields considerable power in Downing Street. Now in Belgium, a rescue cat named Maximus has shot to social media…

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Varieties Residents rest as they search for the remains of their house, buried under piles of uprooted trees swept by the flash flood, in Lintang Baru village in Aceh Tamiang, northern Sumatra, on December 11, 2025. (Photo by Aditya Aji / AFP)

Indonesia Floods Were 'Extinction Level' for Rare Orangutans

Indonesia's deadly flooding was an "extinction-level disturbance" for the world's rarest great ape, the tapanuli orangutan, causing catastrophic damage to its…

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