Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday that the Department of Justice is ending it moratorium on seeking the death penalty in federal capital cases, reinstating the use of single-chemical lethal injection and adding firing squad to methods of execution. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | »»»

Exclusive images obtained by Tasnim show Epaminondas, a large MSC-operated containership, after it was intercepted and transferred to Iranian territorial waters by the IRGC Navy in the Strait of Hormuz as part of ongoing maritime security operations targeting violating ships. The IRGC Navy announce»»»

The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement confirming the arrival of the Iranian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to Islamabad. The delegation will meet Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir, and o»»»

BEIRUT: A Lebanese journalist who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike that killed her colleague this week described hours of agony as they waited for help to arrive, in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday. Zeinab Faraj, a young freelance photographer and video journalist, frequently mo»»»

Special envoy Steve Witkoff (L) and President Donald Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner are heading to Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, to have more talks with Iran to make a peace deal. File Photo courtesy Ukrainian President's Office | License Photo April 24 (UPI) -- Talks with Iran are s»»»

Sanya, China: The Qatari men's beach volleyball teams have qualified for the Round of 16 at the Sanya 2026 Asian Beach Games, after securing two more victories today in the final matches of the second round of the preliminary stage. The first team, comprised of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, def»»»

NICOSIA: President Ahmad Al-Sharaa said on Friday that the Syrian Arab Republic is positioned to become a secure strategic corridor linking Central Asia and the Gulf with Europe, as he presented a regional connectivity vision during an informal meeting of the EU and regional partners in Nicosia. Sp»»»

BEIRUT: Lebanon faces growing concern over what officials describe as potential Israeli encroachment onto its offshore energy resources, after the Israeli military published a map extending its buffer zone into the Mediterranean, raising questions about the fate of the Qana gas field. The map, rele»»»

Hundreds of alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-A3) gang were tried at an El Salvador prison on Thursday, accused of collectively carrying out more than 29,000 murders. Mass trials are a centrepiece of President Nayib Bukele's "war" on gangs. Hundreds of alleged Mara Salvatrucha gang m»»»

President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday reclassified state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, easing research barriers and granting tax relief. The change falls short of federal legalisation but marks a major shift in US cannabis policy. President Donald Trump's acting»»»

Spain's centre-left Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday declined to comment on a reported Pentagon email written by top policy adviser Elbridge Colby raising the possibility of suspending Madrid from the NATO military alliance. The note reportedly also suggested reconsidering US suppor»»»

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday fired Stars and Stripes' ombudsman, whose job it had to been to protect the newspapers' editorial independence and report to Congress if military officials were interfering with it. File Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI | License Photo April 24 (UPI) -- Th»»»

Former Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) chair Georgi Cholakov denied holding conversations with an alleged intermediary involved in arranging court decisions in exchange for bribes of hundreds of thousands of euro, quoted by SAC's press centre on Friday evening. His comments came in response to e»»»

LONDON: Turkiye has become the latest country to restrict children’s access to social media, passing legislation this week that prevents under-15s from opening accounts on major platforms and requires stricter controls on harmful content. The bill, now awaiting final approval from President Recep T»»»

Israel and Lebanon extended their ceasefire by three weeks on Thursday following a meeting of officials from both sides at the White House. US President Donald Trump said he believed there was a "great chance" the two countries would agree on a peace deal, even though Israel and Hezbollah have»»»

In an interview with FRANCE 24, UNICEF global spokesperson James Elder discussed the situation in Lebanon, where "critical infrastructure that girls and boys rely on" have been targeted, giving Lebanese people "a sense that there really is nowhere safe". He also declared that humanitarian groups li»»»

The UN mission in Lebanon said Friday that an Indonesian peacekeeper has died from wounds sustained in a March 29 attack on his base. Arriving at an EU summit in Cyprus, French President Emmanuel Macron urged the European Union to “intensify its efforts” to help restore stability in the Middle East»»»

The UN mission in Lebanon said Friday that an Indonesian peacekeeper has died from wounds sustained in a March 29 attack on his base. Arriving at an EU summit in Cyprus, French President Emmanuel Macron urged the European Union to “intensify its efforts” to help restore stability in the Middle East»»»

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that he will quit politics in 2027 as the final year in his second term approaches. He added that at this late stage in office, the "hardest thing" was to strike a balance between defending his record and acknowledging what "didn't work out".»»»

NAIROBI: A passenger ‌plane overran the runway and careered into roadside bushes at a remote airstrip in northeastern Kenya ​on Friday, but all 36 people on board escaped without injury, an aviation official said. The Embraer aircraft operated by Kenyan carrier EBB Air had taken off from Nairobi’s »»»

Geneva: The United Nations revealed Friday that the drought plaguing Somalia since the beginning of the year has displaced approximately 62,000 people across five regions. The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM), in its latest report, anticipates that the total number of displaced p»»»

The International Criminal Court on Thursday confirmed crimes against humanity charges against former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, paving the way for a landmark trial. Duterte is accused of murder and attempted murder linked to his anti-drugs campaign, in a major test for the court amid mo»»»

A year after the deadly terror attack in Kashmir, relations between India and Pakistan remain at an all-time low. Since then, Islamabad has emerged as a key mediator seeking to end the war in Iran. On Access Asia, we're joined by Indian MP Dr Shashi Tharoor to find out what India makes of Pakistan'»»»

Government workers in Tokyo have new dress code rules that allow them to wear shorts to the office in a bid to cut air conditioning costs, an official said on Friday, as the Middle East war drives up energy costs around the world. Tokyo's metropolitan government is encouraging staff to wear shorts »»»

Meta announced it will add "tens of millions" of AWA Graviton cores to its stack to help it manage agentic AI. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo April 24 (UPI) -- Meta announced Friday that it's partnering with Amazon Web Services to add millions of AWS Gravitron cores to Meta's compu»»»

Author: Anne-Maartje Oud “What To Do If ...? How to handle any situation at work and come out winning,” by Anne-Maartje Oud, is a concise yet thoughtful guide to help navigate tricky situations at work. Presented through a series of 35 real-life workplace dilemmas, the book provides practical strat»»»

ATHENS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday banded US President Donald Trump together with Russia’s Vladmir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping as world leaders who are “dead against” Europe. Macron’s bromance with the mercurial US leader has cooled in recent months, and the White House has made no»»»

ROME: Two-thirds of people facing food crises globally last year lived in just 10 countries, with a third of them in Sudan, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN-backed yearly report said on Friday. Conflict remained the main driver of acute food insecurity, according to the Global Re»»»

Author: Julia Bowes “Parental rights” is a rallying cry for today’s American conservatives, signaling opposition to mandatory vaccination and “woke” public school curricula. In “Every Man’s Home a Castle,” Julia Bowes traces the origins of the modern parental rights movement to the 19th century, wh»»»

BANGKOK: Thailand wants to ​play a leading role in Myanmar’s bid to normalize its ties with Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN after five years on the sidelines, the Thai foreign minister said ahead of a meeting on Wednesday with new President Min Aung Hlaing. Former military chief Min Aung Hlaing led a 20»»»

The Syrian Interior Ministry said Amjad Youssef had been hiding out in Hama province since the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2024. Photo courtesy of the Syrian Interior Ministry/X April 24 (UPI) -- Authorities arrested a key suspect in the 2013 massacre of civilians in the Tadamon dis»»»

Sharjah: Sharjah Police has released a powerful awareness video highlighting the deadly risks of jumping red lights, as part of ongoing efforts to improve road safety and reduce traffic violations across the emirate. The video blends real-time surveillance footage with exclusive glimpses inside the»»»

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, April 24: We look at reactions in the German, Russian and Kazakh press after an important oil pipeline from Russia is suspended to Germany. Russia says it's for "technical" reasons, but the German press say it is "political". Also: the press is divided over the case of a»»»

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Mike Penrose, a veteran humanitarian worker and special adviser to the government of Ukraine on the "Food from Ukraine" humanitarian programme, explained that this initiative "increases the value of the aid that's being distributed" in an "era of diminishing amounts »»»

In this two-part show, Armen Georgian takes viewers on a journey across the European Union, exploring mobility and transport projects funded by the EU’s cohesion policy. In the 2021-2027 budget, the EU has been using its cohesion funds to invest €63.2 billion in transport schemes.&nb»»»

In this second part of Europe Rendezvous, Armen Georgian is in Hungary and Austria on his whistle-stop journey across the EU, exploring mobility and transport projects funded by the EU's cohesion policy.  Watch moreCrossing borders: The EU powers your mobility (part 1) Our journey continu»»»

Freezing other nations’ assets and using them as leverage has long been a trademark negotiation tactic of the West, Dmitry Suslov, deputy director of research at the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, tells Sputnik. While the chief depositories remain in the West, and the US dollar is s»»»

Piero Corvetto, head of Peru’s National Office of Electoral Processes, resigned Wednesday amid mounting political and legal pressure over logistical failures on election day, Photo by John Reyes Mejía/EPA April 24 (UPI) -- Peru's National Police raided the home of former election chief Piero Corvet»»»

The Central Election Commission announced on Friday evening the names of the 240 MPs elected on April 19 to Bulgaria’s 52nd National Assembly. Progressive Bulgaria will have 131 MPs, GERB-UDF 39, Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria 37, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms 21, and Vazrazhdane »»»

Damascus, April 24 (SANA) Finance Minister Mohammad Yisr Barnieh said on Friday that a $225 million grant approved by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors for Syria, through the International Development Association, aims to support efforts to improve public service delivery in the water a»»»

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Lebanon “refuses to be a bargaining chip in regional conflicts,” stressing it “negotiates in its own name, in defense of its national interests and sovereignty,” as Beirut pursues a US-sponsored diplomatic track backed by European and Arab support to reach a last»»»

LONDON: The sovereignty of the Falkland Islands rests with Britain, a ​spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday after an internal Pentagon email suggested reviewing the US position on the Falklands as punishment for Britain’s stance on the Iran war. “We could not be clearer about»»»

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Wellfleet Shellfish Company (@wellfleetshell) April 24 (UPI) -- A lobster fishing boat off the coast of Cape Cod landed an extremely rare split-color lobster, which officials said is considered a 1 in 50 million catch. The Wellfleet Shellfish Company sai»»»

Meta outlined plans to cut about 8,000 jobs on Thursday as it invests heavily in artificial intelligence. The move comes as part of a broader tech-sector shift towards cost control, with Microsoft also weighing voluntary buyouts ahead of next week’s earnings reports. Meta plans to cut a tenth of it»»»

JEDDAH: Riyad Mahrez says Al-Ahli have achieved something “incredible” in reaching back-to-back Asian Champions League finals, but warned his side not to underestimate their opponents — Japan’s FC Machida Zelvia — in the Jeddah showdown on Saturday. Mahrez, 35, told a press conference in Jeddah on »»»

President Donald Trump signs an executive order on researching the effects of psychedelic drugs in medical treatment on Saturday in the Oval Office. The FDA has begun to make changes to allow more research on the drugs for mental health treatment. Photo by Allison Robbert/UPI | License Photo April »»»

The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip has returned to the agenda in recent days during Egyptian talks with international parties, amid a stalemate in implementing the ceasefire and earlier reports of funding problems facing the “Board of Peace” led by U.S. President Donald Trump. Those reports were »»»

Heidelberg Materials (Frankfurt/HEI) has agreed to acquire a 39.72% stake in Akcansa (AKCNS) from Turkish partner Sabanci Holding (SAHOL), Heidelberg has announced. SAHOL, meanwhile, said separately that HEI, its part»»»

Heidelberg Materials (Frankfurt/HEI) has agreed to acquire a 39.72% stake in Akcansa (AKCNS) from Turkish partner Sabanci Holding (SAHOL), Heidelberg has announced. SAHOL, meanwhile, said separately that HEI, its part»»»

The war between Iran on one side and the US and Israel on the other has implications for the global economy. While the narrative on negotiations and their nature has been highly divergent between the one communicated by Iranian officials and that trumpeted by US President Donald Trump, one thing th»»»