Want to catch some “shooting stars”? Tonight (April 24, 2026) may be your best chance. That's when the Lyrid meteor shower, the springtime celestial event, turns up. They can be seen from skies above the UAE, though visibility depends heavily on atmospheric conditions. Each year in mid-April, Earth»»»

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the killing of journalist Amal Khalil and the wounding of Zeinab Faraj in southern Lebanon. "Targeting journalists, obstructing access by relief teams to them, and even targeting their locations again after these teams have arrived, constitutes describ»»»

DUBAI: Iran fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and seized two of them Wednesday, intensifying its assault on shipping in the key waterway. The attacks came a day after US President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire while maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports.The standoff betwe»»»

Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Passports has announced that six categories of eligible individuals can obtain permits to enter Mecca during the Hajj season through the Absher Individuals platform. The categories include Premium Residency holders, investors, GCC citizens, non-Saudi mothers of»»»

KYIV: A Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed two people and wounded eight, regional authorities said Thursday.“Two people have been killed and eight injured... One person is still unaccounted for,” Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the regional administration said on Telegram.»»»

Poland’s population is projected to shrink to 33.7 million by 2050 from more than 37.4 million in 2025, according to Ministry of Finance data cited by Andrzej Kubisiak during the European Economic Congress in Katowice. Kubisiak said the outlook for the next three decades is already clear, with both»»»

Poland’s labour market is becoming more expensive, pushing companies to rethink hiring models. Data from Statistics Poland shows employment costs rose 7.7% year-on-year in Q4 2025 and 5% versus early 2025, lifting the employment cost index to 170.6. The highest readings were in healthcare and socia»»»

Ukraine has become Poland’s leading eastern trade partner since Russia’s 2022 invasion, with its share of Polish exports rising from about 2% before the war to 3.5%, according to a Polish Economic Institute report prepared with the College of Eastern Europe. In some recent months, Ukraine’s share r»»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Beijing and Hanoi are stepping up co-operation centred on internal security, in the process offering a preview of how China may deepen ties across south-east Asia despite longstanding differences with several countries in the region. »»»

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday that she's considering possible sanctions against the government of Chihuahua — a state bordering Texas — for allowing CIA agents to participate in an operation to dismantle drug laboratories, because any security collaboration with the U.S. should»»»

Candidates for the top job at the United Nations pledged on Wednesday to pursue reforms to revive the body, while reaffirming its core role in peacemaking and development. Four contenders aim to succeed Antonio Guterres next year, following hearings with member states and civil »»»

President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, at the invitation of Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, took part in a meeting of the Council of Heads of State — founders of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), held in Astana. The press service of the head of Kyrgyzstan reported»»»

Sadri Haghshenas spends her days selling borek — a layered, savory pastry — at a shop in Istanbul, but her mind is on her daughter in Tehran. The family had to send her home to Iran after they ran into difficulties renewing her visa, despite fears that a shaky ceasefire could soon collapse. For yea»»»

A judge in Virginia on Wednesday blocked the results of the state's Tuesday referendum that approved lawmakers to redraw its congressional map. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo April 22 (UPI) -- A judge in rural Virginia on Wednesday blocked the results of Tuesday's state referendum, b»»»

WASHINGTON: The Justice Department has settled for $1.25 million a lawsuit from an aide to President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign who was the target of secret surveillance during the FBI’s Russia investigation. Carter Page asserted in a 2020 lawsuit that he was the victim of “unlawful spying” by an»»»

WASHINGTON: Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving his job, the Pentagon abruptly announced Wednesday, the first head of a military service to depart during President Donald Trump’s second term but just the latest top defense leader to step down or be ousted. No reason was given for the unexpected d»»»

Ukraine could face ‌increased risks in securing US anti-missile defenses if the war in Iran goes on for an extended period of ​time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday. Zelensky, interviewed by CNN, said Ukraine received limited numbers of such weaponry because US production w»»»

SAN JUAN TEOTIHUACAN, Mexico: Officers with bomb-sniffing dogs circled cars and searched bags of tourists filing into historic pyramids outside of Mexico City on Wednesday just days after a man opened fire on tourists. The heightened surveillance was part of a promise by Mexican authorities followi»»»

LOGAN, Utah: President Donald Trump’s administration took the unusual step this week of sending a government plane to Cuba to return a 10-year-old from Utah who is at the center of a complicated and contentious custody fight involving the child’s gender identity. The child's parent, Rose Inessa-Eth»»»

INSTITUTE, West Virginia: A chemical leak at a West Virginia silver recovery business on Wednesday killed two people and sent about 30 others to hospitals, including one in serious condition, authorities said. The leak occurred at the Catalyst Refiners plant in Institute as workers were preparing t»»»

Ukraine has resumed pumping Russian crude through the 5,500 km Druzhba oil pipeline into Hungary and Slovakia after months of halted transit caused by war-related damage. The move immediately broke a political deadlock over a €90 billion (≈ $106 billion) European Union (EU) loan seen as vital finan»»»

A former Beast Industries employee is suing MrBeast's media production company after she was allegedly fired from her social media manager job upon returning from maternity leave and following years of what she described as sexual harassment and workplace gender bias. The lawsuit, filed by Lorrayne»»»

NEW YORK (AP) — Launched by the Trump family four years ago with great fanfare, Truth Social was not just going take on Twitter and Facebook as a “free speech” alternative but maybe even challenge Netflix by streaming movies. The stock soared. The business never took off. On Tuesday, the parent com»»»

Britain and France agreed a three-year plan to curb irregular Channel crossings, a French interior ministry roadmap showed on Wednesday. France will boost coastal policing by over 50% to 1,400 officers by 2029, while Britain will provide up to 766 million euros in funding, partly conditional on res»»»

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has refused to release former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte, ruling that it has jurisdiction over his case despite his country’s withdrawal from the tribunal. The 81‑year‑old will remain in custody in The Hague. Duterte was arrested at Manila airport i»»»

Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said reopening the Strait of Hormuz — a critical global oil and gas shipping route — is “impossible” amid what Tehran calls “flagrant violations” of the current ceasefire by the United States and Israel. Get updated faster and for FREE: Download»»»

Entrepreneur Justin Sun filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing a Trump family-backed cryptocurrency platform of fraud and alleging he was blocked from withdrawing his assets. In a San Francisco federal court filing reviewed by AFP, the Chinese-born crypto billionaire and former Trump ally claims to »»»

Toyota Motor Corp has unveiled a new research and development hub aimed at advancing mobility products and services within its experimental Woven City in Susono, Shizuoka prefecture in central Japan according to Jiji Press. »»»

Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez has formally asked the International Monetary Fund to release nearly $5bn in frozen assets, testing the limits of a diplomatic rapprochement that has forced the country's ruling Chavista movement to abandon decades of ideological hostility towards the Wa»»»

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. testifies during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on the Department of Health and Human Services' proposed fiscal year 2027 budget in the Dirksen Senate Office Building near the U.S. Capitol in Washing»»»

1 of 2 | Xavier Beccera, right, then U.S. Secretary of health and human services, greets Rep. Cori Bush D-Mo. in 2023 as he arrives at a school for a roundtable discussion. Beccera is one of the candidates for California governor who will take part in a televised debate Wednesday. File Photo by Bil»»»

Britain and France have agreed a new three-year deal to stop undocumented migrants making the risky journey across the English Channel, according to a French interior ministry roadmap seen by AFP Wednesday. Under the deal, France pledged to increase law enforcement on the coast by more than half to»»»

On 15 and 16 April, the US evacuated its last remaining base in Syria, bringing to a close more than a decade of American military presence in the country. The withdrawal from the Qasrak base in Hasakah province amounts to a declaration by Washington and Damascus that relations between the two coun»»»

Former U.S. Navy Secretary John Phelan, far right, listens to Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, second from right, in South Korea. Phelan is out as Navy Secretary effective immediately, the Pentagon said Wednesday. File Photo courtesy of Hanwha Ocean April 22 (UPI) -- John Phelan is out as »»»

Florida has launched a criminal probe into OpenAI and ChatGPT over a shooting spree at Florida State University, which the perpetrator planned with the help of the AI chatbot. The incident occurred in April 2025, when the suspect allegedly killed two and injured six people. He was subsequently inju»»»

1 of 2 | A layer of smog covers downtown and the nearby areas in 2019 in Los Angeles. California has some of the worst rankings in air pollution in the United States, the 2026 State of the Air report from the American Lung Association said Wednesday. File photo by Etienne Laurent April 22 (UPI) -- »»»