The American Library Association's list of the "Top 11 Most Challenged Books List of 2025" includes titles by John Green, Sarah J. Maas and Anthony Burgess. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo April 20 (UPI) -- The American Library Association released its list of the "Top 11 Most Challeng»»»

Dubai: The UAE is aiming to turn 1,000 Emirati families into entrepreneurs over the next five years, as part of a wider push to reduce reliance on state support and build a more self-sufficient economy. Sign up for our daily business newsletter, Cheques & Balances.Announced under the national campa»»»

Abu Dhabi: UAE State Security authorities announced they have dismantled a terrorist cell and arrested its members over alleged involvement in covert activities aimed at undermining national unity and destabilising the country. According to the statement carried by Emirates News Agency (WAM), inves»»»

Dubai: The UAE is set for a stretch of cooler and unsettled weather beginning Tuesday and continuing through the end of the week, with dusty conditions, shifting winds and intermittent chances of light rainfall, according to the latest forecast, according to the National Center of Meteorology (NCM)»»»

A total of 3,021 case files have been reported to and opened by the prosecution service since the start of the election campaign until this morning, with 599 pre-trial proceedings initiated, including 252 fast-track proceedings for crimes against citizens’ political rights, the prosecution service »»»

DUBAI: A “terrorist organisation” has been dismantled and its members arrested over alleged plans to carry out coordinated attacks aimed at undermining national security, authorities in Abu Dhabi said on Monday. The State Security Service said investigations found the group had links to Iran’s “Wil»»»

BPI Real Estate Poland has acquired a site of nearly 13,000 sq m on Wągrowska Street in Poznań's Rataje district to deliver the next two phases of its Panoramiqa residential scheme. Panoramiqa 2 and Panoramiqa 3 together will add more than 600 flats and over 32,000 sq m of net saleable area, with c»»»

Dubai: UAE carrier flydubai has announced it will start daily flights to Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok from 1 July 2026, marking its second destination in Thailand after Krabi. The service will operate from Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport and will strengthen travel links bet»»»

LONDON: For much of the Global South, the US-Israel-Iran war is no longer a distant geopolitical crisis. It is showing up in farm budgets, fuel queues and food markets, as disruption in the Strait of Hormuz drives up costs and strains already fragile economies. Iran’s blockade of Hormuz has rattled»»»

BEIRUT: Wael Mousawi, a 35-year-old Civil Defense responder in Tyre, says he has spent weeks moving “between death and death,” pulling bodies from the rubble of flattened homes in southern Lebanon as rescue teams struggled to keep pace with the scale of destruction. Paramedics and rescue workers ac»»»

TEHRAN/WASHINGTON: Iran’s top joint military command, Khatam ​al-Anbiya, accused the US of violating a ceasefire by firing at one of ‌Iran’s commercial ‌ships ​in ‌the ⁠Gulf ​of Oman, vowing ⁠to retaliate. State media quoted a Khatam Al-Anbiya spokesperson as saying early ⁠on Monday ‌that ‌the vess»»»

LUXOR: Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has completed work on Cache Hall at Luxor Museum in preparation for its reopening. Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy said that the project supported the strategy to modernize museums and enhance the cultural experience for visitors. Pro»»»

LONDON: Reverberations of the conflict in the Middle East are being felt across the region both physically and metaphorically. The booms and jolts of missile interceptions over Gulf cities and industrial sites may have halted since President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire on April 8, b»»»

LONDON: The Syrian Arab Republic’s Anti-Narcotics Department, in collaboration with Iraq’s General Directorate for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, thwarted an attempt to smuggle 500,000 captagon pills on Sunday. Authorities arrested two suspects while they were transporting the shipment in D»»»

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan moved ahead Monday with preparations for a new round of talks between the United States and Iran days before a tenuous ceasefire is set to expire, even as renewed conflict around the Strait of Hormuz raised questions about whether the meeting would take place. Over the weekend, »»»

TUNIS: Algerian police shut down a book signing by sociologist Fatma Oussedik and temporarily closed the bookstore slated to host it, her publisher said on Sunday, calling the incident "as incomprehensible as it is illegal". The Koukou Editions publishing house said police on Saturday seized copies»»»

TEHRAN: Iran executed two men on Monday convicted of having links to Israel’s spy agency, the judiciary said, the latest in a string of executions since the outbreak of war with Israel and the United States. “The death sentences of Mohammad Masoom-shahi and Hamed Validi were carried out at dawn tod»»»

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military on Monday warned Lebanese civilians against returning to dozens of villages in southern Lebanon, claiming Hezbollah’s activities in the area were violating a ceasefire agreement struck last week. Thousands of displaced residents have begun making their way back to parts»»»

Hezbollah said it detonated explosives Sunday afternoon in an attack against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. The group said in a statement Monday that bombs planted by Hezbollah fighters exploded and destroyed four tanks in a convoy of eight tanks that was passing the village of Deir Siryan. It»»»

BEIRUT: The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon on Monday led a solemn tribute to a French soldier killed in a shooting incident in the country’s south, praising his “service and sacrifice” and urging an investigation into the attack. Major General Diodato Abagnara, commander of the Unit»»»

DUBAI: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that every rational and ​diplomatic path should be used to reduce tensions with the US, but added that vigilance and distrust in interactions with Washington were an “undeniable necessity,” according to the state news agency IRNA. A two-week»»»

TOKYO/LONDON: British foreign minister ‌Yvette Cooper will cut short an intensive diplomatic tour designed to build consensus around making a ceasefire ​in the Iran war permanent and on the next steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Cooper's department is at the centre of a new crisis over Peter Ma»»»

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “harsh action” Monday against a soldier caught on camera vandalizing a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon, as the image spread online. The photo, which the military determined was authentic, shows an Israeli soldier using a sledgeha»»»

DUBAI: British Moroccan model Nora Attal stars in a new campaign for Italian label Dolce&Gabbana Beauty, showcasing a new lip product by the Italian luxury label. In the advert, which Attal shared on social media, the model can be seen posing with a red, glossy lip courtesy of the new Rose Dew Lip »»»

TOKYO: A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan on Monday, prompting authorities to urge residents to stay away from coastal areas where tsunami waves of up to 3 meters (10 ft) were expected. Two hours after the tremor, which struck at 4:53 p.m. (0753 GMT), tsunami wave»»»

European Council ‌President Antonio Costa told Jordan’s King Abdullah that the Strait of Hormuz ​must be reopened, during a phone call between the two, said Costa on Monday. Costa wrote on X that he had held the call with King Abdullah on Monday. “In our ‌call today, I ‌reiterated that ​the ‌EU ⁠st»»»

Moscow: Russia said Monday it had arrested a German woman with a bomb in her backpack who planned to blow up up a services facility in a Ukrainian plot. Moscow has arrested dozens of people throughout the four-year war, mostly its own citizens, over allegations of planning sabotage attacks for Kyiv»»»

Former Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has defeated former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov by 30 points in Bulgaria’s general election, according to preliminary exit polls. With some 96% of votes counted, Radev's Progressive Bulgaria coalition has won 44.7% of the vote, followed by Borissov’s GERB-SD»»»

ALULA: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Mohammed Aurangzeb described Saudi Arabia as a “longstanding partner” and emphasized the importance of sustainable, mutually beneficial cooperation, particularly in key economic sectors. Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference for Emerging M»»»

ALULA: Global trade is not retreating into deglobalization despite geopolitical shocks, but is instead undergoing a structural reshuffling led by US-China tensions, according to Harvard University economist Pol Antras. Presenting research at the AlUla Emerging Market Economies Conference, Antras sa»»»

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Sunday, losing 89.62 points, or 0.78 percent, to close at 11,464.54. The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR4.92 billion ($1.31 billion), as 89 stocks advanced while 172 declined. Similarly, the Kingdom’s parallel market Nom»»»

RIYADH: Investing in the restoration of arid and degraded lands is a highly profitable economic investment. Every dollar spent yields direct and indirect economic benefits ranging from $7 to $30. This highlights the significance of Saudi Arabia’s success in rehabilitating the first million hectares»»»

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s holdings of US Treasury securities rose 19 percent in February to $160.4 billion, the highest level in recent years, as the Kingdom increased purchases of short-term debt, official data showed. The total was up from $134.8 billion in January and 26.9 percent higher than $126.»»»

RIYADH: Startups operating in the Middle East and North Africa witnessed multiple funding rounds across various sectors last week, even as the conflict in Iran continued to rattle the market. This momentum builds on the record $7.5 billion funding received by startups in 2025, representing a 225 pe»»»

SINGAPORE: Oil prices jumped more than 6 percent on Monday, ​on fears that the ceasefire between the US and Iran could collapse after the US seized an Iranian cargo ship, while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz stayed largely halted. Brent crude futures advanced $5.47, or 6.05 percent, to $95.85»»»

RIYADH: Startups in the Middle East and North Africa region secured multiple funding rounds across different sectors across the beginning of April, despite ongoing market uncertainty caused by the conflict in Iran. This positive momentum continues from the record $7.5 billion raised by MENA startup»»»

RIYADH: Global and regional startups continued to attract capital across fintech, healthtech, e-commerce, and proptech, as investors backed platforms focused on financial infrastructure, consumer services, and data-driven solutions. Saudi Arabia-based fintech Lean Technologies has received a major »»»

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s real estate price index declined by 1.6 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2025, driven by a softening residential market that offset stronger commercial sector gains, official data showed. According to the General Authority for Statistic»»»

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia supports stronger global cooperation to combat illicit finance, central bank governor Ayman Al-Sayari said, highlighting the financial sector’s resilience at global financial gatherings in Washington. The comments came during the Financial Action Task Force ministerial meeting »»»

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province is preparing to welcome a SR1 billion ($267 million) private sector-driven sports development project after a major agreement was concluded during the Sports Investment Forum in Riyadh. The deal for the planned Dammam Sports City was formally signed by Talal »»»

RIYADH: Business activity across Saudi Arabia in February helped lift the Kingdom’s Operating Revenue Index by 5.9 percent year on year, with manufacturing, mining and transportation all posting gains. In its latest report, the General Authority for Statistics noted that the biggest annual rise cam»»»

Washington, 19 April 2026 (MIA) - Governor of the National Bank Trajko Slaveski, together with Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska and the delegation, held a meeting with IMF Deputy Managing Director Bo Li on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings taking place in Washingt»»»

Doha, Qatar: Weekends in Qatar move fast. You sit down to plan one or two purchases… then the “quick check” turns into endless scrolling through Qatar offers, screenshots, and half-remembered messages. By the time you decide, you’ve either overpaid or you’re too tired to buy anything at all. A smar»»»

An Athens prosecutor on Monday brought criminal charges against a 16-year-old motorcyclist over a severe weekend hit-and-run accident that left a teenage girl critically injured. The youth, who has been identified as a Sudanese national, was formally accused of dangerous driving that resulted in se»»»

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has published preliminary results from the parliamentary elections held on April 19 based on 100.00% of tally sheets of the section election commissions processed at the constituency election commissions as at 15 p.m. on Monday. Following are the parties and co»»»

Magnesium supplements are among the most popular dietary supplements in America. Experts say that’s because magnesium plays an important role in our health. It helps regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels. It supports your immune system and muscle health. And it can help you get a good nigh»»»

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed "harsh action" Monday against a soldier caught on camera vandalizing a statue of Jesus Christ in southern Lebanon, as the image spread online. The photo, which the military determined was authentic, shows an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to str»»»

The Israeli army said Monday it attacked overnight "a fully equipped and ready-to-fire rocket launcher in the Qalawiya area of ​​southern Lebanon, north of the front line, in order to prevent an immediate threat to northern Israeli towns." "The launcher posed an immediate threat to IDF (Israeli arm»»»

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Monday that Lebanon needs a lasting solution to permanently end the state of war with Israel, rather than merely settling for a temporary ceasefire, calling direct negotiations a "necessity" Hezbollah "forced" upon Lebanon. In an interview with Sky News Arab»»»

Luanda: Pope Leo XIV heads to Angola’s remote and diamond-rich northeast on Monday in the latest stop on an Africa tour during which he has spoken out against the country’s glaring poverty. On the eighth day of a trip to four African nations, Leo will fly to the town of Saurimo, 800 kilometres east»»»