ABHA: The southwestern city of Abha is witnessing the peak of its annual jacaranda bloom, as streets and parks turn into sweeping landscapes of vibrant purple, underscoring the distinctive mountain environment of the Asir region and reinforcing the city’s growing appeal as a seasonal tourism destin»»»

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 | »»»

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»»»

DUBAI: The killing of Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil on Wednesday has renewed scrutiny over the rising number of media workers killed in conflicts involving Israel, with press freedom groups questioning accountability and transparency. Khalil, a correspondent for Al-Akhbar, was reportedly shelteri»»»

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»»»

GENEVA: The World Health Organization announced Friday that it had given prequalification approval to a malaria treatment for newborns and infants for the first time. Artemether-lumefantrine is the first antimalarial formulation designed specifically for the youngest victims of the mosquito-borne d»»»

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»»»

HBO Max, Harry Potter and CNN could soon come under Paramount after Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approved an $81 billion sale of the company on Thursday, bringing the long-running takeover saga closer to completion, though the deal still faces regulatory scrutiny and criticism from those con»»»

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»»»

A US Special Forces soldier involved in the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been charged with multiple crimes, including unlawful use of classified government information, after allegedly using insider knowledge to place bets on Polymarket that earned him over $400,000.»»»

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»»»

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»»»

US President Donald Trump says he is not rushing into a peace agreement with Iran, downplaying concerns over Iranian small boats even after they seized two container ships in the Strait of Hormuz, and arguing that Tehran is unable to strike a deal due to divisions within its leadership, an accusati»»»

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»»»

In the Strait of Hormuz, the United States and Iran are locked in a struggle for influence over one of the world’s most strategic waterways, with Washington emphasizing ship seizures to demonstrate its ability to disrupt maritime traffic, while a parallel on-the-water confrontation unfolds over dem»»»

François Picard is pleased to welcome Tutu Alicante, an international human rights lawyer and anti-corruption activist. According to Alicante, the pope's visit to Equatorial Guinea presents a paradox: it offers a rare opportunity to spotlight injustice, yet risks being appropriated b»»»

France's foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Friday voiced concern about the spread of Islamist extremism in west Africa, after talks with Togo's leader, Faure Gnassingbe. Violence by jihadist groups has blighted the Sahel region for the last decade, and is now spreading into northe»»»

This Friday, April 24, marks Earth Overshoot Day in France, a date that arrives earlier each year and signals that from now until December 31, the country is living beyond its environmental means, as explained by Elitsa Gadeva and our colleagues from France 2.»»»

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".»»»

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s main Shiite alliance failed on Friday to agree on a new candidate for prime minister after US pressure stymied the chances of frontrunner Nouri Al-Maliki. Leaders of the Coordination Framework — a ruling coalition of Shiite groups with varying ties to Iran who had initially nominate»»»

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»»»

Abu Dhabi: Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, received a phone call from Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. During the call, the two ministers discussed bilateral relations between the UAE and the Russ»»»

Data from the Food and Agriculture Organization show 58% of assessed Mediterranean fish stocks are overfished, meaning catches exceed sustainable limits, WWF Greece fisheries officer Michalis Margaritis said. The Mediterranean is among the world’s most overexploited seas, he added. Fish consumption»»»

Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez said that the amnesty, enacted into law and intended to pardon alleged political crimes committed since 1999, “has come to an end.” Photo by Miguel Gutierrez/EPA April 24 (UPI) -- Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, announced she was ending t»»»

Abu Dhabi: The UAE condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack that targeted two northern border posts in the State of Kuwait using two explosive-laden drones launched from the Republic of Iraq. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) affirmed that this terrorist attack con»»»

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»»»

RIYADH: Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed A. Elkhereiji met Alison Dilworth, charge d’affaires of the US Embassy to the Kingdom, in Riyadh. During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations and discussed current developments in the region and issues of mutual interest, the Kingdom’s Forei»»»

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»»»

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 »»»

On the most dangerous parts of Ukraine's front line, it's almost as common these days to hear Spanish as Ukrainian. Many Colombian soldiers are now fighting in Ukraine, lured by the comparatively high salaries, but also by a sense of adventure and of helping a good cause. Our reporters Gulliver Cra»»»

Marie-Louise Eta has broken barriers in football as the first woman to coach a top-tier European men's club at Union Berlin. But the historic appointment has also triggered a wave of misogynistic attacks. Also we all know it to be the case but now we have the data to back it up. A new report reveal»»»

In the 1990s, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the former East Germany experienced a wave of far-right racist and political violence. In Germany, this period is known as the "baseball bat years" – a dark period that still haunts the country today.  After the fall of »»»

This Sunday marks 40 years since the Chernobyl disaster, which the UN says affected more than 3.5 million people and contaminated nearly 50,000 square kilometres of land, and which remains the worst nuclear accident in history, as France Télévisions gains rare access to the site for a closer look.»»»

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»»»