A barrage of global crises must not deflect attention from urgent climate action, the UN's climate chief warned Monday, as negotiators from nearly 200 nations began talks in Germany against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The conference will set the stage for a fresh round of major United Nations talks later this year in Egypt, as climate-driven weather extremes are increasingly felt across the planet.
Major European countries and the United States are expected to seek to censure Iran as the UN atomic watchdog started meeting on Monday with talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal stalled.
The resolution drafted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany is a sign of their growing impatience as diplomats warn the window to save the landmark agreement is closing.
The International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors meets Monday through Friday in Vienna.
Saudi Arabia aims to triple foreign tourism this year as pandemic restrictions ease, hajj pilgrims return and the first elements of the crown prince's signature projects open, its tourism minister told AFP Sunday.
The famously conservative and closed-off kingdom inaugurated tourist visas in September 2019, just months before the coronavirus pandemic decimated the industry globally.
An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the West Bank early this year has killed thousands of livestock, pushing Palestinian farmers already living under occupation to the brink of bankruptcy.
Mohammed Basheer said he had to incinerate hundreds of his dead lambs after the outbreak devastated livestock across the West Bank, leaving him with more than just a stinging financial loss.
War movie "Shershaah" marched off with Best Picture and Best Director as Bollywood's Oscars returned for the first time since the pandemic began with an all-singing, all-dancing awards ceremony in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
"Shershaah", depicting Indian war hero Vikram Batra, who was killed in the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan, had been tipped to dominate after receiving 12 nods for the first International Indian Film Academy Awards since 2019.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday accused the "enemy", a reference mainly to the United States, of seeking to use protests to weaken the Islamic republic.
In the past few weeks, demonstrations against the rising cost of living and corruption have occurred in several Iranian cities.
"Today the enemy counts on popular demonstrations to strike the Islamic system," Khamenei said during a televised address.
Saudi Arabia on Saturday welcomed its first batch of hajj pilgrims since before the coronavirus pandemic, which prompted authorities to sharply restrict the annual ritual.
The group from Indonesia landed in the city of Medina and was set to travel south to the holy city of Mecca in the coming weeks to prepare for the hajj next month, state media reported.
US President Joe Biden confirmed Friday he was considering a trip to Saudi Arabia, which would be a stark reversal after he called for the kingdom to be made a pariah state.
The New York Times and other US media, quoting anonymous sources, have reported that Biden would go ahead with the long-rumored Saudi stop during an upcoming overseas tour.
The reported decision came shortly after Saudi Arabia addressed two of Biden's priorities by agreeing to a production hike in oil -- which could help tame rocketing US inflation -- and helping extend a truce in war-battered Yemen.
Bollywood's brightest stars will gather in Abu Dhabi on Saturday as the Indian Oscars return for the first time since the pandemic shuttered cinemas and turned audiences on to streaming.
Host Salman Khan and actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will be among the A-listers at the International Indian Film Academy Awards celebrating the Hindi-language movie industry, the world's most prolific.
The glitzy show follows a box office slump when movie-mad India was hit hard by Covid-19, with US streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video rushing to fill the gap.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Friday that Israel was prepared to use it's "right to self defense" to stop Iran's nuclear programme.
The comments came after IAEA chief Rafael Grossi met Bennett Friday morning during a whirlwind visit.
Bennett's warning is a reiteration of Israeli vows to do whatever it takes to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb. It comes with tensions rising over stalled efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers aimed at preventing Iran from developing such a weapon.
