Just a few months can completely change the outlook. At the start of this year, Dubai was marking a historic milestone in tourism, reporting a record 19.59 million international visitors in 2025. That momentum has since faltered. Following the recent US and Israeli conflict with Iran, visitor numbers have fallen sharply. Hotel occupancy, once hovering around 80%, is now projected to dip to 10% in the months after the emirate experienced missile strikes in March. Authorities are now investing

ADDU CITY, Maldives (AP) — Recently, a group of Maldivian youth kayaked across a lagoon to protest land reclamation that was encroaching on protected mangrove wetlands within a UNESCO biosphere reserve. On a stretch of newly filled land, they spray-painted the word “ECOCIDE” to underscore what they see as irreversible environmental harm. The nonprofit Project ThimaaVeshi — meaning “self and surroundings” — represents a rising wave of young activists in the Indian Ocean archipelago. They are