UNESCO celebrates first Arabic Language Day
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) celebrated Tuesday the first ever World Arabic Language Day in recognition of its role disseminating information across cultures and civilizations. “On 18 December 1973, the United Nations General Assembly included Arabic among its official and ... Read More
Israeli embassy removes Christmas comment from Facebook
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
A Facebook comment posted on the Israel embassy Facebook page in Ireland was removed from the social network platform—along with the page, the New York Times blog The Lede has reported on Monday. A few hours after it was posted on the “Israel in Ireland” Facebook page, the comment was deleted and replaced by an apology note ... Read More
Scientists solve 3,000-year-old Pharaonic ‘whodunit’
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
An assassin slit the throat of Egypt’s last great pharaoh at the climax of a bitter succession battle, scientists said Monday in a report on a 3,000-year-old royal murder. Forensic technology suggests Ramses III, a king revered as a god, met his death at the hand of a killer, or killers, sent by his conniving ... Read More
Jordanian king tells his people not to spend to celebrate his birthday
Monday, 17 December 2012
Jordanian King Abdullah urged his people not to spend to celebrate his birthday on January 30, 2013, a local newspaper reported Monday. Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications, Samih Maaytah, told Al-Rai newspaper that the King Abdullah didn’t want Jordanians to spend their money to celebrate his birthday but ... Read More
Dubai festival awards Saudi feminist film ‘Wadjda’
Monday, 17 December 2012
Saudi movie “Wadjda,” a tale of a girl's quest to own a bicycle in the kingdom where women are deprived of many rights, won the best Arabic feature film at the Dubai Film Festival on Sunday. Directed by Saudi Arabia’s first female filmmaker, Haifaa al-Mansoor, and shot entirely in the ultra-conservative kingdom where ... Read More
Briton Akram Khan’s dance of creative destruction
Monday, 17 December 2012
A year ago, Akram Khan was told his dance career was over. Now, with the Olympics ceremony under his belt, two films on the boil and three shows on tour, Britain’s best-known choreographer could hardly be busier if he tried. The 38-year-old ball of energy is in Paris this month with his most personal work to date, DESH, a ... Read More
Dubai International Music Festival: the first of its kind in the UAE
Saturday, 15 December 2012
The first Dubai International Music Awards will take place at Burj Park, Downtown Dubai in 2013, details will be announced at a press conference at the iconic Burj Khalifa. The event is called “Dima” and will be streamed live on YouTube in January 2013. The international panel of judges includes American Hype Williams, ... Read More
In new book, Klaus Schwab writes: Europe will survive
Friday, 14 December 2012
Europe will survive the “short-term” struggles it is currently facing, World Economic Forum (WEF) founder, Klaus Schwab, wrote in his new book The Re-emergence of Europe. The book by the German economist, published Friday, tackles Europe’s current crisis of leadership and how it may survive its economic Read More
Saudi Arabia’s ‘generosity’ vital to save lives: U.N. official
Friday, 14 December 2012
Head of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) paid tribute to the generosity of Saudi Arabia in helping the agency fight hunger and meet the food needs of millions of people, the U.N. News Center reported Thursday. “Our partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has helped save millions of lives worldwide across ... Read More
Yemeni soldiers swap guns for brooms in a bid to clean the streets
Friday, 14 December 2012
Soldiers swapped their guns for brooms and students replaced the classroom for the Sanaa streets as they joined workers to clean the roads of the Yemeni capital. Armed with brooms they swept pavements and roads, as traffic passed them by. Their work is all part of a campaign to boost living conditions in the impoverished ... Read More
Europe gets a taste of Palestinian strawberries
Friday, 14 December 2012
Farmers in Gaza’s Beit Lahia are out in force in the coastal enclave’s strawberry fields. Israel has given them the green light to start exporting their produce to Europe, and the farmers are keen to fill as many boxes with their locally grown produce. But strawberry farming is a costly and labor intensive process, and the ... Read More
‘Syria freedom train’ pushes for EU action against Assad
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
A special ‘Freedom Train’ carrying about 300 opponents to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad arrived in Strasbourg on Tuesday to press their case for regime change at the European institutions in the eastern French city. The train left Paris a day before a meeting of the so-called “Friends of Syria” group in Marrakesh, ... Read More
Sales of Siwi handicrafts give boost to local women
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
The handicraft shops in the center of Siwa are suffering sluggish sales as a result of the ongoing tourism slump. Visitors are few and far between and stock is piling up on the shelves. All across Egypt handicrafts are easy to come by, but here in this remote oasis town close to the Libyan border hundreds of years of ... Read More
Hot not Cold? Katy Perry sparks concert buzz in Dubai
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
Award-winning artist Katy Perry wowed her Dubai fans this week at the closing ceremony of the World Parachuting Championships with a high energy performance of the set-list from the “The California Dreams Tour.” The “Part of Me” singer zip lined onto the comic-strip themed stage in a bedazzled sky-diving suit and a ... Read More
Kuwaiti MPs make it in 2012’s top ten kisses
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
A kiss between two former Kuwaiti members of parliaments made it in a leading global social website’s top ten kisses for year 2012. The photo, captured by an AFP photographer, Yasser Al-Zayyat, shows Kuwaiti opposition former MPs Mubarak al-Walan and Bader al-Dahoum give each other a nose kiss during a gathering in Eid ... Read More
The red carpets roll out for Dubai International Film Festival 2012
Monday, 10 December 2012
Lights, camera, action! The red carpet is revived, velvet curtains are raised, trumpets are blown and the drums roll to the beat of glitzy Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) that sets the stage for week of films from Dec.8 to 16. Legends of the silver screen, established and emerging filmmakers, film admirers, actors ... Read More
Egyptian comedy show takes on ‘merchants of religion’
Saturday, 08 December 2012
For a brief moment on Friday night, Egyptians got some respite from the ongoing political crisis tearing the country apart. The comic relief came courtesy of Bassem Youssef’s satirical news show “Al Bernameg“ (The Program) which has just decamped from one ‘secular’ privately owned Egyptian TV channel to another. There’s ... Read More
Germany’s Next Top Model struts Dubai with Heidi Klum
Friday, 07 December 2012
Super model Heidi Klum is strutting down Dubai, UAE this weekend to film the latest series of “Germany’s Next top Model” with a group of aspiring model contestants. Klum producer of U.S. “Project runway” as well as “Germany’s Next Top Model” will be meeting with Dubai based designer, Furnes Oneo show casing his new ... Read More
Saudi King Abdullah named 7th most powerful figure in the world
Friday, 07 December 2012
Forbes released their annual ‘World’s Most Powerful People’ list for 2012 on Wednesday placing Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz as the seventh most powerful figure on the chart, and the only Arab figure to make it to the top ten list. The 2012 list covers the different powerful head of states, financers, philanthropists, ... Read More
The Last Horseman: ‘El Ultimo Jinete’ ode to Arabian nights
Friday, 07 December 2012
Spanish musical ‘El Ultimo Jinete’ (The Last Horseman) took audiences in a magical adventure centuries back from the deserts of the Middle East to Victorian England on Wednesday, in Teatro del Canal, Madrid Spain. Spain’s Queen Sophia and Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan were one of the many ... Read More