Catholic teen set to become first millennial saint
Vatican City, Holy See -- Tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected at the Vatican Sunday for the canonization of...
Arts & Culture
From hotels to high fashion, Armani’s luxury empire
Arts & Culture
‘God’s Influencer’ to become first millennial saint
Arts & Culture
Labubu fans flock to stores after launch of mini dolls
Beijing, China -- A dozen furry dolls strung together on a metal chain dangled from Labubu fan Maki Li's neck...
Business
Iraqi women table tennis players chase Paralympic dreams
Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture
With poetry and chants, Omanis strive to preserve ancient language
Against the backdrop of southern Oman's lush mountains, men in traditional attire chant ancient poems in an ancient language, fighting...
- The overwhelming majority of Omanis speak Arabic, but in the mountainous coastal region of Dhofar bordering Yemen, people speak Jibbali, also known as Shehri
- Sitting under a tent, poet Khalid Ahmed al-Kathiri recites the verses, while men clad in robes and headdresses echo back his words in the vast expanse
Arts & Culture
Walking sharks, bombing crocodiles: Italian Brainrot memes only kids know
Shouty, crude and often nonsensical Italian voiceovers feature in many of the clips made by people in various countries that...
- The dozen-plus cartoonish AI creatures have fast become memes, inspiring a stream of new content such as "Brainrot Rap", viewed 116 million times on YouTube.
- A YouTube Short titled "Learn to Draw 5 Crazy Italian Brainrot Animals" -- including a cactus-elephant crossover named "Lirili Larila" -- has also been watched 320 million times.
Arts & Culture
Iraqi women table tennis players chase Paralympic dreams
Diwaniyah, Iraq -- Iraqi table tennis player Nur al-Huda Sarmad adjusts her wheelchair before striking the ball into play, braving...
- With no dedicated training facility, the team often has to share the three second-hand tables at the public community center with visitors.
- In the scorching Iraqi summer they cannot turn on the fans, which would disrupt the movement of the balls.
Arts & Culture
Israel: Ultra-Orthodox conscription threatens Netanyahu’s coalition
Jerusalem, Undefined - The Israeli army announced Sunday that it would begin sending draft notices to 54,000 ultra-Orthodox Jewish men...
- Formed in December 2022, the coalition hinges on an alliance between Netanyahu's right-wing Likud, far-right parties and those representing the ultra-Orthodox
- Under an arrangement dating back to the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi in Hebrew, have been effectively exempted from military service
Arts & Culture
Trump administration threatens new Harvard cuts over Jewish rights
New York, United States - The Trump administration on Monday accused Harvard of violating the civil rights of its Jewish...
- Harvard has been at the forefront of Donald Trump's campaign against top universities after it defied his calls to submit to oversight of its curriculum
- Trump and his allies claim that Harvard and other prestigious US universities are unaccountable bastions of liberal, anti-conservative bias and anti-Semitism
Business
Roblox’s Grow a Garden explodes online video game numbers
Paris, France -- A gardening game created by a teenager on online platform Roblox has attracted a record 21 million...
- More than 21 million players connected to Grow a Garden at the same time on June 21, buying seeds to cultivate a little patch of virtual land, harvesting crops.
- That shattered the record held by the adrenalin-packed Fortnite, which attracted 15 million concurrent users (CCUs) during an event in late 2020.
Arts & Culture
Chinese man defies demolition orders to build madcap rural home
Xingyi, China -- Surrounded by the rubble of demolished homes, Chen Tianming's ramshackle tower of faded plyboards and contorted beams...
- Authorities razed most of Chen's village in Guizhou province in 2018 to build a lucrative tourist resort in a region known for its spectacular rice paddies.
- Chen, 42, refused to leave, and after the project faltered, defied a flurry of demolition notices to build his family's humble stone bungalow higher and higher.
Arts & Culture
Inside Saudi’s hajj-only barbershop, shaving thousands of heads in a day
Mina, Saudi Arabia -- Near the holy city of Makkah, men in white robes stand quietly in a long queue,...
- In Makkah, entire streets are lined with barbershops doing brisk business. While men shave their hair, women trim theirs by a fingertip-length.
- About 1.6 million pilgrims have gathered in and around Makkah, Islam's holiest city, for this year's hajj, which all Muslims with the means must complete at least once.
Arts & Culture
Muslim pilgrims ‘stone the devil’ as Hajj concludes under extreme heat in Saudi Arabia
Starting at dawn, the more than 1.6 million Muslims took part in the pilgrimage will throw seven stones at each...
- The more than 1.6 million Muslims taking part in the pilgrimage will throw seven stones at each of three concrete walls symbolising the devil in the Mina valley,
- The ritual commemorates Abraham's stoning of the devil at the three spots where it is said Satan tried to dissuade him from obeying God's order to sacrifice his son
Arts & Culture
Morocco set for sheepless Eid as drought persists
As the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha approaches, Fatima Kharraz can't seem to find the usual sense of celebration after...
- While sacrificing sheep during Eid al-Adha is not a religious obligation, it remains a widely observed ritual across the Muslim world
- Recent rainfall deficits have chipped away at grazing pastures, also driving up the cost of livestock feed
Catholic teen set to become first millennial saint
Vatican City, Holy See -- Tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected at the Vatican Sunday for the canonization of...
Arts & Culture
AI-powered meet-up apps fight ‘epidemic of’ loneliness
Arts & Culture
From hotels to high fashion, Armani’s luxury empire
Arts & Culture
‘God’s Influencer’ to become first millennial saint
Arts & Culture
Latest News
Sudanese journalists form union to safeguard press freedom
The journalists' syndicate held elections on Saturday, the first since ousted president Omar al-Bashir dissolved independent unions after rising to...
Tunisia train accident leaves nearly 100 passengers injured
A head-on collision between two passenger trains injured 95 people on Monday morning in the south of the Tunisian capital,...
Beyonce, Jay-Z, Grande, and Billie Eilish shortlisted for Oscar
Iran's Asghar Farhad is among a select group of auteurs to have won multiple foreign film Oscars previously again makes...
Tunisia’s president announces constitutional referendum
Kais Saied presented a roadmap for restoring democratic institutions, and announced a nationwide public consultation from January 1 until March...
UAE ranks first in Arab world, 11th globally in Global Knowledge Index
Qatar was at the 38th place, Saudi Arabia at 40, Kuwait (48), Oman (52), and Bahrain (55) in the Global...
Iraqi women table tennis players chase Paralympic dreams
Diwaniyah, Iraq -- Iraqi table tennis player Nur al-Huda Sarmad adjusts her wheelchair before striking the ball into play, braving...
Arts & Culture
Israel: Ultra-Orthodox conscription threatens Netanyahu’s coalition
Jerusalem, Undefined - The Israeli army announced Sunday that it would begin sending draft notices to 54,000 ultra-Orthodox Jewish men...
Arts & Culture
Trump administration threatens new Harvard cuts over Jewish rights
New York, United States - The Trump administration on Monday accused Harvard of violating the civil rights of its Jewish...
Arts & Culture
Most Read
Arts & Culture
Chinese man defies demolition orders to build madcap rural home
Xingyi, China -- Surrounded by the rubble of demolished homes, Chen Tianming's ramshackle tower of faded plyboards and contorted beams...
- Authorities razed most of Chen's village in Guizhou province in 2018 to build a lucrative tourist resort in a region known for its spectacular rice paddies.
- Chen, 42, refused to leave, and after the project faltered, defied a flurry of demolition notices to build his family's humble stone bungalow higher and higher.
Arts & Culture
Inside Saudi’s hajj-only barbershop, shaving thousands of heads in a day
Mina, Saudi Arabia -- Near the holy city of Makkah, men in white robes stand quietly in a long queue,...
- In Makkah, entire streets are lined with barbershops doing brisk business. While men shave their hair, women trim theirs by a fingertip-length.
- About 1.6 million pilgrims have gathered in and around Makkah, Islam's holiest city, for this year's hajj, which all Muslims with the means must complete at least once.
Arts & Culture
Muslim pilgrims ‘stone the devil’ as Hajj concludes under extreme heat in Saudi Arabia
Starting at dawn, the more than 1.6 million Muslims took part in the pilgrimage will throw seven stones at each...
- The more than 1.6 million Muslims taking part in the pilgrimage will throw seven stones at each of three concrete walls symbolising the devil in the Mina valley,
- The ritual commemorates Abraham's stoning of the devil at the three spots where it is said Satan tried to dissuade him from obeying God's order to sacrifice his son