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
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...
Arts & Culture
Science
War against elite universities: Trump ramps up conflict against defiant Harvard
Cambridge, United States - President Donald Trump escalated his war against elite US universities Tuesday with a threat to strip...
- Harvard stands out for defying Trump, in contrast to several other universities and a string of powerful law firms that have folded under intense pressure
- The impacts are already being felt on a campus that has produced 162 Nobel prize winners and whose alumni range from Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg to 8 US presidents
Geostrategy
After Instagram restrictions, Meta to introduce teen accounts for Facebook
Paris, France -- Meta on Tuesday announced that it was extending its teen accounts to its social network Facebook, after...
- The accounts were brought in for 13- to 15-year-old Instagram users last September as part of moves to shield underage internet users from online harms.
- Teens are immediately placed in such accounts, with those under 16 unable to change settings without parental permission.
Business
$20 million rare blue diamond goes on show in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates -- A rare blue diamond valued at $20 million went on pre-auction display on Tuesday...
- The 10-carat Mediterranean Blue, which will go on sale in Geneva next month, is the showpiece of a collection estimated at $100 million, organizers said.
- "Included in the group are the largest flawless diamond in the world... the second largest red diamond known to exist and several diamonds over 100 carats," Sotheby's said.
Arts & Culture
Hard-hitting drama ‘Adolescence’ to be shown in UK schools
London, United Kingdom - The Netflix drama "Adolescence", which has sparked widespread debate about the toxic and misogynistic influences young...
- Starmer said he had watched the drama -- in which a 13-year-old boy stabs a girl to death after being radicalised on the internet -
- The internet and social media meant "ideology" can now be "pumped directly into the minds of our children", he added
Arts & Culture
Saudi marks Eid al-Fitr today, other Mideast states on Monday
Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf Arab states are to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday from Sunday but other Middle...
- The United Arab Emirates and Qatar also announced Sunday would be the first day of the holiday
- But neighbouring Oman and Jordan, as well as Shiite-majority Iran, said that Eid al-Fitr would not begin until Monday
Arts & Culture
Film stars blast Academy for ‘failing to defend’ Palestinian filmmaker
Los Angeles, United States - Movie stars including Joaquin Phoenix, Penelope Cruz and Richard Gere have blasted the Academy of...
- Hamdan Ballal co-directed "No Other Land," which won best documentary at this year's Academy Awards
- Unlike multiple other prominent filmmaker groups, the US-based Academy initially did not issue a statement
Arts & Culture
‘My entire life’: Saudi tailor keeps robe-making craft alive
Hofuf, Saudi Arabia - Saudi tailor Habib Mohammed's shop once made ornate, hand-woven cloaks for royals, a time-honoured craft he...
- He makes "bisht", a long gown which for centuries has been a status symbol, worn by kings and princes -- and ordinary men -- and could take a week of meticulous work to create
- Now, with cheap Chinese-made robes taking a bite out of his business, 60-year-old tailor is struggling to make a profit, and his only son wouldn't take over the beleaguered shop
Arts & Culture
Israel releases Palestinian Oscar winner after West Bank detention
Jerusalem, Undefined - Israeli police on Tuesday released Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, detained a day earlier for "hurling rocks"...
- Basel Adra, who worked with Ballal on the Oscar-winning documentary film "No Other Land", posted on X a photo of him from a hospital after his release
- The best documentary at this year's Academy Awards follows Adra and Abraham, telling the story of forced displacement of Palestinians by Israeli troops
Arts & Culture
Palestinian behind Oscar-winning documentary arrested by Israeli army
Jerusalem, Undefined - The Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary "No Other Land" was attacked by settlers and arrested by...
- The incident took place in the southern West Bank village of Susiya, according to the anti-occupation NGO Center for Jewish Nonviolence
- "No Other Land", which was directed by Israeli-Palestinian activists, won best documentary at this year's Academy Awards
Arts & Culture
‘Love is in the air’: Woods confirms romance with Trump’s ex daughter-in-law
Los Angeles, United States - Tiger Woods took the unusual step of confirming his romance with Donald Trump's former daughter-in-law...
- "Love is in the air and life is better with you by my side," Woods wrote in a caption above two photos of himself relaxing with Vanessa Trump
- Vanessa Trump, who divorced Donald Trump Jr. in 2018 after a 13-year marriage, also posted a picture of her and Woods together on her Instagram account
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
Company News
Morocco set for sheepless Eid as drought persists
Arts & Culture
Muslim pilgrims pray at Mount Arafat in hajj apex
Arts & Culture
Latest News
Million-plus pilgrims to begin hajj under blazing sun
Arts & Culture
How social media can ‘trigger’ eating disorders in young people
Paris, France -- Social media can push vulnerable young people towards developing eating disorders by glorifying thinness and promoting fake,...
Science
New metro cuts through Saudi social divisions
With its eye-watering oil riches, intricate tribal networks and large numbers of foreign workers, Saudi society has long been divided...
Arts & Culture
Huge crowds flock to Vatican for Pope Francis’s funeral
Tens of thousands of mourners flooded into St Peter's Square on Saturday for the funeral of Pope Francis, the champion...
Arts & Culture
Most Read
Arts & Culture
As world mourns, cardinals meeting to decide the date for Pope Francis’s funeral
Vatican City, Holy See - Cardinals will meet Tuesday to decide the date for Pope Francis's funeral, starting a process...
- Francis, the head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, died at his home in the Vatican on Monday aged 88 after suffering a stroke
- Tributes have poured in from around the globe for Francis, a liberal reformer who took over following the resignation of German theologian Benedict XVI in 2013
Science
War against elite universities: Trump ramps up conflict against defiant Harvard
Cambridge, United States - President Donald Trump escalated his war against elite US universities Tuesday with a threat to strip...
- Harvard stands out for defying Trump, in contrast to several other universities and a string of powerful law firms that have folded under intense pressure
- The impacts are already being felt on a campus that has produced 162 Nobel prize winners and whose alumni range from Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg to 8 US presidents
Geostrategy
After Instagram restrictions, Meta to introduce teen accounts for Facebook
Paris, France -- Meta on Tuesday announced that it was extending its teen accounts to its social network Facebook, after...
- The accounts were brought in for 13- to 15-year-old Instagram users last September as part of moves to shield underage internet users from online harms.
- Teens are immediately placed in such accounts, with those under 16 unable to change settings without parental permission.