Iran’s long-lasting love for gemstones believed to have divine power
Common beliefs associated with gemstones are largely what motivates people to buy them, said Hassan Samimi, a lapidary at the...
Arts & Culture
WHO urges limiting trans fat across the world
Geneva, Switzerland - The World Health Organization said on Monday that nearly half the world's population was now covered by solid...
Business
Arts & Culture
Where Paris hides some of its best art
The Paris contemporary art scene has partly got its mojo back thanks to a slew of new museums, including the...
- France sells more art than any country apart from the United States -- 91,692 works last year, according to Artprice, an analysis firm.
- It still turns over less cash than China and Britain, though it is closing the gap with its northern neighbor and surpassed $1 billion in auction sales for the first time in 2021.
Geostrategy
‘Pain’ of Algerians banished to the Pacific
Between 1864 and 1897, as French colonial troops advanced through Algeria, 2,100 people were tried by special or military courts...
- They were sent in chains around 18,500 kilometers (11,500 miles) to the other side of the world, to a penal colony on the Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia.
- Those who survived the tough journey became known as the "straw hats" -- a nod to the convicts' headgear as they worked in the blazing sun.
Arts & Culture
What determines duration of a Ramadan fast?
The fasting hours are actually determined by geography and vary from one country to another. Â People in the relatively cooler...
- Hundreds of millions of Muslims across the world abstain from eating and drinking from early dawn to dusk. They also shun sex with their spouses during the fasting hours.
- Some places, like areas near the Arctic where sun appears never to set during certain months, pose a dilemma for the faithful.
Saudi Arabia to allow one million hajj pilgrims this year: statement
Saudi Arabia said Saturday it will permit one million Muslims from inside and outside the country to participate in this...
- After the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Saudi authorities allowed only 1,000 pilgrims to participate
- The government wants to ensure pilgrims' safety "while ensuring that the maximum number of Muslims worldwide can perform the hajj", Saturday's statement said
Arts & Culture
The metaverse threat: ‘TV will die with its audience’
On the horizon is the so-called "metaverse" -- a loose term covering the growing eco-system of interactive online worlds, games...
- On the horizon is the so-called "metaverse" -- a loose term covering the growing eco-system of interactive online worlds, games and 3D meeting places
- While older consumers are still wedded to traditional TV, viewership among under-35s has halved in a decade, according to Statista
Geostrategy
Pope Francis to visit crisis-hit Lebanon in June
Lebanon, home to one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle East, has been gripped by an unprecedented economic...
- The pontiff, who has received Lebanon's president and prime minister in the Vatican in recent months, had previously promised to visit the country.
- The last trip in 2012 saw Pope Benedict XVI visit to appeal for peace, months after the start of the civil war in neighboring Syria.
Morocco arrests four people for involvement in organ trafficking
Moroccan police have arrested four people suspected of involvement in an international drug and organ trafficking network operating in particular...
- Authorities launched an investigation after an announcement was published on social media proposing kidney removal "in private clinics abroad for large sums of foreign currency"
- The four suspects, including three women, were allegedly intermediaries, helping those wishing to sell their organs to go abroad, in particular to Turkey
Arts & Culture
Unhappy spouses celebrate as England adopts ‘no-fault divorce’
The change brings England and Wales into line with Scotland, which has its own legal system, and with other countries...
- The change brings England and Wales into line with Scotland, which has its own legal system, and with other countries including the United States, Australia and Germany
- While experts expect a rush of divorces by couples who were waiting for the legal reform, they predict it could also ironically increase rates of marriage
A stabbing kills a cleric, wounds two others in Iran
An attacker stabbed to death an Iranian Shiite Muslim cleric Tuesday and wounded two others, one of them seriously, in...
- The assailant and four suspected accomplices were arrested after the bloody attack in the Imam Reza shrine's courtyard, said Mohammad-Hossein Doroudi, the chief prosecutor
- "The attacker is a foreign national," he told the Fars news agency, without specifying the country
Arts & Culture
Sweet smell of Ramadan in South Asia
The region is home to around a third of Islam's adherents. Festive Iftar meals traditionally bring families together and there...
- More subdued evening gatherings are underway in Afghanistan, where people are still reckoning with an acute humanitarian crisis.
- The centuries-old Chawkbazar market in Bangladesh is a traditional center for evening meet-ups during Ramadan.
Iran’s long-lasting love for gemstones believed to have divine power
Common beliefs associated with gemstones are largely what motivates people to buy them, said Hassan Samimi, a lapidary at the...
Arts & Culture
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Moroccan women shake up world of Gnaoua music
Arts & Culture
Saudi Arabia’s football rise ‘long-term project’, says top official
The Saudi Pro League has a years-long commitment from the kingdom's rulers in its goal to become one of the...
Geostrategy
25 teams attending Afro-Arab Esports League 2023 in Saudi Arabia
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- The Afro-Arab Esports League, which opened Saturday in Saudi Arabia, will see participation from over 25...
Arts & Culture
Football fever hits rebel-held northwest Syria
Idlib, Syria - Thousands of fans in Syria's last opposition bastion have packed into a stadium for the frenzied final of...
Arts & Culture
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Jordan, Iraq explore ways to enhance cooperation in drug addiction treatment
Amman -- Jordan's Minister of Health, Firas Hawari, met with the head and members of the Committee on Combating Drugs...
- Amman emphasizes the importance of international cooperation in combating drug addiction, especially among countries with shared borders
- Iraqi delegation also expresses a strong desire for close cooperation with Jordan, citing the social, economic, and psychological damage caused by drugs
Arts & Culture
Rise of the machines: AI spells danger for Hollywood stunt workers
The lack of guarantees over the future use of AI is one of the major factors at stake in the...
- The rise of AI means cheaper and more powerful techniques are being explored to create highly elaborate action sequences such as car chases and shootouts
- Stunt work, a time-honored Hollywood tradition that has spanned from silent epics through to Tom Cruise's latest "Mission Impossible," is at risk of rapidly shrinking
Sheikha Bodour to chair revamped board at American University of Sharjah
SHARJAH -- Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has outlines the restructuring...
- The Board of Trustees of the American University of Sharjah has been restructured
- New board members to begin their term in October. Membership term set for three years