Taiwan suffers from biggest earthquake in 25 years
NEW TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN - Liu watched intently as rescuers carefully picked their way through the remains of a warehouse that...
Geostrategy
World’s only Dragon Ball theme park launched in Saudi Arabia’s Qiddiya City
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – The Board of Directors of the Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC) revealed on Sunday the launch of...
Arts & Culture
Geostrategy
TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat defend impact on kids
In their first testimony to US senators, they argued they are built to protect against the mental health and safety...
- Senator Marsha Blackburn, who was co-chairing the hearing, drew little difference among the platforms and their arguments for safety.
- YouTube has battled with a surge in Covid-19 and vaccine misinformation as the pandemic drove people online looking for information.
Business
Sharp recovery to see Middle East box office revenue cross $800m in 2021
Box office revenue in the Middle East made the fastest recovery in the world, from $250 million in 2020 to...
- The revenue is expected to continue to rise, reaching $1 billion in 2022 and $1.3 billion in 2024, research has shown.
- Only 261 of the 3,099 screens in the Middle East and Africa were closed due to the pandemic.
Geostrategy
Qatar says won’t muzzle F1 drivers over human rights
The country has been the target of protests by several football teams over its treatment of foreign workers. Its motorsports...
- We are happy to support the drivers to speak their minds on their platforms, said Abdulrahman Al Mannai, president of the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation.
- Qatar has removed rules that barred workers from changing employers, scrapped exit permit requirements and introduced a minimum wage of $1.30 an hour.
Iraqi desert village cut off from the grid
Lost in rocky hills and surrounded by humble palm groves, Al-Sahl is around 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of the...
- Lost in rocky hills and surrounded by humble palm groves, Al-Sahl is around 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad
- To communicate with the outside world, people use old mobile phones instead of smartphones -- the 3G network doesn't reach here
Geostrategy
Pope urges intervention on Libyan migrant crisis
Governments must stop returning migrants to "non-secure countries" like Libya, the 84-year-old pontiff said, while prioritizing saving lives in the...
- Italy continues to be confronted by waves of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Libya, with hundreds of people arriving nearly daily on the country's shores.
- A two-day summit of EU leaders that ended Friday revealed continued rifts between countries on the migrant issue.
Arts & Culture
Tehran golf course’s vanishing holes worry players
The Enghelab golf course had 18 holes when it was built decades ago but over the years the fairways have...
- Tehran's tiny contingent of players feels lucky that they still have 13, but are fearful even more of the course may disappear.
- Tehran's club has about 300 members, half of whom are women, but that's a minuscule number in a metropolis of more than eight million residents.
Arts & Culture
Tehran film fest opens as Oscar-qualifying event
The designation as Oscar-qualifying event came despite high tensions between Washington and Tehran, which have had no diplomatic relations since...
- This year's festival competition received more than 6,400 entries from 128 countries -- 2,000 more than last year.
- The festival, now in its 38th edition, has jury members from the Islamic republic as well as Italy, Japan, France and Austria.
Arts & Culture
Symbol of rebirth at Iraq’s historic Al-Nuri mosque
The historic mosque is being built under UNESCO's "Revive the Spirit of Mosul" initiative for rehabilitating Iraq's second city. UAE...
- The 12th-century mosque, known for its leaning minaret, was severely damaged in 2017.
- Eight Egyptian architects won an international competition to reconstruct the mosque.
Arts & Culture
Sun, sea, and beach goers in Saudi Arabia
For Asma, spending a day on the beach with her boyfriend was unthinkable until recently in deeply conservative Saudi Arabia.Â
- It's a small reminder of the changes underway in the Islamic kingdom, which is attempting to ease some of its tight social strictures
- As the sun sets, performers dance to Western music on a lit stage as a couple embraces nearby
Arts & Culture
For one week, Oman center-stage at T20 World Cup
The grass pitches of the 3,000-seat Al Amerat site are a long way from the days when cricket was first...
- Oman are playing in the T20 World Cup for the second time after a 2016 debut saw them stun Ireland at spectacular Dharamsala.
- Ranked 18 in the world, they have to negotiate a qualifying round which includes Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea and Scotland.
Taiwan suffers from biggest earthquake in 25 years
NEW TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN - Liu watched intently as rescuers carefully picked their way through the remains of a warehouse that...
Geostrategy
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Dubai seeks to unleash high-powered growth for its family business sector
DUBAI, UAE - In Dubai’s economic growth story, family businesses stand tall as architects of growth, innovation and value creation....
Business
Iran’s Zoroastrians keep ancient, sacred flame burning
They venerate fire as a supreme form of purity. Alongside water, air and earth, the elements must not be contaminated...
Dutch museum exhibit on Egypt causes anger in North African country
LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS - In a Dutch museum the sound of hip-hop blares out next to sarcophagi and statues, in what curators...
Geostrategy
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Economy
Lebanese activists struggle against rampant beachside development
Amchît, Lebanon--In a pristine patch of Lebanon's north coast, a rare marine visitor has fueled opposition to a seafront development, in...
- The country's seafront at many places remains dotted with formal and informal structures and developments, some of them abandoned
- Once sighted everywhere, monk seals are now considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due loss of habitat
Arts & Culture
Iraq’s marshes along with a way of life are dying
Even at their center in Chibayish, only a few expanses of the ancient waterways - home to a Marsh Arab...
- Both the Mesopotamian marshes, and the culture of the Marsh Arabs or Ma'adan have UNESCO world heritage status.
- The Ma'adan have hunted and fished in the marshes for 5,000 years, building houses from woven reeds on floating reed islands.
Economy
Egypt building collapse kills eight residents in capital
According to state media and the public prosecution, eight people including seven members of one family were killed in Cairo...
- Many buildings in central Cairo dating back to the 19th and early 20th centuries are in dilipidated condition
- There have been many building collapses in recent years in Egypt due to non-compliance with regulations