• Kashmir territories profile

    The Himalayan region of Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for over six decades. Since India's partition and the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the nuclear-armed neighbours have fought three wars over the Muslim-majority territory, which both claim in full but control in part. Today it remains one of the most militarised zones in the world. China administers parts of the territory. MEDIA Reporting on Kashmir from both India and Pakistan mainstream media is deeply politicized and reflects the tension between the two countries. Media in Indian-administered Kashmir are generally split between pro- and anti-secessionist. Local journalists work under strict curfews and also face

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  • Blake Lively doesn't want you praising her post-baby body

    Blake Lively says new mums shouldn't feel pressure to lose weight straight after having a baby. She's been on Australian breakfast show Sunrise, where she was complimented on how great she looked in a bikini in her new film The Shallows. The presenter commented on how the film was shot just months after Blake had her first baby. But the 28-year-old called it unfair that slimming down after birth is "so celebrated". "It's like, this is what someone looks like after having a baby," she said. "I think a woman's body after having a baby is pretty amazing. You gave birth to a human being. I would really like to see that celebrated." The ex-Gossip Girl star's now expecting her second child with husband

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  • Video: Cut's 100 Years of Egyptian Beauty Breaks the Internet!

    The latest video of Cut's 100 Years of Beauty series, which has already covered the evolution of beauty in countries such as India, Russia, and Korea, just managed to fit 100 years of Egyptian beauty in less than two minutes of footage. Featured looks are a documentation of Egypt’s political shifts and their effects on Egyptian society and, by extension, Egyptian women’s sense of style.    “The look chosen for the 1910s represented the urban look that women would wear to step outside the home,” researcher Jacinthe Assaad says in a video detailing the research behind each look. According to Assaad, the 20s look is inspired by Egyptian feminist Huda Shaarawi who took off the veil in resistance.

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  • Jalal Uddin murder: Man charged in helping suspect who fled the country

    A man has been charged with assisting a murder suspect thought to have fled the country. Mohammed Kadir, 24, is alleged to have killed Jamal Uddin, 71, who was murdered in February over a belief he was practicing "black magic". Mohammed Syadul Hussain, 24, is accused of assisting Mr Kadir and will appear at Manchester Crown Court on 24 October. It is thought Mr Kadir has fled to Syria. Mr Uddin died after he was bludgeoned during an attack at a children's playground in Rochdale. Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, 21, has already been convicted of Mr Uddin's murder and was jailed for life earlier this month. He was told he must serve a minimum term of 24 years. A court heard he was the getaway driver for

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  • Unpaid Pakistani workers to fly home

    RIYADH: Hundreds of Pakistani construction workers are to fly home from Saudi Arabia this week but without the salaries they have waited months to receive, embassy officials told AFP.A total of 405 Pakistanis owed wages by once-mighty Saudi Oger will fly home from Wednesday courtesy of the Saudi government, said Abdul Shakoor Shaikh, the Pakistani Embassy’s community welfare attache. They are among more than 6,500 Pakistanis who, he said, have not been paid by the construction giant for that past eight or nine months. Large contingents of Filipinos and Indians have also gone months without pay from Saudi Oger, which is led by Lebanon’s billionaire former premier Saad Hariri. In all, more than

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  • India: The children left behind by an ancient custom

    Dungarpur, Rajasthan, India - Five-year-old Pinki is hiding behind her grandmother, Kanku Roat. The 53-year-old has been her world since her mother left. They live in a small mud house that they share with two goats, a cow and a calf - their only assets.  Pinki doesn't remember her mother. She left after Pinki's father died. The young widow went off to participate in the centuries-old custom of Nata Pratha. Pinki was only a year old.  Prevalent in the Bhil tribal community from which Pinki's family come, Nata Pratha allows a man to pay money to live with a woman to whom he is not married. The price can range from 25,000 to 50,000 Indian rupees (around $375 to $750) and is usually negotiated by

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  • Dubai airport grounds flights due to 'drone activity'

    Dubai International Airport was forced to ground flights for half an hour due to a drone flying in the area, the airport says. It said airspace around the airport closed just after 0800 local time (0400 GMT) on Wednesday because of "unauthorised drone activity". Arrivals resumed at 0835, with full operations restarting by 0907. It is not the first time drones have delayed flights at the airport, one of the world's busiest. "We remind all [drone] operators that activities are not permitted within 5km (3.11 miles) of any airport or landing area,'' Dubai Airports said on Twitter. On June 12 a similar incident saw Dubai International Airport close for 69 minutes. In the wake of the incident, authorities

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  • Oman Air disables misnamed 'Persian' Gulf inflight maps

    MUSCAT: Oman Air has switched off an inflight map system that labeled the waterway between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran, the subject of a bitter naming dispute, as the “Persian Gulf”. The decision followed a storm of criticism on social media after a passenger posted a video showing the map in Arabic referring to the Persian, rather than Arabian Gulf. “Our crew have been notified to disable the disturbing maps,” the sultanate’s national carrier said in a statement on Twitter. Two Boeing Dreamliners hired from Kenya Airways used a different map system to its own, it said, adding that it had asked Panasonic, which runs the system, to change the maps “without delay”. One Twitter user called the

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  • Swimming feat by Saudi woman to highlight plight of Syrian orphans

    Saudi Gazette report Jeddah — Mariam Saleh Binladin has become the first person from Saudi Arabia to make a solo assisted crossing of the English Channel, the world’s most celebrated open water swim. Mariam took on the Channel swim as part of a series of ultimate endurance challenges to raise awareness about the plight of orphan children from Syria. The story of Mariam’s epic swimming feats will be told in a film documentary ‘I am Mariam Binladin’ to be premiered in December this year. Mariam’s Channel swim was ratified by the Channel Crossing Association (CCA) which permits swimmers to wear wetsuits and receive assistance to ensure a safe crossing. Mariam completed the swim in 11 hours and 41

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  • Duterte pivots to China, Russia as investors flee

    MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said yesterday he would visit Russia and China this year to chart an independent foreign policy and “open alliances” with two powers with historic rivalries with the United States. Duterte said the Philippines was at the “point of no return” in its relations with former colonial ruler the United States, so he wanted to strengthen ties with others, and picked two global powers with which Washington has been sparring with on the international political stage. He last week declared he would soon – and often – visit China, with which ties remain frosty over a South China Sea arbitration ruling won by the Philippines in July. He said Russian Prime Minister

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  • Viewpoint: How India's response to Pakistan weakens Sharif

    As Delhi explores its options to respond to the attack in Uri, which killed 19 soldiers in one of the worst terror attacks in Kashmir in recent years, the Modi government seems to be making a strong case for strategic restraint. Amidst growing demands, especially from his ruling BJP party's rank-and-file, for strong action against Pakistan - who India blames for the attack - the Indian prime minister managed to turn attention from incessant warmongering towards long-term challenges facing the region. Pakistan has strongly denied involvement in the Uri attack. In his speech to his party cadres, Mr Modi challenged ordinary Pakistani's to a race on development as opposed to one on military engagement.

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  • Bloomberg names Saudi prince in influential list

    Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul-Aziz has been ranked 42nd on the list of Bloomberg’s 50 Most Influential People in the world of finance. Bloomberg said that the 31-year old prince has drawn up a plan to transform the world’s biggest crude exporter into a diversified economy fit for the next era, almost eight decades after oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia.

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  • Rita Ora confirms she's leaving The X Factor

    Rita Ora has confirmed that she's leaving The X Factor. The singer, who joined the show last year, tweeted: "I had a ball on The X Factor last year and will miss the team. "@simoncowell can't wait to work with you again... I'll be round for dinner soon. Thank you for the experience & love X" Rita took on the role after moving from The Voice UK, which is moving from the BBC to ITV. The singer mentored the girls category and went on to win the show with her act, Louisa Johnson. In a statement ITV told Newsbeat: "Rita brought a great energy to the show last year and did a brilliant job mentoring the girls' category, leading Louisa to victory. "We wish her all the best with her music and film plans

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  • Meet the world's richest young billionaires as Hugh Grosvenor inherits £9bn

    He had three daughters but only one son, 25-year-old Hugh Grosvenor, who is heir to the dukedom. Hugh has now inherited "half of London" after his father's estate covers most of Belgravia and Mayfair - the most expensive area on the Monopoly board. He hasn't had to work for his father's money. But he does have a job as an account manager for Bio-bean - a green technology company. According to the 2016 Forbes Rich List there are nine other under-30s worth more than $1bn - so we thought we'd find out who some of them are. At 20 and 21, Alexandra and Katharina Andresen are the youngest Johan, a Norwegian industrialist and investor, transferred his fortune to his two daughters in 2007. Norway is

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  • Saudi women file petition to end male guardianship system

    A petition signed by more than 14,000 Saudi women calling for an end to the country's male guardianship system is being handed to the government. Women must have the consent of a male guardian to travel abroad, and often need permission to work or study. Support for the first large-scale campaign on the issue grew online in response to a trending Twitter hashtag. Activist Aziza Al-Yousef told the BBC she felt "very proud" of the campaign, but now needed a response. In the deeply conservative Islamic kingdom, a woman must have permission from her father, brother or other male relative - in the case of a widow, sometimes her son - to obtain a passport, marry or leave the country. Many workplaces

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  • Japan scrambles jets over Chinese flight

    Japan says it scrambled fighter jets on Sunday after eight Chinese military aircraft flew between Japanese islands. The planes, thought to be bombers, surveillance planes and one fighter jet, flew along the Miyako Straits, between Okinawa and Miyakojima. China said about 40 of its aircraft had been involved in what it said was a routine drill. The planes did not cross into Japanese airspace, but the move is being seen as a show of force by China. It comes one week after Japan said it would take part in joint training exercises with the US navy in the South China Sea. Japan's top government spokesman said Japan would be watching China's military movements closely. Tokyo will "continue to devote

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  • Michelle Obama: We need an adult in the White House

    Michelle Obama criticizes Hillary Clinton's opponent Donald Trump while campaigning for Clinton in Pennsylvania.

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  • As diplomacy fails, Russia opts for 'total war' - Army retakes Aleppo district as bombs rain

    DAMASCUS: Syria’s army took control of a rebel-held district in central Aleppo yesterday, after days of heavy air strikes that have killed dozens and sparked allegations of war crimes. In the first advance since announcing plans last week to retake all of the divided city, pro-government troops seized the Farafira district northwest of Aleppo’s historic citadel, a military source told AFP. The push follows several days of Syrian and Russian air strikes on rebel-held Aleppo neighborhoods – some of the fiercest bombardment of the five-year conflict so far – after a ceasefire deal brokered by Moscow and Washington collapsed last week. The Aleppo maelstrom prompted Western powers to accuse Russia of committing possible war crimes, charges the Kremlin condemned as “unacceptable”.

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  • New in the UK: The quirks of the British way of life for foreign students

    If you have lived in this country long enough, words such as "bobbies", "quid" and "twelve-ish" will sound unremarkable to you. And having two taps dispensing hot and cold water separately may seem normal to you. But there are many new starters at UK universities this month who may find these quirks of British life either fascinating or weird. Every year, thousands of students from across the globe come to the UK to study and they are expected to hit the ground running. But for some of these first-timers, fitting in to a new country can prove challenging during the first few weeks. As the new academic year starts, some international students tell us about aspects of the Great British way of life

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  • Love Island will return for a third series

    Good news for fans of Love Island - ITV has announced it will be back next year. Bosses have ordered a third season of one of the summer's most talked about shows. Its second run is thought to have doubled last year's viewing figures, with an average of 1.3 million people watching each episode. "We can't wait to do it all again next year," said ITV Studios creative director Richard Cowles. Although the series officially finished last night with Nathan Massey and Cara De La Hoyde crowned champions, it will return for a special episode on Sunday 17 July. Love Island: Heading Home will follow the islanders as they're reunited at the wrap party. Which will no doubt mean clashes as exes come face-to-face

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