• 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

    Kuwait Times q

  • 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

    Saudi Gazette q

  • King Fahd: Either we live together or die together

    The Middle East was so simple and forthright until recently. It was easy to analyze changes and understand its basic elements. Enmities were explicit and alliances unquestionable. Even compliments between different parties were clear, as everyone knew they were just a matter of courtesy. Back then it was black and white, but now it is a grey area where people, led by US President Barack Obama, talk the talk but do not walk the walk. The case of Syria What are agreements for if relevant parties do not abide by them? Jamal Khashoggi Libya Iraq Last Update: Monday, 26 September 2016 KSA 10:03 - GMT 07:03 Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect Al Arabiya

    english.alarabiya.net q

  • Concerted effort to combat Iran lies urged

    ABHA: A recent US study said Iran annually spends nearly $950 million to improve its image and distort the image of the GCC countries in the US media. Meanwhile, a study recently published by Ali Al-Qarni, titled “The image of Saudi Arabia in the world: A survey study on samples of academics and media professionals in the Kingdom,” said the image of Islam has been negatively affected as a result of Western campaigns, notably Zionist campaigns in the US, which were never addressed except by the Saudi diplomatic institutions. Commenting on this, the head of the College of Information and Communications of Post-Graduate Studies and Scientific Research at Imam Mohammed Islamic University, Mohammed Al-Subaihi, said: “We cannot deny that the Iranian media is organizing media campaigns whose expenses are fully paid in an exaggerated manner.

    Arab News q

  • 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

    BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat q

  • Philippines’ Duterte to forge closer ties with China, Russia

    Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says he has decided to “cross the Rubicon” in his ties with the United States and will open trade alliances and offer long-term land leases to “the other side of the ideological barrier,” China and Russia. Duterte said he will travel to China soon to talk to President Xi Jinping, and then to Japan and Russia.

    english.alarabiya.net q

  • Obama vetoes bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia - Region - World

    President Barack Obama on Friday vetoed a bill allowing 9/11 families to sue Saudi Arabia, risking a fierce public backlash and rare congressional rebuke. While expressing "deep sympathy" for the families of the victims, Obama said the law would be "detrimental to US national interests." The White House tried and failed to have the legislation -- which was unanimously passed by Congress -- scrapped or substantially revised. Terry Strada, whose husband Tom was killed in World Trade Center Tower One, told AFP the 9/11 "families are outraged and very disappointed" by Obama's decision. She vowed that the group would now lobby "just as hard as we possibly can" to have Congress overturn the decision.

    english.ahram.org.eg q

  • 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

    BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat q

  • US, South Korean missile destroyers in show of force to North Korea

    (CNN)The US and South Korean navies put on a show of force in the Sea of Japan on Monday, the latest in a string of displays of military might in response to North Korea's testing of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles. Monday's exercises saw the US guided missile destroyer USS Spruance join ships, submarines and planes from the South Korean navy in waters east of the Korean Peninsula. The naval show of force followed last week's flight of US Air Force B-1 bombers along the Demilitarized Zone, the closest the powerful, combat-tested heavy bombers have ever flown to the line separating North and South Korea, according to a U.S. military source. Earlier this month, B-1s flew over Osan Air Base, south of the South Korean capital of Seoul, in response to North Korea's fifth test of a nuclear warhead, a test Pyongyang said showed it's ready to mount warheads on missiles.

    CNN q

  • 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

    BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat q

  • Cairo's First All-Female American Football Team

    First we had the Egyptian Federation of American Football kicking off and bringing NFL stars to the motherland through the American Football Without Barriers program, and now these ladies – The Pink Warriors – are ready to kick some serious butt as part of Egypt's first ever all-female American football team. You read that right, these awesome women are playing American flag football - no tackling, but the oddly shaped ball is definitely there. Check it out the viral video from Now This. The team was founded in 2015 by two American male football players with a passion for the game  who are currently living in Cairo. As per Reuters, the popularity of the game amongst female athletes continues

    Cairo Scene q

  • Saudi Arabia vs Dubai: The 2020 Race For The World’s Tallest Tower

    It seems like Dubai is bored of smashing Guinness World Records, as flagship developer Emaar Properties announces plans to construct the world’s tallest tower, surpassing the Burj Khalifa that currently holds the current world record, but will Saudi Arabia steal the title? The race is on as property developer Emaar has announced plans to build a new tower, with an estimated cost of $1 billion, that will stand a ‘notch’ taller than 830-metre Burj Khalifa. The proposed project expects completion by 2020, which coincidentally will be the same year that Dubai will host the World Expo Trading Fair. The announcement explained that Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava Valls is expected to devote

    Cairo Scene q

  • Daisy Ridley 'will not apologise' for her body size after Instagram criticism

    Daisy Ridley says she "will not apologise" for her body shape. She responded to an Instagram post of her character Rey, which criticised how thin she looked in Star Wars. "I can't believe the unrealistic expectations I'm setting for young girls," a speech bubble read. "Don't they know real women have curves?" She replied: "'Real women' are all shapes and sizes, all ethnicities, all levels of brave. I am a 'real woman' like every other woman in this world." Daisy deleted her initial response on the post. The actress said it wasn't her intention "for anyone to send messages to that poor person that posted the original picture". She then posted a full response on her own official account which included

    BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat q

  • Are Children Being Exploited to Loot Millions of Dollars Worth of Egyptian Artifacts?

    This story is not about Egyptian heritage; it’s the story of mafia-like organisations taking the lives of Egyptian children to loot millions of dollars in ancient artifacts. According to a report by Live Science, more than 25 children exploited by gangs reportedly died last year, as they were recruited to seek relics across underground shafts in Abusir el-Malek - relics which were eventually sold on the black market. The investigative report, published on August 9th, states that over $143 million worth of artifacts were exported to the United States since 2011. Most of them, gold coins looted from tombs and ancient sites, made their way into New York, but they were not taken to museums - they were destined for personal or commercial use, as documents by the US Census Bureau indicate.

    Cairo Scene q

  • Egyptian Girl Sold Into Slavery at the Age of 8 Publishes Her Memoirs

    Despite having been heavily covered by western media, the sad saga of an Egyptian girl who was robbed of her childhood in the cruelest way possible is only just beginning to become known here in Egypt after one Facebook user took to the social network to share her story, which is rapidly going viral  Although born in 1991, Shyima Hall’s life didn’t really begin until 2002 when she was freed from the shackles of slavery her own parents had sold her into for the mere price of $30. Born in grinding poverty, little Shyima lived with her parents and ten siblings in an Alexandria slum until she was traded to a rich family for whom her older sister used to work as a maid. The wealthy employers accused

    Cairo Scene q

  • Iran introduces credit cards for first time

    Iran introduced credit cards for the first time on Sunday, the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported. In January, world powers had lifted sanctions against the Islamic Republic in return for Tehran complying with a deal to curb its nuclear ambitions. Valiollah Seif, the head of the central bank of Iran, cautioned that it could take some time for banks to get used to the credit card system. “It would be incorrect to think that these cards will be used quickly within the banking network,” ISNA quoted Seif as saying. The cards will be offered with limits of approximately 3,000, 10,000 and 15,000 dollars and can be used for purchases in shops or online.   Last Update: Sunday, 25 September

    english.alarabiya.net q

  • Two Muslim Women Kicked Off JetBlue Flight for ‘Staring’ at Flight Attendant

    In what would have been a shocking but is now an all-too-familiar Islamophobic incident, two Muslim women were led off a passenger plane as a flight attendant did not like the way the women ‘stared’ at her, according to DailyMail. On Saturday, two Muslim women in hijabs onboard JetBlue Flight 487 between Boston and Los Angeles were escorted out of the airliner by police as one of the flight attendants was concerned about the way the two women were looking at her. A video showing the two women being escorted out for questioning was posted on YouTube on Monday by Mark Frauenfelder, taken by his friend Sharon Kessler. In regards to the incident, Kessler told DailyMail that "it was a terrible moment

    Cairo Scene q

  • FAST: China's great space telescope begins operations

    The world's largest radio telescope has began operating in southwestern China, a project which Beijing says will help humanity search for alien life. The mega telescope began working around noon, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday, adding that it will explore space and search for signs of intelligent life. Built within a valley surrounded by naturally-formed karst hills in China's remote and mountainous southwestern Guizhou province, the FAST radio telescope's huge dish is equal in size to 30 football pitches and was built from 4,000 individual metal panels. The feasibility study for the telescope was carried out over 14 years and construction took more than five years to complete.

    Al Jazeera q

  • 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

    BBC News q

  • Everyone is Talking About the Egyptian Olympian Facing an Israeli Opponent

    News of Egyptian Judo player, Islam el-Shehaby, competing against Israeli Or Sasson, is becoming a source of uproar social media.  The reactions in Egyptian social media ranged from some objecting and demanding his withdrawal, and some challenging this view and asserting that he should go through with it. Those who object believe it is a choice the Egyptian judoka should not even contemplate, because according to them, it is a given that relations with Israel must be avoided, even in international sports arenas. As for those who believe he should go through with it, they are certain that el-Shehaby is strong enough to take the Israeli judoka down – a win that will metaphorically represent Egypt,

    Cairo Scene q