• 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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  • 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

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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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  • 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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  • 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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  • 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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  • 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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  • One bible every second, Communism and the Meteoric Rise of Christianity in China, Being Christian in China's Jerusalem, Heart and Soul

    The worlds biggest bible factory is in atheist China

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  • Rare chance to see Cambridges as a family of four

    This was a still rare chance to see the Cambridges as a family of four. Prince William and his wife continue to shield their children from the spotlight. They landed in a city named after William's great-great-great-great-grandmother. Despite the honour, Queen Victoria never made it to this part of her empire. Her descendants will be here for eight days. They represent the future, as things stand, of the throne she once occupied - in both the UK and some 4,000 miles away in Canada - where the British crown replaced a French one. Despite a sizeable minority of the population yearning for a Canadian-born head of state, there is, as yet, no concrete political drive to change the status quo. That

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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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  • 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

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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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  • Dubai becomes increasingly attractive to Chinese investors

    DUBAI: Dubai’s housing market has always had high profile investors that kept the port city’s real estate sector afloat through the thick and thin.Previously, the top investors in Dubai’s real estate market happened to be British and Indian citizens. But a group of fresh investors from China have surfaced in the emirate’s real estate market and they mean serious business. Chinese investors are especially drawn to Dubai’s realty sector after the trend of affordable properties took over the port city’s housing market. Here are some reasons why Chinese investors are ignoring the traditionally fruitful Western real estate markets and are betting their fortunes on Dubai’s lucrative realty sector.

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  • 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

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  • Rihanna to be awarded MTV Video Music Award lifetime achievement prize

    Rihanna will receive MTV's lifetime achievement award at the Video Music Awards later this month. It's MTV's highest honour and is known as the Michael Jackson video vanguard award. Last year Kanye West won the trophy, with Beyonce, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears previously getting it. "[The award] reflects an artist's impact not just on music but on pop culture, fashion, film and philanthropy," says MTV. She will also perform at the ceremony in New York, as well as being nominated for best collaboration and best female video. Beyonce leads the nominations though with 11 nods, while Adele is up for eight. It's the first time the event has been held at Madison Square Garden and it will feature

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  • China flies military jets over strait near Japan

    BEIJING: China has sent fighter planes for the first time over a strait near Japan, the two governments said Monday, after Tokyo announced it may patrol alongside the US in the disputed South China Sea.More than 40 Chinese military aircraft on Sunday traversed the Miyako Strait between Japan’s Miyako and Okinawa Islands, to carry out training in the West Pacific, according to a statement on China’s defense ministry website. The Sukhoi Su-30 fighters, bombers and refueling aircraft did not violate Japanese airspace. Japan’s defense ministry said it was the first time Chinese fighters had passed over the strait. The drill is aimed at “testing far sea combat capabilities,” the Chinese statement

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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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  • 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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  • Shakespeare Lives - Ballet, Opera and the Bard

    Great music and performance from the world of ballet and opera, presented by Ore Oduba. We join Royal Ballet stars Lauren Cuthbertson and Edward Watson as they rehearse The Winter’s Tale. Also featured; the potion scene from Kenneth MacMillan’s classic Romeo and Juliet and music from Verdi’s two great Shakespearean operas Otello and Falstaff. Watch live and on demand via the BBC Live page

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  • Petition seeks full rights for Saudi women

    RIYADH: Thousands of Saudis have signed a petition urging an end to the guardianship system that gives men control over the study, marriage and travel of female relatives, activists said yesterday. The petition calls for the kingdom’s women to be treated “as a full citizen, and decide an age where she will be an adult and will be responsible for her own acts”, said campaigner Aziza Al-Yousef of Riyadh. The retired university professor told AFP that she tried unsuccessfully to deliver the petition containing 14,700 names to the Royal Court on Monday. The activists will now send it by mail as requested. Saudi Arabia has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women, and is the only country

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