Culture

A Yemeni model who was abducted by the Houthis is going to be subjected to a virginity test, Amnesty International said on Friday. The rights group urged the militia to immediately halt its plans. “Yemen’s Houthi de facto authorities must immediately halt all plans to subject Entesar Al-Hammadi to forced …

Uzbekistan, a country situated in Central Asia with a population of nearly 31 million people, became the top at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games for men’s boxing after earning seven medals including 4 gold medals, followed by the most famous boxing team, the Cuban boxing team who gained 6 medals. …

Discrimination in the US against Americans of Arab heritage is “getting worse” not better, experts say, as the country prepares to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Samer Khalaf, president of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), and Abed Ayoub, the organization’s legal counsel, said that while …

Hoofs pounded the ground and kicked up dust clouds as one by one a small group of young mounted archers pulled back their bows and let their arrows fly at a passing target. Most of them missed. They will get better, said Mohammad Abu Musaed, who is training the first …

A Christian pastor named Robin Bullock has told his congregation that it’s a sin to refer to Joe Biden as “president.” A video of Bullock’s sermon, reposted by Right Wing Watch, shows the pastor telling his congregants that they should pray for Biden. “You can pray for a man named Joe Biden. …

Saudi Cultural Minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan on Sunday held a virtual meeting with the chargé d’affairs of the US Embassy in the Kingdom, Martina Strong. During the meeting, they discussed aspects of cooperation in cultural fields between Saudi Arabia and the US, and the latest development in …

The Fashion Commission has finalized its strategy to develop the sector, including educational and training programs to prepare graduates for the labor market, providing outlets for the distribution of locally designed products, and building networks between designers and investors. The strategy’s aim is to enhance the national identity of the …

Israel’s government watchdog said on Monday it would open an investigation into the death of 45 people who were crushed in a stampede at a Jewish religious festival last week. State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said his office, which audits the government, would look into the circumstances surrounding the event. Source: …

English soccer’s boycott of social media is spreading after FIFA and UEFA said they will join the players, clubs and organizations in a four-day protest against online abuse. The boycott will also be joined by English cricket and rugby clubs, and the British Lawn Tennis Association, highlighting concerns that Twitter …

At least 44 people were crushed to death at an overcrowded religious bonfire festival in Israel on Friday, medics have said, in what prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a “heavy disaster”. The crush occurred as tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews thronged to the Galilee tomb of second-century sage …

Ancient city Andijan, one of the major cities in Uzbekistan, is an administrative, economic and cultural centre in Andijan Province. The city is located in the southwestern part of Fergana Valley which lays over eastern Uzbekistan, northern Tajikistan and southern Kyrgyzstan. In some areas of the city were found the …

US-Iraqi beauty mogul Huda Kattan has announced that her brand Huda Beauty will sponsor NASCAR’s first female Arab driver Toni Breidinger for her track debut at General Tire 200 at Talladega Speedway.  Breidinger will drive the Huda Beauty 02 Chevrolet SS for Young’s Motorsports at the events and will work with Kattan to shine a …

A collection of rare finds is set to go under the hammer for the UAE’s 100 Million Meals initiative in Dubai on Saturday. A live art auction is set to be held at Dubai’s Mandarin Oriental Jumeirah in a bid to raise funds for Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global …

During the formation of Israel in the late 1940s, hundreds of Jewish women were branded as enemies for marrying Arab men, resulting in exclusion, isolation, and in some cases murder, according to stories buried in the country’s archives.  The histories of the “lost” Jewish women — those who married and …

DUBAI: If asked, most people would likely admit that they would have struggled to survive the mental toll of isolation brought about by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic without access to social media, online shopping, and video conferencing to make up for the loss of human contact. And yet, these …

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson acted on a personal plea from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the axed 300 million pounds ($413.34 million) deal to buy Premier League club Newcastle United, the Daily Mail newspaper reported on Wednesday. The proposed takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi Arabian-backed …

Near the city of Andijan, it is planned to build a residential block Yangi Andijon on 4,000 hectares of land for 411,000 people. On April 12, the master plan of the block was presented to the President of Uzbekistan. According to the master plan, there will be housing, shopping centers, …

Gigi Hadid is showing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement by matching the donations made through her coffee table book, titled Gigi Journal Part II, to various BLM organizations.  Back in July, Hadid helped curate a coffee table style book filled with art submissions and writing from around …

Palestinian-British filmmaker Farah Nabulsi’s short film “The Present” has won the award for Best Short Film at the 2021 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) ceremony, which took place on Saturday.  Nabulsi’s movie beat out “Eyelash,” “Lizard,” “Lucky Break” and “Curvy.”  “The Present” tells the story of Yusef, played …

Following a photoshoot that breached UAE law, Dubai will deport a group of people involved, reported The National. The footage, which was shared on Twitter, showed a large group of nude women posing on the balcony of an apartment in Dubai Marina. Several neighbors captured videos and images of the photoshoot, …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected next week to name an individual who will be in charge of expanding “diversity, inclusion and outreach,” State Department representatives told an Arab News sponsored US radio show on Wednesday. Principal deputy spokesperson at the US Department of State Jalina Porter and …

Italian journalists and lawmakers on Friday protested the wiretapping of reporters’ phone calls during investigations into Libya-based migrant trafficking and humanitarian rescue groups. Italian daily Domani reported that among the conversations intercepted by investigators a few years ago were journalists for lay and Catholic Italian media and RAI state television. …

A motorist rammed a car into U.S. Capitol police on Friday and brandished a knife, killing one officer and injuring another and forcing the Capitol complex to lock down in an attack that police said did not appear to be terrorism-related. Police officer killed in vehicle attack on U.S. Capitol …

 Human Rights Watch says a Saudi man who was convicted following a “grossly unfair trial” for crimes committed when he was a minor risks being executed although the Saudi authorities have said they have scrapped the death penalty for juveniles. Abdullah al-Huwaiti was convicted by a criminal court in October …

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Qatar on Monday to eliminate male guardianship rules that prevent women making independent decisions on basic rights such as marriage, travel and accessing reproductive health care. New York-based HRW said that after taking initiatives on women’s rights, including on education and social protection, Qatar was …

A judge in the Pakistani city of Peshawar ordered police on Friday to open an investigation into the organisers of a march marking International Women’s Day over allegations they committed blasphemy. Police in Islamabad had previously refused to open a case, saying the allegations were based on fake social media …

Emad El-Din Aysha: Dear Dr. Csicsery-Ronay Istvan. First please let me apologise for saying doctor. In Arabic countries we take such honorifics very seriously, even when speaking English. Secondly, please tell us something about yourself. Where you teach, your background? What drew you to science fiction and specifically non-Anglophone SF? …

A long white shawl on her head, Rani Khan gives daily Koran lessons at Pakistan’s first transgender-only madrasa, or Islamic religious school, which she set up herself using her life savings. The madrasa is an important milestone for the LGBTQ community in the overwhelmingly fundamental Muslim country, where transgender people …

Marwa Elselehdar has become the first woman to work as a sea captain in Egypt. As a little girl, Elselehdar always loved the sea and enjoyed swimming. She enrolled in the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport in Egypt and joined the International Transport and Logistics Department, but …

European leaders criticised what they called Turkey’s baffling and concerning decision to pull out of an international accord designed to protect women from violence, and urged President Tayyip Erdogan to reconsider. Erdogan’s government on Saturday withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, which it signed onto in 2011 after it was forged …

President Tayyip Erdogan pulled Turkey out of an international accord designed to protect women, the country’s official gazette said on Saturday, despite calls from campaigners who see the pact as key to combating rising domestic violence. The Council of Europe accord, forged in Istanbul, pledged to prevent, prosecute and eliminate …

Plans by the British Muslim brothers who own supermarket chain Asda to build a “landmark” mosque in north west England have been approved. The £5 million ($6.9 million) project to build a mosque in Blackburn by the billionaire siblings had faced objections over the height of its minarets and the …

The Oscar-nominated short film “The Present” from Palestinian-British filmmaker Farah Nabulsi has debuted on giant streaming service Netflix. “The Present” tells the story of Yusef, played by renowned Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri, and his daughter Yasmine, played by young actress Maryam Kanj, who set out in Palestine’s West Bank to …

Desert X is an annual art biennial which displays the works of international artists in California’s Coachella Valley, and this year, it is bringing the works of two Arab artists for its 13th edition, which kicked off on March 12. Saudi artist Zahrah Al-Ghamdi is showcasing her installation “What Lies …

Fast-food chain Burger King found itself on the griddle and getting burnt over an offensive tongue-in-cheek tweet on International Women’s Day that backfired massively on the burger brand. “Women belong in the kitchen,” the now-deleted tweet by Burger King UK read on Monday. While the thread was meant to reference …

A U.S. agency investigating Facebook Inc for racial bias in hiring and promotions has designated the probe as “systemic,” attorneys for three job applicants and a manager who claim the company discriminated against them told Reuters on Friday. A “systemic” probe means the agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, suspects …

The proposed ban on face veils in Switzerland is discriminatory and “violates women’s rights,” the head of women’s rights at Amnesty International’s Swiss section said. “The proposed face veil ban cannot in any way be viewed as measure for the liberation of women. Rather, it is a dangerous policy that …

A Chinese court has ordered a man to pay his former wife 50,000 yuan ($7,700) as compensation for housework she did during their five-year marriage, state media reported on Wednesday. Under a landmark civil code that seeks to better protect the rights of individuals, spouses can seek compensation from their …

China, under growing global pressure over its treatment of a Muslim minority in its far west, is mounting an unprecedented and aggressive campaign to push back, including explicit attacks on women who have made claims of abuse. As allegations of human rights violations in Xinjiang mount, with a growing number …

Pilov is the most classic dish of Uzbekistan, consisting of rice, onions, carrots and meat, all cooked slowly in layers in a traditional cast-iron kazan (essentially, a cauldron). If you don’t have a kazan lying around, you can substitute it for a cast-iron casserole dish. By Sher Karimov For Uzbeks, …

The Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey has released their annual report, highlighting the challenges and violations of religious freedom they faced over the past year. Chief among these violations are allegations that members of the community have been offered work as spies and informants. The group claimed that the …

United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, in rare public comments on Saudi Arabia, said on Friday that people were unlawfully held in the kingdom and urged it to uphold freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly. Bachelet, addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council where Saudi Arabia is …

The Saudi Human Rights Commission (HRC) president said on Sunday that the Kingdom is working to protect and promote human rights around the world as it launched new human rights training programs. In the statement on UN World Day of Social Justice, Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad added that human …

The Ferghana Valley (also transliterated as Fergana or Farghana) is historically the main Silk Road route between Kashgar and Samarkand. It is a relatively fertile, populous and prosperous area though much of the surrounding country is mountains, steppe or desert. Two rivers, the Naryn and the Kara Darya, flow into …