Culture

Lebanon on Sunday hosted its annual famous music festival in the ancient northeastern city of Baalbek without an audience. The unprecedented move was dubbed by the organisers as “an act of cultural resilience” to the global coronavirus pandemic as well as the country’s unprecedented economic crisis. By Arthur Blok Held …

Patriarch Kirill, the leader of Russia’s Orthodox Church, said on Monday that calls to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia into a mosque posed a threat to Christianity. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has proposed restoring the mosque status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, an ancient building at the heart of both …

A Turkish court on Thursday heard a case aimed at converting Istanbul’s sixth century Hagia Sophia back into a mosque and will announce its verdict within 15 days, a lawyer said, on an issue which has drawn international expressions of concern. President Tayyip Erdogan has proposed restoring the mosque status …

By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD I have written an article a long time ago about a horror-SF movie I watched largely against my will, Dark Skies (2013), which fits into my longstanding research on sexual anxieties and alien abduction scenarios. I’d been thinking of writing a follow-up for some time …

A high-profile Egyptian belly-dancer, Sama el-Masry, was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 300,000 Egyptian pounds ($18,500) on Saturday for inciting debauchery and immorality as part of a crackdown on social media postings. El-Masry was arrested in April during an investigation into videos and photos on social media, …

Residents of the Pakistani city of Lahore have erected statues to commemorate a medieval Turkish leader, a sign of the growing popularity, and cultural impact, of a television series imported from Turkey depicting the origins of the Ottoman Empire. The series, Ertugrul Gazi, which ran in Turkey until 2019, is …

Black Arab women are drawing inspiration from global anti-racism protests to fight back against long-standing discrimination and Middle Eastern beauty standards that favour light skin and straight hair. Black Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, who descend from sub-Saharan Africans, suffer social marginalisation and unequal job prospects, and …

Palestinian refugee Um Zeid spends her days at home in the sprawling Baqaa camp in Jordan sewing colorful dresses which gives her an income and keeps tradition alive. “At first, this was a hobby, because I love wearing the Palestinian thobe (dress), but it has since become my profession,” she …

Polish public television has raised the sensitive issue of Jewish property restitution during the country’s presidential campaign by accusing the main opposition candidate, Rafal Trzaskowski, of putting foreign interests first. Poland was home to one of the world’s biggest Jewish communities until it was almost entirely wiped out during World …

By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD     “It is very true that one cannot always go by the principles of Marxism in deciding whether to reject or to accept a work of art. A work of art should, in the first place, be judged by its own law, that is, …

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a rule on Friday that would lift anti-discrimination protections under Obamacare for transgender people and women seeking abortions, drawing condemnation from Democratic lawmakers. The rule reverses some provisions of the Affordable Care Act passed during President Barack Obama’s administration, also known …

Egyptian authorities have said they will prosecute the father of three girls who they say were tricked into undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) and the doctor who performed the surgery. The public prosecutor’s office said the girls, who were all minors, had been told the doctor was coming to vaccinate …

Islamic State (IS) said the coronavirus pandemic was divine punishment for its enemies, according to an audio broadcast on Thursday, where the jihadists also vowed more attacks. The person on the tape, which was posted on one of the militants’ websites but could not be verified by Reuters, identified himself …

By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD   I’ve been planning to write about Youssef El Sherif’s Al-Nihaya (The End) since the holy month of Ramadan began but found it difficult to research and preferred to wait till the end before passing judgement on it. It is Egypt’s first ever sci-fi TV …

Virtual reality tours have replaced flag-waving rallies as Palestinians facing coronavirus restrictions create digital spaces to lament the loss of their physical homeland in 1948. Cellphone apps and Zoom video chats are among the other online tools being used to mark the Nakba, or “Catastrophe”, when Palestinians were forced from …

Almost a third of gay and bisexual men report feeling vulnerable at home during the new coronavirus pandemic, with Brazilians particularly concerned, a global survey found on Tuesday, highlighting its wider mental health impacts. According to research conducted by the U.S.-based gay social network Hornet for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, …

I am starting to prepare to return to work and to the new normal as we start to ‘flatten the curve’ progressively. I believe that our success as individuals and that of our businesses will be assessed how we have handled the situation in resilience. By Emile Fakhoury It goes …

Israel’s military has decided to end the drafting of soldiers as dancers in its entertainment troupes after a video of two male conscripts gyrating on stage prompted criticism that their performance was unbecoming. Most Israelis are conscripted into the armed forces when they turn 18 for a period of two …

The new Michael Moore film Planet of the Humans, which takes aim at the green movement, has provoked a furious reaction from scientists and campaigners all over the world. Moore states in his film that the green movement is hypocrite, and in fact dangerously misleading the public. He exposes for …

A period drama about the trials of a Jewish midwife airing on Saudi-controlled MBC for Ramadan has drawn both criticism as an attempt to promote Arab “normalisation” with Israel and praise for a rare exploration of the Gulf’s social history. “Umm Haroun”, a fictional series about a multi-religious community in …

Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Beyonce and Oprah Winfrey on Saturday headlined a special broadcast of music, comedy and personal stories celebrating those around the world on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. The two-hour “One World:Together at Home” event, broadcast across multiple television channels in …

While coronavirus closures are coaxing wildlife into the abandoned streets of many a metropolis, in one Israeli city the four-legged interlopers are assertive and, well, quite boorish. Wild boars, some as bulky as Rottweilers and traveling in family packs, have been trotting through Haifa in increasing numbers. Their once-nocturnal visitations …

Rumours of a gay character in a new Turkish Netflix series, “Love 101”, have ignited calls for a boycott of the streaming service and sharp criticism from the broadcast regulator. A furore erupted after a now-deleted Twitter account @love101netflix suggested one of the main characters in the show – a …

Standing in colourful hula hoops carefully spaced to illustrate social distancing, young children in a camp in war-torn Syria give an enthusiastic welcome to a puppet show staged to teach them about the coronavirus. Volunteers visited the camp for displaced Syrians in the northwestern town of Maarat Masrin, where they …

As an SF author, activist and reviewer from the Eastern part of the Arab world, I can’t help but feeling humbled if not downright jealous of what is going on in the Western part of the Arab world, the so-called Maghreb. I say this after reading a novel I’ve been …

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and an alliance of faith groups have urged President Donald Trump to champion a moratorium on debt payments for poor countries hit by the coronavirus pandemic that has triggered a global recession. In a letter sent to the U.S. president on Wednesday, the groups …

Egypt will ban any public religious gatherings during the holy Muslim fasting month Ramadan starting in around two weeks to counter the spread of the new coronavirus, a government statement said on Tuesday. Muslims usually break the fast at sunset together with their families, go to the mosque to pray …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday a national lockdown would begin on Tuesday and end on Friday to try to stem the spread of the new coronavirus during the Jewish holiday of Passover. In a televised address, he said travel restrictions would be tightened on Tuesday and that …

The Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church, plans to open its first temple in mainland China at a time when Beijing has been clamping down steadily on religious freedoms. The temple in the eastern Chinese city of Shanghai will help fill a …

Israelis who have beards for religious reasons will get the option of custom-made face masks to protect them from the coronavirus rather than being told to shave, a government official said on Monday. As part of measures to combat the epidemic, Israeli authorities last week told people to cover their …

Pope Francis on Sunday backed a call by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a global ceasefire so the world can focus on fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at his weekly blessing, delivered from the official papal library instead of St. Peter’s Square because of the lockdown in Italy, Francis …

Formula One drivers will join video gamers and others in a series of virtual grands prix to replace a swathe of races postponed by the coronavirus outbreak, the sport announced on Friday. The first, run on the official F1 2019 PC video game, will be held from 2000GMT this Sunday …

Bars and nightclubs in Turkey will be closed from Monday in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Turkish Interior Ministry said on Sunday. It said the temporary ban will go into effect at 10 am (0700 GMT) on Monday. The ministry did not say how long the …

Hurricane Katrina. The New Zealand earthquake. Even the Spanish economy. Over the years, LGBT+ people have been blamed for disasters both natural and man-made, and now they stand accused of being responsible for the coronavirus epidemic. Several U.S. religious figures and an influential Israeli rabbi have suggested the emergence of …

University student Sophie Meehan was enjoying a family trip to the theater in London when pictures of a stranger’s genitals popped up on her mobile phone. The 20-year-old was about to board a train to return home to Kent in southeast England last year when an AirDrop file appeared on …

United Nations human rights guardian Michelle Bachelet urged the global community on Thursday to show solidarity with people of ethnic Asian origin subject to discrimination amid an outbreak of a novel coronavirus that started in China. “The coronavirus epidemic has set off a disturbing wave of prejudice against people of …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday Bernie Sanders was wrong to call him a racist during a debate among contenders for the U.S. Democratic presidential nomination, but shied away from attacking the senator in return. “I am not intervening in the U.S. election,” Netanyahu replied when asked on …

A satirical Belgian carnival parade decried by Israel’s foreign minister as “hateful” went ahead on Sunday despite being withdrawn from the United Nation’s list of recognized cultural events over accusations of racism and anti-Semitism. After a float in 2019 featured caricatures of ultra-Orthodox Jews standing with bags of money, organizers …

German Kurds called on Thursday for stronger government action against far-right radicalism and racism as they mourned the victims of a gun attack on two shisha lounges. “Politicians must ask themselves, ‘how did we get here?’” Metin Kan, who said he was a close friend of one of the people …

The Utah state Senate voted unanimously on Tuesday effectively to decriminalize polygamy among consenting adults, reducing penalties for a practice with deep religious roots in the predominantly Mormon state. The bill, which would treat the offense of plural marriage as a simple infraction on par with a parking ticket, now …

By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD   Was watching an annoying science fiction movie the other day called variously The Holy Relic and The Hunt for the Hidden Relic (2002), and was struck by a number of things, good and bad. First, the bad. The movie is German, adapted from a novel …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended on Saturday his nation’s global role despite misgivings in Europe, vowing that Western values would prevail over Russian and Chinese desires for “empire”. Seeking to reassure Europeans troubled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America first” rhetoric, his ambivalence over the NATO military alliance …

The mayor of Tel Aviv ordered the removal on Friday of highway billboards that appeared to call for the surrender at gunpoint of Palestinian leaders for the sake of peace. “Peace is made ONLY with defeated enemies,” said the billboards, which showed photo-shopped images of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and …

Iran’s week-long parliamentary election campaign started on Thursday, state TV reported, a vote seen as a popularity test for the clerical establishment at a time when relations with Washington are at their worst since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The Guardian Council, which must approve candidates, has rejected around 6,850 moderate …