offbeat
Chicago (AFP) - Online speculation about a "special guest" at the Democratic National Convention's final night proved to be misguided when no unscheduled stars crashed the party. Beyonce had been the name lighting up social media ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris's primetime address. Celebrity gossip site TMZ had fueled the fire with an all-caps headline on its homepage screaming "performing at DNC's final night!!!" above a picture of the megastar. Taylor Swift was also one of the names that circulated in media and political circles, with celebrity watchers trying to ascertain the whereabo...
AFP
An American social media influencer and his brother have been jailed for three months for assaulting police while intoxicated on a night out in Dubai, officials told AFP on Thursday. Joseph Lopez, an airforce veteran and Mister USA contender, and his brother Joshua were arrested for "assaulting Dubai Police officers, resisting arrest and damaging public property", the official Dubai Media Office said in a statement. The "intoxicated" tourists were fined $1,428 and sentenced to three months in prison followed by deportation for injuring police and damaging a police vehicle while trying to flee,...
The New Arab
A video clip showingRussian President Vladimir Putin kissing a copy of the Quran has gone viral on social media. Putin made this gesture as he visited the newly constructed Prophet Jesus Mosque in the Chechen capital Grozny. He was accompanied by the controversial leader of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, who has played a key role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the video, Putin can be seen presented with a gold-encrusted copy of the Quran, before kissing it and holding it up, while Kadyrov stands next to him. The Russian leader made his first trip to Chechnya in almost 13 years on T...
The New Arab
An Israeli Knesset Member (MK) has been mocked after claiming that the Matrix trilogy was written by Yeshiva students. Galit Distel-Atbaryan, a Likud MK and former Public Diplomacy Minister, made the claim during a panel discussion on Jewish identity on Israel's Channel 14 on Monday. During the program, she was quoted by Haaretz as saying: "One of the best movies ever made, The Matrix, was written by two Yeshiva students, based on Kabbalah." A Yeshiva is a traditional site of Jewish education where students are taught subjects on Judaism, including Jewish law and philosophy, while Kabbalah is ...
The New Arab
The Israeli military has issued warnings to Haredi Jewish hikers using 'kosher phones' over fears for their safety, with Iranian retaliatory strikes on Israel expected at any time. Israel's Home Front Command is concerned that Haredi Jews will not be able to access alerts about potential Iranian or Hezbollah strikes when hiking in remote areas, a common pastime during some Jewish holidays. Many Haredi Jews in Israel use modified dumbphones for religious reasons, which do not have access to the internet or messaging apps, and don't work on the Sabbath. Haredis in Israel, or ultra-Orthodox, comm...
The New Arab
Jubilant Algerian football fans sparked rumours of trouble in London after a huge fireworks display lit up the skies of the UK capital on Wednesday evening amid fears of possible far-right rioting. Supporters of Mouloudia Club d'Alger \- or MC Alger \- let off a barrage of fireworks and flares in central London on Wednesday night to celebrate the 103rd anniversary of their team with a similar dazzling show reported in Dublin. It coincides with planned far-right unrest at 100 locations across the UK with thousands of police deployed to deal with any potential rioting. As the red and green pyrot...
The New Arab
Shanghai (AFP) - Devant le musée de Shanghai, une file de VIP à fourrure patiente, la queue battante et les moustaches frémissantes, pour une visite dédiée aux chats de son exposition sur l'Egypte ancienne. Les billets pour la première soirée de ce type, samedi, se sont arrachés en quelques jours. De nombreux propriétaires de félins y voient l'occasion de partager une expérience avec leur compagnon à quatre pattes et souvent de publier des photos sur les réseaux sociaux de leur chat, pour la plupart de race. Une visiteuse confie à l'AFP avoir reporté un voyage en Europe pour pouvoir obtenir l'...
AFP (Français)
American-Palestinian model Bella Hadid is reportedly suing shoe and sportswear brand Adidas after being dropped from one of its campaigns. Sources familiar with the situation told American tabloid TMZ that the model had hired legal counsel to sue Adidas for their lack of public accountability, saying she feels Adidas "spearheaded a cruel and damaging campaign". Hadid was supposed to be the face of a relaunch of the SL72 shoes worn by athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Adidas had revised its campaign after backlash from Israel and pro-Israel social media accounts. The 1972 Olympics saw 11 Is...
The New Arab
New York (AFP) - New York has been the backdrop to countless "end of the world" storylines in film and TV. But on Tuesday an actual meteor shot over the city's iconic Statue of Liberty before disintegrating high above Manhattan, NASA's Meteor Watch said in a post on Facebook. Residents flooded the internet with reports of a fireball in the sky, with some describing the sensation of an earthquake, and others recounting the sound of a thunderstorm. "At 34,000 miles per hour, the meteor descended at a steep angle of just 18 degrees from vertical, passing over the Statue of Liberty before disinteg...
AFP
Italian Serie A champions Inter Milan removed an introduction video for new signing Mehdi Taremi after Arab fans expressed anger at the use of the phrase 'Persian Gulf' to refer to area in the Gulf. The 'Prince of Persia'-inspired trailer was posted to the team's Instagram page on Tuesday described the Iranian striker as being "from the Persian Gulf", while showing scenes of desert landscapes and ancient monuments. The term — mentioned by ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy — is used by the United Nations and on international maps to refer to the stretch of water between the Arabian Peninsula and...
The New Arab
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