A handbag? For $380k, it’s yours

Author:  AFP Wed, 2017-05-31 14:41 ID:  1496231367869752800 HONG KONG: A diamond-encrusted crocodile-skin Hermes handbag with white gold details has broken the record for the world’s most expensive ever sold at auction, fetching nearly $380,000 at a Hong Kong sale. The rare Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Diamond Birkin 30 went to an unknown phone bidder Wednesday for HK$2.94 million after intense bidding, a spokeswoman for...

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Plastic surgery clinics hacked; 25,000 photos, data online

Author:  Associated Press Wed, 2017-05-31 00:46 ID:  1496169814504362600 VILNIUS, Lithuania: Police in Lithuania say more than 25,000 private photos — including nude pictures — and other personal data have been made public following the hacking of a chain of plastic surgery clinics. Police says a hacking group called Tsar Team — which broke into the servers of Grozio Chirurgija clinics earlier this year — demanded ransoms...

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Tobacco kills 7 million a year, wreaks environmental havoc: WHO

Author:  AFP Tue, 2017-05-30 12:18 ID:  1496137020341286100 GENEVA: Smoking and other tobacco use kills more than seven million people each year, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, also warning of the dire environmental impact of tobacco production, distribution and waste. The UN agency said tougher measures were needed to rein in tobacco use, urging countries to ban smoking in the workplace and indoor public spaces,...

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Smokers say Saudi price hike unlikely to make them kick habit

Author:  LULWA SHALHOUB Tue, 2017-05-30 04:27 ID:  1496097553497532400 JEDDAH: The price of a pack of cigarettes in Saudi Arabia will double when a selective tax becomes effective June 11. The move will put a financial strain on smokers, but it may not necessarily lead them to quit smoking. “The government’s decision to impose a tax on tobacco means that soon we will have to pay double for a pack of cigarettes, but the price...

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Sofia Coppola makes history with best director win at Cannes

Author:  AFP Tue, 2017-05-30 03:00 ID:  1496092680447279000 CANNES, France: Sofia Coppola scooped best director at the Cannes film festival on Sunday night for her star-studded remake of “The Beguiled.” In a 70th edition marked by raging debate over sexism in the movie industry, Coppola became only the second woman in history to win best director. Among others she thanked her father, the “Apocalypse Now” director Francis...

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Life of Spanish spy Ali Bey who posed as Arab prince set for cinema

Author:  AFP Tue, 2017-05-30 03:00 ID:  1496092680477279600 RABAT: Adventurer, Orientalist, spy: The story of Spanish explorer Ali Bey Al-Abbassi is to be told on the silver screen for the first time, two centuries after his death. Born in Catalonia in 1767, Domingo Badia y Leblich posed as an exiled Arab prince and became one of the first Europeans to set foot in Makkah. Yet despite mixing with the Spanish royal family,...

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‘Pirates’ tops box office, ‘Baywatch’ sinks

Author:  AP Tue, 2017-05-30 03:00 ID:  1496092680457279300 LOS ANGELES: It was smooth sailing to the top spot at the box office for “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” but the waters were choppier for the Dwayne Johnson comedy “Baywatch.” Studio estimates on Sunday said the fifth installment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise commandeered $62.2 million in its first three days in theaters. The Johnny...

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Tiger Woods arrested on suspicion of drunk driving

Author:  AFP Mon, 2017-05-29 22:20 ID:  1496074663195691700 WASHINGTON: Tiger Woods was arrested early Monday on a DUI charge in Jupiter, Florida, and spent nearly four hours in a county jail before he was released. Woods, the 14-time major champion who ranks second with his 79 career victories on the PGA Tour, has not played for four months. He is out for the rest of the season while he recovers from his fourth back surgery. Woods...

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Lindsay Lohan wishes Muslims a happy Ramadan

Author:  ARAB NEWS Mon, 2017-05-29 03:00 ID:  1496004028308544100 JEDDAH: Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan’s most recent post on Instagram wishes everyone a happy Ramadan. Lohan, who has been open about her interest in Islam in the past, shared a photo of herself wearing a floor-length floral gown in what looks like a hotel room in Cannes, France. “#happyramadan” she captioned the image. The post has led many of her fans to...

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Singer songwriter Gregg Allman dead at 69

Author:  AFP Mon, 2017-05-29 03:00 ID:  1496004028238543500 WASHINGTON: Gregg Allman, the powerfully bluesy singer and songwriter who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and emerged as a trailblazer of Southern rock, has died at the age of 69. Allman died peacefully at his home in Savannah, Georgia, according to a statement posted Saturday on his website. No cause of death was immediately given, but a statement on his website...

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Washington’s Embassy Chef Challenge cooks up flavor, fun

Author:  Barbara G.B. Ferguson Mon, 2017-05-29 03:00 ID:  1496004028278543800 WASHINGTON – Touring dozens of countries in one year is no easy task even for the most ambitious traveler, but here in town the 9th annual Embassy Chef Challenge allowed guests to sample 38 countries’ culinary specialties all in one night. The prestigious annual event, held before the eve of Ramadan, brought together D.C. culinary aficionados and...

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Travolta donates plane to Australia aviation group

Author:  AP Mon, 2017-05-29 03:00 ID:  1496004028198543200 LOS ANGELES: John Travolta has donated his personal vintage Boeing 707 airplane to a restoration group in Australia. He said in a statement Friday that the plane will require maintenance before for the trip from his Florida home to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society in Albion Park, about 145 km from Sydney. The craft, which the society hopes to keep in the...

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Palestinians ban divorces during Ramadan

Author:  Agence France Presse Sun, 2017-05-28 19:40 ID:  1495978785785662100 RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The head of Palestinian Islamic courts on Sunday told judges not to grant divorces over Ramadan, fearing the month-long fast could spark rash words that would be regretted later. Judge Mahmud Habash said he based his ruling on “the experience of previous years” when he found that the dawn-to-dusk fast and ban on...

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Franco-Lebanese trumpeter Maalouf not keen on Hollywood

Author:  AFP Fri, 2017-05-26 19:14 ID:  1495896543717993400 BEIRUT: For star trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf, famed for his award-winning film soundtracks and jazz-inspired mixing of eastern and western sounds, improvization is “a way of life.” “Improvization is a discipline that people don’t understand well,” the Franco-Lebanese musician, who has played with Sting and Elvis Costello among others, told AFP. “For me it symbolizes...

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Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor announce separation

Author:  AP Sat, 2017-05-27 03:00 ID:  1495896506687985300 LOS ANGELES: Ben Stiller and his wife announced Friday that they are separating after 17 years of marriage. Stiller and actress Christine Taylor released a joint statement Friday announcing their breakup. They were married in May 2000 and have two children, who they said will remain their priority. “With tremendous love and respect for each other, and the 18 years...

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Ariana Grande plans show for Manchester victims

Author:  AFP Fri, 2017-05-26 22:41 ID:  1495896461297974400 NEW YORK: Pop star Ariana Grande promised Friday to return to Manchester to play a charity concert following a suicide attack at her show, as she urged fans to respond to the tragedy with love. In her first substantive comments since Monday’s tragedy, the singer said she felt “uplift” by seeing fans’ compassion after the blast which killed 22 people and was claimed...

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Dubai firm dreams of harvesting icebergs for water

Author:  AP Wed, 2017-05-17 03:00 ID:  1495778875776539700 DUBAI: A Dubai firm’s dream of towing icebergs from the Antarctic to the Arabian Peninsula could face some titanic obstacles. Where many see the crumbling polar ice caps as a distressing sign of global warming, the National Adviser Bureau Limited sees it as a source of profit, and a way of offsetting the effects of climate change in the increasingly sweltering Gulf. The...

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‘The Moor’s Account’ gives a Moroccan slave his voice

Author:  Manal Shakir Fri, 2017-05-26 03:00 ID:  1495752817202663900 “The Moor’s Account” by Laila Lalami is a fictionalized memoir of a Moorish slave from Morocco named Mustafa ibn Muhammad ibn Abdussalam Al-Zamori. Known as Estebanico by his Spanish master and conquistador, Andrés Dorantes, he travels with a Spanish fleet in 1527 to settle in La Florida for the king and queen. Of the five ships and 600-strong contingent...

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‘Inglorious Empire’ tackles the little-known rape of India’s economy and how it set the stage for today’s Hindu-Muslim divisions

Author:  Lisa Kaaki Fri, 2017-05-26 04:44 ID:  1495752817162663500 In 1600 when the East India Co. was established, Britain accounted for only 1.8 percent of the world’s GDP while India was generating some 23 percent. By 1940, Britain was producing nearly 10 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and after the British had left, India’s GDP stood at 4 percent. How did one of the wealthiest countries turn into one of...

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Options for every day of the week: The Primavera Restaurant

Author:  Shaistha Khan Fri, 2017-05-26 03:00 ID:  1495752071332590600 If you’re looking to eat out somewhere extravagant in the middle of the week or even on a weekend, then look no further. Primavera Restaurant, Crowne Plaza’s flagship restaurant in Alkhobar, offers an extensive menu that has something for everybody. Open all through the day, the restaurant offers an intercontinental menu during breakfast, an international...

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Make room for Maison de Zaid’s banana caramel French toast

Author:  Sabaa J. Ali Fri, 2017-05-26 03:00 ID:  1495752071282590200 If there is one restaurant that is still in its soft opening stage, but already has everyone in Jeddah talking, it is Maison de Zaid or Bayt Zaid in the Rawdah district. After a failed attempt one day when we arrived even before opening time and then chose to eat elsewhere when the wait was too long, my friends and I managed to visit Maison de Zaid last...

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Salma Hayek revisits bumps in Hollywood journey as ‘Mexican Arab’

Author:  AFP Fri, 2017-05-26 03:00 ID:  1495750613212431800 CANNES, France: Despite being a soap star in Mexico, Salma Hayek’s climb up the Hollywood ladder was far from easy. “Imagine, I came not only as a woman to Hollywood but as a Mexican Arab. People would laugh at me for having the dream of being able to work in Hollywood,” said the actor, whose father is Lebanese. Hayek said Hollywood had disregarded and disrespected...

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Iraq radio show finds talent amid rubble of Mosul

Author:  AFP Fri, 2017-05-26 03:00 ID:  1495750613182431500 IRBIL, Iraq: It is a radio talent contest with a mission: Showcasing the skills of Mosul’s youth after years of militant rule and a months-long battle for the city. The recorded lyrics of competitor MC Rico, a rapper from Iraq’s second city, filled the studio of Al-Ghad — Arabic for “tomorrow.” “We saw a lot of horrors when we were young. I wish I hadn’t grown up,...

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‘Afghan Spielberg’ Shaheen goes down a storm at Cannes

Author:  AFP Fri, 2017-05-26 03:00 ID:  1495750613142431200 CANNES: In the hierarchy of world cinema, Hollywood is at the top. Then comes Bollywood and Nigeria’s Nollywood. And then “way, way below comes us,” says Salim Shaheen, a chubby Afghan actor who is his country’s one-man film industry. “We are Nothingwood.” Shaheen, who is 51 or 53 — he is not quite sure himself — is the stand-out revelation of this year’s Cannes...

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