UK artist highlights refugee plight by using drowned Syrians’ clothes to raise charity

Author:  Jocelyne Elia, Asharq Al-Awsat Wed, 2018-01-31 12:53 ID:  1517381908618285900 LONDON: We have heard many stories about boats loaded with Syrians fleeing the violence in their country in search of an unknown future in European countries. The trusted people smugglers did not tell them that, for many, they would not live to see their destinations and would instead drown at sea, scattered off the shores of Europe. According...

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Intermarche supermarket boss hauled in over French ‘Nutella riots’

Author:  AFP Wed, 2018-01-31 11:52 ID:  1517389837398630600 PARIS: The French government has implored supermarkets to refrain from the kind of promotion deals that have led to in-store scuffles over cut-price jars of Nutella, a minister said Wednesday. Videos of French shoppers jostling as they tried to grab heavily discounted tubs of the chocolate spread in Intermarche stores have gone viral over the past week. “I met with...

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Dubai, Doha and Beirut top list of most expensive Arab cities, but low globally

Author:  ARAB NEWS Wed, 2018-01-31 14:03 ID:  1517386567798469900 DUBAI: UAE’s Dubai topped the list of most expensive Arab cities in the world with a cost-of-living index of 72.58, according to the 2018 Cost of Living index. The 2018 Cost of Living Index, produced by crowd-sourced global database Numbeo, placed the Emirate as first in the region and 210th in the world. A cost-of-living index is a theoretical price index...

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Southeast Asia a ‘hotspot’ for antibiotic abuse, FAO official says

Author:  REUTERS Wed, 2018-01-31 10:06 ID:  1517382700518314600 BANGKOK: Overuse and misuse of antibiotics in food is rife in Southeast Asia, a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) official said on Wednesday, warning of serious risks for people and animals as bacterial infections become more resistant to treatment. The official from the United Nations’ food agency issued the warning on the sidelines of an international...

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Drivers in Oman face fines, and points for using mobile phone holders in vehicles

Author:  ARAB NEWS Wed, 2018-01-31 12:19 ID:  1517379661408211200 DUBAI: Oman’s police force has issued a directive banning the use of mobile phone holders inside vehicles, national daily the Times of Oman reported. The ban, which takes effect from March, will see fines of up to $39 issued to motorists, as well as a black point, the report added. “Installation of a tool or a device to place the mobile phone or any other electronic...

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Preserving Saudi Arabia’s history from the skies

Author:  RAWAN RADWAN Wed, 2018-01-31 11:00 ID:  1517377395348129000 JEDDAH: What happens when a group of documentary enthusiasts gather together to use their passion and expertise for good? Simple, they create a non-profit national documentary initiative that serves as a platform to document Saudi Arabia from the skies. The Kingdom, now more than ever, is opening its doors to tourists and encouraging visitors and residents...

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Celine Dion in talks to headline Morocco’s Mawazine Festival

Author:  ARAB NEWS Wed, 2018-01-31 03:00 ID:  1517336154562767100 JEDDAH: According to a report on Sayidaty.net, Celine Dion fans in North Africa might just get lucky this year, as the management of Morocco’s Mawazine Festival are negotiating with Dion to get the Canadian diva to headline this year’s edition, which will run from June 22 to 30. Sayidaty claims that talks between Maroc Cultures Association, the festival organizers,...

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Meryl Streep wants to trademark her own name

Author:  REUTERS Wed, 2018-01-31 03:00 ID:  1517336154512766500 LOS ANGELES: Meryl Streep, the most celebrated actress of her generation, has filed an application to trademark her name. The application was filed with US Patent and Trademark Office on Jan. 22, records show. It requests that the name Meryl Streep be trademarked for “entertainment services,” movie appearances, speaking engagements and autographs. Streep, 68,...

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Sharp drop in ratings for Grammy Awards this year

Author:  REUTERS Wed, 2018-01-31 03:00 ID:  1517336154532766800 LOS ANGELES: The US television audience for Sunday’s Grammy Awards on CBS Corp. fell by more than six million viewers, CBS said on Monday, after a show that was criticized for political jibes and wins for Bruno Mars at the expense of innovative rapper Kendrick Lamar. Citing Nielsen data, CBS said 19.8 million Americans tuned in for the three-and-a-half-hour broadcast,...

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Louvre displays art looted by Nazis, hopes to find owners

Author:  AP Tue, 2018-01-30 03:00 ID:  1517320933401249800 PARIS: The Louvre Museum is putting 31 paintings on permanent display in an effort to find the rightful owners of those and other works of art looted by Nazis during World War II. The Paris museum opened two showrooms last month to display the paintings, which are among thousands of works of art looted by German forces in France between 1940 and 1945. More than 45,000...

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Hadid sisters score their first ever British Vogue dual covers

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Kim Kardashian lashes out at Lindsay Lohan’s ‘confusing foreign accent’

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Book Review: Re-thinking strategy in the fight against fake news

Author:  Lisa Kaaki Tue, 2018-01-30 16:26 ID:  1517308334589947800 The term “fake news” was chosen as the phrase of the year in 2017 by Collins Dictionary. False stories that appear to be true have helped to undermine society’s trust in news reporting. On Jan. 10, President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would be the first country to shut down alleged fake news websites and social media accounts if they were suspected...

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Vaping and e-cigarettes could ‘harm your DNA’ and ‘increase risk of cancer’

Author:  ARAB NEWS Tue, 2018-01-30 16:04 ID:  1517306732239831800 DUBAI: Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, can increase the risk of heart disease and cancer, as well as damage DNA, according to a recent study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Despite being promoted as “safer” alternatives to cigarette tobacco, the study claims the battery-driven devices could still pose grave health consequences. “We...

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A rare gem: Meet the Saudi jewelry designer who is not afraid to shine

Author:  Denise Marray Tue, 2018-01-30 16:02 ID:  1517306980669848900 LONDON: Saudi jewelry designer Abeer Angawi is known for her unique style and handmade jewelry pieces. Arab News caught up with the designer to learn more about her ever-expanding business, creative drive and how a prediction by a market stall vendor could have sparked her success. Her turning point, she explained, came in 2004 during a visit to Cape Town,...

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German police hunt thieves who stole 44 tons of chocolate

Author:  AP Mon, 2018-01-29 03:00 ID:  1517304102429580300 BERLIN: Police say two truck trailers loaded with 44 tons (48.5 US tons) of chocolate were stolen in southern Germany and there’s no sign of the sticky-fingered perpetrators. Police said Monday the trailers packed with 400,000 euros ($496,100) worth of chocolate were stolen from an industrial park in Freiburg on Friday night. One was found Saturday hauled by a Polish...

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‘Maze Runner’ outruns ‘Jumanji’ to lead North American box offices

Author:  AFP Tue, 2018-01-30 05:45 ID:  1517303788709560400 LOS ANGELES: Fox’s young-adult film “Maze Runner: The Death Cure” dashed past “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” as it opened over the weekend in North American theaters, taking in $24.2 million (SR90.75 million) after a strong showing overseas, industry figures showed Monday. The dystopian sci-fi film, the third and final installment in the “Maze Runner” series, follows...

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Indian Muslim cleric says women watching football un-Islamic

Author:  AP Tue, 2018-01-30 03:00 ID:  1517299009119366300 LUCKNOW, India: A senior cleric at an influential Islamic seminary in northern India has issued a religious decree saying that Muslim women should not watch men playing soccer. Mufti Athar Kasmi said that watching men “playing with bare knees” violated the tenets of Islam and was forbidden for women. Kasmi is cleric at Darul Uloom, Asia’s largest Sunni Muslim seminary...

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Cuba tourism slides in wake of Hurricane Irma

Author:  REUTERS Tue, 2018-01-30 06:34 ID:  1517288554548980200 HAVANA: Tourism to Cuba, one of the few bright spots in its ailing economy, has slid in the wake of Hurricane Irma and the Trump administration’s tighter restrictions on travel to the Caribbean island, a Cuban tourism official said on Monday. Although the number of visitors rose nearly 20 percent in 2017, it fell 10 percent on the year in December, and is down...

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Saudi Arabia to take part in Venice Biennale for first time

Author:  JAMES REINL Tue, 2018-01-30 03:00 ID:  1517254760684963200 NEW YORK: Saudi Arabia will host a pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture for the first time this year — one of several projects announced on Monday by Ahmed Mater, director of the recently-created Misk Art Institute. Mater, also a prominent Saudi artist, said judges have yet to decide which architectural project from 66 entries will be selected...

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Middle Eastern couture rules Grammy Awards red carpet

Author:  ARAB NEWS Tue, 2018-01-30 03:00 ID:  1517251947494728700 JEDDAH: The fashion accessory of the Grammy Awards: A single white rose worn in solidarity with victims of abuse and as an appeal for equality. Arab designers, meanwhile, managed to gain their share of the spotlight on the red carpet on Monday as several A-listers turned heads arriving in exquisite Middle Eastern couture. Saudi-born, Beirut-based fashion couturier...

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Alec Baldwin questions Woody Allen allegations

Author:  AP Tue, 2018-01-30 03:00 ID:  1517251947474727900 LOS ANGELES: Actor Alec Baldwin is once again using Twitter to question Dylan Farrow’s allegations of sexual abuse from her adoptive father Woody Allen. Baldwin on Sunday compared Farrow to the “To Kill a Mockingbird” novel character Mayella Ewell, who falsely accuses a man of rape. Earlier this month, Baldwin said Farrow’s renunciation of Allen and his work is “unfair...

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