• Rita Ora confirms she's leaving The X Factor

    Rita Ora has confirmed that she's leaving The X Factor. The singer, who joined the show last year, tweeted: "I had a ball on The X Factor last year and will miss the team. "@simoncowell can't wait to work with you again... I'll be round for dinner soon. Thank you for the experience & love X" Rita took on the role after moving from The Voice UK, which is moving from the BBC to ITV. The singer mentored the girls category and went on to win the show with her act, Louisa Johnson. In a statement ITV told Newsbeat: "Rita brought a great energy to the show last year and did a brilliant job mentoring the girls' category, leading Louisa to victory. "We wish her all the best with her music and film plans

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  • OFWs urged to remain calm if ridiculed over drug proliferation in Philippines

    RIYADH: A Filipino group has urged Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom to remain calm if ridiculed by other expats due to drug proliferation in the Philippines.“Stay calm and reasonably defend yourselves and the country if ridiculed by fellow expats due to the drug problem in the Philippines,” the United Overseas Filipino Worldwide (UOFW) said. Some 3,000 Filipinos have died in connection with the campaign of the current Philippine government against illegal drugs in the country. President Rodrigo R. Duterte had claimed that he had a list of those involved in drug-related activities and it included politicians and well-known celebrities. A total of 40 artists volunteered to test for

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  • ‘Abu Sin’, US girl’s antics divide Saudi public opinion

    While the global headlines on Saudi Arabia focused on the coverage of the United States override of President Obama’s veto on the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) law, a more local story was grabbing people’s attention. It all started when a young 19-year-old Saudi man, named Abu Sin (the toothless one), started chatting online to a young Californian girl - Christina Crockett - on camera and posting their conversations on the YouNow program. The conversations between Abu Sin and Crockett were first broadcast on YouNow before being relayed on YouTube. One video in particular went viral when Abu Sin, while smoking a cigarette, asked Christina for her hand in marriage.

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  • The 5 decisions that changed life in Saudi today

    Saudi Arabia started on Sunday the implementation of the new visa fees. Under the new scheme, the fee for a single entry visa into the kingdom is 2,000 Saudi Riyals. The visa is valid for two months, and every additional month, within the duration of the expatriate’s residence permit, costs SR100, the Directorate General of Passports said. The new amendments have been introduced to visa fees in Saudi Arabia, decided last month by the cabinet to boost non-oil revenues.

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  • Pakistan and India exchange fresh fire as tensions rise

    Pakistan and India have exchanged fresh fire along the de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir, the Pakistani military said, as tensions rise between the nuclear-armed neighbouring countries. "Pakistani troops befittingly responded to Indian unprovoked firing" which started at 4:00 am (2300 GMT) and continued for four hours in Bhimber sector on the Pakistani side of the border, a Pakistani military statement said on Saturday, without mentioning any casualties.  Later on Saturday, Pawan Kotwal, a top civilian official in Jammu and Kashmir state on the Indian side, said the exchange of fire had not caused any damage. "There was small arms fire and mortar shells fire from across

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  • Editorial: ‘Abu Sin’ deserves a tryout, not a trial!

    It is not surprising that the curious case of Saudi teenager “Abu Sin” has generated global news headlines, particularly that despite it being a few days since his arrest, only a few people — if any — seem to know what exactly was it that he did which was illegal! If you are unaware of the story, here are the details: A bubbly and incredibly entertaining young Saudi, known by the nickname of “Abu Sin” (which means “toothless”), was arrested on charges of “unethical behavior” after appearing in online video exchanges with 21-year-old American vlogger, Christina Crockett. The humorous exchanges between the two show them battling to communicate despite geographical, cultural and language barriers (Christina doesn’t speak Arabic, Abu Sin doesn’t speak English!). In one of the exchanges, Abu Sin performs a funny dance invoking the laughter of his friends, and in another, he dons a traditional Saudi headdress and sings Christina a love song before — jokingly or not — asking her to marry him.

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  • Indian migrants return home, recall nightmare

    NEW DELHI: They left India for Saudi Arabia with big dreams, but have returned with only harrowing tales after an oil price slump threw the economy into turmoil, leaving thousands of poor migrant laborers stranded. The workers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines were left destitute, without enough money to get home or even to buy food after losing their jobs. This week around 40 workers from the impoverished east Indian state of Bihar finally arrived home with stories of being “left to die” by their employer Saudi Oger, the once-mighty firm led by Lebanon’s billionaire former prime minister Saad Hariri. The company, which at one time had some 50,000 workers on its payroll, was hit by a drop in income from its core construction business after Saudi Arabia delayed or cancelled projects in the face of plummeting oil revenues.

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  • William and Kate praise Canada for 'happy' family memories

    The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have praised Canada for leaving their family with "happy memories" as their tour of Canada came to an end. Prince William said they felt "very lucky" to have introduced Prince George and Princess Charlotte to the Commonwealth country. The royal children stole the limelight during a trip to an outdoor fun day as part of the eight-day engagement. The visit was their first official overseas trip as a family of four. Prince William said he and Kate were "incredibly grateful" to the people of Canada for the warmth and hospitality they had experienced as a family. He added: "We have loved our time in British Columbia and Yukon and will never forget the beautiful places

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  • Two Muslim Women Kicked Off JetBlue Flight for ‘Staring’ at Flight Attendant

    In what would have been a shocking but is now an all-too-familiar Islamophobic incident, two Muslim women were led off a passenger plane as a flight attendant did not like the way the women ‘stared’ at her, according to DailyMail. On Saturday, two Muslim women in hijabs onboard JetBlue Flight 487 between Boston and Los Angeles were escorted out of the airliner by police as one of the flight attendants was concerned about the way the two women were looking at her. A video showing the two women being escorted out for questioning was posted on YouTube on Monday by Mark Frauenfelder, taken by his friend Sharon Kessler. In regards to the incident, Kessler told DailyMail that "it was a terrible moment

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  • OPEC and the stagnant price of oil

    The 15th International Energy Forum, held in Algiers earlier this week, saw OPEC members decide to cut production by about 800,000 barrels per day. The cut will not be consistent across all member states but is significant nonetheless, being the first in eight years.The move is meant to stabilise global oil prices. "Today OPEC has taken an historic decision. OPEC will go back to its role of monitoring the market. It's a role that it lost many years ago, that it is now reclaiming," said Noureddine Boutarfa, the Algerian energy minister.  Many oil income-reliant states have welcomed OPEC's decision in light of the dramatic drops in oil prices from $110 per barrel in 2014, to less than $30 per barrel

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  • Clinton edges ahead of Trump in post-debate poll bump

    Hillary Clinton has pulled ahead of presidential rival Donald Trump in a new national poll out Friday, just days after her strong showing in the first televised debate. The Democrat and former secretary of state bested her Republican rival by three percentage points in a Fox News poll which showed her ahead 43 to 40 percent. Although Clinton’s lead is within the poll’s three percentage point margin of error, it shows a bump for Clinton, who beat Trump by only one percentage point in the same poll two weeks ago.

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  • Reporting Syria's war - the images you won't see

    How do you report something you can't show people because it is judged too ghastly for them to see? This issue hit me with both barrels between the eyes this week when I had to wrestle with a series of images from besieged Aleppo. They had been taken by Syrian doctors in an underground hospital and forwarded to me by Dr David Nott, the pioneering war surgeon who has been using social media to teach his colleagues over the internet how to, for example, rebuild a man's face. I first covered war in 1988 and I've seen more than enough real horror with my own eyes. But the Aleppo hospital pictures were grim beyond the saying of it. Be warned. What I must write and you will now read is a terrible litany

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  • Love Island will return for a third series

    Good news for fans of Love Island - ITV has announced it will be back next year. Bosses have ordered a third season of one of the summer's most talked about shows. Its second run is thought to have doubled last year's viewing figures, with an average of 1.3 million people watching each episode. "We can't wait to do it all again next year," said ITV Studios creative director Richard Cowles. Although the series officially finished last night with Nathan Massey and Cara De La Hoyde crowned champions, it will return for a special episode on Sunday 17 July. Love Island: Heading Home will follow the islanders as they're reunited at the wrap party. Which will no doubt mean clashes as exes come face-to-face

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  • Saudi Arabia abandons Islamic calendar for govt pay - Region - World

    Saudi government workers will be paid according to the Gregorian calendar instead of the Islamic Hijri calendar, making the working month longer as part of cost-cutting measures, newspapers reported Monday. The change, approved by cabinet last week, brings civil service pay in line with the government's January-December fiscal year, the Arab News and Saudi Gazette reported. The reports said the latest austerity measure took effect on October 1. Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is cutting government spending and re-orienting its economy after a collapse over the past two years of the global oil price which provided most of its revenue. The Hijri calender consists of 12 months of

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  • Couple admit funding Islamic State fighter nephew

    A married couple from London have admitted providing funding for their nephew who was fighting in Syria with militants from the Islamic State group. Mohammed and Nazimabee Golamaully, from Mitcham, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to transferring £219, knowing it may be used for terrorist purposes. Nephew Zafirr Golamaully travelled from his home on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius to join IS. His uncle and aunt will be sentenced on 10 November. They did not tell Zafirr's parents and their money transfer was only discovered during a police investigation into a worldwide network of terrorism funding. Prosecutors said that, before leaving his home in Mauritius, Zafirr had spoken to his uncle

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  • iPhone 7? You're fired!

    Imagine if annoying your Android-loving friends wasn't the worst reaction you received for buying Apple's latest phone. What if your boss said your shiny new device would harm your promotion chances or could even get you fired. These are the measures which a small number of Chinese employers are threatening to take against workers tempted by the iPhone 7. It might not be immediately obvious why a mobile phone would arouse such animosity - this isn't a protest against the lack of a traditional headphone jack socket. The firms issuing the anti-iPhone edicts are claiming they are doing it for patriotic reasons or to dissuade staff from becoming too materialistic. It was the former in the case of

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  • Video: Cut's 100 Years of Egyptian Beauty Breaks the Internet!

    The latest video of Cut's 100 Years of Beauty series, which has already covered the evolution of beauty in countries such as India, Russia, and Korea, just managed to fit 100 years of Egyptian beauty in less than two minutes of footage. Featured looks are a documentation of Egypt’s political shifts and their effects on Egyptian society and, by extension, Egyptian women’s sense of style.    “The look chosen for the 1910s represented the urban look that women would wear to step outside the home,” researcher Jacinthe Assaad says in a video detailing the research behind each look. According to Assaad, the 20s look is inspired by Egyptian feminist Huda Shaarawi who took off the veil in resistance.

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  • Pakistan disputes India's 'surgical strikes'

    CNN's Sophia Saifi reports from the site where a "surgical strike" was supposedly carried out by India in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

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  • Blake Lively doesn't want you praising her post-baby body

    Blake Lively says new mums shouldn't feel pressure to lose weight straight after having a baby. She's been on Australian breakfast show Sunrise, where she was complimented on how great she looked in a bikini in her new film The Shallows. The presenter commented on how the film was shot just months after Blake had her first baby. But the 28-year-old called it unfair that slimming down after birth is "so celebrated". "It's like, this is what someone looks like after having a baby," she said. "I think a woman's body after having a baby is pretty amazing. You gave birth to a human being. I would really like to see that celebrated." The ex-Gossip Girl star's now expecting her second child with husband

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  • Controversy surrounds fully automatic corpse-washing device in Iran

    A few years ago in Iran, a fully automatic corpse-washing device raised a social debate about

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