Friday's grand finale of Arabs Got Talent was a good old reminder that Arabs had a whole bunch of talent up their sleeves besides wars, dictatorships and speaking a whole cornocopia of dialects across the diverse region and still understanding one another! Throw in nascent democracies , and put that in your Arab hookah and smoke it! Arabs had a lot to sing and dance about yesterday night. The final episode delivered a healthy mix of talents who qualified as fit contenders and potential ' Arab talents '. All were ...

Ok so we know where the US government stands and how the UN would vote, we even think we've figured out whose side the Russians are on, but the real question is: which Arab celebrities are pro or anti the Assad regime ? It's by no means a clean sweep for the opposition as many singers and actors favor Assad to stop the bloodshed, while others are hedging their bets by refusing to speak out publicly. But you can always rely on a few stars to speak their minds and ...

With the QFs behind us, the Editors at Al Bawaba present their picks from the teams that played the quarter final round in the Euro Championships, 2011. The teams that made it to the semis were the best performers, in a set of less-than-thrilling matches that failed to live up to the Quarter Final expectations. England v. Italy gave us a tense penalty shoot-out to compensate for an undewhelming game. In general the matches level fell short of expectations In a nutshell, Portugal breezed through against the Czech Republic ...

The line-up for the Arabs Got Talent final includes a dozen acts with nothing too radical or outlandish in the competition. A novelty act of drinking straw instrumentals was probably the most quirky element in the mixed bag of singing, dancing and acrobatics. With the Cirque du Soleil coming to town in the Middle East , a few acrobatic acts and circus talents enter the mix. Male opera singing and a Tom-Boyish Emirati singer added some spice to the usual suspects. In the singing stakes, a lot of the talent ...

Euro 2012 has dished up one thrilling moment after another in the course of a riveting group stage. There were teams that surprised us with their dramatic displays, and others that went short or below par. The compelling tournament so far has kept us on our toes - and it's still anybody's title for the taking. Co-hosts Poland and the Ukraine both failed to survive the group stage, though still left us with commedable performances. All groups face tough matches in the upcoming games. Before plunging ahead with the Euro ...

Mubarak is in critical condition with reports circulating that he might already be dead. While he was sleeping, the rumors began: was he faking it? Could he have medically induced his own coma to escape his fate? As he approaches death's door , we take a look at Mubarak's defining moments as president of Egypt and ask - how will he be remembered? As a military hero , devoted husband, and regional peacemaker ; or as the hated dictator, corrupt crony and criminal plaintiff ? Whether he's clinically dead or ...

As the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) announced its presidential triumph with Mohammed Mursi taking the throne of Egypt , all eyes were on the power struggle playing out between the military and the people's choice. While Shafiq is a defeated man, his cause is still being championed by his military friends who reign supreme. This time, Egypt's winner may not be taking all. Is Mursi just an Islamic figurehead to the real power at play? Back to a military future Some are calling today's announcement by the Supreme Council of the ...

The Lebanese Murex D'or awards also known as the Golden Murex awards did not sneak by unnoticed this year, not completely shadowed by the political turmoil and drama afflicting the region as a whole. Instead, the Murex D'or of 2012 contained a healthy amount of the usual red-carpet fuss and hot gossip. These Lebanese awards of pan-Arab recognition in the realm of film and the arts have been running since 2000 in the Lebanese capital in honor of the 'Phoenecian' root of the purple-dyed name. The stars and the fans ...

Mid-way through the group stage of Euro 2012 , and about to finish the second round, there have been some eye-opening individual player performances. The tournament is already delivering poetic displays and tales for veteran players who were written off but making timely comebacks. Young players too are making their mark, laying down ripe and promising futures. Strikers are scoring like they should and international players are showing their worth in the international arena. The people and the pundits have been anticipating the start of Euro 2012 where dreams are ...

To float one's eyes over a map of the Middle East, is to see a region in distress. Revolution or not, the Arab region has not been faring well for a while and has been failing to get out of deadlock political situations and economic black holes . While Egypt looks to be getting somewhere with its first free presidential elections coming to fruition , all eyes are on the blood baths in Syria and free elections may be harbingers to rougher times ahead, even if freely chosen. Syria's revolution ...

The Middle East leg of Madonna's MDNA tour , billed her Peace Tour, was the opening act to the world tour ahead, and certainly got off to a bang-bang, with guns blazing. The Queen of Pop and ever-evolving woman of a thousand contradictions, with fewer apologies, managed to impress and dismay in equal measure, whether for the heat storm she kicked up by shunning AC units on stage in Abu Dhabi, or the political upset brought about by her performing in Israel and talking 'peace'. Air con wasn't the only ...