Arabic News Updated Daily

Scientists discover smallest-ever star EBLM J0555-57Ab, as it is called, is located about 600 light years away Scientists have discovered the smallest-known star in the universe — slightly larger than Saturn in size — which may possibly have Earth-sized planets with liquid water in its orbit. Researchers from University of Cambridge in the U.K. identified the star located about 600 light years away, called EBLM J0555-57Ab as it passed in front of its much larger companion. The star is likely as small as stars can possibly become, as it has just enough mass to enable the fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium, researchers said. Gravitational pull With a size just a sliver larger than that of Saturn, the gravitational pull at its stellar surface is about 300 times stronger than what humans feel on Earth. The discovery is also the best possible candidates for detecting Earth-sized planets which can have liquid water on their surfaces, such as TRAPPIST-1, an ultracool dwarf surrounded...

What is the Saraswati supercluster? What are galaxy clusters? How big are they? Galaxies are like the building blocks of the universe, they contain a huge number of stars, something like 100 billion at a count. Galaxy groups can have three to 20 galaxies, the richest systems are called clusters (like the Virgo cluster) which can have several hundred galaxies. Superclusters are clusters of clusters. They can have as few as two clusters, and superclusters with two to four clusters are common. Saraswati has 42. Within superclusters, clusters are connected by filaments and sheets of dark matter with galaxies embedded in them. It is supposed that the galaxies are born in the filaments and then migrate towards the intersection of the filaments where they are assimilated into clusters. What are superclusters? These are the largest coherent structures seen in the universe. Firstly there are clusters of galaxies together with associated gas and dark matter. Large groups of such clusters, ...

India overtakes US as Facebook’s No. 1 user India has overtaken the US to become Facebook’s largest country audience with a total 241 million active users, compared to 240 million in the US. The change at the top of the platform’s country rankings comes just a few days after Facebook announced it has more than two billion monthly users around the world, a report in The Next Web on Thursday said. The portal was quoting figures that the social media giant released to advertisers. The figures indicate that active users in India were growing more than twice as fast as in the US. “Active users in India are up 27% in the past six months alone, compared to growth of 12% in the US over the same period,” the report added. What was puzzling is that despite being the platform’s largest country audience, the social media penetration in India remained low, with just 19% of its total population using Facebook in June. The figures also lay bare the Facebook’s gender imbalance in India as men st...

8GB ASUS ZenFone AR arrives in India at ₹49,999 Aiming for a larger pie of the premium segment in India, Taiwanese electronics giant ASUS has unveiled its flagship ‘ZenFone AR’ smartphone — the world’s first Google Tango-enabled and Google Daydream View-ready smartphone with a huge 8GB RAM — for the consumers. First showcased at ‘CES 2017’ in January this year, the 5.7-inch ZenFone AR with a unique rear tri-camera system and 128GB internal storage (expendable up to 2 TB) will be available exclusively on Flipkart for ₹49,999 from 4 p.m. on July 13. The tri-camera system has 23MP main camera, a depth-sensing camera and motion-tracking camera with a “Super Resolution” mode that can create massive 92MP image and capture 4K-UHD video. The device sports 8MP selfie camera. “With ZenFone AR, we desire to turn your physical world into a magical world by enabling it to perceive space and motion that goes beyond the boundaries of a touch screen,” Peter Chang, Regional Head, South Asia & C...

St. Petersburg: White Nights calling Whoever called New York “the city that never sleeps” had clearly never been to St. Petersburg in the summer. The Russian metropolis, which will host seven matches at next summer’s FIFA World Cup, is bathed in almost perpetual daylight between May and June. If New York dances in the dark, St. Petersburg does a summertime shimmy without dimming the lights. Developed in the early 18th century under the watchful eye of Peter the Great, the city was home to Tchaikovsky, Pushkin and Dostoyevsky, helping it quickly grow into Russia’s cultural capital. With its quaint canal-lined streets, it is easy to see why people refer to it as “the Venice of the North.” On any given summer evening, St. Petersburg’s main vein, Nevsky Prospekt, bustles with musicians, street vendors, shoppers, boat hoppers, idle young lovers, and curious tourists gazing disbelievingly at the pale blue sky and checking their watches. The Russians call this period of the year Belye N...

As Indonesia cuts forests, fake nature thrives JAKARTA: Indonesia’s capital is lush with fake greenery even as the country is cutting down its precious tropical forests at a record rate. Jakarta’s gleaming air-conditioned malls have a particular fondness for lifeless extravaganzas of plastic ferns or autumnal trees that don’t drop any leaves. Construction sites are wrapped in screens printed with giant leaves glistening with dew drops or the picturesque deciduous forests found in temperate climates. A new terminal at the international airport has a mini-jungle within its cavernous air-conditioned interior. Despite the odd inclusion of fake grass it has the slight saving grace that the potted greenery is real. It’s not that Jakarta lacks real trees. The presidential palace has well-manicured surrounds of park, verges and trees. But elsewhere, against the backdrop of unrelenting traffic and brutalist concrete, the greens often seem weirdly out of place, like an introduced alien specie...

British baby Charlie Gard to be evaluated by US doc Baby Charlie Gard, the 11-month-old with a rare, terminal medical condition who has been the center of an ongoing legal battle, will be evaluated by a doctor from the United States. Charlie will be examined early next week, in London, by Dr. Michio Hirano, a neurologist at New York’s Columbia University Medical Center. Hirano is developing an experimental therapy that has been used on at least one American patient with a similar but less severe mitochondrial disease. He specializes in myopathies and other neuromuscular diseases. Charlie was born in August with mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, a progressive disease that causes muscle weakness and loss of motor skills, leaving those who have it unable to stand, walk, eat, talk and eventually breathe. Charlie will die from his illness, his doctors have said. His parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, successfully raised money in hopes of bringing their son to the US for an experim...

Dozens of intact brains discovered in an 80-year-old mass grave Scientists unearthed a strange find from a Spanish Civil War mass grave in northern Spain: intact human brains. Forty-five brains, to be exact. The brains had shrunk to about 20% to 30% of their original size but were naturally preserved So, how did the brains withstand more than 80 years in a moist mass grave in La Pedraja, near Burgos, Spain? Through a perfect storm of factors. The clay soil where the grave was dug played a role, as did below-average temperatures and above-average rainfall in the months that followed. Fernando Serrulla, a forensic anthropologist of the Aranzadi Science Society, prepares to show one of the 45 brains All of them conspired to delay the normal decomposition process, said forensic anthropologist Fernando Serrulla in a study detailing the findings. The mass grave is from the civil war that ravaged Spain from 1936 to 1939. The victims were likely shot and buried in the summer and fall ...

Fashion with an edge: The team behind Nicholas K dress eco-conscious “urban nomads” The brother-sister team behind the brand Nicholas K aren’t typical fashion creators. Christopher and Nicholas (who’s also known as Nicole) Kunz say their flowing, draped, often loose-fitting designs are suited to the “urban nomad.” They don’t believe in — or follow — trends. They prefer seasonless clothes to ones that are designed for spring or fall. They’d also rather see customers buy one really great sweater or pair of pants than four or five pieces of clothing that will be discarded within months. Denverites will get to view Nicholas K’s latest looks on Aug. 5 at the Urban Nights fashion show, which benefits Urban Peak and two other youth charities. The Cherry Creek North boutique Garbarini is the presenting boutique for the show. Owner Terry Garbarini says she has been selling the line since the company started in 2003 because it’s unlike anything else on the market. The collection, which includ...

American Eagle celebrates diversity with hijab model JEDDAH: In a celebration of diversity, renowned brand American Eagle features a hijab-wearing model to mark its summer 2017 collection. Halima Aden, a Somali American, made headlines last winter for being the first hijab-wearing model on New York and Milan runways. She was also the first ever Somali American to compete and become a semifinalist in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant. “She caught our attention at 2016’s Miss Minnesota USA, where she competed in a burkini and hijab,” the American retailer tweeted. The ad is a part of the brand’s back-to-school collection 2017. “I’m very proud to be in this campaign and to support its message of inclusivity and empowerment,” Aden said. “I have always loved the brand’s work to encourage today’s youth to express themselves, and it is important to me to be a part of something that shows diversity expressed through many backgrounds and personal styles.” The 19-year-old was on Vogue Arabia...

S. Korea’s first black model faces widespread racism SEOL: Teenage male model Han Hyun-Min’s long legs and powerful strut have made him a rising star on South Korean catwalks, but his agent knew there would be a problem in the ethnically homogenous country: he is half black. Han, 16, has a Nigerian father in a society where racial discrimination is widespread and people of mixed race are commonly referred to as “mongrels.” “A dark-skinned fashion model like Han was unheard of in South Korea, so recruiting him was a big gamble,” said agent Youn Bum. Now Han is posing for top glossy magazines as the country’s first black fashion model. South Korea has for years sought to foster the image of a modern, sophisticated and tech-savvy nation whose pop culture has made waves across Asia. But behind the facade of an economic and cultural powerhouse lies a deeply-rooted racism — even as its immigrant population creeps up, doubling over the last decade but still only four percent of the popul...

Customs thwarts smuggling halet Ammar 121 thousand bead «both» Enable custom halet Ammar on the Northwestern border of the Kingdom of frustration trying to smuggle a quantity of pills «both» reached 121 thousand and 226 bead, found hidden in three vehicles provided to the Kingdom through the port. The Director General explained to halet Ammar Al-Khalid Al-rumaih, he submitted to the Customs vehicle type tutor during the Customs controller of customs procedures have found 60 a pill «both» were hidden in the vehicle cavity where the full amount was distributed inside a plastic bag and then it was hidden in this bunker. He noted that in the same way as the previous smuggling, try another passenger travelling in a vehicle of a private type alpha and 237 51 smuggling grain, but his attempt was foiled. And on the third smuggling attempt aborted Al-rumaih, said that he found nine thousand and 989 bead «both», hidden in a passenger’s bag, hide the quantity down clothes that were in his ba...

Arab, Muslim leaders strongly condemn terror attack in Qatif JEDDAH: Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, the UAE and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the terror attack on security personnel in Qatif, which left one dead and others injured. King Salman received a cable of condolences from Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber, emir of Kuwait, in which he expressed his country strong condemnation of the terrorist attack that targeted a security patrol with an explosive projectile in Al-Musawara district in Qatif municipality, resulting in the martyrdom of a security man and the injury of his colleagues. In his cable, the emir reiterated his country’s stand with the Kingdom and its support for all measures being taken to confront terrorism and preserve its security. He also renewed Kuwait’s rejection of terrorism in all its forms. King Salman received cables of condolences from Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al...

Bomb attack on Saudi police kills one, wounds six A bomb attack on a Saudi police patrol killed one officer and wounded six others in the eastern province of Qatif on Thursday, authorities said. The patrol was targeted while on duty in the neighbourhood of Al-Musara, killing Corporal Abdullah Treiki al-Turki and wounding six other police officers, the interior ministry said, cited by the official SPA news agency. The ministry blamed the attack on “terrorists”, without giving any further details. The attack occurred in the same area where a policeman was killed and three others wounded in a bombing on Tuesday morning. Three people, including a police officer, were also killed last month in bombings in Qatif. The region has been rocked by unrest since 2011. Authorities have blamed the unrest on “terrorists” and drug traffickers. Source: Khaleejtimes The post Bomb attack on Saudi police kills one, wounds six appeared first on Daily Saudi Arabia News . http://bit.ly/2sWVzZs

Female ISIS suicide bombers attack Iraqi troops in Mosul TWO female suicide bombers, hiding among a group of fleeing civilians, targeted Iraqi troops in Mosul overnight, killing one soldier and wounding several others, an Iraqi officer said. It was the latest counter-attack by the Islamic State group as Iraqi forces close in on the last pocket of militant-held territory in the Old City neighbourhood — the scene of the last stand by IS militants. After days of fierce battles, the territory held by the militants in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, is rapidly shrinking, with IS now controlling just over one kilometre in all. Using women as suicide bombers was apparently the latest tactic by the militants, Sgt. Ali Abdullah Hussein told The Associated Press. “They appeared from the basement (of a building) and they blew themselves up,” Hussein said as he returned from the scene, his troops carrying the body of their slain comrade wrapped in a blanket. The attack happened in the are...

At least 600 civilians killed by coalition strikes in Iraq, Syria WASHINGTON: At least 600 civilians have been killed in strikes in Iraq and Syria by the US-led coalition fighting Daesh since the campaign began in 2014, according to a report released by the coalition on Friday. The estimate in the monthly report, which said coalition strikes had unintentionally killed at least 603 civilians between August 2014 and May 2017, was far lower than figures provided by monitoring groups. The monitoring group Airwars said a total of at least 4,354 civilians have been killed by coalition airstrikes. The latest coalition report included an incident on April 17 near the Syrian town of Abu Kamal, in which it said 25 civilians were killed and 40 were wounded during a strike against Daesh headquarters that caused a secondary explosion in the adjacent building. Since the start of the campaign against Daesh militants, the coalition has carried out nearly 22,000 strikes and has received 727 reports...

Egypt military says 26 soldiers killed or wounded in Sinai attacks CAIRO/ISMAILIA, Egypt: At least 23 Egyptian soldiers were killed when suicide car bombs tore through two military checkpoints in North Sinai on Friday, security sources said, an attack claimed by Daesh that marks one of the bloodiest assaults on security forces in years. Daesh militants are waging an insurgency in the rugged, thinly populated Sinai Peninsula. They have killed hundreds of soldiers and police since 2013, when the military ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi after mass protests against his rule. The two cars blew up at two checkpoints outside of a military compound just south of Rafah, on the border with the Gaza Strip, the security sources said. In a statement Daesh said its fighters targeted the compound because the military was preparing to launch operations against the Sunni Muslim militant group from there. The security sources said another 26 soldiers were injured in Friday’s attacks. The mil...

Japan flood deaths rise to 15 with 6 missing The death toll from heavy rain and flooding in southern Japan this week has risen to 15 as rescue workers reached isolated villages where at least six others are missing and feared dead. Heavy rain warnings are still in place for parts of the southern island of Kyushu on Saturday, days after Typhoon Nanmadol swept across Japan, triggering floods and mudslides that wrecked hundreds of homes, roads and rice terraces. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency says Saturday 12 dead have so far been found in the hardest-hit Asakura city in Fukuoka prefecture and three others in neighboring Oita prefecture. Officials say 12,000 troops and rescuers continued searching for the six missing and clearing debris off roads. Source: ABCNEWS The post Japan flood deaths rise to 15 with 6 missing appeared first on Daily Saudi Arabia News . http://bit.ly/2tA97fd

Washington: ceasefire agreement with Moscow and southern Oman Syria step to soothe wider The US State Department said that the ceasefire in southern Syria, between Russia and the United States and Jordan is an important step to develop calm steadier. “Novosti Agency quoted a senior State Department official, told reporters:” this is an important step. This is the first step on the road which we believe it will lead to a more inclusive and sustainable agreement to a ceasefire and calm in Southwest Syria. “ The US State Department said that the ceasefire in southern Syria, between Russia and the United States and Jordan is an important step to develop calm steadier. “Novosti Agency quoted a senior State Department official, told reporters:” this is an important step. This is the first step on the road which we believe it will lead to a more inclusive and sustainable agreement to a ceasefire and calm in Southwest Syria. “ He stressed that Washington does not rule out the terrorists ...

122 countries adopt global treaty banning nuclear weaponsm UNITED NATIONS: A global treaty banning nuclear weapons was adopted at the United Nations on Friday despite opposition from nuclear powers Britain, France and the United States which said it disregards the reality of dealing with international security threats such as North Korea. The treaty was adopted by a vote of 122 in favor with one country — NATO member The Netherlands — voting against, while Singapore abstained. None of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons — the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel — took part in the negotiations or the vote. Even Japan — the only country to have suffered atomic attacks, in 1945 — boycotted the talks as did most NATO countries. Loud applause and cheers broke out in a UN conference hall following the vote that capped three weeks of negotiations on the text providing for a total ban on developing, stockpiling or threatening t...