Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim competes in the High Jump final event at the Diamond League athletics meeting at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on May 6, 2016. KARIM JAAFAR / AFP

Iranian-Saudi a cappela artist Alaa Wardi squeezes a century of Arabic music into a six minute performance that pays homage to the giants of the genre. Teaming with digital music biz Anghami , he combined 42 of the most iconic Arabic-language songs into a music video that is as entertaining as it is educational. Wardi kicks off with “Lamma Bada Yatathenna,” musical poetry that dates back to the Moors, and wraps up with the pop hits of Hussain Al Jassmi and Saad Lamjarred . Come travel through time, and meet ...

Saudi's Al-Ahli club players celebrate after scoring a goal during their AFC Champions League group D football match against Qatar's El-Jaish club at the King Abdullah Spots City in Jeddah on May 3, 2016. Al-Ahli won the match 2-0. STRINGER / AFP

A pair of unfinished skyscrapers loom large on Amman's skyline, arguably the biggest manmade blight in this tiny kingdom. For over five years, construction on Jordan Gate has stalled, allegedly embroiled in stakeholder litigation. Now the architects at Hanna Salameh Design have proposed a radical solution to the enormous eyesore that would transform this developmental disaster into a positive project that contributes to community, generates renewable energy, and enhances regional food security too. Although conceptual, their ideas could be the way of the future.

Al Bawaba interviewed some of our favorite ladies from the Gulf who are shaking up social media . From Instagram to cooking blogs, these women pull back the veil on the Gulf countries and give us a glimpse into daily life. Meet eight social media mavens from Riyadh to Dubai, each an online influencer you’ll want to track.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino (L) poses for a picture with the workers football cup trophy during a match ahead of a press conference in the Qatari capital Doha on April 22, 2016. Infantino announced that a new independent committee would be set up to monitor conditions for labourers working to build stadia for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Speaking during his first visit to Doha as head of world football's governing body, Infantino said he was "confident we are on the right track" after a string of alleged rights ...

Headlines have recently been blasting news of mistreatment of Arab passengers for nonsensical reasons that stem from racism and fear. While it’s unacceptable and illegal (and downright discriminatory) to undermine Middle Easterners’ rights to travel freely, Arab passengers may not be so innocent as we’d like to charge in our rush to their defense! In the name of honesty and humor, we saw fit to call out, in sweeping but fond generalisations, the Arab creed’s collective resistance to certain codes of travel etiquette . Here we highlight habits and bad ...

Lebanon security forces recently crushed the country's largest known sex trafficking ring , rescuing 75 women, mostly Syrian nationals who had been tortured both physically and psychologically. The women were lured to Lebanon with the promise of lucrative jobs, smuggled out of Syria, then locked inside two hotels in a notorious red-light district, some for as long as eight years. T he traffickers were earning an estimated $1 million a month. AFP ( Agence France-Presse) just released a set of pictures taken at the scene, shared here. Take a glimpse ...

UAE's Al-Nasr club player Tariq Ahmed (L) tries to control the ball as Uzbekistan's Lokomotiv club player Sanjar Shaakhmedov falls to the ground during their Asian Champions League (AFC) group A football match at the Rashid Al-Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on April 20, 2016. KARIM SAHIB / AFP

In 1914, American poet Robert Frost penned “Good fences make good neighbors”. He clearly wasn’t writing about Israel as the Jewish state didn’t yet exist. Israel's barrier wall , intended to bolster national security, is considered by Palestinians - and many others - to be a land grab, and the World Court has declared it illegal. But it's not the only wall in the Middle East. Since the Berlin Wall dropped in 1989, more than 40 nations have built border barriers seeking enhanced security and a halt to illegal migration ...