In late November, The Jordan Times ran a bold headline declaring “Depression expected to start affecting country at noon.” It wasn’t a satirical poke at the nation’s many neuroses, but a candid weather warning describing a seasonal dip in air pressure that – when coupled with a massive cold front – was about to pummel the region in torrential rain. Golf-ball sized hail and early snow also made an appearance. It was a perfect storm that submerged much of the Middle East. Intense precipitation can easily overrun urban infrastructure meant ...

He's Palestine's golden boy, our Arab Idol, and possibly the man with the most awards on his shelf in all of MENA. I mean, can anyone say they don't love them some Mohammed Assaf ? Pretty much, no. With musical giftedness, magnetic charm, and a heart-melting story that makes grown men cry, the world still has Assaf mania a year after he came into public eye and adoration. He snatched the winning title in season two of the talent show Arab Idol and simultaneously stole the hearts of all viewers ...

After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s (baseless) assertion that Muslim explorers found the Americas before Sheikh Columbus, AlBawaba wonders what Thanksgiving - that most American holiday of food, booze and shopping - would look like today if Erdogan was right. The Turkish president made headlines recently when he claimed that Muslim explorers crossed the Atlantic in the 12th century and pipped the much-credited Columbus to the post. Erdogan was drawing his claim from a passage in Columbus’ diary that mentions a ‘mosque’ in Cuba. But that passage is thought to ...