In a creative approach to upgrade advocacy efforts by civil stakeholders against violence in Lebanon – particularly domestic and gender based violence (GBV) – ABAAD called on Syrian refugee girls to reproduce on dummies their personal stories of violence and discrimination. A public exhibition displaying the puppets is organised today in Taanayel in Lebanon’s Bekaa region.

The conference, “Sharing Experiences and Developing Regional Hazard and Risk Picture for Joint Action Plan,” comprised of five thematic sessions during which participants gathered to develop a regional risk picture for informed and resilient development planning through disaster risk reduction mainstreaming for contingency planning.  The event, organised by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), was attended by representatives from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.

Every May, Israelis and Palestinians hold warring days of remembrance – one for the day their country was born, the other for the day their nation suffered a nakba, or "catastrophe." But amid all the waving of the Israeli flags this year, an Israeli NGO has launched a smartphone app to commemorate the more than 400 Palestinian villages depopulated or destroyed in the wake of Israel’s founding.  iNakba puts those villages back on the map, allowing users to upload photos, videos, stories, and other data to paint a picture of the former landscape. 

Cooking experts and young chefs from around the region will get a chance to shine at this year’s Dubai World Hospitality Championship (DWHC) 2014.  The second edition of the championship, set to take place between October 30 and November 3, will focus on encouraging Emiratis and Gulf citizens to showcase their cooking talents and promote their products in the market at the event.

The Qatari government has announced several changes to its controversial labour system amid international criticism of its treatment of foreign workers.  At a joint press conference in Doha on Wednesday, Qatar's Ministries of Interior and Labour released plans to ease restrictions on foreign workers' terms of employment.

About a quarter of the world's population agrees that a number of negative statements about Jews are "probably true," according to a poll aimed at providing a statistical underpinning to the question of how widespread anti-Semitism is globally.  The League said its goal was to create a snapshot of anti-Semitic views in all parts of the world, to find ways to combat it, and to allow future surveys to measure whether, and where, the prejudice is rising or falling.

Twitter finally has a toehold in Israel: The social networking company has retained the services of the public relations firm of Daphna Triwaks, whose Triwaks Public Relations will start representing the company locally this week.

Ali Dawai is enormously popular on Facebook, with countless photos of the Iraqi provincial governor picking up rubbish or sipping tea with people while wearing his trademark blue boiler suit.Ali Dawai is enormously popular on Facebook, with countless photos of the Iraqi provincial governor picking up rubbish or sipping tea with people while wearing his trademark blue boiler suit.