The Syrian TV series "Ghizlan fe Ghabet Al Zia'b" or "Deer in a Forest of Wolves" gained the highest view rates during Ramadan according to a survey by the Syrian newspaper "Al Thawra".

Some say the huge success of the show was due to its boldness in addressing certain issues such as bribes and corruption.
The story of the show is about corrupted officials, trade mafia groups, sons of high-ranking officials which all occur behind the scenes of everyday life in the country. It also shows the tragic end of poor man who tries to escape his plight through illegal ways.

We all know what halloween is but how many of us know were it really comes from. Sure there are loads of movies out there that will try to give some sort of explanation but most are historically incorrect.
Halloween seems like a very 'American thing' with capitalism exploiting it as a time for buying and spending, also common in Canada & the UK and gaining increasing popularity in Australia and New Zealand.

However, Halloween originated among the Celts in Ireland, Britain and France as the Pagan Celtic harvest festival known as Samhain. Irish, Scots, Calan and other immigrants brought versions of the traditions to North America in the 19th century.

The makers of the hit game "Grand Theft Auto" who were criticized for the hidden sex scene in the game in addition to violence are under fire again for their new hit video game "Bully" which features boys kissing.

The star of "Bully" is 15-year-old Jimmy Hopkins. The gamer must navigate Jimmy through a series of fights and romances at a boarding school. The character is controlled through missions in competition with school cliques, bullies, and faculty. Jimmy can be made to flatter girls with candy and flowers. Oh, and he can do the same with boys too!

A few weeks ago, Schumacher received the biggest gift of his life!
Dubai's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has gifted Formula One driver Michael Schumacher with a piece of The World!
The World is a manmade island development -300 islands- located off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, & Schumacher's island is part of 'Antarctica' on the artificial globe & is worth about $7 million!
Schumacher's manager Willi Weber confirmed this news by saying: In a couple of years it will be finished. Then Michael & wife Corinna will have their own holiday island!

Good news for all us Haifa Wahba Lovers out there. The Beautiful Lebanese star is preparing to release her new album in collaboration with many musicians and artists from the Arab World called "Khalini Ma'ak" or "Let me stay with you".

Although Haifa is not contracted with any producing studio, she's going to pay for it herself regardless of the large number of studios offering her to sign up.

Abel Gonzales, a 36 year old computer analyst from Dallas is doing more than just frying some zero-ones for a living. He made thousands of dollars selling...Fried Coke!

Yes, fried coke!

It's a batter mix made with Coca-Cola syrup, a drizzle of strawberry syrup, and some strawberries!
Gonzales sold 35,000 of them at the State Fair of Texas, each for $4.5!

It’s either Texans have really bad taste or the fried Coke is actually tasty!

Saudi singer Waed has just completed shooting her video clip for her new song with her daughter in Beirut. The new song entitled "Dhummak" or "Hug you"--composed by the poet Turki and tuned by Jan Saleeba-- is one of a new album expected to be released in three weeks.

The concept of the video is the cute challenge between Waed and her daughter as both change costumes from Saudi to Lebanese to Indian and others traditional dresses.

Photos from Waed New Video Clip

The Supreme Court in the US state of New Jersey unanimously ruled that committed gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights as married couples but by a 4-3 majority the court stopped short of ordering the New Jersey Legislature to allow same-sex marriage.

So, this means that gay couples have all the rights as married couples do apart from the fact that they are not legally "married".

"Those who would view today's Supreme Court ruling as a victory for same-sex couples are dead wrong," said Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality. "So help us God, New Jersey's LGBT community and our millions of straight allies will settle for nothing less than 100 percent marriage equality."

So they got their rights, what’s the problem?

Yes, it's happening again.
Last year's riots in Paris were remembered in a flamy anniversary as youths burned hundreds of vehicles across the country.
The violence exposed yet again the sharp division between poor North African immigrants and the rest of the French society. And apparently, not much action has been taken to solve last year's problem.

In the southern port city of Marseille, a bunch of teenagers set a bus on fire seriously wounding a passenger and injuring others. Police said that two other public buses and 277 vehicles around the country were burned overnight.

- New Syrian TV Series to Counter Prophet Mohammed Insults
- Happy Eid 2006
- Pascal Mashalani Homesick
- Do You Hate Parallel Parking?
- Poor Ending of Bab Al Hara
- Rahma Mezher, An Iraqi Rising Star
- Subway Gets the Finger
- Yasmine: Lady With the Loveliest Smile
- Jamal Suliman: Egypt is the Hollywood of the Middle East
- At Last! A Human-like Robot!
- Cheb Mami’s New Album

Celebrities
- Last Week Celebrity Links [41]

Algerian star Cheb Mami is preparing for the release of his new album "Layali" which will contain a duet with Lebanese star Elissa. However, there are some legal matters which will end up separating the lovely couple as Elissa is contracted with Rotana while Mami is contracted with another company. This means that we will not be seeing the song in Mami's latest album.

Another special feature that this album will have is an association with Iraqi star Kazem Al Saher "Jelsat al Maqha" or "Sitting in the Coffee Shop" who set the melody for the song from the words of Nizar Qabani.

We've always seen androids & human-like robots in movies, but never in real life.
But now, there exists a human-like robot that looks so human & alive ... Totally freaky!
Japanese company Koroko have delivered their first female Actroid, The Actroid DER2 fembot.
She has lifelike silicon skin & can deliver natural expressions!
The fembot can be dressed-up in a variety of costumes & can take part in events & presentations.
What's even freakier, is that she can choreograph her motions & gestures with her voice!
She even seems to have a character & a personality! -She even likes Hello Kitty!-
The Actroid DER2 fembot is now available for rent from Koroko & will cost around $3,500 for 5 days.

Check out this amazing video of the fembot interacting with an audience, trust me, you'll get confused! Is she real ... Or is she a robot?

How well Jamal Suliman do in the Egyptian series "Hada'k Al Shaytan" or "Gardens of the Devil"?

The Syrian actor was shocked when he read the script of the show. He said in an interview that he put his hand on his heart for three reasons. The first being that it was a TV show which will go on for a month and not a one-shot movie so he would have to gain the love of the audience all the way through. The second being that his character was an evil one but the third and most important was he would have to play the role using an Egyptian accent...and not just any accent...a Sa'eedi (from the Egyptian countryside) accent too!

Most critics said that he got the accent right by 80% but had a few Syrian words slip out. In response to this he said:

Young actress Yasmine Abed Al Aziz was chosen by a poll on a variety show in Kuwait as the lady with the most beautiful smile in the Arab world. Dozens of pictures for Arabic actresses were shown as the young Yasmin was chosen as the winner.

Yasmine's movie "Temen Destat Ashrar" is now being shown as she has also finished shooting in her role in the new movie "Al Rahina" or "The Hostage" with Director Sandra Nashat along with actors Ahmed Izz, Noura and Mahmoud Abed Al Mughani.

What do you think? Does she really have the best smile?

Photos of Yasmine Abed Al Aziz