RIYADH: Arab News, the Riyadh-based regional English-language newspaper, has partnered with Facebook to broadcast prayers from Saudi Arabia during Ramadan.
The newspaper will carry the Taraweeh prayers — the additional evening prayers performed during the Islamic holy month — live from the Holy Mosque in Makkah.
These videos will be available in real-time on Arab News’ newsfeed in conjunction with Facebook and the Saudi state-owned television as part of the newspaper’s wider coverage during Ramadan.
“Our partnership with Facebook will allow our audiences across the world — who perhaps couldn’t make it to Makkah for the Muslim holy month — to capture some of the spirituality of Ramadan as we live broadcast the Taraweeh prayers from the Holy Mosque every night,” said Faisal J. Abbas, editor in chief of Arab News.
“Other Ramadan-related coverage will include human stories from the Middle East and beyond, as Muslims across the world together celebrate this important month of fasting, prayer and reflection.”
Fares Akkad, Facebook’s head of media partnerships in the Middle East,Turkey and Africa, also welcomed the partnership.
“We work with publishers and broadcasters to offer specific tools and features to help engage people around the programming that matters most to them and the content they love to share with friends,” Akkad said.
“Our partnership with Arab News gives people access to a live experience on Facebook that is immediate, authentic and interactive.”
The Ramadan videos will be broadcast via the newspaper’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TheArabNews while readers will find wider coverage at www.arabnews.com.
Arab News partners with Facebook to broadcast Ramadan prayers from Makkah
Arab News partners with Facebook to broadcast Ramadan prayers from Makkah
- The newspaper will carry the Taraweeh prayers — the additional evening prayers performed during the Islamic holy month
- These videos will be available in real-time on Arab News’ newsfeed in conjunction with Facebook
Israel arrests 2 Turkish CNN journalists over live broadcast outside IDF HQ
- Police said reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman were detained on suspicion of filming a sensitive security facility
- Since the Gaza war began, restrictions have expanded significantly, including tighter limits on filming soldiers on duty and sensitive or strategic sites
LONDON: Israeli police have arrested two Turkish CNN journalists who were broadcasting live outside the Israel Defense Forces’ headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Police said the pair were detained on suspicion of filming a sensitive security facility, according to the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit.
Reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman, from the network’s Turkish-language channel, had been reporting near the IDF’s Kirya military headquarters on Tuesday after Iran launched another missile barrage at Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel.
During the live broadcast, two men believed to be soldiers approached the crew and seized the reporter’s phone, according to initial reports and a video circulating online that could not be independently verified.
Police said officers were dispatched after receiving reports of two people carrying cameras and allegedly broadcasting in real time for a foreign outlet.
עיתונאים של CNN טורקיה נעצרו לאחר שצילמו את בסיס הקרייה@NoamIhmels pic.twitter.com/t8a5P9yXfw
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) March 3, 2026
Israel’s long-standing military censorship system, overseen by the IDF Military Censor, has long barred journalists and civilians from publishing material deemed harmful to national security.
Since the Gaza war began, restrictions have expanded significantly, including tighter limits on filming soldiers on duty and sensitive or strategic sites.
After a series of similar incidents involving foreign media — most of them Palestinian citizens of Israel working for Arab-language and international media, along with foreign journalists — during the 12-Day War, Israeli police halted live international broadcasts from missile impact sites, citing concerns that exact locations were being revealed.
The Government Press Office later imposed a blanket ban on live coverage from crash and impact areas.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir subsequently ordered that all foreign journalists obtain prior written approval from the military censor before broadcasting — live or recorded — from combat zones or missile strike locations.
Police said that when officers asked the CNN Turk crew to identify themselves, they presented expired press cards and were taken in for questioning.
Burhanettin Duran, head of Turkiye’s Directorate of Communications, condemned the arrests as an attack on the press and said Ankara is working to secure the journalists’ release.
