Fans can look forward to chart-topping tracks such as “If You Had My Love,” “Jenny From The Block,” “Love Don’t Cost A Thing” and “On The Floor.”
Fresh off her critically acclaimed Sundance world premiere of “Kiss of The Spider Woman,” Lopez is joining a star-studded lineup for the second edition of Saadiyat Nights, including Robbie Williams, Michael Buble, and Boyz II Men, with much-anticipated performances still to come from Christina Aguilera on Feb. 15, Gwen Stefani on Feb. 21 and Lionel Richie on Feb. 22.
Ayman Yossri Daydban: ‘The discrepancy between visual appeal and cultural awareness is key’
The Saudi-Palestinian artist discusses his solo exhibition ‘Winter,’ now showing in Jeddah
Updated 1 min 12 sec ago
Jasmine Bager
JEDDAH: In his solo exhibition “Winter” at Jeddah’s Athr Gallery, the Saudi-Palestinian artist Ayman Yossri Daydban provides a compelling exploration of ihram clothing — the humble garments worn by pilgrims for the rituals of Hajj and Umrah — and how it connects to climate change.
“This exhibition is part of my Ihramat collection, which uses the ihram to highlight its significance in popular culture, religious identity, and as clothing and fabric,” Daydban tells Arab News. “The idea behind the color and material is inspired by the climate during Hajj season, the usual hot weather during pilgrimage, and how the ihram fabric is lightweight, designed for enduring the heat.”
“Winter,” he explains, refers not only to the season but also to what climate change could mean for the future of pilgrimage — suggesting that traditions once defined by their specific environmental contexts may eventually be disrupted.
Winter from the Ihramat series, 2025. (Supplied)
“White, which is symbolically associated with purity and clarity, is a color that reflects sunlight. When you think about the Hajj happening in the summer, and considering new climate realities and changes, you understand that the idea of ‘winter’ in this context is a metaphor that references the future moments when climate changes may affect pilgrimage,” Daydban says.
The exhibition, which runs until March, revisits Daydban’s iconic works from previous years, particularly “Ihramat” (2012) and “Muss” (1996), recontextualizing the material and its meanings within the lens of contemporary concerns such as climate change and the commodification of culture and spirituality.
Daydban, born in Palestine in 1966 and now based in Jeddah, is poised and calm, neatly tying together the philosophical strands of his conversation. His last name means “watchman” in Arabic, and Daydban is an insightful observer of cultural shifts and national identity. His art features in several major international collections, including the British Museum, underscoring his importance as a leading voice on identity, alienation and belonging.
Winter X, from Ihramat series, 2025. (Supplied)
In “Winter,” Daydban simultaneously weaves together and challenges traditional notions of materiality and spirituality. His use of the ihram fabric in a radically different form emphasizes the fluid nature of cultural objects. Instead of using the fabric as a garment for spiritual purification, he transforms it into everyday items, shifting their role and associations.
“The way I use the ihram fabric here is quite different from its original context—it’s more like towels or blankets, which changes the associations we have with the material,” he says. “For instance, the blankets, although made of similar fabric, are sourced from China. These blankets are available in stores and contribute to my idea of global trade and the commercial aspects of such cultural items.”
Daydban has stretched the fabric over identical rectangular wooden panels — uniform, like Muslims praying in rows — with an empty square at the center, seemingly hinting at the Kabaa. One lone piece is the invert of that, furry and full, a rectangle that one could argue fits into the void the others carry.
Winter V, From Ihramat series, 2025. (Supplied)
In his transformation of the ihram fabric, Daydban emphasizes the economic and cultural implications of how these objects move through global systems. “The materials have a significant connection to economic matters,” he says. “Although the cloths may appear similar, each has its own unique pattern and design. The variations offer a chance to explore cultural identity, to consider how these designs hold individual meaning, yet can be visually selected without awareness of their cultural background. The patterns in the cloth might be taken for granted without understanding the cultural implications behind them. This discrepancy between visual appeal and cultural awareness is key in my work.”
Through the juxtaposition of global trade and religious symbols, Daydban highlights the dissonance between the sacred and the commercial.
“What I’m trying to achieve is a reflection on beauty in the details of cultural symbols — taking a material like the ihram and transforming it into something that holds contemporary meaning,” he explains. “Through ‘Winter,’ I examine how fabric can transcend its usual associations with ritual to become a statement about today’s world. It’s a critique of how these items, which once carried deep religious significance, are now sold and consumed globally, detached from their cultural roots.”
Winter Ten. (Supplied)
The exhibition addresses how even the smallest details within the fabric can carry powerful meanings. “(It) is deeply connected to trade, materials, and economics — using the ihram as a tool to reflect on the broader systems that control these items,” Daydban says. “In terms of design, each square in the exhibition holds a specific visual and symbolic weight. Even though they may seem similar at first glance, they each possess a unique quality that highlights how even the smallest details make a difference when exploring identity.
“The show invites viewers to experience a connection between the material and the emotion it conveys, to understand how ihram is not merely a religious garment but a global symbol of cultural exchange and transformation,” he adds. “As an artist, I’m trying to make sense of how such materials are used across different contexts, with their significance becoming diluted as they move through systems of commerce.”
The idea that art can challenge the commodification of cultural symbols is central to “Winter,” with Daydban urging his audience to reconsider their understanding of material value and cultural meaning.
“I encourage viewers to reflect on this transformation and the relationship between artistic practice and commercial influence,” he says. “Take a moment to consider the process of how cultural objects are commodified and how, through art, we can bring awareness to their deeper meanings.”
REVIEW: Mo Amer’s comedy drama ‘Mo’ makes triumphant return with season two
Updated 7 min 59 sec ago
Adam Grundey
DUBAI: Season two of Mo Amer’s semi-autobiographical comedy drama is apparently its last. Amer has said the events of the series had to stop before Oct. 7, 2023, to avoid the horrors that have since been perpetrated in Gaza overtaking the narrative. Though understandable, that’s a real shame, because “Mo” is one of the best shows on television, exploring incredibly complex and divisive topics — family, religion, imbalance of power, exile, mental health, parenthood, multiculturalism and much more — with an artful lightness of touch, without ever taking them lightly. In season two, the ensemble cast are once again excellent, always serving the story, never looking to outshine it.
Amer plays Mo Najjar, a Kuwait-born Palestinian refugee living in Houston, Texas. Mo, his mother Yusra (the superb Farah Bsieso), and his older brother Sameer (Omar Elba) have been waiting more than two decades to have their asylum case heard.
Season two begins with Mo in Mexico, six months after the events of season one saw him stranded there. He’s living with the aunts of his ex-girlfriend Maria (Mo believes the fact he told her to “move on” will not prevent them reuniting — he’s wrong), and his family’s asylum hearing is just days away, but bureaucracy is preventing him from returning to be with them.
In one of several examples of the way “Mo” tackles dark topics with rare grace and humor, Mo attempts to illegally cross back into the US but is captured by border patrol and incarcerated (though not before his country music impersonation nearly convinces his captors he’s a red-blooded American). When he does eventually get back ‘home,’ he finds the family olive oil business is thriving, and that Maria has indeed moved on, starting a relationship with an Israeli chef.
Seeing friends and family prospering without him isn’t something Mo is necessarily ready to celebrate. That’s one of the great things about the show: Amer is as comfortable pointing out Mo’s own failings — his neediness, his pride — as he is railing at, say, the Kafkaesque officialdom that plagues his family’s existence. “Mo” is beautifully balanced in so many ways — from the blend of tragedy and comedy to the mix of maddening realism and fantastical dream sequences. Even the family’s joyous return to Palestine in the finale must be weighed against their stoicism in the face of the iniquities visited on them by the Occupation.
“Mo” isn’t just a great show, but a necessary one.
Meet Riyadh’s first French cheesemonger, Philippe Caillouet
‘A good cheese doesn’t just feed your body, it feeds your soul,’ Caillouet tells Arab News
Updated 10 min 54 sec ago
Scott Campbell
RIYADH: When Philippe Caillouet imagines Riyadh’s future, he doesn’t see glittering skyscrapers or the construction cranes carving out Vision 2030. He sees cheese.
Not the rubbery processed slices found in diners across the city. No, Philippe’s vision is one of hand-pressed wheels of camembert, buttery brie layered with the sharpness of Madinah mint, and alpine tommes with histories as rich as their rinds.
At the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh, where he oversees Café Boulud’s cheese cave and non-alcoholic wine library, Caillouet curates dozens of artisanal varieties to introduce Riyadh’s diners to the nuanced flavors of European cheesemaking.
Philippe Caillouet. (Supplied)
“Cheese isn’t a commodity,” he says, standing in the cave’s hushed cool. “It’s a living product. It has terroir, history, personality. You can’t treat it like a block of butter.”
Caillouet is Riyadh’s first French cheesemonger and he carries the title with pride. He also sports a tri-colored collar that marks him as a Meilleur Ouvrier de France, a national accolade given to his country’s finest craftsmen.
The meticulously climate-controlled cave housing some 60 varieties of handpicked cheese. There’s gruyère, manchego, comté, and the indulgent vacherin Mont d’Or, which Caillouet serves baked and oozing, accompanied by non-alcoholic wine pairings from the library he also oversees.
“It’s not only about having the best cheese,” he says. “It’s about knowing how to serve it — the right temperature, the right accompaniments, the right story. If a cheese doesn’t have a story, it’s just food. When it has one, it becomes an experience.”
Born in Poitiers, the 56-year-old started his career in hospitality school, where an inspiring teacher instilled in him a passion for the “art of service.” From there, he worked his way up through the French hospitality circuit, running dining rooms at Michelin-starred institutions including La Palme d’Or in Cannes. But it wasn’t the gleaming service stations or polished silverware that captivated him — it was the cheese.
Caption
“It’s similar to wine,” he says. “Cheese is tied to the land, the season, the hands that make it. No two wheels are ever the same.”
By the time he opened his own fromagerie in the south of France, his reputation was firmly established. Yacht owners from Monaco, Cannes Film Festival organizers, and French Riviera gourmands made pilgrimages to his shop for perfectly aged Roqueforts and custom-made cheese boards, long before grazing platters became a trend.
So what brought Caillouet to Saudi Arabia last year? Opportunity.
“Cheese, as a concept, is still in its infancy in Saudi, but the people are curious, sophisticated, and hungry for new experiences,” he says.
Nowhere is Caillouet’s panache more evident than in his handmade Paris-Madinah cheese — a creamy brie infused with the sharp, herbaceous mint of Madinah.
“I was amazed by the mint here,” he says. “It smells like mint, tastes like mint — it’s alive. You don’t get that everywhere.”
At first, it was offered discreetly to adventurous diners, but within weeks, word spread. Now, guests arrive asking for “the one with the mint,” often bringing friends or returning with family to try it again. “That’s how cheese becomes culture,” he says. “It spreads, person to person.”
Riyadh’s diners, while adventurous, do arrive with preconceptions. Blue cheese, for example, can be met with hesitation, due to associations with overpowering flavors.
“If you’ve only had mass-produced blue cheese with a year-long shelf life, of course you won’t like it,” Caillouet says. So, he introduces them to artisanal blues — creamy, subtle, with just the right tang. “When you explain why it’s different, people trust you. And then they fall in love with it.”
Riyadh is rapidly becoming a global dining destination. “It’s alive, growing, full of potential. You just have to nurture it,” Caillouet says.
Like the Kingdom, Caillouet is dreaming big. “Why shouldn’t Saudis have the same level of cheese as they do in Europe?” he asks. “They’re already flying to Paris for Chanel and Hermès — why not stay here and enjoy the best Gruyère or Camembert? The country deserves it.”
At 56, he shows no signs of slowing down. “I don’t believe in retirement,” he says. “If you love what you do, why would you stop?”
For Caillouet, cheese is more than his livelihood — it’s a purpose. “A good cheese doesn’t just feed your body, it feeds your soul,” he says, recalling a spring day in France when a bite of fresh chèvre stopped him in his tracks.
“It tasted like sunshine, like the season itself. That’s what I want to bring to Saudi Arabia — cheese that makes you pause, think, feel,” he says. “That’s the future I imagine.”
Review: Ferrell and Witherspoon can’t raise heat in lukewarm ‘You’re Cordially Invited’
Wedding planners collide in by-the-numbers rom-com
Updated 19 min 47 sec ago
Matt Ross
LONDON: Usually, the phrase “less than the sum of its parts” serves as a neat intro to an absolute evisceration of a movie. But in the case of new Prime Video rom-com “You’re Cordially Invited,” it’s a slightly more literal take. Because, as the trailer (and all the promo materials) would have you believe, this Will Ferrell/Reece Witherspoon movie is a high-energy battle royale between a pair of warring wedding planners at a double-booked venue, each trying to ruin the other’s ceremony by (initially) fair means, before descending into a series of foul-mouthed schemes and increasingly elaborate set-pieces.
But there’s actually little of that faux-antagonistic “Bride Wars” vibe about this movie from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Bad Neighbors” director Nicholas Stoller. In an attempt to make the two leads more than just cookie-cutter rom-com characters, each is given a fairly elaborate and emotionally nuanced backstory. Widower Jim (Ferrell) is desperate to throw daughter Jenni a romantic wedding that her mother would have loved, but winds up projecting his fears of obsolescence and solitude onto the young couple, while successful TV producer Margot (Witherspoon) wants to arrange the perfect wedding for her sister Neve, but struggles to hide her resentment towards her emotionally unavailable mother and her frustration with her wider family for not showing an interest in her life and career.
And those emotional complexities wind up being more engaging than the movie’s by-the-numbers comedy beats. Because while Ferrell and Witherspoon are both more than capable of shouldering the burden of the big laughs, these wedding-based capers are nothing we haven’t seen a hundred times before. But a slightly saccharine, slightly comedic take on fears of emotional estrangement and abandonment, fronted by two charismatic leads? That’s something different, at least.
So there’s a degree of frustration that the movie didn’t take the time to at least explore this slightly different direction. Instead, “You’re Cordially Invited” is the kind of film you’ve forgotten the second the credits roll — a fairly satisfying way to waste a couple of hours, but nothing to make it stand out from all those other wedding-based comedies.
Man charged in 2020 killing of rapper Pop Smoke pleads guilty to manslaughter to avoid trial
Corey Walker, 24, pleaded guilty Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter
He was accused of leading the group to the rented mansion where the 20-year-old New York rapper Pop Smoke was killed
Updated 06 February 2025
AP
LOS ANGELES: A man charged in the 2020 killing of rapper Pop Smoke during a robbery at a Hollywood Hills mansion accepted a plea deal, averting a trial on a murder charge that was to have started Thursday.
Corey Walker, 24, pleaded guilty Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter and two counts of robbery in exchange for a sentence of 29 years in prison, which he will receive at a later hearing.
He was the only adult charged in the case along with three who were juveniles at the time of the crime, including a then-15-year-old gunman. All have already reached separate deals.
An email sent to Walker’s lawyers seeking comment was not immediately answered.
He was accused of leading the group to the rented mansion where the 20-year-old New York rapper Pop Smoke, whose legal name was Bashar Barakah Jackson, was killed on Feb. 19, 2020, during what was to be a four-day trip to Los Angeles. A 911 call from a friend of someone in the house reported armed intruders inside, police said.
The robbers knew the address because a day earlier, Pop Smoke had posted a photograph on social media of a gift bag he had received and the address was on a label, authorities said.
The rapper was in the shower when masked robbers confronted him. During a struggle, the 15-year-old, pistol-whipped him and shot him three times in the back, according to court testimony.
The attackers stole his diamond-studded Rolex watch and sold it for $2,000, a detective testified.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Pop Smoke arrived on the hip-hop scene in 2018 and broke out with “Welcome to the Party” an anthem with boasts about shootings, killings and drugs that became a huge sensation, and prompted Nicki Minaj to drop a verse on a remix.
He had several other hits, including the album “Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon,” which was released posthumously.
