عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

'El Nar Bel Nar'…Racist Dialogues Spark Controversy

A snapshot from the episode 5 of the series, which sees a racist argument between main characters Caresse Bashar and Georges Khabbaz.
A snapshot from the episode 5 of the series, which sees a racist argument between main characters Caresse Bashar and Georges Khabbaz.
TT
TT

'El Nar Bel Nar'…Racist Dialogues Spark Controversy

A snapshot from the episode 5 of the series, which sees a racist argument between main characters Caresse Bashar and Georges Khabbaz.
A snapshot from the episode 5 of the series, which sees a racist argument between main characters Caresse Bashar and Georges Khabbaz.

The drama “El Nar Bel Nar”, screened on LBC and Shahid platform, is leading the trend on social media. Since its first episodes, it lured the audience for exposing a real struggle that affects the Lebanese and Syrians alike. Its fifth episode, which included a racist dispute between stars Caresse Bashar and Georges Khabbaz, sparked a huge debate on social media.

The episode featured a scene that highlighted the tension between the two sides, and turned the series into a headline overnight. Views were divided, some saw that the drama is sparking racism between the Syrian and Lebanese people, while others said it exposes a bitter reality that must be accepted.

Sadek Sabbah, owner and chairman of Al Sabbah Group, the production company behind “El Nar Bel Nar”, told Asharq Al-Awsat that he expected this hustle, noting that drama, which is supposed to be a reflection of the society, must play this role.

“In this series, we have drawn an accurate picture of a reality that we live, and it’s too soon to judge the work. As of the 20th episode, there will be many developments with deep and honest messages,” he added.

Sabbah believes that the series highlights facts that cannot be overlooked, and “people who see otherwise shall tell us.”

During the interview, Sabbah noted that racism between the Lebanese and Syrian people and all its implications can be seen between many neighboring countries. “The same situation could apply to the French and Belgians, or the Mexicans and Americans. We didn’t mean to offend anyone, all we wanted to do is to highlight facts. The right answers will emerge in the last episodes,” he said.

Director Mohammed Abdelaziz agrees with the producer, noting that we should admit our mistakes loudly, and wounds would never heal without dialogue.

“The work in balanced and diga deep in a sensitive topic for the two sides. This sensitivity is not nascent, its roots date back to the past,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“El Nar Bel Nar” is written by Rami Koussa, and starred by many Syrian and Lebanese stars including Abed Fahd, Caresse Bashar, Georges Khabbaz, Tony Issa, Zeina Makki, Tarek Tamim, and Sacha Dahdouh.

Abdelaziz sees “El Nar Bel Nar” as an unavoidable dramatic step, saying that “we didn’t mean to offend the Syrian or Lebanese people, or spark racism. In my opinion, the audience should wait till the end of the series before judging.”

For the first time, the Syrian-Lebanese partnership in drama takes a different direction with “El Nar Bel Nar”.

The director wasn’t surprised by the fanfare surrounding the work, noting that “we already knew that the series will invite divergent reactions, and that the audience will express their mind on social media. I personally saw that the spectators supporting the work are far more that those opposing it. Both the Syrian and Lebanese people deserve to open up because many huge mistakes were committed. Today, with the displacement of over one million Syrian refugees to Lebanon, the past tensions are back and looming.”

Abdelaziz believes that it is time to discuss these mistakes and start an honest dialogue between the two people. “We didn’t make this work to provoke Syrians of Lebanese, but to urge them to discuss these matters. Whether we like it or not, the two countries are historically and geographically connected. The solution of the Syrian crisis should not be at the expense of the Lebanese people. Lebanon is a small country that lives heavy crises, and the Syrian asylum has only aggravated it,” he explained.

Abdelaziz confirms that the coming episodes includes major shifts and turning points that will change the path of the events. “The humanitarian scenery will erase the ugly one. Lebanon, this small country has been coping with two million refugees. The mistakes are many and we have to admit them, which will lay the ground for a healthy relationship between the two peoples,” he concluded.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Small Part of Sunshine State Becomes Snowy State as Florida Gets Snow Second Year in a Row

A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)
A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)
TT
TT

Small Part of Sunshine State Becomes Snowy State as Florida Gets Snow Second Year in a Row

A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)
A rare snow is seen in Holt, Florida, on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (Danielle Brahier via AP)

A small part of Florida is the Snowy State for the second year in a row.

Snow briefly covered the grass and rooftops in parts of the western Florida Panhandle on Sunday morning as just enough frigid air rushed in behind a cold front to turn the last rain showers into snowflakes in the Sunshine State.

And it wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Less than a year ago, on Jan. 21, 2025, some of those same areas saw up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow in what was the most significant snowfall in many places since the late 1800s.

Snow photos flooded social media. There were a few flakes on the beach and snow nestled into palm fronds. It was too warm to stick to the roads, but a dusting of snow sat on the grass for a little while before mostly melting.

The rare snow in the South wasn't just in Florida. Southeastern Alabama and southern Georgia also reported snow in areas that also got to celebrate a second winter wonderland in less than a year.

Snow covered the ground in Columbus and Macon, Georgia, and officials warned enough might fall to make travel treacherous.

Varieties

Shark Mauls Boy in Sydney Harbor

This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Shark Mauls Boy in Sydney Harbor

This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)
This photo shows an aerial view of Bondi Beach and Sydney Harbor as seen from a plane flying over Sydney on January 14, 2026. (AFP)

A shark mauled a boy swimming in Sydney Harbor on Sunday, leaving him in critical condition with serious leg injuries, authorities said.

The predator bit the boy, believed to be about 13 years old, during the late afternoon off Shark Beach, New South Wales state police said.

"The injuries are consistent with what is believed to have been a large shark," police said in a statement.

Officers pulled the boy from the water off the harbor beach within minutes of being alerted to the incident, police said.

They gave the boy first aid for "serious" leg injuries while he was aboard a police boat, applying two medical tourniquets.

Paramedics transported him to Sydney Children's Hospital, where he was said to be in critical condition.

"Swimmers are advised to avoid entering nearby waters at this time," police said.

Shark Beach, in Sydney's eastern suburb of Vaucluse, was closed and police evacuated nearby beaches in the harbor, the state government said.

Wildlife experts were working to identify the shark species involved, it said in a statement.

"This is a tragic shark attack on a young boy having a swim on a Sunday afternoon near a harbor beach in Sydney's east," New South Wales Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said.

"Our thoughts are with the young boy and his family. I understand there were also other young people with him at the time of the attack, our thoughts are also with them."

There have been more than 1,280 shark incidents around Australia since 1791, of which more than 250 resulted in death, according to a database of the predators' encounters with humans.

Increasingly crowded waters and rising ocean temperatures that appear to be swaying sharks' migratory patterns may be contributing to a rise in attacks despite overfishing depleting some species, scientists say.

A great white shark mauled surfer Mercury Psillakis to death at a popular northern Sydney ocean beach in September.

Two months later, a bull shark killed a woman swimming off a remote beach north of Sydney.

Varieties

Social Media Addiction's Surprising Challenger? Anti-doomscrolling Influencers

A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)
A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)
TT
TT

Social Media Addiction's Surprising Challenger? Anti-doomscrolling Influencers

A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)
A 13-year-old boy poses at his home as he looks at social media on his mobile phone in Sydney on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Saeed KHAN / AFP)

It’s simple to accidentally become entranced by an endless loop of videos on Instagram or TikTok. But sometimes, that mindless scroll is interrupted by a reminder that what you thought was a 10-minute break spent on your phone was closer to 30 minutes.

Olivia Yokubonis, armed with a kind voice and scientific research, often pops up in feeds on social platforms, gently reminding viewers that they might not remember the video they saw two videos before she appeared on the screen.

Yokubonis is a content creator who goes by the name Olivia Unplugged online, making videos to combat overuse or mindless use of social media. For the most part, people who view her videos welcome the disruption from the endless loop of content, treating it as a wake-up call to get off their phones. Other times, they are snarky, The Associated Press said.

“People will comment and they’ll be like, ’Oh, (it’s) ironic that you’re posting. And I’m like, ‘Where else am I supposed to find you, Kyle? Outside? You’re not outside. You are here, sitting here,’” she said. “For us to actually be seen, we have to be where people are.”

Yokubonis’ content responds to the feeling many people have, that they spend too much time on social media or apps.

“Most people have no clue how much time they spend on social media,” said Ofir Turel, a professor of information systems management at the University of Melbourne who has been studying social media use for years. Through his research, Turel found that when he presented people with their screen time information, they were practically “in a state of shock” and many people voluntarily reduced their usage afterwards.

Yokubonis is part of a growing group of content creators who make videos encouraging viewers to close out the app they’re on. Some are aggressive in their approach, some more tame; some only occasionally post about social media overuse, and some, like Yokubonis, devote their accounts to it.

She works for Opal, a screen time app designed to help users “reclaim their focus,” she said, but those who engage with her content might not have any idea she is working for the company. Brand logos, constant plugs to download the app and other signs of branding are almost entirely absent from her page. “People love hearing from people,” she said. Millions of views on her videos point to that being true.

“It’s a fine line and a balance of finding a way to be able to cut through that noise but also not adding to the noise,” she added.

Ian A. Anderson, a postdoctoral scholar at California Institute of Technology, said he finds this kind of content interesting, but is curious whether it's disruptive enough to prompt action. He also said he wonders whether those with the strongest scrolling habits are “thoughtless about the way (they're) intaking information.”

“If they're paying full attention, I feel like it could be an effective disruption, but I also think there is a degree to which, if you are really a habitual scroller, maybe you aren’t fully engaging with it,” he said. “I can think of all sorts of different variables that could change the effectiveness, but it does sound like an interesting way to intervene from the inside.”

With billions of active users across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and other social media platforms, talk of cutting down on screen time is perennial, as is the idea of addiction to social platforms. But there’s tremendous disagreement over whether social media addiction actually exists.

Is social media “addiction” real? Researchers, psychologists and other experts agree some people spend too much time on social media, but the agreement tends to stop there. Some researchers question whether addiction is the appropriate term to describe heavy use of social media, arguing that a person must be experiencing identifiable symptoms, like strong, sometimes uncontrollable urges and withdrawal, to qualify as addiction. Others, like Turel, acknowledge the term seems to resonate with more people and is often used colloquially.

Anderson said he recognized the prevalence of casual mentions of being addicted to phones and was curious to see if that talk was “benign.”

A recent study of his suggests the debate extends further than academic discourse. In a representative sample of active Instagram users, Anderson found that people often overestimate whether they are “addicted” to the app. On a self-report scale, 18% of participants agreed that they were at least somewhat addicted to Instagram and 5% indicated substantial agreement, but only 2% of participants were deemed at risk of addiction based on their symptoms. Believing you are addicted also impacts how you address that issue, Anderson said.

“If you perceive yourself as more addicted, it actually hurts your ability to control your use or your perception of that ability and makes you kind of blame yourself more for overuse,” Anderson said. “There are these negative consequences to addiction perception.”

Cutting down on screen time

For those looking to curb their social media habits, Anderson suggests making small, meaningful, changes to stop from opening your social media app of choice. Moving the app’s place on your phone or turning off notifications are “light touch interventions,” but more involved options, like not bringing your phone into the bedroom — or other places where you often use it — could also help.

Plenty of intervention methods have been offered to consumers in the form of products or services. But those interventions require self awareness and a desire to cut down on use. Content creators who infiltrate social media feeds with information about the psychology behind why people scroll for hours a day can plant those early seeds.

Cat Goetze, who goes by CatGPT online, makes “non-pretentious, non-patronizing” content about artificial intelligence, building off her experience in the tech industry. But she’s also been on a lengthy road to cut down her own screen time. She often makes videos about why the platforms are so compelling and why we tend to spend longer than we anticipate on them.

“There’s a whole infrastructure — there’s an army of nerds whose only job is to get you to increase your time spent on that platform,” she said. “There’s a whole machine that’s trying to get you to be that way and it’s not your fault and you’re not going to win this just (through) willpower.”

Goetze also founded the business Physical Phones, which makes Bluetooth landline phones that connect to smartphones, encouraging people to spend less time on their devices. The inside of the packaging reads “offline is the new luxury.”

She was able to build the business at an accelerated pace thanks to her social media audience. But the early success of Physical Phones also demonstrates the demand for solutions to high screen time, she said.

“Social media will always play a part in our lives. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. If we can get the average screen time down from, if it’s 10 hours for a person to one hour, or from three hours to 30 minutes, that is going to be a net positive benefit for that individual and for society,” Goetze said. “That being said, I’d love to be the person that they’re watching for those 30 minutes.”