Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

On 20 July at 7pm the French Cultural Center in East Jerusalem on Salahadin Street opens the exhibition Existence Denied: The Checkpoint of Bethlehem during Fridays of Ramadan, by photographers Andrea M. & Magda C. The exhibition will be open from 20-28 July.

The national dress of Sudanese women is the thobe - locally known as "Top" - a traditional form of dress that wraps the body in a long bolt of fabric. Influenced by the Roman toga and the Indian Sari, "Top", is worn by women everywhere throughout Sudan. And with the country confronting a traumatic possible break-up into North and South Sudan, the idea of a unifying national dress is reassuring for many. Al Jazeera's May Welsh reports from the capital, Khartoum.

Tehran is hosting the fifth nationwide exquisite Persian carpet festival to bring different types of Persian carpets under one roof for all to marvel at.

The festival, aimed at introducing Iranian culture, is being held in Tehran's Sa'ad Abad Cultural Complex from July 6 through July 16.

Iranian craftsmen have been invited to participate in a cultural and artistic festival in Algeria to introduce various forms of Persian handicrafts.

According to head of Isfahan's Handicraft Exports Union Gholam-Ali Feizollahi, a group of 40 craftsmen from Isfahan Province will participate in the event upon an invitation by the Algerian Culture Minister.

Thousands dashed through Spanish Pamplona for a bull run at the San Fermin fiesta, an event that ushers in Spain's summer party season. Several runners were knocked to the ground and some were trampled on by the animals weighing more than 1100 pounds (500 kilograms) but there were no gorings or life-threatening injuries. The daily run is the highlight of the 9-day street drinking festival, and comes after a full day and night of hard partying. The bulls will be killed in the evening in the bull ring, and their meat served up in Pamplona's restaurants.

A group of prominent Iranian handicraft artists are to participate in a contemporary Islamic art exhibition to be hosted in Munich, Germany.

According to Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) the Villa Stuck Museum in Munich is to host the exhibition starting from September 2 to February 15, CHTN reported on Monday.

A musician from the Muslim ethnic minority Uighurs is struggling to keep traditional music alive in modern China's Xinjiang province.

An explosion at Britain's third largest oil refinery in North Lincolnshire has ignited a fire, leaving an oil worker missing.

Owners of the refinery and Emergency Services announced that the unidentified employee was working close to a distillation unit at the Lindsey Oil Refinery when it caught fire and then exploded around noon on Tuesday.

The oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico takes a fresh twist, as a new official report reveals that exposure to the spill has so far resulted in 162 cases of illness.

According to the Louisiana state Health Department, of the reported 162 cases, 128 were related to oil rig workers or individuals who took part in the slick clean-up.

Nearly 200,000 people have descended on Glastonbury, a small village in the west of England, for one of the world's biggest outdoor music festivals.

They are there to see not only some of biggest names in western music, but to encounter new music and cultures.

Al Jazeera talks to one of Africa's biggest stars, Femi Kuti, and up-and-coming Nigerian singer Nneka, both of whom are bringing their unique brand of pop to the countryside.