The controversial kiss on Dubai's Al Arabiya channel



ABU DHABI // A stolen newsroom kiss has provoked outrage on the internet after a video of an Al Arabiya newscast caught some unwanted attention and was subsequently removed.

The video, taken from the Dubai-based Al Arabiya channel, owned by Saudi MBC Groups, shows a presenter discussing protests in Egypt.

Behind her a man is seen working at his desk when a woman comes to greet him, putting her arm around his neck and kissing him.

She then turns around, notices the cameras rolling, and walks away.

Since it was uploaded on Thursday, the video has been seen almost 1,000 times, and setting Twitter abuzz. While some were outraged, others were amused.

The video was taken down today "due to a copyright claim by MBC Group".

Several related Arabic hashtags started trending, the most common was "the kiss of Al Arabiya channel".

"This is what MBC Group promotes (liberation)!!" tweeted Fahad, under the handle @fahadaalqahtani, from Saudi Arabia. "All that's left is to see a sex scene in the news...!"

Abdulrahman Al Maliki, under the handle @abdulrahman0o, sardonically urged people "not to misunderstand them, maybe it was CPR".

It is unknown when the scene was shown on TV, but the tweets began on April 8.

Fahad Al Aseme, under the handle @fmalosaimi, tweeted then that the channel was "jewish originally, liberal regionally and christian oriented".

"What do we expect from it then? a sheikh reciting the Quran?" he tweeted.

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Director: Siddharth Anand

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Rating: Two out of five stars 

What is the FNC?

The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning. 
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval. 
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
 

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7. Sergio Perez, Force India 86

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