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.
[ osalem@thenational.ae ]
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