Disney Takes Aim at Family-Friendly Mideast

US more unpopular there now than it was under Bush

(NEWSER) - You know President Obama’s plan to reach out and win hearts and minds in the Middle East? It’s not going well. In a stunning new Pew Poll spotted by Glenn Greenwald of Salon , only 10% of residents in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates said they had a positive view of Obama, and less than that had a positive view of the US—putting the numbers at sub-Bush levels. More»

Despite health fears after he missed 75% of meetings in 2010

(NEWSER) - Disney shareholders have re-elected Steve Jobs to the company's board of directors despite an advisory firm's concerns about his poor health. The Apple chief—who owns more than 7% of Disney stock and has been on the board since Disney acquired Pixar in 2006—missed nearly three-quarters of board meetings last year. He was also absent from yesterday's shareholder meeting, during which the other 12 board members were also re-elected, notes the Hollywood Reporter . More»

New app encourages your friends to come along

(NEWSER) - Disney has quietly taken the next step in linking social networking and commerce: a new Facebook app allows users to buy tickets to Toy Story 3 without leaving the website. Disney's application isn't just the first such service embedded directly into Facebook—it also capitalizes on Facebook's social nature by encouraging your friends to buy as well, reports the New York Times . If the idea works, and early signs suggest it will, expect more movies to get the same treatment. More»

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama’s trip to the Middle East has established even higher standards for his presidency, Politico reports. Obama is using his global celebrity to restart Israel-Palestine talks and improve relations between the West and the Muslim world, proving he’s “not a president who has ever shied away from setting high expectations, and then trying to meet them,” a White House official says. More»

President to tackle US-Muslim relations on first Middle Eastern trip

(NEWSER) - President Obama will travel to Egypt next month to deliver a speech aimed at mending America's relationship with the Muslim world, McClatchy Newspapers reports. Egypt is a politically risky choice due to President Hosni Mubarak's heavy-handed autocratic rule, but a White House spokesman said the country "in many ways represents the heart of the Arab world" and that the speech would be pitched at ordinary Muslims, not their leaders. More»