Justin Bieber
Believe
Mercury
***
"If I could just die in your arms, I wouldn't mind," pines Justin Bieber, suddenly resembling Morrissey on one of Believe's more memorable moments. Anxious "Beliebers" can relax though, as the teen heart-throb isn't testing their devotion with a radical change of direction. Well, not towards gloomy indie, anyway.
This second studio album - ignoring last year's Christmas effort - finds the now 18-year-old phenomenon still whispering an exhaustive array of sweet nothings at his expectant followers, while also trying his hand at racier material. The shift is particularly apparent on the awkwardly back-to-back tracks Right Here and Catching Feelings, as Bieber reverts from provocative and alluring to sweet and innocent. "They say we're too young for love, but I'm catching feelings," he trills on the latter, in a tone bordering on the shrill.
Mature listeners will also wince at Thought of You, on which the singer's vocal range again gets worryingly close to its unlistenable upper limit. Stay with it though, and this is actually a fine dance-pop song driven by the in-demand producer Diplo, one of several credible contributors. Indeed, a recent Twitter trend insisted that "Justin is Gangsta" due to the A-list rappers who pop up on this record's edgier dance tracks, which alternate with the familiar mawkish ballads.
The album opener, All Around the World, hints at Daft Punk's similarly named funk-house classic, with some tamer-than-usual rhymes from Ludacris ("hate may win some battles, but love wins in the end"). Right Here includes a cameo of almost Hitchcockian brevity from his Canadian compatriot Drake, and As Long as You Love Me, featuring the Californian MC Big Sean, includes one offensive line - but from Bieber. "We could be starving, we could be homeless," suggests the mansion-dwelling star, as if that wouldn't be overly problematic.
The track that may really trouble his fan base, however, is Beauty and a Beat, an invigorating hard-dance effort featuring a splendidly squelchy instrumental section, again in the Daft Punk vein.
If that surprisingly out-there moment perturbs many Beliebers, then so will the presence of the contentious rap vixen Nicki Minaj, who provides the most salacious rap on the record and compounds the affront by name-checking his actual beau, the much-envied Selena Gomez.
Believe is something of a transitional record, then, edging towards more adult themes while trying manfully not to alienate the current audience, who should take heart from the title track, at least. "Where would I be if you didn't believe?" gushes the idol, to his faithful.
Any further liaisons with Minaj, and he may well find out.
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
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The years Ramadan fell in May
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
Brief scores
Toss India, chose to bat
India 281-7 in 50 ov (Pandya 83, Dhoni 79; Coulter-Nile 3-44)
Australia 137-9 in 21 ov (Maxwell 39, Warner 25; Chahal 3-30)
India won by 26 runs on Duckworth-Lewis Method
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
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