Various Artists
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
(Republic / Island)
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When fantasy novels morph into movies, a soundtrack studded with tunes by rock and indie acts has become de rigueur. Paramount Pictures turned to music by the likes of Muse and Thom Yorke for film adaptations of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, and Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is similarly wise to the audience-broadening appeal of popular sounds.
An adaptation of the second book in the American author Suzanne Collins’s adored trilogy about the teenager Katniss Everdeen’s adventures in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, the film also has a “proper” orchestral score by the veteran composer James Newton Howard. One wonders how he feels about Coldplay, The National, Christina Aguilera and the rest gatecrashing his gig.
It’s interesting, too, to note that the British singer Ed Sheeran wrote three songs especially for Catching Fire, all of which were rejected by Lionsgate. When placing one tune in a major movie can earn an artist upwards of US$300,000 (Dh1.1 million) – and help them tap a new demographic – everybody wants to muscle in.
If there’s a welcome shoo-in here, it’s the gifted New Zealand singer and songwriter Lorde. At 17, she has a strength and tangible independence that chimes with that of Everdeen and her sombre take on Tears for Fears’ Everybody Wants to Rule the World does have something of the post-apocalyptic about it.
Capital Letter, a rolling acoustic guitar-driven affair by the very commanding Patti Smith is also striking and together with The Lumineers’ fine dust-bowl ballad Gale Song, it harks back to the more traditionalist-sounding tracks of The Hunger Games, the film adaptation of the first book in Collins’s trilogy, where the songs were vetted by the music producer T-Bone Burnett.
In Catching Fire, Coldplay are instantly recognisable as themselves on the decent piano ballad Atlas. Elsewhere, Christina Aguilera’s voice still sounds impressively Olympian on We Remain, but the song is no classic. The envelope-pushing, such as it is, falls mostly to Las Vegas’s Imagine Dragons, whose tribal, percussion-heavy backing track on Who We Are conjures the production on (fairly) recent records by Beyoncé.
Having watched the film, you could argue that the Lumineers’ track aside, none of the songs seem especially synonymous with the scenes they accompany and that kind of dovetailing is surely what effective music placement should be about. However, as a stand-alone music collection, Catching Fire works well enough.
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Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
ETFs explained
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
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Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
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Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
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Ferrari
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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Various Artists
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Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
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TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
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