The Arab actress and theatre director Nidal Al Ashkar received the Lifetime Achievement Award in this year's Murex d'Or, given in Lebanon to recognise artists in the Arab region. Al Achkar played a lead role in launching Lebanon's theatre movement of the 1960s and today remains at the forefront of the Arab world's cultural scene. She directed her first play in Beirut in 1967 before she founded the Beirut Theatre Workshop in the late 1960s, which soon became a cultural hive for writers, poets, painters, musicians and actors. "She is Lebanon's true expression of enlightenment and culture," said the Lebanese minister of culture Gabi Layyoun, who presented the award. Receiving the honour, Al Ashkar said: "Creativity is what brings us together tonight. It is what makes our lives more meaningful. Through creativity, you invite hope to eliminate misery."
Veena Malik confident about playing double role
The Pakistani actress Veena Malik is excited about playing dual characters in the forthcoming film Daal Mein Kuch Kaala Hai, which marks her Bollywood debut. "Playing a double role is a new thing for me. But I'm confident I'll be able to pull it off," she said. "Because in real life, there are actually two girls inside me - one is Zahida, my real name, and the other is Veena, my stage name." Malik, who became popular in India after her stint in the reality programme Bigg Boss in 2010, also announced she's signed on to the Telugu version of the 2011 Bollywood hit The Dirty Picture. * IANS
Ang Lee's Life of Pi out in India first
The filmmaker Ang Lee's big screen adaptation of Life of Pi, featuring the Indian actors Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Shravanthi Sainath and Tabu, co-starring alongside Tobey Maguire and Gerard Depardieu, will premiere in India on November 21 ahead of its worldwide release in December, announced its distributor 20th Century Fox. The film, based on the 2001 bestselling book by Yann Martel, tells the tale of a young boy named Pi, who is the only person to survive the sinking of a cargo ship. He finds himself on a lifeboat with a hyena, a zebra, an orang-utan and a Bengal tiger. The 17-year-old Sharma will make his acting debut in the role of Pi.* IANS
Dalip Tahil talks Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
After playing various character roles in Bollywood masala movies, Dalip Tahil will essay the most important role of his career: that of the Indian statesman Jawaharlal Nehru in the forthcoming film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, a biopic of the life of the Indian athlete Milkha Singh, to be directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. Tahil said of his role: "It's a big challenge for me. I am very excited that I am playing the role of India's first prime minister. It's a very significant character in Milkha's life. He motivated him and gave him a platform to lead India in various sports events." The 59-year-old actor said he prepared for the role by watching documentaries and reading books on Nehru. "It was important to play him right. People have a reference to the character so there is an obligation, a responsibility to reflect him right," he said.* IANS
Ram Charan and his wife honeymoon in Florence
Ram Charan Teja and Upasana Kamineni went on a three-day honeymoon at the designer Salvatore Ferragamo's estate in Florence, Italy, last week. The southern star tied the knot with his long-time girlfriend on June 14. Teja said they originally planed to honeymoon somewhere in India, due to his busy filming schedule for the forthcoming remake of the 1973 classic Zanjeer, but couldn't resist when the Ferragamo family offered them their place. "We were invited by Salvatore's family. It's a 200-acre farm with only five villas for guests," Teja said. "It was very quiet there. The only entertainment we had was horse riding, the vineyards and trekking in their awesomely huge ranch. Upasana and I were in a state of bliss."* IANS
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
The%20specs
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,400m. Winner: Rio Angie, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer).
7.05pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 1,600m. Winner: Trenchard, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
7.40pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m. Winner: Mulfit, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.15pm: Handicap Dh210,000 (D) 1,200m. Winner: Waady, Dane O’Neill, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: Handicap Dh210,000 (D) 2,000m. Winner: Tried And True, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
9.25pm:Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m. Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
Top 10 most polluted cities
- Bhiwadi, India
- Ghaziabad, India
- Hotan, China
- Delhi, India
- Jaunpur, India
- Faisalabad, Pakistan
- Noida, India
- Bahawalpur, Pakistan
- Peshawar, Pakistan
- Bagpat, India
Company%C2%A0profile
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
WWE Evolution results
- Trish Stratus and Lita beat Alicia Fox and Mickie James in a tag match
- Nia Jax won a battle royal, eliminating Ember Moon last to win
- Toni Storm beat Io Shirai to win the Mae Young Classic
- Natalya, Sasha Banks and Bayley beat The Riott Squad in a six-woman tag match
- Shayna Baszler won the NXT Women’s title by defeating Kairi Sane
- Becky Lynch retained the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing match
- Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women’s title by beating Nikki Bella
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
The Bio
Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s
Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business
He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery
Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
