When the Charlie Sheen-led meltdown on the US television hit Two and a Half Men got to a toxic peak earlier this year, the situation was so bad the show's executive producer offered to quit.
At the time, Chuck Lorre, 59, thought bowing out was the only solution, he told the latest issue of TV Guide. And while producers, rather than the stars, are often the ones to leave shows when tensions rise, his reasoning was a little different: as Lorre, CBS and Warner Bros watched Sheen's condition worsen, they feared he would die.
"[The studio and network] chose to make a moral decision as opposed to a financial one," Lorre told the magazine. "But people were really frightened that they were signing off on what could have had devastating consequences. This was not a game. This was drug addiction writ large. This was big-time cocaine and in his own words, an 'epic drug run' that could have ended with either his death or someone else's."
One Kardashian reality show may follow couple to Texas
Khloe Kardashian is standing by her man. The E! reality show Khloe & Lamar looks set to move shooting from California to Texas as one half of the reality couple, Lamar Odom, was traded this week from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Dallas Mavericks - and his wife is set to follow.
"I ride or die for my Lam! It's where I go ... It's who I am with :)" Kardashian tweeted recently, after the basketball player was nearly traded to another team and before he decided to be released from his contract.
The show of support is in contrast to squabbling seen in the new season of another Kardashian show, Kim & Kourtney Take New York, due to hit screens in the UAE on January 1. In one of the episodes, older sister Kim resists her now-estranged hubby Kris Humphries, also a professional basketball player, in his desire to move back to his home state of Minnesota.
Actress foresaw Bachchan's Coolie accident
The actress Smita Patil had a premonition of the accident in Manmohan Desai's 1983 film Coolie that threatened Amitabh Bachchan's life, the actor revealed in a Twitter tribute to Bollywood's most celebrated art-house actress.
Paying homage to the actress on the anniversary of her death this week, Bachchan wrote "Smita Patil's death anniversary today .. how time flies .. was shocked beyond belief .. a soft gentle countenance, yet tough beliefs."
The 69-year-old actor, who shared screen space with Patil's son Prateik in Prakash Jha's Aarakshan this year, said the actress had telephoned him days before the accident in Coolie after a nightmare she had.
"Smita had premonition of my Coolie accident .. had called for the first time ever in Bangalore to ask if I was well .. had bad dream," Bachchan wrote on Twitter.
While shooting an action sequence for Coolie, blows from the powerful Puneet Issar sent Bachchan into the intensive care unit - and continue to trouble him, even years later. At the time, the actor's hospitalisation prompted an unprecedented outpouring of emotional support from his fans across India.
In 1982, Bachchan paired with Smita in Prakash Mehra's Namakhalal and again in Ramesh Sippy's Shakti - both films remembered by cinema lovers for his powerful performances. Four years later, at the age of 31, Patil suffered a brain haemorrhage and died in 1986, just days after her son Prateik's birth.
Ram Gopal Varma film based on Mumbai attacks
The Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who has a reputation for making movies based on contemporary events, announced yesterday that his next film would be based on the 26/11 terror attacks.
"26/11 is one of the dates that no Indian will ever forget," Varma said in a press release. "The three days 24/7 live telecast of the terrorist carnage had people's eyes glued to the TV sets across the world. But my attempt now would be not only to capture on film the physical aspect, but also the behind-the-scenes aspect of what exactly happened."
He said his film would begin from the moment the Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Kasab and his nine accomplices hijacked the fisherman Amar Singh Solanki's trawler in the high seas, and end with his capture by the Mumbai policeman Tukaram Ombale on the night of 26/11 at Girgaum Chowpatty.
"This will be intercut with what the various gallant police officers did in their attempt to get the situation under control," Varma said.
The filmmaker last made Not a Love Story, starring Mahie Gill and based on the 2008 murder of Neeraj Grover, a television producer. Mumbai police arrested a Kannada starlet Maria Susairaj, and her Navy officer fiance Emil Jerome, in connection to the crime.
Varma said the journalist Rommel Rodrigues, the author of Kasab: The Face of 26/11¸ would assist him during the making of the film - although the film is not based on the book.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
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
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
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
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.
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
CONCRETE COWBOY
Directed by: Ricky Staub
Starring: Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome
3.5/5 stars
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
How%20to%20avoid%20getting%20scammed
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Schedule for Asia Cup
Sept 15: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Dubai)
Sept 16: Pakistan v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 17: Sri Lanka v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 18: India v Qualifier (Dubai)
Sept 19: India v Pakistan (Dubai)
Sept 20: Bangladesh v Afghanistan (Abu Dhabi) Super Four
Sept 21: Group A Winner v Group B Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 21: Group B Winner v Group A Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 23: Group A Winner v Group A Runner-up (Dubai)
Sept 23: Group B Winner v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 25: Group A Winner v Group B Winner (Dubai)
Sept 26: Group A Runner-up v Group B Runner-up (Abu Dhabi)
Sept 28: Final (Dubai)
EXPATS
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THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Book%20Details
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