At the beginning of Amelie, a French film that was a hit about 10 years ago, a man is settling down in his apartment to watch the Fifa World Cup final. The reception is fine, he has a bottle of his favourite beverage beside him and he rubs his hands together in anticipation. Then disaster strikes. The reception goes fuzzy. He gets up and bashes the television. The picture returns, goes fuzzy again, then blank. He explodes in fury, unaware that it is not the television at fault, but Amelie in the attic fiddling with the aerial.
You don't need Amelie in the UAE: here we have Etisalat. Last Sunday I settled down to watch what would be the final game of England's Grand Slam challenge. Could they travel to Dublin, see off the Irish and pick up the laurels? I was eager to find out.
It is not that watching rugby this season has been trouble-free. I subscribed to Etisalat's eVision - or is it eLife? - when I moved house in September. There would be no problems for me with irritating French people fiddling with my aerial. My television pictures would come via the internet. How marvellously 21st century.
Alas, I have seen the future and it doesn't work. At least one time in two it doesn't work. When it doesn't, I phone Etisalat and get through to eLife - or is it eVision? - and they come up with the startling advice that I should switch everything off, wait for 10 minutes, and start again. This is all very well, but not ideal when you know the game has just started. A rope-veined demi-god is charging down the wing, ball in hand, and you can't see it.
I managed to watch one of England's earlier encounters, when we defeated Wales. As somebody who first started watching the game in the 1970s, when the Welsh dragon was rampant, it is always heartening to see the men in red turned over. The next game was England versus France. Again, a similar good result for the men in white, and equally pleasing to see the blues beaten. The television was behaving and so was the English team.
Things started to go wrong when I decided to watch Wales versus Ireland. The television told me that I was not subscribed to the Al Jazeera channel on which the game was supposed to be broadcast, but it also told me that I was not subscribed to Sky News, which didn't make sense as you don't need to subscribe to it. I turned everything off and waited 10 minutes. Still didn't work.
Next day was England against Scotland. By some miracle, all the sports channels were working, but the channel the rugby was supposed to be on, Al Jazeera 10, was still not available. I phoned my friends at eLife - or is it eVision? - and after the customary five minutes of hitting buttons, learnt that I wasn't actually subscribed to Al Jazeera 10. If I paid an extra Dh25 a month, I could watch it. I paid up and settled back to watch Scotland get stuffed. They weren't exactly, but it was at least a win.
Which brings us back to last Sunday. All day the excitement was mounting. Could we pull off the first Grand Slam since 2003? Everyone remembers that after that we went off to Australia and won the World Cup. I was as happy and excited as a Frenchman at the beginning of Amelie.
However, I had forgotten about Etisalat. I should have realised that to watch a programme starting at 9pm I should start getting the television ready at 5pm. My son had gone off to watch Wigan against Birmingham or some equally dismal encounter, so for some foolish reason I was reasonably confident. I even went for a stroll before the game to ease the nerves.
At 9pm I went into the television room. It was turned off. I switched it on. There was a stuck screen with a picture of a frozen footballer. Whistling nervously, I turned it off. Nothing. Then the first text message from my Scottish friend appeared. "Where is the English chariot?" he asked.
I unplugged all the plugs, put them back in, phoned up eVision - or is it eLife? - and after 30 minutes, I suddenly had a picture. Then it switched abruptly from rugby to football: Al Jazeera had somehow decided the round ball game was more important. And it wasn't even on Al Jazeera 10, but Al Jazeera 3, so I'm not quite sure why I had to subscribe to a special channel to watch the game a week earlier.
When I did finally get to watch the match, it was rather dismal. I had to turn my phone off because my Scottish friend got so excited he started claiming to have Irish roots. The English team played so badly that I even turned the television off. Then I got a message that Etisalat had abandoned its US$12 billion (Dh44.07bn) bid for Zain. Good, I thought. This will give them the chance to sort out my television.
rwright@thenational.ae
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
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Mercedes V250 Avantgarde specs
Engine: 2.0-litre in-line four-cylinder turbo
Gearbox: 7-speed automatic
Power: 211hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 350Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.0 l/100 km
Price: Dh235,000
liverpool youngsters
Ki-Jana Hoever
The only one of this squad to have scored for Liverpool, the versatile Dutchman impressed on his debut at Wolves in January. He can play right-back, centre-back or in midfield.
Herbie Kane
Not the most prominent H Kane in English football but a 21-year-old Bristolian who had a fine season on loan at Doncaster last year. He is an all-action midfielder.
Luis Longstaff
Signed from Newcastle but no relation to United’s brothers Sean and Matty, Luis is a winger. An England Under-16 international, he helped Liverpool win the FA Youth Cup last season.
Yasser Larouci
An 18-year-old Algerian-born winger who can also play as a left-back, Larouci did well on Liverpool’s pre-season tour until an awful tackle by a Sevilla player injured him.
Adam Lewis
Steven Gerrard is a fan of his fellow Scouser, who has been on Liverpool’s books since he was in the Under-6s, Lewis was a midfielder, but has been converted into a left-back.
THE SPECS
GMC Sierra Denali 1500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Price: Dh232,500
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre supercharged V6
Power: 416hp at 7,000rpm
Torque: 410Nm at 3,500rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Fuel consumption: 10.2 l/100km
Price: Dh375,000
On sale: now
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.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
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
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Director: Shady Ali
Cast: Boumi Fouad , Mohamed Tharout and Hisham Ismael
Rating: 3/5
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Company Profile
Company name: Big Farm Brothers
Started: September 2020
Founders: Vishal Mahajan and Navneet Kaur
Based: Dubai Investment Park 1
Industry: food and agriculture
Initial investment: $205,000
Current staff: eight to 10
Future plan: to expand to other GCC markets
End of free parking
- paid-for parking will be rolled across Abu Dhabi island on August 18
- drivers will have three working weeks leeway before fines are issued
- areas that are currently free to park - around Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Maqta Bridge, Mussaffah Bridge and the Corniche - will now require a ticket
- villa residents will need a permit to park outside their home. One vehicle is Dh800 and a second is Dh1,200.
- The penalty for failing to pay for a ticket after 10 minutes will be Dh200
- Parking on a patch of sand will incur a fine of Dh300
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
The specs: 2017 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn
Price, base / as tested: Dhxxx
Engine: 5.7L V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 395hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 556Nm @ 3,950rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
