Does the ice cream index have to say as much about Venezuela as the hemline-index said about 1920s US economics? Photo: Pawan Singh / The National
Does the ice cream index have to say as much about Venezuela as the hemline-index said about 1920s US economics? Photo: Pawan Singh / The National

The ice cream index



Venezuela’s best known ice cream shop, famous for its range of 863 flavours, has temporarily closed due to a shortage of milk, highlighting the parlous economic state of a country that boasts the world’s largest oil reserves but is running out of basic goods.

This is a bitter scoop of bad news for Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s embattled socialist president, but he denies mismanagement. Whatever the truth, the ice cream shop’s closure can be taken as a measure of reality, a bit like the “Hemline Index” formulated by economist George Taylor in 1926. Indeed, the ice cream index could be a sweet sign, closer to home too.

The world will know Syria’s war is over when it can once again visit Al Hamidiyah souq in Damascus to indulge in the ice cream famously churned out by Bakdash since 1885. Last year, Bakdash had to open a store in Amman because few could get to the Syrian capital for its signature pistachio-covered Booza.

Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

Astroworld
Travis Scott
Grand Hustle/Epic/Cactus Jack

Four-day collections of TOH

Day             Indian Rs (Dh)        

Thursday    500.75 million (25.23m)

Friday         280.25m (14.12m)

Saturday     220.75m (11.21m)

Sunday       170.25m (8.58m)

Total            1.19bn (59.15m)

(Figures in millions, approximate)

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

THE SPECS

2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE

Engine: 1.8 litre combined with 16-volt electric motors

Transmission: Automatic with manual shifting mode

Power: 121hp

Torque: 142Nm

Price: Dh95,900

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The%20specs
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5