Elon Musk's year has been eventful, to say the least. There were the forays into Bitcoin, his Twitter spats with politicians and the influence on the stock market – which almost eclipsed his (occasional) title as the world's richest man. In today's Business Extra Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner take a look at Time's Person of the Year for 2021.
In this episode
Elon Musk's 2021 overview (1m)
Elon Musk's persona (5m 50s)
The role of social media (8m 32s)
Tesla stock and future (9m 58s)
Is Elon Musk human enough? (14m 23s)
US regulation (17m 5s)
Read more
Elon Musk offloads more Tesla shares as company loses its $1tn valuation
Elon Musk jokes about quitting his jobs as he sells more Tesla shares
New battery technology can charge electric vehicles in less than 10 minutes, researchers say
Nasa SpaceX launches Dragon Crew-3 astronauts to International Space Station
Transcript edited for clarity.
Mustafa Alrawi (co-host, assistant editor-in-chief at The National) 0:07
Elon Musk became the richest person in the world in 2021.
But that was not the most interesting thing he did all year. Space, transportation, Bitcoin have all felt his influence. But he's also been dogged by controversy these past 12 months.
Kelsey Warner (co-host, Future editor at The National) 0:43
Here we are again, talking Elon Musk. But I think today's the day to do it. We are looking at a year in review of Elon Musk. What’s he been up to?
MA 0:50
I would just like to say that you and I and our producer were talking about what we should do this week, a few days ago. And we said we should talk about Elon Musk. And then, lo and behold, Time magazine named him Person of the Year. But I think we were talking about this first. And we do believe that this is a worthwhile conversation: to have a year in review, given his outsized influence on our collective future.
So I'm just gonna do a roll call of things associated with him. He became the richest person in the world in January, subsequently lost that title to somebody else …
KW 1:38
… his arch nemesis Jeff Bezos.
MA 1:42
… and then got it back again, as we speak, he is according to his paper wealth, everyone's paper wealth, the richest.
That was starting the year with a bang but not really what really caught our attention. That's almost mundane for him. He was involved during the year in a very public discourse about Bitcoin, and how useful or relevant the cryptocurrency is. At one point announcing that Tesla, the company that he is chief executive of, owned about $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin, then he subsequently said that they would accept Bitcoin if you wanted to buy your own Tesla.
And then he kind of, as they say in the business, reverse-ferreted on Bitcoin and then started talking about its problems, including its massive energy use for mining. But he became a massive hero to those that believe in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
KW 2:51
Yeah, he marshals a large following from his very controversial Twitter handle and the Gamestop saga as well. He became a bit of a folk hero for the day-trader jockeys that have emerged in the last year or two following the pandemic.
But outside of his role in Bitcoin and his role in Tesla, we have to think about him as a, you know, space pioneer and energy transition pioneer and incredibly controversial figure.
He holds in tension all of the possibilities of our long-term future with the really immediate realities of just how damaged and upsetting an individual human person can be on a day-to-day basis.
All of his diatribes the last last few years, and he really came on the scene and you and I first spoke about Elon Musk back in 2018, when he ran afoul of the SEC, when he tweeted that he had secured funding to take Tesla private and was then was assigned some babysitters on his board, too, and also had to actually step down as chairman of Tesla as a result of this Twitter behaviour.
I think 2018 was really when he stepped on to the scene, as you know, not just as a serial entrepreneur with ambitions of space or electric vehicles but as this Barnum-type or Edison-esque comparison that we now make of him. 2018 was when he stepped to the fore in that way.
In the last few years, we've all just been rapt and headline by headline, the story feels like it's developing but he also is prolific in his production. He is one of the most substantive producers of products this century has seen, and in April hit a major milestone when SpaceX sent a reusable rocket up to the ISS for the first time in human history. And here's Elon Musk actually talking about his vision for space travel. Here it is.
Elon Musk 4:48
Now almost half a century since humans were last on the Moon. That's too long. We need to get back there and and have a permanent base on the Moon. I think like big, permanently occupied based on the Moon and then build a city on Mars and become a spacefaring, like spacefaring civilisation, a multi-planet species. We don't want to be one of those single planet species, we want to be a multi-planet species.
KW 5:14
When you think about his visions to colonise Mars, he has pioneered the reusable rocket industry as a step towards that goal, his idea that we will implant AI chips into our human brains to make us smarter and augment our capabilities through his company, Neuralink.
Tesla, if you think of Tesla not as a transportation company but as an energy company, with batteries capable of storing energy, when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.
These three things alone would transform the century. But it's the day-to-day Elon Musk and his Bitcoin market roiling that always, I think, gets our attention and distracts us. He can't help himself. And that's what makes him so interesting.
MA 6:01
Well, the persona that has emerged, thanks to social media and his use of social media, whether it's Bitcoin or whether it's asking the internet if he should sell part of his stake in Tesla worth billions, or his public row with the head of the UN's World Food Programme about how money can be used to feed people who are starving.
And whether it is a debate about money or how you use that money, or if it's about quitting his job, or even the world being underpopulated, it is very much a contrarian view. Given everything we've been discussing about climate change these past few months in particular, and the devastation on the planet because there's simply too many people and not enough resources. And he's inserted himself into every facet of life.
At the moment, he talked about space. We're looking at this sort of commercial space race, this new era of thinking outside of this world, and his rockets, as you said, his SpaceX rocket was the first to take civilian astronauts out of the atmosphere. And he proved that this year, which was really important, because the whole SpaceX cycle had been up and down, if you excuse the pun, but you know, also his PR style, I think, kindly, we can say it's reckless but portrays him almost as a sociopath in many ways.
But to come back to Tesla, and Tesla shares, doesn't seem to really impact this insatiable appetite for his stock. And it is an outsized influence on the wider US stock market. And so many investors in so many funds are literally making their money largely out of Tesla. And it's to me, it's frightening. It is really scary, to have one individual have so much sway and so much influence. But to your point, you talk about his influence, his legacy. I think he's a product of our times, or at least his outsized persona is a product of our times because he can use social media because of connectivity rather than he being the one driving these trends.
KW 8:32
He is absolutely a product of our time but he is not singular. I was speaking to our social media editor Cody Combs earlier about what Elon Musk's Twitter presence actually means when put in context. And Cody was just saying, you know, he's really occupied some attention space that was left empty by Donald Trump. And Twitter is a medium that's sort of hungry for a protagonist. And so we were gifted with Elon Musk's Twitter presence in 2021, a bit in part as a result of the end of the Trump administration and his removal from the platform.
But this outsized influence you're speaking of is a total reflection of this globalisation of communication that we are now in. And he has also benefited as a businessman from the globalisation of manufacturing. He's opening a giga-factory in Germany, in China. Tesla has a global footprint and then SpaceX with ambitions for going beyond our atmosphere. We are going beyond planet Earth to build opportunity this century. And so he's a product of that opportunity as well.
We've never had a space economy. And we do now. And Elon Musk was a first mover on that opportunity with SpaceX and Starlink. He's going to connect much of the developing world with internet access, which has huge implications.
So yeah, he's a product of our time. He's a driver of our time, and the chief beneficiary of that so far has been Tesla and its sky-high valuation of $1 trillion of market cap as we speak right now. That is half the valuation of Saudi Aramco, often quoted, it's the valuation of the entire automaker industry in the US combined. So where do we go from here on that valuation? That's what I'm currently wondering today is: what happens if the Tesla's stock crashes?
MA 10:28
I mean, I would argue that Tesla's valuation is very much connected to how people perceive Elon Musk, yes.
Tesla as a company is often surprising to the upside on its production of cars. Every time people doubt its ability to deliver it seems to make it through, but it has its problems, haemorrhages, a lot of cash-to-cash business. And the car business is notoriously risky, which is why there's only a few companies out there really doing it of any note.
But also, there is so much uncertainty about what the future is going to look like, about what consumers really want, about how technology is going to play its part, that Elon Musk's levels of conviction can't help but drag people along with him. Especially those who don't have the gumption or the creativity, or his genius, his evil genius or good genius, depending on what you categorise it as but a genius, nonetheless, it was genius to come up with his own ideas.
So when he succeeds, particularly when people put him down and then he proves them wrong, he gathers more followers. But that I think you compared him to Trump in terms of Twitter. It's also the same thing, the very nature that Musk never apologises, or rarely apologises, and never seems to be down for very long, or ever, wins him a lot of followers. And I would say that the auto industry, and is very much just my humble, you know, largely uninformed opinion, compared to all the analysts out there, that the auto industry will pay a big price down the line for sort of falling into line, if you like, behind Musk's vision for cars, not all of them are, I'd say that, you know, the Japanese, perhaps through culture, are able to kind of try and carve their own path. But certainly the US automakers and even the European automakers, roiled by so many scandals, so many problems, so much change. And he's proved them wrong on a small level, so they're gonna follow him. And that's why Tesla is worth as much as everybody else.
KW 12:39
But also, OK, so Tesla owns two thirds of the electric vehicle market globally, so everyone has to look to them to see what they're doing, because they're just the industry leader. But I think we might wake up one day and Elon Musk may have lost interest in cars as a, pardon the pun, as a vehicle for his batteries.
Tesla is slowly transitioning to become more of an energy company than it is a transportation company. And so to understand the underlying value in Tesla is to understand Tesla's ability to store, at utility scale capacity, renewable energy [through its batteries]. So Tesla, over time, its business is transitioning to being one that will be a linchpin of the energy transition as we figure out how to decarbonise our grid. So that's the space I'm watching on Tesla, because the Cybertruck certainly has not delivered.
MA 13:34
Well, I mean, people are sheep. Elon Musk is the wolf. The sheep don't realise that they think that he's, I don't know, a slightly more exotic sheep.
He reminds me a lot of the cult of personality around Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs evolved Apple to the point where it, you know, I don't think it can evolve any more now. And like you said, if Tesla continues to evolve, and disrupts more and more sectors through products as his imagination grows.
But also, with Apple, they gave us the iPhone and access to all these apps. But we didn't regulate it. We didn't put people at the heart of it, we didn't understand the dangers. So, you know, let's say Tesla does transform energy for us. Is he human enough? And I really genuinely mean that as a question: is Elon Musk human enough to ensure that whatever great things he ultimately achieves, however he helps us find the solutions in the future, that it will be a better future for people?
KW 14:45
And no one human is human enough to execute on the scale that he is, which is why we need him to pay his taxes and he needs to be regulated. And so his move from California to Texas to headquarter his companies this year I think was the red flag that answers your question of, is he human enough? No one is human enough to rise to this occasion. So we need guardrails for Elon Musk as per usual, which is what we have been talking about since 2018.
MA 15:12
So he sold some of his Tesla stock, he's still selling some of his Tesla stock, he was always going to sell some of his Tesla stock, but he made it into a game, the gamification of his life with asking people on Twitter.
I actually respect his very public row with David Beasley of the World Food Programme about whether he should give billions over to feed the world, because he doesn't shy away from appearing to be the guy who's wrong. Because in his mind, I guess he's never wrong. But it did shine a light on an important topic. It's not all bad with him, I don't think.
KW 16:00
No, and I'm not shying away from the provocative conversations either. But when he reopened his factory in California at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, in the face of, you know, it being illegal and him saying, arrest me before you arrest the factory workers.
For somebody who's built his career on science and technology, for him to be a Covid-19 naysayer and to manipulate messaging in order to benefit his company rather than public health. That is evidence of somebody who really cannot be trusted in my mind, and also [there are] the sexual harassment allegations [against management; not EM himself] at some of his companies. There's open lawsuits around autopilot at Tesla, because there's been some really high-profile, very disturbing crashes, and his pursuit of self-driving cars. The path of Elon Musk is littered with issues and controversies. And I'm not saying that we should shy away from any of that by any means. But I also think it's really dangerous for us to put this much hope and power with, as you say, one human.
MA 17:04
Well, I think the American attitude to regulation is, you know, don't regulate if it's going to stifle business. But then, you know, it's always that constant battle between big government and small government and state versus federal, and things get lost where there is a real need to look at this guy seriously, and to look at what's happening with regards to the stock markets and Tesla stock to see how he's running his business and what he's doing.
Because we missed the boat with Steve Jobs and Apple. We missed the boat with Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. We definitely missed the boat with Google. And so now is our chance, you know, the collective we globally, regulators, governments, to ensure that we don't miss the boat. We’re all at the mercy of Elon Musk for a decade or more to come.
KW 17:51
Centuries to come. If you believe what he's promising. And I I do.
MA 17:57
Let's leave it that Kelsey, thank you so much.
KW 17:59
This was fun, thank you.
Transcript edited for clarity.
Hosted by Mustafa Alrawi and Kelsey Warner
Produced by Arthur Eddyson and Ayesha Khan
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELong-range%20dual%20motor%20with%20400V%20battery%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E360kW%20%2F%20483bhp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E840Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20touring%20range%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20628km%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E0-100km%2Fh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.7sec%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20210kph%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh360%2C000%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeptember%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The%20Kitchen
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EDaniel%20Kaluuya%2C%20Kibwe%20Tavares%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EKane%20Robinson%2C%20Jedaiah%20Bannerman%2C%20Hope%20Ikpoku%20Jnr%2C%20Fiona%20Marr%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The five pillars of Islam
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
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20OneOrder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Tamer%20Amer%20and%20Karim%20Maurice%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cairo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E82%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Series%20A%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What is 'Soft Power'?
Soft power was first mentioned in 1990 by former US Defence Secretary Joseph Nye.
He believed that there were alternative ways of cultivating support from other countries, instead of achieving goals using military strength.
Soft power is, at its root, the ability to convince other states to do what you want without force.
This is traditionally achieved by proving that you share morals and values.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Eco%20Way%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20December%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ivan%20Kroshnyi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Electric%20vehicles%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bootstrapped%20with%20undisclosed%20funding.%20Looking%20to%20raise%20funds%20from%20outside%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SERIES%208
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDisplay%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041mm%2C%20352%20x%20430%3B%2045mm%2C%20396%20x%20484%3B%20Retina%20LTPO%20OLED%2C%20up%20to%201000%20nits%2C%20always-on%3B%20Ion-X%20glass%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EProcessor%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Apple%20S8%2C%20W3%20wireless%2C%20U1%20ultra-wideband%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECapacity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2032GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMemory%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPlatform%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20watchOS%209%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EHealth%20metrics%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203rd-gen%20heart%20rate%20sensor%2C%20temperature%20sensing%2C%20ECG%2C%20blood%20oxygen%2C%20workouts%2C%20fall%2Fcrash%20detection%3B%20emergency%20SOS%2C%20international%20emergency%20calling%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EConnectivity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20GPS%2FGPS%20%2B%20cellular%3B%20Wi-Fi%2C%20LTE%2C%20Bluetooth%205.3%2C%20NFC%20(Apple%20Pay)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDurability%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20IP6X%2C%20water%20resistant%20up%20to%2050m%2C%20dust%20resistant%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20308mAh%20Li-ion%2C%20up%20to%2018h%2C%20wireless%20charging%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECards%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20eSIM%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinishes%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Aluminium%20%E2%80%93%20midnight%2C%20Product%20Red%2C%20silver%2C%20starlight%3B%20stainless%20steel%20%E2%80%93%20gold%2C%20graphite%2C%20silver%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIn%20the%20box%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Watch%20Series%208%2C%20magnetic-to-USB-C%20charging%20cable%2C%20band%2Floop%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Starts%20at%20Dh1%2C599%20(41mm)%20%2F%20Dh1%2C999%20(45mm)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Gulf rugby
Who’s won what so far in 2018/19
Western Clubs Champions League: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens: Dubai Hurricanes
West Asia Premiership: Bahrain
What’s left
UAE Conference
March 22, play-offs:
Dubai Hurricanes II v Al Ain Amblers, Jebel Ali Dragons II v Dubai Tigers
March 29, final
UAE Premiership
March 22, play-offs:
Dubai Exiles v Jebel Ali Dragons, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Dubai Hurricanes
March 29, final
Fighting with My Family
Director: Stephen Merchant
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Florence Pugh, Thomas Whilley, Tori Ellen Ross, Jack Lowden, Olivia Bernstone, Elroy Powell
Four stars
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
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
Results
- Brock Lesnar retained the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns
- Braun Strowman and Nicolas won the Raw Tag Team titles against Sheamus and Cesaro
- AJ Styles retained the WWE World Heavyweight title against Shinsuke Nakamura
- Nia Jax won the Raw Women’s title against Alexa Bliss
- Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon beat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
- The Undertaker beat John Cena
- The Bludgeon Brothers won the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos and New Day
- Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle beat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
- Jinder Mahal won the United States title against Randy Orton, Rusev and Bobby Roode
- Charlotte retained the SmackDown Women’s title against Asuka
- Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental title against The Miz and Finn Balor
- Naomi won the first WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
- Cedric Alexander won the vacant Cruiserweight title against Mustafa Ali
- Matt Hardy won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Results
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStage%202%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E1.%20Soudal%E2%80%93Quick-Step%20-%2018%E2%80%9911%E2%80%9D%3Cbr%3E2.%20EF%20Education%20%E2%80%93%20EasyPost%20-%201%22%3Cbr%3E3.%20Ineos%20Grenadiers%20-%203%22%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EGeneral%20classification%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E1.%20Lucas%20Plapp%20(AUS)%20Ineos%20Grenadiers%3Cbr%3E2.%20Remco%20Evenepoel%20(BEL)%20Soudal%E2%80%93Quick-Step%20-%20ST%3Cbr%3E3.%20Nikias%20Arndt%20(GER)%20Bahrain%20Victorious%20-%203%22%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
Credits
Produced by: Colour Yellow Productions and Eros Now
Director: Mudassar Aziz
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jassi Gill, Piyush Mishra, Diana Penty, Aparshakti Khurrana
Star rating: 2.5/5
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
Brief scoreline:
Toss: South Africa, elected to bowl first
England (311-8): Stokes 89, Morgan 57, Roy 54, Root 51; Ngidi 3-66
South Africa (207): De Kock 68, Van der Dussen 50; Archer 3-27, Stokes 2-12
JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
MATCH DETAILS
Liverpool 2
Wijnaldum (14), Oxlade-Chamberlain (52)
Genk 1
Samatta (40)
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Du Football Champions
The fourth season of du Football Champions was launched at Gitex on Wednesday alongside the Middle East’s first sports-tech scouting platform.“du Talents”, which enables aspiring footballers to upload their profiles and highlights reels and communicate directly with coaches, is designed to extend the reach of the programme, which has already attracted more than 21,500 players in its first three years.
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.