It started as a propaganda factory, was bombed extensively during the Second World War, became a refugee camp, then the heart of Italy's movie industry and, eventually, a popular tourist attraction. Then, to continue its curious journey, Rome's own version of Hollywood, Cinecitta Studios, became one of Italy’s main Covid-19 vaccination centres.
After finding itself at the epicentre of Europe’s Covid outbreak, Italy rebounded strongly, with its tourism industry booming once more. This recovery was, at least initially, driven by its Covid-19 vaccine programme, which was partly carried out at Cinecitta, which for many months hosted the city’s biggest vaccination centre.
This giant movie studio in Rome’s south-eastern suburbs has had a tumultuous journey since opening in 1937. No longer a vaccination site, it is again serving as both a centre for film and TV production and as one of the city’s most interesting tourist attractions.
It has resumed its popular movie studio tours, which are available in Italian four times per day on Saturday and Sunday, and last about 75 minutes, as well as in English in French once a day on Saturdays. They must be booked in advance via the Cinecitta website, at a cost of Dh50 per person.
These guided sessions bring visitors through the backlots of this famed studio, passing locations used to film blockbusters such as Ben-Hur (1959), Cleopatra (1963) and Gangs of New York (2002). In total, more than 3,000 films have been made at Cinecitta, including 51 that went on to win Academy Awards.
The tours can cover only a few sections of this complex — because Cinecitta is gigantic. It boasts four permanent sets, 19 film studios, more than 400 dressing rooms and make-up facilities, and a total of 400,000 square metres of production space, equivalent to about 60 football pitches.
Tours also take visitors through the remarkable backstory of Cinecitta — a tale worthy, itself, of being the basis for a movie.
It all began with Benito Mussolini. By the mid-1930s, the ruthless dictator had become one of the most despised men in history. He had just engineered the brutal invasion of Ethiopia in his quest to establish an Italian Empire, and had developed a relationship with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, whom he admired.
The Italian fascist was particularly fascinated by how Hitler used propaganda. After the Nazis took control of Germany in 1933, they created a sophisticated department of propaganda that brainwashed citizens via film, literature, radio, art, theatre, music and the press.
Mussolini, too, had been seeking to influence his people in these ways. But he wanted to create more polished and persuasive propaganda. So in 1936, he ordered the construction of Cinecitta, a cutting-edge film studio that would become his production line for political spin. When this complex opened the following year, it was decorated with a huge image of Mussolini operating a film camera. Nearby, an enormous sign read: “Cinema is the strongest weapon”.
Mussolini greatly restricted the importation of foreign films. Instead, he filled local cinemas with movies made at Cinecitta, as well as propaganda newsreels that glorified Italian fascism. Thousands of these films and newsreels remain warehoused at the storied studio.
The studio was used to film hundreds of fictional scenes of war and catastrophe. And then, during the Second World War, it became the site of genuine destruction. In 1943, the studio was bombed and badly damaged. These air raids on Rome prompted Italy to surrender to the allies, who turned Cinecitta into a prisoner-of-war facility and then a refugee camp.
After the war ended in 1945, Cinecitta remained out of commission as a film studio. This led to a new genre of Italian cinema, called neorealism, as directors shot their films in actual locations across Italy, rather than on studio lots. By 1950, though, Cinecitta was back, in a big way.
Over the following 20 years, the rebuilt studio became an incubator for some of the greatest filmmakers the world has seen. Among them are Vittorio De Sica, Roberto Rossellini and the man widely considered as the greatest Italian director of all time, Federico Fellini.
Cinecitta was like a second home to Fellini. It was here that he created many of his finest films, including La Dolce Vita (1960), the three-hour masterpiece that won the revered Palme d’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
About 25 set items from that film and other Fellini classics now form part of a Fellini exhibition at the studio. Also on display are three huge sculptures of the heads of Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. They were among the raft of Hollywood stars who filmed blockbusters at Cinecitta after the Second World War.
And, just as it bounced back from that global conflict, Cinecitta is swiftly finding its feet again in the wake of the pandemic. Neither bombs nor wars nor deadly viruses can defeat Italy’s most famous movie studio.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Brief scores:
Toss: Northern Warriors, elected to field first
Bengal Tigers 130-1 (10 ov)
Roy 60 not out, Rutherford 47 not out
Northern Warriors 94-7 (10 ov)
Simmons 44; Yamin 4-4
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
The Energy Research Centre
Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.
How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
Company%20profile
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It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
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Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m, Winner: Zalman, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Hisham Al Khalediah II, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash.
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Qader, Adrie de Vries, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Listed (PA) Dh180,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Mujeeb, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Shanaghai City, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly
8pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nayslayer, Bernardo Pinheiro, Jaber Ramadhan
Five%20calorie-packed%20Ramadan%20drinks
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Sly%20Cooper%20and%20the%20Thievius%20Raccoonus
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Leaderboard
63 - Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)
64 - Rory McIlroy (NIR)
66 - Jon Rahm (ESP)
67 - Tom Lewis (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
68 - Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
69 - Justin Rose (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Danny Willett (ENG), Li Haotong (CHN), Matthias Schwab (AUT)
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
MATCH INFO
Day 1 at Mount Maunganui
England 241-4
Denly 74, Stokes 67 not out, De Grandhomme 2-28
New Zealand
Yet to bat
WITHIN%20SAND
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Moe%20Alatawi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Ra%E2%80%99ed%20Alshammari%2C%20Adwa%20Fahd%2C%20Muhand%20Alsaleh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The specs
Engine: 5.2-litre V10
Power: 640hp at 8,000rpm
Torque: 565Nm at 6,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: From Dh1 million
On sale: Q3 or Q4 2022
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Director: Jon Watts
Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon
Rating:*****
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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.
More on Quran memorisation:
Blonde
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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
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