Pope Francis offers incense to a figurine of the infant Jesus before leading a Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Photo: AFP
Pope Francis offers incense to a figurine of the infant Jesus before leading a Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Photo: AFP
Pope Francis offers incense to a figurine of the infant Jesus before leading a Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Photo: AFP
Pope Francis offers incense to a figurine of the infant Jesus before leading a Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Photo: AFP

Today's best photos: Christmas Eve Mass in the Vatican to Typhoon Rai in the Philippines


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Christmas Eve Mass

AFP
AFP

Pope Francis offers incense to a figurine of the infant Jesus before leading a Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican

Heart-shaped and frozen Baker Pond

REUTERS
REUTERS

Snow covers a frozen Baker Pond on Christmas Eve in East Bolton, Quebec, Canada

Santa Claus on a beach in Puri, India

REUTERS
REUTERS

A giant, sandy Santa Claus on a beach in Puri, Odisha, India

Congregations of ruined churches hold joint Christmas Eve service

AP
AP

Members of Mayfield First Presbyterian Church and Mayfield First Christian Church gather in an empty space between their destroyed churches for a joint Christmas Eve service in Mayfield, Kentucky. A tornado devastated the community about two weeks ago

Turban-tying competition

AFP
AFP

Sikh children wait for the judges' verdict in a turban-tying competition in Amritsar, India

Bangladesh passenger ferry catches fire

EPA
EPA

Firefighters and coastguards remove body bags from a passenger ferry that caught fire near the town of Jhalakathi, south of Dhaka in Bangladesh. At least 36 people died when the vessel caught fire on the Sugandha River early on Friday

Typhoon Rai flattens houses in the Philippines

AP Photo
AP Photo

Alona Nacua stands beside her son as she looks at their house that was destroyed by Typhoon Rai in Cebu city, central Philippines on Christmas Day

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'Lost in Space'

Creators: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Irwin Allen

Stars: Molly Parker, Toby Stephens, Maxwell Jenkins

Rating: 4/5

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

BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000

The specs

Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder

Transmission: 7-speed auto

0-100kmh 2.3 seconds

0-200kmh 5.5 seconds

0-300kmh 11.6 seconds

Power: 1500hp

Torque: 1600Nm

Price: Dh13,400,000

On sale: now

Match info

Karnataka Tuskers 110-3

J Charles 35, M Pretorius 1-19, Z Khan 0-16

Deccan Gladiators 111-5 in 8.3 overs

K Pollard 45*, S Zadran 2-18

Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

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.

Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELeap%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ziad%20Toqan%20and%20Jamil%20Khammu%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
While you're here
Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

Red flags
  • Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
  • Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
  • Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
  • Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
  • Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.

Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

MATCH INFO

England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)

New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)

Updated: December 26, 2021, 9:03 AM`