"Follow the rules, you can come. You don't follow the rules, you can't." That's the message to Kanye West from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, following reports that the rapper was planning a concert in the country.
Replying to questions about the planned March performance on Saturday, Morrison said West, who recently changed his name legally to Ye, will have to comply with Covid-19 rules in order to perform in Australia.
"The rules are you have to be fully vaccinated," Morrison said. "They apply to everybody, as people have seen most recently. It doesn't matter who you are, they are the rules."
While Ye has yet to make an announcement, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Friday that the rapper's management had approached the Australian Football League, which owns Melbourne's Marvel Stadium, where Ye intends to play.
Ye's management has proposed a Monday, March 21 concert date to ensure he returned to Las Vegas by Monday, April 4 to attend the Grammy Awards. He is also scheduled to headline the Coachella festival on Friday, April 15 and Friday, April 22.
The vaccination status of West, a 2020 US presidential candidate, is unknown. In a 2020 interview with business magazine Forbes, he had called getting vaccinated "the mark of the beast".
Australia, one of the nations most heavily vaccinated against Covid-19, has been battling an explosive wave of infections in the past month driven by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
Prime minister Morrison's comment follows a widely-publicised saga two weeks ago when tennis star Novak Djokovic's hopes for a Grand Slam title were dashed when a court upheld the government's decision to cancel his visa over his unvaccinated status.
Djokovic, 34, was embroiled in a legal and political storm when he arrived in Melbourne for the Australian Open. The tennis star was denied entry and had his visa cancelled after the Australian Border Force deemed evidence of his medical exemption against Covid-19 vaccination insufficient.
His appeal to have the cancellation overturned was eventually rejected.
“This pandemic has been incredibly difficult for every Australian but we have stuck together and saved lives and livelihoods," Morrison said, after a court ruling. "Australians have made many sacrifices during this pandemic, and they rightly expect the result of those sacrifices to be protected."
– Additional reporting by Reuters
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
if you go
The flights
Emirates offer flights to Buenos Aires from Dubai, via Rio De Janeiro from around Dh6,300. emirates.com
Seeing the games
Tangol sell experiences across South America and generally have good access to tickets for most of the big teams in Buenos Aires: Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Independiente. Prices from Dh550 and include pick up and drop off from your hotel in the city. tangol.com
Staying there
Tangol will pick up tourists from any hotel in Buenos Aires, but after the intensity of the game, the Faena makes for tranquil, upmarket accommodation. Doubles from Dh1,110. faena.com
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)
Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.
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The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
if you go
The flights
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
