Cassadee Pope is the winner of The Voice. Frederick M Brown / Getty Images / AFP
Cassadee Pope is the winner of The Voice. Frederick M Brown / Getty Images / AFP
Cassadee Pope is the winner of The Voice. Frederick M Brown / Getty Images / AFP
Cassadee Pope is the winner of The Voice. Frederick M Brown / Getty Images / AFP

Cassadee Pope wins The Voice


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Cassadee Pope wins The Voice US

Cassadee Pope, the protégé of the country singer Blake Shelton on the third season of the American edition of The Voice, has won the reality singing show's competition. The 23-year-old singer is stepping out into a solo career after performing with a band called Hey Monday. Her victory over the soul singer Nicholas David and the Scottish rocker Terry McDermott was announced at the show's finale on Tuesday, which featured performances by Rihanna, Bruno Mars, The Killers, Kelly Clarkson and Smokey Robinson. – AP

Slash coming to Dubai

The rock legend Slash will perform in Dubai in January. The former Guns N' Roses guitarist will bring his supreme skills to the Dubai Tennis Stadium on January 31. The British-American and his iconic top hat will be part of the closing weekend of the Dubai Shopping Festival. Coming along for the ride are the musicians Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators. Tickets, priced from Dh300, are available from Virgin Megastores and www.timeoutickets.com. – The National staff

Romeo Beckham new Burberry model

Romeo Beckham – age 10 – is the new face of the London-based fashion house Burberry. The son of David and Victoria Beckham features in advertisements for Burberry's spring/summer 2013 collection. Beckham wears one of Burberry's signature trench coats in the campaign. Christopher Bailey, Burberry's chief creative officer, said Romeo had been "a joy to work with and really stole the show" at the photo shoot. Last week, Romeo, his brothers Brooklyn and Cruz and father David all wore Burberry as they attended the premiere of the Spice Girls musical Viva Forever! in London. – AP

Hedlund to return for Tron 3

Garrett Hedlund has confirmed he will return to play the lead in Tron 3. The 28-year-old actor, who plays Sam Flynn in the Disney sci-fi franchise, revealed the news during a press conference this week for his new film On the Road. "Yeah, are we gonna break this now? Disney's very excited," Hedlund told reporters. "That's about that. You know, I'm very excited." – IANS

McCain rejects Zero Dark Thirty scene

The new movie Zero Dark Thirty suggests the CIA's interrogation techniques led to Osama bin Laden. The Republican Senator John McCain watched the movie on Monday night and says the filmmakers fell for the notion that interrogation tactics provided critical information. McCain has said the interrogation of Al Qaeda's No 3 leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, did not provide information that led to bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. The film will be released next week in UAE cinemas. – AP

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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
TOP%2010%20MOST%20POLLUTED%20CITIES
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AndhaDhun

Director: Sriram Raghavan

Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18

Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan

Rating: 3.5/5

Indoor cricket in a nutshell

Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side

8 There are eight players per team

There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.

5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls

Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs

B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run

Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs

Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

yallacompare profile

Date of launch: 2014

Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer

Based: Media City, Dubai 

Sector: Financial services

Size: 120 employees

Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)

Farage on Muslim Brotherhood

Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.

Timeline

2012-2015

The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East

May 2017

The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts

September 2021

Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act

October 2021

Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence 

December 2024

Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group

May 2025

The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan

July 2025

The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan

August 2025

Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision

October 2025

Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange

November 2025

180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Fixtures

Sunday, December 8, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – UAE v USA

Monday, December 9, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – USA v Scotland

Wednesday, December 11, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – UAE v Scotland

Thursday, December 12, ICC Academy, Dubai – UAE v USA

Saturday, December 14, ICC Academy, Dubai – USA v Scotland

Sunday, December 15, ICC Academy, Dubai – UAE v Scotland

Note: All matches start at 10am, admission is free

Company profile

Company: Eighty6 

Date started: October 2021 

Founders: Abdul Kader Saadi and Anwar Nusseibeh 

Based: Dubai, UAE 

Sector: Hospitality 

Size: 25 employees 

Funding stage: Pre-series A 

Investment: $1 million 

Investors: Seed funding, angel investors  

The BIO:

He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal

He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side

By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam

Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border

He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push

His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level

Brief scoreline:

Tottenham 1

Son 78'

Manchester City 0

Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

ABU%20DHABI'S%20KEY%20TOURISM%20GOALS%3A%20BY%20THE%20NUMBERS
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Kandahar%20
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The specs: Macan Turbo

Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
Power: 639hp
Torque: 1,130Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Touring range: 591km
Price: From Dh412,500
On sale: Deliveries start in October

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Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin