Comic book character Archie to be killed off

Archie Comics says Archie will heroically sacrifice himself while saving the life of a friend in a July instalment of Life with Archie. The comic book series tells the story of grown-up renditions of Archie and his Riverdale gang. Archie's final moments will be detailed in issue No 36, while issue No 37 will jump forward a year and focus on his friends Jughead, Betty, Veronica and Reggie honouring the legacy of their red-headed pal, who first appeared in comics in 1941. – AP

Akshay and Abhishek in Housefull 3

The filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala has signed on Akshay Kumar and Abhishek Bachchan for the third instalment of the Housefull comedy franchise, The Times of India reported. The two actors were last seen together on screen in the 2002 film Haan Maine Bhi Pyar Kiya. Housefull 3 is directed by Sajid and Farhad and will be out in August this year. – The National staff

Amy Poehler and brother Greg team on new comedy

Greg Poehler, whose sister Amy stars on NBC's Parks and Recreation, will be seen in Welcome to Sweden, debuting on July 10 on the same network. He plays an accountant who follows his girlfriend back to her native Sweden despite having no idea what he's getting into. Poehler also created, wrote and serves as the executive producer of the show. She will join Will Ferrell, Aubrey Plaza and Gene Simmons in guest appearances as themselves. The show debuted in Sweden three weeks ago, drawing more than two million viewers. It's already been picked up for a second season. – AP

LA festival spotlights independent Indian films

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is bringing movies made outside of the Bollywood studio system to Hollywood. The six-day event will showcase 33 feature films, documentaries and short films from filmmakers across nine countries, all exploring hard-hitting stories that contrast with the escapism of Bollywood. Kicking off the festival is Sold, a gritty drama by the director Jeffrey D Brown, about a 13-year-old girl sold into prostitution in India. The closing night gala film is Amit Gupta's Jadoo, a comedy about two feuding brothers and their restaurants. The IFFLA runs until Sunday. – Reuters

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg

Rating: 4/5

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.”