Iggy Azalea has cancelled her tour of the United States for a second time. In a tweet on Friday, the rapper said: "As u may know, the tour is cancelled." She added that she is "so sad and sorry to let my fans down". Azalea announced in March that The Great Escape Tour would not kick off in April. She rescheduled the tour because of production delays and said it would take place this autumn. Representatives from Azalea's record label, Def Jam, and tour promoter, AEG, didn't return emails seeking comment. Azalea didn't offer any details about the second cancellation. The Grammy-nominated musician, whose most recent single is Pretty Girls with Britney Spears, tweeted that she'll "be back out on the road when the next album is done". Azalea said she's still committed to her upcoming festival performances. – AP
Bajrangi Bhaijaan song to hit cinemas
A song titled Le Le Le from Salman Khan's upcoming Bollywood action-drama Bajrangi Bhaijaan will be shown with Zoya Akhtar's family drama Dil Dhadakne Do when it releases in cinemas this weekend. The trailer of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, which was uploaded on YouTube on May 28, has already been viewed more than a million times. The film also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Ali Quli Mirza and Deepti Naval and will be released during Eid. Music is by A R Rahman and Pritam Chakraborty. – IANS
Pakistani comics artists take on extremism
Pakistani comic-book creators Mustafa Hasnain and Gauhar Aftab have created Paasban (Guardian), a three-part series featuring a group of close college friends who begin to worry when one of them drops out to join a religious student group that is ostensibly working for charitable causes. Hasnain, a British-educated computer-graphics specialist, founded Creative Frontiers in 2013 in a Silicon Valley-style office in Lahore. "It was a huge watershed moment for us. I got together with Gauhar and I said: 'We really have to do something about this," he said. "We used to stand over there [at vigils] with a candle ... but we wanted to do something more." Fifteen thousand copies of the books are set to be distributed for free starting today at schools in Lahore, Multan and Lodhran, while some copies will be sold in bookshops. The comic will also be available on a tailor-made app developed for Apple and Android smartphones. – AFP
B B King recalled with love and humour
"Hands that once picked cotton would someday pick guitar strings on a national and international stage. Amazing," the reverend Herron Wilson said in a standing-room-only sanctuary at Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church in B B King's hometown of Indianola, Mississippi. King, whose distinctive guitar style influenced generations of entertainers, was 89 when he died on May 14 in Las Vegas. At his request, his body was returned to his native Mississippi for a final homecoming. "He will forever be the king of the blues," Stevie Wonder said in a tribute that was played at the funeral, although he did not attend. About 500 people filled the church, while those who couldn't get in watched a live broadcast of the funeral in the church's fellowship hall. A children's choir based at the B B King Museum clapped as they sang gospel songs. The United States president, Barack Obama, and former president Bill Clinton each sent a letter, which were read aloud by US representative for Mississippi, Bennie Thompson, who was a friend of King. "The blues has lost its king and America has lost a legend," Obama said. "No one worked harder than B B. No one did more to spread the gospel of the blues." Clinton recalled playing two gigs with King: "I was his backup sax man." King was buried at the B B King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, which opened in 2008. The museum will develop a memorial garden around the grave site. – AP
F.A.L.T.U. sequel in the works
Jackky Bhagnani, who starred in the 2011 Bollywood film F.A.L.T.U., says a sequel to the comedy is on the cards. "Yes, we are working on the sequel to F.A.L.T.U., but a good story has still not been locked for it," said the actor. Directed by Remo D'Souza, F.A.L.T.U. also featured Riteish Deshmukh and Puja Gupta. Bhagnani's latest film Welcome 2 Karachi opened in cinemas last week. – IANS
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
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
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Details
Through Her Lens: The stories behind the photography of Eva Sereny
Forewords by Jacqueline Bisset and Charlotte Rampling, ACC Art Books
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
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.
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
France 3
Umtiti (8'), Griezmann (29' pen), Dembele (63')
Italy 1
Bonucci (36')
