The British singer John Newman is coming to Dubai. The soul singer will perform at a free gig on April 2, the opening night of Meet d3. Newman is known for hits such as Love Me Again and Not Giving In and his last visit to Dubai was last year when he headlined the first RedFestDxb festival. The inaugural Meet d3 is a three-day festival in Dubai Design District, with a programme that features local, regional and international artists, designers, musicians and concept retailers. For more details, visit www.dubaidesigndistrict.com. – The National staff
Asterix art raises €150,000 for Charlie Hebdo victims
An original page of artwork from the 1971 comic Asterix and the Laurel Wreath raised €150,000 (Dh578,326) for the families of victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack when it was auctioned in Paris on Saturday. The storyboard from the 18th adventure in the long-running French comic-book series will include a special dedication by its co-creator, Albert Uderzo. Auction house Christie's waived its commission for the charity sale, which was held during an auction dedicated to comic books. Twelve people were killed when two gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the satirical Charlie Hebdo weekly on January 7. The publication had repeatedly been threatened for publishing cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed. Uderzo came out of retirement to draw cartoons paying tribute to the victims, who included some of the country's most celebrated cartoonists. "Charlie Hebdo and Asterix are very different, of course," said 87-year-old Uderzo at the time. "I simply wanted to show my friendship for these cartoonists who have paid with their lives." – AFP
Ryan Reynolds explains baby code of silence
The actor Ryan Reynolds says the reason that he and his wife Blake Lively haven't revealed much about their new baby daughter is that they are being protective – of themselves. "There's zero secret about it," he said when asked why they have not publicly revealed the name of their first child. "That little girl will grow up to be a teenager who will find out that I blurted her name out on national television and probably make me pay for it. She will exact her revenge in searing, psychic pain." Reynolds, 38, and Lively, 27, have a history of keeping their personal lives private. They got married in a secret ceremony in South Carolina in September 2012, and they have not even said exactly when their daughter was born. Reynolds will next be seen on screen alongside Helen Mirren and Katie Holmes in Woman in Gold, which will be released in the United States on April 3. – AP
Citizen Kane fans watch film in ‘Xanadu’
For some movie buffs, watching Orson Welles's acclaimed film Citizen Kane at Hearst Castle was like having a screening of Star Wars on the Death Star. Fifty film fans had the opportunity to watch the groundbreaking 1941 film, which was partly based on the life of the late William Randolph Hearst, at the late media tycoon's private theatre at Hearst Castle in California – a concession the magnate would probably not have made. Tickets for the screening – part of the San Luis Obispo Film Festival – cost US$1,000 (Dh3,672) and included an exclusive tour of the estate, which is now a state park, and a reception in the mansion's patio overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The proceeds will go to the non-profit Friends of Hearst Castle preservation group. Citizen Kane had been shown before in Hearst Castle, but this was the first time the film had been screened in the 50-seat theatre at the hilltop estate. Heart's great-grandson, Stephen Hearst, gave his blessing to the screening, which he said was an opportunity to show the differences between his great-grandfather and Charles Foster Kane, the character played by Welles. "My logic back then was very simple – this was an opportunity to clarify the record, to draw the distinction between the fictional character of Charlie Kane and his gloomy Xanadu [home] and WR Hearst and his beautiful architectural masterpiece at the top of the hill at San Simeon," he said. – AP
