The American talk show host Oprah Winfrey was the biggest crowd puller at the annual Jaipur Literary Festival, which brings together international writers, critics and more than 50,000 literary fans to the northwestern Indian town.
On Sunday, she delivered a politically inclined address at the festival, saying she's confident that the US President Barack Obama will win another four-year term in this year's election. She praised Obama's handling of the presidency and said his next four years would be even more successful.
Winfrey backed Obama during the 2008 elections in her first-ever political endorsement.
She has been in India for a week filming for her new programme Oprah's Next Chapter.
* Associated Press
Louvre's Leonardo restoration ignites row
Delicate work to restore a Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece, to be unveiled in March, has turned into a headache for the Louvre, after experts accused the Paris museum of putting the precious oil work at risk.
Restoration carried out in the past century left the 1503 painting The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne disfigured by stains, on the Virgin's dress for instance, due to the ageing of a substance in the varnish. In 2010, the museum decided to restore the work once more, but the project was interrupted last year as critics warned that cleaning could damage the masterpiece.
Two experts have since resigned in protest from the advisory committee set up to oversee the work. Both are art-world heavyweights: Segolene Bergeon Langle is a French national heritage curator, while Jean-Pierre Cuzin is the former chief curator of the Louvre's painting department.
At stake was the type of solvent used to dissolve the painting's varnish, which critics fear could remove the actual paint.
* Agence France-Presse
Heidi Klum and Seal confirm separation
After divorce rumours swirled over the weekend, the TV host Heidi Klum and singer Seal confirmed in a statement on Sunday night that they are indeed parting ways.
"While we have enjoyed seven very loving, loyal and happy years of marriage, after much soul-searching we have decided to separate," the joint statement read. "We continue to love each other very much, but we have grown apart."
Klum and Seal asked for privacy to protect the well-being of their children. They also thanked family and fans for their support.
Neil Young hates modern music
The legendary folk rock musician Neil Young told MTV News on Sunday that he is not a fan of the music being produced these days.
"I'm finding that I have a little bit of trouble with the quality of the sound of music today," he said. "I don't like it. It just makes me angry. Not the quality of the music, but we're in the 21st century and we have the worst sound that we've ever had. Where are our geniuses? What happened?"
YouTube launches film festival
The video-sharing website YouTube launched on Thursday an online film festival in partnership with the Venice Film Festival and the director Ridley Scott's production company.
The Your Film Festival, sponsored by Emirates Airline, is a global competition for aspiring filmmakers, who can submit 15-minute story-driven videos from February 2 to March 31. Scott will select his 50 favourites, then YouTube users will vote to choose 10 finalists, which will be screened at the Venice Film Festival in August. The winner gets a US$500,000 (Dh1.8m) grant to work in Scott's company.
Visit youtube.com/yourfilmfestival.
Jim Carrey's daughter auditions for Idol
On Sunday's episode of American Idol, featuring auditions in San Diego, one of the thousands of hopefuls was Jane Carrey, none other than the actor Jim Carrey's daughter.
The 24-year-old, a waitress, mother and lead singer for the Southern California jazz quartet Jane Carrey Band, sang the Bonnie Raitt rock ballad Something to Talk About. She impressed the judges and made it to Hollywood.
The Idol judge Jennifer Lopez even said she remembers meeting Jane as a kid.
"I kind of grew up in a family of carnies," writes Jane on her band's Facebook page. "I definitely think I inherited that trait."
UK acts complete Sandance line-up
The line-up of artists for the fourth and forthcoming edition of the music festival Sandance is now complete, with the final addition of the 1990s British house act M People and the hip-hop turntablist Duncan Beiny, better known as DJ Yoda.
Sandance takes place on March 9 at Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai. Visit www.sandance.ae.
Follow us on Twitter and keep up to date with the latest in arts and lifestyle news at twitter.com/LifeNationalUAE
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
RESULTS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E5pm%3A%20Sheikh%20Mansour%20bin%20Zayed%20Racing%20Festival%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh100%2C000%20(Turf)%202%2C200m%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Suny%20Du%20Loup%2C%20Pat%20Dobbs%20(jockey)%2C%20Hamad%20Al%20Marar%20(trainer)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E5.30pm%3A%20Sheikh%20Mansour%20bin%20Zayed%20Racing%20Festival%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Conditions%20(PA)%20Dh150%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Nadia%20Du%20Loup%2C%20Antonio%20Fresu%2C%20Sulaiman%20Al%20Ghunaimi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E6pm%3A%20Sheikha%20Fatima%20bint%20Mubarak%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Conditions%20(PA)%20Dh150%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Dareen%2C%20Dane%20O%E2%80%99Neill%2C%20Jean%20de%20Roualle%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E6.30pm%3A%20Sheikh%20Zayed%20bin%20Sultan%20Al%20Nahyan%20National%20Day%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Group%203%20(PA)%20Dh500%2C000%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20AF%20Alwajel%2C%20Pat%20Dobbs%2C%20Ernst%20Oertel%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E7.15pm%3A%20Sheikh%20Zayed%20bin%20Sultan%20Al%20Nahyan%20Jewel%20Crown%20%E2%80%93%20Group%201%20(PA)%20Dh5%2C000%2C000%20(T)%202%2C200m%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20First%20Classs%2C%20Ronan%20Thomas%2C%20Jean%20De%20Mieulle%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E8pm%3A%20Sheikh%20Zayed%20bin%20Sultan%20Al%20Nahyan%20National%20Day%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Listed%20(TB)%20Dh380%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20San%20Donato%2C%20Pat%20Dobbs%2C%20Doug%20Watson%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E8.30pm%3A%20Wathba%20Stallions%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh100%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20AF%20Rasam%2C%20Fernando%20Jara%2C%20Ernst%20Oertel%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
More on Turkey's Syria offence
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying or online bullying could take many forms such as sending unkind or rude messages to someone, socially isolating people from groups, sharing embarrassing pictures of them, or spreading rumors about them.
Cyberbullying can take place on various platforms such as messages, on social media, on group chats, or games.
Parents should watch out for behavioural changes in their children.
When children are being bullied they they may be feel embarrassed and isolated, so parents should watch out for signs of signs of depression and anxiety
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
MATCH INFO
Jersey 147 (20 overs)
UAE 112 (19.2 overs)
Jersey win by 35 runs
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
Who is Tim-Berners Lee?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.
3%20Body%20Problem
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreators%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20David%20Benioff%2C%20D%20B%20Weiss%2C%20Alexander%20Woo%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBenedict%20Wong%2C%20Jess%20Hong%2C%20Jovan%20Adepo%2C%20Eiza%20Gonzalez%2C%20John%20Bradley%2C%20Alex%20Sharp%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
SHAITTAN
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVikas%20Bahl%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAjay%20Devgn%2C%20R.%20Madhavan%2C%20Jyothika%2C%20Janaki%20Bodiwala%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The biog
Favourite hobby: I love to sing but I don’t get to sing as much nowadays sadly.
Favourite book: Anything by Sidney Sheldon.
Favourite movie: The Exorcist 2. It is a big thing in our family to sit around together and watch horror movies, I love watching them.
Favourite holiday destination: The favourite place I have been to is Florence, it is a beautiful city. My dream though has always been to visit Cyprus, I really want to go there.
Five hymns the crowds can join in
Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday
Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir
Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium
‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song
‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar
‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion
‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope
The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’
There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia
The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ
They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Match info
Manchester United 4
(Pogba 5', 33', Rashford 45', Lukaku 72')
Bournemouth 1
(Ake 45 2')
Red card: Eric Bailly (Manchester United)
The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
Princeton
Squads
India (for first three ODIs) Kohli (capt), Rohit, Rahul, Pandey, Jadhav, Rahane, Dhoni, Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Umesh, Shami.
Australia Smith (capt), Warner, Agar, Cartwright, Coulter-Nile, Cummins, Faulkner, Finch, Head, Maxwell, Richardson, Stoinis, Wade, Zampa.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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
Brief scores:
Day 2
England: 277 & 19-0
West Indies: 154
More on animal trafficking
WTL%20SCHEDULE
%3Cp%3EDECEMBER%2019%20(6pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EKites%20v%20Eagles%0D%3Cbr%3EAliassime%20v%20Kyrgios%0D%3Cbr%3ESwiatek%20v%20Garcia%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20Tiesto%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EDECEMBER%2020%20(6pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EFalcons%20v%20Hawks%0D%3Cbr%3EDjokovic%20v%20Zverev%0D%3Cbr%3ESabalenka%20v%20Rybakina%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20Wizkid%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EDECEMBER%2021%20(6pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EFalcons%20v%20Eagles%0D%3Cbr%3EDjokovic%20v%20Kyrgios%0D%3Cbr%3EBadosa%20v%20Garcia%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20Ne-Yo%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EDECEMBER%2022%20(6pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EHawks%20v%20Kites%0D%3Cbr%3EThiem%20v%20Aliassime%0D%3Cbr%3EKontaveit%20v%20Swiatek%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20deadmau5%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EDECEMBER%2023%20(2pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EEagles%20v%20Hawks%0D%3Cbr%3EKyrgios%20v%20Zverev%0D%3Cbr%3EGarcia%20v%20Rybakina%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20Mohammed%20Ramadan%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EDECEMBER%2023%20(6pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EFalcons%20v%20Kites%0D%3Cbr%3EDjokovic%20v%20Aliassime%0D%3Cbr%3ESabalenka%20v%20Swiatek%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20Mohammed%20Ramadan%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EDECEMBER%2024%20(6pm)%0D%3Cbr%3EFinals%0D%3Cbr%3EEntertainment%3A%20Armin%20Van%20Buuren%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Biography
Favourite drink: Must have karak chai and Chinese tea every day
Favourite non-Chinese food: Arabic sweets and Indian puri, small round bread of wheat flour
Favourite Chinese dish: Spicy boiled fish or anything cooked by her mother because of its flavour
Best vacation: Returning home to China
Music interests: Enjoys playing the zheng, a string musical instrument
Enjoys reading: Chinese novels, romantic comedies, reading up on business trends, government policy changes
Favourite book: Chairman Mao Zedong’s poems
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
FINAL SCORES
Fujairah 130 for 8 in 20 overs
(Sandy Sandeep 29, Hamdan Tahir 26 no, Umair Ali 2-15)
Sharjah 131 for 8 in 19.3 overs
(Kashif Daud 51, Umair Ali 20, Rohan Mustafa 2-17, Sabir Rao 2-26)
Teachers' pay - what you need to know
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
