Nickelback will be big, loud and explosive at Abu Dhabi F1 event


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The most shocking news item to come out of Canada recently was not the mysterious theft of $30 million (Dh112 million) worth of maple syrup from a Quebec warehouse - or even that the nation considers it such a vital strategic commodity that it actually stockpiles the stuff to stabilise both prices and global supply.

The truly bewildering news Canucks woke up to was that not only were two of their most famous home-grown music stars - pop-punk diva Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger, lead singer for the rock group Nickelback - an item, but that they had actually managed to meet and get engaged without anyone knowing about it.

Lavigne, who rose from small-town obscurity to international attention with her single Complicated, is, many Canadians believe, not one of the nation's most artistically credible acts. More of the country's vitriol is, however, reserved for Nickelback.

Famous for their straightforward hard rock sound and songs including Rockstar and Photograph, Nickelback are one of the most commercially successful groups in the world.

The unrepentantly macho four-piece outfit from rural Alberta will be playing on the second night of November's Yasalam after-race concert series being staged for F1 ticket-holders on Yas Island, it was announced earlier this week. Kylie Minogue will open the musical festivities on November 2.

Nickelback have sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, making them the 11th best-selling music act of the 2000s, behind such other banner acts as Eminem, Britney Spears, Linkin Park and The Beatles (yes, the Fab Four were the second-best selling act of the Noughties, shifting a staggering 27.5m records in the US alone, underlining their enduring, almost everlasting appeal).

Billboard ranks Nickelback as the top rock group of the decade and their hit song How You Remind Me was listed as the top rock song.

Their massive popularity has, however, earned them almost as many enemies as fans. If you doubt this, spare the time to do a quick Google search for "hate Nickelback". There are also numerous Facebook pages devoted to the strange sport of loathing the band, who famously lost a fan-page popularity contest to a dill pickle on the social networking Website.

And it doesn't end there.

In June this year, Josh Gross wrote a preview piece in the Boise Weekly (an American publication that bills itself as "Idaho's only alternative weekly newspaper") announcing the band's June 13 appearance at the Idaho Center that was so well-received by Nickelback-haters it went viral: "You can spend $45 to go see Nickelback this week. Or you could buy 45 hammers from the dollar store, hang them from the ceiling at eye level and spend an evening banging the demons out of your dome."

Gross would deliver this withering follow-up in the next paragraph: "[$45] would also buy you an introduction to rock guitar video course that would allow you to surpass the band's skill level in five hours or less."

But his chippy preview did little to dissuade the band's legions of local fans.

Among those who attended the concert, which featured a "dazzling display of lights and pyrotechnics", was Crystal Pettit, who assured the Boise Examiner that she got her money's worth: "They put on a very good show and seemed very enthusiastic to be here."

And if the enthusiastic response from the throngs of fans who turned out to see Nickelback at the Gulf Bike Show in Dubai in February 2010 is anything to go by, the band's flamboyant, stadium-pleasing style will go over extremely well with the capital's motorheads at Yas Marina Circuit.

Before the band's debut gig in Dubai, Kroeger promised: "It's going to be a big, loud, explosive, visual rock show."

At an event such as the grand prix, nothing could be more appropriate.

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

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Analysis

Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.

The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement. 

We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment. 

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog

Name: Younis Al Balooshi

Nationality: Emirati

Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn

Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design

THE BIO

Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old

Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai

Favourite Book: The Alchemist

Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail

Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna

Favourite cuisine: Italian food

Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman

 

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Honeymoonish
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SERIE A FIXTURES

Saturday

AC Milan v Sampdoria (2.30pm kick-off UAE)

Atalanta v Udinese (5pm)

Benevento v Parma (5pm)

Cagliari v Hellas Verona (5pm)

Genoa v Fiorentina (5pm)

Lazio v Spezia (5pm)

Napoli v Crotone (5pm)

Sassuolo v Roma (5pm)

Torino v Juventus (8pm)

Bologna v Inter Milan (10.45pm)

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.

The Ashes

Results
First Test, Brisbane: Australia won by 10 wickets
Second Test, Adelaide: Australia won by 120 runs
Third Test, Perth: Australia won by an innings and 41 runs
Fourth Test: Melbourne: Drawn
Fifth Test: Australia won by an innings and 123 runs

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At Eternity’s Gate

Director: Julian Schnabel

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen

Three stars