After Donald Trump was inaugurated as president in January, George Orwell's seminal book, 1984, shot to the top of the bestseller list nearly 70 years after it was first published. We turned to fiction to help navigate a world where Orwellian terms had become reality. We had Orwell's "newspeak" expressed as "alternative facts". And just like in 1984, one day we had been enemies with Eurasia, which included Russia, and the next, we are friends with them but enemies with East Asia, which includes Korea.
The creative arts are making a resurgence now that we are experiencing the shifting tectonic plates of history and we should be using them as a way to understand and tackle an era of radical change.
The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel about a future in which women have no rights and whose purpose is to manufacture babies, has been revived with a recent award-winning drama series that swept the Emmy Awards. Women around the world felt terrified at how we are teetering on the precipice of life imitating art. Atwood's vision is all the more poignant when you learn that she says she only included things that had already happened somewhere in the world.
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Read more from Shelina Janmohamed
This is what happened when I challenged a cyberstalker
In today's world, borders guarantee neither safety nor security
Historical dramas can trigger and enlighten our consciousness
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I was in Madrid this week on a fleeting overnight visit punctuated by one extraordinary moment. Inside the Reina Sofia museum, I walked the passageways and turned a corner to find roaring into the room the enormous black, white and grey mural called Guernica. It is 7.7 metres wide and 3.49 metres high.
Painted by Picasso in 1937, the painting has a ferocious energy that is so intense it could have been painted today. Its message is just as relevant. It celebrated its 80th anniversary earlier this year.
Picasso had been living in exile in Paris during the Spanish civil war. On April 26, 1937, he received news of the destruction of the town of Guernica in the northern Basque province of Spain. Franco had invited the Nazis to bomb it as punishment for being the centre of Basque republican resistance and culture. By June 4, the painting was completed. It has been called one of the most powerful anti-war paintings ever.
The dark mural depicts a combination of searing images and symbols: the bull and the horse, screaming women, a dead child. Death oozes like blood from the canvas.
Staring at the painting, I felt I had been sucked through a vortex back into the cusp of the Second World War. I could taste the horrors and hear the screams.
These works were not only powerful social commentary and extraordinary interventions, their creators feeling compelled to produce them as protests. They were a means of release for the artists; their very beings needing to express their rage.
It is works of art like these that helped me to understand how I came to be an author. I can't compare to their extraordinary level of talent, of course. Orwell explains in his essay, Why I Write, that it was the era of intense political distress in which he lived that led him to make political writing into an art.
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Why the EU hasn't taken Madrid to task for its behaviour over the Catalan referendum
Across the globe, centre-right parties are under threat
Russia may have saved the Assad regime. But its real ally has been terrorism
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His commentary about his own art – and his motivations for it – helped me better understand not just our own era, but my own reaction and creative response to it. I don’t know if I would have picked up a pen to write had it not been for a visceral compulsion to intervene creatively in a social and political arena that needs change.
Orwell says that “the opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude”. So I wonder, is it dangerous for a Muslim woman author to explicitly state that she was radicalised into writing?
I take cover for my own humble art, in the shadow of Picasso's visceral response, to a world that is terrifyingly similar today. He continued to live in Paris during the city's Nazi occupation. One day, a Gestapo officer barged his way into Picasso's apartment and noticed a photo of the Guernica painting. "Did you do that?" asked the officer. And Picasso's answer explains how creativity is an expression, an intervention and a protest all in one. He replied, "No, you did."
Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is the author of Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
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
Defined benefit and defined contribution schemes explained
Defined Benefit Plan (DB)
A defined benefit plan is where the benefit is defined by a formula, typically length of service to and salary at date of leaving.
Defined Contribution Plan (DC)
A defined contribution plan is where the benefit depends on the amount of money put into the plan for an employee, and how much investment return is earned on those contributions.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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RESULTS
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner Thabet Al Reef, Bernardo Pinheiro (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Blue Diamond, Pat Cosgrave, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6.30pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Shoja’A Muscat, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7pm Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Heros De Lagarde, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m
Winner Good Tidings, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
The specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 849Nm
Range: 456km
Price: from Dh437,900
On sale: now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
West Asia rugby, season 2017/18 - Roll of Honour
Western Clubs Champions League - Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners up: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens - Winners: Dubai Exiles; Runners up: Jebel Ali Dragons
West Asia Premiership - Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons; Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership Cup - Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners up: Dubai Exiles
UAE Premiership - Winners: Dubai Exiles; Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
No more lice
Defining head lice
Pediculus humanus capitis are tiny wingless insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. The adult head louse is up to 3mm long, has six legs, and is tan to greyish-white in colour. The female lives up to four weeks and, once mature, can lay up to 10 eggs per day. These tiny nits firmly attach to the base of the hair shaft, get incubated by body heat and hatch in eight days or so.
Identifying lice
Lice can be identified by itching or a tickling sensation of something moving within the hair. One can confirm that a person has lice by looking closely through the hair and scalp for nits, nymphs or lice. Head lice are most frequently located behind the ears and near the neckline.
Treating lice at home
Head lice must be treated as soon as they are spotted. Start by checking everyone in the family for them, then follow these steps. Remove and wash all clothing and bedding with hot water. Apply medicine according to the label instructions. If some live lice are still found eight to 12 hours after treatment, but are moving more slowly than before, do not re-treat. Comb dead and remaining live lice out of the hair using a fine-toothed comb.
After the initial treatment, check for, comb and remove nits and lice from hair every two to three days. Soak combs and brushes in hot water for 10 minutes.Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infested person sat or lay.
Courtesy Dr Vishal Rajmal Mehta, specialist paediatrics, RAK Hospital
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
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Mission%3A%20Impossible%20-%20Dead%20Reckoning%20Part%20One
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AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
Teams
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills