Kim Kardashian to visit Dubai

American reality show star Kim Kardashian has announced she will visit the UAE later this year.

The 30-year-old revealed the news to her Twitter followers that she will be visiting sometime after summer, without giving an exact date or a reason.

"OMG I'm soooo excited I just booked a trip to Dubai!" wrote Kardashian. "I've never been before! This is going to be such an experience!"

Kardashian and her family shot to fame on their first reality show, Keeping up With The Kardashians, which has spawned three spinoffs - the latest featured Kardashian and her younger sister Kourtney as they opened a branch of their clothing store in New York City - with a fourth on the way. All shows are broadcast repeatedly in the UAE through the E! network.

Kardashian's younger sister Khloe appears on the cover of the first issue of Cosmopolitan Middle East and will star in the next Kardashian show with her National Basketball Association player husband, Lamar Odom. Khloe & Lamar is due to premiere in the US on Sunday.

A recent issue of The Hollywood Reporter revealed how the Kardashian clan - headed by matriarch-manager Kris - has turned their notoriety into US$65 million (Dh239m) in earnings last year through endorsements, paid promotional appearances, fragrance sales and assorted other business ventures.

newsdesk@thenational.ae

Manchester United v Liverpool

Premier League, kick off 7.30pm (UAE)

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COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside

Picture of Joumblatt and Hariri breaking bread sets Twitter alight

Mr Joumblatt’s pessimism regarding the Lebanese political situation didn’t stop him from enjoying a cheerful dinner on Tuesday with several politicians including Mr Hariri.

Caretaker Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury tweeted a picture of the group sitting around a table at a discrete fish restaurant in Beirut’s upscale Sodeco area.

Mr Joumblatt told The National that the fish served at Kelly’s Fish lounge had been very good.

“They really enjoyed their time”, remembers the restaurant owner. “Mr Hariri was taking selfies with everybody”.

Mr Hariri and Mr Joumblatt often have dinner together to discuss recent political developments.

Mr Joumblatt was a close ally of Mr Hariri’s assassinated father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The pair were leading figures in the political grouping against the 15-year Syrian occupation of Lebanon that ended after mass protests in 2005 in the wake of Rafik Hariri’s murder. After the younger Hariri took over his father’s mantle in 2004, the relationship with Mr Joumblatt endured.

However, the pair have not always been so close. In the run-up to the election last year, Messrs Hariri and Joumblatt went months without speaking over an argument regarding the new proportional electoral law to be used for the first time. Mr Joumblatt worried that a proportional system, which Mr Hariri backed, would see the influence of his small sect diminished.

With so much of Lebanese politics agreed in late-night meetings behind closed doors, the media and pundits put significant weight on how regularly, where and with who senior politicians meet.

In the picture, alongside Messrs Khoury and Hariri were Mr Joumbatt and his wife Nora, PSP politician Wael Abou Faour and Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon Nazih el Nagari.

The picture of the dinner led to a flurry of excitement on Twitter that it signified an imminent government formation. “God willing, white smoke will rise soon and Walid Beik [a nickname for Walid Joumblatt] will accept to give up the minister of industry”, one user replied to the tweet. “Blessings to you…We would like you to form a cabinet”, wrote another.

The next few days will be crucial in determining whether these wishes come true.

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Australia squads

ODI: Tim Paine (capt), Aaron Finch (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.

T20: Aaron Finch (capt), Alex Carey (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth.