Well-heeled Palm residents have been invited to sign up for a new reality TV show. The only qualifications are applicants must be perma-tanned, rich and not afraid to flaunt it.
A British production company is currently looking for cast members to star in a new reality series, focusing on the glamorous lives of residents of Dubai's Palm Jumeirah.
Arrow Media, based in London, issued a flyer on UAE expat websites on Monday calling for individuals with "big personalities and an interesting story to tell" to get in touch.
The makers are working with network ITV, which broadcasts Love Island and The Only Way Is Essex, to develop the programme and are specifically looking for British expats who have moved or are about to move to the Palm, according to British Mums.
The flyer reads: "Are you a BRITISH EXPAT? Do you LIVE/WORK/ or PLAY on The Palm. Are you moving to The Palm this summer? A major international TV network is casting people who have started new lives on the sunny Palm. Seeking individuals with big personalities and an interesting story to tell."
The news has already attracted a lot of attention on social media with many excited at the prospect of having their lives featured on TV.
One person enthusiastically commented: "Time to move to the palm. Palm Island? Real housewives of the palm?"
While a friend replied: "OMG this is right up my street!"
However, others were not so pleased about the upcoming show, with one user sarcastically writing on Facebook: "Oh joy, just what we need - a show about Jumeirah Janes and Palm Patricks."
Miranda Davidson, a casting agent who has worked on many films including the seventh instalment of the Fast and Furious films, which was filmed in Abu Dhabi and Star Trek Beyond, which was filmed in Dubai, cautioned producers to act with care.
She told The National: "You have to be aware about filming and casting in the Middle East. It is important to know about the lay of the land.
"They will have to be careful with alcohol, scenes with sexual content and they will have to be careful about showing any nudity."
Davidson said to stand a chance of being selected, potential cast members would have to be "interesting and uninhibited".
Arrow is the company behind the popular series Ultimate Airport Dubai, which allowed unprecedented access into Dubai International Airport, one of the busiest in the world.
The media group also produced many popular TV series including Animal Fight Night, broadcast on the National Geographic Channel, and Don't Tell The Doctor, shown on Channel 5.
Since construction of the Palm finished in 2006, families moved in in their thousands, with an estimated 26,000 residing on the islands in 2015.
While Bollywood actress and Celebrity Big Brother UK winner Shilpa Shetty once owned a home in Dubai, selling up just over a year ago.
It won't be the first time that the Palm has been featured on a reality show; popular franchises the Real Housewives of Beverley Hills and The Real Housewives of Cheshire have both filmed episodes on the islands.
Meanwhile the original queen of reality TV Paris Hilton searched for a new best friend in the Emirate in Paris Hilton's Dubai BFF back in 2011.
If you think you have what it takes to become the next big reality star email casting@arrowmedia.com
The National has contacted a representative for Arrow Media to confirm further details about the project.
FINAL RESULT
Sharjah Wanderers 20 Dubai Tigers 25 (After extra-time)
Wanderers
Tries: Gormley, Penalty
cons: Flaherty
Pens: Flaherty 2
Tigers
Tries: O’Donnell, Gibbons, Kelly
Cons: Caldwell 2
Pens: Caldwell, Cross
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
PAKISTAN SQUAD
Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (test captain), Babar Azam (T20 captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah.
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
More about Middle East geopolitics
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
AL BOOM
Director:Assad Al Waslati
Starring: Omar Al Mulla, Badr Hakami and Rehab Al Attar
Streaming on: ADtv
Rating: 3.5/5
How to avoid getting scammed
- Never click on links provided via app or SMS, even if they seem to come from authorised senders at first glance
- Always double-check the authenticity of websites
- Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for all your working and personal services
- Only use official links published by the respective entity
- Double-check the web addresses to reduce exposure to fake sites created with domain names containing spelling errors
One in four Americans don't plan to retire
Nearly a quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of ageing in the workforce.
Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they'd like.
According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 23 per cent of workers, including nearly two in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.
According to government data, about one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June. The study surveyed 1,423 adults in February this year.
For many, money has a lot to do with the decision to keep working.
"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."
When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14 per cent of Americans under the age of 50 and 29 per cent over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another four in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared.
"One of the things about thinking about never retiring is that you didn't save a whole lot of money," says Ronni Bennett, 78, who was pushed out of her job as a New York City-based website editor at 63.
She searched for work in the immediate aftermath of her layoff, a process she describes as akin to "banging my head against a wall." Finding Manhattan too expensive without a steady stream of income, she eventually moved to Portland, Maine. A few years later, she moved again, to Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Sometimes I fantasise that if I win the lottery, I'd go back to New York," says Ms Bennett.
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
The specs: 2019 GMC Yukon Denali
Price, base: Dh306,500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 621Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.9L / 100km
THE BIO
Mr Al Qassimi is 37 and lives in Dubai
He is a keen drummer and loves gardening
His favourite way to unwind is spending time with his two children and cooking
THE SPECS
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 hybrid
Power: 653hp at 5,400rpm
Torque: 800Nm at 1,600-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
0-100kph in 4.3sec
Top speed 250kph
Fuel consumption: NA
On sale: Q2 2023
Price: From Dh750,000
UPI+facts
More+than+2.2+million+Indian+tourists+arrived+in+UAE+in+2023
More+than+3.5+million+Indians+reside+in+UAE
Indian+tourists+can+make+purchases+in+UAE+using+rupee+accounts+in+India+through+QR-code-based+UPI+real-time+payment+systems
Indian+residents+in+UAE+can+use+their+non-resident+NRO+and+NRE+accounts+held+in+Indian+banks+linked+to+a+UAE+mobile+number+for+UPI+transactions
Diriyah project at a glance
- Diriyah’s 1.9km King Salman Boulevard, a Parisian Champs-Elysees-inspired avenue, is scheduled for completion in 2028
- The Royal Diriyah Opera House is expected to be completed in four years
- Diriyah’s first of 42 hotels, the Bab Samhan hotel, will open in the first quarter of 2024
- On completion in 2030, the Diriyah project is forecast to accommodate more than 100,000 people
- The $63.2 billion Diriyah project will contribute $7.2 billion to the kingdom’s GDP
- It will create more than 178,000 jobs and aims to attract more than 50 million visits a year
- About 2,000 people work for the Diriyah Company, with more than 86 per cent being Saudi citizens
UAE v IRELAND
All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi
1st ODI, Friday, January 8
2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10
3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12
4th ODI, Thursday, January 14
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 five pillars of Islam
