LONDON // There's still a month to go until the royal wedding and yet some Britons are already asking: Is it over yet?
While millions around the world are following every detail of the wedding planning - the guest list, the cake, the carriage, the dress - others are desperately trying to tune it out.
In the British press, scores of stories about the April 29 nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton sit alongside grimmer news: An earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan, war in Libya, and a diet of spending cuts, job losses and inflation in Britain.
It's no surprise many people are not in a party mood.
"I'm tired of hearing all about it," said Andreas Dopner, 24, a postgraduate researcher at London's Imperial College. "You see it on television, the Internet, everywhere. I don't believe in having a royal family and I think the money could be spent better elsewhere."
For many British businesses, the wedding is good news. International interest in the nuptials and the predicted pro-Britannia "feel-good factor" will bring in extra tourists, giving a boost to hotels, restaurants, shops and royal-related tourist attractions.
But there also will be an exodus, with several million Britons heading abroad, thanks to the lucky timing of the wedding day - a holiday for most - between the Easter weekend and the May Day public holiday. Clever employees quickly calculated they could get an 11-day break by taking only three days off work.
"I've booked it myself for that very reason," said Sean Tipton of the Association of British Travel Agents, which has seen a surge in overseas bookings for the wedding period.
Those still in Britain on April 29 will find central London be bedecked with Union Jacks, tens of thousands gathering along the wedding procession route, millions watching on TV - and millions more trying to ignore it.
"It tends to be kind of an older-generation event," said London student William Dobson, 19. "Young people are much more interested in having a good weekend rather than seeing the wedding."
Even for the uninterested, the wedding may be hard to avoid. But for those determined to do so, alternatives are available.
A Welsh Nationalist group, unimpressed with English royal excess, is holding an "Escape The Wedding Camp" in the countryside for those who really want to get away from it all. A theater company in northeast England is staging a reading of "Cinderella 2," tale of a fairytale romance gone sour.
In southwest England, Bristol's Trinity community arts centre is holding an Alternative Royal Wedding Party featuring children's games, DJs and a fake-wedding service allowing guests to get hitched to a friend or a stranger.
Center manager Emma Harvey said the royal wedding was not uppermost in the minds of residents of the ethnically diverse, economically deprived area.
"It's not necessarily a massive thing on people's radar," she said. "There is a sense that it is quite a decadent occasion."
Others wish Kate and William well, but are sick of the commercialisation and the hype surrounding the wedding. No detail, it seems, is too small to be celebrated - the palace released video of cakes being made for the wedding, one of which is a fruit cake that gets better with age.
Windows of gift shops across the land too are packed with mugs, plates, key chains and ashtrays, some of it downright tacky.
One London art gallery has retaliated with a display of Kate-and-William sick bags, designed by artist Lydia Leith and screen printed with images of the happy couple in regal purple and gold.
Ellie Phillips, who helps run the Jealous Gallery, said it had sold dozens of the bags, intended as a comment on "the whole tacky merchandise" side of the wedding.
"We're not anti the event itself," she said. "It's a nice happy thing that brings lots of people together. It's just the way it's been so rapidly commercialized and turned into an opportunity to turn out so many poorly made, cheap, tacky things."
Royal wedding apathy is music to the ears of Republic, a group that has campaigned for years to persuade Britons to scrap the monarchy. It senses a change in the air, and hopes thousands will attend an irreverent "Not the Royal Wedding" street party in central London on April 29.
Republic spokesman Graham Smith said deference for the monarchy has withered since Queen Elizabeth II took the throne almost six decades ago, and since a rapt nation watched Prince Charles marry Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul's Cathedral in 1981. That union produced princes William and Harry but ended in an embarrassing, acrimonious divorce.
"I think people are responding with a giant shrug," Smith said. "This is not 1981, it's not 1952. It's 2011 and people have better things to worry about."
Online:
Official royal wedding site: http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/
Republic: http://www.republic.org.uk/
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What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
The BIO
Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.
Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.
Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.
Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
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Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
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Middleweight Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) v Badreddine Diani (MAR)
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Middleweight Sallaheddine Dekhissi (MAR) v Abdel Emam (EGY)
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
Two-step truce
The UN-brokered ceasefire deal for Hodeidah will be implemented in two stages, with the first to be completed before the New Year begins, according to the Arab Coalition supporting the Yemeni government.
By midnight on December 31, the Houthi rebels will have to withdraw from the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Issa and Al Saqef, coalition officials told The National.
The second stage will be the complete withdrawal of all pro-government forces and rebels from Hodeidah city, to be completed by midnight on January 7.
The process is to be overseen by a Redeployment Co-ordination Committee (RCC) comprising UN monitors and representatives of the government and the rebels.
The agreement also calls the deployment of UN-supervised neutral forces in the city and the establishment of humanitarian corridors to ensure distribution of aid across the country.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
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7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
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9.30pm: Forever Young
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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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
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Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
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Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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What is Folia?
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.
Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."
Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.
In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".
There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."
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Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
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Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
