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Queen Rania skips Jordan's Independence Day celebrations due to back injury

Queen Rania skips Jordan's Independence Day celebrations due to back injury

The National7 days ago

Queen Rania skipped Jordan's Independence Day celebrations on Sunday due to a back injury. The Jordanian royal shared a photo of herself watching the celebrations on television with Princess Iman, who gave birth to her first child, daughter Amina, in February. "Happy Independence Day to our beloved Jordan. I look forward to celebrating this day alongside His Majesty each year, but I am tuning in from home after treatment for back pain - with my dear Iman graciously keeping me company," Queen Rania posted on Instagram. In Arabic, she jokingly added that she has joined "the Jordanian disc club", suggesting spinal issues. Jordan celebrated its 79th Independence Day with patriotic fervour on Sunday. Streets across Amman were lined with flags, while government buildings, historical sites and main roads were dressed in red, white, green and black – the colours of the Jordanian flag. This year's celebrations featured cultural performances, air and drone shows and a special ceremony attended by the royal family at Al Husseiniya Palace in the evening. The Royal Hashemite Court posted a photo of King Abdullah II accompanied by Crown Prince Hussein, Princess Salma and Prince Hashem arriving for the ceremony. Prince Hussein's wife, Princess Rajwa, who turned 31 in April, was not seen in the photo. At the ceremony, King Abdullah bestowed medals upon several distinguished Jordanian individuals and leading national institutions in recognition of their significant contributions and services to the nation and its people, state news agency Roya News reported. Crown Prince Hussein also posted a photo from the event. "Today, we celebrate the outstanding achievements of a group of Jordanians whose dedication continues to inspire. Happy Independence Day," he shared on Instagram.

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Dubai based Filipino influencers to follow ASAP
Dubai based Filipino influencers to follow ASAP

Cosmopolitan ME

timean hour ago

  • Cosmopolitan ME

Dubai based Filipino influencers to follow ASAP

Dubai is home to a slew of unapologetically stylish Filipino influencers. And it's about high time you've been looped in on all the gals who are slaying in the UAE. If you aren't following 'em yet.. girl what are you doing? If you've spent a couple of minutes scrolling through TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, chances are you've already stumbled and double-tapped these girlies. From their charismatic slayful fashion, their daily vlogs (obsessed tbh) in Dubai, and even their hot takes, these Dubai-based Filipino influencers deserve a follow ASAP. Kyla Meet the fashion it-girl Kyla. From her daily Dubai errands, trips around the city, her adorable fur baby, and her aesthetic home, you need to follow just for the vibes. Instagram: @kylashanil TikTok: @juicykyla Angeline Angeline is living proof that you can be the main character AND the boss. She runs her own branding agency (yes, queen) and still makes time to serve travel inspo, lifestyle content, and ✨ big influencer energy ✨. Instagram: @aeyariv TikTok: @thisisnotanji Suzie (rellonsuzie) ICYMI, Suzie is the definition of talent and beauty. Known for her penchant for makeup and dancing, she's basically your digital BFF who you need to listen to for fashion, lifestyle and beauty advice. Instagram: @rellonsuzie TikTok: @sizzling_suzie Rechel Hoco Erm, Rechel is literally a queen. No like, actually. Rechel Hoco has been slaying beauty pageants from the Philippines for years. She recently even took the stage for the Mr Universe Phillippines! Instagram: @rechelhoco TikTok: @rechelhoco Kzyha Lyre Meet Kzyha, the coolest gal on the block. Her fashion? Iconic. Her taste? Phenomenal. Her edits? ASTRONOMICAL. From glittering alt fashion, retro vibes and more, Kyzha is surely one of the coolest Pinay in the city. Instagram: @kyzhalyre South Asian influencers in the UAE to add to your feed. Stat.

Mountainhead spoiler review: Ending explains what HBO film is really about
Mountainhead spoiler review: Ending explains what HBO film is really about

The National

time14 hours ago

  • The National

Mountainhead spoiler review: Ending explains what HBO film is really about

The world is a comedy to those who think and a tragedy to those who feel. Horace Walpole coined that phrase, Succession creator Jesse Armstrong quoted it in his review of a book on disgraced crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, and his new film Mountainhead brings that sentiment to life. Mountainhead is a film built for the moment – and these days, moments are more ephemeral than ever. That's precisely why Armstrong, rushed his idea for a fictional summit between tech billionaires to the screen in a matter of months. He pitched it to HBO in December, filmed it in March, and released it today on OSN+ across the Middle East. The film stars Ramy Youssef, Cory Michael Smith, Steve Carell and Jason Schwartzman as four of the world's most powerful – and self-declared 'smartest' – men, each with a different claim to fame. It's not based on a true story, but it clearly draws from reality. Randall (Carell) is an elder statesman financier in the style of Peter Thiel, Jeff (Youssef) is an AI entrepreneur like Sam Altman, Venis (Smith) is the richest man in the world who owns a major social media app similar to Elon Musk. Schwartzman, meanwhile, plays a character call 'Souper' – short for soup kitchen, due to his significantly lower net worth. The film is entirely set at a house in the Rocky Mountains, where the four old friends meet for a weekend of fun and end up becoming consumed by the impact of Venis's latest product – generative AI that can create undetectable deepfakes. Within hours of its launch, the world descends into chaos – with inflammatory uses of the tech causing mass violence across the world. Their reactions are naive and self-interested, to say the least. Armstrong has long been interested in the workings of power. But after the conclusion of Succession, and in preparation for his review of Michael Lewis's book Going Infinite, chronicling the rise and fall of Bankman-Fried, he grew obsessed with those on the cutting edge of new technology – men who were changing the course of human history with a hastily-cobbled philosophy guiding their way forward. The venal Prometheans in Mountainhead speaks the language of this philosophy – they talk reverently of 'first principles', for instance – an idea that guides many in the tech space, including Musk. First principle thinking in tech involves boiling down complex problems into their most fundamental, indisputable truths to build new solutions from the ground up – rejecting all orthodoxy completely. The success that the Mountainhead billionaires – who call themselves the Brewsters – have found in life has led them to believe that they have it all figured out. They see themselves as the world's true leaders – and they have their fingers on the buttons that can bend the world to their will. And in their minds, all their actions are for the greater good. The future they are working towards is transhumanist – in which the consciousness of every person on earth will be uploaded into the cloud to exist in a state of bliss. In the meantime, they believe their every innovation will solve all the world's problems and heal all wounds – despite all evidence to the contrary, and with little depth to their analysis. 'Once one Palestinian kid sees some really bananas content from one Israeli kid – it's all over!' Venis remarks. In Succession, Armstrong needed to make his lead characters somewhat sympathetic for the sake of keeping viewers on board for a long-term narrative – here he has no such necessity and chooses not to. The only one with any semblance of a conscience is Youssef's Jeff, who realises his AI detection tech holds potentially the cure to the info-virus that Venis has just unleashed into the world. Youssef, who is an outspoken activist for peace in Palestine in real life, is a knowing bit of casting – but his character proves to be just as corruptible as the rest. Youssef's performance as he captures those layers proves to be the best turn of his career. This all could have become something more akin to a Black Mirror episode if Armstrong had wanted to, but that's just not what interested him. It seems at first that things will play out as a spin on the work of Ayn Rand (the title is a play on Rand's The Fountainhead, after all), with the world's most powerful literally removing themselves from society completely as the world burns. Instead, it becomes a darkly comic spin on Hitchcock film Rope. Before that, the film does toy with the idea of what these men may do if they decided to wield the levers of power at their disposal completely – they consider staging a coup of the United States, buying a country such as Haiti and 'relocating' its inhabitants and turning it into their own state, and more – but these plans are forgotten when they decide that their real problem is Jeff. Jeff wants Randall to push Venis out from his company and stop the world from burning, giving his own AI detection tech to the government for regulatory purposes. Randall, on the other hand, has incurable cancer, and Venis promises him that he will be the first to have his consciousness uploaded to the cloud. Randall then conspires with Venis and Souper to kill Jeff – and they speak about his murder with the same euphemistic Silicon Valley speak. It is there that the film's real message starts to emerge. Yes, these people may be brilliant in many ways, and yes, they may truly believe in their moralistic ambitions. But they are still human, as much as they may pretend to have transcended the rest of humanity. There are still guided by fear, jealousy and pride. They are still capable of stupidity, as much as they feel their net worth inoculates from it. As a result, the techno babble and first principles talk become another tool which they use to get what they want – a lie they tell themselves, each other, and the world. This is a film about the hubris and folly of man – the only true constant in an ever-changing world. They worship 'progress' – and the progress they want is whatever grants them more power. They don't kill Jeff, in the end. After locking him in a sauna, filling it with gasoline and threatening him with a match, they force him to sign over his company to them. And the next morning, when the dust settles, Jeff comes to breakfast with only moderate disgust for his friends. When Jeff goes to leave, Venis follows him, offering him a partnership – to integrate Jeff's tech into Venis's destructive tech to make it even more powerful, and bring about the transhumanist world that they always wanted. Jeff agrees, dropping all of his previously held moral qualms – his only condition being that they cut Randall out completely as an act of revenge. To them, this is all a comedy. They have lost the ability to feel and have no concern for the well-being of humanity. They don't need to create a secret Randian retreat to separate themselves from society – they have already separated themselves in their minds. As a result, we can infer, their actions from here will never take humanity's well-being in concern – and for everyone else, this will become a tragedy. They do the thinking, but the rest of us must feel the consequences. Ultimately, this is the most cynical work yet from Armstrong, and may prove to be his most divisive. But as far as food for thought, there's plenty here to chew on – just be careful of the bitter aftertaste.

What will Dubai look like in 2071? Find out at Museum of the Future this Eid
What will Dubai look like in 2071? Find out at Museum of the Future this Eid

Khaleej Times

time16 hours ago

  • Khaleej Times

What will Dubai look like in 2071? Find out at Museum of the Future this Eid

As Eid Al Adha approaches, the Museum of the Future has announced a vibrant programme of innovative and entertaining activities for visitors during the holidays, designed for families of all ages. Highlights include a virtual journey through space, direct interaction with robots, and unforgettable photo opportunities across the museum's futuristic sections. Visitors can embark on a unique space exploration experience aboard the OSS Hope orbiting station. This interactive journey presents the latest innovations and research conducted aboard the station and offers insights into what Dubai and the world might look like in 2071. On the second floor, the 'Tomorrow, Today' exhibit allows visitors to interact with the humanoid robot Ameca, ask questions in multiple languages, and capture memorable photos. Guests can also enjoy 'Al Waha', a sensory experience designed to help restore natural balance and mental clarity. In the 'Earth Dreams' exhibition by artist Refik Anadol, visitors can explore immersive installations that reflect on the human-nature connection. Inspired by atmospheric imagery, the exhibition blends AI-generated digital artworks with a futuristic vision of art, technology, and nature. The museum also presents 'The Vivarium', the latest addition to its Nature Rehabilitation Lab. This living installation showcases an innovative model of environmental design, featuring genetically modified organisms—plants, insects, and microorganisms—within a sealed ecosystem. Visitors can control temperature, humidity, and lighting with a single touch to observe how the organisms adapt in real time. On the first floor, 'Future Heroes' offers an interactive play area dedicated to children. Designed to develop skills in a fun and safe setting, the space encourages learning through exploration, collaboration, and creativity. For visitors looking to capture the perfect Eid snapshot, the museum's iconic architecture provides a stunning and unique backdrop that blends heritage with the future.

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