Latest news with #Ney
Iraqi News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Iraqi News
Iraqi artist Yousif Abbas makes history with multifaceted role in a major US series
Baghdad ( – Iraqi musician and artist Yousif Abbas has revealed further details about his extensive and pivotal contributions to the major upcoming American series, Debriefing the President. Directed by Leslie Greif and starring Joel Kinnaman as CIA officer John Nixon and Waleed Zuaiter as Saddam Hussein, the series is based on Nixon's real-life interrogation of the former Iraqi leader. Abbas, the sole Iraqi participant in the production, composed the entire original soundtrack. He described this as one of his most challenging projects due to the social and political sensitivity of portraying Saddam Hussein. His goal was to create neutral music reflecting the unseen emotional aspects of the interrogation, skillfully blending Eastern instruments like the Ney, Joza, and Santoor with a Western orchestra. Beyond his groundbreaking musical score, Abbas played other crucial roles. He meticulously translated the script into authentic Iraqi dialect and coached actor Waleed Zuaiter in his portrayal of Saddam Hussein, utilizing 62 video clips to study body language. He also undertook linguistic proofreading of the script. Filmed entirely in Egypt by an American production company to capture an atmosphere similar to Baghdad, Debriefing the President is expected to make a significant impact. Yousif Abbas's multifaceted involvement marks a historic achievement for Iraqi talent on a major international stage.
Hamilton Spectator
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Hamilton Spectator
Car shoppers pessimistic about Canada's zero-emissions vehicle sales target: survey
A new survey has found that the majority of car buyers don't think the Canadian government can achieve its target of 100 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035, as interest in electric vehicle purchases remains largely unchanged from last year. The survey from consumer insights firm J.D. Power found that 75 per cent of new-vehicle shoppers are not confident the 2035 target will be reached. The survey also found that 28 per cent of respondents are 'very likely' or 'somewhat likely' to consider an EV for their next vehicle purchase, down from 29 per cent last year and 34 per cent in 2023. J.D. Ney, director of automotive practice at J.D. Power Canada, said Canadians are still hesitant to embrace EVs for several reasons, with anxiety topping the list as they are worried about how far they can drive on a single charge. He said affordability and lack of charging infrastructure are other major factors. 'Based on the type of vehicle that most Canadians want to drive, they're expensive vehicles in this market,' he said. The target that all new light-duty vehicles sold be zero-emissions by 2035 was initially set by former prime minister Justin Trudeau's government. But Ney said based on the survey results, it is unlikely Canada could reach that goal in the next decade. 'EVs will continue to be a part of ... the mobility solution for Canadians and I think that they'll slowly grow in terms of market share,' he said in a phone interview. 'It certainly may not be as quickly as, you know, a federal government mandate would like, but I think they're going to remain a part of the conversation for quite some time.' Canadian interest in EVs is much lower than in the United States, where 59 per cent of those surveyed said they are either 'very likely' or 'somewhat likely' to purchase an electric vehicle. The federal government paused an incentive program in January that offered Canadians rebates of up to $5,000 when buying or leasing electric vehicles, a move that Ney said was 'certainly not going to help EV adoption.' J.D. Power's online survey of nearly 4,000 potential new vehicle buyers found that program pause had a negative effect on 42 per cent of those who were likely to consider getting an EV. The polling industry's professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population. The survey also found that Canadian car buyers' most-considered EV brands have changed. Tesla, owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, dropped from second to eighth place among most-considered EV brands in Canada, with Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Ford and Chevrolet now occupying the top five spots. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 29, 2025.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ottawa's halted $5,000 rebate won't sway most EV shoppers, says J.D. Power
Most Canadians shopping for an electric vehicle (EV) say the federal government's halt on rebates worth up to $5,000 has not put the brakes on their purchase plans, according to J.D. Power Canada. Ottawa announced an immediate pause on its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) incentive program in mid-January. At the time, Transport Canada dubbed it a 'huge success,' having granted rebates for over half a million eligible vehicles since its launch in 2019. The following month, DesRosiers Automotive Consultants described an 'astonishing' collapse in battery electric vehicle sales, adding that 'stunning declines were witnessed by a plethora of BEVs, as sales plummeted across the segment.' The situation was compounded by shrinking rebates in Quebec, a top market for electric vehicle sales. According to Statistics Canada, ZEV sales tumbled 47 per cent year-over-year in March, after a 41 per cent drop in February. However, J.D. Power Canada says only 42 per cent of new vehicle shoppers likely considering an EV say Ottawa's rebate halt had a 'negative effect' on their decision. Twenty-eight per cent say the pause was 'more or less neutral' in terms of swaying their intentions. J.D. Power says it collected responses from 3,979 new vehicle shoppers in March and April. EV shoppers remain a slim segment of the overall market, notes J.D. Ney, director of the automotive practice at J.D. Power Canada. 'There is a significant percentage of the population (72 per cent) that are not even considering an EV, regardless of the incentive landscape,' he told Yahoo Finance Canada in an email. The federal government is targeting 100 per cent ZEV sales by 2035 for all new light-duty vehicles. J.D. Power Canada found the percentage of new vehicle shoppers who say they are 'very likely' or 'somewhat likely' to consider an EV for their next purchase has held steady at 28 per cent year-over-year, down a single percentage point from 2024. 'The disappearance of incentive dollars certainly won't make the targets more achievable,' Ney added. J.D. Power Canada notes 'widespread pessimism,' with 75 per cent of new vehicle shoppers responding to its study saying they are 'not at all confident' or 'not very confident' the target will be achieved. Earlier this month, the global head of electrification and sustainability for ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies (UBER) said the company is facing 'big challenges' in its push for drivers to embrace electric vehicles. Uber is targeting 100 per cent zero emissions rides in Canada, the United States and Europe by 2030. Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘If You Can Survive the Hill, You Can Survive in Prison'
Barring a last-minute presidential pardon, former Rep. George Santos is about to join the relatively exclusive group of Americans who have spent time in both Congress and federal prison. There are some similarities between the two locales. Both involve taxpayer subsidies and include individuals of questionable character, but the lifestyles are quite different. Members of Congress have private dining rooms and private elevators; prisoners have no privacy at all. For a sense of what life will be like for Santos, a New York Republican who wassentenced to more than seven years in prison for his con artist ways, POLITICO Magazine talked to former Rep. Bob Ney, who, before Santos, was perhaps the most well-known member of Congress to serve time in prison in recent decades. A former chairman of the House Administration Committee, Ney served 17 months in federal prison for his role in theJack Abramoff lobbying scandal. The Ohio Republican also had some advice for Santos, including what lessons from politics are applicable in prison. And Ney noted that Santos, who was expelled by his colleagues, has some experience navigating such a cold-blooded and adversarial environment. 'If you can survive the Hill, you can survive in prison,' he said. 'The Hill can be a treacherous place, no question about it. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. What does it feel like knowing that you're going from being a member of Congress to being a prisoner? It depends on the person. But let's face it, if you've been in Congress, you have led a different type of life, a different type of schedule and a different type of give and take with people, obviously. I had never spent an hour, ever in my lifetime, in a jail. I'd dealt with prison issues, but never spent time in a prison. So when you finally realize that's going to happen, it's quite stunning. How anxious were you about going behind bars? Your world's falling apart. You go from being chairman of a committee, member of the House, to you're going to prison. And you hear all these stories that it's a little country club and all that nonsense. Then you hear other stories where you're probably going to be shanked the first day you're in there. You hear everything. I kind of woke up to the fact that when you were a congressman, you voted for the laws that sent people who do drugs to prison How did you prepare for it? I met with Webb Hubbell for four hours, and he walked me through everything. [Editor's note: Hubbell was a close friend and ally of Bill and Hillary Clinton in Arkansas who went to federal prison after getting caught up in the Whitewater scandal.] I learned everything under the sun from him, everything. The four hours with him was a blessing. He taught me what to do. When you go into prison and you're a member of Congress, they don't have a special place for you or someone to call if somebody is harassing you. My life would have been completely different without him. Did people know who you were coming into prison? Everyone knew, because it had been on CNN. There are TV rooms in prison, and everybody knew I was coming. And here's the worst part. After dinner, they have a movie that can be watched. You can request movies, and they have a lottery to see what movie they will play. What I found out later on is that they had shut the entire prison down on a lockdown because I was coming in. After a while being in there, if they shut the movie off, you're not happy. Did being a politician teach you anything useful for prison life? Webb Hubbell had told me, 'Use your political skills. Use humor. And avoid certain things.' After 24 years in office, 11 in Congress, you deal with the public, you deal with some hot situations, people who are angry. He said, 'It's no different in there. It's a community. Use those skills.' And being around people all those years in politics, the tens of thousands of people you meet and work with, it helped. How did prison compare to Capitol Hill? I loved the Hill, but the Hill could be a vicious place. It could be a blood sport. If you can survive the Hill, you can survive in prison, because people are people, and the Hill can be a treacherous place, no question about it. One day in rehab, I'm standing there and said, 'When I get out of here, I'm going to talk about all the thieves and liars and vicious people that I've had to be around. Maniacs! You can't trust them.' And they're looking at me, and one guy's laughing. He goes, 'We're not that bad.' I said, 'No, I'm talking about Congress. I'm not talking about you guys.' How were you regarded in prison? I made a lot of friends, I really did. I mean, you had some people that weren't friendly, but I made a lot of friends, and people were pretty nice to me. Ed Mezvinsky, Chelsea Clinton's father-in-law, was in there with me. He was pretty well-liked, and we used to joke about running for governor of the prison, me versus Ed. I was kind of always a congressman. People would come to me and they would say, 'Can you talk to me?' Or they would say, 'Hey, tell me the secrets. Are there aliens?' Stuff like that. But I had a lot of guys that would come to me, and I used to walk around the yard every night. I walked off 68 pounds in a year. And if people wanted to talk to me, I would say, 'Come down, walk with me.' And they would ask me, 'How do I start a business? Do you know anything about that?' 'What about becoming a realtor?' So I did that. I also tutored guys in prison. We helped them with their resumes, and we did mock interviews for when they got out, when they had to interview with a company. Then you get people like one guy who told me 'You're the reason I'm eating this shitty food. Yes, you did this. Yeah, you did that.' And another friend of mine is like, 'Shut the hell up. You're in here because you sold drugs.' Were you always viewed as a member of Congress or just as another prisoner? The thing about going in as a congressman, you're going to be labeled because you are going to be looked at as privileged. So when you go in there, you've really got to open yourself up, open your mind up and keep some humility to yourself and realize that you've just got to take it one day at a time. What advice would you give to George Santos as he goes into prison? First of all, there's no internet in the prison, but they have relatives that visit them, and the system knows where George is going to go eventually, and so when I went in, they knew everything about me, what bills I had co-authored, it was amazing. So he should go in understanding they're going to have read about him and know about him. Number two, it won't carry any weight that he was a former congressman. In fact, again, it will look like somebody of privilege didn't use the privileges they should have. And a lot of people in prison feel that they don't have that privilege. They weren't given that chance to be in the United States Congress, so that's how he'll be looked at. I would say, go in, be low-key but friendly, be real with people and don't make up stories. And also give back. They need volunteers for people that don't have GEDs. There are some people that don't know how to read and write. There's all kinds of things that can be done. The other thing I would advise him is this: You can go in there and you can come out having a real problem mentally. It can happen to anybody. So you need to go in and focus on self help. There are books in these facilities that people can read and keep busy. One of the main problems in these systems is keeping busy — boredom — there's not a lot out there to focus on. You need to create that type of environment for yourself, where you're reading and learning and giving back to fellow inmates. And he has to remember that he is a fellow inmate. He's one of them. Santos said in an interview that he was concerned he'd be targeted by gangs like MS-13 because he'd voted for law enforcement to go after them in Congress. Is that an issue? When I walked in prison the first day, a guy stopped me. He said, 'You co-authored the bill that put me in here.' I think it was dealing with stealing Sudafed to make methamphetamine. I said, 'I didn't do that.' I supported the bill, but I can't remember what it was, an amendment or bill or something. But I said, 'We all put ourselves in here.' And then I walked away, because you want to defuse things.
Campaign ME
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Campaign ME
WithFeeling reveals immersive sonic identity for Riyadh FoodSphere
Dubai-based sonic branding agency WithFeeling has revealed details about the creation and implementation of the entire sonic identity for the Riyadh Oases Tahliya FoodSphere. Conducted as part of a collaboration between Riyadh Municipality and Riyadh Holding, the 11,000-square-metre immersive space is the first in a network of eight Oases across Riyadh, a city-wide initiative of free-to-access experiences and edutainment centres. With the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia leaning into sound as a fundamental part of brand identity, WithFeeling was called in. For creative cultural consultancy behind the development of the concept, &bouqu was selected, while photo and film production company, GOOD Stills also collaborated on the project. The WithFeeling team, led by Chief Music Officer and Co-Founder, Joe Dickinson, composed more than four hours of original music in total for the project, blending traditional Saudi motifs with contemporary sounds to carefully craft an emotive soundscape. With each zone of the FoodSphere featuring its own bespoke ambient composition to enhance the visitor experience, this was by no means an easy feat. Dickinson said, 'This project really pushed us to explore the length and breadth of services we can provide. Not only did we have to create a unique sonic identity to begin with, we then needed to weave this through every piece of music and every soundscape we created. Each themed zone within FoodSphere had its own very specific feel, so we really leaned into this when it came to composition. For example, in The Apiary zone – which tells the story of Saudi's long history with honey – we wanted the music to remain organic and natural to reflect nature and calm, so we kept it all acoustic, with Oud, Ney flute, and Rubab representing the instrumentation of the region.' He added, 'For The Oasis zone – where the deep roots of coffee in Saudi's history and culture are celebrated – we not only continued to use a rich blend of traditional Arabic instrumentation, but authentic field recordings from the Jazan region were taken to transport visitors' minds straight to the heart of the action. We also developed interactive hologram voiceovers, bringing authenticity to exhibits throughout FoodSphere, and produced and mixed soundtracks for the accompanying documentary and digital installations to ensure a seamless auditory journey.' Underpinning the entire portfolio of work, the composition of an official FoodSphere theme shaped the creative process from the get-go. A signature piece that would be instantly recognisable as the experience's own sonic brand, this formed the basis for all other audio and sound aspects throughout the immersive experience. Dickinson said, 'In line with Vision 2030, we're seeing so many Saudi organisations looking to build a strong, recognisable and lasting brand, and they are quickly becoming leading advocates in using sound as a tool to help do this.' He added, 'For us, particularly when working on cultural heritage projects such as FoodSphere, the importance of representation and authenticity can't be ignored. While an outside listener might only hear 'Arabic drums' in a piece of music, we understand that there is much more to it. Everything from whether it's the darbuka, riq, or daf, to the unique and identifiable rhythm it plays, will represent different regions within the Kingdom and tell a different story.' By integrating subtle nuances such as these into sonic brands that it creates, WithFeeling has been able to artfully weave in nods to Saudi heritage within many organisations' overall brand identity. It was this understanding of the Kingdom's unique, rich culture and history that saw the agency selected as the natural first choice for creating and implementing FoodSphere's audio elements. Leighla McGregor, Executive Producer of GOOD Stills New Project Division, said, 'WithFeeling are our go-to for music composition and audio production. Their deep understanding of Saudi's musical landscape, combined with their technical expertise in both traditional and spatial audio, consistently adds a unique richness to our projects. They know how to paint a space with sound in a way that beautifully complements our visual storytelling.' CREDITS Client: Riyadh Oases Tahliya FoodSphere Sonic branding agency: WithFeeling Creative cultural consultancy: &bouqu Production house: GOOD Stills
