Author: Editor

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has paid an emotional tribute to veteran actor Nana Patekar, who passed away at the age of 75 on Thursday morning following a cardiac arrest at his residence in Goa. In an X post, Shah Rukh shared an old picture of himself with Nana Patekar and remembered the late actor as his “mentor, teacher, critic and friend.”Recalling their first meeting, SRK wrote that he was so awestruck and awkward that he began fiddling with his hair, prompting Nana to slap his hand away and tell him, “hero ki tarah Baal mat bana…tu actor hai” (“Don’t style…

DUBAI, 8th October, 2026 (WAM) — The UAE Government has issued a Federal Decree Law amending certain provisions of the Crimes and Penalties Law, as part of its continued efforts to advance criminal public policy and the efficiency of the national legislative system, balancing justice requirements, society protection, and humanitarian considerations. The amendments reorganise a set of provisions on “qisas” (retribution) and on inciting or assisting suicide, which strengthens the protection of the right to life and reinforces the responsibility of society and the State for prevention and protection. It also improves the legal response to cases that call for…

I first met Nana Patekar in 2015 at The Palm. He had been shooting there with John Abraham. I later met him at the Grand Hyatt where he was filming Welcome Back. To many, he seemed elusive. I, however, discovered an artist with many layers. Over a period of time, we came to know each other well. Occasionally, we would exchange a ‘good morning’ or a ‘good evening’ message, apart from the Diwali and birthday greetings.Nothing about Nana was subtle or understated. Here was a man who had come to embody explosive intensity. His screen presence screamed for attention —…

For 24-year-old Yash Daval, his introduction to Nana Patekar was not through the actor’s intense performances in Krantiveer or Parinda, nor through his celebrated work in Marathi theatre. It was through Uday Shetty, the eccentric gangster with a penchant for acting in the 2007 Bollywood comedy Welcome.He was barely five or six years old when he first watched the film. And like an entire generation that grew up laughing at Patekar’s impeccable comic timing, he was instantly hooked.”I went crazy looking at Uday Bhai’s character,” recalls Daval, co-founder of Zeroth Act, a UAE-based Marathi theatre group. “Then, when I watched…

DUBAI, 8th October, 2026 (WAM) — H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Higher Committee for the Development of the Economic and Financial Sector, chaired a meeting of the Committee to review the latest performance indicators across Dubai’s economic and financial sectors. The meeting highlighted the emirate’s progress across several global financial competitiveness indices and reviewed proposed strategic directions to reinforce Dubai’s standing as a leading, integrated global hub for gold. H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum emphasised that Dubai,…

ABU DHABI, 8th October, 2026 (WAM) — Researchers at the Mubadala Arabian Centre for Climate and Environmental Sciences (ACCESS) at NYU Abu Dhabi have developed a new algorithm that can forecast Arctic sea ice extent up to nine months in advance, offering a new way to anticipate changes in the Arctic that can affect the global climate system. Called the Random Analogue Predictor (RAP), the algorithm uses historical sea ice data to identify past patterns that resemble current conditions and uses what happened next to generate possible future forecasts. RAP also provides an estimate of uncertainty for each forecast. Arctic…

ABU DHABI, 8th October, 2026 (WAM) — President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received a written message from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, inviting His Highness to attend the Second GCC–EU Summit, which will be hosted by the Kingdom this October. The message was received by Khalifa bin Shaheen Al Marar, Minister of State, during his meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abu Dhabi with Sultan bin Abdullah Al-Luwaihan Al-Anqari, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the UAE. During…

DUBAI, 8th October, 2026 (WAM) — Nakheel, a member of Dubai Holding Real Estate, has awarded Mar Marine & Building Contracting L.L.C. a contract for marine and beach works on Island B at Dubai Islands. Scheduled for completion by Q4 2027, the works will add 320 metres of beach frontage near Bay Villas and upgrade approximately 3km of the island’s western shoreline. The scope includes the construction of new breakwaters, removal of existing protective rock revetments and the formation of a new beach near Bay Villas. Mar Marine will also refurbish and carry out remedial works across several existing beach…

DUBAI, 8th October, 2026 (WAM) — Dubai Customs has graduated 33 inspectors, including 24 men and nine women, from the fourth and fifth batches of the Advanced Security Refresher Course under the “Masar 33” programme, aimed at strengthening their skills and readiness to handle customs inspection duties and related risks. The programme comprised 2,725 training hours covering theoretical and practical instruction, field exercises and simulations, with practical training accounting for around 61.38 percent of the total. It also included 628 field exercises and simulations of customs-related scenarios, achieving a 100 percent success rate and demonstrating participants’ readiness to meet operational…

BANGKOK, 8th October, 2026 (WAM) — The United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Thailand have successfully concluded negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), marking a significant milestone in bilateral relations and paving the way for a new phase of trade and investment cooperation between two of the most dynamic economies in their respective regions. The conclusion of negotiations was announced in Bangkok during a meeting between Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade; Anutin Charnvirakul, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand; and Suphajee Suthumpun, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce of the…