With their movie and TV projects on hold due to the coronavirus, stars from both Hollywood and Bollywood have found themselves with plenty of time on their hands this year.
These celebrities appear to have used that time to transform their bodies...
Rebel Wilson
Having always been candid about her body, Australian actress Rebel Wilson, 40, took to Instagram to declare: "call me: Fit Amy", a play on words from her character Fat Amy in the Pitch Perfect movies.
"I am only 3kg away from my goal weight," the star said after revealing she now works out six days a week.
"It's more about working on my mind," she told Today Extra. "I suffer from emotional eating a lot and the stresses of my job. I'm determined. So, I am trying to lose a lot of my body fat and become a healthier person. It is not so much about a number."
Alexander Skarsgard
Alexander Skarsgard, 44, showed off an impressive pair of arms in L'Uomo Vogue, revealing that his latest transformation was for his new role in movie The Northman.
And getting prepped to play a Viking meant piling on the muscle.
"It's a real adventure movie, but it's much more. It taps into the culture, and the mysticism of the Vikings, it becomes more intimate and more personal," the actor told Vogue of the film, which also stars Nicole Kidman. "I didn't want it to be a generic 'sword-and-sandals' movie."
Vidyu Raman
Indian actress Vidyu Raman, 28, has been sharing her body transformation with her fans on Instagram.
Revealing that she has so far lost more than 20kgs, going from 86.5kg to 65.3kg, the Mathu Vadalara star took to social media to write: "It's been a long & winding road. Filled with sweat and tears. When I look at the pic on the left it's surreal that I ever looked like that."
Revealing that she has turned to a low-carbohydrate diet to shed the weight, Raman has a positive message for her followers and fans: “My happiness will never be measured by an inch tape or number on the scale. I’m just focusing on being the best version of myself for there can be no happiness without good health.”
Adele
Although the Someone Like You singer has stayed tight-lipped about how much weight she has lost during lockdown, fitness experts suggest she's dropped about 40kg.
She filed for divorce from her British husband, Simon Konecki in September 2019 and has since been spotted out hiking in the hills of her newly adopted home, LA.
Ranveer Singh
The Gully Boy star has wowed fans with his lockdown body transformation, going from lean to bulked up in just six weeks. Indicating that he's ditched carbs and switched to protein drinks, the Bollywood star often posts pics from the gym where he works out with a trainer. His next role will be in '83, opposite his wife, Deepika Padukone.
Channing Tatum
It's been a tricky couple of years for the Magic Mike star, which saw him split first from his wife, actress Jenna Dewan, and then from his on-off girlfriend of 18 months, British singer, Jessie J.
Alluding to the fact he'd been out of shape, Tatum, 40, took to Twitter to share a snap of his new physique and wrote: "Been a long road back. Injuries, life & insanity in general. Ha daddy's finally back boooi! Gonna be a fun next 10 year run. To all that have been there for me & held me down. Love you. Gonna make ya proud."
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre flat-six twin-turbocharged
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 445bhp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh474,600
On Sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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MATCH INFO
Chelsea 1 (Hudson-Odoi 90 1')
Manchester City 3 (Gundogan 18', Foden 21', De Bruyne 34')
Man of the match: Ilkay Gundogan (Man City)
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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ARABIAN GULF LEAGUE FIXTURES
Thursday, September 21
Al Dahfra v Sharjah (kick-off 5.35pm)
Al Wasl v Emirates (8.30pm)
Friday, September 22
Dibba v Al Jazira (5.25pm)
Al Nasr v Al Wahda (8.30pm)
Saturday, September 23
Hatta v Al Ain (5.25pm)
Ajman v Shabab Al Ahli (8.30pm)
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Healthcare spending to double to $2.2 trillion rupees
Launched a 641billion-rupee federal health scheme
Allotted 200 billion rupees for the recapitalisation of state-run banks
Around 1.75 trillion rupees allotted for privatisation and stake sales in state-owned assets
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
