#dubai open 2023

[sinnerruud]

[gxmarkus]

Detail at the Open House!

[alamgirdewanakshbrasil]

Alamgir Dewan Akash,Dubai Marina,20/05/2023 ; Opens a new tab Alamgir Dewan Akash,Dubai Marina,20/05/2023

[brightridersdip]

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[seokith]

book thief! ㅡ song eunseok

ೀ sypnosis ; song eunseok and y/n didn't know of each other's existence till an incident happened on the 25th of july, summer 2023. after the little incident in the dreamscape bookstore, they had accepted that they were enemies, or that's what eunseok had assumed. they met again at the start of a new school year, and eunseok had wished that they wouldn't cross each other's paths but the universe planned otherwise . .

ೀ pairing ; song eunseok x f.reader

ೀ genre ; social media au, uni au, one sided enemies to lovers, fluff, crack

ೀ warnings ; swearing, ignore timestamps (pls..), pictures of jiheon from fromis 9 is going to be used for y/n, kys jokes, nsfw jokes (just slightly), haikyuu in general LOL

ೀ status ; on going ; irregular updates.

ೀ taglist ; open ! reply to this post to be added or send an ask

ೀ notes ; posting an smau as my second fic might be a stretch but PLEASEEEE give this a chance 😍🫰 also, updates may be irregular because yes im inconsistent and i also have sch on going yeah ... ( please please pretend haikyuu's like released later as im going to make the timeline mid-2023 SO BEAR WITH ME THANK U! )

PROFILES one | two

00 start of the villian arc 😈 01 hello dubai 02 who's eunsack?

[operafantomet]

NATIONS HOSTING BOTH REPLICA AND NON-REPLICA POTO

United Kingdom: The UK saw the world premiere of ALW's POTO in 1986. They've also since seen the RAH staging (2011), the original UK Tours (1993-2000), the UK Tour Revival (2000), and the West End Revival (2021). It was also in the UK the new Restaged Tour was first launched (2012-2013).

United States: The US was the first opening outside the UK, premiering in 1988, and also had three national tours (1989-2010) and the Las Vegas Spectacular (2006-2012). They furthermore hosted the Restaged Tour (2013-2020).

Austria: Austria was the fourth country to host the original staging (1988-1993). In 2024 they welcomed back the musical, this time as the Restaged Tour.

Canada: Canada was the fifth country to host the original staging, in 1989. The production ran for a whopping ten years, closing in 1999. There were also various Canadian tours (1991-1998), touring nationally and internationally. They later hosted multiple visits of both US Tour and the Restaged Tour.

Australia: Australia was the eight country to host the original staging, opening in Melbourne in 1990 and later turning into a Australian and NZ Tour (until 1998). The musical would return many times as a leg of the World Tour. Uniquely, they also hosted the first out-door version at Sydney Harbour in 2022, as well as staging the Restaged Tour in Sydney and Melbourne (2022-2023).

Spain: The original Madrid production ran from 2002-2004. When POTO returned in 2023 it was in the form of the new "Mediterranean" version opening in Trieste in Italy the same year. The production also visited Bilbao, before returning to Madrid.

Dubai: The first POTO production to hit Dubai was the World Tour in 2019. In 2024 POTO returned, this time as a part of the Middle East Tour, presenting the Romanian/Norwegian production.

Switzerland: The original Basel production ran from 1995-1997. This year POTO returned in the form of the Romanian/Norwegian production, touring the Middle East and Europe.

Sweden: Sweden was the sixth country to host the original staging, in Stockholm for an impressive six years (1989-1995). They also later did a revival (2016-2017). They furthermore hosted the Finnish/Swedish version in Gothenburg (2017-2018), as well as a unique new staging in Kristianstad (2000-2003).

Soon to be added: Belgium (1999-2000 / 2025). Ireland was also meant to host the UK Tour Revival in May 2020, but for obvious reasons that was cancelled. They had previously hosted the Restaged Tour in 2012-2013. (Also, I have not included concert versions)

[myysaints]

Hello, I saw your requests are open.... if you feel like it and like the idea I'd like to see Japanese kpop idol reader x yuki where reader had been an idol for like 7 years and she's very private like when someone asks about her TMI she's just like i bought this shirt on sale 😐 so when she was asked in an interview if she watches any sports or stuff her members sort of out her for being an f1 fan and then her group gets invited to a race where her and yuki get spotted standing a bit too close (nothing couple worthy but they did look suspicious)... ensure f1 and her fans on twitter being in flames where a lot of her fans are like, lol no I refuse to believe we might lose our queen to a guy that goes vroom vroom but it just gets quite after that so no one thinks about it until a picture of them kissing gets out and people are like I waited three and a half years, Asian man did it in one week only for her company to announce that they had known each other since childhood and they are childhood sweethearts with a 10 year history and like the whole f1 grid being like yuki! You had a girlfriend this entire time

So sorry if this is too specific, if you don't like it you can just skip the request 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

°˖ ⊹ ꒰ YT22 ꒱ REAL OR NO? ─ YUKI TSUNODA

... (PART ONE)

YUKI TSUNODA x f!japanese!kpop idol!reader

⌗︙・ summary — you’ve known yuki tsunoda all your life, but the world doesn’t know that. so when your relationship is accidentally called into the spotlight, fans understandably freak out – after all, who thought that these two worlds would collide?

genre — social media au, fc: sakura from le sserafim

notes — thank you anon for the request!!! it was so cute i spent the whole day absolutely going ham on this fic, which is why it's... so.... so long.... i also changed some details but they're very very minor. hope i did your request justice, and enjoy!

www.youtube.com

[ENG SUB] WHAT SECRET IS LE SSERAFIM’S Y/N HIDING FROM FANS? | KNOWING BROS

yourusername uploaded to their story.                                29s

[caption: Thank you alphataurif1 for having me at the Suzuka GP! 파이팅 🤍💙!]

yourusername

Liked by le_sserafim, yukitsunoda0511, alphataurif1, and 3,274,302 others

🏷  alphataurif1

yourusername  ただいま (I’m home) ~ 🇯🇵🏎

view all 1,009,284 comments

alphataurif1  かわいい (Cute) 😊

       Liked by yukitsunoda0511 yourusername  thank you admin!

yukitsunoda0511  幸運をもたらしてくれてありがとう (Thank you for bringing me good luck)！

yourusername  どういたしまして (You’re welcome)！おめでとう (Congratulations)！

seulgiphoria  SLAY RECOGNISES SLAY

hannitokki  begging on my knees for just one chance

landonorris  Seeing you in the paddock today made me fearless 😉

yourusername  too bad that didn't help you go faster ... dearhyunjin  LMFAOOOO SHE HUMBLED HIM REAL QUICK

www.youtube.com/Formula1

PRE-RACE INTERVIEW WITH YUKI TSUNODA | ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX 2023

f1wagupdates

Liked by 932,882 others

f1wagupdates  Submitted by anon 🙈 SPOTTED! After the Yuki Tsunoda and an unknown woman (could it be the same girl from Suzuka?) seen entering the driver’s hotel lift together. The pair were clad in matching outfits. According to anon, the woman had a mask over her face and “looked like she didn’t want to be recognised”. 🤔 Who could this mystery woman be?

view all 546,237 comments

miradrivescars  THEYRE IN MATCHING OUTFITS 😭😭😭

ynsserafim  someone find where y/n is QUICK

isaluvsyn  they just finished their world tour right?? i think their last stop was in dubai channieslix  that was like 3 weeks ago babe im sure y/n is looooong gone and back in korea by now LOL

bitemelando  it’s the same hat as the one in the suzuka picture so it’s probably the same girl

verstrappon  yall gotta chill it’s just a regular schmegular black cap damn 🤣

minimumverstappen  kpop twt is gonna have a field day with this one lol

...to be continued !

© myysaints

[mariacallous]

There is no shortage of misery in the Middle East today. As the region marked the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, Israel mourned the murder of around 1,200 Israelis and worried about the fate of the remaining 100 hostages held by Hamas. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the subsequent war, hundreds of thousands are currently homeless, and much of Gaza lies in ruins. Lebanon, too, is now devolving into a war zone.

Often overlooked amid all this misery is Iran, which is also having a terrible, horrible, very bad year. But unlike most of the other actors here, it has only itself to blame.

Consider where Iran was strategically on Oct. 6, 2023. The United States, torn between competing demands for its military forces, was looking to reduce its military presence in the Middle East. That brought Iran closer than ever to achieving one of its long-term goals: ridding the region of U.S. influence. Israel, meanwhile, was tearing itself apart at home over controversial judicial reforms. Iran had suffered a strategic blow a few years prior with the passage of the Abraham Accords, which promoted Israel-Arab ties, but Tehran had arguably countered this in part by forging closer military ties to Moscow. True, Iran remained under significant sanctions, but the Biden administration unfroze some $6 billion in Iranian funds in exchange for freeing American prisoners.

Now consider where Iran is just a year later. Hamas, an Iranian proxy, has been decimated. Israel has shown that it can reach into a VIP guest house in Tehran to kill Hamas’s leaders. Hezbollah, the crown jewel of Iran’s proxy network, has been mauled to the point where Iran needs to strike Israel on the group’s behalf, rather than vice versa. Israel’s fractured political spectrum doesn’t agree on much, but it is united when it comes to making Iran pay for its missile attacks on the country. The Abraham Accords—which normalized Israel’s relationship with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain—are strained but remain intact, and Saudi-Israeli normalization remains possible in the longer term, even if it is not in the cards right now. In fact, despite the violence, it is easier to fly to Tel Aviv from Dubai than from many European cities. And the U.S. military is once again surging into the region. Further Western sanctions relief—in this geopolitical climate—is currently off the table.

While Israel faces strategic problems of its own, at least Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can argue that he did not start this war. By contrast, it is an open question to what extent Iran’s leaders helped plan the Oct. 7 attack and set the region aflame in the process. Even if Iran was merely caught up in one of its proxies going rogue, it certainly did have a direct role in the missile barrages against Israel and, by extension, the retaliatory strikes that followed.

Perhaps the silver lining for Iran here is that it could have been worse. Tehran’s missile attacks—in April and again in October—failed to kill Israelis or cause significant damage. Had they done that, Israel’s retaliation would likely have been significantly more robust.

But this gets to the crux: Iran’s tolerance for risk is growing. Firing hundreds of ballistic missiles at a militarily superior adversary is a dangerous game. Firing them while repeatedly calling for the annihilation of a likely nuclear-armed, militarily superior, superpower-backed state with a right-wing government inclined to hit back hard is a potentially suicidal gamble.

That’s not the only thing Iran has done over the past year that was so risky that it could have threatened the regime’s stability itself, had it not been for Tehran’s incompetence. Iran reportedly tried to kill former U.S. President Donald Trump and other former senior Trump administration officials in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Quds Force leader Qassem Suleimani. Thankfully, those plots were foiled. But the attempt itself was a huge risk, especially given that Trump is a current candidate for the presidency and known for holding grievances. Indeed, after being briefed about the attempted assassination, Trump threatened to “blow [Iran’s] largest cities and the country itself to smithereens” if he gets back to the White House and Iran tried a similar ploy.

But whereas trying to assassinate a former—and potentially future—U.S. president on American soil is a gutsy move, imagine what would happen if such a plot actually succeeds. Republicans—many of whom are already pretty hawkish on Iran—would likely be calling for blood. Democrats would not likely let the killing of a former U.S. president go unpunished. Indeed, if one thing could upend the post-Iraq, post-Afghanistan received wisdom of eschewing regime change in the Middle East, killing a former president could be it. In short, if the Iranian regime survives this war, it will be thanks to luck and its own incompetence.

Of course, from the Iranian perspective, its actions—or at least its missile strikes—were driven by strategic necessities to reestablish deterrence after a series of Israeli and U.S. affronts to its sovereignty, such as striking Iranian diplomatic facilities in Syria and killing Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders. But there is little evidence that Iranian actions are having any deterrent effect whatsoever. If anything, Israeli leaders are talking even more openly than before about regime change in Tehran and even more adamantly about destroying the Iranian nuclear program.

Strategically, the wisest option for Iran right now would be to retreat to the shadows, rebuild its proxy network, and fight another day. After all, it will take time to rebuild Hamas and Hezbollah into the formidable fighting forces they once were. At the same time, Israel’s ties to its Arab neighbors and the West are already frayed, thanks to the bloodshed of the Gaza campaign and the Netanyahu administration’s unwillingness to commit to any sort of Palestinian state—a win, if a Pyrrhic one, for Iran. Pulling back also leaves open the prospect of some sort of future deal with the West over the medium term—which Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says he wants and even Trump says he’s open to supporting.

That is not, however, what Iran seems intent on doing. Whether it’s because of Iranian domestic politics, concerns about losing face on the international stage, or simply a desire for revenge, the regime looks intent on doubling down. In a rare Friday prayer speech, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei—with a rifle by his side in case anyone missed the point—praised the Oct. 7 massacre and promised that Iran “won’t back down. Israel won’t last long.”

Iran’s seeming unwillingness to reverse course has important implications for the United States and the West’s approach to Iran. It raises the question of whether threatening Iran with further costs will be sufficient to force a change in direction. The United States and its European partners can sanction Iran all they want; Israel could bomb Iranian oil fields. But it may not change Iranian behavior.

If deterrence by punishment won’t work, then the United States and the West will need to resort to deterrence by denial—destroying Iran’s ability to attack Israel and aid its proxies. That would be hard to do, since it requires destroying significant chunks of Iran’s military capabilities rather than simply threatening to inflict pain. But if the Iranian regime seems intent on escalating, then the United States and its allies may have no other choice.

And if that happens, while this year may have been a terrible one for Iran, next year might be even worse.

[fritzes]

rank the m1000s 👀🙏

ooh okay, I’m not gonna do the ones that keep changing around (I’m sorry maria I love you but your 1000 isn’t getting on the list):

indian wells. for non taylor fritz related reasons I SWEAR (okay maybe a little bit). I mean, it's literally tennis paradise. no other masters can really compare to this in my opinion, there's something really magical about it. it's the first combined 1000 of the year, it is absolutely carrying the "sunshine" in sunshine double (we'll get to miami later), and did any other 1000 get its very own maya edit? I don't think so

monte carlo (don't kill me!). ok picking something to be #2 made me realize that the drop-off from indian wells is real, I had a hard time with this one. and as much as I dislike monte carlo as a place... that court has off the charts vibes. the 2023 edition might be one of my favorite tournaments ever, and I like the way it kicks off clay season. the vibes guys, the vibes!

cincinnati. tbh I'm surprising myself with this one because I've never reeeeeally been able to take cincy seriously because like. it's in ohio. it's known for having players hang out at an applebees. but jokes aside, I kinda love it. the place on the calendar is good, it's a nice warmup for the us open. also influenced by recency bias because the 2023 edition, both wta and atp, were so good. I don't know, I really like its place in the tour, it's just so solid

rome. if you thought cincy had recency bias, let me introduce you to the daniil-incudced overrating of rome. this kinda occupies the same space as cincy, being the real warmup tournament for rg, and same as cincy, I like its place in the calendar and the tour. except, unlike cincy, this is clay season so insanity galore. iga double bageling pliskova in the final that one time will always be iconic and of course, the hard court specialist himself winning this tournament will elevate it forever

miami. "but maya! miami is cursed! it's always raining! how can you put it so high?" two words: jannik sinner. yeah the jannik miami narratives strike a chord in my brain like few other player + tournament pairings do and it makes me so insane that I kind of learned to make gifs just because I had a jannik miami gifset idea. other than jannik, despite the nature of it being very much cursed, it does usually produce some really good tennis in the last few rounds

madrid. ah, madrid. if we were going off of tennis alone, this would be top 3 easily. back to back amazing igaryna finals, carlos' magical 2022 run, andy murray beating rafa in the final in straight sets somehow, ons' win in 2022. alas, there is more that just the tennis, and the organization of this tournament is genuinely horrible and so fucking sexist. a tournament like this does not deserve the quality of tennis it gets

doha/dubai. yes I know they're two separate 1000s this year but they've always flip-flopped in the past so as a 1000, it's always been one entity to me (and there's nothing that would put one above or below the other). there's always really good matches, obviously iga consistently sweeps doha and it's amazing, but dubai also gave us krejcikova's absolutely ridiculous 2023 run and this year's final was amazing. always a solid tournament with some great tennis

montreal/toronto. I feel bad for putting it so low, but it's always been kinda meh to me. 2023's chaos aside, this is the tournament where top players find their feet on hardcourts after wimbledon, and... I don't know. it's perfectly fine, but there's nothing really remarkable about it

shanghai/beijing. another one that I feel really bad for putting low, but there's something about that post-us open big tournament that just feels so bleh. the season is so long already and the players are just so exhausted. it doesn't usually take away from the quality of the tennis, it just doesn't have the same feeling as the stuff above it. I would say it feels a bit tacked on, but there's only one tournament I really think that about and that's...

paris. good god. there is something wrong with this tournament. I don't think an indoor 1000 is a bad idea, but the court and the lighting is just so bland, especially when compared to turin which is just two weeks later. at this point in the season, the top players want to be at the finals and anyone who isn't a top player just wants to be home and it just feels like an exhausted tournament. casper was right about one thing in his yap session the uts dinner: paris is easily the worst masters 1000

[letswrites]

C.L- Never be the same

Masterlist

Synopsis

Playlist

Chapter 1

-----------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: airports and dirty dancing

November, 2023

Newark, New Jersey, USA.

She couldn't hate anything more than she hated airport's lounges. Why wait so much to catch a plane? Why do they always say "come 3 hours earlier to check in" if check-ins take less than 3 hours to be done? Stupid airlines. At least she had company: Lando Norris. They were in Newark, New Jersey, he was heading to the United Arab Emirates, she was too, her winter vacation was going to be hot in Dubai that year. Their meeting wasn't an accident, Lando informed her about his stopover in the city next to hers, and she, for some reason, booked her flight to that same airport. They didn't get the same plane, tho. Her flight time was an hour later than his but they had a little time together at that insignificant airport lounge."Seems someone isn't here today" his voice called her. She didn't move from the spot she was staring at "If you are alright blink once. If I must call the ambulance because you got paralyzed don't blink" she tilted her head and turned to him "if I were paralyzed how would I blink?" "Exactly" she chuckled "hey, you are socializing!" "Sorry" she sniffed, "Just wanna get into the plane and sleep like a rock" "if you want to start your adventure now..." he sat closer to her "... My shoulder is all yours" she smiled without showing her teeth, warming his heart, he loved when she was sincere. She hasn't been very sincere lately "thank you, mr. Norris" she stood up and kissed his face "I will hop into the cafeteria first. Want anything?" "what are you having?" "Iced coffee" "how do you intend to sleep if you are taking coffee?" "I am immune to caffeine" "so why drink coffee?" "Tastes good" she shrugged, he laughed "you're very complex person" "I know that" I would like a latte and a doughnut, please" "Which flavor?" "Jelly" "okay, be back in a minute”

…

"Porte quatre, porte quatre..." Pierre mumbled to himself, struggling to find the correct gate, so when he saw Lando, sitting with his headphones in his head, he felt nothing but relief "please tell me this is gate 4" the British man places his headphones on his neck and opened a bright smile "Gate 4 and driver number 4" "Enfin!" Lando chuckled "Are you good, mate?" "I am now" he placed his bag on a chair and tugged in there his passport "Is not easy to find a gate on a foreign country with a Japanese lad hanged on your hair" "Yuki?" "Yeah" "Where is he?" "What do you mean?" the French guy turned around to see his former teammate knelled on the floor, wearing a shoe he probably lost on the way "cette putain de merde..." Lando laughed to the scene of Yuki running with his bags to reach Pierre and the other standing with his hands on the hips, a feet tapping the floor quickly and repeatedly "I told you to stay close to me" "sorry, it was my shoe" "seems like you become a father" "I think so" "it was an accident!" "Why haven't I been invited to the party?" She showed up with a Starbucks cup in one hand and Lando's latte in the other with a bag between two fingers on the other "the party just started" "This is Pierre. She's Daniel's girlfriend's friend" "I thought I was your friend too!" "You are, for now" Pierre turned to her, stretching his arms to a handshake "Hi, nice to meet you" "Salut, plaisir. Comment allez-vous?" "Tu. S'il te plaît. Je suis pas mal. Et toi?" "Bien. Pourquoi t'es pas mal?" "Could be better" he came back to his bag "What happened?" "We got a bit lost" "We?" he stepped to the side "that's Yuki" he smiled like a child and stretched his hand out "nice to meet you" she shook his hand "I would say the same but you just placed your stuff where I was siting so..." he widened his eyes "oh my God! Sorry, I- I will take this out and..." "I am kidding! Is nice to meet you too" "but you were sitting here" "I can stand or sit on the floor. No big deal" "I can't let you..." "She can sit on my lap" Lando said. The trio looked at him "at least you rather sit on my lap, I think you can take the chair, Yuki" Pierre and she laughed "alright" Lando pulled her onto his lap, she giggled "Your doughnut. It only had glazed" "No problems. Thank you! Tell me how much it was so I can pay you back" "No, no. You don't have to" "Come on! I insist" "that's your problem. You don't have to pay me back" "Are you sure?" "Yeah" she could tell Lando was disturbed with that "You buy me something next time" "okay" his face muscles relieved "coffee?" "I am good, sweatheart" "okay" "Doughnut? "Sure! Glazed is my favorite flavor" "And it happened to be the only flavor left, huh?" she giggled "I swear to you" he smiled,  she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as they both carried on listening to the Alpha Tauri's and Alpine's pilots argue like a married couple while shared the doughnout.

…

Charles had his eyes off the phone for less than a second and the first thing he saw was her. She was smiling, laughing of something and the place she was sitting on didn't make him any happy. Nor her behavior with her new "chair". His gaze landed at Lando's hands: one was resting on her soft thigh and the other feeding her with a doughnut. Huh, disgusting thing. The doughnut and the scene which became even more worst when he noticed her fingers running through the McLaren's driver hair, caressing his curls as it was an ordinary thing. 

He couldn't feel less dirty: on his phone screen he had his girlfriend wishing him a good flight along with heart emojis and a warm 'I love you' and even so he was jealous of a person who didn't belong to him but he would give up of tons of things for it to be the opposite. And it got even uglier when he replied Alex with the same warm 'I love you'. Did he really mean that? The truth was he had been exchanging messages with her during the past 6 months. Without having any guts or rights to invite her to do something. He also knew Lando have been stopping by way too much in NYC which made him even more furious.

 "When did this happen?" he questioned himself "When did I become that person?" he continued, before greeting Pierre and Yuki. He knew that he must forget about it, but he couldn't  help but feel annoyed with them acting like that "where's Esteban by the way?" "He left yesterday" Pierre said, quite relieved "Oh! What about Daniel?" "I have no idea" Yuki answered focused on his videogame. She stretched herself "hey, Charles, am I invisible to you now?" "Oh, I wish" he thought "no! I was just about to greet you. Both of you, beautiful couple" he leaned and kissed her face, tapping Lando's back, friendly "we aren't a couple" she defensed herself "sure" he said with a disbelief tone "we really aren't" "I believe you guys" "she is taken already" Lando joked. Charles' heart stopped "With her job, of course" "That's true" Charles exhaled the air he was holding and said "Yeah! Me too. Not with my job, with a girl. A woman..." "we already know that..." Lando continued "yeah, just reaffirming" he talked in a rush, he sounded breathless, like he had ran a marathon, but it was only the anger taking control of his body in the same pace her nails lightly scratched Lando's nape "Charles, are you okay?" "Yeah!" he said almost shouting, out of control "I just had too much Redbull" " "Are you drinking RedBull?!" Lando asked, incredulous"yeah?! I just need to sit a bit" he placed his bag on the floor and sat down. "Hey" Yuki started "hum?" "will you be joining us in Abu Dhabi?" "Not Abu Dhabi, Dubai" "what are you doing in Dubai?" "I decided to take my ass to vacations" "so you are going on vacations and decided to spend your time with 4 guys in an airport lounge?" "I didn't ask for that" they looked at her "I mean, the lounge and waiting part, I like you guys" "why don't you join us at a night out tomorrow?" "What night out?" Lando asked "the one I am inviting you to. Pierre?" "I am there already" he said while ate his peanuts "What about the two of you?" "Well, I heard is close to Abu Dhabi" she grabbed her phone "Oh! Very close. Count on me, I'm a party animal, babe" "if she's joining, I'm in" "Charles?" "Hum… oui! Porquoi pas" Yuki looked at Pierre "Oui is yes, right?" "Yeah" "Great!".

//

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Why has he agreed with that? "Terrible idea" he looked himself in the elevator’s mirror, he could tell hundreds of reasons for not accepting. And he couldn't regret more when he saw her walking through the hotel pool, wearing a nice bubblegum-pink top tank blouse and ripped white jeans shorts and a pair of golden glittery flip flops. Her breasts were like perfect and firm pillows. No bra. Nipples were showing under the blouse. Her not too much but still toned thighs looked so squeezable and he prayed, oh he prayed, to not be seen by her. Sometimes it feels like Jesus, Buddha, Ali, Shiva, Dalai Lama, Papa, The Queen of England, Santa Claus, any sanctity, didn't exist cause the first thing she did was to direct her gaze to the bar behind him. Damn! He should have hidden. She smiled and waved, walking towards him. He smiled back and walked into her encounter as well "hey!" "Hi!" she hugged him, she smelled like vanilla ice cream and strawberry lip gloss the one he found at that club's floor in Miami. The one he would adore to taste. Directly from her lips. "you look nice" he let her go against his own wishes. He turned around showing his look, he wore a white shirt and beige shorts with a Lacoste salmon slip on shoe "thanks! You too" "Merci, monsieur" "De rien, mademoiselle" she got weak hearing him speaking French, it hurt more than anything on her core. She smiled, tho, when he offered an arm "Puis-je avoir le plaisir?" she tangled their arms "Sure!" he giggled. They walked to the bar where Pierre, Yuki and Pierre's girlfriend already were "Hey! There you are" "Where's Lando?" she asked, Charles frowned "I'm right here" he appeared from behind her and pulled her for a hug "I'll order some drinks. What do you want?" she thought "Something that tastes like Strawberry "I bet your lips does" Charles thought "Alright. Anything for you" she giggled "Can I join you, Lando?" "Sure, Char".

...

"So? Are you guys dating?" "What?! No. We told you" "Hooking up, then" "Not yet" "Lando" Charles leaned on the bar's counter "Can't you flirt with other girls?" "What?!" "There are so many girls that would like to be in your bed, can't you make them happy?" "Why can't I flirt with the girl I want?" "I don't like when you flirt" "Why not?" "I..." he cleaned his throat "I just don't like it. I know I have zero rights to say something like that but I just dislike it" Lando sighed "It's because of it that you freaked on the airport?" he nodded "Does your girlfriend knows?" "Not a single clue of her existence" "I see" "We are not doing anything but... I don't know. I don't have a clue why I asked you to not flirt with her. Just forget about it!" Lando touched his shoulder "I definetly won't stop flirting with her. At least not while you still have a girlfriend and she's out there single" That's fair" "But if you decide to flirt with her even in your condition... I won't put myself in between tha two of you" "Are you teeling me to..." NO! No, no, no. I ain't telling you to do anything. I'm telling you that I don't have a problem if we both hit on her. If we do, she's the one who should choose, you know? And if she chooses you, I can't do anything about it" Charles nodded "Okay" Lando poked the shouder he had his hand on , then turned to the bartender to grab the drinks leaving Charles with his mind poisoned by his ideas "Give me some help here, bro" "Sure"

…

 That night something happened. Something new for her: she saw a slightly drunk Charles. Maybe tipsy only. But one thing she was sure about: he was a very weak person for alcohol. "Bonsoir, madame 'je suis très ivre pour me souvenir de ton nom'. Comment allez-vous?" "I'm excited, mr. Lord Percival. And you?" he giggled "Moi, j'étais perdu, mais j'ai vous trouvé. Le feu dans ma noirceur" she giggled "You're too sweet" "And you are excited, hein? Why?" "I love a night out every now and then! Don't you love it?" "Ouais... De temps en temps" he stared at nothing. She smiled, he looked so cute when he got lost inside his own head "revenons à la drague..." she gasped "what?!" "Puis-je m'asseoir ici?" "That's your chair, Charles" "Sure... In this case, I'll sit here" she giggled "Ok" "Would you like a drink?" "Already have mine" she lifted her glass "Thanks anyway" "Je vous en prie" he lifted his own drink, sipping it "donc... Avez-vous quelqu'un dans votre vie?" She grinned "I don't. My job only. And you already know that" "Can you please play my game!?... S'il vous plaît?" she smiled "Ok. And you, do you have someone in your life?" "Oui. J'suis pris déjà" "So you can't flirt with me" "But I ain't sure if I'm happy in this relationship" her smile faded away, she frozen and her hands got cold "Anyway, do you have a girlfriend?" He nodded "So you don't flirt with me!" "Ok, ok. Je te drague plus" she sipped her drink "You said you are not sure, huh?" "Eh... I'm but from time to time I don't. We both spend so long apart... Well, that's complicated" "I see" "Anyhow... Would you like to dance?" "Yeah! Let's go" he gave a big sip on his drink "Alright, let's go!". At the dance floor, Charles couldn't be more lost "I never danced reggeaton before" "It's very easy. I teach you" she paused to think "You just have to move your hips like Shakira" she showed him "And rub your body on your dance partner's body" "Like that?" "Yes" he slightly rubbed his hips on her ass, she closed her eyes, feeling her legs shaking "What about now?" "Place your hands on my belly" he did "Like this?" "Exactly. And now we move" they did "Et voilà! We are dancing latin music" "That's nice. You're a good teacher".

...

They danced for 20 minutes "It was funny!" "That's true but I'm very tired. Might call it a night" "okay" he said disappointened. After saying goodbye to Pierre, Kika and Yuki she called herself an Uber "That's sad I can't say goodbye to Lando" "I deliver your message if I find him" "Thanks. You're an angel" but Charles was anything but an angel, he knew exactly where Lando was and made very sure that she wouldn't find him"Voulez-vous que je attends votre voiture avec vous?" she giggled "What?" "You" "Qu'est-ce qu'il y a?" "When you're drunk, you speak french. Formally" "I... I am not that drunk anymore. The dance made me feel better" she smiled "I would love if you waited with me" "Good" They had a silent ride till the hotel lobby. A true walk of the shame. "Sorry for flirting with you" "It's okay. You were just kidding, it's fine" "Yes, but..." she stopped in front of a glass door and he approched her "I wish it wasn't" she blushed "Char, I..." the tension between them could be cut with a knife "I've gotta go. Thanks for the night, have a good rest of it" she leaned up and kissed his cheek "wait" he held her arm. He felt guilty and she felt cheap. What was the worst? He hitting on her? Or she almost bending to it? "I..." "Charles, no" "Please... I'm sorry. So so sorry" "you have nothing to be sorry for" "I do have. I'm taken, I was drunk, had hit on you... I shouldn't have. I'm really sorry" "/ should be the one apologizing. You have a girlfriend, I knew that from the beginning. I don't know what happened, I would never dance like that with someone already taken" he locked his gaze on hers "but danced with me" "yeah..." She looked away "that's exactly why I'm so ashamed of myself". He reflected for a few seconds "Fine. We're both ashamed, both sorry, I accept your apologies, do you accept mine?" "Of course..." he exhaled "that's good" "But..." "Oh, no, no, no. No buts" "We should stay away from each other" "No..." "Yes. I ain't going to be in between your relationship, Charles" he looked to his feet "Charles..." "Hum?" "You know I care about you" "I care about you too. That's exactly why we shouldn't distance from each other" "it's exactly why we should" he sighed "I don't agree with that. I will text you as soon I land in Monaco" "who said I will reply?" he smirked "You will, I know you will. Tu peux pas résister à moi" she blushed "well, I..." He smiled "just keep an eye on your phone" he winked at her "bye, Charles” "Bye…” he waved at her before she opened the door and left. He wanted to walk out the door but his girlfriend's face kept him from doing that. Instead, he tucked his hands in his shorts pockets and made his way back to the elevator, pressing the button without being sure of anything but where he was going to spend the rest of the night: at the bar.

[accio-victuuri]

wang yibo - one and only @ dubai china film week

the movie one & only will be screened as the opening film of the 2023 fifth Dubai Chinese Film Week on October 31, 2023. 🎉

[dearweirdme]

Saw this comment under a message I sent a few days ago. "'What does he do that they don't think a gay man would do? I'm genuinely curious because I don't get it.' Is anon being serious right now ? So according to anon gay men in 2023 sing about loving women and having sex with women everyday ? And according to anon gay men also flirt seriously with women, speak with sexual innuendos to women and try to get the attention of beautiful women on them ? Either anon is blind or anon has never met a gay man in her life." Yes I'm being serious, is this commenter serious? In 2023 the vast majority of queer people globally remain closeted. In 2023 there are queer people who pretend to be straight, who have to pretend to avoid negative repercussions and I can't believe they think that this wouldn't apply to a K-pop idol. Especially one who has the entire world's eyes on him right now and who has not yet completed his mandatory service in a country that upheld its draconian sodomy laws for the military just a couple of weeks ago. What kind of privileged bubble do you have to live in to think closeting is no longer a necessity at all? Because that is what is being suggested here so are they not aware that its not just careers at stake over this? To say something like this seriously this person has to believe that if any of them are gay they would be open about that which I'm sorry is an absolutely insane take. We're going to keep having this conversation over and over again as long as the world is not safe for all queer people to be open about it and people have the nerve to go into queer spaces every day to try to gaslight people into thinking that is no longer the case. LOTS of gay men have sung songs about women, lots of very famous gay men have sung songs about women. Where has commenter seen him flirt "seriously" with anyone????? How are Taekookers called delusional by people who in the same breathe talk about musical performances and mvs like they're reality, and take his flirty banter with fans is "seriously"? Is that what they're talking about??? Commenter, I'm a queer person myself, I know and love lots of others and it is YOU who are blind to the struggles queer people go through every day. Yes even in 2023 and guess what, it will sadly be like that in 2024 and beyond.

Hi anon!

Yes, thank you for this! That comment bothered me to no end. That person has a very biased and factually wrong view of the world. They may think artists are beyond harm due to being queer, bit that is simply not true. Sure artists come out these days, but how many wait until after the peak of their career, how many may still be closeted (anon does not know that)? In a country like SK, where there’s actual laws against queer people.. without even knowing the number, you can bet there’s many people not out.

Just a few facts:

This is a map of the countries in which being queer is punishable.. in some cases even with the death penalty. The world is bigger than America and Europe, and being artists.. they need to be safe everywhere, because they travel to and through those countries to perform. Jk went to Dubai to perform..

For some reason I’m unable to post links atm, but the site is mentioned in the bottom here.

Only five countries have equal rights for queer people and non queer people. There’s many many countries in which the equality is barely in sight.

South Korea is not great, this only just happened, and it’s not like men have an option to opt out of military service… so they’re stuck.

And that’s only part of the legal consequences queer people have to deal with.. the social aspect of being queer is in many many countries harsh. Queer people everywhere get harassed, attacked, abused, ostracized, just for being queer and loving who they love.

That comment was super ignorant and blatantly diminished all the struggles queer people still have these days. Great that the person posting that comment feels so free.. but it would suit them to open up their thoughts to places where people aren’t that lucky.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

For Lula to be a climate leader, he must phase out oil

At COP28, the Brazilian president has sent mixed messages by aligning with OPEC. If he really wants to tackle the growing threat of droughts and floods, he must set a clear fossil-free, pro-nature direction for the UN climate summit he will host in Belém in 2025

The biggest-ever UN climate summit is well underway in Dubai with eighty thousand participants discussing hundreds of agenda items to avert the climate crisis, but ultimately there is only one goal that matters: reducing carbon emissions as quickly as possible by phasing out fossil fuels and eradicating deforestation.

By comparison, everything else is hot air. Delegates can talk all they want about green technology, net zero pledges, compensation payments, scientific studies and other well-intentioned initiatives, but none of that will be effective unless the world halts the build up of carbon dioxide and other planet-heating gases in the atmosphere. That existential challenge, upon which all life on Earth depends, can only be achieved by phasing out coal, oil and gas and restoring the health of the world’s climate infrastructure: the forests, oceans, wetlands and other centres of natural vitality.

If anyone was still in any doubt about the urgency of the climate crisis, this horrendously destructive year has surely made them realise we cannot wait a second longer: 2023 is already confirmed as  the hottest year on record. July was the warmest month in more than 120,000 years. This has brought devastating drought to the Amazon, floods to southern Brazil, heatwaves to the Andean mountains, fires to Canada and death and destruction across many parts of the planet. This is just the start. If emissions from fossil fuels and forests continue to increase, then temperatures will continue to rise for decades. We will look back on 2023 as one of the coolest years of our lives. Soon, it won’t just be dolphins and fish that suffer mass mortalities, it will be people. “We are terrified,” a group of 1,447 scientists said in an open letter released at Cop28. “If we are to create a liveable future, climate action must move from being something that others do to something that we all do.”

The first week of Cop28 shows the desperate need for a new perspective. The process has been captured by the very people who profit most from increasing carbon emissions. The president of this climate conference is Sultan Al Jaber, who is the CEO of the biggest oil and gas company in the United Arab Emirates. As many climate campaigners have joked, this is like putting a fox in charge of a henhouse or asking Dracula to run a bloodbank. But it is not funny when the man in charge of addressing the most difficult and important challenge in human history goes on record to deny that eradicating fossil fuels is the only way to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius or that a life without oil would send humanity back into caves. These comments, which have been thoroughly rebutted by scientists, reveal the true face of the fossil fuel industry, which has been holding up progress for more than three decades.

All of which makes Brazil’s decision to align itself more closely with the world’s biggest oil cartel Opec, more disappointing. Announced at the start of the climate summit, the timing of this move could not have been more of a kick in the teeth to international efforts to tackle global heating. It is brutally pragmatic. Brazil aims to expand oil production in defiance of advice from the International Energy Agency that 1.5C is impossible if countries open new fields. The day after Cop28 finishes, Brazil will hold an auction of dozens of new oil development blocs. All of these steps will mean more drought, more suffering, more death in the years to come.

Continue reading.

[eaglesnick]

THE BIG CON: VOTE REFORM, VOTE BIG BUSINESS

A vote for Nigel Farage’s Reform Party is essentially a vote for big business and the super-rich.

Reform promises to lift 7 million people from paying tax at the lower end of the pay scale to  “save every worker almost £1500 per year.” Although I am sure this saving for low earners would be very welcome, it is the rich who benefit most from Reform’s income tax proposals.

 At the moment people earning over £50,000 pay a 40% tax rate on earnings above this figure. The Reform Party promise to raise the threshold to £70,000, a saving of £3,588 a year for the 15% richest people in the country.

Reform and the far-right favour business over individual workers.  It is therefore no surprise that Corporations are to receive the biggest tax breaks. Corporation tax will be reduced from 25% to 20% for the first 5 years, and then down to 15% after that.

For year ending 2022/23 corporation tax brought in £79.9billion. Under Reform, corporations would be in receipt of tax breaks worth £47.94billion. In November 2022, State of Tax Justice reported that

…”the world was losing over $483 billion a year in tax to multinational corporations and wealthy individuals using tax havens to underpay tax. That’s equivalent to losing a nurse’s yearly salary to a tax haven every second.” 

The only reason Reform would want to legitimise corporate tax avoidance is because Reform is essentially a political party for the already wealthy. They might throw a few crumbs to the ordinary worker but the real rewards are to go to the rich and powerful.

Many large corporations are foreign owned so  tax breaks for big business are just as likely to go to overseas shareholders as they are to UK owners. Does the British taxpayer really want to be subsidising foreign share ownership by cutting tax revenues?

Richard Tice, leader of Reform until replaced by Nigel Farage a few days ago, is a multi-millionaire who made his money in property development.  Both he and Farage have their own TV shows on GB News, which is bankrolled by the hedge-fund billionaire Paul Marshal and the Dubai based investment company Legartum, founded by New Zealand billionaire Christopher Chandler who made his fortune in Russian gas.

Reform's links to the super-rich goes further. Multi-millionaire Jeremy Hosking has given £2.578,000 to Reform coffers. Is it coincidence he is funding a party that campaigns to scrap UK emission targets when he is “the director of a company with tens of millions of pounds invested in oil and gas” ? (Open Democracy: 22/03/22). I think not.

Another major donor to Reform is the ex-Bullingdon Club member George Farmer. (Other members include David Cameron and George Osborne the architects of Tory Austerity and the liar Boris Johnson who brought us Party Gate). An “ardent supporter of Donald Trump”, Farmer was CEO of the far-right platform Parler, and is married to Candice Owens, a woman who “promotes far-right ideologies”, In 2023 he joined the board of GB News.

The biggest single donor to Reform according to Electoral Commission records is Chris Harborne, handing over £10 million to Brexit/Reform. Harborne owes his fortune to the sale of aviation fuel and technology investments. He gained notoriety when his name appeared multiple times in the Panama Papers. These documents revealed:

 “…off-shore holdings of world political leaders, links to global scandals, and details of  hidden financial dealings of fraudsters, drug traffickers, billionaires, celebrities, sports stars and more”. (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists: 03/03/2016)

These wealthy backers of Reform are not spending millions of pounds in order to benefit ordinary workingmen and women. They see these millions as an investment, an investment on which they expect a return for their money.

[brightridersdip]

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[chussyracing]

what has been happening in the world of motorsports?

(2.0 electric boogaloo edition)

Mohammed Ben Sulayem is under internal investigation for pushing officials not to certify Las Vegas gp as safe for racing and also for trying to interfere over Fernando Alonso getting a penalty in Jeddah 2023 race (he got a 10 second post race penalty which promoted... George i think? but later the penalty was overturned and he reclaimed the p3 and got his trophy back the next gp), apparently he also asked Max Verstappen to publicly defend/support/back Christian Horner as a way to calm down the situation where everyone talked about nothing but his workplace bahaviour (I suppose Max refused so that's kudos to him for doing the correct thing)

Aston Martin Vantage Safety Car will debut in Saudi Arabia (and will be back in British green)

there are loads of rumours about Red Bull and Horner currently, some are about him attempting to buy the RBR team, some are about Jos Verstappen being intimate with the same woman that accused Horner of inappropriate workplace behaviour, so he is personally interested in the case, after pictures and videos of Jos Verstappen and Toto Wolff appeared online, new rumours about Max Verstappen potentially going to Mercedes in fear of Red Bull falling appart with Ford looking for a way out of 2026 deal appeared too and Marko and Newey hypothetically following him there, after his comments Jos Verstappen is told not to be attending Saudi Arabia gp which may also be a part of solution they tried to find yesterday in Dubai where Max Verstappen's representatives apparently met with Horner (side note: this is another plea not to share any details about the victim which goes both for her pictures and her name, please don't make it harder as it undeniably already is)

Heikki Kovalainen has been forbidden from rally driving by his doctor in fear of his medical condition getting worse with the sport

Alpine announced new workers (after they fired basically everyone and the rest left on their own): Joe Burnell as engineering technical director, David Wheater as technical director of aero, and Ciaron Pilbeam as performance technical director

Mohammed Ben Sulayem spent some time in Turkey this week to talk to the president about a potential return of Turkish gp (probably as a part of a new rotation programme I mentioned in previous round up)

Abbi Pulling will be racing in British F4 Championship besides F1 Academy this year

Gerhard Berger's long lost Ferrari car was returned to him after police located it late last year

last week's Bahrain GP was the first time in history where all 20 cars finished the opening race of the season (speaking of Bahrain, Charles, Lewis and George were losing around 5/6 tenths per lap due to their car issues, Carlos, Logan and Alex also experienced smaller gap in pace because of their issues)

Williams announced their fanzone locations for 2024 season (Australia, Japan, Miami, Canada, Spain, Great Britain, Singapore, Austin, Las Vegas)

Spanish king Juan Carlos was at Bahrain GP and before you ask yourself, yes he took a picture with Carlos Sainz sr and Carlos Sainz jr (also fun fact he was involved in money-laundering case with Saudi Arabia but Swiss prosecutor had to drop the case due to lack of evidence)

Saudi Arabia showed plans for Qiddiya track to host gp from 2027 onwards designed by Tilke which features a turn 20 stories above ground level which could replace Jeddah in the future (did they heard us complaining about jeddah being dangerous and decided to make it even more dangerous?)

Red Bull Racing scored a record breaking new multiple-year partnership deal with Castore worth about 200m dollars

Otmar Szafnauer teamed up with Soft Pauer to make an app which is meant to help F1 teams with travel plans and Hitech is already a client of his while he claims Alpine also downloaded it

Pato O'Ward agreen on multi-year IndyCar contract extension with McLaren

From fan's point of view:

please be prepared for pr wars this year at multiple places: between Yuki and Daniel (recently due to highly controversial team order call), Charles and Carlos (recently due to false media narrative about car issues), Lewis and George (recently about effectivity of different race set ups)

we have press conference for tomorrow made up by: Lance, Charles, Nico, George, Yuki and Val (we also have one for team principals made of Bruno Famin from Alpine, Mike Krack from Aston Martin, Christian Horner from Red Bull Racing and James Vowles from Williams)

C2 challenges are back for this year with first of their quickfire challenges being already posted

little rant about the "F1 pundits" not checking their sources, because you might have seen the discourse but not get the background: Lawrence Baretto posted his usual section "Losers and Winners" of Bahrain gp and posted Charles in the section category (which would be correct considering he lost out on P2 because of brake issues), but he clearly went off with what Carlos said in the media and claimed that both drivers had the same issues - a fact that Charles, Xavi, and Fred himself disputed

more drivers did photo dumps: Alex, Yuki, Carlos

some drivers were modelling, particularly Charles, Carlos and Daniel

Max Verstappen made some championship predictions (Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc) and there has been a lot of talk about him not mentioning Perez so just a PSA

reminder that this week the gp is on Saturday because of Ramadan and besides F1, you can also look forward to F2, F1 Academy and Indycar races