Can the TV phenomenon of last year – which drew us into an extraordinary mystery of top-secret government experiments, frightening supernatural forces, a vanished boy and one very strange little girl called Eleven – transport us again to the point where the extraordinary blurs into magic?
Can Stranger Things get any stranger? You bet it can.
Judging by the creepiness of the Shadow Monster reaching down with huge tentacles from the blackened heavens in the latest trailer for Stranger Things 2 – which returns with nine new episodes this Friday on Netflix – we had better strap ourselves in for another jaunt into The Upside Down, the dark dimension of monsters and horrors that parallels our own.
After 18 Emmy nominations for their first outing, series creators Matt and Ross Duffer, the 33-year-old identical twins known professionally as the Duffer Brothers, promise to explore the bigger mythology of their supernatural world in this season.
"Security went up this year; we had to shred scripts at the end of the day," says Matt, keeping any spoilers close to his chest. "We talked to the Game of Thrones people; they told us what to do [to protect our secrets]. Because no one has it worse than Games of Thrones."
Here’s what we do know: the second season picks up around Halloween 1984, a year after the events of the original series, and the good citizens of Hawkins, Indiana, are still in shock from the horrors of the Demogorgon creature and the secrets of Hawkins National Laboratory.
While Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) has indeed been rescued from The Upside Down, much to the relief of his frantic mother Joyce (Winona Ryder) and police chief Hopper (David Harbour), a larger, sinister entity still threatens those who survived. Despite Will’s apparent post-traumatic stress disorder, his nightmarish visions will come in handy in helping all to figure out the bigger picture. Tearful, his voice cracking with fear, he sobs, in the trailer: “I don’t know [what it is] – I felt it... everywhere.”
His school buddies Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) are also back to stand by their pal and tackle the new threat. A new girl on the block, the red-haired Max – played by Sadie Sink, a former Broadway Annie – joins the team.
“Mike is definitely a lot more paranoid and a little more distraught and on edge [this season],” Wolfhard says of his highly intelligent character. “He’s a lot more punchy and teenagery.”
After a powerful performance that won her an Emmy nomination at the tender age of 13, Millie Bobbie Brown is also back as the psycho-kinetically empowered Eleven, the young girl of few words who escaped her lab tormentors last season. To our delight, she is, apparently, very much alive and will play a major force in the new season's events – and is still being stalked by the manipulative scientist Dr Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine).
"She also finds herself distraught and disoriented, not really knowing what's going on," Brown adds.
Chief among the new faces is Sean Astin as local Radio Shack manager Bob Newby, a former schoolmate of Joyce's, as well as her new boyfriend. Astin, lovingly remembered as Frodo's saviour Samwise in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, can also lay claim to playing Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, a seminal film that inspired the Duffers.
Also watch for Paul Reiser as Dr Owens, a Department of Energy honcho who runs the lab and is keeping the rift to The Upside Down open for his own nefarious reasons. Reiser previously made his mark in sci-fi lore as Burke, the outwardly trustworthy yet ultimately treacherous Weyland-Yutani Corporation representative, in Aliens.
From pop cans to walkie-talkies to Dungeons and Dragons to wood-panelled station wagons, Stranger Things sweetly evokes the 1980s and its Spielbergian-influenced heyday of movies such as ET the Extra-Terrestrial and The Goonies, as well as darker Stephen King-nuanced tales such as Stand By Me and Nightmare on Elm Street.
Much credit for the subtle, authentic period feel here goes to production designer Chris Trujillo, who created the world of Hawkins, Indiana, of 1983 in Atlanta, Georgia, and imbued it with a gritty feel.
“I like to think that the texture of the whole thing moves away from the slick, fast, social-media-centric, fast-cutting modern TV-making – and that has a lot to do with (its success),” he says.
The Duffer brothers wanted "a recreation of what we remembered and loved growing up as kids in the 80s – a reinvention of classic American cinema from the early 80s. This was a dream project for me because this was my world as a kid," Trujillo says.
“You walk onto the set and you feel like you’ve fallen straight into an 80s movie,” says Charlie Heaton who plays Jonathan Byers, Will’s quiet “outsider” big brother.
"It is enjoyably nostalgic for those of us who remember the 80s," adds producer Shawn Levy, who received an Oscar nomination for his work on last year's sci-fi hit Arrival, "but for a kid or a teenager for whom that is another era, it's just a great story."
The second season of Stranger Things will be available on Netflix from Friday
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THE%20HOLDOVERS
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
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Iron Man
Reduced risk of dementia
Alcohol consumption could be an issue
Hulk
Cardiac disease, stroke and dementia from high heart rate
Spider-Man
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Director: Jordan Peele
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseqph, Evan Alex and Elisabeth Moss
Rating: 4/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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THE SPECS
Touareg Highline
Engine: 3.0-litre, V6
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 340hp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh239,312
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Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
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Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.
Sholay: a 1975 Indian action-adventure film. It follows the adventures of two criminals hired by police to catch a vagabond. The film was panned on release but is now considered a classic.
Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
MATCH SCHEDULE
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tuesday, April 24 (10.45pm)
Liverpool v Roma
Wednesday, April 25
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid (10.45pm)
Europa League semi-final, first leg
Thursday, April 26
Arsenal v Atletico Madrid (11.05pm)
Marseille v Salzburg (11.05pm)
BANGLADESH SQUAD
Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan (vice captain), Mohammad Mithun, Sabbir Rahaman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
((Disclaimer))
The Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG (“Bank”) assumes no liability or guarantee for the accuracy, balance, or completeness of the information in this publication. The content may change at any time due to given circumstances, and the Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG is under no obligation to update information once it has been published. This publication is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer, a recommendation or an invitation by, or on behalf of, Liechtensteinische Landesbank (DIFC Branch), Liechtensteinische Landesbank AG, or any of its group affiliates to make any investments or obtain services. This publication has not been reviewed, disapproved or approved by the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) Central Bank, Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”) or any other relevant licensing authorities in the UAE. It may not be relied upon by or distributed to retail clients. Liechtensteinische Landesbank (DIFC Branch) is regulated by the DFSA and this advertorial is intended for Professional Clients (as defined by the DFSA) who have sufficient financial experience and understanding of financial markets, products or transactions and any associated risks.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:
- Dubai Sports City Eagles v Dubai Exiles
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
