Inspired by Saudi writer-director-producer Ahd Kamel ’s childhood, the nostalgic coming-of-age story “My Driver & I” unfolds against the backdrop of Jeddah in the 1980s and ’90s and traces the relationship of a rebellious girl and the Sudanese chauffeur her affluent family hires as a driver. A more conventional-looking and less compelling watch than “Wadjda” (2012), the Saudi picture to which it is sure to be compared and in which Kamel played a key acting role, “Driver” lacks the convincing struggle against limitations depicted by director Haifaa Al Mansour’s earlier movie. Indeed, where “Wadjda” was tart, “Driver” is over-sweet to the point of sentimentality. Despite some sad circumstances, just how easy and nice everything seems to be for the central family and their staff somewhat beggars belief. Nevertheless, further festival play is likely and the drama will disseminate widely in Arabic-speaking territories through Dubai-based pay TV and streaming service OSN+. A bright, mischievous only child, Salma (Tarah Alhakeem as a girl, Roula Dakheelallah as a teen) grows up in a vast, well-appointed villa with a busy businessman father (Qusai Kheder) who indulges her with stacks of cassette tapes from his international travels and a strict, migraine-prone mother (Rana Aleemuddin), who is constantly raising money for Palestinian orphans. The family retainers, who live happily in an onsite servants’ quarters, include a couple of Sudanese drivers: Bakri (Amjad Abu Alala, the director of the festival hit “You Will Die at 20”), who has been with them for a long time, and the newly hired Gamar (Mustafa Shahata, the star of Abu Ala’s film and a sympathetic presence here). Gamar, who has left a wife and young daughter behind in Sudan, quickly takes to his sparky new charge and ultimately becomes her confidant, teacher, cheerleader and co-conspirator. When the youngster confesses that she wet her pants at school, he takes her out for an ice cream and makes a “pinky promise” that he will one day teach her to drive. That pledge and the shared dessert become motifs of their relationship that reoccur throughout the film. About 20 minutes in, the action jumps forward some 10 years. Even though women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, Salma pesters Gamar into teaching her and letting her take the wheel in a remote vacant lot. Their secret, of which her parents would surely disprove, further cements their bond. But when things go wrong, it’s Gamar who has to pay the price; yet he doesn’t betray Salma’s trust. Gamar, who takes his responsibility to Salma seriously, to the point of acting in loco parentis , has been putting off visiting his own family in Sudan, although he continues to send them presents and cassette tapes. Even though Salma’s father offers him extra time off and to arrange his ticket, he prefers to stay at her beck and call until she graduates from high school. Although the screenplay frequently over-burdens the dialogue with exposition, especially early on, it also allows some visual insight into the social and political restrictions that stand in the way of teens such as Salma meeting and mingling with the opposite sex. In one striking scene, Salma persuades Gamar to stop at a trendy ice cream parlor on their way home from school. As she demurely waits in the female line, she casts dimpled glances at the attractive Waleeb (Mishaal Tamer) in the male line opposite. When they meet at counter, he slips her his phone number. Salma and Waleeb connect over their shared interest in Western music and talk on the telephone until Gamar tries to shut down the relationship, feeling that it is his job to preserve her modesty and reputation. Later, after she has assured Gamar that she is no longer meeting Waleeb, he discovers them in a chaste but compromising situation. Angry at his interference, Salma utters some cruel and hurtful words. Kamel’s film represents both an apology and an homage to the man who provided a steady and steadying influence in her life. The dignified Shahata makes a strong impression as the driver who comes to painfully understand that raising a child who isn’t yours is like cultivating land that you don’t own. Meanwhile, both of the gap-toothed young actresses who play Salma twinkle becomingly onscreen. The tech side is surprisingly unremarkable, with the visuals by the normally more nuanced DP Frida Marzouk providing a bright, digitald look.AP News Summary at 2:33 p.m. ESTSources: Steelers expect to play 2025 regular season game in Ireland
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U.A.E. Arrests 3 In Killing Of Israeli-Moldovan RabbiDeere & Company ( NYSE:DE – Get Free Report ) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 3rd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 1.62 per share by the industrial products company on Monday, February 10th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Deere & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.47. Deere & Company has raised its dividend by an average of 20.5% annually over the last three years. Deere & Company has a dividend payout ratio of 33.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Deere & Company to earn $22.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.1%. Deere & Company Trading Down 0.9 % Shares of DE opened at $430.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $469.39. The stock has a market cap of $116.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $425.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $397.14. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth DE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $401.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $404.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Deere & Company from $448.00 to $477.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Deere & Company from $400.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $443.94. View Our Latest Report on DE Deere & Company Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Deere & Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Deere & Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Tagovailoa carves up Pats with 4 TDs, Dolphins win 3rd straight game with 34-15 rout of New England
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OpenAI's For-Profit Transition, Trump's AI Advisor, And Google's Code Red: This Week In AIChess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen returns to a tournament after a dispute over jeans is resolved NEW YORK (AP) — Top ranked chess player Magnus Carlsen is headed back to the World Blitz Championship on Monday. That's after its governing body agreed to loosen a dress code that got him fined and denied a late-round game in another tournament for refusing to change out of jeans. The International Chess Federation president said in a statement Sunday that he’d let World Blitz Championship tournament officials consider allowing “appropriate jeans” with a jacket, as well as other "minor deviations” from the dress code. Carlsen quit the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships on Friday. He said Sunday he would play — and wear jeans — in the World Blitz Championship. 'Sonic 3' and 'Mufasa' battle for No. 1 at the holiday box office Two family films are dominating the holiday box office, with “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” winning the three-day weekend over “Mufasa” by a blue hair. According to studio estimates Sunday, the Sonic movie earned $38 million, while “Mufasa” brought in $37.1 million from theaters in the U.S. and Canada. The R-rated horror “Nosferatu” placed third with an unexpectedly strong $21.2 million. Thanksgiving release holdovers “Wicked” and “Moana 2” rounded out the top five. Christmas Day had several big film openings, including the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” the Nicole Kidman erotic drama “Babygirl” and the boxing drama “The Fire Inside.” Charles Shyer, ‘Father of the Bride’ and ‘Baby Boom’ filmmaker, dies at 83 An Oscar-nominated writer and filmmaker known for classic comedies like “Private Benjamin,” “Baby Boom” and “Father of the Bride," Charles Shyer has died. He was 83. On Sunday his daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer told The Associated Press that he died Friday in Los Angeles. No cause was disclosed. Born in Los Angeles in 1941 to a filmmaker father, Shyer's big breakthrough came with co-writing “Private Benjamin” for which he and Nancy Meyers received an Oscar nomination. He and Nancy Meyers were frequent collaborators through their nearly 20-year marriage, including on the remake of “The Parent Trap," starring Lindsay Lohan. LeBron James at 40: A milestone birthday arrives Monday for the NBA's all-time scoring leader When LeBron James broke another NBA record earlier this month, the one for most regular-season minutes played in a career, his Los Angeles Lakers teammates handled the moment in typical locker room fashion. They made fun of him. Dubbed The Kid from Akron, with a limitless future, James is now the 40-year-old from Los Angeles with wisps of gray in his beard, his milestone birthday coming Monday, one that will make him the first player in NBA history to play in his teens, 20s, 30s and 40s. He has stood and excelled in the spotlight his entire career. Belgium will ban sales of disposable e-cigarettes in a first for the EU BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium will ban the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes as of Jan. 1 on health and environmental grounds in a groundbreaking move for European Union nations. Health minister Frank Vandenbroucke tells The Associated Press that the inexpensive e-cigarettes have turned into a health threat since they are an easy way for teenagers to be drawn into smoking and get hooked on nicotine. Australia outlawed the sale of “vapes” outside pharmacies earlier this year in some of the world’s toughest restrictions on electronic cigarettes. Now Belgium is leading the EU drive. Belgium's minister wants tougher tobacco measures in the 27-nation bloc. Charles Dolan, HBO and Cablevision founder, dies at 98 Charles F. Dolan, who founded some of the most prominent U.S. media companies including Home Box Office Inc. and Cablevision Systems Corp., has died at age 98. Newsday reports that a statement issued Saturday by his family says Dolan died of natural causes. Dolan’s legacy in cable broadcasting includes founding HBO in 1972, Cablevision in 1973 and the American Movie Classics television station in 1984. He also launched News 12 in New York City, the first U.S. 24-hour cable channel for local news. Dolan also held controlling stakes in companies that owned Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers. Snoop's game: Snoop Dogg thrills the crowd in the bowl that bears his name TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Miami of Ohio beat Colorado State in the Arizona Bowl, but Snoop Dogg was the main attraction. The Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop was much a spectacle as a football game. Snoop Dogg seemed to be everywhere all at once, from a pregame tailgate to the postgame trophy presentation. Snoop Dog donned a headset on Colorado State's sideline, spent some time in the broadcast and even led both marching bands as conductor during their halftime performance. Snoop Dogg saved the best for last, rolling out in a light green, lowrider Chevy Impala with gold rims and accents, the shiny Arizona Bowl trophy in his hand as fans screamed his name. Mavs star Luka Doncic is latest pro athlete whose home was burglarized, business manager says DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks is the latest professional athlete whose home has been burglarized. The star guard’s business manager tells multiple media outlets there was a break-in at Doncic’s home Friday night. Lara Beth Seager says nobody was home, and Doncic filed a police report. The Dallas Morning News reports that jewelry valued at about $30,000 was stolen. Doncic is the sixth known pro athlete in the U.S. whose home was burglarized since October. Star NFL quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City and Joe Burrow of Cincinnati are among them. The NFL and NBA have issued security alerts to players over the break-ins. Victor Wembanyama plays 1-on-1 chess with fans in New York Victor Wembanyama went to a park in New York City and played 1-on-1 with fans on Saturday. He even lost a couple of games. Not in basketball, though. Wemby was playing chess. Before the San Antonio Spurs left New York for a flight to Minnesota, Wembanyama put out the call on social media: “Who wants to meet me at the SW corner of Washington Square park to play chess? Im there,” Wembanyama wrote. It was 9:36 a.m. And people began showing up almost immediately. Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen quits a tournament in a dispute over jeans NEW YORK (AP) — The International Chess Federation says top ranked player Magnus Carlsen has left the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships after refusing to change out of the jeans he wore to the competition. The federation said Friday that its regulations include a dress code that bars participants from wearing jeans at the event. The Norwegian chess grandmaster says he accepted a $200 fine but refused to change his pants out of principle before leaving the competition in New York. The federation said the dress code is designed to ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.
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What’s my age again? (And how should I dress to suit it?)A late-game rally derailed by a missed extra point and Cowboys stun Commanders 34-26Rico Carty, who won the 1970 NL batting title with the Atlanta Braves, has died