Live music coming to Dubai International Airport

DC Entertainment via AP

Barry Wetcher / Warner Bros. Pictures via AP

Fethi Belaid / AFP photo

An airport might not strike music fans as the most obvious of concert venues – but several of the UAE’s best artists have been invited to perform in one as part of a new series of free gigs.

Passengers passing through the aptly named Zen Garden at Dubai International Airport’s concourse B will be serenaded by a mix of jazz, pop and funk from some of the country’s best musicians.

Upcoming performers include groove stalwarts Abri & Funk Radius on Saturday, December 5 and upbeat revivalists Swing Revue on December 9.

The series, called MusicDXB, continues with rock and pop classics from Sound City on December 12 and soulful sounds from The 808’s on December 16. UAE acts and artists interested in performing can contact [e-mail]. – The National Staff

Neil Gaiman: Sandman return was 'too good to miss'

Neil Gaiman is one of the world’s most beloved writers and could probably work on any project he wants – but what he wanted to do was return to his roots in the comic-book world.

That's how Gaiman ended up writing The Sandman: Overture for DC Entertainment's Vertigo imprint. The six-issue mini-series is a prequel to the original Sandman series, which ran for 75 issues between 1989 and 1996 and told the story of Morpheus, master of the realm of dreams and one of the seven Endless siblings (along with Death, Destiny, Despair, Destruction, Desire and Delerium).

Overture recently completed its run and has now been collected in a special deluxe edition.

“The idea of celebrating the 25th anniversary of Sandman with a comic was just too good to miss,” Gaiman said.

The prequel tells the story of what happened to the Sandman just before the start of the original series, the first issue of which finds him imprisoned.

The writer said he hopes the new story will make longtime fans examine the original 75-issue run, which launched him his career, with new eyes. "[It] would actually make a re-read of the entire Sandman [series] more interesting," Gaiman said. – AP

Sofia Vergara shares wedding photos online

Newlywed celebrity couple Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello could have cashed in by selling their wedding photos to a celebrity magazine – instead they posted the pictures online, and the benefits could be priceless.

Vergara shared 55 photos from her wedding weekend on Instagram, from the romantic, flower-filled setting to her first dance with her new husband, also an actor.

There are shots of her co-workers – including Modern Family stars Eric Stonestreet, Ty Burrell and Jesse Tyler Ferguson – and a snap of the couple cutting their cake.

By sharing the photos via social media, Vergara was able to “give fans the best perspective on her special day: her own”, said Instagram executive Charlton Gholson. – AP

Creed star eager to get back in the ring

With Rocky spin-off Creed, which was released here at the weekend, knocking out audiences and critics, star Michael B Jordan says he would love to pull on the gloves again for a sequel.

The actor – who will be a guest at next month's Dubai International Film Festival – was touting the possibility of Creed 2 even before writer-director Ryan Coogler's new chapter in the Rocky Balboa boxing saga opened to rave reviews and a strong box-office performance.

“A character so rich as this, and the world he’s in, I want to see what happens to him next and what he does,” Jordan said. “I think with success and time and circumstances, it would be exciting to come back and work with [co-stars] Sly [Stallone] and Tessa [Thompson] again.”

Coogler has also expressed interest in a sequel.

The film marks Stallone’s seventh appearance as Rocky, now retired and enlisted as a trainer and mentor to up-and-coming fighter Adonis Creed (Jordan), the son of his old rival Apollo Creed.

New Line Cinema and distributor Warner Bros have yet to comment on sequel plans. – AP

Moroccan film takes top prize at Carthage

Moroccan director Mohamed Mouftakir's L'Orchestre des Aveugles (The Blind Orchestra) took the Tanit d'or on Saturday at the Carthage Film Festival, which was blighted earlier in the week by a suicide bombing in the Tunisian capital.

The film festival, which has now completed its 26th edition, is a showcase for Arab and African artists.

The Tanit d'Argent was awarded to The Endless River, by South Africa's Oliver Hermanus, while the Tanit de Bronze went to A Peine J'ouvre les Yeux (As I Open My Eyes) by Tunisia's Leyla Bouzid. Nabil Ayouch's Much Loved, banned in Morocco, won the Jury Prize.

The awards ceremony, hosted by Egyptian satirical comedian Bassem Youssef at Tunis’s municipal theatre, took place under heavy security. – AFP