Blockbuster dramas, comedies and the return of the Arab world’s most notorious prankster form MBC’s bumper Ramadan offerings.
With the month approaching, the pan-Arab television broadcaster revealed another vibrant line-up featuring some of the Arab world’s biggest stars including Egypt’s Mohamed Ramadan, Saudi Arabia’s Nasser Al Qasabi and Kuwait’s Huda Hussein.
MBC also confirmed that comedian Ramez Galal will be back with another series featuring elaborate pranks aimed at some of the region’s biggest celebrities.
Each show will be screened daily, and most will be made available on MBC’s streaming platform Shahid, in addition to being re-run after Ramadan.
What time do they run?
We don’t know just yet. In what can only be regarded as a quirk of the regional television industry, most channels keep their broadcast time a secret, and only reveal them hours before Ramadan begins.
This is to ensure rivals don’t make any last-minute scheduling adjustments.
Therefore, the best advice is to log on to MBC’s website to get scheduling updates closer to the beginning of Ramadan.
The big dramas
1. ‘El Meshwar’ (MBC 1, MBC Iraq and Shahid)
In one of the most anticipated shows of the season, Egyptian stars Mohamed Ramadan and Dina Elsherbiny collaborate for a high-stakes crime series.
Translated to "The Journey", Ramadan plays Maher, a taxi driver who is accused of trafficking antiquities and goes on the run with his wife, Ward (Elsherbiny).
The series, which was filmed in Cairo in November, will follow their attempts to be reunited with their son.
A source close to Ramadan told Egyptian news outlet Masrawy that it would be replete with chase scenes.
2. ‘Al Asouf 3’ (MBC1 and Shahid)
Veteran Saudi comic Nasser Al Qasabi returns for the third season of this modern historical drama that looks at the family and social character of the kingdom in the 1970s.
The drama has been praised for highlighting a different side of Saudi Arabia — a simpler time before the oil boom when family life was at the centre of society.
3. ‘Min Share’ Al Haram Ela…’ (MBC1 and Shahid)
This is an unfolding mystery featuring an ensemble cast led by Kuwait’s Huda Hussein and Khaled Al-Buraiki.
Set in Cairo, the opening episode begins with Abla (Hussein) celebrating her son’s wedding.
Things go increasingly wry, however, when the belly dancer hired for the event cannot return to her country owing to what she says are faulty travel documents.
How long can Abla host her surprise guest and does her story hold up?
4. ‘Tooba’ (MBC1, MBC 5, MBC Iraq, MBC Masr and Shahid)
The past and present weave together in this psychological drama.
Egyptian actor Amr Saad plays a character who leaves a criminal life for a quieter existence.
However, the darkness of his past is never far behind and leads to dire consequences.
The Comedies
5. ‘Studio 22’ (MBC1 and Shahid)
The follow-up to last year’s successful Saudi sit-com Studio 21, the new series has star Habib Al-Habib as the manager of a bankrupt satellite television channel trying to handle the competitiveness and jealousy of rival staff members.
6. ‘Minho Waladna?’ (MBC1 and Shahid)
Loosely based on Mark Twain's 1937 novel The Prince and the Pauper, the dark Saudi comedy (translated to Who is our Son?) follows two men whose lives change when they are mistakenly given to the wrong families as newborns.
One grows up to become a high-flying chief executive while the other is unemployed and barely making ends meet.
After discovering the mix up, both try to work together to reconcile with their respective families.
The variety shows
7. ‘Ramez Movie Star’ (MBC1, MBC 5, MBC Iraq, MBC Masr and Shahid)
Ramez Galal has been skirting that fine line between entertainment and cruelty for nearly a decade, to great success.
The Arab world's most notorious television prankster returns with another elaborate stunt to scare regional and international celebrities.
While details of this year’s set-up is tightly under wraps, what we do know is the show is done with the support of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment authority, so we can expect the action to take place within the kingdom.
8. ‘Iftarna Gheir’ (MBC 1, MBC Iraq and Shahid)
Syrian chef Hala Ayyash returns and collaborates with some of the Arab world’s leading cooks and foodies to create new and traditional dishes from Saudi Arabia and the wider Levant.
9. ‘Al Ruwaad with Ahmad AlShugairi' (MBC1 and Shahid)
Influential Saudi social commentator Ahmad AlShugairi returns with a new Ramadan series exploring the lives and achievements of a variety of international pioneers from countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, the US and Germany.
10. ‘Al Sadma: Season 4’ (MBC1, MBC Iraq and Shahid)
A popular candid camera show with a purpose. Egypt’s Karim Kojak and Saudi Arabia’s Raed Abu Fityan team up to present a series where members of the public across the Arab world are put in socially fraught situations to see how they react.
The show aims to provide “an insight into human psychology” as to how societal norms and standards affect our behaviours.
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
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
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BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday Stuttgart v Cologne (Kick-off 10.30pm UAE)
Saturday RB Leipzig v Hertha Berlin (5.30pm)
Mainz v Borussia Monchengladbach (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Union Berlin v SC Freiburg (5.30pm)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (5.30pm)
Sunday Wolfsburg v Arminia (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Hoffenheim (9pm)
Bayer Leverkusen v Augsburg (11.30pm)
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