Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for January 25, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun.
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Abu Dhabi
Film screening
Catch a screening of A Barefoot Dream, as part of the Cinema Space film series. The Korean film, based on a true story, focuses on former footballer Kim Won-kang (Park Hee-soon), who visits East Timor, where he sees children playing the sport barefoot on rocky pitches. Sensing a business opportunity, he opens an equipment store, but none of the children can afford sports shoes or jerseys. Soon, he finds himself coaching the youths and forming a team. The film is in Korean with English subtitles.
Tonight, 7.30pm, free with registration, Korean Cultural Center, twofour54, Khalifa Park, Abu Dhabi, register at cinemaspace-abudhabi.splashthat.com
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Abu Dhabi
Cultural festivities
Visit Yas Mall this month for a celebration of Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rooster, featuring traditional decorations, activities and performances that showcase the rich Chinese heritage, plus special shop-and-win offers and promotions for visitors. From noon daily, see activities including a Chinese parade, stage performances, dragon-dance troupes, kung-fu acrobats, Chinese fan and ribbon dances, as well as Chinese calligraphy and sugar painting sessions and Chinese- language workshops for children.
Open 10am to 10pm, Pearl Court, Main Entrance, Yas Mall, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, www.yasmall.com
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Abu Dhabi
Comedy show
Have some fun with the Yalla Laughs crew at Comedy at the Greek, featuring top local and regional comedians including Dugan McShain, Jon Boulton (pictured), Colin Armstrong, Rob McKenzie, headliner Abdullah Al Qassab and MC Erik Thornquist.
Tonight, 8pm, free entry, Acropolis, Le Méridien, Tourist Club Area, Abu Dhabi, www.yallalaughs.com
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Abu Dhabi
Bridal show
Bride Abu Dhabi 2017 opens today. A one-stop-shop for brides-to-be, the event offers a variety of jewellery, hair, beauty, wellness, home and bridal fashion options under one roof. Also check out the Arabic Fashion Awards, Bride Wedding Awards, the VIP Lounge, and the Indulge Me Pamper Zone, which offers a number of express treatments.
Daily until Saturday, from 4pm, Dh20, Halls 7,8 and 9, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, Abu Dhabi, www.ticketmaster.ae
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Abu Dhabi
Film screening
Alliance Française Abu Dhabi is hosting a poolside, open-air cinema screening of L'Affaire SK1, a detective movie about the hunt for and trial of a French criminal known as The Beast of the Bastille. The Frédéric Tellier film is in French with English subtitles and stars Raphaël Personnaz, Nathalie Baye and Olivier Gourmet.
Tonight, 8.30pm, Dh75 includes refreshments, Mercure Abu Dhabi Centre Hotel, Hamdan Street, Abu Dhabi, 02 659 2831
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Dubai
Art exhibition
Line | Khat by Golnaz Fathi explores the relationship between experimental calligraphic mark-making and non-traditional mediums, in a new body of work that originates from the intimate narrative of diaries and notebooks. Pictured: An untitled image by Golnaz Fathi
Daily until Saturday, 10am to 7pm, Saturdays to Thursdays (closed Fridays), The Third Line, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai, 04 341 1367, www.thethirdline.com
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Dubai
Literature festival
Get your tickets for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. The Middle East’s largest celebration of the written and spoken word hosts international 160 writers, poets, thinkers and speakers conducting 250 sessions, including a murder mystery dinner, author talks, children’s events and a creative-writing course.
March 3 to 11, various venues in Dubai, including InterContinental at Dubai Festival City, Dubai International Writers' Centre, Al Mamzar Scientific & Cultural Association and Novo Cinemas at Dubai Festival City, tickets.emirateslitfest.com
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Dubai
Performance
Get tickets for West Side Story at Dubai Opera and experience the New York-set story featuring romance, conflict, dances featuring Jerome Robbins' original choreography, and a score composed by Leonard Bernstein with timeless songs such as Tonight, Maria, Somewhere and America.
February 14 to 18, 8pm daily; plus 3pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from Dh250, Dubai Opera, Downtown Dubai, www.dubaiopera.com
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Dubai
Charity walk
Register to take part in the 3km Dubai Cares Walk for Education in solidarity with, and to support, children in developing countries who walk long distances to get to school each day. The event is open to all ages, and friends and families are invited to enjoy fun activities.
February 17, 8am to noon, Dubai Creek Park, next to Al Garhoud Bridge, Dubai, register at www.dubaicares.ae
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Dubai
Art exhibition
Bernhard Buhmann references the Charlie Chaplin film in the title of his latest solo exhibition, Modern Times, which questions the effects of globalisation and fragmentation of personal identities through characters that face the consequences of industrialisation. Pictured: Free-wheeling B
Daily until February 28, 11.30am to 7pm, Saturdays to Thursdays (closed Fridays), Carbon 12, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai, 04 340 6016, www.carbon12dubai.com
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You may remember …
Robbie Keane (Atletico de Kolkata) The Irish striker is, along with his former Spurs teammate Dimitar Berbatov, the headline figure in this season’s ISL, having joined defending champions ATK. His grand entrance after arrival from Major League Soccer in the US will be delayed by three games, though, due to a knee injury.
Dimitar Berbatov (Kerala Blasters) Word has it that Rene Meulensteen, the Kerala manager, plans to deploy his Bulgarian star in central midfield. The idea of Berbatov as an all-action, box-to-box midfielder, might jar with Spurs and Manchester United supporters, who more likely recall an always-languid, often-lazy striker.
Wes Brown (Kerala Blasters) Revived his playing career last season to help out at Blackburn Rovers, where he was also a coach. Since then, the 23-cap England centre back, who is now 38, has been reunited with the former Manchester United assistant coach Meulensteen, after signing for Kerala.
Andre Bikey (Jamshedpur) The Cameroonian defender is onto the 17th club of a career has taken him to Spain, Portugal, Russia, the UK, Greece, and now India. He is still only 32, so there is plenty of time to add to that tally, too. Scored goals against Liverpool and Chelsea during his time with Reading in England.
Emiliano Alfaro (Pune City) The Uruguayan striker has played for Liverpool – the Montevideo one, rather than the better-known side in England – and Lazio in Italy. He was prolific for a season at Al Wasl in the Arabian Gulf League in 2012/13. He returned for one season with Fujairah, whom he left to join Pune.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Celta Vigo v Villarreal (midnight kick-off UAE)
Saturday Sevilla v Real Sociedad (4pm), Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao (7.15pm), Granada v Barcelona (9.30pm), Osasuna v Real Madrid (midnight)
Sunday Levante v Eibar (4pm), Cadiz v Alaves (7.15pm), Elche v Getafe (9.30pm), Real Valladolid v Valencia (midnight)
Monday Huesca v Real Betis (midnight)
What is Reform?
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
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.”
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
