It was not just the next generation of race camels on display at last week’s camel auction.
Children sat in the stands, bidding away thousands on camels paraded before the VVIP section. Young men smoked dokha in the stands.
For some children, camels teach caregiving and maturity.
For others, camels are a chance to spend father’s money.
The stands were full of young men bidding on behalf of their fathers.
Would my father and mother have ever trusted me to bid tens of thousands on their behalf? My parents did not trust me with more than a five-cent-a-week allowance. At the age of these boys, my mother hired me out as a Dh10-an-hour babysitter, negotiating a lower rate than family friends offered.
“Wash the dishes, too,” my mother told me. “Clean when the kids go to bed. Earn your keep.”
While my parents prepared me for the realities of low-wage grunt work, these boys are traders in training and a cutthroat bidding strategy is considered a step towards entrepreneurship.
“Now the second generation are taking over the hobbies,” a bidder named Abdulla told me. “It’s not only a hobby. Now it’s commercial. For most, it’s not their money, it’s their parents money and some generate good money from the camel. Some take the risk.”
By pure chance, I sat behind a boy of about 12 who I’d met a week earlier. Initially, I thought he did not recognised me with my hair down and makeup on because he did not acknowledge my hello. But he assured his friend that he did indeed know me and I had been to his farm a week before. He was in no way shy. Just busy. Being a busy businessman.
During a break, I asked the boy his age. He turned to his 11-year-old friend and instructed him to tell me he was “too busy buying camels” to talk to me.
Auctions may teach youth business. Grace and manners are perhaps better learnt at the majlis. He was, after all, very quick to stand for the VIPs.
Snubbed by a child, I was nonetheless received with warmth by the boy’s 42-year-old cousin, Abdullah. Abdullah, the owner of two racers and 15 breeding camels, had attended the auction for five years and finally decided to participate.
“I don’t have a good race camel this year so I seek another another opportunity,” he told me.
Abdullah came with a strict budget and a shortlist of three camels. He planned to buy one.
“This is just entertainment. Once I retired I will be fully dedicated to the camel,” he said.
“How old are you now?” I asked.
“42,” he said.
“When will you retired?,” I asked.
“In 19 years,” he told me.
Abdullah listed the factors to consider when bidding and concluded, “My strategy is to wait a little bit and also I have to watch the others because some are buying on behalf of others so they don’t care about the money. It’s true, sorry.”
Abdullah relied on observation to guess others’ plans.
“They will not tell me. Because, you know in the camel games, there is no transparency. Each one tries to hide what he has planned. But at the end of the day, when you consider all the factors, you have to be lucky if you want to have a camel that’s 1 in 1,000.”
When the camel he wanted appeared, he made his first bid at Dh40,000. A VVIP bidder quickly drove the price to Dh100,000 but Abdullah only dropped out when his boy cousin began to outbid him, eventually purchasing Camel #76 for Dh200,000 on his father’s behalf.
“I didn’t want to bid against him,” Abdullah told me. “He’s my cousin.”
He turned to the boy. “Mabruk, congratulations.”
Then he turned to me. “Relatives. This is one of the factors to consider.”
Although the boy has a farm with many fine camels and knew that Abdullah waited five years to enter the auction, he bid against him a second time later that night.
That is business.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
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
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The Bio
Amal likes watching Japanese animation movies and Manga - her favourite is The Ancient Magus Bride
She is the eldest of 11 children, and has four brothers and six sisters.
Her dream is to meet with all of her friends online from around the world who supported her work throughout the years
Her favourite meal is pizza and stuffed vine leaves
She ams to improve her English and learn Japanese, which many animated programmes originate in
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh359,000
On sale: now
Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHayvn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EChristopher%20Flinos%2C%20Ahmed%20Ismail%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbu%20Dhabi%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efinancial%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eundisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2044%20employees%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eseries%20B%20in%20the%20second%20half%20of%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHilbert%20Capital%2C%20Red%20Acre%20Ventures%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km
The%20specs
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs%3A%20Panamera%20Turbo%20E-Hybrid
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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SOUTH%20KOREA%20SQUAD
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EGoalkeepers%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKim%20Seung-gyu%2C%20Jo%20Hyeon-woo%2C%20Song%20Bum-keun%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDefenders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKim%20Young-gwon%2C%20Kim%20Min-jae%2C%20Jung%20Seung-hyun%2C%20Kim%20Ju-sung%2C%20Kim%20Ji-soo%2C%20Seol%20Young-woo%2C%20Kim%20Tae-hwan%2C%20Lee%20Ki-je%2C%20Kim%20Jin-su%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMidfielders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPark%20Yong-woo%2C%20Hwang%20In-beom%2C%20Hong%20Hyun-seok%2C%20Lee%20Soon-min%2C%20Lee%20Jae-sung%2C%20Lee%20Kang-in%2C%20Son%20Heung-min%20(captain)%2C%20Jeong%20Woo-yeong%2C%20Moon%20Seon-min%2C%20Park%20Jin-seob%2C%20Yang%20Hyun-jun%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStrikers%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHwang%20Hee-chan%2C%20Cho%20Gue-sung%2C%20Oh%20Hyeon-gyu%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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