Ferrari World might already be the world’s largest indoor theme park, boasting the world’s fastest rollercoaster, but now the Abu Dhabi attraction boasts what just might be another notable first.
The first theme park to host a cartoon farmyard animal? Perhaps.
In a publicity stunt bordering on absurd, Shaun the Sheep paid a visit to the Yas Island sight — hopping aboard the said rollercoaster for a ride.
Or a guy dressed in a fluffy sheep suit did anyway. The evidence, above, speaks for itself.
Shaun — a familiar sight to children worldwide thanks to his own TV show and recent eponymous cinema smash — is in town to promote his live show, which features dates in the capital and Al Ain as part of the continuing Abu Dhabi Summer Season.
• Catch Shaun and the gang live at Abu Dhabi's Al Raha Beach Theatre in on July 23-25, or at Al Ain Municipality Theatre on July 30-August 1. Tickets can be purchased from www.ticketmaster.ae
rgarratt@thenational.ae
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
