Men dance in the back of a 4x4 to celebrate Mahueba the camel, a four-year-old beauty contestant at the Al Dhafra festival in Abu Dhabi. (Anna Zacharias / The National / December 2013)
Men dance in the back of a 4x4 to celebrate Mahueba the camel, a four-year-old beauty contestant at the Al Dhafra festival in Abu Dhabi. (Anna Zacharias / The National / December 2013)
Men dance in the back of a 4x4 to celebrate Mahueba the camel, a four-year-old beauty contestant at the Al Dhafra festival in Abu Dhabi. (Anna Zacharias / The National / December 2013)
Men dance in the back of a 4x4 to celebrate Mahueba the camel, a four-year-old beauty contestant at the Al Dhafra festival in Abu Dhabi. (Anna Zacharias / The National / December 2013)

Video: Mahueba the Camel struts down the catwalk


  • English
  • Arabic

“This,” said Sheikh Abdulla Rashid Al Athba, gesturing at the honking motorcade, “is just preparation. This is nothing. When she wins, you will see us flying. If she wins, you’ll see triple the people here.”

Mahueba the camel and her caravan crossed my path as I drove around the sands of Al Dhafra the morning of a beauty competition. As they passed, I was invited by Sheikh Abdulla, a Qatari, to join. This is how a camel’s fan club grows, boosting her fame and value.

As noted earlier, the main event at a beauty contest is the impromptu parade that escorts a contestant to the gates of the judging pens. A camel is surrounded by her owner’s family, friends and fans. Poetry penned in her honour blares from loudspeakers to attract fans.

Mahueba’s owner, Ali Rashid Al Athba, is sent verses from Emirati, Saudi, Kuwaiti and Qatari poets. These are used to decorate the vehicles in her motorcade and for synthetised recitations like the one in this video.

“It’s like for support,” said Hamad Al Athba, 23. “It’s telling how beautiful she is and talking about the owner, that he’s generous and he’s a good guy. You know, compliments.”

The music makes the camel anxious, causing her to pace and extend her neck. This showcases her beauty.

Poetry, song and dance are essential parts of beauty pageant culture.

Parades are what people buy into when they buy a beauty camel. Judging itself is rather tedious and can take a full day.

This parade was considered a great success: Mahueba’s value increased from Dh2.7 million to Dh3.5 million.

Greater fame brings a greater party and namoos, the pride of victory.

“This is the problem,” said her owner Ali, 29. “The namoos means more to me than Dh100,000 million. What is worth more, Dh100,000 million or my family’s happiness?”

You might want to turn your speakers down for the video, it was windy at the festival.

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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

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Francesco Totti's bio

Born September 27, 1976

Position Attacking midifelder

Clubs played for (1) - Roma

Total seasons 24

First season 1992/93

Last season 2016/17

Appearances 786

Goals 307

Titles (5) - Serie A 1; Italian Cup 2; Italian Supercup 2

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%3Cp%3EVara%20will%20cater%20to%20three%20categories%20of%20companies%20in%20Dubai%20(except%20the%20DIFC)%3A%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECategory%20A%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Minimum%20viable%20product%20(MVP)%20applicants%20that%20are%20currently%20in%20the%20process%20of%20securing%20an%20MVP%20licence%3A%20This%20is%20a%20three-stage%20process%20starting%20with%20%5B1%5D%20a%20provisional%20permit%2C%20graduating%20to%20%5B2%5D%20preparatory%20licence%20and%20concluding%20with%20%5B3%5D%20operational%20licence.%20Applicants%20that%20are%20already%20in%20the%20MVP%20process%20will%20be%20advised%20by%20Vara%20to%20either%20continue%20within%20the%20MVP%20framework%20or%20be%20transitioned%20to%20the%20full%20market%20product%20licensing%20process.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECategory%20B%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Existing%20legacy%20virtual%20asset%20service%20providers%20prior%20to%20February%207%2C%202023%2C%20which%20are%20required%20to%20come%20under%20Vara%20supervision.%20All%20operating%20service%20proviers%20in%20Dubai%20(excluding%20the%20DIFC)%20fall%20under%20Vara%E2%80%99s%20supervision.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECategory%20C%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20New%20applicants%20seeking%20a%20Vara%20licence%20or%20existing%20applicants%20adding%20new%20activities.%20All%20applicants%20that%20do%20not%20fall%20under%20Category%20A%20or%20B%20can%20begin%20the%20application%20process%20through%20their%20current%20or%20prospective%20commercial%20licensor%20%E2%80%94%20the%20DET%20or%20Free%20Zone%20Authority%20%E2%80%94%20or%20directly%20through%20Vara%20in%20the%20instance%20that%20they%20have%20yet%20to%20determine%20the%20commercial%20operating%20zone%20in%20Dubai.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8

Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm

Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km

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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

The Facility’s Versatility

Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
 
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
 
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
 
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
 
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
 
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket

ICC men's cricketer of the year

2004 - Rahul Dravid (IND) ; 2005 - Jacques Kallis (SA) and Andrew Flintoff (ENG); 2006 - Ricky Ponting (AUS); 2007 - Ricky Ponting; 2008 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI); 2009 - Mitchell Johnson (AUS); 2010 - Sachin Tendulkar (IND); 2011 - Jonathan Trott (ENG); 2012 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL); 2013 - Michael Clarke (AUS); 2014 - Mitchell Johnson; 2015 - Steve Smith (AUS); 2016 - Ravichandran Ashwin (IND); 2017 - Virat Kohli (IND); 2018 - Virat Kohli; 2019 - Ben Stokes (ENG); 2021 - Shaheen Afridi