Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France, was taken to hospital after collapsing while jogging.
Doctors said the cause was a combination of heat and overwork and told Mr Sarkozy, 54, to rest. The president collapsed while jogging in the grounds of Versailles and several official engagements were cancelled, including a visit to Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy.
The British Museum in London will offer its expertise to create the new museum dedicated to Sheikh Zayed, the founding president of the UAE, on Saadiyat Island.
The British Museum, one of the most important in the world, will advise on construction, training and education, and will help to establish a governing body.
Due to open in 2013, the Zayed National Museum will have five permanent galleries, each dedicated to a value attributed to the late President.
Mubarak al Muhairi, the director of the Tourism and Development Investment Company, said the museum would be "a place of inspiration and pride for Emiratis".
The explorer Adrian Hayes completed his epic 67-day trek across the Greenland icecap.
The three-man team arrived at the northern coast after a journey of 4,262km that saw them gather scientific data to measure the extent of global warming. Their unsupported trip means they are the first men in history to vertically cross Greenland.
Hayes, who is based in Dubai, used kites to pull his equipment over the snow. He expects to return to the UAE before the end of this month.
Michael Jackson's hair is to be turned into diamonds by a US company.
LifeGem claimed to have obtained a lock from the singer which he lost during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in 1984, when his hair caught fire. The Chicago-based company will subject the hair to massive pressure to transform the carbon content into diamonds.
According to Dean Vanden Biesen, the founder of LifeGem: "This will be a limited collection and we anticipate great interest."
The creator of Bruno has angered a group of Palestinian insurgents after he included them in his new film.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades issued a statement saying it was "very upset" and would "respond in a suitable way".
Sasha Baron Cohen, the British comedian, interviewed Abu Aita, the alleged leader of the group, in the guise of Bruno, a flamboyant interviewer for the fictional Austrian Gay TV.
He begs the group to kidnap him, saying: "I want to be famous. I want the best guys in the business to kidnap me. Al Qa'eda is so 2001."
Abu Dhabi could become the launch pad for commercial space flights after a partnership was announced with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic project.
A Government-owned investment company will take a 32 per cent stake, valued at Dh1 billion (US$280 million), in the company, with plans for a space port in the emirate.
Around 300 people have already paid a deposit to fly with Virgin Galactic, which hopes to launch its first $200,000 flights from New Mexico in two years' time.
A bank robbery in Baghdad by suspected insurgents left eight security guards dead.
The gang blasted open the vault at the state-owned Rafidain bank in the Karrada district of the city and escaped with around 5.6 billion Iraqi dinars ($7 million) that had been deposited to pay police salaries.
The dead guards were later found bound and shot in two basement rooms.
Although violence in Iraq has dropped to its lowest level since 2003, insurgents are responsible for a growing number of violent robberies to fund their activities.
Another attack on a bureau de change last week left four dead and 12 wounded.
The first ever wedge of "space cheese" returned to Earth, still in one piece.
The cheddar was lifted 30km into the Earth's atmosphere by a high altitude weather balloon, in a flight organised to commemorate the first Moon landing.
The cheese landed 120km away from the launch pad in a garden in the West Country region of England.
The owner handed the cheese over to police, who returned it to the ground crew, a group of local cheesemakers.
Dom Lane, of the Shepton Mallet West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers group, said, "I may try a bit to see if it has matured at high altitude."
Opposition groups made significant gains in elections in the Kurdish areas of Iraq, ending 20 years of unchallenged rule by the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
The Change Group took 23 per cent of the vote, giving it 25 seats in the regional parliament, creating a serious opposition in the legislature for the first time.
The ruling coalition, made up of leaders from the Barzani and Talabani clans, took 59 seats and retains power, but will now have to submit to public questioning.
Previously there were too few opposition MPs to form a legal opposition, and the absence of public accountability had led to allegations of corruption.
The sight of low-flying fighter jets caused panic in Beirut until it was released they belonged to Lebanon's long-grounded air force.
Several ancient Hawker Hunter aircraft, dating from the 1960s, took to the sky for the first time in 30 years to practise for a military parade, but without informing the media.
Residents of the city are more used to aircraft from the Israeli air force, and briefly believed they were under attack, with tourists even rushing to their hotels to pack and head for the airport.
Four senior executives from the country's largest mortgage lender appeared in court charged with making Dh44 million in profits from illegal land deals. The four included the former chief executive of Tamweel, a 38-year-old Emirati man identified as AA.
The case involves allegations that the men bought land from Tamweel at the price the company paid, and then sold it at a substantial profit. They deny the charges.
An elderly pilot nearly caused a major accident at New York's Kennedy Airport after he got lost and tried to land on one of the main runways.
John Prendergast, 69, from Virginia, was trying to find a local airport on Long Island as he circled the airport, one of the busiest in the world. A jumbo jet was forced to abandon its landing, flying over the top of Mr Prendergast's plane, an experimental model he had built himself.
A police helicopter eventually led him away from the airport, to land safely elsewhere.
Parking charges will be introduced in Abu Dhabi for the first time this October.
Fees will start at Dh3 in main streets, at Dh2 elsewhere. Annual permits for residential areas will cost Dh800 for a first car and Dh1,200 for a second.
The charges are an attempt to bring order to the chaotic state of parking in the capital, although the Department of Transport has yet to reveal how it will penalise offenders or issue residential permits in a city without a functioning street address system.
* The National
ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
EU Russia
The EU imports 90 per cent of the natural gas used to generate electricity, heat homes and supply industry, with Russia supplying almost 40 per cent of EU gas and a quarter of its oil.
The Gandhi Murder
- 71 - Years since the death of MK Gandhi, also christened India's Father of the Nation
- 34 - Nationalities featured in the film The Gandhi Murder
- 7 - million dollars, the film's budget
Favourite book: ‘The Art of Learning’ by Josh Waitzkin
Favourite film: Marvel movies
Favourite parkour spot in Dubai: Residence towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
The five pillars of Islam
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
Defined benefit and defined contribution schemes explained
Defined Benefit Plan (DB)
A defined benefit plan is where the benefit is defined by a formula, typically length of service to and salary at date of leaving.
Defined Contribution Plan (DC)
A defined contribution plan is where the benefit depends on the amount of money put into the plan for an employee, and how much investment return is earned on those contributions.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
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.”
