Abu Dhabi
Waterpark fun
Visit Yas Waterworld for the Jump, Bounce and Splash event, which offers a variety of fun water games and activities, including two water trampolines, interactive games such as hopscotch and water-balloon toss, a Splash Squad to entertain the crowd daily at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm, as well as a belly-flop contest on January 6.
Daily until January 6, 10am to 6pm, from Dh185 for the Friends and Family Pass, Amwaj Wave Pool, Yas Waterworld, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, www.yaswaterworld.com
Dubai
Kids’ classes
Hayley’s Comet Theatre Company at the James & Alex Studios is gearing up for its January term with a rock-star theme. Classes involve singing, dancing and acting, and children will create characters for a musical performance as part of an annual showcase. The term will feature songs by musical icons such as Queen, David Bowie, The Beatles and more.
Starts January 14 and runs until May, 5.30 to 6.30pm on Sundays for ages 6 to 9; 5pm to 7pm on Mondays for ages 11 to 13; 5pm to 7pm on Tuesdays for ages 9 to 11; 5pm to 7pm on Wednesdays for ages 14 to 17, from Dh1,650, James & Alex Studios, Dubai Marina, Dubai, info@hayleyscomet.com
Abu Dhabi
Fitness event
Start your week with a walk, jog, run or ride around the 5.55km Yas Marina Circuit at StartYas, a community health initiative presented by Daman ActiveLife. Families and friends can enjoy the cooler weather and stay or get fit this winter. Rent bikes and helmets from Fun Ride Sports or take advantage of the 400 bikes that are available to borrow from Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
Sundays, 6pm to 10pm, free with registration, Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, register at www.yasmarinacircuit.com
Abu Dhabi
Family fun
Zayed Sports City Family Festival opens today and includes more than 15 hands-on activities for families to enjoy, as well as stage and street performances all day. The venue is divided into several zones, such as Discovery Adventures, Lego City, ZSC Academy and a heritage village. There will be arts and crafts, fitness activities food trucks, face-painting and an Aladdin stage show.
Daily until Wednesday, 3pm to 10pm, free with registration, between the tennis and football stadiums, Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi, registration required at www.zscfamilyfest.ae
Abu Dhabi
Exhibition
Warehouse421 presents Community and Critique: SEAF Cohort 4, an exhibition of works marking the culmination of the year-long Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship programme featuring works by 15 artists. A fundamental pillar of the programme is critique – reflection, questioning and analysis – and this exhibition welcomes the public into the artists' studios to engage in the process.
Daily until January 14, 10am to 8pm Tuesdays to Sundays (closed Mondays), Warehouse421, Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi, www.warehouse421.ae
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Read more:
Year in review: the best, the worst and the weirdest of TV in 2017
The year in review: 2017's best classical music moments
Music in review: our best albums of 2017
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Dubai
New Year’s Eve
Book tickets to attend the New Year's Eve Gala at Dubai Opera. Enjoy a pre-dinner event with drinks, canapés and live entertainment, then a performance of Last Night of the Year Gala Concert. Following the show, enjoy refreshments to ring in the new year and watch the Downtown Dubai fireworks from the promenade with music by a DJ.
December 31, 6pm, from Dh800, Dubai Opera, Downtown Dubai, Dubai, www.dubaiopera.com
Dubai
Kids’ fun
The children’s entertainment centre KidZania now offers activities that teach kids road safety with Emirates Driving Institute and Yokohama Tire Corporation, including how to be safe as a pedestrian, and the correct way to use roads while driving a bike or car. An interactive test with multiple-choice questions is also given to the little ones, who can earn their own pretend driver’s licence.
Open daily, 10am to 10pm, from Dh150, KidZania, Level 2, The Dubai Mall, Downtown Dubai, www.kidzania.ae
Dubai
Fitness event
Register your team of 10 runners to take part in the Bloomberg Square Mile Relay, which sees some of Dubai’s biggest businesses competing for the title of “fastest firm in the city”. Each participant will run a one-mile (1.6-kilometre) route around the Gate Building at DIFC before handing over the baton. The team that completes 10 laps the fastest will be crowned champions. Early-bird pricing is available until Thursday.
February 7, from 5.30pm, early-bird price from Dh5,500 per team of 10 runners includes food and beverage, T-shirts and after-party access, DIFC, Dubai, www.squaremilerelay.com
Abu Dhabi
Kids’ camp
Register your children, ages 4 to 12, for the Hiltonia Winter Kids’ Camp, which features activities such as fitness games, cooking classes, magic shows, arts and crafts, face-painting and water sports to keep the kids engaged and entertained during the winter break.
Runs until January 4, 9am to 3pm, Sundays to Thursdays, from Dh900 per week; Dh200 per day, Hiltonia Beach Club, Corniche, Abu Dhabi, 02 692 4324
Dubai
Exhibition
Visit The Dubai Mall and see Museum of the Moon by British artist Luke Jerram. The installation is 7 metres in diameter, with each centimetre representing 5km of the Moon. Using Nasa imagery, this replica of the Moon's surface is internally illuminated, letting visitors experience a new perspective, from closer than ever.
Open daily, free entry, Souk Atrium, The Dubai Mall, Downtown Dubai, 800 38224 6255, www.thedubaimall.com
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A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
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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
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Sleep Well Beast
The National
4AD
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Al Jazira's foreign quartet for 2017/18
Romarinho, Brazil
Lassana Diarra, France
Sardor Rashidov, Uzbekistan
Mbark Boussoufa, Morocco
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The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
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.”
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
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Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
'Shakuntala Devi'
Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra
Director: Anu Menon
Rating: Three out of five stars
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
Financial considerations before buying a property
Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says.
Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.
Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier.
