Mini-break in Jumeirah
Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts is offering winter packages at selected properties, starting at Dh786 per night in a double room with breakfast, free internet, access to Wild Wadi Waterpark, the beach and kids' club, and a discount of up to 50 per cent on Talise spa treatments at Madinat Jumeirah. Stay three consecutive nights at the recently opened Jumeirah Zabeel Saray hotel in Dubai and enjoy a complimentary upgrade to the next room category, breakfast for two and one signature treatment at the Talise Ottoman Spa per person (adults only).
Double rooms cost from Dh1,800 per night. Prices include taxes. The offer is valid for stays until March 31. Call 00 971 4 364 7500 or visit www.jumeirah.com for more information.
Spanish getaway
Discover Catalonia on a self-guided walking and trekking tour with Catalan Adventures. The holiday has been designed to take in as much of the region as possible but at a leisurely pace, with accommodation in local homes and rural guest houses. The trip starts in L'Escala, following a coastal trail to San Pere Pascador and stopping en route at the walled settlement of Sant Marti d'Empuries and the Bay of Roses. Trek along the banks of River Fluvia and through Aiguamolis National Park, a haven for bird watchers, visit the medieval village of Castello, spend a day in Cadaques, famous for its seafood (and Salvador Dali's house) and explore El Port de la Seva and Cap de Creus National Park.
The three-to-eight day trips cost from £329 (Dh1,937) per person, excluding flights. The price includes transfers, all accommodation, breakfast, selected meals and equipment rental (including maps, GPS and mobile phone). Visit www.catalanadventures.com or call 00 34 972 158 227.
Summer surprises
Pick one of Explore's various "family adventure" packages for a summer of fun, with destinations from Morocco to Vietnam.
The five-day break in Morocco offers leisurely treks in the Atlas Mountains, a visit to Berber villages and a local school, and cultural and shopping tours in Marrakech. The land-only tour costs £250 (Dh1,472) per person, with four breakfasts and one lunch, accommodation in a four-star hotel, local transport, a tour leader and a guide.
Explore's "Vietnam encompassed" 12-day tour has something for all the family - cooking classes in a food market in Hanoi, learning a martial art in Hue Imperial City, a cruise in Halong Bay in a junk, a ride in a dragon boat along the Perfume river to the Tien Mu Pagoda, a chance to visit local farmers and to watch artisans at work in Hoi An, and a traditional Vietnamese dinner in a local family home. The land-only trip costs £942 (Dh5,549) per person, with 10 breakfasts, two lunches and three dinners, all accommodation (hotel, boat, train and homestay), local transport and the services of a guide.
See Thailand on a two-week visit that packs in a canal cruise and tuk-tuk temple tour in Bangkok, a Thai cookery lesson, an overnight stay in a raft house on the Kwai Noi River, a train ride to the south of Thailand for a homestay in Klong Rosai village, fishing in mangroves and riding elephants in the forests of Khao Sok. The itinerary also includes a visit to the island of Koh Samui and a boat ride to Ang Thong Marine National Park. The 14-day, land-only trip costs £999 (Dh5,884) per person, with 12 breakfasts, four dinners and four lunches, all accommodation (hotel, train and jungle lodge and homestay) and local transport.
All departures are set for July and August. For more details, visit www.explore.co.uk
Escape to Mozambique
Wild Frontiers has introduced a new trip to Africa - the "Mozambique tropical beach ride". The 14-day tour of the coastline and islands that make up the Bazaruto archipelago will begin in the town of Vilanculos, located on the south-east coast of Mozambique. Visitors can swim with horses at Blue Water Resort, which has a 250-metre-long private beach, explore the channels of the Two-Mile Reef, a small barrier reef that lies between the islands of Bazaruto and Benguerra, and spend a night at a "safari camp" on one of the islands, reached by dhow.
The land-only trip is scheduled for April 30 to May 7 and costs £1,695 (Dh9,984) per person with accommodation, most meals, entrance fees to sites and all transport outlined in the itinerary, excluding international flights. Visit www.wildfrontiers.co.uk
[ ciyer@thenational.ae ]
'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
SPECS
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Power: 366hp
Torque: 550Nm
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Price: From Dh360,000
Available: Now
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 2.5/5
The specs
Engine: Single front-axle electric motor
Power: 218hp
Torque: 330Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 402km (claimed)
Price: From Dh215,000 (estimate)
On sale: September
Confirmed bouts (more to be added)
Cory Sandhagen v Umar Nurmagomedov
Nick Diaz v Vicente Luque
Michael Chiesa v Tony Ferguson
Deiveson Figueiredo v Marlon Vera
Mackenzie Dern v Loopy Godinez
Tickets for the August 3 Fight Night, held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, went on sale earlier this month, through www.etihadarena.ae and www.ticketmaster.ae.
SUE GRAY'S FINDINGS
"Whatever the initial intent, what took place at many of these gatherings and the
way in which they developed was not in line with Covid guidance at the time.
"Many of these events should not have been allowed to happen. It is also the case that some of the
more junior civil servants believed that their involvement in some of these events was permitted given the attendance of senior leaders.
"The senior leadership at the centre, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture.
"I found that some staff had witnessed or been subjected to behaviours at work which they had felt concerned about but at times felt unable to raise properly.
"I was made aware of multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff. This was unacceptable."
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
Company profile
Company name: Fasset
Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
Current number of staff: 86
Investment stage: Pre-series B
Investors: Investcorp, Liberty City Ventures, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Primal Capital, Wealthwell Ventures, FHS Capital, VN2 Capital, local family offices
The Specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 118hp
Torque: 149Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Price: From Dh61,500
On sale: Now
FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
The specs: 2019 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera
Price, base: Dh1.2 million
Engine: 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 725hp @ 6,500pm
Torque: 900Nm @ 1,800rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.3L / 100km (estimate)
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded
Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
The five pillars of Islam
The five pillars of Islam
Virtual banks explained
What is a virtual bank?
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.
What’s the draw in Asia?
Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.
Is Hong Kong short of banks?
No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year.
