With everyone staying home in a bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, there's a chance you've found the days are slowly starting to blur into one and that the weekend now feels very much the same as the working week.
One way to combat this is to set up your own virtual diary, packed with events and activities taking place throughout the week. Thankfully, there's a plethora of online activities, classes and entertainment on offer from providers across the UAE. Here are just a few ideas, with at least a couple of ideas for every single day of the week.
Sunday
9am: Tune in for story time
Helen Farmer, a mum-of-two and radio host at Dubai Eye, reads a storybook aloud at 9am every day of the week on her IGTV. Tune in with the children to listen to a new tale each day – it’s super informal and Farmer’s own little ones usually make an appearance in the videos.
Free, @themothershipdxb
Evening, exact time TBC: Watch a performance
As of Sunday, April 12, Live from HQ’s daily music and comedy performances will feature UAE performances and region-specific content. Run by global entertainment company BookMyShow and Indian talent management firm Big Bad Wolf, the local shows fall under three categories: performance arts, comedy and music.
The initial bill is being curated by independent performing arts venue The Junction, which is based in Dubai's Alserkal Avenue, and will feature daily 40-minute poetry readings, storytelling, monologues and more in English, Arabic, French, Hindi and Marathi. Acts will include Shakespearean monologues in A Bit o'the Bard and a Writing to Heal workshop.
Free, www.bookmyshow.com
Monday
6.45pm: Get on the mat for Jivamukti yoga
Yogini Dina Ghandour specialises in Jivamukti yoga. If you have not tried it before, you’re in for a treat. Expect a grounding but energising form of yoga that combines movement and breathing with chanting and meditation. Live classes via Zoom run for 75 minutes and they are also available on Wednesdays at the same time.
Dh55, www.app.acuityscheduling.com
8pm: Watch an indie movie
Cinema Akil, the UAE's independent cinema house, has launched a new service, letting you access some of the world's greatest movies in your own home. They've partnered with on-demand streaming platform Mubi to provide a catalogue of films, which we can watch for free for the next three months. Each month, there will be 20 different indie films to steam and you can temporarily download them to your mobile.
Free for 90 days, mubi.com/cinemaakil
Tuesday
4pm: Catch up on sessions from Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
If you feel like you missed out on some key sessions during this year’s Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, you’re in luck, as the Emirates Literature Foundation is released one new session on its YouTube channel every week. The series began with a panel talk featuring explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington, which was made available on Tuesday, April 7.
Free, EmiratesLitFest YouTube channel or elfdubai.org
Wednesday
5pm: Midweek chuckles
Dubomedy comedy club is streaming premieres of stand-up shows filmed live in Dubai last year. The streams feature comics Sundeep Fernandes, Mish’al Eskander and Liz Bains, and are available every Wednesday throughout April with links going live at noon and accessible for 24 hours.
Free, www.dubomedy.com
6pm: Waga Wednesdays
Every Wednesday, Wagamama chefs will be live-streaming on Instagram from the kitchen as they take viewers through a one-hour lesson in recreating one of their popular pan-Asian recipes. The sessions will feature dishes such as katsu curry, gyoza and yaki soba. Even better, the best attempt from participants gets a free main course delivered to their door. There's also a child-friendly session from 3pm to 4pm.
Free, @wagamamauae
Thursday
10am: Tour the Louvre
Download Louvre Abu Dhabi’s #Museumfromhome app to get access to in-depth stories highlighting artworks and architecture at the museum. With more than 150 audio sessions, you can follow a different curator's tour every week. The app is available in Arabic, English, French, Mandarin, Russian, German and Hindi.
Free, www.louvreabudhabi.ae
1pm: Take a break from homeschooling
Fitness facility The Studio in Abu Dhabi is hosting one-hour live-streamed classes via Zoom and Thursday afternoons are dedicated to parents. The class titled Take a Break from Homeschooling Hatha is being led by instructor Amanda Mattar and invites frazzled mums and dads to follow the poses and asanas, and to wind down after a hectic week.
From Dh35, www.thestudiouae.com
8pm: Improve your vocal technique with a Dubai soprano
With the present pandemic halting vocal classes and group performances, it is now up to singers, both pro and novice, to self-maintain their technique.
Austrian singer Bettina Schweiger, who resides in Dubai, aims to ease that burden by providing vocal tips through her “Quarantutorial” classes, which run on her Instagram account on Monday and Thursdays at 8pm.
The soprano, with a four octave vocal range, has worked with the likes of Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa and Angelika Kirchschlager and will show aspiring opera singers effective ways to look after their voice while indoors.
Free, www.instagram.com/bettina_soprano
Friday
Noon: Friday brunch with McGettigan's
For some people, regular weekends are typically about brunch and the folks at McGettigan's JLT are going out of their way to make sure that doesn't need to change just because we're staying home. Order your brunch package on Friday from noon until 5pm and you'll get a doorstop delivery packed with starters, mains and desserts so you can brunch at home. Log on to the McGettigan's Facebook Live and InstagramTV pages for live music to party along to.
Dh149 for two people, available noon-5pm, www.mcgettigans.com
3pm: Check out the FamilyFest Brunch entertainment
Caesars Resort in Dubai is bringing its brunch to our screens as of Friday, April 10. The family-friendly entertainment begins at 3pm, with an exclusive show from Magic Phil, as he takes over the FamilyFest Brunch Instagram page. On Friday, April 17, it's the turn of a bunch of circus performers to entertain everyone at home. The following week, a performer will sing popular songs from Frozen.
8pm: Movie nights with Vox
Upgrade your Friday night television viewing by streaming a classic movie and ordering some of your favourite cinema snacks to go with it. Vox Cinemas is now offering snack deliveries from select cinemas across Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai. Check out your usual delivery app to see if you are in the catchment area, then file in the popcorn, nacho and hot dog orders.
Price depends on orders, www.uae.voxcinemas.com
Saturday
10.30am: Read books with dogs
Every Saturday, Reading Dogs has been organising InstaLive Story Time with Chip the Frenchie. The next session is on April 11 at 10.30am. Head to their Instagram page to listen to two stories read by Chip the dog and Gina the human: Julia Donaldson's The Troll, a laugh-out-loud pirate adventure; and My Pet Star, a story about a little girl who finds a lost star and cares for it like she would a beloved pet.
Free, @readingdogsuae
7.30pm: Check your lotto numbers
The UAE’s first lottery draw is scheduled for Saturday, April 18. Buy your ‘collectable’ online or from Choithrams supermarkets, then tune in every week at 7.30pm to see if your luck is in. This new weekly raffle offers a jackpot of Dh35 million and the results will be live-streamed every Saturday at the same time.
Dh35 per entry, www.emiratesloto.com
7:30pm: End the weekend with laughs
Even if your lottery numbers don't come up, you can still end the weekend on a high by switching over to Big Fish TV Titters. This weekly online stream from the UAE comedy club promises to entertain with a mixture of throwback comedy classics and some exciting new gaffs. Catch it on Facebook or Instagram.
Free, @bigfishcomedyme
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SPECS
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Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
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.”
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
RESULT
Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')
SHAITTAN
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What went into the film
25 visual effects (VFX) studios
2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots
1,000 VFX artists
3,000 technicians
10 Concept artists, 25 3D designers
New sound technology, named 4D SRL
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Rocketman
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Taron Egerton, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
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Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mountain%20Boy
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