At first glance, it could be an obscure postcard from history: a black-and-white photo shows Joe Biden with a slight smile in a striped suit, shaking hands with Anwar Sadat after the signing of the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in Washington.
The whole region needs a breakthrough as far as the peace process, which faced near death in the last few years
A relative obscurity outside Washington, the 36-year-old member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was witness to a US achievement that became central to Jimmy Carter’s legacy. The photo circulated in US media when Mr Biden was running for president last year.
The next Arab-Israeli treaty was between Jordan and Israel, 15 years later.
Egypt and Jordan were the only Arab countries in formal peace with their former enemy until the regional normalisation drive with Israel last year.
Regional peace redux
This week Jordan and Egypt called for a united Arab effort to help the Biden administration relaunch Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, dormant for the past seven years.
Cairo and Amman both sent last month their top security officials to Ramallah, headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction.
They wanted to gauge scenarios that may result from Palestinian elections scheduled to start in May, with the possibility of a Hamas win undermining chances to restart talks with Israel.
France and Germany support the moves by Jordan and Egypt.
The four countries comprise the so-called Munich group, formed after the Munich Security Conference a year ago, to push for reactivation of the peace process.
Jordan on edge
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al Safadi said after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Tuesday that the Biden administration had sent “positive signs”.
He said Arab countries should respond with “a unified vision to relaunch serious and effective negotiations” based on the two-state solution.
"The whole region needs a breakthrough [in] the peace process, which faced near death in the last few years," Mr Al Safadi said.
The demise of prospects for a two-state solution under President Donald Trump deepened fears among Jordanian officials that the kingdom could become what they term an alternative Palestinian homeland.
A large proportion of Jordan’s 10 million inhabitants are of Palestinian descent.
With its large Palestinian component, Jordan cannot accept being party to a deal that the Palestinians refuse.
This was previously the case in 1978 when Jordan declined to participate in the Camp David accords, the precursor of the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian treaty.
Four decades later, the kingdom sought to stay away from Mr Trump’s "deal of the century", the nickname for his Middle East peace plan.
Fatah and Hamas mocked Mr Trump’s plan as ignoring the Israeli occupation and what they regard as a Palestinian right to the whole of the West Bank and the Old City in East Jerusalem.
Jordan regarded Mr Trump’s vision as supporting Israeli ambitions to annex Palestinian territory, potentially causing another Palestinian exodus, or linking West Bank areas with Jordan – in both cases a threat to its demographic balance.
The Munich group said after one if its regular meetings last year that any annexation of Palestinian territory is against international law and could “have consequences” for ties between the four countries and Israel.
With a small economy, 11 per cent the size of Israel's and being a recipient of $1.5 billion in US aid a year, Jordanian options were limited.
The departure of Mr Trump has revived the country’s role as an interlocutor, and its reputation as a key player is expected to be taken more seriously in Washington.
But Jordanian officials were cautious about showing elation in response to the election of Mr Biden in November.
International studies professor Hassan Al Momani said that although the Biden administration “has returned to the two-state narrative”, the new president “may not want to step beyond management of the conflict”
He said Jordan and Egypt want to streamline Arab priorities after the normalisation accords, and adapt them to the new administration in Washington.
“They want to create a starting point to help Biden re-engage on the peace process,” Mr Al Momani said, and that “putting the Palestinian house in order” is central to their strategy.
Egypt's Gaza dilemma
As the Trump peace plan crystalised in his last two years in office, US relations with Jordan soured, while ties between Washington and Cairo were unaffected.
Egypt, by virtue of its size and border with Gaza, regards itself as the gateway for any Palestinian-Israeli peace.
But Mr Al Momani, who teaches at Jordan University, said the nature of any future Palestinian state “is worrisome for everyone”.
"A Palestinian state can be attractive and lessen the demographic pressure on Jordan," Mr Al Momani told The National.
“But can the Palestinians produce a stable state that does not turn into another Gaza?”
For years Egyptian authorities worried about the population explosion in Gaza and rise of Hamas, and other militant groups in the strip. Hamas is supported by Iran and Qatar.
But Cairo kept open channels with Hamas, despite the group’s links to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Unlike the Brotherhood, no Arab country has labelled Hamas a terrorist organisation, yet the US and the EU list Hamas as a terrorist group.
Under Egyptian auspices, Hamas and Fatah agreed in Cairo on Tuesday on guidelines for forthcoming Palestinian elections.
The last Palestinian elections, won by Hamas 15 years ago, led to civil war after power-sharing arrangements with Fatah failed.
The war left Hamas in control of Gaza and Fatah dominating Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank.
The new poll, if it takes place, would raise the credibility of the Palestinian side in any negotiations. It could boost Egypt’s position as a diplomatic player with sway across a broad spectrum of Palestinian politics.
But the election deal struck in Cairo remains vague and the Egyptian intervention carries political and foreign policy risks.
Hamas could win the poll, similar to the last one, an outcome that Egypt and Jordan do not want.
Palestinian unity?
Veteran political commentator Abdulwahab Badrakhan said Egypt should have concentrated on unifying the administration of the West Bank and Gaza, instead of elections.
He said elections in two statelets ruled by rival groups was bound to produce "a deformed outcome".
“The existing divisions and the situation on the ground open the possibility for the elections to lead to prolonged civil strife,” Mr Badrakhan said from London.
He said elections would be more convincing to the US and other powers if Egypt was able to prod Hamas and Fatah to form a single Palestinian authority.
“As much as the elections are necessary, they will not produce stability or an authority that can deal with the international community in pursuit of a solution,” he said.
Hamas is ultimately not against negotiations with Israel.
But the group has consistently warned against retreating from Palestinian demands, a position central to retaining its constituency, as well as support from Tehran.
A regional veteran
Since he became president, Mr Biden has been wearing solid colour suits. He knows many of the region’s movers and shakers personally. Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt called him a friend.
The US new secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Mr Biden “strongly supports” the two-state solution.
Mr Blinken told CNN that it was “the only way to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state, and the only way to give the Palestinians a state to which they’re entitled”.
But Mr Blinken sidestepped a question about whether the US supports creation of a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem, saying “it is the objective” of direct talks.
“We’re unfortunately away from that at this point in time,” he said.
In Carter's footsteps?
By the time Sadat and Menachem Begin signed the 1979 accord at the White House, it was largely forgotten that the three countries had committed to solve the Palestinian problem.
The 1978 Camp David Accords said Egypt, Israel, Jordan “and the representatives of the Palestinian people should participate in negotiations on the resolution of the Palestinian problem in all its aspects”.
The Palestinian Liberation Organisation rejected Camp David, seeing the accords as a sell-out by Sadat. Jordan reluctantly took a similar position and joined a decade-long Arab boycott of Egypt.
Before he hosted Sadat and Begin at Camp David, Mr Carter asked for an assessment from senior officials of what to expect.
His stalwart National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote to him saying that “Begin probably believes that a failure at Camp David will hurt you and Sadat, but not him".
In the end Camp David was a win-win for the three countries. Thirteen years later the US revived the treaty’s clauses regarding the Palestinian problem by convening the Madrid Peace Conference, after the Gulf War.
The problem for Mr Biden is that unlike Mr Carter, he has to contend with a far more powerful Iran, which is willing to play the role of spoiler in a more durable peace process. Today, Tehran has a host of proxy militant groups and an array of weapons programmes, including potential nuclear devices.
In that regard, if Mr Biden wants to start a new journey for regional peace he will have to contend with Tehran as an unwelcome distraction.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206-cylinder%203-litre%2C%20with%20petrol%20and%20diesel%20variants%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20286hp%20(petrol)%2C%20249hp%20(diesel)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E450Nm%20(petrol)%2C%20550Nm%20(diesel)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EStarting%20at%20%2469%2C800%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder
Transmission: CVT auto
Power: 181bhp
Torque: 244Nm
Price: Dh122,900
The specs: 2018 Maserati Levante S
Price, base / as tested: Dh409,000 / Dh467,000
Engine: 3.0-litre V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 430hp @ 5,750rpm
Torque: 580Nm @ 4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.9L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 268hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 380Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: CVT auto
Fuel consumption: 9.5L/100km
On sale: now
Price: from Dh195,000
More Expo 2020 Dubai pavilions:
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Top Hundred overseas picks
London Spirit: Kieron Pollard, Riley Meredith
Welsh Fire: Adam Zampa, David Miller, Naseem Shah
Manchester Originals: Andre Russell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sean Abbott
Northern Superchargers: Dwayne Bravo, Wahab Riaz
Oval Invincibles: Sunil Narine, Rilee Rossouw
Trent Rockets: Colin Munro
Birmingham Phoenix: Matthew Wade, Kane Richardson
Southern Brave: Quinton de Kock
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
Racecard
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Australia World Cup squad
Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Getting%20there%20
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European arms
Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons. Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2015%20PRO%20MAX
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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.”
if you go
Getting there
Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.
Staying there
On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.
More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Mykonos, with a flight change to its partner airline Olympic Air in Athens. Return flights cost from Dh4,105 per person, including taxes.
Where to stay
The modern-art-filled Ambassador hotel (myconianambassador.gr) is 15 minutes outside Mykonos Town on a hillside 500 metres from the Platis Gialos Beach, with a bus into town every 30 minutes (a taxi costs €15 [Dh66]). The Nammos and Scorpios beach clubs are a 10- to 20-minute walk (or water-taxi ride) away. All 70 rooms have a large balcony, many with a Jacuzzi, and of the 15 suites, five have a plunge pool. There’s also a private eight-bedroom villa. Double rooms cost from €240 (Dh1,063) including breakfast, out of season, and from €595 (Dh2,636) in July/August.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
WandaVision
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany
Directed by: Matt Shakman
Rating: Four stars
Results
2.15pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Arrab, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
2.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Mahaleel, Antonio Fresu, Ernst Oertel.
3.15pm: Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum handicap (TB) Dh200,000 2,000m; Winner: Dolmen, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
3.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Amang Alawda, Sandro Paiva, Bakhit Al Ketbi.
4.15pm: The Crown Prince of Sharjah Cup Prestige (PA) Dh200,000 1,200m; Winner: AF Alwajel, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
4.45pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m; Winner: Al Jazi, Jesus Rosales, Eric Lemartinel.
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
Results
5pm: Warsan Lake – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m; Winner: Dhaw Al Reef, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Al Quadra Lake – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Mrouwah Al Gharbia, Sando Paiva, Abubakar Daud
6pm: Hatta Lake – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Yatroq, George Buckell, Ernst Oertel
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Adries de Vries, Ibrahim Aseel
7pm: Abu Dhabi Championship – Listed (PA) Dh180,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Bahar Muscat, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Zakher Lake – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Alfareeq, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
Kanye%20West
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The%20specs
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The biog
Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns
Best book: Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Food of choice: Sushi
Favourite colour: Orange
Book%20Details
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Kandahar%20
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Brief scoreline:
Wolves 3
Neves 28', Doherty 37', Jota 45' 2
Arsenal 1
Papastathopoulos 80'
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
The specs: Macan Turbo
Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
Power: 639hp
Torque: 1,130Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Touring range: 591km
Price: From Dh412,500
On sale: Deliveries start in October
