As he prepares to return to the White House on January 20, president-elect Donald Trump has been making cabinet and staff nominations. His choices have so far included four Arab Americans.
Massad Boulos
Mr Trump has nominated Mr Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman, as his senior adviser on Arab and Middle East affairs. His son, Michael, is married to Mr Trump's daughter, Tiffany.
Mr Boulos was instrumental in rallying support among Arab and Muslim Americans for Mr Trump during the election campaign, particularly in states such as Michigan, a key swing state he won.
Mr Boulos told voters, most of whom supported Mr Biden in 2020, that Mr Trump would forge peace in the Middle East, albeit without providing concrete details. For months leading up to the election, Mr Boulos held meetings with Arab and Muslim-American community leaders, capitalising on anger with the Biden administration over its backing of Israel in its wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
He also met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
A billionaire with business ties in Nigeria, Mr Boulos was born in Lebanon to an influential Christian family, and moved to Texas as a teenager, where he studied law. He then moved on to expand his family businesses in West Africa, operating businesses in making motorcycle parts, among others.
Mr Boulos, 52, has said he has extensive ties to key political figures in Lebanon, including Suleiman Frangieh, a Christian former president who was backed by Hezbollah to be the next head of state. He has also said he maintains ties with the Lebanese Forces, an anti-Hezbollah Christian group, and connections to independent politicians.
He ran for office in Lebanon and his father and grandfather were both politically active. His father-in-law was an important financial supporter of the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party aligned with Hezbollah.
Alina Habba
A New Jersey lawyer of Iraqi origin, Ms Habba is set to become Mr Trump's legal counsel when he is in the White House.
She is managing partner of Habba, Madaio and Associates, and has represented Mr Trump in a series of legal challenges, including a defamation lawsuit and a fraud lawsuit in New York where he was charged with inflating the value of his assets. She has been advising him on legal matters and representing him since he left office in 2021.
Ms Habba, who was born in the US, has Iraqi ancestry and is Chaldean, the largest Christian denomination in Iraq and one of the Catholic Church’s Eastern rites. Her family left Iraq in the early 1980s to escape religious persecution. She identifies as an Arab-American Catholic and says she is “very religious”.
During Mr Trump’s presidential campaign, Ms Habba was often featured on conservative news media outlets. She also spoke at the Republican National Convention and accompanied Mr Trump on the campaign trail. She was also a speaker at the Madison Square Garden rally in October.
Janette Nesheiwat
Late last month, Mr Trump nominated Dr Nesheiwat to serve as the Surgeon General, “the nation’s doctor".
Born in New York City to Jordanian-Christian parents, Dr Nesheiwat worked as an urgent care doctor and later became a medical director at CityMD, a chain of clinics that operate in New York and in New Jersey. During the pandemic, she regularly appeared on Fox News as a medical contributor.
She also has family ties to the Trump administration. Her sister, Julia Nesheiwat, was a homeland security adviser in the first Trump administration. She is also married to Florida Representative Mike Waltz, who has been nominated as national security adviser.
Dr Nesheiwat, 47, is one of five siblings who was raised by a widowed mother after their father was killed in a “freak accident”. Dr Nesheiwat accidentally knocked over a handgun in the house, causing it to discharge and hit her father in the head. That experience reportedly motivated her to become a physician.
Tom Barrack
A prominent businessman, Mr Barrack is a billionaire and a long-time friend of the president-elect. Mr Trump nominated him as the next US ambassador to Turkey.
The grandson of Lebanese-Christian immigrants, Mr Barrack founded the private equity firm Colony Capital. He was the chair of Mr Trump's first inaugural committee in 2017, and two years ago he was acquitted of federal charges accusing him of unlawfully lobbying.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – UAE won by 36 runs
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Company%20profile
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The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
Who is Ramon Tribulietx?
Born in Spain, Tribulietx took sole charge of Auckland in 2010 and has gone on to lead the club to 14 trophies, including seven successive Oceania Champions League crowns. Has been tipped for the vacant New Zealand national team job following Anthony Hudson's resignation last month. Had previously been considered for the role.
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 BIO
Occupation: Specialised chief medical laboratory technologist
Age: 78
Favourite destination: Always Al Ain “Dar Al Zain”
Hobbies: his work - “ the thing which I am most passionate for and which occupied all my time in the morning and evening from 1963 to 2019”
Other hobbies: football
Favorite football club: Al Ain Sports Club
The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****
SHAITTAN
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Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
- Park in shaded or covered areas
- Add tint to windows
- Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Everton 1 Stoke City 0
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Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
In haemodialysis, blood is pumped out of your body to an artificial kidney machine that filter your blood and returns it to your body by tubes.
In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.
2019 Asian Cup final
Japan v Qatar
Friday, 6pm
Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
