Tunisia's Ons Jabeur serves against Britain’s Emma Raducanu at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open tennis tournament in Abu Dhabi on February 07. AFP
Tunisia's Ons Jabeur serves against Britain’s Emma Raducanu at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open tennis tournament in Abu Dhabi on February 07. AFP

A delight to watch Ons Jabeur in form



09 February, 2024

With reference to Jon Turner's report Ons Jabeur dazzles to outclass Emma Raducanu at Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open (February 7): I love them both. I was a bit worried for Ons at one point in the match but the second set was especially great. And clearly, experience does matter. She's truly returned to form after the Australian Open. Some shots from Ons were amazing to watch.

Mildred Ortega Galias, Abu Dhabi

The prolonged sorry state of Gaza

I write to you in reference to the report UNRWA staffer in Gaza: 'We are gradually losing the ability to keep people alive' (February 7): Accepting this new reality is depressing since it appears that nothing can be done to protect the people, including children, who have been suffering for months due to the ongoing conflict. The fact that a community seeking a safe location to avoid becoming victims of war is being denied the most basic necessities for survival is a genuinely pitiful situation.

Another serious concern is the communicable diseases posing a severe threat to those who survive and could significantly affect their quality of life going forward. Even while it can take years or even decades for life to return to normal, the average person will bear the brunt of this hardship for a long time. A question remains unanswered: when will the guns be silent in Gaza, in Ukraine and other conflicts raging in the world?

Ramachandran Nair, Muscat, Oman

Dangers of a fireworks factory

In reference to Taniya Dutta's report Explosion at fireworks factory in India kills at least 10 (February 6): This was painful to read. The fireworks industry has witnessed a few incidents in the past. Safety issues should be looked in to and the employees protected. Working at a firecrackers factory involves high risk and the workers should be looked after. It's a sad development but at least the state has announced compensation for families of those who were killed. K Ragavan, Bengaluru, India

A gripping Asian Cup semi-final

With regard to John McAuley's article Hosts Qatar edge thriller against Iran to set up Asian Cup final with Jordan (February 7): What an outcome! It's been terrific to see the last few matches. Almoez Ali carried the game on his shoulders on Wednesday. Many Congratulations to the winning team. The anticipation is really building up for Saturday's final. May the best team win!

Sultan Mirza, Doha

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.

Company Profile

Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000

The alternatives

• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.

• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.

• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.

• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.

• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases -  but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.

WIDE VIEW

The benefits of HoloLens 2, according to Microsoft:

Manufacturing: Reduces downtime and speeds up onboarding and upskilling

Engineering and construction: Accelerates the pace of construction and mitigates risks earlier in the construction cycle

Health care: Enhances the delivery of patient treatment at the point of care

Education: Improves student outcomes and teaches from anywhere with experiential learning

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin

Director: Shawn Levy

Rating: 2.5/5

Feeding the thousands for iftar

Six industrial scale vats of 500litres each are used to cook the kanji or broth 

Each vat contains kanji or porridge to feed 1,000 people

The rice porridge is poured into a 500ml plastic box

350 plastic tubs are placed in one container trolley

Each aluminium container trolley weighing 300kg is unloaded by a small crane fitted on a truck

KEY DATES IN AMAZON'S HISTORY

July 5, 1994: Jeff Bezos founds Cadabra Inc, which would later be renamed to Amazon.com, because his lawyer misheard the name as 'cadaver'. In its earliest days, the bookstore operated out of a rented garage in Bellevue, Washington

July 16, 1995: Amazon formally opens as an online bookseller. Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought becomes the first item sold on Amazon

1997: Amazon goes public at $18 a share, which has grown about 1,000 per cent at present. Its highest closing price was $197.85 on June 27, 2024

1998: Amazon acquires IMDb, its first major acquisition. It also starts selling CDs and DVDs

2000: Amazon Marketplace opens, allowing people to sell items on the website

2002: Amazon forms what would become Amazon Web Services, opening the Amazon.com platform to all developers. The cloud unit would follow in 2006

2003: Amazon turns in an annual profit of $75 million, the first time it ended a year in the black

2005: Amazon Prime is introduced, its first-ever subscription service that offered US customers free two-day shipping for $79 a year

2006: Amazon Unbox is unveiled, the company's video service that would later morph into Amazon Instant Video and, ultimately, Amazon Video

2007: Amazon's first hardware product, the Kindle e-reader, is introduced; the Fire TV and Fire Phone would come in 2014. Grocery service Amazon Fresh is also started

2009: Amazon introduces Amazon Basics, its in-house label for a variety of products

2010: The foundations for Amazon Studios were laid. Its first original streaming content debuted in 2013

2011: The Amazon Appstore for Google's Android is launched. It is still unavailable on Apple's iOS

2014: The Amazon Echo is launched, a speaker that acts as a personal digital assistant powered by Alexa

2017: Amazon acquires Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, its biggest acquisition

2018: Amazon's market cap briefly crosses the $1 trillion mark, making it, at the time, only the third company to achieve that milestone

Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal

Rating: 2/5

Updated: February 09, 2024, 3:00 AM