Formula One's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December will see the unveiling of significant changes to the Yas Island track.
Along with the return of spectators, four nights of high-octane concerts, and celebrations of the country’s golden jubilee National Day, there will a "significant configuration programme" designed to enhance the experience for drivers and fans.
Saif Al Noaimi, acting chief executive of Abu Dhabi Motor Sports, revealed the first alterations to the track since it was opened in 2009.
“We have been listening to the fans, drivers, the teams, the Formula One management and the FIA of the track change,” Al Noaimi said on Thursday.
“We have been working jointly with everyone concerned to come up with this design to create more overtaking opportunities, wheel-to-wheel racing, and enable drivers to follow each other closer in order to get into position to make overtaking moves.”
The changes will feature modifications to three parts of the circuit, incorporating 12 corners in total.
The first is the north hairpin, and Al Naomi added: “We are eliminating turns five and six, the chicane before the hairpin, and widening the entry to the north hairpin.
“The drivers are going to enter that corner at a faster speed on a wider entry that provides an opportunity for out-breaking. It also provides the opportunity to take different racing lines through that hairpin."
The zone two marina section at the end of the support pits is eliminating four corners.
“That is going to be a fast corner,” Al Noaimi continued. “It’s going to be banked with a wide entry with cars entering that corner at a higher rate of speed, higher apex speed, different racing lines and higher exit speed.”
“We are allowing the cars to run faster through them and maintaining a flow so they are able to stay closer to each other," Al Noaimi added.
“The last thing about that section that’s exciting is what’s currently known as Turn 20 which is going to be a flat-out corner in F1. That’s the last corner before the entry to the pit lane.”
With Red Bull's Max Verstappen leading world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, Formula One is looking for a competitive end to the season at the inaugural Saudi Grand Prix on December 5, followed by Abu Dhabi a week later,
“So far it’s been playing out to be an exciting season,” said Al Noaimi.
“Both Max and Lewis are exchanging leads in the championship. We have seen some great wheel-to-wheel racing and some great overtaking. Red Bull and Mercedes seems to be performing differently on different tracks.
“We are still quite early on in the season but we hope that it will continue like this until the championship decider in Abu Dhabi."
The Emirati added: “We are really excited to have the fans back in the stands and across the venue.
“The event this year has opened for 30 per cent capacity, which is around 16,000 spectators. We are glad to welcome the fans back but we are implementing the best practices and government guidelines in terms of Covid-19 safety protocol."
This year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix coincides with the nation’s 50th National Day and comes soon after the inaugural Saudi Grand Prix.
“The Grand Prix in the Kingdom demonstrates the importance of motorsports to the region and importance of the region for Formula One,” Al Noaimi said.
“To have three Grand Prix races in the region [including Bahrain] here is a testament to how important this region this region is turning out to be for F1 and motorsports.
“In terms of having two races at the end of the season in the region is going to be another exciting thing, hopefully we would be looking forward to a championship decided in the region.”
Popular venue
Plans are in place to stage four nights of concerts after every racing session from Thursday to Sunday.
“It’s going to be high-calibre artists on each night,” Al Noaimi said. “The challenge this year is with the capacity within the Etihad Park, each fan will have to select one night to attend the concert.
“As we announce the artists over the next few weeks we will give priority to the existing ticket holders to select one of those nights before we open up to those who still haven’t purchased the tickets."
Ross Brawn, managing director of Formula One, said: “As host of the Formula One season-finale, Yas Marina Circuit has established itself as one of the most popular venues for motorsport fans around the world to attend.
"We are fully supportive of the decision to make improvements to the track, with the aim of enhancing the overall motorsport experience across the board, including the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, for both competitors and spectators.
"Given its position as the final race in the Formula 1 season, it is always a special date on the calendar, and with this year’s event set to be the first on the new-look track and the last race before we enter the new era of F1 in 2022, there is added incentive to look forward to the spectacle.”
Company%20Profile
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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
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan v Juventus
Saturday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Watch the match on BeIN Sports
Anna and the Apocalypse
Director: John McPhail
Starring: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Mark Benton
Three stars
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Women%E2%80%99s%20Asia%20Cup
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Company%20profile
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%E2%80%98FSO%20Safer%E2%80%99%20-%20a%20ticking%20bomb
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The%20Little%20Mermaid%20
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Company%20profile
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The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
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
RoboCop%3A%20Rogue%20City
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: BorrowMe (BorrowMe.com)
Date started: August 2021
Founder: Nour Sabri
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce / Marketplace
Size: Two employees
Funding stage: Seed investment
Initial investment: $200,000
Investors: Amr Manaa (director, PwC Middle East)
pakistan Test squad
Azhar Ali (capt), Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Yasir Shah, Usman Shinwari
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
No%20Windmills%20in%20Basra
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Diaa%20Jubaili%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20180%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPublisher%3A%20Deep%20Vellum%20Publishing%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle
