Employees in the UAE will enjoy a four-day weekend to mark Commemoration Day and the country's 51st National Day.
It will run from Thursday, December 1, through Saturday, December 3, and with Sunday, December 4 being off, employees will be back in the office on Monday, December 5, UAE Media Office said on Twitter.
It is likely both the private and public sectors will enjoy the same number of days off but that has yet to be confirmed by the authorities.
Commemoration Day, earlier called Martyr's Day, is an annual event to remember those who have lost their lives in the line of service.
The day officially falls on November 30, but it has been marked with a public holiday on the following day in recent years, a move that is being repeated this year.
The UAE celebrates National Day to commemorate the formation of the country in 1971.
The holiday marks the day that six emirates bound together to form the UAE, with Ras Al Khaimah joining as the seventh and final emirate the following year.
Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father, led efforts to unite the emirates and became the first President.
What events are planned for National Day 2022?
The UAE will mark its 51st National Day in style with 10 days of celebrations in store next month.
December's holiday festivities will also be momentous for the country as President Sheikh Mohamed will oversee his first National Day as leader, having been elected in May after the death of Sheikh Khalifa.
The traditional National Day show will be broadcast on TV and online on Friday, December 2, followed by live events at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from December 3 to 11.
Organisers have not confirmed specific details of the showpiece December 2 event.
Tickets for the nine shows ― which start at 6pm each day ― are available for Dh200 on the official National Day website.
This year, Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi has a full programme of festivities planned for the National Day holiday, starting on November 28.
A fireworks display is set to take place on the hotel's beachfront on the evening of December 2, although times have yet to be confirmed.
The Grand Dome will double as a family-friendly cultural village with themed activities, a falconer and a dates exhibition, and it will host traditional dance performances from 3pm to 6pm.
Elsewhere, those who sign up for the picnic in the Palace Gardens can catch the National Day air show, while the Palace terrace will put on a live Khaleeji concert at 7.30pm on December 1 and 3.
In Dubai, The Pointe on Palm Jumeirah will host not one but two celebratory shows on National Day. At 9pm on December 2, guests can expect a dazzling fireworks show set against the backdrop of the dancing waters of The Palm Fountain.
The two shows will be a treat for the eyes as well as the ears with the fountain set to the tune of Ya Salam Ya Dubai.
In Abu Dhabi, fireworks usually happen on the Corniche and Yas Island, while in Dubai fireworks can be enjoyed at a range of locations, including The Burj Khalifa, Atlantis, The Palm on Palm Jumeirah and Bluewaters Island.
Other emirates will also have fireworks and events planned to celebrate the day.
Last year, stunning Golden Jubilee celebrations took centre stage in Hatta before an audience including President Sheikh Mohamed, who was Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi at the time, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, both of whom could at times be seen recording the spectacle on their mobile phones.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Series info
Test series schedule 1st Test, Abu Dhabi: Sri Lanka won by 21 runs; 2nd Test, Dubai: Play starts at 2pm, Friday-Tuesday
ODI series schedule 1st ODI, Dubai: October 13; 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 16; 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 18; 4th ODI, Sharjah: October 20; 5th ODI, Sharjah: October 23
T20 series schedule 1st T20, Abu Dhabi: October 26; 2nd T20, Abu Dhabi: October 27; 3rd T20, Lahore: October 29
Tickets Available at www.q-tickets.com
Stat Fourteen Fourteen of the past 15 Test matches in the UAE have been decided on the final day. Both of the previous two Tests at Dubai International Stadium have been settled in the last session. Pakistan won with less than an hour to go against West Indies last year. Against England in 2015, there were just three balls left.
Key battle - Azhar Ali v Rangana Herath Herath may not quite be as flash as Muttiah Muralitharan, his former spin-twin who ended his career by taking his 800th wicket with his final delivery in Tests. He still has a decent sense of an ending, though. He won the Abu Dhabi match for his side with 11 wickets, the last of which was his 400th in Tests. It was not the first time he has owned Pakistan, either. A quarter of all his Test victims have been Pakistani. If Pakistan are going to avoid a first ever series defeat in the UAE, Azhar, their senior batsman, needs to stand up and show the way to blunt Herath.
Switching%20sides
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If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
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The details
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Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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