UAE President receives speaker of Turkish national assembly

President Sheikh Mohamed received Numan Kurtulmus, Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, on Tuesday.

Sheikh Mohamed passed on his regards to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, and both expressed their wish to enhance ties at all levels between the two nations.

The meeting emphasised support for common causes regionally and globally, as well as the role of parliaments in promoting peace and shared humanitarian values worldwide.

Also present was Saqr Ghobash, Speaker of the UAE Federal National Council.

Sheikh Mohamed was also briefed on Tuesday on the key initiatives and future projects of the Federal Geographic Information Centre (FGIC).

During the briefing, which took place at Qasr Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi, he was presented with a copy of the UAE’s General Map in both Arabic and English.

Officials outlined a number of key initiatives undertaken since the establishment of the centre, including the Union Atlas, a project that provides a database of reliable spatial geographic and statistical information.

This is intended to benefit various sectors across the country, particularly in the areas of education, health, the economy and environment.

Another key project is the National Geospatial Features Catalogue, which assigns definitions and codes to every geographic feature within the national spatial framework.

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Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
Travel distance: Limited
Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
Duration: Can linger for days
Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
Source: Can be carried from distant regions

THE BIO

Bio Box

Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul

Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader

Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Favorite food: seafood

Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

The studios taking part (so far)

Punch
Vogue Fitness
Sweat
Bodytree Studio
The Hot House
The Room
Inspire Sports (Ladies Only)
Cryo

The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars

Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?

Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.

They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.

“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.

He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.

Match info

What: Fifa Club World Cup play-off
Who: Al Ain v Team Wellington
Where: Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
When: Wednesday, kick off 7.30pm