Smoking shisha was among the first activities to be prohibited in March as the authorities acted to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
Smoking shisha was among the first activities to be prohibited in March as the authorities acted to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
Smoking shisha was among the first activities to be prohibited in March as the authorities acted to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
Smoking shisha was among the first activities to be prohibited in March as the authorities acted to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Coronavirus: Dubai to allow shisha smoking in cafes from Saturday


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Dubai allowed cafes to serve shisha from Saturday - five months after it was banned due to the virus outbreak.

Dubai Municipality gave premises the go-ahead to resume service of the popular practice as long as precautionary measures were taken.

The tendency to either share a pipe with a friend or sit in close proximity meant shisha was one of the first activities to be restricted on March 12, a day after Abu Dhabi imposed an emirate-wide ban.

Bars and restaurants were closed soon after but have since reopened.

Officials warned operators that social distancing and strict hygiene standards must be adhered to and that "regular inspections will be conducted to ensure compliance'".

As with much of the service industry, staff must wear masks at all times and clean pipes and hookahs after every use.

Only disposable shisha hoses can be used and groups are not allowed to sit together.

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.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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