Technology gurus, billionaire investors and environment chiefs are set to descend on Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, in an effort to address some of the region's biggest challenges.
Topics under discussion will include the growing threat to MENA's environmental sustainability, the ongoing refugee crisis and youth unemployment.
More than 1,000 dignitaries, academics and world leaders are expected to attend the two-day conference. Here are six key figures taking part:
Sir Richard Branson
It is hard to believe now but the billionaire founder of the Virgin Group started off as the head of a mail order business.
From this sprang the first retail outlet of Virgin Records on London’s Oxford Street.
And from there Virgin developed into a record label - resigning the punk legends The Sex Pistols to huge success.
Airlines, a mobile phone network, finance and a rail franchise followed.
Branson also founded Virgin Galactic - its space tourism business - which he wants to begin commercial space flights.
Branson is also known for his record-breaking exploits. He entered the history books with the first successful transatlantic crossing in a hot air balloon in 1987.
He speaks on Tuesday about how he wants to "democratise" space.
Noura Al Kaabi
Appointed as the Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development in 2017, Ms Al Kaabi has spearheaded the UAE’s soft power agenda.
She is a visible presence at major cultural events in the UAE and internationally, such as during the visit of Chinese president, Xi Jinping, last year.
She has also been centrally involved in a UAE-funded project to rebuild Mosul’s famous Al Nuri Grand Mosque in Iraq.
She previously held the post of Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs and is also current president of Zayed University.
Ms Al Kaabi will discuss culture and soft power on Wednesday.
Paul Kagame
It is estimated some 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu forces in 100 days during Rwanda’s civil war in 1994.
Kagame was then commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which fought to end the conflict and stop the genocide.
He became president of the country in 2000 and since then has slowly rebuilt Rwanda’s shattered economy on the back of its tea and coffee exports, while tourism is also being encouraged.
He is an avid user of social media and will appear at the summit on Wednesday to discuss the future for Africa.
Sean Parker
In 1999, a new website arguably changed the music industry forever. Napster was a free file-sharing site that allowed people to swap music over the internet.
Co-founded by Parker, Napster’s popularity exploded, with millions of users within a year. As the industry struggled to put the genie back in the bottle, Napster was famously sued by the heavy metal band Metallica and was eventually closed by the courts.
Today, many consider the site to have laid the groundwork for platforms such as iTunes and Spotify.
Parker went on to become Facebook's founding president and was played by Justin Timberlake in The Social Network, a 2010 film about the networking site.
He is now the head of the Parker Foundation, a multi-million-dollar philanthropic fund.
He is speaking on Tuesday regarding how data can help find cures to diseases.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak
He may be more widely known as chairman of all-conquering Manchester City Football Club, but Mr Al Mubarak serves in a number of important Abu Dhabi government roles.
He is managing director and group chief executive of Mubadala, an investment vehicle tasked with diversifying Abu Dhabi’s economy.
He is also a member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and the UAE Supreme Petroleum Council.
Mr Al Mubarak was instrumental in bringing Formula 1 to Abu Dhabi in 2008 as chairman of the Abu Dhabi Motor Sport Management Company.
He will speak on Tuesday on the current global economic outlook.
Razan Al Mubarak
Front and centre of Abu Dhabi’s conservation efforts, Ms Al Mubarak is managing director of the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund which supports conservation efforts in dozens of countries across the globe.
In 2018, the EAD completed its most comprehensive survey ever of the UAE’s demersal fish stocks which will inform a comprehensive fisheries recovery plan for the UAE.
Last year, Ms Al Mubarak was selected by the World Economic Forum as one of the top 100 young sector leaders who contribute to building a more sustainable future for humankind.
Ms Al Mubarak will speak on Tuesday regarding efforts to drive sustainable business practices in the Gulf region.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
Four stars
COMPANY%20PROFILE%3A
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SUE%20GRAY'S%20FINDINGS
%3Cp%3E%22Whatever%20the%20initial%20intent%2C%20what%20took%20place%20at%20many%20of%20these%20gatherings%20and%20the%3Cbr%3Eway%20in%20which%20they%20developed%20was%20not%20in%20line%20with%20Covid%20guidance%20at%20the%20time.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22Many%20of%20these%20events%20should%20not%20have%20been%20allowed%20to%20happen.%20It%20is%20also%20the%20case%20that%20some%20of%20the%3Cbr%3Emore%20junior%20civil%20servants%20believed%20that%20their%20involvement%20in%20some%20of%20these%20events%20was%20permitted%20given%20the%20attendance%20of%20senior%20leaders.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22The%20senior%20leadership%20at%20the%20centre%2C%20both%20political%20and%20official%2C%20must%20bear%20responsibility%20for%20this%20culture.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20found%20that%20some%20staff%20had%20witnessed%20or%20been%20subjected%20to%20behaviours%20at%20work%20which%20they%20had%20felt%20concerned%20about%20but%20at%20times%20felt%20unable%20to%20raise%20properly.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20was%20made%20aware%20of%20multiple%20examples%20of%20a%20lack%20of%20respect%20and%20poor%20treatment%20of%20security%20and%20cleaning%20staff.%20This%20was%20unacceptable.%22%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
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
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The%20Kitchen
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
Scoreline
Al Wasl 1 (Caio Canedo 90 1')
Al Ain 2 (Ismail Ahmed 3', Marcus Berg 50')
Red cards: Ismail Ahmed (Al Ain) 77'
