Dubai // With a swipe of his own personal metro card handed to him on a silver platter, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai took a trip that will be mirrored by regular commuters.
The historic opening of the 52km Dubai Metro Red Line, which was broadcast live on television, began with a reception attended by hundreds at the Mall of the Emirates Galleria.
Sheikh Mohammed said the new system, the first in the country, would help the UAE stand on par with other countries.
He also used it as an example of the financial resiliance of the emirate, in the wake of last year's economic downturn.
"We have postponed some of the projects that were still on paper, but we ordered that those in operation be completed, and Dubai Metro is a concrete proof of that," said Sheikh Mohammed.
Full coverage of the historic launch of the Dubai Metro can be found in tomorrow's edition of The National and here online throughout this evening. Join us tomorrow for the first day of the Metro for commuters with stories, photos, video and a live blog, Twitter and Facebook updates.
Shooting Ghosts: A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War by Thomas J. Brennan and Finbarr O’Reilly
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Almouneer
Started: 2017
Founders: Dr Noha Khater and Rania Kadry
Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
$3.6 million led by Global Ventures
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match is shown on BeIN Sports
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
Company Profile
Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000
Votes
Total votes: 1.8 million
Ashraf Ghani: 923,592 votes
Abdullah Abdullah: 720,841 votes
More on Quran memorisation:
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The five pillars of Islam
How it works
A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank
Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night
The charge is stored inside a battery
The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode
A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes
This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode
When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again
The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge
No limit on how many times you can charge
