A tourist presents her Covid-19 negative certificate before checking in at the departures terminal of Henri Coanda International Airport, in Romania's capital Bucharest, in August 2021. EPA
A tourist presents her Covid-19 negative certificate before checking in at the departures terminal of Henri Coanda International Airport, in Romania's capital Bucharest, in August 2021. EPA
A tourist presents her Covid-19 negative certificate before checking in at the departures terminal of Henri Coanda International Airport, in Romania's capital Bucharest, in August 2021. EPA
A tourist presents her Covid-19 negative certificate before checking in at the departures terminal of Henri Coanda International Airport, in Romania's capital Bucharest, in August 2021. EPA

Kuwait's NAS to give passengers access to hundreds more Covid-19 testing labs


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Kuwait's National Aviation Services has partnered with HealthKey Technologies to provide passengers with digital access to an additional 1,800 Covid-19 testing locations around the world.

Through NAS' digital platform travellers can choose a lab or location nearest to their city of departure to complete their mandatory pre-flight test.

"The key advantage of the PCR certificates issued by these labs is credibility and authenticity with easy access to test results," the companies said.

HealthKey Technologies has provided NAS’s MUNA network with access to its global labs network in Europe, US, the Mena region and Asia.

"The pandemic posed several challenges for travel – both from a perspective of safety as well as passenger confidence. As a major airport services provider, we continued to drive efforts to deliver digital solutions that offer peace of mind to travellers, airline employees, airport authorities and the local governments," said Hassan El Houry, NAS's group chief executive.

"With HealthKey’s CovidPass technology, we offer a wider selection of PCR testing labs for passengers to have easier access in any of the countries they are departing from. This is especially crucial in countries where there is a high incidence of forged results or fake certificates.”

CovidPass offers "simple, incorruptible, traceable and secure, digital as well as interoperable health access to laboratory test results and vaccine credentials that help facilitate global travel", the companies said.

“Through CovidPass’s technology and operational corridors, our mission is to contribute to the end of the health crisis by creating a straightforward solution capable of quickly and easily re-enabling travel between nations while guaranteeing the security of the population and the privacy of consumer information," said Mustapha Mokass, co-founder of HealthKey Technologies.

"This crisis has revealed numerous problems in international co-ordination, but it has also demonstrated the resilience of every country. We should now hold on to science, and the use of technology to develop scale such pragmatic solutions, easing and unifying the travellers experience to go back to a nearly normal life, starting today.”

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 

Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

Pharaoh's curse

British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.

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Brief scores:

Toss: India, opted to field

Australia 158-4 (17 ov)

Maxwell 46, Lynn 37; Kuldeep 2-24

India 169-7 (17 ov)

Dhawan 76, Karthik 30; Zampa 2-22

Result: Australia won by 4 runs by D/L method

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A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

The Byblos iftar in numbers

29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month

50 staff members required to prepare an iftar

200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly

160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total

500 litres of soup is served during the holy month

200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes

350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes

5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
 

UAE v Zimbabwe A, 50 over series

Fixtures
Thursday, Nov 9 - 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 11 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Monday, Nov 13 – 2pm, Dubai International Stadium
Thursday, Nov 16 – 2pm, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 18 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai

The specs: 2018 Renault Megane

Price, base / as tested Dh52,900 / Dh59,200

Engine 1.6L in-line four-cylinder

Transmission Continuously variable transmission

Power 115hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque 156Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined 6.6L / 100km

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company info

Company name: Entrupy 

Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist

Based: New York, New York

Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.  

Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius. 

Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place. 

What can you do?

Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses

Seek professional advice from a legal expert

You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor

You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline

In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support

Red flags
  • Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
  • Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
  • Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
  • Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
  • Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.

Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

The biog

Name: Abeer Al Shahi

Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan

Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.

Favourite activities: Bungee jumping

Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

Honeymoonish
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode

Directors: Raj & DK

Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon

Rating: 4/5

The specs: 2019 Audi A7 Sportback

Price, base: Dh315,000

Engine: 3.0-litre V6

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 335hp @ 5,000rpm

Torque: 500Nm @ 1,370rpm

Fuel economy 5.9L / 100km

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Updated: December 09, 2021, 5:48 PM`