The inaugural Dubai Metaverse Assembly, first announced by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, and organised by the Dubai Future Foundation, is set to take place on September 28 and 29.
A host of global organisations will be in attendance, as Dubai showcases how it is at the cutting edge of future technology and will remain so in the future.
What will happen at the event?
The Dubai Future Foundation said that the assembly aimed to position Dubai as one of the best cities in the world by investing in promising economic opportunities, adopting and deploying metaverse technology, and developing digital infrastructure that supports global transformations and the digital economy.
The assembly will establish a global platform for launching discussions that will help to identify the opportunities of the metaverse and harness its potential, state news agency Wam reported.
It added that specialised workshops will bring together major companies, specialists and pioneers. This is with the objective of capitalising on metaverse technologies to create tangible outcomes and enhance the quality of life in both the real and virtual worlds.
The metaverse assembly serves as a global platform convening technology experts and the wider metaverse community from around the world to map out opportunities and harness the potential of this promising virtual world, according to Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, Deputy Managing Director of Dubai Future Foundation.
"The specialised event is a first for the region and a unique opportunity to exchange knowledge and ideas on the best solutions, projects and industries likely to benefit from the metaverse’s vast potential. Through this inaugural event, we highlight the extraordinary potential of this immersive world to accelerate economic growth, drive innovation and create a fundamentally better future for humanity.”
Who is attending?
There will be more than 300 global experts and more than 40 specialised organisations discussing, exploring and shaping the future of the metaverse.
The event will host the likes of the World Economic Forum, Meta, Mastercard, Emirates airline and Accenture.
Demand for places at the event was "immense", Hamad Al Shirawi, Dubai Future Foundation's director of projects, told The National last month.
“There’s been immense demand from the government, private companies, technology start-ups and innovators in Web3 locally and internationally,” he said.
“We expect speakers from leading and most innovative global players in the metaverse-sphere to gather at the assembly to engage in meaningful dialogue around key topics such as the role of government; enabling factors for creating ecosystems on the metaverse; how Web3 technologies are enabling new business models and interactions on the metaverse; and how private entities are driving change in sectors such as gaming, art, education and finance.”
Live streaming will be available to those unable to attend.
What is the metaverse?
The metaverse is where people, represented by avatars or three-dimensional likenesses, can interact in virtual worlds.
It is part of Web3, the next evolutionary step of the internet, with blockchain, decentralisation, openness and greater user utility among its core components.
The value of the global metaverse market is forecast to exceed $1.6 trillion by 2030 at a compound annual growth rate of more than 50 per cent, from an estimated $40 billion in 2021, Canada-based Precedence Research said.
What about the Dubai Metaverse Strategy?
This was announced in July and aims to create 40,000 jobs and add $4bn to the emirate's economy in the next five years.
Sheikh Hamdan said the plan was the “next revolution in the technological and economic field that will affect all aspects of life over the next two decades”.
The initiative aims to double the number of blockchain companies and the metaverse by five times.
As of July, there were 1,000 companies in Dubai working in the metaverse, Sheikh Hamdan said.
Dubai has also formed a higher committee for future technology and digital economy, as it seeks to establish itself as a global hub for the future economy.
In May, Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority said it had entered into the metaverse with the establishment of its Metaverse HQ, making it the first regulator to have a presence there.
The authority was established in March by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, under the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulation Law, the first such law in the emirate.
Where is the assembly being held?
It will be at the Museum of the Future and Emirates Towers.
The years Ramadan fell in May
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
Company%C2%A0profile
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
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 five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk
“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”
“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”
“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”
“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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
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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Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight
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Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Messi at the Copa America
2007 – lost 3-0 to Brazil in the final
2011 – lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals
2015 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
2016 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
Sweet%20Tooth
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88 Video's most popular rentals
Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.
Sholay: a 1975 Indian action-adventure film. It follows the adventures of two criminals hired by police to catch a vagabond. The film was panned on release but is now considered a classic.
Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.
Anna and the Apocalypse
Director: John McPhail
Starring: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Mark Benton
Three stars
