Halloween is just around the corner but like all things in 2020, the holiday will feel a little different this year. However, just because children might not be able to go out and trick-or-treat in the neighbourhood, that doesn’t mean they can’t still enjoy the day.
If you’re looking for ways to get in the Halloween spirit, here are some ideas you can try at home:
Host a movie night
Celebrate Halloween with a movie night and dress as your favourite characters. Children can also get in on the fun by doing this with friends over video chat or by hosting a Netflix Party. Some family-friendly Halloween film suggestions include Coraline, Hotel Transylvania, Hocus Pocus and Casper.
Decorate pumpkins
Carving and decorating pumpkins has long been a Halloween tradition for families and friends. So grab a marker or two, draw a scary face and get to carving. You can even make it a contest with the best-carved pumpkin winning a special prize. Carving kits can be picked up on online stores such as Amazon or Noon. If you don’t have the tools or don’t want to carve, another less-messy option is to paint them.
Hunt for Halloween treats
Even though trick-or-treating might be out of the picture, little ones can still have fun with a hunt for treats around the house. If you have a terrace or garden, with the weather in the UAE cooling down, you can also use that space set up a Halloween treasure hunt, with some spooky surprises thrown in along the way.
Set up your own haunted house
If you can't get out to visit a haunted house this Halloween, bring the ghouls to you. Turn your home into a spooky shack by dimming the lights and hanging up some themed decorations like spider webs or sheet ghosts. If you're children are a little older, you can ramp up the scare factor with some more garish ghouls or even dress up yourself and prepare to spook them.
Bake Halloween treats
What better way to bond over All Hallows' Eve than by baking treats together as a family? Whether it's cookies shaped as pumpkins or creating your own themed cake pops, there are plenty of Halloween recipes out there. If you have been busy decorating pumpkins, why not use the flesh to whip up a pumpkin pie, or blend it down to make your own pumpkin puree for at-home pumpkin spiced lattes?
Create a blindfolded food experiment
Continuing with the trend of food, why not set up an experiment that is a little more trick than treat? Try getting the children involved in a blindfolded taste test, with some foods that could easily be mistaken for something a little less palatable. For example, grapes can double up as eyeballs, cold cooked spaghetti could be worms and soft flour tortillas mixed with oil could be mistaken for skin. There are plenty of possibilities to experiment with, you only need to use your imagination.
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Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
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What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
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Rating: 4/5
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How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
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Manchester United 2
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Watford 1
Doucoure 90'
The specs: 2019 GMC Yukon Denali
Price, base: Dh306,500
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Power: 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 621Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.9L / 100km
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Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
GOLF’S RAHMBO
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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
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Started: October 2023
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Initial investment: Undisclosed
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'Brazen'
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Sand storm
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Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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On sale: Available for preorder now
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THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
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- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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Shower or bath after being outside.
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Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Januzaj's club record
Manchester United 50 appearances, 5 goals
Borussia Dortmund (loan) 6 appearances, 0 goals
Sunderland (loan) 25 appearances, 0 goals
