The 2024 Dubai World Cup is just around the corner, so keen attendees are probably already planning how to make a fashion statement with their race day outfits.
Set to take place on March 30 at Meydan Racecourse, the event is the biggest UAE racing date of the year, with millions of dollars awarded as prizes to some of the world’s best jockeys and horse breeders. The annual event is also a chance for racegoers to showcase their finest outfits and an opportunity to be crowned best dressed in the annual Style Stakes competition.
Globally, racing events have strict fashion guidelines, and a certain level of elegance and glamour is always expected.
At Royal Ascot in England, guests are asked to adhere to a strict dress code, including specific rules around hats and headpieces, rules outlining necklines, dress straps and sleeve lengths.
Meanwhile, the Kentucky Derby in the United States, although less strict than its British counterpart, instructs guests to “dress to impress” on its official website.
Dubai World Cup follows suit with guidelines and expectations around what to wear for the event. According to Dubai Racing Club a hat or fascinator is essential for ladies, and guests should avoid revealing attire, as well as plunging necklines and overly short dresses.
For those who take their Dubai World Cup fashion choices seriously, each year, the Style Stakes competition awards the best-dressed attendees in various categories, with various prizes, ranging from Emaar gift cards to Emirates Skywards miles to bespoke hats up for grabs.
The categories for the 2024 Style Stakes are yet to be announced, but in the past they have included Best Dressed Lady, Best Dressed Man, Best Dressed Couple, Best Hat and Best Traditional Outfit.
Taking place in the Apron Views area of the Meydan racecourse, Style Stakes invites participants on stage to showcase their outfit. The judges are looking for originality, attention to detail and appropriateness for race day.
There is strict criteria for entering, which requires ladies to wear a fascinator or hat, men to wear a jacket, tie or bow tie, and no jeans or trainers are allowed.
This year, the Style Stakes judges are looking for originality and an expression of personal style, as judge Ruth Bradley explains: “The main piece of advice is to just be yourself. Be super unique because ultimately we are looking for a really unique sense of style and people that stand out.”
She goes on to list some of the sartorial missteps potential race goers could make, saying, “Men in trainers is a big faux pas. There is a certain level of dress code that is expected on race day and I really don’t think it includes sports shoes.
“I personally don’t mind a man without a tie if the overall look is spoke bespoke, well-cut, very chic and classic, but my co-judge Gary Sweeney [brand and style director at tailors Ascots & Chapels] would probably disagree with me on that one. Men in pants that are too tight or too short is another major no.
“For ladies, I don’t like to see too much flesh so ditch strapless dresses. Last year we had some contestants who didn’t even wear a hat which I think is a big no-no, especially on race day if you are entering a best dressed competition. It’s the first thing we look for and all hatless women weren’t considered.”
Hats are an important aspect of any race day outfit, with some of the most extravagant, creative hat designs often attracting attention. While those looking for an understated look might opt for a more simple hat or fascinator.
“As hats are my expertise I’m looking beyond the detail of the hat, the construction and workmanship in the hat and of course, the creative details. What makes this hat stand out from the crowd and then the overall styling of the hat and how it fits in to the finished look,” says judge Evelyn McDermott.
This year McDermott is hoping to see attendees “pushing the boundaries of fashion and style”.
She says: “Given the creativity and innovation in fashion, I anticipate seeing more unique and eye-catching outfits, perhaps incorporating sustainable and ethical fashion trends and adapting of cultural traditions into their look.
“I’m excited to see a mix of classic and modern styles. I think we’ll see a lot of vibrant colours like bold blues, deep reds and rich greens, along with white, which is so versatile. So you really can go big with the hat choice, as well as metallics like gold, silver and jewelled tones.”
McDermott also expects to see a focus on sustainability and anticipates that those wearing outfits made from sustainable fabrics and materials will get noticed.
The Style Stakes also awards the best dressed men. Sweeney recommends dressing for comfort over following trends.
“While you put in the extra bit of effort for one of the most expensive horse races in the world, it’s also very important that you feel comfortable in what you’re wearing and that you are true to yourself in terms of your style choices.”
“I think I’m looking to see people having fun with their choice of attire. Not taking themselves too seriously, and having ease and comfort in their style.”
Sweeney, also advises to stay away from following trends too strictly but to wear something that suits your personality and style. “Steer away from dark colours, uber-skinny checked trousers, go for something a little lighter and brighter that reflects the climate and the time of year,” he concludes.
Style Stakes registration desks will be located in Apron Views, concourse level Gate 2 and Gate 4 at Meydan Racecourse, open from 1pm-3.30pm on March 30
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
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What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Company%20Profile
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
What is type-1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
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
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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.
Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
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If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match is shown on BeIN Sports
Results
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner No Riesgo Al Maury, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)
5.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner Marwa W’Rsan, Sam Hitchcott, Jaci Wickham.
6pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
Winner Dahess D’Arabie, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi.
6.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m
Winner Safin Al Reef, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 2,200m
Winner Thulbaseera Al Jasra, Shakir Al Balushi, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
7.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh 80,000 2,200m
Winner Autumn Pride, Szczepan Mazur, Helal Al Alawi.
