Ali al Sayed is between cars. The last car he owned was a 2007 Mitsubishi Gallant but it is languishing unrepaired in a garage. At the moment, he is relying on an assortment of borrowed cars from friends and family, including a Chevrolet Tahoe, a Toyota Corolla, a BMW and a Nissan Sunny.
However, he hopes that one of the local car dealerships comes through with sponsorship in the form of a car to promote his co-owned, not-for-profit organisation Dubomedy, which runs comedy and dance workshops, comedy shows and community activities such as Clowns Who Care, a troupe that entertains children with special needs and in hospitals. A sponsored car would also be used to transport visiting celebrities that Dubomedy brings out for concerts and events.
The Dubai-based Emirati comedian says he loves driving more than one car but he hates "that cars define your status on the road".
"When I'm in a SUV, I don't even have to flash my light to be given way on the fast lane," he explains. "But other times, when you're in a white, rented Toyota Corolla, you find yourself flashing your light, honking, shaking your fist and yelling things in foreign languages, hoping that you could slightly intimidate the dude in front of you to have mercy and switch lanes."
He continues his Corolla rant: "Then after five minutes of trying to get the car up to 120kph, you finally achieve that - then another car cuts you off and you're back down to 60kph."
His first car was a Peugeot 306cc coupe that he bought when he was actually looking to buy an SUV. But he fell in love with the red and black leather interior of the convertible Pug and he has some advice for whoever might be driving the car now.
"If you're a new owner of this car, the way to open the trunk is inside the zero on the rear badge - they don't tell you that in the catalogue, it's some sort of weird French humour or something.
"I then moved on to a Japanese car; how wrong could you go with Mitsubishi? It was also fun because locals say 'Mis-too-beeshy.' Yes, my car had a localised nickname!" he laughs.
Over the years, al Sayed has also had his share of misadventures with his cars.
"Once I had a car die on me in the Dubai Trade Centre fifth-floor parking at midnight," he recalls. "The image of me pushing down a car five floors, take a U-turn and into the free parking area was funny. I even had my blinkers on when making turns as I am a law-abiding citizen.
"And I had the back bumber - that's bumper with an Emirati accent - fly off my Mis-too-beeshy," he says of the fate that has befallen the last car he owned. "I spent one-and-a-half hours after that stopping cars on the highway to ask if they saw a car bumper on the road."
It turned out that the bumper had been hidden in a tree. "I was then seen running on the 160kph Abu Dhabi highway with a bumper trying to cross the street."
When asked about any brushes with the law, al Sayed pretends to be defensive. "Who sent you?" he asks in mock horror. "Just because I owe the government Dh26,560 in speeding tickets, that does not make me a bad driver!"
But then al Sayed has a rare moment of seriousness when he says: "I've paid most of it off but I still have got some more to pay. Like me, many people learnt their lesson and the new fine structure has actually made some motorists slower, hence safer."
Results:
Men's 100m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 15 sec; 2. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 15.40; 3. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 15.75. Men's 400m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 50.56; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 50.94; 3. Henry Manni (FIN) 52.24.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Real estate tokenisation project
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.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees
Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
