There are plenty of things to do in the UAE this week — foodies in Dubai can book a seat at a special chef's table event in DIFC, while artists in Abu Dhabi can learn from a veteran in digital animation.
Here, The National rounds up seven things you can do from February 6 to February 12.
Monday
Emirati artist Jalal Luqman is hosting a digital animation workshop at the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi.
A prominent figure on the art scene, Luqman is a mixed media artist, who has been instrumental in the introduction of digital art in the UAE and the wider region. He is a sculptor, curator and author, whose work has been shown in the US, UK, China and Japan, among other locations.
The masterclass is part of a series of Luqman's digital art workshops that will run until March. Entry to the class costs Dh240.
More information is available at culturalfoundation.ae.
Tuesday
The annual Ataya Exhibition is taking place this week at the Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, where local and international vendors will have a range of products on offer — from fashion to homewares.
Entry to the event costs Dh75 and will benefit Ataya's Nahr Al Hayat fund, which helps finance health and medical services for children in underprivileged communities.
The exhibition is open from 3pm to 10pm and will run until Friday.
Wednesday
Chef Bethany Kehdy is taking over the kitchen of Boca in DIFC for a special three-night dining experience, traversing the diverse culinary scene of West Asia and North Africa.
Kehdy, a bestselling cookbook author who lives in Dubai, is a passionate advocate of the region's cuisine — covering the Armenian highlands, parts of the Caucasus, Anatolia, Cyprus, the Levant, the Sinai Peninsula, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Iraq and North Africa.
The dinner is part of Kehdy's advocacy to change how people refer to the region. She believes it should be Wana, instead of Middle East and North Africa (Mena), which she says "blurs our identity and location, depriving us of our own self-identification, self-determination and self-worth".
The Once Upon A Time in West Asia and North Africa dinner pop-up starts on Tuesday, and will run until Thursday.
7pm-10pm; from Dh545; DIFC; 04 323 1833
Thursday
Celebrate World Pizza Day at American smokehouse Brew House, which is offering a buy one, get one free deal on a variety of pizzas. The menu includes classics, such as Margherita and pepperoni pizzas, as well as specialty pies topped with wild mushroom and pulled beef.
The offer is available from noon to midnight, and by 9.30pm, resident musician Randy will take to the stage to provide entertainment throughout the night.
Noon-midnight; prices vary; Business Bay; 050 448 0493
Friday
Home-grown cafe Spill the Bean in Dubai is hosting a single-day wellness market in Sustainable City. The pop-up will run for six hours, from 9am to 3pm. Local vendors and artisans will be on site selling products with a focus on sustainability.
Some of the pieces for sale include natural candles, handmade jewellery, as well as items of clothing. Emirates Bio Farm will also be at the pop-up to sell fresh produce. Visitors can also take part in a complimentary yoga class.
Saturday
Japan's popular DJ Koco is playing at Honeycomb Hi-Fi in Business Bay, Dubai.
The DJ, also referred to as Shimokita in Japan, is known for his distinctive sound combining hip-hop, rare funk and obscure disco. He is regarded as an expert in using 45 rpm discs, 7-inch vinyls that are known in the industry to be difficult to move, scratch with and manipulate. Koco calls himself a vinyl nerd.
Three seating options are available, from 9pm to 1.30am — the first seating is without a minimum spend or cover charge; for the second two seatings, indoors cost Dh450 per person and Dh350 for the terrace spots.
More information is available on Honeycomb Hi-Fi's Instagram page
Sunday
The InClassica International Music Festival in Dubai opens Sunday, with performances by Japanese violinist Fumiaki Miura, Italian conductor Massimiliano Caldi and the Turkish Cukurova State Symphony Orchestra.
The show marks the beginning of a 20-day classical music festival, as part of which musicians from around the world will perform in the emirate, including a pianist and an orchestra.
Other performers in the festival include the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan and the Savaria Symphony Orchestra. Tickets start at Dh150.
More information available at inclassicaconcerts.com.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Fast%20X
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WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Our legal advisor
Rasmi Ragy is a senior counsel at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Prosecutor in Egypt with more than 40 years experience across the GCC.
Education: Ain Shams University, Egypt, in 1978.
The Vines - In Miracle Land
Two stars
Match info
Newcastle United 1
Joselu (11')
Tottenham Hotspur 2
Vertonghen (8'), Alli (18')
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
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
ENGLAND TEAM
England (15-1)
George Furbank; Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (capt), Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes; Charlie Ewels, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George, Joe Marler
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, Ollie Devoto, Jonathan Joseph
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
On sale: now
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)
Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)
Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
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- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
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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.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Bio
Born in Dibba, Sharjah in 1972.
He is the eldest among 11 brothers and sisters.
He was educated in Sharjah schools and is a graduate of UAE University in Al Ain.
He has written poetry for 30 years and has had work published in local newspapers.
He likes all kinds of adventure movies that relate to his work.
His dream is a safe and preserved environment for all humankind.
His favourite book is The Quran, and 'Maze of Innovation and Creativity', written by his brother.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
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MATCH INFO
Liverpool 4 (Salah (pen 4, 33', & pen 88', Van Dijk (20')
Leeds United 3 (Harrison 12', Bamford 30', Klich 66')
Man of the match Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
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