Patrick will join SpongeBob SquarePants for a performance at Sharjah's City Centre Al Zahia. Photo: City Centre Al Zahia
Patrick will join SpongeBob SquarePants for a performance at Sharjah's City Centre Al Zahia. Photo: City Centre Al Zahia
Patrick will join SpongeBob SquarePants for a performance at Sharjah's City Centre Al Zahia. Photo: City Centre Al Zahia
Patrick will join SpongeBob SquarePants for a performance at Sharjah's City Centre Al Zahia. Photo: City Centre Al Zahia

Things to do in the UAE this week, including a date festival, SpongeBob and classic cinema


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This week brings a diverse itinerary of events across the UAE – from family-friendly shows in Sharjah and a shot of culture in Abu Dhabi, to all things art and food in Dubai.

Here, The National rounds up seven things to do in the Emirates, from July 24 to 30.

Monday

Take the little ones to Sharjah's City Centre Al Zahia mall to see live performances of SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick, the characters from Nickelodeon’s beloved cartoon.

Aside from the free daily stage shows, there are also meet-and-greet opportunities with the mascots, as well as an activity area with sea-themed games that require a minimum spend of Dh200 at the mall.

Until Sunday, 2pm-10pm; City Centre Al Zahia, Sharjah; citycentrealzahia.com

Tuesday

Robert De Niro, left, and Martin Scorsese have worked together for more than half a century. AFP
Robert De Niro, left, and Martin Scorsese have worked together for more than half a century. AFP

Catch a screening of the 1973 film Mean Streets by legendary director Martin Scorsese at Cinema Akil on Tuesday.

The American crime drama is a semi-biographical tale of the first-generation sons and daughters of New York's Little Italy mafia. It follows Johnny Boy, played by Robert De Niro, as he struggles to repay his debts to a loan shark and taps a friend involved in criminal activities to bail him out.

Tuesday, 9.15pm; Dh56.50; Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai; cinemaakil.com

Wednesday

Sample a variety of dates at the Liwa Date Festival. Pawan Singh / The National
Sample a variety of dates at the Liwa Date Festival. Pawan Singh / The National

Take a trip to Al Dhafra to attend the Liwa Date Festival, Abu Dhabi.

The free-to-attend event welcomes dozens of vendors who showcase different varieties of dates. It is also the perfect place to learn more about the fruit's rich history and its significance in Emirati heritage.

Aside from the pop-up market, there are competitions and other activities on site.

Until Sunday, 4pm-10pm; Al Dhafra, Abu Dhabi; abudhabiculture.ae

Thursday

Fried calamari (Dh80) at Josette. Photo: Orange Hospitality
Fried calamari (Dh80) at Josette. Photo: Orange Hospitality

Head to the DIFC's ICD Brookfield Place for the free-to-enter All Eyes on Summer Moon exhibition, which features the vibrant and colourful work of Palestinian-American artist Lena Kassicieh.

Art aside, the event also has summer-inspired games as well as food and beverage pop-up stalls by restaurants such as La Nina and Lulu and the Beanstalk on different days, with French restaurant Josette serving dishes on Thursday.

Until August 10, from 6pm; the Dubai International Financial Centre; icdbrookfieldplace.com

Friday

Attend a dim sum masterclass at The Noodle House in Dubai on Friday.

The session, which is available for both children and adults, will teach participants how to fold and cook dumplings, from prawn siu mai to vegetable wontons. Everyone receives a free glass of iced tea while sampling their own creations. Children receive free refills of iced tea and a complimentary bento box.

The offer is available at the City Walk and Jumeirah Beach Residence branches.

Every Friday and Saturday until September 2, from noon; Dh130 for adults, Dh80 for children; City Walk (800 323 232) and Jumeirah Beach Residence (04 352 6615), Dubai

Saturday

The indoor concert series Beat the Heat, which is part of Dubai Summer Surprises, continues on Saturday with a performance by three regional artists.

Performing on The Agenda's stage are Egyptian rapper Afroto, Tunisian singer Balti and Sudanese rapper Soulja.

Saturday, from 7.30pm; tickets start at Dh160; Dubai Media City; dubai.platinumlist.net

Sunday

Head to Colnago on Al Hudayriyat Island, Abu Dhabi, for an interactive session on how to beat pre-diabetes.

Farah Hillou, a functional dietitian, and Bhuvan Srinivasan, chief business officer of health tech company Ultrahuman, are going to tackle issues such as causes and preventions of the chronic disease, as well as the benefits of continuous glucose monitoring.

Refreshments will be provided and there will be a 20-minute movement session led by trainer Zelmare Vijoen. Ticket holders are automatically entered into a draw to win health supplements and a month-long subscription to Ultrahuman's glucose monitoring technology.

Sunday, 10am-11.30am; Dh80 per person; Al Hudayriyat Island; longevity.livehealthymag.com

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
England's lowest Test innings

- 45 v Australia in Sydney, January 28, 1887

- 46 v West Indies in Port of Spain, March 25, 1994

- 51 v West Indies in Kingston, February 4, 2009

- 52 v Australia at The Oval, August 14, 1948

- 53 v Australia at Lord's, July 16, 1888

- 58 v New Zealand in Auckland, March 22, 2018

Bundesliga fixtures

Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)

Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm) 

RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm) 

Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm) 

Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn  (4.30pm) 

Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm) 

Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)

Sunday, May 17

Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),

Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)

Monday, May 18

Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)

COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Qosty Byogaani

Starring: Hani Razmzi, Maya Nasir and Hassan Hosny

Four stars

How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Xpanceo

Started: 2018

Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov

Based: Dubai, UAE

Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality

Funding: $40 million

Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)

While you're here
The Settlers

Director: Louis Theroux

Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz

Rating: 5/5

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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Company info

Company name: Entrupy 

Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist

Based: New York, New York

Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.  

Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius. 

Total customers: Entrupy’s customers include hundreds of secondary resellers, marketplaces and other retail organisations around the world. They are also testing with shipping companies as well as customs agencies to stop fake items from reaching the market in the first place. 

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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 PROFILE
Name: Airev
Started: September 2023
Founder: Muhammad Khalid
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Generative AI
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
 
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Gothia Cup 2025

4,872 matches 

1,942 teams

116 pitches

76 nations

26 UAE teams

15 Lebanese teams

2 Kuwaiti teams

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 years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

CHELSEA'S NEXT FIVE GAMES

Mar 10: Norwich(A)

Mar 13: Newcastle(H)

Mar 16: Lille(A)

Mar 19: Middlesbrough(A)

Apr 2: Brentford(H)

The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)

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The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

SPECS
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The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

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Tips for job-seekers
  • Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
  • Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.

David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East

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.

First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus 

The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms. 

Honeymoonish
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The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm

Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km

Price: from Dh94,900

On sale: now

Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

England squad

Joe Root (captain), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes (vice-captain), Moeen Ali, Liam Dawson, Toby Roland-Jones, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson.

Updated: July 25, 2023, 11:07 AM`