You can take a holiday to Nepal and learn to cook Asian food at the same time with a new trip from Himalayan Footsteps. The 10- or 17-day trips start on October 2, followed by departures on March 5 and 24, 2014. Trips start in Kathmandu, where participants will be taken out to local food markets to buy ingredients, experience traditional dishes cooked in local homes, and then cook their own meals in spectacular locations in different parts of the country. Prices start at Dh5,800 per person for the 10-day trip, including two internal flights, accommodation and food, the cookery course, all transport, a sightseeing guide and entrance fees, but excluding international flights (www.himalayanfootsteps.com).
Alternatively, explore the coast of Amalfi, Italy, with the Dubai-based women's travel organisation The World at Her Feet, in partnership with BBC Good Food Middle East magazine. The six-day adventure departs on September 27, and travellers will enjoy cooking sessions with one of the Amalfi region's well-known chefs, visits to local farms with tastings, a guided tour of Pompeii, excursions to the Amalfi coast and Capri, and most meals, for Dh9,400 per person, on a twin-sharing basis. For registration and more details email marizel@cpidubai.com or visit www.bbcgoodfoodme.com. The price does not include travel to and from Italy.
Propaganda on display in London show
Those fascinated by historical travel, particularly with visits to communist countries such as China, Russia, Vietnam, Cambodia and North Korea, but also 20th-century Europe and the First and Second World Wars, can indulge their interest in an exhibition at the British Library (www.bl.uk) in London until September 17. Through posters, films, cartoons, sounds and texts, Propaganda: Power and Persuasion contains a huge variety of material on international state propaganda in the 20th and 21st centuries. Adult entry is £9 (Dh51).
Dive into a spa-and-adventure trip to Oman
If indulgence is your thing, then you can currently save on a luxury diving break in Oman with Six Senses Zighy Bay's Musandam Dive package. Until September 30, for US$660 (Dh2,424) per person per night including taxes, two people sharing can enjoy two nights' accommodation, breakfast, a full-day dive boat excursion for two and a 60-minute massage for two at the Six Senses Spa. Email reservations-zighy@sixsenses.com or phone 00968 2673 5555 to book.
* Rosemary Behan
more from Janine di Giovanni
RESULTS
Dubai Kahayla Classic – Group 1 (PA) $750,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
Winner: Deryan, Ioritz Mendizabal (jockey), Didier Guillemin (trainer).
Godolphin Mile – Group 2 (TB) $750,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
Dubai Gold Cup – Group 2 (TB) $750,000 (Turf) 3,200m
Winner: Subjectivist, Joe Fanning, Mark Johnston
Al Quoz Sprint – Group 1 (TB) $1million (T) 1,200m
Winner: Extravagant Kid, Ryan Moore, Brendan Walsh
UAE Derby – Group 2 (TB) $750,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Rebel’s Romance, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
Dubai Golden Shaheen – Group 1 (TB) $1.5million (D) 1,200m
Winner: Zenden, Antonio Fresu, Carlos David
Dubai Turf – Group 1 (TB) $4million (T) 1,800m
Winner: Lord North, Frankie Dettori, John Gosden
Dubai Sheema Classic – Group 1 (TB) $5million (T) 2,410m
Winner: Mishriff, John Egan, John Gosden
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially