Raffaele Ruggeri

Raffaele Ruggeri is the director of the Bice Restaurant Group, which has 35 restaurants around the globe, including the recently opened Bice Mare in the Souk al Bahar in Dubai

It is about truly connecting with your spirit, about getting closer to God. When I was 17 I went to Bali and I realised there was more to life than the way I was brought up. I started a search for this greater meaning of life and in 20 years I have grown a lot; today I experience God from within. Human beings are more than just a body; we are energy and light and when you connect with this part of yourself something new opens up. The spiritual has been the greatest part of my life.

You have to be honest and say I am going to take this chance now no matter what, because this is the way I feel right now.

I have taken the blame out of everything that happens to me. Instead of throwing around blame and, for example, cursing someone who has run into my car, I see it as an opportunity to experience something new and then move on. Even if something is uncomfortable or annoying, I use it as a way to better myself. Anger might be an emotion I feel, but I accept it and move on. The anger then passes very quickly.

Try to live in your heart. I am a very passionate man and am more connected to my heart than to my mind. Be sensitive to your heart, it is a very powerful centre in your being and playing with it comes with a lot of responsibility. I think we will all become more heart-orientated over the coming years. The new revolutions will be revolutions of the heart. You can knock me down but you cannot break my heart; through unity and love we can achieve so much. Emotions are energy in motion.

It is a foundation built on many things like trust and friendship. Together all these elements make a relationship work, along with harmony. And for harmony to exist there has to be a good balance. I believe when two people come together they should not be opposites but rather two sides of the same coin expressing themselves in different ways and supporting each other through everything and growing together. Then you have true love and harmony.
As told to Helena Frith Powell

While you're here

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Rashmee Roshan Lall: White males can be terrorists too

HA Hellyer: With dialogue, Islamophobia can be beaten

While you're here

Cheryl Thompson: Stop the practice of blackface that's as Canadian as hockey

Kareem Shaheen: Alghabra outshines the racists who malign him

Kareem Shaheen: In Canada, I have finally found a home

Cricket World Cup League Two

Oman, UAE, Namibia

Al Amerat, Muscat

Results

Oman beat UAE by five wickets

UAE beat Namibia by eight runs

Fixtures

Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia

Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE

Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia

Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat

The National in Davos

We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.

Trolls World Tour

Directed by: Walt Dohrn, David Smith

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake

Rating: 4 stars

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

On Women's Day

Dr Nawal Al-Hosany: Why more women should be on the frontlines of climate action

Shelina Janmohamed: Why shouldn't a spouse be compensated fairly for housework?

Samar Elmnhrawy: How companies in the Middle East can catch up on gender equality

The National Editorial: Is there much to celebrate on International Women's Day 2021?

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

Australia World Cup squad

Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa

If you go

Flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.

The stay

Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.