Dazzling main Expo 2020 Dubai metro station unveiled for first time

Dubai's newest metro station opened today at the Expo 2020 site.

The station is only for use by Expo 2020 employees and other eligible travellers until October 1.

It will go into general use for all passengers after the official opening later this year, when the event is under way, said the Road and Transport Authority.

The Red Line will allow passengers an uninterrupted journey from Al Rashidiya Station all the way to the Expo 2020 Station. Previously, this required switching trains at an interchange station.

Another station also opened at Dubai Investment Park today.

The two new stations opened just six months after the maiden journey on Route 2020 in January, with stops at four stations – Jabal Ali, The Gardens, The Discovery Gardens and Al Furjan.

A further station will open on October 1 at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Dubai Ruler inaugurates metro's Route 2020: in pictures

Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.

It’s So Easy
Mr Brownstone
Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
Double Talkin’ Jive
Better
Estranged
Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
Rocket Queen
You Could Be Mine
Shadow of Your Love
Attitude (Misfits cover)
Civil War
Coma
Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
Sweet Child O’ Mine
Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
November Rain
Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
Nightrain

Encore:

Patience
Don’t Cry
The Seeker (The Who cover)
Paradise City

War and the virus

Simon Rushton: War vet raises £12m for health workers

Generation Start-up: Awok company profile

Started: 2013

Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev

Sector: e-commerce

Size: 600 plus

Stage: still in talks with VCs

Principal Investors: self-financed by founder

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

The biog

Name: Mariam Ketait

Emirate: Dubai

Hobbies: I enjoy travelling, experiencing new things, painting, reading, flying, and the French language

Favourite quote: "Be the change you wish to see" - unknown

Favourite activity: Connecting with different cultures

Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?

The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.

A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.

Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.

The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.

When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.