Latest: More rain forecast for UAE as northern emirates workers stay home
Sharjah was hit by flash floods for a second day with drivers in the emirate battling challenging road conditions.
Large pools of standing water formed on roads in Khor Fakkan on Wednesday after similar scenes the previous day.
The East Coast enclave has been lashed by torrential rain during unsettled weather affecting much of the country.
Dramatic footage showed storms light up the early morning sky in the area.
Kalba, also in Sharjah, and Fujairah, were also hit by heavy rain on Wednesday.
The National Centre of Meteorology issued an alert shortly after 5am on Wednesday urging people in eastern areas of the country to take care during hazardous conditions.
People were advised to stay away from areas of flash floods and where pools of rain had accumulated.
The weather centre reported heavy rain in Sharjah, Fujairah and Al Ain between 2am and 4am.
It said there was further rainfall in Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah shortly after 6am.
Videos from Storm Centre UAE showed roads badly flooded after torrential rain.
Residents caught up in wet weather
Emirati fisherman Ahmad Darweesh, from Kalba, said older roads in the area were worst hit by the weather.
“Several roads and mainly old ones have been flooded but the municipality is on site and I saw them dealing with the issue suing pumps to reduce the amount of water,” he said.
“One of the roads I passed by near the Clock Tower was flooded from pavement to pavements.
“The rain is very heavy. It started yesterday and would stop for only five or ten minutes then resume.”
Khalid Saleem, who lives in Khor Fakkan, said water flooded the street and the pavement before it made its way inside the fitness centre he works at.
"Some machines were also flooded by water not just the floor."
He said most shops on the same street are facing the same problem which regularly happens during spells of heavy rain.
It was a similarly soggy story in Fujairah.
Khalid Salim from the Merbah area of the emirate, said some poorly-maintained roads quickly flooded.
“They are full of cracks and holes that are now flooded by rain water,” he said.
“It was very heavy around dawn but is now moderate, it didn’t stop though.”
Fatima Al Shujaa, head of media department at Dibba Fujairah Municipality, said no flooding of homes had been reported but the authority remained on alert.
Police in Fujairah called on drivers to stay away from flooded areas and to keep a safe distance from other vehicles during the rainy weather.
Unstable weather in the UAE and Oman is expected to continue for the next few days, with haze and rain expected in some areas.
Forecasters at the NCM said it will be cloudy over scattered areas of the Emirates on Wednesday.
The centre said wet weather was in prospect because of the formation of convective clouds until 9pm on Wednesday.
The temperature is likely to fall slightly too, with lows of 29°C in Dubai and 30°C in Abu Dhabi, but the weather is expected to clear up by Saturday.
Thursday looks to be similar, with fresh winds and possible rain likely to continue. However, the NCM predicted a slight increase in temperature, with lows of 30°C in Dubai and 31°C in Abu Dhabi.
On Tuesday, the weather forecaster issued an alert over dusty conditions as rain fell across the country.
On its Twitter page, footage was shared showing challenging driving conditions during downpours in Dubai and Sharjah, and police authorities issued warnings urging people to drive carefully and stay away from wadis.
Wet in Oman
There was a wet start to the day in Oman on Wednesday, with heavy rain forecast from early morning, with sunnier intervals by lunchtime.
Dry weather is then set to continue for the rest of the week, with the temperature expected to rise to 32°C by the end of the week.
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Match statistics
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 36 Bahrain 32
Harlequins
Tries: Penalty 2, Stevenson, Teasdale, Semple
Cons: Stevenson 2
Pens: Stevenson
Bahrain
Tries: Wallace 2, Heath, Evans, Behan
Cons: Radley 2
Pen: Radley
Man of the match: Craig Nutt (Harlequins)
The years Ramadan fell in May
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEdited%20by%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Idries%20Trevathan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20240%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hirmer%20Publishers%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Fight card
Bantamweight
Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK) v Rey Nacionales (PHI)
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROM) v Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR)
Catch 74kg
Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) v Omar Hussein (JOR)
Strawweight (Female)
Weronika Zygmunt (POL) v Seo Ye-dam (KOR)
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) v Walid Laidi (ALG)
Lightweight
Leandro Martins (BRA) v Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW)
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) v Sofiane Benchohra (ALG)
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR)
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Glen Ranillo (PHI)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Aidan Aguilera (AUS)
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) Sasha Palatnikov (HKG)
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Women%E2%80%99s%20T20%20World%20Cup%20Qualifier
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20fixtures%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E25%20April%20%E2%80%93%20Ireland%20v%20UAE*%3Cbr%3E27%20April%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Zimbabwe**%3Cbr%3E29%20April%20%E2%80%93%20Netherlands%20v%20UAE*%3Cbr%3E3%20May%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Vanuatu*%3Cbr%3E5%20May%20%E2%80%93%20Semi-finals%3Cbr%3E7%20May%20%E2%80%93%20Final%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEsha%20Oza%20(captain)%2C%20Al%20Maseera%20Jahangir%2C%20Avanee%20Patel%2C%20Heena%20Hotchandani%2C%20Indhuja%20Nandakumar%2C%20Kavisha%20Kumari%2C%20Khushi%20Sharma%2C%20Lavanya%20Keny%2C%20Mehak%20Thakur%2C%20Rinitha%20Rajith%2C%20Samaira%20Dharnidharka%2C%20Siya%20Gokhale%2C%20Suraksha%20Kotte%2C%20Theertha%20Satish%2C%20Vaishnave%20Mahesh.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E*Zayed%20Cricket%20Stadium%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E**Tolerance%20Oval%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Brief scoreline
Switzerland 0
England 0
Result: England win 6-5 on penalties
Man of the Match: Trent Alexander-Arnold (England)
Favourite things
Luxury: Enjoys window shopping for high-end bags and jewellery
Discount: She works in luxury retail, but is careful about spending, waits for sales, festivals and only buys on discount
University: The only person in her family to go to college, Jiang secured a bachelor’s degree in business management in China
Masters: Studying part-time for a master’s degree in international business marketing in Dubai
Vacation: Heads back home to see family in China
Community work: Member of the Chinese Business Women’s Association of the UAE to encourage other women entrepreneurs
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
