THE BIO
Age: 33
Favourite quote: “If you’re going through hell, keep going” Winston Churchill
Favourite breed of dog: All of them. I can’t possibly pick a favourite.
Favourite place in the UAE: The Stray Dogs Centre in Umm Al Quwain. It sounds predictable, but it honestly is my favourite place to spend time. Surrounded by hundreds of dogs that love you - what could possibly be better than that?
Favourite colour: All the colours that dogs come in
In life, they say you are either a cat person or a dog person.
Liam Gallacher is unquestionably the latter.
He devotes so much of his spare time to helping out at the Stray Dogs Centre in Umm Al Quwain that he jokes he has two full-time jobs, only one of which is paid.
Mr Gallacher, 33, arrived in Dubai from his home town of Aberdeen in Scotland a little less than two years ago to work in the clean-energy sector.
I have carried out rescues in Al Ain before where I just drove up there and rescued two dogs chained to a pole
Although he lived with dogs all his life, getting one here was never an option because of the sweltering summer heat and his busy job.
“It wouldn’t have been fair,” he said. “But I had kind of been wanting to spend time with dogs because I have always had them and I missed being around them.”
While searching for volunteering opportunities he came across the Stray Dogs Centre, the UAE’s largest private dog rescue shelter, which houses more than 400 dogs.
He signed up for his first weekend dog walk with the centre in November 2018. Within two months, he was running the Friday event, which is usually attended by about 100 people. And by February, he was a member of the management team.
“That’s when it really started to pick up steam in terms of how much it was taking over my life,” he said.
“But it’s pretty easy to dedicate so much time to it because I treat it as a second full-time job – that I work office hours from Sunday to Thursday, and then my evenings to weekends are for shelter.”
It may be unpaid but that is not to say it is easy. The centre faces huge challenges.
It never says no to a dog, taking in more than 34 over a three-day period recently, which has resulted in large bills.
Last month, Mr Gallacher helped to orchestrate a campaign to save the centre from closure after it became crippled with debt.
Supporters, including readers of The National, stepped in, allowing the centre to clear its veterinary bills.
“It was amazing that happened, but the second those bills were paid the debt started building up again because we have no other regular source of income other than people sponsoring dogs,” he said.
“We are trying desperately to find ways to be more sustainable in what we do. We are looking at different options as to how we could get cheaper electricity. Because we are in the desert we run everything off generators, which is very expensive.”
One way the centre, which has a no-kill policy, is trying to be more sustainable is through its hotel food leftovers campaign, which Mr Gallacher said was not originally his idea, but has “since become my baby”.
Mr Gallacher said he was originally contacted by one of the centre’s supporters, who worked at a hotel in Dubai Marina and suggested the centre could feed the dogs using leftover food from brunches.
Last Saturday the centre collected food waste from 19 hotels. The initiative saves the centre an estimated Dh5,000 a month, he said.
Mr Gallacher’s involvement stretches far beyond administration. He helps to transport dogs and collects items people that people donate. He also co-ordinates all the car-boot sales and helps to organise events involving companies.
He is personally involved in rescues too, which could be anywhere in the UAE.
“I have carried out rescues in Al Ain before, one where I just drove up there and rescued two dogs chained to a pole.”
It was a case of taking the chains from their necks, replacing them with regular leashes and leading them to the car.
But some dogs can be aggressive, which he said can be frightening. But in those situations, his extensive experience with dogs comes in handy.
“Just being able to compose yourself, give off that feeling of confidence, dogs really appreciate that. If a dog knows you are scared it’s going to react to that,” he said.
Like many who move here, he arrived with a two-year plan. Next month will be his second anniversary and he has no intention of leaving.
“Now I have been sucked into this whole thing with the shelter, it’s very difficult for me to envisage leaving the UAE now,” he said.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
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Available: Now
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
'O'
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
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Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic
John Zubrzycki, Hurst Publishers
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Fast%20X
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
THE BIO
Age: 33
Favourite quote: “If you’re going through hell, keep going” Winston Churchill
Favourite breed of dog: All of them. I can’t possibly pick a favourite.
Favourite place in the UAE: The Stray Dogs Centre in Umm Al Quwain. It sounds predictable, but it honestly is my favourite place to spend time. Surrounded by hundreds of dogs that love you - what could possibly be better than that?
Favourite colour: All the colours that dogs come in
