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Latest: Inside the nerve centre bringing Expo 2020's majestic Al Wasl dome to life
There’s an exclusive club for people who have visited every country in the world.
The fastest to do so is an American woman called Taylor Demonbreun, who holds the world record for visiting them all in about 18 months.
Expo 2020 Dubai makes this task a little easier though. Here in Dubai, 191 pavilions from the family of nations are gathered in one place.
So how many can I visit within 24 hours?
Armed with an Expo 2020 Passport for those crucial stamps as proof of my voyage, I set out from Al Wasl Plaza at the heart of Expo as dusk begins to settle.
First up was meant to be Gabon, but it is temporarily closed for cleaning – the pavilion, not the country – so I head to Bangladesh, which like the UAE celebrates its 50th birthday this year and where, apparently, there is a 200-year-old Armenian church.
That’s the thing about this Expo. Every country has its own pavilion and its own story.
In the real world, Bangladesh is about 7,000 kilometres from Papua New Guinea, but at Expo they are neighbours.
I meet Joshua Kalinoe, Papua New Guinea’s ambassador to Belgium. He tells me his country has 1,000 tribes and 800 languages, “but we live in unity and diversity.”
Just arriving is Mary, sporting a magnificent tribal headdress of feathers and shells. Mary, who lives in Dubai, reassures me that she spared Papua New Guinea’s wildlife in its construction.
“I got it all from the craft shop,” she says.
At Benin, I learn of Queen Hangbe and her ferocious Dahomey warriors, real-life Amazons.
Then another statuesque and charming young woman shows me around Montenegro, followed by the Seychelles and coconut palms, Venezuela, and Kuwait, a huge Ferrero Rocher of a building with a replica water tower rising up through its interior.
That’s seven countries and five continents in just the first hour. But now the going gets tough.
Uzbekistan has yet to open to the public and in Singapore there is a temperature test and a 15-minute queue, although it’s well worth it for the fabulous hanging gardens.
Mozambique doesn’t have a passport stamp yet – a problem at several pavilions I visit – but the remote Marshall Islands obliges, along with Malta, Moldova and the Maldives. Slovenia has a green, heart-shaped sticker.
After a break for Yemeni grilled chicken at Maraheb Restaurant, there is time for Peru, Austria, China, Antigua and Barbuda, plus Nicaragua and Burkina Faso, before my feet are screaming in protest and it’s time to head to the Metro and bed.
The next morning begins with the opening of Expo at 10am. It’s time to tackle some of the bigger pavilions, even though the queues are going to cut back on the countries it will be possible to visit before sundown.
I set out a route to follow around each of the three districts and two parks, but this quickly falls apart after leaving Sustainability and the giant brain inside the Russia Pavilion, as I find myself in Jubilee Park.
So I just wander. Here is Turkmenistan, the “home of neutrality”, and Botswana, with display cases filled with hundreds of real diamonds.
In Sri Lanka they dispense a welcome cup of tea, while in the Netherlands they hand out umbrellas as projection screens for a video on water and sustainability.
Water is a big feature in Brazil, with what may be the world’s largest paddling pool. In New Zealand, it cascades down from the roof.
The Czechs extract water from the air, and at Vietnam’s cafe they extract Dh60 for a lunch of three spring rolls, admittedly delicious but more expensive than I recall from visits to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. But I do get to play a xylophone made of rocks.
It’s also hot and humid and fast becoming a bit of blur.
Canada, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Peru – no wait, been there, done that – Britain, Morocco, Tunisia, Lithuania, Switzerland, oh, and Azerbaijan.
Israel, Lebanon and Palestine don’t have passport stamps yet, along with at least a dozen more I visit.
But by now the light is fading and so are my energy levels. My Fitbit vibrates with 20,000 steps taken.
I estimate in 24 hours I have walked over 30km and visited about 70 countries, so over a third of the total, collecting 64 passport stamps in total.
But that’s the point of Expo 2020. There’s plenty to see and do, and with six months left, plenty of time to take your time.
Company%20Profile
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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
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
Race card:
6.30pm: Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh195,000 1,400m.
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m.
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh190,000 1,200m.
8.15pm: Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 1,200m.
8.50pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 1,600m.
9.20pm: Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 1,400m.
10pm: Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 2,000m.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
On sale: now
Saturday's results
West Ham 2-3 Tottenham
Arsenal 2-2 Southampton
Bournemouth 1-2 Wolves
Brighton 0-2 Leicester City
Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool
Everton 0-2 Norwich City
Watford 0-3 Burnley
Manchester City v Chelsea, 9.30pm
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
More from Neighbourhood Watch
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.
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.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
