Latest: Expo City promises unrivalled 'campus town feel' as it reopens to the public
Thousands of visitors are expected to visit Expo City Dubai from today, Thursday September 1.
The date of the partial opening — which came earlier than expected — caused a flurry of excitement when it was announced on Monday.
Expo City Dubai is expected to be home to residents, major companies and their headquarters, as well as a global destination for events and exhibitions.
For now, some of the unique features of Expo 2020 Dubai are being reopened to the public.
Visitors will be able to reach the site directly by Metro, bus, car and taxi for the first time since the Expo ended on March 31. You can wander the main site for free, but need a Dh50 ticket to enter the pavilions.
Here is what we know so far:
Which parts of Expo site will be open from this week?
Main pavilions
Two of the anchor pavilions will open this week. They are Alif – the Mobility Pavilion and Terra – the Sustainability Pavilion.
Terra, which hosts science experiments and a climate change-themed exhibition, was a key stop in Expo's school programme, during which every school in the country visited, free of charge, during the world's fair.
Mobility is home to nine-metre-tall models of Arabian explorers Ahmad ibn Majid, Ibn Battuta and Al-Bakri.
The structure itself, designed by Foster + Partners, contains a huge lift that moves dozens of visitors through the impressive structure.
For Dh50 ($14) per pavilion, adult visitors can gain access to these sites. Children under 12 and people with disabilities will enjoy free access.
Garden in the Sky
Garden in the Sky, with its 360-degree views, is also set to open on Thursday, with adult tickets priced at Dh30 each. Children can enter free of charge.
Expo Metro station
The Metro has remained open since the close of the world's fair, but visitors were unable to go any further than the station and its main plaza.
With single-journey tickets from only Dh3 for one zone, it remains the cheapest way to visit the Expo site and travel around town in general. Car parks that surround the site will also reopen.
What are the opening times?
Alif and Terra will be open daily from 10am to 6pm while Garden in the Sky will open from 3pm to 6pm, with the times changing to 10am to 6pm from Friday, September 16, onwards.
It is expected that the district, which opened until midnight or later during Expo, will keep its gates open later once fully open.
Why isn't the whole site open yet?
Expo favourites such as Al Wasl Plaza, the water feature renamed Surreal, the Women’s Pavilion, the Vision Pavilion and children’s playgrounds will open from October 1.
Almost all of the country pavilions that were run by each nation during the six-month event have been packed up and shipped home.
A handful remain, including the UAE and Saudi pavilions. Egypt and Morocco will also reopen at some stage.
How much of the Expo site can I see this week — and do I need a ticket to wander around?
Organisers say “much of Expo City Dubai’s public realm will be open and is free to visit”.
So, even those without a ticket will have the chance to relive the Expo magic.
Guests can walk from the Metro station to the open venues, so there should be a chance to stretch your legs and take in the district before the big opening on October 1.
Where to buy tickets
Tickets are available at https://tickets.expocitydubai.com/ticket-office. They can also be purchased at four box offices at Expo City Dubai from Thursday.
Will there be restaurants and other places to eat?
A host of food and beverage outlets are expected to reopen in October. However, there is no word yet on what exactly will be open for the September 1 launch, but visitors can expect organisers to have options on hand.
There is also no word yet on whether people see a return of Al Baik — the popular Saudi chicken outlet — and other staples, including the Irish Village.
So, watch this space.
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Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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Sand storm
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- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
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- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
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- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Getting there
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
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Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Cologne v Union Berlin (5.30pm)
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Paderborn v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Freiburg (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Borussia Monchengladbach (8.30pm)
Sunday
Mainz v Augsburg (5.30pm)
Schalke v Bayer Leverkusen (8pm)
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
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Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
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Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
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63 - Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)
64 - Rory McIlroy (NIR)
66 - Jon Rahm (ESP)
67 - Tom Lewis (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
68 - Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), Marcus Kinhult (SWE)
69 - Justin Rose (ENG), Thomas Detry (BEL), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Danny Willett (ENG), Li Haotong (CHN), Matthias Schwab (AUT)
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Borussia Dortmund v Paderborn (11.30pm)
Saturday
Bayer Leverkusen v SC Freiburg (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Schalke (6.30pm)
Union Berlin v Borussia Monchengladbach (6.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg (6.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldof v Bayern Munich (6.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Cologne (9.30pm)
Sunday
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The biog
Occupation: Key marker and auto electrician
Hometown: Ghazala, Syria
Date of arrival in Abu Dhabi: May 15, 1978
Family: 11 siblings, a wife, three sons and one daughter
Favourite place in UAE: Abu Dhabi
Favourite hobby: I like to do a mix of things, like listening to poetry for example.
Favourite Syrian artist: Sabah Fakhri, a tenor from Aleppo
Favourite food: fresh fish
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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South Korea
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2019 ASIAN CUP FINAL
Japan v Qatar
Friday, 6pm
Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
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Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
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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
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Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
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Power 249hp at 5,500rpm
Torque 365Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km
FIVE%20TRENDS%20THAT%20WILL%20SHAPE%20UAE%20BANKING
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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- Torque: 760nm
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Charley Hoffman*, Phil Mickelson*
International Team
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Branden Grace, Si Woo Kim
Jhonattan Vegas, Adam Hadwin
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Director:Matt Reeves
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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
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Honeymoonish
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