DUBAI // For the past two weeks Kurt Winter has thought of nothing but finding his missing sister. Every telephone call or lead has raised his hopes that this could be the one that ends his family's agony and gives them the news, good or bad, of his sister's whereabouts. But until that happens the sense of helplessness is overwhelming. Kerry Winter has not been seen since Aug 20, when witnesses say they saw her during the evening being savagely beaten with a baseball bat outside her rented villa in Al Barsha and dragged bleeding into her car. She has not been seen or heard from since. Police are holding a man, a British national, who is being questioned about the case, the family say. "We've got to prepare ourselves for the worst, of course, but we're desperately hoping that Kerry is alive," Mr Winter said yesterday. "The last few days have been an absolute emotional roller coaster for us and the rest of the family, but we have to remain strong for each other. "I believe it's only a matter of time before they find an important clue that will lead us to my sister." Mr Winter, 41, flew 4,000 miles from South Africa to Dubai with Ms Winter's nephew, David Giles, to carry out their own search and have vowed not to leave until they learn of her fate. As the hunt for Ms Winter enters its 12th day today, Mr Winter is carrying on with the grim routine he has followed since arriving from Johannesburg last week with Mr Giles. Every day he goes to the Bur Dubai police station to ask for an update and check if they have made any breakthroughs in the case. Then the two men scour the streets looking for her. They search shopping mall car parks hoping to find her silver Ford Explorer with Dubai registration 86914 which has not been seen since her disappearance, and have visited countless hospitals and medical centres in the hope she might be there receiving treatment. Their search has led them to Ms Winter's friends and colleagues, and in a bid to enlist the public's help they have set up a group on the social networking website Facebook and posted an advert on www.expatwoman.com appealing for people to come forward with any information they have. So far their efforts have been fruitless. No solid leads have emerged on the missing woman's location or last known movements. Mr Winter admitted his family was so desperate for clues that they had enlisted the help of a clairvoyant before flying to Dubai. The psychic medium told them he believed Ms Winter was alive, but badly injured. After Ms Winter went missing, the family tried to contact her and received some text messages back, which they now believe were not sent from her. Back in Johannesburg, her distraught mother, Carol, can only sit and wait for news. "My poor mum has taken this so badly. She keeps breaking down in tears," said Mr Winter. "She's 60 years old, and just had a triple bypass heart operation. This is all just too much for her. "We won't give up this hunt until we find my sister. For me to go back to Johannesburg and say to my mum that I couldn't find Kerry is just unthinkable." A senior officer from Dubai Police's Criminal Investigations Department yesterday confirmed they were investigating an allegation of assault but refused to comment further. Mr Winter said Ms Winter was wearing black trousers and a black and white top with silver buttons on the evening she disappeared, and urged anybody who may have seen her to contact him or the police. The family is also keen to urgently find two expatriate women who befriended Ms Winter recently in Dubai. They are believed to live near the beach and to have thrown an engagement party in the past month, to which they invited Ms Winter. Mr Giles, 26, said he maintained a strong belief that his aunt was still alive, possibly being nursed back to health by somebody. "I won't believe that she's not OK until I hear otherwise," he said. Ms Winter, who has been working as an events manager for International Conferences and Exhibitions, has lived in Dubai for seven years. Her brother described her as a "very private person" who enjoyed socialising once she got to know people properly. The Facebook group set up by Ms Winter's relatives - Help Us Find Kerry - has already attracted a huge amount of interest and support from Dubai's expatriate community as well as South African nationals. About 1,500 members have signed up, and more than 100 people have left messages of support. arichardson@thenational.ae
MATCH INFO
League Cup, last 16
Manchester City v Southampton, Tuesday, 11.45pm (UAE)
Venom
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Rating: 1.5/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Summer special
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
PROVISIONAL FIXTURE LIST
Premier League
Wednesday, June 17 (Kick-offs uae times) Aston Villa v Sheffield United 9pm; Manchester City v Arsenal 11pm
Friday, June 19 Norwich v Southampton 9pm; Tottenham v Manchester United 11pm
Saturday, June 20 Watford v Leicester 3.30pm; Brighton v Arsenal 6pm; West Ham v Wolves 8.30pm; Bournemouth v Crystal Palace 10.45pm
Sunday, June 21 Newcastle v Sheffield United 2pm; Aston Villa v Chelsea 7.30pm; Everton v Liverpool 10pm
Monday, June 22 Manchester City v Burnley 11pm (Sky)
Tuesday, June 23 Southampton v Arsenal 9pm; Tottenham v West Ham 11.15pm
Wednesday, June 24 Manchester United v Sheffield United 9pm; Newcastle v Aston Villa 9pm; Norwich v Everton 9pm; Liverpool v Crystal Palace 11.15pm
Thursday, June 25 Burnley v Watford 9pm; Leicester v Brighton 9pm; Chelsea v Manchester City 11.15pm; Wolves v Bournemouth 11.15pm
Sunday June 28 Aston Villa vs Wolves 3pm; Watford vs Southampton 7.30pm
Monday June 29 Crystal Palace vs Burnley 11pm
Tuesday June 30 Brighton vs Manchester United 9pm; Sheffield United vs Tottenham 11.15pm
Wednesday July 1 Bournemouth vs Newcastle 9pm; Everton vs Leicester 9pm; West Ham vs Chelsea 11.15pm
Thursday July 2 Arsenal vs Norwich 9pm; Manchester City vs Liverpool 11.15pm
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3ECompany%20name%3A%20CarbonSifr%3Cbr%3EStarted%3A%202022%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Onur%20Elgun%2C%20Mustafa%20Bosca%20and%20Muhammed%20Yildirim%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Climate%20tech%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%241%20million%20raised%20in%20seed%20funding%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Sebastian Stefan, Sebastian Morar and Claudia Pacurar
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2014
Number of employees: 36
Sector: Logistics
Raised: $2.5 million
Investors: DP World, Prime Venture Partners and family offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
All or Nothing
Amazon Prime
Four stars
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20DarDoc%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Samer%20Masri%2C%20Keswin%20Suresh%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20HealthTech%3Cbr%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%24800%2C000%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Flat6Labs%2C%20angel%20investors%20%2B%20Incubated%20by%20Hub71%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi's%20Department%20of%20Health%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2010%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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
Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
