ABU DHABI // As the crowd roared around them and music pounded out of Zayed Sports City's stadium speakers, Amar Kseibi could not have been more ecstatic.
"It is so much better than on TV," said the 11-year-old from Saudi Arabia. "It's just extra - extra loud, extra exciting, extra fun."
Thousands of wrestling fans from all over the region filled the seats at the stadium for the capital's first World Wresting Entertainment event last night. Clad in T-shirts bearing the faces and slogans of their favourite wrestlers, excited fans carried signs, screamed and begged for signature moves and jumped from their seats in cheers when a particularly hated character hit the mat.
Amar and her father Tarek had travelled from Riyadh for the event, but they were far from the only ones who made a special trip for the stop on the Raw World Tour.
Fawzan Al Naser, a Saudi living in Bahrain, accompanied his son and two friends to the stadium, but it was they who dragged him along.
"I had no choice," Mr Al Naser said. "My son has been watching these matches every Tuesday. He talks about it in school. He loves it."
For Emirati Saud Sharar, the live wrestling show was a chance to expose his nine-year-old son Rashid to a lifelong passion of his.
"First of all it's good entertainment and good fun for our whole family," Mr Sharar said. "It's also something which does not happen around here."
This is the second visit to the Gulf for the WWE, which has grown considerably in popularity in recent years. Last year, wrestlers performed in Qatar.
Earlier yesterday, the 19-time champion John Cena threw rival Kane through a collapsible table at a press conference at the Burj Khalifa.
Cena said performing the manoeuvre 452 metres up the tower was nerve-racking. "That's a first for everyone who saw it, and certainly a first for me," he said afterwards. "It's not a question of it is real or not real, the WWE is known for entertainment.
"At normal press conferences, there's just a guy standing on a podium talking. At WWE press conferences, you get to see a guy going through the podium."
The Raw World Tour continues today and tomorrow and features such household fixtures as Cena, CM Punk and The Miz.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
SPECS
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Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
Hogarth
DSC Eagles 23 Dubai Hurricanes 36
Eagles
Tries: Bright, O’Driscoll
Cons: Carey 2
Pens: Carey 3
Hurricanes
Tries: Knight 2, Lewis, Finck, Powell, Perry
Cons: Powell 3
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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JAPANESE GRAND PRIX INFO
Schedule (All times UAE)
First practice: Friday, 5-6.30am
Second practice: Friday, 9-10.30am
Third practice: Saturday, 7-8am
Qualifying: Saturday, 10-11am
Race: Sunday, 9am-midday
Race venue: Suzuka International Racing Course
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Laps: 53
Watch live: beIN Sports HD
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
UAE SQUAD FOR ASIAN JIU-JITSU CHAMPIONSHIP
Men’s squad: Faisal Al Ketbi, Omar Al Fadhli, Zayed Al Kathiri, Thiab Al Nuaimi, Khaled Al Shehhi, Mohamed Ali Al Suwaidi, Farraj Khaled Al Awlaqi, Muhammad Al Ameri, Mahdi Al Awlaqi, Saeed Al Qubaisi, Abdullah Al Qubaisi and Hazaa Farhan
Women's squad: Hamda Al Shekheili, Shouq Al Dhanhani, Balqis Abdullah, Sharifa Al Namani, Asma Al Hosani, Maitha Sultan, Bashayer Al Matrooshi, Maha Al Hanaei, Shamma Al Kalbani, Haya Al Jahuri, Mahra Mahfouz, Marwa Al Hosani, Tasneem Al Jahoori and Maryam Al Amri
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
