Podcasts about fujairah

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website SkiptheQueue.fm.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter  or Bluesky for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.Competition ends on 19th March 2025. The winner will be contacted via Bluesky. Show references: https://www.ajah.ae/https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-griffiths-63432763/Kelly's final episodeThe transformation of Painshill Park, with Paul Griffiths, Director of PainshillWhat it really takes to launch a podcast. With Kelly Molson and Paul GriffithsPaul Griffiths has worked in the Heritage, Museums and Tourism world now for nearly 30 years.After spending 16 years working in various role for English Heritage, in 2012 he moved to the Mary Rose Museum as Head of Operations to oversee the opening and operations of the multi award winning museum, welcoming over one million visitors before in 2018 taking on moving to the Painshill Park Trust in the role of Director of Painshill. Paul spent 6 years there before his move in December 2024 to Ras Al Khaimah one of the seven Emirates that make up the UAE. In this exciting brand new role Paul is Chief Executive Officer of the Al Hamra Heritage Village, part of the Al Qasimi Foundation. Transcriptions: Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in and working with Visitor Attractions. I'm your host, Paul Marden.Longtime listeners will remember my guest today, Paul Griffiths, when he was CEO at Painshill Park, from when he was interviewed back in season one by Kelly. In today's episode, Paul comes back to talk about his new role as CEO of Al Jazeera Al Hamrah Heritage Village in Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE. Now, I'm always interested in the first 90 days of people's experience in a job, so we'll be talking more about that and his for the future. Paul Marden: Paul, welcome back to Skip the Queue. Paul Griffiths: Hello. Thanks for having me, Paul. Great to be here. Paul Marden:  Long time. Listeners will know that we always start with an icebreaker question and our guests don't get to know that one in advance. I think this one's a pretty kind one. I was pretty mean to Paul Sapwell from Hampshire Cultural Trust a couple of weeks ago because I asked him whether it was Pompey or Saints and for political reasons, he felt that he had to abstain from that.Paul Griffiths: Testing his interest. I'd have gone Pompey at the time because that's where we live. Well, did live. Paul Marden: Oh, there you go. There you go. So you've moved over from Portsmouth. You're now in the UAE. Tell listeners, what is that one? Home comfort that after three months away from Blighty, you're missing? Is it proper English marmalade? Paul Griffiths: Do you know what? I've been able to get hold of most things, but I've not been able to get. I know people who cook properly, so I should be able to do this myself, but I haven't. Cauliflower cheese, one thing I'm missing from home, that doesn't sell it anywhere in a sort of pre pack or frozen form. I can even get hold of Yorkshire puddings in Spinny's supermarket, but I can't get hold of cauliflower cheese. Paul Marden: Can you get cauliflowers? Paul Griffiths: Can get cauliflowers. I'm sure I can make cheese sauce if I knew what it was doing. But you normally. I'm so used to normally buying a pack of cheese, cauliflower cheese to have in my Sunday roast. Paul Marden: Okay. So if I ever get to come out, I need to bring out a plastic wrapped, properly sealed so that it doesn't leak on the plane. Cauliflower cheese? Paul Griffiths: Yes, please. Yeah, absolutely. Paul Marden: So your last episode was actually. Or your last full episode was back in season one, episode 22. So five years ago and the world has changed a lot in five years, but most recently it's changed a lot for you, hasn't it? So why don't you tell listeners a little bit about what's happened to you since you were with us in season one? Paul Griffiths: Wow. Yeah, well, season one seems an age away, doesn't it, now with all the wonderful guests youu've had since on Skip the Queue, it's been a different program completely. But, yeah, no, well, back then I was at Painshill, were coming out of a pandemic and I remember, you know, Kelly and I were chatting over all the different avenues that everyone had gone and what we've done at Painshill and that continued brilliantly. And however, my life has taken a change in. In sense of where I am, but I'm still doing the same sort of work, so. Which is, you know, when our industry, and it's such a fabulous industry, it's great to stay in it. Paul Griffiths: So I am now over in the United Army Emirates in the Emirate of Ras Alhaima, which is the third biggest of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, behind Abu Dhabi and, of course, Dubai. So I was approached, God, nearly always, this time last year, about a call over here. Yes. My recruitment company got in touch and went through, you know, had a good look at the job description and thought, well, actually, we'll throw my hat into the ring. And applied, went for a series of online interviews with the recruitment company, then an online interview with the people over here at various departments within the Al Kassimme Foundation and the Department of Museums and Antiquities. Paul Griffiths: So, yeah, looking at this brand new job, which I'm now lucky enough to be in, I then was flown out in August for a round of interviews, met all the team. You know, one of those things that you later discover, the whole real four days was one big interview, although there was. There was a central one. But of course, everyone you were meeting along the way was being asked to feedback, And I love chatting to people and enjoying people's company. So actually went for dinners and lunches and all sorts, which was just a lovely four days and almost felt like a free hit in many ways, Paul. Well, this is going to be a brilliant experience. Paul Griffiths: If I don't get the job, I'm going to have a great four days in Rasta Taima, seeing it, meeting everyone, enjoying the time here. And, you know, the more time I spent here, the more time with the team, the more time, you know, going and visiting sites. I just became more and more that this would be an amazing job. Obviously gave my absolute everything, did loads of research, gave everything in the interview. The interview took a rather unusual turn. After the sort of hour and a half of questions and my questions, I was asked to leave the room for a short period. Not unusual in that sense because I was, you know, I wasn't just going to leave and go because obviously I was in their hands for four days. Paul Griffiths: But the doctor, Natasha Ridge, the executive director of the foundation, came out the interview and said, “Right, that's all gone really well. We're really pleased. We're now off to the palace for you to meet His Highness Sheikh Saud, who is the ruler of Ras Al Khaimah and on the Supreme Council of the UAE.” So I was sort of, I went to one of the small meeting rooms you. Now I know that. Now I know where I was, where I went. But at that point I had no idea. One of the lovely. There's a very much a service thing here. Paul Griffiths: So, you know, we have in the Heritage Village as well later we have a wonderful member of our team, Geraldine, who does lots of cooking, prepares stuff and just had a wonderful fish taco lunch because we're four hours ahead of you, of course, here in Alaihi. So, yeah, so one of the guys came in with, gave me an English breakfast tea and sort of, you know, sat there reviewing what, thinking what on earth was I going to be asked by His Highness. And then was put into one of the drivers and we drove up through Rat Sahma City, through into the palace, up the long driveway and there I was sort of eventually, after about 20 minutes, presented with. Presented to Sheikh Sword who asked me, chatted, asked various questions. Paul Griffiths: I don't think there could be many interviews that you end up with His Highness in the second half of it. You know, it's sometimes a presentation. Yeah. So that was. I was there for about half an hour and that's your time over and off he goes. And off I went back to then go and have dinner with some of the team. So it was a very surreal afternoon. Paul Marden: Being interviewed by royalty. But when you're not expecting that as part of the interview process, that must be quite unnerving. Paul Griffiths: I had a heads up that at some point in my trip I might meet him, but there was no formal arrangements. I had me had to get in a diary. So it hadn't even crossed my mind that's what was about to happen. When I was asked to leave the meeting room, I just thought maybe they wanted to come back with more questions or, you know, say I hadn't gone well, whatever. But, yeah, no, that was the. I took that as a good sign. I thought, well, actually, if I'm being whisked up there, the interview must have gone relatively well because I'm sure they would present me to shake sword if it hadn't gone so well. Paul Marden: Yeah. You'd hope that he would be towards the end of the cycle of the interview round. Paul Griffiths: Yeah. Paul Marden: Not doing the early sifting of CVs. Paul Griffiths: No. He certainly had seen who I was because he asked me some questions about where I'd worked and. Okay, things like that. So he'd obviously seen a CV. He's a very. I mean, I've met him subsequently a few times. I've been fortunate to be a dinner hosted by him a couple of weeks ago. But he is a very, very intelligent man. Works really hard. I mean, work. He, you know, for him, he spends every minute working on the emirate. He ruled, he. He's the ruler. But he's almost a. It's a sort of combo, I guess he's all Prime Minister at the same time as being the ruler. So he is constantly working. You know, I'm really committed and I'm lucky in many ways that where I am working at the Heritage Village is his real. Paul Griffiths: One of his real pet projects that he's really driving forward. So, yes, we come with sort of royal. Royal approval, if you like. So. Yeah. Paul Marden: Excellent. So I. I've not been to the Emirates before, so for those of us that have not been, tell us a little bit about Ras Al Khaimah, of course. Paul Griffiths: Well, Ras Al Khaimah is one of the quieter Emirates mentioned. Sheikh Saud there, he's really driving a sort of, you know, a sort of agenda of bringing in more tourists. But he wants to use culture and territory as part of that. So, you know, it's a more relaxed, low level, if that makes sense. It's not Dubai, it's not full on, it's more relaxed Emirate. It's relaxed in cultural and many of the ways it's not, as you know, some of the other Emirates are, for example, completely dry. Ras Al Khaimah has given licenses to hotels and big restaurants in hotels for serving drinks. And there are a number of sellers where you can purchase for your consumption your own home, whereas Sharjah, you can't purchase any alcohol, for example, so it's a bit more chilled like that. It's a lovely place. Paul Griffiths: We're very fortunate to have the heavier mountains go through the far side of Ras Al Khaimah. So where I'm based is more on the seafront but then not, you know, I can see the mountains behind and there's a number of drives up into the mountains which are absolutely fabulous. Up to the Jebel Jais, which is the highest point in the UAE, we have the world's longest and fastest zip wire. I have not gone anywhere near that yet. Goes up to 100km an hour and is the longest over from the top of the mountain, whisking you off to the other side. I think it looks terrifying. But my. Paul Marden: I'm more interested in cables that take you to the top of the mountain. Maybe with some skis on my feet than I am attaching myself to a cable and going down the mountain. Doesn't sound like fun to me. Paul Griffiths: There's a toboggan ride as well up there as well.Paul Marden: Oh, I'd love that. Paul Griffiths: So that's the toboggan ride's on my to do list when the family get off, I'll save it for then and take my son Barney on that. But you know, there's all this sort of venture sports up on the top of the mountain and driving up there is remarkable. They put a proper road in. It's not the scary driving up the Alps, terrified what's going to come around the other corner. It's very like driving up a road, you know, normal sort of dual carriageway, two lanes each way and then right going through the mountains to the other side to one of the other Emirates for Jazeera , for example. So you're over on the Indian Ocean side Gulf Vermont. That road is just beautiful. There's no traffic on it, you know. Paul Griffiths: So Ras Al Khaimah is only about an hour and hour to an hour and a half from Dubai airport. And Dubai is a sort of people go to Dubai in the same way that we, you know, you'd go to London, I'd go to London when I was in Port Soviet, we would. It's now, you know, it's not considered a. There's always someone from work who's in Dubai every day almost for some reason. So nipping up to Dubai, I was like, I went to a dinner there last week and you know, it just seemed very normal that he jumped in a car and drove up to Dubai and came back that evening. Whereas. Seems remarkable actually to be doing that. But yeah, so because of where we are, Abu Dhabi is about two and a half hours away.Paul Griffiths: And we are the northern point of the Emirate, So we border on to Oman, split into a number of areas. Again, I didn't know any of this till I got here, but there's a part of Oman that's at the top of Ras Al Khaimah. And so, yeah, so it's a beautiful Emirate with nature, with mountain areas, which does get a bit chillier when you go up the mountains. I looked quite silly in my T shirt and shorts when I went up there on a Sunday afternoon. People were going past me like they were going skiing. You know, people wore coats and hats and looking at me as if I'm really daft. But I was still. It's interesting that because it's winter obviously everywhere here at the moment and at home, but it's. Paul Griffiths: People here are often telling me it's a cold day when I'm still standing. I still feel really quite warm. But yeah, finding that sort ofPaul Marden: Talking 30s at the moment for you, aren't we? Paul Griffiths: Yeah, it's a little bit. The last couple days have been down in the lower 20s, really comfortable. But when we last weekend, people were getting a bit nervous that summer had come very early because it was hitting the early 30s last week. So I don't know how for me, when we get to August, when it's in the mid, late 40s with real high humidity, I think I'm just going to go from aircon building to aircon building to aircon building.Paul Marden: I am such a Goldilocks when it comes to that sort of thing. Not too hot, not too cold, it needs to be just right. So I would definitely struggle in that kind of heat. Look, let's talk a little bit about where you are in the new job. So you've taken on the role of CEO of Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village. So tell me a little bit about the village. Why is this village so historic? Paul Griffiths: Well, it's a really interesting one, Paul, because it is very important, but it's not that old. And that's why what coming to me about making it more alive is something that's going to be crucial to us. So the village has been lived in for many years. It was a pearl farming village. So most of the people who worked here were doing pearl farming, which is pretty horrible job to do. You were, again, learning about this. You were jumping off boats, going to the ocean depths for up to three to four minutes. No protection really, apart from a very light shirt and some little bits on your fingers. But actually you're nothing on your eyes. Paul Griffiths: So you're having to look through the salt water, find the pearls come up and they were going up and down sometime 15, 16 times or more a day. And there's a fascinating exhibition in Dubai at the Al Shindagha Museum which really does focus on how this worked and how these guys were living. So, so it's a real. So that was the village. So the village had that, it obviously had then had fishing men, merchants making boats, merchants selling, trading wares. And Ras Al Khaimah has been quite a strategic part as all of the UAE really for the sort of trades coming from the Middle east and out into the Gulf. So the villages was being lived in up until the very early 70s. Paul Griffiths: Up in the 1970s the Al Za'abi tribe who were based here were offered I guess a new life is the only way to look at it in Abu Dhabi with new jobs, with land, with housing and it's just a better way like pearl farming was now being done so much cheaper and easier in the Orient in Japan mainly. So that was, that dropped away. There wasn't the other merchant trading going on. So actually the oil boom basically led the tribe to almost one up sticks and head to Abu Dhabi. And in many ways good story because we're still in touch with quite considerable amounts of the tribes people who were here. Lots of the elders have done wonderful oral histories, videos talking about their lives here. But this village survived as just fell into ruins, but actually wasn't developed. Paul Griffiths: And where it becomes important is this would have been what all of the Gulf would have looked like before the oil boom. The UAE wasn't a wealthy nation before then. You know, when I went up to Dubai and spent some time at the Etihad Museum, which is based around which Etihad Union is the not Around Man City Stadium should point out very much around about how the UAE had come together and how, you know, so it wasn't the wealthiest nation, but actually they discovered oil. They then brought seven Emirates together. It then has flourished in the ways that we now know what Dabi and ifwe looks like and even Ras Al Khaimah in some parts and really quite glamorous. But this village survived. Paul Griffiths: So although it fell into ruin, all the other fishing, farmhome fishing, pearl farming villages across the Gulf had become, just got destroyed, knocked down, you know, turned into hotels and high rises. And actually when you visit the other Emirates, lots of them are now recreating their historic areas or re purposing some of the historic buildings and they're doing it very well. In Dubai, Sharjah has actually completely rebuilt. It's what it calls the Harp Sharjah, which is. Which was its historic sort of areas, but. Paul Marden: Right. Paul Griffiths: But this survived. Many of the buildings had fallen into disrepair. And what we've been doing for the last few years, as the Al Qasimi Foundation and the Department of Antiquities and Museums is restoring a number of these buildings, we've then sort of gone into a sort of activation so you can walk around. So we've got, you know, carving now. Only a year ago it was mostly sand. We've now got a path going through it, so you can walk in. And the job that I've really been asked to do initially on arrival here is to really push that activation forward and really look at my sort of. What I've done in the past and what we've seen other places do and think about what can we do to bring this bit more to life? Paul Griffiths: Because it's the sort of storage village is around the 1970s. Well, it was abandoned in the 1970s. Well, you know, for us from the UK, from lots of other nationalities, actually, something in the 70s isn't very old. It's in our lifespan. You know, we are looking at this going well, actually. So when I was talking to a lot of. So RAK TDA's basically visit RAK tourism authority. So they are really supportive in wanting to push Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village, which will from now on abbreviate to AJAH to save me. Keep saying that. Long tanned. So they are really keen that we're doing more stuff. So why would a tourist want to come? What is there to see once you're here? Paul Griffiths: On top of some abandoned and now beautifully restored houses, mosques, you know, things that you would have expected in a village of, you know, a thousand or so population, 500 houses, you know, so more than a thousand people, really. So that's the sort of plan in that way. So in many ways I've got a sort of blank canvas to play with. But, you know, money's not unlimited, so it's about. So working closely with local communities, working with, you know, local traders, looking at what could we bring into the village on the back of the art fair. I know we'll talk about later, but it's, you know, this has been a. This is a real challenge for me to. How do I take this sort of place forwards.Paul Marden: In my mind's eye, we go to the Weald & Downland Living Museum so open air museum, lots of houses recreating life through the ages. Is that the sort of experience that I'm going to get if I come to the village of I'm going to see the properties and I'm going to see this previous way of life come to life in front of me?Paul Griffiths: Well at the moment you'll see you just see in the houses and the buildings but you're walking around looking at historic buildings but we have got a number of the houses we've put in. Each video is at the moment showing the audio visuals so you can walk around and listen to members of the tribes chatting about their youth and what's happening and you can see the buildings in real life. I guess what I'm looking for this is telling the story a little bit of the village which we don't initially do that well at the moment that's no criteria. Yes, this is what we need to do going forward. There's been several stages of activation When I came last August part not many the paths weren't all finished. We didn't have anywhere for visitor services to be at the front.Paul Griffiths: We only had a very small sort officey area which has now been built up to where I'm. Where I'm sat today. So I think what you're going to get is a multi as a blend of traders who will be in our suitcase. The Souk is fully restored sooke and shopping market area so that's my first point is to move some people in there. So I've already got a goldsmith and move to her studio in got some handicrafts we've got some textile people moving in the. Paul Griffiths: The main gallery of Nassau Heyman Design Gallery which is the one big gallery where artists can go is going to have a sort of satellite shop if you like not shop a satellite so there will be pieces of work there are in here with their little souvenir store which they sell because they get people a lot of what the design gallery does is making souvenirs of Ras Al Khaimah that are all handmade so quite special gifts. So what we're hoping is tying up with our local hoteliers who many of which have not been so it's bringing them in and they need something more to see to send their guests here. Paul Griffiths: So you know talking to some of them over lunch when I hosted some of them on Saturday it was a case of you know actually, can they send their clients and say, you can do all your holiday shopping because at the moment they're sending people to the shopping malls which are just, you know, nice, but actually merchandise them to go to a heritage village, get that experience of what the golf would have been like and bags of shopping at the same time. Paul Marden: So who doesn't love a. A museum gift shop at the end? So, you know. Paul Griffiths: Exactly. And we don't really have that here at the moment from an Al Jazeera perspective. So on my plan for this year is to put in. We've got an info booth, as it's called at the moment. It's not a world. It's not the best customer service friendly. It's like a caravan but with some windows. And yeah, it's probably a better. Now it's got air conditioning. Yes. But it doesn't work very well for customers. You're trying to talk through little windows because you can only have small windows to keep the air con working, not have too much open to. It's just passing out. Paul Griffiths: So, yeah, so I'm looking at building this summer, hopefully. Fingers crossed, touch wood, a visitor welcome centre, which is something we're really pushing along with, which will be lovely because that will be that proper visitor welcome with a shop with an induction into an introduction. Sorry, into the Al Jazeera story. And then let people go. And then when they get to the far end, they'll be the souk full of. He says again, hopefully slowly filling them out, but full of traders and local craftspeople and people who are. Even if they're not originally local, they're based in rack, so they are considered local. The UAE is built up of a lot of expat population. When I say expats, I mean just English people from around the world. It's a really accepting, welcoming community. I've been really. Everyone says hello to you as you're walking into the supermarket shops. There's no. Whoever they are where you're from. Paul Griffiths: Everyone's talking to each other because the local population know they've had to bring people in because there's thousands more jobs than there are Emirati population in Ras Al Khaimah. So, you know, it's always been. And when you look at the foundation of the UAE, it was about, we will need to bring people in to bring this. To build this nation with us. So, you know, it's been always a sort of welcome and melting pot of different people. Paul Marden: Yeah, amazing. Look, you mentioned when we had our initial chat. You've been there now three months, you've been doing lots of visiting of other attractions. Because I think you said to me, which I thought was quite interesting, that you were. There's lots that you bring with you from the UK in your experience, but there's lots of best practice and good practice happening within the Emirates already. So you've been kind of going out and visiting a lot of cultural venues and attractions in the Emirates. Tell me a little bit about those. Paul Griffiths: Yeah, so it's been a minute of a manic last month in February, because we've had the art festival. I know we're going to keep hinting at it, we'll get to it at some point, but when I've had some time away, what's been fabulous, it's just sort of. And I think as well, because the family aren't here in my own at the moment, said, “All right, I've got some time off, let's go and explore.” Yeah. So I've sort of driven across to Fajera, spent time in Sharjah and took myself up for a weekend in Dubai, which was fantastic. Booked a very reasonably priced hotel and just spent a weekend flowering around everywhere and just really immersed in my. So and only scratch the surface. There's so much more to see. So, yeah, so I've been going and looking at. Paul Griffiths: Well, you know, I don't want to do something that's not. There'll be alien to, obviously, the culture here. And that's been really. What's been great fun in the last few months is it's not just going into a new job, you know, and learning that. It's actually been a terrifying, at some points, fabulous experience. I was learning new cultures, new working lives. You know, things are working. It's done very differently here. You know, there's a different hierarchical process we have in the UK and permissions are needed in different places. And that's not. I'm not saying any of this is a bad thing, it's just learning those different things. So I've been learning all these different cultures. You know, we're just coming into Ramadan, which I've had no real experience with before. And that is. That is a massive thing here. You know, it's the month. Paul Griffiths: Every billboard you go past is someone trying to sell something for Ramadan, whether it be a new chest of drawers, you know, your family needs this new dining table for Ramadan. It's a bit like, you know, you will see at Christmas at home, everyone catching on, you know, IKEA will be saying, new table and chairs for Christmas. You know, it's. It's not. It's a sort of different repeating itself. You know, those sort of signs you have around the supermarket. Christmas back home. They're all up now in supermarkets here for Ramadan. Paul Marden: Right. Paul Griffiths: Encouraging what people are going to buy for when they break the fast at sunset Iftar. So, you know, so it's all sort of promoting. You need this for. So it's a real. We're going to a massive thing. And that's been a real sort of learning, cultural thing for me, which has been great because actually I've always enjoyed, when I'm traveling, learning about other cultures, you know, it's always been for me, I always try and visit museums, galleries, learn about the place I'm at. And so actually living somewhere and learn about someone who's been. I think it's added to the fun of the experience. But back to your question. Paul Griffiths: Yes, I've been traveling wherever the possibility to start to look at other historic venues, looking at where they've, you know, restored historic markets and souk areas and what sort of things are going in there, what are people doing there. Up in Dubai, there is a place called Al Shindagar Museum, which is where they've. Some of the historic buildings that have been saved by the creek of Dubai have been turned into the most amazing series of museums, is the only way I can describe it, because each house is a different gallery or different theme. So you have the story of the creek being built up, the story of Dubai seafarers. There was a faith and. Faith and religion room, talking about Islam and different cultures, how that's worked around Dubai. Paul Griffiths: Dubai being built up as a city, lots about the rulers and families, but every house you went to is a different place. What was so impressive there from a visitor experience perspective was the training that Stafford had was sensational. You know, you go into someone, you think they're obviously being managed really well because obviously this is. You don't just train. So obviously someone oversees this really well. But clearly the training, everywhere you went, the customer service was exceptional. People coming out from behind counters, giving you introductions, making sure you had everything needed, you know, as you were leaving. Have you got any questions? All those things we try and all have tried to teach over the years, and in many ways we've all been different levels of success of that. Paul Griffiths: But what was amazing was they also got the security guards in on the act as well, because there's a real culture here that there's a separate, they're secure, they're very different. You know, there's, we've got them here, they're in very much brown security, clearly marked, you know, protecting places. But what they've done there is they had clearly trained those security guards as well, because every security guard you came across was getting in the act of chatting to visitors, even if their English wasn't brilliant, they were really keen to direct you to the next. Come this way. So the next place, oh, you finished that room, you must go upstairs. And you know, that sort of. Paul Griffiths: And whether they, you know, really just said, look, you can have a much more interesting day than just standing, staring at people walking around. You can actually chat to visitors from around the world and get talkative. And I just had the most amazing. I ended up in this museum for over five and a half hours or something silly like that. And I thought I was going to be there an hour because it was priced very reasonably. You know, when you judge a museum on, well, actually I paid this, I'm probably going to be here for that amount of time. And actually it was just, you know, I found myself stopping for a coffee, stopping for lunch. But I was so impressed by the way the staff interacted. Paul Griffiths: They also had a number of cultural local guides as well, who really were, you know, in the full sort of Emirati national dress, but wanted to press on. This is where. This is what I'm doing. So I've some, you know, I traveled across to Fujairah every week and was in a, an old, what was the ruler's summer house. And the guy, and the guy who ran it just took me on a tour. I didn't ask for a tour. He just said, would you. Well, he said, should I take you around? Yes, please. And we had this great hours experience as he was just chatting about all the rooms. And I think people here are very keen to share their culture and their heritage and very welcoming. Paul Griffiths: So, yeah, so I've done quite a bit traveling around the other parts of the UAE. I can't go out of the UAE because I've only got a hire car at the moment, so I can't go out to Omar, that's on my list. You get yourself a car. I can travel north of the border into Oman and explore that. But for now, seven emirates to. So no shortage of places. And I've not been up to Abu Dhabi yet, so still with that on my list. So yeah, Paul Marden: Wowzers. Okay. So I guess, and this is completely, what would I feel like if I was in your position of going to this new country, immersing myself in this relatively new place that you're leading? How do I say this without flattering you? You were a well connected guy. If I went to events, everybody knew you. You had this wide network of people having worked in the UK in the attraction sector for a long time and you've now jumped over to the UAE. What's happened to the network? How does that feel? I mean it must feel slightly kind of worrying or nerve wracking. What have you done to build the network in this new place? Paul Griffiths: There's a number of points to that. Right, so let's answer in a few minutes. So the world's a smaller place so I'm still occasionally having teams call zoom calls with really close ex colleagues, friends, you know, I'm sure, I mean I always say I'm sure but everyone keeps saying, “Oh I'm really loving the journey so please keep posting. So I am going to keep posting and probably going to start to annoy people after a while”, but the feedback so far is everyone saying we're loving the journey and following you with it and feel like we're on the journey. So I will carry on. I'm sort of keeping writing stuff up and sharing it and also I don't know how long I'll be here for. You know, probation is massive over here. I have to keep my fingers crossed. Paul Griffiths: I pass probation which is a six month period because it's a real right the UAE all not just off and across the UAE. It's a real big, you know, much more than at home, much more structured. On day one was given a series and this isn't a bad thing at all, a series of probation tasks, you know, around reports that are around other historic parts because the job that I've come over will eventually evolve into a wider heritage role. But at the moment the real focus is on Al Jazeera Al Hamra, which is great. Get one site, get it going, then see where we go next. So I think I'm still connected to lots of people back home. I'm still looking, seeing everyone's posts and enjoy. Paul Griffiths: I mean my usual jealousy of not being part of the ALVA network anymore as they're all having that great time in Belfast in the last couple of days and seeing everyone's post, not just one or two, but everyone you know, Bernard down with you know everyone's post. I wish I was there with them.Paul Marden: The FOMO was real. So I had Andy Povey in the office with me yesterday and we're both saying the FOMO about that ALVAe vent was very real for both of us having. Paul Griffiths: Having spent. You know I was at the Mary Rose few years where we joined ALVA and go experiencing those council weeks and knowing just hey how much they are great for networking A. You get very spoiled because every host wants to really show off what they can do and I think the Titanic always do that because we go there before for a council meeting but it's. Yeah. So you still see this stuff. So it's still sit home and there's still people I can reach out to.Paul Marden: Of course.Paul Griffiths: If we need to and I'm still calling on people things, you know, different projects we're doing here. But then again it's about slowly building up that network here and I think there's a slightly. You know, there's a. Within Ras Al Khaimah I've started making connections with lots of other people in the Heritage world and. And outside that. So we're already, you know, connecting up with different people from different parts of Ras Al Khaimah, the work we're going to do moving forward and for me I think it's been just a. I'm sort of still pinching myself I'm here and that sort of. So many things keep happening and you know. The weather's been gorgeous because I've come out of a grim English weather to this quite nice winter here where it's mostly been late mid-20s. Paul Griffiths: You're in she and shorts when you're off duty. You know, there's other things. The thing that really surprised me is how smart actually the dress code is for business over here. Paul Marden: Okay. Paul Griffiths: So I had to sort of all the usual brands that from home Mount Marks is next everything here so you could order online and get it delivered quite quickly. So I had sort of came out of one wardrobe thinking I was going to be far more in polo shirt and linen trousers are sort of very sort of summer at Painshill look, you know outdoor. But actually yeah my colleagues are still. Because of the aircon atmosphere. Lots of colleagues particularly in the head office are in suits. A bit like where I would have been when back in my London days. When we're in the office you were in a shirt tie. So yes, I had to sort of buy A back home wardrobe almost once I got traveled out with very lightweight clothing. So yes, it's a bit different in that sense. Paul Marden:  Yeah, absolutely. Let's talk a little bit about life as an expat. How have you found the transition? Paul Griffiths: Fine so far. I say there's lots of bits around work and practice and you know, no amount of inductions will be able to help you on some little faux pas you can make about not realising where you need approvals for staff. And obviously coming from the. For the last six years of being director of Painshill and only from feeding into a board of directors, board of trustees who we'd see quarterly and you know, I chat to the chairman every week. There was a lot of me sort of making those sort of decisions instantly was here, you know, particularly as were part of the foundation and we are representing Sheikh Saud as his name's in the title of the organization now, making sure we're going through those tick sheets. Paul Griffiths: You know, if I want to do anything that needs to spend more money, that's out budget, that is going to his Highness to be signed off. So any projects we're doing, we're needing to make cases to the highest man in the country to actually get those, you know, sign offs and things. And I'm not, that's not a bad thing. But you know, it's just that from an expat I guess it's getting used to. Everything's available here. Not the big supermarket up the road sells Waitrose and Marxist products and has a room at the back for non Muslims where you push the button, door opens, it's like a little bit of a naughty boys room. Paul Griffiths: You push back door open, slides you walk in and there's the pork heaven, you know, there's bacon, there's pork scratching, patays, you know, all because it's a real, you know, it's not just there's so many expats here, particularly from the Philippines and stuff who obviously pork is a big part of their diet. So yeah, that's available. I said earlier on there's cellars where you can pick up a great beer or a couple of glasses of bottle of wine or whatever you want. So actually it's not that I found myself flying into this really different world and I'm not really. Paul Marden:  It's a melting pot, isn't it? Paul Griffiths: Yeah. And I'm not someone who's ever been since very young, you know, going off to nightclubs or anything like that. But if you wanted that There is that. The hotels. So actually, if you're a younger person coming out and you wanted that nightlife, the hotels, particularly on Margin island and Minnal Arab, the tubing hotels have really nice restaurants, fully licensed clubs and stuff. But, you know, actually I found sort of the work is busy. Everyone's, you know, lots going on, actually, just going back to, you know, I was in a hotel for the first two months, which wasn't a dreadful thing because it was an apartment hotel. So, yeah, I had enough and now we've moved. I've moved into a villa ready for the family. Come out hopefully in about a month's time.Paul Marden:  Oh, that'd be exciting. Paul Griffiths: Yeah. So that's nice. So we've got the back onto the golf course. It's quite, you know, it's a nice place to be. It's going to be nice and, you know. Paul Griffiths: Yeah, so I've not struggled adapting because it's not. It's not that, you know, normally I've got a wonderful team here, Asia, you know, so with one Emirati and some Filipinos and other people from around the. From around the world. So that's been nice. And it's melting pot of learning their cultures as well as the local culture and. Yeah. And then they eat rice with everything. So it's. Yeah. Every lunchtime there's a bowl of rice, big bowl of salad in the main course and there's me pouring on the one on the salad, everyone else on the rice. But, yeah, it's been great, Paul. I mean, I can't. It's been one of those. Every moment you think this is just a great place to be. Paul Marden: Good. Let's go back to Al Jazeera and talk a little bit about some of the events that have been going on. So I know you're coming to the end of the Ras Al Khaimah Art Festival. Tell me a little bit about that and how well that's gone. Paul Griffiths: It's been brilliant. I know. I had no idea what to expect. First time for this. So this is the 13th International Art Fair. It started off back in the small museum back in the city of Central Town, moved to here, I think, five years ago is what I'm saying, and slowly grown every year since then. So this is the biggest one we've done, really. Lots of massive sponsors on board from across the Emirates, actually fully supported by His Highness, who's been here at least four times, if not five, since we've had the vessel. He was here at the opening ceremony for the big launch, you know it was, and it was like a proper opening ceremony. Paul Griffiths: Everyone sat round with a band and speakers and you know like not quite Olympics but you know it was a proper event. This is the opening of it and it felt like a big event. Yeah. All my female members of my team had, were given time off in the day to do hair and makeup. It was proper. Everyone looked, everyone looked the business, it was lovely. You know everyone was scrubbed up from the maintenance team to, you know, our executive director looking fabulous in a brand new dress. You know it was really was. No, I've had a new suit, I got a new suit for the occasion. Paul Griffiths: So yeah, it was a lovely evening and then it's rolled ever since and for me it's been wonderful because I've seen people in this village which has been quite quiet since I'd arrived and it's sort of been okay, how are we going to get this? But actually clearly putting something on has attracted a complete cross spectrum audience. So you know, we have people coming in, absolutely fascinating, obsessed with the art, beautiful and it's artists I should say from around the world. It's all exhibited outside or inside the little houses. So you know lots of the pieces have been blown up quite big and quite impressive. I mean do look at it on the website, you know people, you know if you go to ajah.ae you can then click on from there.Paul Marden: We'll put the links and everything in the show notes so people be able to find that. Paul Griffiths: It's been, but it's been, for me it's been fabulous because we've seen so many people in, you know I was, you know, we've had, we've got pop up restaurants so this won't mean anything to people back home but the restaurant called Puro P U R O has a restaurant at the top of the mountain at Jebel Jais. Really almost impossible to get booking, you know you have to book months advance for lunch or dinner. It's the place that everybody, both locals, internationals and tourists want to see and often frequented by his Highness. They've got a pop up restaurant here which just is fabulous. Paul Griffiths: They we've had a lovely couple, Kelly and Paolo in running a restaurant called Antica which is a sort of the chef's Italian Paolo but he's lived in Australia so it's a fusion of Australian middle Italy, sort of historic villagey type cuisine with an Emirates twist. But you're just served four or five courses without there's not a menu. It's not a restaurant as such, so it's sort of a sharing experience. But you know, the food is amazing. So I was fortunate to have dinner. Well, I've actually been fortunate enough to have dinner in Antica twice and lunch there as well. But one of the dinners I was then wandering around the village about 10 o'clock at night was full of people, you know, families just. Paul Griffiths: There is a different culture over here that people do more stuff in the evenings because of the temperature and a different way of life because the local people aren't obviously, for obvious reasons, down the pub on a Friday night, they're doing stuff with the family and you go past cafes and even outside of the village, you know, 9, 10 o'clock on a Friday night, they're full of people sitting very beautifully dressed in their finest, drinking coffee and eating desserts. That's a big thing. People seem to love coffee and desserts. Paul Marden: Okay. Paul Griffiths: But, but then of course it's because because of the heat most of the year we'll spend more time indoors resting in the day and then ready to go out at night and do some more stuff. So yeah, so we've had this sort of here in the evenings. It's really fun. What was interesting is our hours for the festival were meant to be midweek. So Monday we always close. Tuesday to Thursday we're meant to be open till 6 o'clock and then Friday, Saturday, Sunday open to 11:00. Often struggling to get people out then the first night. So the Tuesday night was the first night. Medusa goes at 6:00. 5:45, I had a queue of at least 40 people trying to get in. So we just had to make an on the hooves decision. Paul Griffiths: We're going to stay open later. And then we just opened till 8:00 in the midweek. We didn't want to push it too much because of obviously from the staff welfare perspective, an hour's work. But actually that first night were just. Myself and Sikrat, who's the director of the festival, Emirati. Wonderful. Emirati has been my cultural bodyguard in many ways because he's been the person, my go to person for what should I do here? What about this person? How should I do this? So Spencer Crouch just stood there. Look at this crowd. We both just said, “Well we can't turf them away. This would be daft.” So yeah, so we've had. And we've had about 40, 000 visitors will have come through the door by the end of the festival in 28 days. Paul Griffiths: The artworks then going to stay up in place for Ramadan. So we'll be working different hours again during Ramadan and this is the first time Al Jazeera will ever do. Has ever done anything special for. Because before now it's just been a come and visit, walk in, do what you like, leave now. We're trying to structure that visitor experience. So we're going to be for Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, because Thursday's the sort of Friday night in many ways. Because a lot of people have Fridays off here. Yes, because of the day of prayers and so a lot of people in Ras Al Hamah go to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for work. So Thursday nights they'll travel back. So actually we're going to be open till midnight on Thursday, Friday, Saturday for Ramadan. Paul Griffiths: So people will break the fast with the families and then they want to do the sort of head top of activity. They've now got food back in them and an energy source. And out they come. So again, first time we've done it, hopefully see numbers with the artwork will still be in place. We're then working on some different options around cuisine, food, coffee and hopefully get some musicians in as well, just to give a bit of an atmosphere. But it is a holy month, so it's not. It's not parties, but it's enjoying the family. Paul Marden: Yeah, absolutely. So what does the future look like for the Heritage Village and for tourism and attractions more generally in RAK? Paul Griffiths: I think for RAK itself, we're trying to bring more tourists in then trying to get the most hotels. Interestingly, as they had a lunch with five of our local big hotels at the weekend using. Using our Antico restaurant, this is excuse to have another lunch there and invite some people in and just take on their views, which is great. So just chatting and getting their thoughts on it. They were saying what. What happens in Iraq a lot at the moment is people are finding the hotels through travel agents, through, you know, searches. I know when were looking before I came out here, I know Ras Al Hamra came up on a Thomas Cumbin telescope. Yeah, similar. What am I thinking of? Probably Tui, I guess, or someone like, you know, someone like that. Paul Griffiths: I was doing a search for when went to Canary, but up came Ras Al Khaimah as a hotel and what they were saying. A lot of people will book that and have no idea really what Ras Al Khaimah is, other than it's part of the UAE. Some people think it's part of Dubai, you know, actually, because it's not, they don't realize it's seven emirates, etc. So a lot of people are booking their sort of tourists, their hotels. Our job is to try and then get them out and attract them to do other stuff. So there's lots of adventure tourism going on at the moment. We talked about the zip wire and lots of hiking, walking, camel rail, camel riding, you know, trips to the desert where you can zoom around in 4x Fours and go karts and stuff. Paul Griffiths: So from my perspective of the Heritage village is about bringing it more alive, bringing more people in, promoting it, more linking up with these sorts of hoteliers, concierges. And this is really early days for us because this has always been sort of slightly done but not really pushed yet. And sort of listening to what their advice is and seeing how we can act upon it, you know, and what sort of stuff we can take forward because, you know, there's a lot to be done. And there's lots of other heritage sites across rat about 90 on the list of actual heritage sites. And some of those are real ruins that you're never going to be able to do anything with. Paul Griffiths: Those sort of English Heritage free sites, you know, the ones you stumble across with a little brown sign and you pull up with a lay by, have a potter around and off you go without seeing anyone. There's a bit like that. But then there's a number of sites that will work well with some activation. You know, we've got Dyer Fort, which is on the World Heritage site tentative list and we're working on projects to slowly take that forward to World Heritage status. Touchwood because it's a really important for, you know, and it's perfect for visits. You climb up to the top, you get the most gorgeous views. You know, really is a gorgeous little site. So more interpretation, more things there is what's needed. But you know, again, this is all early days. Paul Griffiths: So it's all about sort of, you know, each day's excitement. What can we do, what can we push forward, who can we talk to? And what's been great is as the festival's gone on, more people have been coming and chatting to me. Mine have become more, well known. That sounds wrong, goes back to your sort of earlier question about, you know, people are sort of learning about, oh, this person's here now. Paul said, although people can call me sir or Mr. Paul, which is fine. I can deal with that. Keep saying now, people, I keep saying, please don't call me sir. You really don't need to. But it's so culturally great. But Mr. Everyone see everyone externally, she's called Mr. Paul, so I can put up with that. But I was there. Although when we host his. Paul Griffiths: His Highness hosted dinner that I was invited to, I then got even pushed up to His Excellency, which was a title. I want to go. Paul Marden: That's quite nice. Paul Griffiths: Yeah, I love that. Apparently. I always thought that someone else I knew was his title. His Excellency was part of the family, but actually it's. Once you get to a CEO director level in royal that circle, you immediately become His Excellency, so. Paul Marden: Well, there we go. I will correct myself in future communications. Paul Griffiths: Please do. Yeah, but I thought it was wonderful. That's why it's just been lovely, the funny comments coming from people back home saying, oh, well, I've amended my entry in my phone to now shake your he status. But yeah, so. But there's a sort of cultural things. It's just. Okay, right, lovely. That's fun. Paul Marden: It's been a whirlwind for you. It's been really interesting actually, talking about it and understanding more about. About what's happening there, about how exciting it is, this huge opportunity that you've got to make a something out of this beautiful historic village and then that, you know, the remit will grow from there. So I think. I think this has been lovely. We always wrap up our interviews with a book recommendation and you've had this privilege once before. So have you run out of recommendations or do you have something ready for me? Paul Griffiths: Well, I was going to recommend the Red island, an Emirati story, because it's based on Al Jazeera Al Hamra, but I thought that might be a little bit too niche. This guy. So, again, little things have come across. This guy's written a book, Adil, and he's going to be coming to Al Jazeera to do a book reading signing. These little opportunities. I have read the book, I promise. It was actually fascinating because it's all about local culture. It went off in a number of tangents, but actually from a point of view of how the Emirati local culture works and families, it was actually quite a really good induction. But now I've decided to go with a more book for management or book for running. And I don't think anyone's given this before, but if they have, I'm nervous. Paul Griffiths: But this book, Fish!, which is one of my favourite books. I've actually launched this as the Al Jazeera Book Club for the spring. So all the team have a copy. Book clubs are massive over here for work. Every department has one here in the foundation. So this book, Fish, is based around the Seattle fish market. My colleagues who've worked me in the past, both. I can hear them groaning now because they've forced everyone to read this, but it's basically around having fun when you're at work. And it talks about the story of the Seattle fish market, how they were just flogging fish, but actually one day decided, we need to liven this up. We need to want to be here. So introduced, sort of involving the crowd, fish flying through the air. Paul Griffiths: But It's a more of a story about a woman joins, it moves up in a company into a department that no one's been able to manage. She gets to the bottom of using the fish market. And it's just a really fun, easy reading book. And so I recommend it to. To listeners and viewers. Paul Marden: That's brilliant. So listeners, if you would like a copy of Fish,Paul Griffiths: It's quite a cheap book as well, Paul, so please, you have to give one away. So it's not too much money. It's just 9.99 in the non fiction section. So, yeah, cheaper. Paul Marden: Bargain. Bargain. That's the trouble with. So I've been doing a few live events where we have panels, four people with book records, recommendations. That's going to bankrupt me. No, not today. We got a bargain this time. So I like this. Yeah. If you'd like a copy of Fish, if you'd like a copy of Paul's book, head on over to Bluesky and when Wenalyn posts the show note, go over there and repost it and say, I want Paul's book. And the first person to do that will get a copy of the book. Paul, delightful as always. Three times on the podcast, at least. Paul Griffiths: I think this would be number. This would be number four because we had the original episode where Kelly grilled me about life at Painshill. Then we did the Turn the Tables episode when I grilled Kelly on setting up podcasts. And then we did. Then we did the Goodbye to Kelly, whatever it was. 100 episode. And then this. Yeah, four Skip the Queues. Which is always a pleasure and I'm so delighted as you're my favourite podcast, obviously.Paul Marden: It's, oh, you say the nicest things. That must be a record. I need to go back and check that I think four times on the podcast is pretty impressive. Paul Griffiths: I think I should get to add all mine up into one as a total so I can beat Dominic Jones, who's always had the biggest number, isn't he? Paul Marden: So, yeah, so he does and he still does. So, yeah, I think aggregating the number of listens for across all of your episodes, I think that might be within the walls. Let me see what I can do and I'll add everything up and we'll see if you can take Dom's crown. Paul Griffiths: Sorry, Dom. Paul Marden:  Because he's not competitive at all. Paul Griffiths: No, he's not, mate. He's a great guy, though. So, yeah, a friendly rival. Paul Marden: Exactly. Thank you very much, Paul. I would love to keep in touch. Paul Griffiths: Let's keep talking. Paul Marden: I want to hear what happens not just after the first 90 days, but I want to hear what happens in a year's time and two years time. So thank you so much for coming on and telling us about Ras Al-Khaimah and the Heritage Village. It's been lovely. Paul Griffiths: Yeah, thanks for having me. It's great. Been a real pleasure. Paul Marden: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others to find us. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them to increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcripts from this episode and more over on our website, skipthequeue fm.    The 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsDownload the 2024 Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey Report

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-Rain In The UAE To Increase By 30%-Training Aircraft Crashes In Fujairah-Abu Dhabi Limits Private School Fee Hikes To 15% Max-The Ambanis Were Shopping In Global Village!-Love Is Blind Star Khatab Talks Dating Culture, Show Drama & Life After The Show

Published on Friday, November 8th, this is an episode packed with women's sports news from the Middle East and beyond as well as an interview with Saudi Arabia's first pro cyclist, Moroj Adil. Catch Moroj's first appearance on the podcast:

IMF's Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva kicked off talks with Egyptian officials, including Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and CBE governor Hassan Abdalla yesterday after landing in Egypt. The USD rose more than 0.4% against the EGP on Thursday to reach EGP48.94 to the greenback, marking its highest level since August.Budget deficit narrowed to 2.12% of the country's GDP in 1Q 2024-2025, recording EGP361.8 bn, compared to an EGP455.8 bn deficit during the same period last year. This was driven by an increase in revenues, mainly from the taxpayers. Government spending increased by 4.7% YoY, standing at EGP827.7 bn, while interest payments dipped 5.4% YoY, at around EGP452 bn.Fitch Ratings upgraded Egypt's credit rating from ‘B-' to ‘B' with a stable outlook for the first time since 2019, citing FX inflows from the USD35 bn Ras El Hekma agreement, our expanded USD8 bn IMF program, and the EU's EUR7.4 bn aid package, alongside greater confidence in the durability of our structural reforms.The IMF expects constraints on Egypt's growth to ease as regional tensions subside and structural reforms are implemented. The Fund noted that “an assumed easing of the conflict in Gaza and Israel next year and steady implementation of reforms are projected to help lift growth in Egypt to 4.1% in 2025 and above 5% over the medium term.”Net foreign asset surplus in the Egyptian banking system rose 6% to record USD10.31 bn in September, up from USD9.7 bn in August.The House will discuss and vote on amendments to the law regulating the tax dispute settlement on Tuesday, which will see the deadline for settlements pushed to 30 June 2025. Egypt is aiming for 120 GW of total electrical capacity by 2040, with 60% set to come from renewable sources.A consortium of China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) subsidiary Umi Group and IGI Holding have signed an MoU with the New Urban Communities Authority to manage and operate the Central Business District in the New Administrative Capital.We update our FV on ISPH to EGP9.50/share, up from EGP4.12/share maintaining our overweight recommendation; factoring in the upward revision for prices, increased market share, updating our macro assumptions, and rolling over the model for an additional year.  ISPH is currently trading at 2025 multiples of P/E of 8.8x and EV/EBITDA of 1.8x.EFIC released 3Q24 unaudited standalone results. Net profit increased by 722% YoY (+6% QoQ) to EGP265.2 million, bringing 9M24 net profit to EGP586.7 million, a 150% YoY.SKPC sent a release announcing that the Council of Ministers has approved the establishment of a project to produce sodium cyanide as free zone project for Draschem Company, which is a partnership between the Austrian Holding Company for Petrochemicals and the Czech Company “Draslovka”. A lease agreement has been signed between them and SKPC for a plot of land to establish the project. Currently, SKPC is considering a 15% partnership in Draschem.EKHO sent a release in reference to the news published regarding the company's withdrawal from Al Mohandes Insurance Company, EKHO announced that this news is entirely false and there are no negotiations with any party regarding this matter. Egypt has welcomed the first oil tanker as part of an MoU inked with the Emirate of Fujairah earlier this year.The finance and tourism ministries have officially launched a new EGP50 bn subsidized loan program for the tourism sector. The initiative will offer financing at 12% interest, with a focus on key tourist destinations in Luxor, Aswan, Greater Cairo, the Red Sea, and South Sinai governorates.

Proses pengiriman bantuan kemanusiaan warga terdampak konflik Timur Tengah dimulai di Yaman. Delegasi Indonesia telah tiba di Fujairah lokasi pengumpulan bantuan, untuk kemudian mengirimkan bantuan tersebut ke titik konflik. Seperti apa penyerahan bantuan tersebut?

Send us a textWant to know more? Below my contact details+971553523125info@alessandroderubertis.comEtihad Rail has announced that the new passenger rail service will reduce travel times significantly across the UAE. A trip from Abu Dhabi to Dubai will take 57 minutes, and from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah, 105 minutes.A journey from Abu Dhabi to Al Ruwais will take 70 minutes. The service is expected to boost commuting, tourism, and trade by linking 11 cities, including Dubai, Sharjah, and Fujairah, with trains traveling at up to 200 km/h, carrying up to 400 passengers.Stations will be integrated with local transport networks, offering connections to taxis and ride-hailing services. The trains will feature Wi-Fi, entertainment systems, and onboard food and drink. Etihad Rail estimates that by 2030, 36 million people will use the service annually.The first passenger station will be in Fujairah, with future stations planned in Sharjah and other cities. A luxury train service was also unveiled, expected to run from Fujairah to the Liwa desert in Abu Dhabi.Etihad Rail's freight network is already operational, and the UAE is collaborating with Oman to develop a rail link between the two countries. The joint project, Hafeet Rail, secured $1.5 billion in funding, supported by international and regional banks. The project also includes contracts issued to China Railway International Group for the construction of stations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.Source: https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2024/10/15/etihad-rail-journey-times/

01 Oct 2024. On the back of our petrol price drop, we find out more about what shapes fuel pricing with oil economist Paul Hickin, live from Fujairah and Ed Bell, Senior Director, Emirates NBD. Plus, as global car makers issue a series of warnings of slow sales - we speak to Sebastian Fuchs, Managing Director, AutoData Middle East. We also speak to the CEO of ADNH Catering, as they announce plans for an Abu Dhabi IPO. And, on international coffee day we kick off our new series of interviews - from the lounge at Raw Coffee. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

-UAE President Pledges $100M For Lebanon Relief-A New Bridge Has Opened Near Jumeirah Village Circle-The Petrol Prices Have Dipped Again!-Kasabian Is Coming To The Coca-Cola Arena-Illegal Animal Traps Exposed in Fujairah: Authorities Take Action-Visa Talks With Decisive Zone: Eligibility, Overstays & How To Apply

Four Dubai Metro Stations Still Closed Due To The FloodsRAK Will Be Home To The World's Largest CasinoLocal Foodie Praises No-Show Restaurant FeesA Rare Wild Animal Was Spotted In FujairahGolden Visa Business Setup Tips With Mr Golden Visa.

Hello and welcome to Season 2 of Travel Stories with Moush – the first travel podcast in the Middle East. So, let's talk about ethical travel today, which is clearly becoming very important in the world that we live in now. Chloe Evans, our special guest on the episode today is someone who is dedicated towards protecting wildlife. She is someone who is very extremely passionate about animals, and this led her to also set up her company Wilde Tracks here in Dubai through which she takes people all the way to South Africa to take part in hands on conservation missions that protect endangered wildlife. Episode highlights: • South Africa • Namibia • Australia • New Zealand • Japan • Vietnam • Morocco • France • Costa Rica • Bali, Indonesia Chloe's Dubai/UAE Recommendations: Food: Burj Al Arab https://www.jumeirah.com/en/stay/dubai/burj-al-arab-jumeirah Goldfish Sushi and Yakitori https://www.instagram.com/goldfishdubai Experience: Hiking in Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Hatta Connect with Chloe on: Instagram @wildetracks Instagram @conservation_chlo Thank you everyone for tuning in today. I hope our conversations have fueled your #wanderlust and inspired you to #exploretheworld world in new and exciting ways. Please don't forget to hit that subscribe button on your favorite podcasting channel to keep up with our latest episodes. I would love to know what you think…what kind of travel stories and guests you would like me to cover. So, please do leave a comment, a rating or a review. Do follow me on Instagram and find out who's joining me next week. I'm at @moushtravels. You can also find all the episodes and destinations mentioned by all the guests on my website www.moushtravels.com as well as on the episode show notes. Thanks for listening and until next time safe travels and keep adventuring. Subscribe http://www.youtube.com/c/MoushTravels Follow me on Instagram @moushtravels "Want a spotlight on our show? Visit https://admanager.fm/client/podcasts/moushtravels and align your brand with our audience."Connect with me on the following:Instagram @moushtravelsFacebook @moushtravelsLinkedIn @Moushumi Bhuyan

O Marco Gonçalves está nos EAU desde 2022, depois de França, Espanha e Inglaterra. Uma vontade despertada pela curiosidade, que aos 4 anos o levou a fazer uma mochila e a dizer que ia sair de casa.

O Marco Gonçalves está nos EAU desde 2022, depois de França, Espanha e Inglaterra. Uma vontade despertada pela curiosidade, que aos 4 anos o levou a fazer uma mochila e a dizer que ia sair de casa.

Did you get a pet this year? What did you name her? Find out the most popular dog names of 2023 as Helen chats with veterinary nurse Claire Taylor who also answered your pet questions. Broadcasting from the Palace Beach Resort in Fujairah, we also delve on the tourism of this beautiful emirate with Amr Zeineddin of Fujairah Adventures. Professor Ben Hardy from the London Business School discusses psychological safety in the workplace. Dr Sabrina Berdouk tells us all about the Good Samaritan Law. And children's author Kathy Urban fills us in with the magic of Christmas through her Hop Lola Hop series.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kathleen from Plenty of Sunshine Travel met with Andrea from Windstar Cruises for this week's cruise chat. . If you found value in this video and wish to help this channel. You can contribute using this link https://bit.ly/KathleenPenner. Andrea did an excellent brand overview of Windstar. They truly are 180 degrees away from ordinary. Windstar has sailing ships with masts as well as small ships. Six ships in total. With 24/7 room service, you can enjoy a dinner delivered to your room course by course. You can enjoy dinner on your balcony or inside your suite. . You can enjoy dining inside or outside with many different restaurants. . One of my favourites on a cruise is shopping with the chef and then enjoying a meal prepared with fresh local ingredients that we had all selected together. Windstar is part of the James Beard Foundation. . Windstar has an open bridge policy, so anytime you would like, you can go to the bridge, chat with the captain, and take in those gorgeous sea views! . We took a look at the destinations that Windstar sails to, including: Dreams of Tahiti, Treasures of the Greek Isles, Around Iceland, Icons of the Ancient World, Greece & Israel, Tahiti & the Tuamotu Islands, A Piece of Greece, a Slice of Sicily & the Corinth Canal, Classic Italy & Dalmatian Coast and Souks and Sherries in Iberia & Morroco. One of the itineraries we looked at is DREAMS OF TAHITI. The cruise will have you visiting Papeete - Moorea - Raiatea - Motu Mahaea (Tahaa) - Bora Bora - Huahine - Papeete. Then there is TAHITI & THE TUAMOTU ISLANDS, which will have port stops in Papeete - Fakarava - Tiputa, Rangiroa - Motu Mahaea (Tahaa) - Raiatea - Bora Bora - Huahine - Moorea - Papeete. . Is Tahiti not on your list right now? Windstar has sailings to Costa Rica & Panama Canal and San Juan & the Virgin Islands, with stops in St. Maarten & the Virgin Islands. You can bask in the sunshine and enjoy the Windward Islands with the Surf and sunsets. One of the beautiful locations you can also visit is Sicilian Splendors or the Spanish Symphony and the Yachtsman's Harbors of the Rivieras on James Beard Foundation Themed Cruises. You know you will enjoy being a foodie on the James Beard Foundation cruise. Bring your stretchy clothing. You may need it on this cruise! . Fancy a cruise to the Middle East? Windstar has you covered! Port stops include (but are not limited to) the Mediterranean Sea, Jordan and Agaba, Suez Canal, Ain Sokhna, Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, and Safaga. Along the Red Sea, you will find stops in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yanbu, Jeddah, Dammam, Manama, and Bahrain. Also, you will be stopping in Doha, Qatar, Sir Bani, Yas, Ras Al Khaimah, Abu Dhabi, Khasab, Fujairah, and Muscat. You will be onboard Star Legend, one of Windstar's small ships, at all these destinations. Make sure you reach out to me for Windstars 7 for 7 deals. These are seven different itineraries that are reduced for 7 days only. They are quickly gone, barely here for a flash, so check in with me often to see what locations they promote each week! . If you want to learn more about Windstar or any other cruise lines I have met with. Please get in touch with me at info@PlentyofSunshineTravel.com. You can also fill out this simple form https://bit.ly/3mxFUNd, and I will get back to you. . Subscribe to our channel and hit the notification bell to ensure you catch all upcoming cruise videos. . If you want to see the images on this week's episode click HERE to go to our YouTube Channel. . Search #PlentyofSunshineTravel on Facebook or Instagram to see our posts. . . . #Windstar #Windstar7for7 #travelagent #CruiseSpecialist #Cruise #CruiseGuru #TravelAgent #luxurytravel --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cruisingthewavespodcast/message

11 Oct 2023. Over $1.5 billion of lab-grown diamonds were traded through Dubai last year so we spoke to Basma Chaieri, Founder, Etika Jewels about the demand for this stone and whether it is acceptable to propose with a lab-grown diamond. Plus, Brandy has been speaking to OPEC's Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais in Fujairah. And, we look at Careem's latest numbers as well the ongoing cricket World Cup in India. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blockchain DXB + Duncan Dewes, the Regional Director of the Tough Mudder global race. Podcast Session: via Google Meet Date 10th October Time 17:00GST Contact details for Duncan Dewes & Tough Mudder Arabia Instagram: @Duncan.dewes https://tinyurl.com/5n8hwu3u LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/2zsu3ht2 Tough Mudder Arabia UAE RACES 15% discount code: racespace15 Website: https://toughmudderarabia.com/ Registration link for Fujairah 14th Oct 2023: https://tinyurl.com/48w37ums Registration link for Dubai 11th & 12th Nov 2023: https://tinyurl.com/mjk4bt8b Registration link for Tough Mudder Infinity 24th Feb 2024: https://tinyurl.com/2cxaakj2 Instagram: @toughmudderarabia https://tinyurl.com/34he9j9k Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/5bjrjdbz Twitter: @ToughMudder_ar https://tinyurl.com/27v3k5nr Information about Saudi www.visitsaudi.com Things to do in Abha, Saudi Arabia https://tinyurl.com/upya7p9m Vision Saudi Arabia: https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/en/ Saudi Vision 2023 https://riyadhexpo2030.sa/ Experience Alula https://www.experiencealula.com/ Summary of the conversation Introduction and Background: Duncan Dewes discussed his daily routine and busy physical workout schedule. He shared his experience in the fitness and OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) industry, dating back to 2013 in Muscat, Oman. Duncan played a pivotal role in the Spartan Race in Muscat, Oman and Tough Mudder Arabia. Challenges of OCR Events in the Middle East: Duncan explained the unique challenges of organizing OCR events in the Middle East due to climate and environmental factors. Upcoming Events and Challenges: Discussion of an upcoming event on October 14th, the second time in an iconic location. Duncan offered advice for first-time Tough Mudder participants. Talked about an event in Dubai on November 11th and 12th and the licensing challenges due to its connection with the Royal family. Innovative Ideas and Future Plans: Duncan discussed the possibility of a mini-obstacle course race for pets in partnership with Dog Adventure HD. Mentioned an event in the second quarter of 2024 at Jebel Jais. Talked about weather conditions in certain regions of Saudi Arabia. Tough Mudder Infinity and Competition: Explained what Tough Mudder Infinity is and how it differs from World's Toughest Mudder's 12-hour and 24-hour race formats. Shared a message to international athletes attending the 2024 event, emphasizing an exceptional experience and high benchmarks. Hints about prize money and plans for expanding Tough Mudder events in the Middle East. Event Logistics and Management: Detailed the event's timing, participant groupings, and exclusivity limited to 1800 participants. Explained how the Tough Mudder Infinity loop works and the availability of rest areas. Discussed strict event management rules and the use of wristbands during the 10k loops. Partnerships and Hybrid Events: Talked about partnerships focusing on community-based events. Duncan's experience organizing events with DEKA and Spartan Trail events in the UAE. Discussion of the future of hybrid events in the UAE. Challenges and Feedback: Mentioned the challenges of organizing events in the Middle East and feedback from participants. Compared the level of difficulty at OCR events in the UAE versus overseas. Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, and NFTs: Shared thoughts on cryptocurrencies, addressing price fluctuations and the potential issuance of an NFT in the future. Metaverse and Technology: Discussed the future impact of the Metaverse on the fitness and OCR industry. Advice for Event Organizers: Offered advice to fellow OCR event organizers, stressing open communication and advance event scheduling. Closing Thoughts: Concluded with Duncan's parting words of wisdom. Shared thoughts on the possibility of aliens in a fun, non-OCR/fitness-related question. Mentioned a unique aspect of his personality that contributes to his knowledge and experience. Thank you for the podcast

For decades, the global centre for oil trading has been Geneva, Switzerland. But Russia's war in Ukraine changed that. Sanctions have made it harder for western traders to move Russian oil. Now, traders are flocking to a new trading hub that has no restrictions on oil from Russia: the United Arab Emirates. The FT's energy correspondent Tom Wilson explains how this shift has helped the UAE replace Switzerland, and whether the global energy industry is shifting away from western economies. Plus, do you have your own burning questions about business or finance? Send us your questions and we may use them in a future show. Record a voice message here and we may even play it on the show: https://sayhi.chat/rmc2b Or, email Michela at michela.tindera@ft.com, or message her on Twitter at @mtindera07Update: A new version of this episode was uploaded on August 9, 2023 to correct that Fujairah is roughly an hour's drive east from Dubai, not west.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For further reading:How Dubai became ‘the new Geneva' for Russian oil tradeSwitzerland questions oil trader over sidestep of Russian sanctionsLetter: Energy trading is opaque — and that suits Big OilSwitzerland/Paramount: block loopholes which swerve oil sanctions- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - On Twitter, follow Tom Wilson (@thomas_m_wilson) and Michela Tindera (@mtindera07)Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, May 5th, 2023. Watch out for the revenge of the 5th if you’re into that… or cinco de mayo, take your pick. https://tvpworld.com/69620835/us-navy-deployed-drag-queen-influencer-to-boost-youth-recruitment As part of a recruitment drive aimed at the country’s youth, the U.S. Navy deployed a "drag queen influencer" to assist in boosting lagging numbers in the military. In November of last year Joshua Kelley aka “Harpy Daniels”, who has over 1,300,000 likes on TikTok, revealed that he was to be the Navy’s ‘Digital Ambassador’. Whilst the U.S. Navy only recently revealed about approaching Kelley, the drag queen claims to have danced in drag in front of an audience of service officers on a number of occasions, even sharing one video from 2018 on his Instagram. Kelley was part of a Digital Ambassador initiative that lasted from October 2022 to March 2023, “designed to explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates,” a Navy spokesperson told Fox News. The spokesperson also said that the Navy is navigating “the most challenging recruiting environment it has faced since the start of the all-volunteer force.” “The Navy did not compensate YN2 Kelley or any others for being Navy Digital Ambassadors. The pilot has concluded and we are now evaluating the program and how it will exist in the future," the spokesperson added. Regarding his role as Digital Ambassador, Kelley wrote on his Instagram page: “Thank you to the Navy for giving me this opportunity! I don't speak for the Navy but simply sharing my experience in the Navy! Hoorah, and let's go Slay!”. Not only the Navy but more broadly the U.S. military face big problems in convincing young people to join. Only 13 pct of 18-29-year-olds are “highly willing” to join the military, whilst 25 pct declared themselves “somewhat willing” and 26 pct are “not willing at all.” Gender ideology has become a hot topic in the Navy and all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. In March, a group of House Democrats proposed legislation to prevent the Department of Defense from standing in the way of transgender people who want to serve in the military. Some critics have argued that the purpose of the U.S. military is to provide security for the country, not to be a tool for gender ideology politics. Whilst others have suggested that in an unstable world, where a lot of military strategy is played out through bravado, such as with military drills, it is perhaps surprising that the U.S. would do the opposite of striking fear into their enemies. It’s a good thing we have Joshua to scare off said enemies, which ties in nicely for this next story! https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-05-03/second-oil-tanker-in-a-week-seized-by-iran-in-gulf-u-s-navy Iran Seizes Second Oil Tanker in a Week in Gulf -U.S. Navy Iran seized a second oil tanker in a week on Wednesday in Gulf waters, and the U.S. State Department called for its release, in the latest escalation in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in Gulf waters since 2019. The Baa-rain-based Fifth Fleet of the U.S. Navy said the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) at 6:20 a.m. (0220 GMT) while passing through the Strait of Hor-mooz. In Iran's first response, Tehran's prosecutor announced the oil tanker was seized on a judicial order following a complaint by a plaintiff, the judiciary's Mizan news agency said. No further details were provided. The incident comes after Iran on Thursday seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman called the Advantage Sweet. That tanker is being held by Iranian authorities in Bandar Abbas, the Marshall Islands flag registry said on Tuesday. Maritime security firm Ambrey has said it believed the Advantage Sweet's seizure was in response to a recent seizure via a court order by the United States of an oil cargo aboard the Marshall Islands tanker Suez Rajan. The Niovi oil tanker seized on Wednesday had been travelling from Dubai toward the UAE's Fujairah port when it was forced by IRGCN boats to change course towards Iranian territorial waters, the Navy said. The Niovi last reported its position at 0231 GMT on Wednesday off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz with the UAE as its destination, Refinitiv ship tracking data showed. According to the International Maritime Organization shipping database,, the Niovi's owner is Grand Financing Co, and the ship is managed by Greece-based Smart Tankers, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Vedant Patel, a deputy spokesperson at the U.S. State Department, told reporters the Biden administration and the "international community" call on Iran and its Navy to release the ships and their crews. "Iran's harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional and international waters are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional stability and security," Patel said. About a fifth of the world's crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point between Iran and Oman, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa. Since 2019, there have been a series of attacks on shipping in the strategic Gulf waters at times of tension between the United States and Iran. Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear pact with world powers have stalled since September over a range of issues, including the Islamic Republic's violent crackdown on popular protests, Tehran's sale of drones to Russia and acceleration of its nuclear program. https://justthenews.com/nation/crime/alleged-texas-killer-captured-following-manhunt Fugitive illegal alien accused of mass killing in Texas captured Authorities on Tuesday apprehended an individual suspected of killing five people in Cleveland, Texas, following a Friday evening altercation. Authorities arrested Francisco Oropesa without incident on Tuesday evening, NBC News reported, citing the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. His arrest marks an end to the manhunt that had baffled law enforcement for days. Authorities indicated earlier this week that they had "zero leads" as to his whereabouts. As of Monday, it was believed that Oropesa had slipped past a network of roadblocks in the Cleveland area, despite extensive efforts by law enforcement to contain him within a set perimeter. During the manhunt, reports emerged that the fugitive had been deported four times, twice in 2009, and again in 2012 and 2016. The manhunt ensued following Oropesa's alleged killing of five of his neighbors after reportedly being asked to stop shooting his firearm. Authorities indicated that four adults were found dead at the scene while one child died at the hospital later. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-03/gun-rights-advocates-renew-legal-fight-over-californias-10-day-wait-on-firearm-purchases Gun rights advocates renew legal fight over California’s 10-day wait for firearm buyers Renewing a legal battle that some had considered settled, gun rights advocates filed a federal lawsuit this week challenging a California law that places a 10-day waiting period on most firearm purchases. The law, which requires people to wait the prescribed “cooling off” period even if they’ve passed a more immediate background check, is aimed in part at deterring people from rushing to harm themselves or others with newly purchased weapons during periods of sudden distress or anger. Gun control advocates and state officials say the law reduces gun violence, including suicides, and the law has been upheld in the face of legal challenges before — including by the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2018 declined to hear an appeal to a lower court decision upholding it. However, things have changed since the high court ruled last year — in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. vs. Bruen — that restrictions on firearms violate the 2nd Amendment if they aren’t deeply rooted in the nation’s history or analogous to some historical rule. According to the San Diego gun owners and advocacy groups suing the state, the high court’s 2018 decision allowing the waiting period law to stand was “abrogated,” or undone, by its more recent Bruen decision, and, therefore, the law is unconstitutional under the court’s newer historical standard. The plaintiffs argue enforcement of the law “prevents law-abiding people from taking possession of lawfully acquired firearms for immediate self-defense and other lawful purposes — even after [state officials] know the individual is eligible to exercise their fundamental, constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.” The office of California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said it was reviewing the lawsuit Tuesday but could not otherwise comment. Bonta is the lead defendant in the lawsuit. According to legal experts, the revived challenge reflects how massively the legal landscape around gun laws has changed since President Trump shifted the Supreme Court to the right and the court issued its Bruen decision. It also reflects the increased confidence among gun rights advocates that the high court is ready and willing to overturn more gun laws, the experts said — even those it may have allowed to stand in the past. Jake Charles, an associate professor at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and an expert in firearms law, said he was “surprised it took until May of this year” for the waiting period law to be challenged again under Bruen — in part because it is obviously vulnerable. Prior to Bruen, federal courts across the country judged gun laws not only through a historical lens, but by assessing whether they served a well-reasoned purpose of modern government. When the California-based U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld California’s 10-day waiting period law in 2016, it did so based on such a review. Writing for the court, Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder found that the 10-day waiting period was “a reasonable safety precaution,” and therefore constitutional. Now, however, Bruen has changed the relevant legal analysis and Schroeder’s reasoning is now irrelevant, the plaintiffs argue. The law rvive, they argue, because waiting period laws were not enacted in the country until 1923 — making them too recent to be considered part of the nation’s tradition under Bruen. Gun law experts said it’s a strong argument. Attorneys for California may still argue the law is similar enough to some historical law that didn’t institute a waiting period for purchased weapons but restricted the purchase of them in some other way. The state has already argued that other modern gun laws being challenged — including its bans on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines — are similar enough to other historical laws to survive Bruen’s test, even if they aren’t exactly the same.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, May 5th, 2023. Watch out for the revenge of the 5th if you’re into that… or cinco de mayo, take your pick. https://tvpworld.com/69620835/us-navy-deployed-drag-queen-influencer-to-boost-youth-recruitment As part of a recruitment drive aimed at the country’s youth, the U.S. Navy deployed a "drag queen influencer" to assist in boosting lagging numbers in the military. In November of last year Joshua Kelley aka “Harpy Daniels”, who has over 1,300,000 likes on TikTok, revealed that he was to be the Navy’s ‘Digital Ambassador’. Whilst the U.S. Navy only recently revealed about approaching Kelley, the drag queen claims to have danced in drag in front of an audience of service officers on a number of occasions, even sharing one video from 2018 on his Instagram. Kelley was part of a Digital Ambassador initiative that lasted from October 2022 to March 2023, “designed to explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates,” a Navy spokesperson told Fox News. The spokesperson also said that the Navy is navigating “the most challenging recruiting environment it has faced since the start of the all-volunteer force.” “The Navy did not compensate YN2 Kelley or any others for being Navy Digital Ambassadors. The pilot has concluded and we are now evaluating the program and how it will exist in the future," the spokesperson added. Regarding his role as Digital Ambassador, Kelley wrote on his Instagram page: “Thank you to the Navy for giving me this opportunity! I don't speak for the Navy but simply sharing my experience in the Navy! Hoorah, and let's go Slay!”. Not only the Navy but more broadly the U.S. military face big problems in convincing young people to join. Only 13 pct of 18-29-year-olds are “highly willing” to join the military, whilst 25 pct declared themselves “somewhat willing” and 26 pct are “not willing at all.” Gender ideology has become a hot topic in the Navy and all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. In March, a group of House Democrats proposed legislation to prevent the Department of Defense from standing in the way of transgender people who want to serve in the military. Some critics have argued that the purpose of the U.S. military is to provide security for the country, not to be a tool for gender ideology politics. Whilst others have suggested that in an unstable world, where a lot of military strategy is played out through bravado, such as with military drills, it is perhaps surprising that the U.S. would do the opposite of striking fear into their enemies. It’s a good thing we have Joshua to scare off said enemies, which ties in nicely for this next story! https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-05-03/second-oil-tanker-in-a-week-seized-by-iran-in-gulf-u-s-navy Iran Seizes Second Oil Tanker in a Week in Gulf -U.S. Navy Iran seized a second oil tanker in a week on Wednesday in Gulf waters, and the U.S. State Department called for its release, in the latest escalation in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in Gulf waters since 2019. The Baa-rain-based Fifth Fleet of the U.S. Navy said the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) at 6:20 a.m. (0220 GMT) while passing through the Strait of Hor-mooz. In Iran's first response, Tehran's prosecutor announced the oil tanker was seized on a judicial order following a complaint by a plaintiff, the judiciary's Mizan news agency said. No further details were provided. The incident comes after Iran on Thursday seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman called the Advantage Sweet. That tanker is being held by Iranian authorities in Bandar Abbas, the Marshall Islands flag registry said on Tuesday. Maritime security firm Ambrey has said it believed the Advantage Sweet's seizure was in response to a recent seizure via a court order by the United States of an oil cargo aboard the Marshall Islands tanker Suez Rajan. The Niovi oil tanker seized on Wednesday had been travelling from Dubai toward the UAE's Fujairah port when it was forced by IRGCN boats to change course towards Iranian territorial waters, the Navy said. The Niovi last reported its position at 0231 GMT on Wednesday off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz with the UAE as its destination, Refinitiv ship tracking data showed. According to the International Maritime Organization shipping database,, the Niovi's owner is Grand Financing Co, and the ship is managed by Greece-based Smart Tankers, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Vedant Patel, a deputy spokesperson at the U.S. State Department, told reporters the Biden administration and the "international community" call on Iran and its Navy to release the ships and their crews. "Iran's harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional and international waters are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional stability and security," Patel said. About a fifth of the world's crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point between Iran and Oman, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa. Since 2019, there have been a series of attacks on shipping in the strategic Gulf waters at times of tension between the United States and Iran. Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear pact with world powers have stalled since September over a range of issues, including the Islamic Republic's violent crackdown on popular protests, Tehran's sale of drones to Russia and acceleration of its nuclear program. https://justthenews.com/nation/crime/alleged-texas-killer-captured-following-manhunt Fugitive illegal alien accused of mass killing in Texas captured Authorities on Tuesday apprehended an individual suspected of killing five people in Cleveland, Texas, following a Friday evening altercation. Authorities arrested Francisco Oropesa without incident on Tuesday evening, NBC News reported, citing the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. His arrest marks an end to the manhunt that had baffled law enforcement for days. Authorities indicated earlier this week that they had "zero leads" as to his whereabouts. As of Monday, it was believed that Oropesa had slipped past a network of roadblocks in the Cleveland area, despite extensive efforts by law enforcement to contain him within a set perimeter. During the manhunt, reports emerged that the fugitive had been deported four times, twice in 2009, and again in 2012 and 2016. The manhunt ensued following Oropesa's alleged killing of five of his neighbors after reportedly being asked to stop shooting his firearm. Authorities indicated that four adults were found dead at the scene while one child died at the hospital later. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-03/gun-rights-advocates-renew-legal-fight-over-californias-10-day-wait-on-firearm-purchases Gun rights advocates renew legal fight over California’s 10-day wait for firearm buyers Renewing a legal battle that some had considered settled, gun rights advocates filed a federal lawsuit this week challenging a California law that places a 10-day waiting period on most firearm purchases. The law, which requires people to wait the prescribed “cooling off” period even if they’ve passed a more immediate background check, is aimed in part at deterring people from rushing to harm themselves or others with newly purchased weapons during periods of sudden distress or anger. Gun control advocates and state officials say the law reduces gun violence, including suicides, and the law has been upheld in the face of legal challenges before — including by the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2018 declined to hear an appeal to a lower court decision upholding it. However, things have changed since the high court ruled last year — in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. vs. Bruen — that restrictions on firearms violate the 2nd Amendment if they aren’t deeply rooted in the nation’s history or analogous to some historical rule. According to the San Diego gun owners and advocacy groups suing the state, the high court’s 2018 decision allowing the waiting period law to stand was “abrogated,” or undone, by its more recent Bruen decision, and, therefore, the law is unconstitutional under the court’s newer historical standard. The plaintiffs argue enforcement of the law “prevents law-abiding people from taking possession of lawfully acquired firearms for immediate self-defense and other lawful purposes — even after [state officials] know the individual is eligible to exercise their fundamental, constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.” The office of California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said it was reviewing the lawsuit Tuesday but could not otherwise comment. Bonta is the lead defendant in the lawsuit. According to legal experts, the revived challenge reflects how massively the legal landscape around gun laws has changed since President Trump shifted the Supreme Court to the right and the court issued its Bruen decision. It also reflects the increased confidence among gun rights advocates that the high court is ready and willing to overturn more gun laws, the experts said — even those it may have allowed to stand in the past. Jake Charles, an associate professor at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and an expert in firearms law, said he was “surprised it took until May of this year” for the waiting period law to be challenged again under Bruen — in part because it is obviously vulnerable. Prior to Bruen, federal courts across the country judged gun laws not only through a historical lens, but by assessing whether they served a well-reasoned purpose of modern government. When the California-based U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld California’s 10-day waiting period law in 2016, it did so based on such a review. Writing for the court, Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder found that the 10-day waiting period was “a reasonable safety precaution,” and therefore constitutional. Now, however, Bruen has changed the relevant legal analysis and Schroeder’s reasoning is now irrelevant, the plaintiffs argue. The law rvive, they argue, because waiting period laws were not enacted in the country until 1923 — making them too recent to be considered part of the nation’s tradition under Bruen. Gun law experts said it’s a strong argument. Attorneys for California may still argue the law is similar enough to some historical law that didn’t institute a waiting period for purchased weapons but restricted the purchase of them in some other way. The state has already argued that other modern gun laws being challenged — including its bans on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines — are similar enough to other historical laws to survive Bruen’s test, even if they aren’t exactly the same.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, May 5th, 2023. Watch out for the revenge of the 5th if you’re into that… or cinco de mayo, take your pick. https://tvpworld.com/69620835/us-navy-deployed-drag-queen-influencer-to-boost-youth-recruitment As part of a recruitment drive aimed at the country’s youth, the U.S. Navy deployed a "drag queen influencer" to assist in boosting lagging numbers in the military. In November of last year Joshua Kelley aka “Harpy Daniels”, who has over 1,300,000 likes on TikTok, revealed that he was to be the Navy’s ‘Digital Ambassador’. Whilst the U.S. Navy only recently revealed about approaching Kelley, the drag queen claims to have danced in drag in front of an audience of service officers on a number of occasions, even sharing one video from 2018 on his Instagram. Kelley was part of a Digital Ambassador initiative that lasted from October 2022 to March 2023, “designed to explore the digital environment to reach a wide range of potential candidates,” a Navy spokesperson told Fox News. The spokesperson also said that the Navy is navigating “the most challenging recruiting environment it has faced since the start of the all-volunteer force.” “The Navy did not compensate YN2 Kelley or any others for being Navy Digital Ambassadors. The pilot has concluded and we are now evaluating the program and how it will exist in the future," the spokesperson added. Regarding his role as Digital Ambassador, Kelley wrote on his Instagram page: “Thank you to the Navy for giving me this opportunity! I don't speak for the Navy but simply sharing my experience in the Navy! Hoorah, and let's go Slay!”. Not only the Navy but more broadly the U.S. military face big problems in convincing young people to join. Only 13 pct of 18-29-year-olds are “highly willing” to join the military, whilst 25 pct declared themselves “somewhat willing” and 26 pct are “not willing at all.” Gender ideology has become a hot topic in the Navy and all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. In March, a group of House Democrats proposed legislation to prevent the Department of Defense from standing in the way of transgender people who want to serve in the military. Some critics have argued that the purpose of the U.S. military is to provide security for the country, not to be a tool for gender ideology politics. Whilst others have suggested that in an unstable world, where a lot of military strategy is played out through bravado, such as with military drills, it is perhaps surprising that the U.S. would do the opposite of striking fear into their enemies. It’s a good thing we have Joshua to scare off said enemies, which ties in nicely for this next story! https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-05-03/second-oil-tanker-in-a-week-seized-by-iran-in-gulf-u-s-navy Iran Seizes Second Oil Tanker in a Week in Gulf -U.S. Navy Iran seized a second oil tanker in a week on Wednesday in Gulf waters, and the U.S. State Department called for its release, in the latest escalation in a series of seizures or attacks on commercial vessels in Gulf waters since 2019. The Baa-rain-based Fifth Fleet of the U.S. Navy said the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) at 6:20 a.m. (0220 GMT) while passing through the Strait of Hor-mooz. In Iran's first response, Tehran's prosecutor announced the oil tanker was seized on a judicial order following a complaint by a plaintiff, the judiciary's Mizan news agency said. No further details were provided. The incident comes after Iran on Thursday seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman called the Advantage Sweet. That tanker is being held by Iranian authorities in Bandar Abbas, the Marshall Islands flag registry said on Tuesday. Maritime security firm Ambrey has said it believed the Advantage Sweet's seizure was in response to a recent seizure via a court order by the United States of an oil cargo aboard the Marshall Islands tanker Suez Rajan. The Niovi oil tanker seized on Wednesday had been travelling from Dubai toward the UAE's Fujairah port when it was forced by IRGCN boats to change course towards Iranian territorial waters, the Navy said. The Niovi last reported its position at 0231 GMT on Wednesday off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz with the UAE as its destination, Refinitiv ship tracking data showed. According to the International Maritime Organization shipping database,, the Niovi's owner is Grand Financing Co, and the ship is managed by Greece-based Smart Tankers, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Vedant Patel, a deputy spokesperson at the U.S. State Department, told reporters the Biden administration and the "international community" call on Iran and its Navy to release the ships and their crews. "Iran's harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional and international waters are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional stability and security," Patel said. About a fifth of the world's crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point between Iran and Oman, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa. Since 2019, there have been a series of attacks on shipping in the strategic Gulf waters at times of tension between the United States and Iran. Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear pact with world powers have stalled since September over a range of issues, including the Islamic Republic's violent crackdown on popular protests, Tehran's sale of drones to Russia and acceleration of its nuclear program. https://justthenews.com/nation/crime/alleged-texas-killer-captured-following-manhunt Fugitive illegal alien accused of mass killing in Texas captured Authorities on Tuesday apprehended an individual suspected of killing five people in Cleveland, Texas, following a Friday evening altercation. Authorities arrested Francisco Oropesa without incident on Tuesday evening, NBC News reported, citing the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. His arrest marks an end to the manhunt that had baffled law enforcement for days. Authorities indicated earlier this week that they had "zero leads" as to his whereabouts. As of Monday, it was believed that Oropesa had slipped past a network of roadblocks in the Cleveland area, despite extensive efforts by law enforcement to contain him within a set perimeter. During the manhunt, reports emerged that the fugitive had been deported four times, twice in 2009, and again in 2012 and 2016. The manhunt ensued following Oropesa's alleged killing of five of his neighbors after reportedly being asked to stop shooting his firearm. Authorities indicated that four adults were found dead at the scene while one child died at the hospital later. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-03/gun-rights-advocates-renew-legal-fight-over-californias-10-day-wait-on-firearm-purchases Gun rights advocates renew legal fight over California’s 10-day wait for firearm buyers Renewing a legal battle that some had considered settled, gun rights advocates filed a federal lawsuit this week challenging a California law that places a 10-day waiting period on most firearm purchases. The law, which requires people to wait the prescribed “cooling off” period even if they’ve passed a more immediate background check, is aimed in part at deterring people from rushing to harm themselves or others with newly purchased weapons during periods of sudden distress or anger. Gun control advocates and state officials say the law reduces gun violence, including suicides, and the law has been upheld in the face of legal challenges before — including by the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2018 declined to hear an appeal to a lower court decision upholding it. However, things have changed since the high court ruled last year — in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. vs. Bruen — that restrictions on firearms violate the 2nd Amendment if they aren’t deeply rooted in the nation’s history or analogous to some historical rule. According to the San Diego gun owners and advocacy groups suing the state, the high court’s 2018 decision allowing the waiting period law to stand was “abrogated,” or undone, by its more recent Bruen decision, and, therefore, the law is unconstitutional under the court’s newer historical standard. The plaintiffs argue enforcement of the law “prevents law-abiding people from taking possession of lawfully acquired firearms for immediate self-defense and other lawful purposes — even after [state officials] know the individual is eligible to exercise their fundamental, constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.” The office of California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said it was reviewing the lawsuit Tuesday but could not otherwise comment. Bonta is the lead defendant in the lawsuit. According to legal experts, the revived challenge reflects how massively the legal landscape around gun laws has changed since President Trump shifted the Supreme Court to the right and the court issued its Bruen decision. It also reflects the increased confidence among gun rights advocates that the high court is ready and willing to overturn more gun laws, the experts said — even those it may have allowed to stand in the past. Jake Charles, an associate professor at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and an expert in firearms law, said he was “surprised it took until May of this year” for the waiting period law to be challenged again under Bruen — in part because it is obviously vulnerable. Prior to Bruen, federal courts across the country judged gun laws not only through a historical lens, but by assessing whether they served a well-reasoned purpose of modern government. When the California-based U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld California’s 10-day waiting period law in 2016, it did so based on such a review. Writing for the court, Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder found that the 10-day waiting period was “a reasonable safety precaution,” and therefore constitutional. Now, however, Bruen has changed the relevant legal analysis and Schroeder’s reasoning is now irrelevant, the plaintiffs argue. The law rvive, they argue, because waiting period laws were not enacted in the country until 1923 — making them too recent to be considered part of the nation’s tradition under Bruen. Gun law experts said it’s a strong argument. Attorneys for California may still argue the law is similar enough to some historical law that didn’t institute a waiting period for purchased weapons but restricted the purchase of them in some other way. The state has already argued that other modern gun laws being challenged — including its bans on assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines — are similar enough to other historical laws to survive Bruen’s test, even if they aren’t exactly the same.

L'Iran a saisi un pétrolier battant pavillon du Panama alors qu'il transitait dans le détroit d'ormuz. Le navire Niovi, qui se dirigeait vers le port de Fujairah, aux Emirats arabes unis, a été encerclé par une dizaine de bateaux du corps maritime des Gardiens de la Révolution.

In this week's episode, Ricky and Zach recap on their trip to Dubai at the Fujairah Mountain Shooting Championship. They share their travel experience with a few tips and tricks. The unique points of the event dictated by the environment and culture. We hope you enjoy this episode that's outside of trapshooting, with a sneak peek into next week's episode. If any is interested in this event or sporting clays in general, feel to reach out with any questions. check out our show sponsors and the event link below.https://fmsc.ae/Show some love to our show sponsors for their support to the podcast while offering some of the finest products and instruction on the market.https://wenig.com/https://www.remington.com/https://takeaimtech.com/http://www.richardmarshalljr.com/Index.htmlhttps://www.northwesternmutual.com/financial/advisor/zachari-nannini/?intcmp=fws-contact&agentid=0E1189https://www.nvtrap.com/Follow along with us.http://www.traptalkpodcast.comhttps://www.youtube.com/@traptalk27traptalk27@gmail.com

08 February 2023: We find out the effects of divorce on children  The spotlight is on Fujairah for a brand new film The Cat Vet is in the studio to answer your questions We get some top tips when travelling with the kids.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hotel of the Year recognized for the best weekend getaway #AddressBeachResortFujairah #hozpitalityexcellenceawards #goldaward #BestWeekendGetaway #weekend #getaway #meahea2022 #emaar #AddressHotels #hozpitality https://www.hozpitality.com/Emaarhospitality/read-article/the-address-beach-resort-fujairah-receives-best-weekend-getaway-award-8121.html

In this episode of Pod & Steak Kage shares his experience from Ghana as a childhood fighter moving to Thailand, Fujairah and then Dubai. From earning 40 AED a session waking up at 4 am to travel 3 hours to train his clients and finally having his fit firm on the ground. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/y-wait/message

Festive offers to celebrate with family and friends. #AddressBeachResortFujairah #addresshotels #dineatbeachresortfuj #lobbylounge #salia #christmas #newyearseve #liveentertainment #addressfujairah #EagleHills #emaar https://www.hozpitality.com/Emaarhospitality/read-article/a-harmonious-medley-of-epicurean-experiences-at-address-beach-resort-fujairah-8107.html

In 2008, an Australian woman was living and working in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, when she was drugged and raped by three male coworkers. When proof of the rape could not be verified, she was then imprisoned, along with her rapists for 8 months for sexual relations outside of marriage, which is law in the UAE, sparking worldwide outrage and criticism. This is the story of Alicia Gali. Patreon |https://www.patreon.com/Femicide_PodcastThe Toronto Rape Crisis Centre |https://trccmwar.caFollow |@femicide_podcast on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/femicide_podcast/ @femicidepodcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/femicidepodcastHome Studio Equipment Used | Affiliate LinksBlue Yeti USB Microphone | https://amzn.to/2ShOMcrFoam Windscreen cover | https://amzn.to/38nriZaPop Filter | https://amzn.to/2Sjeu0vAcoustic Absorption Panel | https://amzn.to/39thLjcApple MacBook Pro | https://amzn.to/2OJip4cMusic credits |Ice flow musicMusic from https://filmmusic.io"Ice Flow" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Welcome to horrorland musicMusic from https://filmmusic.io"Welcome To Horrorland" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Information sources |https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shariahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirateshttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/alicia-gali-raped-uae-jailed_n_3263593https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1og40C20lJIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_Galihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujairahhttps://tiffanyyong.com/2013/05/21/alicia-gali-the-girl-jailed-for-being-raped/https://www.mamamia.com.au/alicia-gali-jailed-in-the-uae/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarwoodSupport the showPatreon |https://www.patreon.com/Femicide_PodcastFollow |@femicide_podcast on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/femicide_podcast/ @femicidepodcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/femicidepodcast

Russia may step up fuel exports to Asia in a bid to find alternative markets as European sanctions tighten, according to oil and gas consultancy FGE. More Russian-made naphtha, a fuel primarily used to make plastics, is likely to head into hubs such as Singapore and Fujairah from February when EU sanctions kick in. Six months into the conflict, costs are really piling up for Russia, disposable income of households has significantly dropped, inflation is higher than wage growth and according to the IMF the Russian economy is going to contract by 6% in 2022, and 3.5% in 2023. For more on Russia's economy, we spoke to Craig Erlam, who is a senior market analyst at OANDA in London. #Russia #RussiaEconomy #RussiaOil

Cosplay.ae is home of all the talented Cosplayers in the United Arab Emirates working together to grow the cosplay community in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quain, Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah. In this episode of the Ara Ara Weeb Podcast, Iveth and Amy interview founder Yami and admin Nico of Cosplay.ae and how they have ventured out into pioneering into the growing population of cosplayers in a place where anime is not as saturated as yet. Follow Ara Ara: https://www.facebook.com/araarapodcast https://instagram.com/araarapodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@araarapodcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3HDL4oLo705HomfjAIaB0z Anchor.fm: https://anchor.fm/ara-ara-the-weeb-podcast Ara Ara Hosts: Vivz | https://www.instagram.com/vivzblackmage/ Amy | https://www.instagram.com/hastalavistaamy/ Music By: KODOMOi - Mango Float https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l50KoABRmDo Logo By: Ernestudio https://www.facebook.com/ernestudiographix Logo Animation By: Clarence Sampang

Saeed Al Memari talks from a basecamp in Costa Rica about his ongoing “Peak for Peace’ expedition, a mission to climb the highest peak in all 246 countries backed by the sponsorship of the Crown Prince of Fujairah in the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi. Al Memari was the first UAE national to climb to the summit of Mount Everest back in 2011. He was also the first Arab to complete the 'Explorer Grand Slam', which involves conquering the highest mountain on each of the seven continents and reaching the North and South Pole.

Saeed Al Memari talks from a basecamp in Costa Rica about his ongoing “Peak for Peace' expedition, a mission to climb the highest peak in all 246 countries backed by the sponsorship of the Crown Prince of Fujairah in the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi. Al Memari was the first UAE national to climb to the summit of Mount Everest back in 2011. He was also the first Arab to complete the 'Explorer Grand Slam', which involves conquering the highest mountain on each of the seven continents and reaching the North and South Pole.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As population density increases within the world's urban centres, a macro transport problem is arising due to shortages of space and a lack of sustainable, equitable, and feasible transit solutions. However, with global e-scooter usage booming, micro-mobility modes are providing people with more choices and options to move than ever before.Hosted by John Gillespie, Transport & Mobility Engineer and leader of WSP Middle East's Future Ready Initiative, this episode features industry insights from Jaideep Dhanoa, Co-founder and CEO of FENIX – a leading micro-mobility operator in the Middle East. FENIX has recently rolled out an innovative e-scooter service across Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, and Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Doha, Qatar.

-A Young Emirati Girl Was Rescued From A Well In Fujairah On Monday -Fake News: The Three African Men Dressed As Arab Women In A Viral Post Were NOT Arrested In Dubai -Drones Have Been Banned Indefinitely In The UAE -There's A Gotham City Pavilion At Expo 2020 Dubai -Kumar Sanu And Alka Yagnik Are Performing In Dubai This Weekend! -Ayo & Teo, the guys behind the hit tune Rolex…

-A Young Emirati Girl Was Rescued From A Well In Fujairah On Monday -Fake News: The Three African Men Dressed As Arab Women In A Viral Post Were NOT Arrested In Dubai -Drones Have Been Banned Indefinitely In The UAE -There's A Gotham City Pavilion At Expo 2020 Dubai -Kumar Sanu And Alka Yagnik Are Performing In Dubai This Weekend! -Ayo & Teo, the guys behind the hit tune Rolex…

23 February 2022: We are talking to Gulf Photo Plus about how to take the perfect picture.  Husband and wife team Dereck and Beverly Joubert join Helen to talk about their love for wild cats that has spanned over  35 years. What's happening in Fujairah? Kidzapp fills us in on all the family activities  And all your animal questions are answered by Dr Katrin in Pets and Vets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Slice 47 I chat to 4 of the finest from the Middle East Kerry GAA club. I meet Jamie (Kerry), Enoch (Dallas), Aoibheann (Offaly) and Shane (Donegal) to find out all the craic in the UAE once again! We chat rivalries with Fujairah, RAK, Dubai Celts, Jumeirah and others, the newly formed Laochra GAA team in Dubai, no Corkmen joining the team, Virgin Media using the Kerry ME logo in the All-Ireland semi-final, the Kerry Society in Dubai, the cool crest, Enoch transferring his American Football skills to GAA, a Mullingar woman as secretary, using the Sunday Game theme song and Shane introducing Father Ted to a man from which unexpected country? Find out that and much more with the wonderful gang in Middle East Kerry GAA! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jason-keelan/message

In this week's EVOL, the team are joined by Martina Petrosino from this month's sponsor, BDO, to discuss the latest goings-on from the world of energy. Kicking off, Martina leads on news this week that new buildings in England will be required to include electric vehicle charging points. The team discuss the potential for EVs, whether hydrogen fuel cell cars might fall by the wayside, and tackling “range anxiety”.  Then Allister discusses Energy Voice's exclusive this week that Fujairah Oil and Gas, a partner in the Greater Brae Area, is allegedly defaulting on its hefty decom costs.  Rounding up, Hamish talks tidal with the government's announcement of £20m in ring-fenced funding per year, with hopes of boosting investment in this high-potential sector.  Energy Voice helps organisations understand the geopolitical, economic and financial factors that underpin market events, and give you a view on what's coming over the horizon. As a listener to this podcast, you can get a free trial of energyvoice.com, giving you two weeks of unrestricted access to the latest crucial news and insight. The trial is entirely without obligation – we don't want your credit card, and there's no auto-enrolment at the end. 

November listing at Address Beach Resort Fujairah #addressfujairah #addresshotels #emaar #HajarMountains #AlAqahBeach #AddressBeachResortFujairah #TreatforTwo #Diwali #TheLounge #EagleHills #hozpitality https://www.hozpitality.com/Address_Beach_Resort/read-article/5970_settle-into-sophistication-at-address-beach-resort-fujairah.html

with

Address Hotels + Resorts set to unveil the ultimate coastal city escape #addressfujairah #addresshotels #HajarMountains #newhotels #EagleHills #emaar #MarkKirby #TheRestaurant #ThePoolLounge #TheLounge #TheSpa #snorkeling #diving #watersports #hozpitality https://www.hozpitality.com/Address_Beach_Resort/read-article/5433_address-beach-resort-fujairah-now-open.html

An ultimate coastal beach getaway by Address Hotels + Resorts #addressfujairah #addresshotels #Hajarmountains #diningexperiences #newhotel #wherelifehappens #hotelstay #hotelbookings #hozpitality #EagleHills #emaarhospitalitygroup #markkirby https://www.hozpitality.com/Emaarhospitality/read-article/5343_address-beach-resort-fujairah-now-open-for-bookings.html

An ultimate coastal beach getaway by Address Hotels + Resorts #addressfujairah #addresshotels #emaar #EagleHills #HajarMountains #beachfront #WhereLifeHappens #AlAqah #MarkKirby #DibbaOysterFarm #hozpitality https://www.hozpitality.com/Emaarhospitality/read-article/5279_address-beach-resort-fujairah-to-open-in-q3-2021.html

In stark contrast to his gilded playing career, Diego Maradona never won a trophy as a manager. His spells in charge of teams were only ever brief, and often ended in turmoil. And yet those who played for him during his time in the UAE remember him with deep affection. They describe a manager full of empathy, warmth, and charisma, who would back them - even when all was lost. In Episode 4 of our podcast series, hosts John McAuley and Paul Radley hear from a number of players who were managed by Maradona at Al Wasl and Fujairah. The question to each of them was a simple one: what was it like to be coached by one of the most effervescent characters in all of sport? Subscribe to this five-part special to hear the story in full. Produced by Ayesha Khan and Arthur Eddyson.

It's midweek and you're listening to 8@8 with David Light for all your latest news that matters to the UAE, well done. Today we're discussing earthquakes in Fujairah, special flight news and UAE football coming home with a 5-1 win over Jordan last night. Come on in! Follow this channel for the latest content, or share it if you'd like and mail me at david@khaleejtimes.com

This week Paul chats with Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi of the RAK Transport Authority in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. Ras Al Khaimah is the northernmost of the seven Emirates in the UAE and home to over 60 km of beaches, the world's longest zip line, and... A really innovative and integrated transit system. From buses to taxis, e-scooters and e-bikes to ferries, RAK Transport is creating a uniquely integrated system powered by new apps and technology. Unlike many North American transit authorities, taxis are an essential part of the overall transit system. The system caters to both residents of Ras Al Khaimah, but also a large tourist industry. The goal is to get people quickly, easily, affordably, and sustainably from one place to another. You can learn more about RAKTA on their website. Episode transcript: Paul Comfort: This is Transit Unplugged. I'm your host Paul Comfort. Thanks for being with us today. As we interview the world's top transit executives to bring you their insights about what's happening in their transit system and for the future of our industry. And today we're excited to enter into the world of the middle east. Again, our guest today is Mr. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi , the executive general manager. At the RAS Al Khaimah Emirates in the United Arab Emirates Transport Authority, they call it the RAK Transport Authority or rack Transport Authority. And today he discusses the vision for transportation there in the Emirate as reliable, smart, and sustainable. It's their vision.  It includes all kinds of exciting innovations, including rolling in taxi as part of the overall mobility solution. Uh, e-bikes, e-scooters plans for a high-speed ferry service. Uh, inner city connections between the various city states of the UAE, all that. You'll get a real in-depth look today with this interview with Mr. Esmaeel Hassan Al Blooshi on Transit Unplugged. Narrator: What does it mean to be a successful public transit agency? What are you doing to lead the way? It's time to learn from the top transit professionals in North America. This is Transit Unplugged with your host Paul Comfort. Paul Comfort: Welcome to Transit Unplugged. I'm your host Paul Comfort. Great to be with you today on another edition of the world's leading transit podcast, Transit Unplugged. And today we head to the Middle East in an interview with a leader of one of the large upcoming transit systems in the United Arab Emirates. Esmaeel Hassan Al Blooshi. Thank you so much for being with us today Esmaeel. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Pleasure to be here. Thank you very much for hosting this international podcast. Paul Comfort: Wonderful to have you with us. And I know you're famous there in the UAE, but after this people in 99 countries will know about you. So, so we're excited to hear about all the things you've got going on there. Uh, some, our listeners who are regular listeners around the world will recall that recently we had another interview with, with the Ahmed Hashem Bahrozyan, who is the head of the CEO of Dubai RTA, which is one of the cities in the United Arab Emirates. And for those in the Western World, they may not be totally familiar with that with the United Arab Emirates. Um, why don't you tell us just a little bit about how they work that the city states and the structure and all that. And then I'd like to ask you a little about your own background. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Yeah, we here in the United Arab Emirates. It's about seven Emirates united together, and we have one ruler. Who's his Highness, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He's the ruler of UAE. And all, all of the Emirates, they have their own rulers and all of us is working as a whole united country. Paul Comfort: That's wonderful. And so the people can place it geographically. Where in the Middle East, is it kind of, can you, can you show it, tell us where it's at? Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Actually, we are in the middle of Middle East connecting that Asia with Europe and United States and the world maps, we are in the middle. And Ras Al Khaimah  is the north, most of the seven Emirates, which lies in the north and all of us actually connected united and smoothly. You can transfer from each Emirates. Paul Comfort: That's great. And you, you have a lot of a waterfront there, right? Don't you don't, you have a, a great beach area and everything. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Oh, we have a wonderful beaches actually, Ras Al Khaimah has almost 64 kilometer of beaches and terracotta dissolves. And also, also Ras Al Khaimah has a diverse landscape. Paul Comfort: That's wonderful. So Ras Al Khaimah Emirate, one of the seven Emirates in the UAE and you're the head of the transportation program there. That's wonderful. So tell us a little bit about yourself and your background and how you came to have this position. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Yeah, actually Twelve years of use experiences most of it in transportation. I'm glad. And fortunately I worked with road transport authority in Dubai for more than five years. And I'm holding actually a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from American University of Sharjah. And also I have a Master Degree on Engineering Management. Most of my experience in transportation, or as I said, five years there in Dubai as a Director of Strategy and Business Development and higher, I have been moved to Ras Al Khaimah   for two years now as a General Manager for Transportation trying one of the youth leader, actually our government and the Ras Al Khaimah, especially give us the empowerment and delegation to execute their vision Ras Al Khaimah vision 2030, especially in transportation. I'm here now to execute Ras Al Khaimah strategy 2020, 20 25 in transportations. Try to achieve the ultimate goals and try to make the transportation here in Ras Al Khaimah reliable, smart, and sustainable. Paul Comfort: That's great. So what is the vision? What is the vision that you're implementing there? Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Yeah, our vision is aligned with Ras Al Khaimah government vision. Our vision is to provide for the tools for the residential people, to the Ras Al Khaimah  visitors a reliable, smart, sustainable transportation. Allow them to move from destination to another destination smoothly with. Uh, multiple transportation modes and these transportation modes should integrate to each other in order to build a solid infrastructure and transportation, which help the city to grow. Paul Comfort: That's great. So about how many people are in a, what you call you normally call it RAK, right? Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Yeah. Yeah. RAK almost 350 thousands as a population. We are also 1,680 kilometer square. Ras Al Khaimah is, as I said, is the north most of the seven Emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. It's known for its rich history, dating back seven thousands years and diverse landscape. In Ras Al Khaimah you can have a unique experience. Especially when you have a 64 kilometer of beaches, when you have a terracotta desserts, when you have an amazing mountains, actually we are the home for the largest zip line worldwide. It's yeah, it's almost a three kilometer and this experience is really unique. And also Ras Al Khaimah vision is to be the Ras Al Khaimah   city vision is to be one of the business service players and to be the host for the tourists also. The Emirates, economic lies, multiple major companies and diverse interests, including manufacturers and tourists and tourism. Major companies are here on Ras Al Khaimah, which is like and many other companies fortunately, fortunately for more than a decade Ras Al Khaimah  has been consistently rated as an eight range by Fitch and Standard Poore international rating agency and already there, but it is home to more than 20 thousands. Of uh, businesses for from hundred countries representing over 50 industries and glad to say that Ras Al Khaimah courts is also the fastest courts in the world, enforcing contracts and commercial disputes. All of these facts are in Ras Al Khaimah, and you can also experience a very unique experiences like having uh, going to actually to desert line, going to hiking, to have five star hotels lying on the beaches. So really Ras Al Khaimah my advice, you and the listeners to visit. Paul Comfort: I'd love to, once we can travel again, maybe Matthew Brownlee, my colleague, and I can come there and hang out for a few days with you. That'd be fun. See your operations. So tell us about your operations Esmaeel. Tell us about the public transit operations and what you have there, and then maybe what's coming. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Yeah. Uh, in Ras Al Khaimah now we have public transportation. And especially the intercity buses, intercity buses is linking Ras Al Khaimah to other seven Emirates. We have buses that goes to other Emirates, Dubai Abu Dhabi, and every hour, there is a trip goes to these Emirates. So, this is one of our main services here to link Ras Al Khaimah and to be as a hub, to be linked with other Emirates. Also, we have a fleet of taxis, which is 850 taxis that providing a taxi services here. In Ras Al Khaimah and we have mainly now three public bus routes, but this project has been uh, approved by the government and this project will be expanded. And in this year, we will have a new public bus project, which will link whole Ras Al Khaimah from the city center to other areas. This three main routes we'll have 12 buses to serve them and we will have four main stations. Because say main hubs and 55 buses stops. So actually here in Ras Al Khaimah as a transportation, we have two main services, which is public bus and taxis. Paul Comfort: Okay. And what type of buses are you going to do? Electric or zero emission buses. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Yes for sure. Our vision here is to be sustainable. We will try to implement the electrical buses, but in the beginning, we'll try to have the, the most sustainable buses, which has zero five. In order to be implemented here in Ras Al Khaimah   as per the government vision that all of our transportation should be sustainable. Uh, the great things about this one, we have a great initiatives during the pandemic that we launch RAK bus application, that RAK applications allow our customer to book their seats to book, to see the buses and track them not only that they can pay their tickets online. This application is premier here in UAE because this is the first application for inter-city buses in UAE. And actually we did that and we launch it during the pandemic almost on May, 2019 and to admit to the 2020. Uh, because of, we don't want the people to wait on the station and we don't want him to have a contact with the cashiers. That's why they can use the RAK bus applications just to book their tickets and come before their trips, five minutes before the trips and have their trip safely. Paul Comfort: So I know that RAK is a popular tourist destination, a lot of folks from Europe and other places come there. Um, how has that demographic of, of tourism, how has that impacted your plans for public transportation? Are you focused on serving them or your own citizens or both? Or how has that impacted it? And then maybe we can talk about the, if any impact that COVID has had on your services. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Yeah, that's a great question. Actually, when we are planning our master plan in transportations and integrating the public service public bus services and the taxis. Always, we are putting one of the main inputs in our studies is to see the tourists and how much tourists are visiting Ras Al Khaimah. We have almost before the pandemic 1 million. A tourist who was visiting, visiting Ras Al Khaimah and enjoying their stay here on Ras Al Khaimah. So all of these one of our main inputs in the studies. And we are trying to increase our taxes based on this number. And other items for terms for sure. And try to do this uh, public transportation services, especially in bus. That's why the government approves the new master plan. Which is especially for bus services, which linked also the five star hotels and tourist destination to the city center, which, which will help them to move to Ras Al Khaimah and their tourist destinations is mostly not the only that also we launch. Our collaboration with Careem applications, which is similar to Uber here and I sure pretty sure that, you know, Careem, this is providing limousine service and taxi service, for the tourists and residential people here in Ras Al Khaimah, which allows them to move smoothly in Ras Al Khaimah. Paul Comfort: Let me ask you about that connection. I think that's interesting here in the U S we don't have as much of a connection between public transit systems and taxis, but there, it seems like you do, is that right? You consider the taxi service kind of an integral part of your overall mobility, Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: For sure. And in order to have that, honestly, you have a, you have to have a solid transportation infrastructure systems. But actually we did. We are, we now having RAK bus applications, this RAK applications, we will have a lot of data from it and this data will try to fill it in a platform. That platforms has also another inputs of data from taxi sectors. These data will be talking to each other, that systems and integrating each of those. These data will take it and put it as a main input in our transportation master plan. Also this year, we are launching a smart meters for all of our taxis. Smart meters will allow us and we'll take, we will take data from it. Where are the heatmap and Ras Al Khaimah. We will know from this smart meter projects. How many trips we have 7:00 AM in the morning. And where are the locations? All of these data, for example, will be taken from this smart meter will be filled on the transportation systems, especially in operation control center. OCC. That system will be a collective for taxi sectors, data, public transportations data, limousine data. It will be analyzed in order to take the best decision of how making, how to make all of them integrated to each. Paul Comfort: Very good. That's very interesting. Um, the mobility services like Uber, like you mentioned, or Lyft, the other company, a lot of transit systems are starting to connect with them, but not so many with taxi. So it's a good example. Of how you're using existing resources, your big taxi fleets, which a lot of cities have and really creating a role for them in the overall mobility of, of your city. I think that's wonderful. Um, what else is happening? Do you have any other future plans coming rail or Metro or ferry or maybe your innovation hub. Let's talk about what's coming. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Yeah, we can't think our marine sets. RAK Transport Authority. We are the authority who's recreating the marine services here in Ras Al Khaimah and the government of Ras Al Khaimah approved the master plan for marine services. It's includes three phases, actually. And it's the first phases will have five ministations in Mangrove Creek  and Ras Al Khaimah. Okay. This FIFA's stations will be, two stations will be even connecting two malls together because all of them are lying in creek of Ras Al Khaimah   these five stations. Will be linked with a traditional abra service. This is, will be our first phase of marine service. Next phase, we'll be linking this creek of Ras Al Khaimah to another 15 KM, almost 50 kilometer, which we called Mina Al Arab and Marjan Island with a ferry services. So ferry services we'll be linking to destinations almost 15 kilometers. In Marjan Island, we have a wonderful five-star hotels lying on the beaches. So the tourists can go with a ferry from Marjan Island to a creek area and even have a tool. And the taxi services there in the creek of Ras Al Khaimah. The third phase, we'll be linking Ras Al Khaimah these two areas to another Emirates, which is Ajmal and Dubai and Sharjah, hopefully in the future with ferry services. So this marine service and this master plan will be shall implemented starting from this year. And this marine services will be aligned with other transportation services, which has taxi and public buses in Ras Al Khaimah   also. Great to say that we having other mobility solutions like e-scooters  and e-bicycles in Ras Al Khaimah . We just started e-scooters and e-bicycles as an entertainment, to be honest, just to raise the culture of e-scooters and using e-bicycles in Ras Al Khaimah. So we have now, e-bicycles live in five places in Ras Al Khaimah and Cornish area and Marjan Island at Hamrock area. Later after we finished the first phase of the public bus project we'll have, as I said, five ministations. And 55 buses stops. We want to try to integrate the e-bicycles with these bus stops to be as solutions for fares and last my, for the people here in Ras Al Khaimah, not only that, honestly, we are trying here to have one platform for transportation. This is one of our ultimate. Uh, goal and in 2025, we try to have that one transport platform in Ras Al Khaimah. This platform will make life of the residents life of the tourist in Ras Al Khaimah, easy. They can download that plant that platform and make their journey easily in Ras Al Khaimah. If they want to use the public bus, if they want use a mobility solutions like Careem. If they want to use a taxi or marine service or other mobility solutions like e-scooter and bicycles. So we are trying to put transportation here in Ras Al Khaimah we sit reliable, smart, sustainable linking, and making that, making that connectivity for the people and smoothly movement here in Ras Al Khaimah. One of our also ultimate goals is for the, uh, for the rental sectors. One of our main projects here is to have a platform for the Rent-A-Car companies. Okay. I'd like to transport authority is responsible to regulate it, to regulate the sector. Uh, we have this idea is to allow people to have a platform, one single platform, which whole, which hosting all of our Intel companies to be on that platform, make the life easy for the tourist, when they come to Ras Al Khaimah, they can rent the car easily from the airport using that applications, even if they are even in the staying at their hotels. So. Uh, we have many projects here in the future just to make transportation easy for the people. Paul Comfort: That's wonderful. I think the improving the customer experience is actually one of the big trends right now throughout right. Uh, public transportation industry as, as ridership has declined in many major cities around the world because of COVID and the lockdowns that governments have imposed, and a lot of allow people to work in their offices anymore. Now, coming out of that, I'm hearing things just what you said that now we have to attract people to get back on the vehicles. And one way to do that is to make it easier for them to make one platform where they can interconnect with all the mobility options. Tell me about your scooters a little bit. You mentioned bikes and told me about how you were going to implement them. Do you already have scooters in place or is that something you're planning to do? Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: We have the scooters in, on a place. We have it now in five places in Ras Al Khaimah   came up Marjan Island and Al Cornish, and we have it also in Alhambra area. These are famous tourist area and Ras Al Khaimah. And we actually, the utilization is very high and we have been shocked from the data we got. We have almost more than three thousands booking per week it, in Ras Al Khaimah comparing with the population and comparing with a new type of let us say exactly which is thee-scooter. So our first goal is to enhance the culture of using the e-scooter. Later we will have, we will put it with the e-bike to have a master plan and to integrate it with the other population, with other transportation modes, to be a solution for the first and last mile. So our first goal is to raise the culture of utilization and usage of these things. Paul Comfort: Very good. And what about rail? Do you have any plans for any kind of rail or Metro system? Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Actually we'll have a destination here in Ras Al Khaimah, which is linking all Emirates together will be from Abu Dhabi to Ras Al Khaimah and then Fujairah, which we'll link all Emirates together until our strategy from 2020 to 2025 is still, we don't have metro or rail in our studies. We try to first of all, develop the other transportation modes, like public bus. And taxi systems and other mobility solutions sectors. And this as you, don't when you have a metro and you'll have the rail , you have to have a bigger city, bigger populations or many places to be linked to each other. Now, in Ras Al Khaimah, we don't have that traffic. You can't easily move from a destination to another. So it will be there hopefully in in shallaafter 2025. Paul Comfort: That's wonderful. And the last thing I wanted to ask you about was this innovation hub that you're thinking about and having the services be profitable. Tell us about that. Innovation is always a key driver on what's happening in the mobility sphere. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Yeah, we are glad actually to have here now in RAKTA an innovation, half platform, this innovations allows the employees to give ideas not only the employees, also the customer. To get their feedback, to give an innovative idea that innovation will have the plea process. If their idea would have great profitable, it will be implemented. And we have a policy for that. Uh, the customer or the employee who gave us a great idea. You will be rewarded as per the policy and the procedure that put for the innovation. We're trying. To make all of our service profitable, especially the taxi and public bus services. Uh, we are trying to steady all of our operation costs making it providing a very qualified services, reasonable service, reliable services, based on the cost. And based on that How we can make these services profitable. So the innovation hub is actually a platform that receiving all the ideas from our customers, from our employees, and we are planning to have on 2020, more than 500 ideas coming from employees and customers, all of these ideas has been studied. And it does say more than 50% of them with great ideas and then have 10% of them has been implemented. Let us say one of the ideas coming from customer is to have an application for public bus. That's what we try to us. Like the beginning of 2020, we immediately took that idea and implemented. On May by introducing and launching RAK bus applications. Paul Comfort: That's wonderful. Anything else you want to tell us about your system before we close up today? Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Thank you very much. And for hosting me here and our ultimate goals in RAK Transport Authority to have an integrated transportation systems. Easy to be used by residents, people, tourists, and visitors to Rah Al Khaimah. Paul Comfort: Thank you so much, Mr. Esmaeel Hassan Al Blooshi. Executive general manager at RAK Transportation Authority. So innovative the things you're coming up with, we appreciate the opportunity to hear from you today. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi: Thank you very much, Mr. Paul, my pleasure to be here. Thank you very much. Narrator: You've been listening to transit unplugged, powered by trapeze group to stay up to date, subscribe on iTunes or Google Play or join the conversation at transitunplugged.com. Thanks for listening.    

05 May 2021: Angel resuscitated a two-year-old boy at a Fujairah hotel, earning recognition from the Ministry of Interior. Unfortunately Luke Cunningham of Blue Guard Middle East, there are many people who tend to ignore lifeguards. Author Allison Williams has penned a book about writing a book, called Seven Drafts.  Robert Richards of Fitness First busts some workout myths. Pets and Vets: Can cats catch COVID-19? Dr. Oonagh Fitzgibbon of The Cat Vet explains. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to this Wednesday, May 5 where your 8@8 with David Light is bringing you discussions on a hero lifeguard in Fujairah, a real-life Robocop touring Dubai and the US President making a call to the UAE. Plus, it's Eid soon! Come on in. Please follow or subscribe to this channel wherever you're listening and mail me at david@khaleejtimes.com

Eyewa was founded in 2017, with a purposeful intent to offer an advanced and easy-to-use platform to purchase high-quality eyewear at affordable prices, creating a unique, efficient, and memorable shopping experience to all. Ever since, we became the largest and most trusted online eyewear store in the Middle East to provide the finest brands of prescription glasses, sunglasses, blue light glasses, color contact lenses, and corrective contact lenses.Key Takeaways:0:00 Intro1:02 Anass talks about why they decided to leave their jobs and be entrepreneurs 2:05 Mehdi shares a little background on their first venture in food delivery as entrepreneurs and how their journey in the tech world started6:14 Anass also explains what he thought was unique in Saudi Arabia in 2015 that caused the significant growth of the Foodpanda 7:55 Anass talks about the demand that was there in Saudi but the supply was less which gave them the opportunity 8:38 Anass also talks about how profitable the business of food delivery is in the Saudi Arabia as compared to other regions 11:33 Anass shares a little background of the Eyewa company and how it all started and why they decided to be in the eyewear space12:46 Anass also shares the reasons that made them decide to be an e-commerce company and focus on the online sales 14:11 Anass also talks about the ecosystem they were operating in while growing Eyewa in raising the capital 15:30 Anass also talks about how they made sure that they had the right talents in their team and the right culture in their business18:40 Mehdi talks about what he feels has been the most significant challenges in the ecosystem of building a company20:18 Anass talks about what it would take to cultivate local talent in their region rather than having exported talent 21:56 Anass shares what he thinks needs to be done to encourage and push more people to entrepreneurship 23:33 Anass also shares his thoughts on why there is less unicorns in their region in the business world 24:56 Mehdi explains how having significant access to scale funding, would it make your journey a lot easier to scale especially in overcoming laws and regulations 27:33 Anass and Mehdi share the impacts that Covid has made in their business and how it has impacted the macro of e-commerce31:16 Anass talks about the future of retail and how they are going to be different from other retailers 35:39 Mehdi talks about the ways they are creating innovation in their company, how they're using virtual reality Try-on, how they're using A.I., how they're using machine learning39:09 Anass and Mehdi explain why they were able and successful in hiring so many women in Saudi Arabia and why women and not men42:34 Anass talks about if we're going to see more women moving up to the C Suite and to boards as the entrepreneurial landscape continues to increase45:23 Mehdi and Anass talk about the next big investment trends where people should put their money specifically in the regionShows Mentioned:Bain & Company: is a top management consulting firm.Rocket Internet: incubates and invests in internet and technology companies globally. Foodpanda is a mobile food delivery marketplace owned by Berlin-based company Delivery Hero SE and operates in about 50 countries. HungerStation delivers your favorite food and grocery nearest to you in Saudi Arabia.Otlob is the number one online food delivery in Egypt. 24h.ae is active in the UAE and provides a convenient way to order food in seven cities - Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah.Quotes Mentioned:“In Saudi, we have a very young population, very high Smartphone penetration and 100% of the Internet penetration.”“The penetration of food delivery via apps in Saudi is much higher than it is in the US or in Europe.”“To push people to entrepreneurship, we have to be more comfortable with failures and that things can go wrong and that's fine.”“The pandemic completely shifted customer behavior towards actually being a lot more comfortable paying online.”“About 80% of customers are paying online today.”“Startups tend to be more flexible.”“Retail banking in general is still something that's outdated in the region.”Guests Social Media Links:Anass Boumediene: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boumediene/ Website: https://eyewa.com/us-en/ Mehdi Oudghiri: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehdioudghiri/ Website: https://eyewa.com/us-en/ 

Iran seized a South Korean-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz hours before announcing it would increase its nuclear activities, as tensions in the region mount in the final days of Donald Trump’s U.S. presidency. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it detained the Hankuk Chemi vessel at 10 a.m. local time on Monday “due to repeated violations of marine environmental laws.” It’s the latest in a series of shipping incidents in the Persian Gulf, where several vessels have been attacked or seized in recent years. The events have unfolded against a broader backdrop of rising anxiety in the Middle East as the Trump administration extended its offensive to weaken Iran and force it into deeper nuclear and military concessions. Concerns of more conflict have mounted in the final weeks before Joe Biden takes over in Washington, especially around the recent assassination of a top Iranian nuclear scientist and this week’s first anniversary of the killing of the country’s leading general. Iran’s army also announced large-scale drone exercises starting Tuesday following a weekend of defiant speeches accusing the U.S. of aggression. “By creating conditions of insecurity, Iran seeks to destabilize existing rules of law and order, challenging the Saudi and American coalitions which militarily control much of the Middle East,” Dryad Global, a maritime security firm, wrote. Iran’s announcement Monday that it would start processing uranium to 20% purity marks a further breach of a nuclear deal that Trump, who leaves office on Jan. 20, abandoned in 2018. That announcement came shortly after Washington decided to keep the USS Nimitz in the Persian Gulf because of “recent threats” from Iran’s leaders against Trump. The aircraft carrier had been set to leave the region. South Korea has sent an anti-piracy unit to the strait, the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the country’s defense ministry. The Hankuk Chemi’s operator denied it had broken any environmental rules. The vessel was carrying 7,200 tons of petrochemicals from Jubail in Saudi Arabia when it was intercepted, the IRGC said. The guard corps took it to Bandar Abbas port in Iran, the semi-official Fars News Agency said. Crew members from Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar were arrested, according to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency. Iran’s Foreign Ministry later appeared to play down the incident, saying the seizure was related to a “technical issue.” Relations between Tehran and Seoul have been strained since the U.S. reimposed tough sanctions on Iran and banned countries, including major Asian customers, from buying its petroleum. Iran says it has at least $7 billion from oil sales trapped in South Korea and the funds are needed to purchase humanitarian goods, including coronavirus vaccines. South Korea is not a member of the International Maritime Security Construct, a maritime force created in 2019 in response to Iranian attacks and to protect sea lanes in the Middle East. Seoul has previously indicated a willingness to work with IMSC, though it has not requested assistance from the alliance so far, said an IMSC spokesman. The Hankuk Chemi was sailing to the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah after loading at Jubail on Jan. 2, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. It veered off course in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow stretch of water between the tip of Oman and Iran, and headed toward Bandar Abbas. U.K. Maritime Trade Operations, which serves as a link between the Royal Navy and commercial vessels operating in high-risk areas, said there had been “an interaction” between a merchant vessel and the Iranian authorities in the Strait of Hormuz between 6:15 a.m. and 7:33 a.m. London time. The U.S. Fifth Fleet, which is based in the region, is “monitoring the situation,” spokeswoman Commander Rebecca Rebarich said. On Dec. 31, a mine was discovered attached to the hull of an oil tanker off Iraq, near the Iranian border. A ship at the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah was hit by an explosion earlier in the month, which Riyadh labeled an act of terror.

Endurance coaches Tom Walker and Rob Jones welcome you to The Run Strong Podcast. A show to discuss topics to educate and inspire runners. From couch-to-5k'rs, triathletes, up to multi-stage ultra runners this podcast will interest you. A successful season 1 means the boys are back and currently recording and releasing season 2. Please rate and review to help spread The Run Strong Podcast!In January 2021, UAE resident Sean Burgess will embark on a 700km journey by foot from one side of the UAE to the other. The route will take him from Al Ghuwaifat on the Saudi Arabian border to finish on the Fujairah coast, passing through each of the 7 emirates on the way. Running and walking for up to 20 hours a day, if Sean can finish in under 7 days then he will be the first person to claim the Guinness World Record for the ‘Fastest crossing of the United Arab Emirates on foot'. As well as a personal challenge and record attempt, Sean will use this opportunity to raise money for Soft Power Education. You can help Sean and donate here > https://yallagive.com/en/campaign/7-Emirates-Challenge-22605To reach the lads you can email endurance@innerfight.com.To reach out to Rob Jones email rj@innerfight.comTo reach out to Tom Walker email tw@innerfight.comPlease also rate and review the podcast! Below is the link to our iTunes pagehttps://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-run-strong-podcast/id1483567507#Therunstrongpodcast

For many, 2020 will be a year they would rather forget. Whether the pandemic affected their health, their families or their finances, its effects will be evident for some time to come. Investors across the globe also suffered a rollercoaster ride in 2020, with markets experiencing some wild swings over the course of the year. And while some people managed to save money during the Covid-19 outbreak, others faced job losses or lower incomes. Now, with a vaccine set to return life to some semblance of normality, the question we all want to ask is: what’s in store for investors in 2021? So, is this the year of recovery? Will Joe Biden deliver a boost to the US economy? Will Britain falter when the Brexit transition period ends on December 31? Host Alice Haine is joined by industry veteran Moukarram Atassi, head of investment management at the National Bank of Fujairah, who offers his take on what is store for investors in 2021.

On today's update we have the latest coronavirus figures, Etihad's plans for restructuring, and a new stadium in Fujairah is inspected. Donald Trump raises cash for an election defence fund, and Azerbaijan claims to have taken Shusha in Nagorno-Karabakh. Jason Von Berg joins us for what's trending including Jeopardy and disappearing Whatsapp messages.

Matteo Rizzi invites Breaking Banks host Brett King, for a conversation throughout 3 continents - with European entrepreneurs Devid Jegerson (National Bank of Fujairah), Mike Cunningham (Banque Saudi Fransi), and Osama Al Rahma (Al Fardan Exchange), on their perspectives on the fast-evolving and fast-paced financial services sector in the United Arab Emirates (although we also bring you one perspective of Saudi Arabia). This and more and this week for another installment of BBE Outside In.

Conversamos con Danilo Carando, artillero de Cusco FC, quien nos contó una de sus anécdotas más curiosas cuando logró el ascenso con Al Fujairah, equipo en el que fue dirigido por Diego Maradona en Emiratos Árabes.

Madhav Singhania is an Electrical and Computer Engineer from Carnegie Mellon University, USA. He joined J.K. Cement Ltd. in early 2010 and is currently heading the new projects division and is also responsible for technology integration and the digital transformation of the company. He has spearheaded new capacity expansion projects and has been instrumental in setting up the split grinding unit at Jharli, Haryana, and played a key role in the brownfield expansion at Mangrol, Rajasthan. He has also been closely involved in the setting up of the Company’s maiden overseas plant at Fujairah, UAE. Tune in to this wonderful conversation with RJ Sharat.

In this episode, Dr. Clare Dallat, an expert in risk and crisis management, shares her deep insight into how schools and other organizations can navigate their way through the current COVID-19 public health crisis. Clare has a PhD in Engineering Psychology and an MSc. in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management and is the Director of Risk Resolve, an Australian-based consultancy organization. Using a systematic approach, Clare and her team have helped over 100 schools and organization from across Australia and internationally since 2011. It was a pleasure to have Clare on the 'In Times of Uncertainty' podcast series. Clare's Bio:Dr Clare Dallat is the Director of Risk Resolve; an Australian-based consultancy that has provided proactive and reactive risk and crisis management services for over 100 schools and organisations across Australia and internationally, since 2011. Clare has a PhD in Engineering Psychology and an MSc. in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management. Although the majority of her work is in supporting schools in the risk and crisis management of offsite programs (Outdoor Education programs, overseas trips, school tours etc), more recently, Clare has been applying these methods to in-school contexts. She is an experienced outdoor educator and has twenty five years of practice working in all aspects of the led-outdoor activity domain across the world. She is originally from Northern Ireland and has called Wales, the US and Canada home prior to moving to Australia some 20 years ago. Clare is an Accreditation Council member for the Association for Experiential Education and is an adjunct researcher with the Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems at The University of the Sunshine Coast. In 2018,  she became the first person outside of North America to win the prestigious Reb Gregg Award for exceptional leadership, innovation and contribution to international wilderness risk management. Her recent research specifically into risk assessment, and the development of the Networked Hazard Analysis and Risk Management System (Net-HARMS; Dallat et al., 2018) has led to many organisations modifying their practices relating to the identification and management of safety risks. Net-HARMS is now being applied by many researchers and organisations worldwide, including Qantas Engineering and The Outdoor Education Group, Australia. Clare is involved in a current project, along with colleagues from the UAE and the UK, to develop and implement adventure tourism safety standards for the emirate of Fujairah, UAE. Connect With Clare: Twitter: @claredallatInstagram: @theoutdooreducationgroupWebsite: Www.oeg.edu.auSpecial thanks to Bronx based band Conversing with Oceans and Alex Bondarev for creating the podcast music.https://www.conversingwithoceans.com/

23 Feb 2020: Dead Simple Saving's Steve Cronin's stories take a dark turn, forcing Georgia to face her greatest fears.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fujairah, l’ultimo emirato ad arrendersi agli inglesi, terra di fieri e pazienti combattenti, in grado di attendere oltre un secolo per conquistare la propria indipendenza. Seguici anche su fb, ig e sul nostro sito https://mediorientedintorni.com/ , ogni giorno, il meglio della cultura di Medio Oriente e Mondo islamico

I wanted to see the place where a war between the United States and Iran may begin. It turned out people over there couldn’t talk to me on tape because they live in countries without a tradition of free speech and they all feel they are being watched, and I didn’t want to get anybody in trouble. So this is a travelogue, a story about what it’s like to be there.The psychedelic Persian Gulf surf music is by Hayvanlar Alemi (he’s actually from Turkey). Here’s the link to his website. Donate Abu Dabi Workers taking a break in Khasab, Oman. On the boat heading out to the Strait of Hormuz. Near Kumzar, Oman, in the Strait of Hormuz. Fujairah, UAE. Tuna and Sardines, Muscat, Oman. Muscat, Oman The call-in-for-spiritual-advice show. She has a white pen in her hand. In the dunes near Dubai, UAE.

I wanted to see the place where a war between the United States and Iran may begin. It turned out people over there couldn’t talk to me on tape because they live in countries without a tradition of free speech and they all feel they are being watched, and I didn’t want to get anybody in trouble. So this is a travelogue, a story about what it’s like to be there.The psychedelic Persian Gulf surf music is by Hayvanlar Alemi (he’s actually from Turkey). Here’s the link to his website. Donate Abu Dabi Workers taking a break in Khasab, Oman. On the boat heading out to the Strait of Hormuz. Near Kumzar, Oman, in the Strait of Hormuz. Fujairah, UAE. Tuna and Sardines, Muscat, Oman. Muscat, Oman The call-in-for-spiritual-advice show. She has a white pen in her hand. In the dunes near Dubai, UAE.

On June 13th, two more tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman, just over a month after four vessels off the coast of the Emirate port at Fujairah. The USA blames Iran for the attacks and has sent one thousand troops to the region to deter any further attacks. Host, James Haines-Young looks at the strategic relevance of the Strait of Hormuz where the attacks happened and what the political motivations are behind the attacks. He speaks to Jennifer Gnana, The National's energy correspondent and Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, Research Fellow on the Middle East from the Royal United Services Institute in London to discuss the economic aspects of instability in the region and the origins and outcomes of the current tensions. You can listen to our podcast on the rising tension between Iran and the USA in May here (https://audioboom.com/posts/7269301-what-s-next-for-america-and-iran) . Find related coverage and more at The National (https://www.thenational.ae/) website. 

Tensions between Iran and the United States have escalated in the Persian Gulf. On this week's Middle East Brief, Afshon Ostovar, an assistant professor at the Naval Post Graduate School and FPRI Senior Fellow, joins the program to discuss the recent attack in Fujairah, U.S. policy towards Iran, and the potential for a U.S. - Iranian clash. Related Materials by Afshon Ostovar:"Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards" https://amzn.to/2LPtYYR"Iran, its clients, and the future of the Middle East: the limits of religion" http://bit.ly/2W5FPG1"The Grand Strategy of Militant Clients: Iran’s Way of War"http://bit.ly/2WOnNVI

2018.09.17 This documentary covers the story of the young Emirati, Dr. Khaled Al-Suwaidi, who, on February 3, 2018, ran a 327-kilometer, 80-hour ultramarathon from Fujairah Port in Fujairah to Zayed Port in Abu Dhabi. It was the first time someone had ever run such a distance in the United Arab Emirates. Dr. Khaled dedicated this initiative to raise funds for the Cancer Patient Care Society (Rahma), which was established by his father, Prof. Jamal Sanad Al-Suwaidi. Dr. Khaled believes that in order to reach maturity and personality growth, and to be able to comfortably deal with all difficulties, it is important to step outside of one’s “comfort zone” and accept “self-suffering.” Until October 2017, Dr. Khaled had had no running experience. Since his childhood, he has also had a case of “flat feet,” which is an obstacle to running. Nevertheless, this only added to his determination to achieve his goal. By following a very strict exercise regime, he was able to obtain victory in this difficult battle.

Simon shares a great list of new capabilities for customers! Chapters: 00:00- 00:08 Opening 00:09 - 10:50 Compute 10:51 - 25:50 Database and Storage 25:51 - 28:25 Network 28:26 - 35:01 Development 35:09 - 39:03 AI/ML 39:04 - 45:04 System Management and Operations 45:05 - 46:18 Identity 46:19 - 48:05 Video Streaming 48:06 - 49:14 Public Datasets 49:15 - 49:54 AWS Marketplace 49:55 - 51:03 YubiKey Support for MFA 51:04 - 51:18 Closing Shownotes: Amazon EC2 F1 Instance Expands to More Regions, Adds New Features, and Improves Development Tools | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/amazon-ec2-f1-instance-expands-to-more-regions-adds-new-features-and-improves-development-tools/ Amazon EC2 F1 instances now Available in an Additional Size | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-ec2-f1-instances-now-available-in-an-additional-size/ Amazon EC2 R5 and R5D instances now Available in 8 Additional AWS Regions | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-ec2-r5-and-r5d-instances-now-available-in-8-additional-aws-regions/ Introducing Amazon EC2 High Memory Instances with up to 12 TB of memory, Purpose-built to Run Large In-memory Databases, like SAP HANA | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/introducing-amazon-ec2-high-memory-instances-purpose-built-to-run-large-in-memory-databases/ Introducing a New Size for Amazon EC2 G3 Graphics Accelerated Instances | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/introducing-a-new-size-for-amazon-ec2-g3-graphics-accelerated-instances/ Amazon EC2 Spot Console Now Supports Scheduled Scaling for Application Auto Scaling | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-ec2-spot-console-now-supports-scheduled-scaling-for-application-auto-scaling/ Amazon Linux 2 Now Supports 32-bit Applications and Libraries | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-linux-2-now-supports-32-bit-applications-and-libraries/ AWS Server Migration Service Adds Support for Migrating Larger Data Volumes | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/aws-server-migration-service-adds-support-for-migrating-larger-data-volumes/ AWS Migration Hub Saves Time Migrating with Application Migration Status Automation | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws_migration_hub_saves_time_migrating_with_application_migration_status_automation/ Plan Your Migration with AWS Application Discovery Service Data Exploration | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/plan-your-migration-with-aws-application-discovery-service-data-exploration/ AWS Lambda enables functions that can run up to 15 minutes | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-lambda-supports-functions-that-can-run-up-to-15-minutes/ AWS Lambda announces service level agreement | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-lambda-introduces-service-level-agreement/ AWS Lambda Console Now Enables You to Manage and Monitor Serverless Applications | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/08/aws-lambda-console-enables-managing-and-monitoring/ Amazon EKS Enables Support for Kubernetes Dynamic Admission Controllers | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/amazon-eks-enables-support-for-kubernetes-dynamic-admission-cont/ Amazon EKS Simplifies Cluster Setup with update-kubeconfig CLI Command | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-eks-simplifies-cluster-setup-with-update-kubeconfig-cli-command/ Amazon Aurora Parallel Query is Generally Available | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-aurora-parallel-query-is-generally-available/ Amazon Aurora Now Supports Stopping and Starting of Database Clusters | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-aurora-stop-and-start/ Amazon Aurora Databases Support up to Five Cross-Region Read Replicas | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-aurora-databases-support-up-to-five-cross-region-read-replicas/ Amazon RDS Now Provides Database Deletion Protection | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-rds-now-provides-database-deletion-protection/ Announcing Managed Databases for Amazon Lightsail | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/announcing-managed-databases-for-amazon-lightsail/ Amazon RDS for MySQL and MariaDB now Support M5 Instance Types | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-rds-for-mysql-and-mariadb-support-m5-instance-types/ Amazon RDS for Oracle Now Supports Database Storage Size up to 32TiB | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/amazon-rds-for-oracle-now-supports-32tib/ Specify Parameter Groups when Restoring Amazon RDS Backups | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/specify-parameter-groups-when-restoring-amazon-rds-backups/ Amazon ElastiCache for Redis adds read replica scaling for Redis Cluster | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-elasticache-for-redis-adds-read-replica-scaling-for-redis-cluster/ Amazon Elasticsearch Service now supports encrypted communication between Elasticsearch nodes | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon_elasticsearch_service_now_supports_encrypted_communication_between_elasticsearch_nodes/ Amazon Athena adds support for Creating Tables using the results of a Select query (CTAS) | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/athena_ctas_support/ Amazon Redshift announces Query Editor to run queries directly from the AWS Management Console | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/amazon_redshift_announces_query_editor_to_run_queries_directly_from_the_aws_console/ Support for TensorFlow and S3 select with Spark on Amazon EMR release 5.17.0 | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/support-for-tensorflow-s3-select-with-spark-on-amazon-emr-release-517/ AWS Database Migration Service Makes It Easier to Migrate Cassandra Databases to Amazon DynamoDB | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/aws-dms-aws-sct-now-support-the-migration-of-apache-cassandra-databases/ The Data Lake Solution Now Integrates with Microsoft Active Directory | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/the-data-lake-solution-now-integrates-with-microsoft-active-directory/ Amazon S3 Announces Selective Cross-Region Replication Based on Object Tags | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-s3-announces-selective-crr-based-on-object-tags/ AWS Storage Gateway Is Now Available as a Hardware Appliance | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/aws-storage-gateway-is-now-available-as-a-hardware-appliance/ AWS PrivateLink now supports access over AWS VPN | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/aws-privatelink-now-supports-access-over-aws-vpn/ AWS PrivateLink now supports access over Inter-Region VPC Peering | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-privatelink-now-supports-access-over-inter-region-vpc-peering/ Network Load Balancer now supports AWS VPN | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/network-load-balancer-now-supports-aws-vpn/ Network Load Balancer now supports Inter-Region VPC Peering | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/network-load-balancer-now-supports-inter-region-vpc-peering/ AWS Direct Connect now Supports Jumbo Frames for Amazon Virtual Private Cloud Traffic | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-direct-connect-now-supports-jumbo-frames-for-amazon-virtual-private-cloud-traffic/ Amazon CloudFront announces two new Edge locations, including its second location in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/cloudfront-fujairah/ AWS CodeBuild Now Supports Building Bitbucket Pull Requests | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-codebuild-now-supports-building-bitbucket-pull-requests/ AWS CodeCommit Supports New File and Folder Actions via the CLI and SDKs | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/aws-codecommit-supports-new-file-and-folder-actions-via-the-cli-and-sdks/ AWS Cloud9 Now Supports TypeScript | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-cloud9-now-supports-typescript/ AWS CloudFormation coverage updates for Amazon API Gateway, Amazon ECS, Amazon Aurora Serverless, Amazon ElastiCache, and more | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/aws-cloudformation-coverage-updates-for-amazon-api-gateway--amaz/ AWS Elastic Beanstalk adds support for T3 instance and Go 1.11 | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/aws-elastic-beanstalk-adds-support-for-t3-instance-and-go-1-11/ AWS Elastic Beanstalk Console Supports Network Load Balancer | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws_elastic_beanstalk_console_supports_network_load_balancer/ AWS Amplify Announces Vue.js Support for Building Cloud-powered Web Applications | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/aws-amplify-announces-vuejs-support-for-building-cloud-powered-web-applications/ AWS Amplify Adds Support for Securely Embedding Amazon Sumerian AR/VR Scenes in Web Applications | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/AWS-Amplify-adds-support-for-securely-embedding-Amazon-Sumerian/ Amazon API Gateway adds support for multi-value parameters | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/amazon-api-gateway-adds-support-for-multi-parameters/ Amazon API Gateway adds support for OpenAPI 3.0 API specification | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-api-gateway-adds-support-for-openapi-3-api-specification/ AWS AppSync Launches a Guided API Builder for Mobile and Web Apps | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/AWS-AppSync-launches-a-guided-API-builder-for-apps/ Amazon Polly Adds Mandarin Chinese Language Support | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-polly-adds-mandarin-chinese-language-support/ Amazon Comprehend Extends Natural Language Processing for Additional Languages and Region | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/amazon_comprehend_extends_natural_language_processing_for_additional_languages_and_region/ Amazon Transcribe Supports Deletion of Completed Transcription Jobs | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/amazon_transcribe_supports_deletion_of_completed_transcription_jobs/ Amazon Rekognition improves the accuracy of image moderation | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/amazon-rekognition-improves-the-accuracy-of-image-moderation/ Save time and money by filtering faces during indexing with Amazon Rekognition | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/save-time-and-money-by-filtering-faces-during-indexing-with-amazon-rekognition/ Amazon SageMaker Now Supports Tagging for Hyperparameter Tuning Jobs | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-sagemaker-now-supports-tagging-for-hyperparameter-tuning-/ Amazon SageMaker Now Supports an Improved Pipe Mode Implementation | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/amazon-sagemaker-now-supports-an-improved-pipe-mode-implementati/ Amazon SageMaker Announces Enhancements to its Built-In Image Classification Algorithm | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/amazon-sagemaker-announces-enhancements-to-its-built-in-image-cl/ AWS Glue now supports connecting Amazon SageMaker notebooks to development endpoints | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-glue-now-supports-connecting-amazon-sagemaker-notebooks-to-development-endpoints/ AWS Glue now supports resource-based policies and resource-level permissions for the AWS Glue Data Catalog | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-glue-now-supports-resource-based-policies-and-resource-level-permissions-and-for-the-AWS-Glue-Data-Catalog/ Resource Groups Tagging API Supports Additional AWS Services | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/resource-groups-tagging-api-supports-additional-aws-services/ Changes to Tags on AWS Resources Now Generate Amazon CloudWatch Events | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/changes-to-tags-on-aws-resources-now-generate-amazon-cloudwatch-events/ AWS Systems Manager Announces Enhanced Compliance Dashboard | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-systems-manager-announces-enhanced-compliance-dashboard/ Conditional Branching Now Supported in AWS Systems Manager Automation | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/Conditional_Branching_Now_Supported_in_AWS_Systems_Manager_Automation/ AWS Systems Manager Launches Custom Approvals for Patching | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/AWS_Systems_Manager_Launches_Custom_Approvals_for_Patching/ Amazon CloudWatch adds Ability to Build Custom Dashboards Outside the AWS Console | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-cloudwatch-adds-ability-to-build-custom-dashboards-outside-the-aws-console/ Amazon CloudWatch Agent adds Custom Metrics Support | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/amazon-cloudwatch-agent-adds-custom-metrics-support/ Amazon CloudWatch Launches Client-side Metric Data Aggregations | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/amazon-cloudWatch-launches-client-side-metric-data-aggregations/ AWS IoT Device Management Now Provides In Progress Timeouts and Step Timeouts for Jobs | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-iot-device-management-now-provides-in-progress-timeouts-and-step-timeouts-for-jobs/ Amazon GuardDuty Provides Customization of Notification Frequency to Amazon CloudWatch Events | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/amazon-guardduty-provides-customization-of-notification-frequency-to-amazon-cloudwatch-events/ AWS Managed Microsoft AD Now Offers Additional Configurations to Connect to Your Existing Microsoft AD | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-managed-microsoft-ad-now-offers-additional-configurations-to-connect-to-our-existing-microsoft-ad/ Easily Deploy Directory-Aware Workloads in Multiple AWS Accounts and VPCs by Sharing a Single AWS Managed Microsoft AD | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/aws-directory-service-share-directory-across-accounts-and-vpcs/ AWS Single Sign-on Now Enables You to Customize the User Experience to Business Applications | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-single-sign-on-now-enables-you-to-customize-the-user-experience-to-business-applications/ Live Streaming on AWS Now Features AWS Elemental MediaLive and MediaPackage | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/live-streaming-on-aws-now-features-aws-elemental-medialive-and-mediapackage/ AWS Elemental MediaStore Increases Object Size Limit to 25 Megabytes | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/aws-elemental-mediastore-increase-object-size-limit-to-25-megabytes/ Amazon Kinesis Video Streams now supports adding and retrieving Metadata at Fragment-Level | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/kinesis-video-streams-fragment-level-metadata-support/ AWS Public Datasets Now Available from the German Meteorological Office, Broad Institute, Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, fast.ai, and Others | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/public-datasets/ Customize Your Payment Frequency and More with AWS Marketplace Flexible Payment Scheduler | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/10/customize-your-payment-frequency-and-more-with-awsmarketplace-flexible-payment-scheduler/ Sign in to your AWS Management Console with YubiKey Security Key for Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) | https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2018/09/aws_sign_in_support_for_yubikey_security_key_as_mfa/

Bunker demand data for 2017 over the past month has shown Fujairah slipped behind Rotterdam in total sales last year, while both remain long behind the world leader, Singapore. Editorial director for EMEA oil Joel Hanley is joined by editorial lead for bunker news Jack Jordan for a discussion on...

Chris and Yashy give a full rundown on their family trip to Dubai. They share tips on the taking kids to the Dubai Mall, great places to eat in the city, and even a seaside getaway in Fujairah. They then close the show with a discussion of Wizard World in Toronto (45:16), where they take the kids every year on March Break.

At Immanuel Church of Fujairah this week we saw how God has made known to us his plan for his people by the Spirit and how the Spirit serves as a guarantee of our full redemption

Gary Bembridge of Tips for Travellers shares observations, tips and advice for visitors to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Subscribe free to the show on iTunes, Stitcher Radio or TuneIn Radio. This show covers among other topics: Observations You either love Dubai or you hate it!Some say : Surreal, bizarre , draconian, soulless, superficial Others say : dynamic, bold, modern and adventurous Mix of conservative and liberal with lots of inconsistencies (e.g. full burka wearing women next to skimply dressed ones and lack of alcohol tolerance but heavy drinking in hotels). Seen as a shoppers paradise although I am not sure prices are that amazing despite being duty free nature. Mix of nationalities in the population of around 2,5 million with less than 20% of the population being UAE nationals. Safe and not lot of petty crime HistoryBritish controlled the area until 1971 when 6 other states formed UAE (Abu Dhabi, Ajman,Fujairah , Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Qaiwain). Each has lots of autonomy though is a Supreme Council of Rulers that overseas total UAE Dubai has biggest population and 2nd in size after Abu Dhabi - oil was discovered in Dubai in 1963 turning a quiet pearl diving, fishing and trade port into wealthy  oil producer - but unlike neighbours like Abu Dhabi it does not very large reserves and as will run out the ruling family (Constitutional Monarchy  ruled by the Al Maktoum family) has invested into creating a major hub for finance, transport, trade and tourism and went on vast ambitious program of infrastructure building. It almost came undone in the 2008 crash but neighbouring Abu Dhabi bailed them out.Best time to goHot pretty much all year  roundBest time Sept to MayGetting therePossibly best airline hub in the world ! Cruise lines increasingly calling here and the port is close to townWhere to stayJumeirah Beach areas - where most resort hotels with beaches are More business hotels are on Sheikh Zayed roadGetting around Drivers generally are poor! Metro - modern, cheap, air conditioned , easy to work out - smart card tickets - get day pass - ticket machines / signs / on-board voice also in English - some carriages of women and children only at peak times Monorail from base of the Palm Atlantis - not connected to the metro. Taxis are cheap and efficient to use - though traffic can be bad at all times of day and night. Busses  best left to locals. Cross Dubai Creek on small boats called abras (water taxis). Hop-on Hop-off bus operated by Big Bus includes tickets into attractions like Dubai Museum, Al Maktoum's house, Arabian dhow, water bus ride and some walking tours General tips Remember you are coming to an Islamic country. Wear respectful clothing (avoid shorts, exposed shoulders and ankles ). Topless suntanning not allowed. Avoid public signs of affection like hand holding kissing. Same sex affection real taboo. Illegal to drink or be drunk in public - drink driving will get you in prison. Drugs and pornography laws very draconian and strict - even some prescription drugs are illegal. Restrictions on some publications and affiliations like Jehovah Witness. Take care what photograph - do not photograph women in traditional dress without prior permission. English widely spoken. Western-style toilets are not everywhere - but are in malls Tips on must do things to see and doVisit the new iconic buildingsBurj KhalifaWhen opened in 2010 became tallest man made structure - viewing platform on 124th floor. Pre booking is much cheaper but need to do well in advance. Fast Track on the day for immediate entry 400 Dhiramas (about £60 or $100).Burj Arab HotelMost luxurious hotel in world - designed to resemble a sail and has heli-pad above 27th floor. Entry only with a reservation - afternoon tea is classic - strict dress code of smart casual.The Palm and AtlantisMan made reclaimed land - visible from space - 4000 villas each with own beach front - 5000 apartments - restaurants -sports facilities - cinemas - Marina docking Atlantis Hotel - based on original Bahamas hotel billed as a "watery world of wonder" - aquarium with 21 water exhibits including lost Chamber and waterparkActivities Wild Wadi Waterpark - in my view the best in the world! Ski Dubai is  -4 degrees C with a big ski slope, tabogan run and ski lift - entry includes gear except hats and gloves which can be bought. Four-Wheel Drive Sand Dune expeditions - high speed rides which also take you desert camps to do camel rides and dune surfing HistoricalAl Faheidi Fort Dates from 1800s - oldest surviving building in city - now popular museum opened in 1970 -  tells story of development of UAE life and history with models and exhibitions.Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum house - former ruler who died in 1958 lived here - built around central courtyard in 19century around 30 rooms and traditional wind towers (old fashioned air conditioning system )Grand Mosque - near the museum(though the Jumeirah mosque is more impressive buildingShopping Explore the famous and traditional Souks - traditional ones all close to each other in Deira area across Dubai Creek (get there by traditional boat, metro or taxi ). Gold (priced by weight with small charge for work done to craft into an item) and Spice are the most impressive. Haggling expected! Malls - lots of them - huge air conditioned and up market. Three of note in my view: Dubai Mall - sometimes referred to as biggest in the world - ice rink and also massive aquarium - go through to get to Burj Khalifa - free wifi - fountain show at night (like Bellagio Las Vegas). Mall of the Emirates - more dated - Dubai Ski based here. Emirates Towers Boulevard - luxury boutiques and reputation for being the most expensive and prestigious. Other things to do Helicopter or seaplane trips. Arabian Dhow evening cocktail cruises on Dubai creek Catamaran tours along beaches and around The Palm Explore the Dubai Marina area