More than 300 people gathered at Mleiha National Park in Sharjah on Thursday evening for a Perseids meteor shower viewing event, counting four fireballs that left blue, red and white streaks across the night sky. The event was hosted at the park, which is managed by Shurooq (Sharjah Investment and Development Authority) and offers astronomy experiences alongside desert adventures and archaeological centre visits. Attendees spotted the fireballs over several hours. Each streak lasted only seconds, but the colours came from real chemistry: magnesium and nickel produce blue light, while sodium or iron creates orange, yellow or red glows as vaporised…
Author: Catherine Smith
Zlatko Dalic has been appointed head coach of the UAE national football team, with the 2030 World Cup stated as his primary objective. The UAE Football Association confirmed the appointment after the Croatian ended nearly nine years as Croatia’s national team coach in summer 2026. The UAE missed the 2026 World Cup after losing the Asian play-off to Iraq. The squad has not appeared at the tournament since their debut at Italia 1990, and the appointment of a coach with Dalic’s record signals the federation’s intent to end that absence. Dalic’s contract runs to 2030, according to a graphic published…
Abu Dhabi road cleaning operations covered 205,972km in the first half of 2026, the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) said, putting the emirate on course to exceed last year’s full total. The half-year figure represents 75 per cent of the 274,735km cleaned across the whole of 2025. Municipal teams from Abu Dhabi City, Al Ain and Al Dhafra carried out the work across 1,661 priority areas, covering 102 residential neighbourhoods, main road corridors, cycle tracks, bus stops, pedestrian bridges, tunnels and areas around community facilities. Waste removed and public reports handled During the six-month period, teams removed 126,740 tonnes…
Press release distribution is widely misunderstood and frequently mis-sold. What syndication actually achieves for UAE brands, what it does not, and how to judge whether it worked.
Students across the UAE collected their A-level results on 17 August 2026, ending an examination cycle unlike any before it: British exam boards cancelled written papers for the May/June 2026 series after regional conflict made sittings impossible. Cambridge International, Pearson Edexcel and OxfordAQA all suspended in-person IGCSE and A-level exams across the region, citing safety concerns linked to the ongoing US-Israel-Iran war. The cancellations extended beyond the UAE: Pearson Edexcel and OxfordAQA also pulled exams in Bahrain, Kuwait and Lebanon, according to School Management Plus. In place of formal papers, students were assessed through a Portfolio of Evidence process. Pearson…
UAE doctors say the anti-ageing treatments most worth paying for are not the expensive infusions or biological-age tests dominating the longevity market, but the unglamorous fundamentals: cardiovascular fitness, strength training, sleep, blood pressure control and not smoking. The warning comes as clinics across the country report growing demand for a widening menu of peptides, intravenous infusions, stem-cell therapies and epigenetic testing, many of which, doctors say, remain well ahead of supporting evidence. What the evidence actually supports ‘Most of what actually works is subtraction and consistency,’ said Dr Ihsan Almarzooqi, co-founder of Metabolic, the Dubai-based hybrid care clinic he founded…
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, walked unannounced into LuLu Hypermarket at Mushrif Mall on a Tuesday evening, spending close to an hour moving through the aisles, speaking to shoppers and staff, and repeatedly asking one question: ‘Are you happy?’ Staff were given clear instructions before the visit: do not clear the aisles, do not stop shoppers, do not hold lifts, and let the mall function exactly as normal. ‘When he walked in, people started waving immediately,’ a senior LuLu staff member, who asked not to be named, said. ‘They called out to him. Some asked,…
The International Astronomical Center (IAC), the UAE Astronomy Center, issued a corrective statement on 12 August 2026 pushing back against media reports it said had exaggerated or misrepresented four astronomical events occurring that day: a total solar eclipse, the Perseid meteor shower, a planetary alignment, and a new moon. Total solar eclipse: real, but not visible from the UAE The IAC confirmed the solar eclipse is genuine. According to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the maximum duration of totality reaches 2 minutes and 18 seconds, with the path of totality crossing Russia, Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and Portugal. Greatest eclipse occurs…
Both of the UAE’s senior leaders used International Youth Day on 12 August to restate their commitment to UAE youth empowerment as a national priority, posting separate messages on X that framed young people as the country’s primary force for progress. What the leaders said Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, wrote: ‘On International Youth Day, we reaffirm our deep-rooted confidence in the youth of the UAE and underscore our pride in their ongoing contributions to our nation’s development. By embracing innovation and leadership, young people are central to achieving a…
Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has revealed a study into levelling the summit of Al Awain mountain in Khor Fakkan and building a residential area on top of it, as part of a broader administrative reorganisation of the city. The announcement came during a telephone interview on the Direct Line programme on 11 August 2026. The Ruler also confirmed that a new administrative division plan for Khor Fakkan is complete and will be published shortly, according to the Ruler of Sharjah’s official media centre. Al Awain mountain and the Khor Fakkan…