It is raining in Manchester – the kind of stately, rhythmic drizzle that has inspired the city’s greatest bands for generations.
In the doom-laden 1985 track Well I Wonder by The Smiths, singer Morrissey gasps the climactic line: “This is the final stand of all I am, keep that in mind,” before fading into the haunting sound of rainfall. The abstract cover art of The Stone Roses’ eponymous 1989 debut, painted by guitarist John Squire, is said to mirror the city's chaotic showers. Meanwhile, four more local lads started a band called The Rain in 1991, before adopting the name that would make them world-famous: Oasis.
But Manchester is not overshadowed by its cultural heroes. Just a two-hour train ride from London and a seven-hour direct flight from Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the city – once a powerhouse of the 18th century Industrial Revolution fuelled by a roaring textile, manufacturing and cotton trade – continues to reinvent itself, much like the countless musicians spawned.
Now one of the UK’s largest cities, these once-grand Victorian warehouses share neighbourhoods with sleek modern developments easily navigated with accessible pathways and a pedestrian-friendly city centre, many dotted with buskers playing everything from rustic folk music to dissonant electro-hip-hop.
Part of that rich soundtrack is set to reverberate worldwide once more, as Oasis bring their record-breaking comeback tour in July to Heaton Park in the city’s north-west. While hundreds of thousands of fans from the UK and beyond are set to stream into the sprawling site for a heady dose of Brit-pop nostalgia, a weekend in Manchester also reveals its rich music scene remains as vital as ever.
You can hear it almost immediately after stepping into the Northern Quarter. A short walk from Manchester’s central Piccadilly Station, the former hub of textile warehouses has, over the past few decades, evolved into a creative and cultural district filled with independent record stores, cafes and music venues.
This isn’t just a case of gentrification. Like much of Manchester, the area is reclaiming its roots – perhaps best exemplified by Band on the Wall, a venue reportedly hosting musicians since the early 20th century. That flair and grit are also reflected in some of the vibrant murals lining the streets, from portraits of Academy Award-winning Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh and The Smiths’ Andy Rourke by local artist Akse P19, alongside larger works found in Stevenson Square.
Nearby is Night and Day Cafe, another Northern Quarter music institution that, since its founding in 1999, has weathered repeated closure threats due to noise complaints. The intimate performance space continues to host nightly acts from emerging bands aspiring to follow in the footsteps of past performers, from Kasabian and Arctic Monkeys to Paolo Nutini. Come for the sounds, stay for the pizzas – the meatless treat of tomato, mozzarella, mushrooms, and Parmesan, aptly named Fun Guy, is a standout from the venue's menu for £10 (Dh46).
A further 15-minute walk in the city centre and towards St Peter’s Square leads to a modest yet important rock landmark. The grey brick wall of the Edwardian Manchester, A Radisson Collection Hotel holds a plaque commemorating its past as the site of the Lesser Free Trade Hall. Established in 1856 and once a stage for public debates, it gained legendary status in 1966 when Bob Dylan debuted his “electric” set, enraging folk music purists. Amid the uproar, a heckler’s cry of “Judas!” became immortalised in The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966 recording.
The site is also a pilgrimage point for punk fans, having hosted one of the earliest Sex Pistols concerts in 1976. The raw gig, attended by around 40 people and featuring future seminal tracks Pretty Vacant and Problems, is widely regarded for its catalytic impact. Among the audience were future members of The Smiths, Joy Division, and The Fall – artists who left inspired to form their own bands, igniting a movement that would reshape British music for decades.
A 10-minute drive or 40-minute stroll down Regent Road – one of Manchester’s key arterial routes – takes you away from the glimmering skyline of Spinningfields, the financial district, to the quieter streets of Salford where a more direct musical tribute awaits. The green wooden gates of the red terracotta-brick exterior at Salford Lads Club – famously seen on the cover of The Smiths’ 1986 album The Queen is Dead – have become a popular selfie spot for the now-retired band’s devoted legion of fans.
The venue, established in 1903 and still operating today as a youth club with sports activities, was chosen as the backdrop for the recording due to the working-class ethos the band referenced in their songs – rather than any direct affiliation with its members.
While its unexpected fame carries the kind of irony Morrissey often infused into his work, the organisation embraced its informal association with the band for fundraising efforts – particularly in its famed “The Smiths Room”, a former gym space turned shrine to the group, adorned with hundreds of photos of fans standing outside the building.
While entry is free, visitors are encouraged to contribute to the organisation's upkeep through donations or by purchasing unofficial Smiths-adjacent merchandise, including T-shirts and mugs, from the gift shop.
More of the city’s musical heritage is preserved within the grand halls of Manchester Central Library on St Peter’s Square, considered the heart of the city. On the second floor of this neoclassical building, you’ll find the Henry Watson Music Library, a space that reveals how music is not just a soundtrack to Manchester’s evolution but an integral part of its formative fabric.
Among its treasures are autographed copies of Antonio Vivaldi’s Twelve Violin Sonatas, composed around 1716 and now known as the Manchester Sonatas and nearly 10,000 music books covering everything from western classical compositions to the rhythms and arrangements of Northern Soul. Venture deeper, and you’ll discover performance spaces – weekly jam sessions take place here, with musicians making use of instruments ranging from electronic drum kits to keyboards freely available for members to play.
With a string of prominent music venues – from the Albert Hall, a former chapel turned performance space, to Lions Den, a hub for open-mic nights along the bustling nearby thoroughfare of Deansgate – alongside modern, state-of-the-art venues like Aviva Studios and Bridgewater Hall, Manchester’s music pedigree remains undeniable. The sounds created here in venues big and small, modern and replete with history, are not just woven into the city’s neighbourhoods and institutions but echo far beyond its borders into the world with an energy whose light will never go out.
The biog
Year of birth: 1988
Place of birth: Baghdad
Education: PhD student and co-researcher at Greifswald University, Germany
Hobbies: Ping Pong, swimming, reading
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Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Director: Daniel Espinosa
Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona
Rating: 2/5
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
Mobile phone packages comparison
Glossary of a stock market revolution
Reddit
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Redditor
The users of Reddit
Robinhood
A smartphone app for buying and selling shares
Short seller
Selling a stock today in the belief its price will fall in the future
Short squeeze
Traders forced to buy a stock they are shorting
Naked short
An illegal practice
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Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
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AGUERO'S PREMIER LEAGUE RECORD
Apps: 186
Goals: 127
Assists: 31
Wins: 117
Losses: 33
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
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Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
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Community Shield info
Where, when and at what time Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday at 5pm (UAE time)
Arsenal line up (3-4-2-1) Petr Cech; Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal; Hector Bellerin, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck; Alexandre Lacazette
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger
Chelsea line up (3-4-2-1) Thibaut Courtois; Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Gary Cahill; Victor Moses, Cesc Fabregas, N'Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso; Willian, Pedro; Michy Batshuayi
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte
Referee Bobby Madley
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