The Beirut property boom continues unabated. The 50-storey Sama Beirut, at the top of my road, is taking its ominous shape, while another, smaller new development in the adjacent street also grows taller by the day. Three months ago, there was sky between the most recent floor and the top of my window frame. Now my view is one of dull concrete shrouded by green netting and scaffolding. Vistas change from month to month, as do the dozens of hoardings that promise a new lifestyle: "paradise on earth" and "dream getaways in the city" all painting the picture of urban living to which we are told we must aspire.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese have just marked the anniversary of the outbreak of Lebanon's 15-year civil war on April 13, 1975. Back then, Beirut was also riding high on its reputation as a vibrant Arab capital, poised to enter what it believed would be a period of even greater prosperity.
My father told me that he never thought the civil war would last as long as it did. "The lira was practically a hard currency," he would say. "Why would we want to throw it all away?" Why indeed? I can't help feeling that we might be suffering from the same hubris that led to that terrible era of bloodshed.
Ironically, on the anniversary of the outbreak of that war, The New York Times published yet another feature on Beirut and its impossibly glamorous residents. The writer, Anne Barnard, was particularly taken with the women wearing "fire-engine-red lipstick", "forever extracting their spike heels from the cracks" in the boardwalk of the new Zaytouni Bay marina development. She describes Beirut as an "eddy of peace" in a turbulent region where the Iraqi and Syrian diaspora had flocked to set up shop, because Beirut was where they could get things done.
The same occurred in the early 1950s, when Beirut became a sanctuary for émigrés, spies, bankers and chancers of every stamp after Gamal Abdul Nasser's Arab nationalism and the creation of the state of Israel. But then we had the 1969 Cairo accord, which allowed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to attack Israel from Lebanese territory, a state of affairs that polarised the nation. After that, our fate was sealed.
Today, amid the veneer of conspicuous consumption, we have similar tensions, this time between the Sunnis, who are angered by the treatment of their own in Syria, and the Shia, who, wittingly or not, find themselves tarred with the brush of the Hizbollah, Syrian and Iranian axis. This time around, the Christians are not even in the game.
It is explosive stuff, and yet the private sector ploughs ahead as it always has done, aware that there are no guarantees that stability will prevail just because new residential towers are thrown up and a few dozen, half-decent motor yachts are moored in front of the old Hotel St Georges.
But back to the property boom. According to a report issued by Credit Libanais bank based on data from the national land register, the average property price in Beirut increased to $508,709 (Dh1.8 million) in the first two months of this year, up from last year's average of $456,018 and way more than the 2006 average of $229,332. The report tells us that just under 2 per cent of buyers are foreigners, which goes some way to debunk the idea that Gulf Arabs are still buying up Beirut.
"We are Lebanese," a local IT entrepreneur told me six months ago when I asked him whether the Arab Spring made him nervous. "We cannot stop working, war or no war, internal crisis or no internal crisis. We have learned to just carry on and hope for the best. This is why I still put my money in property in this town. Where else do you want me to live?"
Michael Karam is the associate editor in chief of Executive, a regional business magazine based in Lebanon
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GRAN%20TURISMO
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The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,00
On sale: Available for preorder now
Meydan race card
6pm Dubai Trophy – Conditions(TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,200m
6.35Dubai Trophy – Conditions(TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,200m
1,800m
7.10pm Jumeirah Derby Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (T)
1,800m ,400m
7.45pm Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
8.20pm Al Fahidi Fort – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,400m
8.55pm Dubawi Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,200m
9.30pm Aliyah – Rated Conditions (TB) $80,000 (D) 2,000m
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Walls
Louis Tomlinson
3 out of 5 stars
(Syco Music/Arista Records)
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Company%20Profile
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
If you go...
Flying
There is no simple way to get to Punta Arenas from the UAE, with flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi requiring at least two connections to reach this part of Patagonia. Flights start from about Dh6,250.
Touring
Chile Nativo offers the amended Los Dientes trek with expert guides and porters who are met in Puerto Williams on Isla Navarino. The trip starts and ends in Punta Arenas and lasts for six days in total. Prices start from Dh8,795.
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
two stars
Company%20Profile
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Company%20profile
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Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Company%20profile
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SPECS
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The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Dir: Ron Howard
Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson
3/5
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
