Dubai plastic bag charge, 8-year-old Syrian boy ransom deadline, Joe Rogan - Trending

Trending Middle East brings you the latest social media and search trends from the region and around the world.

On today's episode, Dubai is to introduce a charge for single-use plastic bags, mourners gather in Morocco for the funeral of Rayan, the boy who had been trapped in a well for days, and, in Syria, an eight-year-old boy's parents have been given a deadline by kidnappers to pay a $200,000 ransom.

Podcaster Joe Rogan has been offered $100 million to quit Spotify and join right-wing platform Rumble, and New York deer have been discovered to be carrying the Omicron variant.

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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier

Event info: The tournament in Kuwait is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.

Teams: UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Maldives, Qatar

Friday fixtures: 9.30am (UAE time) - Kuwait v Maldives, Qatar v UAE; 3pm - Saudi Arabia v Bahrain

The view from The National

Withholding aid to Idlib is akin to a death sentence

Caesar Act: This is a bittersweet victory for Syrians

ISIS may not be as strong as it pretends to be

The specs

Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo

Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm

Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm

Transmission: Eight-speed auto

Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km

On sale: December

Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Europe’s rearming plan

Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital

While you're here

Hussein Ibish: America's attitude to Palestine and Israel has subtly shifted

Con Coughlin: With every missile fired in Israel-Gaza, Biden's clout reduces

Anwar Mhajne: The moral burden of being a Palestinian citizen of Israel

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions