ABU DHABI // Car enthusiasts wandered past Hummers adorned with diamantes and souped-up four-wheel drives, and skateboarders showed off their stunts nearby as two festivals opened side by side in the capital yesterday.
Adrenaline Sports Live, an extreme sports event, and Barbican Turbo, a custom car meet, will continue through the weekend at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
There were fewer visitors than expected yesterday, but organisers were optimistic that attendance would pick up today and tomorrow.
For Hisham Ibrahim, a Jordanian, the draw was the cars. He entered his four-wheel drive Nissan Patrol, boosted from 270 to 1,010 horsepower - more powerful than a Formula One car - in the custom cars competition.
Adding the "wow factor" is more than a hobby for Mr Ibrahim, who has a workshop in Musaffah. A lot of people want extra power for their four wheel drives, he said. "Everybody likes his horse to be strong. Fast cars make you feel free."
Mr Ibrahim brought his own car and seven others from his workshop to display at the festival. He described one as "the fastest truck in the world".
"We've not heard about another truck with this power. I'm sure it's the fastest."
With 2,600 horsepower, he said, the pickup can accelerate from 0 to 100 kph in less than two seconds.
Ten customised Ford Mustangs, a Volkswagen Beetle and a bright orange Cadillac Escalade with remote-controlled suspension and neon wheels that cost Dh14,000 (US$3,815) each were among the cars in the main hall.
"It's about the people who have a real passion for modifying," said Daniel Anslow, who works for CMPi, the show's organiser. "When other people are down at the beach, these guys would be at home fitting new wheels and buffing up their cars to make them perfect."
Outside the exhibition centre, Team Orange, one of world's top drifting teams, cut dark rubber swirls into the pavement. Drifting is a technique in which drivers intentionally skid their rear tyres through turns at high speeds and keep their cars under control.
Sergey Nushtayev, 21, a Russian who lives in Abu Dhabi, came especially for the drifting.
"I really love cars. The showy cars are cool but the drifting cars and the drag-racing cars are what I really like," he said.
At the extreme sports festival, skateboarding, wakeboarding and dragon-boat competitions will be held today and tomorrow.
Barbora Furskog, from the Czech Republic, has been wakeboarding for six and a half years and plans to enter the competition. She says it is a rare chance in the region.
"The UAE is the perfect place to wakeboard, but unfortunately there's not much opportunity to compete," she said after practising her tricks.
The festival also gives novices the chance to try out something new. Rabih Zein, 24, a Lebanese financial analyst, has tried bungee jumping and skydiving but wants to improve his watersport skills. "We've been waiting for an event like this for such a long time here in Abu Dhabi. Even in Lebanon they still don't have such an event," he said.
Visitors can try out 15 action sports.
Today, the festival will bring the ancient Chinese tradition of dragon-boat racing to the Emirates for the first time. More than 40 teams will compete in the National Dragon Boating Cup, which will conclude tomorrow.
lmorris@thenational.ae
The%20National%20selections
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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)
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. Readers are encouraged to seek independent legal advice.
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Astra%20Tech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbdallah%20Abu%20Sheikh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20technology%20investment%20and%20development%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20size%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500m%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO
Mumbai Indians 186-6 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 183-5 (20 ovs)
Mumbai Indians won by three runs
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
The specs
Engine: 3.6 V6
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Power: 295bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: Dh155,000
On sale: now
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UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
Specs
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Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
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Price: From Dh439,000
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Scotland v Ireland:
Scotland (15-1): Stuart Hogg; Tommy Seymour, Huw Jones, Sam Johnson, Sean Maitland; Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw (capt); Josh Strauss, James Ritchie, Ryan Wilson; Jonny Gray, Grant Gilchrist; Simon Berghan, Stuart McInally, Allan Dell
Replacements: Fraser Brown, Jamie Bhatti, D'arcy Rae, Ben Toolis, Rob Harley, Ali Price, Pete Horne, Blair Kinghorn
Coach: Gregor Townsend (SCO)
Ireland (15-1): Rob Kearney; Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Jack Conan, Sean O'Brien, Peter O'Mahony; James Ryan, Quinn Roux; Tadhg Furlong, Rory Best (capt), Cian Healy
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Ultan Dillane, Josh van der Flier, John Cooney, Joey Carbery, Jordan Larmour
Coach: Joe Schmidt (NZL)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
