ABU DHABI // A charity auction of a football signed by rulers from all the seven Emirates was almost called off last night when it initially failed to attract high enough bids. There was confusion as the organisers deliberated over whether or not to continue after the highest bid reached Dh110,000 (US$30,000). "Should I honour it or not?" asked the auctioneer. "This is not the expected price, we will re-auction the ball again," said Ebrahim al Haddar, the chairman of Nahtam (We Care), a group based in Abu Dhabi, which set up the auction at the Emirates Palace hotel to benefit special needs organisations. An audience member protested that the bidding must continue since the auction had been opened.
After a few minutes, Mr al Haddar allowed the bidding to resume. "Since it's a charity auction we will continue," he said. The ball was eventually bought for Dh200,000 by Sheikha Lubna Al Qassimi, the Minister of Foreign Trade. The ball carried the signatures of UAE officials and rulers including Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces; Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, Deputy Ruler of Dubai; Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed, the Ruler of Sharjah; and the Rulers of Ajman, Umm al Qaiwain and Fujairah.
It stood on a sculpture by seven female Emirati artists, which was also part of the auction. About 150 people attended the Royal Euro 2008 Charity Auction, also organised by the embassies of Austria and Switzerland, the hosts of the Euro 2008 football championship. Other items that were auctioned included tickets to the upcoming friendly between the UAE and Manchester City, which went for Dh5,000, a hotel stay, and a two-hour training session with Ismail Matar, the Emirati footballer who was named best player at the Youth World Cup in 2003.
Beneficiaries of the event included the Special Care Centre in Abu Dhabi, the Emirates Association of the Blind and Al Noor Training Centre for Children with Special Needs. kshaheen@thenational.ae
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Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
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The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
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Cricket World Cup League 2
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Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
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Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
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- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
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The specs
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Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
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Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
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Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
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Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
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How to help
Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.
Account name: Dar Al Ber Society
Account Number: 11 530 734
IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734
Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae
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Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
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US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.