Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" on display at Christie's auction rooms in London. The UAEacquired the painting for Louvre Abu Dhabi for a staggering $450million. Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" on display at Christie's auction rooms in London. The UAEacquired the painting for Louvre Abu Dhabi for a staggering $450million. Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" on display at Christie's auction rooms in London. The UAEacquired the painting for Louvre Abu Dhabi for a staggering $450million. Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" on display at Christie's auction rooms in London. The UAEacquired the painting for Louvre Abu Dhabi for a staggering $450million. Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP

2017: The year in numbers


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Some 646,000 - The number of Rohingya who have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh amid a military crackdown against the Muslim minority, according to the United Nations. This figure is in addition to the estimated 214,000 Rohingya that were already living in Bangladesh. The UN human rights chief has said the crackdown cannot be ruled out as genocide.

8 - The number of countries that backed the United States in its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. On December 6, the United States recognised the holy city as Israel's capital since the foundation of the Israeli state in 1948 in a move that sparked deadly clashes in Jerusalem, Ramallah, the West Bank and Gaza strip.

Dh1.7bn (US$450m) - The amount Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism paid for Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci in November - the highest price ever paid for a painting at auction. It will go on display at Louvre Abu Dhabi.

90 - The percentage of "yes" votes in the Catalan referendum for independence according to the regional government. The referendum marked a turning point in Catolonia's nationalists' longstanding dream of independence from Spain.

US$20,000 - The value Bitcoin nearly rose to on December 7 when its price rose just above $19,900 on Coinbase, the largest digital currency exchange in America - its highest price yet.

945,362 - The number of Yemenis who are suspected of having been infected with cholera this year, according to the latest data from the World Health Organisation. The body has recorded 2,211 associated deaths. Yemen has been described by the UN as "the worst humanitarian crisis in the world".

112,268 Venezuelan bolivar - The amount of Venezuelan currency it takes to buy US$1 on the black market in a country where the average monthly minimum wage is 180,000 bolivares.

US$50 million - The initial estimated worth of a 709-carat diamond found in Sierra Leone. The stone, named the Peace Diamond, is the second largest found in the West African nation and the 14th largest in the world. Despite its size the diamond sold for a disappointing $6.5 million and its proceeds are set to go to the village where it was found.

Between 9,000 and 11,000 - The number of civilians killed during the nine-month battle to liberate Mosul from ISIL, according to an unofficial investigation by the global news agency Associated Press. Prime minister Haider al-Abadi put the figure at only 1,260. The AP obtained a list from Mosul's morgue of 9,606 people killed during the operation. Hundreds of dead civilians are believed to still be buried in the rubble.

2 percent - The UAE's expected economic growth for 2017, according to economists. In the face of low oil prices, Abu Dhabi has cut spending and worked to consolidated key sectors of the economy. As a result, next year's spending cuts are expected to be milder than those of the past couple of years.

71 - The number of people who died when a fire engulfed residential high rise Grenfell Tower in west London on July 14. The blaze began in a refrigerator on the fourth floor and quickly spread to the building's top. Prime minister Teresa May faced public backlash when she did not meet with survivor's of the fire.

175 mph - The maximum sustained winds of Hurricane Maria, the category five hurricane that raged across the Caribbean between September and October. The overall death toll is still unclear but a recent review by the New York Times puts the number at 1,502 in Puerto Rico alone, rather then the government's official figure of 64.

300,000 - The number of Kuwaiti government employees that skipped two days of work to extend their Eid holiday this year. Employees claimed illness or simply did not show up, resulting in a 40 percent absenteeism throughout the ministries.

WHAT IS GRAPHENE?

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. 

Profile of Bitex UAE

Date of launch: November 2018

Founder: Monark Modi

Based: Business Bay, Dubai

Sector: Financial services

Size: Eight employees

Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings

Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion

The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".

The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.

He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.

"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.

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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. 

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