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Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We have a reasonably busy issue with which to begin a new work week, bringing us a little bit of everything from government news to macroeconomic updates and diplomacy.
THE BIG STORY AT HOME today is the cabinet shuffle President Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan announced over the weekend, giving us five new faces in the council of ministers. We have the full rundown in this morning’s news well, below.
HAPPENING TODAY
Blinken is coming to town:US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be in Abu Dhabi today, as part of his fourth Middle East tour since fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas, Reuters reports. Blinken’s tour — which began on Thursday and runs through to this coming Thursday — has already seen him visit Turkey, Greece, Jordan, and Qatar. The diplomat will also visit Saudi Arabia today, while the rest of the trip will include stops in Israel, the West Bank, and Egypt.
SteelFab 2024 starts today at Sharjah’s Expo Center, with some 275 exhibitors from 35 countries set to attend the industrial solutions exhibition, Wam reports. The event will showcase CNC cutting systems, electronic beam welding apparatus, cost-effective laser systems for metal cutting, iron and steel processing machinery, artificial intelligence robots, and more. The four-day expo was organized with support from the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Doors are open daily from 10am to 6pm.
National team heads to Doha for AFC Asian Cup: The national football team departs for Doha today to participate in the upcoming AFC Asian Cup, Wam reports. The 24-team tournament will run from this Friday, 12 January through to 10 February. We will be playing in Group C, alongside Iran, Hong Kong, and Palestine, with our first clash against Hong Kong kicking off on Sunday, 14 January at 6:30pm UAE time.
HAPPENING NOW- It’s Golden Globes night across the ocean, the first entry in Hollywood’s 2024 awards season. Follow along with liveblogs from Deadline or NBC News.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS
#1- People applying for a driving license in Dubai can now book and reschedule their driving test appointments via WhatsApp, according to a Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) statement. The service can be accessed via the RTA’s Mahboub Chatbot at 0588009090, which is available in English and Arabic.
#2- Watch out for traffic fine scams:Dubai Police cautioned residents about a rise in fraudulent schemes involving scammers posing as law enforcement and government agencies. The perpetrators aim to deceive individuals into divulging personal information and making illegitimate payments through misleading links.
#3- Steer clear of Abu Dhabi’s Al Maryah Street bridge, as the bridge will be closed for almost a month starting from today, until Saturday 3 February, Abu Dhabi’s Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) said.
#4- The minimum Nol card top-up will be bumped up to AED 20starting next Monday, 15 January, the RTA said on X. You can reload your Nol card easily at any RTA ticket vending machines, solar top-up machines, or through the Nol Pay app for virtual cards.
#5- Planning a trip to Europe? Now’s a good time to book flights + get a Schengen:Schengen visa processing time at embassies is now falling back below two weeks after peaking at 1-2 months between the October-December high season, Gulf News reports. Wait times could get lengthy again as travel demand picks up in April with the Eid Al Fitr holiday, Gulf News cites a travel agent as saying.
THE BIG STORY ABROAD-
Lawmakers in the US have reached a basic agreement on a USD 1.66 tn spending bill — and now have less than two weeks to pass it if they want to avoid a government shutdown, the Washington Post reports.
MEANWHILE- The WSJ has a long investigative piece on allegations that Space X / Tesla / X boss Elon Musk uses illegal substances — and that his use of them could be a contributor to what some in the boardroom and in media have dubbed “erratic office behavior.”
AND- Nearly 200 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft remain groundedin the United States after a section of fuselage blew off on an Alaska Airlines flight and oil prices are down in early trading this morning after Saudi Arabia cut yesterday the February price of its popular Arab Light crude.
MORNING DISTRACTIONS-
#1- 2024 could be the year that passwords die as tech giants and startups alike push forward with passkeys — a technology that could make the need to remember or track dozens of passwords obsolete.
What are passkeys? They replace passwords with “authentication mechanisms built into your own devices,” the Verge writes. “That means you can use Face ID on your iPhone, Windows Hello on your PC, or the fingerprint sensor on your Android phone to authorize access to your websites, apps, and services.”
Why? They’re more secure — only a hashed version is saved by developers and they’re protection against phishing attacks: Your grandpa (or mom or dad or the guy in finance) can’t be tricked into clicking a bogus link because “the browser or OS handles verification” that the website is legit.
How to get started: The Verge has a constantly updated storystream that should be more than enough to get you started. Want to get a bit nerdier? Go to Smashing Magazine.
#2- Residents of Planet Startup shouldn’t think that venture capital’s annus horribilis is over. Early data from PitchBook “indicates global VC investment in startups continued to slide in the fourth quarter of 2023,” TechCrunch writes.
#3- Object of desire for type nerds: Shift Happens: A Book about Keyboards. 1.3k photographs over 1.2k pages in a two-volume book about keyboards. Even if you don’t want to order it (the shipping bill…) the website is a ton of fun for the design-minded among us.
** You’re reading Zero Issue #24 of EnterpriseAM UAE.
** Think of a zero issue as a “beta.” This issue has not been published or distributed to a wide audience.
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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-
Falcon championship to kick off on Friday: The Abu Dhabi Falconers Club will host the president’s 16-day Cup Falcon Competition, which will kick off this Friday and run until 27 January at Abu Dhabi’s Al Falah Field, Wam reports. The championship comprises seven competitive categories, including sheikhs, public owners, and public amateurs, and will feature an unprecedented number of rounds in the falconry competition’s history.
The 1 Bn Followers Summit is coming to Dubai this Wednesday and Thursday, 10-11 January. The event will feature more than 20 workshops on social media management skills, from creativity, to monetisation strategies, to platform growth, Wam reports. Four workshop tracks — Get Ahead, Get Paid, Get Creative, and Get Connected — will be run by social media experts including Salah Abo El Magd, Kareem Esmail, and Dhruv Rathee.
Calling all classic car enthusiasts:Sharjah is set to host its inaugural Classic Car Festival from 2-4 February.The festival will showcase vintage vehicles and offer educational and entertainment activities, Zawya reports. Organized by the Sharjah Old Car Club, the event is set to be the largest vintage car gathering in the UAE and the region.
Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center calls for 2024 SEFFY nominees: The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival (SEF), organized by the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa), has launched the 2024 SEFFY Awards to recognize impactful startup founders and mentors for their achievements in the startup scene throughout 2023, Wam reports. The awards will feature four categories: Techprenuer, Social Impact, Emerging Founder, and Outstanding Mentor. You can submit your nomination here. Entries close on 18 January.
Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.
