Abu Dhabi - What would Richard Wagner have thought?

The ceiling of the auditorium seemed to bend under the weight of gold stucco, spectators sank into plush seats, and as the orchestra let loose, someone pulled out a mobile phone and whispered greetings into the beyond.

The seven-star Emirates Palace Hotel is hardly evocative of the hard seats filled by worshipful Wagnerians at the German composer's opera house in the Bavarian town of Bayreuth.

It looks more like something out of Thousand and One Nights than Ring of the Nibelung.

Abu Dhabi - The United Arab Emirates said on Friday it would provide emergency aid to those affected by flooding in Yemen that has left at least 20 people dead, the official WAM news agency reported.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan said he would provide "emergency aid as a relief to those hit by the flood in Yemen," without stating the amount of the aid, the agency reported.

At least 20 people died and dozens more were missing after floods from heavy rains hit two provinces in Yemen on Friday. Yemeni officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that nearly 400 homes were destroyed in the south-eastern province of Hadhramout, some 900 kilometres from the capital Sana'a.

Abu Dhabi - In celebration of Damascus being named the UNESCO 2008 Cultural Capital of the Arab World, the Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) will present Syrian Minister of Culture Riyad Nassan Agha with the MEIFF Black Pearl award on Friday.

As part of the celebration, the MEIFF screened Syrian director Rimon Boutrous' film "Hasiba" last Sunday. Prior to screening, Agha introduced the film to the audience.

Dubai - The United Arab Emir

Dubai - Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel was forced to change it's domain to www. alarabiya. tv on Friday after its main page was hacked.

Hackers accusing the Saudi-owned TV of being pro-Sunni shut down the channel's news website in a cyber attack, claiming to be in retaliation for the recent attacks on Shiite websites.

A warning message saying: "if attacks on Shiite websites continue, none of your websites will be safe," was displayed on the front page of the site.

Abu Dhabi - An array of celebrities and about 130 films from 35 countries are to be seen at the second edition of the Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF), to be launched Friday in the United Arab Emirates.

Antonio Banderas and his wife - actress Melanie Griffith - will arrive for the red carpet, while "The Pianist" star and Academy Award winner Adrien Brody, will attend the an exclusive screening of his new crime comedy "The Brothers Bloom", which will officially open the festival.