Dubai is known for being one of the world’s most opulent cities, as well as a bastion of safety in a region under the perpetual threat of violence. But the recent start of the Iran war has shattered the image of peace in the United Arab Emirates’ largest city. Iranian drone attacks and missile launches against the Persian Gulf have turned it into a place where residents must walk cautiously.

‘Built itself this image’
The war in Iran has “punctured the notion that towering skyscrapers, financial clout and the embrace of luxury and diversity in the Persian Gulf can act as impenetrable shields against the region’s turmoil,” said The Wall Street Journal. Since the war broke out, Iran has launched over 1,900 missiles and drones toward the UAE, according to the country’s defense ministry, with Dubai bearing the brunt. 

Iran’s attacks have been “shutting down the airport, striking the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel and Dubai’s deep-water port, and killing several people across the UAE,” said the Journal. This marks a significant change for Dubai, as its wealth and status as a financial hub have largely made it “impervious to conflict.”

Dubai has “built itself this image that people aspire to,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a political science professor from the UAE, to The Washington Post. Publicly, leaders in the region say Dubai is still safe and have “projected confidence in their defense capabilities.” 

‘The shine has definitely been taken off’
Despite the public confidence in the city’s safety, many living there seem to feel differently. There are “tens of thousands of residents and tourists that have fled” since the shelling began, though the city’s “large population of migrant workers largely don’t have that privilege,” said The Guardian.

“The shine has definitely been taken off,” said John Trudinger, a British teacher and Dubai resident for 16 years, to The Guardian. “I don’t want to be in Dubai anymore,” said Zain Anwar, a taxi driver from Pakistan. “There’s no business, we are earning nothing since this war,” he said to the outlet, and “I don’t see the tourism coming back.”

Social media is replete with phantom online trends, in which posts can create fear and chaos that can “end up exacerbating” rather than “mitigating” real-world problems, said the BBC. Often, parents share these posts on WhatsApp groups, exposing a “gap between how children and their parents experience social media.” But experts are “increasingly teaching” a strategy known as critical ignoring, said Sander Van Der Linden, a professor of social psychology, to the BBC. It will become “more important in the face of AI-generated slop, where sometimes it’s better to just ignore low-quality stuff.” 

What’s critical ignoring? 
This behavioral approach manages information overload by consciously choosing to filter out low-quality, distracting or manipulative content. While critical thinking analyzes information, critical ignoring focuses on deciding what to analyze in the first place. 

Critical thinking is not enough in a world of “information overabundance and gushing sources of disinformation,” said researchers at The Conversation. The digital world “contains more information than the world’s libraries combined,” so “critically thinking through all information and sources we come across” would “utterly paralyze us.” 

How does it work? 
The “keyword” is “critical,” said Psychology Today. It doesn’t mean “just ignoring everything” but rather scanning for clues to identify the types of information most likely to be suspect. The presence of misinformation or disinformation may indicate that it’s polarizing content or that it “appeals to intuition or common sense” instead of “including facts or evidence.” 

Another red flag is if the content doesn’t include sources or if those that are included don’t seem credible. Does it seem to have been released as a “distraction,” said Psychology Today, or to promote the “threat of a bogeyman or a scapegoat”? 

Alternatively, you can just “ask one question” before engaging, said Tom’s Guide (a sister site of The Week). “Would I care about this tomorrow?” If not, simply “move on.”

Women take part in the Mazu Heavenly Fragrance parade in a thousand-year-old fishing village in southeast China. Locals in Xunpu wear traditional floral headdresses and carry baskets of flowers, regarded as a blessing for health and prosperity, during the annual folk event. 
Zhang Bin / China News Service / VCG / Getty Images

This season’s touring theater productions are a mix of old standbys and new shows. Relive the 1980s with “MJ: the Musical,” laugh out loud at 2023’s Tony Award winner “Kimberly Akimbo,” and experience the 1800s with “Hamilton” if you still haven’t seen, or want to see again, the long-running phenomenon. Your seats are waiting.

‘Kimberly Akimbo’
The 2023 Tony Award for Best Musical walks an impossible tightrope. It’s a hilarious, heartbreaking tale of a 16-year-old girl in suburban New Jersey who ages rapidly and is currently living in the body of a 60-something-year-old. Her family is a mess, she struggles, understandably, to fit in, and time is running out. The legendary Ann Morrison plays the protagonist on the road. Expect guffaws, and bring tissues. (through May 17)

‘MJ: the Musical’
This sanitized but, by all accounts, entertaining bio-musical (pictured above) about the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, is a journey through his life story told through his biggest hits. You might find yourself singing along to more than 25 of MJ’s best tunes. Prepare for a whole lot of moonwalking. (through May 24)

‘Hamilton’
It’s hard to believe that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s instant hit “Hamilton” was born at New York’s Public Theater more than a decade ago in 2015. Oh, how the show has staying power. This is the rare musical that pole-vaulted into the pop-cultural consciousness. This year, “Hamilton” has various productions running across the globe, including a North American tour. (through Sept. 12, 2027)