At the end of a gruelling day of discussions at Cop28 on Sunday, the lights at Expo City Dubai dimmed as 13 singers arrived on stage to perform the charity single Lasting Legacy.
The official song of Cop28, now available on major streaming platforms, served as a rallying cry to delegates to put aside differences for the greater good of our planet. A music video will be released soon with all proceeds going to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Rescue Committee.
Performed in 12 languages, including the six official languages of the UN – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish – the lyrics point to how meaningful change is made only through a collective effort.
"Lasting legacy, we all have our role to play," the chorus goes. "Now we can all make a change, for better ... together."
The international artists include Emirati singer Balqees, Saudi Arabia's Dalia Mubarak, Congolese pop star Gims, Indian actress Anushka Sen and Chinese pop group Boy Story.
Corralling all that talent together is Taymoor Marmarchi, the Iraqi-British music industry veteran who pulled off similar feats with Right Where I Am Supposed to Be, the official song for the Special Olympics World Games, hosted in Abu Dhabi in 2019; and 2011 charity single Tomorrow/Bokra, which features 24 Arab artists.
In an exclusive interview with The National, Marmarchi recalls receiving the commission from Cop28 advisory member and Emirati entrepreneur Badr Jafar six weeks ago.
“From the beginning, I was immediately focused because of the time frame,” Marmarchi says.
"And since the song needed to have that anthemic and global appeal we knew there was really one producer we should go to."
That person is RedOne, the Swedish-Moroccan producer and songwriter, who recorded the Qatar World Cup's official song Dreamers with K-pop star Jungkook.
With his services secured alongside Irish lyricist Pat Devine, the next step was to assemble the required talent.
"We began with the notion that the impact of climate change will be most felt in the global south and by that term I mean countries across the equator from South America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East," Marmarchi says.
"So we wanted to find artists representing some of the countries from this area."
A positive aspect of such an approach, Marmarchi notes, is that he didn't have to spend valuable time searching for an A-list name.
"Going that route was not going to work because I would say the song would have taken on a more commercial feel," he says. "Also, we simply didn't have the time to go back and forth with agents."
Voices from the Global South
That said, the artists featured in Lasting Legacy have their own share of star power.
Gims is one of the biggest-selling acts in the Francophone market and has collaborated with the likes of Sting, Maluma and Sia.
Cantonese-singing Boy Story are viewed as China's answer to K-pop behemoths BTS with last year’s WW cracking the Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs charts.
Emirati singer Balqees is a dynamic artist, with songs ranging from polished Khaleeji folk to electro-pop while Mubarak is viewed as the next big name to follow from Saudi Arabia.
Different acts from different time zones and languages meant a methodical approach to building Lasting Legacy was necessary.
Lebanese lyricist Nizar Francis penned the Arabic words alongside Divine's English lyrics.
Other artists were entrusted to translate their parts in their respective languages.
"All parts were recorded in their countries and were sent back to me last week,” Marmarchi says. “Myself and the engineers then spent about 18 hours stitching the song together. We prioritised certain vocal sounds with different ranges to make sure it all just blends together well.”
With the project officially released and the live debut performance well received, Marmarchi is now beginning to catch his breath.
But was all that effort worth it, considering event anthems generally have a spotty record when it comes to becoming global hits?
“That’s not what we are doing it for," he says. "It’s more about unifying people from different backgrounds and cultures together for a cause and providing that sense of inspiration.
“I remember when we did Right Where I Am Supposed to Be for the Special Olympics, I had so many people call and message me saying how the song became a beacon of inspiration for them and gave them some hope in their own struggles.
“This is what music does. It transcends everything and its message will always shine through because it comes from the heart.”
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Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)
Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)
Saturday
Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Sunday
Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)
Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)
Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)
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Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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Ms Al Ameri likes the variety of her job, and the daily environmental challenges she is presented with.
Regular contact with wildlife is the most appealing part of her role at the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
She loves to explore new destinations and lives by her motto of being a voice in the world, and not an echo.
She is the youngest of three children, and has a brother and sister.
Her favourite book, Moby Dick by Herman Melville helped inspire her towards a career exploring the natural world.
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- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
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Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
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2 Kuwaiti teams
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