Ask Ali: How to publish pictures of Emirati women


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Dear Ali: I've lived in the UAE for five years, but I'm still unsure of the etiquette with regards to taking and publishing pictures of Emirati women. A friend of mine works for a company that is to host Emirati students and they wanted to take a photograph of the group to be used in the press, but I've heard that a close male relative would have to give his permission for a woman to appear. Please help! SA, Abu Dhabi

Dear SA: I bet you are expecting a long and complicated answer. However, this problem is simple. All the company would have to do is announce that it will be taking photographs. That is all. If only all the answers I gave were so straightforward. Actually, this situation would have been even easier if there were no male students in the equation. With both sexes involved, things are a little different. Some won't want their faces to appear, so taking a picture from behind is fine. And you were given some false information, I have to say. In this context none of them needs to call anyone to get permission, although some families are more conservative than others.

Here's what to do. Ask to take a group shot and whoever doesn't want to be in the photograph - and plenty of people hate staring at a camera for all sorts of reasons - will simply step out of the shot.

Some female students post their pictures privately on Facebook or even get their photograph published in university magazines and the like. But it's a bit different when they are asked to stand next to men. Some feel uncomfortable and shy, though many do not.

Come to think of it, most people would like to be asked permission to be photographed. Not everyone looks as good as me in front of the lens!

Dear Ali: I am a teacher from the West whose school is about to host a class of boys from the UAE for six weeks. We were informed not to single out the boys in front of the class if they misbehave as that would cause a "loss of face". I have taught in the UAE and know this is important. However, I still need to keep control of the classroom. What is the best way to deal with this without me, the teacher, losing face? Anonymous

Dear anonymous: If only you could have taught me at school. I was such a good boy and never once got in trouble. Ahem. First of all, don't panic. I think the memo was sent to avoid misunderstanding between pupils and teachers from different cultures. As you have taught here in the UAE, you will know that saving face is crucial to us. However, it is worth repeating just how important it is. If you embarrass Emiratis in public, you not only bring disrespect to them but also their family and, indeed, country. Since these boys are visiting a western nation, they might think you were going out of your way to make their people feel bad if you publicly scold them. However, I'm well aware that boys can be boys. The trick is not to single them out when applying discipline.

That's not to say you let them walk all over you. If a boy's behaviour is really inappropriate, speak nicely to him and calmly ask him to change his ways. Note the difference between "Ahmed, don't throw paper" and "Ahmed, please keep still". It might even be better not to name the student, but rather say, "Guys, please keep your paper on your desk". Good luck.

Language lesson

Arabic: Khbal

English: Ridiculous, crazy

Usually used when describing a funny or silly situation. For example, if you're explaining to a friend that you hosted a children's birthday party where all the kids were shouting and acting wildly with games and fizzy drinks, you would describe that scene as "khbal". A second meaning of this word is used to describe a person: "khbel" for man, and "khibla" for woman. It means stupid.

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RESULT

Bayer Leverkusen 2 Bayern Munich 4
Leverkusen:
 Alario (9'), Wirtz (89')
Bayern: Coman (27'), Goretzka (42'), Gnabry (45'), Lewandowski (66')

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

 

 

Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

Price: From Dh439,000

Available: Now

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Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

If%20you%20go
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Scoreline

Liverpool 4

Oxlade-Chamberlain 9', Firmino 59', Mane 61', Salah 68'

Manchester City 3

Sane 40', Bernardo Silva 84', Gundogan 90' 1

Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas

Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa

Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong

Rating: 3/5

Hydrogen: Market potential

Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.

"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.

Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.

The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.

Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
  • Drones
  • Animals
  • Fireworks/ flares
  • Radios or power banks
  • Laser pointers
  • Glass
  • Selfie sticks/ umbrellas
  • Sharp objects
  • Political flags or banners
  • Bikes, skateboards or scooters
Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

DAY%20ONE%20RESULT
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