This year’s G20 summit, held in Bali, Indonesia, featured a first: the G20 Religious Forum, or R20, organised by two of the world's largest Islamic non-governmental organisations, the Muslim World League based in Makkah, and Indonesia’s up to 90-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama. As well as the leaders of those two groups, speakers included a Catholic cardinal, the secretary general of the Protestant World Evangelical Alliance, and high-level representatives of Hinduism, Shintoism, Judaism and the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq.
The R20 communique called for religious and political leaders “to join in building a global alliance founded upon shared civilisational values” and the launch was announced of the East-West Bridge Building Initiative – a new NGO “designed to use religious diplomacy to build bridges between diverse groups around the world”.
This Islamic-led event was fitting for South-East Asia, a region with a Muslim population of about 240 million people, but which also contains hundreds of millions of Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Taoists and others, and is guided by the principle of “unity in diversity” – the national motto of the R20’s host country, Indonesia, and a frequently cited phrase in Malaysia, the other main Muslim-majority country in the region.
This was reinforced in the latter by the recent formation of a national unity government under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. More than half of his cabinet are Muslim Malays, but the rest are made up of Chinese, Indian and indigenous ethnic groups from the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak. With the country’s chief Sharia judge taking up the position of religious affairs minister, the line-up underlines the long-standing view of successive Malaysian governments that there is no contradiction between being a devoted Muslim and being tolerant of others. On the surface, all seems to match up with the much-vaunted claim that moderation is a way of life in the region.
There is nothing wrong with people having conservative views, but in the past compromises were made in the interests of diversity
But even as states in another area home to hundreds of millions of Muslims – the Arabian Gulf – are becoming more open and progressive, while being careful to preserve their Islamic culture, values, traditions and laws, there is an emerging tide in the other direction in Indonesia and Malaysia. In the latter, there was a huge vote swing to the Islamist party PAS in last month’s general election. The party won the largest number of seats – 49 – in the country’s 222-seat parliament, and in the negotiations that followed, since no one had a majority, a federal government dominated by PAS was a real possibility.
Most Malaysians, for whom worries about the cost of living and the impact of severe flooding during the current monsoon are their main concerns, will be very glad that did not happen. Where PAS is in power, in the state of Terengganu, it has in the past few days shown its priorities for the 21st century by introducing fines for hair salons that allow customers of both sexes and legislation to make sorcery, an evil with which the country is hardly plagued, a criminal offence.
Of course there is nothing wrong with people having conservative views on religion or morality, but in the past compromises were always made in the interests of diversity and national unity. In Malaysia, Sharia, mainly to do with family matters, applies only to Muslims, and not to the 36 per cent of the population who are not. In Indonesia, Aceh province is the only local government allowed to enforce Islamic criminal law as it was granted special autonomy as part of an agreement to end an insurgency. The constitution guarantees “all persons the right to worship according to their own religion or belief”, and while the country’s guiding philosophy, Pancasila, includes “belief in the divinity of God”, it does not specify a particular religion.
The demand that the rules of one community should be the rules for all is not new, but it is being articulated far more noisily and angrily now, and the chances that those demands will be translated into legislative action are far higher than in the past. This is a threat to pluralism and stability – as Malaysia’s nine hereditary rulers, who are heads of Islam in their states, recognised when they issued a statement last week urging all to “cease and desist” racial and religious incitement, and instil the “spirit of togetherness” among Malaysians instead.
Perhaps some have been complacent about this rising tide of religious conservatism and, far more worryingly, intolerance, because the changes have been incremental over many decades. In Indonesia, there was no place in politics for such sentiments under the 30-year rule of Gen Suharto. Within three months of his resignation in 1998, however, 42 Islamist parties had been formed. In Malaysia, many date the beginning of this trend to then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s taking on a young Islamist firebrand as his protege in 1982. Mr Anwar rapidly scaled the ministerial ranks, becoming deputy prime minister until falling out with his mentor in 1998.
Today a much-changed Mr Anwar is Prime Minister, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo, also considered a reformer, was one of the first to call to congratulate him. But protecting the pluralism so cherished by their countries is a challenge for both Muslim leaders. One solution may be that, just as some allege that in the past, the trend towards religious conservatism owed much to Middle East-funded dakwa – missionary – activities, South-East Asia should consider today the example of a Gulf that is forging a path where religion and modernity not only co-exist but complement each other.
Hand in hand, instead of turning to Islamism, their peoples could then unite to realise the aims of the Muslim-led R20, and of “unity in diversity”, so that, as the Grand Imam of Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque, Nasaruddin Umar, said at the gathering: “The perspective that considers there are enemies around us must be changed into that there are friends around us.”
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 1
Kane (50')
Newcastle United 0
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Suarez 27', Vidal 32', Dembele 35', Messi 78')
Sevilla 0
Red cards: Ronald Araujo, Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
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.
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStreaming%20on%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMBC%20Shahid%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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%3Cp%3E1.%20Protracted%20but%20less%20intense%20war%20(60%25%20likelihood)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E2.%20Negotiated%20end%20to%20the%20conflict%20(30%25)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E3.%20Russia%20seizes%20more%20territory%20(20%25)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E4.%20Ukraine%20pushes%20Russia%20back%20(10%25)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3EForecast%20by%20Economist%20Intelligence%20Unit%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
EMILY%20IN%20PARIS%3A%20SEASON%203
%3Cp%3ECreated%20by%3A%20Darren%20Star%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Lily%20Collins%2C%20Philippine%20Leroy-Beaulieu%2C%20Ashley%20Park%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%202.75%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
MATCH INFO
Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 12’) Liverpool 1 (Minamino 73’)
Arsenal win 5-4 on penalties
Man of the Match: Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal)
Brief scores:
Barcelona 3
Pique 38', Messi 51 (pen), Suarez 82'
Rayo Vallecano 1
De Tomas Gomez 24'
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Health Valley
Founded in 2002 and set up as a foundation in 2006, Health Valley has been an innovation in healthcare for more than 10 years in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
It serves as a place where companies, businesses, universities, healthcare providers and government agencies can collaborate, offering a platform where they can connect and work together on healthcare innovation.
Its partners work on technological innovation, new forms of diagnostics and other methods to make a difference in healthcare.
Its agency consists of eight people, four innovation managers and office managers, two communication advisers and one director. It gives innovation support to businesses and other parties in its network like a broker, connecting people with the right organisation to help them further
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)
West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)
Everton v Liverpool (10pm)
Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
