On the occasion of Independence Day in the US – July fourth – I would like to take a moment to recognise the special bonds between the US and our good friends and partners in the UAE. The relationship between the US and the UAE is deep, wide and strong. It is a relationship built on decades of trust, co-operation and friendship. Our open channels of communication have led to advances in many fields: regional policy, defence and security, trade and commerce, culture and education. The US stands with the UAE to address some of the greatest challenges of our time, now and in the years to come.
Given the importance of our ties, I am working with UAE leadership to establish a strategic dialogue between the two countries. Like many long-standing relationships, it is healthy and necessary to assess where you are now and where you want to be in the future. It is my hope that by bringing together the highest levels of our governments we will develop a plan to further deepen our links in an enduring manner. This dialogue will create a framework to allow both nations to focus their energies on achieving optimum, mutually beneficial results.
Emiratis choose the US as a top destination for education and tourism and the US looks to the UAE as a beacon of tolerance and understanding in the Middle East
The US and the UAE are essential business partners. Our economic and commercial alignment will support mutual economic prosperity through increased trade, investment and employment. We would like to see an increase in US talent, research and development and capital in the UAE, a regional economic powerhouse, to support the UAE’s ambition to move from an oil-based to a knowledge-based economy. This includes elements such as data privacy norms and intellectual property rights protections.
I firmly believe that we can work to benefit the two nations on issues as essential as securing food supply and protecting shared vital infrastructure from malign actors. We can collaborate on investments that drive growth and create jobs in both countries, opening economic opportunities to the next generation of entrepreneurs.
We can foster the innovative technologies that will transform our world, collaborating to develop the science to take us to Mars and beyond.
Globally, the healthcare sector is at the forefront of concern. The Covid-19 pandemic and its economic effects have reinforced how deeply our economies, supply chains, businesses and people are connected.
I have been truly impressed by the rapid and comprehensive actions the UAE government has taken to combat both the health and the economic effects of Covid-19. With health sector partnership successes such as the Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic established in Abu Dhabi, the US would like to further expand healthcare co-operation, strengthening ties between the UAE public health sector and the US Centres for Disease Control.
The UAE leads the region on women’s economic empowerment and we encourage even greater leadership on this issue. Establishing a women’s accreditation body in the Middle East is an important step for the UAE to achieve gender equality for female entrepreneurs and businesses that are owned and led by women.
We encourage the UAE to be the regional host for WEConnect, part of the largest certifier of women-owned businesses in the US and a leading advocate for women business owners and entrepreneurs. We hope to see the benefits to Emirati and expatriate women working to create a strong and vibrant diversified economy in the UAE.
Beyond traditional diplomatic channels, the US and the UAE also have a profound cultural connection. Emiratis choose the US as a top destination for education and tourism and the US looks to the UAE as a beacon of tolerance and understanding in the Middle East. Our participation in Dubai's Expo is a physical testament to the strength of these ties. We will build on these exchanges to reinforce and strengthen multi-generational affinity between the US and the UAE.
As the UAE approaches its 50th anniversary as a nation, the US is delighted to stand beside our partner and friend. We look forward to further growth and success in the coming 50 years.
John Rakolta Jr is the US ambassador to the UAE
Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
SQUADS
India
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur
New Zealand
Kane Williamson (captain), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Henry Nicholls, Ish Sodhi, George Worker, Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult
The%20specs
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Wonka
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Results
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Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- 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
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
Infiniti QX80 specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
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.
