I write in reference to Adla Massoud's article New York closes migrant shelters as Trump prepares to take office (January 16): all eyes will be on how US president-elect Donald Trump deals with the issue of immigration. Mr Trump has threatened to send millions back to their countries. There could be legal hurdles and it may not be a seamless process.
This prompts an important question: why do people from many parts of Asia and Africa seek to migrate to the US and Europe? For the most part, happy and financially secure people don't leave their countries. One reason is that many don't have adequate employment opportunities. Western countries, many of which need the talent, not only offer jobs but also social security, unemployment benefits and free or subsidised health care.
The long-term solution for the West to counter illegal immigration would be to help countries from where they originate in their economic development. In the short term, Mr Trump and other national leaders need to deal with the issue humanely as well as in ways that benefit their own economies.
Rajendra Aneja, Mumbai, India
Challenges for Trump
I write in reference to Jihan Abdalla's article Biden warns of American 'oligarchy' as he makes farewell address from White House (January 15): Biden's reflections on his accomplishments in office are worth noting, particularly on the domestic front. He made some huge mistakes in the foreign policy domain, but so have many American presidents before him.
But just as one analyses the past four years, it is important to focus on the next four. There are high expectations in the country for Mr Trump, particularly in taming inflation and improving job opportunities. Additionally, there are growing calls for reform on gun ownership, reflecting ongoing debates around public safety. Whether Mr Trump can tackle this and other social and cultural issues remains to be seen.
K Ragavan, Bengaluru, India
Furore over Salam's ICJ replacement
I write in reference to Tim Stickings's piece Pro-Israel judge set to replace Lebanon’s Nawaf Salam at helm of ICJ (January 14): Mr Salam may well have known that Julia Sebutinde would take his place. Why would he step down at such an important time? There must have been other options for prime minister as well, besides him.
Faris Malsaid, Beirut, Lebanon
This is completely unacceptable. The ICJ should have replaced him with someone not so evidently biased. There is no way she is the person for such a role.
Cath Khoury, Paris, France
One can only hope that it doesn’t matter that the next judge is biased, given that there is such abundant evidence against Israel. But it seems the world has in the past ignored a number of ICJ opinions on issues such as war and genocide.
Laura May, Sousse, Tunisia
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
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.
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
