I wear a red string around my wrist. I got the string from Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, at a monastery just up the hill from the Boudhanath Stupa, in Kathmandu. I am told the small knot in the red string represents the blessing Rinpoche bestowed on the cord, which after all these months has faded from a vibrant scarlet to a warm terracotta.
As visitors to the monastery, where my sister-in-law studies Tibetan and Sanskrit, we did not pray in the central shrine, but we looked around, amazed by the beauty of the wall murals, which depict moments from the life and teachings of the Buddha. Inside the shrine, sacred objects – prayer books and beads, small prayer wheels – jumbled with ordinary things: a pair of spectacles, a box of Kleenex, lip balm.
The shrine was severely damaged in the earthquake, but so far everyone is all right. There are already plans underway to rebuild, although no one knows how long that will take (or how much it will cost). All over the Kathmandu Valley, people are assessing the damage, tending to survivors and attempting to pick up the threads of their lives as best as possible.
I’ve never been in an earthquake. I’m told it’s terrifying because the thing we most take for granted – the stability of the earth under our feet – suddenly vanishes. And if we can’t trust the ground we stand on, what else is there?
When you read about the earthquake, did you do what I did – look around and wonder where you’d go, what you’d do, if the ground started to buckle and shake? Did you reconsider taking the lease on that new high-rise apartment? Not to be alarmist, but if you’ve been saying “it can’t happen here,” remember that the UAE is on the edges of an earthquake zone.
I like to hope that in a crisis, I’d be one of those people who digs tirelessly through the rubble, that I would do the right thing and put others’ needs above my own. But does anyone really know how they’d react in a crisis? I suppose the climbers perched on the slopes of Everest (sacred to the Sherpas and, in the form of climbing fees, a huge source of revenue for the Nepali government) think of themselves as good people, maybe even heroic people. And yet some of these climbers are protesting against the decision to cancel the climbing season so that the Sherpas can return to their villages – if, in fact, their villages still exist.
The climbers say that because they've paid their $11,000 (Dh40,000) for a climbing permit, they should be allowed to continue in their attempt up the mountain, and they are angry that people are criticising their desire. Seems to me, however, that in addition to being utterly selfish, these people are seriously tempting fate: if you're trying to climb a mountain and there's already been an earthquake and avalanches, aren't the odds pretty clearly stacked against you? Rather than continuing, perhaps they could think of their permit fees as "disaster relief donations" and count their blessings instead of their summits. They are alive, after all, and can return more or less unscathed to their lives outside of Nepal, where I imagine they have jobs that pay more than the paltry sum per day that is paid to the Sherpas who climb alongside them. It would seem that the earthquake revealed not only fault lines in the earth but fault lines in human character.
The earthquake and its aftermath are no longer front-page news; the story has been supplanted in the US by the riots in Baltimore and the drought in California, and in the UK by the general election. But for Nepal, the full extent of the tragedy is only now beginning to be felt, and the rebuilding will take years. How long do you suppose the suburban Buddhists in their Lululemon “namaste” T-shirts are going to keep paying attention?
That red cord around my wrist is my slim tie to Kathmandu. It’s a reminder to count my blessings, and to remember how quickly the ground can shift beneath our feet.
Deborah Lindsay Williams (mannahattamamma.com) is a professor of literature at NYU Abu Dhabi
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
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
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Company%20Profile
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
THE BIO
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
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.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
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