Fresh from a visit from Prince William, Abu Dhabi’s mangroves have been given another boost, with the launch of the Etihad Mangrove Forest.
In partnership with the Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi, the mangrove forest has been established on Jubail Island in the UAE capital.
Following the launch of the Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative, a scheme that aims to conserve the trees to address the climate crisis and safeguard precious biodiversity, the Etihad Airways project will help to remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Adopt a mangrove in Abu Dhabi
Travellers, businesses and individuals can adopt a mangrove in the Etihad Mangrove Forest as a way to help lower their carbon footprint.
Doing so costs Dh18.50 ($5) per tree, and people can track it online or using the dedicated app.
Adopters will receive a unique code that identifies their particular shrub as well as its geolocation within the UAE's only evergreen forest.
The adoption fees of each tree will be pooled into a common fund that will be used to plant new trees, collect seeds, operate a mangrove nursery and take care of the existing shrubs at the Jubail Island site.
At the moment, access to the Etihad Mangrove Forest is virtual only, but the airline has plans to develop the programme to allow adopters to visit the site and eventually plant their own mangrove seedlings.
Until then, travellers who purchase an adoption package will have to be content with virtual access, which will be granted for a 10-year period. Those who adopt the trees will also be able to name them.
During their decade of ownership, people can virtually drop in to the forest from anywhere in the world to see how their adopted avicennias are getting on, as well as to keep tabs on how much carbon dioxide their plant is absorbing.
That being said, the absorption process isn’t an overnight fix. Etihad says that one mangrove tree will remove the same amount of CO2 in its lifetime as is created in one seven-hour flight.
And while that's four times more than other tropical forests, it's still going to take a lot of mangroves to clean up the world's act.
'We need to actually remove carbon from the atmosphere'
This is why the airline is not relying on its mangrove programme when it comes to reducing its carbon output.
Over the past two years, the airline has worked to tackle aviation decarbonisation using its Greenliner programme and focusing on technology and innovation for carbon-reducing processes.
“We know offsetting unavoidable emissions alone isn’t going to solve the climate crisis," said Tony Douglas, chief executive at Etihad Aviation Group. "We need to actually remove carbon from the atmosphere. Even with the best-case scenario global decarbonisation drive, we will still need to remove 6-10 GT of CO2 per year by 2050 to stay below 1.5°C global warming. The Etihad Mangrove Forest will contribute to this task.”
The airline also plans to create forests around the world, with one in every continent, and eventually in almost every country that it flies to.
Etihad has already been adopting mangroves for seats sold on its sustainable flights.
Operated as part of the Etihad Greenliner Programme, these flights use optimised routes, avoid contrails, operate via more efficient engines, employ noise-reduction technology and make use of sustainable aviation fuels in an effort to help propel aviation decarbonisation.
Travellers flying on these eco-flights are given a mangrove at Abu Dhabi’s Jubail Mangrove Park, purchased for them by Etihad in an effort to ensure that the Greenliner flights remain carbon neutral.
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Anna and the Apocalypse
Director: John McPhail
Starring: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Mark Benton
Three stars
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
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.
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
Results
6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,200m; Winner: Major Cinnamon, Fernando Jara, Mujeeb Rahman
7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,900m; Winner: Al Mureib, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Remorse, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
8.15pm: Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Meshakel, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Desert Peace, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m; Winner: Sharamm, Ryan Curatlo, Satish Seemar
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VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Read more about the coronavirus
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic
John Zubrzycki, Hurst Publishers
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
(All games 4-3pm kick UAE time) Bayern Munich v Augsburg, Borussia Dortmund v Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg v Mainz , Eintracht Frankfurt v Freiburg, Union Berlin v RB Leipzig, Cologne v Schalke , Werder Bremen v Borussia Monchengladbach, Stuttgart v Arminia Bielefeld
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
