Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election will encourage more UAE students to study in America, it is being claimed.
Under Donald Trump's administration, the number of such students in the US declined because of unfavourable immigration policies and difficulties in securing visas.
A report in 2018 showed the number of UAE students choosing to study in the US had actually dropped for the first time in a decade.
Education experts agreed that Mr Biden’s victory would likely lead to more interest from students here.
“This is great news for international students,” said Peter Davos, founder of the Hale Education Group, an education consultancy that helps students apply to US universities.
"Families have been holding back and watching how the election played out," he said. "They wanted to see who would take power and now they know it's OK to go back."
In 2017, the US government introduced an entry ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. There was also the so-called extreme vetting of visa applicants and an increase in hate crimes against Muslims.
This made many people feel insecure about studying in the US.
Mr Biden has promised to overturn this ban as soon as he takes office in January.
Mr Davos said that, in the past four years, students were looking for options elsewhere – such as Canada – because of difficulties in getting US visas.
Mr Trump’s administration wanted to introduce a policy under which an international student could stay in the US for a maximum period of four years.
At present, students can stay in the country for as long as they wish if they are studying at a college or a university. Now Mr Trump’s plans will not go ahead.
“There was increasing anxiety,” Mr Davos said. “Now, I have lots of exciting emails from students we sent to the US.”
Jana Charchar, a Syrian-American pupil in Dubai, wants to study business and film in California.
Because of Mr Trump’s immigration policies, she was looking at studying in Europe despite having a US passport.
"If Trump was re-elected the US would not have been my top choice, as I would not be able to see my family," said Ms Charchar.
“I am hoping all of Trump’s ridiculous bans would be revoked and the US would become a more accepting place especially for students,” said Ms Charchar, 17.
“I feel Biden has a bigger heart and I am hoping the Muslim ban is lifted, and we can go to the US without any difficulties.”
MATCH INFO
Mainz 0
RB Leipzig 5 (Werner 11', 48', 75', Poulsen 23', Sabitzer 36')
Man of the Match: Timo Werner (RB Leipzig)
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
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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.
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
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
