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Women’s empowerment will come under the spotlight at Expo 2020 Dubai, as the UAE seeks to underline the importance of female equality during the six-month event.
Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed, president of the UAE Gender Balance Council said the organisation would host an array of activities and discussions at the World Fair.
Expo 2020 Dubai will include a Women’s Pavilion, intended to highlight the contribution women make to society. The space will also focus on how the sexes must work together to battle inequality.
Sheikha Manal said Expo 2020 Dubai was an opportunity to celebrate the UAE’s achievements in women’s equality in the past 50 years.
“The daily successes we are witnessing in social, economic, political and cultural spheres, signifies the shared vision of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and our founding fathers,” said Sheikha Manal, who is also president of the Dubai Women Establishment.
“Our leadership today continues their wisdom, including a commitment to the principles of gender balance and the advancement of women across diverse fields, and also recognises the important role women will play in bringing to life the ‘towards the next 50’ strategy.”
Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation and director general of Expo 2020 Dubai, signed the agreement for enhanced co-operation in an online ceremony with Mona Al Marri, vice president of the UAE Gender Balance Council.
Ms Al Hashimy highlighted how the World Fair could be a platform for progressing women’s rights.
“The progress and success of Emirati women are key to enhancing the UAE’s global standing. We will share our vision with the world and showcase the strength of co-operation through our country’s achievements over the past five decades,” Ms Al Hashimy said.
“We will work with participating countries, organisations and the international community to shed light on our achievements and future goals in promoting gender balance worldwide, utilising history’s most comprehensive Expo as a platform.”
Ms Al Marri said Expo 2020 Dubai will provide the UAE with an opportunity to promote knowledge sharing with international organisations and countries working to advance female equality.
A commitment to equality
The UAE Gender Balance Council was established in 2015 under the guidance of Sheikha Manal, with the purpose of encouraging equality throughout the Emirates, in accordance with the country’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030.
Legislation, including a 2019 directive to increase the representation of women in the Federal National Council to 50 per cent, has placed the UAE among leading countries in terms of female parliamentary representation.
Government statistics from 2020 show that 77 per cent of Emirati women enrol in higher education after secondary school, and women comprise 70 per cent of all university graduates in the country.
As a consequence of this progress, the UAE currently ranks 18th globally and first in the region for female empowerment, according to the UN’s Gender Inequality Index.
Expo 2020 Dubai will start on October 1, and run for six months.
Women in the UAE’s military - in pictures
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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
Abu Dhabi card
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,400m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 2,200m
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
The National selections:
5pm: Valcartier
5.30pm: AF Taraha
6pm: Dhafra
6.30pm: Maqam
7pm: AF Mekhbat
7.30pm: Ezz Al Rawasi
Leaderboard
15 under: Paul Casey (ENG)
-14: Robert MacIntyre (SCO)
-13 Brandon Stone (SA)
-10 Laurie Canter (ENG) , Sergio Garcia (ESP)
-9 Kalle Samooja (FIN)
-8 Thomas Detry (BEL), Justin Harding (SA), Justin Rose (ENG)
$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.”
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
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Teams in the EHL
White Bears, Al Ain Theebs, Dubai Mighty Camels, Abu Dhabi Storms, Abu Dhabi Scorpions and Vipers
The Way It Was: My Life with Frank Sinatra by Eliot Weisman and Jennifer Valoppi
Hachette Books
The stats: 2017 Jaguar XJ
Price, base / as tested Dh326,700 / Dh342,700
Engine 3.0L V6
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Power 340hp @ 6,000pm
Torque 450Nm @ 3,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.1L / 100km
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Dubai Women's Tour teams
Agolico BMC
Andy Schleck Cycles-Immo Losch
Aromitalia Basso Bikes Vaiano
Cogeas Mettler Look
Doltcini-Van Eyck Sport
Hitec Products – Birk Sport
Kazakhstan National Team
Kuwait Cycling Team
Macogep Tornatech Girondins de Bordeaux
Minsk Cycling Club
Pannonia Regional Team (Fehérvár)
Team Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Team Ciclotel
UAE Women’s Team
Under 23 Kazakhstan Team
Wheel Divas Cycling Team
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
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