DUBAI // A mountaineer has added the highest peak in the Americas to her record of summit successes.
Suzanne al Houby, the vice-president of the Dubai Bone and Joint Centre, reached the 6,962-metre summit of Mount Aconcagua, Argentina, on Feb 15 after a two-week struggle.
"It started snowing approximately 50 metres below the summit," she said. The harsh weather meant that, after her gruelling climb, she was disappointed by the view.
"I became the first Arab woman to stand at this summit. Tears fell down, I thanked God and unfortunately could not enjoy a 360-degree view of the Andes range due to the snowfall," the 41-year-old said.
Reaching the peak did not mean an end to the trials of her journey.
On the way down, she started to show symptoms of pulmonary oedema, a condition where the lungs are filled with liquid because of the high altitude. However, Ms al Houby, who stands at just 162cm, and weighs 50kg, said that her hardships were mild compared with those faced by people in Gaza at the same time that she made her trip.
"Climbing Aconcagua makes me feel that there's a way out of this misery, that we can do things," she said.
Aconcagua is Ms al Houby's latest achievement in an impressive record. She said she was the first Arab woman to scale Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc, and has her sights set next on Alaska's Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America. She is even hoping to tackle Mount Everest one day.
And while her husband and two daughters think her passion for climbing is "crazy", she said nothing could persuade her to give it up.
"They wonder why I would subject myself to such hardships when I tell them how long I have to go on an expedition without a shower, but at the same time there's envy that I can pursue my dreams uninhibited."
Ms al Houby said she hoped her feat would encourage other Arab women to challenge the status quo. "Getting out of our comfort zone is key and so is telling women that it's OK to be different ... it's okay to toughen it up and to rough it," she said.
* The National
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
'HIJRAH%3A%20IN%20THE%20FOOTSTEPS%20OF%20THE%20PROPHET'
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Company%20profile
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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