ABU DHABI // Among the topics for discussion are world poverty, health care, climate change and the global recession.
Even for the 15 Nobel laureates gathered in the Emirates Palace hotel yesterday, fixing those issues is a tall order.
But the message at the Festival of Thinkers remained positive - through co-operation and creativity, progress can be made.
The hope, the organisers said, was to recreate the Middle East's place as a cultural centre and to revive "the Gulf region's liberal traditions", almost like a miniature, modern House of Wisdom. As inspiration, the words of Greek philosophers loomed above on a gigantic screen.
"For millennia, our region has been a crossroads for people, ideas, and commerce," Sheikh Nahyan bin Mabarak, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), said in his opening address.
"It has always welcomed travellers and scholars with unparalleled hospitality. It is the home of some of the earliest universities and many great ideas have been produced by scholars from the Arab world."
The biennial festival, of which The National is a partner, has attracted some of the greatest minds alive. They sat alongside perhaps the next generation of intellectuals - a group of HCT students.
The list of attendees included Shirin Ebadi, the first Iranian and Muslim woman to win the Nobel Prize, for her pursuit of human rights, John Nash Jr, the mathematician and economist whose life was the subject of the Academy Award-winning film A Beautiful Mind, and Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
First on the agenda of the three-day event was female empowerment, a theme that dominated much of the first day.
Dr Ebadi, whose opinions have often caused anger among her country's clerical leadership, delivered a stirring indictment of illiteracy among women and their lack of political rights in the Muslim world.
"In our religion, women have political rights. No society can achieve political and economic progress while half its population is being neglected," said Dr Ebadi.
"Education is obligatory. Why do we forget our religious decrees? Why has the level of illiteracy gone up in Islamic countries?
"Literacy is obligatory just like prayer is. It is a wajib [requirement], not mostahabb [encouraged]."
Dr Ebadi criticised the pressure on Muslim women to stay at home once they finish university.
"Young girls, after they graduate from university and become housewives, their education is wasted," she said. "We must not put our books aside once we have finished university. Serving society is a religious duty. They must fulfil that duty. Half the potential of society has been neglected."
In keeping with the creative theme, the difficulty of overcoming challenges without the involvement of both sexes was illustrated by a display of contemporary dance in which a man and a woman used their combined strength and dexterity to pull off some stunning moves.
Among the audience was Cherie Blair, the wife of the former British prime minister Tony Blair and founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.
Mrs Blair, who took part in a panel on economic prospects beyond the financial crisis, said: "What we're seeing in the last few years is a real change in the Middle East in general, but in the UAE in particular. "We're seeing much more emphasis in involving women in government."
Mrs Blair pointed to the role of Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the Minister of Foreign Trade. She then went to a meeting on women's issues hosted by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
As Gavin Esler, a BBC broadcaster acting as master of ceremonies, said: "The thinking has indeed begun."
@Email:kshaheen@thenational.ae
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Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
Emiratisation at work
Emiratisation was introduced in the UAE more than 10 years ago
It aims to boost the number of citizens in the workforce particularly in the private sector.
Growing the number of Emiratis in the workplace will help the UAE reduce dependence on overseas workers
The Cabinet in December last year, approved a national fund for Emirati jobseekers and guaranteed citizens working in the private sector a comparable pension
President Sheikh Khalifa has described Emiratisation as “a true measure for success”.
During the UAE’s 48th National Day, Sheikh Khalifa named education, entrepreneurship, Emiratisation and space travel among cornerstones of national development
More than 80 per cent of Emiratis work in the federal or local government as per 2017 statistics
The Emiratisation programme includes the creation of 20,000 new jobs for UAE citizens
UAE citizens will be given priority in managerial positions in the government sphere
The purpose is to raise the contribution of UAE nationals in the job market and create a diverse workforce of citizens
Champions League Last 16
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) v Bayern Munich (GER)
Sporting Lisbon (POR) v Manchester City (ENG)
Benfica (POR) v Ajax (NED)
Chelsea (ENG) v Lille (FRA)
Atletico Madrid (ESP) v Manchester United (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP) v Juventus (ITA)
Inter Milan (ITA) v Liverpool (ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid (ESP)
Qosty Byogaani
Starring: Hani Razmzi, Maya Nasir and Hassan Hosny
Four stars
more from Janine di Giovanni
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Saturday's schedule at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 race, 12:30pm
Formula 1 final practice, 2pm
Formula 1 qualifying, 5pm
Formula 2 race, 6:40pm
Performance: Sam Smith
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
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
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
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
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.
