According to the front page news article Don't lecture UAE on women, Israel told (March 28), the female Federal National Council member Dr Amal al Qubaisi replied sharply to a remark by the Israeli deputy foreign minister Majali Wahabi that the UAE should be talking about womens' rights in its own country instead of criticising Israel's actions in East Jerusalem. At the annual meeting of the International Parliamentary Union in Bangkok, Dr al Qubaisi retorted that according to UN data, the UAE ranks higher than Israel on the empowerment of woman.
She should be applauded and supported 100 per cent for her reaction to the desperate comments by the Israeli deputy foreign minister. When Israel feels it has to criticise a benign and peaceful country like the UAE, you know two things. First, the UAE is making its mark on the global stage and, second, Israel is increasingly isolated and worried - and so it should be. It's time for Israel to act within the norms of international law and to abide by the many existing UN resolutions.
Adil Ali, Abu Dhabi
I read with interest Rym Ghazal's opinion column Hospital horrors: gold teeth, bribery and terrible food (March 25).
As a Saudi doctor practising in Canada for the past four years and currently on medical leave due to work-induced stress, I would like to say this: yes, horror stories exist in the medical profession and perhaps always will. At the risk of sounding callous, for as long as there are humans pushed to work beyond their human abilities, there will be tragedies.
I do not mean to defend the cases of malpractice or neglect, as those are certainly grave injustices and should be appropriately reprimanded. For the large part though, doctors are human beings who will set aside basic needs such as sleep and food while working long shifts lasting more than 24 hours at a time, unthinkable in other professions.
After that eight-hour wait in the emergency room, the doctor who came to see Ms Ghazal could have been me. And I can tell you this much: in those sleep-deprived eight hours, I would have seen perhaps eight other sick people, resuscitating several from the throes of death, at times feeling close to collapsing myself. I would have dealt with distressed and often angry families, broken bad news and held someone's hand while they cried.
Across the globe, is there a problem with health care systems? With the added perspective of having practised in Saudi Arabia, I'll say there sure is. However, I doubt a perfect solution will ever exist as humans are a difficult species to please.
Give us more doctors and perhaps the waits and mistakes will be less. But for now, and on behalf of my fellow doctors, I think we're doing a darn good job, most times at the expense of our own health, sanity and personal relationships. The rates of depression, suicide and divorce among doctors bears testimony to that.
Dr Grazala Radwi, Saudi Arabia
Referring to a reader's comment in the letters page titled Womad should include all fans (March 25), the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, organiser of Womad, would like to clarify the following: audiences of all ages and nationalities are welcome to enjoy Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage events. Womad is one of our mass audience events which is open for all.
Last year the event was open for all and more than 80,000 people enjoyed the event in the three-day open-air festival. A small number of people were not allowed to enter for not dressing properly for such a family event. It is notable in all musical and cultural events everywhere that the dress code is important.
Though the festival did not follow a restrictive policy regarding the dress code, some people were not properly dressed; the people turned away were requested to change and come back.
The Media Office, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, Abu Dhabi
In reference to the front page news article Seventeen sentenced to death for 'bootleg' murder (March 29), what the government feels about the large problem of trade in bootlegged alcohol is true.
There are so many people selling alcohol inside Jebel Ali Free Zone and the Dubai Investment Park area. All are illegal. Still they sell alcohol openly and even claim that the police cannot prevent them from doing this. It is a mafia which operates this trade.
Punishing some individuals will definitely not end this menace of illegal bootlegging as this is organised crime. The Dubai Government and police need to take a tough stand if they really care to end it.
John Abraham, Dubai
Tottenham's 10 biggest transfers (according to transfermarkt.com):
1). Moussa Sissokho - Newcastle United - £30 million (Dh143m): Flop
2). Roberto Soldado - Valencia - £25m: Flop
3). Erik Lamela - Roma - £25m: Jury still out
4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen - £25m: Success
5). Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic - £21m: Flop
6). Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar - £18m: Flop
7). David Bentley - Blackburn Rovers - £18m: Flop
8). Luka Modric - Dynamo Zagreb - £17m: Success
9). Paulinho - Corinthians - £16m: Flop
10). Mousa Dembele - Fulham - £16m: Success
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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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Company%20Profile
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Spare
Profile
Company name: Spare
Started: March 2018
Co-founders: Dalal Alrayes and Saurabh Shah
Based: UAE
Sector: FinTech
Investment: Own savings. Going for first round of fund-raising in March 2019
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
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
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HOW TO WATCH
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