YANGON // In many ways this is a story of failure. Of a government that failed to deliver on long-made promises of freedom and democracy; of a people who stood up not once but twice against repression, and were cut down both times; and of an international community that champions human rights but has so far failed to turn rhetoric into reality.
A year ago, spiralling inflation and growing political repression in Myanmar led tens of thousands of people, including Buddhist monks and nuns, to take to the streets in peaceful protest. The mass demonstrations, known as the Saffron Revolution for the colour of the monks' robes, were brutally suppressed.
On Sept 27 2007, soldiers and riot police, armed with assault rifles, tanks and smoke bombs, opened fire, killing about 50 people. Thousands were rounded up and detained.
It was as if a mirror had been held up to reflect the 1988 pro-democracy demonstrations, or 88 Generation uprising, when thousands of students protested to demand multiparty democratic elections. The dissent two decades ago was similarly smothered; thousands paid with their lives.
Although the demonstrations helped pave the way for elections two years later, in which the opposition, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide 82 per cent of the vote, the junta refused to acknowledge the results. The NLD's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was put under house arrest and those members of her party who were not detained, fled into exile. Ms Suu Kyi later won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Twelve months have passed since the last protests, and those in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, face an even bleaker future. The junta's hold on power has tightened and progress towards democracy and economic stability seem more elusive than ever.
"Our country is good, but our government is not good," said Maung Aung, a 30-year-old electrical engineer in a rare moment of openness on a train from Mandalay, in Myanmar's heart, to Myitkyina, the capital of northern Kachin state. "We have no democracy. We want democracy. Last year they [the junta] killed many people by shooting. The junta were like animals," said Maung Aung, who like many people in Myanmar interviewed for this article refused to use his real name.
"Our government is spread everywhere. We are afraid of them."
Thatched bamboo roof homes skirt the region north of Mandalay. Herons swoop and dart into lush emerald patchworks. These are paddies of rice, the region's main agricultural crop. But behind the idyllic rural landscapes and the warmth of the people, Myanmar has become a byword for suffering.
Human rights groups regularly highlight the junta's systematic use of rape, forced and child labour, torture and imprisonment to maintain power. The average person earns less than US$1 (Dh3.67) a day. Although the junta does not publicise its military or public spending, economists estimate the regime spends about $330 million a year on defence and arms, more than double the amount it spends annually on education and health care combined.
In the former capital, Yangon - the site of some of the largest mass protests last year - the fading evening light only partly hides potholed side roads strewn with litter. Men gossip and laugh at street-side teashops, constantly aware that every word could be used as a weapon against them.
One foreign aid worker said people, in desperation, had taken to informing on one another.
"Even if they are not pro-junta, a Burmese person may need to win the favour of a government official to get an everyday thing done," the aid worker said. "So if they find out who you are, they may tell."
Nevertheless, ordinary people are eager to talk about what is going on inside their country and have a hunger for knowledge about the outside world.
"Do you think people in Myanmar are brave?" asked Aung Aye Win, also not her real name, a 22-year-old film student who took part in last year's protests. "I don't. If they were brave ? how many people are there in Myanmar? If they all join together, what can they [the junta] do?"
Aung Aye Win said young people were not interested in politics. "It's not just fear, they just don't know and don't question," she said.
She, like many of Myanmar's 55 million people, relies on international news channels for information. Satellite hookups to Al Jazeera, the BBC and foreign radio stations feed a country starved of access to the outside world. The junta, or State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), sporadically tries to block the channels, which works for a couple of months before the connections quiver back into life.
The regime's English-language newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, warns its readers against believing the propaganda peddled by "certain internal and external anti-government elements, self-centred persons and unscrupulous elements". It singles out the BBC as a "skilful liar attempting to destroy the nation".
The junta has good reason to feel paranoid. It long ago lost the battle for the hearts of its people, depriving them of democracy, human rights, education, free speech and health care since it seized power in a violent coup in 1962. Since then, the SPDC has slowly closed its people off from the outside world.
Its leader, Senior Gen Than Shwe, 75, became chairman of the junta in 1992 and has implemented increasingly isolationist political and economic policies.
Foreigners seen to be interfering in "state affairs" face deportation and sometimes short periods of imprisonment. Citizens of Myanmar face an even harsher fate. Many are imprisoned or ill-treated for "anti-state" political activities after being tried in closed courtrooms.
Students Myo Min Zaw, 31, and Ko Aye Aung, 33, remain in jail after being imprisoned for demonstrating for improvements to the education system and for the 1990 election results to be honoured. They were given 52-year and 45-year sentences respectively.
Research by the NLD shows that of the 5,000 people detained during and immediately after last year's protests, 700 remain in custody. The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Myanmar), which provides support for the families of political prisoners, says 2,097 people are detained in Myanmar for their political views, including Ms Suu Kyi, 63, who has spent much of the past 18 years confined to her Yangon home.
"The social and political situation is worse since 2007," said Win Min, a student revolutionary who helped lead the 1988 protests before fleeing to exile in Thailand, and is now a lecturer of contemporary Myanmar politics at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. "I'm talking about political repression and arrests of activists. The military is not going to change by itself. They will crack down if there are demonstrations again."
After their shock loss in the 1990 elections, the regime began designing a new constitution, part of its self-styled seven-step "road map to democracy", that it promised would culminate in elections in 2010. The constitution took 14 years to finalise, and in May it was put to a national referendum, just weeks after a cyclone devastated the Irrawaddy delta and killed more than 130,000.
The junta said 92 per cent of the population voted in favour of the new draft. Most western governments decried the vote as a sham and the draft a backwards step for democracy. The new constitution sets aside 25 per cent of non-elected MP seats for the military and allows the armed forces to carry out a coup if the generals deem it necessary.
The junta has also refused to negotiate with the NLD. The resulting political deadlock, which the United Nations has tried but so far failed to mediate a course through, has added to the difficulties. Four visits over the past year by Ibrahim Gambari, the UN's special adviser to Myanmar, have yielded few results. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, admitted this month that the regime had failed to improve on democracy and human rights.
Win Min said for democratic progress to happen, there needed to be more pressure from the international community, especially from the country's key trading partners, such as China. But there also needed to be sympathetic ears within the military and government, he said.
"So far, we don't have pragmatic and moderate leaders in the military ? I believe there are some moderate leaders in the military but they cannot show they are moderate at the moment because the top leaders are very authoritarian. It may happen when Than Shwe dies or resigns, that's one way ? I hope there will be a change but the problem is I don't see any significant change in the immediate future but maybe in the long term," he said.
But time is not on Myanmar's side. Economists have predicted its economy, and its people, will continue to suffer. Last year's protest happened after the junta removed subsidies on fuel, thereby doubling diesel prices and increasing the cost of compressed natural gas by 500 per cent, which forced public transport charges to rise by 100 per cent. The regime gave no warning of the increases and people woke up the next morning unable to afford the bus fare to work.
Sean Turnell, an associate professor at Myanmar Economic Watch in the economics department at Macquarie University in Sydney, said inflation was now at about 40 per cent in Myanmar and would continue to rise.
"The situation faced by the average person is quite considerably direr than it was a year ago and I think the economic situation is going to deteriorate further.
"Myanmar has no reason to be poor, it has got a lot going for it. It's economic mismanagement by the government."
Despite the West's criticism of the junta's handling of last year's protests and greater calls for more dialogue with Ms Suu Kyi and her party, the junta has proved itself to be inflexible.
Mark Canning, Britain's ambassador to Myanmar, warned that the international community was failing the country's people.
"Unless there is a political settlement to this problem that embraces the opposition [NLD], the government and the ethnic minorities, then this country will continue slowly and steadily on its downwards slide and impact its neighbours including China.
"No one who knows this country is positive about its future. We have been trying to achieve progress since 1962, but we do believe change is possible given constant pressure on the regime."
The NLD, however, wants to see stronger action taken. So far, sanctions have hurt only the Myanmar people, with the government continuing to benefit from the spoils of oil, hydropower and natural gas deals with international companies and the proceeds of its gem mining.
Nyo Ohn Myint, a spokesman for the NLD in exile in Thailand, said: "We are trying to challenge the regime's credibility at the UN. That will force the junta into dialogue and apply political pressure. The European Union and the United States cannot change the political landscape, we are the ones that can change it through political pressure and though a more harmonised approach with the mass movement inside Myanmar."
But whether the junta will see the light remains unknown. Its track record so far does not offer much hope.
rsisodia@thenational.ae
Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
RESULTS
%3Cp%3E%0D5pm%3A%20Al%20Bateen%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(Turf)%202%2C200m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Ma%E2%80%99Aly%20Al%20Shahania%2C%20Bernardo%20Pinheiro%20(jockey)%2C%20Mohamed%20Daggash%20(trainer)%0D%3Cbr%3E5.30pm%3A%20Al%20Khaleej%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20AF%20Rami%2C%20Tadhg%20O%E2%80%99Shea%2C%20Ernst%20Oertel%0D%3Cbr%3E6pm%3A%20Wathba%20Stallions%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh70%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Bant%20Al%20Emarat%2C%20Bernardo%20Pinheiro%2C%20Qaiss%20Aboud%0D%3Cbr%3E6.30pm%3A%20Al%20Nahyan%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20AF%20Rasam%2C%20Marcelino%20Rodrigues%2C%20Ernst%20Oertel%0D%3Cbr%3E7pm%3A%20Al%20Karamah%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Zafaranah%2C%20Bernardo%20Pinheiro%2C%20Musabah%20Al%20Muhairi%0D%3Cbr%3E7.30pm%3A%20Al%20Salam%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(TB)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C400m%0D%3Cbr%3EWinner%3A%20Nibras%20Passion%2C%20Tadhg%20O%E2%80%99Shea%2C%20Ismail%20Mohammed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
UAE-based players
Goodlands Riders: Jamshaid Butt, Ali Abid, JD Mahesh, Vibhor Shahi, Faizan Asif, Nadeem Rahim
Rose Hill Warriors: Faraz Sheikh, Ashok Kumar, Thabreez Ali, Janaka Chathuranga, Muzammil Afridi, Ameer Hamza
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
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
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELong-range%20dual%20motor%20with%20400V%20battery%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E360kW%20%2F%20483bhp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E840Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20touring%20range%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20628km%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E0-100km%2Fh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.7sec%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20210kph%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh360%2C000%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeptember%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
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
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 1.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 180hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm at 3,00rpm
Transmission: 5-speed sequential auto
Price: From Dh139,995
On sale: now
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
The view from The National
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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.
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
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Power: 272hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 331Nm from 5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.7L/100km
On sale: now
Price: Dh149,000
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.8-litre%204-cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E190hp%20at%205%2C200rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320Nm%20from%201%2C800-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.7L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh111%2C195%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
Afghanistan fixtures
- v Australia, today
- v Sri Lanka, Tuesday
- v New Zealand, Saturday,
- v South Africa, June 15
- v England, June 18
- v India, June 22
- v Bangladesh, June 24
- v Pakistan, June 29
- v West Indies, July 4
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
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
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Turning%20waste%20into%20fuel
%3Cp%3EAverage%20amount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20at%20DIC%20factory%20every%20month%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EApproximately%20106%2C000%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAmount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20from%201%20litre%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%20%3Cstrong%3E920ml%20(92%25)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETime%20required%20for%20one%20full%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%20used%20cooking%20oil%20to%20biofuel%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EOne%20day%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EEnergy%20requirements%20for%20one%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%201%2C000%20litres%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%96%AA%20Electricity%20-%201.1904%20units%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Water-%2031%20litres%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Diesel%20%E2%80%93%2026.275%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
The specs: 2019 Subaru Forester
Price, base: Dh105,900 (Premium); Dh115,900 (Sport)
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 182hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 239Nm @ 4,400rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.1L / 100km (estimated)
