Hong Kong's pro-democracy campaigners called for fresh protests on Sunday, their first test after China sparked outrage with a proposed new security law that many fear will spell the end of the city's treasured freedoms.
The proposed legislation is expected to ban treason, subversion and sedition, and follows repeated warnings from Beijing that it will no longer tolerate dissent in Hong Kong, which was shaken by months of massive, sometimes violent anti-government protests last year.
Through messaging apps and social media, activists asked pro-democracy supporters to gather Sunday afternoon in one of Hong Kong's busiest shopping districts, seeking to revive their movement which previously fizzled as arrests mounted and, later, as large gatherings were banned to stop the coronavirus.
"We are back! See you on the streets on May 24!" read what appeared to be fresh graffiti near a subway station in the Kowloon Tong district on Saturday, as concerns mounted of more unrest and instability in Hong Kong.
More than 8,300 people have been arrested since the protests erupted last year. Around 200 were detained during small rallies at malls on Mother's Day earlier this month.
The planned Sunday protests do not have official permission, and Hong Kong's police force warned it would take action against any unauthorised assembly, and also cited current coronavirus-linked rules against public gatherings larger than eight people.
"The police will deploy adequate manpower in relevant locations tomorrow and take resolute law enforcement action and make arrests as appropriate," it said in a statement on Saturday.
With the fear of more arrests and the virus-linked ban on gatherings, it was unclear how many would participate or if the protests would be held at multiple locations.
Hong Kong residents enjoy rights - including freedom of speech - unseen on the mainland as part of the agreement that saw the British colony handed back to China in 1997, and the city has its own legal system and trade status.
Fears had been growing for years that Beijing was chipping away at those freedoms and tightening its control on the city, and campaigners have described the new proposal as the most brazen move yet.
Of particular concern is a provision allowing Chinese security agents to operate in Hong Kong, and that they could launch a crackdown against those dissenting against the mainland's Communist rulers.
A top pro-Beijing official, however, claimed on Saturday that mainland law enforcement would not operate in Hong Kong without "approval" from local authorities.
"I'm not worried about anybody being arrested by a police officer from the mainland and then taken back to China for investigation or punishment," Maria Tam, a Hong Kong law advisor to the Chinese parliament, told AFP.
"It is not, not, not going to happen."
Hong Kong's unpopular pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam has defended the new proposal, saying it was necessary to protect national security and punish "violent political elements".
But there is deep mistrust of China's opaque legal system in Hong Kong and of how Beijing might use such regulations in the city - the massive protests last year were sparked by a now-scrapped bill that would have allowed extraditions to the mainland.
The new proposal could prove even more wide-ranging than that plan, and several Western governments have voiced alarm.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged China to reconsider the "disastrous proposal", saying it would "be a death knell for the high degree of autonomy Beijing promised for Hong Kong".
China's legislature is expected to rubber-stamp the draft resolution on Thursday, the last day of the annual parliamentary gathering, before the details are fleshed out at another meeting at a later date.
Officials have said the law would then be implemented locally.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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A rare disease is classified as one that affects a small percentage of the population. More than 7,000 diseases are identified as rare and most are genetic in origin. More than 75 per cent of rare genetic diseases affect children.
Collectively rare diseases affect 1 in 17 people, or more than 400 million people worldwide. Very few have any available treatment and most patients struggle with numerous health challenges and life-long ailments that can go undiagnosed for years due to lack of awareness or testing.
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Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
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Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
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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:
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Director: Shashank Khaitan
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Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
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%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20S%20Frederick%20Starr%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Oxford%20University%20Press%3Cbr%3EPages%3A%20290%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20January%2024%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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
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THE POPE'S ITINERARY
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
Jetour T1 specs
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
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
