KUWAIT CITY // The UAE was chosen by the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) yesterday to host a regional think tank for the study of common security threats.
The announcement that the UAE will host the Gulf Academy for Strategic and Security Studies came on the second and final day of the 34th annual summit of GCC leaders and underscored their call for deeper military, economic and political cooperation between the regional bloc’s six member states.
In addition to the establishment of centre for defence experts to develop a regional security doctrine, the GCC leaders also confirmed that they would set up a unified military command, the details of which were not spelt out in the summit’s final communique.
The rulers of Qatar and Bahrain, along with the host nation Kuwait, attended the summit. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, attended on behalf of the UAE, while Saudi Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Oman’s deputy premier Fahad bin Mahmoud Al Saeed represented their governments.
The gathering took place just weeks after Iran and world powers reached an agreement over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme. Since the interim accord was signed on November 24 in Geneva, the Iranian government of President Hassan Rouhani has taken steps to establish more cordial ties with Arabian Gulf nations.
His foreign minister, Mohammed Javad Zarif, has visited Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE for talks with officials aimed at smoothing relations.
Abdullatif Al Zayani, the secretary general of the GCC, said yesterday that the member states of the GCC were not invited to participate in the Geneva talks. Still, he said, the bloc welcomed the “new stand of the Iranian leadership towards the GCC, hoping that such tangible steps will reflect positively on peace, security and stability” in the region.
Mr Al Zayani underscored the UAE's sovereignty over the Arabian Gulf islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb, which Tehran disputes. "Any practices carried out by Iran on the three islands are null and void, as they will not change the historical and legal facts that demonstrate the UAE's sovereignty over the three islands," he told a news conference.
Political and economic unification of GCC member states, first proposed by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah at the 2011 GCC summit in Riyadh and put forward again by the kingdom’s assistant foreign minister on Saturday, was again a topic at this year’s meeting.
No resolution was reached, but discussion of the idea would continue, Mr Al Zayani said.
The GCC was established in 1981 to foster political, economic and security ties among Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. Since then, Saudi suggestions for deeper political integration have been resisted by some of the bloc’s members.
“The main concern of Gulf states in general is a tremendous worry that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will dominate this body,” said Mamoun Fandy, director at London Global Strategy Institute, who was attending the summit. “Yet the template really exists in the union of the UAE and has been successful for more than 40 years.”
Elsewhere in the summit’s final communique, the GCC condemned the use of chemical weapons and other internationally banned arms by the Syrian regime of Bashar Al Assad and urged the withdrawal of foreign fighters from the country — an apparent reference to Iranian forces and members of the Lebanon-based Hizbollah movement reportedly fighting alongside Mr Al Assad’s troops in Syria.
GCC leaders also denounced recent attacks in Saudi Arabia, reportedly carried out by an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia and intended as a warning to Riyadh not to interfere in Iraq’s domestic affairs.
The strikes are “an unacceptable violation of international law and good neighbour principles”, the communique said, adding the GCC was against “any interference in Iraq’s domestic issues”.
halsayegh@thenational.ae
Day 3 stumps
New Zealand 153 & 249
Pakistan 227 & 37-0 (target 176)
Pakistan require another 139 runs with 10 wickets remaining
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
World Cup final
Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
The low down on MPS
What is myofascial pain syndrome?
Myofascial pain syndrome refers to pain and inflammation in the body’s soft tissue. MPS is a chronic condition that affects the fascia (connective tissue that covers the muscles, which develops knots, also known as trigger points).
What are trigger points?
Trigger points are irritable knots in the soft tissue that covers muscle tissue. Through injury or overuse, muscle fibres contract as a reactive and protective measure, creating tension in the form of hard and, palpable nodules. Overuse and sustained posture are the main culprits in developing trigger points.
What is myofascial or trigger-point release?
Releasing these nodules requires a hands-on technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure to release muscular shortness and tightness. This eliminates restrictions in connective tissue in orderto restore motion and alleviate pain. Therapy balls have proven effective at causing enough commotion in the tissue, prompting the release of these hard knots.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
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Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
